#jiang yanli deserves better

[wangxianficrecs]

Story of a Dream by Bamboo_Gden

Story of a Dream

by Bamboo_Gden

G, 1k, Wei Wuxian & Jiang Yanli

Summary: She tried to shake away any sad thought, this was supposed to be a merry reunion, after all. A-Xian had always been someone very especial to her. A solace of gentleness and kindness within a house so filled of grudges and hatred. She knew it was the same to him. Blood didn’t tie them, but they were undoubtedly family. Jiang Yanli pays a visit to her A-Xian to catch up with him. Kay's comments: Short and absolutely heart-breaking. A story in which post-canon, Jiang Yanli is given the chance to say goodbye to her A-Xian. It made me really sad, but it was also cathartic. These two should have been given the chance to have a final conversation. Definitely bittersweet though. I'm not really sure why this story is tagged as Yu Ziyuan bashing, because she's mentioned in like one line. Excerpt: “Is that lotus root and pork ribs soup?”, he asked with a hopeful expression. This stopped every unwelcomed thought of hers. His expression reminded her of the one he bore as a child. When he looked at her with shining eyes which believed she could easily hang the moon and the stars. He still looked at her like that. A-Xian had grown up and changed so much. Even so, he was still her dear little brother. A-Xian would never stop being her beloved little brother. “It is. Now that we don’t see each other that frequently I thought you would miss it.” Something flickered in A-Xian’s eyes. He seemed to be troubled about something. Jiang Yanli could see the hesitation and the struggle he was having. In the end, he smiled and said, “Of course I do, shijie, I miss it so much I even tried to replicate it. But it’s very difficult without the recipe.” Jiang Yanli didn’t fail to catch the rueful tone with which he pronounced those words. She thought about commenting on them. Instead, she accepted the offer to enter his room and sat with him on his bed. She looked around, everything was as she remembered. She looked fondly at the image of a couple carved in the headboard.

pov jiang yanli, post-canon, pov outsider on lan wangji/wei wuxian, bittersweet, bittersweet ending, reunions, families of choice, jiang yanli deserves better, sad wei wuxian, goodbyes, good sibling jiang yanli, cooking, comfort food

~*~

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

[angelxd-3303]

Me: well, I have a few favorites in Untamed.

Wei Wuxian: *goes insane*

Nie Mingjue: *gets beheaded*

Wen Zhuliu: *dies horribly*

Lan Xichen: *spirals into a depression and lives in seclusion*

Yanli: *dies, apparently*

Jiang Cheng: *becomes an emotionally repressed asshat*

Me: welp. 🥲

[piosplayhouse]

therapist, mother, maid, nymph then a virgin, nurse and a servant

[thatswhatsushesaid]

shitpost dispatches from lotus pier - extremely belated but transparently bitter mother's day edition

[nanaonmars]

JIANG YANLI THE WOMAN THAT YOU AREEEEE

[hannigramislife]

Sometimes, I truly think Jiang Yanli was a good sister to Wei Wuxian, but not Jiang Cheng, and it pisses me off because I feel like I'm being the kind of petty person anti-JC people say we Jiang Cheng fans are–

But I can't help but think of numerous occasions where Jiang Yanli was there for Wei Wuxian, yet none come to mind for Jiang Cheng. I can think of many times she broke up their fighting, but none where she sided with Jiang Cheng.

And that moment in the donghua, where Jiang Cheng hugs her and she seems almost surprised?

When will the people Jiang Cheng loves see him as more than his mother's son?

[shake-this-poet-out-of-the-beast]

Forgive me, A-Ling

Not sure how I feel about this one. But its finished so figured I'd post ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[tls123]

i know wei wuxian is first pick as god/personification of death etc. etc. (duh, perfect choice, so sexy) but i would like to propose jiang cheng for the part. in the same way elizabeth swann is death from that one post about her kisses damning the men she loves

in the way everything he touches and everything he loves seems to be doomed (sect, parents, sister, brother)

wei wuxian as life!!! as god of life!!! coming back, unkillable. life giving (core transfer, wen ning, etc.)*

jin ling doesn't die because at the end of the story, at the guanyin temple, wei wuxian is there too. to protect him the same way he protected jiang cheng

and this is why he (wei wuxian) has to go back to being yunmeng jiang's head disciple, in this essay i will—

*i'm not saying he lives well, but he lives! he fucking claws and crawls and fights his way out of the burial mounds, he just doesn't fucking quit** you know what i mean

**until he does, but that's a choice he makes.

[blacklupin-halestilinski]

I don't understand why so many of mdzs fans hate jiang cheng .They are looking at wwx & lwj pov side and why can't they look at jc story from his side as well.

