#would wwx have ever been able to forgive him?

[populationtyre]

how much more tragic and fucked up would it have been if lan wangji had been the one to accidentally kill jiang yanli

[robininthelabyrinth]

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

ao3

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

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

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

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

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

Wei Wuxian was going to strangle him.

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

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

Wei Wuxian was going to find him. 

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

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

Lan Wangji didn’t dignify that with any response.

Typical, really.

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

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

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

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

“To tie him up.”

Or that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He really was just – very oblivious.

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

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

“A mistake?”

“Mm. He thought we wanted privacy.”

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

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

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

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

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

They both were.

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

As soon as they found him.

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

Because Jiang Cheng was theirs.

[admirableadmiranda]

I feel like the view on lwj that he was lacking before he met wwx or fell in love is somewhat unfair and dismissive of his complexity as a character

I completely agree, anon. There has been a sad trend lately where people are now blaming Lan Wangji for not being perfect enough for Wei Wuxian, claiming that it's only on him that things didn't happen sooner and that he should have done more.

Lan Wangji is the deutoroganist of the story. The one who has the most focus and growth outside of the protagonist. He is astoundingly well-rounded and from those very first days in the Cloud Recesses, fascinating enough to draw and keep Wei Wuxian's attention on him even without meaning to. And that's at fifteen. When he's still a young sprout just beginning to really come into himself.

Meeting Wei Wuxian definitely changed him in many ways, that's undeniable, but it wasn't like he was a blank canvas before that, just a sheltered boy who is so very good beneath the mask he puts up. He goes out and does things just because he can, setting out with plenty of time to walk to a lotus pond to try them with stems on because Wei Wuxian said they were good and ends up being too late because he keeps stopping to help people. He is titled by the common people for being so good that he keeps going out of his way to help them in the middle of a war. Even without Wei Wuxian he would have done this.

What Wei Wuxian really does for him is help him see that anyone is capable of being that righteous, of being that good. They are equals, they are both morally upright, they are both kind, they are both forgiving and able to see people as more than their worst decisions consistently. He is optimistic and chooses to believe that people will be better when given the chance.

He lacked the full world experience to see exactly what was happening in Wei Wuxian's first life until it was too late, but he didn't let that crush that optimism in him. He never turned his back on the world or his family despite their actions because he is not that person. It is a difficult thing to do, yet he walks that line gracefully and lives a life that anyone would not be ashamed to have lived by the end. He teaches a group of bright, open children who will make the future better by also believing in the world. None of these were things that he wouldn't have been able to do had he never met Wei Wuxian.

This is going to sound so odd based off of some of my older metas and arguments and I hope I can convey what I mean well enough to explain the difference, but I think there are sections of the fanbase that have leaned too far in the wrong direction again with Wei Wuxian. Sure he's no longer being written as a stupid chaos gremlin who can't do anything and actively makes things worse, but now he's starting to lose his personality traits that make him more interesting than most heroes like his kindness and desire to tease, giving him other people's strong morals and claiming that he cannot stand anyone who is not as morally pure as he is. Which is just wrong, he is not some avenging angel of justice. He is a man, a man who has made mistakes and has regrets and would choose things differently, who doesn't blame people for being human.

People are starting to knock down Lan Wangji to throw Wei Wuxian on a pedestal of godhood that he doesn't deserve and wouldn't want. They transform the people around him into either devoted peons who have also never committed a single transgression in their lives or repentant sinners who he magnaminously forgives their mistakes and allows them to stand in his shadow. It is a disservice to the people he chooses to surround him - Wen Ning commits treason and even betrays Wei Wuxian by spilling one of his secrets to his former sect leader, Wen Qing is just as smothering a big sister as Jiang Yanli or Lan Xichen ever were, yet those traits are ignored because they are seen as the perfect innocent victims, the Wens being cultivators is erased in favor of making them sad poor farmers who were unjustly persecuted and never held a weapon, weakening the strength of Wei Wuxian's decision to protect them because no one should be condemned for their name or their family. People bash Lan Xichen, Jiang Yanli, now Lan Wangji too for apparently being not supportive enough, not perfect enough for him to care about them, but that has never ever been Wei Wuxian's thought process on the people he chooses in his life.

