#things and people not directly related to wwx and his family or the kids

[llycaons]

I also find it really annoying in a postcanon fic where wwx does something against the rules and lwj quotes the rule at him. I just think it's dumb and boring and pointless and doesn't really add anything to any scene and doesn't indicate that lwj has changed at all and it makes him look like a petty asshole. and for all that he's a lot more uptight and strict in canon than in fanon I still think it's a stretch

[suspiciouscorpsicle]

mdzs/Natsume fusion notes:

-have lwj & wwx meet as kids? wwx is open about being able to see yokai (pick some Chinese examples for later, but this'll be quicker for notes) & lwj is the only one who knows he's not a liar bc lwj is sensitive enough that the presence of yokai makes him ill? or maybe lwj doesn't yet know that that's what causes his illness. might work better, bc then his first impression of wwx is of someone who makes up wild tales and acts irrationally and talks to things that aren't there. they shouldn't be close at this point. maybe make a mention about lwj interacting with wwx immediately after wwx has been interacting with a yokai. mention that lwj had begun feeling unwell, and it gets worse when he looks directly into wwx's eyes. but, like. maybe be subtle with this.

-wwx is the one who leaves. he's being bounced around among relatives. actually, that brings up an interesting question. even tho this isn't going to be a 1:1 fusion to start with, I really don't want to put the Jiangs in place of the Fujiwaras bc the Fujiwaras are SO KIND TO NATSUME ;u; switch it up so that the town ends up being where wwx goes to college? the jiangs took him in & he's attending with a scholarship + pocket money from jfm + a job. means he's living in the dorms.

-lwj is attending the same college. the Lans are monks, and there's a temple run by a branch family where he's staying. lwj shouldn't be able to banish yokai, so maybe lxc went around randomly chanting sutras to purify the area. (check to see if this is also something that might have a basis in Chinese culture. seems like it should, but double check.) wwx comes out to see what all the yokai are making a fuss about, and finds lwj. (make their first meeting something memorable enough for wwx to be delighted to see him.) lwj leaves the encounter feeling a bit dizzy. his family has since told him that his sickness is due to spiritual sensitivity to yokai, and he notes that even tho lxc had purified the area around the temple for him, after speaking with wwx, he'd started to feel faint effects.

-if looking at wwx's eyes is what's causing the dissonance, then that's going to have to be addressed. can lwj build up a tolerance? has he already been doing so, and lxc was just being overprotective? can one of wwx's yokai buddies provide some sort of charm or talisman that would relieve the symptoms in this case? (the wens as yokai, tho!)

-scene I really want to get to--lwj and wwx washing up together at the sink in the temple bathroom. wwx stayed the night, or is going to stay the night. lwj looks up into the large mirror as they stand side-by-side, and as wwx grins at him in the reflection, lwj notices that wwx's pupils are slitted. he's shocked, and turns to look, but wwx just turns as well, still smiling. there's nothing odd in his expression, only happiness, but lwj starts to feel dizzy, his stomach gets that fluttery feeling. wwx's eyes look normal, but there are stories about mirrors showing the truth of things. perhaps, like the yokai, it takes a certain level of spiritual awareness to see his eyes as they really are. lwj's been feeling strange around wwx off and on the whole time, but he put it down to falling in love. now so many of those physical reactions can be attributed to something about wwx possibly being part yokai. it feels like the ground has fallen out from beneath him. he doesn't know if he can trust his own heart.

-do the Lans have a one true love thing going on here? is it possible it's related to yokai? either as a curse or a blessing?

-as far as wwx goes, he doesn't lie about being able to see yokai, but he has learned that things are easier if he doesn't react to them around people, and doesn't advertise that he can see them. when they show up around the college, he's calmer about it than Natsume is.

-oh!! keep in the bit with the yokai fish pond! wwx can draw them for lwj.

-is there any way we can work in the Moon-Splitting Festival? I'd love for there to be an excuse for lwj to see wwx all dolled up during a yokai competition. lwj would have to be able to see the others, tho. what allowed Tanuma to see what was going on during the mansion gathering? or was that an exorcist thing where some of the shikigami got loose? lots of eps to rewatch in order to work all this out.

-maybe work in lwj getting strong enough not to be affected by wwx's eyes with wwx falling for him. as they interact, lwj stays by wwx's side to support him when things get sticky. he's the first one to both believe wwx and to have no ulterior motives. the matoba exorcists (Jin clan) want wwx's power & the Book of Names under their control. some of his classmates who found out were only wanting to see yokai, either for personal interest or to somehow use proof of the supernatural to get rich and famous. who's in Natori's role, tho? do we need anyone for that? I guess it could be jgy...that would give him ties to the exorcists, but also leave room for him to be on good terms with lxc. also, I never did fully trust Natori. I think he would act in what he feels is Natsume's best interest, disregarding Natsume's choices or what might be best for the book.

-ohhh am I gonna lose the whole mask aesthetic by switching to Chinese critters? booooo I like that aesthetic.

-instead of the ep where Natsume loses his ability to see yokai, we could do a curse where wwx loses his sight entirely. maybe that's when lwj kisses him. wwx is hanging out in the forest, waiting for the yokai who cursed him to approach, but it's lwj who comes upon him. maybe this is lwj's turning point? he accepts his feelings, punishes himself for stealing a kiss, then begins working in earnest to reach a point where he can not only look wwx in the eyes without feeling ill, but actually support and protect him when necessary.

-OH GOD A-YUAN IS THE LITTLE FOX KIT

[fannish-karmiya]

Onto another fandom gripe of mine...I have for so long seen Jiang Yanli get hate, and in particular people often say that she failed to help WWX while he was in trouble in the Burial Mounds and should have done more for him. I’ve even seen posts which are very reasonable and not hateful of her at all say things like this, and I think one issue at play (beyond the misogyny inherent in some of the more hateful takes about her) is that a lot of fandom doesn’t seem very familiar with what life was like for women in Chinese history. Or history in general, actually; a lot of the broad outlines are really similar across many time periods and cultures.

This isn’t going to be a full essay with sources and quotes, I’m just doing a sort of rough talk about it, so please bear with me. A full essay with some actual academic sources on the lives of women in Chinese history, comparing it to what we see in MDZS, could be really interesting, though, and I may earmark that as something to do in the future. I have the sources on my pc and bookshelf anyway!

So. One thing JYL gets criticised for a lot is not helping WWX when he settles down with the Wens in the Burial Mounds. People say that she shouldn’t have just brought him some soup and showed off her wedding dress, he was starving and poor and needed money!

But I think people don’t quite understand the social structure at play here. Money in Chinese families was (and sometimes still is today) communal, and the head of the family had the final say in what was spent and on what. We see,, near the end of the novel during the extras, LWJ give WWX a jade token and say that can be used to draw sect money. WWX, meanwhile, as a kid used to be able to just pick stuff up at Lotus Pier and it would be put on a tab which JFM paid off at the end of the month. The head of the family can see what money is being drawn from the sect coffers and by whom, and if it’s being spent on something they disapprove of how do you think that would go?

JC would absolutely not allow JYL to draw sect money in order to send it to WWX, and she could hardly give WWX anything during the wedding dress visit, which JC monopolised the whole time. What could she do, hide some money or jewellery in the soup bowl?? And after JYL marries, any money she has access to is her husband’s money, ultimately controlled by her father-in-law who is one of WWX’s greatest enemies.

Now, you can say that JYL could have sent him money secretly, but this would wind up causing far more problems than it would actually help. JYL and WWX are not related by blood, and we see time and again in canon that cultivation society does not respect her claim that they are siblings (look at that scene at Phoenix Mountain where she defends him; everyone refrains from directly disparaging her due to her social rank, but no one wants to give in, either, because they disagree with her). Immediately after this scene Jin-furen doesn’t want to let JYL go back down the mountain with WWX, because they don’t have a chaperone, to which JYL reiterates again that WWX is her brother (which Jin-furen ignores).

