#ljy's face is just so cute ;;;

[sadnightforus]

YOU MIGHT BE SLEEPING  (LJY)

biker boyfriend!juyeon x gn!reader

SYNOPSIS: In an attempt to surprise you for the 500 days anniversary, he took you on a ride to his favorite places that are far away from the city, after various complaints from you that you found nothing to do in Seoul. 

WORD COUNT: 3.9K

WARNINGS: none… we reached this point guys (besides the mentioning of Eric being a super rich guy that’s all). too much fluff *insert the crying waterfall emoji because normal emoji does not cut it* 

A/N: don’t know if y’all know this but I was inspired by that one particular fanmade video. the og concept was supposed to have a bad boy vibe but he looks too good in that middle pic so I have to comply with this one instead. so cute, I’m kicking my feet fr. also omg full on fluffy soft fic from me??? I Will Die. 😭😭😭

ALSO THIS IS THE FANMADE VID. 

reblogs, comments and likes are appreciated!

You’re bored of Seoul. 

 Don’t get it wrong, you don’t hate the city at all. But Seoul always has something going on. The streets look amazing during the day and night and there’s modern technology everywhere. Everything seems so fancy and lavish. You’re proud of how far the world has come. 

 Even though it’s incredibly hard to earn a quiet time for yourself since it’s a really busy city and if you want complete silence, you have to block out their own voices. It’s hard to ignore the presence of others when there are loud noises and so many people at once. 

 However, for you, it’s also the city of love.

 You met Juyeon when you both first enrolled into the same college and happened to closely share a semester together due to the duo group work your professor was making you do (and the deadline was well over 2 weeks). Those 2 weeks were blissful, you used to think he was a bit cold and even more so, a bit too full of himself, since he is immediately dubbed as ‘the dancing prince’ and he hangs out with the popular crowd. But your first impressions didn’t matter because he was incredibly nice and polite, and was so helpful when helping you with the project too, be it ideas or just offering to take places in completing the work. And you both ended up getting an A due to the outstanding efforts you put into your work, which you have to thank your amazing partner for. 

 And after the project ended, he still keeps in contact with you, insisting that you’re quite an interesting individual to know and hope to develop a further friendship. A total lie from him because he later admitted that when you both got into a relationship with the saying that by then, he already liked you and he just wanted to see if he has a chance with you. 

 Now back to the present. 

 It’s Saturday and you both are on a semester break. You live with your roommate/coworker and she’s off to work already, leaving you alone in this apartment as it’s your day off today. You were cleaning up your room and wiping off the dust off the furniture when suddenly you received a phone call. You look at your caller ID and you can’t help but smile when you see who it is. 

 So you pick up, pausing your cleaning process so you can talk to him just a little bit. 

“Hi, my pretty baby.” 

 That name never fails to flatter you and make your heart jump out of your chest. 

“Hey there, pretty boy.” 

 You think you do a pretty job concealing your flustered face and tone (rightfully, sue him for reducing you into a mushy lover). Otherwise, you would’ve been so embarrassed if he knew he had done irreversible damage to you. 

“You don’t have any plans for anything today, right?” 

“Why? You wanna take me to one of Eric’s father’s fancy restaurants?” 

“Great idea, actually.” He laughs, humoring you along. It’s no secret that Juyeon loves spoiling you. He had a hard exterior, according to all of your friends and you yourself. But when you guys began dating, they were subjected to the PDA between you two and their opinions on him quickly changed because just who is this guy? And plus, he also likes to take you on a new adventure. 

 Somehow, it makes you feel like a naïve teenage girl who’s dating a bad boy and you always wanted to ask him if he is truly one (even if you know he works part-time as a barista for his parents’ café shop). It’s hard to believe that someone as perfect as him can possibly exist. It’s unbelievable. 

“I was wondering if you’d like to join me for today's exploring.” He shyly explains and you can feel his shy smile tugs through his tone. What have you done in your past life to get a guy like him wrapped around your finger? Whatever you were doing, you’ve done it right. 

“If it’s Seoul, I’ve practically walked through every shady alleyway. It’s no fun.” You whine, your wet cloth cleaning off the dust is long forgotten amidst the phone call between you and your lover. 

“It’s not Seoul. I wanna take you somewhere else.” He keeps it vague and you suspect that he has a surprise for you. 

“Okay, let me clean myself up a bit.” You exclaim, putting down the wet cloth and hanging it up to dry from your bedroom (in your defense, it’s not dirty at all. You have a habit of wiping off your dust often and you definitely don’t have enough time in your hand to clean it right now). 

“Can you pick me up in an hour and a half?” You ask him, strutting around in your room to go to your bathroom to freshen yourself up. 

“You can still show up in sweats and I’d still think you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.” He says, means every single word of it because he thinks you’re pretty. So goddamn pretty he loses his mind over you and he doesn’t believe that he’s the one who gets to have you all the time. 

“Lee Juyeon, shut up. I think I stink. Do you honestly like it when I’m sweating like a dog?” You make a gagging face while you’re putting on your cleansing foam. 

“The sweats can’t wipe away your beauty.” His reply makes you want to bang your head into the wall so bad. 

 God, he’s such a romantic. 

“I’m showering. You can save that sappiness when you pick me up later.” You furiously blush, trying to get him to end the call so you can get ready to go wherever he leads you to. 

“I’ll see you later then, baby.” 

 And the line is disconnected. 

 You sulk a bit before putting your device back as you snap back to reality. But you’re also beyond excited where he will take you to today. 

 So you divert your attention back onto getting ready and hoping that the new things you’ve been wanting to try out will work. 

“You look absolutely breathtaking.” Is the first thing Juyeon says after he comes to pick you up. 

 You decide to wear a black big cozy jacket, combined with black jeans and white shirt, which goes with his similar casual wear that he chooses. 

 There’s a spark in his eyes as he scams your whole body. A boyish smile yet so much of a shyness ticks behind that expression. He hands you a helmet, to which you still remember that the particular item is a gift from his dad who bought motorcycle tools equipment as a present for his 19th birthday and that includes the helmet you’re holding in your hand. You check to see if it has been unlocked yet. Once you see that it does, you quickly put it on your head, adjusting it properly before locking it and you gently hop onto the vehicle, excited for the ride.

“Are you ready?” He asks, wanting to make sure that you’re seating yourself comfortably before the motorcycle takes off.

“I’m all done.”

 And you hear the engine takes off, as the vehicle takes both of you far away from your place.

 The air feels fresher than usual, the atmosphere and the feelings remind you of the old Hong Kong movies you used to watch with your friends as a teenager. You always dream of doing something wild and adventurous to feel the essence of the ‘neon & loneliness’— something that has been used to precisely describe those types of movies. And now it’s like you’re living your dreams out. 

 If it’s a dream then you don’t want to wake up from it. 

 His soft woody cologne that radiates from his body all makes you feel like everything is in a daze and you’re the main protagonist of those films that you always loved. How did you get so lucky? 

 The motor is being driven further away from the city and you’ve crossed numerous luxurious stores and fancy places as you hold on tight to your lover. You’ve seen different kinds of people today; the sad, the happy, the singles, the couples, the divorced, the kids, teenagers, adults and you think you might’ve driven past celebrities by accident too. 

 Your eyes are trained to watch the road and take your worries off the daily life you’re experiencing today. You think though, instead, it’s making you realize something very precious about life. 

 People can be in a state of anything, regardless of their age. And they’re diverse, they have something to tell. Behind every person, there’s a story that is waiting for a person to uncover those. Uncover the deepest, best and worst parts of themselves. 

 You think you’re lucky that your boyfriend is the most gentle and caring person who always brings out the best part of yourself. Never once had you ever felt as if you were held back or restricted from good opportunities. He always encourages you to chase after your dream, while he steadily works towards his goal. 

 The short breeze through the city now has long escaped. You both are going somewhere unfamiliar, although you’re not sure how exactly familiar he is with where he plans to take you. However, you know better than to doubt him when he is quite literally the very same person with a really great taste in everything.

 Your thoughts do eventually come to a stop as he drives to a gas station and by that time, it’s around 3 and a half in the afternoon. The vehicle’s engine is no longer running after he shuts the power off and you know it’s time you get off the bike.

“I’d like to fill in the tank please.” Is what he says. His honey voice, ever so softly, makes you wonder how people aren’t falling for him already. The staff comes to him immediately and helps fill in the gas as per request. 

“Do you want to buy something?” He turns to ask you. “Or do you need to use the bathroom?”

“Not really.” You respond as you shake your head.

 You both stand while waiting for them to pump the gas and calculate the bill. And when you both are done, he gears up the vehicle to signal that the adventure is nowhere done. You hop on it, excited to see what will be waiting for you.

 You both leave the place, 

 Your boyfriend’s scent soon lures you to sleep, with you being barely able to open your eyes. It hasn’t been that long that you fall asleep together with him, but you both are somehow always away with the college assignments and personal workloads that are being dumped on you. Having him really close for the first time in 3 weeks does nothing but really makes you want to rest up.

 And you think to yourself, hmm, screw that. He’ll wake me up when we arrive at the place.

 Then you lay your head and close eyes as you feel yourself drifting further away to the dreamland that has been long awaited for you.

 You woke up once you felt like you were being carried.

 You didn’t register it until you felt the abnormality of the said body pillow that you’ve been resting on start moving up and going even gradually higher. It’s only then that you open your eyes, consciousness not fully hitting you yet as your exhaustion keeps luring you to the dreamland. However, since you don’t have such a habit of sleeping when you are being moved around, you try your very best to open your eyes and pray that the sunlight will hit your eyes, although it’s unlikely as the sky beams with the color of soft orange and yellow, like a beautiful fire in flames.

“Ju-”

“Shh, baby. Just sleep.” He shushes you, continuing to give you a piggyback ride. You immediately protest and almost go feral and also, almost cause a disturbance to him too.

“I’m wide awake, you can put me down and I can walk.” 

“Nice try, but no.” He chuckles and you can already imagine the most annoying yet such a beautifully crafted boyish grin plastered all over his face. He’s lovely– that’s just who he is.

“But where are you taking me?” You ask, eyes now can’t close on their own as your sleepiness already wears off from talking earlier.

“You’ll see.”

 And several minutes later, you both reach a part of a town that you’re sure has never been here before. He seems to be lost, with the way he hesitates to take a step further as he walks. 

“But Ju…” You whine. “Can’t you tell where you’re going?” You plead for him to give an answer, you so badly wanted to know what place he will show you this time. 

“Nuh uh.” He shakes his head a bit, still insisting on being mysterious and vague with the direction you’re heading. 

“But will you put me down? It’s uncomfortable being carried when I’m like, awake.” You complain and he finally gives in, sighing as he puts you down and you almost stumble forward and fall as the gravity feels new to you and if your boyfriend wasn’t there to catch you at all, you’d certainly slip by now. 

“Thank you.” You mumble out. 

“You good to go?” He asks, offering you his hand to hold as you busk in a new, unfamiliar place together. His eyes sparkle up, light of hope and love, so much adoration stores up in a gaze of his that belongs to a person that you’re proud to call him yours. 

 You’re losing track of yourself with the way you keep looking at him without a word, like a dumbfounded teenager that has no idea what they should do when they harbor romantic feelings towards their crush. But he lets you, until you gulp down to wet your throat and proceed with the next thing you’re going to say. 

“Yes.” You have a dopey smile on your face. “I can’t wait.”

 And you both take one step, two steps and more steps forward. Until you get inside the mysterious building. 

 Your boyfriend is not a man of many words, but his actions are always sincere. When he speaks, he always expresses his love for you. 

 You can even say that in almost two years of your relationship, you never have to doubt his feelings for you. That’s just how transparent he is. You don’t think you can find a greater love than him.

 With more steps further, you make it past the door and you see many abstract arts and paintings being hung, scattered all across the wall. Each frame and piece, colorfully coming together to make a piece of stories that is waiting to be told. The lines that piece it together, asymmetrically perfect in a way that it never seems to be out of place, although if you separate it, it wouldn’t make much sense to the naked eyes that only saw the remaining pieces and never get the chance to witness the beauty of the completion and harmony that lies in the form of crafts that you see with your own eyes. 

 Similarly, that’s how you feel about your boyfriend. 

 Not many people know him and you always had the impression that he was rather cold and closed off. That’s how he appears to the outsiders. The description of him from fellow classmates and his friends are drastically different because they never get to fully see what he is like as a person. 

 A person who is full of love to give to others, the one who dotes on others and is full of adventures. 

 Life with him is never boring, he brings a new kind of joy in your life. The kind of excitement that is dangerous, but you’ll let him lead you to go anywhere, even if it’s a thousand miles away. You trust him to keep you safe because never once had you been harmed or run into dangers.

 He instructs you to stand in front of him, you do so without a question. He pulls out a silky fabric and you already know what he wants to do– blindfolds you for the surprise. You let him as he carefully wraps the material around your eyes in a gentle manner to ensure that it doesn’t hurt you.

“Hold my hand and follow me.” He speaks to you softly and you nod your head. “I want to show you something.”

In a sight of darkness that is hard to break from, you let him guide you. He’s your light amongst all of this and you know he’ll never let you slip or stray away. With careful steps forwarding on the stairs and going up, further and further and then the floor feels smoother without the anxiety of reckoning,  it only takes a bit to finally realize you’re past the staircase.

 You feel like time freezes and you’re not sure how much time has passed by, although you think it’s not that much. It’s by far, the most anticipated thing for you. 

 Then you hold his hand tighter as he takes you in this unfamiliar place.

 You’re not the only one with so much adoration for your significant other. Your boyfriend is no different from you. 

 For Juyeon, being with you makes him feel like he’s in heaven. There’s no greater feeling than your presence around. 

 You heal a broken part of him that he didn’t know existed until you become the most cherished and frequent presence in his life, which is no doubt, loneliness.

 You’re calming, intelligent and intriguing. You’re an open book, but also, a mystery that he wants to keep uncover. He can lose himself in just studying about you and he wouldn’t care. You’re that someone to him who he trusts, with all of his life.

 When he inherited a motorcycle as a present from his parents in 11th grade, he usually rode it everywhere alone, even when he had friends. He discovered many fascinating locations, hearing every kind of life story from strangers whom he met on the road when he did his little exploring and witnessed people going through many stages of life. He used to watch people flirting and he wished that he had someone else to share his perspective and sightseeing with.

 You came along unexpectedly and stole his heart away. He can barely imagine a life without you now. The things you do to his heart is unhealthy. You’re the sole reason that his burning passion for life doesn’t become something he deeply despises. 

 The once cold seat of the motorcycle is now replaced by the warmth of you. And he wouldn’t want to have it in any other way. 

 He has seen many beautiful things that calm and heal his soul, but none of it were you.

 He thought beauty lies in the empty roads of complete darkness, or constellations and stars in the sky. But it’s clearly you, who is a Venus personified. 

 He’s in love and he’s not hiding it. 

 Which is why he wants to show you this view.

 By stopping in his track as he has reach the final destination, he reaches to slowly the blindfold off your eyes, all while tells you to still your eyes closed and only open under his command. 

 Both of you walk further and further away, with the help of Juyeon who guides you in the desired direction. Cold breeze hits you and you realize now that you’re most likely on the balcony and not in the secured walls of this building. 

“Open your eyes, baby.” 

 You let the light penetrate your vision as the skin that covers your seeing splits apart. 

 The view is breathtaking. 

 The sky turns into a light beat of deep orange, pale blue, deep pink and purple. You see the simplicity, the complexity and something so lively. 

 You see how the sky slowly turns itself into a pitch black, as the colors start to beautifully blend themselves, creating an unforgettable view that spreads through all across the universe from your own eyes. The wind blows slowly, as if to celebrate the magic of your shared happiness with him, which makes the moment even more unreal. 

 The lights that hang from there only intensifies its beauty. 

 You see polaroids of you both together being decorated, some you weren’t aware that the pictures were being taken. There are books and a table for dining that are put together like high end restaurants and you have no doubt that it wasn’t just a one day of work at all. 

