#neither wwx but well

[bnnywngs]

Lan Wangji felt his heart skipping a beat when a very familiar laugh sounded through the quiet of Cloud Recesses, coming from somewhere nearby. Without thinking much of it, he changed directions to pass by the usual trio of friends sitting around the courtyard, talking about something Lan Wangji didn't feel like he wanted to actually pay attention.

Wei Ying was like the sun coming out from behind a large cloud, his smile, his laugh was just so bright (so beautiful). Lan Wangji almost paused his walking, but got hold of himself and averted his eyes from the beautiful boy he refuses to acknowledge stole his heart.

While doing this, he ended up looking briefly at Nie Huaisang, who sat closer to Wei Ying with a soft expression behind his opened fan.

Lan Wangji recognizes that expression. A soft tiny smile, together with soft eyes that twinkles with youthful feelings.

Oh. Oh no. He can't possibly be in l-

Lan Wangji glares.

Nie Huaisang turns around and smirks at him, before turning to give all his attention to whatever Wei Ying was saying.

Lan Wangji glared harder.

If Nie Huaisang wanted a war. He was going to have one.

Wei Ying is his

"Ah! Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying exclaimed loudly with a even brighter smile on his face.

Pausing, Lan Wangji nodded at him and then continued his walking, shooting a last glare at his brother's friend's little brother, who only smirked yet again.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Alternative form of 'Hitting Wangxian with a Catboyification beam'

[poorlittleyaoyao]

I'm now at the portion of CQL that overlaps with the volumes of the novel that I read last summer, and for all the nonsense brought by the combination of CQL's adaptation changes + reluctance to fully commit to them, I really and truly do prefer these iterations of the characters, especially WWX. I just watched the episode where JC catches him in Qinghe, and it had me chewing on the walls! The show's chronological storytelling let us see their relationship's intensity and tragic deterioration, and it delivers on making this confrontation EXTREMELY FRAUGHT for both of them. JC unleashes 16 years of unprocessed grief and anger as WWX tries his damnedest to avoid it, and the shadow of JYL's death looms over both of them. Even though the dialogue in the novel is nearly identical, the mutual urgency isn't there; JYL is never mentioned (beyond JC reminding WWX that he is the reason JL's parents are dead), and WWX himself has no emotional response whatsoever to any of it, save for an offhand mention that he was nostalgic for the Lotus Pier of his childhood. JC might as well be having an argument with an imaginary WWX in the shower. There's zero tension there. Information has to be revealed and withheld differently with the non-chronological story structure, of course, but there are ways to hint at a character being impacted by and reacting to past experiences without saying outright what those experiences are, and that is simply Not Happening sufficiently for me with anything involving WWX's platonic and familial relationships in the novel. And if you wanted more on the relationships between characters who aren't WWX? lol good luck!

[labyrynth]

ok so your first problem was assuming mdzs is a story where Good People are Rewarded and Bad People are Punished.

your second problem was assuming that MXTX—who goes out of her way to showcase unresolved, tragic, undeserved endings in all of her works—would ever write a story with such a shallow notion of “deserving.”

the only reason wangxian makes it out unscathed is because they’re literally the protagonists. authorial intent and plot armor ensure their happy ending. that’s it.

[llycaons]

I understand why aristocracy and royalty is an exciting setting for fiction/fantasy but if the narrative isn't a serious political commentary or a legitimate critique of the setting (comedic or otherwise), I'd almost prefer if they just ignored all the social and political issues around the hierarchy they live in. that sounds bad, but it would at least be more honest to its identity as a fantasy than legitimately pretending like it's the epitome of progressivess to not beat your servants for making a minor mistake. like if you care about your people so much prove it. redistribute your wealth and power. abandon your privileged life and status to protect abandoned political prisoners from being murdered in prison camps like wei wuxian did. bitch.

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

???

Both WWX and LWJ are highly ideal characters, so there wouldn’t be too much dispute on their moral standing. They’re perfect as the protagonists.  - MXTX's end notes (chapter 113.5), EXR translation

I'm not one to say word of the author is word of god – I definitely lean more towards Death of the Author in that regard. But an important part of that is that you look at what happens in the novel – and, from WWX's actions in the novel, it's pretty clear that this is supposed to be the case. Even if you don't agree with that statement, there's no doubt that acting on his morals is something extremely important to him, and those morals lean heavily towards doing the "right thing" in his perception. That is not "neutral".

Examples of this: WWX was not killed for being the only person to do the right thing and defend the Wen remnants for people to say he's chaotic neutral. He didn't risk his life alongside LWJ to protect both innocents and people who participated in the first Siege, during the second. He didn't go to save Su She from the Waterborne Abyss (at no personal gain), defend Mianmian (at no personal gain), join LWJ in going wherever the chaos is post-canon when they night hunt (despite preferring more difficult, exiting ones – though of course, spending time with LWJ plays a very large role in here too!), etc and do so many other things in the novel, for people to say he's chaotic neutral. He doesn't say this for no reason:

"But, let the self judge the right and the wrong, let others decide to praise or to blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on." - Chapter 75, EXR

He says it because it's an important part of his philosophy (it fits with his actions, and, from a writing standpoint, would you include that with no indication of a lie otherwise?)! Because judging the right thing, and doing the right thing, is important to him! That's not chaotic neutral!

