#jiujiu and a ling

[satonthelotuspier]

Jiang Cheng has been extremely busy with sect business recently. The end of summer is a stressful time of year, and he barely has the energy to do more than spend a little time with his family when he's finished for the evening, before he falls into bed asleep.

Lan Xichen and lil A-Ling of course want to do something really nice for him after the worst has passed, something that will help him relax and rest up and allow the three of them to spend time together as a family.

And they want it to be a lovely surprise for Jiang Cheng.

They arrange it all, Lan Xichen speaks with Yang Hai and Yang Mei and get the willing conspirators to agree to take up the reigns so Jiang Cheng can spend a few days away from Lotus Pier.

The problem is, of course, that between them they're absolutely abysmal at keeping secrets or acting innocently if they have anything to hide.

A-Ling has the excuse of youth for his lack of finesse in this, not realising the exaggerated winks and obscure hints have all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

Conversely, because of his upbringing in the Lan sect, Lan Xichen keeping a secret makes him feel like the worst transgressor to ever walk the earth; like any moment Shufu will crash through the door to mete out punishment for his sins.

His discomfort at holding a secret back is absolutely written all over his face for anyone to see. And Jiang Cheng knows them both too well to even be fooled for a moment, and he 'tortures' the truth out of Lan Xichen literally the first night after the arrangements are made (see: asks him to his face if there's something he's keeping from Jiang Cheng).

The colours Lan Xichen's face turned while he tried so very hard to work out what he should and could say were a sight to behold!

In the end, broken and beaten down (see: above), Lan Xichen could do nothing but come clean and admit everything.

But he begged Jiang Cheng not to say anything to A-Ling and still act shocked when they took him away for a few days, so as not to spoil A-Ling's surprise.

Jiang Cheng thinks this break is a little annoying, he really could do with staying in Lotus Pier; but if Yang Hai and Yang Mei have already agreed to it, and Lan Xichen and and Jin Ling have put so much effort into this...he can't reasonably ruin it for the pair.

So he agrees, and if his heart is a little bit fuller, and if he has a few suspicious tears at the corners of his eyes, its no ones business but his own.

He loves, and is loved, by two complete, yet adorable, disasters. And that Lan Xichen is just as protective of Jin Ling as Jiang Cheng is, demonstrated by the other's request for Jiang Cheng to still play along to not spoil things for A-Ling, then that just proves what an excellent choice Jiang Cheng made with Lan Xichen, doesn't it?

[katyakurae]

Plotbunny

So... A weird XuanCheng idea just pop up in my mind. What about this:

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-Modern AU.

-Not Jiang Family friendly (sorry shijie my queen).

-Jiang YanLi and Jin ZiXuan are divorced because how little Jiang YanLi cared about their son and how much she cares about Wei WuXian.

-Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXian live together. Jiang YanLi doesn't care a lot for his little brother either.

-Jiang FengMian and Yu ZiYuan are either dead or do not care about their son.

---

-Jiang Cheng it's not okay. Actually, he is far from okay. His work and the need to deal with Wei WuXian constantly are a little too much, and there is no reward for him. Not even the slightly "you're doing well".

-Jiang Cheng ends in the hospital for reasons (preferably mental health issues).

-Due to Jin Ling asking for his dear jiujiu everyday, Jin ZiXuan hears about what happend the same day Jiang Cheng is taken to the hospital.

-Jin ZiXuan is the only one who cares and go to the hospital to see him.

-When he wakes up, Jiang Cheng has a total breakdown and Jin ZiXuan gets his back. He tells his in-law that once he feels better he is going to live with A-Ling and himself, and he does not have to return with Wei WuXian.

-Jiang Cheng accepts because he is so fucking tired and he just want to be important for someone for once. He just wants to feel better, and Jin ZiXuan's hugs really make him feels that way.

-Jin ZiXuan turns out to be a good guy, caring, kind, sometimes too clingy, a good father... and also in love with him.

-Now jiujiu is also A-Ling's other dad.

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And, if someone likes this, I would love to elaborate both, the angst and the happy part~

[soursoppi]

the lion, his weeds and his baby chick

[lgbtlunaverse]

I know that because the story takes place after wwx comes back jiang cheng's whole "i don't believe wei wuxian is actually dead i'm gonna keep obsessively looking for him" shtick got retroactively legitimized, but it is pretty important to remember that wei wuxian was in fact super dead the entire time and if it hadn't been for a depressed 20-something doing a suicide ritual, influenced to an unknown degree by a revenge plot that wasn't in play yet at the time of wwx's death, he would never have come back at all. And jiang cheng would've kept going "No! He's still out there I know it" for eternity with absolutely no proof or results.