“Happy 500 days anniversary.” He tells you, hand gently caressing you. “This house originally belonged to my grandpa. He has since passed it down to me.” He states so ever so softly and you’re shell shocked. 

“He told me that if I find someone special, I should bring them here. Because this house witnesses how my grandma and grandpa love each other and everyday is always special to them. For a long time, I didn’t understand what he meant because the idea of a lover that exists in a lonely person’s story doesn’t make sense. But I met you, my special person. I want this house to witness our love, too.” 

 You have tears brimming in your eyes as you listen to him speak further, all while his gaze lovingly settles on you and his thumbs wipe your tears. 

“I didn’t know what love was until I met you. When you’re away, I miss you. When you’re sleeping, I wish you’re awake so I can tell you some jokes that make you laugh.” 

“Me too.” You lose yourself into the warm brown eyes of his. “When I think about you, all my sadness disappears. It’s cliché, I know. But.. I think I’m so lucky to have you.” You choke on your own silent sob as he presses light kisses onto your lips.

“I’m so lucky to have you too.” He says truthfully. “I never believe in destiny, but I think we’re destined to love each other.” 

 And under the now moonlight that slowly shines onto you both, he cups your face and kisses you with all his might, as fireworks go off in the sky, as if to be a witness of this beautiful love story. 

 You don’t care for any of that as he whispers ‘I love you’ and you whisper one back too.

COPYRIGHTED BY SADNIGHTFORUS, 2023

[herapersona]

My Jiujiu Wikes His Boss

"My jiujiu wikes his boss," Jin Ling helpfully told Jingyi's dad while they were eating soft ice cream at the cafe in the company building where his Jiujiu worked.

"Oh really?" Lan XiChen asked with a smile. He had known Jin Ling for more than a year but he had never seen the boy's uncle. "Is the boss handsome?"

"Vewy handsome! He has wong, shiny haiw, pwetty face, and majestic nose!"

"Jin Ling!" Jiang Wanyin came to the cafe, sweat beading all over his face. "Why did you leave the kindergarten without supervision?"

"Jiujiu!" JL put his ice cream down and opened his arms for his uncle to pick him up.

JWY wrapped his arms tightly around the boy as he took him into his arms. "Gods, you worried me."

LXC raised a brow at his secretary. JWY was JL's uncle? Now, this just got fun.

JC noticed his boss and he immediately bowed despite still holding his nephew. "I'm so sorry, sir. I hope he didn't bother you."

LXC shook his head, his smile quite naughty. "Oh, he didn't. But JL sure provided me with very INTERESTING news."

JC blinked a couple of times. Holy shit. What did JL say to his boss??? He wracked up his brains for anything. Anything at all until it tunneled in around one information that JL definitely found /interesting/ to share to anyone. 'Oh, my gods... Please no'

JC cleared his throat and hid his panic. "O-oh, i-is that so, sir?" He chuckled and looked down at JL's cute and chubby face. The face that he'll bite later until he's all satisfied.

"Yes... Very interesting indeed." LXC got up and walked closer to the duo before gently patting JL's head and planting a kiss there, his face an inch away from JC's. "JL, don't leave the kindergarten without supervision again, okay?"

The boy nodded and looked up at the handsome man--LJY's daddy. "Daddy of JY, you'we handsome too. Maybe my jiujiu wiww wike you too."

'Oh, please, dear gods above. Just take me.' JC prayed. LXC smirked at JL and patted his head once more. "Well... Do you think I'm pretty enough for your Jiujiu to like me?"

JL put his head on Jiujiu's shoulder and hummed as he stared at JY's dad. "Yes. I think so. But maybe Jiujiu's boss is still pwettiew than you."

"I doubt it," LXC replied before patting JC's stiff shoulder. "You can go home early today, Wanyin. Make sure you take care of JC. See you tomorrow."

'Maybe see you never, boss. I'll never show my face around here anymore. I'll file a re--'

"Don't resign. I won't allow it."

-----

The next morning was an eventful time. JL was throwing a tantrum, saying he didn't want to school, JWY being forced to wait for LJY by the school gates so JL would walk in, and of course, LJY being accompanied by his father.

"Morning, JL and JC," LXC greeted.

"Morning, boss," JWY made sure not to meet the man's eyes and let JL grab LJY's hand. "JL, be good, okay? No more escaping."

JL looked up at Jiujiu and nodded. "Okay, Jiujiu. JY is with me. I wiww be good."

LXC chuckled to himself. JY was anything but good after all. JWY and LXC watched the boys walk into the school building hand in hand.

"So... I guess you like your boss, huh?" LXC teased, making JWY screech and try to make a run for it but LXC was fast. He grabbed JWY's elbow and basically tossed his secretary into the car. "Sir..." JWY basically pressed himself against the door, wanting to escape this awkward situation.

"What will you do if your boss like you too?" LXC asked, his smile bright and mindless of the driver.

JWY gulped a couple of times. "Uhm... I'm... Sir... Uh..."

"What? Are you afraid of me?" The boss teased, loving how the usually irritated and serious secretary was now stuttering.

"N-No! Not... Not at all!"

"I can hear you lying, Jiang Wanyin."

"I'm not lying, Lan XiChen," JWY finally snapped. "You're being ridiculous."

LXC raised a brow. "Is that so?"

"Yes! Just because my tattletale of a nephew said something doesn't mean that you should believe it."

"Huh... And yet you called him a tattletale. Meaning there's truth in there."

"Oh, shut up." JWY huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, his cheeks burning from embarrassment. "You may be my boss but I won't allow you to play me."

"Oh, why would you think I'd play you?" LXC asked.

JWY's eyes were sharp on the older man. "Lan XiChen. #1 most eligible bachelor of the decade. Playboy. Changes partners like he changes his clothes. Sugar baby to half of the billionaires we know. Really? Really, SIR?"

LXC chuckled. "Excuse me? I am NOT anyone's sugar baby."

JWY turned to the older man and raised a brow, obviously calling him a liar with just one look.

"I am just someone who enjoys the best in life. It's not my fault people are willing to pay for my time."

"So... A sugar baby."

"Minus the sugar, of course. I only sleep with people I'm interested in." LXC smirked and looked JWY over slowly. "And I'm interested in you."

"So this is about sex?" JWY asked, slightly hurt by it.

"Not at all," LXC shook his head. LXC looked at JWY and smiled. "How about a trial time? You and I go on dates for a while and if we realize we're good together, we can start being in a serious relationship?"

JWY shook his head. "Look, boss, it's unethical for you to do this."

"Hmmm? How?"

"I'm your employee. I am not really in a position to say no to what you want. What if I realized I don't like you after all? What if I realized I don't want a relationship with you? I won't have the power to say that w/o the thought if getting fired."

LXC glanced at JWY and shrugged. "Then you can transfer under WangJi's wing. I'll have WWX as my secretary."

JWY narrowed his eyes at his boss. "You are aware that LWJ and WWX are dating."

"Yes." LXC smiled at JWY as if he'd just made a point. JWY rolled his eyes. "LWJ is in love with WWX. WWX has him wrapped around his fingers. You, on the other hand, just found out from my nephew that I may or may not like you. It's not the same."

"I think it's quite worse. LWJ is more in love with WWX than WWX is in love with him. LWJ can control him."

"It's LWJ we're talking about. Not you. You playboy."

"And I'm your boss but somehow, you still don't care enough to talk back to me." LXC chuckled. "Coz you're quite a himbo," JWY pointed out, sighing when the care finally slowed down.

"Keep driving," LXC ordered and the car sped up once more. "Himbo, huh?"

"Yes. A himbo."

"Then I guess himbos are your type."

JWY laughed at that. "Can't deny it. Himbos can be cute."

LXC leaned back and chuckled, rolling his eyes at JWY. It looked like he'd have to woo this pretty secretary. ---

Wasn't it such a good thing that JY and JL are such close friends? JL became LXC's spy on JWY.

"So... What does your Jiujiu like to drink?"

"Coffee. No chugaw..." JL replied happily while building his skyscraper with JY. ---

The next day, a cup of coffee, no sugar and no creamer, was waiting for JWY on his table with a sticker of a smiley white rabbit in the cup. ---

"What does your Jiujiu like to eat?" LXC asked JL one time while JL and JY were playing together.

"Wotut Toup." JL replied before grinning at JY's papa.

/Dear gods above, give me enough strength to control myself. I'm itching to bite this kid./

---

JWY frowned at the sealed lunch box on his table. His gears moved, making him know that it was from his boss. But what the heck is he supposed to do with these random gifts? Upon opening, his mouth watered. Lotus Soup. How the hell does the man know what he wants? But he won't complain. So he sat down and took his fill of the delicious food provided for him.

LXC watched JWY and gave himself a pat on the back. So far, so good. ---

"What flowers does Jiujiu want?" LXC asked JL, watching his son and JL build a building made of Legos.

JL paused and frowned. "Uhm... Hy... Hy... Hydwa... Hydwajeya...? Puwpwe and bwue widdwe fwowew."

"Purple and blue? Little?"

"Hydrangea, A-Die," Jingyi helped. JWY blinked at the flower pot he found on his desk. A beautiful little hydrangea. So good. "Boss," he popped his head inside the office.

"Hm?" LXC looked up at the gorgeous man.

"Do you like curry?" He asked.

LXC blinked and nodded. "Ah, yes."

"Does JingYi like it too?"

"Yes, he eats anything. As long as it's not too spicy."

JWY nodded. "Come for dinner then. I'll cook."

---

Lan XiChen made sure that JingYi looked good for their dinner with Jiang Wanyin and Jin Ling. Donned in identical casual white shirts and black jeans, LXC & LJY held hands as they walked towards the front door of the Jiang house. LJY was holding a bouquet of peonies for Jin Ling (a request he made for his Diedie to buy because JL loved the flowers) and LXC held a small pot of hydrangeas.

The CEO pressed the doorbell and had the chance to hear two pairs of feet scrambling to get to the door. "I GOT IT!" JL yelled but when the door opened, it was JWY who had it. "I TAID I GOT IT, JIUJIU!"

JWY chuckled and shook his head, "too bad, you're so slow." He smiled at his boss and LJY. "Well, hi, good evening."

"Good evening," LXC greeted, his eyes scanning the younger man shamelessly.

The purple button-up shirt was tucked into a pair of white shorts that stopped an inch above JWY's knees. His feet were bare too.

"Good evening, Mr. Jiang. Good evening, A-Ling!" LJY stole the spotlight easily. He gave A-Ling his bouquet and he waited for Mr. Jiang to let them in.

"Good evening, A-Yi!" JL greeted back as he took his flowers, his cheeks turning a bit red from pleasure. "Come, A-Yi, we can go pway!"

JWY patted A-Yi's head. "Good evening, A-Yi, welcome to our house."

The two boys ran into the house and went directly to A-Ling's play area which was caged with colorful plastic fences. In the play area was a small tent where they could lie down if they wanted. All of A-Ling's toys and books were there too.

The adults went to the kitchen. "Please have a seat, sir," JWY offered before wearing his duckling-yellow apron that screamed A-LING'S PRETTY JIUJIU in what looked like a child's scribble. "The curry is almost done."

"Might as well call me XiChen now, Wanyin," the CEO pointed out. "Okay, XiChen," JWY tried, thankful that he had his back turned to the older man because he was sure his face was red from the embarrassment.

"You look good, Wanyin."

"I know, XiChen."

"Date me, Wanyin."

"No, XiChen."

"Why not, Wanyin?"

"Because you're my boss, XiChen."

"I like you, Wanyin. And you like me too."

"I can't deny that, XiChen, but it's not so easy."

"What's stopping you, Wanyin?"

"You're my boss, XiChen, and--"

"Should I step down from my position, Wanyin?"

JWY turned to his boss and shook his head. "You're really stubborn, aren't you, XiChen?"

"You know that more than anyone, Wanyin."

The secretary nodded with a sigh. "If I date you, you promise not to ever change how you treat me?"

XiChen blinked a couple of times. "I can't ask you to eat lunch with me?"

"Of course, you can but no unnecessary touching. No inappropriate words. No telling the others about us," JWY listed, hoping that it would scare the older man off. But another part of him wished that LXC would still want him despite those.

"But after work, I can hold your hand, kiss you, hug you, drive you home, prepare meals for you, and all that?"

JWY's cheeks reddened but he continued his task. He measured rice on 4 plates and topped them with curry. "Yes, of course. Unless I tell you not to."

"Then I'm alright with anything you want, Wanyin. There's no reason to say no to me now, is there?"

JWY chuckled at that and shook his head. With a small movement, he leaned over the kitchen island and planted a short but sweet kiss over LXC's lips. "Yes, XiChen-ge. Take care of us."

//End

[snuhee]

ꕀ BLOOM INTO YOUR HEART | LJY

chapter 6: christmas party  

you, chanhee, sunwoo arrived at hyunjae's house. it was huge, the largest in the whole neighborhood. you had to admit, it intimidated you. chanhee ran in leaving you and sunwoo behind. sunwoo immediately noticed how nervous you were because of the many times you kept pulling down your dress. he reassured you by placing his hand on your shoulder while giving you a warm smile. 

"don't worry y/n. i'm sure we'll have a good time at this party." sunwoo comforted you.

"mhm can you stay with me the whole time." you pouted. 

"of course. who else would babysit you besides me." he teased lightly chuckling at your reaction.

 "hey!" you jokingly hit his arm. 

the conversation you had with sunwoo made you less anxious. you were ready to enter the party and try to make friends with everybody. can't forget to also clear the awkwardness with juyeon, that was what you feared the most. the moment you walked in that door, you could see juyeon's tall-fit figure standing next to his friends in the kitchen. as you were about to freeze up, sunwoo softly pushed you in. 

suddenly changmin walked up to you guys with a welcoming smile like it was his house. 

"hey guys! and thanks for coming y/n! come in, come in. it's about to get exciting." changmin grinned from ear to ear pulling you guys more inside. 

at the beginning of the party, you just tailed behind sunwoo like a baby duck to a mother duck. you just chatted amongst your friends until you made awkward eye contact with juyeon across the room. 

you could see him make his way to approach you. you grip your cup that was in your hand nervously. many possibilities popped up in your head all at once, thinking of what he could say to you. 

"um hey y/n... and before you run away again, i really need to talk to you." he tried to joke but it failed miserably. juyeon scratched the back of his neck looking away. 

"oh my god, i didn't mean to run away from you. i just got really nervous sorry if you thought the wrong way." you swiftly replied before he can say anything else. 

his face lit up like a cat, "really? i was out here thinking you didn't like me or something." he chuckled with a cute eye smile. 

"you have a cute eye smile." you said out loud giggling without realizing you said that out loud. 

"o-oh. thank you." he stuttered biting his lip for a second glancing at the floor before looking at you again. 

"did i say that out loud..." your eyes widened. you tried to look everywhere but his eyes. this just got so awkward.

"hey no worries. i love compliments." he smiled mischievously.

"are you that much of a narcissist?" you teased but in your mind, you were thinking if it was too soon to say such a thing.

that same eye smile appeared, "never. and i think you have an adorable laugh." 

you and juyeon continued to have a long conversation. maybe this party wasn't too bad?

ꕀ a lot of things kept your mind busy. school, your crush on your fellow classmate, and your mom who loves flowers who is currently in the hospital. it was hard to keep positive, but what if a flowerboy helped you grow?

pairing: highschoolcrush!juyeon x female!reader

genre: highschool au, socialmedia au, fluff, humor

warnings: profanity, suggestive, death of a loved one but i’ll tw everything in the chapters!

status: on going ( nov 17 2021 - tba )

taglist: @ccobbiee @chnhua @stealanity @nyujjan​ @luvrbin​ @hibuki-chan​

can’t tag: @wonclusion @shxnz

a/n: sorry for the late chapter again TT finally you and juyeon interact mwehehe don’t be scared to let me know how ur liking this series so far:-)

(for more updates on the series, please check out the “#snuhee biyh.” tag under my blog)

previous ꕀ masterlist ꕀ next

[grewlikefancyflowers]

MDZS chapter 19 - original vs current version

Little note before we begin, I’m going to mainly be comparing this to ExR’s translation, since that is the one people are generally most familiar with, however I myself am using FYY’s and Tamingwangxian’s translations too, and may bring them in for comparison as well if I feel there’s a need to. I’m going to note down all of the differences I notice, but I’ll only be making my own comments if necessary, in some cases there’s nothing to comment on, and in others the differences speak for themselves. I’ll be bolding the ones I think are significant, a lot of them aren’t.

