#jin ling is a brat

[wangxianficrecs]

Jin Ling and Demonic Cultivation by ImNobody122

Jin Ling and Demonic Cultivation

by ImNobody122

Not rated, 8k, Jin Ling

Summary: Mo Xuanyu was not the first demonic cultivator Jin Ling had to rescue from his uncle's hands.

My comments: The author made the super interesting point that Jin Ling was a bit too casual about caring for people his uncle suspected were Wei Wuxian and was about to torture, so this fic explores the years before Wei Wuxian's return and how Jin Ling came to slowly grow into his role as the person who will attempt to free people his uncle mistook for Wei Wuxian, because it happens like every other week and it's a bit embarassing for teenage Jin Ling too, like: urgh, can't believe my uncle is once again shouting about having caught Yiling Laozu. I really enjoyed this story!

Excerpt: “Well your music must suck if they think you are a demonic cultivator after hearing a song.” “I would argue the opposite. My music was just so good that even the dead enjoy it and why wouldn’t they gather to listen? Music speaks to the soul. All it took was the sound of a dizi and the presence of calmer corpses for that idiot to think I am a demonic cultivator.” His uncle wasn’t an idiot. He wouldn’t accuse someone of this wouldn’t hurt someone without good reason. He wouldn’t. Lee Xiu didn’t care about his internal turmoil and was tying her hair back with a bit of twine. “My uncle isn’t stupid he grew up with the Grandmaster of demonic cultivation. If anyone can recognize a demonic cultivator it’s him. You’re lying.” “Then Jiang Cheng isn’t just stupid he’s crazy too. I mean he thinks I am Wei Wuxian!” She seem to find the accusation ridiculous Jin Ling didn’t. Wei Wuxian grew up with Jiang Chang, fought with him, fought against him, if anyone could recognize him from a song it would be his uncle. Jin Ling stumbled backward wary. If this really was Wei Wuxian… he would have to be very careful getting his sword back. He would get to kill the man that murdered his parents. “What are you doing acting so scared? Do you really think I am the Yiling Laozu?” She studied him for a long moment then lifted her long draping red sleeves. Even in the darkness he could clearly see the branching whip marks of Zidian. Blood flowed freely and it was a wonder that Jin Ling’s robes weren’t stained with her blood. She wasn’t Wei Wuxian. Zidian was never wrong.

pov jin ling, thirteen years of wei wuxian's death, torture, aftermath of torture, mild gore, child jin ling, teenage jin ling, jiang cheng & jin ling, jin ling is a brat, demonic cultivation, implied/referenced torture, jiang cheng's 13 years of serial killing, not jiang cheng friendly, canon compliant, angst, @colorsunlikeanythingseen

~*~

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

[little-meowyao]

My brothers in christ LSZ nad JL are not family. Thet were never family. They are not related by blood and do not consider eachother as family. They are not stepcousins. That would imply knowing eachother as such.

[emkini]

Jin Ling is definitely on the list of top 10 characters I did not expect to be obsessed with but here we are

[weiwuxianismybae]

Wei Wuxian would NOT help Jiang Cheng torture demonic cultivators

So a while ago (and I mean a while ago), I saw the worst take at that moment. If it was just one poster I would have ignored it, but! There were at least 3 people and even art was drawn and all of it to say that if Jiang Cheng was really torturing those non-existent demonic cultivators, than Wei Wuxian would have happily helped his brother! And before anyone comes at me, I don't care what people do with their free time or with their skills. I'm an artist myself and would definitely not appreciate people telling me what I can and can't draw. It's not about that, it's just that their take was so bad that I couldn't ignore it and had to vent about it! So, where do I begin?

Well, let's begin with those demonic cultivators! (I know a bunch of people said it already, but I don't mind repeating it for the slow learners.)

Oh! And keep in mind that mdzs is a third person omniscient narration (not wwx's narration!) That's why we get to read direct thoughts of so many different characters, not just Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Cheng really did torture them. He admits it himself!

