#wen ramblings

[kettledemon]

Think before you speak

Also made this for it

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

MDZS x Firefly AU: A ragtag crew.

[unreliable-narratoe]

Headcanon that MDZS (from his sister's BL rack) was one of the BLs Shen Yuan read for Plot reasons and Genre Diversification (sure, buddy) . Around volume 2 he even thinks it isnt BL, and meimei must have surely gotten her genres mixed up. He only realises when wangxian have sex and at that point it's too late to go back - he needs to know what's going down with wen ning.

He reads all the extras (including incense burner) for the Plot ("I need to know what happens to wei wuxian!!"), is an ardent wen ning fan (he can't escape strong puppy coded characters) and gets that one specific YLLZ figurine.

Binghe comes to know of this and promptly figures out necromancy.

[randomness-is-my-order]

thinking about the “single-plank bridge” and how wei wuxian’s circumstance becomes all the more heartbreaking when we contexualise the kind of person he is. wei wuxian is never shown to be an isolated entity from the very start of his story. even when he lived on the streets, he had a way of connecting with those around him and wheedling shopkeepers into maintaining his daily sustenance. quickly after he came to lotus pier, he formed bonds with jc and yanli. wei wuxian was genuinely interested in people and forging friendships with those he liked. his junior disciples loved him. he was canonically one of the most popular young guys in the cultivation society. he frequently interacted with the common folk in yunmeng or anywhere else he happened to visit. at the guest lectures in the lan sect, wei wuxian was able to inspire multiple disciples (not just nie huaisang) into following his shenanigans. he is also able to befriend some of the wens, prime among them are ofc wen qing and wen ning. for a story as heavy in interpersonal conflicts as mdzs is, it is a given that people and their relationships will be centre stage and wei wuxian isn’t in the least lacking in these relationships. we see this even after his reincarnation that wei wuxian, even when he tries to stay disconnected, forms new bonds with ease. the juniors that are first wary of him soon come to deeply admire him and wei wuxian in turn becomes protective over them.

in short, wei wuxian is defined by his relationships as much as he is by his actions and convictions and thoughts. never once are we made to believe that wei wuxian’s ideal choice would be the “single plank bridge”, that he would be completely at ease with his isolation, that he would ever want to pick that option as a preference. in fact, the single plank bridge ideology has never been one that wei wuxian is shown to inherently gravitate towards or recommend/preach to other people. but that ideology is a last resort.

it is a choice made when his hand is forced, when no other comfortable option is allowed to him, when every door is shut in his face and isolating himself from the people he has known is the only avenue left with him. the single plank bridge is about sticking to his beliefs and not giving up, about doing the right thing no matter what because someone needs to take that stand and wei wuxian has never not been that someone.

i think that it is so crucial that the single plank bridge wasn’t so much a choice that wei wuxian made than a choice that was made for him simply because he refused to give up on the wens.

he was denied alternatives. he was denied help. sometimes, the anti-culture discourse overcorrects itself into painting every heroic act that happens to be sacrificial as a default ‘hero complex’ and self-sacrifical tendencies, ignoring the build-up of those difficult decisions and how, in this story, in mdzs, wei wuxian wasn’t foregoing the crowded broad road but that the crowd on the broad road had foregone him.

[lemonycranberries]

currently wondering how different mdzs characters would react if they suddenly gained awareness that they’re in a fictional story and then learned that the pov from which the story is being told to the entire world is WEI WUXIAN’S

[highlifeboat]

Rewatching Wednesday and anybody else ever have the thought that Enid is actually such a parallel to Gomez? Enthusiastic, openly cares a lot for their loved ones, Stood up for their lover/friend and was willing to fight and potentially kill somebody in order to protect them?

I dunno. They obviously aren't a direct 1 to 1 BUT I think depicting Enid more like Gomez when it comes to the Enid/Wednesday relationship is a missed opportunity. She would die AND kill for Wednesday and I think Wednesday would love that kind of devotion.

[nonranghaes]

it's weird that you don't call out to jun when he comes into your apartment. jun knows that you know he was coming over at some point to spend time with you, and usually you greet him in some way when you hear the apartment door unlock. he's a little earlier than he planned, but you told him to 'come over whenever' and now he's a little worried that you didn't mean it. he quietly slips into the pair of slippers that stays here at your place, and makes his way further into your apartment to set down the bag of groceries he brought on your kitchen counter. your bedroom door is open, but the tiny room you use as a home office is open just a sliver.

he makes his way over, leaning in to listen for a moment... only to hear your voice. there's a little strain to it as you struggle through a sentence, and it clicks all at once: you're speaking chinese. albeit not very well (it's clear to jun that this is one-hundred percent new to you), but you're still trying. your pronunciation is a bit clumsy, but he can hear the way you try to use the right tone with what you're saying...

when did you start learning this much? jun had taught you little things in the past--the absolute basics, really, plus a few other little phrases that veer into his own cheesy need to hear you say sweet things--but this...? he steps back from the door. why hadn't you told him? you could have told him and he'd happily help you learn. but he trusts you: you must have your reasons to keep this a secret, so he won't push. he steps away, deciding to busy himself with getting ingredients put away--or set up for the two of you to cook together, in case you're hungry now.

then he knocks a cup into the sink, and immediately he hears you coming out of your office. relief crosses your face when you see it's just jun, and you lean against the open doorway.