The og translation will be referred to as ‘qn’ for qinghe-nie.

Also quick recap in case anyone’s forgotten which part of the story this is, it’s straight after the CR flashback ends, and WWX has just woken up in the Jingshi.

A difference straight away, in the original draft, WWX laid awake for the whole night, in the edited version, he falls asleep at some point, when he wakes up in the morning, ‘his arms [are] placed on the sides of his body in a position that made him seem well-behaved.’ (exr)

Followers of mine who know how I like wangxian will know why I liked that added detail:P

Also FYY translated this as ‘a position that suggested he knew his place.’ (✿◕‿◕)

The line in the original goes like this - ‘Wei Wuxian was lying on top of the mat, his hands laying by his side and his body curled up underneath a quilt.’ (qn)

This was probably edited because there's an inconsistency with WWX supposedly not sleeping for the whole night, but also opening his eyes in the morning to find LWJ gone.

There’s a difference in WWX’s response when LJY and LSZ wake him up in the morning - ‘“It’s true! He bedded me the whole night! I’m not leaving, I’m too embarrassed to see anyone. Why don’t you two come inside instead?”’ (qn) vs “Really! He did me for the whole night! I can’t go out. I don’t have the face to see anyone.” (exr)

When WWX opens the Mingshi after the summoning ritual on the arm went wrong - ‘Mingshi’s front doors jiggled for a while, but suddenly opened’ (qn) vs ‘The mingshi’s door opened abruptly, as if it was laughing wildly with a gaping mouth.’ (exr)

And just after that, ‘Lan JingYi threw himself at the door, frightened and furious, blurting out, “Just what kind of person is this lunatic?!”’ (qn) vs ‘A guest disciple rushed at the door, shock and anger on his face, and blurted out, “Who on Earth was that person?!”’ (exr)

This line was changed - ‘Generally, the soul that belonged to the corpse would follow the music, perhaps because they loved music during their life.’ (qn) I think NMJ probably has some complicated feelings about music. In the edits, this line was changed to simply explain that the song, along with an object with a connection to the deceased, can be used to summon the spirit. I think this was probably originally meant to be foreshadowing for NMJ’s death, since it is immediately followed by the arm’s resentment getting stronger. I suppose it was changed because the idea of summoning spirits because they liked music is kinda flimsy logic.

In the original, WWX’s purposefully bad flute playing doesn’t wake LQR from his coma, instead we just have this line - ‘If Lan QiRen had been awake, he would surely be insulting Wei WuXian right now, telling him not to play if he couldn’t play, and not to tarnish Lan WangJi’s sound.’ We also have this line in the original - ‘But even if he played badly, the power of the song was in the intent, not the ability.’ I guess this was changed for plot reasons.

In the edited version, once the hand is suppressed, LWJ instantly gets up and tends to LQR, in the original, he instructs other disciples to do so.

This line ‘That night at the Mo family estate, he determined that his hand’s grievance was due to being dismembered. Since he knew a helping would be arriving, Wei WuXian didn’t examine the matter further’ (qn) was removed during the edits, along with this. ‘Figuring out the identity of this arm’s body won’t be easy. In all likelihood, they’re also a cultivator. Moreover, it’s very likely that it’s an honorable, powerful cultivator with great hatred of the cultivating world. But, there’s been no word of any famous cultivator from the big sects being dismembered, or any whose bodies have disappeared posthumously.’ (qn). I think wwx’s thought processes here are present in the current version in the Mo Manor arc, so this is probably a case of these lines being moved rather than removed.

In the current version, WWX has a conversation with LSZ, the purpose of which is to reveal that NMJ’s arm was intentionally placed at Mo Manor, and also some cute WWX/LSZ bonding, including this line that I think is important - ‘“The one responsible shouldn’t be you guys, but the person who sent out the ghost hand. In this world, there are some things impossible for one to control.”’ (exr). In the original, it’s just WWX’s deductions, he doesn’t speak to Sizhui at all, his thoughts on guilt & responsibility aren’t there either.

There’s a few dialogue changes to the very end of the chapter, it’s a bit messy to paste it all in here succinctly, and it's nothing interesting anyway, so I won't bother. However, in the original, I do get the impression that WWX was testing LWJ to see if he’d figured out that the arm was pointing them in the direction they needed to go.

‘Lan JingYi, unconvinced, said, “Pointed it out? Who? Where?”

Laughing, Wei WuXian said, “Ask your Hanguang-jun where.”

Lan WangJi looked at him for a second. “Southwest.”’ (qn)

(LWJ’s initial ‘trace it’s source’ line was also not present in the original)

Lastly, WWX’s ‘“Yes, yes, yes, we can finally get off this mountain and elope together!”’ (exr) was not present in the original, which comes across more like LWJ made him go instead of following WWX’s lead, as I’d say he is in the current version.

All in all, there aren't any significant changes to this chapter, the most important things IMO are WWX's statement on not feeling guilty about things that aren't your own responsibility, and the inclusion of it being WWX's idea to leave with LWJ (even if it was obscured by the whole eloping thing). Maybe my own bias is showing, but I also thought the LWJ putting WWX in a proper sleeping position detail was very... wangxian, especially as it is immediately followed by WWX throwing the blankets of then messing with the juniors.

[restingdomface]

Lan Wangji makes extremely deadpan videos of his daily life with Wei Wuxian and their kids and nephews (and nieces if JC and JYL had more). This would include:

*shows a video of LWJ staring out the window for a solid thirty seconds, face entirely unchanged and somewhat disappointed, turns camera around to show Wei Wuxian and the kiddos putting mentos in soda bottles and trying to chuck them at each other, camera pans back to his face, still entirely devoid of emotion*

That one time Jin Ling got stuck up a tree and Wei Wuxian tried to get him down and also got stuck up there and now the other kids are looking for a ladder while LWJ just watches them from the patio, drinking tea. The kids finally give up and shamefully come to LWJ and ask him for help, he gets his husband and nephew down without a word.

The one where he buried 5yo A-Yuan in a pile of bunnies and got scolded by Lan Xichen for it because they might bite him if they get annoyed with him.

There is an entire compilation of rabbits that won’t leave him alone. Climb into his lap. Follow him with every step. Get excited when he comes outside. Hear a guqin and start looking for him. Just. He’s the rabbit whisperer. One of the black ones is just about always with him.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian interacting in any capacity is going to involve a lot of hitting each other and pushing each other over. Only-child kids think they hate each other, but people with siblings are all ‘no no, siblings are just Like That’. People think Yanli is all innocent till they realize she def only tells them to stop when she thinks they might actually get on each other’s nerves. She’s in the ‘boys will rough house and probably only have one collective braincell’ category.

People won’t stop asking him if he speaks so he vaguely makes mentions of having extremely low verbility. They ask if he does sign and he’s not really sure how (lol cause words hard) to explain to them that sign doesn’t really help when the issue is more of him not having much to say tbh. This is apparently the wrong thing to say because then people start being all ‘yeah I get you, I’m pretty dumb too, at least you’re pretty’ and he’s just sorta sitting there with this smacked fish look on his face while WWX can’t stop laughing next to him at the very idea of someone calling his husband slow. Wow. LWJ just sorta finally gets out that he has like two degrees and teaches giqun lessons and it’s amazing. The kids find out about it and can’t stop laughing for hours.

“Hey, why did you name your son ‘sorrow and longing’?” *commense 10 minute video of that time Wei Wuxian got arrested for something to do with a satanic ritual and that’s when LWJ ended up with custody of his adopted son for the next three years and he was in a really angsty mood tbh so it just kinda happened* not a single commenter expected that, even less so when he mentions that they weren’t even together at that point

Films what the viewers think is a prank at first, where he pours a dangerous amount of chili powder into a mug of hot chocolate (with a completely straight face) and then brings it to WWX who takes a drink and makes a dreamy little sigh and goes ‘you always know how to make it just like I want it’ and no one is sure how to react to this video. It’s like watching someone peel and eat a lemon.

You know that video of the girl with the deadpan voice saying she went downstairs to take a shower and there was something brown in the bottom of the tub but it turned out to be potatoes and she’s all ‘not a problem I was expecting, but a problem I can handle’? Okay so that’s how he talks in every video. WWX hands him a baby and he talks to them exactly like that. People ask if he’s good with kids and WWX is all ‘yeah, he’s not just a rabbit whisperer, he’s a baby whisperer too, he’s super great with kids’ *shows LWJ talking to a baby in That Voice while the baby looks at him in utter adoration*

“What’s it like growing up gay? Do you ever get shit for it?” LWJ.exe has stopped working, he has only met one straight couple the same age as him and they’re his sister in law. His brother has three boyfriends, one of which is his brother-in-law. He doesn’t know what a het-er-o-sexual is and he doesn’t want to. Pretty sure his uncle is acearo and hasn’t seen his parents in like 20 years.

LWJ: ‘I apologize for being so emotional in my last video.’ *viewers scrambled to find what video he meant because they ain’t ever seen that man emotional before but end up finding a video where Sizhui told him he loved him and called him papa and gave him a hug while WWX filmed, you can barely see LWJ’s left eye twitching and he pets Sizhui’s head for a moment* viewers are very confused on how this constitutes emotionalism.

Viewers ask to see his brother ‘you know, the one who apparently has three boyfriends’ and LWJ posts a video of LXC passed out on a couch with like three fully grown men all in various states of sliding off onto the floor while the teens play a game of ‘who can stack the most random objects on uncle’s bodies without them waking’ because apparently LWJ and WWX were gone for a weekend and the uncles were supposed to watch the kids (like, all ten of them probably, there’s probably a lot of kids) and it’s Sizhui filming the whole thing cause he’s the ‘good one’ and never does bad things. But he’s also like Auntie Yanli and is totally gonna egg them on from the sidelines.

WWX hands LWJ literally any food and LWJ will eat it all with a completely straight face but as soon as WWX is turned around LWJ is chugging a glass of milk with a look of death on his face. The kiddos straight up can’t stomach his cooking.

😭 someone asks why their hair is all so long and LWJ puts up a video of chatty adorable Sizhui braiding WWX’s hair while he tells him about his day at school. It’s. Too. Cute.

The never ending debate on if LWJ’s deadpan personality/speech is acting or not. No matter how much everyone assures them he’s really just Like That people just aren’t convinced.

Someone points out several times that in their house they have a room with a satanic symbol on the door. That’s just WWX’s home office it’s all good. This is treated as ‘lol WWX is so dramatic’ for like four whole weeks before LWJ posts a video of Sizhui standing outside the office looking nervous. ‘What’s wrong?’ He says. ‘Dad called me into his office.’ Sizhui replies. ‘WWX must be a very strict father,’ the viewers think. That’s not it. That’s not it at all tbh. That video got flagged on like four different platforms and kept getting removed for graphic images and half their viewers don’t. Want. To know. What happened. In that office. (WWX doesn’t even see what the big deal was, that goat was dead when he bought it shut up.)

The others do videos sometimes too lol. Videos include

Jin Ling’s compilation of ‘Mom, what’s for dinner’ and the answer is Always Lotus root and pork rib soup. Someone asks ‘lol she must make that often’ and JL is all ‘lol often, fairly sure she got same-food syndrome, it’s always soup’.

Lan Sizhui at like 17 years old: The one true secret I’ve never told my dads? My most shameful lie? Rabbits aren’t my favorite. My favorite is butterflies. *proceeds to cuddle a bun* I’m sorry Mister Bun, but you just aren’t nearly as pretty as butterflies.

Shaky video of someone sitting on the couch, pointed at NMJ: Brother, while you’re away on vacation with your boyfriends, I don’t plan on leaving this spot for even a minute. NMJ: Oh yeah? What’ll you do when you have to use the bathroom? NHS: Listen, I found a guy on Craig’s List who’s exact fetish is lazy young men who refuse to move and also diapers exist and he’ll be my slave for the week if I let him change me. NMJ: ...I’m taking you with me on vacation. NHS: Yay! NMJ: I’m also taking your phone away. NHS: -wait, no- NMJ: Too late.

Jin Ling: JiuJiu, I spilt soda on your Valentino white belt. Jiang Cheng: *incomprehensible sputtering* -soda on my Valentino white belt-!

Sizhui: *brings Jingyi a bowl of food* Here. Jingyi: Thank you! *takes a bite, face falls in terror, gives Sizhui a betrayed look* Sizhui: Dad’s worried I’m getting sick, he said this would clear my chest cold up. He didn’t consider what horrible things it would do to my bowels instead. Please eat it, he gets sad when I don’t finish what he makes. Jingyi: *glaring* Just dump it down the garbage disposal! Sizhui: *def has a fever if he didn’t think of that* Oh. Good idea.

LWJ: *swaying in place* WWX: This bitch drunk as hell. LWJ: I’m. Gonna comit. A crime. WWX: *crying a little* I love drunk hubby times. A full shot of vodka and he’s not gonna remember any of this. Hey kids, I’m taking Papa on a walk! Sizhui’s in charge!

Zizhen: *sitting quietly on the couch while LSZ, LJY and JL all argue behind him somewhere, covering his mouth with a slightly horrified look* Jingyi: I mean, that’s not fair at all! Who HASNT made out with their cousin at one point or another? Ling: ... Sizhui: You said you’d never bring that up again please shut up. Ling: ...!!!!!! Zizhen: Amazing.

That one time the kiddos hypnotized Jin Ling into thinking he was a kitten. The adults all thought it was really weird that he was finally going through the whole ‘pretending to be an animal’ phase at like ten, but then the kiddos fessed up to learning how to hypnotize and they aren’t sure how to fix it. WWX instigated a rule that no brainwashing is allowed outside his office from now on.

People ask how WWX and LWJ met and it’s told from the POV of Lan Qiren who progressively getting drunker as he tells the story of the terrible high school romance that he had to watch between bad boy WWX and his precious baby angel nephew that made him consider quitting and how no one believed them when they insisted they didn’t get together till after WWX got out of jail for the cow incident.

[trensu]

Episode 50: The One with the Greatest Family Reunion(s) of All Time

so we start the ep with nhs's truly oscar-worthy performance which results in jgy getting stabbed

And i cheer for both the performance AND the stabbing!!!

lxc has his eyes closed bc that's his coping mechanism when times get tough

lol lxc is like I TOLD YOU I WASN'T GONNA HOLD BACK IF YOU DID ONE MORE BAD THING

and jgy is like i know!! that's why i haven't done one more bad thing!!!!

everyone's faces are like sure jan

but then they look at nhs like, wait a minute...

jgy is like why are you looking at him? you're not gonna see anything! i didn't see anything all these years and i'm smarter and sneakier than all of you!!!

okay, he didn't say that last part but it was def implied

jgy: nhs, good for you. i didn't expect that you would be my downfall.

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQ--uhhh, NIE HUAISANG!!

nhs hasn't broken character either! He needs to join a theater troupe or smth with those skills.

blah blah lxc and jgy are having Feelings blah blah blah lxc is conflicted blah

hm, those Feelings are becoming rather Dramatique

ugh jgy just let it go and die already

jgy: have I ever done you wrong?

UM?? how about KILLING his little brother's soulmate?

which resulted in him having to watch his little brother suffer extreme physical punishment and then grieve for years after??

PRETTY SURE THAT HURT LXC QUITE A LOT

Jgy: now you won't even give me a chance to live?

