#wangji will never forgive the jiangs

[shake-this-poet-out-of-the-beast]

Lightning scars from Zidian

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji Goes To Lotus Pier AU: Part 3: Enveloping Feelings.

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 4 (soon))

[oneeyedoctogod]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rant over. Sorry about that.

[askew-d]

no one knows that wei wuxian was thrown in the burial mounds, right? no one actually believes that, correct? it was the first thing he brushed off when he got back, so jiang cheng and lan wangji probably think it was a misunderstanding. they didn’t think much of it, at the time. but wei wuxian really was thrown. he fought corpses, hunger, thirst, sleepiness, exhaustion and survived out of spite. it’s one of those experiences only he will know, a trauma he’ll be alone to make it heal, something to remember and kept inside and never to approach the topic again. wei wuxian’s always been like this, so that matter, although huge for the plot and devastatingly painful overall, will be forgotten. is forgotten, as he moves on.

and that’s kind of the melancholic beauty of that, isn’t it? forgetting the bad things, remembering the good, forgiving and living. like: ‘it doesn’t matter what happened to me, i’m happy now and it’s gone, so forward i go’. that’s wei wuxian, as always.

[whumpbby]

I'd really love to read a fic where a year past the canon ends, Lan Zhan starts to realise that his dreamed-up perfect relationship with Wei Ying isn't what he imagined it to be.

That what he got is actually a wholeass person with imperfections that will get annoying after a while, with opinions that he doesn't agree with and behaviours he's not prepared to just accept. A human person that will lie to keep him happy, that will leave when any possibility of strife approaches, that sometimes doesn't want to have sex - or that sex isn't a cure-all for their problems. That whatever Jiang Cheng experienced growing up with Wei Wuxian will fall on Wangji too, because love doesn't change you as a person in 100%, sorry.

Because that's what think will be a hurdle for him - he never was in a relationship. He never even had real human friends. Fuck, he doesn't seem to have acquaintances. All he ever had was a made-up image of a boy he knew shortly in his late teens and a sect where he was the lauded Young Master everyone respected. He can't stoically stand a kid talking back to him without a silencing spell and has difficulty expressing the most basic things in useful words. For all the soulmate talk, he didn't even know the boy he dreamed building a life with - that Wei Wuxian never existed outside of Wangji's limited glimpses of him and a lot of forgiving assumption.

Like, when will it hit him that Wei Ying is actually a complex human being that isn't just for him to care about and love, and that he himself isn't happy with some things? Will he one night wake up in cold sweat when he finally understands that the man sleeping next to him orchestrated a horiffic surgery on himself and his brother, and never indicated that he regrets it and wouldn't do it again? That the man sleeping next to him kinda-sorta just looked on as people were murdered in front of him, and didn't really have any strong opinion about being brought back via human sacrifice?

Like, discarding stiff and stifling Lan rules after being burned by them is one thing, but this is a moral quandary that goes way beyond that.

[starrywangxian]

how the mdzs characters would sign off emails

inspired by this post and this post

Wei Wuxian: Thanks - I'll see myself out, Wei Wuxian

Lan Wangji: Sincelery, Lan Wangji, Hanguang-Jun, Cloud Recesses, Gusu Lan Sect... (he would include full titles and addresses etc.)

Lan Xichen: Many thanks! Lan Xichen, Zewu-Jun. (it's passive aggressive to other sect leaders but to lwj he adds emojis - yes he emails his brother shh)

Lan Sizhui: Have a nice day, Lan Sizhui! :)

Lan Jingyi: Never stop the grind, Lan Jingyi - P.S. Plz don't fail me Hanguang-jun :(

Lan Qiren: Regrettably, Lan Qiren.

Qingheng-jun: That's all, Qingheng-jun.

Madam Lan: Talk soon! (i recognise this is ironic... but i feel like she'd write something really casual and nice :))

Lan Yi: Okay then. (i feel like she'd be very straight to the point lmao)

Ouyang Zizhen: Fare thee well, Ouyang Zizhen! :)

Jiang Cheng: Please stop reading the email.

Jiang Fengmian: Stay tuned, Jiang Fengmian.

Yu Ziyuan: May the lord forgive your sins, Yu Ziyuan.

Jiang Yanli: Thanks again, Jiang Yanli! :) ...Don't cross me.

Wei Changze: Sent via smoke signals. Best, Wei Changze. (i feel like he'd also write a joke but treat it like a fact lmao)

Cangse Sanren: Sent from the future ;) Cangse Sanren! (i feel like she'd write a jokey and fun sign off <3)

Jin Guangyao: You're the best boss ever (lol jk), Lianfang-zun.

Jin Ling: don't care + didn't ask + L + ratio. jin ling.

Jin Zixuan: Lukewarm regards, Jin Zixuan.

Jin Guangshan: Ciao! Jin Guangshan. (he tries to be friendly and cool because he thinks everyone likes him but he's just annoying and everyone hates him)

Madam Jin: Thank you. (P.S. Please send any important sect-related emails to me, my husband is useless and doesn't do anything).

Jin Zixun: The best, Jin Zixun.

Qin Su: See you in hell, Qin Su.

Mo Xuanyu: So long and thanks for all the fish! Mo Xuanyu.

Nie Huaisang: Stay hydrated, queens! Nie Huaisang <3

Nie Mingjue: Over and Out, Chifeng-zun.

Wen Ruohan: May the Night bless you, signed Overlord Wen Ruohan.

Wen Ning: Apologies for existing :') Wen Qionglin

Wen Qing: Please don't contact me for 3-5 business days - kindest regards, Wen Qing, Head Physician.

Wen Chao: Mic drop, Wen Chao.

Wen Xu: Thanks, enjoy the hours you have left. Wen Xu.

Wen Zhuliu: Regards, Wen Zhuliu.

Wang Lingjiao: Live, laugh, love! Wang Lingjiao xoxox

Luo Qingyang: At a loss for words, Mianmian.

Xiao Xingchen: Live long and prosper, Xiao Xingchen!

Song Lan: May God be with you in these trying times, Song Zichen.

A-Qing: God's favourite child, A-Qing.

Xue Yang: YOur FrIendly NEIghBOur... XuE ChEngmEI.

Su She: Remember the name: Su Minshan.

Baoshan Sanren: That's it. Baoshan Sanren. (i feel like she'd be straight to the point too)

[robininthelabyrinth]

for the fanfic prompts: au where wwx comes from the old and respected yiling wei sect and jc and jyl are the children of rogue cultivators (or maybe madam yu ran away with rogue jfm?), taken in by sect leader wei

ao3

"I'm going to strangle Jiang Cheng when I find him," Wei Wuxian announced. "No, don't try to talk me out of it. My decision on this is final."

