#or even wen ning and lan sizhui

[motivationisdead]

I think it’s both equal parts amusing and frustrating how people write Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian’s relationship in fanfiction because they clearly know how Wei Wuxian acts with the people he loves-

He’s clingy, teasing, praises them often, generally thinks the world of them and constantly says as much, always keeps their comfort in mind, and whines to them constantly about things that don’t really bother him because he knows they will indulge him.

-And yet they somehow fail to notice, even while including all these things into their relationship in their story, how Wei Wuxian fails to demonstrate any of these same actions with Jiang Cheng in the novel.

I wouldn’t say Wei Wuxian doesn’t care about Jiang Cheng at all but how he treats Jiang Cheng can really not be compared to the way he treats Jiang Yanli or Lan Wangji.

That play whining he does with Jiang Yanli and Lan Wangji? He does that because he trusts them to indulge him and receive the comfort and affection he’s asking for. Wei Wuxian complains to Jiang Cheng plenty but I can’t recall a single moment in which Wei Wuxian went to Jiang Cheng for comfort, support, or displayed any kind of vulnerability to him on purpose.

There’s isn’t even really any friendly bickering or teasing between them in the novel. There’s Jiang Cheng criticizing Wei Wuxian and complaining and Wei Wuxian waving off his comments.

Even Wei Wuxian’s biggest show of care to Jiang Cheng, giving up his golden core, feels to me like it never would have happened if Wei Wuxian hadn’t been raised to feel indebted to the Jiang’s and like it was his responsibility to keep the sect going.

It’s just… jarring honestly.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Who put these kids here?

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[youaremysunshine-court]

Do you think sizhuis one flex post canon is that wen ning is his uncle and his uncle alone and is in no way related to jin ling and so he's the only one allowed to call him uncle

[wenningfanclub]

I love a modern-AU dadfics as much as anyone, but we have to stop glossing over how Wei Wuxian adopting A-Yuan would impact the Wens. Because if he does, something has gone terribly wrong for them and it would absolutely affect everyone involved.

The issue is that A-Yuan has primary caregivers other than Wei Wuxian who should be taking care of him, and if they're not in the picture then there’s going to be a reason why. The first person missing is Granny Wen, who is Wen Yuan’s actual caregiver in mdzs and would most likely be taking care of him. Unfortunately in most dad!xian fics she's immediately fridged or has her grandchild taken away from her due to her age off-screen—which would be deeply traumatic for everyone involved, especially if she’s subsequently unable to be involved in her grandchild's life.

The second person who would be taking care of A-Yuan before Wei Wuxian is Wen Qing. Sometimes the in-fic reason for her not being his caregiver is due to unavoidable circumstances (usually financial issues, which like. yikes), but most of the time it comes down to Wen Qing not really… wanting? to be a caregiver, often because she’s too busy or is putting her career first or is just too much of a GirlBoss. So she chooses to adopt out Wen Yuan to Wei Wuxian (again, off-screen) and that's the end of that.

Listen. Not everyone wants to be a parent. Not everyone should be a parent, or can. It’s a reasonable and valid decision to prioritize other parts of your life over parenthood—especially if being a parent or caregiver wasn’t your choice in the first place. But Wen Qing is going to have SOME kind of feeling about letting A-Yuan be adopted out of her family, and that feeling is probably going to be complicated or bittersweet, if not painful. Not only because she’s, you know, a human being with emotions, but Wen Qing’s primary motivation in the book is to take care of her family and keep them together. So her deciding “nah, I’m too much of a girlboss to be a caregiver, here’s a free kid and I’m going to feel absolutely nothing about this cause it’d be inconvenient for the fluff” is not only a dismissal of how complicated that decision would be for her, it’s also wildly out of character. No matter what the reason is, she's going to feel something about it.