I THINK THE FUCK NOT!!!

oh we're getting some not so great special effects and jgy drags lxc to the coffin and then bleeds all over it, gross

ooooh, the Temple of Doom is starting to fall apart

lwj makes a move towards lxc but wwx grabs his arm and stops him!

bc it's dangerous to get too close and wwx is protective of his soulmate!!

jc starts the evacuation bc hello the building is crumbling and he gets everyone out except the lan bros, wwx and jgy

Jgy: stay and die with me

FUCK YOU JGY

but lxc was ready and willing to do that, so jgy shoves him back bc why the hell not

(we're gonna ignore how awkward that particular maneuver was, we already know special effects are not a priority in this show)

Jgy's like lets emotionally torment lxc some more, just for kicks, bc I'm an ASSHOLE

lwj catches his brother and he is Concerned.

Eventually our lan bros and wwx flee the temple and jgy has one last meltdown before getting crushed LIKE THE MAGGOT HE IS

Now we cut to a shot of all our crew standing outside

and we see my bratty son slowly fall to his knees with a look of UTTER SORROW AND PAIN ON HIS FACE

Bc he was BETRAYED by his nice uncle

MY POOR SON!!

we get reaction shots from wwx and the lan bros

(wwx continues to be beautiful even when sad)

oh, now lxc and nhs are having a moment sitting on the steps of the temple

lxc asks nhs if jgy really had made a move

nhs is like, you questioning me is making me doubt everything! idk idk!!

even amidst his grief he takes a moment to be completely exasperated by NHS's catchphrase lolol

now we cut to wwx sitting on a different set of stairs, carefully fiddling with his demon flute and he looks up to see jc watching him and HE SMILES

BC THAT'S HIS LITTLE BROTHER!! 

AND THEY'RE ALL STILL MIRACULOUSLY ALIVE AFTER THAT HOT MESS!!

oooh, he's unwrapping his sleeve and we get a flash of his bare forearm 

how scandalous! you're gonna give lwj vapors, wwx

We see the very last cut on his arm fade away bc finally mxy has been avenged

AND WWX SMILES AGAIN!!

cut to jc and jl watching wwx smile

bc i mean, who wouldn't be captivated by wwx's smile?

PEOPLE YOU CAN'T TRUST, THAT'S WHO

none of the sect leaders before were captivated by that smile AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!!!

oh that smile didn't stick around for long bc we hear barking!!

wwx gets this panicked wide-eyed expression that mAKES ME WANNA HIDE HIM AND PROTECT HIM FROM THE WORLD

But I also don't want to get murdered by LWJ's death glare so I'll just let him hide and protect wwx...

omg my bratty son looks SO HAPPY and shouts "fairy!!" before running towards his doggy friend

i'm not much of a dog person, tbh, but MY BRATTY SON IS SO HAPPY 

and fairy did bring a whole crew of cultivators...

too little too late, some smart spiritual dog he is, lololol

we've got lan disciples, and jiang disciples and all these people swarming around our crew, fussing over them. 

it's kind of sweet except i notice that no one's approached my bratty son 

he is, in fact, ALL ALONE with fairy and i am OFFENDED on his behalf

not that my bratty son seems to mind

he's too wrapped up in his doggy reunion to notice BUT I NOTICED SO I'LL BE OFFENDED ENOUGH FOR THE BOTH OF US

wwx is smiling as he sees lwj and jc being fussed over by their respective disciples

so cute so CUTE, I love his smiles so much

lwj stands up and greets his uncle with a stately bow 

god he's elegant and regal af, how the hell does he do it

but his uncle's a douchebag and barely acknowledges him before turning to leave and lwj watches him go, kind of hurt, kind of surprised

ooooh, now we get a shot of jc watching wwx as he gets questioned by oyzz

Oyzz is like what happened? Are you hurt? Is everyone okay??

and we can see wwx is still smiling!! BC MY BOY IS MADE OF SUNSHINE OKAY

awwwww

jl looks up  with an ADORABLE smile on his face and tells fairy to wait outside 

HE TAKES FAIRY OUTSIDE BC HE KNOWS WWX IS AFRAID OF DOGS!!!

My bratty son is actually very sweet!!

jc starts to leave the scene (and it's only until now that he stops staring at wwx btw) and wwx watches him go 😔

cut to a shot of lwj blatantly staring at wwx as per usual

wwx looks up and meets his gaze 

they get lost in each other for a bit bc when DON'T they?

We’re at the steps of the temple again and we see nhs pick up jgy's crumpled up hat looking all contemplative

oops, nhs's fingers come away from the hat all tacky with blood, yuck

cut to my bratty son running back into the temple where all the cultivators are inspecting stuff and he asks ljy where wwx is

HE'S ASKING AFTER MY SUNSHINE BOY!

Y'know, his not-evil, not-angry uncle? 

ljy tells him that he and hanguang jun left after they brought them lil apple

lol, the idea of ljy and oyzz dragging lil apple along just to return him to wwx cracks me up

jl tells ljy to take care of fairy for him before he dashes off to find his new uncle

BUT JC STOPS HIM?? "don't chase after them"

look at jc being all Cool leaning against that tree

in his fashionable robes

with his awesome sword tucked in the crook of his elbow

jl throws one last glance at the direction wwx and lwj left, and then joins jc under the tree 

jc is like, they're long gone kid

jl: so that's it? you're letting them leave just like that??

jc: what else? invite them to stay for dinner? say thank you and then i am sorry??

lol, he's working himself up into a snit already

But also, like, MY BRATTY SON HAS A GOOD HEART, OKAY??

he just hides it under bluster bc he's sensitive and people are mean to him all the time!

HE WANTED TO CONNECT WITH WWX (AND MAYBE LWJ??) NOW THAT THIS WAS ALL OVER

AND HE WOULD'VE DONE IT IF NOT FOR JC BEING ALL HUNG UP ON HIS ISSUES STILL

not that i hold that against jc, that's a lot of emotional trauma he's gotta work through

LOL JL IS NOT GONNA LET HIMSELF BE COWED BY HIS UNCLE BC WHEN DOES HE EVER?

JL: it was exactly bc of the way you were acting that they took off! you're such a pain in the neck!!

AND THEN HE POUTS AND FALLS INTO A CROUCH WITH HIS ARMS CROSSED AND STARTS SULKING UP A STORM

I LOVE MY BRATTY SON SO MUCH

JC: IS THAT HOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SPEAK TO YOUR ELDERS? ARE YOU ASKING TO GET DISCIPLINED??

these two crack me up every time, i swear

but the whole corporal punishment is...problematic

jc raises his arm to smack jl and jl ducks and raises his own arm to block the blow and i'm sitting here like, yikes

but then we get a shot of jc's open palm, out of focus with a crisp backdrop of red leaves from the tree they're under

and his hand is just held there, stilled for just a moment before the fingers start to gently curl inward and the strike never happens (thank god)

jc: lets go home, jin ling. let everyone go back to the place where they belong

he walks off with jin ling springing to his feet and chasing after him a beat later

jl: was there something you wanted to say to wwx?

have i mentioned i love my bratty son? BECAUSE I DO. A LOT.

jc: no, there isn't.

jl: bullshit!

I LOVE HIM!! WHAT A MOUTHY BRAT 💜

JL: i saw it with my own eyes! you wanted to talk to wwx! but you didn't say a word just now or back in the temple!

jc: there is nothing to say

jl: bullshit! you had something to say!

while this entire exchange is happening we see jc marching ahead, not looking at jl at all, but jl is walking backwards eyes pinned to his face the entire time

bc my son might be a brat but he's also pretty observant and he KNOWS his uncle 

AND NOW WE GET A FLASHBACK

WE GET A BIG REVEAL

we're back at “the ones where we gross sob FOREVER”

and wwx is telling jc to stay put at the inn while he goes to get food and meds

his voice all weak and tremulous

but jc steps out of the inn for a moment after wwx leaves

AND SEES THAT THE WEN FLUNKIES CAUGHT SIGHT OF HIS BROTHER!!

they were like three feet away from grabbing his big brother

and he says internally, "take care. i'm leaving jyl in your hands"

AND I'M CRYING BC THEY'RE PLAYING THAT MUSIC

THAT SWEET TENDER MUSIC THEY PLAY WHENEVER JYL AND HER BROTHERS HAVE A MOMENT

Jc goes and causes a distraction and lets himself be caught by the wens

SO THAT HIS BIG BROTHER AND BIG SISTER COULD STAY SAFE

I'M CRYING I'M CRYING

MY YUNMENG SIBS, MY POOR YUNMENG SIBS!! 

WHY DID THEY HAVE TO SUFFER SO?? 

WHY WERE THEY SO DAMN SELF-SACRIFICING??? 

WHY THE HELL COULDN'T THEY LEARN TO COMMUNICATE BETTER???

cut back to the present, and jc's eyes are welled up with tears 

he has a hurt little smile on his face, he says, "take care"

softly, mostly to himself

after a moment, he turns to jin ling and says "lets go"

and we watch them leave

I just want them all to be a BIG HAPPY FAMILY DAMN IT

cut to the next scene, we hear ~THEIR SONG~ start playing in the background all slow and soft

i love the overhead shot we get of them surrounded by the gorgeous foliage, it's so peaceful

As wwx and lwj walk slowly and at ease with lil apple between them 

AND MY HEART FEELS SO TENDER AND FULL OMG

lwj: wei ying

he says it all seriously. wwx looks at him and he's got A BIG SMILE ON HIS FACE 

bc he's looking at his soulmate!!!

who wouldn't smile when looking at their soulmate???

he's cheerfully twirling his flute bc finally all is right in the world! 

the mystery is solved, his loved ones are safe

and he's traveling with lwj and lil apple

nothing could be better!

wwx: whats up?

lwj is pointedly not looking at him

lwj: there is something that I…

and here he stops in his tracks, and wwx stops with him

lwj: i didn't tell you.

wwx gets all playful and leans on lil apple, and waggles his demon flute and lwj

wwx: what is it?

Look at that mischievous grin!!

he's all prepared to tease the heck out of lwj for whatever he's about to say LOL

but they're interrupted!!

wen ning and lan sizhui are running after them and wwx notices

LOLOL

His face scrunches up and he mutters under his breath like, damn it! every time!! these two are fast! 

wwx: sizhui, why are you following us? aren't you afraid of old master lan calling you out?

MY SUNSHINE BOY IS SMILING SO MUCH THIS EPISODE, I'M SO HAPPY!!!

lsz: i have something important to ask you!

he's all out of breath!

wwx turns to look at lwj eyes wide and curious before going back to lsz

wwx: what is it?

lsz goes on to explain how he's been remembering things but he's unsure of stuff so he wanted to ask them about it

wwx looks confused and glances at lwj 

lwj just looks back at him briefly before his eyes flick down

wwx: what is it that you want to know?

lsz looks down and, like, gathers up the strength needed for this next line of questioning. 

with the sweetest smile, and the softest eyes he starts listing stuff

like how he knew a cocky chef who was actually a terrible cook

(wwx laughs confusedly at this)

and how that man planted him in a field and told him he'd grow faster with some watering and sunlight

AND WE GET A FLASHBACK OF LITTLE A-YUAN PLOPPED IN THE DIRT GETTING BURIED BY WWX

he goes on to say how that man would play with him 

and how he had invited hunguang jun for a meal and then didn't pick up the tab so hanguang jun had to pay

There we get a flashback to their meal at the yiling wine house!

we cut back to the present and WWX'S FACE IS STUNNED, EYES WELLING UP WITH TEARS, AND LSZ IS GETTING CHOKED UP AS HE TELLS HIM THINGS

AND WWX'S BREATHING GETS SHAKY 

BC LSZ TELLS HIM HIS SURNAME IS WEN

wwx blinks rapidly, not believing what he's hearing

wwx: wen was your surname? isn't lan your surname?

wwx: lan sizhui, lan yuan.. A-yuan?

AND OH GOD HIS FACE, HIS FACE

His eyebrows are furrowed

His eyes are full of tears!

he's looking at lsz like this has to be a dream bc it's too good to be true

Lsz nods jerkily

AND I'M TRYING TO HOLD BACK TEARS

HOW THE HELL IS LWJ WATCHING THIS ALL GO DOWN WITHOUT CRYING??

he's watching his son so intently

he's seeing his two most precious people reunite

and there are no tears??

I DON'T UNDERSTAND

HE'S VERY OBVIOUSLY MOVED BY THIS BUT NOT CRYING

MEANWHILE MY FACE IS A FREAKING RIVER OF EMOTION

lsz: i...i am a-yuan

and his voice all cracked with feeling

wwx huffs and is still shaky

wwx: didn't a-yuan pass away already?

he's thought his kid was dead this whole time

MY HEART, MY HEART

lwj had been staring at lsz this whole time but when he hears wwx say that, his gaze drops to the ground 

HE FEELS ASHAMED (AS HE SHOULD BE!!) BC HE DIDN'T TELL WWX SOONER

wwx turns to lwj, hope and tentative joy in his voice

wwx: lan zhan, was it you?

lwj meets his gaze and says yes, his voice steady and firm

lwj: this was the thing i haven't told you about

Yeah, i know, i’ve been YELLING AT YOU ABOUT IT THIS WHOLE TIME

and wwx looks back at lsz, breath choppy and lsz flings himself into wwx's arms!!!

I AM SOBBING

lsz: i really missed you, i really missed you

THEY'RE BOTH CRYING AND CLINGING TO EACH OTHER SO HARD

OH GOD I NEED TISSUES

wwx laughs and sniffles

wwx: silly boy, why are you crying?

AS IF YOUR FACE ISN'T STREAMING WITH TEARS, WWX

lsz pulls back and scrubs his face in his sleeve

lsx: i wasn't crying. i was just feeling really sad and yet thrilled at the same time

YOU TWO STOP DENYING YOUR TEARS

IF I HAVE TO SIT IN A PUDDLE OF MY TEARS THEN YOU HAVE TO OWN UP TO YOUR OWN TEARS, YOU HEAR ME??

lsz: i couldn't put it into words

lwj: then don't

pffft, ofc lwj would be the one advocating for LESS WORDS lololol

wwx laughs at that

wwx: that's right. no need to say anything

then he starts his theatrics, bc he wouldn't be wwx without his theatrics

he leans on lil apple and rubs his own shoulder

wwx: damn, you little ones are strong, you are indeed a student of hanguang jun

he looks at lwj and points his demon flute at him

HE'S SO HAPPY

lwj: he is a student of yours as well

omg lwj delivers this line so sincerely

like, there was barely a pause between what wwx and what lwj responded with

he's so freaking earnest

LOL wwx straightens up at that and reaches for lsz

wwx: no wonder he is such a handsome boy!

Wwx, you are SHAMELESS

He giggles as he pats lsz’s face, it’s freaking adorable

lsz: master wei didn't teach me anything!

wow lsz, you've had your other dad back for all of five minutes and you're already sassing him?

he truly is wwx's son lol

wwx: i did! it was bc you were so little and you forgot

You’re sounding a bit defensive there, wwx...

lsz: yes, i seem to recall. i remember now

wwx immediately starts preening

wwx: you see. i've mentored him!

lsz: for example, switching the portrait of a beauty into--

wwx slams his hand over lsz's mouth, HIS FACE IS A PICTURE OF PANIC

LOLOLOL

lwj's eyes have widened slightly and developed an edge of Judgement 

wn peeks at lwj out of the corner of his eyes like he's trying to gauge his reaction or smth lolol

wwx laughs awkwardly and takes his hand off lsz's mouth to shake a finger at him, wearing a tight smile on his face

lsz: and when a pretty lady passes by--

wwx: NONSENSE!!!

LOL I'M  D Y I N G

wwx shouts this at the TOP OF HIS LUNGS to drown out lsz

he whirls on him pointing an accusatory finger and marches towards him as lsz scrambles back

wwx: nonsense! how come you're remembering these kinds of things? how could i teach little kids these things?

LOL HE'S TALKING SO FAST

lsz: you did! wen ning can testify!

wow, way to throw your uncle under the bus, lsz

kids these days have no filial piety!

wwx: there's nothing for wen ning to testify!

