#if jc didn’t care about wwx or thought he was above him then why wouldn’t he refute the twin prides thing?

[crossdressingdeath]

Seeing your post about how JYL has a 'ranking system' in her head when it comes to WWX and JC hits so hard, but honestly, the more I read into the Jiang family dynamics, the more I agree. JYL obviously loves WWX, but I don't know if she's capable of putting him above JC. And we see her defending him, and she obviously gives her life for him, but she was also reacting in the moment. Not to speak lightly of her sacrifice of course, but I just feel like there are certain limits to how 1/7

far she's actually willing to go for him. I was initially one of JYL's staunch defenders, and always said that, unlike JC, she didn't have the same amount of political power as him, wasn't in a position to do anything about the Wens, ect. But...I'm starting to question if that's really true. JYL may not have had much direct political power herself, but she was the sister of a sect leader, and even if JC was unwilling to help, JYL had just married into the richest and most powerful sect 2/7

at the time. It was a love marriage, JZX adored her and would've done anything for her if she'd just bothered to ask him for it. Madam Jin also cared for her and respected her, and between her and JZX, had JYL actually bothered to tell them anything, I'm sure they would have been able to sort something out. Or she could have had it as a condition of her marriage - I'm not marrying into the sect that's trying to kill my brother unless you tell your father to stop. Had it been reversed and 3/7

The Lans were calling for JYL and JC’s deaths, no way in hell WWX would’ve just married into the sect, regardless of LWJ’s involvement. Instead she just doesn’t really do anything. We see no proof that she ever tried to see WWX after the wedding dress incident, which — god I instantly saw it as a sweet gesture, but now it just bothers me, because your brother is living in squalor, and you decide to show if the expensive dress that you’ll be 4/7

wearing when marrying into the sect that's trying to kill him, you bring along one bowl of soup for him, and don't even try to explain WHY you're marrying into said sect. Beyond that, we don't see a single moment up until her death where JYL actually seems concerned about WWX, puts in effort to try to see him - she doesn't even ask him how he's doing the one time she does come to see him. When we compare that to how WQ treats WN, yeah, she's outwardly not as loving or sweet, but she 5/7

goes to the ends of the earth for her brother, even going as far as to betray her sect and risk WRH's wrath because he asks her to. And now we come back to that ranking system you mentioned before - yeah, it really does seem like JYL places her blood family first, which definitely hurts, but in comparison, despite only knowing him for a shorter amount of time, WQ truly grows to think of WWX as a second brother. And she treats him as such, at an equal level with WN - after JZX dies 6/7

WQ doesn't attack WWX for what happened. She doesn't try to come up with a way to sacrifice WWX instead and let WN survive in his stead. She and WN, two people who have become WWX's family, both give their lives to protect both him and the rest of their remaining family members. And it's just frustrating to think that the one member of WWX's adopted family who we all thought treated him like an actual brother, might not have really been on his side after all. 7/7

Yes! To start with the wedding dress thing, because it drives me nuts when people treat that like some super sweet act of love: JYL shows up in the Burial Mounds with no money, no sign of having tried to talk the sects around, no news outside of her own, no food beyond a couple bowls of soup (one of which she gives to the guy who can’t eat), and doesn’t so much as ask WWX if he’s okay. She literally came all that way to have a family meal, ask WWX to name the future nephew it’s becoming increasingly clear he’ll never meet, and tell him about her impending marriage into the family that’s currently doing everything in its power to destroy WWX’s life. Like, if you think about it that entire visit is such a slap in the face; “Here’s a bowl of soup while the people under your protection are starving, oh by the way I’m going to marry the son of the guy actively trying to get you killed, okay bye”. All you can say in regards to her helping WWX is that she does potentially manage to persuade JZX to invite him to JL’s one month celebration, but if memory serves the novel never actually specifies whose idea that was and it was JZX who decided to go get WWX after JGY told him about seeing JZXun heading in the direction of the Burial Mounds. And even then JZX does the same thing JYL does; sees WWX outnumbered and surrounded and tells him to stand down. At least in JZX’s case you could argue that the actual fighting hadn’t broken out and JZX probably trusted in his authority to be able to sort the situation out so long as WWX wasn’t actually acting aggressive (or defensive, rather), and he’s also physically strong enough that he may well have been able to intervene if the cultivators had attacked. JYL, when she does the same thing, has no authority and no physical power to defend WWX with. And yeah, both JZX and Madam Jin adore JYL, and neither of them seem super fond of JGS (JZX respects his father, but I don’t get the sense he loves him); if JYL had asked them for help it’s entirely possible they would’ve started at least circulating her version of events and demanding a proper investigation into what happened. But there’s no mention of her so much as trying, and she doesn’t offer to ask them when she visits WWX.

And yeah, compare WQ to JYL and it’s... well. WQ is so quick to offer WWX her love and care? She’s harsh, but she loves him and views him and WN on such equal footing that she and WN willingly hand themselves over to the Jins for WWX’s sake without her so much as bringing up the possibility of saving WN instead. There’s no ranking for WQ; WWX and WN are her brothers, and she loves them, and she’d do anything to protect them. When it becomes clear she can’t save WN (like hell the sects would let him live, and by this point it’s pretty clear that WWX won’t be able to protect them forever) she throws her whole weight behind defending the brother she thinks she might still be able to save, even if it means bringing WN with her to die. WQ knows WWX for... a year or two? Maybe? The timeline is a little hazy. Not long compared to JYL, anyway. And yet she’s willing to walk all the way to Lanling to die in the hope of saving him. It’s for her whole family, yes, but she makes a point of including him. Basically, I think this fandom needs more stuff wherein the Jiangs and Wens survive and the Wens are fully like “Our brother now, you don’t deserve him”.