(I’m not getting into how Wen Ning is never tapped as another potential caregiver btw because we're really not ready to talk about ableism just yet)

If you love the idea of Wei Wuxian adopting A-Yuan in your modern au, there’s are a couple of changes that can address this. One is to make Wen Yuan not related to Wen Qing and the shared surname is just a coincidence, like Lan Jingyi. Another is to have them be a blended family where they’re all caregivers for A-Yuan, or have Wei Wuxian be his primary caregiver but help A-Yuan actively maintain a connection to his family of origin. Or have Wei Wuxian adopt A-Yuan but the Wens actually get have feelings about it for once, regardless of why it happens—sorrow, frustration, relief, gratitude, regret, something. Let Wen Qing have complicated feelings and let them shape her relationship with Wei Wuxian, too, for better or worse or just messier. Maybe even let Wei Wuxian, who was also separated from his family of origin and is a walking ball of family trauma, have complicated feelings about it as well! Or go the extra mile and let A-Yuan have some emotions about it for once, because regardless of the context the loss or change of support structures is traumatic, especially for a small human.

Anyway read A Temporary Fix by Bosgood for your complex Wen family feels (feat. Lan Wangji adopting Wen Yuan, because all of this goes the same for him as well).

[twenty-orange-balloons]

I wonder how many of you don't know about the movies released after The Untamed finished called The Untamed: Fatal Journey (which is about the Nie brothers) and The Untamed: The Living Dead (which is about Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui's travels)

[stiltonbasket]

wwx and lwj are going on Cultivator Adventures for a fortnight and the 3 little kids are being taken care of by their gege and uncles? the kids are Suffering because they have to eat Bland Lan Food for 2 weeks. but wait! it's uncle ning to the rescue, since he can cook spicy food. Go ning-shushu!!!

Luckily, A-Yuan and Xiao-Yu both know how to cook spicy food; but A-Yuan is better at cooking savory food and Xiao-Yu tends to add too much numbing spice (which isn't too spicy, but just Very Tingly), so babies A-Lan and Chun-bao are :( about the limited servings of delicious spicy soups and stews until Wen Ning arrives. <3

[llycaons]

and in canon I can't think of a single scenario that would have more weight or more emotional significance that the admission of the name of the song on the cliffside reunion after more than 20 years. there's no use proposing after that, they might as well get married right then and there

[morethanwonderful]

Introducing: The Which MXTX Character Was/Would Be Most Insufferable Online Tournament Bracket

Beginning the evening of August 23rd, 2024 (USA time), I’ll be running a tournament via tumblr polls to determine once and for all which Mo Xiang Tong Xiu web novel character was or would be most insufferable if given access to the internet.

FAQ:

Why this poll theme?

I thought it would be fun to run another big MXTX tournament bracket, since the bugpoll last year was a blast, and this was the funniest theme I could manage to think of.

Why isn't Shen Yuan/Shen Qingqiu in the bracket?

Given what we know about our dear Peerless Cucumber, I fear an SQQ sweep would be a foregone conclusion if I included him. Therefore, after the bracket finds a winner, I'll hold a bonus round and pit the winner against Shen Yuan to determine the true most internet-insufferable character.

What is wrong with you?

Yeah.

My goal is to hold one round per day every day for a week, but I'm contending with a full-time work schedule, so things may get slightly more stretched out than that. I'll also be splitting the first round into Round 1 Part 1 (the left side of the bracket) and Round 1 Part 2 (the right side of the bracket) to avoid spamming people's dashes with 32 separate polls in one day.

If you’d like to either search for or blacklist posts related to this event, all of mine will be tagged with “MXTX insufferapoll.”

The full list of matches is under the readmore here. Happy voting!

