#things abt mo

[modawg]

there’s smth so sad abt watching percy go from being told he’s gonna die and learning to come to terms with that in pjo

to constantly surviving but wanting to die in hoo

also slightly unrelated but the fact that the one person percy told abt wanting to unalive is now dead is CRAZY

and makes me think that that moment they shared together has died with him

also also i recently saw someone on here say the reason percy no longer tells ppl his plans is bc the last time he did it got someone (bianca) killed and tbh i think this falls into that category as well

he finally tells someone abt wanting to die (bc lets be honest this has been going on since day one he just hasn’t actually acted on them till hoo) then the person he tells goes and dies like not even a year later

it’s definitely not the same like he doesn’t think if hw tells someone they will die but it’s the survivors guilt

the guilt that he wants to die while everyone else is fighting so hard not to and still dying anyway

[coulsandies]

mdzs headcanon of the day #299 !

bc xxc’s always had bangs/ hair to frame his face, he’s never seen what he looked like without them. so one day out of sheer curiosity he pulled his hair back to expose his forehead and screamed bc it was so bad (according to him, he looked uncanny and unsettling). now he would rather die than have anyone see his forehead exposed. he’s perfected the art of making sure the wind doesn’t blow his hair out of his face and reveal his forehead (it’s not even that bad. he thinks he looks like megamind. his forehead isn’t even that big)

song lan found out the hard way after he tried to push his hair back in a romantic gesture and almost got punched in the head. again, xxc would rather eat glass than have ANYONE see his forehead. the day song lan knows what he looks like without bangs is the day he backflips off a building

[mblue-art]

I just saw that post of yours where Lust, where he could learn your native language and tell you sweet words. And I'm sure he would do that!!! But if you say something to Cross in your native language, this poor boy will be very confused. "What did you just say? What does it mean?" Imagine his blushy face when you tell him what it really means.

( /)/////(\;; lust is the sweetest,, , 💜💙 he would,, thank u anons for making me believe that,, will rotate those thoughts in my head kjnsdfkfd///<333 )

confused cro below

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

So we know that Wei Wuxian's treatment after his death was horrible. Even if nothing could impact him directly, there was still neverending slander, hatred, misinformation, theft...

But, for a while after he died, the sects did try to impact him directly – namely, frequently trying to resummon his soul. And today I'll explore the possible reasons for this, their likelihoods, and why I'm so, so thankful that Wei Wuxian's soul managed to resist the summons. Because, spoiler alert... none of them are good.

(Long meta ahead)

In my opinion, there are four likely motivations for this: confinement, coercion, torment, and potentially destruction.

Out of all of these, confinement is probably the most likely motivation, at least for most sects (Jins and Jiangs excluded, though it was likely what the Jin sect said their motivations were – but I'll get to them later). This one is the most simple – we know spirit-trapping pouches exist, and we know the sects also placed 120 stone beasts on the Burial Mounds to prevent Wei Wuxian's soul from escaping. Therefore, this seems to be the most likely motivation – and fortunately for Wei Wuxian, probably also the best case scenario, though it still certainly isn't a good one.

For the second, coercion – this is where the Jin sect come in (more specifically Jin Guangshan with the help of Jin Guangyao). Due to their wealth and resources, they're likely the sect who played the largest role in the soul-summoning rituals. We know what they're willing to do to try to gain power – keeping Wen Ning under the pretence he was burned to death and trying to control him with the nails, and working with and helping Xue Yang torture people to help him refine his demonic cultivation, in order to have the Yin hufu fixed. Along with working with many other cultivators, alongside Xue Yang – Jin Guangshan really, really wanted that seal.

And so, Jin GuangShan sought after all those who imitated Wei WuXian in cultivating the ghostly path and gathered them under his rule. He spent a great amount of money and resources and these people, ordering them to study and analyze the structure of the Tiger Seal in secrecy so that they could replicate and restore it. - Villainous Friends extra, EXR

(Note that working with these cultivators very likely happened after Wei Wuxian's soul had failed to be summoned, since this happens some time after Wei Wuxian's death, whereas the soul-summoning ceromonies presumably started happening very close to it.)

In the previous paragraph, he's also quoted as having 'lusted after' the Yin hufu, which we already knew but it's nice to have a direct quote as evidence.