I don't like it, anon. I don't like that people erase Wei Wuxian himself because his actual choices don't match with their illusion of his godhood. I don't like that people put down Lan Wangji for not being perfect enough when that was never the point. I don't like that people act like he somehow deserves to be ascended based off of prestige when it literally goes against things he directly says in the text.

You are right. It is unfair and dismisses Lan Wangji's character. And unfortunately the people pushing Wei Wuxian to overshadow everyone are the ones responsible because in the process of making him brilliant, they blot him out entirely.

When I joined, it was people feeling bad that Wei Wuxian didn't see Lan Wangji's brilliance. Now it is people complaining that Lan Wangji isn't good enough for Wei Wuxian. After a whole novel about how that doesn't actually matter because they never judged or blamed each other for any of the things that came between them and would never want someone to lift them up at the expense of the other. Wangxian adore each other so much.

And when I see it on either side, it just makes me so mad.

Thank you for the ask!

[llycaons]

ep48 (1/3): thank fucking god jc and wwx are finally talking it out

this was sweet. when does lwj ever defend someone to wwx rather than vice versa? but he dutifully reports than wen ning didn't do this happily

wwx rolling his eyes like 'oh GOD here we go again'

okay okay but I am so excited for this because I truly believe this is jc's absolutely best scene best monologue best interaction with wwx in the SHOW. finally everything coming to light! finally communication! finally a solid closure to the rage and grief that has torn them apart! but first it displays all of jc's issues and problems so so clearly

and it start off with jc bitterly praising wwx for being such a saint. which I really enjoy on a writing level, because it's very self-aware. it's easy as a reader to think that jc should bow down in gratitude, but jc as a character has a lot of pride and judges things very differently - he's a living, breathing, thinking character who has his own beliefs, principles, grudges, and motivations

I don't even know how to describe this. mocking praise? it's very characteristic of jc of this arc. sarcastic, insecure, and bitter, keenly aware of wwx's achievements and virtues and resenting him for them. idk what he wants wwx to do...obviously he's not thinking rationally but wwx can't help being good at stuff

he's making wwx entirely responsible for his feelings. not even 'you did this and I felt this way' but 'you are this way and I'm different and it's your fault that I'm not as good'

not even forgiving the debt owed from all those decades ago, even knowing the truth! he also has a big victim complex - even when wwx was being disrespected and even abused in ways jc wasn't, he still remembers it the way it'll suit his needs. no capacity to consider wwx's troubles or suffering. absolutely no emotional imagination. not that being low-empathy makes you a bad person, but the way he acted has never been part of a healthy relationship w wwx

this moment captures him SO well. while castigating wwx about jin ling, jin ling himself tries to reach out - to comfort or dissuade. and jc throws him off, impatient and angry and entirely focused on the object of his revenge rather than the living child he claims to be trying to protect, the child who's right there asking for his attention

this also feels very self-aware of the writing. almost...lampshading? not the right term. it feels fair and right that one major character close to wwx, and sympathetic despite his behavior, is holding wwx to task for this. I am obviously on wwx's side, but it makes sense than people would be upset but what happened and it feels very honest to allow jc this bitterness and anger rather than forcing everyone in the story to immediately forgive and love him. it adds texture and complexity to the characters and the world, and it makes actions like lwj's more significant. jc was never going to be the partner wwx needed, and that's extremely important to the story

another fair accusation. on the other hand it was pretty clear wwx was majorly depressed after the war and while jc might have been angry with him for drinking, he only responded with punishment instead of, idk, compassion for the other sibling who lost his entire home and family? jc didn't talk to wwx either

