#of both wn and lwj for their places in wwx's life)

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

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1. I'm looking for a story that was set in more modern times and Wangxian are both female, LZ moved to America and was chronically injured, sometimes stuck in a wheelchair, believes WWX dead until she runs into her in America, LSZ is being brought up at the Lan compound by LXC @readingdj

FOUND? 🔒 everything's going to be discovered by everythingispoetry (M, 98k, wangxian, F/F, Modern Cultivation, Reunions, Soft Wangxian, Female LWJ, Female WWX, Family Feels, Soft LQR, they are all softies, Starts with angst ends with fluff, it's a progression, bamf everyone really, Hurt/Comfort, Disability)

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2. I remember it was on ao3 and Wei ying was presumed dead from the waterborne abyss but then washes ashore some days later alive I think he was found by LQR or LXC @i-cant-think-of-one-meh

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3. Hi I have two very vague fics that I'm trying to find A) a fic where yuan named the burial mounds bunny mountain or valley? Something to do with bunnies. I remember it was a yiling Wei sect fic but that's it. B) a fic where Wei Wuxian pretends to date lan Wangji. I remember lan Wangji had like a see through wall in his bedroom or at least a big house/apartment? Or something and Wei Wuxian stayed with him for a bit. It could have been a sugar baby AU but I know it was fake/pretend au and that they slept together. I think they had a misunderstanding or something and broke up then confessed to each other? Sorry all I really remember is them going to Lan Wangji's apartment at one point 😅

3A)

FOUND! 🧡 Never Again by Hauntcats (T, 67k, WangXian, WWX & WQ & WN, Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Angst, Not JC Friendly, BAMF WWX)

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4. So I came back to the fandom after about a year and a half and I can’t for the life of me find a story. I don’t remember much, but it was like a murder mystery or something. Or a threat to Jin Ling’s life. But at the end, a girl was killing people with voodoo dolls and was trying to kill Wei Ying with one.

I’m hoping this is in the same story, but they were in a lighthouse and a resentful ghost was murdered and sealed in the structure.

I’m sorry I’m not giving you much, but hopefully someone knows what I’m talking about. Thank you!

FOUND? And I Will Call You Home by Spodumene (E, 42k, WangXian, Case Fic, Post-Canon, Getting Together, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Love Confessions, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood, Ghosts, Suicide, Explicit Sexual Content, Attempted Sexual Assault, LWJ whump, Original Character Death(s))

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5. Hii hope you all are well. Um this fic was modern wwx somehow getting transported into the wuxia version and kind of gives therapy to everyone I believe they were also viewing the past it's not rly a jiang family fix it but I think the ppl that died came back. I think wwx mentions that ljy in the modern world is older than lwj @thatperson0-0

Hi I'm number 5. Sadly the fic was not found :(. If it helps, modern wwx is engaged/married/dating modern lwj and when the two wwxs switch, past wwx and modern lwj have yk in the modern world and when he comes back he mentions wanting to try the stuff he learnt with past lwj.

NOT FOUND! Wrong Turn, Right Place by diamondbruise (E, 71k, WangXian, Time Travel, kind of, it’s more reality travel but there’s modern wwx and cultivator lwj, Mutual Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Jealousy, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, Misunderstandings, Cultural Differences)

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6. hello I would like to request help in finding a modern Wangxian fanfic on Ao3 in which they are I think starting university & WY has 2 cores one golden core and a dark core from resentful energy with I think a reincarnation theme too for WY seeing LZ triggers both his cores & memories then faints which leads to LZ building a barrier around them & helps WY merge both cores together to save him also both their families are alive with baoshan sanren being close with Wangxian like a grandmother also LZ burns baoshan sanren hand when activating the shield also LJY & LSZ are immortals with LSZ gone into a meditative state and that JWY is an idol as he is unable to cultivate as he returned the core back to WY this particular piece of info I think was mentioned in the ending notes, this is all that I remember of it hope it helps. thxs @1p1rose1

FOUND?🔒 Because you loved me by ThisIsWhereTheMagicHappens (T, 133k, WIP, WangXian, NieLan, SongXiao, Canon Compliant, Modern AU, College/University, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, supportive family, POV Alternating, a lot of cultivation, they reincarnated, but not everyone remembers, the lan and wei parents are alive and caring, Happy Ending, No war, Hurt/Comfort, Mpreg, magical mpreg) but it doesn't match exactly

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7. I need fic finder help 😭 I cannot for the life of me find this one fic or remember the name, but I remember it very clearly.

So the premise was that the Lan soloed the SSC after the Wen attacked Cloud Recesses, and LWJ was sect leader (and chief cultivator??) after. He demanded a person be given to him (as compensation?? To show the sects alliance to him?? I forgot the exact reason) and WWX saw it coming a mile away that it would be him chosen to be handed over. Everyone was terrified of LWJ and was certain WWX would be miserable, but LWJ knew it would be WWX they sent and because Wen Qing vouched for him LWJ treated WWX like he deserved instead of how the sects thought he'd be, and got the shock of their life when they ended up married.

The last chapter I read (and the last update I saw, it was a (nearly finished?) wip last I read) Wen Qing sent a notice that LXC, who'd been in a coma for the entire fic up to that point, was awake.

If anyone can find this fic, I'd be eternally greatful 😭

FOUND! golden when the day met the night by glitteringmoonlight (Not rated, 95k, slow burn, sugar daddy LWJ, light, angst, fluff, developing relationship, eventual smut, WIP)

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8. There is a fic I'm looking for. After wwx comes back in Mo village he decides to just stay there and run the town for several years as mo xuanyu and I can't seem to find it on AO3 @mortavita

FOUND? focal, filler, and line by bosbie (T, 26k, wangxian, canon divergence, flower shop au, fluff, hurt/comfort, pining, falling in love, WWX is not recognized in Dafan mountain, slice of life, WIP) WWX stays in Mo Village and is noticed by LWJ 3 years later the out-of-season flowers "Mo Xuanyu" sells have touches of resentful energy on them

FOUND? Gave my Heart and Soul by mel_darling (T, 47k, WIP, WangXian, Hurt/Comfort, References to Depression, Survivors Guilt, Angst with a Happy Ending, Misunderstandings, wwx knows Lwj was the one who kissed him, Canon Divergence, Panic Attacks, AnxietyPining, Healing, Gardening for the soul, Accidental Child Acquisition, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Nightmares) It doesnt take place over years but the premise is similar.

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9. Does anyone have that threadfic where omegaverse a!WWX donated sperm for money and o!LWJ bought it? LWJ had two(?) kids with the third on the way when the two of them met and toward the end one of the kids got injured and had to go to the hospital which is how they found out that WWX was the donor

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10. I’m looking for a fic where Wei Wuxian is helping Lan Wangji move in, only to get pinned to a sex bench. Turns out Wei Wuxian is one of a very small subset of males who can get pregnant, Lan Wangji found his e-reader, and calmly decided to divest them both of their virginity. It is not nearly as dark as it sounds.

FOUND? Touch me, tease me, fill me up by Lanwangjisnights (E, 5k, WangXian, Modern AU, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, BDSM Scene, Domestic BDSM, Restraints, Bondage, Rope Bondage, Double Penetration, Double Penetration in Two Holes, Boypussy, Vaginal Sex, LWJ Has a Big Dick, Daddy Kink, Pregnancy Kink, Consensual Non-Consent, Vibrators, Sex Toys, Rough Sex, Overstimulation, No Refractory Period, Aftercare, Marriage, Proposal, WWX POV, First Time)

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11. Hi! I’m looking for this fic, I don’t know if it was time travel, but one of the main things was that Wei ying, lan zhan, jiang Chang, and Jin Zixuan became martial brothers. Thank you!

FOUND? Quartet series by WithBroomBefore (T, 69k wangxian, JZX & JC & WWX & LWJ, Canon Divergence, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, WWX's canonical comfort with the prospect of his own death, Hurt/Comfort, JZX makes friends, Eventual Happy Ending, some unhappiness along the way, Canon-Typical Violence, JC keeps his golden core, JYL Lives, WQ Lives, Minor Character Death, Kissing, WWX Lives, no golden core transfer, JZX Lives, Fix-It, WN Lives, Weeping, temporary major character death, Murder Road Trip, Implied Sexual Content, Sunshot Campaign, Nonbinary NHS, Telepathy, platonic group soulbonding, Family, Found Family, POV WWX, Podfic Available, Siblings Sworn Brothers, aroace JZX, Happy Ending, all the Wen remnants live, POV JZX, JGY is less murdery, Asexual Character, Aromantic Character, JZX's social awkwardness, Poison)

FOUND? The Same Moon Shines series by sami (E, 799k) since the asker specifically mentions time travel, I wonder if it's Sami's time travel series? at least the main continuity, where WWX is the time traveler. the sworn brotherhood isn't central like in Quartet but it's still a key plot point.

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12. Hi, I’m looking for an abo fic (o!wwx and a!lwj) where wwx is sent to the cloud recesses in an arranged marriage bc madam yu thought he would be miserable there. Lwj is super cold to him at first and I think wwx is left kneeling in the cold during his preheat? Lwj also doesn’t want kids with him, which makes wwx upset. Xichen and wwx end up becoming good friends, wwx solves the water abyss with talismans, and lwj warns wwx about associating with xichen since the elders would cast them in a bad light, and wwx takes this as threatening him. @vellialavellious

FOUND! To Bring You Back Within My Reach by ablaiseofglory (M, 20k, WIP, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, No dubious consent, Adopted Children, Kid Fic, A/B/O Dynamics, omega wwx, Alpha LWJ, Orphanage, canon levels of physical abuse, aka cloud recesses punishments, Verbal/Mental Abuse, Misunderstandings, so many of them, a comical/horrifying amount, Depressive Thoughts)

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13. Hii this I'd for fic finder

I'm looking for a fic where wwx and wq pretend to be married, a yuan as their child when wwx confronted the jins about qionqi path, in the end I remember he also married lz ( after a misunderstanding where he accused him of infidelity). Thank u ☆

Hii I'm number 13 on the recent fic finder, it's unfortunately not what was recommended :')

I remember more of the story , wwx and wq were married out of convenience to save her family, they had children together but never slept together, when wwx told lwj he loved him , lwj accused him of being bored of his wife or something (they got married in the end, there was implied mpreg I think & lwj was referred to as second madam wei)

Not FOUND that is a door by ShanaStoryteller (Not rated, 7k, WWX/WQ, Marriage of Convenience, POV WQ, Post-War, Canon Divergence) if the asker is certain about marrying LWJ then it's not ShanaStoryteller's this is a door, but otherwise it might be

Not FOUND🔒the tragic and entirely true story of the romance between the yiling patriarch and his wife, most renowned doctor of her generation by ravenditefairylights (T, 18k, WangXian, Non-Linear Narrative, Post-Canon, but also during canon, Character Study, Canon Temporary Character Death, excessive use of personal headcanons, Baby LSZ, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Oblivious WWX, Rumors, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Heteronormativity, Fake Marriage, Chronic Pain, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining)

FOUND? 💖 The Epic Lie of the Yiling Laozu and His Wife by JaenysBloodcourt (T, 9k, wangxian, WWX/WQ, fake/pretend relationship, fake marriage, misunderstandings, lies, jealousy, BAMF WWX, yiling wei au)

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14. Hello I am trying to find a fic that is a modern reincarnation au, wei wuxian and nie huaisang are reincarnated roommates, but lan wangji is immortal and from the canon time and he fights a big ghost head in their apartment which is wuxian and huaisang’s first experience with cultivation in this time

It had maybe two chapters then didn’t update for like a year and I gave up and closed the tab for it but that was a big mistake because even unfinished I still think about it for some reason