OMG WN AND LWJ IN THE BACKGROUND 🤣🤣🤣

as soon as lsz draws attention to him, wn looks at lsz like WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?

and lwj side-eyes wen ning SO HARD, like what the hell did you let wwx teach my son?

wwx: stop talking nonsense! i am telling you, little boy. lan zhan, what did you teach him?

AND WE GET THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SHOT OF LWJ HERE

as soon as wwx turns to him with his wild accusations, lwj gets this delightfully crooked smile on his face 

and he looks down as if there's TOO MUCH JOY IN HIS HEART that he can't bear to watch for long

GOD THIS IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL EXPRESSION ON HIS FACE. 

and this marks, what, THE THIRD? the third time lwj smiles in public, all OUT IN THE OPEN?

I'M DYING, I'M DYING

wwx: when a-yuan was little and with me, he was a good boy!

lsz: it's the truth!

wwx: nonsense!

wwx: do you see that pit? no matter how big you've become, i will still plant you into that pit. understand?

lsz has a big grin on his face

wwx: what are you laughing at? you dumb boy!

AND THEN LSZ DROPS TO THE GROUND AND HUGS WWX'S LEG LIKE HE USED TO WHEN HE WAS A TODDLER

AND EVERYTHING IS WONDERFUL IN THE WORLD

wwx laughs to himself and lwj still has a small smile playing across his lips as he watches his son

wwx: a-yuan, you are too old for this

AS IF HE'S NOT LOVING EVERY SECOND OF IT

wwx: do you remember, you used to grab hanguang jun's leg when you were little, just like this?

so many wonderful flashbacks of little a-yuan clinging to his parents’ legs!!

oh god, oh god, my heart, my heart is going to explode from all the tender feelings!! Look at their faces

wwx's mouth slowly curls into a smile before it grows INTO A FLASH OF HIS SQUINTY-EYED SMILE

you know the one!

the one that stretches SO BIG WITH HAPPINESS IT LIGHTS UP THE WHOLE WORLD?? YEAH, THAT ONE

and then we cut to lwj's face

he has the softest expression on his face

he's got this gentle, tiny smile, the slightest of curves at the corners of his mouth

and in his eyes are SO FULL OF LOVE AND WARMTH as he watches his soulmate smile at him with their son clinging to his soulmate's leg

AND I MUST'VE DIED AND GONE TO THE GOOD PLACE BC THIS IS JUST TOO BEAUTIFUL TO BE REAL

now we cut to a different scene, lwj and lsz are in the background have some sort of father-son chat, while wwx and wn chill in the foreground

here we find out that wn and lsz plan to go back to qishan to build some sort of memorial to their loved ones

wwx: i'll come with you

wn: that won't be necessary

wwx: you don't want me to tag along?

aw, my sunshine boy looks kinda hurt 😔

but wn assures him that that's not the case. it's just that wwx has already done more than enough for them and it's time for wen ning to go out on his own

wwx gets all teary-eyed again and pats him on the shoulder, and agrees that that's for the best

lsz and wn split off, and wwx waves his demon flute cheerfully at them, lwj at his side

wwx turns to lwj with a smile

wwx: lan zhan, lets go! 

he says happily, with confidence, then he taps chenqing on his head a couple of times

wwx: where should we go?

he grins, pulling lil apple along with him, so cheerfully!

wwx: let's get going, lil apple!

but lwj isn't turning with him

he's still in that spot, his back towards wwx who already was forging onto his next adventure

AND MY HEART IS BREAKING

BC WHY HASN'T HE TURNED TO FOLLOW WWX???

wwx slows to a stop as he notices the absence of white robes at his side AND ~THEIR SONG~ STARTS PLAYING AGAIN

he turns back slowly to look back at lwj, confused

there is too much distance between them!!

TOO MUCH!

multiple yards of distance where there should be NONE!

THERE SHOULD BE NONE DISTANCE!!!!!!

WHY ISN'T THERE NONE DISTANCE??!?!

lwj is still facing away from wwx, he's still rooted to the spot and his face has gone blank

wwx: lan zhan, you...aren't you coming with me?

HE SOUNDS SO CONFUSED, SO TIMID

HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING

and there's a too long pause during which wwx's eyes are desperately pinned to lwj's back

finally, FINALLY, lwj turns ever so slowly to face wwx

wwx is staring at him and lwj can only meet his eyes briefly before they slowly turn downwards

wwx gets this tiny hurt smile on his face and nods as his eyes well with tears again but this time THEY ARE NOT HAPPY TEARS

these are "i knew this was too good to be true" tears

these are "of course i can't keep good, pure lan zhan at my side" tears

these are "this is exactly what i deserve" tears

lwj looks up again, and wwx gives him a nod and a smile bc he doesn't want lwj to feel guilty for leaving him

LEAVING HIM

HE'S LEAVING HIM AGAIN 

WHY 

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING

the camera pulls out, really emphasizing the distance and the sudden quiet that falls between them is severely lacking any words of explanation

AND I'M SCREAMING INTERNALLY BC WTF WHY

we cut to a truly impressive shot of the cloud recesses, followed by a cut to a waterfall 

I’m pretty sure it's the same waterfall from when they were kids and had that sword fight

and we hear the opening notes of ~Their Song~ played on the flute 

wwx walks into view on the shore of the pond the waterfall goes into, with his flute at his lips

in the background we see that lwj is at the opposite shore closer to the waterfall, sitting cross-legged with his guqin in his lap

AND THEN THEY GIVE US VOCALS

bc watching them play ~THEIR SONG~ TOGETHER BUT AT A DISTANCE WASN'T PAINFUL ENOUGH

and jfc the shots of the waterfalls in this area are freaking gorgeous

now we see them standing together on the same boulder over a smaller waterfall 

bc our boys have an aesthetic 

that aesthetic is moonlight and waterfalls, and they're sticking to it

wwx: lan zhan, tbh, it surprised me that you would take over the role of his excellency

lwj: we made a vow here

and we get a flashback to the lantern scene and hear those vows they made as kids

Back in the present, wwx smiles, and knocks back the jar of wine that he has with him bc the mystery has been solved BUT HIS ALCOHOLISM HASN'T!

and i'm sitting here SCREAMING INTERNALLY, FUCK THOSE VOWS. 

YOU'VE GOT NEW, BETTER VOWS, WHICH ARE NEVER EVER LEAVE EACH OTHER'S SIDES EVER AGAIN, DAMN IT

wwx turns to face lwj

wwx: lan zhan, you truly deserve your title, hanguang jun

and lwj turns to look back at him

lwj: and you too, wei ying

we are BLESSED with wwx's wide, squinty-eyed smile

and lwj graces us with his soft, small, secret smile

they stare at each other for a moment before turning back to gaze off into the distance

the camera pulls back to gift us with the gorgeous scenery that surrounds them

now we cut to them walking down the steps towards that big rock full of ridiculous gusulan rules

nhs is there! with his fan!

nhs: this is unexpected. cloud recesses has added another thousand rules.

wwx: nhs, no matter how many rules are added, there is one that matters most. do you know what it is?

nhs looks so at ease here

this entire time since we got back to the present to watch wwx solve this mystery, nhs was nervous, twitchy and flaky in every scene

but here, he stands straight and serene with a confidence we have not yet seen on him til now

nhs: i have no clue

he says this and it doesn't sound anything like his usual anxious, dopey, "idk idk i really don't know"

nhs: please advise, wwx.

and wwx strides up until he's right next to nhs, shoulder to shoulder, tho they're facing opposite directions

wwx: that would be...

he leans down, and lowers his voice

wwx: "thou shall not befriend the devil"

there has been a distinct lack of background noise or music since this scene started

but the minute those words leave wwx's mouth, we get ominous music. 

nhs keeps his harmless act as he meets wwx's eyes and they share a laugh 

(a laugh of acknowledgement, of recognition of each other's skills)

nhs: wwx, you have the nerve 

wwx: no i wouldn't dare. i'm no match for you.

the words they're exchanging SOUND carefree and easy on the surface, but they definitely carry some underlying tension

nhs notices lwj watching them and bows respectfully

nhs: your excellency

he turns to leave, fan open against his chest

wwx: clan leader nie, i have one question that i would love to get your opinion on.

nhs: go on

wwx: you have put in so much effort and energy, don't you want to be the Excellency?

wwx is gauging nhs's threat level to lwj

bc with the skills nhs has developed and the cover he has, it really wouldn't be all that difficult for him to depose lwj if he wanted, you know?

but nhs has never been the ambitious sort

he was perfectly content with his art, and his fans, and his porn, and being second young master, nothing more (UNTIL FUCKING JGY RUINED IT ALL)

nhs: wwx, it was once said that we can never get tired of these scenes; earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea

nhs: as for me, i am a sensible man. if i have to, i always do it myself.

nhs: but for the things that aren't my business, i won't meddle in

and i'm not sure if there's something i'm missing, some layer of context or whatever, 

but what i get from this is that nhs is saying everything has its place and he has no desire to go outside of his own place in the world

if the situation calls for it, he will intervene but ONLY if there's no one else willing or able to step in

really, this is just his poetic way of saying, i have no interest in hurting hanguang jun or stealing his power

lwj walks up to join wwx as the two of them watch nhs leave

lwj: aren't you going to ask him?

wwx: ask him what?

wwx: who let mxy out? who released the blade spirit? who found sisi and bicao? and who wrote that anonymous letter?

and he gets this unconcerned expression on his face

with a little pout he just goes on to say that these questions don't matter anymore

and he walks off, twirling his flute

we cut to the next scene and our boys are standing face to face on a grassy hilltop. wwx points behind lwj

Brief aside to say, i love the robes lwj wears here, they’re very very pretty. White and pale blue, they look very airy and light

wwx: i will head that way

and lwj points with bichen behind wwx

lwj: i will head this way

AND THEN THEY JUST STARE AT EACH OTHER FOR A BIT

BC THEY DON'T REALLY WANNA SAY GOODBYE, DO THEY?

lwj: have you decided where you are going to go?

wwx shakes his head and tilts his chin up

wwx: it's a big world that we live in. i will wander with my fine wine and a ride, and make it my home

*cries softly* but you have a home, LWJ is your home, why are you leaving

lwj lowers his gaze

probs bc he is thinking the same thing i was

let lwj be your home, wwx

wwx: lan zhan, i will get going

and lwj gives him one single, barely there nod of the head

bc he doesn't want wwx to go!!!

but he doesn't want to hold him back either...

wwx walks past him with a smile, dragging lil apple along with him and cheerfully he says:

"as long as the sea is bound to wash up on the sand and stars are above you, we will meet again."

and lwj just watches him leave before steeling himself to turn and walk off to his wwx-less future 

but as he walks, he hears wwx playing their song on his flute so he pauses to turn back slightly

and we hear wwx’s voice over, "lan zhan, next time we see each other, you better have a name for this song."

as lwj continues walking, we hear his voice over, "way ahead of you."

and he seems slightly less sad at their parting.

AND NOW WE'RE GETTING THE FUCKING VOCALS AGAIN BC THE SHOW JUST LOVES TEARING OUR HEARTS OUT OF OUR CHEST

we get a gorgeous shot of a green cliff side and of course the cliffside has a couple of pretty waterfalls

wwx standing alone, playing on his flute, and the camera is lovingly caressing all of wwx's best features

we get a beautiful close up of wwx's lips resting over the mouthpiece of his flute, aND I THANK EVERY DEITY IN EXISTENCE FOR IT

and it's not immediately apparent bc wwx always wears dark form fitting robes

but the robes he's wearing in this scene are DEFINITELY DIFFERENT from the ones he was wearing when he and lwj parted ways

MEANING SOME TIME HAS PASSED

we have no way of knowing how much time

COULD BE AN HOUR! COULD BE A DAY! COULD BE A COUPLE OF YEARS!!

WE JUST DON'T KNOW

but time has passed

wwx is playing ~Their Song~ alone on that hill, the vocals are like honey to the ears and they crescendo to give us an overwhelming swell of emotion

the music peeters off until it's just wwx's flute reaching the last notes of ~Their Song~

as he is finishing we hear lwj's voice

"Wei Ying."

wwx freezes, like he's wondering if he imagined that voice

the music is completely gone, everything is utterly silent and wwx's face is completely open as he lowers his flute

a smile starts to curl at his mouth, small and tentative and as he turns around, ~Their Song~ crescendos into existence again

and wwx's smile grows incredulous and relieved and SO FULL OF LOVE AND JOY

I DIE, I DIE!

MY BEAUTIFUL SUNSHINE BOY

and we fade to black

bc that's where it ends

That's it

THAT'S ALL THERE IS, WE MADE IT TO THE END!

IT'S OVER, THERE'S NO MORE. MY LIFE NO LONGER HAS MEANING. OMG I JUST BURST INTO TEARS. WHY IS THIS AFFECTING ME SO MUCH

I KNEW THIS WAS COMING. I'VE SEEN THIS THREE OTHER TIMES ALREADY!! OH GOD OH GOD, I MISS WWX'S FACE ALREADY. GIVE ME BACK MY SUNSHINE BOY, LET ME KEEP HIM FOREVER *SOBS*

Hang on, hang on, just give me a minute. *deep breath* Okay, i’m good, i’m good now. 

This show is just...it’s so beautiful in every way except CGI lol and it evokes so many visceral feelings. It’s passionate, is what it is. And not in the sexual way “passionate” has been forced to become. This show is passionate the way passion is supposed to mean: piercing anguish, burning anger, utter devotion...just overwhelming feeling

But most importantly, the passion in this show is intense love:

Platonic love; see how much our main cast gave up to aid their friends and dependents

Familial love; look at the lengths those brothers and sisters went for each other

Romantic love; watch how these two soulmates returned to each other again and again regardless of all the obstacles between them

I honestly can’t think of another show that’s done this so well. I am just so grateful to have been able to watch this show, to have gotten to know these characters even tho it’s raised my standards for future shows to ridiculously high levels

So that’s it! We’ve reached the end of the guide! Now we can go back and re-visit our favorite scenes whenever we want!

Return to Masterpost

[zhuilingyizhen]

Night hcs | the juniors✨

Hcs for nighttime schedules, modern AU!

// ouyang zizhen //

When he was younger, his 5 little siblings had to be tucked in. Usually, his older sister was working, so he had to do it. He liked it, of course, but getting em all asleep severely messed up his sleep schedule.

He has insomnia as well. It leads to a lot of cute cat videos, ASMR, and vines at 4 AM.

Sometimes he just doesn’t sleep, staying up reading a book or just thinking about life. When he gets like that, his roommates know not to push too hard.

They sometimes bring in snacks and just sit with him. Sometimes he and Jingyi will watch trashy romance movies together, or read books together.

Needs to have a blanket wrapped around him at all times. This is non-negotiable.

// lan sizhui //

Sizhui doesn’t like the dark. It reminds him of the one time he fell into the cool river, bc that happened at nighttime and all he could see was the dark, cold sky.

Follows a set schedule: go to sleep at 9 PM, wake up at 6 AM.

Usually breaks his 9 PM rule by hanging out with his friends late at night.

Gets more clingy at night. Instead of holding onto legs, he hugs his friends.

Can sleep without a blanket. The other juniors are shook.

// lan jingyi //

Jingyi gets super emotional at night. Probably the lack of sleep or something makes it akin to being tipsy for him, if Lans didn’t skip the tipsy phase and just get drunk.

Anyways, emotional. More likely to show affection, kisses (not a good idea when you haven’t confessed yet, a yi!!), hugs, and to confess.

Has probably kissed one of the other juniors when they were both sleepy and he did it on instinct. Could’ve been jl, bc those two are the only ones who would never talk about it afterwards.

Writes poetry for friends at night. Watches YouTube vids until he’s blind from crying or staring at a screen in the dark too much.

// jin ling //

Likes his beauty sleep. Don’t wake him up early for fear of a whatever-is-on-his-nightstand being thrown at your face.

Won’t share his blanket unless you cuddle w/ him.

Won’t admit he likes cuddling, but does.

Less resistant of physical touch from friends at night, bc he’s too tired to give a shit & just wants sleep.

Kissed ljy once at night & has no idea how it happened. Thought it was a dream or some shit.