Now, would Wei WuXian willingly work with the Jin sect in doing this? No. We know that, and, given Wei Wuxian's actions in his first life (refusing to hand over the Tally, not being afraid to stand up to the sects, etc), I’m pretty sure Jin Guangshan knows that, too:

He beat around the bush a couple of times, using all his skills, yet Wei WuXian didn’t give in no matter what, and it made him run into a bunch of obstacles. - Villainous Friends extra, EXR

So this could actually make things go two ways. One, I'm wrong and that wasn't actually part of the Jin sect's motivations, since they know they wouldn't be able to control him (and in that case, had they managed to summon him, I could imagine them putting him in a spirit-trapping pouch and doing something similar to what Jin Guangyao did to Nie Mingjue's head. Which, also, not good). Two, it was a part of their motivations, and they hoped to find a way around that. After all, there are other guidao users out there now, and Wei Wuxian would now be a gui*. Also, cultivators can obviously harm ghosts – see the very existence of Night Hunts, and I'd include Xue Yang's talisman-caused destruction of A-Qing as well (while he isn't a traditional cultivator, talismans can be used by everyone).

Now, would either of these methods actually work? I'm inclined to think not really (and I expand on the former method in a note below). Would that stop Jin Guangshan/Jin Guangyao/the cultivators they employ from trying? Especially considering Jin Guangshan's lust for power?

I'm inclined to think no, too.

For the third, look no further than Jiang Cheng's reputation of capturing and torturing demonic cultivators after Wei Wuxian's death, due to thinking they could be him. And this does happen – Jin Ling knows and talks about it, and there's not real motivation for him to negatively lie about someone he loves. Also, when they come across each other at Dafan Mountain, we're told this in Jiang Cheng's inner voice:

A moment ago, Jiang Cheng was certain that this person was Wei WuXian, and all of the blood in his body started to boil. Yet, now, Zidian was clearly telling him that he wasn’t. Zidian definitely wouldn’t deceive him or make a mistake, so he quickly calmed himself and thought, this doesn’t mean anything. I should first find an excuse to take him back and use every possible method to get information out of him. It’s impossible for him to not confess anything or give himself away. I’ve done things like this in the past anyways. - MDZS Chapter 10, EXR translation

This mainly shows that he's tortured people before, rather than that he's tortured people because he thinks they're Wei Wuxian, but this reason is confirmed by Jin Ling in Chapter 24. Of course, the reason is also mentioned in this chapter, and there are other moments in the chapter that illustrate my point better**, but they come from second-hand sources which I know are easier to deny. Do take note of Jiang Cheng's expression both times he comes across 'Mo Xuanyu' (after he suspects he's Wei Wuxian) in Book One***, though:

After a moment, the corners of Jiang Cheng’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. His left hand started to unconsciously stroke the ring [Zidian] again. He spoke softly, “… Well, well. So you’re back?” - Chapter 10, EXR Although his face had always been clouded, marked with arrogance and satire, it seemed as if every corner of it had come alive. It was difficult to determine whether it was vengeful wrath, fathomless hatred, or raving ecstasy. - Chapter 23, EXR

This does seem to line up with what people say his attitude to Wei Wuxian is – there doesn't seem to be any happiness at seeing him again at all. The only time a word that could suggest that ('ecstasy') is used, it's accompanied by 'raving', and considering the context and the other possibilities of his expression, it's... probably not due to happiness at being reunited.

So, considering 1) this, 2) his contribution to the Siege specifically intended to kill Wei Wuxian, and 3) that at the time of frequent soul-summoning Jiang Yanli's death would be even closer for him, I feel pretty confident in saying that yes, this is likely a motivation for the Jiang sect in trying to re-summon Wei Wuxian's soul after his death. And, as mentioned earlier, cultivators can harm ghosts (and we know Zidian is able to remove souls posessing a body from that body, and that Jiang Cheng used Zidian on 'Mo Xuanyu' in Chapter 10. If it wasn't able to restrain/harm ghosts, or other methods weren't able to, why would he risk Wei Wuxian's soul escaping?).

And finally, option four: destruction. We're heading into much more speculative territory here, so don't consider this on par with the first three. But consider this:

We know there are some spells, like Xue Yang's talisman used on A-Qing and the body-offering ritual, that can ruin the returning soul’s reincarnation cycle by destroying it. Therefore, soul destruction is possible.