JYL trying to send letters or gifts or money to WWX, a man she is not related to who is not her husband, would have, if discovered, led to accusations of adultery. It could have ruined her reputation and marriage and caused a lot of trouble for WWX, to boot. WWX would surely not have accepted such attempts on JYL’s part if she did make them, knowing the consequences if they were discovered.

JYL did what she could for WWX; she spoke in his favour frequently (the gossipers during pt1 of Nightfall note that she speaks fondly of her shidi a lot) and encourages her husband to invite WWX to their son’s one-month celebration. Had it not been for the ambush (a plan which JZXuan was kept out of the loop from specifically because he might disapprove or tell his wife), then the meeting could have served as a means to re-invite WWX back into ‘polite’ society. It could have served to show everyone that WWX really is just living peacefully in the Burial Mounds and isn’t a threat.

The idea that JYL betrayed WWX or was selfish in marrying JZXuan and marrying into LLJ ignores two major issues. One is that who JYL marries, or if she marries at all, is really not up to her. It’s the decision of the head of her family, her brother at that point. And as I’ve written about before, I think there’s some subtext that JC was quite happy to marry JYL into LLJ and make a stronger alliance with them, regardless of whether she still cared for JZXuan or not. Women were essentially viewed as the property of male family members for much of human history; even up until a few decades ago (and still in many countries!) women couldn’t do things like open a bank account or rent or buy a house without a male relative or husband to co-sign for her!

This would leave JYL with only one option if she didn’t want to marry into LLJ: to flee. She could either try to marry someone else (who? especially who would be willing to defy both YMJ and LLJ in the process), probably using a ‘Romance of the Western Chamber’ tactic in the process, or she could...run away? What would fans have her do? Run away to Yiling and live with WWX and the Wens in the Burial Mounds?

The exact same problem, only more extreme, would come up then. JYL is, remember, a woman in (fantasy) ancient China, not a full citizen with the right to make her own life decisions. JC could just refuse to accept her decision and instead claim that WWX kidnapped her, which may well have given the Jins the excuse they needed early in order to rally the sects against WWX and mount a siege. Even if people accepted that JYL went there of her own free will, this would surely have led to the sects believing that JYL was seduced by WWX and they were having an affair. JC already stabbed WWX in the guts during their duel (not that I believe JYL ever knew about that). What would he have done if he believed that WWX had ‘stolen’ JYL away from him?

I think fandom often judges JYL as if she’s a man and has all the freedom of movement and self-determination which that implies, but she’s not. She’s a woman under the thumb of first her brother then her husband and father-in-law, and she doesn’t even have strong cultivation, not that that would change the way society views her.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 21, second part

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff) (Previous Post)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Flute Solo

For some reason Wei Wuxian has decided to take a walk outside of the fortress, or behind the fortress, or something? Can people just take a stroll outside during wartime? Seems unwise.

There are guards and these extra-bossy crows herding some Wen prisoners along, and Wei Wuxian stands up above and gets totally overwhelmed by resentful energy.  

He falls to one knee while clutching his chest, in the spot where all cultivators seem to stow a bag of holding. I guess this is the Xuanwu sword? Or maybe it's his surgical incision; those things can take a while to finish healing. I think the golden core is further down in the abdomen, though; this is right over his heart. 

Wen Qing, Granny, and Fourth Uncle are in the group, but Wen Qing has her hood up so Wei Wuxian can't see her, and he's unlikely to remember the other two, since he only saw them that one time at the shrine, and he doesn't remember people he's literally had dinner with.  

The guards decide to be assholes and beat the shit out of a prisoner because he fell down, which inspires some extra aggressive crows to swoop in and attack the not-dead guy on the ground. That is...not how carrion-eaters behave, generally. They're pretty good about waiting for you to stop moving.

Wei Wuxian continues to struggle, obviously having an orgasm in a lot of pain, and starting to leak resentful energy.

(more after the cut)

He brings his flute up and starts playing it, which causes the wind to rise, rocks to fall from a nearby cliff, and the whole group of people on the ground under him to start having Yin Iron lines crawling up their faces.

Would Wen Qing be a beautiful fierce corpse? She would. 

Eventually Wei Wuxian stops torturing everybody, having gotten it out of his system for a bit, and stands up.  The group gets up, skin clearing up, and starts moving along again, a little shook. Wen Qing looks up and sees Wei Wuxian and hides her face in anguish.

She was there in the dungeon, listening to the same flute music, when he was resentfully slaughtering everyone around her in Yiling. Does she understand what she’s seeing, what he’s become? 

Her hood is off and it seems that he sees her, or at least that he is trying to figure out what he's seeing. But Jiang Yanli arrives before he can do more than look puzzled and cast his eyes around.  

Jiang Yanli asks him what just happened and he laughs and says it was the strong wind, in an extremely transparent lie that Yanli nearly chokes trying to swallow. She drags him back to the meeting while he continues to look troubled.

War Council

Meanwhile, the war council is meeting. This is mostly a boring rehash of stuff we already know, but someone has drawn a nice big map that's been installed in a custom frame. Because apparently the table with the mountains on it is not a good enough representation of "and then we will walk from our house to Wen Ruohan's house," which is basically their plan. The gist of this scene is that Wen Ruohan having the Yin Iron gives him an advantage, in case we needed to be reminded of that. 

The doors fly open and Wei Wuxian and his fabulous ass literally blow into the room. 

Everyone reacts in a comically extreme way. 

He casts his eyes malevolently and/or sexily over to Lan Wangji, who is still grumpy with him, while Jiang Cheng comes up and stands almost as close to him as Lan Wangji used to.

He tells everybody that he might have something to counteract the yin iron.

Everybody: Really? Do tell!  

Wei Wuxian: Happy to!

Wei Wuxian: *theatrical side-eye at judgy ex boyfriend* 

Wei Wuxian: Actually, nope.

He says "we'll see in about a month" while fondling whatever is hidden next to his ribcage.

This behavior, while ridiculous, isn't quite as absurd as it seems from a corporate-meeting standpoint. Part of what cultivators do is invent and refine spiritual tools. So when Wei Wuxian makes this speech, the people in the meeting are going to infer that he is creating a spiritual tool to counter the Yin Iron.

Now it's Lan Xichen's turn to ask everybody’s favorite question. Lan Xichen wasn’t at the party when everyone else asked him, and we're apparently supposed to believe these gossips haven't been talking about the not-sword-carrying 24x7.

Wei Wuxian says he's just not in the mood, and we get to see Lan Xichen's impressive ability to hold his face completely still while he represses his desire to slap someone.

Jin Zixun complains about Wei Wuxian after he leaves, but for once his bitching is on point; he correctly surmises that the counter to yin iron is...yin iron. 

Now, to be fair, the yin tiger amulet is different from the yin iron because it exists in the novel Wei Wuxian specially refines it to be more manageable than the sword it started from. And maybe it’s gel coated to be easier on the stomach. But it's basically the same shit.

Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue exchange intense gazes, just to prove that the young people aren’t the only ones who know how to eye fuck. 

Lying Is Forbidden 

Lan Xichen talks to Lan Wangji, and we discover that Lan Wangji is perfectly capable of lying. He manages to maintain a reputation for not lying but I think the trick is that he just avoids talking in general, so when, for example, people in later years say "who's your masked boyfriend" he just doesn't answer, which isn't really lying. (How many times did Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen ask “where did you get this kid?” and just not get an answer, I wonder.) 