Madam yu was a bad mother but a great leader. She was blinded by hatred. And fengmian can't be called a good person too. He mistreated his own son because he looked like his mother . Jc was a child , all jc wanted loving parents . But madam yu doesn't know how to show love or affection & fengmian knew how to do it, but he didn't even care about it. The only good thing fengmian did was adopt wy & the only good thing madam yu did was care about jc somehow .I will never forget this, which is that fengmian picked jc less than 5 times (according to him) but each time was enough to keep him happy for months .He didn't like jc because he was like madam yu and he never saw how hard jc worked to please him and get his attention. Madam yu used this as a weapon . They were passing jc between the two of them like he was just a toy, and they didn't know how much damage it had done to the boy since he was a child. Can you imagine how depressed he was since childhood? Jyl was the only one who gave him a little relief, but don't forget that after wy came to lotus peir , he got the full attention of not only his father but also his sister. He was so alone but still loved & cared wy. How is it when not only parents but others compare him with wy and always say that you can't do this and that?  He was a little boy then , Because of his family & others his insecurity about himself and the feeling that no one likes him increased.

He was not 16-17 years old when the collapsed clan was handed over to him.  The entire clan has been destroyed, there are about 50-100 people.  Even his parents were killed and he could not find his brother. Also, he lost his golden core when he went to protect wy. Don't forget that time wen chao captured him and tortured him, beating him with discipline whips after removing his golden core. And he had to see his people killed in front of his eyes and had to see his whole clan burn to ashes . And that time how many people tried to take his place because he was young and had no one to help him?   No one can imagine his mental state at that time. But, he endured all of them and rebuilt the clan from scratch.

After wy came back, others blamed jc for all of wy's mistakes. Jc is angry because wy didn't choose him. At a time when his clan is still being built, jc can't choose both his brother and the members of the wen clan. That's why he told his brother to come to him, because he will protect his brother no matter what anyone says. Yiling belonged to yunmenng and who protected them during those three years? And he wasn't there  at JZ's death, so he believed the rumours. And think about it, he is a brother as well as a clan leader.  If he makes a small mistake, it will go outside his clan. And if he doesn't go with wy's seige, what will happen to his rebuilding clan? His sister died in front of his eyes and went to protect wy. Not only that ,in front of his eyes wy divested  his qi.(I am talking about the mdzs plot because the plot of cql/tu has been completely changed)  He loved his brother & sister  more than his parents. Because Yanali and Xian were like his parents since childhood.    

    Who can bear that pain within three years he lost his entire family. In the end, he was left with only that one-month-old child without parents. He didn't kill his brother, but everyone said he did. How does he feel the pain when others  says that?  God, he is  a human too.If he hates wy so much, why did he keep  chengquing a secret from everyone for 16 years? And when wy came back he knew it was his brother. If he hates wy so much, he could have told everyone that he is back? And others don't know if it's true or false about jc torturing dark cultivatiors , it's all rumours. Also, even after wy came back, jc was angry because he chose lz instead of jc.  

He is sad and angry not because of anything, Because no matter how much he trusts wy, wy doesn't trust him. That's why he says that if wy hid the fact that he gave the golden core to jc as a secret, he will also keep the loss of his golden core as a secret. He knows that even if his brother comes back, he doesn't want him and that's why he let him go.  Jc's sacrifices for everyone, his pains, his everything are hidden from everyone by his outer character. 

If we take the story from the beginning to the end, is he not the one who has been alone all the time without anything and bearing all the pain alone? All he wanted was a loving family.

It's so sad that everyone misunderstands him without seeing his story from his side 💔.

Jiang cheng is a person who hide his soft and weak heart by acting strict .

[seventhchance]

MDZS might be my favorite book but like hell if I'm gonna get transmigrated in there. You just know you'll end up as Yanli and that'll be a bad time for everyone -- especially you. Obsessed with your little brother's will-they-won't-they with his weird friend from from school. Trying to shut down your abusive mom (she is scary). Deciding if you want to let your bros get spiritually mutilated so that one of them can be come a war hero necromancer and you don't just all die to an evil empire (if you even can, you're not working with a ton of social capital here). Trying to cook soup. Trying very, very hard not to fuck up the soup.