[lazybrokeweeb]

Orv chapter 30 spoilers~~~

Kdj's shocked Pikachu face (we're blessed)

Also LJY can summon disaster lol

YJH just say that you care okay

But Kdj is just him being a rat

Two choices but the other will give you a heart attack

Guys look at them they're so precious

JHW is me whenever i smacked my younger bro

Lastly, look at this!!

Can someone prepare the adoption papers already!?!

They're so cute even tho they're running for their lives lol

[farmerlan]

Farmer Lan’s Rewatch Guide to The Untamed - Episode 1

HERE WE GO I am strapped in with my Topo Chico and ready to take on Episode 1 of The Untamed. It’s going to be wild. I have no idea what I’m doing. If you’re reading this and have a better suggestion on how I should format everything, feel free to tell me because right now this is just the diary of a madwoman.

CAUTION: Due to the chronological differences between the novel and the drama, there will be instances where I bring in references further along in the novel and/or drama to explain what is going on, so there will be spoilers if you haven’t finished the series.

[Starting scene – there’s a voiceover of people rejoicing over WWX’s death, we see a chaotic battlefield and people fighting over the Stygian Tiger Amulet (here forth abbreviated as the STA because abbreviations are my jam). WWX commits suicide by falling off a cliff, LWJ tries to stop him and then JC sends him to the depths of hell. Flash to the present when some storyteller is narrating this story, and we’re told 16 years has passed since the Nightless City incident and WWX is seemingly gone forever – although his body has never been recovered despite extensive search efforts.]

Differences from the novel:

In the novel, there is no mention of clans trying to fight over the STA during the bloodbath at Nightless City. It’s definitely true that the existence of the STA and WWX’s unchecked power led to the actions of the Nightless City, but it was a combination of multiple events that led up to the battle, and not an explicit cause and effect.

It is also explicitly stated during Chapter 1 as people recount the tale of WWX that he destroyed the STA prior to his death.

In the novel, it is stated in Chapter 1 and confirmed by WWX himself (in Chapter 43) that WWX’s death was caused by his own power rebounding upon him and he ended up being torn apart by his own undead creations. So unfortunately the epic cliff scene was entirely scripted for the drama.

13 years has passed in the novel vs. 16 years in the drama. I can’t remember if there was an exact reason why they switched up the timeline, but just know that the timeline of the novel series of events itself is also very confusing and I will probably do a post with my take on it sometime later.

[Cut to present – WWX is summoned by MXY’s sacrifice, there’s some weird mask action going on, WWX creates a ruckus at the arrival of the Gusu disciples, they set up shop with the Demon Summoning flags, tell WWX to go wait inside and then they wait for the spirits to come their way.]

Differences from the novel:

The mask does not exist in the novel. In the novel, the body that WWX is summoned into is that of MXY’s, and MXY is a different person in every way from WWX in terms of face, height, etc. So everyone who sees WWX thinks he is MXY up until he finally reveals himself. It’s obviously a stylistic choice made to reflect why no one can recognize WWX in the drama series even though they are played by the same actor, because otherwise I can see how it can get confusing for viewers.

WWX is shown to be playing the WangXian melody in the room but this does not happen in the novel, although it does lead to a pretty epic snark from my favorite boy LJY about how awful WWX’s playing is (which IS in the novel, but happens later in the story instead). WWX does NOT use a flute at all until the Da Fan Shan arc in the novel. Also Jingyi, never stop being you.

It is not explicitly mentioned that MXY went to Lan Ling Jin sect in the novel at this current point, only that he was accepted as a disciple by a sect before being kicked out. We find this out later.

Other than that, the scenes with MXY closely follows the novel up until the Demonic Left Arm (DLA) to show up.

[WWX is hauled in to confess his crimes by Matriarch Mo, things go to shit in about 3 seconds and the disciples realize they need to call for backup STAT, the flare for LWJ is sent. WWX realizes this needs to end fast in order to avoid meeting LWJ and exposing himself. A-Tong becomes possessed by the DLA, dies, and then the DLA possesses Matriarch Mo. Attempts to restrain her fail and WWX revives the other now-undead Mos to fight her.]

Differences from the novel:

The sassy verbal takedown of Matriarch Mo by WWX is indeed in the novel and just as great.

The drama identifies the black marks on the victims’ necks as being caused by the STA. There is no such scene in the novel. Basically, there is no mention of the STA being the cause of ANY of this, because in the novel, it’s not.

In the novel, the disciples send flares for back up but are uncertain how quickly back up will arrive, and they definitely did not specifically call for LWJ. However, WWX realizes he needs to intervene to end this quickly because the spirit is too powerful for the disciples to deal with, and he can’t leave the Mo household until the revenge curse put upon him by MXY is lifted (i.e. until everyone MXY wants dead is dead).

A funny scene that gets left out of the drama is: Matriarch Mo leaps to attack LSZ, who can’t dodge in time. Instead, WWX literally KICKS LJY into her path because he knows that the Gusu robes are imbued with magical protective spells, so he basically used LJY as a human talisman as a last resort. LJY did not find this funny, and WWX plays the “I didn’t do anything, I have no idea what I just did and I can’t be held culpable because I’m batshit crazy” card. Ah, my boys.

 [LWJ appears just as Matriarch Mo appears to have gotten the upper hand, and subdues her with the POWER OF MUSIC dundun (also sensually massaging the guqin strings helloooo). WWX is hiding but HE IS HERE for all of his boo’s actions. LWJ clarifies that the DLA is a spiritual sword ghost with traces of the STA, everyone gasps because didn’t WWX die? OR DID HE NOT? Time will tell, my friends. Anyway, with the DLA subdued for now, LWJ hears the footsteps of WWX running away and chases after him but sees nobody. He thinks….”WEIYING IS IT REALLY YOU??” WWX A MYSERIOUS PERSON (to be revealed...but OK it’s NHS I told you there would be spoilers) gives money to the storyteller, and then we see WWX with Little Apple and he has one more wound left on his arm, indicating there’s someone else he needs to kill on behalf of MXY.]

Differences from the novel:

In the novel, WWX leaves the moment he hears LWJ’s guqin and does not stay to spectate.

See above re: no mention of what caused this, and certainly no discussion of the STA.

There’s no mention of LWJ suspecting that it is WWX in MXY’s body, or even suspecting that he has returned at all.

In the novel, the four wounds left as a physical reminder of the body count for the revenge curse is for the three members of the Mo family and for A-Tong. Therefore, WWX leaves the Mo family effectively free of his debt to MXY, but in the drama, he is shown to still have one remaining person left to kill…dun dun dun.

Storyteller man is not around in the novel – consider him a convenient voiceover tool for the drama ha. Thanks to the @redisthecolouroffate​ for the catch, I missed this but this is also the episode where NHS first shows up to reward the man for his storytelling, which is a nice bit of foreshadowing done by the show which is not in the novel at all.

Overall Thoughts

The drama does a really good job of setting the tone from the beginning. There’s not too much deviation here compared to the first five chapters of the novel (which covers this whole Ep 1 arc) since the majority of it was to set up the premise for the show and introduce our main characters.

The main difference here is we can see the drama is already setting itself up for the STA to play a much bigger role than in the novel. In the novel, our protagonists really have no idea what is behind the DLA at this point, and they certainly don’t immediately assert that it is a ‘sword ghost’ that has been tainted by the STA. In the novel, the only explanation for the DLA at present is in Chapter 5, when WWX notes that the spirit is more powerful than most, given that this spirit has already claimed three lives in the span of a few hours. WWX also deduced that this was the arm of a person who died by dismemberment, and to summarize the novel, the ghost arm is effectively trying to find the rest of its body. Until then, it moves between ‘live hosts’ like a parasite.

Also – WWX is also noted to be wearing badly applied make up in the novel but not in the drama. It is clarified in Chapter 1 that MXY was homosexual and was kicked out of his cultivation sect as he harassed a fellow male disciple and is now basically a gay lunatic, which is unfortunately not a great look in ye olden days.

Lastly, cute tidbit in the novel in Chapter 3 that didn’t make its way into the drama – WWX secretly marveled at LSZ’s knowledge and manners, and wondered “Who in that godforsaken, old-fashioned place (referring to the Cloud Recesses) could have brought him up/taught him so well?” OH YOU’LL FIND OUT WHO HA.

[bottomlwjrights]

MO DAO ZU SHI REREAD:Thoughts™️....and Stuff

Chapter 43

Oh im trying so hard to stay calm as im about to read this but im so excited i love these chapters

Im really trying but even wwx making the effort to analyze lwj’s face is driving me nuts

Id just like to point out these chapters are titled “Allure”

Oh no this is like what he did when they were writing in the library

“Both his features and the hand at his forehead were impeccably fair in color. He looked as if he was a piece of fine jade”

Wwx was describing how lwj smells and how the sandalwood scent was warmed up by the wine and then said “the scent could almost be described as intoxicating” im gonna scream

“Now that Wei WuXian was near enough, the scent intertwined with his breaths. He couldn’t help but bent down further so that he was even closer to Lan WangJi. Vaguely, he thought to himself, Strange… Why is it starting to feel a bit hot in here?” Ohohoho

“Wei WuXian finally noticed that his heart was beating a bit too fast.” Shut uuuuuup

Okay im gonna lose my mind, i love wen ning

Also he left a man shaped dent in the ground when he fell

“Won’t you be a good boy?” Wwx calling lwj a good boy is canon so suck it i guess

Wwx brushing his fingers along lwj’s eyelashes is tender

Wwx, @ wn knealing in front of him: what the fuck are you doing? Stand up

Wwx obviously believes wn to be an equal to him, kneeling when he kneels, kowtowing when he kowtows until wn finally decides to stand in front of him

Wow anyways loved that ningxian moment

God....i feel so bad for wn...

Jin Ling....please...

This scene hurts me

Goddamn is wn someone who takes the blame for everything

Do NoT kiCk My BoY

Just a note, wwx does come to wn’s defense here, pulling lwj back and telling him to calm down

Wwx really doesnt like it when wn kneels to him

“Lan WangJi scrunched his brows and covered his ears. He then turned around with his back toward Wen Ning. Facing Wei WuXian, he used his own body to block their eye contact.” Lwj acts like such a little kid when he’s drunk oh my gosh

“Just as he was about to leave, Wei WuXian stopped him, ‘Wen Ning, why don’t you… find somewhere to hide first?’ Wen Ning paused for a second. Wei WuXian added, ‘One can say that you’ve died twice already. Go get some good rest.’” I dont care what anyone else says this is sweet “go get some good rest” 🤧

Lwj really took off his forehead ribbon for wwx without skipping a beat wow....

Oh and how wrong wwx is about it not holding any significance, he just doesnt know it yet

Trying to stay calm, trying not to scream about lwj taking off his forehead ribbon for wwx and then tying his wrists together with it

Knfnckc lwj reaching to take off wwx clothes again slnfckfk

“You said that you’ll listen to me, didn’t you? Be a good boy and take it off.” Twice in one chapter? Im being fed 

“Lan WangJi stared into the distance as he tugged at the ends of the forehead ribbon, contently swinging them around.” 🥺🥺🥺🥺 thats so cute

Ooooh lwj decided to show people when wwx said it would look bad on lwj if someone else saw them because he doesnt care if it makes him look bad hes gonna publicly claim wwx as his

Only ljy would hurl himself across a table to cover up a bottle of wine lmao

Lan WangJi is So shameless, holds up wwx’s hands tied with his forehead ribbon in front of his son and the other Lan disciples who know exactly what that means

Chapter 44

Chicken wing chicken wing

God im never gonna get over lsz shoving the chicken wing back into ljy’s mouth

Oh pls....lwj shoving wwx on the bed...

Oh!!! I forgot that after wwx said ow, lwj checked his head... he really didnt wanna hurt him

I really vibe with lwj being so concerned and gentle

“Sitting on the bed, Lan WangJi hugged his knees and clutched the hand that Wei WuXian had just licked to his chest, not moving at all.” I 🥺🥺🥺🥺

My god lwj was scared that he was gonna wipe it off 😭😭😭

Okay this is so so so cute, i dont care what anyone else thinks

“Hiding behind the screen, he showed only half of his fair-skinned face, peeking silently at the direction of Wei WuXian.” This tears me up

“You caught me”

“he enunciated each word with heavy emphasis and sounded anxiously eager” jakfncjfof gOD

Aw :( you’re not gonna lick me??? :(

Anyways lwj likes to be licked my wwx 👀

“Again clutching the hand that had been licked, he faced the wall silently.” Goddamnit this is so fucking cute 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Listen they should play chase or hide-and-seek post canon, like itd be so cute and sweet, somebody should hop on that 

“As he spoke, he held up one of Lan WangJi’s hands, bent down, and kissed between two of his slender fingers.” Listen im trying to not freak out but this is incredibly tender

“Wei WuXian’s lips pressed onto his distinct knuckles. Softer than the touch of feather, his breaths wandered to the back of his hand, and he kissed again.” This entire scene is too much

Hand and wrists kisses are so tender good god im gonna scream

“Over the clothing, he kissed where his heart was” jajfnkc so sweet!

“Suddenly, however, as Wei WuXian stared at those soft, pale-red lips, he didn’t know what had taken over him, but he suddenly went and kissed them.After the kiss, he even licked them, as though a kiss wasn’t enough.” AHHHHHHHH

I know that lwj wanted to deescalate the affection, but did he have to do it by knocking himself out???

“Even though he was drunk, even though he wouldn’t remember anything when he sobers up, I still shouldn’t have done something so outrageous… It’s too disrespectful to him.” This is important

God i love when characters touch their own lips after a kiss it’s such a good trope 

“In the future, it was best to not make Lan Zhan drink anymore” this is also important

Okay this was one of my favorite chapters to read so far

Chapter 45

I physically cannot handle lwj gently picking wwx up off the ground and putting him into bed right now

“... Wei WuXian could see Lan WangJi’s still-indifferent face. He immediately felt more awake...” i cannot

This entire scene is too tender for me, lwj rubbing ointments on wwx’s wrists...

Thinking about how wwx and lwj shared both their firsts kiss and how they’ve never kissed anybody except eachother

It makes sense that people including wwx would assume that lwj is straight bc thats what people do even in modern times (bc homophobia and heteronormativity) but also how tf does anyone think lwj is anything except gay

“It’s possible that he’s never even had such thoughts before…” “But judging from Lan Zhan’s habit of self-restraint, he’s probably really careful about not crossing any lines.” false.

Lwj just letting the juniors socialize, because hes good

Wwx once again taking any chance he can to bestow knowledge and wisdom upon the juniors, this time jl

“After the mention of Lan WangJi, Jin Ling looked to Wei WuXian in a strange way. He wanted to say something, but held it back, ‘You and HanGuang-Jun… Nevermind.It’s your own business. Anyways, I don’t care about you guys at all. Have fun being cut-sleeve. The disease is incurable.’”JIN LING 

“I already know the meaning behind the GusuLan Sect’s forehead ribbon. Now that it’s already like this, then stay by HanGuang-Jun’s side properly. Even if you’re a cut-sleeve, you should be a modest one. Don’t go about messing with other men, especially people from our sect! Or else, don’t blame the results on me.” Kandkckdkdn i can NOT

The scene kills me wow

As my reading buddy asked, why does wwx not mention wn when talking about how jc and lwj know who he is? Like does he not think thats pretty significant? especially bc thats one of the things that tipped jc off

LWJ IS SO SASSY 😨

Also pls stop picking on him about his memory

Ahhh the damsel of annual blossoms...

God i love wwx.....

Did lwj write the book that lsz read this from......

“Although still expressionless, an unusual glint hid beneath his eyes. He looked as though he was laughing at him.”

GOD “Wei WuXian’s heart skipped a beat and then thumped faster and faster.”

Lsz is the one to tell wwx about the meaning of the forehead ribbon

The lan juniors blushing thinking about what wwx means to lwj

Once again, wwx describing lwjs appearance in depth, talking about how dashing he is

“Along with that overly-pretty face of Lan WangJi’s, now that they met again, Wei WuXian’s eyes had momentarily been blinded by his looks, failing to immediately recognize him.”