The thing with JYL is... she loves WWX, she genuinely does, but he is never going to be first for her. To the point where she outright enables JC’s abuse, in places; she always expects WWX to be the one to grin and bear it. Hell, one of their first conversations involves JYL cheerily allowing WWX to cover up JC locking him out of his bedroom and scaring him out into the woods by threatening to set dogs on him! Let me rephrase that: she allows a traumatized nine-year-old to hide the fact that the kid her dad expects him to share a room with locked him out of said room on his FIRST NIGHT and threatened him with his LITERALLY WORST FEAR, and as far as we know makes no attempt to tell JFM herself. To keep JC out of trouble. That is such a thing! WWX was scared to the point of running away and JFM expects him to share a room with the person responsible for that and JYL goes along with him promising not to tell JFM so that JC won’t get in trouble! And from that day forwards everything is just “Boys will be boys” to her. Like, let me put it this way. Before LWJ (and arguably the Wens before that, although WWX saw himself more as protector than protected there) JYL was the person WWX trusted to protect and care for and comfort him above all others, yeah? She’s the one he thinks of as having his back? He doesn’t tell her about JC trying to kill him. JC tries to kill WWX three times before JYL’s death, and WWX doesn’t say a word to her about any of them. You could argue that he doesn’t want to involve her, but... JYL pretty clearly takes JC’s side every time JC starts having a go at WWX. When he chases him out of their room, when he starts snapping about how annoying WWX is, when he stabs WWX... She never outright says it, but there really does come a point where by staying neutral you’re siding with the aggressor, and she reaches that point a lot. Hell, the stabbing is one of those aforementioned near-murders! JC stabbed him! According to WWX (who downplays serious injuries, he never exaggerates them) he had to hold his guts in! WWX is talking about a pretty fucking serious injury (and JYL grew up in a cultivation sect, I don’t believe for a second she doesn’t at least know what constitutes a serious injury) while JC whines about a broken arm like it’s worse than having to physically hold your guts in until you can reach a doctor and JYL acts like those are equal! JC could easily have killed WWX and has enough training with the sword to know better than to go for a blow like that in a staged fight and JYL doesn’t even suggest he should apologise.

Honestly? The more I think about JYL the more it pisses me off that she’s treated like WWX’s best sister more than WQ is. Imagine WQ seeing one brother stab the other in the gut and take the former’s side because the latter broke the former’s arm. Imagine WQ so much as considering allowing a child to cover up the kid he’s supposed to share a room with locking him out and scaring him into running away. She wouldn’t! Because WQ sees her brothers as equals. She won’t pick WN over WWX just because they’re blood siblings; she loves them both, and will choose based on who she thinks is in the right. And she wouldn’t just stay neutral to avoid rocking the boat, oh no. If WQ heard WWX say that WN stabbed him and did enough damage that he had to hold his guts in... oh boy would WN have a bad day. The thing with JYL is that she seems like a good sister in comparison to the rest of the Jiangs; stick canon JYL into a family that genuinely loves WWX and sees him as equal to their other children, and she would not look anywhere near as good.

[silverflame2724]

A/B/ O prompt AU where Omega!WWX's married to Alpha!JC. Following WC's death, WWX enters into his heat unexpectedly and is raped in the dark by an alpha who's in a rut, not knowing it's JC. WWX ends up pregnant but consumes wine in attempt to abort the baby since he thinks that the baby isn't JC's. In Burial Mounds, WWX gives birth to A-Yuan but gives him away to one of the Wen Remnants since he doesn't want him. After JZX's death, WWX is knocked out and taken to Lotus Pier by JC to be treated and finds out from a doctor that the resentful energy's killing his husband. To avoid causing anymore trouble for JC and JYL, WWX decides to drown himself after he leaves a note telling JC about his pregnancy.

This is my 1st A/B/O prompt so if I made some mistakes please tell me.

In this context, I’m not so comfortable explicitly writing the rape happening so it’ll be just a brief mention.

TW for rape/non-con in the beginning. If you want to skip that part, skip to the first dotted line. As well as a warning for infanticide, for which, if you’d like to skip as well, skip to "Until he met Wen Qing.”.

_____________

Wei Wuxian had felt something loosen within him moments after Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu finally took their last breaths. In hindsight, this is where it all went wrong.

One moment he was grinning with relief, the next, he’s keeled over, his heat - which hadn’t appeared since the fall of Lotus Pier - hitting him in waves. He managed to stumble away from the cooling corpses of the Wens he hated and into a room. Gods, out of all the times he had to get a heat, why now?

Blearily, he looked at his surroundings. Jiang Cheng.......where’s Jiang Cheng? He was in the room with me just now. He can help me through this, can’t he? 

Footsteps got closer and Wei Wuxian tensed up. Who....Who is it? Is it Jiang Cheng? It had to be. He could smell me from here, couldn’t he?

The sharp scent of an alpha in rut hit his nose and Wei Wuxian found himself roughly pressed into the floor. It was dark and he couldn’t see whether the person above him was Jiang Cheng.

He panicked. He tried to kick the person off, struggling but it was no use. Starved, beaten and struggling to survive in the Burial Mounds for three months had drained him of all energy. He couldn’t fight back.

.

.

.

As soon as the alpha above him knotted him - despite his vehement protests - and collapsed on top of him, Wei Wuxian started to sob. 

The knot deflated and Wei Wuxian pushed the alpha away, hurriedly dressing and escaping from the room. As he ran through the cool night air, he was glad no one saw him disheveled, broken like this.

................................

The war ended. The war had ended, but Wei Wuxian was in despair. All of his symptoms matched up. He was pregnant. He was pregnant but it wasn’t Jiang Cheng’s.

He knew what he had to do then, he had to get rid of the child. If Jiang Cheng ever found out. He shivered.

He had to get rid of them.

.

.

He did everything he could, drinking wine, eating foods he wasn’t supposed to eat, but it didn’t work. All it did was give him pain. 

Wei Wuxian knew he couldn’t just go to a healer and ask for certain herbs. After all, people were looking for weaknesses of his constantly after the war and he couldn’t allow any word of his pregnancy to escape. 

............

Six months down the line and the child still hadn’t died. Wei Wuxian didn’t know whether to feel happy or frustrated. 

Nowadays, he had to wear scent blockers all the time to prevent people from asking about his scent and avoiding any and all contact with healers.

His days passed by worryingly like this.

Until he met Wen Qing.

........................................

In the Burial Mounds, a newborn’s loud wail rang out in the quiet. Wei Wuxian, weary and dizzy from blood loss gave the child the name A’ Yuan and gave him up to Wen remnants without hesitation.

He didn’t want the child.

.

.

.

He didn’t want the child. But he couldn’t stay away from him. Whether it was his omega instincts or his sentimentality for carrying the child for nine months, he couldn’t just ignore the boy. 