"Mm," Lan Wangji said. He didn't sound especially convinced, but Wei Wuxian supposed he could understand and forgive that - after all, Wei Wuxian had been waffling for quite a while on what he was going to do to Jiang Cheng once he found him.

Because he was going to find him. That part was non-negotiable.

Wei Wuxian was going to find his stupid little shidi who'd never had a kind word in his poisonous little mouth, but whose heart was as soft as his tone was hard. His shidi who had always been so painfully grateful for the way Wei Wuxian's parents had taken him and his sister into their sect after his own parents had died so unwisely on a night hunt - Jiang Yanli had been visiting with them anyway, her chronic weakness having flared up, but Jiang Cheng had been who-knows-where with them at the time. He never talked about what had happened back then, and neither did he talk about what he'd endured the following year when no one had been able to find him as he slowly made his determined way back to Yiling, terrified down to his bones that Jiang Yanli had been thrown out as soon as the news had spread. He'd only been eight, and all alone, but he hadn't let anything stop him.

Really, Wei Wuxian should have realized long ago that Jiang Cheng would be inclined to do some completely insane if it was for the sake of Yiling Wei. Jiang Cheng's family motto had been attempt the impossible, far more ambitious than Yiling Wei's live true to yourself, and Jiang Cheng persisted in thinking that he owed them his life. And Jiang Cheng always paid back his debts, whether real or imagined.

Wei Wuxian was going to strangle him.

And then he was going to hug him and never let him go ever again. He was going to keep Jiang Cheng safe this time, and he was never going to have to see his stubborn shidi turning his back on him again, turning back to the burning mountain that needed someone with the key to the defensive array to hold down long enough to deceive the invading Wen sect into thinking Yiling Wei was still there. He was never going to have to lie there on that horrible talisman-powered boat, paralyzed by whatever poisonous concoction Jiang Cheng had slipped into their drinks at dinner as they'd debated escape versus staying to fight a suicidal battle, unable to do anything as Jiang Cheng saved his entire family at the cost of his own life...

No, that wasn't right. Jiang Cheng hadn't given up his life for theirs - he hadn’t. He'd been captured by the Wen sect, yes, and then he'd been taken away to who-knows-where, but there wasn't any proof he was actually dead. 

Wei Wuxian was going to find him. 

He was going to find him, and he was going to strangle him, and then he was going to bring him home where he belonged.

“You can strangle him too if you like, if you promise not to use that ridiculous arm strength of yours,” Wei Wuxian offered to Lan Wangji, who rolled his eyes at him. “I’m serious! It doesn’t have to be strangling. You can kick him instead…well, I don’t know. Do you Lan have ridiculous leg strength, too?”

Lan Wangji didn’t dignify that with any response.

Typical, really.

Luckily, Wei Wuxian’s mother had given him good advice – very good, since Wei Wuxian took after his eternally oblivious father in regards to romance – and so he just waited patiently to see if Lan Wangji was actually deliberately ignoring him or if he just needed some time to gather his thoughts.

(Or, you know, be shamed by his fine-tuned etiquette skills into responding anyway. This was apparently a strategy that worked really well on members of the Lan sect in particular, or at least on Lan Wangji’s uncle – and everyone always said that a nephew most resembled their uncles…)

“…I brought rope,” Lan Wangji said after a while.

Wei Wuxian blinked. Rope? Well, of course Lan Wangji had brought rope – they didn’t know where Jiang Cheng was, after all, and there were always situations where rope might be useful for climbing or marking a path or –

“To tie him up.”

Or that.

Wei Wuxian once again congratulated himself on having excellent taste in romantic partners, even if it had taken him his mother (and, more embarrassingly, his father) pointing out to him that what he was feeling was romantic attraction and not just, as he’d believed, an overwhelming desire to get Lan Wangji’s undivided attention and torment him into friendship.

(Wei Wuxian still couldn’t believe his father had dared to say something about him not getting it. That rotten hypocrite had asked his own wife on the eve of their wedding if she actually liked him like that! He didn’t get to judge other people for being a little slow on the uptake!)

Once Wei Wuxian had realized, of course, naturally he’d dragged Jiang Cheng all the way back to the Cloud Recesses with him to try to spend more time with Lan Wangji. Never mind his own initial obliviousness, once he was set on a course of action, no one could stymie him – he’d been sure he’d be able to win the icy Lan-er-gongzi’s heart, and sure enough, he’d been right! Even if exactly how he’d managed to do it remained mystifyingly unclear, the main point was, he’d done it!

It hadn’t occurred to him at the time that it was in any way odd to take Jiang Cheng with him.

It was Jiang Cheng! They went everywhere together, did everything together – they’d even been born only a few days apart, Wei Wuxian leading and Jiang Cheng following, just the way it ought to be, just the way it always was. Sure, Jiang Cheng grumbled and complained, but that was just how he was; Wei Wuxian would even bet that he’d left the womb grumbling rather than crying.  If he’d really objected to something, he would have just shut himself up like a turtle, refusing to engage, and there would be no force in the heavens and earth that could get him to come out, so, really, the fact that he came along meant that he didn’t mind, no matter his complaining that it was wrong to bring a third party on a date.

Wei Wuxian, for his part, had just felt that it would be even more wrong to leave him out.

That had been all that it was or so he thought. At the time, anyway.

He really was just – very oblivious.

And then there’d been that one beautiful summer afternoon when he’d finally cornered Lan Wangji all on his own and they’d ended up kissing for half a shi before Wei Wuxian had, rather unconsciously, said, “I can’t wait to see what Jiang Cheng thinks of this! …where is he, anyway? Wasn’t he supposed to come on this hunt with us?”

Lan Wangji had hummed and nodded. “He made a mistake.”

“A mistake?”

“Mm. He thought we wanted privacy.”

Wei Wuxian hadn’t been able to resist a wicked smirk – they had, hadn’t they? Only…he wanted privacy from the rest of the world, sure; no one else was allowed to see Lan Wangji all red-eared and flustered, kissed until his lips were pink. But the rest of the world didn’t include Jiang Cheng, who had to see it: he would probably have the funniest comments to say about it, and if he didn’t see it, how would he make them?

“A mistake,” Lan Wangji had said again, and this time he sounded far more serious, serious and solemn. “He thought he was unwelcome, but he is not. By…either of us.”

That had been the first time Wei Wuxian had congratulated himself on his exquisite taste.

Truly, Lan Wangji was his soulmate. How else would he understand so well what Wei Wuxian had only just begun to realize for himself? That he didn’t just want Jiang Cheng by his side as his future right hand, but by his side, forever, in all things, even this?

Lan Wangji even had the good taste to want Jiang Cheng for himself as well. He was perfect.