At other times he actually directly lies, as when he claims he is “just passing through” Yiling on a night hunt. The current conversation with Lan Xichen definitely involves actual lying.

Let's play multiple choice answers with the Lan brothers!

Q:  Why is WWX so confident we can have Yin Iron against WRH in a month? 

a.) Because he's been walking around with that Xuanwu sword for months, and it is obviously made of Yin iron b.) because he used a fucking ghost flute to flay Wen Chao more or less in front of me, so he is clearly down with some dark magics c.) I don’t know

Q: Was the death of people in the Yiling supervisory office really related to yin iron?

a.) obviously b.) maybe he was using some other source of overwhelming necromantic power c.) no, he’s not like that

Q. When you approached Yiling, was there anything unusual?

a.) yes, the talismans had been altered to draw in evil spirits b.) yes, everyone except his particular friend Wen Qing had killed themselves in horrifying, outlandish ways c.) are there rules already set for everything in the world?

Xichen, bless him, actually lets Lan Wangji change the subject like that and answers his question honestly.

Xichen: Actually, rules are pretty much shit Wangji: fucking hell, you're telling me this NOW? What have I been doing for the past 18 years then?

They both look just ridiculously beautiful in this conversation. Lan Wangji’s affect with his brother is so interesting. He’s trusting, emotionally open, willing to be seen...but only because he knows Lan Xichen won’t push past his barriers, won’t force him to speak the truth of what’s on his mind.

Awkwardness

The Yunmeng bros roll up, and awkwardness ensues. 

Wangji is frowning hard. His frowns are of the micro variety just like his smiles, but boy they are consistent and Wei Wuxian and Xichen both know how to read them.

Wei Wuxian gives Lan Xichen a small, sunny smile--it seems genuine, not like the fake ones he's trotting out on demand for his family. 

Then he gives Lan Wangji a pointed gaze of yearning and reproachfulness, which Lan Wangji returns, switching from frowning to a softer expression that seems about equal parts hurt, apology, and thirst.

Wei Wuxian reacts to that by bowing again and leaving, with Jiang Cheng quickly following, wondering what the fuck just happened.

Lans Xichen and Wangji pivot gracefully to watch them go, which Lan Wangji should know is not correct post-breakup behavior; you're supposed to act disinterested, my dude. 

And then Lan Xichen asks Lan Wangji what the fuck is going on. Lan Wangji gets one more lie in, saying he's not worried about Wei Wuxian, before reapplying his frown and walking away from the conversation.

Macroexpression Brothers

OP was wrong about Wei Wuxian not hugging Jiang Cheng any more--here he is hanging on him just like the old days, and Jiang Cheng is shoving him off, just like the old days. However, it emerges that this is mostly an act that WWX is putting on to seem normal. 

Jiang Cheng wants to know what's wrong between him and Lan Wangji, and asks why they broke up. Wei Wuxian points out that Jiang Cheng didn't like him dating Lan Wangji before, so why is he pushing him to get back together with him now, and Jiang Cheng says that now they're allies in a war, so Wei Wuxian needs to do his duty and help keep Lan Wangji in fighting trim, nudge nudge. 

Then he starts lecturing Wei Wuxian about sword cultivation and generally good behavior, and Wei Wuxian theatrically nods and give him appraising looks, telling him he really seems like a clan leader now.

Jiang Cheng headshakes this away. Wei Wuxian actually giving Jiang Cheng a sincere compliment here, disguised as teasing, and he's not wrong. Jiang Cheng has matured and is becoming a strong leader. Not strong enough to ignore peer pressure, but that’s true of most clan leaders in this environment. They’re not supposed to ignore peer pressure. 

Wei Wuxian is pointing it out for his own reasons - he doesn't want to be having this conversation - but it's nice to see him giving his clan leader his due.

Jiang Cheng walks away as Wei Wuxian smiles after him; as soon as he's out of sight the smile falls off of Wei Wuxian's face as fast as fast as gravity can take it. It's like someone snuffed a candle.

No one bites back as hard On their anger None of my pain and woe Can show through

But my dreams, they aren't as empty As my conscience seems to be I have hours, only lonely My love is vengeance that's never free

More Awkwardness

Lan Wangji and his ambivalence come looking for Wei Wuxian, standing outside his door and raising a hand to knock before changing his mind and fleeing. 

Lan Wangji is on the back foot for the first time in his relationship with Wei Wuxian; this boy who pursued and pursued and PURSUED him is now a man who won't speak to him.  This boy who hung on every one of his words, and saw through all of his minute facial expressions, has become a man who won't listen to him. Lan Wangji is in the position of pursuer, now, and it's not a role he's well equipped for.

Yanli stops him as he's bailing. He looks so relieved to see her, but he tries to escape immediately after greeting her. She stops him so she can ask what the fuck is going on. 

Unfortunately, Wei Wuxian rolls up while Lan Wangji is in the middle of talking to her.  He's telling her about the heterodox cultivation, and Wei Wuxian busts him. Wei Wuxian steps up and asks what he was telling her, and Lan Wangji says "Wei Ying," but doesn't get much further than that.

Nunya

Wei Wuxian reminds him that he told him to stay out of Jiang Clan business. Now, here I want to mention that "private" and "not your bidness" are culturally specific concepts. OP, for example, grew up in version of Irish-American culture so secretive that the problems of a person's life and (often) the cause of their death are things only discovered by whoever inherits their papers. [OP inherited 3 generations of letters a few years ago, and HOO BOY]

In the version of Chinese culture which we see in this drama, your choices, thoughts & troubles belong to the family and clan, not just to you.  Wei Wuxian, in shutting his elder sister out of his struggles, is not family-ing correctly. Jiang Yanli is right to try to get around that by asking his friend. His friend is also right to give her--in sanitized form--the information she is asking for. 

Wei Wuxian has zero trust in Lan Wangji at this point, unfortunately. He doesn’t know that Lan Wangji has been lying to cover for him; he just knows he’s being a grumpy aggressive holy roller. Now, when Lan Wangji has just been given permission to disregard all 3000 rules and look at a person’s heart, that person’s heart has been hardened against him. 

Yanli is used to dealing with Wei Wuxian's moods at this point -- after all, a lifetime of Jiang Cheng has got her used to volatile little brothers, and Wei Wuxian is clearly a new, not-improved man since his return. 

She tries to get him to chill out while Lan Wangji gives him a death glare -- not a return to the earlier generalized frown, more of a specific "I can't believe how full of shit you are" frown.

Wei Wuxian calls him Lan Er Gongzi, like a dick. Lan Wangji started this but at this point Wei Wuxian is kind of in the lead for who is being The Worst. Lan Wangji executes a beautiful 180 and walks away at top speed. 

Wei Wuxian asks Yanli if he talked about Yiling and when she says he didn't, he realizes he fucked up. 

He goes running after him and calls him Lan Zhan and says "listen to me" but Lan Wangji is no longer in a listening mood. 

Eat A Dick Sword

Lan Wangji is so far in his feelings at this point that he just hauls out his sword and goes after Wei Wuxian, taking complete control of the interaction and forcing Wei Wuxian to concede the fight. Aww, he’s so angry! I love him. 

This is a rough moment for Wei Wuxian. He really genuinely can't hold his own against Lan Wangji, unless he's going to directly use necromancy against him the way he does later in their final confrontation. 

When they first met he was able to defend himself on the rooftop without drawing his sword, but he's weaker now; Chenqing is an adequate hand weapon against most cultivators and puppets, but it's not a match for Lan Wangji's full attack. 

Wei Wuxian is not enjoying this fight, and can’t win in, so he just throws in the towel, exposing his throat and trusting Lan Wangji's control.

On the surface, this fight appears to re-establish their former rapport, but it puts them on such an uneven footing it might actually drive a larger wedge between them.  I think that Lan Wangji has made a strategic error in doing this.  