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15. Hellooo im really trying to find a fic where weiying travelled back in time to gusu classes and tried to end his life with his sword and everyone get scared there's a similiar fic called (un)hidden but it's not the one im trying to find can u please help me find it

FOUND? 🔒 Without end by barisan (M, 69k, WIP, WangXian, Time Travel, Suicide Attempt, Hurt/Comfort, Depressed WWX, WWX Needs a Hug, WWX Needs Therapy, Protective LWJ, Good Uncle LQR, Bad Parent YZY, Bad Parent JFM, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Canonical Character Death, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Time Travel Fix-It, YZY Bashing, JFM Bashing, WWX Protection Squad, WWX Has Self-Esteem Issues, YLLZ WWX, Forehead Kisses, hand holding, Scheming NHS, Wēn Remnants Live, Broadway References, Yúnmèng Jiāng Sect Bashing, Literal Sleeping Together, Feelings Realization, Like Speedrun, First Kiss, sentient resentful energy, Medical Inaccuracies, Sentient Burial Mounds, Protective Siblings, Soft WangXian, BAMF WWX)

FOUND? Better Off Without Me by lindgrsl77 (M, 2k, WIP, WangXian, Suicide Attempt, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, WWX is not okay, Time Travel, Happy Ending)

FOUND? For the Best by Weiyun (T, 5k, WangXian, Suicide Attempt, Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Angst, Canon Divergence, Time Travel)

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16. Hi ☺️ I'm here again for finding recs that I have forgotten the title but not the storyline part ... Well for starter it's like watching their show but they time travel(?) Also there was a scene that while they were watching the library punishment when they get to the book that's when LZ thoughts of the library incidence were broadcast to everyone and any other fantasies he has but they realized it was only his not really happened. And they didn't know this until they watch it... I dunno how to find it 😔 @myst1210

FOUND? Song of Joy and Regrets by HelloKitten (Not Rated, 134k, wangxian, hualian, WIP, TGCF, Angst, Self-Harm, Child Abuse, characters watching their series, Time Travel Fix-it) chapter 31

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17. hello this is for ficfinder.

A) it was a modern au in which wwx is lan yuan's art teacher and i think lwj has adopted him, the fic starts w lwj being late to pick him from school. wen ning is the receptionist at the school. at some point wwx and lwj and a yuan also meet at a market and end up eating together.

B) there is a series in which basically everyone ia simping over wwx and he also finds a way to get his own body back and everyone is like oh you really wee HOT and i think the series named smth similar to simping over wwx but i cant seem to find it.

thank you

17A)

FOUND! 🧡 paint smears on sunny days by SnowshadowAO3 (E, 53k, WangXian, Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Everyone Is Alive, Modern AU, Dadji, Mutual Pining, Happy Ending, Brief Alcohol Mention, Masturbation, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Accidentally co-parenting with your son's art teacher, Fatherhood)

17B)

FOUND? Simping over WWX is my fave hobby Series by brrrrrRawr (T, 10k, WangXian, WWX's original body, Fluff, Pet Name,s Blushing, No Smut, Genius WWX, yunmeng bros reconciliation, endgame lotus pier, big bro wwx rights, also dad wwx rights, BAMF WWX, Bad Writing, Body Dysphoria So OOC, world building, cliff diving, corpse wrestling, OOC, Canon Divergence, god WWX, god WN, god WQ, child JL, teenager MXY, xuanli get resurrected, rip nmj tho, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, BAMF WWX, BAMF WN, BAMF WQ)

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18. hi! I just remembered a fic I read a while ago but I can't find it now and I really wanted to read it again. So what I remember about it is that it's set in cql verse and wei wuxian was taken to the nightless city. He was planning on learning about wrh's demonic cultivation and so he kind of tries to make wen rouhan favor him while secretly learning demonic cultivation. Wrh fell for it and he kinda made wwx his consort and lwj thought wwx really betrayed them. please help me find it T~T

I can remember but I can't find... But I remember that I think WWX still had a golden core. He made Chenqing to let WRH think he was only playing music to help him concentrate on creating the Yin Tiger Seal but actually WWX was using it to use demonic cultivation to create weaknesses in the Seal that he could exploit later (and also to try to protect his golden core grin the resentment). Chenqing becomes semi-sentient and wants to help and protect him. In the end he shatters the Seal while shielding everyone else from the backlash and almost dies in the process, because he drops Chenqing and so she can't protect him.

FOUND? 🔒 Pendulum by ShippersList (M, 69k, wangxian, graphic depicitions of violence, rape/non-con, underage, A/B/O, Canon Divergence, Non-Traditional A/B/O Dynamics, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Misunderstandings, Canon-Typical Violence, Spies & Secret Agents, Fake Character Death, Slow Burn, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, BAMF WWX, Attempted Sexual Assault, Canonical Character Death, Mutual Pining, Good JGY, Introspection, Self-Sacrificing WWX, Love Confessions, Protective LWJ, past child sexual abuse)

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19. Hi! 🥳 Happy new year! And also thank you so much for your hardwork for the past year. I hope you will also help me with this as well.

I’m looking for the fic wherein Wwx went to the bunnies. Wwx was shocked because they went to him and some bunnies actually nuzzles his tummy. Wwx find it odd since usually bunnies don’t like him. Eventually, they learned that the reason why bunnies wwx now because he’s pregnant 🫄.

Hi! I’m the fic finder #19. Thank you for helping but unfortunately I think this is not the one. Though they are similar, it still different because in the fic I read, there is a scene where wwx scolded the bunnies like saying ‘You only like me now because I’m pregnant’ like that.

NOT FOUND! How strange... the bunnies like me! by Selene210 (M, 3k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Using bunnies as a way of discovering pregnancy, Mpreg, Mild Smut)

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20. Can you please help me find a fic? Lan Zhan decides to leave the Lan clan and to do so he has to cut his hair. Wei Ying finds him by a river and helps him with the hair cut. I don’t think they had met prior to this, it is possible Wei Wuxian had already also left his own clan? Anyhoo, they go on to live together and it is very domestic and sweet.

FOUND? my life’s journey is far from over by thelastdboy (E, 148k, wangxian, modern au, canon divergence, PTSD, post-sunshot, everyone lives au, depression, suicidal thoughts, unhealthy coping mechanisms, slow burn, case fic, recorvery, healing is a slow process, kink negotiation)

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[worstmdzstakes]

One of the worst takes: that Wei Wuxian was in any way wrong for nightless city, or that Wen Remnants and Wei Wuxian died because he was too arrogant to ask for help

These are definitely both stupid takes!

💩Fanon bullshit💩 - WWX was in the wrong at Nightless City:

Can people in the fandom not grasp when someone is being treated unfairly?!

The sects stated that the matter would be settled for the time being if WQ and WQ gave themselves up and they would leave WWX and the remaining Wens remnants alone.

How would anyone feel to find out they had sacrificed their lives for nothing? That the cultivation world was still planning an attack on the burial mounds, intent on murdering every single innocent person that lived there.

What happened at Nightless City was straight up defence. Granted, WWX was out of his mind with trauma, but overall, it was the congregation of sects that made a move first.

As WWX concluded himself:

“Oh?” Wei Wuxian helped the one who’d spoken dissect his statement. “So if he wants to kill me, he needn’t have any misgivings about dealing a lethal blow. If I die, that’s just my bad luck. But if I defend myself, I must have reservations about who I hurt—even about whether I should touch a single strand of anyone’s hair in the first place. In short, you can ambush me, but I can’t fight back. Is that right?”

7S vol 4

It seems that some people in the fandom are more like the idiots of the cultivation world who blindly followed without question.

MXTX wished her readers to be like LWJ in virtue and WWX in character - not the mob who could not see what was truly right or wrong.

💩Fanon bullshit💩 - WWX won't ask for help:

There was never anything truly arrogant about WWX. He put a bravado on to stop people attacking him and finding out he no longer possessed a golden core, that he had a weakness which could be exploited. It was all to stop people looking too closely at the fact he had no spiritual powers and was weaker than before.

Throughout the novel WWX has no qualms with asking for help - just look at him when he was trying to save the ungrateful Su She from the waterborne abyss. He asked for help. The only issue is, people don't usually give him it. He's used to fighting things out on his own, relying on himself and his own skills. Then LWJ comes along and he helps without even being asked.

Just who could WWX ask for help when he was protecting the Wen remnants at the burial mounds?!

He rather unfortunately concluded LWJ disapproved of him and his methods - yet, unbeknownst to him, LWJ helped him as much as he could, defending him and the Wens during meetings and when the fierce corpses broke out alongside WN after they met in Yiling.

His own sect leader threw him to the proverbial dogs and declared him the enemy of the cultivation world! Hardly helpful! WWX knew JC wouldn't help, even though he owed the Wen remnants a life debt and was honour bound to repay such a thing. Why the hell would WWX ask JC for help when he already knew the answer. He knew JC was too full of resentment and hatred to even lift a finger and JC only proved it the minute he arrived at the burial mounds and sneered at the old and weak before trying to kill a defenceless WN who he personally owed so much to. Even an idiot could see that he wasn't going to help - so what does that make the people saying otherwise? Hmm...

[loosingmoreletters]

🌩️ and/or ☔ for the wip game please!

☔Is there a fic concept you have that you'd like to just explain and share because you're not sure you'll ever write it? If so, what is it?

Oh gosh, I have too many fic ideas for MDZS but here is one: funky gender and pregnancy ahead.

LWJ returns from his travels with a beautiful woman. She’s strong and smart and when he asks permission to marry this Wen Ying, both his uncle and brother are unwilling to give permission.

You’re too young, she’s a Wen and worst of all - no Lan will have a fox bride.

But, well, LWJ is stubborn and his love dejected.

“I should’ve expected it,” they say. “I can turn myself into a woman, have Wen Qing adopt me into her sect and follow all those rules, your uncle barely took more than one look at me before he said no.”

What a fool Wei Ying had made of himself, thinking he might have a chance. But, well, Lan Wangji is stubborn, so in the morning, LXC sends out disciples to find his brother and his runaway fox bride, but for all sense and purpose, they’ve vanished into the wind.

Three years later, LXC sees his brother again, as he marches into the Lan camp with a Wen General’s decapitated head.

“They burned down our village when we refused to fight,” says LWJ, Hölle like he’s never been. “They killed my spouse and child.”

LXC pulls his brother close.

At the other war front, Jiang Cheng meets the brother he should’ve had. The last time JC had thought of him had been when rumors of the second Jade of Lan eloping with a fox broke through. His father grew sad then, spoke of the boy he couldn’t save. JC feels inadequate as a sect leader, but he hopes he can do his father proud in this. Wei Wuxian is a walking nightmare, has cultivated six blackened tails from the resentment of the dead. “Wen Chao took the three I had,” Wei Wuxian said. “I want his head and heart for my dead spouse and son.”

Jiang Yanli looks at him and thinks WWX needs help, JC thinks that perhaps he can do his father proud if he offers WWX a place in their sect, something to live for.

And then, there in the heart of Qishan, is Wen Ning. He lacks confidence, most of the time, so people think him incapable of lying, but he was taught to lie by the greatest performer of all. He does not remember the day his mother came home with an injured boy and offered him a place to stay, but he does recall the day WWX asked for etiquette lessons, and the day he returned home again with his fiancé and asked if they could hold a wedding there in Dafan, the money WN and his sister put aside for a marriage to Gusu Lan instead used for travels, and later fixing up a cottage to live in until the child would be born. The point is this: WN lies well when the situation demands it, so he lied about the child he pulled from the charred remains of his best friend’s home, claimed the kid as a direct cousin, instead of an adopted nephew. Now all he needs is to get him back to his parents.