Jiang Cheng, my man, what the fuck

[lei-llustrations]

舅舅在…

Jiu jiu with some baby Jin Ling! And also sad Jin Ling post stabby😬

[sandu-zidian]

@spriteofmushrooms who could’ve possibly made a mess of jiujiu’s room? I guess we’ll never know 😭

[yustinamishka]

You know that scene in Turning Red? What if Jin Ling saw that lost and traumatized younger version of Jiang Cheng…

[yutaan]

Jiang Cheng (Champion Baby-Holder) sketch, now with COLOR

[barawrah]

i want us both to eat well

[ladyof-thestorm]

After guanyin temple, jin ling goes back to lotus pier with jiang cheng. He spends the day in a haze. He takes a bath to wash all the dirt and grime and grief off him, then dresses in purple yunmeng jiang disciple robes, because he didn’t have any spare jin clothes.

He has dinner with jiujiu without saying a word, then they say good night and jin ling goes to his lotus pier bedroom. He’s exhausted, but he can’t sleep. Fairy is curled up next to him and he pets her soft fur to try and calm himself down, but he can’t. He hasn’t cried. Not yet. But he can feel it coming as the events of the previous night crash over him. His xiao-shushu threatening him, taking him hostage. Then zewu-jun stabbing xiao-shushu’s heart. Jin ling didn’t know whether to grieve his death, or hate him for what he did. He couldn’t breathe.

He gets up from bed and exits the room, fairy quick to follow him despite the fact that she was dozing off. He stops right in front of jiujiu’s room and knocks on the door.

“LEAVE”, roars a voice inside.

“Jiujiu…” jin ling hates how weak his voice sounds, “jiujiu, it’s me.”

The door opens. Jiujiu is in his sleeping clothes, with his hair undone… and wet streaks on his cheeks, that shine silver from the weak moonlight coming through the windows.

Jin ling throws his arms around him and crashes into his chest, sobbing. Jiujiu returns the hug and cradles jin ling protectively, like he always did. But jin ling can feel him shaking, and there’s some moisture on the side of his head, where jiujiu’s cheek is. Jin ling cries harder. He feels his legs not holding him up anymore and they both slide to the floor, uncle and nephew crying in each other’s arms. Fairy lays down next to them, and lets out a soft whine, as if she’s sharing their pain.

[mushroomwriter]

THE UNTAMED episode 34

[satonthelotuspier]

Whatever current popular band's song/dance routine five year old A-Ling is currently obsessed by, Jiujiu is the one who has to learn the moves with him, then film the routine.

No one else will do! A-Ling will cry until he's red in the face until Jiujiu agrees. Jiang Yanli's phone memory is full to the brim of home shot videos of JL and Jiang Cheng doing the latest hot topic pop dance moves!

Jiang Cheng would of course prefer the phone dropped down the toilet or was put through the washing machine, but he can't make sure that happens because of course Yanli would be inconsolable to lose all those videos of her lil baobei (and didi!) looking so cute and adorable as they concentrate intently on hitting all the steps in time.

(someone suggested baby shark was a flavour of the moment, and tbh yes, but I could also hear Jiang Cheng scream nooooo across all possible realities at once).

[qiu-yan]

jin guangyao makes a sincere effort to learn the latest Youth Slang jin ling is slinging around, but fails. he has no idea what "gyatt" means (and neither do i). meanwhile, jiang cheng actually succeeds in teaching himself gen alpha slang.....but only so that he can purposefully misuse it in front of jin ling and watch jin ling die inside.

[adventure-waffles]

A moment between Jiujiu and Jin Ling 🪷

(Read the fic this was drawn for here)

[thekansta]

Oopsie

[least-carpet]

Thoughts about jl and jc relationship? I love them but their relationship is criticized a lot, I would love to hear your thoughts

Hi, anon! Very belatedly, here is an answer!

They love each other and Jin Ling is very secure in that love. It is very evident to me—and to Jin Ling himself—that Jiang Cheng loves Jin Ling and would die for him. Jin Ling trusts and relies on Jiang Cheng, and scoffs at the idea that his uncle has ever hit him, in a cultural context where corporal punishment is not unusual. Jin Ling goes to Jiang Cheng when he's crying. Jin Ling pushes back at Jiang Cheng, goes around him, and talks back to him fearlessly, with a sort of bratty entitlement rather than fearful defiance. This is not something a kid who is afraid of their guardian does. This is not something Jiang Cheng would have done with his own parents!