“Softer than even the touch of catkin blossoms carried by the wind, the object made Wei WuXian’s cheek itch....The ends of his forehead ribbon danced in the breeze, gently brushing against Wei WuXian’s face.” Wow....i love this imagery with all my heart

The way that somethings are worded in this novel is just so beautiful

Lxc and the others lan sect disciples reactions....

Yanno the lan disciple who whispered “a man” definitely wasnt making things better, considering lwj definitely had a crush on wwx at this point

“He seems a bit too excited. It seems like he really loves HanGuang-Jun a lot. Look at how happy he is…” WHICH LAN SAID THIS

Wwx is so mortified by this entire situation because he kept violating something sacred to lwj, doing something so intimate like touching his forehead ribbon without his consent and he didn’t even really know that he was doing it 

[lansizhuis]

natsume yuujinchou au because this anime gives me so many feels

this took me forever im so sorry!!!!!! i just super love natsujuu sfm and i have no idea how to incorporate mdzs in it and didn’t want to just slam anything kfjnajksfnasjf so now i just had family feels

- anyhow, we can make JL the orphan (what’s new whelp) who gets passed around from one distant relative to another bc no one really wants to take him in and well he says weird stuff about seeing creatures that aren’t even there and instead of natsume’s melancholic acceptance, JL’s more on the prissy aggressive acceptance of these events- AND THEN one day, he gets taken in by JC who is apparently his mother’s brother (JL knows nothing about his parents - not what they look like, not his mother’s maiden name, etc) who lives in the outskirts where it’s a quiet town that is overrun by nature (JC picking him up only now would have a backstory haha)- so he goes to school and tries to adjust with his new life with this person he really wants to know as JC is his closest relation to his mother but they go into disagreements most often than not bc of their own issues and when this happens, JL usually runs to the forest near the house (while there were loads of those strange creatures there, he can easily circumnavigate them bc he can see them)- one time that he left the house with stomping feet, he hears a dizi playing and the music soothes his anger; he follows the sound and saw a wide field of just spider lilies (im sorry i gotta insert my aesthetic) and in the middle of it is a man dressed in predominantly black with a red ribbon; he slips or smth and alerts the man of his presence and their eyes meet- as ethereal as the man was originally in his eyes, the moment the older one started talking to him, all that initial impression cracked bc DANG HE’S ANNOYING AF AND HE LAUGHS AT EVERYTHING (“hey hey my name’s wei wuxian, what’s yours little boy?” “oohhh i’ve always wanted those dumplings from down street! buy me oooone!!! please please please”)- but JL returns to that place almost everyday as the man drags him off to the woods and enlists his help in his “adventures” (“so the spirit of that tree lost their favorite leaf so you have to help me find it and bring it back to the tree” “these birds wants to build the best nest so now we’re gonna bring them the best materials”) and he doesn’t admit it but he does have fun- JL also ends up being friends with 2 students aka LJY and LSZ due to maybe one adventure of WWX - okay now time for some plot >> LJY and LSZ are part of the Lan clan and JC is the head of the Jiang clan and these are just 2/5 biggest exorcist clans and yooo it’d be cute when JL finds out they can see what he can see as well and not be considered a freak like all his life all the while trying to hide this fact before bc he’s worried they’re not gonna like him- LJY and LSZ had always vaguely told JL about the most infamous story of their clan, about one of their best exorcists being half human and half spirit due to some event thirteen years prior (the first time JL meets LWJ is when the latter saves all three of them from a particularly nasty creature and when he sees his golden eyes, he just knows that this was the half human, half spirit bc of the otherworldly look on them and oh, his eyes remind him of the grey ones of WWX and could it be that WWX is also -)- WWX was assisting JL after one of their adventures back to his house bc JL needed the aid but when they got to the entrance of the house, WWX falters and had a horrified look on his face (“this is where you live?” “uh yeah? jiujiu just found me a month ago” “you’re...you’re uncle’s name...what is it?” “jiang wanyin - hey, are you okay?” “you said your name was jin ling” “yeah i did? what���s wrong?”) aaaaand we get a bit of the backstory of what happened 13 years ago and how WWX is connected with the deaths of JL’s parents

anyhow, i def can see JL+WWX bonding galore (god im weak for that), yunmengjiang duo feels, wangxian connection, junior trio content!!!

[hua-lian]

letter to @shdwthief / magnvseffect on ao3

for the @mxtxpositivity event!!

akhdjd originally when I signed up I planned to send you something everyday but dmvdkshd I ended up giving up on that on the first day I’m so sorry

okay so first of all I didn’t expect to get someone I knew HAHHAHAHA writing this is just gonna turn out like an emo letter I’m sorry

so the first fic I ever read of yours was the one you wrote for my birthday and it was so cute??? your style of writing is really really poetic and I loved your characterization!!! not just of that sangcheng fic but also in the shuangxuan fic I read of yours, which was SO GOOD

your writing is soft and sweet but your angsty is so painful i really enjoy reading it

honestly?? I haven’t cared about mdzs for months now, and literally I’ve only read your fics since like,,, a month now (sangcheng’s barely keeping me in) AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH??? all your sangcheng fics are adorable and I love them a lot

your fic ideas are extremely interesting omg like the transmigration ljy fic??? fierce corpse jyl??? how do you come up with them give me your brain and your writing skills

BUT ALSO

not only is your fic writing amazing and what I aim for, you’re also a really, genuinely nice person??? I thought you were way older at first because of how matured you seem but no apparently you’re like the same age as me we’re smol

I always love coming online and seeing you and how we both just greet each other with a ton of hearts it always just brings a smile on my face, and I know that if I feel bad I can always just come to you and talk it all because that’s how supportive and sweet you are!!!

I have to be honest, at first, I didn’t really know who you were and we basically didn’t talk at all, until some point when we started calling each by name, talking more, and bam ily kimmm

I REALLY ENJOY OUR FANDOM TALK!!! crying over beefleaf (beefleaf!!!), talking about tgcf (I just love tgcf okay) and yes, You Will Fall For Junmei Too I can’t believe you go through my blog for spoilers buT MAN IM RIGHT HERE YOU CAN ASK ME DIRECTLY ;DDD

BACK TO THE SERVER!!! you’re a beacon of positivity and I love our nonsense in the server, even if we may not see each other too much (damn time zones) I still enjoy especially when a fresh meat joins the server, fresh edits are spammed, and you’re just there trying your best HAHAHAH you’re so pure and you never join in which is a definite blessing

okay yeah I’m going in circles trying to come up with stuff that I haven’t already said in my emo letter (which I already forgot what I wrote) BUT IN CONCLUSION!!

I’m really, really thankful to you for being a part of my life, and I hope that even if my year gets busier (it definitely will) and I may not be able to come on discord more, I’ll still find some time to be able to chat with you

wait a min you created jeye? watch out tomorrow

anyways I’m going back to reading your fic, bye!!

J-Y (not jeye or jai or whatever)

[grandmasterofwangxiancultivation]

MDZS ch.110

the coffin. TELL US ABOUT THE COFFIN.

EDIT: jgy’s mother, okay, i thought about it. and wwx is just too much, i love his mind

EDIT 2: wait, if nhs doesn’t confess and there are no proofs, this thing won’t be confirmed?!?!!??! NoOoOoOoOoOoOo

EDIT 3:

Veins suddenly lined the back of the hand in which Lan XiChen placed on his forehead. His voice sounded muffled, “… Just what does he want to do? I once thought I knew him well, and then I realized I did not. Before tonight, I thought I knew him well once more, but now I do not.” Nobody could give him an answer. Lan XiChen repeated in frustration, “Just what does he want to do?”

okay but, like, he lost a sworn brother and cared so much for the one he still had, only to find out he was a diabolic murderer and now he is suffering so much and i can’t live with lxc look so dejected and resigned i can’t CAN SOMEONE HUG HIM RIGHT FUCKING NOW PLS

EDIT 4:

Before he could finish, a loud, clear bark came from afar.

Wei WuXian’s face changed at once, while Jin Ling managed to gain some energy, “Fairy!”

[...] Sprinting, the soaking-wet dog flew in like a black wind, throwing itself at Jin Ling. Its round eyes were damp as it stood up on its hind legs, clinging to Jin Ling’s lap and whimpering. Wei WuXian watched as its crimson tongue extended from its white, sharp teeth and licked Jin Ling’s hand. His face paled and his eyes glazed over. As he opened his lips, he felt that his soul was about to become a wisp of green smoke and fly to the Heavens through his mouth. Quietly, Lan WangJi placed himself in front of him, blocking the line of sight between him and Fairy.

BEST REUNION EVER, FAIRY AND JIN LING ARE SO CUTE OMG MY HEART IS SO WARM AND HAPPY AND COSY RN + LWJ SHIELDING HIS TREMBLING HUSBAND EVEN THOUGH HE KNOWS FAIRY WON’T DO ANYTHING TO WWX, GOD, WILL THEY EVER STOP BEING SO EPRFECT

EDIT 5:

Lan QiRen still had on a face full of shock and doubt. Before he even opened his mouth to ask, the first thing he saw was Lan WangJi, so close to Wei WuXian that they were practically one person. Within the blink of an eye, he’d forgotten everything he wanted to ask. Rage surged onto his face.

well, same ol’ same ol’, right? though, pls lqr, accept wwx. he makes lwj happy and that’s what really matters pls pls

EDIT 6:

The chief manager immediately went forth to help Jiang Cheng up, “Sect Leader, are you alright…”

While Lan QiRen raised his sword and shouted, “Wei…”

Before he even finished a few white-clothed figures rushed out from behind his back, all of them shouting, “HanGuang-Jun!”

“Senior Wei!”

“Senior Patriarch!”

LOOK AT MY BEAUTIFUL DISCIPLES RUNNING TO REACH THEIR PARENTS AND BE SURE NOTHING BAD HAPPENED TO THEM 

THIS IS HAPPINESS AND WHAT BEING ALIVE SHOULD MEAN 

EDIT 7: lsx and ljy my beautiful sons bichering on who was more worried and who wasn’t and “lwj is too cool to have problems with anything” and lsz going toward wen ning and taking pulling him between them and is this family time? ARE YOU DONE MAKING MY HEART SWELL AND SING? PLS DON’T STOP

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I LOVE DISCIPLES’ TIME. I LOVE WHEN THEY ARE ALL SO PURE AND SPARKLY AND PERFECT AND I NEED THEM TO ALWAYS REMAIN LIKE THIS AND SHOWER WWX AND LWJ IN LOVE AND AFFECTION

EDIT 8: in the end the Fairy is the best of the best, GOOD JOB BRINGING THE BOYS THERE

EDIT 9:

But no matter how spiritual, how magical it was, it was still a dog, the scariest creature in this world, to Wei WuXian. Even with Lan WangJi in front of him, he still shivered from his head to his toes. Ever since the Lan Sect juniors came, Jin Ling kept on sneaking glances at them, watching how they surrounded Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi in chatter.

Seeing Wei WuXian’s complexion grow even paler, he slapped Fairy’s butt and whispered, “Fairy, you go outside first.”

OKAY BUT CAN WE TALK ABOUT JIN LING SEEING WWX’S PALE FACE OVER FAIRY’S PRESENCE AND SENDING HIS PRECIOUS DOG AWAY?

ISN’T THIS LOVE? AAAAAAAH I NEED THIS FAMILY TO SAIL LIKE A SHIP

EDIT 10:

Jin Ling wanted to go over, but he felt somewhat embarrassed. Just as he was hesitating, Lan SiZhui suddenly saw what was at Wei WuXian’s waist. He paused for a moment, “… Senior Wei?”

cute jin ling eieofjiwejfipw

but

is what i think it’s gonna happen REALLY GONNA HAPPEN? LSZ EYEING THE FLUTE MAKES ME THINK ABOUT BABY LSZ PLAYING WITH IT

IS IT TIME FOR ME TO CRY AGAIN

EDIT 11:

Lan SiZhui received the flute with both hands and frowned a bit, some confusion on his face. Lan WangJi looked at him, while Wei WuXian looked at Lan WangJi, “What’s wrong with your SiZhui? He likes my flute?”

I AM FUCKING SCREAMING OH MY GOD

PLS WAIT I AM NOT EMOTIONALLY READ FOR THIS, TOO

EDIT 12:

Lan JingYi exclaimed, “What? You finally lost that bad, out-of-tune flute of yours? This new one seems quite good!”

But he didn’t know that this new, ‘quite good’ flute was the spiritual tool he’d always wanted to take a look at—the legendary ghost flute ‘Chenqing’. He only beamed in his heart, Great! Now at least he will not lose face for HanGuang-Jun when he plays a duet with HanGuang-Jun. Heavens! The flute he had was ugly to both the eye and the ear!

when you think you can’t love jingyi more than you already love him, he does this. i love how he thinks about lwj and wwx playing together with that clever, romantic mind of his and how he had apparently always been curious about cheng qing. JINGYI, MY BEAUTIFUL SON, MOM IS SO PROUD OF YOU-

EDIT 13: when is sizhui going to remember eveything uuuuugh. also, wwx and jc speaking to each other makes my heart clench so hard

EDIT 14: poor lqr, what can he do when his now grown up boys keep facing hardiships and take decisions in a way that frustrates him? i think “losing” lxc was probably the last thing he thought and hoped would happen, i feel a bit sorry for him

EDIT 15:

Jin GuangYao’s mother was seen as the lowest prostitutes, so he decided to carve a Guanyin statue with his mother’s appearance, receiving the worship of tens of thousands.

But there was no use in saying all that. Nobody knew with more clarity than Wei WuXian that nobody would care and nobody would believe him. Anything related to Jin GuangYao would be given the most malicious conjectures and passed through the mouths of the crowd.

i can’t stop admiring wwx for being so sensitive and sensible about jgy, it seems to me like wwx is thinking back to the time when the same thing happened to him, and this makes me so emotional i can’t eve-

EDIT 16:

All of a sudden, tears fell from his eyes again.

Jin Ling had always thought crying was a sign of weakness, treating such an act with contempt. Yet, apart from a flood of tears, there was no other way to release the pain and anger in his heart.

IS THIS CHAPTER TRYING TO KILL ME WITH PEOPLE BEING EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED/CRYING/FEELING DESPAIR???

JIN LING BABY PLS DON’T CRY OMG I CAN’T READ ABOUT HIM CRYING I’M GONNA FEEL SICK

here is another beautiful character with a beautiful heart, who has been denied of a family but can’t totally held responsible those who were directly involved because of the affection he feels for them. one can feel the anguish in his heart, so strong that he has to cry it all out and it totally breaks my heart to see him like this

EDIT 17: IF THEY SPEAK LIKE THAT TO MY JIN LING AGAIN, I’M GONNA CRUSH THEM ALL AND THEY’LL ALL WISH THEY HAD DIED LIKE JGY

EDIT 18:

He walked around a bit, raising his voice, “Where is WangJi?!”

Lan JingYi, “Just now I said we brought Lil’ Apple and kept it right outside the temple. And HanGuang-Jun, along with… along with… went to greet Lil’ Apple.”

Lan QiRen, “And then?”

It was needless to say what happened afterwards. Not a sliver of Wei WuXian’s, Lan WangJi’s, and Wen Ning’s shadows remained outside the Guanyin temple.

[...] Lan JingYi looked around, yelling in surprise, “SiZhui? What happened? When did SiZhui disappear too?”

FAMILY ELOPING TOGETHER

EDIT 19: 

When Jin Ling heard that Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi were gone, he rushed outside, almost tripping on the threshold of the Guanyin Temple. But no matter how anxious, he was no longer able to find their figures.

BABY 

EDIT 20:

Jin Ling, “Just now! I saw it. You wanted to say something to Wei WuXian, and then you didn’t.”

After a moment of silence, Jiang Cheng shook his head, “There’s nothing to say.”

What could he say?