"He does whatever he wants pretty consistently" well... yes? That is how decisions work? Morality isn't determined by whether you act independently or adhere to other rules – that's where chaotic and lawful come in, but not evil or good. If you do what you want to do, and what you want to do is help people, that's not neutral! It's good!

There's more to the tags, but I won't go into that right now since it's a different point. I would like to say that are multiple posts talking about how WWX doesn't just act disrespectfully/arrogantly for no reason (he knew he'd have to "keep his status in mind" if he wanted to run wild, he was hardly the only person being rowdy and breaking rules in Gusu yet nobody says the same about people like NHS or JC who did that too, post-SSC he was playing up these traits so nobody would look deeper into his reasons for things, ie not having his GC, etc. He enjoys running wild, yes, but it doesn't mean he does it mindlessly!), such as the one I just reblogged, because that's a point that needs adressing here as well. Please don't try to search up these tags and harrass anybody, as it only leads to harm – I just really, really disagree with this take. The WWX of MDZS is neither stupid nor chaotic neutral...

[danmei-confessions]

I will never understand why anyone thinks Jiaojiao's account of YZY and JFM's courtship is accurate. She wasn't there! She's from a Wen subsidiary clan and she wasn't even born yet! Also she hates YZY and specifically felt humiliated by her. She is spreading nasty rumours to make herself feel better about YZY calling her her inferior and stepping on her. Beyond that I don't get how people think that JFM didn't outwardly favour WWX? he's more affectionate towards him and gets along with him better. He's also conflict avoidant and doesn't want to start shit with his wife. There's no amount of loving WWX that will change that part of his personality. Moreover he's already only picking JC up in the single digits when he's like 10, I do not think "my child has bad vibes like his mother" is really a factor in play there or if it is it's one that speaks very poorly of him. I also don't get feeling the need to defend WWX from the idea that his presence made an already tense situation worse. He's literally a starving orphan child in need of a home. Neither YZY or JFM's behaviour is on him, but if you think his presence in that household didn't exacerbate YZY's anger and JC's insecurity because of the contrast in how he treated JC and WWX as well as his past connection to WWX's mother you are just in denial. He makes sure that he gets to go to Gusu lectures and shows up in person to smooth things over when WWX starts shit, he picks him up and cuddles him as a child, he spends lots of time and energy searching for him to bring him home in the first place! None of that is at all wrong in fact it's a rare JFM win but it's way more than being a present for JC. Which again would be fine if he wasn't so willing to give up on his own kid for the crime of resembling his other parent making the contrast in easy affection obvious. He obviously loves JC but he doesn't understand or like him and he's terrible at hiding that. The absentminded well meaning father who's kind of a dick to his kid because he wasn't in love with his wife is a classic historical drama/wuxia trope anyway. You can see it in Joy of Life and Nirvana in Fire it's just that in both of those cases the protagonist gets to tell the dad his son loves him and he needs to do better and his relationship with his son is saved.

.

[lavender-phoenix-flames]

I think it is quite funny jc stans and their relentless tries in making jiang cheng good and likeable or going extreme lengths to prove "look wwx is bad too so it's all equal haha"

At the end of the day the text disproves everything they made up, they can blissfully accept and argue their deluded fanon to be true but it never will be. And I sleep well at night knowing that mxtx made him a loser miserable asshole and I had enough reading comprehension to know that.

Also I know jc stans seethe at the fact wwx is the ideal protagonist that he is cuz when you compare jc to wwx you truly see how big of loser jc is, how much lacking he is in comparison. Wwx is so abundant in positive traits, he is literally so good at everything except cooking and then there's jc who barely has any good traits. Their tries to paint wwx as morally grey make them look like absolute idiots cuz the narrative and the author disproves the claim. "Oh but I don't agree with the author" well your approval doesn't matter cuz in mdzs universe wwx's actions are justified and jc's aren't, also most of jc's actions are presented in a negative light anyways.

They try and make him less of a loser making stuff up like "best jiujiu" "best sect leader" "oh look jc knew/predicted everything abt wwx" "wwx is reckless and impulsive and jc is so level headed" and none of these mentioned claims are true and even when author says he is despised by women cuz of his rancid personality they are like "no she is joking ofc ofc" or "he is actually aroace" and don't even let me get started on how they want to pair him up with lan xichen or nie huaisang when in text neither of them cares about him and the fact jc himself is a homophobe and they do it just cuz they want him to not die alone pfft.

Jc stans so delusional, I bet mxtx finds them so funny, I mean how can someone be so bad at reading lol

[factsilike]

Really tired of constantly seeing posts declaring that everyone in MXTX novels is complicated and 'morally grey' and that's what makes her works wonderfully written, and that everyone else who doesn't see that is stupid, or is 'demonising' characters and bashing them for rightfully criticising their shitty, very much unjustified actions.

