#who Jiang Yanli gets married to if Jin Zixuan dies in sunshot | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jingyismom · 3 years

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Thanks everyone for the prompts! I decided to try and knock these all out in one go:

@thegirlwhotrashcans: remember, you asked for it. au, nobody dies, wwx and yanli bodyswap. they're married to lwj and jzx. 100% crack. bonus points if jin zixuan completely loses his shit and lwj looks very calm but loses his sh*t after everything is back to normal

@alightbuthappypen: Competency kink! One or both of them (when I say 'them' I mean wangxian obvs, I know what I'm about) getting hot and bothered about the other being amazing. On a nighthunt maybe? Or anywhere else that strikes your fancy!

@hearteyeswangji: WRITE MORE P*RN

I think I can manage that. With a few tweaks, accidental seriousness, and broad, ridiculous fix-its tacked on. I have no idea how long this might be. Let’s try it in installments? I’ll reblog and add on as I go. Maybe it’ll be fun. We’ll find out.

Disclaimer that this is just gonna go for it with no revising and no beta readers, so pls do not hold me to any conceivable standard of coherency thx

WILL INCLUDE: wangxian, xuanli, let jyl and lwj be friends agenda, canon divergence, fix-it, everybody lives, arranged marriage, bodyswap, light angst, getting together, Attempts at Comedy, eventual (light?) wangxian smut

The Sunshot Campaign has just been won. Everyone goes over to Jin Guangshan’s house after the Nightless City banquet, to Negotiate Stuff, and some hasty political marriages happen resulting in Xuanli Wedded Bliss and Wangxian Un-confessed Wedded Tension. Then, suddenly...a curse befalls our brave heroes.

Wei Wuxian wakes suddenly, feeling odd. He’s sleeping on his stomach for one thing, which is not his usual, but he feels warm and comfortable enough that he doesn’t think it strange. But then there is the scent of peonies and gardenias, which is both familiar and alien, somehow. It makes him open his eyes.

Which is when he sees the hand before him on the bolster. It is slender and elegant. Small. Pale. Familiar? Wearing a jade bangle. He pushes himself up a bit, startled, only to see the hand move when he does.

The hand. Is his hand. He stares at it. The shock of it, coupled with the early hour, leave his mind working very slowly.

At length, he becomes aware of an odd weight across his back, which then shifts. Wei Wuxian turns.

He is met with the sleepy, moon-eyed stare of one Jin Zixuan, still cradling him in his arms.

“What the fuck,” says Wei Wuxian. His voice is. Soft. And high.

He would think this was all some messed-up dream if not for the fact that his dreams of late have all been messed up in an entirely different way. He’s also certain, in an odd, detached way, that he never would have imagined the battle scars that mar Jin Zixuan’s distressingly visible skin.

Jin Zixuan’s brow furrows, and he blinks. “A-Li?”