He gave A’ Yuan love and attention but managed to stave off the worst of his instincts and kept his distance from the child, only letting him see Wei Wuxian as an uncle, at best. It was a fulfilling life.

He hoped his days would pass by like this, no matter how difficult it was.

....................

Somewhere though, deep in his heart, Wei Wuxian knew things couldn’t go on like this. Staring blankly as Jin Zixuan’s limp body got farther and farther away from him, Wei Wuxian felt silent tears roll down his cheeks. Why can’t I just be left alone?

.

.

When Wei Wuxian next woke up, he was in Lotus Pier. For a moment, he thought it was a dream until Jiang Cheng gripped his hands tightly. 

“Why didn’t you tell me the resentful energy was killing you?”

Wei Wuxian internally sighed in relief. It seemed like his pregnancy and his golden core were still secrets. “I....didn’t think it mattered.”

“Didn’t think it mattered?!” Jiang Cheng raged. “How could you think-- I....I worry about you, idiot!!”

Wei Wuxian’s breath hitched. Jiang Cheng still cares? I thought.....I thought after I took in the Wens, I didn’t matter to him anymore. 

“I’ll find a solution. Don’t worry, you won’t die.” Jiang Cheng said.

“How can you still say that?” Wei Wuxia asked hollowly, suddenly remembering Jin Zixuan. “I.....to Shijie’s husband........”

“We’ll figure it out together. And besides, I know you wouldn’t kill the Peacock without some reason.”

“Heheh, you’re starting to sound like Shijie.”

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “That’s because A’ Jie calmed me down and told me to think rationally.”

Wei Wuxian didn’t look up.

“She knows you wouldn’t do that to her.”

“B-But, I........” He unconsciously let out a distressed scent and Jiang Cheng sent some of his own to comfort Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian’s stomach grumbled. 

Jiang Cheng snorted. “Wait here. I’ll be back with food.” He mumbled quietly, “You’re too damn thin.”

Wei Wuxian smiled quietly.

...........................

Wei Wuxian was not an idiot. He heard the whispers from the disciples, from the servants. The Jiang sect will be in trouble for sheltering him. No one may have seen him enter Lotus Pier but it was only a matter of time. 

He couldn’t let Jiang Cheng or the sect take the fall for his sake. Not again.

With shaky hands and a resigned smile, he wrote a letter - an apology, a thank you - to Jiang Cheng and Shijie. He wrote about the Burial Mounds, about the innocent Wens and how he wanted them to be saved, the night he was raped, and.....about his pregnancy and A’ Yuan. He hoped his last wishes were enough to persuade Jiang Cheng.

Sealing the letter, he left the room and found his favorite lake, the one he used to play in with all his shidis. Those bygone days of innocence had all but disappeared.

Dangling his legs over the edge, he looked at the beautiful sunset dying the lake a sky a mesmerizing color. 

Shijie, Jiang Cheng......I’m sorry.....and thank you. I hope with my death, you will all be safe.

He waded into the deepest pit of the lake - the part he was always told to avoid - and allowed the rapid currents to drag him deep underwater. 

Within a few minutes he’ll be dead.

Within a few hours, his body will be found.

_____________________

Where’s Lan Wangji in all of this? The answer is......I don’t know! Think whatever you like!

I hope the prompter is satisfied with this! I personally hoped to put a bit more emotion into it, but......I’ve put off answering this prompt long enough! Hope you enjoyed it!!

[mdzs-headcannons]

I know for a fact that this is a romance trope in dramas and as annoying as it is, i still like it anyway😆: what if a female disciple in jiang sect talked to WWX about JC (ya girl wants to try and woo him cuz angry grape appreciation and all that good stuff) and JC hear's this but because he didn't hear the whole context of the convo, he thinks she's talking shit about him?? She notices that something's wrong when he (grumpily) refused to train with her and proceeds to brood like every emo protagonist for the rest of the day. Idk i just want some brief angst caused by an overused trope and a good fluffy ending! Sorry this was a long one, keep up the great work, love👍

Oh, one of my favorite tropes haha. Thanks for sending in!

Jiang Wanyin: the King of Misunderstandings

He’s busy attacking a training dummy with fervor when she enters the field. Jiang Cheng makes a point to not look her way, worried she would see the hurt hiding behind the anger in his eyes. He can still hear her voice conspiratorially saying the words “you should know how... particular the young master can be.”

What a betrayal.

He had thought they were friends. Hell, he’d even thought they might be on the verge of something more than friends. He thought... he thought she was different. But here they are, and after all this time, she’s turned out to be just like everyone else.

Smiles to his face, and then stabs him in the back.

And now she’s got the audacity to smile at him like nothing is wrong, to ask him if she can spar with him, to make herself all cute even though she’s spewing poison when she thinks he isn’t there.

“No. I’ve just finished for the day,” he says coldly, moving past her with hardly a glance. She must be either dumb or a good actor though, because she looks confused as he brushes her off.

They’ve been hanging out with each other in the afternoons while they supervise the younger group’s training. Usually they tag together and it’s great, but today she gathers the little ones and he climbs up an outcropping to watch from above, his frown particularly fierce and his words extra sharp without his knowledge.

It comes to a head when he yells at one of them for being dumb with their bow, and the little boy looks moments away from bursting into tears. Impatient, Jiang Cheng calls it for the day, hops down from his spot and stalks off back towards his room.

“Hey!” She calls after him. “Hey! Young master! Jiang Wanyin!!”

“What?” He growls, turning on the spot quickly enough it makes her startle. “What do you want?”

Her shock quickly converts to irritation. “What is up with you? You’ve been acting weird all day!”

“Like you care,” he says, angry and hurt and wanting nothing more than to go to his room and lay in his bed until it goes away.

“What?” She looks hurt, stepping back a bit as her brows draw together. “Of course I care! Why are you being so-“

“Particular? Am I being too particular for you? Should I not be particular about the people I associate with?”

Her face blanches, and he feels a dark sort of satisfaction. He knows exactly what she said about him, how she betrayed his trust.

“Well of you are so concerned about me being particular, then you can kindly go and not have to worry about it.”

“Wait, Wanyin, I wasn’t-... I didn’t mean-!”

“Didn’t mean what?”

“I was just asking Wei Wuxian if he thought you would like it, I didn’t think it would offend you so much!”

Wait...what?