Round 1 Part 1:

Wen Chao vs Jin Guangshan

Quan Yizhen vs Mobei-jun

Mu Qingfang vs Ban Yue

Pei Xiu vs Jin Zixun

Xie Lian vs Jiang Yanli

Gongyi Xiao vs Lang Qianqiu

He Xuan vs Xue Yang

Lan Xichen vs Xiao Xingchen

Feng Xin vs Tianlang-jun

Wei Wuxian vs Liu Mingyan

Shi Qingxuan vs Nie Huaisang

Pei Ming vs Shang Qinghua

Jian Lan vs Qi Rong

Lan Wangji vs Song Lan

Nie Mingjue vs Liu Qingge

Mei Nianqing vs Lan Qiren

Round 1 Part 2:

Ling Wen vs Jin Guangyao

Sha Hualing vs Mo Xuanyu

Lang Ying (Present) vs Lan Sizhui

Bai Wuxiang vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jiang Cheng vs Ning Yingying

Jin Ling vs Ming Fan

Mu Qing vs Luo "Mianmian" Qingyang

Yu Ziyuan vs Yue Qingyuan

Xuan Ji vs Qiu Haitang

A-Qing vs Yin Yu

Wen Ning vs Zhuzhi-lang

Luo Binghe vs Wang Lingjiao

Wen Qing vs Yushi Huang

Hua Cheng vs Su She

Jin Zixuan vs Shi Wudu

Ouyang Zizhen vs Lan Jingyi

Round 2:

Wen Chao vs Quan Yizhen

Mu Qingfang vs Jin Zixun

Xie Lian vs Lang Qianqiu

Xue Yang vs Xiao Xingchen

Tianlang-jun vs Wei Wuxian

Nie Huaisang vs Shang Qinghua

Qi Rong vs Lan Wangji

Nie Mingjue vs Lan Qiren

Jin Guangyao vs Sha Hualing

Lang Ying (Present) vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jiang Cheng vs Jin Ling

Mu Qing vs Yu Ziyuan

Xuan Ji vs a-Qing

Zhuzhi-lang vs Luo Binghe

Wen Qing vs Su She

Shi Wudu vs Lan Jingyi

Round 3:

Wen Chao vs Jin Zixun

Lang Qianqiu vs Xue Yang

Tianlang-jun vs Shang Qinghua

Qi Rong vs Lan Qiren

Sha Hualing vs Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu

Jin Ling vs Mu Qing

Xuan Ji vs Luo Binghe

Su She vs Lan Jingyi

Quarterfinal:

Wen Chao vs Xue Yang

Tianlang-jun vs Qi Rong

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Jin Ling

Luo Binghe vs Su She

Semifinal:

Wen Chao vs Qi Rong

Shen (Jiu) Qingqiu vs Luo Binghe

Final:

Qi Rong vs Luo Binghe

Bonus:

Qi Rong vs Shen (Yuan) Qingqiu

[askew-d]

how i think mdzs characters would communicate through text

[they’re almost all teachers in a school and wangxian isn’t together yet]

wei wuxian: lan zhaaaan can u plz cm over i tbink smn1 stabbed me 😔😔😔😔😔 hury up i want to 6 ur face b4 i faint er-gege i miss uuuu 🥰💗💗😍😍❤️💕💕💝💕💕❣️💘💖😘😘😚😚

lan wangji: Wei Ying? I’m on my way. [appears in a helicopter, with twenty doctors ready and a blade]

jiang yanli: A-Xian, I am preparing lotus and pork ribs soup for you. Please, take care and behave while jiejie doesn’t arrive 😘

jiang cheng: the idiot almost died again??? lol at this point not even god likes him just die already or smth

lan xichen: I’m sending my best wishes of recovery for your definitely-not-life-partner, Wangji 🙏🏼 ☺️ If you need anything, you can just call me!

lan qiren: Wangji, you better tell me you are not in Wei Wuxian’s house right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [20 missed calls]

jin rulan: You had that coming for you! ………….. Me and the group are coming over with medicine. Don’t think that means I forgave you for calling Fairy fat!!! 😠

lan sizhui: Xian-gege, are you okay?? I was so worried!! But I’m glad Lan-laoshi is with you. We are coming over with treats, please be safe 🙏🏼❤️

lan jingyi: wei-laoshi!!!!!!! please don’t chase after the light 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 you’re the only teacher who can dance macarena!!!!!! who will teach us chemistry shit we dont understand now,????? who will sing never give you up during the school final year with us??????? pls dont be dead your favorite juniors are coming over!!!!!!!!!