They both were.

They were both perfect, and they were both necessary, neither one any less than the other, and once Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji found Jiang Cheng, they were going to beat that fact into his rotten head once and for all. And then tie him up and take him home and never, ever, ever let him go.

As soon as they found him.

Because they were going to find him, no matter where the Wen might have taken him. Even if he was in the depths of the Fire Palace or the depths of the Yunmeng ghost marsh, that stinking pit so full of drowned souls that even the fish couldn’t make it in, they were going to find him and bring him home.

Because Jiang Cheng was theirs.

[fandom-trash-goblin]

Jiang cheng for the ask game

Also asked my @jcs-singular-slut-strand my beloved <3<3<3 and another anon, i'll just put it here. this needs a lot more jin ling but i'm tired sorry

Favourite thing about them: the fact that jiang cheng isn't a genius like wwx. he works hard and he fails and he's still so fucking amazing. he's sandu shengshou, he's sect leader jiang, he's zidian's wielder, he's fucking amazing. jiang cheng goes from this:

the most laughable one was the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, the people of which either had been killed or had scattered, leaving only Jiang Cheng, who was younger than even Lan XiChen and was still a child born yesterday, who had nobody in his hands but still dared call himself sect leader, holding up the banner of rebellion as he recruited new disciples.

to one of the most feared people in the world. everyone needs to clap for him.

propoganda : sect leader jiang convincing rogue cultivators to join, the dichotomy of our poor little dangereuse meow meow, he's trying so hard but he's going the wrong way, man believes his big brother so deeply even when he wants him dead, his fearsome reputation comes from killing his brother but gosh he will cry if you mention that,

Least favourite thing about them: not a least favourite thing tbh just--i so badly wanted the reverse core reveal man. i wanted jiang cheng to throw it in wei wuxian's face that he sacrificed himself first. i know it's not his character, and it's better that way, but i want him to- and then i wanna see the devastation on wwx's face. delicious

Favourite line: this post has that variation of my father picked me five times in my entire life and it made me happy for months that i cannot bring myself to write so you should just click on the link. also, devastation->

the absolute variations of Wei Wuxian!

Don’t you understand? When you’re standing on their side, you’re the bizarre genius, the miraculous hero, the force of the rebellion, the flower that blooms alone. But the second your voice differs from theirs, you’ve lost your mind, you’ve ignored morality, you’ve walked the crooked path. You think you can be immune to all those condemnations as you stay outside of the world and do whatever you want? No such precedent has happened before!

Why do you want his forehead ribbon? To hang yourself and commit suicide? I can lend you my belt, you’re welcome.

Go ahead. What other bad news do you have to report?

something something If you insist on protecting them(the Wen side branch), then I can't protect you

brOTP: Jiang Cheng & Jin Ling. that's his jiujiu, man. you can fucketh right off if you wanna say anything bad. i would love love an explored dynamic between Jiang Cheng & Lan Qiren. also a possible wen ning & jiang cheng or lan wangji & jiang cheng but we are not gonna see it happen in this cannon lmao.

OTP: chengxian. here's why one, two, three, four (gif), five, six, seven (gif), eight (thoughts on different wavelengths), the absolute circles of them saving each other, the fucking golden core reveal scene. golden scene reveal part 2, between this and jonsa, i'm never beating the incest allegations

edit: jiang cheng will always forgive wei wuxian

nOTP: i started out with jiang cheng/lan xichen... but i don't really see it anymore. but i don't hate it either, i will read fics for it if i like the writing.

Random headcanon:

lichtenberg scars. many of them, glowing whenever he uses zidian. here's where i got it from.

man is a savant at politics even if he's loud and angry.

yunmeng jiang absolutely adores their sect leader. i will love you forever if you send me recs all of them. pretend i haven't read a single one.

Lan Qiren has a favourite student that year and his name was not LWJ. Person had the same initials as Jesus Christ.

Unpopular Opinion: liking Jiang Cheng itself might be an unpopular opinion, tbh. but. let me punch wen ning just once. once. i'm sure he's done nothing wrong in his life ever. but please. once

Song I associate with them: zero idea. i'll get back to you on this.

Favourite picture of them:

babey! i think we're underestimating the potential of disney princess jiang cheng // that's his whole damn world he loves them so much // the shepherd's favourite lamb vibes.

[wangxianficrecs]

When You Wake, 怎能当梦一场 by acertainrogue

When You Wake, 怎能当梦一场

by acertainrogue

T, 39k, Wangxian

Summary: He lay there buried under rabbit ears of wires, warmed by a thin blanket, breathing, breathing, never truly still, but never animated, either. “A-Xian,” Jiang-gugu said with a forced smile. “Your son and husband are here to see you. And your nephew too. He will be coming very soon.” A-Yuan ran up to Baba and held his hand. -- Sizhui grows up in a changing world, but his comatose father can't change with it. His family is determined to give him the love and forgiveness they didn't give Wei Ying. Kay's comments: So, this is definitely the kind of story that keeps you hooked and forces you to finish it in one sitting and even then, it'll still keep you awake for nights. It's just so good and so painful. Phew, so many knives! But, there's a happy ending, so you can definitely look forward to that! It's also actually set in real-world modern China, which is too rare for my liking in the English-writing fanfic community and I really appreciate all that went into this story and am also so grateful for the author for writing a whole thread over on Twitter explaining the cultural nuances one might have missed. As for the story, it's mostly Lan Wangji suffering and raising A-Yuan for thirteen years while Wei Wuxian is a coma. Cue: The Covid19 pandemic and the collapse of the health system and what that means for someone who's been in a coma for thirteen years. Excerpt: He lay there buried under rabbit ears of wires, warmed by a thin blanket, breathing, breathing, never truly still, but never animated, either. “A-Xian,” Jiang-gugu said with a forced smile. “Your son and husband are here to see you. And your nephew too. He will be coming very soon.” A-Yuan ran up to Baba and held his hand. Baba must have slept with Father when he was still awake. A-Yuan did remember being cradled in a cloud that was Father and Baba both, remembered being held between them in bed. There was a time when he had not known how to sleep otherwise. Baba had been cool, cool like the springs of silver dollar water, warm just enough so lotuses could grow. Tem-per-ate, he learned in school for his vocabulary section. But now, Baba was just cold. “Baba,” he squeaked, peaking over the side of the bed, tall enough that he did not have to tiptoe or have Jiang-gugu carry him anymore. “It’s me. It’s A-Yuan. Did you know I’m getting a cousin soon?” He fished in his pocket and found the dried grass butterfly Father had bought him on the roadside, from a man who peddled swallows with tails cut into forks and a green penguin waddling into life. “This can be your cousin too,” he told Baba importantly, nestling that gentle flutter of wing grass into Baba’s cold palm, so he could hold something when A-Yuan, Father, and even Jiang-gugu weren’t around. That was what Jingyi was to A-Yuan when he was at school, away from Father. Everyone needed a cousin, a companion, like the one that was about to be born. When he turned around, Jiang-gugu was crying.