The 'main'/supposed reason for summoning Wei Wuxian's soul back is to stop the "cultivation world, or even all of mortal land" from being "faced with the most insane damnation and revenge, sinking into nothing but chaos and despair" when Wei Wuxian inevitably returns. While, as mentioned above, I severely doubt this is the motivation for certain sects – and to me is likely a rumour which the Jins (again, especially Jin Guangsha) fanned the flames of to justify summoning Wei Wuxian back for their own purposes**** – there are other sects which would take it more seriously.

Although likely disrespectful, people already thought it served Wei Wuxian right to die without his body intact by the time of the second siege – something believed to negatively affect your reincarnation in your next life*****. This is only the logical next step, and I'm pretty sure the vast majority of people would believe that, again, it would serve Wei Wuxian right, or would at least lead to less harm of the world in the long run.

For these reasons, I could definitely see this as an option for some sects, especially the sects who consider themselves more 'righteous' (cough cough the Nies under Nie Mingjue cough cough). After all, evil is evil and good is good, and the evil deserve what's coming to them. And what better way to prevent that than from preventing his soul from returning at all? So for the Nie sect – and likely some of the smaller sects involved in the Siege, since among them, additudes probably vary – yes, I do think it could be a motivation.

I’m not as sure about the Lans being willing to go this far, and that’s largely for two reasons. One, Lan Wangji’s presence and his relationship to Lan Xichen, who does (not always, but he does) let this affect how he treats Wei Wuxian. An example of this is that, when Wei Wuxian's return is made public, Lan Xichen does let him hide and shelter at the Cloud Recesses instead of trying to pursue him, likely majorly due to Lan Wangji. I'd argue that the aftermath of the Nightless City also acts as an example of this, although it definitely isn't perfect. But though he, Lan Qiren and the 33 elders do come to find Lan Wangji and do not let him continue to shelter Wei Wuxian (after they see Lan Wangji's feelings), Lan Xichen doesn't use this opportunity to kill/capture Wei Wuxian, despite Lan Wangji being in a worse condition due to having fought 33 elders, Wei Wuxian being catatonic, and Lan Qiren likely supporting this outcome (especially considering he was the one who led the Lan sect in the Siege – chapter 68, Wei Wuxian's POV). And he did let Lan Wangji take Wei Wuxian back to the Burial Mounds after:

After he went out of his way to send you back to Burial Mound and returned in such low spirits to receive his punishment, how long he kneeled before the Wall of Rules! - Chapter 99, EXR

Again, this was right after the Nightless City massacre – there isn't any goodwill towards Wei Wuxian at this point in time.

Of course, the Lan sect did participate in the siege after Lan Xichen knew of Lan Wangji's feelings towards Wei Wuxian, which Lan Xichen was no doubt a part of (although Lan Qiren lead the Lan sect in the siege, Lan XIchen had to have at least known/given his support, if not participated.) And it should be considered that Lan Xichen letting Wei Wuxian shelter at the Cloud Recesses was after Wei Wuxian had been back for a while, and had not caused the downfall of the Cultivation World, like many suspected he would after his death. And of course, as stated previously, his handling of the aftermath of Nightless City wasn't perfect either (though please note that his main motive here was to protect Lan Wangji from being potentially executed, rather than anything about Wei Wuxian himself). So caring about Lan Wangji doesn't mean he won't harm Wei Wuxian. But I do think he could find bringing Wei Wuxian's soul back to completely destroy it a bit excessive. There is, though, the chance that the elders of the Lan Sect would react to this differently, and of course they would have a sway on both Lan Xichen and the Lan sect as well.

The second reason is smaller, but there seems to be more focus in the Lan sect than in others when it comes to letting ghosts rest peacefully/helping them move on. And that could definitely lead to more resistance to the idea of summoning a soul back to destroy it as well, which could especially impact the elders. So I'd assume that the Lan sect would be the most likely sect to summon Wei Wuxian's soul back just for confinement, or just for some way of making sure any resentment is disippated, his spirit moves on, and he can't cause more harm to the world (eg via Inquiry)******. Not that he would or does as a ghost or as a reborn person, but that's unfortunately not relevant to this.

But yes, as a motivation for the Nie Mingjue-led Nie sect? Absolutely.