[pleasegivejinlingabreak]

I also kin jc and lx, but i didn't want to put the same character in two boxes

[randomness-is-my-order]

you know what is genuinely heartening for me about wei wuxian’s character? we can very easily discern that throughout the course of the series, countless people are ready to kill wei wuxian but on the flip side?? wei wuxian is also someone who is capable of inspiring enough loyalty and love that people are willing to die for him. this is a random reference but i remember having a discussion about a kdrama (strongest deliveryman for anyone who’s curious) and this one person said that it is easy to tell how good of a person the main character is because he has all these people surrounding him, ready to listen, ready to lay down their lives for him. and that is exactly the case with wei wuxian–it is a testament to his character that people like wen qing, wen ning, jiang yanli made the sacrifices that they did, just so he could live on. it is a testament to his character that lan wangji, an absolute paragon of virtue, would 100% die for wei wuxian. and yes, wei wuxian would stick his neck out for each of them as well but it’s the fact he doesn’t have to–that this loyalty is not transactional but something he has inspired within these people simply by being himself and doing the right thing and proving that he is deserving of their loyalty.

it’s the fact that other “leaders” of their world did not only fail at earning loyalty but they were such horrible people that instead, they inspired betrayal within their subjects. it’s so fascinating how wei wuxian’s effect on people compares against the cultivation sect heirs and leaders because, despite all the odds stacked against him, he did a better job at actually leading the cultivation world (the war victory, the advocation for the wen remnants, the inventions that advanced the cultivation society) than any of these political figures at their peaks (and this includes jin guangyao with his watchtowers and lan wangji’s arriving where the chaos is stuff, though these are validly debatable).

okay but point is: it is very easy to make people hate you and want to kill you, atleast in the mdzs world, but it is far more difficult to inspire the kind of loyalty that would make people want to die for you and wei wuxian, somehow, managed to do just that and not just once. also, that the people loyal to him, are some of the most morally upstanding characters–as perceived either by the cultivation world and/or the fandom. isn’t that so telling?

[esoteric-oracle]

//long rambles ahead!

I think what really lingers with me about MDZS is that it's not a novel with a cathartic ending at all. It's a bittersweet story that leaves you slightly hollow. Yes, it's a beautiful and epic romance. It's a piece of social commentary interwoven with a love story and murder mystery. It's a cautionary tale. But it is also very much a tragedy. It's a story about being too late, second chances, and moving on.

By the time the truth of everything JGY and JGS did comes to light, it's 13 years too late. Everything that mattered has already happened. Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan are long dead. Jin Ling is still an orphan. Wen Ning is dead, and sometime in the future, his death will be permanent. Wen Qing was burned to death at the stake for no fault of her own. Nie Mingjue has already spent ten years in a no-doubt agonizing state of un-death, and Lan Xichen will have to bear the guilt of loving both Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao, and by doing so, forsaking them both. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng's once-close bond is irrevocably broken, and the woman who sowed the seeds of resentment when they were still children will never face the consequences of her vitriol.

People sometimes say MXTX was too hard on the side characters, and only gave the Wangxian a happy ending, but what stuck with me after finishing the story is how… sad things are. Yes, Wangxian finally get the happy ending they've deserved for nearly 20 years - but at the same time, it's not a happy ending where the people who've wronged them get the consequences they deserve.

Wei Wuxian will spend the rest of his life haunted by guilt and loss, over what happened to Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan, over the loss of the Wen remnants. The rest of his years won't even be lived in the body his parents gave him.

Lan Wangji will spend the rest of his years wondering if he'd chosen to stand with Wei Wuxian when it mattered - would his son have had to grow up without his birth family?

Nie Huaisang is left wondering if his brother had been a little less trusting and had never taken Meng Yao in as a Nie deputy, would his brother have died a less wretched death? Would he have been forced to stoop to ruthless machinations and manipulations to seek some semblance of justice?

Wen Ning will have to live with the knowledge that if he'd been a little less kind, if he'd let Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng die that fateful day - his family would still be alive. The Wens would've won the war; Wen Qing might've even succeeded Wen Ruohan.

No one really gets the ending they deserve. MDZS isn't a story where good people get happy endings, and bad people get their dues. Sure, Jin Guangyao's crimes are revealed and he faces the consequences of his actions. But what about the people who stood by and made him into a monster? If anything, the side characters and antagonists who survive get better than they deserve. The real villain of MDZS - society - will never face retribution. Those cultivators who always believed in their own bigotry and righteousness over and over again, will never face justice.