Lan Wangji seems to want to prove to Wei Wuxian that his new style of cultivation is inadequate, that he would do better with a sword. Swordplay was the beginning of their relationship; their matched power was the source of their mutual attraction. Lan Wangji can't accept that Wei Wuxian has given it up; he doesn't (yet) respect his agency enough to assume that he has a good reason.

This fight functions as yet another punishment that Lan Wangji doles out to Wei Wuxian; not a physical one, this time, but a psychological one, and their relationship pays the price. 

By attacking Wei Wuxian and forcing him to concede, Lan Wangji is showing that they're unequal. By criticizing Wei Wuxian's lack of progress and asking him the same goddamn question everybody else is asking him -- where is your sword? -- Lan Wangji is humiliating him. 

This encounter does not re-establish Wei Wuxian’s trust in him; it just forces him to accept Lan Wangji’s authority, for now. Which is not what either of them really wants. 

Soundtrack: Behind Blue Eyes, by The Who

Writing Prompt: What would Wei Wuxian have said if Lan Wangji had listened to him instead of drawing his sword?

[julieandthefandoms]

Housefull 2 MDZS/The Untamed AU

HELLO THERE MY LOVELIES! I’M MAKING A WILD TUMBLR REAPPEARANCE AND I BRING WITH ME SHINY NEW SHOWS I’VE WATCHED AND PERHAPS THE GREATEST AU I’VE EVER WRITTEN DOWN! 

Okay, so, I’m going to preface this by saying that I finally watched the Untamed over the past summer and now am slightly obsessed. I am also in the middle of reading the novel and watching the animation, so... that’s something.

Anyway, today, I decided that it would be a good idea to rewatch my favorite childhood film, a little Bollywood comedy titled Housefull 2. Upon rewatching this, I realized that the MDZS characters would fit really well into the convoluted mess of this plot and so I wrote a little bullet pointed AU idea thing. 

(I don’t think I’ll have the time to write this, so if anyone wants to use this concept, pleaseeee tag me/tell me about it. Also, if anything like this is already written, pleaseee tell me too, I need the crack content.) (I’m also desi, by the way, so I don’t know much about Chinese culture, so please tell me if anything is offensive or just plain inaccurate.)

So, without further ado, I’ll be presenting this Housefull 2 MDZS/The Untamed AU! 

-As per canon, JZX is emotionally constipated and couldn’t communicate until after his engagement with JYL got split up. Having made their sister cry, JC, WWX, and NHS (who gets roped into it) plan to crush JZX for hurting JYL. 

-They send WQ to crush JZX by breaking his heart but give her such vague instructions that she accidentally falls for Mianmain. 

NHS: “So... who’re we supposed to use to crush this Peacock. I mean, it can’t be any of us.” 

WWX: “I don’t know about y’all, but I’d be great at this mission.” *wiggles eyebrows*

JC *rolls eyebrows*: “I think you forgot that mom will have your head if you do something like this.”

JC: “Hey, you remember her from university?” 

WWX: “Who?” 

JC: “You know, *her*, the one with the needles who could murder anyone and get away with it” 

WWX: *laughing* “Holy hell, the Peacock doesn’t know what’s coming for him!” 

NHS: “And who might this mystery lady be?” He says, knowing exactly who this mystery lady is. 

JC and WWX: “Wen Qing.”

-All the while, JGS thinks that WQ and JZX are engaged because the Idiot Trio sent an envoy ahead that claimed WQ was a head disciple of Jiang and is a replacement for JYL. JGS has now set the engagement of WQ and JZX in August. 

-They find out about Mianmian/LQY and WQ too late, and now JC, WWX, and NHS send someone else, LWJ, to crush JZX’s heart. 

JC: “You can’t continue to do this, what happened to our deal?!” 

WQ: *death glares* “What our deal said was that I needed to woo someone vaguely in relation to the nickname “Peacock” and happened to be in Lanling as payback for JZX breaking your sister’s heart, I don’t think I’m the one who forgot our deal here.” 

JC: “And your first thought was that Mianmian/LQY was Peacock?!” 

WQ: “She’s pretty and a Jin, so…” 

Before there would be a throw down in this place, WWX interrupted: “Okay, WQ it’s alright that you feel for Mianmian/LQY, but who is supposed to help us teach JZX a lesson now?”

NHS: “I don’t know, but it could maybe be someone who’s already close to JZX.” 

JC: “That sounds like a horrible ide- Wait, that’s lowkey kinda genius. Do you remember him from university?” 

WWX: “Him?” 

JC: “Yeah, you know, him, the one who’s entire vocabulary was the syllable “Mn” and whom you pined after for years.” 

WWX *blushing like there’s no tomorrow*: “We can’t send him, he’ll probably send me off to do 50 handstands” 

JC: “Please, he’s do anything you ask him to” 

NHS: *flutters his fan while knowing to an extreme degree what’s going to happen*

-They send WWX as LWJ’s ‘driver’ for him to make sure the plan is on track, but it just ends in LZ/WY pining. JC is also sent there as a businessman since he needs to make sure JGS doesn’t suspect anything too suspicious. At the same time though, because JGS thinks WQ and JZX are engaged and since LWJ spends most of his free time talking to Mianmian/LQY about his hopeless pining, JGS starts to think that Mianmian/LQY and LWJ are to be engaged and plans another engagement. JGS is quick to inform LQR about this and now LQR thinks that his nephew is married to Mianmian/LQY and that they’re getting married in August. 

-At some point here, LXC is in Lanling to visit his bud Meng Yao and that’s when JC and LXC begin talking and stuff. (This can be platonic or romantic, I don’t have a personal preference). 

-Additionally, this is also when WWX and LWJ begin investigating the happenings of Lanling and discover the extent of an asshole JGS is. They'd probably be reported sporadically and NHS definitely sent this evidence to detectives XXC and Song Lan. 

-So far, no one has gotten to properly executing this plan, and JC & WWX are beginning to question things. Because things couldn’t possibly get worse, this is the moment when Madam Yu decides that it’d be a good idea to visit the Jins in order to remind them of their arranged marriage between JYL and JZX. So now, JC and WWX have to drag both LXC and JYL into this convoluted plot because otherwise everything would go horribly wrong. JC, WWX, NHS, JYL, LXC, WQ, LWJ, and Mianmian/LQY (WQ directly told the boys that if they don’t let Mianmian/LQY in on this, she’ll personally shove a needle where it hurts) are in this room together, attempting to processes the absolute mess that has occurred. (Poor JZX is still living obliviously, his father didn’t even tell him that he’s technically engaged to WQ now. JZX is just vibing in confusion and thinks he’s just being buds with LWJ because LWJ is horrible at flirting with anyone that’s not WWX so his job of breaking JZX is... not going well.) In the end, after being on the receiving end of many of JYL’s disappointed looks, JC and WWX convince her to help them with their plot just this once. (She wouldn’t tell anyone that she was secretly pleased, but hey, JYL kept her vengeance deep, deep down low and deserved to exercise it just this once.) 