ouyang zizhen: i cant believe you’ll have a whole month of leave so you can spend with your crush, wei-laoshi 😭 so lucky!! so romantic!! 💗 just dont die on him ok i’ve heard it causes something called trauma

nie huaisang: Wei-xiong, it wasn’t me who orchestrated this, I swear!!!! I know nothing!! well, last time…. well yeah last time it was kinda my fault but this time it was not!!! I’ll even send you some fine books I read this month, please don’t come after me!!!! 😰

wen qing: bitch…….. u better be joking

wen ning: Wei-gongzi 😮😢 I know you have Lan-laoshi…. but if you need anything….. I’m at your orders….. 🙏🏼

song lang: I bet it was Xue Yang. Crafty bastard.

xue yang: hahahahahhahahhahahah hahahahahahahahah if it were me i would hv gutted him deeper 😈😈😈

xiao xingcheng: *intuitive typing* F.

[oneeyedoctogod]

Gods this fandom sometimes, I swear. I'm sorry I read two deeply bad takes back to back, and I have to rant. I'm sure others have said it better than I, but really. Come on. I actually have to wonder if people who talk about the extras actually read them because...

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji didn't leave the cultivation world in canon. They elope, and then they come back. The fact they're not involved in the bigger politics is... pretty much to be expected, but they very much do participate in the day to day lives of the Lan sect. They go where the chaos is to night hunt, they teach, Lan Wangji comforts his brother in his seclusion, and Wei Wuxian meets some new Lan disciples.

As for the cottage fantasy... Again, I honestly have to wonder if the people talking about it actually read the extra it's in? Because it's just that. A fantasy. A dream. It's basically a representation of Wei Wuxian's wants for a domestic life, something he definitely has now! He's always been characterised as someone who wants to help others and who loves cultivation. Why would you think the dream is to be taken literally?

And the idea that Wei Wuxian has 'several important relationships just floating there', that he's not dealing with... Where? Which ones? He teaches the juniors and grows closer to Jin Ling. He doesn't exactly interact with Lan Xichen, but he asks after him. He meets Mianmian again and wishes her well. He asks after Wen Ning after Lan Sizhui comes back then has some father-son bonding moments with him!

Nie Huaisang and Wei Wucian aren't close. They were friendly once, but they didn't ever meet after the lectures. I don't see how that qualifies as an "important" relationship, especially with Nie Huaisang never openly admitting to his part in Wei Wuxian's resurrection. But even then, Wei wuxian says he'll be keeping a close eye on him, so one can imagine they meet again at some point.

As for Jiang Cheng... what more do you want Wei Wuxian to do exactly? Even if you want a reconciliation, why can't Jiang Cjeng be he one to actually grow up and do the work for once? He's the one who never apologized. He's the one who is still openly hostile in the extras. If Wei Wuxian wants to move on and not interact with him, he's well within his right to do that, given how Jiang Cheng treated him. Hell, he's more generous than most since he encourages Jin Ling to talk to Jiang Cheng. If I'd been treated by someone like Jiang Cheng treated Wei Wuxian and saw him hit our nephew several times, I certainly wouldn't encourage them to meet. (But that's Wei Wuxian for you, the moral ideal and better than all of us.)

Anyway, I really don't understand why people insist on making Wangxian have a sadder ending than the one they actually did. It's a HEA for them, sorry guys. And yeah, maybe Wei wuxian has some trauma to work on... but the whole point of the character is that he doesn't let his trauma define him. That he wants to forgives, forgets and moves on.