pov lan sizhui, modern setting, modern no powers, pandemics, coma, hospitals, hospitalization, angst with a happy ending, comatose wei wuxian, implied/referenced homophobia, jiang family dynamics, good parent lan wangji, grief/mourning, covid19

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[admirableadmiranda]

I keep seeing the idea that Jiang Cheng is disliked or hated for his actions because "Jiang Cheng Antis” refuse to acknowledge ugly reactions to trauma, or victims who aren’t perfect, basically citing that he should be forgiven more than we do because not everyone is going to react the same to pain and trauma and just because his reactions aren’t perfect doesn’t mean that he should be held accountable for his actions, any of them, and us calling his actions wrong or abuse is us in fact being terrible.

I want to refute this idea for a few reasons:

First off, while I can’t speak for everyone, I know that I and my friends don’t think that his initial reactions being kinda bad are necessarily damning. Nobody is going to be perfect, sometimes when we are stuck in the worst parts of our lives, we do things that we will later regret in the process of surviving those times. It doesn’t really make it okay and we should understand if the people who are around us in those times don’t want to be around us anymore after that, but it isn’t a death knell that he reacts really poorly after the initial fall of Lotus Pier and the death of his parents and everyone he’s grown up with. I have forgiven characters for doing worse, but proving that it was their worst and turning around after that.

The problem with that part is that he doesn’t turn anything around. He never apologizes for strangling Wei Wuxian, he continues to turn the blame for what happened on people who weren’t involved even after getting to kill Wen Zhuliu and torture Wen Chao to death, holding Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and, for a time, Jin Zixuan as also being responsible even though none of them were, even though he knows this and adjusts his opinion later to drop Jin Zixuan out of the blame, even though he later adds Wen Ning to his list of those to blame despite Wen Ning rescuing him from Lotus Pier and sheltering him. It isn’t a worst moment of his life, brought on by trauma and pain, it’s just the start of his sliding slope downward.

Second off is the idea that this should exonerate him of all of his actions. Look at him! He lost his parents and his clan to war by the Wens! He has suffered so much, becoming a clan leader so young in the fires of war!!!

Except... he’s not the only one, not by a long shot. Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang all have their fathers killed and their homes attacked by the Wens as well. Both Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen also ascend at very young ages, no one was over twenty when they took up their positions, and at the end of the novel, Jin Ling is even younger when he takes on his own clan leader position. Also he isn’t the only one to go into war so young, Wei Wuxian is a whole five days older than he is, and the whole jianghu falls into war against the Wens, no doubt with other fighters who also lost their homes and families in the process.

It isn’t that it isn’t impressive that he manages to pull it together in the face of all that’s happening, it’s that he’s not the only person by any means to suffer this trauma. Wei Wuxian goes through the exact same journey that he does, but when this argument comes up, it’s always just for why Jiang Cheng shouldn’t be blamed, not about how their whole generation lost so much to a war that their parents left to them by refusing to do anything before even when they all saw the signs of what Wen Ruohan was doing.

The third part is that there’s apparently no limit or expiration date on how long people have to forgive him for doing whatever he wants to do. His trauma is a reason for him to treat people however he wants for as long as he wants, and they should just put up with it because he’s suffering and not all pain is beautiful.

But by the time Wei Wuxian comes back to life, it’s been almost twenty years. A whole generation, long enough for Jiang Cheng to watch his nephew grow to almost adulthood. The world as a whole is changed, he himself has transformed Lotus Pier into a whole new place; and it wasn’t because the Wens had destroyed everything, Wei Wuxian no longer recognizes it, meaning that this happened after he died. The general attitude that JC stans have towards Wei Wuxian is that he shouldn’t hold Jiang Cheng leading a siege against him because it’s been long enough, he should get over it by now. But Jiang Cheng apparently should still get to act without hesitation or consideration of others and their own pain because he is suffering, he is an imperfect victim. It doesn’t matter what else anyone else has gone through and it is unreasonable to hold him to task because he lost his family.

The whole point of poor trauma reactions is that they are moments, responses in time to events. It is one thing for Jiang Cheng to react poorly right after his family is killed and his home invaded. But he gets worse over the course of the story. The day of the attack, he strangles Wei Wuxian. That’s one thing. But three years later he turns on Wei Wuxian, declares him an enemy of the world, tells him to let the Wens be slaughtered even though they are no longer at war, later declares war on Wei Wuxian and personally leads a siege to kill him. In the interim, a time of peace in which supposedly all of his enemies are dead, he hunts down people who he claims to be demonic cultivators and people that Wei Wuxian is possessing and tortures them to death, all the while doing very little to help his people as he will only intervene once someone has already died to the problem. When Wei Wuxian returns to life thirteen years after he died, seventeen years after the war, when Jiang Cheng is literally double the age that this began, despite him deliberately trying to avoid Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng seeks him out multiple times specifically to hurt him, first trying to kill him with a whip that can destroy spirits possessing bodies, then tying him up and torturing him with a dog. Later he leads a second siege upon Wei Wuxian, who still has done nothing to him aside from try to avoid him before later attacking him and Lan Wangji by first demanding that they leave, then refusing to let them do so, driving Wei Wuxian to a qi deviation (which can be fatal, that’s how Nie Mingjue died) and attacking Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian with Zidian while Wei Wuxian is unconcious before Wen Ning stops him. Even in the temple, he’s still demanding that Wei Wuxian play by his rules of debts, he’s upset because he knows that he has gone so much farther than anyone has any right to and he has nothing to hold over Wei Wuxian’s head anymore.

Fifteen years of hurting everyone around him isn’t a poor trauma response. That’s deliberate and chosen. That is what he wants to do. It is a clear line of events where in the end, the trauma is an excuse over anything else.

If it had ended at the beginning of this list, Jiang Cheng would be a very different character and Modaozushi would be a very different novel. If it were just a trauma reaction and he didn’t want to hurt anyone in the long run, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

But you cannot exonerate everything with the fact that his parents died when he was seventeen. Especially not when we have so many other people who react in so many other ways to the same pain. It is frankly ridiculous that people think he is the only one to suffer in the story, even though it is clear that no one escapes the novel unscathed and a hell of a lot of people die. Sometimes even at his hands or by his orders.