-(it is important to note here that in this AU, Madame Yu doesn’t know what JZX looks like) 

-The plan would be that LXC would (reluctantly) pretend to be JZX in front of Madam Yu. Additionally, Madame Yu thinks the actual JZX is NHS (because JC panicked and that’s the first name he could come up with when Madam Yu asked who was that kid if LXC was JZX). This was to drive JGS off their tails as he still believed that WQ is engaged to JZX now. (He did email LQR about this as well who now thinks his nephews are now engaged to JYL and Mianmian/LQY, respectively, and are going to be married that August.) This is the part where WWX and LWJ finally start realizing that their feelings are mutual after a pep talk from Mianmian/LQY, LXC, and WQ (who’s pep talk sounded more like a shovel talk) for LWJ and from JC, NHS, and JYL for WWX. This is also when Mianmian/LQY and WQ grow closer and also decide that the rest of the group is useless and team up with NHS to knock some sense into JZX. Finally, JZX becomes less emotionally constipated and confesses to JYL, and because WWX, JYL, and JC think that an intervention from the scariest trio (WQ, Mianmian/LQY, NHS) is apt punishment, they call an end to their payback. (Also partially due to JZX having character growth as different characters grilled him throughout this AU). While this is great for our mains, it can only cause a bunch of shenanigans because of the way the parental figures interpret this situation. 

-JGS and Madame Jin think the pairings are: WQ/JZX, LQY/LWJ, LXC/JYL, WWX/NHS

-Madame Yu thinks the pairings are: JZX (except it’s LXC’s version of JZX)/JYL, LWJ/WWX, LQY/WQ, and (maybe?) JC/NHS (except it’s JZX who got confused for NHS)

-LQR thinks the pairings are: WQ/JZX, LQY/LWJ, and LXC/JYL

-Meanwhile, the pairings actually are: JZX/JYL, LWJ/WWX, LQY/WQ, and (maybe?) JC/LXC

-In conclusion, they’re all utterly fucked. Therefore, they have to bring everyone into this convoluted plot now, and finally JZX’s experiences over the past months make a little more sense to him. While discussing this mess they’ve created, WWX has an idea. 

WWX: “Okay, so, looking at the actual chart of who everyone thinks is who, the biggest disparity is between Madam Yu and JGS’s viewpoints, right? What if we just removed Madam Yu from the equation, make Madam Jin and Madam Yu have a falling out so that Madam Yu won’t be invited to the wedding so that we can focus on one of the false interpretations of all the relationships happening.” 

JC: “Madam Jin and Madam Yu have been the best of friends, how are we supposed to make them hate each other?” 

JYL: “I mean, we could stage something, a betrayal of some sort.” 

NHS: “I’m liking the way you think.”

-So through this plot and NHS’s concerning amount of connections, our group succeeds in breaking apart Madam Yu and Madam Jin’s friendship. JC and WWX also manage to worm their way into convincing the Jins to let JYL marry LXC to “spite Madam Yu’s wish of combining the Jiang and Jin families.” Because of JGS arranging and emailing parents throughout this fic, JYL, JZX, LXC, Mianmian/LQY, WQ, NHS, WWX, and LWJ are basically set to be married in August, except it’s to the wrong person! Soon enough, the wedding day arrives and the gang has a plan: they’ll dress the exact same and have the most elaborate and disruptive headpieces so that their faces are covered. 

(Note: Instead of NHS being part of the people getting married as it should be, JC is replaces him for the actual ceremony. Since the our marrige folks have their faces covered, nobody really notices that JC replaced NHS and is marrying LXC. This can be either because of a marriage of convenience to combine companies, or out of actual feelings. I’m cool with either interpretation in my head. Meanwhile, NHS is out in the crowd and People didn’t him because of his surprisingly useful camouflage fan.) 

-And so, the group sets NHS as their distraction while JC pretends to be NHS for the wedding ceremony. NHS basically knocks into the most expensive vase he can find so that most of the parental figures turn around, giving the group getting married the opportunity to switch places with one another until they’re in the right spot. So, a bunch of stuff happens, Madam Yu barges in to yell about how disgraceful it is for the Jins to go on with this marriage even though they broke the engagement in the first place and betrayed the trust of the Jiang corporation. Madam Yu also just, airs out JGS’s dirty laundry in a real badass way. 

-It’s all chaotic. Hell breaks loose. JGS goes batshit crazy and starts bringing our firearms. And so, basically, everyone ends up hiding behind pillars and stuff, though, eventually, after everyone has to run out of their hiding spot’s because Su She cannot shut the fuck up and keeps getting the other’s exposed, they all pile behind JGS in the world’s worst game combined game of Hide & Seek and Slither.io. It all finally ends when JGS gets arrested for a shit ton of crimes, and everything finally ends with a joint wedding between 8 people, except this time it’s with the right partners.��

So, yeah, that’s the AU that I wrote in a dazed craze in the past 2 hours. I hope it was at least partially understandable. I hope y’all have fun with it! Again, if you know of a fanfic that’s got a similar energy or want to write something similar, please tell me, I need more fanfiction. Also, that last scene is basically a direct copy of this scene from the movie Housefull 2. (I’m sorry though, I can’t find an english subbed version of the scene. :(

[crossdressingdeath]

1/6 something I find funny - how some people have somehow twisted JFM’s character as this weirdo with a huge obsession with WAC. I’ve seen a number of stories where this happens, to the point where other characters have to remind him that he has other kids. But like that isn’t even canon? Yeah JFM cares about WWX and he might have a huge guilt going on, possibly for not being able to prevent his friend’s deaths

2/6 and maybe that does affect the way he treats WWX, but I wouldn’t call it obsession lol. Contrary to (somehow) popular belief, he doesn’t treat his kids that badly - I mean I haven’t seen him treat JYL badly at all, if anything he’s more considerate of her feelings than YZY is, and I guess it all comes down to JC and even there...he’s not even that bad? A lot of the “JFM ignores JC and treats him badly” discourse seems to come directly from Madam Yu, who seems to twist the situation anytime

3/6 she’s able to, or times where he does seem strict because...well, JC kind of needs it in those moments? And JFM probably shouldn’t let the future leader of his sect run rampant and do anything he wants? I don’t want to go on too much of a tangent here, because I’ve seen this discussed on your tumblr already. But another thing I’ve kind of seen pop up a lot is how JFM searched for WWX so much after his parents death. But again, this isn’t an indication of him ignoring his kids. If a person

4/6 knows that their best friends have died and have a young child who is probably living on the streets right now, in a dangerous, potentially deadly situation...of course you’re going to freak out. Of course you’re going to want to find them as soon as possible, because any decent human would. It’s not a sign of him ignoring his own kids - his own kids who, by the way, are completely healthy, have a warm place to live, plenty of food, ect. - that’s just what YZY wants everyone to think.

5/6 I just find it so weird that he’s been twisted to be this awful parent on the same level as YZY when he’s really not. He’s distant and reserved for sure, and maybe a bit more indulgent of WWX than JC (I don’t really remember how JFM interacted with JYL, and I don’t think there was much of it, so I’m just basing this on his relationships with WWX and JC mainly) but that could be down to his own guilt/attachment to the past, WWX’s personality, and the fact that having a

6/6 child pretty much brainwashed by his wife to see him as the bad guy might have had a negative impact on his relationship with JC. I’ve see. The same thing happen with my mum’s dad and uncles. If that’s what did happen, I definitely don’t think it’s okay they he left his wife affect his relationship with his kids but...he’s not a terrible parent. He’s not abusive or outright neglectful like some fics portray him.

I mean... knowing your wife is mistreating your kids and your ward and not stopping her is... bad. JFM should have stepped in and stopped YZY, that’s true. But here’s the thing. Not stopping a thing isn’t as bad as actively doing the thing. Is JFM a great dad? No, definitely not. But it doesn’t automatically follow that he’s cruel and abusive. Is he outwardly kinder to WWX than he is to his blood-related children? Yeah, a bit. That doesn’t mean he ignores his own children. I think there’s a bit of black-and-white thinking going on: JFM isn’t always attentive towards his children, so he’s neglectful!