“I just... I want to give you something... because I really like you! But if you’re so against the idea of the sword charm, or me I guess, then I’ll give it back to the merchant and we don’t have to talk about it again.”

She looks actively upset now, the edges of her eyes growing red and watery as she says she’s sorry and makes to leave.

“Wait!” He calls after her, and their places trade as he becomes the one trailing her. “What sword charm?”

She reaches into her lapel and pulls out a small sword charm with a purple stone, perfect for a place on Sandu’s hilt. “Wei Wuxian said he thought it was good, but you’ve made your point.”

“No!” He says hastily, face heating up as he finally catches on to what’s happened. “No, I didn’t know about this... I just thought...”

“You only heard the end?”

He nods, feeling like his face is on fire. The relief that floods her features is echoed on his own.

“Saying you were particular was never meant to be a bad thing! I just know you like to have things a certain way, and I didn’t want to get something you wouldn’t like.”

“It’s... excellent. Thank you.”

She blushes and holds the small charm out, and he gingerly loops it around Sandu.

His face is still as red as a tomato as he rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you want to... maybe grab something to eat?”

She smiles, nodding softly. “That would be nice.”

Nice.

[trensu]

Episode 9: the One where They ~FROLIC IN THE FOREST~

We’re back at the dancing fairy cave.

Stuff happens here that’s, you know, plotty

We’re gonna ignore all that

OUR FIRST WANGXIAN MOMENT OF THE EPISODE is when wwx defends lwj from jc’s ire (oh yeah, one of the plotty things is that jc suddenly is here. Not important why).

Jc is all pissy (bc when isn’t he, honestly?) at wwx for having to chase after him (which he didn’t technically have to but bros don’t abandon their bros to unknown circumstances, okay?) and is complaining angrily about it

Wwx: hey, I’M the one who wanted to follow lwj around because i love him, so don’t get mad at him!

And then wwx looks over at lwj with a little smile on his face, so sweet so sweet!

Plot plot exposition plot

We have to chase down the Smoky Owl of Evil and kill it now for Plot Reasons!

Lol, wwx traps jc, nhs, AND wen qing (oh she’s here now too, btw) in his Golden Glowy Net of Protection so he and lwj can go track down the Smoky Owl of Evil together

Wwx, probably: “STOP INTERRUPTING MY DATE WITH LWJ, GUYS, JEEZ”

And now our beautiful boys are in the middle of the woods when suddenly SPOOKY FOG ROLLS IN WITH OMINOUS MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND

SHIT’S ABOUT TO GET SERIOUS

Oh nooo, the fog separates them!! Wwx is worriedly calling out “lan zhan, lan zhan!”

Luckily they bump into each other pretty quick so they’re together again

Except, oops, JUST KIDDING

Wwx takes like, two steps to one side and loses lwj again. Even tho lwj is literally right there next to him

But he doesn’t know that so he’s worried and being all cute about it. He bites his knuckle and is thinking “oh noooo, what if the Smoky Owl of Evil got him?!?” So he’s calling out for him, again

EVEN THO HE’S ONLY LIKE, TWO FEET AWAY, LET ME REITERATE

LWJ seems to be able to see wwx just fine bc the look he gives him is all “r u srs, i’m right here”

Thankfully lwj is clever and makes bichen light up all blue and pretty like an epic glow stick. It matches his outfit!! (i’ve decided he did this on purpose. He definitely can control what color his sword lights up as and coordinates it accordingly with his clothes. No, i will not be taking criticisms, because I am Right)

LWJ: I’m right next to you

WWX: *surprised gasp* You should’ve said something!

Uh, he just did wwx, keep up now.

LWJ: the fog is creating hallucinations

WWX: that’s alright! I’ll just get rid of it using my ~glitter talisman~

EXCUSE ME, WHAT??

WHAT IS A GLITTER TALISMAN?

OF COURSE YOU INVENTED A GLITTER TALISMAN, YOU CHAOTIC BI

Too bad it doesn’t work! i wanted to see it in action :( :( :(

Lwj: the fog is also disorienting the mind so you can’t focus

Don’t worry wwx, your talisman didn’t fail because you were having performance issues

It failed because the fog is Evil

WWX: Wait!! Why isn’t your mind being disturbed?

Lwj: it mostly disturbs minds that have lots of thoughts in them

Wwx: *cheeky grin* ah, it’s making use of my infinite wisdom~

Lwj: *looks away in exasperation*

I guess lans are Above rolling their eyes at someone (tho I'm pretty sure he's rolled his eyes at him before) but the way lwj did that gave off intense eye-rolling vibes, let me tell ya

OMG A SENTIENT CHAIN OF EVIL ATTACKS THEM OUT OF NOWHERE

Thankfully lwj is a Skilled Fighter and was able to block it with his sword while doing a SUPER DRAMATIC TWIRL OF DODGING

Ooooh, and when he lands, wwx appears right beside him and they go back to back without even pausing to think

BC THEY’RE SOULMATES AND CAN FIGHT IN SYNC AHHHHHH

WWX: lan zhan, are you okay?

He sound so serious here, and with his determined expression, wwx is ready to get down to business on this evil chain that attacked his lwj

LWJ: I’m fine *still super alert to his surroundings bc he’s an awesome cultivator and that’s what they do*

Okay, pause for a moment to point out how funny the camera shots from above are. The fog almost completely obscures wwx in his dark clothes, but lwj sticks out like a sore thumb. So every time we get one of these shots, it just looks like lwj is chilling by his lonesome in this mega foggy forest lol

Oh, dude, this next part is SO FREAKING COOL

So they’re back to back still, and surrounded by Evil Fog

Lwj: wei ying, focus your senses!

The both of them close their eyes to focus intensely

the the camera is down below, angled up so that LWJ and WWX look tall and slightly elongated but in a badass way!

And then the camera circles around them slowly to really show you just how badass and good looking they are before doing a quick spin around them with DRAMATIC MUSIC in the background

Okay, i’m done geeking out about the camera shot (idk why, guys, but i love those kinds of shots. They’re so thrilling every time!!)

Also LOOK AT MY BOYS BEING ALL FOCUSED AND SERIOUS. GO GET EM SWEETIES, I BELIEVE IN YOU

At this point they haven’t even looked at each other or their surroundings but lwj starts a plan

Lwj: Split fire talisman

That’s it. That’s all he says to wwx.