And ironically it seems so simplistic to just declare that, because yes her stories are wonderfully written and complex, but not for that reason. You're clearly not reading her works and only spouting what you think her stories say. There are many morally grey characters in morally complex stories out there, but MDZS IS NOT ONE OF THEM.

NONE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS (i.e protagonists and their male leads except for LBH maybe) ARE MORALLY GREY OR MORALLY COMPLEX.

THEY ARE ALL MORALLY RIGHTEOUS.

Just take a closer look at their actions compared to the actions of literally everyone else around them, it's not that hard to see.

Not to mention that MXTX herself literally says that WWX and LWJ are both morally ideal and that ahe hopes her readers can be like them, but people seem to have no respect for the word of authors in the name of their self projection onto the characters being contradicted nowadays 😒

(also saw someone dismissively say that HC may think that the world revolves around XL or whatever, but others don't and they're right??

First of all, did you even read the novel? HC made his judgement based on how others treated him versus how XL did when he was a CHILD. And how XL continues to treat others to this day. He is well within his rights to think the world of XL, especially since XL suffered more than every other person and still doesn't succumb to evil, despite having every right to do so, miles more than others. He all but regards XL as his moral compass, because he's proof that truly good people do exist in this world, and not ONE other person in the novel is shown to be as good as him.)

One of the reasons why I really don't like the Xianle Trio is this; neither FX nor MQ seem to regard XL as his own person with his own agency, who is capable of making his own decisions initially as HC does, and only near the end of the novel do they let up a bit when their asses had to be saved by XL multiple times. (especially considering what fools they made of themselves in that spiderweb cave lmao)

Both of them try to enforce XL ALL THE TIME ("Your Highness don't do this or don't do that or don't say this or don't go there or don't talk to him"), as if XL has not survived perfectly well on his own without them FOR 800 YEARS.

The difference between them and HC is clearly spelled out when FC asks HC about why he is not stopping XL, and HC replies that while he may not agree with some of XL's decisions, he would never force him to do what he thinks is correct, something both MQ and FX are CONSTANTLY shown to try to do.

Like please. Xianle Trio who? More like suffering XL and his pair of nuisances who think themselves to be his babysitters. And most of the time he's the one babysitting them.

Another thing that irks me is that their frequent arguments are often played off for laughs, but XL is truly a saint, because if my friends were constantly bickering over petty things all throughout our dangerous journey and giving me nothing but headaches, especially in survival situations, I'd given them the boot a long time ago.

[whetstonefires]

Very fun thing actually about Jin Guangyao is he spent so much time and energy passing himself off as normal. The Normalest Guy, Look How Normal I Am. The Very Best And Most Skilled At Normal Things, Like Being Normal And Having Normal Opinions.

Which is great because on the one hand it reflects how he was kind of aware he absolutely was not. (And that by default this isolated him and this was Very Unsafe.) But on the other you see, with all the times he falls into the typical mind fallacy under stress and projects weird shit onto people, he also on some level believed everyone was doing this.

That being a Normal Person who had Normal Reactions to things, like being appalled by brutal violence, was an elaborate social lie everyone had to maintain to keep up the facade of civil society, and actually everyone was basically the same as him deep down. He was just better at it, and also the smartest.

Which is a very long way to say his character arc is heavily tied up with his evolving relationship with and skills at masking. I'm not gonna armchair diagnose him because that's beside the point, the point is that he is trying so fucking hard to be normal, but without a particularly well-developed definition of what's abnormal about him to begin with, resulting in some misfires.

And then you contrast him to some other characters and it gets more fun. One of his direct foils is Nie Mingjue, who literally does not know how to mask at all, not the slightest bit, but is fortunate enough to have been born the exact kind of weirdo his position in life demands, with special interests in 'saber training' and 'destroying evil.'

(He explicitly, per narration from wwx being inside his head, has no other interests and doesn't really understand the idea of having more than one activity you care about, do not tell me Nie Mingjue is walking around with a normal brain.)

So he is (jgy has a point about this, although he actually makes it about the luxury of having moral compunctions) free to totally embrace the conviction that everyone should basically be their authentic selves at all times, and just not do evil things about it.

On the other hand, and this really illuminates their relationship for me, Lan Xichen is absolutely trying to be normal. Like, he does try to excel, he wants to be best and he knows he's good, but as a person he is also trying to be as normal as circumstances allow.

He understands 'being normal about things' as a goal not in jgy's terms as an elaborate social fiction but as aspirational shaping of the self; if everyone is normal about everything then there won't be needless conflict. Living as normally as possible will optimize your mental health and your respect for others, and it's just a good baseline from which to be good.

Which is fine as far as it goes, but means harmless eccentricity (including gay) is to be tolerated and swept under the rug rather than really supported, and prejudices him to instinctively side with Jin Guangyao and anyone else who is pushing for Let's Be Normal About This, even when the people being weird are in the right.

(This is also to a non-zero degree a trauma response behavior; what Lan Xichen experienced as the largest existential threat to him growing up was something along the lines of being perceived as a selfish disruptor of norms, like his father.)