“...What the fuck.”

~~~

When Lan Wangji wakes at his customary hour, he is just slightly more tired than usual. The coverlet over him is oddly heavy, but he does not give it any thought until light from the rising sun slips over an unfamiliar sill and into his eyes. His entire body goes tense as he remembers.

Jinlintai. The long hours of debate, of negotiation. The hasty marriages.

He sits up in his strange bed and turns. There, in the bed opposite, is Wei Ying’s sleeping form. Close, yet still distant. Safe, at least.

Lan Wangji relaxes, and takes a breath. It was a near thing, keeping the sects from demanding more and more from Wei Ying, from treating him like a criminal instead of the hero he is. But somehow, Jiang Wanyin and Xiongzhang ended up on the same page, defending him, working tirelessly toward a compromise with the more critical parties. And now Lan Wangji has the dubious honor of ‘keeping Wei Ying in check,’ as Yao-zongzhu so inelegantly put it, through marriage.

A strictly political marriage. A convenient solution. To bind them together, to keep Wei Ying tied under the umbrella of Lan Wangji’s rigid honor.

It is unclear, as of yet, if Wei Ying resents this arrangement. He has not been himself since Nightless City, and the destruction of Wen Ruohan’s forces. First his long coma, then a lingering tiredness that he has not seemed able to shake, which dampens his normally-vivid expressions of feeling.

Lan Wangji is worried. But this, at least, Wei Ying has made clear is unwelcome. He seems to want to pretend that nothing has changed. Not about himself, and not between the two of them. Lan Wangji has done his best to honor his wishes, despite everything.

Now, he rises and dresses before sinking into his morning meditation. It is still strange to do so fully dressed, weighed down by the propriety required for the public, but it has felt necessary, now that Wei Ying shares chambers with him. A physical manifestation of the barrier between them, more important than ever now that they are, bizarrely, married.

Before his meditation is finished, he hears Wei Ying stir. It is unusual for him to wake so early. Lan Wangji’s eyes snap open, immediately searching him for signs of pain.

Wei Wuxian turns over, then goes very still. He sits bolt upright, searching the bed with wild eyes, then turns them on the room at large. When they land on Lan Wangji, he curls in on himself, the fingers of one hand tightening at the collars of his sleeping robe, clutching it closed.

“La—Lan-er-gongzi?”

His voice is oddly breathy, and his eyes...they are wide with confusion, with just the slightest tinge of fear. Lan Wangji is struck nearly senseless by the term of address, aberrant in Wei Ying’s mouth.

“What is wrong?”

Searching the room again, Wei Wuxian moves toward the edge of the bed with a strangely graceful modesty. It looks alien on his long limbs. “My...my husband. Where…?”

The word jolts through Lan Wangji’s entire body. He has never heard Wei Ying say it before. He has...wanted to hear it. Dearly, he realizes suddenly. But it sounds wrong. Distressed. Everything Wei Ying says sounds wrong.

“Wei Ying,” he says.

Wei Ying’s eyes snap to his. “A-Xian? Where is he? Is he with A-Xuan? Are they alright?”

Lan Wangji blinks at him, uncomprehending, for several seconds. Then he begins to understand.

“You are not—”

The doors to their chambers burst open, and Jiang Yanli rushes in. The tasteful purple and gold robes she has adopted in the few days since the weddings are loose, uncharacteristically askew—not impreprietous, but verging on it. She spots Lan Wangji and her stormy expression clears.

“Lan Zhan,” she says, and her shoulders droop.

Lan Wangji blinks at her, thrown by her use of this name, then glances at Wei Ying, who has gone completely still, his mouth open in a small, shocked ‘o.’ Jiang Yanli follows his gaze and freezes.

Just then, Jin Zixuan comes barreling into the room, significantly more unkempt than his wife. He has not even tied back his hair.

“A-Li,” he implores, “what’s happened? We can’t just go barging into our guests’,” he pauses, and bows awkwardly, hastily, to Lan Wangji and Wei Ying in turn, “rooms like this. Please,” he takes her arm, but she shakes him off.

She’s still staring at Wei Ying. “Sh...Shijie?”

Wei Ying startles, and looks down at himself. He holds out his arms, his hands, and looks at those too. Then he looks up at Jiang Yanli. “A-Xian?”

“Shijie,” Jiang Yanli says, and slumps over to the bed, embracing Wei Ying.

“A-Li,” hisses Jin Zixuan, scandalized.

Lan Wangji glances at Jin Zixuan’s wife embracing his own husband on the bed, and rises. He walks briskly past them all to shut the door. Then he returns.

“Wei Ying,” he says again. Jiang Yanli looks up at him.

It is obvious, now that he has realized it. Her face, animated by his personality. The soft warmth of her eyes sharpened just so. The deliberately graceless way she threw herself—himself—into Wei Ying’s—no, Jiang Yanli’s—arms.

Lan Wangji takes a deep breath. “Is this a curse?”

“Yes,” Wei Ying says with Jiang Yanli’s face, but his own certainty.

“How can we break it?” Lan Wangji asks.

“I”m not sure, not yet. I need to try a few things—or—having the original curse would be safer.” He looks at his sister in his own body. “I...don’t really want to experiment with this.”

Jiang Yanli tsks and bumps his shoulder a little too forcefully, jostling Wei Ying in her currently slight form. “Vain,” she says, teasing.

“Shijieee,” he whines. It sounds bizarre in Jiang Yanli’s voice. “I don’t want to accidentally hurt you.”

“I know,” Jiang Yanli says, soothing.

“Do you feel alright?” Wei Ying goes on, urgent.

“Perfectly alright, now that you’re both here,” she says, smiling at the newcomers in turn.

Something sharply acidic surges in Lan Wangji’s stomach at such a look on Wei Ying’s face, directed at...Jin Zixuan.

“Really, though,” Wei Ying presses, “any nausea? Dizziness? Pain? You’re not worried?”

“Not at all. Our A-Xian will figure it out.”

Lan Wangji watches as the appearance of Wei Ying’s knuckle affectionately brushes Jiang Yanli’s nose.

Strange. It is all...so strange.

“If—”

“What is happening?” Jin Zixuan interrupts.

All three of them look at him. He stares between them, wild-eyed and desperately askew. Lan Wangji has never considered him to be particularly slow on the uptake, but he supposes allowances must be made for the stress of waking up with a stranger in one’s bed.

He does not care to investigate the perverse pang of jealousy he feels at the thought.

“A-Xuan, it’s me,” Jiang Yanli says. Jin Zixuan stares at her in Wei Ying’s body, uncomprehending. She goes on slowly, but not unkindly. “A-Xian and I have been cursed into each other’s bodies. He’s in there, and I’m in here.”

Her husband blinks several times, very quickly. Lan Wangji recognizes the moment it sinks in by the deep flush that rises across his entire face, and is certain he does not wish to know what precisely inspired it.

Jin Zixuan takes an involuntary half-step back, then forward again, as he speaks with renewed urgency. “Why has this happened? Can it be undone?”

“Great questions,” Wei Ying says, falsely encouraging. Lan Wangji exchanges a glance with him, and it almost feels natural, to share such a thing with either Wei Ying or Jiang Yanli. “Someone was clearly either targeting me—that’s Wei Wuxian, that’s me, in here—or you...whom you know to be Jin Zixuan. I hope.”

Jin Zixuan turns a deeper shade of red. “Obviously,” he bites out. “But why?”

Wei Ying rolls his eyes dramatically. It is not something Lan Wangji ever imagined Jiang Yanli doing.

“We don’t know yet, but we will once we find and question the person responsible,” Wei Ying says. Jiang Yanli grips his arm suddenly. Wei Ying looks at her. “And yes, it can be undone. Of course it can. I’ll figure it out.”

“Cast a rebound,” Lan Wangji says, brisk. The more quickly they are done with this, the better.

Wei Ying’s face falls. “Ah,” he says, “well, we…”

“My cultivation is too weak for him to reliably use,” Jiang Yanli says suddenly. “And I’m not very good at the method, I’m afraid.”

Lan Wangji nods. Steps forward. Then hesitates. “If the curse was cast in such a way, one of you may end up in the caster’s body. And they in yours.”

They all look at Jiang Yanli. Her expression grows grim. “Alright,” she says, then looks to Lan Wangji. There is something steely in her expression that is familiar on Wei Ying’s face. “Thank you for the warning. Go ahead.”

Lan Wangji hesitates only a moment longer, expecting protests from the other two. But Wei Ying is wearing a small, knowing smile, and Jin Zixuan merely nods at her, reassuring. Lan Wangji senses his esteem for the Jin heir rising at such solid trust in his wife.

He steps forward and casts the rebound. They all hold their breath.

Wei Ying glances around, his wry expression entirely foreign on Jiang Yanli’s face. “Anything?”

“No,” says Jiang Yanli.

Wei Ying sighs. “More work for us, then.”

“A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli says, taking gentle hold of his wrist. “You know what this means.”

“Ah?”

“You’ll have to be me.”

“Ah. No, I—”

“A-Xian.”

Wei Ying scratches his head, a not-at-all ladylike gesture. “Or we could just stay in here and let these two investigate?”

The smile Jiang Yanli turns on him is tender, and knowing, and indulgent. “I’d like to see you try to sit still when there’s a puzzle to solve.”

He sighs. “Alright. But you have to be me, too.”

She nods, and theatrically slouches into a sprawling, sloppy posture. Wei Ying laughs, his head thrown back, a hand on his stomach. Jin Zixuan turns around, looking almost ill.

Lan Wangji understands, and he doesn’t. It is dizzying, and distinctly wrong-looking, to see both of them this way. Yet there is also something endearing about it. About the parts of them that do overlap, and fit into each other better than one would expect.

“A-Xuan,” Jiang Yanli calls softly, noticing her husband’s distress.

Lan Wangji gets the distinct impression that that tone in Wei Ying’s voice is not helping the situation.

“Jin-gongzi,” he says. “It would be best for all of us to go about our days as normal, and not to arouse suspicion. Wei Ying sleeps late, and will not be missed for the morning. Jin-shao-furen may claim mild illness until the afternoon. But you and I must behave as normal. There are still the other sects to host.”

“Yes,” Jin Zixuan says absently. He runs a hand over his face. “Yes. You’re right. A-Li—” he turns and looks at the pair of them on the bed, and pauses. He shakes his head as if to clear it. “I’ll go back and dress. Join me when—or—Wei—” he stops. “I will be attending my duties. Please let me know what else I can do.”

“Remember to act natural,” Jiang Yanli says. “When A-Xian joins you later, try to look less like a roasted tomato, hmm?”

Jin Zixuan’s mouth twists into a wry smile, and he nods at the floor, then flees the room. Jiang Yanli and Wei Ying turn their eyes to Lan Wangji.

“I shall also depart,” he says. He circles his arms to bow to Jiang Yanli, but Wei Ying stands and pulls him over toward the door. Lan Wangji lets him, and tries not to pull away from the improprietous touch from a married lady.

“Lan Zhan,” he says, hushed and urgent. “I’m not...you don’t think I’m hurting her, am I? Just by being in here? Can you sense any resentment?”

Lan Wangji feels something tighten in his chest. Wei Ying has not let Lan Wangji so much as examine his pulse since he roused from his coma, but the idea that he is so constantly steeped in resentment as to cause worry that his very soul may be harmful...is distressing. He takes hold of his slender wrist carefully. It is still Jiang Yanli’s body, and he will treat it with the respect it is owed.

“I cannot,” he says. The only energy in Jiang Yanli’s body is generated by her own small but steady golden core. “I sense nothing that may be harmful.”

Wei Ying lets out a relieved breath. “Alright. But, um. What about the other way? Is her...is my body harming her?”

Lan Wangji turns to go back and perform the same examination, but Wei Ying stops him. “No, that’s alright. I’ll. We’ll just get this over with, and we can. Between the two of us, we can fix whatever...whatever damage I do.”

Lan Wangji stares at him, but Wei Ying refuses to meet his eyes. At length, he nods. “We can.”

“Alright. Ah, thanks. You should go.”

Lan Wangji goes.

#my fic #prompt fic #the untamed fanfic #lan wangji #wei wuxian #jiang yanli #jin zixuan #i don't know why i bother this is NOT gonna show up in tags #i'm not gonna go through and censor things. i'm just. not gonna #also this post is...so ugly #will anyone even read it??? who knows elksfdjns #let's have some fun

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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

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Fic were both JZX and Jiang Yanli are trans? I imagine the engagement would get complicated.

The More Things Change - ao3

“My lady,” the midwife said. “Congratulations. You have a daughter.”

Madame Jin shook her head. “I need a son,” she said.

“My lady –”

“I’m not doing that again,” Madame Jin said, her voice getting stronger. “I need a son.”

“But –”

She looked at her loyal maid, who inclined her head.

A knife flashed.

“Congratulations, my lady,” her maid said, pushing aside the midwife’s body with her foot. “You have a son.”

Madame Jin smiled.

“I’m glad you survived the birth of your child,” Madame Yu said to her old childhood friend, wondering why she’d been invited over to visit Lanling City quite so quickly – it hadn’t even been a month. “Were you thinking –”

“I have a son,” her friend said.

“Congratulations.”

“You don’t understand,” her friend said. “There’s a problem.”

“A-Li,” Jiang Yanli’s mother said in a strange tone. “Do you like wearing dresses?”

“Uh-huh,” Jiang Yanli said, trying to see if she could stick her fist into her mouth. She’d always worn frocks, the way all children her age did, but at some point soon her mother had been warning her that she’d need to switch over to wearing proper robes for boys. Jiang Yanli had burst into tears, saying she didn’t want to be a boy at all – that she didn’t want to leave her mother’s side, that she didn’t want to join the world of men, she didn’t, she didn’t.

“And you really don’t want to go be a boy? Really, you’re sure?”

Jiang Yanli nodded.

“What if I said you didn’t have to be? You could be a girl, just the way you like.”

“Really?”

“Mm. But you’d have to be a girl forever.”

“Okay,” Jiang Yanli said happily. “I wanna be a girl forever.”