So, these are the main motives I suspect to be behind the attempted summoning of Wei Wuxian's soul after his death (and if I've missed any, please let me know – I'd love to have a discussion). And, of course, none of them lead to anywhere good. Because of course it wasn’t enough to besiege Wei Wuxian, murder the 50 non-combatants he was responsible for (and throwing them into the blood pit as a mark of disrespect because why not?), and lead to his death via him getting torn apart. It wasn’t enough to steal all his inventions, and use them commonly while still slandering him with no reprieve – or to steal his notes and give them to people like Xue Yang to study (Villainous Friends, again) and to use for their own, extremely extremely harmful, purposes. Of course, the cultivation world has to try to harm Wei Wuxian after death as well ((:

We don't know whether Wei Wuxian rejecting the summoning ceremonies was conscious or unconscious, but if it was the former, these are very likely reasons he refused to return in this way. If it was unconscious – for example, maybe during the frequent soul-summons his soul was in a weakened state due to him dying from a backlash of resentful energy and getting torn apart, and it healed over time but not before the soul-summoning rituals stopped – well, I can only be thankful.

Finally, let me leave you on the thought that – although it may well have happened since we don't spend much time in the immediate aftermath of the Sunshot campaign – there isn't even any textual mention of this happening to Wen Ruohan. Who, while not being a guidao user, was still very dangerous, still an extremely powerful cultivator, and still had a lot of reason to feel resentment. So.

:')

Thank you for reading!

--

*Considering what we see of how Wei Wuxian's guidao functions – redirecting the ghosts'/corpses' resentment into doing something they'd want to do, eg attacking people, and directing it towards a target – I'm not sure using it to force a spirit to do something 1) extremely specific, and 2) explicitly against their will would actually work. Iirc the closest thing we get to this in text is Wei Wuxian using the corpses of Wens to attack other Wens in the Sunshot Campaign, but he's still just directing their resentment to a target of his choice, and fierce corpses do tend to be on the less concious side of things (hence why Wei Wuxian had to awaken Wen Ning's consciousness). Considering how Wen Ning attacks Wei Wuxian and the Burial Mound Wens before his consciousness had fully awoken, I... really don't think those fierce corpses were able to differentiate (or didn't care).

Meanwhile, ghosts seem to be a bit more in control of themselves – see A-Qing, and Wei Wuxian's own descriptions of his ghost self.

That, alongside ghost!Wei Wuxian being able to resist his soul-summoning and the fact that pretty much all of the new guidao users are a lot weaker than he was, does make me think that this this wouldn't work. I do wonder about Xue Yang, since his methods are pretty different as well, but he's more of a modao user than a guidao user (he controls living corpses rather than dead people) and I don't think you can insert physical nails into ghosts?? Though if he was specifically instructed to figure out some way to control ghost!Wei Wuxian (who's probably kept in a spirit-trapping pouch in this scenario), he might be able to do something at least. Though also he was also struggling to piece Xiao Xingchen's ghost soul back together, so he may struggle with those areas?

Well, whatever the potential outcome, I'm so so happy once again that Wei Wuxian's soul managed to resist the soul-summonings...

**Mainly this:

Everyone in the cultivation world knew that the young leader of the Jiang Clan watched out for Wei WuXian in an almost crazed manner. He would rather catch the wrong person than let go of any possibility, and took anyone who seemed like they held the soul of Wei WuXian away to the YunmengJiang Sect, inflicting severe torture on his victim. If he wanted to take someone back, the opposition would surely lose half of their life. - Chapter 10, EXR

But I have heard people say 'you can't prove that it's just more rumours' before, and I wanted my evidence to be as watertight as possible.

(And, off-topic... isn't it really sad how Jiang Cheng, in the present day, is described as young? Because, for a clan leader, he is. And another thing he is, is close in age to Wei Wuxian – who was killed 13 whole years prior :') )

***And do note that the only other time they run into each other before Wei Wuxian's identity is revealed to the world apart from this is their brief interaction at Jinlintai, where he can't just act however he wants. The next time they run into each other after it, Jiang Cheng is literally taking part in another siege against him, and still extremely hostile ("surrounded by hostile energy, face insidious, staring straight at him" – from EXR chapter 60). Then he loses his spiritual powers and can't do anything. By the time he regains his powers, Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and the Wen remnants' corpses have saved everyone during the Second Siege, and though public opinion hasn't properly shifted quite yet, it will soon after Sisi and Bicao tell the story of Jin Guangyao, and voila, a new scapegoat (do note that he doesn't completely bar Wei Wuxian from entering Lotus Pier after the Second Siege, though). Plus, throughout it all, Lan Wangji is still constantly present, which makes it hard for Jiang Cheng to really do anything. And then he's finally faced with the Golden Core reveal, which does alter his motivations towards Wei Wuxian (obviously the resentment is still there – read chapter 102 – but it's also mixed with other complex emotions, and he seems to start being able to move away from that a little in Chapter 103). I still definitely wouldn't describe Jiang Cheng's attitude towards him as positive, but it isn't at the point it was at the start of the novel (eg Chapter 10).