Jiang Cheng did a better job than his parents did with him. You might not personally want Jiang Cheng as a parent, but contrast him against his own soft-spoken father: I don't think Jin Ling would ever say that Jiang Cheng just didn't like him, or think to himself that Jiang Cheng wouldn't show up to save him. Jin Ling is way more secure in Jiang Cheng's affection for him than Jiang Cheng ever was when it came to Jiang Fengmian, and I don't think that's by accident. I think that's something that Jiang Cheng probably worked hard for. It is notable that Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling's maternal uncle, showed up for Jin Ling so consistently that Jin Ling has more trust in him than Jiang Cheng had in his own parents, despite being, like, twenty and running a sect by himself.

Jin Ling looks up to Jiang Cheng. Jin Ling, I think, patterns his behaviour after a couple of ideals. One of them I think, is an image of his father as a young and adventurous hero— young war hero Jin Zixuan, one of the best archers in his generation. (Also initially kind of a twerp with bad social skills, but Jin Ling doesn't know that.) And the other, I think, is Jiang Cheng. (He also very obviously cares for and admires Jin Guangyao, but I don't think he takes him as a model in the same way?) So Jiang Cheng is also important to Jin Ling as a role model. And why wouldn't he be? He's really good at a very hard job. (He's also, like, emotionally damaged from the war and its fallout, but realistically, a lot of the adults around Jin Ling would also be like that to some degree, especially in the Jiang sect.)

Jin Ling expresses care the way Jiang Cheng does, and that helps them understand and trust each other. Jin Ling also expresses his love in the same way that Jiang Cheng expresses his love: through defending the people he cares about. We see him do it when Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji want to enter Jin Guangyao's rooms, and again when Jiang Cheng is exhausted at the second siege of the Burial Mounds (Jin Ling just fucking scooping up Jiujiu and carrying him to safety remains hilarious to me). The scene where he thinks he hears Lan Sizhui say something about a ghost and he pops out and offers to kill the ghost for him also comes to mind. That's how you express affection if you're Jin Ling! He's going to put his foot in his mouth but if somebody threatens you, he's ready to go! Does this remind you of... anyone... like maybe Jiang Cheng, Mr. "Knife Mouth, Tofu Heart."

Jin Ling is definitely a little jerk sometimes, but I don't think it's fair to totally blame that on Jiang Cheng. Jin Ling's bad behaviour is often chalked up to Jiang Cheng being a bad guardian, but he's not the only influence at play: Jin Ling is at a terrible age. He's trying to individuate. He's at the centre of a lot of scrutiny because of his position, and potentially also danger. He's isolated and bullied in his home sect because he's an orphan, which, like, what the fuck. He splits time between two sects with wildly different philosophies and priorities, and probably gets a lot of conflicting messages about what's important and how he should act. His guardians have different parenting styles and priorities, and are themselves under a lot of scrutiny. People gossip about him, his dead parents, his live uncles—really viciously about Jin Guangyao— and probably his dead cousin, too. I would also probably be a very confused and angry teenager in those circumstances! Him acting out is not very surprising!

Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng are under a lot of stress during MDZS, and the way they relate to each other reflects that. Part of growing up is finding out your parents are people with, like, human frailties and their own trauma. Jin Ling's guardians have a LOT of human frailties and a LOT of trauma, and he finds out about it in detail during MDZS, in some pretty ugly ways. (We're shown that Jiang Cheng loves Jin Ling enough to shield him with his own body and that Jin Ling is comforted by Jiang Cheng's presence when he cries, but we also see Jiang Cheng give Jin Ling a pretty hard smack while he's freaking out in Guanyin Temple! Not good, although—based on what Jin Ling previously stated—not a usual behaviour from Jiang Cheng.) Despite this, I do think both Jiang Cheng and Jin Guangyao sincerely loved and tried to raise Jin Ling well. And they didn't do so bad! He's a snobby little brat with a mean mouth but he's also courageous, protective, empathetic, and willing to re-evaluate his beliefs when he's presented with new information!

Basically, I just think that you can be a flawed and harsh person and still love your kid enough that they turn out OK. Jin Ling's not perfect, by any means. But I think he's going to grow up into a pretty impressive adult, and I think no small part of that is because Jiang Cheng loves him, so, so much. (I also think that not all parental figures are great matches for every kid, but, like, these two just really get each other. Scorpio2scorpio communication.)

TL;DR I love them, they love each other, it's definitely not a perfect relationship and I understand why people react in a negative way to the thought of Jiang Cheng in a parental role (although I also think it's a mistake to assume that he parents like he was parented).