A moment ago, Jiang Cheng was certain that this person was Wei WuXian, and all of the blood in his body started to boil. Yet, now, Zidian was clearly telling him that he wasn’t. Zidian definitely wouldn’t deceive him or make a mistake, so he quickly calmed himself and thought, this doesn’t mean anything. I should first find an excuse to take him back and use every possible method to get information out of him. It’s impossible for him to not confess anything or give himself away. I’ve done things like this in the past anyways. After thinking it through, he made a gesture. The disciples understood his intention and came over.

ExR ch. 10

His nephew, who lived half the time in Lotus Pier, also confirms it:

Wei WuXian asked, “Do you know why your uncle wants me?”

Jin Ling answered, “Yeah. He believes that you’re Wei WuXian.”

Wei WuXian thought, 'This time, it’s not merely ‘suspect’ anymore. He’s got the right person.' He asked again, “Then, what about you? Don’t you suspect it as well?”

Jin Ling, “It’s not the first time my uncle did such a thing. He has never let any of them go, even if it was possible that he caught the wrong ones. But, if Zidian couldn’t draw out your spirit, I’m just gonna trust that you’re not. Besides, he wasn’t a cut-sleeve, but you even dared to harass…”

ExR ch. 24

Even the Lan juniors speek of it! Reminder that gossip is forbidden, so this must not be gossip or at least the possibility of it being just some rumours is low.

Lan SiZhui tried to reason with him, “Young Master Mo, it was for your sake that HanGuang-Jun brought you here. If you do not follow us, Sect Leader Jiang will not be willing to let the matter go. During these years, there were countless people whom he caught and took back to Lotus Pier, and none of those people were ever let out.”

ExR ch. 11

And let's not forget the innkeeper from Yunping with her eyewitness!

Wei WuXian moved his gaze from Lan WangJi’s calm face with a short pause of surprise, “Lotus Pier is scary? How could Lotus Pier be scary? You’ve been there?”

The owner, “I haven’t been there myself, but I know someone who went because his house was being badly haunted. But it was all bad luck. That Sect Leader Jiang was cracking a glowing whip right on the training field. The victim’s flesh and blood flew as high as his screams! A servant secretly informed him that the sect leader caught the wrong person again, that he hadn’t been in a great mood, and that he definitely shouldn’t be irritated in any way. He was so scared that he dropped off the gifts he brought and fled at once. He never dared visit again.”

ExR ch. 92

So. There is no point arguing that Jiang Cheng didn't torture those poor people demonic cultivators. So, how about Wei Wuxian? Would he have helped his "brother"?

No.

The answer is simply no.

Wei Wuxian is a kind and caring person. He would never judge and even less attack a person without a good reason. And before someone says, "But he killed so many people! Torture Wen cultivators, massacred 3000 cultivators in the Nightless City! Surely he would–" Let me stop you right there. It was war. Like Mianmian once said:

The woman tried hard to protest, “The Sunshot Campaign is a battlefield. On the battlefield, would it mean that everyone is killing indiscriminately? Let’s consider this as it stands. I really don’t think it’s right to say that he killed indiscriminately. After all, there is a reason. If the inspectors really abused the prisoners and killed Wen Ning, it wouldn’t be called killing indiscriminately anymore, but rather revenge...”

ExR ch. 73

(This passage is in case someone argues that the deaths of those guards were also unjust.)

Wen Chao and his people massacred Wei Wuxian's home. He had every right to exact his revenge. In case someone forgot, this is seen as just by the cultivation world:

Xiao XingChen spoke as though he couldn’t believe Xue Yang’s words, “Chang CiAn broke one of your fingers in the past. If you sought revenge, you could’ve simply broken one of his fingers as well. If you really took the matter to heart, you could’ve broken two, or even all ten! Even if you had cut off an entire arm of his, things wouldn’t have been like this. Why did you have to kill his entire clan? Don’t tell me that a single finger of yours was equal to more than fifty human lives!”