(Also, just because he doesn't have a breakdown or the cultivation equivalent of therapy in the extra doesn't mean he's not working on them? He finally is at peace, with a solid support network. Maybe he does talk about his past hurts with Lan Wangji - Lan Wangji certai ly knows when to comfort him when he needs it. But the narrative point of the extras is to show they're moving on from the past! And you know what, sometimes the beat thing to do to heal is to do just that. They're living their best lives, deal with it.)

And finally... shit did you really read the whole book and come to the conclusion Wei Wuxian should have 'learned to accept help'? Who the fuck offered help? Who did he refuse?

(Don't say Lan Wangji. 1) I love him, but "Come back to Gusu" is very much not an obvious offer to help, and when Wei Wuxian understandably misunderstands him, he never manages to correct it.

And 2) once Wei Wuxian tells him explicitly he's not leaving the Wen remnants behind, Lan Wangji understands and backs off. He approves! I'm sure he'd do more if he could, but just like Jiang Yanli, he can't!)

Jiang Cheng literally said, 'No one will help you, no one is on your side' (and then made sure that was true by saying Wei Wuxian was the enemy of the cultivation world). Jin Zixuan chose to ask the one who was ambushed to disarm rather than the 300 cultivators attacking him and lunged at him when Wei Wuxian refused to comply (because he'd be killed if he did!!). How is that help?

Who else tried to help? Whose help did Wei Wuxian reject?

Wei Wuxian was presented with a series of bad choices and took the best he could, the ones aligned with his principles, accepting he'd have to face consequences at some point but also knowing it was still worth it. He's not the one who failed or made a fatal mistake or betrayed his word.

Rant over. Sorry about that.

[wutheringskies]

Re-reading MDZS; CH 1 - 11

rereading mdzs out loud with my bestie and we're only doing 2 chapters a day, and discussing everything and here are things I never noticed:

1. from the start, the narrative exposes us to how Wei Wuxian is when he's upset: he's unfocused, walking off the wrong way, disliking his reflection, organizing his thoughts, crying but not saying he cried.

2. despite being miserable, when lil apple tries to cheer him up, he thinks "the poor donkey even went out of its way to drag him" and decides to be get up and move on. it's not an in-built setting - it's not a "being born chronically optimistic" but rather a conscious choice.

3. frankly i never noticed just how sombre his tone is in the first couple of chapters. it's quirky and sarcastic but sombre all the same.

4. also, this guy is literally a Lan. like I'm sorry, he probably has a degree in the Lan Sect. he keeps explaining everything about them.

5. Sizhui already made such a huge impression on him that the first thing he thinks of when he sees Jin Ling is that he's of Sizhui's age.

6. Wei Wuxian IS traumatized about Jiang Cheng. His reaction is simply to run off into the distance. He DOES NOT like being around Jiang Cheng, and his opinion about him is not good, as he keeps adding comments about Jiang Cheng's arrogance, his anger, and comparing him to Lan Wangji (knowing JC hates being compared, and I personally think this was something he never allowed himself to do.)

7. Jin Ling was such a jerk under Jiang Cheng and Jin Guangyao's tutelage. Like, sincerely.

8. Lan Wangji does not even acknowledge Jiang Cheng.

9. Also, a comment that my friend and I made: MDZS is a book about Lan Wangji, with Wei Wuxian casually throwing some trauma on the pages in between. Like, goodness, the narration from Wei Wuxian's point of view rarely describes a lot. But come to the point of Lan Wangji and this guy won't shut up. His clothes, his face, his voice, his sword, their meaning, the clan rules, what they stand for - Wei Wuxian tells us more about Lan Wangji and the Lan Clan than about his own life.

10. Wei Wuxian was so in love with Lan Wangji. Since he saw the Lan Clan this guy was on his head. THE FACT WEI WUXIAN CAN RECOGNIZE LAN WANGJI JUST BY 2 STRUMS OF HIS ZITHER after 13 years of being dead!!!