Or: I really wanted a fic wheee wangxian meet early and wanna get married but there are enough objects for LWJ to leave his sect, but it escalates into “how long can two characters think they lost everything they loved.”

🌩️ Share something funny/cracky from your WIP.

From an Omegaverse, somehow T rated fic about bitching.

“The quicker you accept it, the easier it’ll be to deal with,” Jiang Cheng advised like a wise old mentor and not the younger brother he actually was.

Entirely unacceptable.

“I can fix this,” Wei Wuxian insisted.

And, despite knowing better, Jiang Cheng asked, “How? Lan Wangji can’t bitch you—”

Wei Wuxian paused in his splashing and raised his head just to see Jiang Cheng’s horrified expression. He couldn’t tell if that was because his brother refused to think about Wei Wuxian’s sex life, which was also what Wei Wuxian preferred, or because he’d hit the nail on the head. Wei Wuxian cackled.

[thesilversun]

Answer to the Time Travel JGY poll - previous re-blog before this one.

I've gone with get rid of JGS sooner, but also play things differently.

The first part of the plan is the most distateful to him, he doesn't actual dislike Jin Zixuan, but if it's to work JGS needs to be without a viable heir and needs to have a visible reason to hate the Wen.

So on his way back to the Lanling after having escape the xuanwu cave, JZX dies in an ambush. Getting hold of Wen arrows had been easy.

Then it's a case of just not letting NMJ see him kill the Nie sect general - they are plenty of other ways to die in war - he'd been too hasty the first time. He can still go undercover, this time it is with NMJ & LXC knowledge.

He doesn't really care if NMJ likes him or hates him afterwards. Too many hurtful things had been said in the original timeline for that - and JGY doesn't give people second chances.

So the sunshot campaign plays out as before. JGY has no interest in saving lotus pier or WWX.

Losing JZX has done little to change JGS and JGY knows that his father has to die next. He has to die before he can arrange the wedding with Qin Su.

After all Yunmeng Jiang was suppose to tie itself by marriage to Lanling Jin. Jiang Yanli was a good woman, and most of all not JGS child. If JGS has tried anything with YZY he'd have been dead years ago.

So they marry, it's not the wedding JYL wanted, but in the wake of the war, Yunmeng Jiang needs the support of Lanling Jin.

All he needs to do with WWX is stop him becoming involved with the remaining members of the Wen sect - If Wen Qing hadn't asked WWX for help, if he hadn't owed he so very much, he would have remained at lotus pier, drinking and slowly succumbing to his lack of golden core and use unorthodox cultivation in it's place.

JGY strikes a bargin with WQ, she'll work for him in exchange for WN's safety, in return he'll get rid of JGS and improve how the other Wen are treated. Her other choice, he says is for both her and WN to die right now. She accepts, for WN, she can endure almost anything.

JGY accepts the brotherhood with NMJ and LXC, because more than anyone, the one is his heart is still LXC. He doesn't alter the music - NMJ is going to die anyway, let is be slow and painful into madness - let NHS witness those hard awful years seeing his brother become a stranger to him, that is punishment enough.

JGS dies the same death as before - there was a poetic justice to it that JGY feels too fitting to change.

How sad it is, people say, that JGS never lived to see the birth of his grandson. They still call the child Jin Ling. He won't be the same child, but JGY can live with that.

JGY looks at his life. He's a sect leader, chief cultivator, a husband and father. NMJ will die, and NHS will have no reason blame anyone or seek revenge. LXC, already grateful for all that JGY has done for him, will no doubt turn to him for comfort when NMJ dies.

What will happen to WWX he doesn't particularly care. Perhaps JGY could ask WQ to help either NMJ or WWX, but he has no inclination to. He has no interest in what LWJ will do. Nor any desire to embark on JGS interest in demonic cultivation - no sense damaging the good reputation he's built.

When XY is caught, no one at Lanling Jin has any interest in saving him.

This time JGY has everything he wants, and he's not going to do anything that might ruin it.

[theuntamedaus]

And it is about time I continued this Pokèmon AU with the Wen Clan and the Yi City gang!

I still have to do the trainer cards, but I will probably delete and redo them all from scratch, cos the ones that are up are uuuhhhh....... Yeah, they are shite.

But one thing at a time, starting with the Wen clan.

Under cut!

THE WEN CLAN

The Wen clan has to be divided in two branches. The Qishan Wen, owners of the Qishan Gym, and the Dafan Wen, who own every Pokèmon Centre and healers of Pokèmon all over the place.

The main members of the Qishan Wen clan are Wen Ruohan, Wen Xu and Wen Chao with Wang Lingjiao.

They are Fire/Other type Pokèmon users and their teams are as follows.

Gym Leader Wen Ruohan:

Moltres

Typhlosion

Centiskorch (can evolve into its Gigantamax form)

Rapidash

Ninetales (regular form)

Skeledirge

Wen Xu:

Piroar

Charizard

Sizzlipede

Heatmor

Slugma

Magmortar

Wen Chao:

Infernape (evolved from Monferno nearly immediately)

Houndoom (the one WWX was "in company" with whilst prisoner)

Talonflame

Emboar

Iron Moth

Torkoal

Wang Lingjiao does not fight, she is more focused on Spending Money For Fashion, but she has an Oricorio Baile Style.

With such teams the Lotus Pier Gym did not really have a chance, however the Yunmeng siblings WILL take bloody revenge. With them out of the way, the only Wens out and about will be the Dafan Wens, healers, professors and breeders, the ones who will help the Yunmeng siblings in their hardest times.

Enter Wen Qing, her brother Wen Ning, Grandma Wen, Uncle Fourth and everyone in the Dafan Wen Clan.

As mentioned, they are mainly doctors. Wen Qing possesses the ownership of the biggest and best Pokèmon Centre in the whole continent, with branches all around.

She has a squadron of Chansey helping her out, as well as a whole team of healer Pokèmon, which is composed of:

Blissey (her own and also Head of the nurse Chansey squadron)

Flareon (as sign that she is a Wen, but this Flareon is the most well-behaved Pokèmon ever - also this one provides emotional support to other Pokèmon)

Bellossom

Aromatisse

Hatterene

Ivysaur (a Grass/Poison pokèmon, wonder why she caught that one for *winkwink*nudgenudge*)

Wen Ning, her brother, is her assistant and nevertheless will end up with a Ghost type Pokèmon, influence of WWX. He then has a team of:

Chansey (it's WQ's Blissey's brother).

Litwick (the Ghost/Fire type, he is a Wen, but also he has had WWX's influence rubbing off him. It is a very polite Litwick)

Vileplume (both him and WQ got an Oddish each, but then they evolved it in different ways. Whilst WQ got Bellossom, WN got Vileplume

Ditto

Scorbunny (caught on Lan ground, with LWJ's blessings.)

Stufful (the actual owner abandoned it and WN did not have the heart to leave it behind)

Grandma Wen is a Professor, the others being LQR and Grandma Yu. She has a very well behaved Arcanine as companion. Uncle Fourth helps her out along with the rest of the Dafan Wens.

But then HOW did LSZ/Wen Yuan become a Lan? I admit I had not figured it out, but I will go for a great ttragedy during the time when JGS wanted to try and be the new WRH, so a-Yuan got adopted in the Lan Clan whilst the Dafan Wen was fleeing the persecution enacted after WRH's death. This until JZX takes over and the Dafan Wen can go back to being healers. However by this time a-Yuan is fully integrated in the Lan clan.

A-Yuan will learn the truth and he will be allowed one (1) fire type Pokèmon.

The surviving Pokèmon that were WRH's, WC's and WX's will "retire" to a more tranquil life in the territories of Professor Grandma Wen and will not fight anymore.

[llycaons]

ep31: (2/2): they're bad! they're bad!

this moment is just done so well. the dramatic shots, the slo-mo falls, the shocking spurts of blood, wwx's trembling horror, this final shot of jzx dead on the ground. excellently made

xz's expression is killer here. he just nailed the sickening shock and horror and despair and terror of what just happened. jzx's death has both massive far-reaching political consequences and extremely painful and close personal ones as well

like this, this is devastating. they were waiting for him! they wanted to see him!

I saw a post ages ago about how 🥺 they were all dressed up nicely they planned this! and I think that's a bit dumb because obviously they're dressed nicely and what exactly did they even plan since jc and wwx's plan consisted of 'make it known that the jiangs and wwx are finished' and it was lwj who suggested the invite and jyl who requested her husband to go through with it so I'm not giving jc any credit here

was this meant to be comedic because omg

xl's performance here was also SO devastating. you can see the moment the rug is ripped out from under her - there's that sudden, sickening emptiness swooping in your gut that I think she conveys rly well. and jc is so concerned for her too oof

wwx being constantly badgered by the resentful spirits he controls...

wwx is truly at his breaking point here. he has never attacked wen ning, never been aggressive towards someone innocent. and it just shows how deeply upsetting this is - and not just for himself and jyl but for his baby nephew too!

he's also questioning his decisions. not reminiscing or regretting, but actively questioning himself and his choices. wwx has never had to wonder, he's always been so confident in the right path even when it hurts him

god, hearing him ask this like a lost child is really sad. the world just pushed him to this place

first of all who is a-shu second of all WHY WOULD YOU SAY THIS AND THEN EVERYONE LEAVES??? at LEAST tell him about the baby. this bothers me every time it is the single most annoying plot hole in this show

in the novel, there's some really unpleasant scenes in the beginning where wwx climbs into bed with lwj in hopes of being kicked out of CR and lwj slaps a paralyzer on him for it and they just sleep like that which I feel like would be a really awkward and uncomfortable situation to be in but after this scene I feel like it wouldn't be surprising if wwx has genuine trauma related to be made immobile

the last time this happened, myu tied him up and sent him away from his home, about to be destroyed, about to die. and now wn and wq are keeping him paralyzed while they tell him about their plans to turn themselves in, facing death and worse. and wwx is absolutely powerless to help them. I can imagine being paralyzed as trigger for him, putting him back into some of the most traumatic and guilty and grief-laden moments of his life. but of course nothing wwx and lwj ever do with each other is anything but mildly awkward at worst

I do remember that wwx liked being tied up later after they're together but I actually understand that. playing with something that can be/was used to hurt you in the past but it's something you have control over so you're able to play with it and make it something safe and fun. I do think a lot of fics go too far with it and I don't really see kinkiness for their cql selves but I get it in theory. anyway

wwx is still trying to survive this. he's not an optimist, really, he's just refusing to give up. and wq is more pragmatic. she knows the world she's living in. and she loves wwx

so so sad how even though wwx has sacrificed so much and hurt so much for others, he still bears guilt for not being able to do more. it's not fair! there's so much suffering in this series

this is also so fucking sad oh my god wen qing

the iconic words 😭 wq is very somber and gentle in this scene, much different than the brusque and sharp-tongued woman in the book. I think this suits the atmosphere much better. she's crying and so is he

we've seen this sleeping-tear before

and here she is, smiling at her family. what I gather is, they all decided to come with her and wen ning too. and since wwx was asleep, they couldn't tell him about a-yuan

but still, shouldn't ONE person have stayed? to look after the toddler? he was FEVERISH when lwj found him! to look after wwx? he's been paralyzed for days and he doesn't have a golden core

god you know I usually see these tragedies filtered through wwx's experienced because he's my focal point, but this is so fucking tragic just for their sakes. they're ready to die here. and the jins will scatter their ashes to the wind

back to jyl, who's looking miserable enough to make me sad too

the funny thing is, jyl's story is very sad but she still has a chance. she's of noble birth. she'll reincarnate. and yet it's her scenes with wwx that still hurt my heart

the wens met a more tragic end but I was so happy when they carved out a place for themselves and lived their lives with wwx. it was a joyful little community. maybe because by the end, their story seems resolved. even if there was no justice, wen ning and lsz are alive and they'll honor their memory. but the jiang siblings don't have a clean ending. there's still a bleeding wound there, even at the very end. one sibling lost, and one warped beyond all recognition into a hateful and vile thing.