ExR ch. 41

And after that, he never went after people that did him nothing wrong! He even protected the Wen Remnants. (Unlike a certain someone that holds a grudge until the very end, even after that person had saved him countless times!)

In case of the Nightless City, let me paraphrase Wei Wuxian: who attacked whom first? Who had gathered 3000 cultivators to pledge to kill 50 innocent elderly, sick and a child? Who went against their word to let the matter go?

Wei Wuxian is the moral compass and we should aspire to be more like him. This is how MXTX wrote him. He would have never helped his "brother" (they were never brothers, people, let it go already) torture and kill innocents. And he would definitely not relish in it.

+ Bonus

The same innkeeper from Yunping about some rando with surname Wen:

The owner, “Also, I’ve heard of another person who was scared away.”

Wei WuXian, “Scared away by what?” It couldn’t have been when Jiang Cheng was whipping someone again, could it? Just how often did Jiang Cheng capture people and whip them?

The owner, “No, no. It was his misfortune. The person’s surname was Wen, and that Sect Leader Jiang’s archenemy happened to have the surname of Wen as well. He's hating on everyone in this world whose surname is Wen. Whenever he sees one, he’d grind his teeth in hatred, wanting to skin them alive. How could he give a single friendly look to...”

ExR ch. 92

Good thing that guy's name wasn't Wen Kexing or it would have been Jiang Cheng who was tortured to death!

[touchlikethesun]

of all the horrible things my mother has said to me, “i can’t stand that jin ling kid” has got to be the worst. her the untamed privileges are revoked. i cannot watch with her any longer. of all the bad takes to have about this show, of all the things i was afraid she’d say, i never — never! — expected this

[yoyowrites]

do you constantly think about how jin ling is such a sad boy? like he looses both of his parents, his farher had JUST learned to be a decent person and then he died. he's left with his uncles one of which (jc) is in the middle of grief, he's lost his parents, sister, and brother (bc despite it all wwx is his brother and he will always care for him) and brother in law. he instills this hatred of wei wuxian in jin ling, one that jl carries well in to his teens because he couldn't know better. jin ling is so alone, despite having pretty high socual standing not only does he not have any friends, he constantly gets bullied by people of his OWN sect. his other uncle (my), a snake that wouldn't hesitate to put him in danger but he's also the only adult that outwardly and consistently showed him kindness. that uncle ends up being killed right in front of him. the tables of public opinion has turned so he can't even grieve in the open. he's also now surrounded by elders who don't respect him and will manipulate him at any turn

do you think about that? or are you like normal?

[lady-of-the-spirit]

LEAVE FAIRY ALONE WWX LET JIN LING NAME HIS DOG WHATEVER HE WANTS!! 😤

[grapestones]

And, as someone who is fan of age gaps and the younger crushing on the older one, I would also love if Jiang Cheng found kid Levi and took care of him. Levi can fight with his feelings but once he accepts it, oh boy. Better conquer Jiang Cheng's heart before Jin Ling finds out

[s2pdoktopus]

The strict Shijie

[twistedappletree]

yeah, i think i like you

i’m not gonna let you know.

[tossawary]

Wei Wuxian's first meeting with teenage Jin Ling just gets funnier every time. Especially because, by this point, he should have a rough idea of how long it's been since he died, and he immediately recognizes Jin Ling as a member of the Jin Sect, clearly an important one if he's bossing other people around and spending absurd amounts of money on spiritual nets. If Wei Wuxian had spent A SINGLE MINUTE actively trying to guess this kid's identity, he probably could have worked out that this kid has a high chance of being his nephew.

But Wei Wuxian does not take the time (thirty seconds! WWX, you could have made an educated guess!) to figure out this kid's specific identity! He's just been wrestling with an incredibly stubborn donkey all day and he's probably hangry again because they had to share an apple. He just thinks to himself, "Wow, this Jin kid is a real spoiled brat," and goes from there!

"Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?" he says obliviously to JIN LING, his own fucking nephew. When Jin Ling is FAMOUSLY ORPHANED. Like, you could go up to literally anyone on the street and be like, "What happened to that rich kid Jin Ling's parents?" and they would immediately tell you, "Oh, the evil Yiling Patriarch killed them, evilly." Very high chance that no one has ever said this particular insult to Jin Ling - extremely rich young master, most famous orphan in the cultivation world, in possession of some very scary uncles - before.

And from Jin Ling's perspective, this outrageous comment is coming from his OWN UNCLE, Mo Xuanyu, his late grandfather's bastard son who was kicked out of the sect for being gay and crazy. There is NO WAY that Mo Xuanyu could somehow not know that Jin Ling has no parents, so of course, this has to be an intentional low-blow insult bringing up and disparaging his dead mother. So, of course this brat tries to start a fight! Mo Xuanyu started it with words like that!

And then Wei Wuxian trips him and essentially sits on him (using a talisman), there's the whole "My uncle is going to kill you!" & "Who's your uncle?" exchange, and Jiang Cheng immediately interrupts them. And Wei Wuxian has to do the sudden, incredibly simple, damning mental calculation of: "Jin kid + Jiang Cheng for an uncle = Oh, fuck."

It's funny every single time.

[beefdogcoffee]

jin ling: everytime you insult yourself, you insult my jiujiu jiang cheng: ? jin ling: and just because you're my jiujiu, it doesn't give you the right to insult the person i love! jiang cheng, processing: jiang cheng, tearing up: ..brat.

[mxtxfanatic]

Just saw someone make a post about how Hanguang-jun was “beefing” with a child (Jin Ling), and while the response I saw to it was fantastic—pointing out how Jin Ling was a spoiled brat who was constantly, knowingly putting others in danger and Lan Wangji served as one of the first adults in his life (the other being Wei Wuxian) who actually disciplined him for his unruly actions in order to teach him to be a better person—it made me think of something I never really took notice of: Jin Ling is afraid of other adults.

Now, obviously Jin Ling isn’t afraid of all adults. He’s unhesitant about bossing around the adult Jiang disciples when his uncle isn’t around. He treats “Mo Xuanyu” very disrespectfully until Wei Wuxian puts him in his place. He’s fine with yelling back at the adult rogue cultivators whose lives he’s endangered. But he reacts to Hanguang-jun as if Lan Wangji is going to kill him (or Fairy) for stepping out of line. Why? There are two reasons for this: 1) Jin Ling is afraid of adults that his uncles will not protect him from and 2) because he has not had any positive examples of care or discipline in his life, discipline, in his mind, carries an inherent threat of violence.

Let’s discuss point one. Outside of Lan Wangji, every adult listed above has been successfully suppressed by either Jiang Cheng or Jin Guangyao, Jin Ling’s uncles. The Jiang disciples are under Jiang Cheng’s control. The rogue cultivators are cowed by the threat of Jiang Cheng’s Zidian. Mo Xuanyu has been expelled by Jin Guangyao with the full weight of the Jin Clan behind him. So Jin Ling, the nephew who they allow to run wild, has nothing to fear by disrespecting them. However, Lan Wangji does not fall into this category. Lan Wangji is the younger brother of Jin Guangyao’s sworn brother, and as the uncle who does not step in to protect Jin Ling from violence, Jin Ling is well aware that Jin Guangyao would likely not side with him if he crossed Lan Wangji. At most, he would play peacemaker, as he does to discourage Jiang Cheng from reprimanding Jin Ling in his presence. This only works for individuals who care about reputation, though, and Lan Wangji is no such individual. That leaves Jiang Cheng as the only one who could potentially suppress Lan Wangji, but immediately upon confrontation, Jiang Cheng backs down from conflict and instead chooses to throw Jin Ling under the bus, probably for the first time in the child’s life. Neither of his powerful uncles will defend him against this adult, and this adult, himself, is unafraid to run afoul of Jin Ling. This, then, leads to the second point.