Do you think those cultivators and the public will ever feel any regret for the innocent people they condemned to death in their own prejudice and blind self-righteousness? Do you think the people who gathered at Nightless City to call for Wei Wuxian's death considered for one second that he was the biggest reason they won the war? When the cultivators who sacked the Wen settlement at the Burial Mounds threw the bodies of the Wens into the blood pool, do you think that was a sign of shame?

Do you think Jiang Cheng will ever regret leading a siege on a small settlement of innocent farmers? Do you think he's haunted by condemning to death the same people whom he owes his life to?

Do you think those people like Yao-zongzhu will ever feel an ounce of remorse for so easily believing rumours and hearsay, and spreading speculation and vitriol about innocent people?

Do you think that unnamed cultivator out there will ever lose a single minute of sleep over smashing in Wen Popo's head?

In the years that follow, Wen Ning will have apologized a hundred times for lives he did not take, crimes he did not commit, because of the name he bears. People, both in-universe, and even readers, will condemn him for actions he could not help, for doing the right thing. But did Jiang Cheng ever apologize for killing his family? Did the Jins ever apologize for their horrific treatment of people in the labour camps?

People will continue to demand that Wei Wuxian apologize for causing the deaths of their friends and family. But how is Wei Wuxian meant to do that? No one ever apologized to him for taking his family away. No one ever apologized for condemning the Wen Remnants to death for crimes they took no part in. The Wens were his family too.

There's so much potential for bitterness and corruption in MDZS. Instead of saving everyone, Wei Wuxian could've stood aside and let the people who tried to kill him die. MDZS could've been a story of succumbing to hatred and grief, but it wasn't. MXTX could've gone on and on about how society wronged the protagonist, but she didn't. The narrative is one of forgiveness and moving beyond past grievances. The story chose to close the story on a positive note. I truly love that aspect of MDZS, where MXTX leaves just enough room for hope and love at the end.

A-Yuan will finally get his closure about the family he lost as a toddler. Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian get their happy ending together after being separated by nearly two decades by war, miscommunication, cruelty, and death.

Wei Wuxian will never regret protecting survivors of an attempted genocide, because it was the right thing to do.

And Wen Ning will still stand in the way and take a fatal blow meant for Jin Ling, despite everything the Jins and Jiang Cheng did to the people he loved.

Because they chose love. Characters like Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning and Lan Wangji have the chance to move on and live a happier life because when they could've succumbed to hurt and fury and resentment, they chose to be kind and do the right thing. Wangxian get their happy ending because they learn to recognize the toxicity of the cultivation society's self-cannibalizing prejudice, and chose to pursue righteousness above personal benefit.

MDZS isn't a story about good people getting good things. Just look at what happened to Xiao Xingchen. There's really nothing satisfying or cathartic about everyone's fates at all. There's no promise about society facing the consequences of their mob mentality or Wangxian actually changing the world together. Even in TGCF, for all its makings of a love story, we get the promise of societal change once Jun Wu is deposed.

It has all the makings to be a tragedy or tale of vengeance of epic proportions - but instead, it's a love story. It's a story about making the best of what you've got, and staying true to yourself and your morals, even if that's sometimes a bitter pill to swallow. It's a story where everything that could go wrong went wrong, but the characters still managed to fight their way to a better ending by choosing kindness. At its core, MDZS is a testament to choosing compassion over cruelty no matter how tragic and hopeless life gets, no matter how long the journey gets. Even though the happy ending is more personal and only applies to the specific characters, even though we don't actually get the promise of their society becoming a better place - we still have the hope that Wei Wuxian's second chance brings. The hope that sometimes, no matter how cruel the world is, some people who deserve it still get their happy endings. That's what makes MDZS such a memorable work of art. That's why it stays with you.

[great-art-and-a-purple-tongue]

Saw a mdzs fandom post suggesting that chengxian be tagged as incest. And now I'm imagining that Madame Yu would be so against the idea of people believing that Wei Wuxian was part of her blood family that she would actually set up a betrothal between him and Jiang Cheng just to prove it. Not with Jiang Yanli, though; her girl deserves better.

[shanastoryteller]

Happy Pride!!!! Living Blood or Lady Mo please!

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 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43

Xuanyu disrobes unashamedly, hesitating only at the last second with the sleeve covering her left arm.

Jiang Yanli laughs. “Bit late to be modest, I think.”