I never really got over jyl's death. maybe it'll be different this time

the way he's imagining her nor finding fault with him...ough

wwx running out of the abandoned BM community to the gentle refrain of that song about missing the past...just kill me now

[coquelicoq]

top 10 ways of making yunmeng bros reconcile. plz my crops are dying.

mmkay well as i’ve said before obviously all the ideas here and here are gold and i couldn’t possibly choose only 10 of them, so have 10 others that i have curated just for you, anon. 

first of all, through soup all things are possible, so jot that down. 

fraternal hanahaki! (i haven't seen this done, but here, have your slightest look easily will unclose me, a fic with a different coughing-up-flowers reconciliation concept that i also very much love, kind of a cross between hanahaki and an honesty curse?) 

jc may not be capable of admitting that he wants wwx back in his life, but he is capable of recognizing that angering lwj brings him great satisfaction, and one way to do this is to start laying claim to wwx as a yunmeng disciple just to reduce the time he can spend in gusu with lwj. if it has the side effect of making wwx feel loved and bringing them closer together, that's definitely unintended and NOT why jc is doing it, as he'll tell anyone. but who’s to say? perhaps he might forget to correct wwx’s assumptions. he’s a busy man, he can’t remember to do everything.

their spiritual tools conspire to go on strike until jc and wwx meet a list of demands. chief among them are "use your words" and "hug it out." whenever either of them tries to fly his sword anywhere, it redirects him to wherever the other one is and then won't unsheathe itself again until they have a conversation. also i think zidian would start conditioning jc to hate himself less by giving him a little electric shock every time he thinks something disparaging. chenqing would act as a compass that only ever points in the direction of lotus pier. eventually they would have to agree to make up just because they really can’t work like this. not for any other reason, obviously! (but once they’ve made up it doesn’t really matter what the reason was.)

wwx has some kind of condition that requires regular spiritual energy transfusions, and jc is the only match because he has wwx's old core. this one is very easy to pair with "high fever" or "Empathy" or "deathbed confessions (but then they don't die)!"

nhs commissions a play about their brotherhood that becomes popular all across the land. jc and wwx each go to see it every time it's traveling through wherever they happen to be. one night they run into each other at a performance, and even though they're both in disguise, their eyes meet across the crowded room and they know. ooh or maybe they both yell out at the same time about an inaccuracy and then everyone realizes they're both there in the flesh and they're peer pressured into some sort of jerry-springeresque verbal fisticuffs that turn out to be very cathartic?

jl guilts them into going to couples therapy, which is just them telling their problems to nhs, who sits there going "i don't know! i really don't know anything! why would you ask my worthless opinion??" interspersed with comments that sound stupid but serve to subtly lead them to some emotional breakthroughs.

wwx finds something jc did out of love for him while he was dead. options: memorial tablet; old tear-stained letters; well-funded orphanage in yunmeng called Shmei Shmuxian's Home for Orphans Who Are Afraid of Dogs, etc. tbh wwx would probably need all three, plus jl continuously dropping hints like "gee i wonder why jiujiu held onto chenqing all that time" and "golly it sure is strange that jiujiu never got any more dogs," before he would start to connect the dots. 

they have to go undercover as brothers who love each other to solve a nighthunt case (don't ask me why, i don't know, but it's probably a very flimsy reason that they both agree to anyway because they're secretly desperate to spend time together).

animal transformation. either jc gets transformed into a dog in front of wwx and is very touched by how wwx is taking care of him despite his terror, or wwx gets transformed into a dog without jc's knowledge and jc finds him in lotus pier and probably hugs him a bunch and says stuff like "i'd love to keep you, but i made a promise to someone not to get any dogs, and i'm still hoping he'll want to come back someday"??

pouring one out for your crops, anon. i hope this helps.

[angstymdzsthoughts]

(1/?) Bcz of his absences during akuma attacks & his hero life taking up more time, WWX’s ‘suspicious’ behaviour is soon noticed by YZY. She suspects he’s causing trouble (ex: drugs, smoking, harassing, cat-calling etc.) and after a particularly nasty akuma + the fact that he once again did smthg better than JC + JFM’s lengthy absence, she snaps and kicks him out of the house.

(2/?) WWX tells himself it’s ok, now he can do hero work 24/7. YZY lies to JFM & authorities, claiming he ran away. NHS suspects smthg (he alrdy more or less knows everyone’s secret IDs tbh) and investigates. But WWX insists it’s ok and not worth it, they had bigger problems anyways & he can’t abuse his power (plus, he’s secretly glad to be away from such a toxic household).

(3/?) WN offers him a place to stay & LWJ, JZX and NHS keep it a secret. They continue to be heroes, fighting akumas but they’re getting stronger and harder to defeat. One day, YZY gets akumatized and boi, she is a STRONG ASF akuma due to all that pent up bitterness and resentment. She becomes the Violet Spider and wreaks hell on the heroes. Unfortunately, JYL & JC are caught in the crossfire.

(4/?) Just before YZY could kill her own kids, WWX pushes them out of the way and gets hurt. Fatally. Even worse, his timer runs out and he detransforms; caught live on the news. LWJ screams, rips YZY’s spider leg off and carries WWX away but it’s too late. WWX used the last of his energy to purify the akuma & cast miraculous cure at the cost of his life. Everyone in the city heard LWJ’s anguished cries.

(5/?) A funeral is held, NHS casting illusions of their herosonas so they could attend too. When the Jiangs arrive, LWJ SNAPS. He calls out YZY on her abuse, JC on his entitlement, JFM & JYL on their passivity. He calls YZY for lying to the authorities and revealed she purposefully left WWX to fend for himself on the streets again.

(6/?) LWJ has to be physically restrained but it did make the police finally look into YZY and arrest her for child/domestic abuse & murder. But LWJ feels it’s not enough. After all, if WWX wasn’t a hero, would anyone have cared? Not too long ago, everyone in their school spat on his name but now shed tears and sang praises of him as though he was a close friend.

(7/?) Then LQR suggests him, WQ or JYL becomes the new Ladybug but the wound is still too raw (he just lost his zhiji, did his uncle see him and WWX as expendable child soldiers?). He runs away and goes to weep over WWX’s grave, regrets never making his feelings clear when he had the chance. Then someone arrives- his own father. He reveals his mother’s body and offers (manipulates) him to share the wish to bring both their loved ones back.

(8/?) LWJ agrees and lets himself be akumatized. He goes back to dig up WWX’s body (to be preserved like his mother's) but WN catches him. They fight, NHS & JZX also join to help but are no match against him. LWJ was always the most skilled; combined with the akumatization, he was leagues ahead. He tore through WN's shield, knew NHS's tricks and was a better fighter than JZX. Finally, he saw his beloved. Some magic had rubbed off on WWX, preserving his body & beauty, much to his relief.

(9/?) His uncle & brother went into hiding, knowing they’ve lost LWJ. He goes on a rampage- he made sure to torture YZY, made her feel every ounce of pain, suffering & fear she put WWX (a mere child) through. He ended her misery by slicing her into pieces with his qin strings and rearranging her body into a macabre kowtowing position (as if begging for forgiveness) before WWX’s past grave. Soon, more victims joined (ex: JFM, JC, Jin Zixun, Su She, Teacher Yao; JYL was the only Jiang spared).

(continuation of ML AU) (10/?) LXC takes up the ladybug mantle and confronts him but it isn’t enough bcz 1. this is his baby brother, he still(optimistically, naively) has hope for him & 2. LWJ knows LXC will hesitate, he’s too soft-hearted, he’s pragmatic enough to use that to his advantage. He pretended to be hurt, got LXC to drop his guard, then ripped the earrings off. Before leaving, he told LXC the secret LQR kept from them.

(11/?) Both sets complete, a wish is made. As the light envelopes them, LWJ tenderly caresses WWX’s cheek and kisses him, promising it’ll all be over soon and this time, he’ll do better. He’ll do right by him. Everything will be right and just at last, as it should be.

(12/12) Thus, it’s the dawn of a new day. LWJ goes to school, hangs out with JZX, WN, NHS & WWX, study at his home under the guidance of his stern uncle and father, his patient brother & his kind mother, and then play video games at WWX’s home (filled with warmth & love by a now alive Cangse Sanren & Wei Changze). Before leaving, WWX being the loving bf he is, gives LWJ a tender goodbye kiss. As for the Jiangs well, how can you find answers for someone who never existed?

[drwcn]

I loved your fem lwj take on things. How would thibgs go if WWX was the lady? Other than ppl assuming she stood up for the Wens bcs she jad feelings for WN ( and that Yuan was hers)

Heyyy friend, I think I’ve seen a couple of girl!wwx fics floating around in ao3 so i certainly won’t be the first :P.

Also I completely misread your ask initially, I thought you were asking me what I think would happen if A-Yuan was WWX’s kid, and I was like oh?? But then I realize wait... I can make it worse.  

Today, I decided that my mortal soul doesn’t matter, so here we go. Let’s see how accursed I can make this idea: 

[1]

It started with Jiang Cheng. Jiang Wanyin had set out for the Burial Mount with the explicit goal of throttling speaking with Wei Wuxian, but what greeted him at the entrance of the “Demon Subduing Palace” — more of a cave than anything really — was not his martial sister, but Wen Ning. Well, what had once been Wen Ning.

Black veins ran across his pale, ashen face, down his equally ashen neck , and into the major veins beneath his clavicles covered by the collars of his black threadbare robes. Lifeless eyes, white as his skin, stared into a void the living could not see. There were talismans littering his body, and Jiang Cheng knew that when he spoke to this fierce corpse, he was not speaking to the young Wen boy, but to his mistress who controlled him with her demonic cultivation. 

Wei Wuxian refused to face him. Refused him explanation. Refused him closure.

“Er-jie!” Jiang Cheng screamed into the stony expressionless face of Wen Qionglin. “If you continue to protect them, then I can’t protect you!!” 

There was no response. 

Suddenly, just as Jiang Cheng was about to kick and fight his way into the cave, Wen Ning thrusted out his right fist, and in his grasp was a piece of purple silk. Jiang Cheng unfolded the silk, vaguely recognizing that it had been cut from someone’s robe, and saw what was wrapped within was a slip of parchment.

割袍断义*, the paper read. Tell the world that I, Wei Wuxian, first disciple of Yunmeng Jiang has forever defected (Note: 割袍断义- to rip one's robe as a sign of repudiating a sworn brotherhood (idiom)).

With this, there was nothing left to say. Hurt and furious, Jiang Wanyin threw the piece of parchment onto the dirt ground, grinded his heel down on it, and left the Burial Mount without ever having drawn Sandu. 

Inside the cave, Wen Qing held Wei Wuxian’s hand. “Why won’t you just tell him? He’s your brother; he can help you, you can —” 

Wei Wuxian’s mile long stare seemed to be gazing at something — someone — very far away. Slowly, she placed her other palm over her belly, which horrifically was already starting to round out. “Nobody can help me now, Qing-jie.”

“I can,” said Wen Qing, blunt as ever. “I can make it go away, if you want.”

“No.” A droplet of tear escaped pass long lashes. “No.” 

[2] 

It continued with Jiang Cheng.

On a snowy night, the first winter after Wei Wuxian escaped with the Wen remnants to the Burial Mount, Jiang Cheng was rudely awakened from his slumber by a less-than-stealthy intruder breaking and entering into his bed chamber.