And yeah, the whole thing where YZY acts like it’s somehow a bad thing JFM focused on finding WWX after his parents died is like... WWX was about five when his parents died. I can’t even imagine the sort of person I’d have to be to see a man desperately searching for his best friends’ child who’s now alone and living on the streets, scrambling to find him before he could starve or die of exposure or any number of horrible fates could befall him, clinging to the last shreds of hope that this child isn’t already dead, and insist he was doing something wrong by not giving up on that child and just staying with his own children, who were perfectly safe and happy and had nothing to fear (or they wouldn’t if YZY wasn’t around). I feel like a lot of people miss the fact that when YZY says “You should have stayed with your family instead of obsessing over WWX” what she’s really saying is “You should’ve let WWX die on the streets”. And yeah, part of how JFM treats WWX is probably influenced by guilt; guilt at not being able to save his parents, guilt at the way JFM’s own family treats him... WWX is treated like a glorified servant by so many people, even in his own home. JFM being kind to him is likely caused on some level by wanting to show him that people in Lotus Pier do love him and do see him as family.

And JFM does have a duty to be stricter with JC than he is with WWX! JC is the future sect leader. JFM will be leaving Yunmeng in his hands, not WWX’s. Of course he’s harder on JC when the fate of Yunmeng depends on how well he teaches JC to behave! But YZY twists it into him loving WWX more, when even WWX himself sees and tells JC that JFM can just get away with being kinder to WWX. I imagine JFM was also getting a little worried about the future, after JC took the reins; JFM’s not blind, he’d be able to see JC’s character, how he snaps and snarls and is cruel to everyone around him, how he never comes first and complains about other people doing better instead of looking at how he can improve, how none of his peers outside of his own sect seem to like or respect him... He could’ve gone easier on JC, maybe, but I can see why he wouldn’t. On the flip side, of course he didn’t have to be as harsh with kind-hearted, charming, genius WWX, whose arrogance is always clearly playful and who gains faithful allies as easy as breathing. Or sweet and gentle JYL, who is beloved by everyone and has a gift for mediation. JFM’s actions didn’t occur in a bubble, he made decisions based on the people around him and what he thought they needed. 

Not to mention... JFM has an example of a young master of a great sect whose arrogance and cruelty are allowed to go unchecked, whose opinion of his own abilities is inflated until he believes anyone surpassing him is something they should be punished for. I don’t think he wants his son to turn into another WC.

He should have done more to stop YZY from turning his son against him and tormenting his children and ward. But failing to do that doesn’t make him evil, or as bad as she is.

[imaginaryelle]

If you're still taking asks, maybe a modern wangxian au where LWJ finds out WWX never learned to ride a bike so he decides to teach him? Or in line with those LWJ does something uncharacteristic but only for WWX's eyes (like winking at him) and WWX is so shocked and tries to convince anyone else that it happened but no one believes him. Just some general fluffiness 🤗

Anon, I hope you don’t mind that I threw A-Yuan in here too,because I had a brainwave halfway through writing this and “fluff”plus “Lan Wangji acting in ways other people won’t believe”came up with an answer of “A-Yuan.” (Also I re-watched relevantscenes and realized A-Yuan calls Wei Wuxian “Xian-gege” and Icould not resist.) This fic is ~2.7k and can also be read on AO3.

*

When Wei Wuxiansteps off the bus with A-Yuan balanced carefully against his hip, hefinds Yiling park is less crowded than expected for a sunny autumn day.  That may be due to the exhibition downtown, or to the coolbreeze snaking over the grounds and blowing hair into people’sfaces no matter how carefully they’d tied their ponytail. He swipeshis hair back irritably and checks that A-Yuan’s coat is stillbuttoned up. It hadn’t been this cool back at his apartment, butafter a few months of babysitting Wei Wuxian has learned at least afew things, and one of thosethings is that Wen Qing will absolutely pummel him if he takes thekid out without a jacket.

“This is usually areally nice place,” he tells A-Yuan as they walk hand-in-tiny-handtoward the pedestrian boulevard.  “When I was in school, fourdifferent classmates of mine got engaged here, over by the river, andthere’s a playground further in, and sometimes there arefireworks.”

The grounds haven’tchanged much since those days, which were, admittedly, only a yearago so he’s not sure what he was expecting. The walking paths arestill lined with trees and flower bushes for every season, and theelectric lanterns overhead creak as they swing in the breeze. It’sjust not really the sort of place he ever imagined Lan Wangjifrequenting. Full of couples and families with children, or usuallyfull anyway. Lan Wangji likes solitude and quiet. At least, he usedto.

Maybe something’schanged in the last few months. Something that would make himactually respond to one of Wei Wuxian’s messages for once. Andinvite him somewhere. On a not-date, because Wei Wuxian is verycertain that Lan Wangji doesn’t… date. And he definitely doesn’tdate university dropouts, no matter the state of their previousfriendship, or what sorts of daydreams and hopes Wei Wuxian stillguiltily harbors.

Not that theknowledge stops Wei Wuxian’ heart speeding up as he finally catchessight of a figure in a long white overcoat, standing quiet andself-contained next to one of the bubbling fountains spreadthroughout the park. Not that reminding himself of it keeps his palmsfrom sweating as they draw nearer.

“Lan Zhan,” hecalls when he can’t bear to wait any longer, and it’s gratifying,how quickly Lan Wangji turns.

“Wei Ying,” hesays, and there might even be a hint of a smile there before his eyeslock on A-Yuan and a frown etches itself between his brows. “Thisis …?”

“Oh!” Wei Wuxianrealizes, quite suddenly, that he never actually… sent that updatetext about his situation. Oops. “Sorry, sorry,” he apologies.“This is A-Yuan. I don’t usually watch him on Saturdays, but hisfamily had a—a thing today.” He waves his free hand, as if it canencompass the Wen family’s various complications and commitments.

Lan Wangji staresdown at A-Yuan without responding.

“Is—is thatokay?” Wei Wuxian bites his lip. “If it’s not I think I’mfree next week—”

“It’s fine,”Lan Wangji says. And then, with some concern, “Is he cold?”

Wei Wuxian looksdown to find A-Yuan has turned his face into Wei Wuxian’s leg, likehe’s hiding from the wind. But he’s not shivering, or clinging.It’s more like his occasional behavior at the supermarket, whenit’s overcrowded.

“Ah, no, I thinkhe’s just shy.” He pets A-Yuan’s hair. “A-Yuan,” he coaxes,“This is Lan Zhan, Xian-gege’s friend from school. He’s the onewho invited us out to play today.” A-Yuan shakes his head and staysstubbornly turned into him. Wei Wuxian can barely bite back his smileas he says, “Lan Zhan, your face is too severe, he thinks you’reangry.”

Lan Wangji managesto look even more concerned at this, and Wei Wuxian laughs. “It’sfine, it’s fine, he really is shy. It took him two days to warm upto me when I was first watching him.” He slings off his backpackand nudges A-Yuan closer to the fountain. “He’ll do better for abit of a distraction.”

The backpack isoverstuffed with things he or A-Yuan might need, but it’s easyenough to find the butterfly and the dragon he likes best.

“A-Yuan,” hesays, holding them out, “Do you want to show Lan Zhan your toys?”

A-Yuan bites hislip, his little hands clenching tight as he reaches out and thenpulls back.

“A-Yuan ishungry,” he declares, and Wei Wuxian sighs.

“We ate lunch anhour ago. I told you already, we can get noodles in a little while.All I have for you right now is shrimp crackers and dried plums.”

A-Yuan pouts. Shrimpcrackers and dried plums are tied for his least favorite snack, butbetween his anticipation of this outing with Lan Wangji and theunexpected chaos his morning had turned into Wei Wuxian hasn’trefreshed his supplies yet this week. He sets the toys on the wideedge of the fountain and turns with a grimace. “Sorry, Lan Zhan,”he says. “Sometimes he—”

“Will these work?”Lan Wangji produces a brightly colored bag of Lotus chips and holdsthem out to A-Yuan, who nods eagerly.