I read this as jc angry with himself for not being able to truly hate wwx, and blaming wwx himself for...not being hateable? it's very convoluted. jc needs so much therapy

CLOWN MOMENT

wwx touching lwj's hand to prevent him from jumping to wwx's defense, jl interpreting lwj leaning forward as him about to attack, and jc tearfully saying "I can take him!! you think I'm scared of him?" a lot going on here

oof. ough

there it is 😭 circumstances of the past aside, I'm glad they made it this point

...is that a smile? I can't even tell I swear

and NOW he's calling HIMSELF pathetic for even caring that much. my guy I think easing off on being judgemental towards yourself and your loved ones might help

JIANG CHENG APOLOGY EVENT CATCH IT ONCE EVERY TWENTY YEARS 🎇🎉🎈🎁

I can't tell if this is putting distance between jc and wwx (bc wwx is saying he did it as payment) or bringing them closer (bc wwx is saying there's no need for jc to regret or agonize over the past anymore)

I forgot how satisfying this scene was. wwx went through so many trials and despite the residual trauma, he really feels like he's able to move on. and that can include jc too

🥺🥺🥺

I believe in yunmeng sibling reconciliation!!! this was a really hopeful and honest and cathartic discussion and I feel really good about their future relationship. I get caught up in the scenes before this and I just a lot of jc fic writers on it, but after this scene I can def see their dynamic becoming much less antagonistic. wwx isn't joking about his pain or making excuses for jc or talking about how much he likes to be mistreated - he's gentle and honest and real. and he wants to move on. finally. finally they got there

[cuckoo-among-beasts]

I took a nap, which is very unusual, earlier and my brain then came up with some added angst for my Demonic Cultivator Verse. This is for after the Sunshot Campaign.

Huaisang is 'allowed' to continue practicing demonic cultivation during the war, since it does help in the fight against the Wen. Everything during the war happens as in the novel, except that Huaisang is part of the fighting using demonic cultivation.

When WWX takes the Wen remnants under his wing, Huaisang almost joins him, but despite it all, he misses Qinghe and he wants to somehow try and fix things between himself and his brother (since their views on his newfound cultivation differs), so he just silently watches it all and heads home instead.

Mingjue and Huaisang ends up fighting a lot, one being affected by his impending qi deviation and the other by resentful energy. He tries to stop using demonic cultivation, but by now, he seems to need it to survive. Xichen, and later also Guangyao, plays Clarity for them both, hoping it will help them, even if their problems aren't exactly the same. Er-ge also tries to help Huaisang to stop using demonic cultivation, but it's hard to work with someone who has the mood of a wet cat.

Then Mingjue dies. He qi deviates, but there's traces of resentful energy being used to force it to happen. The day before, he and Huaisang had a big argument, bigger than ever before, and with resentful energy clearly being the cause of Mingjue's early death, Huaisang is accused of having a hand in it. However, at the same time, Huaisang had been seen having an 'episode', seemingly acting irrational and bleeding from his nose and mouth before collapsing. It is deemed that Mingjue's qi deviation was accidentally caused by Huaisang when he wasn't himself and his punishment is therefore ruled to be imprisonment in seclusion instead of death.

Huaisang tries to plead. Tries to tell them he didn't do it, that he would never do such a thing and that something happened during the last Clarity session with Guangyao. No one believes him and why would they? Not even Xichen seems to listen, but then, he has always been enchanted by Men Yao.

Since it's deemed that Huaisang needs healing as well, he is taken back to Cloud Recesses where he is put in a specially made seclusion cabin. There, he is meant to live out the rest of his life while also being treated so as not to need the resentful energy his body seem have become dependent on. The cabin has special talismans and ward on and around it, that stops him from using more resentful energy than what's needed to keep him alive, but not enough that he could ever use it to escape (not that he has anywhere to escape).