Jiang Cheng is not unsympathetic. I can understand what hurts he feels, at least to an extent. But an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind and he just keeps doing it. And then his stans show up and claim that it’s fine for him to want to kill everyone who he hates (not necessarily everyone who’s even done him wrong, and they certainly like to ignore everything he does to them) because he’s an ugly trauma victim.

He may be that, at the start. But twenty years down the line, when he gets excited at the thought of getting to torture people, that isn’t a trauma reaction anymore.

That’s a choice.

[lrosenerds]

AU where Wen Qing is Wei Wuxian's unofficial physical therapist (he couldn't afford one otherwise). Most recently messed up in a motorcycle accident, he also has various old injuries from being a teenage hooligan.

So Wei Wuxian is complaining to Jiang Cheng in public somewhere, like a café or a dining hall, like, "Wen Qing is so mean to me! I'm so sore! Look, is my shoulder bruised? It feels bruised."

And Jiang Cheng says something snarky and dismissive, like, "You deserve this."

And Lan Wangji overhears only parts of this conversation and comes to his own alarming conclusions.

So the next day Lan Wangji tells Wei Wuxian that he has something very important to talk to him about. He sounds so serious that Wei Wuxian is like, "Sure, buddy. Your place?"

Wei Wuxian doesn't know what to expect, but definitely not for Lan Wangji to haltingly but determinedly start talking about how Wei Wuxian deserves to be safe, and it's okay to ask for help, and men in relationships can be abused by women partners, too, and it's important not to be ashamed and to utilize the resources available.

He pushes a bunch of pamphlets across the table at Wei Wuxian and adds earnestly, "I know your family situation is complicated, so if you need somewhere to go you can stay with me."

And Wei Wuxian is so stunned and horrified that Lan Wanghi thinks Wen Qing is his abusive girlfriend, but also so, so happy that Lan Wangji cares so much about him! He brought pamphlets and everything!!

And when Lan Wangji explains that he overheard Wei Wuxian talking to Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian starts laughing and explains, "No no no, Wen Qing is my physical therapist, she isn't abusing me, I'm just a crybaby whiner! We live together but we're definitely not dating!!"

And before Lan Wangji can get too embarrassed Wei Wuxian calms down and says, "But like hey, I'm so touched you care about me and wanted to help me, like even if you kind of hate me you're still such a good person."

Cue Lan Wangji's, "I've never hated you, I've criticized your behavior in the past because you put yourself in danger and get hurt."

And of course they start dating soon, and when Lan Wangji finally meets Wen Qing he brings her favorite food as apology, and Wen Qing forgives him. (His cooking is really good. And also she's secretly-not-so-secretly glad that Wei Wuxian has such a good person to take care of him and keep him safe and happy.)

(Anyway this is what happens when I'm bored at physical therapy I guess lol)

[drwcn]

In Untamed only, the Wen Qing rescue by Jiang Cheng could parallel the Lan Furen situation. She could be saved by being taken in by the sect leader, but she would be isolated, her family lost to her. Like, its more meta then textual but Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji have no mention of their mothers family. Lan furen presumably agreed while Wen Qing walked away. Lan furen lived a long time with her children taken away to be raised without her, Wen Qing dies right away with Wen Yuan taken to be raised by those same strangers.

Huh.... I never looked at it that way, but yeah you're right! On some level it is similar!

And then my mind promptly poofed up an alternative scenario if JIang Cheng also did what Qingheng-jun had done.