“Lan Zhan...”Wei Wuxian watches him open the snacks and pick out a careful pile ofchips that he presents on a paper napkin. Watches A-Yuan smile widelyat him and offer up his most polite and heartfelt ‘thank you.’There’s another, immediately recognizable snack bag peeking out ofLan Wangji’s bike pannier—the spicy version of the same brand oflotus snacks, which Wei Wuxian had eaten almost every day while theywere in classes together and which he knows for a fact Lan Wangjipersonally abhors.

For a moment he’sso overcome with nostalgia and inexplicable gratitude that he can’teven see what’s directly in front of him until Lan Wangji call hisname.

“What?” heblinks hard and clears his throat before meeting Lan Wangji’s gaze.“Sorry, Lan Zhan, what-ah. What did you even want to do today,anyway?”

Lan Wangji looks athim for a moment, and then at A-Yuan happily eating and playing, andthen nods to himself. He goes back to his bike panniers and rummagesfor a moment, reappearing with a bike helmet, which he pushes intoWei Wuxian’s unresisting hands.

“What’s thisfor?” he asks, staring at it. It looks suspiciously like LanWangji’s own bike helmetwith the white and the blue detailing tomatch his fancy road bike,but he supposes it’s possible there’sa second one. Lan Wangji had to buy it somewhere, right?

“Riding,”Lan Wangji says, and Wei Wuxian sighs and passes the helmet back.

“LanZhan, wherever you want to go I’m sure we can walk. Or catch a bus!Get a taxi. It’s too—too windy to bike, and there’s no seat forA-Yuan on a rental.” He sticks his hands in his pockets and huncheshis shoulders like he’s warding of chills. Hot noodles are soundingmore and more appealing. 

“Youshould learn,” Lan Wangji says, and Wei Wuxian goes still. Noteven remotely adate then. Definitely nota date. No, instead LanWangji has found yet another weakness to poke his long, beautifulfingers into. Damn him.

“Whotold you?”

LanWangji is impassive, as ever. “You were at the skate park. With WenQionglin.”

WeiWuxian frowns. He spends a few evenings a week at the skate park withWen Ning, but none of that time is really related to—oh. Oh.The trick bike, two weeks ago. Which means Lan Wangji saw him crashinto a bench and nearly break his wrist. Whoops.

“LanZhan, that was a one-time thing,” he promises. “Don’t worry,I’m not going to be trying that again.” Even if riding a bikewould be worlds more convenient than walking next time he misses thebus to work.“I’m fine, really. Thereare plenty of ways to get around the city.” Heturns on his heel and scrunches up his face in the direction of ahappy couple on the walkingpaths. This is reallynot—wait. “Wait.” He spinsback around. “Did you mean—youwant to teach me?”

LanWangji is looking down at the helmet in his hands, not meeting WeiWuxian’s eyes.

“Mn,”he says, low enough that Wei Wuxian can hardly hear it over the rushof the fountain. He leans closer.

“Isthere a special reason?” he asks with renewed hope.

“WeiYing should learn,” Lan Wangji repeats.

Somuch for that then. Wei Wuxian pouts. But maybe he can turn this tohis advantage. Bike riding lessons could take hours. Maybe days. Itcould take multiple meetings, with and without A-Yuan in tow. Atminimum, it means more time spent with Lan Wangji, more opportunitiesto figure out if this is friendship rekindled or—or something else.

“Okay.”He plucks the helmet from Lan Wangji’s hands and smiles at the hintof surprise on his face. “Let’s do it.”

Ofcourse, as with anything involving Lan Wangji, there arecomplications. It’s not enough to just get on a bike and point itdown a clear patch of pavement, no, there are steps.The first of which is wearing a helmet, which takes a few minutesto get settled properly; WeiWuxian has no idea how Lan Wangji manages to wear it and still havesuch perfectly neat hair all the time.Wei Wuxian does not have thatgift. His ponytail gets inthe way, and Lan Wangjimeets the suggestion that they could just move on without the helmetwith an icy stare. So Wei Wuxian takes down his hair and puts it upagain three separate times, and stops to tease A-Yuan and let himselfbe laughed at, and then the straps have to be adjusted again, andagain.

Thatpart at least is mostly pleasant. Lan Wangji stands close enough thatWei Wuxian can count his eyelashes as he frowns and messes withplastic clips and slips his fingers carefully between Wei Wuxian’sskin and the buckle. It takes two tries before he’s satisfied thatthe helmet isn’t going to slip off and leave Wei Wuxian to rattlehis brain against the concrete, and by the time he steps back WeiWuxian has very nearly convinced himself that a kiss would be aharmless, innocuous thing and not at all a risk that makes hisinsides tie themselves into knots. Very, very nearly, but notquite well enough to close that last bit of distance between them.

Adjustingthe bike’s seat is significantly more frustrating.

“It’sfine,” Wei Wuxian insists, impatient after getting on and off thebike four times for what seem to be extremely minor adjustments.

“It’ssafer if your feet can touch the ground while you’re learning,”Lan Wangji says, unhooking the latch again.

“Theytouch!” Wei Wuxian fumes. “I’m not that much shorterthan you, I’ll knock myself out with my own knees if that seat goesany lower.” Not that any of his protests seem to matter in the faceof Lan Wangji’s conviction.

Finally,finally, after the seat is adjusted and Lan Wangji hasstubbornly held the whole bike still so that Wei Wuxian can tryputting his feet on the pedals without falling over, they can reallyget underway. Wei Wuxian moves A-Yuan to a slightly safer distancefrom both bicycle and fountain, tells him to stay put so he doesn’tget hurt, and straddles the bike one last time. Lan Wangji holds ontothe rack in an effort to keep the bike steady without being directlyin the way, but it’s still a wobbly effort. Wei Wuxian looks downthe stretched out downhill slope of pavement before him and seesnothing but a hard surface to fall on. For a moment he considers themerits of calling the whole thing of and insisting on an early dinnerafter all. His wrist twinges with remembered pain.

ButLan Wangji has gone to so much effort, and this is the first timehe’s reached out for anything in months. If Wei Wuxian backsout now he might not get another chance to see him for even longer.

“Okay.”The handlebars wobble and he tightens his grip with a grimace; LanWangji’s biek is the lightest, most responsive bicycle he’s everso much as touched. “Okay,” he repeats. “What next, Lan Zhan?”

“Pedalslowly, and remember the breaks,” Lan Wangji says at his shoulder,and then they’re moving, Lan Wangji’s footsteps at his side asthe tires roll and the pavement speeds by, faster and faster, andthen he realizes he can’t hear Lan Wangji’s footsteps anymore andhe’s gliding along on his own. Coasting down the hill. Speedingup.

Thespeed is exhilarating. Like jumping off a diving board or taking thehalf-pipe a little too fast. He lets out a whoop and leans into itand tries to pedal faster, and then the bike leaps suddenly sideways,and there’s a moment of trying to pedal backwards and trying toreach the brake levers at the same time, and then the whole bikeshudders underneath him and the horizon slips sideways and he hitsthe ground and slides.

Fora few seconds he just lies on his side doing a mental inventory ofhis parts. Ow. His left ankle and upper arm hurt. There’s gravelunder his face. He has no idea where the bike is. He thinks A-Yuanmight be crying in the distance.

“WeiYing!” Lan Wangji’s voice draws nearer. “Wei Ying,” rightoverhead. A hand grabs at his shoulder, another pressing to his face.

“Xian-gege!”A-Yuan yells, almost directly into his ear, still crying, and WeiWuxian reaches a hand up for him.