At first, he tries to fight it. Tries to make Xichen listen, he even tries to talk to Lan Qiren, but since none of it works, he eventually gives up. As the years goes by, Huaisang is slowly fading, until all that's left is a mute shadow of his former self in that barren, secluded Lan cabin.

Will he ever be able to clear his name and leave this prison? Or will he be stuck here until he dies? Will he ever be able to forgive those who never even investigated his claims? Will he ever see the Unclean Realm again?

[iamwestiec]

June 9: Ace Rights Wangxian!

A/N: I've thought about this conversation between them since I finished the novel. While I would broadly classify WWX here as "sex-favorable asexual" and LWJ here as "grey-ace/demisexual (Wei Ying specific)," each person's experience is unique and neither of these are mine. I beg your forgiveness if anything I've had them say rings false. This fic is largely a discussion is about their sex life, but nothing more physical than kissing is shown in this story.

Read on ao3

🖤🤍💜

Wei Ying likes everything Lan Wangji does. Lan Wangji knows this to be true, because Wei Ying tells him, in exactly those words, every time Lan Wangji draws his husband close and asks what he would like.

But.

Perhaps there should be no "but"—Wei Ying is vocal, even loud, in his enthusiasm for all the ways Lan Wangji touches him, all the ways he takes him apart and feasts on the sight and sounds and sensation of his body.

But when Lan Wangji asks his fantasies, hoping to fulfill Wei Ying’s desires as fully as Wei Ying has fulfilled his, they are games, stories, often moments from their own past or clichés from romantic tales or erotic literature, and if playacting is the shape of Wei Ying’s desire, then Lan Wangji will do his best, but.

The jingshi glows warm tonight, and the day has been a good one, and when Lan Wangji draws Wei Ying into his lap and asks, "What would you like from me?" and Wei Ying replies, as he always does, "I like everything Lan Zhan does," Lan Wangji pauses.

"Wei Ying," he asks, "is there nothing in particular you desire from this husband?"

"Lan Zhan?" Wei Ying is confused. Lan Wangji considers the shape of what he has been wondering and arranges the words.

"You know there are many rules about restraining desire and excessive indulgence in physical pleasure," he begins.

Wei Ying grins. "Ooh, is this a new game? Have we broken rules, Lan Zhan?"

"Hush," Lan Wangji says, softening it with a kiss. "Listen." Wei Ying settles into Lan Wangji's arms, his thoughtful face on.

"In my youth, I did not understand these rules, why the other disciples joked about them. To me, they seemed simple, easily followed.

"Then, Wei Ying."

Wei Ying’s cheeks flush, and Lan Wangji has to restrain himself from taking that beautifully reddened skin between his teeth.

"I felt urges so intense they frightened me, reactions in my body I had no context for." He feels the corner of his mouth twitch. "I thought the problem could be solved if only you would learn to observe the rules."

Wei Ying laughs. "And yet I remain a problem, eh Lan Zhan?" he says, eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Never," Lan Wangji disagrees. "It was only ever that I had not yet learned how to hold wanting you inside my skin."

"Lan Zhan, you can't say things like that," Wei Ying protests. "It makes it sound like you wanted to ravish me all the time."

"I did want to ravish you all the time," Lan Wangji replies easily. "I do still. I'd never felt anything like that before, nor for anyone else, since. When I look at you, when I think about you, sometimes when I'm doing something else entirely, the wanting is there, dozens of different ways I desire to have you. Just now, I wanted to bite your cheek." Wei Ying shudders against him, breathing coming faster as Lan Wangji speaks. "What I wonder," he asks gently, "is whether that is how it feels for you."

Wei Ying's brows draw together. "Lan Zhan, you know I love you. You must know I love what we do together, all the ways you love me."

Lan Wangji kisses the wrinkle away. "I do know. I only ask to see if there is something you want that I haven't offered, or..." this is the delicate part "...or anything you don't don't want that you accept only because I want it from you."

"That doesn't make any sense," Wei Ying argues. "Everything I like, I like it because you want it from—oh..."