Zidian whipped through the air, lighting the room with her eerie violet glow, before the intruder could think to take one more step. It was a man, judging from his silhouette colliding against the wall and the pained groan he made in response. The very next second, the tail of Zidian coiled tightly around his neck and dragged him across the floor towards beneath Jiang Cheng’s waiting foot. 

The Sect Master of Yunmeng Jiang summoned Sandu, ready to deliver the final strike, but just as his blade sailed towards the intruder’s chest, a pale arm jutted upwards, blocking Sandu’s descent and revealing a pale hand holding a … a... 

Even in the dark, Jiang Cheng immediately recognized the mahogany comb. 

“Jiang — ! Zongzhu —!” The man croaked out urgently, throat still stomped on by Jiang Cheng’s foot. It was - it was Wen Ning?!

Jiang Cheng looked him over. He was pale, yes, but his eyes appeared human. His hair was brushed and haphazardly done up in a farmer’s top knot. He was wearing farmer’s clothing too, probably more inconspicuous for travel than his Ghost General getup.  

“Jiang-zongzhu! P—please!!”

No, impossible. 

“Wei — Wei-guniang—”

Jiang Cheng lifted his foot and dragged Wen Ning up in a split second. “What’s wrong with Wei Wuxian?!”  Wen Ning coughed and shook his head desperately. “No time to explain. My sister asked me to fetch you. Please, you have to come! Wei-guniang’s life is in danger! If you won’t come, I’ll...I’ll have to go to Gusu, and I don’t know if - if -” 

Jiang Cheng followed Wen Ning. 

For speed, they travelled by sword, but even so, dawn was breaking by the time they arrived. The crowd of Burial Mount’s villagers huddling anxiously outside of the Demon Subduing Palace parted for them upon their arrival. Jiang Cheng took a moment to gather himself and square his shoulders. Whatever it was; he was ready.  

He was wrong. None of the dozens of scenario he had agonized over on the flight here could have prepared him for what awaited him inside. 

Wen Qing, pale and drenched in sweat, was near complete spiritual collapse, and without Wen Qing’s spiritual energy sustaining her, the single tenuous thread by which Wei Wuxian’s life hung on would have undoubtedly snapped under the toil and devastation her body had been put through. 

There was so much blood, so, so much blood everywhere, and amidst the blood, there was a baby. 

Fuck. 

Jiang Cheng transfused his sister half of his total spiritual reserve over the course of a day, while an exhausted but unrelenting Wen Qing worked diligently under blood-soaked sheets. 

Then at dusk, when the storm finally passed, Jiang Cheng sat at the mouth of the cave with a tiny, perfect little human — a girl, a niece! —  in his arms and cursed Lan Wangji’s name. 

Wen Qing was extremely clear with them: 孩子要是留在这里，养不活。

If the newborn was left to be raised at the Burial Mount, she would not live. And so, because parting was inevitable from the start, Wei Wuxian adamantly refused to hold or nurse the child. Her child. 

I can’t. If I do, I won’t be able to let her go. Those dark eyes burned with more than just the delirium of her childbed fever. For once, Jiang Cheng could not find it in himself to argue.

Thus, he took his niece home and named her Jiang Yan 江曕. The name was not his doing. His foolish, misguided, stubborn sister had stroked her daughter’s soft, baby cheek and whispered it to her as a farewell gift. 

Yan - to be bathed in daylight. In the end, when given a choice, Wei Wuxian still opted for her child to walk on broad sunny road. 

It made Jiang Cheng wonder why, then, she would choose the dark twisted path for herself instead. 

[3] 

It ended with Jiang Cheng. 

The truth was simple: Jiang Wanyin killed his shijie Wei Wuxian. He did. He meant to. 

He killed her. But that did not mean he wanted her dead. 

In one day, he had lost both of his sisters, leaving two orphans in their wake. Jiang Cheng could not ignore the cruel irony of their fate: one’s father murdered by his aunt, and other’s mother murdered by her uncle. 

This was the kind of tragedy fairytales were made of, and if there were anything left in him to shed tears over it, he would.  Standing amongst Nevernight’s carnage, he could not dredge up even a single drop of tear.  

Jiang Cheng didn’t know how he could return home to Lotus Pier to face that cherub face, always so happy, so sweet, so utterly untainted by the world. She had her mother’s smile. Yan'er was starting to learn how to speak. Her first words were da-da. 

Da-da. Die-die. Father. 

He was standing beside her father now. 

Lan Wangji. Devastated. Destroyed. …Deceived.

Jiang Cheng hated him so much, so fucking much that for one insane second, he thought about telling Lan Wangji the truth just to see what would happen. Maybe he would run Jiang Cheng through with his Bichen - that would be a relief now, wouldn’t it? - or maybe he would jump after Wei Wuxian. 

Truly, if he knew, he would. Jump, that is. Jiang Cheng was almost entirely sure. Oh the utter melodrama that would inspire indeed!  

But then... 

Wei Ying birthed you a daughter, a lovely, perfect, blessed little girl, and she carried that secret to her grave. I may be damned by my actions, but you, who have done nothing for her and taken everything, why should you deserve something as sacred as the truth?

Jiang Cheng turned away. 

He was acutely aware that one day Jiang Yan may very well be the literal death of him. After all — 杀母之仇不共戴天 — one cannot tolerate living under the same sky as the murderer of one’s mother. 

Be that as it may, he would raise Jiang Yan well, just as he promised. Unlike his sister, he would not break his word. Jiang Yan was of Lotus Pier, of Yunmeng, like her mother and grandfather before her. That for him, was enough. 

Jiang Cheng clutched Sandu and gripped Zidian. Whatever his fate, he already made peace with it, and the rest was inconsequential. 

One day, he may die, but today he lives, and so as long as he lives, Jiang Yan and all of Yunmeng Jiang will be protected . So as long as he lives, they will flourish. 

[...and in between]

On the streets of Yiling, Lan Wangji tilted his head inquisitively at Wei Wuxian and the little boy at her side and asked, “This child, he...” 

In response, Wei Wuxian patted her chest in a self-declarative kind of way and announced, “Oh this child, I birthed him!” 

He stared at her in shell-shocked silence, his mind racing with panicked thoughts of but that’s impossible — that was just once — even if — the boy is too old to be —

“怎么，蓝湛，不要我们娘儿俩了？” What, Lan Zhan, you don’t want the child and I?

“Wei— Wei Ying—” 

Then of course, she had laughed, and Lan Wangji thought no more of it. 

Just a joke. A silly joke. 