“Good,” her mother said, and picked her up. “Just keep saying that.”

“What do you think we are,” Jiang Fengmian asked his wife blankly. “Qinghe Nie?”

His wife glared daggers at him.

“Attempt the impossible,” she said stiffly. “A-Li has been claiming to be a girl consistently for a year. Would you deny her the chance to follow her dreams?”

Well, when she put it that way…

Jiang Fengmian hesitated.

“It does create a problem,” his wife said, and he looked at her. She smiled faintly and leaned forward, showing her curves to their best advantage. “If she’s a girl, she’ll marry out, won’t she? We need a boy.”

Jiang Fengmian swallowed. A boy sounded – nice, he thought vaguely, eyes caught on what he was being offered. A little boy, lively and bright, with a happy smile always on his face…yes, that sounded rather nice.

Wei Changze’s letter upstairs said that his wife had announced that they had conceived, and that she had divined that it would be a son – it was frightfully early to make such predictions, less than a month in, but apparently disciples of the immortal mountain were able to determine such things early. A boy like that, who could be friends with their boy, a reason for them to come to visit and maybe even to stay…

Yes, he thought. That sounded rather good.

“All right,” he said. “A-Li can be a girl, I guess.”

Madame Yu and Madame Jin let news of the engagement seep out as rumor for months before telling their husbands. When they did, they took different approaches: Madame Jin pointed out the strategic benefits of an alliance with Yunmeng Jiang and the unlikelihood of Jin Guangshan finding a match for their son that would give him so much more influence in the cultivation world, which had made her husband stop his grumbling and look upon the match with a favorable eye.

Madame Yu stared at her husband, for whom she had just born a son three weeks premature and very nearly died in the process, and said, “What’s your problem?”

“A-Li can’t marry the Jin sect heir! She’s not –” He waved his hands. “The possibility of children –”

“I would have thought that would be a selling point,” Madame Yu said, and he blinked at her. “He’s Guangshan’s son. There will be children enough.”

After some further arguing, Jiang Fengmian begrudgingly backed down.

Madame Yu smiled to herself, and thought of grandchildren.

Everyone said that Jin Zixuan was a spoiled brat and incredibly lucky, but he didn’t think he was. Sure, he was rich and legitimate; his father valued him, while his mother loved him and would defend him against any challengers to his position as heir, but privately…

“Why do I have to work so hard?” Jin Zixuan asked, panting. “I’m already cultivating, and my teachers say I’m not bad with the sword –”

“Not bad isn’t good enough,” his mother said sharply. “You have to keep up with all the rest of them, and that means getting ahead now.”

“The rest of who?” he asked. “Do you mean…”

He hesitated, not knowing if he was also included in his mother’s taboo against mentioning the results of his father’s philandering.

“All of the cultivation world’s young gentlemen,” she said, to his surprise. “You have to keep up with them. No, you need to exceed them. You must!”

“But – why?”

“I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

“Mother,” Jiang Yanli said. She was clutching a book in her hands. “Mother, can we talk?”

Her mother frowned at her, looking disapproving – and then she saw the book.

Jiang Yanli thought she would yell at her, but she didn’t; her mother only gestured for her to come into her room, ordering her maids to close the doors and windows.

“Mother,” Jiang Yanli said. “Mother, the book –”

“How did you get a spring book?” her mother asked. She looked tired. “Surely you’re still too young?”

Jiang Yanli bowed her head.

It was true, she was too young. And yet…

“Mother, the pictures in the book…”

“I know.” Her mother sighed. “All right. Let me explain.”

Jin Zixuan stared at his mother. He felt sick.

“But,” he said, and swallowed. “But what about…?”

“I’ve handled it,” she said harshly. “But that is why you must not allow your father to take you to a brothel. Is that understood?”

“Who do you think is the best girl? Zixuan-xiong?”

“Oh, don’t ask him! He has a fiancée, so his answer will be her!”

“A fiancée? Really? What sect is she from? She must be extremely talented!”

“Forget it,” Jin Zixuan said.

“What do you mean by that?” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, and suddenly he was getting into his face. “Say that again if you dare!”

Jin Zixuan opened his mouth, hating him – hating the whole situation, being stuck not making any decisions for himself, his whole life mapped out for him by others – but then hesitated.

Jiang Yanli is the only one fit for you, his mother said. Do you understand? The only one.

“I haven’t met her since I was five,” he said instead of what he wanted, rolling his eyes. “So how could I dare to boast about her in your presence? You all want to know about her, ask Jiang-gongzi.”

Wei Wuxian blinked at him, the wind suddenly taken out of his sails.

Jin Zixuan escaped.

He felt like shit, thought. She was his fiancée, and he didn’t know anything about her – he didn’t want to hear about her, think about her. And yet…

The only one.

He went back to his room and wrote her a letter. It was a mess, the worst thing he’d ever written, nothing at all like the polite and careful phrasing, elegant and beautiful, that he’d been trying to put together, something worthy of his name.

He sent it before he could think better of it.

Jiang Yanli held the letter to her chest and smiled.

They’d exchanged a few dozen letters. Jin Zixuan knew that his intended was smart and witty, empathetic and kind, observant and well-meaning, but he didn’t know that she was beautiful until after they escaped from the indoctrination camp and the cave with the Xuanwu of Slaughter.

He’d just accompanied Jiang Cheng for the entire seven days it took to get to the Lotus Pier, collapsing right alongside him, and while Jiang Cheng had – somehow – gotten back on his feet and immediately led his father and mother out the door to go rescue Wei Wuxian, he’d stayed down on the floor until someone knelt down in front of him and smiled.

“Can I get you something to eat, Jin-gongzi?” Jiang Yanli asked.

“Uh,” Jin Zixuan said, and turned bright red. He could sure think of some things he’d like to eat – living as his father’s son had certainly given him an education (however theoretical) about that.

“Food,” Jiang Yanli clarified, giggling into her sleeve. “Let me get you some food.”

This was probably a bad idea, Jiang Yanli thought, looking down at the head tucked against her chest. I probably should’ve just stuck to food. What if he gets with child? What will we do then?

She couldn’t quite bring herself to regret it, though.

“A-Xuan,” she whispered, and Jin Ziuxan stirred a little. “Can we do it again?”

“You’re insatiable.”

That wasn’t a refusal.

“A-Li!” Jin Zixuan shouted, rushing forward. “A-Li, A-Li…!”

She collapsed into his arms.

He looked at the retainers from Meishan Yu, stubborn but pale. “It’s all right,” he said. “She’s my fiancée. I can take care of her.”

“The Jin sect walks in the center path,” one of the retainers said. “Never quite committing to the Sunshot Campaign. How do we know this isn’t a trick to get into the Wen sect’s good books?”

Jin Zixuan bit his lip. He’d pushed his father time and time again, and even that had only gotten them to participate half-heartedly in the fight against the Wen sect. What could he say? What worth was his word?

“It’s all right,” Jiang Yanli said. “I trust him.”

“You could do so much better, you know,” Wei Wuxian said. “It’s not too late!”

Jiang Yanli smiled down at her wedding outfit, but thinking instead of the panicked expression on Jin Zixuan’s face a week before when he’d unexpectedly thrown up in the morning when he was supposed to be preparing for the Phoenix Mountain hunt.

“Oh, it’s too late,” Jiang Cheng grumbled. “On that note, you pick the name.”

“The name…?”

“For our upcoming nephew.”

“Shijie! You didn’t!”

Jiang Yanli’s grin widened.

“Wei Wuxian has committed a crime in attacking our camp and taking the Wen remnants,” Jin Zixuan’s father announced. “We should –”

“Let it go, Father.”

“…what?!”

“I’m getting married, and he’s A-Li’s shidi,” Jin Zixuan reminded his father. “It would be inauspicious to start a marriage by breaking such a relationship.”

His father looked like he was planning on ignoring that, so Jin Zixuan used his trump card.

“We can’t afford anything inauspicious right now,” he said. “Not when there’s a child on the way.”

His mother dropped her cup.

“I have to go,” Jin Zixuan said. “You don’t understand. I have to.”

Jiang Yanli rubbed his hair. “You’re supposed to be in seclusion,” she reminded him. “As am I.”

“I’ve been throwing up every morning for two months, A-Li,” Jin Zixuan pleaded. “I can order them to clear the kitchen. No one would know we were there!”

Jiang Yanli laughed a little. “The craving’s that bad, huh?”

“Yes!”

“Oh, all right. We’ll give it a shot…”

It would have worked, too, if Jin Guangyao hadn’t noticed that too many people were in the wrong place and taken it upon himself to investigate.

“…Jiang-guniang?” He stared at her flat waist, then turned his eyes slowly towards the roundness at Jin Zixuan’s. “Jin-gongzi…?!”

“It’s all right, it’s A-Yao,” Jin Zixuan said to Jiang Yanli. “He won’t tell anyone. Right?”

Jin Guangyao shook his head mutely.

“Seclusion,” he muttered. “No wonder…everyone said it was bad timing that you went into seclusion right before Mistress Jiang announced her pregnancy. But it wasn’t, was it..?” He shook his head. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell.”

“We’re in your debt,” Jin Zixuan said, and thought Jin Guangyao’s eyes upon him were softer than they’d ever been before. “You’ll be a good uncle.”

Jin Guangyao smiled. “Perhaps,” he allowed. “One question, if I may. Who’s the father?”

Jiang Yanli wrapped an arm around Jin Zixuan’s shoulders and beamed.

Jin Guangyao’s jaw dropped again.

“Your son needs you,” Jiang Yanli said to Madame Jin. “Go.”

“Jin Ling,” Madame Jin said, looking down at the baby in her arms. A son, her grandson…a miracle. “Well. You’re – not what I expected.”

If her husband ever found out…

Well.

She’d just have to make sure he wouldn’t, now, wouldn’t she?

#mdzs #jin zixuan #jiang yanli #madame jin #yu ziyuan #my fic #my fics #the more things change #misaligned

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bloody-bee-tea · 3 years

Text

Beetober 2021 Day 3 - Eternity

Jiang Cheng is listlessly walking through his apartment. He gets like this sometimes and he knows it’s better to just wait it out for now, but he feels like a remnant piece of time, left behind without anything to do and he hates these days.

It feels like he does nothing but wait and wait and wait and he’s so sick and tired of it, especially since he doesn’t even know what he’s waiting for.

“A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli says from the door and he whirls around to her.

“A-jie,” he greets her and welcomes her hug, if only because it gives him something to do.

“What’s going on?” she asks and Jiang Cheng hates how perceptive she is.

“Nothing,” he tries, but she levels him with her best ‘don’t even try to fool me’ look and he sighs. “I don’t know.”

“You can talk to me,” she offers, pulling him over to the couch where she pushes him down and expectantly sits next to him.

And for a moment he’s tempted; he’s tempted to tell her everything if only so he can get it off his chest. But then he sees how happy she looks and how unburdened she is by this life and he knows that he can’t.

It wouldn’t be fair to her.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Jiang Cheng softly tells her and pets the hand on his arm. “It’s just one of those days.”

“I don’t believe you,” she says, but she softens her words with a kiss to his cheek. “But I won’t push if you don’t want to tell me.”

“And this is why you’re my favourite,” Jiang Cheng tells her with a smirk. “That gremlin would have poked and pestered me.”

“And he wouldn’t have gotten anywhere either,” Jiang Yanli very accurately predicts and Jiang Cheng nods.

If he’s going to tell anyone at all, then it would be Jiang Yanli and certainly not Wei Wuxian.

“A-Cheng, I’m ho-ome!” Nie Huaisang yells suddenly as he lets himself into Jiang Cheng’s apartment and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes.

“I apologize in advance,” he tells Jiang Yanli, even though by now she knows how Nie Huaisang can get sometimes.

“That’s alright. I just wanted to check up on you anyway, because Jin Ling sent you several texts and he said you didn’t reply.”

“Oh, right, my phone,” Jiang Cheng mutters and looks around the living-room.

He still sometimes forgets that phones are a thing now and especially on days like this it’s hard to use them and not be absolutely baffled by how things have change.

“I’ll make sure to write him once I find it,” he promises Jiang Yanli, who nods, clearly satisfied with his answer.

“Alright, then I’ll leave you and your not-boyfriend alone for now,” she tells him with a wink and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” he gives back and he wonders why no one believes him when he says it.

“Sure he’s not,” Jiang Yanli sing-songs and walks over to the door. “Bye, A-Cheng’s not-boyfriend,” she says with a laugh and then leaves a spluttering Nie Huaisang in the hallway.

“Why is that still going on?” Nie Huaisang demands to know once he comes into the living-room. “Why is no one believing us when we say that we are not actually boyfriends?”

“I have no goddamn clue,” Jiang Cheng sighs and lets his head fall back, closing his eyes. “But I hate it.”

“Are you alright?” Nie Huaisang asks, putting his blessedly cool hands over Jiang Cheng’s eyes and it’s chasing away the headache he didn’t even notice yet.

“No,” Jiang Cheng admits. “It’s just one of those days.”

“Where you’re trying to figure out what you’re waiting for?”

“Yes,” he agrees. “I mean—why am I still here? I get why you’re still here, but why me? I have everyone back and they are all happy, without any drama in their lives and I just don’t get it,” he rambles and Nie Huaisang makes an understanding noise but it’s not like he has an answer for Jiang Cheng either.

Neither of them know why it’s only them who cultivated to immortality, and it’s not like anyone has given them any answers either. The only clue they found about this during their centuries and millennials of searching for answers is that they will re-enter the circle of reincarnation once they find what they are waiting for.