And then contrast that to Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji, who are both very concerned at least initially with how things and people and they themselves are supposed to be, and feel some responsibility for ensuring this supposed-to is reflected in reality.

But neither of them makes any particular attempt to be normal about it.

And then ofc Wei Wuxian, another jgy narrative foil, never attempts to pass himself off as normal. He will sell 'I'm better than everyone ever' and 'I'm scum of the earth' in the same breath before he will try for normal.

Except that he genuinely seems to think his most virtuous traits, his throw-himself-between-victim-and-weapon impulses, are basically normal. If not everyone (who isn't a total shithead) does it, it's because not everyone has his insane confidence they can pull it off.

Which in a good mood he would say is fair, because he is in fact awesome and really good at winning. (In a worse state of mind he would definitely hate on all the selfish cowards.)

Nie Huaisang is probably the most genuinely normal human being in the main cast, probably even more normal than Jiang Yanli, and he's very happy to play that up and present himself as actually even more normal and average than he is, in order to keep expectations down.

Up until his whole life gets fucked and this little pretense turns into the most elaborate and successful mask in the entire book.

[least-carpet]

I am curious: how do you think would work realistically a jc and wwx's reconciliation? Have you any meta on them and their relationship?

I'm sorry this took a minute, anon! Work has been frankly chaotic. But I saw an anti-reconciliation post¹ and I have been roused from my post-work stupor.

Unfortunately, you asked me for something I'm incompetent at, which is plotting. (Otherwise I would have already unleashed my ningcheng fic upon the world.) What I can talk about is what I find compelling about potential reconciliation and potential scenarios.

Why do I love a post-canon reconciliation?

Apart from really liking their relationship and finding it compelling—IMO it's the heart of the narrative of the first life—what I actually enjoy about it is what it offers in terms of development for Wei Wuxian.

I read Wei Wuxian as having displaced and projected a lot of his unresolved trauma onto Jiang Cheng. I've talked a little before about my reading of Jiang Cheng as the "bad feelings" sin eater of the Yunmeng Trio—neither Jiang Yanli nor Wei Wuxian feel like they can express deep unhappiness, but Jiang Cheng is bad at hiding his, so in some way it's his job to embody the collective unhappiness of the children of that family system.

But although this makes Wei Wuxian merry and likeable, it's not actually good for anyone, or even sustainable—when he loses control, he really loses control. And his coping skills are extremely self-destructive, as we can see from the post-war downward spiral of drinking and avoidance. I also think his experiences in his childhood (losing his parents and being homeless) plus his wartime experiences gave him some kind of trauma disorder that contributes to his terrible memory, which he's turned into his primary coping mechanism (apart from alcohol). If I Simply Close My Eyes And Run Away, My Bad Feelings Can't Get Me!

But, like, repressing your feelings doesn't work forever. He's compartmentalized his whole first life to function in the second one, but that means giving up on everything and everyone he loved, including the Jiang siblings and Lotus Pier. That's incredibly tragic to me.

Sometimes I think antis are so happy to demonize Jiang Cheng in order to minimize the depth of the loss Wei Wuxian has suffered. If he never loved Jiang Cheng, if they were never close and devoted to one another, if their childhood was an unending misery, then wouldn't Wei Wuxian be much freer in the present?

But what I think has happened is that the loss is so huge that it's completely terrifying and threatening. So are the feelings around killing Jin Zixuan, Jiang Yanli's death, and the death of Wen Qing and the Wen remnants. It's too much, so he blocks it out or, in some cases, projects it onto Jiang Cheng.

Of course, Jiang Cheng will never forgive him, because he irreparably ruined Jiang Yanli's life and then she died trying to save him and Jin Ling became an orphan. It's all his fault; it can't be forgiven; he might as well give up on it...

Jiang Cheng is obviously very angry and upset with him, it's true. But you can see how projecting his guilt and shame over his actions onto Jiang Cheng and then running away from Jiang Cheng is also a way for him to escape his guilt and shame over what happened to Jiang Yanli. (And to escape all the repressed resentment he has for Jiang Cheng because of the core transfer.²)

But there are two tragic elements of this approach. One, that by doing this he yields up any possible relationship with Jiang Cheng, and with the Jiang Sect, because by all means Wei Wuxian must escape him in order to outrun his terrible feelings. Two, that it's another coping mechanism that distorts the reality of the situation, which is that they were all swept up in power games beyond their capacity to manage, and they did their best—the Jiang siblings, the Wen siblings, Jin Zixuan, and Wei Wuxian—and it still went badly for everyone except the Jin Sect.

I don't think he can confront that yet. But I do think that Wei Wuxian feels very safe with Lan Wangji, and sometimes a safe and supportive relationship can provide the resources to do things you didn't think you could do before.

Can you imagine a different conversation, that begins with the bald acknowledgement of failure and wrongdoing³? "I never meant for all of that to happen. I did what I thought was right, but I never thought Jiang Yanli would be harmed, and I didn't intend to kill Jin Zixuan. I am so sorry. I miss her."