In time, he would come to realize his mistake. 

~~~

[A/N]: I’m not even a little bit sorry. 

[person-behind-books]

why does resentful energy corrupt while spiritual doesn’t? and why does wwx seem to be so unaffected by it in mxy’s body?

i think it’s because spiritual energy comes from nature and (eventually when a person has condensed enough to create a core) from (that) person.

meanwhile, resentul energy is created anytime when a person feels resentful but can mostly only ever really be registered if that person is super resentful after their death (because then their souls are without body’s and free to convert natures (spiritual) energy into resentful energy.

in his first life wwx underwent horrible suffering (physical and psychological) which made him a bit unstable and controlled hundrets (thousands?) of resentful corpses and spend three months in a place where resentful energy festered for decades (centuries?)

this resentful-ness alone these constant voices urging one to violence would be enough to drive someone who is unstable (and even someone with a stable mind) to madness.

wwx also had the stygian tiger seal which corrupted his mind and sought violence. (and i hc that the stygian tiger seal talks inside ones mind while the rest of wwx’s army just battered at his mind from the outside)

wwx was in control of the resentful energy until he slipped up a bit in the heat of a very tense moment, gave wen ning too much, and jin zixuan died for that.

but still, we saw that wen ning acted like wen qing (someone alive in almost the same position) did and can see that wwx was still (mostly) in control (of the resentful energy not the situation) at that point in time.

(pretty sure wn went out of control when wq was burned because she was his beloves sister and he still was (is) an undead resentful creature and his emotions took the best of him)

then wwx got to nightless city to rescue wn & wq (?) and they fought. here we can see him slipping (because of his grief for wq & wn) a bit more but still be in control - not sure if it’s canon that wwx didn’t attack the jiang disciples)

but then jiang yanli dies and he completely looses himself in his grief & consequently his grip on the resentful energy. it fully invades his mind and he kills 3000 people (3000! 3000! wei wuxian. the boy who took in wen cultivators - the people wo destroyed his home and killed his loved ones - because they were treated unfairly. that wei wuxian killed three. thousand. people)

then lwj takes wwx away from the battle and cleanses him with spiritual energy until the elders show up.

wwx makes it back to the settlement where is of sound enough mind to hide a-yuan. (pretty sure the wen knew that they couldn’t all be hidden and chose to stay and die with him)

so then the cultivation world lays siege on the burial mounds and attacks them and wwx, still trapped in his grief wanting to die, and too smart for his own good knowing he won’t survive either way, destroys the stygian tiger seal, lets his army from his leash, and is ripped apart by them in return.

then when he gets summoned into mxy’s body he’s had 13 years of being partially aware (otherwise he wouldn’t be so calm. also i think it’s kinda like a dream - you aren’t aware of time passing or of thoughts but when you wake you know some time has passed and (maybe) feel calmer).

so he’s in control of himself again. he controls resentful energy again but it can’t touch him. his mind is as good as it can be in that situation.

he can control wn again, mindless and bound to another that he is.

even during the second siege of the burial mounds (a place where he has suffered undescribable) where he is around so much resentful energy (both controlling it and being attacked by it) he doesn’t loose control and isn’t affected by it.

so i’d say that yes, resentul energy harms the body and mind, however, it only does so if you can’t control it. sth wwx was (is) clearly able to do and would have been able to keep up if it weren’t for the situation he was stuck in.

[ouyangzizhensdad]

i feel like wwx is kind of in a lose lose situation when it comes to jc. if he didn't go to the ancestral hall at all it's proof he doesn't and never cared about the jiangs, if he went to the hall but stopped before going inside it's because he thinks he's too good to show respect, if he went in without lwj he's still intruding if jc decides he doesn't want him there. it doesn't matter what he does bc the problem is jc's anger at him, literally anything wwx does is gonna set him off ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hi anon,

I don’t think you’re necessary wrong but I find that the intent I read into this ask (I might be reading it wrong though) is sort of misplaced imo? It reads to me as if ultimately the point is to go: “thereby JC is a shitty character and is the root of all problems”. And to me that is a little bit missing out the point of characters like JC, in the same vein of the people who try to mount an argumentation for why JC’s reaction was totally valid and rational, actually, and WWX was so in the wrong.

Ultimately, is not that any of the characters might not have had a point in there, but it’s about using this moment not only as a vector of conflict for the plot to continue its momentum but also as means to explore the relationship dynamic between WWX and JC at this point of the narrative--something influenced both by their temperament, their life experiences and the baggage of they have. The fact that, by that point, WWX is in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation when it comes to JC is well established. Part of it is also, I think, that the novel hints at us that even JC doesn’t know what he actually wants from WWX: to die? to repent? to suffer? to stop acting like a ‘hero’? to disappear? to come back? to apologise? to fulfill his promise to be his right-hand man? All of the above? It sets up as well why the golden core reveal could have never come from WWX himself, in a sense--why WN is ultimately the one to tell JC the truth.

Such an intent would miss as well the nuance that, regardless of how his anger, tendency towards self-victimisation and lack of self-reflection led him to act that way toward WWX, JC is also caught in a cycle where he is hurting himself by constantly pushing away WWX. After all, the only reason he knew he was in the ancestral hall was because he followed him out in the first place--actively seeking his presence when WWX stole away during the meeting (not that I think it would have realistically lead them to have a nice heart-to-heart lmao). He’s ultimately hurt by this sense of distance between them (even if he’s played an important role in creating that distance), and it’s part of why seeing WWX and LWJ together, seeing WWX moving on with a new life while he remains both here and stuck in the past, made him angry even before they went into the Ancestral Hall--that was just the hair that broke the camel’s back of his anger. It’s even something we see explicitly addressed after the Guanyin Temple, when JL gets angry at him.

Jin Ling rubbed his eyes roughly, wiping his face before running back, “Where are they?”

Jiang Cheng, “Gone.”

Jin Ling exclaimed, “You let them go just like that?”

Jiang Cheng mocked, “Or else? Have them stay for dinner? Say thank you and sorry after the meal?”

Jin Ling began to simmer, pointing at him, “No wonder he wanted to go. It’s all because of that attitude of yours! Why are you so annoying, Jiujiu?!”

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng raised his hand with glaring eyes, scolding, “Is this how you talk to someone older than you? You asking to be beaten up?!”

Jin Ling shrunk back. Fairy tucked in its tail as well. Yet Jiang Cheng’s slap never landed at the back of his head. Instead, it was retracted powerlessly.

He spoke, irritated, “Shut up. Jin Ling. Shut up. We’re going back. Each to their own sect.”

So I just think we should be wary of trying to put characters into “bad” or “good” boxes, or even in the “right” or “wrong”--it’s much more interesting, imo, to consider the nuances of the moment and what it means inside the narrative, for the characters, for the themes. To consider whether the reaction comes out of nowhere or is well set up, if it pays off or doesn’t, if it ends up exploring or expressing something interesting or not. Personally I just find that MXTX is pretty good at writing anger with both nuance and affect, and that scene is an example of that.

[rynne]

I wonder why WQ didn't join the war and stage a coup (I think is the right term). Since according to Chapter 60 (EXR), "there were many cases that people wanted her to take over". She was favored by WRH and one of the faces of the sect (besides the Wen brothers) even though she is a distant relative. She must've thought at some point that what the main family branch is doing is Wrong and I'm sure there are others who thought so as well. She could've gathered those forces in secret and lead them and then offer their services, whether medical or manpower, to the leaders of the SSC. She was willing to commit treason along with WN by helping the Jiangs and ensuring the sect's survival and so WWX (and hopefully JC lol) could've put in a good word if they do decide to join the war. Also, according to Chapter 60 again, "Wen Qing was one of the Wen Sect's people whose way of doing things was actually normal", which proves that they're not like WRH and his supporters and could be trusted.

Poor Wen Qing was stuck between a rock and a hard place, I think.

She's as highly ranked as Wen Chao, one of WRH's own sons. She has a good reputation both inside and outside the sect. It's possible that she could have staged a coup, potentially averting or mitigating the war.

But something else we know about WQ is that she's a very loyal person. She's loyal to her brother, doing her best to protect him throughout their lives, even when he straight up commits treason by saving WWX and JC. She's loyal to her family, doing everything she can to find and help them after the SSC. She's loyal to WWX and ends up sacrificing her life for him.

And for better or for worse, she is loyal to WRH. He's her first cousin once removed, iirc, and the patriarch of her family, and her sect leader. It's not a small thing to kill him or fight against him openly, no matter what he's doing. She may be more loyal to WN, which is why she helps him with WWX and JC, but that doesn't mean she feels no loyalty to WRH.

Her decisions also fit into MDZS's themes about the tension between individual and sect. Several times in the story, characters are pulled between their sects and their individual priorities.

WQ is a doctor and a moral woman. She does not support starting or fighting in a war, and she tries to stay out of it. Despite these priorities, she ultimately sides with her sect by not doing more to stop WRH or help the SSC. Her choice not to stand up to WRH meant that people like NMJ could call her complicit and decide that no sympathy should be shown for her branch, which eventually contributed to the deaths of most of her family.

LWJ is in love with WWX and does understand the morality at least behind his choices with the Wen remnants (he doesn't disagree when WWX says he would do the same thing in WWX's shoes), even if he doesn't know whether WWX was right generally. He still sides with his sect by not doing more to help WWX. He ends up losing WWX and grieving for 13 years until he gets another chance to prioritize WWX first and his sect second. Only then does he get his happy ending.

Mianmian is a moral woman. She stands up for WWX after he saves the Wen remnants, even when her sect doesn't support her, and ends up leaving the sects altogether. She prioritizes her morality over her sect and is actually one of the few characters to get a straight-up happy ending.

WWX is a moral man. When he is forced to choose between his sect and saving the Wen remnants, he chooses the Wens. He never regrets this choice and the narrative continually validates it.

Thematically, even sympathetic characters like WQ and LWJ who prioritize their sects over the moral option are punished for that, while the characters who prioritize their individual morality over their sect are ultimately rewarded. The thing is, for this theme to hit home, there do have to be characters who make the wrong choice. WQ happens to be one of them.

It's uncertain what practical things she could have done, in-universe. Part of the reason the SSC was so bad was because pretty much the whole cultivation world was terrified of WRH and the Wen sect, to the point where the Wens could destroy two great sects before any real push-back started. Maybe people would have preferred WQ in charge, but would they have actually followed her if it meant defying WRH and the Wen sect? We don't know. We can't assume that any attempt to resist WRH would have been successful, and WQ would have had to balance that when making her decision.

The thing is, even though she had power within the sect and respect both inside and outside it, I don't think it would have been enough to really change anything about the war. The only thing it might have changed was how people viewed her after the war.

And I think it is also important that she didn't do more to stop WRH. Yes, we know she wasn't entirely on WRH's side, and she did help save WWX and JC's lives as evidence of this. But that also...doesn't necessarily matter that much. She and her branch of the family still would not have deserved how they were treated after the war.

I mean. I'm not saying it's not important that the Wen remnants included civilians who obviously did not fight in the war. That does make the Jins' treatment of them worse. But the ExR translation (chapter 74) does say, "On Burial Mound, heading fifty-or-so of the Wen Sect's cultivators..." When WN wakes up, the narration points out that a dozen Wen "cultivators" are standing with WQ.

So it's possible that the Wen remnants did, in fact, include cultivators. Maybe even people who fought in the war on the Wen side.

They still did not deserve their treatment, by the cultivation world in general and the Jins in particular. Maybe WQ could have done more to stop WRH and she enabled him by not doing anything. I don't really think it's worth debating the degree of WQ's complicity, because part of the point is that it doesn't matter how complicit she was or was not, or how responsible any of them were, the Wen remnants didn't deserve what they got. They are people first.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

[1/?] Sorry for venting. I just saw some bad takes that gave me a lot of feelings. Personally, JC stresses me out every time he comes on screen, but I don't mind it when JC fans say fan-typical things like how they like JC because he wears purple, or is grumpy, or they think he's hot, or that they ship x*ch*ng because the cql actors have nice jawlines. They're harmless, fun takes, and while I don't agree with some of them, I see where they're coming from

Hello there anon, vent away as that is what my blog is open for as I love/hate on Jiang Cheng as he is in the plot, as well as all of my beef with what has been done to him for the EN side of the fanbase! I am more than fine listening and engaging with the unsavory "unpopular" discussions of his canon behavior and this goes for anyone of course that needs an open play area. I'll try to engage with what you have sent point by point as succinctly as I can.

[2/?] (some of these are obviously crack, and I am a fan of a few problematic faves). But then there are stans that just have to put other characters down to make JC look good. Like, I think some fans take their freedom of interpretation for granted because most of these takes aren't even labeled 'headcanon,' 'ooc,' or 'crack' anymore. Stans feel that their interpretations are valid, and while they are, valid =/= canon, and they're treating these takes as canon, which becomes popular fanon.