That, back then, I wasn’t caught by the Wen Sect because I wanted to go back to Lotus Pier to retrieve my parents’ corpses. That, at the town we passed on our way, when you were buying food, a group of Wen Sect cultivators caught up. That, I discovered them early and left where I sat, hiding at the corner of the street and didn’t get caught, but they were patrolling the streets and would soon run into you outside.

That this was why I ran out and distracted them.

THIS

I-

WHAT-

EXCUSE ME HOW-

why

my heart literally broke into pieces after reading this i didn’t know why what how this makes me reevaluate so many things and yet i just feel incredibly sad that these two brothers love each other so much and they can’t do anything and i love you jiang cheng and CAN YOU ALL PLS STOP

I AM DYING HERE

[t4tieflings]

More thoughts on the Gusu House Arrest Au!

Part one seen here

-Okay so I’m not exactly sure how old Lan Jingyi would be at the time of WWX being put in timeout in Gusu but you know our resident chicken boy would the number one Wangxian shipper behind LXC. When he first gets told the tale of the Lan Sect founder he instantly asks, “So like Senior Wei and Han Guang Jun?” And LQR chokes.

-Lan Jingyi ends up being LXC’s little assistant towards innocently setting up romantic coincidences for our two idiots. If he needs some prop or excuse, LJY is already there and waiting.

-Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui definitely have the “Why does Lan sect let you have two dads?” Argument.

-Jin Ling was a firm non-believer in the original idea that LWJ was in love with his Uncle and Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi set out to prove him wrong. They end up badly trying to shadow WWX and LWJ to gather evidence. “We’ve got to get closer! We can’t hear what they’re saying!” “With your loudmouth if we got any closer they’d definitely hear us.” “You want to fight me princess??” “Who are you calling princess?!” “Shh guys please. Just duck down in the bush and be quiet. They’re playing a duet together”

-Jiang Cheng catches them stalking and his soul physically leaves his body when he figures out the reason why. Jin Ling feels vindicated when his uncle also doesn’t believe they’re together, but when the little Lans start listing out their list of evidence Jiang Cheng starts to doubt.

-“There’s no way....but then....that would explain the Archery competition....and the his insistence on taking WWX to Gusu....and the whole weird flower flirting thing they had going on....” “UNCLE DON’T LET THEM CORRUPT YOU.”

-They settle on the stance that they might be flirting but arguments over if they are already together breaks out. Jiang Cheng questions why he’s spending his time debating with children.

-WWX in the mean time has been adapting to life at Lan Sect as well as to be expected. He’s been debating either climbing up the Lan Sect rule wall to add his own rules or find a way to get rid of it because if someone quotes another rule at him he may just drown himself in Emperor’s Smile

-WWX wonders if he should ask for Lan Sect Robes because honestly he sticks out like a sore thumb in his black and red amongst all this white. LXC obliges him one day and LWJ nearly drops dead upon seeing him, and freezes up. WWX of course mistakenly takes it as LWJ disliking him taking the robes when he’s not an official sect member and goes back to his trade mark look. LXC swears he finds more grey hairs in his comb everyday because of these two.

-Originally the relationship between LWJ and WWX in Gusu starts off pretty rocky. WWX is still coming down from constant paranoia from having everyone against him up till now and slowly losing control of his demonic cultivation. Thus, at first, he views LWJ as some kind of monitor or baby sitter because nobody trusts him. WWX lashes out verbally a few times at LWJ but he always comes back.

-Slowly WWX notices how much effort LWJ is putting into making sure WWX is at least comfortable in Gusu. On top of that in front of WWX LWJ actually defends him against another Lan Sect member. Their relationship starts to heal from then on and they get on rather well. Although, WWX is still a bit miffed that LWJ refuses to let him sneak in alcohol. “It’s not like it’s against my probation or whatever.” “Part 24, section 5.” “Wait, they actually wrote in I can’t have alcohol?! This is discrimination!”

-WWX may not be allowed to have alcohol but his spicy cooking becomes a legend among Lan sect members. One younger member asks to his face if he used it as a torture method during The Sunshot Campaign. WWX has never been more offended.

-WWX starts to have his own suspicions about his relationship with LWJ. Especially because he learns about the meaning of the ribbon way earlier in this au. Since he’s hanging out around Lan members all the time and LSZ is being taught the Lan rules, he’s bound to learn by accident what it actually means. Cue internal crisis and awkwardly trying to get LXC’s advice on how to make it up to LWJ without revealing the reason why.

-Do you guys think this should be far enough back in the story that Wen Qing and Wen Ning also get sent along to Gusu with WWX? Like can you imagine how cute it would be to see LSZ running up to Wen Qing calling her Auntie and Wen Ning being a zombie playground for the kids. Once they get over how scary he is, there is not a moment in the day when at least three kids are hanging off of him. WWX and the Wen siblings becoming even closer of friends as its them against the world in Gusu. Wen Qing joining LXC in getting grey hairs over Wangxian, and bonding over taking care of their socially inept little brothers. LXC BEING NICE TO WEN NING? The friendship between those two soft boys could be so good.

[insomnia-productions]

JC & JL Drabble Collection

Title: life is too short for so much sorrow

yeah i stole that from american horror story, what of it?

Summary: 

A-Jie, he misses you. I don’t know how to take care of him. Please, A-Jie, someone, just tell me what to do.

§

A drabble collection centered around Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling. Features snapshots of their lives in the canon universe as well as a number of other worlds and settings.

PROMPTS WELCOME!

Upcoming additions include:

Yunmengjiang Duo reconciliation (facilitated by JL, LSZ, and LJY) Dogs The Sex Talk The Shovel Talk Tinder The day JL learns how to crawl

...and many more.

Read on AO3 or read the first chapter, Onlookers, under the cut. 

1. Onlookers

[The inhabitants of Lotus Pier notice the little changes in their Sect Leader]

A-Jie, he misses you. I don’t know how to take care of him. Please, A-Jie, someone, just tell me what to do.

§

After the YiLing Patriarch falls, Lotus Pier is all abuzz.

Si Yan has so much work to do. She has been working in the Jiang Sect’s kitchens since the end of the Sunshot Campaign, and yet, even after working for several years, she is still being bossed around by the Head Cook, made to do all the trivial tasks no one else wants.

Even so, she is excited about her work today: finally, after two years of penance, she has been allowed to deliver tea to the sect leader. You’d think that the Head Cook would have forgiven her months and months ago, but Si Yan has learned the hard way that the most senior Jiang Sect attendants didn’t get to their positions by being very nice. Still, this is really too much, even for the Head Cook.

Geez, she only spilled soup on Sandu Shengshou one time.

But that’s in the past.

It’s odd, though. Si Yan hasn’t seen the sect leader at all today. That isn’t unusual for a sect leader, but this one is still young and quite anxious, and sometimes it seems that hardly a minute passes without him popping in to check that his sect is still running. Not that she can blame the poor boy, after everything.

He must be working in his chambers, Si Yan reasons. She has never been to Sect Leader Jiang’s chambers. After rounding the corner, she squares her shoulders, smiles, and walks into the room.

“Sandu Shengshou, I’ve brought—”

“Shhhhh!”

Si Yan leaps back, nearly spilling the tea, and gasps because, oh my god, is the sect leader dying?

He certainly looks like it. He is sitting on the floor,  clothes rumpled, even though Si Yan knows they were washed and straightened and delivered to him fresh this morning. His face is pale and the dark circles under his eyes look like the burial mounds. His eyes, usually sharp and clear, are dull and cloudy, and Si Yan doesn’t think she’s ever seen the sect leader with his hair down.

“S-Sect Leader…?”

“Shhhhh!” This shush is even more insistent than the last one. Si Yan frowns, extending her arms to show him the tea.

She whispers, “Um… I’ve brought…”

Sect Leader Jiang groans softly, covering his face with his hand. Lower than a whisper, he reproaches her: “What part of ‘shh’ is lost on you?” At her confused and slightly hurt look, he sighs the sigh of one who has suffered too long, and shifts to the side.

As he does so, Si Yan catches sight of the yellow bundle behind him. The baby, the Jin heir, is nestled within the cloth, mouth slightly open and brows furrowed with whatever a baby has to be stressed about.

Softly, tiredly, and with a touch of awe, Sect Leader Jiang says, “He’s asleep.”

So are you, Si Yan thinks, noting the slump in his shoulders and the sag of his eyelids. Wisely, she chooses not to say it out loud. Instead, she sets the tea down, bows, and backs out of the room.

She has a feeling tea duty is going to be quite fun.

§

A-Jie, he is so exhausting. He cries and doesn’t sleep and it takes hours to get him through just one meal. I have to keep him with me when I meet with other sect leaders because he screams if he can’t see me, and I can tell that they are all laughing at me. He crawls all over me if I don’t hold him in place, too, and he’s so demanding, always tugging on my clothes and pointing at things and always always making noise. He’s going to grow into a brat like his father, A-Jie, I just know it.

But, he’s also… when he’s sleeping, at least… he’s very cute. That part definitely comes from you.

§

There are precisely three facts that every Jiang disciple can be absolutely certain of:

Lotuses are objectively the best flowers (and peonies can suck it).

Slacking off is punishable by up to triple the usual amount of work for a period of at least a week and at most two months.

Sandu Shengshou is terrifying.

Sun Yu has been a disciple of Lotus Pier for three years and he is thoroughly and empirically aware of all three facts. This can be attested by the fact that he is currently massaging out the strain of weights twice as heavy as the weights his friends had to lift—all because he was “causing a disruption” by “tickling people with feathers when they’re supposed to be training for balance”. Psht.

Sun Yu turns a corner and barely suppresses a scream when he nearly bumps into the infamous Sandu Shengshou himself. Thankfully, the sect leader doesn’t seem to notice him, absorbed as he is in the yellow bundle in his arms. Sun Yu allows himself to breathe out, and begins to sneak away.

“A-Yu.”

Fuuuuuuuuuu—

Sun Yu halts and turns slowly on the spot. “Y-yes, Sandu Shengshou?”

He is beckoned closer and, murmuring a quick prayer for his safety, Sun Yu approaches his sect leader. He doesn’t look especially murderous today; Sun Yu runs through today’s activities in his head and allows himself to hope that perhaps he really isn’t in trouble this time.

He comes to a stop beside the sect leader and is greeted with what could almost be a smile, on anyone else. No, scratch that, it’s definitely a smile. Sun Yu feels his heart stop. Oh god, is the sect leader dying? Is the apocalypse coming? Is this some new form of psychological torment?!

He braces himself for the hammer to fall—or the whip to crack—but the sect leader only says, “Look, A-Yu. He’s smiling.”

Sun Yu follows his eyes and sees that, indeed, the baby is smiling. His brown eyes are warm and content and his tiny mouth is open, lips quirked definitively up. A gentle gurgling sound issues forth, followed by a soft, pleased squeal. Sun Yu’s heart melts.

“Aww, he’s adorable.”

“He is,” Sandu Shengshou says, voice warm and laced with pride.

Sun Yu gapes at him. In his experience, he didn’t think it was possible for the sect leader to feel pride. (Or… maybe that’s just me…)

He lingers a moment longer, taking in the scene, and then, when it seems that the sect leader has forgotten about him, he quietly takes his leave.

It seems… they might have to revise Fact #3.

§

A-Jie, did you know that babies love music? You must have; after all, you always sang him to sleep. ZiXuan must have, as well. We caught him singing to A-Ling so many times, even though he would always deny it…

I don’t sing. I don’t think I ever tried, before. But… I don’t know why, but… I find myself singing to A-Ling from time to time. It’s some old song, something Mother used to sing to us. I couldn’t recall the words if you asked me, I can’t recall them now, but somehow when I’m with A-Ling the words and the melody drift into my memory.

The first time I sang to him, he was crying. I didn’t know what to do so I rocked him, back and forth, and somewhere along the line I began to sing. I didn’t even realize what I was doing until he stopped crying, and then…

A-Jie, he looked at me with so much wonder. I’m not even good at singing, not like you, but the look on his face was like I had taken the stars from the sky and handed them to him. Like I was the most incredible thing he’d ever seen.

No one has ever looked at me like that. No one has ever had reason.

I am sure he will get used to my subpar singing eventually, and he will get older, and that wondrous expression will disappear. But, I think… I’m starting to think that, if I can just raise this child, raise him for you, into someone you would be proud of… I think, maybe, I might be able to deserve that look.

§

“Liao XiuYing!”

Liao Ming lowers her head into her hands and rubs her temples. She likes the sect leader well enough, and respects him deeply—really, she does—but, sometimes, she wants to shove a cloth in his mouth and put him in time out.

But then, to be fair, she feels that way about most of her patients.

“Liao XiuYing, listen, A-Ling sneezed twice just now, even though it’s summer. Is that bad? Is he sick? Is he dying?!”

“Sect Leader Jiang,” Liao Ming says for what must be the fourteenth time this week, “A-Ling is fine. He is a baby, not a paper doll.”

“Of course. I know that.” Some of his decorum has returned and he is pretending, as usual, that he hasn’t just burst into her home in a panic. “But he has been resisting food, as well, and I am increasingly concerned about his inability to fall asleep—”

“He is a regular baby, then,” Liao Ming interjects before he can go off on one of his rants of anxiety. It’s all a downwards spiral once one of those gets started. She does not want a repeat of last week. “Every child I have cared for was exactly the same, and I would put money on the odds that you were once like that, too.”

“But… just in case…”

Liao Ming knows that she should not encourage this. Listening to him now will only make him worse. Even so, when she glances at him, at that look on his face…

Well, in the end, sect leader or no, he is still just a young man who has lost all his family. Just this much… wouldn’t be so bad.

“Give him here, then,” she says softly. “I’ll take a look at him.”

Relief washes over his face as he eases the baby into her arms. “Thank you. I’ll wait just here.”

“You can leave. I’ll bring him back when I’m done.”

“No, I… I’ll stay.”

“Of course.”

Next time, Liao Ming tells herself as she repeats the same checks she performed on the baby two days ago, and three days before that. Next time, she’ll tell him to let it go and be reasonable.

But when she hands the child back, and he thanks her in a voice barely above a whisper, eyes crinkled and shining and solely focused on his charge, she knows that she will not.

§

A-Jie,

You would love him more every day. I do.

[restingdomface]

Idk if they have cheerleaders in China but imagine if Lan Sizhui was a cheerleader and he’s such a cutie and so enthusiastic but outside of that he’s got anxiety and cries in class sometimes and his daddies won’t stop coddling (Jin Ling swears he saw Da-JiuJiu make LSZ hold his hand while crossing the street once and LSZ was just??? Okay with that???? Fuckin babie) him and his school lunches all have little notes in them (so do LJY and JL when they have sleepovers with cousin lol) and one of the guys in Top Sports Club wont stop flirting with him so every time LSZ sees him he runs the other direction to avoid confrontation and also that one time JL assumed his honor was being besmirched and punched the guy in the nuts and also he dresses all cute in white and baby blue but his A-Die is a True Goth and they once watched him put on sharpie like eyeliner while his husband sat in horror and just watched it happen and he’s so Not Like Him and yeah. HS au but they’re actually act like kids. Ouyang Zizhen cries everyday in math class while LSZ awkwardly pats his back and tells him that A-Die says if you’re cute enough you don’t need to know numbers and also tells him about his uncle Xichen who LSZ once asked to count to a hundred and he got confused after fifty and had to start over and OYZZ is shocked and comforted by the fact that stupid and pretty is valid too. Jin Ling ruins it by saying he only fits one of those and it’s not pretty and OYZZ cries more. LJY gets shockingly good grades but also got sent to the nurses office for accidentally super gluing his hand to his face (that hurts a lot to rip off lemme tell you) and also one time JL told him that the soap was edible and he ate it. They have no idea how he scored so low on the common sense meter.

Anyways. Lan Wangji is a PTA mom and passive aggressively bakes for every meeting and no one can ever tell if he’s being polite or not. It reminds JYL of the years she used to be the on the PTA with Nie Mingjue and they would passively out bake all the nannies that showed up to the meetings every week and sigh over the fact that they’re not even parents and they can’t stop dealing with Karens.