But even if his attitude does change, or would for whatever other reason apart from the reveal, that still doesn't change an initial motivation so isn't relevant to this meta. We know his intentions at the start.

****It's also possible they may have originated it, but I think WWX's reputation was bad enough for it to form naturally. Though you can trace a major part of that back to them, too.

*****That belief isn't outright stated in MDZS, but the fact people are specifically talking about the status of WWX's body in the aftermath of his death suggests that this belief does have some grounding in the MDZS universe, at least? And we know MXTX has included it in TGCF (though that doesn't mean it's definitely in MDZS), so she has used it in her works. If this isn't the case in the MDZS universe I am sorry (although that could also mean there's less importance placed on not disturbing the reincarnation cycle in the world of MDZS...? Which would work towards my original argument) – I don't want to spread misinformation that something is definitely true, I just think there's evidence to suggest it is true, which isn't the same thing.

******Again, I think this would depend on who ends up having more influence over who in the Lan sect. After all, normal resentful spirits only do what they do because of their resentment in death, whereas Wei Wuxian is 'dangerous' because of who everyone thinks he was in life – so him being reborn naturally could also 'cause a lot of harm to the world' during the time period this version of him would live in, unlike the resentful ghosts they appease. This could definitely lead to many advocating for confinement, I think.

[khattikeri]

nie huaisang may say "i don't know" all the time but the person who Really doesn't know or even want to know is lan xichen. thanks for coming to my tedtalk

[3416]

auston sitting there and taking his sweet time to doodle this absolutely incoherent nonsense on mitch's gloves and make him laugh.................. okay

[labyrynth]

so um anyway jiang cheng canonically does not consider wei wuxian a servant—let alone “just a servant”—and does not treat him like one. idk where this idea came from but it is factually untrue.

in fact, jc repeatedly indicates that he thinks wwx’s station is on par with other gentry, that he likes the idea of being part of a pair with wwx, and even jokes with wwx, mocking the notion that wwx could be a servant.

after wwx was taken in, they were functionally raised as equals, and there is nothing in their interactions as youths that indicates or even hints that their relationship was master/servant instead of simply childhood friends.

and obviously wwx is not sect leader, so yeah, he is expected to defer to jc after the war, (and that’s not an inherently bad thing, that’s how leadership works) but jc lets him get away with SO much shit that Would Not Fly if wwx were a servant (or treated like one). if jc only regarded wwx as a servant, there is literally no reason to be as lenient as jc was with wwx’s loose canon tendencies.

i’m sorry, but there is simply no valid reading of their relationship where the dynamic of their relationship is master/servant. their relationship simply is not built on obligation, as much as they both try to act like it. this assumption undercuts a huge amount of context and motivation, leaving nonsensical character decisions and gaping plot holes. there is no mdzs unless they care about each other as individuals.

[moiraineswife]

Lan and Moiraine: "Door"

1x06 / 2x01 / 2x01

[interstate35south]

i love when people draw all the mxtx protagonists together but i’ll be real the generic anime boy face curse is alive and well

more often than not the art itself is fantastic it just takes me like a solid minute to figure out who’s who. bonus points if lbh is robbed of his wavy hair and the only way i can tell him apart from wwx is his forehead

[grvntld]

26 may 2024—got my much wanted (((and needed))) pamper sesh (*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ꕤ*.ﾟ im so happeh like yay!

𖡼⊱✿⊰𖡼 hand spa x foot spa × hot stone massage × microdermabration and perfectio x face therapy

𖡼⊱✿⊰𖡼 miss v, the one who attended to me, told me my hands are like a baby's bc theyre actually already soft prior to the hand spa lol

𖡼⊱✿⊰𖡼 i supah dupah mega ovah missed doing this!