11. When Lan Wangji held his hand, he was breathing hard and his notes on the flute kept cracking

12. Wei Wuxian is so good at meditating btw

13. Wei Wuxian describing Lan Wangji's voice as "deep and magnetic" and "stirring the heart" like bro trust me Jiang Cheng's not feeling any tugs upon his heart, and Jingyi is most probably just scared.

14. Wei Wuxian is such a flirt with women - his best flirting tactic is "give them space" 😂😂

15. Wei Wuxian did not ask, expect or even comment upon the absence of gratitude from the villager clan after saving them and instead even thanked them for providing him with information.

16. Wei Wuxian is so keen on people's behavior. Noticing the orb of souls that could've been saved if people were more focused on their duty than catching a prey like Wen Ning, understanding people's discomfort etc.

17. He's such a good teacher, earning the respect of Lan students just like that, asking good questions, not even complying with his own worship, and appraising them when they get things right and also playfully scaring them with Hanguang-jun's punishment (what a husband)

18. Wei Wuxian has great self esteem but poor self worth, but he's working on the second part.

@zenenini

[fanfictionroxs]

The way Lan Sizhui gives off vibes of that kid who will burn out by 25. The return of Wei Wuxian and a-yuan's memories of the Wen remnants are practically confirmation of his brewing inner turmoil, the beginning of the emotional exhaustion that's going to fuck up his mind as he keeps returning to memories of his grandma & those bodies in the blood pool.. and the destruction of 'Lan Sizhui'. Maybe he'll revert to being Wen Yuan or perhaps forge his new identity as Wen Sizhui. After all, 'Sizhui' is the gift he cherishes by his rich-gege, but his enmity lies with the Lans, the Jiangs, the Jins and other cultivation sects who wrongfully murdered his family. Most of the main perpetrators are gone, fate already having avenged the Wen remnants by disposing off Nie Mingjue, Jin Guangshan, Jin Gunagyao, but many still remain. Jiang Cheng and the people who raised Sizhui.. Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren. The fact that Sizhui will have to deal with the mental burden of the realisation that he was raised by his would be killers.. who did kill his loved ones, the fact that he will have to battle with the rising conflict in his mind of being filial, but to whom? His grandma who carried him on her weak back and ensured his survival through the worst of the camps which killed his uncle Wen Ning himself? His aunt Wen Qing without whom not even his Xian-gege would have come to help them? His original sect whose leader didn't give a shit about poor farmers like a-yuan's family or his current sect who killed those poor farmers? His fathers who saved him time and again or his birth mother and father whose memories were forever lost to him? Who should he be filial to, whose injustice should he start with? So much veangeace to take, but only one Wen left to fight because Sizhui knows that Wen Ning has fought for a lifetime. It's all down to him.. It's all down to The Last Wen.

Oh how ever will you survive a-yuan?

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 40 part one

(Masterpost) (Pinboard)  (whole thing on AO3)

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Agree to Disagree

The juniors are arguing because Sizhui said that some demonic cultivators might have good intentions. According to Jin Ling that means that Sizhui is celebrating the murders of Jin Ling's parents, or something.

(Actor) Peixin Qi uses forehead-squinching as a primary acting tool, which would be perfectly fine if he wasn't playing a character with a red dot between his eyebrows.

He goes on to say that Wei Wuxian is the evillest of them all, way eviller than Xue Yang. Which in sheer numbers of victims, is probably a fair point. But Xue Yang was way more of a dick.

Ouyang Zichen is all of us when he asks Jin Ling to chill the fuck out.

Sizhui apologizes even though Jingyi is ready to throw down on his behalf. It's unclear if this helps, because Hanguang-Jun chooses this moment to arrive. He immediately defuses the situation with the power of stinkeye.

(more after the cut!)

More Than Meets the Eye

Many differences between CQL and the novel are adaptational choices - Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's deep, early friendship; the yin iron plot, Jiang Cheng being loveable, etc. Changes like that, I normally don't point out, because adaptations are AUs, in my view, and can be enjoyed separately from their sources.