I enjoy Jiang Cheng for what he is, however as I had said it took me another reread to get to my stance of him being the negative mirror to Lan Wangji's positive and my comfort with that for the story once I realized what purpose he served. He is only insofar tragic in regards to his circumstances, but it does not absolve him for what he is at his core (no pun, but I can make a very nice metaphor that even with a piece of Wei Wuxian in him he is still forever unable and unwilling to stand by him equally all while stagnating where as Lan Wangji is able to flourish, grow and mature with nothing of import left from Wei Wuxian in a technical sense). As for ships, I am a little dirty Xicheng whore for fun and can say there is a sense of entertainment for me making it work with two people where one is wildly ignorant and the other wildly rabid. But that is outside of what is established as canon in the work and I always try to keep the two strictly separate due to the skew fanon perpetuates.

3/?] And now, it's not clear what part of the fanon references canon JC or the canon events of mdzs. JC is an asshole; I don't like him as a person, but I do think that he's a complex character motivated by many issues (sup, YeeZY), which makes him fascinating to explore. Unfortunately, erasing his culpability also removes his agency. JC should be allowed to be an asshole character who makes his own decisions even if they're the wrong ones. He has made his own tragedy by constantly casting Wei Wuxian as the villain of his life.

Now thanks to you I will be using YeeZY to forever and now to acknowledge Madam Yu (this is your fault for the new tag). From a standing from storytelling I agree that he is complex in the Jianghu for MDZS. Where in the usual political intrigue of Wuxia, he would be the mustache twirling villain that is outright unforgivable in narration, it is by favor of Wei Wuxian's narration that has an early steeping of empathy for him. And he is not meant to be seen as ultimately sympathetic, the work builds up his hate against Wei Wuxian who tries to rationalize it all several times until he is finally unable to. Jiang Cheng is the antithesis to Lan Wangji and the false bait to get attached to in Wei Wuxian's first life. I will make the note their meeting in Yiling is lukewarm between both as they exchange nothing really in terms of conversation and all pleasantries are left in terms of Jiang Yanli for Wei Wuxian. By this point Wei Wuxian has already switched his yearnings of platonically wanting a part of Jiang Cheng's life, to subconscious romantic inclinations about Lan Wangji and the perceived loss of being in the other's life.

The very point of Jiang Cheng as the deconstruction, is that he has no passion in life despite his apparent exploits because he put a shadow to hang over himself as an excuse to say others think he is not good enough. He has no deeper motivations than pure selfishness by the end of the work and is pure frivolity that he has built up losing the meaning of his sect as a tradition. He had his agency (more than anyone I might add in the work due to his social position) that he used to build his reputation as a passive rich sect leader that has little to do with civilian problems.

4/?] And I think a JC, somehow, that realizes that he did something wrong and is working hard to change for the better and gain self-actualization to become that UWU best jiujiu the stans want him to be, who is ready to talk (not yell at) with WWX, apologize to him, and create a better, healthier relationship with him is a much more powerful reconciliation and happy ending than 'everyone is wrong and mean and they all apologize to JC, which magically gets rid of all his issues'.

He is forced out of culpability in reconciliation because simply put, his audience do not like the reality that relationships fray and dissolve with no further resolution other than we as adults both need to move on for safety and good health. It is not acceptable in real life and fiction is allowed to place that also in it's thematic relationships. He has a small, small spark of recognition at the end of the main story, however he himself seems to choose to ignore it, as change is hard and he has never taken to that well as was foreshadowed with his dogs and the idea of sharing a space with Wei Wuxian. To write this is an awful lot of work into his psyche which is not a nice place, he is a terrible being and downplaying that to make a sugar sweet person does not work instantaneously. He is the one responsible for the entire fallout with Wei Wuxian and he hysterically realizes that even as he tries to continue to blame Wei Wuxian.

The issue that I have with his current stan culture, is that they already view him as something he is not. They play at bicycle with all of the other protagonists that have positive traits that they strip as they see fit; Good affirming loving to children adult Lan Wangji, Self-sacrificing ultimately did it all for love and care Wei Wuxian, Hard exterior but softened to who they consider an annoyance Wen Qing, Loyal as partners in their exploits on the field and always have each others back Wen Ning. They even take Jin Guangyao's persona of playing damsel and using that as a positive to soften up Jiang Cheng into something he has never been for anyone for ships.

[5/5] Also, making WWX/WN/LWJ apologize just makes them look better than JC. Like, stans supposedly love JC, so they ahouldn't be lazy and work hard to give him actual character development. Again, I'm sorry for spamming your ask. It just really baffles me about where they get these 'hot' takes (All I'm going to say is that JC was ungrateful, and WN had a reason verbally dismantle him).

They see this, but, they will spin it in any way to excuse Jiang Cheng due to the story itself showing that he was in the wrong to everyone he flung accusations at and his hate. No one but him is at fault for his spite as he had gotten his revenge on the ones that had ruined Lotus Pier and killed his parents. His own resentment pitted him against good and well meaning people that he refused to help as he mimicked his mother's words about raising their heads higher out of goodness instead of keeping low and staying self-centered. There is the underlying criticism of taking individual arrogance as self-care at the cost of others. Each point that Wen Ning makes is exactly what Jiang Cheng himself knows as he hated Wei Wuxian for being something he could not be or even wanted to be. Jiang Cheng wants kindness but does not understand that kindness to others needs to be selfless and accept the hurt that can come with that in life. He encompasses the fall from the path of buddhist lifestyle, "The Three Poisons" to Wangxian's "Without Envy" at the stories end.

[6/5] P.S. I'm not saying I want reconciliation fics, but I just feel that if stans want JC to have a happy ending, then I think that he should actively work for it. I think it would be interesting to see what force of nature would push him through a character development because throwing a therapist at him would result in a murder.

"I'm not saying I want reconciliation fics, but I just feel that if stans want JC to have a happy ending, then I think that he should actively work for it."

They do not think he has to work for it, they say his tragedy is enough, while heaping accusations against Wei Wuxian and saying his own are not enough to absolve him. Something Wei Wuxian has never denied and told all present they are allowed to forever hate him for what he had done in the past, but that they need to find a way to live in a life that is always moving on. He learned that grudges do nothing once they are absolved and it leaves you with hate with nothing else to do with it once that object is gone. In terms of reconciliation, I do not ever think that either want anything other than a distant peaceful out of each other's life set up. Jiang Cheng does not need Wei Wuxian in his life to be satisfied and never has since he used him as the handicap to hide behind to stay angry and miserable. Being without that fallback opens the world far more for him to change than him ever interacting like an old friend with Wei Wuxian ever again, if he ever had the guts to do that.

[crossdressingdeath]

Seeing your post about how JYL has a 'ranking system' in her head when it comes to WWX and JC hits so hard, but honestly, the more I read into the Jiang family dynamics, the more I agree. JYL obviously loves WWX, but I don't know if she's capable of putting him above JC. And we see her defending him, and she obviously gives her life for him, but she was also reacting in the moment. Not to speak lightly of her sacrifice of course, but I just feel like there are certain limits to how 1/7

far she's actually willing to go for him. I was initially one of JYL's staunch defenders, and always said that, unlike JC, she didn't have the same amount of political power as him, wasn't in a position to do anything about the Wens, ect. But...I'm starting to question if that's really true. JYL may not have had much direct political power herself, but she was the sister of a sect leader, and even if JC was unwilling to help, JYL had just married into the richest and most powerful sect 2/7

at the time. It was a love marriage, JZX adored her and would've done anything for her if she'd just bothered to ask him for it. Madam Jin also cared for her and respected her, and between her and JZX, had JYL actually bothered to tell them anything, I'm sure they would have been able to sort something out. Or she could have had it as a condition of her marriage - I'm not marrying into the sect that's trying to kill my brother unless you tell your father to stop. Had it been reversed and 3/7

The Lans were calling for JYL and JC’s deaths, no way in hell WWX would’ve just married into the sect, regardless of LWJ’s involvement. Instead she just doesn’t really do anything. We see no proof that she ever tried to see WWX after the wedding dress incident, which — god I instantly saw it as a sweet gesture, but now it just bothers me, because your brother is living in squalor, and you decide to show if the expensive dress that you’ll be 4/7

wearing when marrying into the sect that's trying to kill him, you bring along one bowl of soup for him, and don't even try to explain WHY you're marrying into said sect. Beyond that, we don't see a single moment up until her death where JYL actually seems concerned about WWX, puts in effort to try to see him - she doesn't even ask him how he's doing the one time she does come to see him. When we compare that to how WQ treats WN, yeah, she's outwardly not as loving or sweet, but she 5/7

goes to the ends of the earth for her brother, even going as far as to betray her sect and risk WRH's wrath because he asks her to. And now we come back to that ranking system you mentioned before - yeah, it really does seem like JYL places her blood family first, which definitely hurts, but in comparison, despite only knowing him for a shorter amount of time, WQ truly grows to think of WWX as a second brother. And she treats him as such, at an equal level with WN - after JZX dies 6/7

WQ doesn't attack WWX for what happened. She doesn't try to come up with a way to sacrifice WWX instead and let WN survive in his stead. She and WN, two people who have become WWX's family, both give their lives to protect both him and the rest of their remaining family members. And it's just frustrating to think that the one member of WWX's adopted family who we all thought treated him like an actual brother, might not have really been on his side after all. 7/7

Yes! To start with the wedding dress thing, because it drives me nuts when people treat that like some super sweet act of love: JYL shows up in the Burial Mounds with no money, no sign of having tried to talk the sects around, no news outside of her own, no food beyond a couple bowls of soup (one of which she gives to the guy who can’t eat), and doesn’t so much as ask WWX if he’s okay. She literally came all that way to have a family meal, ask WWX to name the future nephew it’s becoming increasingly clear he’ll never meet, and tell him about her impending marriage into the family that’s currently doing everything in its power to destroy WWX’s life. Like, if you think about it that entire visit is such a slap in the face; “Here’s a bowl of soup while the people under your protection are starving, oh by the way I’m going to marry the son of the guy actively trying to get you killed, okay bye”. All you can say in regards to her helping WWX is that she does potentially manage to persuade JZX to invite him to JL’s one month celebration, but if memory serves the novel never actually specifies whose idea that was and it was JZX who decided to go get WWX after JGY told him about seeing JZXun heading in the direction of the Burial Mounds. And even then JZX does the same thing JYL does; sees WWX outnumbered and surrounded and tells him to stand down. At least in JZX’s case you could argue that the actual fighting hadn’t broken out and JZX probably trusted in his authority to be able to sort the situation out so long as WWX wasn’t actually acting aggressive (or defensive, rather), and he’s also physically strong enough that he may well have been able to intervene if the cultivators had attacked. JYL, when she does the same thing, has no authority and no physical power to defend WWX with. And yeah, both JZX and Madam Jin adore JYL, and neither of them seem super fond of JGS (JZX respects his father, but I don’t get the sense he loves him); if JYL had asked them for help it’s entirely possible they would’ve started at least circulating her version of events and demanding a proper investigation into what happened. But there’s no mention of her so much as trying, and she doesn’t offer to ask them when she visits WWX.

And yeah, compare WQ to JYL and it’s... well. WQ is so quick to offer WWX her love and care? She’s harsh, but she loves him and views him and WN on such equal footing that she and WN willingly hand themselves over to the Jins for WWX’s sake without her so much as bringing up the possibility of saving WN instead. There’s no ranking for WQ; WWX and WN are her brothers, and she loves them, and she’d do anything to protect them. When it becomes clear she can’t save WN (like hell the sects would let him live, and by this point it’s pretty clear that WWX won’t be able to protect them forever) she throws her whole weight behind defending the brother she thinks she might still be able to save, even if it means bringing WN with her to die. WQ knows WWX for... a year or two? Maybe? The timeline is a little hazy. Not long compared to JYL, anyway. And yet she’s willing to walk all the way to Lanling to die in the hope of saving him. It’s for her whole family, yes, but she makes a point of including him. Basically, I think this fandom needs more stuff wherein the Jiangs and Wens survive and the Wens are fully like “Our brother now, you don’t deserve him”.