"i didn't know you were here." you pause, and then he sees you get hit with realization. "... how long were you here?"

"i just got here," he says. it's technically the truth, isn't it? he's only been here for a few minutes. "were you working?"

you nod. "yeah. just had to answer a phone call," you lie to him, but he just nods and acts like he doesn't know that. you come up to his side, wrapping an arm around him. "is this for lunch?"

he leans over to you and presses a kiss against your cheek. "are you hungry?"

"mhm," you just snuggle in for a moment, enjoying his presence. "you should teach me more recipes you learned from your mom sometime."

jun finds himself smiling already. was that what this all was...? an attempt for you to understand him better? to show that you care for him so much that you want to know his culture, too? "i'd love to," he says softly, and wraps an arm around you to tug you closer to his side. "only if you teach me things you learned from your family, too."

then he'll make more efforts to understand you and your background, too. just to show you that he loves you as much as you love him.

[lemonyinks]

Because they are on my mind, please accept one of my favorite Wangxian moments of all time.

Chapter 87

In my opinion, this is one of the most important Wangxian scenes in the whole novel. It is very special to me. It made me tear up when I was doing my read through.

Time and time again, Wei Wuxian has fallen, he's gotten hurt, people have failed him. The people who were supposed to be there for him have either left, he's lost them tragically, or they've betrayed him at some point in his life. His life has been one of loneliness and loss.

He has never had someone who he could rely on so heavily. He has never had a solid safety net before, someone on equal footing to him that he could fall back on and rely on. If anything he has spent his entire life being a safety net for other people. He has spent his whole life being strong for others.

Now, however, Lan Wangji is that safety net for him.

For the first time in his life, he has someone to truly catch him when he falls. He can let himself fall and still be safe. That "thank you" isn't just about Lan Wangji catching him after he fell from the tree, its about everything.

[chirpycloudyrobin]

do i wanna sit here and think long and hard abt wen qing, wen ning, and wei wuxian's dynamics and how amazing the three of them could have been together if they only had more time and they weren't doomed by the narrative

[incarnadinedreams]

This isn't really new or anything but the more I reread random passages the more convinced I am that there's something very unique about the way Jiang Cheng reacts to Wen Ning and it's just so interesting!

I'm convinced it's more than just being angry. It's more than just hating him, or blaming him for Jin Zixuan's death or his sister's life. It's more than being a Wen, and it comes long before so many of those tragedies unfold anyway.

There's a sort of urgent, visceral reaction to Wen Ning's presence that just has this different feeling to it than how he reacts to any of the other characters. Even characters he has strong emotional responses to, it's never with the same panic or recklessness. It's not the same as the whole "vengeful wrath, fathomless hatred, or raving ecstasy" situation he's got going on with Wei Wuxian (sexy as that might be).

When it's Wei Wuxian, it's all "...well, well. So you're back?" and "Haven't you got anything to say to me?" Even when he's not being very nice, even when he's throwing teacups and furious at Wei Wuxian, there's still an edge of calmness in the way he lashes out. He's fucking mad but he's had more than a decade to think about this and he's got things to say and he's trying so hard to get a reaction from Wei Wuxian that he just won't give him.

But he can't tolerate having Wen Ning anywhere near him. Much of the time he instantly lashes out, physically, in ways to create space between them. He's mean to Wen Ning, but he doesn't really have much to say to him; he just wants to get away from him.

It really stuck out to me how instinctive and instantaneous and emotional that reaction is when I was reading this passage from chapter 81 (ExR translation since I've got it on hand in digital text form), when Jin Ling returns Zidian and rushes back into the fray during the Second Siege:

When Jiang Cheng was unaware, he stuffed Zidian's ring back into his hand and sprinted toward the crowd, all the way up to the most dangerous area before the mouth of the cave. Jiang Cheng was about to chase after him when he managed to slice a few corpses, staggering. He felt that Sandu was no lighter than hundreds of pounds. Two female corpses threw themselves at him from both directions.

Jiang Cheng cursed. As he lifted his sword again, another pair of hands tore the two corpses into pieces, "Sect Leader..."

Jiang Cheng lost his temper as soon as he heard the voice. He kicked Wen Ning away and cursed, "Get the fuck away from me!"