(tw for noncon? but really there's no noncon, people just think there is)

~~~

Jiang Cheng was audacious only once in his entire life.

When Wen Qing turned to leave that day in Qishan's dungeon, the comb she gave back to him abandoned on the stone bench between them, Jiang Cheng crossed his heart and decided that attempt the impossible meant sometimes one had to act now and beg for forgiveness later.

Whether the forgiveness he sought had to come from his deceased parents, the entire Jiang Clan past and present, or Wen Qing herself...well...he had the rest of his life to figure it out.

His hand came down on her without hesitation, blunt force striking her squarely where her neck met her shoulder, and she dropped bonelessly into his arms, her future forever changed.

↠↠↠

When Jiang Cheng was a boy, before Wei Wuxian arrived, he had heard of a story.

He was very young then, and Madam Lan had been a nebulous figure, a subject of whispers and gossip, about which very few knew anything concrete. When she died, the older servants at Lotus Pier, unaware that listening ears were just around the corner, had tsked and sighed at her short wasted life. Locked away in a house. Separated from her children.

Well at least her husband loved her.

He did, though? How would anyone know.

Or wanted her, at least.

Whatever is wrong with the young masters of this generation and their poorly chosen women! Either loved but locked up or free but miserable nonetheless. What is the state of this world?!

Jiang Cheng didn't understand then.

In time, he would.

↠↠↠

After she was discovered in the dungeon, Wen Qing woke up in Jiang Wanyin's bed, wearing not a stitch but a bandage around her nape, and discovered herself in the middle of Sunshot Campaign's battle camp. From the two female disciples that had brought her new periwinkle uniforms to change into with barely concealed sneers, Wen Qing learned the reason behind her wretched state. About two dozen disciples of various sects had seen Jiang Wanyin carry her in the previous night and emerge the next morning adjusting his robes in a way that required very little explanation.

It was not that she didn't try to escape. She did.

Where do you think you're going, pretty thing? A Jin disciple interscepted her. They all said that Wei Wuxian was shameless, but seems like shamelessness runs in the family. Still, gotta hand it to him, Jiang Wanyin has good taste.

The disciple grabbed her around the middle while a couple of his sect brothers laughed at her struggle. Does he share? Do you know? He should, it's a virture after all.

Their malicious laughter had turned to yelps of pain when Zidian whipped them three feet into the air and back by a yard.

"Don't touch what it isn't yours."

Sandu's gleaming tip tapped the Jin disciple lightly on the shoulder thrice, mockingly polite in its gentleness. The man released her, all too aware of the distance between his jugular and the sword's edge.

More people gathered at the sound of commotion, coming together with shared morbid curiosity and judging eyes.

Nie Mingjue was there. Lan Wangji right behind him, looking ready to draw his sword and uphold justice.

"Your little tart was running away." Scoffed the Jin disciple. "I was just teasing her. No foul, no harm."

"Is that so?"

And then in front everyone, Jiang Wanyin grabbed her by the hair and reeled her in to press his lips against hers, his other hand unfriendly and uninhitibted. Just as quickly, he detached his mouth from her, sneering at the onlookers before chasing the exposed skin of her neck yanked to one side, and bit down hard enough to draw blood.

Of course she screamed.

"A-Cheng, that's enough."

The others parted for his sister to come through. Jiang Yanli gazed blandly at her little brother and the girl thrashing in his arms, offered no words of admonishment, but merely said, "Go inside if that's what you want to do."

Jiang Cheng threw Wen Qing over his shoulder like a sack of grains without further prompts.

It's what she deserves, that wretched little bitch, Wen Ruohan's witch doctor, the whispers followed them like shadows, but no one raised a hand to Wen Qing again.

As the old saying goes: one would have to check with the master, even if it were only to beat a dog.

(Except: "You know what the world will think of you. What she will think of you." "I know, but...thank you for helping me, A-jie." "Don't thank me, didi, not when you're asking me to help you hurt yourself.")

↠↠↠

It's not that Wen Qing didn't try to kill him either. She couldn't.

Her cultivation was sealed. Semi-permanently. That was what was under the bandage. At the base of her nape, he had carved a sealing rune into her skin, and the only way to reverse it is to carve the counter sigil on her sternum.

Later, she would learn that this was a secret Lan technique, given to Jiang Wanyin by Old Man Lan himself. She could only guess what he must've said to convince the pedantic old man to hand over his family's protected secret.

(He had said this: "I love her, Grandmaster Lan, please!" "You are a preposterous boy, Jiang-gongzi." "I love her, as your brother loved your sister-in-law!" "You-" "I've heard of the stories, I don't know how much is true. Only...Wen Qing is innocent! Prideful yes, but innocent! Help me. Please. I will do anything in return.")

After her failed escape and that awful display in front of the whole camp, Jiang Wangyin never showed his face to her again. The Jiangs installed her in her own tent with confinement talismens to prevent her from further attempts. Every night, two disciples came to give her (or force feed her if she refused) a concoction of some sort, which rendered her unconscious within minutes and unrousable until dawn.

She could lie to herself and say she hadn't a clue what happened within those hours, but the fact she always awakened in some state of undress and dishevel the next morning, and the fact that it was undisbutedly known amongst the disciples - Jiang or otherwise - that Jiang Wanyin visited her nightly whenever he wasn't out fighting, narrowed the possibilities down to a singular conclusion.

In the maelstrom of her nightmare, it didn't occur her to wonder why he never came to her during the day.

(The truth was this: Lan Xichen was sympathetic, "Your cultivation is derived from water, hers from fire. A seal fused with your cultivation without some kind of...buffer will inevitably harm her in the long run, erode through her golden core until she is permanently damaged. Give this tonic to her everynight. Without fail.")

(But also this: "Why must we continue this farce, A-Cheng, just tell her the truth! Why must you make her believe that you -" "I own her, but do not love her. I am her master, not her lover. She is damaged goods, worthless even as a leverage. That's the only way the others will leave her alone." "A-Cheng, you don't have to do this -" "I do. I do have to....is there any word on Wen Ning? Have we found him?" )

↠↠↠

Then one morning, about a month in, Wen Qing woke to the sound of thunder and rain and realized she wasn't alone. Even with her cultivation sealed she could feel another presence in the tent. Seconds later, Jiang Wanyin emerged from behind the trifold, hair unbound, barefoot and only in his underclothing.

He froze when he realized she was awake, and stared at her agape as if she'd caught him doing something he shouldn't. As if somehow she didn't know he'd been violating her for weeks.

(Unfortunately: the storm had collapsed many tents in the camp in the early morning, including his and his sister's. Jiang Yanli had been invited to stay with Mianmian, and Jiang Cheng, knowing Wen Qing would be dead to the world, had ducked into her tent to quickly change into dry clothes.)

And if there had been some part of her that wanted to deny it all, that wanted to hang on to the delusion - to hope - that maybe nothing happened while she lost consciousness nightly, in that moment, was dashed and divided until all that was left of her was rage and a desire to inflict revenge.

She sat up, not even bothering to cover her half nude body, and said,

"The golden core in your body is Wei Wuxian's."

↠↠↠

Wen Qing had hoped that she could goat Jiang Wanyin into killing her, to end her misery.

He didn't.

Three days later, Wei Wuxian re-appeared.

↠↠↠

(In his letter to Jiang Wanyin a day before the Siege of Nevernight, Nie Huaisang wrote:

Jiang-xiong,

Hope you're keeping well in the front. I must confess you are a man of gossip and waggling-tongue these days, but I trust in your character to pay them no mind. I write to you without my brother's knowledge to confirm the favour you asked of me is done. Wen Ning has been located and transported to Unclean Realm with the atmost discretion. He recovers daily.

Your friend,

Nie Huaisang