The thing with JYL is... she loves WWX, she genuinely does, but he is never going to be first for her. To the point where she outright enables JC’s abuse, in places; she always expects WWX to be the one to grin and bear it. Hell, one of their first conversations involves JYL cheerily allowing WWX to cover up JC locking him out of his bedroom and scaring him out into the woods by threatening to set dogs on him! Let me rephrase that: she allows a traumatized nine-year-old to hide the fact that the kid her dad expects him to share a room with locked him out of said room on his FIRST NIGHT and threatened him with his LITERALLY WORST FEAR, and as far as we know makes no attempt to tell JFM herself. To keep JC out of trouble. That is such a thing! WWX was scared to the point of running away and JFM expects him to share a room with the person responsible for that and JYL goes along with him promising not to tell JFM so that JC won’t get in trouble! And from that day forwards everything is just “Boys will be boys” to her. Like, let me put it this way. Before LWJ (and arguably the Wens before that, although WWX saw himself more as protector than protected there) JYL was the person WWX trusted to protect and care for and comfort him above all others, yeah? She’s the one he thinks of as having his back? He doesn’t tell her about JC trying to kill him. JC tries to kill WWX three times before JYL’s death, and WWX doesn’t say a word to her about any of them. You could argue that he doesn’t want to involve her, but... JYL pretty clearly takes JC’s side every time JC starts having a go at WWX. When he chases him out of their room, when he starts snapping about how annoying WWX is, when he stabs WWX... She never outright says it, but there really does come a point where by staying neutral you’re siding with the aggressor, and she reaches that point a lot. Hell, the stabbing is one of those aforementioned near-murders! JC stabbed him! According to WWX (who downplays serious injuries, he never exaggerates them) he had to hold his guts in! WWX is talking about a pretty fucking serious injury (and JYL grew up in a cultivation sect, I don’t believe for a second she doesn’t at least know what constitutes a serious injury) while JC whines about a broken arm like it’s worse than having to physically hold your guts in until you can reach a doctor and JYL acts like those are equal! JC could easily have killed WWX and has enough training with the sword to know better than to go for a blow like that in a staged fight and JYL doesn’t even suggest he should apologise.

Honestly? The more I think about JYL the more it pisses me off that she’s treated like WWX’s best sister more than WQ is. Imagine WQ seeing one brother stab the other in the gut and take the former’s side because the latter broke the former’s arm. Imagine WQ so much as considering allowing a child to cover up the kid he’s supposed to share a room with locking him out and scaring him into running away. She wouldn’t! Because WQ sees her brothers as equals. She won’t pick WN over WWX just because they’re blood siblings; she loves them both, and will choose based on who she thinks is in the right. And she wouldn’t just stay neutral to avoid rocking the boat, oh no. If WQ heard WWX say that WN stabbed him and did enough damage that he had to hold his guts in... oh boy would WN have a bad day. The thing with JYL is that she seems like a good sister in comparison to the rest of the Jiangs; stick canon JYL into a family that genuinely loves WWX and sees him as equal to their other children, and she would not look anywhere near as good.

[eledsart]

This is not the au dude, but pls share the headcanons? 👀

They’re all over the place but. Here

Wwx has a studio together with wn and wq

The jiangs wanted him to pursue a more... “honorable” career? So he got in a prestigious art school but problems with the wens ensued and wwx was forced to drop out and become a tattoo artist (don’t ask me the dynamics I don’t know either)

(In no way I think being a tattoo artist is NOT an honorable and respectable career!!!!!! But I think it does have a reputation, especially in traditional families)

Either lwj met wwx when he was already a tattoo artist or in art school (lwj would be a music major, wwx an art major)

Lwj gets inked at some point, after big internal conflicts bc of all the rules ingrained in his brain by his family, and he uses tattoos as a new way of self expression

His body becomes a moving work of art

I’d like to think he only lets wwx ink him but idk!!!

They sure as hell have at least one matching tattoo

A lot of wwx’s tattoos were “designed” by a-yuan

As in, some are a-yuan’s drawings, and some are drawn by wwx but following a-yuan’s instructions

I’m so soft for dad wwx u don’t even know

Lwj gets AT LEAST one tattoo (on his chest?) before he and wwx get together and when wwx inks him the ust level in the room rises to the stars

Like I imagine lwj having some sort of epiphany one night and just bursting into wwx’s apartment saying “Wei Ying, I want you to ink me.” And wwx is Shook™️ and is like “wow, um, ok? we can schedule an appointment if you’d-“ “Wei Ying. I want you to ink me Right Now.” And that’s how they end up with lwj shirtless on wwx’s couch, wwx on his knees inking him, both extremely regretting the life decisions that led them to that point bc OBVIOUSLY the other isn’t interested in them but their faces are so close and-

They don’t kiss but it’s a near thing and everything changes from that point onward

One of lwj’s first tattoos is some sort of bunny and u can’t take that away from me

[watch-grok-brainrot]

Wei Wuxian and Chinese Virtues of 忠孝仁义

There’s a lot of conversation about Wei Wuxian and how he struck out on his path without a concern for the Jiangs; about how he’s reckless and not giving a sh*t about his role within his society; about how he had a family and siblings and threw it all away for his sense of right and wrong. But the way I read his actions is within the context of the virtues of 忠孝仁义 (and how the virtues, especially 义, is ingrained in him via the Jiang sect motto). WWX’s major decisions can all be read as him acting in accordance with one or more of these virtues. Even when WWX is being his most irreverent self (and yes he’s rude and bring about a lot of second hand shame) he still remembers the we-self (to borrow from baoshan-sanren’s post) context as the head disciple of the Jiang Sect. Even when he seems to abandon everything, he didn’t abandon his understanding of these virtues. 

First of all, let’s talk about 忠. 忠 (zhōng) is loyalty, devotion, fidelity. I usually associate the concept with loyalty towards your country but it can be applied to other units too. In the case of CQL where we don’t see an Emperor or country, it would only make sense that this concept be applied to either a person (e.g. SuShe at JGY) or a sect. 

Tangent, feel free to skip: An (maybe THE) embodiment of this virtue is 岳飞 (Yue Fei), one of THE MOST famous Chinese generals. Yue Fei lived during the second half of the Song dynasty. He loved his country so much, he wrote poetry about drinking his enemy’s blood and eating their flesh (壮志饥餐胡虏肉，笑谈渴饮匈奴血) and taking back his country’s lands and saving the two previous emperors from being POWs. He is famous for the tattoo of the words “尽忠报国” (exhausting all loyalties to replay country aka i will be loyal and fight for my country until i die) on his back bestowed by his mother before he left home. When he was unjustly executed for treason, the executioners saw that on his back and the people knew a great man was wronged.  

(if anyone wants a translation of the poem and a rambly share about some of my favorite Yue Fei  related facts/stories, let me know. Otherwise, i’m gonna get back to our favorite necromancer)

So back to WWX. His loyalties are very much with the Jiang sect.  After JFM and YZY dies, within the structure of 忠, Jiang Cheng is effectively who he needs to be loyal to because Jiang Cheng is the sect leader and essentially the symbol of the sect. The act of giving up his core to JC, then, embodies the idea of loyalty within the context of 忠. (I’ve seen memes about how WWX gave consent, WQ gave consent, but JC didn’t. drwcn has a great post about consent. For this post, i’m not going to go into it because this is outside my defined scope.) Furthermore, 忠 compels WWX to protect the Jiangs. I’ve read meta that thinks WWX was trying to get himself killed based on the crossing of his hanfu and his mouthing off at Wen Chao. I’m inclined to believe that reading because if dying means JC would never find out, so be it. And as long as WWX is dead, there will be no evidence of the core transfer so JC would never lose face before other cultivators. It would mean the Jiang sect can be rebuilt to its old status without being tainted by WWX’s sacrifice. 

Ok, next is 孝. 孝 (xiào) is most often translated as filial piety. I don’t think there is a good sense of it in western culture. In chinese culture, it is the expected deference younger generations need to display to elders in their direct lineage. [Note: i use lineage because you can be 孝 towards your biological parents and grandparents, your kungfu master and their master, your adopted/honor bound parents, etc but not to everyone who is in a higher generation. It’s very family/lineage based.] 孝 is complicated because it’s ingrained into Chinese kids at a really young age. Go pour your grandparents tea. Go give your grandparents a back rub. Listen to your parents. When your parents get old, you’ll take care of them. Respect your elders. Even if your elders are wrong, don’t talk back. It’s a set of emotions that tie you to your ancestry. To turn your back on it feels like turning your back on your culture and identity. 

Tangent, feel free to skip: Ok, this is really cool and I had to share. In looking up 孝 in the online xinhua dictionary, it says about the etymology: “形声。从老省，从子。” This is so cool! We have two characters: 老 (old, as in Yiling Laozu) and 子 (child). You’ll notice 孝 is a character where to top part of 老 is taken and 子 essentially follows. This character is a style of character where the meaning comes from the structure of the character. So 孝 is where the children follow the old, often blindly and with disregard of their own needs. 

WWX, as an orphan, can only direct his 孝 towards Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan. 1) No matter how awful they were as parents, JFM and YZY raised WWX. 2) WWX is the head disciple. That means JFM is his shifu. [He calls JC his shidi and JYL his shijie for that reason.] That teacher-disciple relation is often described as “一日为师,终生为父” (a teacher for one day should be treated like a father for life). Both 1 and 2 bind WWX to the Jiangs regardless of his adoption status. So, when on the boat YZY and JFM tell WWX to take care of JC and JYL, it’s the order of an elder in his direct lineage. To not listen, to not defer to that order would not be 孝. Considering they perished at Lotus Pier, WWX was obligated to execute those orders to their fullest whatever the price (i.e. golden core). 

Along those same lines, out of 孝 (and human decency, tbh) WWX and JC had to retrieve JFM and YZY’s bodies. Wen Ning helping them out in that situation is a HUGE favor. Not to mention all the other things WN and Wen Qing does for them. I will get to the favors and their ramifications later. 

Ok, moving on to 仁. 仁 (rén) is most often translated as benevolence or humanity. (I want to say I find the translation of humanity very interesting from a bilingual child’s perspective because the chinese character for person/human is 人 which is also rén. I got the concept confused a LOT.) 仁 is found in the love and kindness shown towards fellow humans. Ctext often translates it as virtue, which is a bit too broad, IMO. I think this line from Confucian Analects explain the concept succinctly: 

樊遲問仁。子曰：”愛人”

Fan Chi asked about benevolence [仁]. Confucius said, "It is to love all men." 

WWX embodies this love better than everyone else in the story (except maybe LSZ but LSZ probably gets it from WWX). WWX meets stuttering WN and acknowledges him, offers to give advice, and truly sees the younger man. He treats WN with kindness and friendship (and yes, he takes advantage of WN’s willingness to push him around in a turnip wagon but that’s more shenanigans). WWX also sees the Wens at Phoenix Mountain as human and steps out of line to help them.  His blindfolded five arrow show stems out of his 仁. His saving Mianmian is also an expression of his 仁. So many of WWX’s actions stem from 仁. A lot of the fandom see it as his empathy and I agree! It is that! But it can also be viewed as his internalization of the virtue to love humanity. 

Finally, 义. 义 (義,yì) is actually the reason this ENTIRE post came to be. 义 is the same 义 as  Yi City. I offer the traditional version of the character above so you can see how it compares to the stone on the way to Yi City. You will recall when WWX says Yi City, LWJ asks, “Yi, which means chivalrous?” And WWX explains same character but for coffin/mortuary in this case. 

Actually, 义 is used in a lot of words: 

正义- correct/rigit + 义 =  righteousness

意义 - ideal + 义 = meaning

侠义 - knight -errant + 义 = chivalry

义气 - 义 + air = personal loyalty; code of brotherhood

名义- name + 义 = nominal

义父 - 义 + father = sworn father (this is a difficult to translate idea that sometimes i translate as godfather for simplification and cultural parallelism. it’s a parent figure that you acknowledge via vows. If the character for father is replaced with brother, then it’s the relationship that the 3zun have. And OMG i want to talk about the 3zun and romance of 3 kingdoms and how much of a awful un-义 person JGY is… but also holy out of scope batman)

In the case of virtues/morality, we’re looking at 义气 - the 义 that means loyalty to people and a code of brotherhood. The Jiang Sect ancestor is described as a 游侠 (yóu xiá, wandering hero). The ancestor’s identity as a 侠 (xiá), which indicates a highly skilled martial artist/fighter who will defends others (à la wuXIA and xianXIA), places him within the world of 江湖 (jiāng hú, sometimes translated as rivers and lakes or “pugilistic world” in some wuxia subtitles). In 江湖, 义 is the most important virtue. Based on 义, you help those in need. You stand out and do what is right. You are an outlaw that follows a strict moral code. 义 is the foundation of the Jiang Sect’s motto. Furthermore, the idea of 义气 can in some ways be viewed as currency. You do me a favor, I owe you one. You treat me with decency, I return the favor. You DO NOT return kindness with ill intent. It is taboo. 

WWX exemplifies 义. 义 is part of what makes him so lovable and reckless. For 义 , he sticks out his neck for LWJ during Wen Summer Camp. For 义, he follows LWJ to search for the Yin Iron. Under 义 , he is free to be the hero who lends a hand whenever it’s needed. Oftentimes, 仁 and 义  go hand in hand because to stand up and stand out for other requires love of others and seeing their humanity. 

So let’s get back to the Wen remnants: for 义, WWX must protect WN and WQ. As I mentioned before, WN and WQ had done WWX and JC (and thus the Jiang Sect as a whole) MULTIPLE HUGE FAVORS. 1) saving JC from Wen Chao at Lotus Pier. 2) retrieving JFM and YZY’s bodies. 3) transferring the golden core against WQ’s best judgement. All of these actions are so vital to the survival or the reputation of the Jiang Sect. WWX knows it. I’m positive JC knows it.  To turn their backs on WN and WQ would be 不仁不义 (neither 仁 nor 义). Really, the ONLY thing they should be doing from the perspective of 义 is helping the Wens to repay their kindness. But WWX knows, as the head disciple, that JC cannot afford to align the Jiang Sect in sympathy with the Wens because it’s political suicide. The Jiang Sect WILL NOT SURVIVE if Nie, Jin, and Lan all turn against them. Even if Lan stood neutral, Nie and Jin would still be able to wipe out barely rebuilt Jiang. 

So what does WWX do? He has already painted himself as a rebel, as rude, as ill bred. And from an outsider looking in, WWX is in alignment with his slippery descend into darkness. WWX knows if he steps just a little more out of line, he can accomplish everything else his morality dictates. (We could talk about WHY WWX feels like it’s ok for him to give up everything and analyze WWX’s self worth and what not. But that’s also outside the scope of this post and i’m pretty sure other people have done a better job of it than I could.) 

Save the Wens, run away to the Burial Mounds, and defecting are all aligned with WWX’s morals. Defecting protects JC and the Jiangs sect in an act of loyalty (忠). Defecting also protects JC and JYL, thus fulfilling the filial piety toward YZY and JFM’s instructions (孝).  Saving the Wens returns the debt of 义 that JC and WWX owe to WN and WQ. Saving the Wens also appeal to WWX’s sense of 仁 towards the non-cultivators. Lastly, protecting the Wens means JC does not end up 不仁不义. From WWX’s perspective his actions are the only option for him to really have no regrets when he asks his heart.