Jin Ling has only known violence as a form of discipline. It is notable that neither of Jin Ling’s uncles discipline him when he is in the wrong for his actions: Jin Guangyao coaxes Jin Ling while deflecting criticism while Jiang Cheng encourages Jin Ling’s bad behavior…except when directed at himself. Thus, let’s remove Jin Guangyao from this “discipline” conversation. What does Jin Ling know of Jiang Cheng’s discipline methods? Well, he whips first and asks questions later. He belittles Jin Ling with verbal abuse and resorts to physical violence against his nephew when under stress. He runs his sect with such an iron fist that his disciples are afraid to tell him things he does not like. Jin Ling has never known him to be anything but cruel and cold. And if we take into account how both the Jin and Jiang clans treat outsiders, we see that most situations of disagreement or discontent end in violence, with the Jiang and Jin as the ultimate victors. Therefore, with these stunning examples of “discipline” from his childhood guardians and their clans, it is no wonder that Jin Ling fears what being “disciplined” entails from the hands of an adult that neither of his uncles will fight for him against.

It is perfectly reasonable—in the most tragic of ways—that Hanguang-jun terrifies him at the beginning if the story. This is why the introduction of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian into his life was imperative: Jin Ling got to learn that discipline—be it criticisms or reprimands—is not inherently violent and thus was made safe enough by his two unlikely mentors to listen to them in order to transform into the better person he is by the end of the novel.

[spriteofmushrooms]

Wei Wuxian sipped the wine Lan Zhan brought from Gusu in one of Jinlin Tai's many ostentatious peony gardens. He had found a branch in a ginkgo tree that was high enough that no one should see him at a glance where he still had a good view of the moon between the yellow leaves. It wasn't the worst way he could have spent his time at the Discussion Conference. Lan Zhan, for example, had to be xiandu. What could possibly be worse than that?

"Jin Ling, what's the matter now?"

Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes. Really, Jiang Cheng is such a wronged mother. He plays his part like a grand madam.

"Do you think Zizhen-ge is a better sect leader than I am?" Jin Ling hissed.

"What?" Wei Wuxian looked down. Through the branches, he could see Jiang Cheng's silver lotus guan glimmer with his head shake. "Where did you get that from? A-Ling, sit and explain."

"You complimented him in front of everyone," Jin Ling grumbled, but he flounced onto the bench.

Jiang Cheng folded himself gracefully, careful of the drape of his robes. "It's his first conference. All I did was walk him through presenting himself, like a junior should be treated."

"You liked his proposal."

"You like it, too, brat. Besides, a little support in the beginning keeps the old men at bay."

Jin Ling knocked his shoulder against Jiang Cheng's. "So it's not because you always wanted a poet for a nephew?"

Wei Wuxian couldn't see it, but he could imagine Jiang Cheng's face. But when Jiang Cheng spoke, it didn't match the tone he expected. Sad, but trying to joke. "After the poems Zixuan wrote?"

"A-Die wrote poems?"

Oh, oh, Wei Wuxian wanted to leave.

"Once he became enlightened, he was devout. 'Rain pearls on lotus leaves which bow gracefully/Thoughts of you collect and overwhelm me.' A-jie blushed for weeks." Jiang Cheng sighed. "The Jinlin Tai library should have them all somewhere. Please don't let Ouyang-gongzi read them."

Jin Ling huffed a laugh and threw his arm around Jiang Cheng's shoulder, which is when Wei Wuxian realized Jin Ling was taller and broader now. He hadn't seen them side by side in years. A light breeze stirred the gingko leaves and lifted the scent of peonies.

"Hanguang-jun didn't murder anyone with his eyes today," Jin Ling chirped. "Do you think he's starting to like politics?"

"Don't."

"Jiujiu..."

"He's the xiandu, Jin Ling. What do you think would happen if anyone overheard you disrespect him, especially while hosting the conference?"