PS: You seriously need to tell me everything after we kick Wen Ruohan's ass. You owe me! )

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

I will never get how some will read all the way through MDZS, get shown and told that all the lies based around Wei Wuxian were all untrue, and still tell themselves that Jiang Cheng was still wronged and his feelings are still "valid" by the end.

Jiang Cheng's feelings stopped being valid the moment he decided to be like his mother and choosing to hate people because that was easier than fixing the parts of him he disliked. It stopped being just a problem between his parents and him when he decided to use Wei Wuxian as a shield to name all of his wrongs to lash out against. You do not call someone just a support when you only use them as a scapegoat to say they are the reason for what you did not get in life. You do not call someone a friend or sibling and tell them they owe you for protecting them and then hold that protection over them as a price they have to buy into.

His story is tragic, but it stopped being empathetic when he dragged his projection of failings from just Wei Wuxian on to Lan Wangji and Wen Ning. He chose to project that his father and Wei Wuxian were playing favorites and always choosing someone else over him, when he himself did nothing to mature out of the angry sad child he had been. A child's feelings of being able to do nothing in the face of rocky parents fighting over control are valid. A grown man who continued to find a parental figure to rage against without ever bettering himself, is not.

Jiang Cheng got the ending he deserved because that was the effort he put into his bond with Wei Wuxian. You do not do the bare minimum and expect open arms after years of bitterness and hate that you created from your own insecurities and fed to the world. As an adult you do not continue to be hateful and expect unconditional love from the one you hurt constantly and belittle. Nor because you do one "good" action does it erase the pile of hate you put into the world and demand you are owed something from another. Forgiveness does not mean an opening to rekindle a relationship that is broken, it's just a door closing and sometimes it isn't ever going to be opened for you again.

You move on though and be yourself without excuses.

[pharahsgf]

anyway i'm glad lan wangji hates jiang cheng. i'm glad he doesn't forgive him and won't give him another chance to hurt and exploit wei wuxian, i'm glad he never forgot what jiang cheng did and never 'learned to live' with jiang cheng's attitude because He's Just Like That, and i'm really fucking glad he doesn't give a shit about jiang cheng's feelings or cares to consider jiang cheng's perspective. after everything that happened lan wangji one hundred percent deserves to hate jiang cheng unequivocally and i'm soooo happy he never has a brothers-in-law ~reconciliation arc forced upon him

[ruthlesscalculuss]

I think many jc antis and some jc fans don’t realize that Jiang Cheng is not just an angry callous man. He’s arguably the most sensitive character in mdzs.

He deserves to be seen through his hard exterior, because there’s something so interesting behind it. An angry man with no deeper thought would not keep Chenqing by his side for 13 years. No man with such little depth would cry and mourn at the golden core reveal and at the temple scene. His love and willingness to die for his nephew shows one of his best qualities: loyalty to family and his loved ones.

Him trying to help raise Jin Ling and treat him better than Jiang Cheng’s parents ever treated him is honorable. To be better than the parents who hit, humiliated, and neglected you- it’s a genuinely respectable thing. That takes character growth and reflection to be a better person, which can be hard especially in a case like Jc.

Jiang Cheng rebuilt lotus pier all by himself, yes he got support from the top clans, however he oversaw that everything was reconstructed and that the place could be a bright and functioning sect, even better before his fathers rule. By himself. That takes a certain level of devotion that I admire as well, and he doesn’t do it for greedy reasons like power like JGY, he does it because he’s been groomed to be the sect leader for so long, it’s basically a part of his personality now. And that in itself can be seen as another tragedy.

Btw the man was literally begging wwx to come back with him to lotus pier and to get rid of the wens, so that he could protect him, before things truly got out of hand “if you insist on protecting them I can’t protect you” That’s fear, that’s fear of another loss, the death of someone you care about. Also can we talk about how jc always knew he was second best to wwx? And hey he never was that angry with the man, never tried to push him down and make fun of him for being the son of a servant, he trusted and respected him. And I don’t think that was easy to do.

Also another thing. Jc never tried to hunt and kill or torture wwx. When he ran into him on the streets of that inn, he whipped wwx to stun him, and dragged him back to question him. Not even touching a hair on his head. He used fairy as a blocker, and did call him over to fuck with wwx, it wasn’t right but I get why he got pissed off. Wwx had made a…insensitive comment to say the least, because he was so used to messing with jc (and jc in turn) but forgot that things are very different now.

Also, jc never actually wanted to kill wwx when he saw him again, he whipped him to expel him out of mo xuanyu’s body because he thought he was possessing him and he did lash out at lotus pier but he tried to stop before it got any worse “Jiang Cheng didn’t really want to hit Lan WangJi, and immediately retracted his whip, but it was already too late.”

My point in writing all of this is that jc is not just an “angry bitter man”, he is man capable of warmth and forgiveness like how we see him forgive wwx in the temple after years of resenting him. It’s so easy for jc to just hate wwx, but he doesn’t, he says it himself “Why can’t I hate you?! Shouldn’t I hate you?!” The anger and hurt he’s fed for years are slowly losing its roots in his heart and he doesn’t know what to do except cry. This part of him, I think is too relatable. When you survive through expressing hurt as anger, when you have to deal with “you’ll never be good enough” I can understand and I wish others would acknowledge this type of canon

[silverflame2724]

Alternate universe where Su She admires and wishes to support Wei Wuxian for saving her life 2 times (Aquatic Abysses and Xuanwu Cave) in addition tobe convinced that he hates Lan Wangji and Jin Zixun too

I actually quite like this prompt so forgive me for taking so long to write it! Hope you enjoy!

____________________________

Su Minshan thought that this was the end. That his arrogance that he thought he could match up to Lan-we-gongzi would be his downfall.

Never would he have thought that Wei Wuxian, whose was thought to be the most arrogant of all, would disregard his own safety to help someone like him!

But Wei Wuxian was known more for his speed than strength and was soon weighed down by Su Minshan.

Su Minshan thought that Wei Wuxian would do the obvious thing and let him go to save himself. As he had seen many others do.

But no.

Wei Wuxian did not do the smart thing and let him go. He weaved through the relentless attacks of the waterborne abyss, holding him even tighter than before.

In the end though, they had to rely on Lan-er-gongzi’s arm strength to pull them out. Wei Wuxian teased the young master, only to receive the expected biting sarcasm as before. Su Minshan might have missed it if he weren’t so close, but Wei Wuxian’s hand trembled with an unseen hurt.

Su Minshan narrowed his eyes at this. He would make sure to repay his savior, Wei Wuxian. Not now, but perhaps when he has the necessary power and resources. Or, at a good time.

He found an opportunity soon enough. Jin Zixuan was famously known for disrespecting Wei Wuxian’s Shijie. While Su Minshan did not want to draw a sect heir’s ire, if he could get revenge for his saviour somehow, wouldn’t Wei Wuxian look upon him with favor?

So he put his plan into motion in the coming few days.

.

.

The common people were rather grateful to him and the others that helped contained the Waterborne Abyss so it was easy to buy a bunch of fish at a cheap price.

He planned to donate the fish to the Cloud Recesses’ kitchens - he was not naive - wasting food was just wrong - only asking for the scraps of the fish - namely the guts. Of course, to not implicate himself, he had left the fish in special storage containers after gutting the fish. Soon after, Su Minshan waited until the afternoon, made sure his savior was locked up in the Library Pavilion to complete his copying punishment and smeared most of the fish guts all over Jin Zixuan’s room.