“Modesty is overrated,” she returns, which is something that Zixuan would say and A-Yao would think. She slips the rest of the robes off and steps into the steaming bath, letting out a deep sigh of satisfaction.

The changes her body has undergone are even more obvious without the thick layers of the robes obscuring her form. The extra weight seems to have settled in ideal places, not only thickening her waist and limbs but settling heavily along her hips and breasts, which hadn’t exactly been small to begin with.

She sits behind Xuanyu, filling a bowl with water and then pouring it over her hair to rinse it of blood and dirt that had been hidden by her dark hair. Acting as a bathing assistant is far below her station, but Xuanyu had sent all the servants away and she doesn’t mind, really. Xuanyu is her sister, likely the only one she’ll ever have considering A-Cheng’s track record with matchmakers, and she’s been worried about her. This gives them time to speak alone. “How has your marriage with Lan Wangji been? Has he been kind?”

Xuanyu pulls a face, which isn’t encouraging. “I guess. He mostly left me alone, and then we had a couple fights and he was a jerk, and now I think he’s trying to make up for being a jerk, but it’s a little – well, it’s nice that he’s making an effort. I suppose.”

Not as good as she’d hoped, but not as bad as she’d feared. “Sect Leader Lan seems fond of you.”

“Oh, Lan Xichen is great,” she says easily. Better than reaction to Lan Wangji, but still not what Jiang Yanli had been hoping for. Then her eyes light up. “Sizhui is wonderful! I’ll give Wangji one thing, he’s raised a good kid. He’s so sweet, and a great cultivator, and he’s always trying to help out everyone around him. I’m glad Jingyi’s always hanging around – without him, I think everyone would just take advantage of Sizhui’s good nature.”

Well, that’s something. Surely Lan Wangji can’t resist Xuanyu’s charms for long, not when she dotes on his son and gets along with his brother.

“What trouble did you get into on the road?” she asks, running her hand over the wound on Xuanyu’s shoulder. It looks nearly fully healed already and there’s another mostly healed wound on her hip, a thin slice on her left arm, and the shadow of various bruises that were likely much worse a couple hours ago. It’s of course a good thing that Xuanyu has a strong golden core, but Jiang Yanli can’t help a moment of wistfulness.

Her own core never lived up to her mother’s expectations, or her own. If she’d had a stronger core, she could have given A-Ling siblings. A child should have siblings. She would have had a calmer childhood without two little brothers underfoot, but a lonelier one too.

Xuanyu shrugs, lazily scrubbing herself down. “Looks like Xiao Xingchen picked up the girl, A-Qing, while he and Song Lan were separated and was trapped in this place that was basically a ghost town.” How could he be trapped by a place that had no people? “And I’d heard some rumors so when we ran into Song Lan I helped him find Xiao Xingchen, but there was a bit of a fight with someone who didn’t want him to leave. I just happened to get caught in the crossfire, so to speak.”

She’s stretching the truth to outright lying. Before Jiang Yanli can call her on it, her stomach growls.

“Didn’t get a chance to eat on the road?” she teases.

Xuanyu flushes, ducking briefly beneath the water to hide her flaming cheeks before resurfacing. “Things were a little hectic. It may have slipped my mind.”

How has she managed to put on weight while also forgetting to eat? Perhaps Lan Wangji deserves more credit.

“I think I have some candies in my room, if you want something before the banquet,” she offers. “I know the speeches take forever.”

Her eyes light up before dimming and she slumps in the bath. “Thanks, Yanli-jie, but I better not. Sizhui gave me some on the road and I usually love them but just putting it in my mouth almost made me sick. It was awful. And weird! They’re my favorite.”

Jiang Yanli blinks then gives Xuanyu’s significantly larger chest a considering look. It could be nothing. It’s probably nothing. She hasn’t even been married a year and it doesn’t sound as if she and Lan Wangji have been seeing eye to eye.

Then again, the same could have been said about her and Zixuan.

“Can I ask you something personal, Meimei?”

Xuanyu nods. “You can ask me anything, Yanli-jie.”

“Are you and Lan Wangji having sex?”

She turns bright red and ducks beneath the water for so long that Jiang Yanli is starting to get concerned before she resurfaces, still red faced. “Um. We did once. Well – I guess, technically, it was three times, but it was only one night.”

Well. Apparently Lan Wangji has stamina on and off the battlefield.