It’s pretty easy to figure out what Nie Huaisang is waiting for, especially since in all their different lives they have never once encountered Nie Mingjue but Jiang Cheng can’t say the same for himself.

He tried a dozen different things over his different lives; he made sure he and Wei Wuxian stayed friends, he spent one dedicated life to be Lan Wangji’s friend, he helped Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan get married and be happy and have Jin Ling and this is not the first life where all of this is true.

Jiang Cheng has everything he missed; even his parents are still around and surprisingly enough he’s on good-ish terms with both of them.

There is nothing he is missing and yet he is still as immortal as he’s been for centuries now.

“Maybe you’re waiting for him, too,” Nie Huaisang says and Jiang Cheng sighs.

He doesn’t outright deny it, because it could be after all, but—“I just don’t understand why I would.”

It’s not like he and Nie Mingjue had a good relationship in their first life. Tragedy struck too soon for them to form anything at all.

“You did propose a courtship with him,” Nie Huaisang reminds him and Jiang Cheng sighs again.

“I did, but more for political reasons, you know that. Your Sect was strong, even after the Sunshot Campaign and it would have been good for Yunmeng Jiang. And besides. It’s not like I got an answer.”

“Aw, Jiang-xiong, come on, you can admit it,” Nie Huaisang teases him and climbs over the back of the couch so he can poke at Jiang Cheng’s face better. “You had a crush on my brother. It wasn’t all political.”

“And what about it?” Jiang Cheng gives back as he slaps Nie Huaisang’s hand away. “Who didn’t have a crush on your brother. And if this is the logic you want to go with, then it’s just as plausible that I’m waiting for Xichen.”

“You do know that he cultivated to immortality in his seclusion, right?” Nie Huaisang asks and he’s serious right now.

Jiang Cheng knows Nie Huaisang well enough by now to know that while he doesn’t really regret his actions back in their very first life he does feel bad for Lan Xichen.

“I went to see him a few years back,” Jiang Cheng admits. “Or maybe decades? I can’t remember at this point.”

“Oh.” Nie Huaisang shuffles down the couch, just enough to put his head in Jiang Cheng’s lap and it’s only when Jiang Cheng starts to card his fingers through his hair that he speaks again. “How is he doing?”

“Not so well, I think,” Jiang Cheng softly says. “I told him that we encountered Meng Yao a few times, but it didn’t seem like he’s interested in hearing this. I think—at this point he’s just punishing himself.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for da-ge, too.”

“Maybe,” Jiang Cheng agrees, because it is possible. “If we ever do end up finding him, we’ll have to bring him there.”

“Sure,” Nie Huaisang agrees. “Do you think—he’ll remember?”

Not everyone they have encountered remembered their first life, or even any that followed after and it differs from reincarnation to reincarnation.

“Does it really matter?” Jiang Cheng gives back.

“No,” Nie Huaisang decides.

Jiang Cheng hums, because he didn’t expect anything else and then they fall into silence.

Jiang Cheng honestly dreads the day they find Nie Mingjue because if Nie Huaisang is wrong and Nie Mingjue is not actually what Jiang Cheng is waiting for then he’ll be all alone in the world, and he’s not sure he could take it.

But even thinking that feels mean towards both Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng pushes those thoughts away.

It’s not like he has any influence over this anyway.

~*~*~

In the end, Nie Mingjue finds them. They are just on their way back to their apartment, bickering over the groceries, when it happens.

“Huaisang? Wanyin?”

They whirl around only to come face to face with Nie Mingjue.

“Da-ge,” Nie Huaisang cries out, dropping all of their groceries and flinging himself at Nie Mingjue. “Da-ge, you’re here!”

“Di-di,” Nie Mingjue chokes out, burying his face in Nie Huaisang’s hair and Jiang Cheng wonders if he only remembered his past life now that he saw them or if he knew all along.

“What is happening?” he asks, and Jiang Cheng figures it’s the first.

He looks good, he has to give him that; clad in modern clothes like they all are these days and that still somehow strike Jiang Cheng as strange, but his hair is still braided with the distinctive Qinghe Nie braids.

If he didn’t remember before, then clearly his subconscious did.

“I have missed you so much,” Nie Huaisang sobs out and Jiang Cheng turns around, busying himself with picking up the groceries that are littered all over the floor now.

“We should move this to my apartment,” Jiang Cheng says, trying his best to be happy for Nie Huaisang instead of bitter.

Nie Huaisang is going to die in this lifetime and Jiang Cheng will have to go on alone.

“Sure,” Nie Mingjue mutters, clearly still shocked by what is happening but Jiang Cheng hears them both follow him.

Nie Huaisang babbles excitedly at Nie Mingjue, bringing him up to speed on everything that happened after he died and Jiang Cheng tries to blend it out.

That was his most miserable life and he doesn’t want to be reminded too much of it, even though it’s long past and he never allowed it to be that bad again.

The Nie brothers keep up a constant chatter in Jiang Cheng’s back until he lets them all into his apartment and then Nie Mingjue reaches out to grab his elbow.

“It’s good to see you, too, Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue says and Jiang Cheng even believes him.

He wants to give the sentiment back but when he turns around he catches Nie Mingjue’s eyes and everything comes to a stop for a heart-stopping moment.

“I would have said yes, you know, if death hadn’t robbed me of that opportunity,” Nie Mingjue tells him, his voice shaking the slightest bit and Jiang Cheng can almost feel how his immortality is leaving him.

“I’ve waited an eternity for you,” Jiang Cheng accuses him but he’s still shaken from the revelation that it was indeed Nie Mingjue he was waiting for all this time.

“And we’re getting our chance now,” Nie Mingjue immediately promises him, making Jiang Cheng honest to god flush, even though he thought himself to be long past that.

“Oh, fuck no,” Nie Huaisang whispers in the background and when Jiang Cheng manages to tear his eyes away from Nie Mingjue he has to laugh at the comical face he makes.

“You told me again and again that maybe your brother is who I’m waiting for. And now you’re saying that?”

“I didn’t mean—I didn’t consider the consequences!” Nie Huaisang wails and slaps his hands over his eyes. “I don’t want to see this!”

“Too bad,” Nie Mingjue says and smiles at Jiang Cheng. “Because it’s happening.”

Jiang Cheng is helpless against that smile and he figures it’s only fair. He took chances with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji and even his parents; he made sure his sister is beyond happy and that nothing bad happens to any of them.

And now it’s time that he gets his chance.

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

#bt writes #mingcheng #beetober2021 #modern au #reincarnation #immortality #hurt/comfort #fluff #getting together

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drwcn · 4 years

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You know a couple that doesn't get talked about at all but 'sort' of makes sense? Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan. Jfm and yzy decide that as eldest child jyl is to he sect leader and set up the political marriage for jc instead

Oh mannn, if The Untamed was a romantic comedy, yes yes this could work >:)

Let’s be real, in a world where Jiang Yanli is raised as Sect Leader and cultivator, the Sunshot Campaign would never happen. WRH would die like... a piece of egg frying on the hood of a black truck in an Albertan summer.

Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan would both be such disasters. D i s a s t e r s.

Jiang Yanli would have such a good time just watching this disaster unfolding from the side lines. Because it’s so obvious that Jiang Cheng finds Jin Zixuan attractive, but he tries to hide it.

JYL thinks A-Cheng has questionable taste, but if he’s happy then she’s okay with it. As long as JZX treats her baby brother right, that is. She’d sic A-Xian on him, but WWX is already there.

Wei Wuxian STILL defending his little brother’s honour like - HOW DARE YOU CLAIM A-CHENG ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU, YOU OVERGROWN FEATHER DUSTER.

Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan insulting each other in Cloud Recesses because neither of them can process their feelings and just end up in a full out brawl between Yunmeng Jiang and Lanling Jin.

Mianmian and Jiang Yanli and Wen Qing like: .......................=____=

Wen Ning wants to help, but he’s a baby, so he’s not allowed.

Lan Wangji wasn’t going to get in between this non-Lan fight until some Jin disciple who clearly wants to join his ancestors early, fought dirty and sucker punched Wei Wuxian.

Lan Wangji sends the Jin disciple flying. Like FLYING. Possibly over the walls of Cloud Recesses into Caiyi Town.

It all happens so fast, one minute Wei Wuxian was getting punched the next minute, he's being held around the waist and twirled around into safety.

EVERYBODY stops fighting. 👀 👀 👀 👀

Under the tutorship of Nie Huaisang, Qinghe Nie disciples take field notes and possibly sketches, you know, for the receipts.

There are too many students to punishment without this turning into an awkward political mess, so no one gets punished and Lan Qiren nearly has a stroke from this alone.

Jiang Yanli decides that yes her brothers are too stupid, if she doesn’t run interference, A-Cheng is going to die single.

Jin Zixuan hears a rumour (from MianMian) that the best way to antagonize Jiang Cheng is to get a dog, because apparently Jiang Cheng hates dogs???????????????

Clearly, if Jiang Cheng hates dogs that means this marriage is off. No way Jin Zixuan would marry a Boi who hates dogs? HAS HE NO SOUL?

But boy was he w r o n g. There is nothing purer in this world than Jiang Cheng laughing as a giant pupper slobber all over his face.

A-Cheng’s smile is S U N S H I N E.

Jin Zixuan falls like the asteroid that crashed into earth and wiped out the dinosaurs.

Wei Wuxian, however, does get extremely antagonized, but that’s okay because he jumps straight into Lan Wangji’s arms.

Jiang Yanli *secretly*: I’m a goddamn genius.

Lan Xichen is VERY pleased with this development.

Behind him, Nie Huaisang is >:) { literally rubbing his hands together behind his fan because Da’ge could always do with another boyfriend to balance out Meng Yao’s crazy. Lan Xichen would be perfect. Besides, he’s clearly already partial to Meng Yao’s Dimples from Hell.

EVENTUALLY, Jin Zixuan tries to confess his feelings but gets punched by A-Cheng instead, because no amount of Jiang Yanli’s soup or love can cure stupid.

That’s okay, because afterwards JYL’s spies (Yunmeng Jiang disciples) report that they saw Jiang Cheng pressing an ice bag to Jin Zixuan’s black eye while they ate lotus pods together.

If Jin Guangshan develops neurosyphilis and dies, well, it’s what he deserves.

#xuancheng #cql #the untamed #jin zixuan #jiang cheng #jiang wanyin #LOl this is the crackiest of cracks #I love it #suibian-chenqing #corie replies #jiang yanli can get with wen qing and just be happy and competent together #it's fine #corie fics #cql ideas

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gingersnapwolves · 4 years

Text

The Untamed, a brief summary [Part 4/6]

Part One: Sword Wizard School

Part Two: The Search for the Yin Iron and the World’s Worst Summer Camp

Part Three: The Fall of Lotus Pier and the Sunshot Campaign

Part Four: The Downward Spiral

Ext, Nightless City [Qishan]

The war is over. Everything should be great now, right? Wrong.

Wei Wuxian has slept for three days. Jiang Yanli tells him that Lan Wangji was playing music to cleanse him of all the evil energy for most of those three days and that’s the only reason he’s awake so soon. Lan Wangji comes in to play more for him, even though Wei Wuxian is in the ancient Chinese version of his underoos. It’s cute.

Everyone else is having a serious meeting. Meng Yao has been legitimized by his father after killing Wen Ruohan, and this is a Very Big Deal. His name is now Jin Guangyao.

ENTER BAD TOUCH MAN

This is Jin Guangshan. He’s Jin Zixuan and Meng Yao/Jin Guangyao’s father. He sucks, big time. Everything about this guy is terrible. He’s a misogynist, a bully, and a patronizing piece of shit.

Jin Guangshan is having all the remaining Wens hunted down and killed, including the civilians. Nie Mingjue is cool with this. Lan Xichen says ‘hey, maybe murder isn’t the answer?’ but everyone tells him that murder absolutely is the answer and he shouldn’t worry about it.

ENTER THE HUMAN VERSION OF A CAR ALARM THAT HAS BEEN GOING OFF FOR AN HOUR IN YOUR WORK PARKING LOT

This is Jin Zixun, not to be confused with Jin Zixuan. Jin Zixuan is the former fiancée of Jiang Yanli and a spoiled brat but earning some brownie points as the story goes on. Jin Zixun is his cousin, and he has zero redeeming qualities.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji have gone out for a romantic stroll. They find a batch of Wen civilians who are in chains, being hunted down and shot for sport by Jin Zixun. Somehow Wei Wuxian manages not to murder him, but it’s close. They play a requiem for the dead people to help their spirits find rest. ~just couple things~

Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue, and Jin Guangyao swear brotherhood to each other in a cool ceremony that was definitely Lan Xichen’s idea.

Int, Nightless City [Qishan]

Jin Guangshan is throwing a big party since they won a war. Wei Wuxian doesn’t really want to go and spends most of it getting drunk outside. Relatable to be honest.

Jin Guangshan says to Jiang Cheng ‘hey remember when your sister was engaged to my son? That was cool, let’s put that back on’. Jiang Cheng looks like he’s been staked out on an anthill. Wei Wuxian comes in and is borderline rude to Jin Guangshan, saying he should ask Jiang Yanli herself. Jiang Yanli, with a retail smile that rivals Jin Guangyao’s, politely says that hey, her parents just died, her home is in ruins, why don’t they leave her alone for a decade and then she’ll think about it. Wei Wuxian bounces because he’s not a party person.