“I’mokay,” he says as soothingly as he can, patting blindly at A-Yuan’shead.“Shhhh, Xian-gege is okay, A-Yuan.”

“WeiYing,” Lan Wangji repeats, like he thinks Wei Wuxian can’t hearhim.

“LanZhan.” Wei Wuxian struggles to sit up, a process made moredifficult by both A-Yuan andLan Wangji’s hoveringpresence so close to his face. “Did I scratch up your bike?” Helooks around for clues to its whereabouts, but Lan Wangji makes adismissive noise and grabs at his hand.

“Areyou hurt?” he asks.

“No,”Wei Wuxian lies. Bruises don’t count, especially not with LanWangji holding his hand. “Lan Zhan, I’m fine, I promise,” heinsists when Lan Wangji looks unconvinced. More than unconvinced, LanWangji looks almost regretful. “Hey, hey, no,” Wei Wuxiansqueezes his hand. Dares to tug him a little closer. “I’m fine.Nothing an ice pack won’t cure.”

“Xian-gege.”A-Yuan chooses that moment to crawl from Lan Wangji’s lap to hisand press tiny toddler hands into his face. “Xian-gege is hurt,”he says, pushing at Wei Wuxian’s cheeks in a way that does,admittedly, make him wince.

“Everything’sokay, A-Yuan.” Wei Wuxian sighs and lets of of Lan Wangji’s handto wipe at the tears on A-Yuan’s cheeks. “I’m not hurt. I justmessed up. Do you remember what we do when we mess up?”

A-Yuannods seriously. “Try again,” he says dutifully, and Wei Wuxiangrins and bops his nose gently.

“That’sright! We try again. So that’s what we’re going to do, and thenwe’re going to go get noodles. Deal?”

“Mn!”A-Yuan nods eagerly.

“Deal,Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian asks, still grinning even though his cheekhurts with it, and even though his whole body is probably going toache tomorrow morning, especially if he falls again. “Let merepay you for the lesson with dinner?”

LanWangji gives him a long, slow look, but there’s a hint of a smilethere. Just enough to send Wei Wuxian’s heart soaring all overagain.

“Mn,”he agrees.

[mingjue]

Sleep schedules fucked. Please tell me more about the Boys, hxd and jinhai. would like to to more specifically about the Gold Digger akdjjsd

OK IM LATE BUT YES I WILL TELL U............... but w hxd first just to Know Things

Huang Xiaodan

current sect leader of the Huang Sect; given name is Huang Yahui

he has an adopted daughter (Huang Daiyu) and his step mother helps him run the sect, she mostly aids in teaching disciples and the like

he’s stupid kind, he’s stupid, but only when he’s Taihe (where the sect is located), when he visits sects outside of the direct ones next to him he’s considered “cold-natured” bc he just doesn’t talk to anyone unless prompted. or when he does, depending on who it is, he’s impatient w them and moves fast in conversation

the only exceptions were when he was flirting w jiang cheng or lan xichen

anyways, before a lot of things, he had been secretly with a man named Syun Liqiu-- they mainly kept it secret bc Liqiu was set to marry a woman (and also sect leader Syun, liqius dad, fucking hates the Huang sect)

sadly, the night of Liqius marriage with the woman, he came to the Huang sect and took his life in one of the spiderlily gardens to be discovered by Madam Tao/Xiaodan’s step mother a few hours later

SO, with xiaodan being the Sensitive Man He Is when he’s at home, he kind of just............. Switches Off in a sense. he starts being reserved even to his daughter and they were super close :(

also info on the huang sect before i continue

the huang sect was established quite a while ago, but because of the things its notorious for, it’s still a quite small sect. its not SUPER tiny, but it’s no where near as big as like, the jiang or nie sects

a few generations into the huang sect being established, the sect leader at the time brought a curse onto the sect bc he was like wow, i want some god dick, and he got it! but now sect leaders/people directly related to the leading family have a chance of dying super young, like 20-30yrs old

Xiaodans dad actually lived quite a while compared to other sect leaders (late 40s, was able to have 2 kids) so people kinda thought hey. maybe the curse is wearing off. (nope!)

anyways, on top of that curse, they’re just. not human. in a sense. they KINDA are, but aren’t at the same time.

Xiaodan has the ability to control his generals sword (@ kagekitsuneoflight’s character, Huang Fan Cong) and his little sisters sword (Huang Jiayi), on top of the fact he’s able to control them

he only really does this when he absolutely needs to because he hates the thought of controlling others like that, but when he does go into that mode, his “True eyes” come out and spiderlilies have a habit of growing out of nowhere on him and those he’s controlling

It’s a really big strain on his golden core and in general his body to go all out and make them fight, so again he never does it

the sects closest to Huang are aware of these abilities, but it’s seen as rude to question anyone about them, or their origin. outside of that no one is really knowledgeable about these things

sect leaders typically get these powers through a specific way of cultivation, but they aren’t able to choose who they control-- if they were Xiaodan would NOT have chosen his little sister (bc shes legit. 18 :( )

there’s a lot more but now for Wu Jinhai

Wu Jinhai has a little bit more intent than golddigging

he has no clear background-- he was orphaned as a teenager, was an only child, and he doesn’t know if he has any aunts or uncles, or even grandparents

The most he’s willing to tell is that he started practicing cultivation with his mother pretty young, and continued training throughout various sects-- still does when he meets xiaodan too, and he’s pretty good at using each sects methods

he traveled by himself for the most part until he was 25, and throughout that he’s managed to help several villages, so he’s got a good chunk of money on him-- which he ends up spending in Taihe bc he likes red and their colors are red and gold, and the Huang sect is VERY much into fashion n shit

so he gets decked out in pretty clothes and hairpins, guans, etc., and still has money left over for whatever he needs. he stays at a small house that isn’t in too bad of shape, keeps it furnished, helps whoever needs it-- and then the news of the Syun’s Sects Heir committing suicide in the private spiderlily gardens comes out and he’s ALL ears

bc first of all, asides from coming to get some hanfus specially made for him among other things, he’s been wanting to fuck around and make major trouble.

he doesn’t do it immediately, like he waits a few months to let Xiaodan mourn (he finds out about the relationship through rumors, and gets it confirmed by xiaodans little sister after befriending her), but eventually he does present himself to Xiaodan

he basically proposes after presenting his credibility and xiaodan is like. holy fuck. ok. um. give me a week and i’ll consider it ok. (huang fan cong is NOT fond of him, and neither is Madam Tao, bc they know his attitude from unfortunate run ins)

Madam Tao tries to discourage xiaodan from considering the arrangement bc like. he doesn’t have family so he could be making shit up. his vibes are rancid. etc etc and xiaodan starts like. thinking about what she’s saying. but he says “ultimately it’s my choice” and madam tao is just ‘r u serious gay boy’

anyways jinhai ends up seducing xiaodan at some point, and manages to convince him to marry.

they marry, wjh uses this to his advantage to finding out sect secrets, he sells some of them to neighboring sects for laffs, then suddenly the two sects surrounding taihe are like “we are going to war bc ur sect is fucked up, also we want more land” and hxd is like WHAT

anyways, wjh fakes his death after hxd finds out he sold sect/family secrets and runs off to the Nie sect (with a bunch of fucking cash) to watch the war from afar, changing his name to Nie Bojing

wu jinhai deadass just started a war because he felt like it. wanted to see some drama. about 4 years after the war (which ended in the collapse of the Huang, Syun, and Liu sects), WWX resurrects in Mo Xuanyu’s body

Madam Tao, Huang Daiyu, and some of Huang Fancong’s sisters survive the war as the remaining people of the Huang sect, and they also refuge in the Nie Sect.

idk what happens beyond then, but Huang Daiyu ends up finding Wu Jinhai again at some point