Other changes are driven by censorship, however, and in those cases I think it's fair to look to the novel and its less-censored adaptations for a peek at what's happening off camera. Particularly when there are scenes and interactions in The Untamed where the show seems to be deliberately pointing to the novel to fill in the blanks.

This moment on the stairs is one such scene. In the show, Lan Wangji carries liquor upstairs to Wei Wuxian, and the juniors react with shock; Jingyi drops his chicken out of his mouth and Sizhui stuffs it back in there.

They are shocked because he bought liquor, and that's the extent of their reaction.

In the Donghua, Manhua, and Novel, Lan Wangji is dragging Wei Wuxian up those stairs, having drunkenly tied him up with his headband.

First he stops to show his prize to the juniors, who have basically the same reaction in every version of the story, including Jinygi dropping his chicken and Sizhui stuffing it back in his mouth. In the novel, however, Sizhui does that to stop Jingyi from saying anything to Lan Wangji & his captive.

The liquor, in all versions, is a clear sign of how much Lan Wangji has mellowed since his youth. In case we need another reminder, we learn here that he let Sizhui get a tattoo on his finger.

Every parent will tell you, you gotta pick your battles.

Returning to to the timeline in which no visible bondage is occurring, Wei Wuxian is sitting around in the room upstairs waiting for Lan Wangji. Wasn't he busy talking to Lan Xichen when Lan Wangji went into the inn to shut the kids up? How did he get upstairs before Lan Wangji? Never mind, never mind.

Wei Wuxian goes to look out the window and Wen Ning appears, hanging off the roof like a dork, or like someone who has seen that one Spider-Man movie and is hoping for some upside-down kissing.

Wen Ning asks if Jin Ling is the kid he halfway orphaned, and Wei Wuxian says yes.

Then he hears Lan Wangji coming, and Wen Ning falls to the ground for no reason.

Wei Wuxian urgently shoos Wen Ning away, trying to hide him from Lan Wangji.

Wen Ning acts way too clueless for someone who spends so much time third-wheeling.

There's no in-world reason for Wei Wuxian to hide Wen Ning; They fought side-by side in Yi City, and they were all together for A-Qing's burial. There's not a problem between him and Lan Wangji.

Once again, the novel provides the missing information. Wei Wuxian is hiding Wen Ning because Lan Wangji is hella jealous even when he's sober. Wen Ning fell to the ground because drunk Lan Wangji leapt through the window and kicked him.

In the novel, Wei Wuxian & Lan Wangji's evening ends with a game of tag that's loaded with sexual tension, followed by a kiss...followed by Lan Wangji literally knocking himself out to avoid taking advantage of Wei Wuxian.

Lan Wangji does everything in the most extreme way possible.

In the live action, the most sexually charged part of their interaction is this positively sinful hip thrust that Wei Wuxian gives when he turns around at the window.

If you've seen Xiao Zhan dancing, you know this is not an accident.

Unlike the novel's perpetually clueless protagonist, live-action Wei Wuxian clearly knows he's on a date right now.

...and he's enjoying every minute of it. He's delighted that Lan Wangji has provided *good* liquor, rather than the rotgut he's able to afford himself.

As he pours for Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji points out that both of their brothers know who WWX is at this point. Wei Wuxian isn't happy about it but he says they can't do anything. Which is...not correct.

He tries once again to get Lan Wangji to tell him how he recognized him, and Lan Wangji responds by asking him why his memory sucks so much.

Wei Wuxian says "you try dying by falling from a great height TWICE and see how your brain likes it." That's what he should have said, anyway.

This whole thing about his memory isn't actually important in the live action, even though it keeps being mentioned. He's forgotten the name of their song because he was delirious when he heard it; otherwise his memory seems perfectly fine.

I think this might be another instance of the live action giving a wink to novel readers in the audience, because in the novel Wei Wuxian forgot Lan Wangji's confession of love. Which, like WangXian, was presented in a cave while WWX was delirious; Lan Wangji is not great at choosing his moment.