“One moment,” she says, briefly squeezing Xuanyu’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

It takes one whispered conversation with the servant outside the hall and approximately ninety seconds before her personal healer is standing in front of her. Jiang Yanli ducks back inside to see Xuanyu out of the bath, in a thin bathing robe that’s clinging to her as she wrings her hair out. “I’d like my healer to take a look at you, Meimei.”

Xuanyu freezes, slowly standing straight with a wary look on her face. “That’s really not necessary. The wounds were just superficial and they’re basically healed already.”

“It’ll be quick,” she says, because if she’s right then she can’t let Xuanyu go down to the banquet without letting her know. “She’s very discreet – she’s been my personal healer since I was a child.”

“Jiang Xingyi?” Xuanyu asks, some of her tension draining away.

Jiang Yanli nods, trying to think of some reason that Xuanyu would know her healer’s name, or her reputation, but all the servants are terrible gossips and her health is a frequent topic of derision. “Just your wrist, okay? Your golden core has changed a lot. I just want her to take a look.”

She feels bad about lying, but Xuanyu had lied to her first.

Xuanyu relaxes even further. “Okay, Yanli-jie. If it’ll make you feel better.”

“Thank you,” she smiles, then opens the door to usher Jiang Xingyi in.

The old woman doesn’t smile, but Xuanyu grins back undeterred, and says, “Hi, Granny,” before paling and adding, “uh, um. Sorry.”

Jiang Yanli feels a familiar pang of grief go through her. A-Xian had referred to Jiang Xingyi as Granny, the only disciple both bold and beloved enough to get away with it.

Jiang Xingyi ignores her, instead reaching for her wrist and pressing her fingers against it. Xuanyu fidgets, shifting from one foot to the other, but says nothing as the moments stack on top of one another.

Finally, Jiang Xingyi drops her wrist and steps back. Her stern visage breaks, a smile stretching her mouth across her face. “Congratulations, Madame Lan.”

She knew it!

“Thanks,” Xuanyu answers before wrinkling her nose. “Um. For what?”

“You are expecting,” she answers. “At least a couple months along, I believe, although I’d have to do a more thorough examination to be sure.”

Jiang Yanli moves to embrace her, but Xuanyu’s face drops and she turns dangerously pale. “What? No. That’s not possible. I can’t be.”

“Three times,” Jiang Yanli reminds her, trying to goad Xuanyu into laughter.

But instead she just shakes her head. “No, no I can’t, I – this can’t be happening,” she whispers to herself, grabbing her own arms in a white knuckled grip. “It’s not. It’s impossible. I can’t be.”

She’s young, and this wasn’t a marriage of her own choosing, and it’s so new. Of course she’s surprised and nervous. Jiang Yanli touches her elbow, intending to say something soothing, but Xuanyu collapses into her arms, gripping her waist and hiding her tears in her shoulder.

“Xuanyu!” she says, hugging her back just as fiercely, her heart breaking for the younger girl’s anguish. “Meimei, it’s okay, I know this is scary, but it’s going to be fine.”

“It’s not,” she says, voice thick with tears, “A-jie, this is awful, this is – it can’t happen! It can’t, Wangji is going to be so mad, he’s going to hate me, and everything is ruined and awful, I can’t be – I can’t! I’m going to die!”

Jiang Yanli’s whole body goes cold and she grips Xuanyu even tighter against her. “You’re going to be fine,” she says, pushing her conviction into every syllable.

No matter what Jiang Yanli has to do, Xuanyu is going to be fine.

[littlesmartart]

DRAWTOBER #29 - Writ In Blood by @dangerouscommiesubversive

Someone or something is killing the Jins, and Jiang Yanli is afraid for her own safety and that of her husband and baby. At her wit's end and too exhausted to take matters into her own hands, she reaches out to her old friend Lan Xichen, who hurries out to Carp Manor to investigate. Can he track down this spirit whose grudge is strong enough that its death count is at six and set to get higher? And if he does, will he be able to stop it in time?

despite the incredibly dark premise, this fic is actually a LOT of fun! I really love all the characterisations in this - particularly how no-nonsense Yanli is once she finally finds out who the ghost is (resolving tension by demanding he sit down, shut up, and hold the baby until he feels better???? incredible), and Xichen calling everyone "dear" is not something I've seen in any other modern AU, but you know what? it works really well here. I also love that Meng Yao gets to be a little bit Extra(TM), because he deserves it. a surprisingly upbeat story with the deeply unnerving undercurrent of a cheerfully homocidal ghost 👌