GIVE THE CATHARSIS TO ME. GIVE IT HERE.

A Wei Wuxian who has reached a point where he's capable of that accountability and vulnerability is delicious to me. A Wei Wuxian who can get there can return to Lotus Pier and rebuild a relationship with the living sect and his living sect brother.

How could it happen?

The trick is how to get there, 'cause it's like trying to herd cats where one cat is mortally afraid of facing the second and the other one has betrayal trauma and abandonment issues. But the cats love each other! They do!

I don't see Jiang Cheng initiating. I see him as being more open to a reconciliation, now that he knows why Wei Wuxian did what he did, but I see him as being profoundly afraid of trapping people in relationship with him or inflicting himself on people who don't want him around. (Not, like, for politics. In that arena I assume he's unpleasant when necessary to great effect.)

Fortunately, Wei Wuxian can be led if you're cunning enough to do it and you bait the trap with something good (see the plot of MDZS for Nie Huaisang's very successful demonstration of this principle). He also will increase pursuit if you dangle and withdraw the bait.

The question, of course, is what makes good bait for catching Wei Wuxian. Some options:

Option 1: murder mystery. Someone dies in an exciting way that involves Jiang Cheng. (Wei Wuxian will involve himself, dude loves a murder mystery.) It could be in the Jiang Sect or the Jin Sect; if it involves Jin Ling, Jiang Cheng will jump in with a swiftness.

Option 2: Jiang Cheng marriage rumours. Doesn't even have to involve unsavoury rumous about the potential wife; Jiang Cheng getting married without him (like Jiang Yanli) would dredge up some feelings, I think.

Option 3: Jiang Cheng tragic illness or curse rumours. You better be sure it was in a past life, cause it looks like this one might be over soon!

Option 4: Forced together time (due to a night hunt or a kidnapping, etc.). It's time for the getting along shirt!

To borrow from SVSSS, you might need a scenario-pusher for it to happen. But the world of MDZS is rife with these opportunities, and cultivators can live a very long time. So there's hope yet!

Footnotes:

1. This is a perfectly reasonable viewpoint to come to by the end of the novel. It's simply one I don't share.

2. See this passage from the confrontation in the Guanyin Temple:

"It wasn’t something he liked to reminisce about. He didn’t want to be reminded again and again of what it felt like when his core was cut out or what price he had to pay. If this were exposed in the past, he’d most likely laugh and comfort Jiang Cheng … But now, he indeed didn’t have the strength left to put up such a confident, nonchalant pretense.

From the bottom of his heart, he knew he wasn’t so indifferent about it after all.

Was it really that easy to move on from such a thing?

Of course not." (Chapter 103, "Hatred," ExR translation)

3. I saw a different post complaining about Wei Wuxian apologizing to Jiang Cheng in reconciliation scenarios, and I just, like, he kicked off a political firestorm that ended in the death of Jiang Yanli and her husband. This is completely separate from the non-consensual surgery and all the lying he was doing about that. He owes him multiple different apologies! And Jiang Cheng should also apologize to him! That's why they apologize to each other in the Temple, because they know they hurt each other! The point of an apology in an intimate relationship is to connect with the person you are apologizing to in order to repair the relationship, and the Temple was not the time, which is why they need a private do-over! It's not humiliation, it's intimacy, connection, and repair. How do y'all live your lives.

3.5 Also, imagine it to be more in-character than that.

[wutheringskies]

The Twin Jades

dude sometimes I just come across such bad meta. it's even worse if it starts off good and turns bad.

Good Meta Points:

• The Lans really love younger child Wangji (no pets allowed, but wangji can have them. Wangji wants lotus pod seeds and gets them etc.)

• Instead of giving agency to his actions and thoughts, they think he's being influenced or corrupted by others to act in such ways (especially Lan Qiren.)

Bad Meta Points

• Lan Wangji is spoilt, similar to Nie Huaisang or Jin Zixuan.

• Gets the lowest punishment at all times (pfft.)

• "I get it you waited 13 years but you fucked off into the sunset with your husband leaving your emotionally unstable brother and duties"

• "Good to see people talking about Lan Wangji's flaws" - mentions him being spoilt and demanding instead of his actual flaws.

Like... you cannot seriously point out how he gets to have rabbits as a point of him being spoilt. Lan Wangji has made like one error in his life in his studies. He's assigned himself punishment for stuff that wasn't even done by will (coughs, wwx). He's made his decisions and lived with the consequences.

Despite what you say, Lan Xichen isn't a terrible brother to Wangji. Neither is Lan Wangji a selfish brother.

Sibling relationships are complex, and between two individuals with their own set of values. Lan Wangji is totally righteous, even more than Nie Mingjue. He can't stand exaggerated, political loopholes and unrighteous acts. He does what he can do, working on the ground level.

Lan Xichen isn't Lan Wangji. He knows the world is filled with corrupted people, and challenging each and every one of them would lead to your own devastation (read: Wei Wuxian's biography). Thus, he tries extending his sympathy to all, and draws conclusions that allow the least possible damage. He does think Lan Wangji made a dire mistake with Wei Wuxian, because if not, he will have to face the fact that the world punished his brother for his righteousness and it would shatter his whole foundation (like it does).