Obviously that is not very nice and poor Wen Ning didn't deserve a kick for being legitimately helpful there, but the point is that not only does he lash out - the reaction happens even when he's clearly got higher priorities going on in a chaotic situation. Throughout that entire event he reacts in a somewhat more even-keeled way to almost everything except Wen Ning being in his vicinity.

And it's not just after Wen Ning's death, not just after he became Wei Wuxian's greatest weapon, not just after he was forced to kill Jin Zixuan - it's specifically a pattern established from the moment he woke up in the Supervisory Office without a core:

Before he could say anything, those sun robes reflected against Jiang Cheng's eyes. His pupils suddenly shrunk.

Jiang Cheng kicked Wen Ning, toppling over the bowl of medicine. The black liquid all spilled onto Wen Ning. Wei WuXian wanted to take the bowl of medicine. He pulled up Wen Ning as well, who had been shocked speechless. Jiang Cheng roared at him, "What's wrong with you?!"

At this point he doesn't even know how he was rescued, since he was unconscious for all of that, and thinks they're in a Wen trap and likely going to die (or worse). But there's so many echoes of that interaction again, and again, and again between them.

And combined with Wen Ning's remarks during the scene just before this, where he tells Wei Wuxian about the discipline whip injuries and how Jiang Cheng 'should have other injuries as well', the way the narrative is so deliberately ambiguous on what exactly occurred, it all makes me want to crawl up the walls and gnaw on the light fixtures wailing WHAT DID YOU SEE, WEN NING?! WHAT DID YOU SEE?

At a minimum, Jiang Cheng knows that Wen Ning was there at Lotus Pier prior to his capture by the Wen guards, because they'd both seen Wen Ning examining Jiang corpses on the training field before they fled for Meishan.

But everything after that is only implication and subtext and suppositions and speculation, not directly stated in the text. But based on his reaction, you can pry my headcanon from my cold dead hands that that Wen Ning probably witnessed all or much of what happened to Jiang Cheng after he was captured, and Jiang Cheng knows it.

I've also posted before how I think there's an at least nonzero chance that Jiang Cheng was never directly told that Wen Ning wasn't actually there with Wen Chao when they saw him early on, but came later to try to help (because when Wen Ning gives Wei Wuxian that information Jiang Cheng isn't conscious, and nobody tells Jiang Cheng anything. I don't think that headcanon changes much either way, but there is a slight difference, at least emotionally, between 'I helped you while I was there to slaughter your clan and destroy your life' and 'I came when I heard my crazy cousin was slaughtering your clan and tried to help you' and I think it's a juicy thing to add to the pile of misunderstandings they each have of the other's motivations and actions).

Which, if I go with these two ideas together, really drives home what a bespoke and specific nightmare the way the Golden Core reveal played out - not only the substance of the reveal, but the fact it was Wen Ning who revealed it.

He was already furious that they were even there at Lotus Pier, particularly Wen Ning. But the way it all happens it feels like it's not just echoes of the amplified emotions of the confrontation with Lan Wangji & Wei Wuxian in the Ancestral Hall, it's not just Wen Ning being a Wen, or even Jin Zixuan's death, the way the narration calls out. It feels like there are deeper layers to it.

I also feel a bit stupid for not noticing before this probably extremely obvious to literally everyone else who isn't a dumbass like me parallel of Wen Ning getting a gruesome scorching whip mark across his chest at Lotus Pier in the course of saving Wei Wuxian (more or less, sort of - we know as readers Jiang Cheng was intentionally trying not to hurt them with Zidian, but I don't think Wen Ning knew that when he jumped in).

Jiang Cheng looked to find that the uninvited guest was Wen Ning. Immediately, he raged, "Who let you inside Lotus Pier?! How dare you!"

He could manage to tolerate others, but definitely not Wen Ning, the Wen-dog who put his hand through Jin ZiXuan's heart and ended both his sister's happiness and her life. Just a look, and he felt the urge to kill him right there. How dare he step foot on the earth of Lotus Pier—he really was looking for his death!

Because of the two lives and many other reasons, Wen Ning had always felt guilty, and so he'd always been somewhat scared of Jiang Cheng, consciously avoiding him all the time. Right now, however, he blocked Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi as he faced him, taking the hard lash. A gruesome scorch climbed across his chest, but still he didn't flinch.

I don't know that it actually means anything but it's making me FEEL THINGS incoherently at this specific moment, so. Also I find it legitimately sad that Wen Ning has to live with guilt over things that happened when he was controlled by someone else, though the scene before the Ancestral Hall when Jin Ling starts crying on the boat is probably a better example of that. Anyway.

It's just there's so, so many layers to how uniquely horrible it is for Jiang Cheng that he not only finds out about the Golden Core transfer this way, but also that Wen Ning, specifically, directly witnessed this life-shatteringly huge deception and sacrifice too - while Jiang Cheng was unconscious, no less.