Without hesitation, wwx sheathes suibian and pulls out that talisman

THEY TRUST EACH OTHER IMPLICITLY

I MEAN, COME ON

THEY’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOREST SURROUNDED BY EVIL MIND-ALTERING FOG

AND WWX SHEATHES HIS SWORD LIKE NBD JUST WITH A WORD FROM LWJ??

AAAAHHHHHHH

SOULMATES ON THE BATTLEFIELD

I LOVE IT

I LOVE IT SO MUCH

AND NOW THEY’RE MOVING ALL SYNCHRONIZED,  LWJ BLOCKING EVIL CHAINS WITH BICHEN AND WWX DETERRING OTHER EVIL CHAINS USING THE TALISMANS

AND THEY’RE STILL BACK TO BACK, CIRCLING AROUND TO KEEP EACH OTHER SAFE!!!!!

THEY’RE SUCH A GREAT TEAM 

Then we cut for a moment to see how nhs, jc, and wq are doing in their Golden Glowy Net of Protection (it looks kind of like a birdcage actually...glowy golden birdcage of protection?? hmm)

And we’re back at the epic forest fight scene!!

OMG THAT WAS SUCH A COOL MOVE RIGHT HERE

THERE WAS A CHAIN COMING AT WWX AND HE STRAIGHT UP BACKFLIPS OVER LWJ WHILE LWJ SWOOPS TO TAKE HIS PLACE AND HIT THE CHAIN WITH BICHEN

AHHHHH

THIS IS WHAT ROMANCE LOOKS LIKE, GUYS, DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE

IF YOU CAN’T DO EPIC BATTLE MOVES WITH YOUR S.O. ARE YOU REALLY MEANT TO BE??

But oh no!! One of the evil chains catches wwx by the neck and drags him away!!

It made him drop his sword!!

IT TIED HIM TO A TREE!!

don't think kinky thoughts don't think kinky thoughts dontthinkkinkythoughts

Oh, now wwx is playing dead lol

Suddenly the Smoky Owl of Evil swoops in to attack his “dead” body (because that bird is a coward that lacks honor)

AND WWX CATCHES IT WITH HIS BARE HANDS

WWX: did you think you could outsmart me?? *proceeds to choke the poor bird to death, yikes*

Lwj finally catches up to wwx but sees that the bird’s been sufficiently murdered so he sheathes bichen

Wwx: did you see who was controlling the Smoky Owl of Evil?

LWJ: Nope.

(God, LWJ, you had ONE JOB)

LWJ: he or she was mind-controlling it from somewhere Not Here.

(Oh, nevermind then. You're forgiven)

LOL WWX’S FACE

LIKE, YOU MEAN I NEARLY GOT CHOKED TO DEATH WITH AN EVIL CHAIN FOR NOTHING???

Wwx: *kicks dead bird petulantly*

Side note: A-yuan makes a brief appearance here! Wwx and LWJ go check on their pals who are with the Wens and A-yuan is there!! 

It doesn’t really make sense bc i’m pretty sure between now and the end of the sunshot campaign, a few years have passed?? so a-yuan should be much older later, but you know what? I DON’T EVEN CARE.

WHATEVER! I’M NOT HERE FOR THE PLOT. 

OR SENSIBLE TIMELINES. 

TIME IS MEANINGLESS. 

TRUE LOVE IS FOREVER. 

ALSO A-YUAN IS FREAKING ADORABLE SO I’M NOT GONNA COMPLAIN!

And now we’re getting more plot exposition about the dancing fairy

It’s less painful this time bc wen qing is the one doing it and she’s gorgeous (take a moment to drown in her big brown bambi eyes! please marry me, wen qing)

More plot stuff happens.

Wwx tricks nhs and jc into chasing after a chicken so he can have ~alone time~ with lwj

Except not really bc they’re there to interrogate wq about the yin iron, aka the main plot device in this story arc

Wwx: the fairy started snatching souls bc the Plot Device was taken from it, right? That’s why it only went after lan zhan when we were fighting it!

Detective!WWX is so cute and clever!!

But god forbid wwx stays serious for more than a minute straight heh straight when not in immediate danger bc then he’s all

Wwx: the only other possible explanation is...IT HAD A CRUSH ON LAN ZHAN LOLOL

(Which, i mean, who wouldn’t, right?)

THE LOOK ON LWJ’S FACE AT THIS! LOL

LWJ: Shut UP

they’re talking serious plot stuff again, boring.

Oh, JC and WQ have a moment and the only reason i’m mentioning it is bc WWX goes and interrupts it, THAT’S KARMA BABY LOL

Now they’re in a town! Not the flower-petal town from before. A different one. Idk.

A hawker stops wwx and gives him a sample of alcohol and lwj gives wwx a disdainful look like ‘r u srs?’ before walking off

The NANOSECOND wwx sees lwj walking away from him, he ditches Mr. Let-me-give-you-free-alcohol and chases after him

Yes, the budding alcoholic ditches the Free Alcohol Man

THAT’S TRUE LOVE BABY

Lol he grabs lwj by the ribbon thing hanging off his shoulder (not the Marriage Ribbon, unfortunately)

Lwj glares at him but it’s like, a mild one

WWX: wait, where are you going??

Lwj: looking for the gentry. For info. *tries to walk away*

Wwx: WAIT *grabs lwj by the forearm*

Lwj: *stares at where wwx is touching him until wwx lets go*

WWX TAKE IT EASY ON POOR LAN ZHAN

HE’S ONLY JUST REALIZED HE’S IN LOVE WITH YOU

HE CAN’T HANDLE YOU TOUCHING HIM YET

Wwx: don’t go without me! You’ll info-gather wrong!!

Lwj: how should i do it then?

Wwx: *cute little grin that shows off his beauty mark*

(gaaahhh, i can’t handle it when he smiles like this, it kills me every time!! that beauty mark is deadly)

Wwx: you should go to the wine house for info instead!!

JC: you just want to get drunk (oh yeah, he’s still here guys, fyi)

Wwx: HOW DARE! I can separate business from pleasure! Ppl gossip at wine houses! We’ll definitely get info there!

and now nhs is joining them

Nhs: lets go find a place to rest

Wow, lwj is staring pretty hard at nhs

It’s a stare that’s like “y r u talking to my soulm8, stop that”

AND THEN WWX GRABS BOTH JC AND LWJ BY THE ARMS AND RUNS, DRAGGING THEM BOTH BEHIND HIM

IT’S SO CUTE

HE’S SO HAPPY!! HE’S GOT THE TWO BOYS HE LOVES MOST IN THE WORLD WITH HIM!!