But despite that, both of them share similarities. They both want the better of the world. Lan Wangji is brave enough to challenge the whole foundation of the cultivation world. Lan Xichen is brave enough to lay down peace even when it's so painfully obvious there's no option of it.

Lan Wangji trusts his brother enough to bring Wei Wuxian back to Cloud Recesses after getting stabbed at Jin Tower. Lan Xichen lives up to this trust and helps them investigate the matter. Lan Wangji even assures Wei Wuxian that his brother would not stand for Jin Guangyao if his crimes were true.

See, you don't have to completely have the same sort of sets of beliefs to be siblings. Sibling relationships are complex. Both these brothers know each other, their strengths and their weaknesses well. They may be exasperated at each other's insistence, yet they are well aware that they both have to walk their own paths.

Lan Xichen could never take away Lan Wangji's pain or fix him. Neither can Lan Wangji fix Lan Xichen.

But both of them will always have each other's backs. They are each other's families. Each other's brothers for life.

But at the same time, they have each their own paths to walk. People need to understand that it's not about a lack of sense of responsibility on Lan Wangji's side, but the realization that if he went back home, he may lose Wei Wuxian again. His uncle wants to take him back, lecture him and lock him into seclusion. His uncle wouldn't accept his proposal to be married to Wei Wuxian.

He doesn't give his uncle the chance to "accept" or not.

And he literally returns three months later.

I can't help but feel that those who say he was selfish do not have siblings. Or have bad sibling relationships. I'd say Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen have a perfectly good relationship if despite their differences, their terrible parentage, their opposing personalities, the roles they both played in each other's life (with Lan Xichen being sworn brothers to Jin Guangyao who played a major role in Wei Wuxian's fall, and Lan Wangji being Wei Wuxian's husband, who in turn, set the case back onto Jin Guangyao, thus hurting Lan Xichen), the things they couldn't help each other out of, but yet, they do trust each other and love each other.

And I trust that Lan Xichen will one day figure stuff out. There's a lyric in this MDZS song called unfettered. It is like:

The past is akin to dew in the morning. Even if it can be comprehended, it lays under layers and layers of fog.

In the end, hatred, love, resentment, debts and regrets all come to pass.

Just like how Lan Wangji is not his father, Lan Xichen will also not be his father. I don't think both of them had hurtful intentions towards the other at any point.

It's not like "Yunmeng bros" where JC intentionally wishes to cause pain to Wei Wuxian. It's not like the Nie bros, where NMJ has to be super over-protective of Huaisang.

It's just two siblings with their own lives choosing to be with each other, in happiness and in grief (mostly in grief uhm) in a terrible world where the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[poorlittleyaoyao]

one of my very least favorite "jokes" is people making fin of qin su for "not knowing her husband is gay" or the array of fics where he's zero eprcent interested in her from the jump. Like way to take out all the tragedy in service of biphobia

GODDDDDD, I saw that in the same set of post notes that set me off yesterday--"durr hurr, poor girl got tricked into marrying this gay guy." Like, HOW? The Jin clan are by far the wealthiest and most powerful sect, and the Qin clan is one of their bannermen, and QCY and JGS are buddies. If JGY were a mustache-twirling villain trying to boost his status with an advantageous marriage and/or a gay man desperate for a beard, he has better options than a clan of middling wealth and significance that is already under Lanling's sphere of influence.

And they both had to fight for this marriage to happen! "QS was tricked into marrying him" is wild to me, because IIRC it says RIGHT THERE that she took the initiative in this relationship! A relationship that neither her father nor his was super enthused about! JGY was out here bothering JGS for this! JGY, the guy who famously does atrocities if daddy says jump, worked with QS to make sure this marriage happened! After all, while QS has the most to lose if the pregnancy plan goes south, JGY's not totally off the hook either; JGS could've very well punished him to appease QCY. Why the hell would he go through ANY of that if he didn't love her?

Like... you could maybe make a case for him not being attracted to her in CQL, where it's implied that he didn't sleep with her until their wedding night and he hates every second of it a choice that haunts me every day because what the fuck what the FUCK. But even there, he states that he pushed for the marriage, and feared to call it off in part because he'd "spent so much effort, went through such lengths to ask Qin Cangye for permission to marry his daughter... I had finally satisfied both Qin Cangye and Jin Guangshan." So even here he'd worked for it! Potentially antagonizing two noblemen, one of whom is his father the Chief Cultivator, is not worth the potential material benefits here! Even here, the only explanation that makes sense is that he loves her!

Which, you know, he says himself that he does. He says that he loves her to Lan Xichen's face, even, so like... pretty weird lie for a gay guy to tell his boyfriend. And if JGY were lying about everything... wouldn't he think of something better? He could throw QS under the bus and say she forced him. He could say the marriage was his father's idea and JGS directly ordered him to marry her. Both of these options are more readily understandable (and paint him as truly without recourse) than "I felt trapped by the potential ramifications of defying social expectations."