Jin Guangyao announces that in six months, they’re going to be holding a group hunt in Lanling and everyone’s invited.

After the banquet, Jin Guangshan asks Jin Guangyao how much he knows about Wei Wuxian, especially that cool amulet he used during the battle. Jin Guangyao says he’ll find out and then find a way to get it. I cry about the fact that I liked him a lot more before he started sucking up to his shitty dad, even though I understand why he’s doing it.

Ext, Lotus Pier [Yunmeng]

Our trio goes home and starts to clean things up. Wei Wuxian is drinking a lot, not setting a good example for the new disciples, and still won’t carry his sword. Jiang Cheng – remember, he doesn’t know that Wei Wuxian gave him his golden core, and thinks he can still cultivate – tells him to get his shit together. Jiang Yanli, as always, mediates.

Int, Cloud Recesses [Gusu]

Lan Wangji is also home. He’s studying manuscripts to find music that will help heal Wei Wuxian from the resentful energy. What he has isn’t good enough and he wants to go to the restricted section of the library. Lan Qiren refuses to allow him in, confines him to Cloud Recesses, and basically says ‘forget about Wei Wuxian, he’s evil now’. For obvious reasons, Lan Wangji does not like this advice.

Ext, some city [Yunmeng]

Lan Xichen arrives for a visit, finds Wei Wuxian, and gently reminds him that people are worried about him and he should remember his actions impact other people. Wei Wuxian interprets this as ‘you’re evil and it’s hurting people, specifically my brother’ instead of ‘we want to help you’, and shuts him out. It hurts. He came so close. *sobs*

Ext, Lotus Pier [Yunmeng]

Jin Zixuan turns up to formally invite the Yunmeng sibs to the crowd hunt. He acts like an awkward turtle. It seems like he might have realized he was being a dick this whole time. You know what that is? Growth. However he still says that it’s his mother who wants Jiang Yanli to come, because he sucks at this.

Ext, Phoenix Mountain [Lanling]

It’s the crowd hunt! Everyone’s there. They’re having an archery tournament to determine who will get to go in first.

Wei Wuxian flirts with Lan Wangji and taunts Jin Zixun, who asked for it. But then a bunch of Wen civilians are paraded out in chains to serve as ‘obstacles’ to make things more ‘interesting’. Somehow this does not end with Wei Wuxian murdering all the Jin sect members present. He definitely wants to, but then he looks at Jiang Cheng and remembers that their sect is still weak after the war and they probably shouldn’t piss off the strongest sect remaining.

Jin Zixuan does a fancy shot, so Wei Wuxian blindfolds himself and shoots five arrows at once, partly to show off, but partly because he knows nobody can top that so nobody will be able to shoot at the Wen sect prisoners. Jin Guangyao, who apparently arranged this (presumably because his father likes a little bloodshed as an appetizer), pouts unattractively. I wonder why I ever liked him.

Up on the mountain, Wei Wuxian does a bunch of demonic cultivation with his flute to drive the demons into Jiang sect nets so they can win. Then he decides to chill out for a bit.

Lan Wangji shows up. He tells Wei Wuxian that he has learned new music that should help with the whole ‘full of evil energy’ thing. Wei Wuxian asks who Lan Wangji is to tell him what to do. Lan Wangji responds by asking ‘what do you see me as’, Wei Wuxian replies ‘I used to think of you as my soulmate in this life’, Lan Wangji says, ‘I still am’ and the sound you just heard is my heart exploding.

Unfortunately before they can kiss, they hear other people on the path. It’s Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli. Jin Zixuan makes a pitiful attempt to impress her while she is clearly very uncomfortable.

Even though Jin Zixuan isn’t doing anything worse than inserting his own foot into his mouth, Wei Wuxian jumps in to tell him to fuck off. They argue. Jin Zixuan’s mother turns up and hilariously roasts him for always upsetting Jiang Yanli. You start to like her until she says that Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli shouldn’t spend time together because then people will think they’re having an affair. Jiang Yanli reminds her that Wei Wuxian is her younger brother, but Madam Jin sticks to her obnoxious guns. Jin Zixuan tries to say something nice and actually runs away which is the first time he’s felt relatable in the whole show.

Jin Zixun turns up, hauling his enormous bad attitude with him, and gets pissy with Wei Wuxian for using demonic cultivation to lure the demons into their nets. He’s super rude about it. Jiang Yanli politely eviscerates Jin Zixun in response and it’s super satisfying.

Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

They’re having a big party after the hunt. The Yunmeng Jiang did well and Jiang Cheng is happy for two seconds before he overhears some people saying that it’s only because of Wei Wuxian’s demonic cultivation and they don’t like that. Wei Wuxian has decided not to go to the banquet because these people suck.

Jin Guangyao, even though he’s now an errand boy for his power-hungry dick of a father, still has a big crush on Lan Xichen, and they have a few tender moments. Other people, like Madam Jin and Jin Zixun, are being absolute assholes to Jin Guangyao, and he’s wearing his best retail smile. I remember why I liked him. But uh oh! Jin Guangyao has made friends with and invited Su She, who you might remember from him betraying all the Gusu Lan who were hiding in the cave. Jin Guangyao doesn’t seem to know these two have history. Lan Xichen tells him not to worry about it but it’s awkward.

Ext, the city [Lanling]

Wei Wuxian is wandering around. He bumps into Wen Qing, who is there looking for Wen Ning.

Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Jin Zixun has decided he hasn’t been a big enough of a dick for the day, so he asks Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji to have a drink with him. Lan Xichen tells him that they aren’t allowed to drink alcohol because of their sect rules. Jin Zixun takes this as a personal insult, or at least pretends to because it gives him an excuse to act like a jerk.

Jin Guangyao asks what’s going on and who upset his cousin, then looks at Lan Xichen like they’re a biracial couple at a barbecue and he’s trying to apologize telepathically for what his racist uncle just said.

After a few moments of ‘no really, I just don’t drink alcohol’ Lan Xichen decides this fool ain’t worth it and takes a drink. Jin Guangyao looks like he wants to crawl into a hole and die. ‘U ok babe?’ his eyes say. ‘No I want to go home, this barbecue sucks’ Lan Xichen’s eyes reply. Jin Zixun then offers a cup to Lan Wangji, who stares into the middle distance and forcefully projects the information that he will literally die before accepting a drink from this asshole.

Wei Wuxian interrupts, snatches the cup, and says ‘I’ll drink for him. That’s okay, right?’ even though there’s absolutely no reason it would be since they’re not actually married. He drinks anyway. Then he asks Jin Zixun where Wen Ning is. Turns out Jin Zixun and his lackeys kidnapped Wen Ning and his whole village.

Jin Zixun pretends he doesn’t remember. Wei Wuxian threatens him a lot. It’s super hot if terribly inadvisable. Jiang Cheng is clearly upset that he’s out of line. Lan Wangji is clearly worried that he’s losing his marbles. Jin Guangshan tries to bully Wei Wuxian and fails on every level. After a few minutes, Jin Zixun caves and tells him that Wen Ning and the others are at Qiongqi Way. Wei Wuxian says ‘why couldn’t you just tell me that?’ and leaves. Jin Guangshan flips over the table. It’s awesome.

Everyone begins talking shit about Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng is more upset. Lan Wangji says ‘I mean, he wasn’t wrong’ and Jin Guangyao replies with the ‘he’s right but you shouldn’t say it’ meme. Lan Xichen reflects on the fact that Wei Wuxian’s ‘temperament has changed a lot’ as if this is something mystical and strange instead of the inevitable result of severe, untreated PTSD and the fact that he’s discovered massive systemic injustice.

Lan Wangji asks Lan Xichen if it’s okay if he kidnaps Wei Wuxian and brings him back to Cloud Recesses. Lan Xichen tells him to go for it.

Ext, Qiongqi Way [Lanling]

All the Wen civilians have been forced into a labor camp. It’s really awful.

Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing arrive to find out they’re too late. Wen Ning has been killed. (Technically they say later he had ‘one breath left’ but that’s only because Chinese censorship doesn’t allow necromancy to be portrayed on TV. This explanation doesn’t actually make sense, and by and large fandom ignores it. In the book, he’s all dead, and that’s much simpler.)

Wei Wuxian has a complete breakdown and brings Wen Ning back as a fierce corpse (which is similar to a zombie but not exactly the same for xianxia reasons). Wen Ning murders all the guards at the prison (with a little help from Wei Wuxian) and then collapses. Wei Wuxian realizes they are Totally Fucked Now, lets everyone out of prison, and gets out of dodge.

Except Lan Wangji has followed him and is standing in the rain in his way. They have a really haunting exchange where Wei Wuxian asks Lan Wangji to confront the aforementioned systemic injustice, and Lan Wangji tells him if he continues on this path, it’ll be considered a rebellion and he’ll be hunted down and killed. Wei Wuxian says, basically, ‘If I’m so wrong, then you kill me. If it’s you, I’ll accept it.’ Lan Wangji stands aside to let them go. I cry for seventeen hours.

Ext, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian has brought the refugees here. They ask if it’s really possible to live in such a place. He says he lived there for three months.

Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

You know, I don’t even remember if we see this, but I assume everyone there is super upset about everything.

ETA: Thanks to the people who reminded me! Everyone’s trashing Wei Wuxian. Mianmian (you may remember her from Turtle Cave, where Wei Wuxian saved her from being burned by Jiaojiao) sticks up for him, saying he doesn’t kill indiscriminately. Everyone pats her on the head and mansplains things to her, so she gives them all a big middle finger and leaves the Jin sect over it. Good for her.

Int, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Jiang Cheng shows up to ask Wei Wuxian what the fuck he thinks he’s doing. Wei Wuxian, who is living in a cave and spent their entire refugee budget on candles, has Wen Ning’s unconscious body covered in talismans. He says he’s trying to restore Wen Ning’s consciousness. Jiang Cheng is pretty horrified and basically accuses Wei Wuxian of desecrating a corpse, and threatens to kill Wen Ning (more/again). Wei Wuxian brushes him off. Jiang Cheng says, heartwrenchingly, ‘If you keep protecting them, I can’t protect you’. Wei Wuxian replies, more heartwrenchingly, ‘Then abandon me.’ I cry for another seventeen hours.

ENTER A RAY OF SUNSHINE

There’s a little boy here about two or three years old named Wen Yuan. He’s adorable and likes to cling to people’s legs.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t like any of this so he bounces. Wen Qing walks him to the end of the trail and then gives him back the comb he gave her (she did pick it up!) earlier. He looks like she kicked him in the balls but doesn’t change his mind.

Ext, somewhere [Yiling]

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian stage a massive public fight. There’s some light stabbing. Jiang Cheng publicly disavows Wei Wuxian and says he’s no longer part of the Yunmeng Jiang. (You don’t actually know it’s staged at the time this happens but you find out pretty soon so whatever.)

Ext, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Jin Zixuan has now realized that Jiang Yanli is bae. He builds her a lotus pond and looks super awkward about it. It’s sweet. He’s doing much better now that he realizes he just shouldn’t talk.

Ext, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian is a massive ball of PTSD and angst. It sucks. Wen Qing tries to persuade him to leave them there and go home, but he refuses.

Ext, some city [Yiling]

Lan Wangji is in Yiling because he was in the neighborhood on completely unrelated business. No he’s not there to see Wei Wuxian. Stop asking him questions. Suddenly a small child is clinging to his leg and crying. He is discomfited.

Meanwhile Wei Wuxian is buying refugee supplies and realizes Wen Yuan has wandered off. He finds him clinging to Lan Wangji’s leg and insists on buying him lunch. Wen Yuan asks Wei Wuxian to buy him a toy and when Wei Wuxian won’t, Lan Wangji buys him like 15 toys. It’s super adorable.

They have lunch together. Wen Yuan sits in Lan Wangji’s lap. The reason Lan Wangji definitely was not in the area was to tell Wei Wuxian that his sister is getting married to Jin Zixuan. Lunch is interrupted when Wei Wuxian’s talisman signals that Wen Ning is causing trouble back at the Burial Mounds. Lan Wangji has to pay for lunch.

Ext, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wen Ning is on a rampage. This happens with fierce corpses. Wei Wuxian starts trying to use his magic to calm him down. With Lan Wangji’s help, he’s able to restore his consciousness. Everyone’s really happy.

Wei Wuxian asks Lan Wangji to stay for dinner but he says he has to go. They exchange the world’s most longing look. I resist the urge to climb into my screen, physically manifest in ancient China, and tie Lan Wangji to a tree so he can’t leave.

Wen Yuan asks if he’ll ever come back. Wei Wuxian says probably not. I rehydrate so I can cry more.

Back at the Burial Mounds, the villagers have come together to throw Wei Wuxian a thank you party. It’s super sweet.

Ext, the city [Yiling]

Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli come to show Wei Wuxian her wedding outfit. She’s brought him soup. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian roast each other a little bit, just like old times. However Jiang Cheng is also a bit of a dick to Wen Ning, because he’s still skeeved out by what Wei Wuxian did, and won’t let him sit with them. Jiang Yanli gives him a bowl of soup anyway. He can’t eat it, so he carries it back to the Burial Mounds and gives it to Wen Yuan.

Ext, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian has planted lotus seeds. He’s still having mood swings and other PTSD symptoms but overall is improving somewhat. He finds out at some point that Jiang Yanli is pregnant and gets really excited about it.

Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Jiang Yanli has given birth to a boy they have named Jin Ling. They’re planning his one-month ceremony. She wants to invite Wei Wuxian. The Jin sect is skeptical. Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji back her up, saying that Wei Wuxian hasn’t caused any trouble since going into exile, and this is a good opportunity to try to re-introduce him into polite society. Jin Guangshan agrees. He’s also a dick to Jin Guangyao, who asks to hold the baby, and Jin Guangshan won’t let him. Jin Zixuan points out to his father that Jin Guangyao has been loyal and helpful since joining the sect, and maybe his father shouldn’t be such a jerk. Jin Guangshan reminds him that Jin Guangyao is the son of a whore and says someone with his background can never be in a position of power in their sect.

Ext, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian receives a letter from Lan Wangji stating he’s invited to the one-month ceremony and is really excited.

Int, my apartment [America]

I’m gonna be real honest with you guys. I skimmed through the next couple episodes while sobbing on my phone and unlike most of the show, have only watched them once. It’s very possible that I’m going to get stuff slightly incorrect or in the wrong order. I’ll do my best but holy crap, I absolutely never want to watch these episodes again. This accounts for any mistakes I’ve made in fic, too, LOL.

Ext, Qiongqi Way [Lanling]

Wei Wuxian is on his way to Koi Tower with Wen Ning. Jin Zixun shows up and accuses Wei Wuxian of having cursed him with a curse called Hundred Holes. Wei Wuxian hilariously says ‘I don’t even know who you are’ because his memory is terrible and also Jin Zixun sucks. Jin Zixun has brought like a hundred guys with them and they start shooting arrows. Wen Ning starts to kick their asses.

Jin Zixuan shows up and tries to de-escalate the situation. He promised Jiang Yanli that Wei Wuxian would be able to visit Jin Ling.

Out of fucking nowhere, Wen Ning murders the shit out of Jin Zixuan. I screamed. Wei Wuxian clearly has no idea what the fuck just happened. Then Wen Ning murders Jin Zixun which is less of a problem. Once all the Jin guys are dead, Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning run the hell away and head back to Yiling.

Int, Koi Tower [Lanling]

Everyone wants to know what the fuck just happened. They conclude that Wei Wuxian lost control of Wen Ning and his violent nature (now that he’s a fierce corpse) caused him to murder a bunch of people. They demand that Wen Ning and Wen Qing surrender themselves to Koi Tower.

Int, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian has an absolute meltdown, for which we can’t blame him. He, too, has come to the conclusion that he lost control of Wen Ning and that’s why a ton of people are dead.

Wen Qing sticks a bunch of needles in him and tells him that they’re going to surrender themselves to Koi Tower. He hates everything about this but can’t stop them because of the needles. She says they’ll release him in three days, tells him ‘I’m sorry, and thank you’. I can’t see the screen through my tears.

Ext, Koi Tower [Lanling]

The Wen remnants surrender themselves. Jiang Cheng tells Jin Guangshan ‘whoever Wei Wuxian broke, I’ll pay for it, okay?’ but we’re a little beyond that now.

Int, the Burial Mounds [Yiling]

Wei Wuxian breaks out of his needle-induced coma and hurries to Koi Tower. I clutch my stuffed animal and think, naively, that he’ll make it in time.

Ext, Koi Tower [Lanling]

The bodies of the Wen remnants are on display. Wei Wuxian has another meltdown. He tries to find Jiang Yanli, sees her in widow’s white, and runs away.

Ext, Nightless City [Qishan]

For some reason everyone’s decided to go to Qishan to toss Wen Qing and Wen Ning’s ashes in a volcano, I guess. Mostly they’re just throwing a party for themselves because they killed a bunch of farmers. I hate them.

Wei Wuxian shows up and tells them they all suck. Some rando shoots Wei Wuxian with an arrow. He laughs at the dude, pulls it out, and throws it back, killing him. It’s hot. Lan Wangji tries to talk him down but can’t. They get in a fight. Wei Wuxian raises an absolute fuckton of resentful energy and angry spirits and starts trying to kill everyone there, which honestly seems fair to me at this point. For only the second time, he takes out the amulet made of yin iron that he used during the battle with Wen Ruohan.

Except something weird is going on. There’s a second flute playing and it’s unclear who’s playing it. I’m screaming at my monitor.

Jiang Yanli, who is there because this show doesn’t know what to do with women besides fridge them, gets attacked by a fierce corpse. Wei Wuxian tries to control it but can’t. He starts freaking out again. He and Jiang Cheng manage to save Jiang Yanli from the fierce corpse but Wei Wuxian doesn’t know what’s going on and he’s clearly about to break down completely. Jiang Yanli is still really sweet and gentle with him, even though (she thinks) he kind of killed her husband. Then some other rando tries to kill Wei Wuxian and ends up stabbing Jiang Yanli instead. She dies.

Wei Wuxian – I hate to overuse the term ‘freaks the fuck out’ but when the shoe fits – freaks the fuck out. He breaks the amulet into fragments and then throws himself off a cliff.

Lan Wangji catches him before he can fall, even though he’s been wounded in the battle. Wei Wuxian stares at him for a moment before he tells Lan Wangji to let him go. Lan Wangji doesn’t let him go. Jiang Cheng comes over and for a brief second Wei Wuxian sort of looks hopeful, but then Jiang Cheng tells him to go to hell and stabs downward with his sword. It’s not going to hit him – Jiang Cheng’s eyes aren’t even open – but it hits the rock and causes part of it to crumble. Wei Wuxian shakes Lan Wangji’s hand off and falls, smiling with relief, because this show absolutely wants to fucking kill me.

Yes, our protagonist is dead. Don’t worry, he gets better.

~end of part 4~

#liveblog #the untamed

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wangxianfics · 4 years

Note

I'm looking for some fics were Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixuan become friends?

Hello nonny, sorry about the late answer!

Here’s some WWX & JZX being friends fics for you:

Candy & Conspiracies by cl410 (16K, Teen)

(Canon Divergence, Jin-Raised!WWX, Found Family, Humor, WWX & JZX, WWX & Mian Mian, Early!Wangxian)

“Wei Wuxian is the son of two rogue cultivators who recently died on a night-hunt,” his mother explained. “We are taking him in as a favor to a friend.”

At least it wasn’t another surprise half-sibling.

It did not take long for Jin Zixuan to reconsider. Wei Wuxian was a gremlin, brought to Koi Tower for the sole purpose of driving Jin Zixuan into insanity.

@i-like-plan-m

Detailed comment here

Twin Treasures by crossdressingdeath (81K, Teen, WIP - 14/?)

(Canon Divergence, Jin-Raised!WWX, WWX & JZX, WWX&Madam Jin)

When Madame Jin happens to come across Cangse Sanren's orphaned son on a trip to Yiling, she can't bring herself to leave him there. Wei Wuxian finds a somewhat different family. Jin Zixuan finds a little brother. The course of history changes accordingly.

(Some things are written in fate, but even fate itself changes.)

@crossdressingdeath

What Lies Ahead by pupeez4eva (30K, Teen, WIP - 8/11)

(Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Everyone Lives, Humor, Hurt & Comfort, Burial Mounds Family, Yiling Laozu!WWX, WWX & JZX, Wangxian Pining)

After their fight in the Cloud Recesses, Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixuan find themselves hurled into the future, with no idea how to get back.

Now they are both stuck in a time where Wei Wuxian’s future self is apparently the most hated man in the whole cultivation world, and where Jin Zixuan seemingly fulfilled the very thing he desired least, and married Jiang Yanli.

Oh, and Lan Wangji seems to hang around quite frequently, for whatever reason.

(Or, wherein Jin Zixuan and Wei Wuxian travel to the future, and the Cultivation World is way more messed up than they remember it being).

@pupeez4eva

Fatherhood's Calling by Fortune_Maiden (1+K, General)

(Post-Sunshot Campaign, WWX & JZX, Crack, Humor)

Jiang Yanli thought of Wei Wuxian as a son. It made so much sense. Everyone knew that Wei Wuxian lost his mother at a young enough age to barely remember her. And everyone also knew that Madame Yu had never been fond of him. So why wouldn’t compassionate gentle Jiang Yanli start to see that pitiable urchin as her own?

But... if Jiang Yanli saw Wei Wuxian as a son, then didn’t that make Jin Zixuan, her husband, his father?

atlas in his sleepin' by anatheme (29K, Explicit, WIP - 4/6)

(Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Dimension Travel, Reincarnation, Transmigration, Transmigrator!LWJ, Modern Era, Family Reunions, Scar Kissing,Clothes Sharing)

The thing was, Wei Wuxian was the king of questionable decisions and the paragon of curiosity and bad choices.

A pair of white boots entered his line of sight.

“Wei Ying?”

(or: AU in which Wei Wuxian, Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan reincarnated into the modern world. In a bid to let them see their son, Wei Wuxian ended up accidentally summoning Lan Wangji right in the middle of his apartment.)

What's Wrong With Secretary Lan? by silverclaw (5K, Teen)

(Modern AU, Inspired by: What’s Wrong With Secretary Kim, Best Friends WWX & JZX)

“That’s where he goes on Friday nights, he goes to underground boxing matches.” Wei Wuxian ignores him, certain in his derivation.

“Why does it have to be underground? Maybe he just does regular boxing like regular people.”

“Then why wouldn’t he tell me?”

“You sound like a whiny boyfriend, stop it.”

“I do not!”

“Just marry him.”

“Wait...” Wei Wuxian says. “That’s not a bad idea actually.”

“Have you been day drinking?” Jin Zixuan asks, baffled.

“You’re the one who suggested it!”

“I was joking.”

“No, before that. You said I should either give him a raise or marry him. Well, I already tried giving him a raise.”

@lwjstiletto

@scifikimmi also recs:

Quartet by WithBroomBefore (70K, Teen, Series)

(Canon Divergence, Sunshot Campaign, Found Family, JZX Has Friends, WQ Lives, WN Lives)

Wei Wuxian almost does not catch the name of the song.

In which the aftermath of the cave battle involves just enough communication to make a difference.

@withbroombefore

#wwx&jzx #masterpost #ask #Anonymous #jinzixuan #friendship

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writing-from-cloud-recesses · 4 years

Text

I have noticed a… take… in the fandom… that I don’t really agree with… However, it got me thinking. What if Jiang Cheng had died during the fall of Lotus Pier? Or before Wei Wuxian got to him after he was taken back? Or even sometime during the Sunshot Campaign, in battle? I mean, seriously, tragic thoughts, but it would change the entire story.

Wei Wuxian wouldn’t have gotten in the position to invent demonic cultivation. Which, in turn, might have caused all the sects to lose to the Wen Sect.

Even if they did manage to win (or Jiang Cheng died in battle, so Wei Wuxian had actually been in the position to invent demonic cultivation), the Jiang Sect would be led by Jiang Yanli until she married and produced an heir – and it doesn’t matter how much Jin Zixuan respects her now, she can’t marry him. It’s got to be someone who can marry in.

And without Jiang Cheng, there isn’t anyone who can keep her locked out of the loop. Wei Wuxian can explain everything to her about Wen Qing and Wen Ning helping with regaining the remains of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan… and Jiang Cheng too, in this version. Amd she has no one she’ll side with over Wei Wuxian anymore, so he’ll have his sect’s full support (and based on the novel conversation that happened between Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue and Jiang Cheng – with Jiang Yanli, he’ll have the Lan Sect and Nie Sect’s support).

Jiang Cheng’s impact on the story is probably the biggest, despite not being one of the main characters.

This just popped in my brain as I was typing this – but what if Jin Guangyao used the opportunity to marry Jiang Yanli? He’d have successfully climbed up the social ladder, the Jin Sect would use him to create an alliance with the Jiang Sect, he’d have children that weren’t also his niece/nephew, and a wife that would be polite and respectful to him.

He won’t be in the same position where Nie Mingjue started getting more aggressive and suspicious of him, because he won’t be part of any of the Jin Sect’s schemes. So he won’t have to kill Nie Mingjue anymore. And he won’t kill Jin Guangshan, because he wouldn’t have overheard how his father had trash talked him and his mother. Also, Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian being nice to him would encourage him to be more inclined to scheme with them – which would be scheming for good.

Oh, Jiang Yanli, Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao can all regularly meet up and talk about Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji when they get together!

#mo dao zu shi #mdzs #wei wuxian #jiang yanli #jin guangyao #not tagging our main boy discussed in this post #because i think it's a bit rude to surprise people with a post about their fav being dead in that character's tag #obviously i don't hate him #it's just crazy thinking about the what ifs

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variouspolltournaments · 3 months

Text

Some of these may be background ships, others may be canon by word of god.

Propaganda

Yuchi: No Propaganda Submitted

Xuanli: They are set up for an arranged marriage at first and at this time Jin Zixuan is a pompous little shit and doesn't like Yanli, but it gets broken off (thanks to Wei Wuxian, him and Jiang Cheng are absolutely right to protect their sister). There is not a lot of interaction between the two after this till the Sunshot Campaign. Jin Zixuan, (at least he's in battle unlike the rest of his Sect) but still a little shit because he's rude to Yanli again! But Jiang Yanli was bringing him soup (her own recipe) since she'd been making it for her brothers, Jin Zixuan doesn't deserve her yet, but she still cares for him.

Skip to after the campaign, Jin Zixuan has developed feelings for Jiang Yanli but he's not very good at expressing himself. He somehow manages to ask for her hand in marriage successfully - this isn't given in detail, but he's probably treating her like the queen she is since Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng approved. And then they get married and have a son.