Also, lol lwj is so stiff even as wwx forces him to run

We’re at the wine house

Wwx slams down an obscene amount of money on the table (at least i think it’s obscene going off of jc’s expression and subsequent scolding about how wwx is gonna be broke BUT JOKE’S ON HIM BC WWX IS GETTING HIMSELF A SUGAR DADDY IN THE FUTURE)

Now he’s chatting up the waiter for info and we get Plot Details and an ooky-spooky story about the now deceased Chang clan

I only specify this bc the Plot Device tucked in lwj’s robes starts acting up aND CAUSING LWJ PAIN!! 

NOT COOL, PLOT DEVICE, VERY NOT COOL!

Wwx is hovering all worriedly at his shoulder and mother-henning him.

The Plot Device gives LWJ a vision(!!) that sends them to the Chang clan’s residence

And we get surprise dead bodies accompanied by unholy screeching when we get there!!

Like. SO MANY dead bodies!

LWJ and WWX are Concerned!!

And that’s the end of episode 9.

This episode imo has is the best fight scene of the show. There’s more dramatic ones later on, but in terms of seeing wwx and lwj battle together in a not-ridiculously-over-the-top fashion? This one wins hands down! Gold Star to my boys!!

Return to Masterpost

[zhuhongs]

Here’s my long ass review of TGCF that literally no one asked for it i have opinions and I have no one to tell them too so i must write them out and post them. (also part of this is abt the mdzs novel bc i can’t not compare them and I have a lot of thoughts abt that too)

This is very very long so it’s going under a read more. Spoilers ahead!!

Okay so first off this book was a fucking behemoth i can’t believe i read all of that (minus the extras) in under a week.. what the fuck. I definetly got reading fatigue halfway thru book 3.

I’m gonna separate my thoughts into sections bc i  have a few points that don’t all relate

firstly, overall writing and organization:

I said it earlier but tgcf is a lot more structurally sound than mdzs imo. My biggest criticism of the MDZS novel (minus the bad sex scenes, homophobia, and general I hate mxtxness of it) was the way the flashbacks were presented. 

Like OH MY GOD they were presented so badly. I hated that the flashback was told intermittently and only when one of the characters invoked the past. For example, when WWX meets Jiang Cheng and a second time, Jin Ling distracts JC to release “Mo Xuanyu” bc he saved his life in the Nie Ancestral hall earlier. WWX then proceeds to be the self sacrificing dude he is and take away Jin Ling’s curse and put it on himself. When he escapes and returns to LWJ, LWJ offers to carry him.

 If you watched CQL, you know exactly what LWJ is referring to when he says smth to the effect of “You once offered to carry me too, remember.” HOWEVER in the novel you don’t know what he’s talking about. This is because the flashback wasn’t been revealed to you yet. The next chapter goes to tell the flashback. I think that this takes away all of the emotional depth away from the scene. But in CQL, having the flashback already be known, you make the connection on your own and are like “awww wangji remembers that.. even 16 years later.“ Its a lot sweeter bc you know what the two have gone thru. At this point in the MDZS novel its barely the 30th chapter or so and you have no real idea what wangxian have been thru together or what reasons wangji has for loving wwx. You just think, well obviously they like each other bc this is a danmei novel and they are the two leads, ofc they have to like each other. But in cql, you learn through watching them that they’re in love. It’s not just like”well they have to be!! its a bl!!”

Okay that was a rlly long side tangent but it makes me so angry. So what did any of that have to do with TGCF?? well tgcf doesn’t have this issue. In fact, i believe that it gains a lot from having the flashback withheld from the reader. 

I really liked how the flashbacks were contained to books 2 and 4 respectively because it adds a layer of mystery. Hua Cheng is a very secretive man so it makes sense for us to not know everything about him upfront. The way that the author teases and hints little things at you make you want to know more, making it all the more satisfying when the truth is revealed. Because in a way you Know that Hua Cheng meets Xie Lian before and you know that he’s the child XL saved during the God Pleasing Ceremony but you don’t know all the details. Like obviously since Hua Cheng is a ghost you know that he’s died and it was likely for Xie Lian or Xian le’s sake but you probably never expected that he actually died twice. Once on the battle field and second when he took the human face disease. I think the difference between these flashbacks and the flashbacks in MDZS result from the length. In TGCF you get two long concise flashbacks that make sense to be placed where they are. Book 2 because you already have a feel and hint at what the characters have been through and book 4 because the White No Face appears again so then you learn how he and Xie Lian met before. It wouldn’t make sense to place book 2 any earlier bc there is no emotional impact. And it doesn’t make sense to place book 4 earlier because you don’t know what the white no face’s deal is so it’d be confusing. In MDZS, you get numerous short flashbacks happening alongside the main story and it makes it hard to piece together the timeline in a way that feels satisfying. Ik a lot of ppl grill cql for having a confusing intro episode and having a rlly long flashback but its much better than the mdzs novel. However the mdzs donghua handles the flashback in the most concise way imo.

Overall i think the way the story is structured is very good and is a step up from mdzs. Also the horror aspects of tgcf are rlly enjoyable and honestly i think mxtx should just write short horror stories at this point. like enough long ass novels chock full of fetishization. just write some fun horror with no romance and call it a day.. pls

Side Characters:

okay so straight up, i think the side characters arent used as well as they were in mdzs bc mxtx wanted to focus on hualian and didn’t want to give the side characters as much focus. This is a weaker point of the novel.

I’ll get into it more below but i think hua cheng was done dirty as a character by having him rlly only care abt xie lian. Since he doesn;t have any real relationships with others outside of xie lian this takes away from having more depth in the side characters. They’re really only related as far as xie lian’s relationship with them. Though thankfully xie lian gets rather close with a few officials and the ones we get to see more of are rlly interesting. I especially loved the reconciliation of mu qing, feng xin, and xie lian at the end of book 5. honestly their relationship was one my favorites and i’m glad they finally said what they had to say to each other after 800 fucking years. Also Shi Qingxuan is a delight. we stan sqx in this house.