Now, people can write what they want when it comes to fic; if you're writing a canon divergence fix-it, then yeah, an easy way to avoid the incest is to have him simply not into women at all. You can even make a compelling case for comphet that he doesn't recognize for what it is until it's too late if you try hard enough. But in terms of broader trends rather than individual fic, and given the fandom trends of erasing WWX's attraction to women across all canons, or ignoring WQ's whole situation with JC in CQL canon to make her a Mean Lesbian(TM)... are you sure there's not biphobia at play? Are you really sure?

[greeniegaes]

I’ve been thinking about omegaverse WangXian AU and I’m so not normal about it

Basically, WWX was always known as a beta by people around him, constantly hiding his scent and on such heavy suppressors he’d practically never have a heat. When the Wens take all of the young cultivators/clan heirs or whatever he no longer has access to that kind of stuff and it’s only so long before the medication’s effect goes away.

In the big carnivorous turtle cave he can feel his omega-ness slowly come back so he’s desperate to get out away from all the young alphas and betas he’s surrounded by. Things go as cannon and only him and LWJ are left in the cave and LWJ??? Well he’s not doing too well, neither of them are with their fevers, being stuck in a cave alone and pheromones- oh yea LWJ is in rut too lol

So they do their do in the cave, escaping out and then WWX runs off after making the other man swear he’s not gonna tell anyone that WWX is an omega.

During the attack on Lotus Pier WQ pulls WWX aside asking if he knows about the kit in his womb. WWX, freaking out about it swears her to secrecy. He’s been… kinda aware about it over the month or two that’s past, but just used his high level of cultivation to just keep it in a dormant state.

When he gives JC his core such a thing isn’t an option. He doesn’t want his child to live during a time of war so he promises himself to end the war against the Wens before his birth.

He levels up his demotic cultivation at way faster of a pace, easily out numbering any bad Wen troops, cutting off the supply lines, anything to get an advantage. His tactics are often called brutal, disgusting but most of the Sunshot doesn’t care because whoever is doing it is on their side.

Keeps following cannon but now LWJ has just a totally weird feeling in his gut all the time. He swears he can feel WWX’s emotions, the stress, the fear, the agony all of it. When he finally lays eyes on who he knows is WWX as the man takes down WC and he can’t help but feel relief. Relief that after nine months (WWX froze his pregnancy for like two months so he’s about eight and half along) he’s finally able to see the man he’s fallen in love with, that he spent a rut with while the man was in heat.

WWX doesn’t acknowledge him.

He doesn’t even really acknowledge JC, his little shidi who’s so excited to see him again. WWX remains quiet, a large cloak wrapped over his whole body

Instead of properly interacting with his friends he instead asks when their plan to attack the nightless city is (he has less then two months, and by god he wants peace of mind that his child won’t be born in a war). He lets them take him to the war camp, discussing with the leaders like LXC and NMJ to move the battle forward, saying that he can balance out the sides.

They agree and that’s that.

At the final battle WWX holds up the tiger sigil, controlling more undead then he ever has. He watches as the rest of the tyrannical Wens get torn apart, their army in ruins before NMJ takes their leader’s head. Some of them still fight, and in a blaze of glory WWX destroys the tiger sigil, creating a bright light that takes out more of the Wen’s army, any of the roaming undead and himself.

LWJ feels his blood go cold. He can’t feel WWX suddenly. He canthecanthecant.

Where did his omega go?

Back in Yiling WWX falls to the ground, any last remains of his power, spiritual or demonic finally shredded into pieces. WQ helps him recuperate, Wen Yuan at his bed side as he looks up.

It’s then and there WWX smiles as he promises himself a normal life, patting A-Yuan’s head and scenting him like he’s his own kit.

Two years later.

LWJ feels lost, constantly wandering around for something, any sign of WWX. He’s looking at hair ribbons in a market outside of Yiling, a beautiful red ribbon with lotuses embroidered in it. He jolts as he feels a hold on his leg, looking down curiously.

“Baba?” The little kid asks, no more then two years old. A six year old huffs as he goes over, bowing his head in apology to LWJ.

“Sorry Mister, my brother gets confused.” Wei Yuan huffs, pulling his younger brother away. LWJ sucks a breath in as he looks at the young toddler, tan skin, enchanting yellow eyes, perfectly straight hair except with the tips granted a slight curl.

There’s no denying this is a Lan child, just from looks alone, but the scent surrounding both of the children? That’s something LWJ had smelt once, trapped in the cave in the throes of passion with his mate.

Wei Wuxian. Wei Ying is alive.

A young looking man pulls the children away before LWJ can say anything. The man picks up the two year old and gently holds him in his arms, the six year old grabbing onto the man’s leg, still glaring at the alpha.

“Sorry about that, sir.” A soft voice rumbles with a chuckle, freezing as he looks up at LWJ for the first time.

[acequinz]

The agony of Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian's relationship is that neither could forge a strong base to the relationship they wanted.