And, well, we know how everything got capped off in that scene...

Obviously the shock of the information was going to get a huge reaction no matter what, no matter who or how he found out. Even without the Wen Ning element, it already hits every one of his deepest weaknesses and insecurities and fears.

But to come from the guy who'd witnessed his family being slaughtered, who'd witnessed who-knows-what humiliations heaped on him (who also happens to be the same fucking guy that Wei Wuxian thought it was worth leaving Yunmeng Jiang for, breaking his promise for...), the guy he blames for his sister's tragic fate (whether that blame is misplaced or not), the guy he exhibits a panic response towards even decades later, and goddamn.

There are just so many layers to this perfect little nightmare reveal on so many different levels aren't there?

There's just SO much meaty stuff for these two to dig into post-canon and all we get is an extra with a 'oh yeah sometimes Jiang Cheng yells on night hunts and Wen Ning is there' about it?!

I should probably just shut up and go read some Jiang Cheng and Wen Ning focused fics or something (whether romantic or platonic that's probably an area I really haven't explored enough vs. the amount of sheer interesting hints and material the novel gives to work with! If by some miracle anyone made it to the end of this beast feel free to drop any recs that explore them, especially that 'what did Wen Ning see?!' aspect of the whole situation because that is the current little brain worm haunting me right now).

[habizuh-studios]

I WAS SLEEPING HOWEVER THIS IS TOO IMPORTANT. GUYS. WHAT IF AFTER THE EVENTS OF TGCF (IF THEY DON'T CHOOSE TO HAVE A DEMOCRACY OR WHATEVER I FORGOT) LANG QIANQIU BECOMES THE HEAVENLY EMPEROR. WHAT THEN. Xie Lian would be a top candidate, however...

He will not be in heaven for that long. he would rather be in ghost city, and therefore wouldn't spend that much time there

He would get assassinated within three seconds. i love you, xie lian, i would be your hua cheng if you wanted me too, but you are not good at politics.

Ling Wen could, but...

She is a civil god in charge of literally everything

making her the emperor would mean she has the power to just. not do that anymore. which no one wants

she wouldn't like it- she already has enough bullshit to deal with, politics just. would be a lot

Lang Qianqiu, on the other hand...

Has experience being a king

Has strong morals

Is not evil/learning to forgive

Is well-respected/well liked within the heavenly court

Will not get murdered by Ling Wen or Xie Lian

Do you see me?! Do you hear what I'm saying right now?!?! I'll edit later since I'm supposed to be sleeping but DO YOU GUYS HEAR ME

[ghost-kings-court-jester]

I like TGCF for a lot of reasons but I won’t lie I do get a special little something something outta the fact that gender just isn’t real.

[sillygoofyqueer]

Mean Girls but the Three Tumours are the Mean Girls.

Of course, Shi Wudu as Regina George - both massively bitchy and are obviously in charge of their respective trios.

Ling Wen as Gretchen Weiners - extremely knowledgeable, the intelligence gatherers of the group and so obviously five seconds away from mental breakdowns at any point in time.

Pei Ming as Karen Smith - himbo to bimbo communication. They have no idea what's going on but they get laid and look soooo pretty while doing it :3

[wenbllk]

I wanted to take a wip screenshot and ended up with this

it looks like he's peeking at you 🥰

[demonstars]

why would he say this

[nutcasewithaknife]

It's so meaningful that Wen Xiao is mad about her apparently inevitable fate as a sacrifice. She has been desperately seeking control over her own life for so long, because so much of it has been her tackling what fate threw at her. Her father dies and she is adopted by the Baize Goddess. She's chosen as the next Baize, but the burden will kill her till she finds the other half of the order. She manages to fix the token, only to find that she is dying, the inevitable fate of the Baize Goddess is to be the sacrifice that saves the world, and that too may not be enough to save everyone she loves.

And yet, she keeps a firm hold over her self and refuses to passively accept her predestined role. She cares about the world of humans and demons not because she must, but because her father was killed by a demon and she refuses to let that fester into hatred, insists on protecting both worlds with understanding. She cares about demons not as her duty but because they are people who are repeatedly mistreated and murdered. She wants to save Zhao Yuanzhou and spends 300 years all alone to fix the token because she loves him and wants to save him as much as the world. She feels powerless but refuses to simply accept her role, accept her fate. She refuses to let anyone bear the burden but refuses to accept it meekly either. She wants to live her own life fully. She has to be physically restrained for Zhao Yuanzhou to take the burden of sacrifice upon himself.

To me, FoF is a story of claiming your life as your own in the face of fate, about changing what an action means even when it's pre-destined. Zhao Yuanzhou and Zhou Yichen are the most obvious examples of this, but they take time to get there. Wen Xiao is the one who has been holding her own against her fate right from episode one, when the other two were ready to play by the script.