Jin Ling groaned and threw his head back dramatically, jostling Jiang Cheng. Briefly, Wei Wuxian amused himself by imagining what Yu-furen would have made of her grandson. Then he gently slapped himself. "You're so boring, jiujiu! It's not like he respects either of us."

Jiang Cheng snapped, "I didn't realize you aspired to be so immature and irresponsible."

Immature? Irresponsible? Jiang Cheng had a lot of nerve! Wei Wuxian would tell him so, but then he would have to admit to hiding in a tree. Jiang Cheng would be so annoying about it, and Wei Wuxian really didn't want to bother!

"Aiya, jiujiu, if I can't complain to you about him, who can I? No one else sees what he's like."

Jiang Cheng leaned against Jin Ling, but then he ruined the picture by saying, "It's good that most people can't tell. If half of the sects ran to Zewu-jun with complaints about his beloved didi, he would leave seclusion before he was ready."

They were quiet for a few moments. Suddenly, Jin Ling burst out, "Do you really not care?"

Jiang Cheng paused. "About?"

"You know I spend time with—him!"

"You're sixteen, Jin Ling. Your memory should be good enough to remember every other time you've poked at this. And use his name; he doesn't actually appear every time you call."

"Wei-qianbei misses you!" Jin Ling grabbed Jiang Cheng's shoulders and started to gently shake him back and forth, but then Jiang Cheng pushed his hands away and stood.

"As you are clearly feeling better, I will leave first," Jiang Cheng hissed.

Jin Ling zipped in front of Jiang Cheng, blocking his path. "Jiujiu, I don't understand you at all! You want to talk to him, and he wants to talk to you. Why are you waiting?"

"He wants to talk to me so much that I learned about his elopement from gossiping disciples? He wants to talk to me so much that he lives in Cloud Recesses, which he hates? He wants to talk to me so much that he ignores Lan Wangji's hand on Bichen every time we meet?" With each question, Jiang Cheng prowled forward, and Jin Ling backed up.

"I don't think he hates Cloud Recesses..."

That's right; Wei Wuxian didn't. Lan Zhan was there, for one thing. And the juniors!

"That's because you don't fucking know him," Jiang Cheng snapped.

"Oh, and you do? When you won't even talk to him?"

"I was his assignment, Jin Ling. He either played with me or starved; he either trained to be the best or lost his position." Jiang Cheng laughed, dark and mean. "Not that I noticed."

"Jiujiu..."

"Let him live the life he wants, Jin Ling. Let me go to bed."

[lotus-piers]

that one episode of bob’s burgers where gene dresses up like bob for the day except it’s a 6 year old jin ling dressed up as his jiujiu, parading around lp in magnificent purple robes that are a little too big for him with his head held high giving orders to anyone passing by in a tone reminiscent of jc and a slight scowl on his face, and jiang cheng despite his feigned annoyance and grumbling feels his heart simultaneously overflow with the love he has for a nephew that looks so much like his jiejie in those purple robes and break for the love that same nephew will never know

+ (when jc asks jl what he’s doing and jl replies saying that he wants to be just like his jiujiu, underneath jc yelling out brat and hidden behind his scoff as he turns his head is the holding back of tears because this is all simply too much)

and it’s not hard to notice but everyone at ymj carry a special almost delicate softness in their heart at the simple sight of jl that day

[the-worst-jiujiu]

Jin Ling was angry at not having captured the soul-eating Heavenly Maiden as well, and he yelled back, “Weren’t you the one who said I had to capture it at any cost?! That I couldn’t go back to you until I caught it?!”

Jiang Cheng really wanted to slap this stinking brat back to his mother’s womb. But he had indeed said those things, and he couldn’t possibly eat his own words. He could only turn to the cultivators who had collapsed all over the ground and demand of them mockingly:

“So what was it, exactly, that has pulverized you all into such an honorable state?”

7S volume 1

I slap my nephew around... But, like a true abuser, I try to stop myself from doing so in public... So I just verbally abuse my disciples to ease my frustration a little.

Don't worry, I'll slap him around later.