Wei Wuxian was raised to be Jiang Cheng's servant, even if JFM favoured him there were no illusions that he was to be a carer for Jiang Cheng and that's what Wei Wuxian continued to be.

And that's what Jiang Cheng let him be, even if he had wanted a deeper more emotional relationship with Wei Wuxian his insecurities and resentment towards Wei Wuxian resulting from the treatment of his parents was too strong to let him form the base that Wei Wuxian had with Jiang Yanli.

Because Wei Wuxian didn't get punished if he out-performed Jiang Yanli, because JYL did not get berated every time WWX did something she could not.

They could never ever be on equal footing under these conditions for the base to be stable. It's always either WWX below JC for his background or JC below WWX for their skill set.

WWX genuinely cared for Jiang Cheng and Jiang Cheng seemed to care for him too, now of course their morality is in different places so they were bound to separate.

Jiang Cheng is first and foremost bound to his sect and his parents. He would not care what happens to others as long as he could keep his sect upright and not be in danger even if it means to bow his head in places he shouldn't.

Wei Wuxian was first and foremost bound to doing what he thinks is morally right and then caring for Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli. He would always do his best for both the Jiang heirs but he would not sacrifice his morality for anyone.

This combined with their overall weak base for the relationship? Of course it would fall apart.

This is not to say there wasn't love. But love is not enough. I am afraid love is never enough unless you bring in understanding into the relationship which WWX and JC couldn't have.

They could never understand each other without letting go of the bitterness.

In the end letting go of each other was the best option.

Because it finally freed them of the barrier of what they were meant to be, WWX as JC's servant and JC as WWX'S master.

I don't think either actually ever wanted that but they went along with it because that's what everyone around them pushed for it to be.

Maybe they wanted to be real brothers but the resentment due to outside source could never allow them to cross the bridge especially once it was out of the picture. (The bridge being JYL of course. She went to live her own life and they fell apart and even then she tried to fix things and lost it all and somehow still stayed loving till the end, god I fucking love her.)

I do love Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian and the complicated relationship they have but I honestly prefer the way it ended with them going their own ways, no longer bound to the painful strings that were repeatedly used to hurt them and each other.

They are free, hopefully Jiang Cheng finally let's go of it as well and lives his life in the present. Lead his sect no longer clinging to the shadow of WWX and agonizing over it, have some bonding time with JL because let's be honest JL is doing somehow better than JC in handling his emotions except that one stab. He's his momma's son but he could still use some bonding time since he has to be sect leader very young too, my poor kid.

Wei Wuxian has definitely let go already, he did everything he could and gave up because everything he tried failed and only caused him more pain. So it's okay if he gives up. Let him roam around with the person who understands and indulges him now. Having weird kinky sex anywhere, everywhere and everyday, he deserves it.

Maybe it's just because there's not enough people actually letting go of their toxic families trope in Asian shows but fuck this really hits the spot. It's okay to leave and go your separate ways when you know you could possibly never fix it or get over the pain and being near only causes more pain. So yeah Wei Wuxian choosing to leave seems great to me.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

does everyone remember just how gay the xiyao box scene really is in ep. 4 of CQL? pepperidge farm wei wuxian remembers.

(pls forgive the grey spot, that's my ipad mouse cursor and I was too enthusiastic in my screencapping to wait for it to gtfo the way)

skipping over the awful commentary provided by jiang sect students 1 & 2 who no one remembers because they are irrelevant aside from being mouthpieces for shitty cultivation society, let us take a moment to appreciate and respect poor meng yao doing his absolute best to keep it together.

and then zewu-jun arrives to greet him, and smiles at him like that. 👆

and then meng yao looks up at him, like that. and zewu-jun looks back at him, like that. 👆🥹👆

so then zewu-jun goes to take the box from him, which might as well qualify as going straight to first base in the cloud recesses,

and I completely fucking forgot that the camera pans straight to wwx?? who was sort of paying attention to this drama beforehand, but now he's really paying attention to it, and then--

listen I just do not believe for a second that /gestures @ that whole face journey, has anything to do with the pot that meng yao and nie huaisang brought with them from qinghe, okay, wei wuxian does not care about the pot, and neither does the rest of the narrative framing of this scene. you know what he's looking at. we know what he's looking at. the pot of plausible deniability is there to appease the censors.

and no one else! was looking at the pot either!!! (no, not even huaisang in the last frame, you know he knows what's happening) there's no good reason for the physical contact beneath that box! meng yao is super aware of this!

my kingdom for the capability to make gifsets because the screencaps don't do justice to meng yao's startled (but also a bit coy, since only lan xichen is paying attention to his face at this point, and he's clearly into it, even if it was extremely unexpected) eyebrow bounce at whatever all of that just was. or lan xichen's mischievous little smile at all of the wall of discipline rules he's well aware he just bent within a hair's breadth of breaking, but he has zero remorse for doing so because it was for a very good cause.

anyway, my condolences to both meng yao and lan xichen for not immediately ditching all of their obligations and responsibilities after this encounter to go fuck passionately in the hanshi, because that's what they both clearly wanted to do.