NOW TO THE IMPORTANT PART - of course it's angsty this is mdzs - the day their son turns a month old, Wei Wuxian (public enemy numero uno) is on his way to the celebration when he gets ambushed. Wei Wuxian argues with the (bad) Jin guys but they are intent on killing him, this is when Jin Zixuan gets there. Jin Zixuan, and even though he's not exactly on good terms with Wei Wuxian, tries to calm him and even protect him, just because he is Yanli's brother. Jin Zixuan gets killed (plotted by the Jins) and his last fucking words are, "A-li (Yanli) is waiting for you." to Wei Wuxian.

TL;DR: This moment alone showed how much Jin Zixuan has changed and that he has put in a significant amount of effort, that he tries to be a better person for Yanli. And he cares for her and their son the most in the world. He died trying to make sure her brother, who she loved so much, was alright. He only invited Wei Wuxian despite the circumstances so Yanli would be happy. She is his last thought. He'd do anything for her, really. He literally redeemed himself just by falling in love with Yanli and treating her like she deserves to be treated. HIS WHOLE CHARACTER ARC REVOLVES AROUND HER WHAT MORE DO YOU EVEN NEED?!?!

#canon side ships tournament #yuchi #yuki sohma #machi kuragi #fruits basket #jiang yanli #jin zixuan #xuanli #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #the untamed #chen qing ling

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chenqingssuibian · 3 years

Note

Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian for the ask meme

two-for-one special, huh?

from this post!

How I feel about this character:

Jiang Yanli: ULTIMATE EXAMPLE OF CHARACTERS WHO DESERVED BETTER. Jiang Yanli is everything. She is the it girl. She is my favorite female character except for MAYBE A-Qing. She makes me wish I had a big sister, y’all. God, I wish she had gotten to meet her son - like, actually meet him, and get to know him. (When she died, he was... what, a year old at most? Not MUCH personality there, gotta say.) I wish she had gotten to grow old, man. Jiang Yanli was born to be a grandma, and the fact that she never got to be. Is upsetting. My girl is artistic, she is smart, she is brave (standing up to Jin Zixun!!!! A man who is 100% stronger than her!!!!! From a much stronger and wealthier sect!!!!) and GOD is she kind. Yanli, my beloved <3

Wei Wuxian: He is the main character and he is the main character for a REASON. This man? A mess, through and through. He is also a genius and he will not let you forget it, nor will he let you forget how SEXY he is. Yes Wei Wuxian we know your ass is fat you don’t need to remind me. I love this freaky lil necromancer. So sexy of him to invent that. He doesn’t have a SINGLE uncomplicated relationship, no, that’s too easy. He doesn’t even get to have a simple relationship with A-Yuan, because of course he doesn’t. Wei Wuxian is a flawed man who has committed atrocities and kindnesses in turn. He is simultaneously a grave robber who desecrates corpses on the regular, and ALSO the kind of dude who will attempt (and succeed) to resurrect a guy who he barely knows, even though it seems hopeless, because he is duty-bound. He takes his debt to the Wen siblings so, so seriously, he takes so much so seriously and that is why he doesn’t put effort into, for example, naming his weapons, or other bullshit. He has priorities, man. I love him.

Romantic Ships:

Jiang Yanli: I’m a slut for xuanli, my token straight ship. Half of it is because I just really love Jin Ling, and if they weren’t a thing... he wouldn’t be either. But ALSO: Jin Zixuan resents her not because she’s her, but because he is being forced to marry her. Once that pressure is pulled off (though honestly? Not completely, because let’s be real - Madame Jin was probably pushing for that marriage all through Sunshot) and he gets the chance to... actually get to know her? He falls in love, y’all. I like to think Jiang Yanli, softhearted as she is, made him work to woo her as much as she was able. Gotta put effort into Jiang Yanli, Zixuan, it’s what she DESERVES! Other than them, yanqing is very good! I read some fics where she married Lan Xichen, which was lovely, and then there’s that series where she gets married to Jin Guangyao instead of Zixuan (though I can’t remember the name of it, rip.) There are very many options, for Yanli, and all of them good. give her a harem

Wei Wuxian: Wangxian goes without saying - they’re the core of the series, after all, if I didn’t like them at least a little... there wouldn’t be a point in me running a blog for this series, would there? Ningxian, unrequited or otherwise, is also very sexy. Wangningxian, too, and, as mentioned in the ask about Lan Xichen, I am into xixian! Xiaoxian also slaps - I’ve written a blurb for them, and plan on expanding it into something larger... at some point. Also, there are some really great (though DEFINITELY not for the light-hearted) xuexian fics out there, if you’re interested.

Non-Romantic Ships/BroTPS:

Jiang Yanli: Yanli and her brothers, Yanli and Wen Ning, Yanli and Everyone, Basically. Everyone should be friends with Jiang Yanli. She is very friend-shaped, and honestly? If everyone was her friend, a lot of shit would’ve gone down better.

Wei Wuxian: I think the dynamic between Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli is just. So fuckin’ delicious. There are layers of love and devotion and propriety and conflicts of all of those things and GOD. I love them. I also thing Wei Wuxian should’ve been a menace as a child on the streets with Xue Yang. I would’ve liked to see it. Nie Huaisang is also a Very Good Bro, who I love him with immensely (and also think he should kiss a little bit)

Unpopular Opinion:

Jiang Yanli: Not to NSFW, but a lot of y’all seem to think she’s the kinkiest bitch on the block, and honestly? I don’t see it. I think her favorite position is missionary. I am so sorry to the pegging stans I just don’t think she has the core strength to make that good.

Wei Wuxian: HE. IS. MORALLY. GRAY. AT. BEST. Particularly during Sunshot and the immediate aftermath, but honestly, Wei Wuxian is not the liberator of the people, or something. He is a very talented man who, when he feels it is the right thing to do, will do anything - and what is right can be subjective and situational. He’s his own villain in a lot of ways, and the villain of many other people’s stories. Honestly, I can’t blame people for being afraid of him, or trying to put limits on what he can do - unchecked power is always bad. Always. Even when someone I like has it.

What I wish would happen/had happened in canon:

Jiang Yanli: Uh. I wish she had fucking LIVED? I get WHY she had to die, so Jin Ling could... be Jin Ling, and Jiang Cheng would finally have something he really, truly couldn’t forgive Wei Wuxian for. I get that her death is the final nail in his coffin, or whatever. But seeing her simply get INJURED for him would’ve been enough, I think? I don’t think she needed to die, is what I’m saying, and I think MDZS could’ve been even more interesting, narratively speaking, if she hadn’t. Then again, I’m a Xuan Lu simp, so it is possible I simply wish we had had More Of Her.

Wei Wuxian: Therapy, as always. Otherwise, he’s pretty much got it made? Man came back from the dead, got some old friends back, solved a mystery, found out his sort-of son he raised in a graveyard for a while wasn’t dead at all, and then got married to the love of his life. He’s good on that front. Reconciliation with Jiang Cheng is really all I want, past that.

#ask game #anon #wei wuxian #jiang yanli #so many opinions.... SO MANY OPINIONS #do you enjoy this glimpse into my mind prison? hmm?

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curiosity-killed · 3 years

Note

Can I ask your thoughts on ships between jiang yanli x lan xichen or jiang yanli x nie mingjue..? Based on their personality can jiang yanli romantic relationship works with either of them? (Of cource I ship jiang yanli and jin zixuan, and I know deep down he have a good quality). Sorry for the random question.....

Nooo no need to apologize! Random questions are fun and I am always down to chat

As far as Jiang Yanli ships go...well, despite what my fics suggest, I am a multishipper at heart and want Jiang Yanli to have nice things so, short answer: yes. Give her all the beautiful respectful men who love and adore her!!

Longer answer based on my views of the characters below the cut bc WOO boy this got long:

Jiang Yanli/Lan Xichen

Part of me really wants this to work because they are similar in a lot of the ways they interact with their family and with the roles and responsibilities they have to handle. And like frankly, both of them deserve some non-volatile relationships where they don’t constantly have to play peacekeeper. So pros in their favor: I just want them to have nice things, they both seem more emotionally mature and intelligent than...a lot of their peers, and in-universe it makes decent political sense. They could create a solid team of tact and diplomacy tying Gusu Lan and Yunmeng Jiang into a solid alliance. They can both have someone to take care of them for a chance. Jiang Yanli can broaden Lan Xichen’s culinary horizons; Lan Xichen can (depending on what headcanon you go with for Jiang Yanli’s health issues) play healing music for her and paint her lovely art. I like all of this for them bc I want them to have soft and good things 😂😂

As for things going against this relationship...I think there can be such a thing as being too similar. Both have the tendency to sublimate themselves for the sake of those they love, both are constrained by their duty and positions in a way that makes it hard to see them really going for it if their family or anyone raised objections, and especially post-sunshot, I think both would be likely to hold off for both personal and political reasons. Both their sects have been horrendously injured by the war and both of them are dealing with major family losses and struggles. Obv that can bring ppl together (see the “have someone to care for them” point above lol) but grief and loss are messy, non-linear experiences and oftentimes, the way we experience them doesn’t fit nicely with the way other people experience them. I think Jiang Yanli is pretty reluctant to leave her sect in the wake of the war, especially with Wei Wuxian clearly Going Thru Some Shit and with Jiang Cheng suddenly having to be a sect leader, and imo part of the appeal of Jin Zixuan at that point is that he offers a stability and security that her family can’t anymore—and which, having just lost their sect leader, had their home razed, and fought a war—Gusu Lan also wouldn’t be able to.

Which is all to say that this has turned into a desire for me to see star-crossed Jiang Yanli/Lan Xichen where he doesn’t want to drag her into the mess of post-war Gusu Lan and she doesn’t want to be another burden when he’s already dealing with a lot (& also understandably wants one (1) thing to be easy). It would make me sad and I would love it

Jiang Yanli/Nie Mingjue

On the note of tragedy! I feel like you can really make this ship an ocean liner of sadness and pyrrhic revenge :’)

But we’re talking compatibility so: I think Jiang Yanli could enjoy having Nie Mingjue’s strength and steadfastness behind her—both in larger terms and in the personal. Politically, after sunshot, the Nie are pretty much the best-off after the Jin (the bar is so low here folks but anyway) which means that marrying into the Nie sect might actually be the best route for stable power, non-lecherous in-laws, and being able to both live comfortably herself and have more ability to help her own family. a strong marriage alliance between qinghe nie and yunmeng jiang coupled with Nie Mingjue’s close friendship/sworn brotherhood with Lan Xichen might actually create one of the few settings where I can buy into the other sects having a reasonable amount of alliance/strength/solidarity to stand in opposition to Lanling Jin (which is ofc vital for keeping Wei Wuxian and the Wens alive, which is a major component of Letting Yanli Have Nice Things)

on the other hand, what we get of Nie Mingjue in canon is...pretty rigid and grounded in principle rather than practicality, and I think Jiang Yanli is used to the practical aspects of living with people—being someone without a lot of control over her own life, who is constantly trying to balance and smooth over the troubles of her notably volatile family, I think she is well-acquainted with the (oftentimes bitter) art and necessity of compromise. and as we see from nie mingjue’s arguments with lan xichen about jin guangyao, nie mingjue doesn’t handle that kind of flexibility super duper well. so that’s a pretty major obstacle to compatibility and a happy marriage, especially if you throw wei wuxian into that argument because being married to someone who genuinely thinks her brother deserves death is not a thing I think would be conducive to Jiang Yanli’s happiness TBH

SO my conclusion for both ships:

can totally be persuaded to buy into them and have a great deal of fun

with fluffy versions where Jiang Yanli just gets nice things and they get either

(in lxc’s case) someone to love and support them without needing him to Be A Big Brother all the time or

(in nmj’s case) someone who cares about him and encourages him to broaden his moral and life perspective

in tragic versions where lxc and jyl can’t be together because of their separate duties or nmj dies and jyl winds up as part of nhs’ plans as either co-conspirator or collateral damage

and think in both cases there are significant personal challenges that would lead to conflict/friction that could be v fun story-wise or could cut them off before they get together

#asked & answered #anonymice #i also do rlly want jin ling to be a person #so that sways me a little #but not that much #there are many ways for jin ling to come into existence #jin zixuan's involvement is optional #BUT ANYWAY #sorry this got so long #i don't think abt these ships a lot #and instead of answering compatibility i was like 'Hm Would THis Be a Strategically Sound Decision in the Wake of a Horrifying War' asldjkh #but mostly it is v fun to give jiang yanli nice things in the way of love and respect #and i confess i would be particularly interested in a canon divergent au #where she does marry nmj and then like...an examination of how and what that changes #like does nmj still die? does wwx? who survives and who is lost?#if they both still die #does nhs bring jyl in on his conspiracy or keep her out #does /she/ persuade mxy to do the sacrifice summons?#who is she by the time wwx returns? how has she been changed?#ajkdhs IM SORRY NMJ I'M JUST REALLY INVESTED IN JIANG YANLI #also obv this is all just my opinion and conjecture thrown out while waiting for rice to cook so #pls don't take it too seriously lmao