The characters i wish we had seen more of were yushi huang (although she didnt rlly want to be there, good for her), Quan Yizhen and Yin Yu. I very much wish yizhen and yin yus story happened earlier on and we had more time with them. It felt strange to have their subplot occur towards the end and it was sort of out of place but i liked them a lot!! i wish there was more to it. and that there was a reconcilation but mxtx hates happy shidi’s doesnt she, (glares at novel jc). Also man yin yu did NOT have to die like that i’m sad.

Also, honestly.. i don’t think qi rong added to the story whatsoever and i have no clue why he and guzi were there. qi rong just pissed me off the whole time and added literally nothing.

going back to yushi huang, i’d like to say for the millionth time that i hate how mxtx uses any of her female characters. like we get it.. u hate women being useful... im still pressed but what i want to say has been said many times before so ill leave it at that.

Hualian:

I really really did like hualian at the end. They had a truly epic love story and it was so beautiful, especially when hua cheng repeated his words as wuming to xie lian as he started to disappear. But, I said it once and i’ll say it again. I don’t think Hualian is a super healthy relationship. As fiction its fine (i firmly believe fiction impacts reality but let me finish), i guess bc literally nothing about their situation can be replicated irl and none of it ended up containing manipulation or abuse or anything bad but there was a potential for it to and i’m really glad it didnt go that route.

Hualian is a highly idealized and romanticized relationship full of some truly troubling feelings of self worth. While its “beautiful” in a way that hc really was xls most devoted believer, it wasnt healthy for him to live for xl like this. Nor was it healthy for xl to feel so unworthy of hua chengs love.  

Hua Cheng’s devotion to Xie Lian is a little too extreme and it bothers me. When the truth was revealed abt the Temple of 10,000 Gods I had the same reaction as Mu Qing and Feng Xin. I was like... HEY WHAT THE FUCKK that’s a little uh... thats NOT HEALTHY,, dianxia PLEASE say smth. But ofc Xie Lian didn’t say fucking anything and and i was so pissed. Like the whole thing of Hua Cheng living his life solely for XIe Lian is really kinda fucked up and not romantic. I was holding out hope that at some point XIe Lian would sit him down and be like “Hey! I love you and i’m really grateful that all these years you’ve still believed in me when no one else did. But you can’t just live your life for my sake. You deserve love from many other other people and deserve to have a life and happiness outside of me. I still want to spend the rest of my life with you, but you need to not only think of me.” or something to that effect

It bothers me that after Xie Lian learns the truth he doesn’t once reassure Hua Cheng that he didn’t have to make Xie Lian his reason for existence. Like.. idk i just think that’s rlly kinda unhealthy. Like I understand why Hua Cheng is so deeply devoted to Xie Lian-- he saved his life twice and was the only one to ever show him kindness and he’s seen xie lian suffer a fate worse than death multiple times. I get that he wants to protect him and make his life easier, but to not let anyone else into his life and spend 800 years looking for xie lian is just overkill. Like if the whole 10k statues thing never happened i’d be 100 percent fine with hualin but the whole devotion to that extent... uhhh yea.. no that put a bad taste in my mouth. Obsession should not be romanticised. I don’t think any reader of tgcf is going out and deciding to live like hua cheng obviously but still.

Also Side note, the whole 100 swords scene.. bro i felt for hua cheng, the way he screamed seeing that, i don’t blame him. I was so horrified reading that chapter. i don’t think i’ve been so horrified by a piece of media like that in a while. Poor fucking xie lian.. oh my god. I understand the intense reaction he had and how seeing that prompted such a degree of loyalty but still.. 10k statues?? the cave that mu qing and feng xin saw... thats a little too much obssession... like please.. dial it back.. im begging u.

I was talking to mary (liviahyes) and she said smth abt how Hua Cheng doesn’t have a character outside of xie lian. And she’s right, he kinda doesn’t. If Xie Lian didn’t exist neither would Hua Cheng. I get that that counds kinda romantic but in practice i don’t think its a good things. Especially because Xie Lian has a story outside of Hua Cheng, hehas goals, he has friends, he has something. Hua Cheng said it-- his only dream is Xie Lian. Which is romantic but very very unbalanced. 

THAT BEING SAID, i still rly liked their relationship and i think theyre cute they just have issues they need to work through. I mean they have time but yea. It wasn’t perfect but eh. overall i’m bitter bc they couldve been THAT COUPLE but theyre so many bad implications as mentioned above and i.. smh. They still have amazing moments. Like the lantern scene, the alter scene, the “what matters is you, not the state of you”, the end when hua cheng helps release the shackles on xie lian, the scene where hua cheng disappears, the way xie lian waited for him, like they were so close to being THAT COUPLE but then mxtx and her fujo ass just had to make it uncomfortable like that. i’m so bitter. Like the reason why i wrote out all of this is bc this novel could’ve been great but so many little things added up and made the experience far more sour than it shouldve been.

MXTX did hua cheng SO DIRTY by not giving him a character much outside of loving xie lian and being good at everything. Like when I first learned abt how Hua Cheng beat 33 heavenly officials at what they excel in best i was like WHO IS THIS LEGEND but honestly.. he rlly doesn’t have any motivations outside of helping xie lian and I wish he had more to him . Like if we had more situations like the one where hua cheng dug out his own eye to save the group of mortals on mount tong’lu then he’d have been a much more well rounded character. Honestly, that’s rlly the only instance where he seems to have taken xie lians ideals to heart. I wish we had more of that bc that scene was so cool. i wish it hadn’t been revealled so late and there was more than one occasion where he defends others (minus xie lian ofc) without anything for himself to gain that.

To contrast hualian with wangxian, i think wangxian work so well bc at their core, they have the same life goals and same ideas about people and the world. Where in hualian, xie lian has core principles and morals and hua cheng is just like, anything for xie lian. SMH they couldve been great but overall i think hualian falls flat for me because of my own fear of dating someone who doesn’t have a life outside of dating me. Moreso, my parents had this sort of unbalanced relationship towards the end of their marriage and it ended very badly and yea, i just can’t whole heartedly love relationships that in any way resemble this, even if it ends differently. that’s a personal thing tho.

I don’t think Hua Cheng has ANY bad intentions towards Xie Lian or ever will. I don’t think he’s ever manipulated xl or tried to force him to love him. But again, it’s my own personal feelings that makes me feel kinda.. ehh conflicted abt hualian. There was potential but again.. fujoshis ruin everything... smh. Overall i think the way it ended redeemed the issues it had but still there were issues and i really wish xie lian like,, reassured hua cheng about living his life freely at some point but whatever. 