𖡼⊱✿⊰𖡼 gosh tell me why did i stop doing this again???¿?? right, life happened—

𖡼⊱✿⊰𖡼 felt like a princess—nawp, wait, scratch that hMpf i felt like a dyosa fairy queen thank you very much

[ohrightgaypeople]

This seems like such a small and insignificant moment,

but couldn't be further from the truth

this is a poor/working class boy who's been bullied by his classmates and teachers alike his whole academic life; has been humiliated and picked on and then, when forced to defend himself, was looked down upon and labeled "troubled", the one "who doesn't have a future" or is "a bad influence"

and he just did that. not only faced the anxiety inducing (especially for introverts, such as Mo) task of answering the teacher in front of the whole class - of those same students/professors who have biases against him; he also wasn't afraid of being wrong publicly (again in front of all these people).

he did something even I, a working class gay boy, couldn't achieve until college:

in this singular and ordinary moment, he looked at the prejudice right on the face and said fuck you (in bold and unrepentant letters)

and I love him for it <333 Mo Guan Shan is conquering everything I could only dream of being and having way latter; my boy isn't even on the worst end of academic endeavors- he's not on hell high school yet!!!

honestly, he deserves the entire world and then more

[coulsandies]

mdzs headcanon of the day #308 !

while xxc enjoys watching movies, specifically horror movies, he cannot, for the love of everything good, stay awake during them. one time he had a movie marathon with song lan, and made him binge each of the conjuring movies and then some. he fell asleep in song lan’s lap by the second movie and song lan just had to watch all of them alone (he does NOT like horror movies)

[jade-len]

gonna be reading the husky and his white cat shizun vol 1 for the first time, so i've decided to humiliate my future self by making predictions based on the summary or whatever rn. feel free to laugh at me if i get things terribly wrong

just based on the cover, im thinking mo ran was this determined, loyal, and playful guy maybe? awfully trusting? idk he just kinda gives off jokingly smug energy and is probably un serious most of the time which gets on the other guy's nerves. or, he's just. super dedicated. though maybe he's a little overbearing with it?

in the extra picture, his shizun has this armor arm (but not on the cover?), which, to me, implies that something pretty wack happens, leaving him needing to replace it with that badass magic steel limb. mayyybeee this happened in mo ran's old life already or this is a new thing that surprises him

probably really looked up to his quiet shizun, who can be quite easy to annoy (mo ran annoys him to no end because of his constant yapping idk) but would never actually lay a hand on his disciples? or just be pretty light compared to the other shizuns either bc he prefers to use other ways as punishment or doesn't feel the need to for one reason or another. elegant and refined, but maybe a little lazy. he doesn't really look like the type of person to go out of their way to punish or fight

something happened that was actually just this huge misunderstanding or his shizun had to do something pretty fucked which led mo ran into complete despair, being betrayed by his teacher (trust and abandonment issues? yes please). before, he had a crush on his shizun but didn't really realize it? but now he couldn't care less than to create this super elaborate revenge plan, those unknown feelings either buried or wiped clean away

mo ran was low-key depressed after becoming emperor because it purely just to fuck with his shizun and make things terrible and out of spite or whatever. so then he ended his life because nothing was going his way, expecting to be happy with his path of revenge. but now that he's back in time, he goes, "oh i should play it smarter this time, now that i know of my shizun's true nature! i'll get him back. maybe if i get rid of him early, then i wont have to suffer longer. i'll also get revenge on everyone else earlier!" or smth like that idk

but of course, his plans kinda get fucked and slowly he starts seeing sides to his shizun that he didn't see before bc he heavily idolized him in his past life, ignoring everything else. his newfound hatred has kinda brought a new perspective? which is surprisingly helpful but also not, since he's now villainizing his every move and is super distrustful.. straight up in denial about his shizun's good deeds. maybe mo ran will instinctually save him at one point and beat himself over it, or his shizun will save him even though he really, REALLY had no reason to/actively went out of his way which really messes up mo ran's feelings.

anyways, i'll be off to read it now. we shall see how wrong i am lmao

[nosfelixculpa]

EPISODE 10 THE UNCANNY COUNTER S2: COUNTER PUNCH (2023)

[brother-emperors]

@good--merits-accumulated #isn't there a scene in guardian where zhao yunlan is leaning on his motorbike with the lollipop very cool looking#except he's like. in the foyer of his building? like how'd he get in there#feel like that's pompey

wheezing this is so so true

but oh my god wait also. zhao yunlan and pompey….literally the way that priest writes scenes with zhao yunlan in love, whenever plutarch writes of pompey in love….I need to think about all encompassing loves and romances and what it means to be a lover in stories with inescapable violence for a minimum of five to seven business days……

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

Last resorts

This is very self indulgent but I am shameless and also a massive simp. I wrote this for me exclusively, but there is not enough thirsting after Zewu-Jun around and I cannot have that.