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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years

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Yay! I’m so happy prompts are open again! I love your writing! How about a scenario where NMJ dies in Nightless City either due to MY’s machinations and WRH just takes the chance to execute him. Now there are 3 clans being led by young inexperienced leaders who lost their parents or parent figures in the war

ao3

It wasn’t that Jiang Cheng hadn’t liked Nie Huaisang well enough, when they were all learning together in the Cloud Recesses. Anyone who had the energy to keep up with Wei Wuxian – and just enough good sense to help veer him off the really bad ideas, even if he did keep egging him on in regards to the medium-grade bad ones – was good news in his books.

But liking him didn’t mean respecting him, and the fact that Nie Huaisang hadn’t participated much in the war – couldn’t participate much – had led Jiang Cheng to discount him more or less entirely.

That’s what made it all the more surprising when Nie Huaisang ended up being the unofficial leader of the three remaining Great Sects in opposing Jin Guangshan after the war.

Jiang Cheng would have thought it’d be Lan Xichen, who was the oldest of them. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been included in their classes, already out and about on sect business, but Jiang Cheng had always felt like Lan Xichen was a generation older than the rest of them, even though he was only three years older than they were. At worst, he’d figured it would himself, since he had the experience of rebuilding a sect from nothing and had led men to battle and war - he had experience with being forced to be the one in charge, if nothing else.

Anyone, really, except Nie Huaisang.

“He’s up to something vile again,” Nie Huaisang said without preamble, tone clipped and eyes hard as they always were these days. He settled down at Jiang Cheng’s table and picked up a cup of tea with disinterest, nodding in recognition of the fact that it had been his favorite blend when they were younger. Possibly he didn’t have favorites anymore.

“What now?” Jiang Cheng asked.

“This Xue Yang business,” Nie Huaisang said, which wasn’t a surprise at all. “It just keeps getting worse and worse. I really don’t like it.”

“You don’t like anything, Nie-xiong,” Wei Wuxian teased, bringing over some snacks they both liked.

If it was anyone else, Jiang Cheng would have snapped at Wei Wuxian, telling his martial brother to have more respect, to call Nie Huaisang by his proper title – Sect Leader Nie, since he didn’t have a personal title – except no one called Nie Huaisang Sect Leader Nie if they could help it, not after the example he’d made of the first few who’d done it, trying to ingratiate themselves with him.

As far as Nie Huaisang was concerned, his brother – who was still in the coma he had fallen into after Yangquan, after the Nightless City, after what should have been the end of the war but wasn’t, after everything – was the one and only Sect Leader Nie.

That was also around the time he stopped smiling, and the time the rest of the world discovered that under Nie Huaisang’s smiles and tears and frills and overly indulged laziness was the same core of steel and rage that his brother was famous for.

“Are you going to keep talking nonsense or are you going to help stop it?” Nie Huaisang asked Wei Wuxian, harsh as always, and Wei Wuxian obediently sat down and shut up.

Something Jiang Cheng had yet to figure out how to get Wei Wuxian how to do. He was desperately jealous in some ways, but his normal thing about other people being better than him at anything was heavily muted by the fact that it apparently took Nie Huaisang being, well, like that in order to accomplish it.

Like he was all alone in the world, having lost the only family he had left.

For what might be the first time in his life, Jiang Cheng would prefer to be second-best if it meant he didn’t have to face the same sort of loss. It had been bad enough losing his parents, but if he lost Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian as well…

He might have, too, if Nie Huaisang hadn’t all but stormed the Lotus Pier in a rage when Jiang Cheng had failed to reject Jin Guangshan’s request to expel Wei Wuxian from his sect as quickly as Nie Huaisang would have liked. Jiang Cheng had even (secretly) been considering it, knowing that Wei Wuxian agreed with the idea, thinking that maybe distancing themselves in public and remaining close in private would be the only way -

Nie Huaisang had put a rapid end to those thoughts.

With Nie Huaisang at his side, and even Lan Wangji having arrived from who-knows-where, Jiang Cheng had had the confidence to tell Jin Guangshan that the internal affairs of his sect were none of his business and that the furthest he’d go in regards to Wei Wuxian’s actions would be to offer to pay recompense for taking the Wen sect prisoners.

Obviously the Jin sect had refused, not wanting to seem like they were pinching pennies, and in the end it had actually turned out fairly well as a political stratagem, smaller sects appreciating the way he stood up for himself and established a precedent for resisting such pressure. Jiang Cheng really wouldn’t have thought it.

(He hadn’t been allowed time to think – Jin Guangshan had been leading him around by the nose, and only Nie Huaisang’s choler had snapped him out of it before he made some very bad decisions.)

“A little nonsense isn’t so bad,” Lan Xichen said from the door, waving at them not to rise to salute him as he entered, followed closely by Lan Wangji. He smiled at Wei Wuxian in particular – they were all but brothers-in-law now, given how much time Lan Wangji had been spending at the Lotus Pier, even if the relationship wasn’t official yet. “It adds a little levity and laughter to life.”

“I promise to laugh when you finally give me Meng Yao’s head,” Nie Huaisang said, and Lan Xichen’s smile abruptly crumpled. “The way you should have back then.”

“Do you want to work together or not?” Jiang Cheng asked Nie Huaisang irritably. “Drop it.”

“Certainly I will drop it, as soon as the honorable Zewu-jun stops telling me to laugh more. He wanted someone to smile at him and he got it, and all it cost him was my brother - and supposedly his - so you’ll have to forgive me for not being full of levity and laughter.” Nie Huaisang accepted a snack pressed into his hand by Wei Wuxian. “My spies indicate that the Tingshan He Sect – about sixty or seventy in total – have disappeared. Very shortly after their young master had a dispute with Jin Guangyao, as you might recall.”

Jiang Cheng flinched. “The entire sect?”

“The entire sect.”

Wei Wuxian muttered something extremely unpleasant under his breath. “On what excuse?” he demanded. “He nearly got me kicked out of the cultivation world over the Wen sect, fine, but Tingshan He? He Su fought in the Sunshot Campaign! What could they possible said that he did to deserve it?”

“He publicly opposed Jin Guangshan’s bid to be chief cultivator, and Jin Guangyao’s new position as his heir, isn’t that enough?” Nie Huaisang said, heavily sarcastic. “I think what you should be asking is what the children did to deserve such a fate, or the babes in arms…oh, I’m sorry, Zewu-jun. Would you prefer that I be smiling while I talk about it? I understand that’s your preference. Forgive my insufficient levity; I’m afraid I cannot match your beloved sworn brother - you have only the one, if I recall correctly? - for such talents.”

Lan Xichen looked tired.

Jiang Cheng couldn’t blame him – Nie Huaisang had a tongue as vicious as Jiang Cheng’s mother, and he didn’t say that lightly – but on the other hand, there wasn’t much he could say to get Nie Huaisang to stop, either.

After all, it was Lan Xichen who had refused Nie Huaisang’s immediate demand for Jin Guangyao’s head in the immediate aftermath when the whole debacle at the Nightless City had been revealed, one of the Nie sect disciples having survived nearly getting murdered long enough to testify as to what had happened within the walls, and, due to Lan Xichen’s prevarication, there had been time for Jin Guangshan to adopt Jin Guangyao back into the Jin sect.

After that, he became untouchable.

And then –

Well, then a lot of things had happened.

Jin Guangshan’s overreach and ambition were clear from the start, of course, more or less from the second he realized that the other three Great Sects were being led by the untried, inexperienced younger generation. Jiang Cheng had a good reputation, but he’d been fairly hamstrung politically by his sister’s decision to marry Jin Zixuan, not wanting to risk her being mistreated by her new family – Lan Xichen was a novice sect leader and still friends of a sort of with Jin Guangyao, at least back then – the other sects were too small to do much –

No wonder Nie Huaisang had changed so much. They hadn’t left him much choice.

“Something will need to be done about it,” Lan Xichen said. “An entire sect…he’s really gone too far.”

Nie Huaisang nodded sharply. In his opinion, Jiang Cheng knew, Jin Guangshan had gone too far long ago, and the rest of them were only just starting to catch up…

A bit like Nie Mingjue had been, with Wen Ruohan.

Damnit, maybe they should just listen to the Nie sect.

“Where will it end?” Lan Wangji asked from his place next to Wei Wuxian.

“War, of course,” Nie Huaisang said, and they all flinched. “Would you prefer to roll over and give in? I’m sure Jin Guangshan would be willing to promise you leniency if you turned over his grandson, Jiang Cheng, though you might have to execute your sister for having kidnapped him in the first place – even if she didn’t know she was pregnant when she returned to the Lotus Pier.”

“We’re willing to go to war,” Wei Wuxian said, his voice hot with anger, then realized he was being presumptuous again and looked over at Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes at him – at least he was trying – and nodded. “There’s no way we’re handing Jin Ling over, much less jiejie. But don’t make it seem like we have more influence than we do. After all, now that Jin Guangyao is the official heir, they have Jin Rusong, don’t they?”

“Not for long,” Nie Huaisang said, and Jiang Cheng turned to stare at him in dismay.

“Huaisang,” Lan Xichen said, aghast. “You haven’t –”

“I appreciate your confidence in me, really,” Nie Huaisang said, and threw a letter at his face.

Lan Xichen plucked it out of the air and looked it over, his face paling as he read it.

“Your spies again?” Jiang Cheng asked Nie Huaisang. He seemed to have an endless supply of them.

Nie Huaisang shrugged. “My brother never stopped sending them out, even if he barely ever used them, and he never asked them of anything that might make them break cover. Some of them have been undercover for over ten years – they’re very good.”

Lan Xichen put the letter down. He looked sick, which meant that Jiang Cheng really did not want to see what was in that letter.

Unfortunately, what he wanted had long ago become not especially important. He was sect leader. He had to face all the worst that people could do, the awful, the ugly, the terrible –

Wei Wuxian nudged him in the side. “Can I?”

“Go for it,” Jiang Cheng said, relieved by the reprieve. He really didn’t know what he’d do without Wei Wuxian – he didn’t know what he was thinking, that he thought he could protect his sect better without him rather than with him. Nie Huaisang’s furious and despairing rant had been extremely convincing, even if it had been more than a little traumatizing.

Especially in regards to his predictions as to the ultimate fate of Wei Wuxian and his lost sheep once he no longer had Jiang sect protection...

Wei Wuxian picked up the letter, looked at it, and blanched, which – wow. Jiang Cheng really didn’t want to know what was in there that would make the Yiling Patriarch look like he was going to throw up. Not even the reports about Xue Yang using people’s tongues to make tea had done that.

Wei Wuxian passed Lan Wangji the letter and put his hands down onto his lap, knuckles white. “He’s going to murder his own son.”

It took Jiang Cheng a second to parse that – to understand that the ‘he’ referred to Jin Guangyao rather than Jin Guangshan, as the latter wouldn’t have been a surprise – and then he jerked as if stabbed. “Not Rusong!”

Everyone looked exceedingly grim.

“That – fucker!”

“The idea is to blame us – or anyone resisting him, really – for the death,” Nie Huaisang said. “Then exterminate us as a consequence. Do you have any more of that cake? It was good.”

Lan Wangji wordlessly passed some over.

“So, getting back on the subject: war,” Nie Huaisang continued briskly. Unperturbed, almost, by what they’d just discovered, but then again he’d known longer, or maybe it was only that it didn’t surprise him the way it did them. “One way or the other, whether it’s us starting it or them; it was always going to end in war, as I told you.”

He took a bite of the cake, swallowed it.

“Imminent war, in fact,” he added. “Regardless of what the rest of you decide, I’m not going to sit around to waste my time talking until it’s too late. I’m going to kidnap Rusong – and maybe Qin Su, who knows, I haven’t yet determined how in-the-know she is – and that’ll probably kick the war off right away. I’m here to tell you to get ready.”

He swallowed another bite of cake. “Or, well, to get ready, or get out of my way. You can pick.”

“We’ll be ready,” Jiang Cheng said.

He didn’t want another war – but surely anything had to be better than this.

Lan Xichen caught his gaze over the table. He seemed tired, but also – hopeful. Even if all he was hoping for was an end to all the uncertainty that had been torturing them.

“We’ll be there, too,” he said, and Jiang Cheng nodded encouragingly at him. “Just tell us what to do.”

“Don’t worry,” Nie Huaisang said. “I will.”

#mdzs #nie huaisang #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #lan wangji #lan xichen #jin guangyao #my fic #my fics #unfettered #Anonymous

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