Anyway, this may be why Lan Wangji seems to take Wei Wuxian's memory problems personally, despite having very little in-show reason to be upset.

Lan Wangji changes the subject by asking Wei Wuxian to go to Jinlintai with him, to search for Nie Mingjue's head. Sounds like a perfect romantic getaway for a boy and his favorite necromancer.

Just as Wei Wuxian starts to ask what Zewu-Jun will think, Zewu-Jun and his cheekbones come into the room.

He's taken time to think things over--a concept the rest of the cultivation world could stand to learn about, incidentally--and he agrees that they should investigate.

Note: the non-CQL illustrations come from the MDZS manhua, which is complete online (mangadex.org includes the uncensored extra bits), and is about halfway through being published in English by Seven Seas. It's delightful and I highly recommend it.

Bonus: Lan Wangji and Sizhui enjoying some tie-in cup noodles. (A few in-character ads are included in the Viki version of the show.)

[atqh16]

I don’t get the Lan Zhan hate some people have? I don’t get some people calling him a cunt or bastard (derogatory)? Second to maybe Wen Ning, Lan Zhan deserves being hated the least. He is a flawed character. He made tons of mistakes. But so much of his positive attributes and actions completely outweigh all of that. Like, one of the most unique things about Lan Zhan is that despite the pain of losing Wei Ying and despite the punishment he received for it he did not dwell on resentment. He had a right to but he didn’t. Instead he worked on bettering himself. He worked on bettering his sect. There was a post that talked about how Jingyis existence and bright, loud character is a far reach from what most Lans are usually expected to be. But the fact that he’s not really scolded for being who he is and instead the narrative even frames him as being in the right really shows how much the Lan sect had changed over the years and it’s pretty clear that Lan Zhan is responsible for it. Cause Qiren liked the status quo and Lan Xichen was satisfied with it and didn’t really see an issue so they wouldn’t have a reason to create any change.

And for a sect that’s famous and known for its rigidity that is a significant feat. Then you have the fact that in the 13 years Wei Ying was dead Lan Zhan had created a reputation of being someone you could rely on for help and aid without needing compensation like other sects. In a time where cultivating has become a borderline business, a status quo that is openly accepted, Lan Zhan actively rejects the notion which is again a far cry from who he was before. Someone who couldn’t find it in himself to seperate from the majority. He was always kind and empathetic but there was still that part of him that paid too much importance on what people would think. Any action he took that was a deviation from the norm like showing Mian Mian the respect she deserved for standing up to her sect was done in such a way that it could be easily missed and brushed off.

The Lan Zhan we got after the time skip is so VERY different than the Lan Zhan we saw before. The fact that he so easily openly sided with Wei Ying against the other sects, something he didn’t do before until it was too late, wasn’t just an action made out of love and a desire to avoid regret. It’s a culmination of all the character development he’s gone through throughout the story.

I guess if you dislike him because of his pre time skip version it’s understandable but it would also be missing the point. Or maybe if you’re a Jiang Cheng fan you’d dislike Lan Zhan for having beef with him but like, his anger is very justified? Saying that Jiang Cheng played a part (minor or otherwise) in Wei Yings inevitable demise isn’t a hot take. The narrative openly states it and it’s not refuted. Lan Zhan being angry at Jiang Cheng over that truth is very understandable and it’s not like he rids himself of any blame either. Even better despite having that beef Lan Zhan doesn’t act on it. A few passive aggressive jabs here and there ( he’s only human after all) but he doesn’t let himself turn into an outright asshole the way Jiang Cheng did. He doesn’t take his anger out on Lan Sizhui the way Jiang Cheng verbally shits on Jin Ling constantly. Mxtx really likes to write contrast and comparisons and the one between Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan (in terms of how they dealt with their grief) is a pretty obvious one. Of course it’s not a 1 to 1 mirror of each other but that doesn’t make the comparison completely moot.