The reason he waited until Wei Wuxian was in the Library Pavilion was because he knew people would be quick to blame his savior for the incident. After all, Jin Zixuan had recentlymade a snide remark about Jiang Yanli recently and Su Minshan had watched Wei Wuxian tremble with rage, being barely held back by his shidis. Wei Wuxian had ample motive to carry out this revenge and Su Minshan wished not to implicate him.

Jin Zixuan soon arrived in his room and nearly retched at the smell. Su Minshan grinned. 

Jin Zixuan had raged for a while, thinking it was Wei Wuxian, but when questioned, Wei Wuxian had been in the library completing his punishment. There was not enough time for him to do that to Jin Zixuan and no one had seen him anywhere near Jin Zixuan’s room.

Wei Wuxian was let go and Su Minshan sighed in relief. Revenge complete.

...................................

Wei Wuxian was evidently a lot smarter than people thought and quickly found out that it was Su Minshan who had done that. Turns out he hadn’t been as sneaky as he had thought.

When asked why, Su Minshan merely smiled. “Wei-gongzi, you rescued me, remember? This is what I should do to repay you.”

“Ah...that--” Wei Wuxian looked sheepish. “Thank you.....umm....”

“Su She, Su Minshan. I know we never got introduced to each other.”

“Then.. Su-xiong. Thank you, really.” He gave Su Minshan a bright smile. “I really appreciate it.”

Su Minshan felt elated being recognized like this. “Can....Can we be friends?”

Wei Wuxian grinned. “Of course! Call me Wei-xiong or Wei Wuxian, whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“Okay, Wei Wuxian.”

After an invitation to join Wei Wuxian and his friends was offered, Su Minshan agreed and parted soon after. He had classes to get to. But when he turned around, he was met with a glare from Lan-er-gongzi. Which was odd considering he hadn’t done anything.

But, as Su Minshan found out, Lan-er-gongzi was jealous. Jealous of the closeness between them, of the casual, affectionate touches Wei Wuxian gave everyone but him.

Hmph. If he was so jealous, he shouldn’t have hurt Wei Wuxian’s feelings.

.................................

It was regrettable, but the time the guest disciples were here came to an end. Wei Wuxian promised to write letters to him and Su Minshan was elated at that. 

However, he had to breathe a sigh of relief at the same time. He had had a tough time keeping Wei Wuxian from punching Jin Zixuan and getting sent home early, but thanks to Su She’s interference, it didn’t end up like that. He even spent a lot of time distracting Wei Wuxian from mischief that the Jiang clan always seemed to draw him into.

But, thanks to that, Wei Wuxian and him had become close. 

And perhaps, because of that closeness, Su Minshan despised Lan Wangji. That man had finally had the balls to approach Wei Wuxian after the other had left him alone and only had the harshest things to say. Watching Wei Wuxian flinch imperceptibly had made him shake with anger.

Su Minshan took great joy in making sure Wei Wuxian hardly ever crossed paths with Lan Wangji and seeing Lan Wangji’s distraught face from afar. Eventually, Wei Wuxian avoided Lan Wangji on his own and Su Minshan was satisfied seeing Wei Wuxian finally start to dislike the Second Jade.

Childishly, he wanted to stick his tongue out at the man.

...........................................................

However, tragedy struck. The Cloud Recesses burned and they barely had time to recover before being forced into an indoctrination. As usual, Wei Wuxian took care of everyone and did his best to make sure everyone's spirits were up, even Lan Wangji's. Su Minshan might have disliked Lan Wangji for his treatment of Wei Wuxian, but after what had happened, Su Minshan didn't block Wei Wuxian from assisting Lan Wangji. Especially since Lan Wangji's leg was broken during the Wen invasion.

.

.

Wen Chao is a terrible, good-for-nothing and Su Minshan wants nothing more than to crush him. But as weakened as he was and how surrounded by Wens they were, there was not much he could do. However.....when push came to shove and a girl - Luo Qingyang, if he recalled correctly - was to be bled to force out whatever beast was in the cave, Wei Wuxian, as always, came up with a great solution and held Wen Chao at sword point, effectively stopping the Wens' movement. Not even a few minutes later, a huge murderous turtle moved from underneath Wei Wuxian, distracting everyone. This was Su Minshan's chance!

Wen Zhuliu had been a deterrent to all. The Core-Melting hand had been a big reason for everyone's hesitance to rebel. If he was gone.....

Su Minshan sent a strong kick towards Wen Zhuliu's back and quickly hid amongst the panic. He watched in satisfaction as Wen Zhuliu was snapped up in the turtle's jaws and quickly swallowed down.

There. He won't bother anyone ever again.

..................................

He didn't want to. Wei Wuxian had volunteered to stay behind and distract the monster to allow everyone to escape. Su Minshan wanted to stay behind but Wei Wuxian grinned and pushed him out.

"Don't worry. I'll be right behind you. Thanks for worrying though, Minshan."

Su Minshan nodded and reluctantly started to leave with the others. He turned around to say goodbye and saw the turtle snap at Wei Wuxian.

"Wei-xiong, watch out!"

Wei Wuxian turned too late. However....Lan Wangji had pushed him out of the way and gotten captured by the turtle instead. He didn't see what happened next as he was pulled underwater and through the exit.

.........................................

He didn't see Wei Wuxian when they exited the cave. He heard, of course, how they killed the Xuanwu of Slaughter. But didn't see him. He didn't see Wei Wuxian at all until he came back, cloaked in darkness.

He pushed everyone away and his sunlight-like smile was replaced by a manic grin. Su Minshan of course knew what might have happened. He had heard of the burning of Lotus Pier, of the loss of their disciples. And, of course, Wei Wuxian being captured by Wen Chao. There were rumors and whispers from the Wen guards that Wen Chao tossed Wei Wuxian into the Burial Mounds.

Most brushed that off, saying it was impossible for anyone to survive it. But not Su Minshan. He knew that that had probably happened. What with Wei Wuxian controlling resentful energy, his uncharacteristic attitude towards the Wens, towards his friends.

No one gets out of the Burial Mounds alive. And, perhaps, in a way, that is true. For the Wei Wuxian they all knew - the sunshine-bright boy - was gone.

But what Wei Wuxian needed was not judgement, like that bastard Jin Zixun. It wasn't pity (or whatever Lan Wangji was attempting to do). It was support. And if Su Minshan could provide that for him, he who remembered him and saved him over and over again. Su Minshan would be satisfied with that.

...................................

"Wei-xiong."

"Hm? Minshan? What's wrong? Is everything okay?" Wei Wuxian asked.

Su Minshan shook his head. "I'm fine." He paused. "Well, as fine as anyone could be with the war going on. But I'm worried about you."

"Me? I'm fine, there's nothing wrong." Wei Wuxian put his shields up, eyes shifty and nervous.

"Wei-xiong.....we're friends, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then, you should know that I support you, right?"

"But doesn't GusuLan have rules against demonic cultivation?"

"Sure they do. But you're not evil. Those rules are bullshit sometimes. Like they think that just by following the "orthodox" path, you can avoid being evil. But if that were true, the Wens wouldn't have done all of this."

Wei Wuxian gave a small chuckle. "That's true enough."

"Now, Wei-xiong, I heard from many Wen guards that you were tossed in the Burial Mounds." Wei Wuxian paled. "Now while most refuse to believe that. I believe that that had happened. How else would you have such mastery over it? You love to boast about your cultivation. Why would you risk tainting it with demonic cultivation? Something must have forced you to use it."

"You're quite smart." Wei Wuxian whispered after some time.

"Heh. One of my best strengths." Su Minshan felt happy at the praise. "But most people are idiots."

Wei Wuxian laughed again. "You're the best. Thank you."

"No problem. You've always saved me. I would be an idiot to not help you in return. If you can't accept my help, think of it as a debt I want to pay back to you."

"Alright." Wei Wuxian smiled, not as bright as before, but still there. "Alright."

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Lol. Anon, you asked for me to have a Su Minshan that wishes to support Wei Wuxian but I took it as Su Minshan actively supporting Wei Wuxian from the shadows. Let me know if this is fine or if you'd like me to change it!