IN CONCLUSION

TGCF had the potential to be better than mdzs, it rlly did but it was bogged down by the authors own toxic mentalities abt love, and mlm relationships, and treating women like ppl and it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I enjoyed this book, truly i did (otherwise i wouldn’t have stuck through and read 750k words of it) but there are some flaws that cannot be glossed over. I hope that tgcf when it does get adapted, goes through the same miracle that cql did and makes the characters more like ppl and less like tropes but i doubt it. Also i highly doubt that a live action tgcf is feasible given the supernatural aspects of the series but we shall see. I’m excited for the donghua when it eventual comes out but i will continue to be critical of the novel bc..well.. you see why. idk if i’d reccommend this book tbh bc like yes i would, no i would... well.. </3. yea. overall, it sure was something that i enjoyed in spades. especially the last 5 chapters. I generally liked it but had many issues with it at the same time, but honestly, yea thats the standard fair for a mxtx novel. 

[dyabolos]

I have been very vocal on this subject on twitter but since @hisohiso enabled me, here is why JFM is the worst and you should all hate him.

MDZS is filled with awful fathers. We have the Lan father who literally abandoned his family, we have JGS who’s JGS so like...it’s a lot. And we have JFM. All three of them have this thing in common. They are awful fathers (I mean, if even WRH looks more like a better father than you, you should start questioning yourself) and awful husbands. JFM, tho, JFM is one of the worst cause he does in a way that isn’t as oblivious at first sight. Because you know, as long as you’re good to the MC, it’s okay to be the worst asshole to others, especially if those others aren’t head over heels to said MC. (yeah, I’m salty, so what?) Let’s start with his treatment of Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng, who if you remember well, is his only son. JFM might have dreamed to have WWX as his son but he wasn’t. Even WWX says it himself. And yet, he favors him all the time while blaming his son and criticizing him, never once offering him kind words. Even when he says “Good job” when WWX reminded him JC helped during the whole cave thing, he only says so while looking at WWX completely dismissing his JC. It could look like he saw how different JC and WWX were but....1) it wouldn’t make it right. You have kids, you treat them equally!!! 2) he was already acting this way towards JC BEFORE he brought WWX to LP. 

Can you imagine? All his life until then JC probably thought that his father was just a distant man, that it was his personality and there, he sees that it isn’t true. JFM is distant only to him. Everyone knows it. JC knows it. Madam Yu knows it and even WWX knows it. He might downplay it but he admits it in the end. 

Now, I know a lot of people hate Yu Ziyuan for her treatment of WWX and while it was bad (but widely overexaggerated imo, the way she is depicted in fics is just...well, I guess that if you are not the “hot dad”, then you are a bitch), she was as much as a victim in this whole family dynamics. Does she pass on the abuse? yes definitely, she was an adult, she should have handle it differently, that doesn’t mean she wasn’t a victim of this whole mess too. Because listen. A lot of people see the marriage between JFM and YZY as a choice from YZY, like she was the one who trapped him into it. It wasn’t. She was the third daughter in ancient China society. So when her parents decided she had to marry him, then she did...even if they didn’t like each other and JFM was probably in love with WWX’s mother. So they were married. They don’t like each other but they could have had a civil union but instead, YZY had to suffer from gossips because of the way JFM always REFUSED TO EXPLAIN HIS SHIT. He never ever did. Let her live through all this bullshit ALONE. She bore his two children just to see him dismiss them completely. She tells him she was as much mistress of LP than him (and frankly, she probs could have beaten his ass, eyes closed, hand behind her back) but he always diminishes her authority (we see it each time he frees WWX from his rightful punishments). Can you imagine? JFM had nothing but his sect. I mean it in a bad way. It’s not the same way as JC later. JFM just inherited the sect and that’s all. He was known as a Sect leader, an average one with that...But Yu Ziyuan? She was the Violet Spider, she had won her reputation. Woman cultivators and powerful ones are a rarity and yet..but because of him, she was reduced to the awful woman JFM married. Also, I highly recommend you to read this thread and here on why the way he acted towards her was even worse than you think when you know more cultural/contextual information.  Back to JC now. JFM doesn’t like JC because he looks like his mother. Can you believe this? Something Jiang Cheng had literally no say in, and yet, JFM treats him like a lower son because he looks like his mother. As if it weren’t fucked up enough, the man keeps telling JC that he doesn’t understand the sect motto but who better than JC to know what it means????? Like I said earlier. JFM inherited the sect and for all his talk about “attempting the impossible”, he didn’t do shit to actually attempt it. He did nothing. YMJ didn’t thrive under his command. Worst, YMJ was burned to ashes. JC, for all his insecurities, inherited YMJ...what was left of it. AND HE BROUGHT IT BACK ALONE. I put an emphasis on alone cause neither WWX nor YL had a thing to do with it. After JC “got his core back”, WWX disappeared for 3 months, and yet, by the time he reappeared JC already had gathered a new war force, alone at 17. After the SC, he had to rebuild LP the way he remembered it and had to see his brother leave him for the Wen. Shit happened and he was left alone, no more brother, no more sister....and a nephew to care for. And yet??? JC thrived, thanks to him, YMJ went from nothing back to the place in the 4 top Sects. It’s even more impressive when you think that the 3 other Sect were lead by the 3zuns. They were allies, JC was alone against the world...and yet he raised his nephew, led his sect, made it thrive so much that he could loose 400 nets and not care about them being refounded. And by the end of the novel, no other sect thrives as much as YMJ. Gusu has a sect leader in seclusion, the Jins have to rebuild everything and regain a reputation and everyone still thinks Qinghe is lead by a headshaker. This isn’t attempting the impossible, this is crushing it altogether. JFM WHO ???  JFM will go down on history for being allegedly cheating on his wife. History will only remember Jiang Cheng, the Sect leader who went above the sect motto. And finally, he’s ugly. We know, for a fact, that JC is handsome, he’s described this way in the novel. We also know he looks like his mother, which means, she was a gorgeous woman. But then, we also know, Yan Li is described as average. Where does that come from you ask? From JFM’s ugly ass, that’s where it comes from.