Anyways.

Enjoy!!

The head of the local cultivation clan will not budge, no matter what they tried. She is not easily threatened, and does not care much about the power of the Lan or the reputation of the Yiling Patriarch, Hanguang-Jun's cold stares and biting comments do not impress her and Zewu-Jun's diplomatic efforts prove to be fruitless.

"I suppose there is only one way left..." Lan Xichen sighs as he shares a meal with his brother and his brother-in-law, with whom he had been mulling over for a way to convince the woman to cooperate with them. "We must find out what is causing the unrest in this region, and we've exhausted all other options."

Wei Wuxian blinks, confused, as he notices Lan Wangji side eye his brother with a mix of emotions, none too pleasant.

"Is it really necessary?"

"Do you have any other solutions?"

Lan Wangji closes his eyes in resignation and reached to pour himself a cup of wine. Wei Wuxian figures whatever this solution might be, it was not easy to employ, and perhaps it would be better for him not to ask.

After all, there are not many things that get Lan Wangji wanting alcohol, so that must have been a serious concern.

--

It absolutely is not.

The following morning, they return to the cultivation clan's residence, their stay in town coming to an end. It is now time to get on with whatever plan Lan Xichen had devised, so Wei Wuxian's made sure to have a lot of talismans at the ready and even had Suibian strapped to his waist alongside Chenqing.

Who knows what kind of situation this could evolve into.

The three are received into the sect leader's quarters, where the woman awaited, reading paperworm, as she seemed to have done for each of their past meetings.

"If you have come trying to convince me to reveal my clan's secrets again, find out that you will fail."

"Lady Yan, though I understand where your assumptions may be coming from, rest assured that we have come with no such purpose. I am quite adept at accepting a refusal" And the polite smile on Lan Xichen's face gains an edge of something else, his voice the tiniest bit lowered. "Though I must admit it does not happen often."

Lady Yan rolls her eyes.

Lan Xichen laughs, Lady Yan barely hides the ghost of a smile, and Wei Wuxian is starting to understand why everyone finds it so awkward when him and Lan Wangji flirt.

"I respect your willingness to protect your clan's secrets, I also have my own for the safekeeping. I have only come here today to make sure there is no ill will between the two of us following the talks we've had these past few days."

Lady Yan lifts her eyes from her paperwork, visibly surprised, before the very first smile since meeting her grants her features. "I have sought not to make enemies, Zewu-Jun. There are simply things I cannot share."

He returns her smile, and for some reason both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian share an uncomfortable glance as Lan Xichen "accidentally" touches Lady Yan's hand reaching for his teacup.

"Whilst we could not cooperate in this matter, I do wish to build a partnership with your clan." And Lan Xichen smiles again, in a much more flirtatious way. "And one with you, if you would be amenable to it."

The tops of the lady's cheeks dust pink. "I would be honored, it is not often that the great sects are interested in our dealings..."

"Oh, I assure you," and this time, he makes no accident of taking the lady's hand in one of his own, "I am more than interested."

Lan Wangji stands up abruptly. "Wei Ying and I will take our leave."

There is a hint of amusement in Lan Xichen's expression as he joins his brother. "I will be discussing a few private matters with Lady Yan and I will be joining you for lunch later."

"Please do enjoy our sights and ammenities." Lady Yan intervenes, a much easier air about her, "The area is quite beautiful, and there is much to explore."

The two bow respectfully as they exit out the door.

"Lan Zh-"

"We are not talking about this, Wei Ying."

---

Several hours later, the three reunite at the inn for lunch, as promised. Lan Xichen says nothing, though he does produce a little, white envelope from one of his sleeves and lays it on the table with a grin.

"No way that worked..." Wei Wuxian mumbles as Lan Wangji picks up the envelope and reads the letter within, taking the opportunity to rest his head on his husband's shoulder.

"Of course it worked." Lan Xichen says, not bothering to hide a smug smile. "I am very efficient."

"We would rather not know." Lan Wangji cuts in, a bit too abruptly.

"I, too, would rather not know what the two of you get up to every night. We cannot all have what we wish for."