He pauses, and Lan Wangji can see the ideas rearranging behind his eyes. He is so grateful for the ways Wei Ying understands him and for the second chance he has been gifted, to be able to understand Wei Ying in return.

"Oh, so... for you, the wanting is separate from the—" he waves his hands, blushing again "—the loving me of it all?"

Lan Wangji tilts his head side to side. "Not separate," he says, "but distinct. Like a hunger that remains, whether a meal is spread out before me or I'm practicing inedia, only for Wei Ying."

"Lan-er-gege!" Wei Ying squeezes him tight and buries his face in Lan Wangji's chest. "The things you say..."

Lan Wangji holds him. Sits with the ever-present simmer under his skin and waits.

"I like that you want me," Wei Ying admits, in his smallest, most honest voice. "I don't know that I feel that hunger the way you describe, but it feels good that I'm what you want, just as I am."

He wipes his face against Lan Wangji's chest, and Lan Wangji's heart clenches at the wetness that clings to his eyelashes when he looks up. "Is that okay?" Wei Ying asks. "I'm sorry if I'm not—"

Lan Wangji cuts him off with a kiss, and Wei Ying melts into it, like always.

"No sorry between us," he insists. "Just as you are, as you said. If you wanted nothing more from me than someone to buy you Emperor's Smile, that is what I would give you, and gladly."

"Well I certainly won't turn that down," Wei Ying chuckles, "but I've grown rather spoiled by the rest of it too. I think we'll keep things as they are, Lan Zhan, everyday and all."

"If it's ever too much, if I'm ever—" he needs Wei Ying to understand, needs him to know that he's not beholden to what he said once or what he says now.

"I'll tell you," Wei Ying promises. "I don't think you could be too much for me, Lan Zhan, if I'm honest, but I'll tell you."

Lan Wangji nods and lets his body show the gratitude he feels for the promise, for Wei Ying’s understanding, for everything about the man in his arms. Wei Ying meets him, warm and welcoming as ever, opening to receive all the love and desire Lan Wangji has to give. Their lips and bodies move in tandem, a dance they've both learned all the steps to, until Wei Ying suddenly stops and pulls back.

"Wait!" he says, looking stunned, "Wait, so you mean to tell me all that poetry about desire and yearning and aching for the touch of your beloved is literal? People are really walking around out there feeling a physical need to, to kiss on somebody? Isn't that distracting??"

Lan Wangji can't help but smile. "Highly."

"And some people feel like that for more than one person? Maybe even for anybody attractive they see?"

"I believe it differs in focus and intensity," Lan Wangji says, "but as I understand it, yes."

"Holy shit," says Wei Ying, looking a little gobsmacked by the very idea. "All this time, I assumed that was metaphor."

Lan Wangji loves him so, so much.

"Well. WELL!" Wei Ying says, as he pins him with a serious look. "Anytime you're feeling too distracted by all that yearning, you just come and find me, husband. It won't do to have Hanguang-jun incapacitated by his amorous desires."

Lan Wangji chuckles. "If my husband insists."

"He does! This Wei Ying will accept as many kisses and everydays as his poor, horny husband requires." His grin is wide and beautiful and so fond, and, as ever, Lan Wangji wants to kiss it right off his face.

So he does.

🖤🤍💜

#PrideMonthSnippets Masterpost here!

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Hey Orion, there was this blog that was open to discussion about whether WWX and JWY would ever reconcile. I'm someone who likes to debate and seeing this rare JC blog actively saying "Yes I'm open to a civil discussion" I basically went "Oh sweet! Can't believe I can have a civil discussion with the wrong sort of JC fans". Orion it's been three weeks. The blog still hasn't answered my ask. I have given up waiting. They might answer it, but who knows, my points were on the "WWX doesn't want a reconciliation so there will be no reconciliation" and "JWY is a homophobe and WWX won't want that energy around him, given that he's very much gay and very much in love with LWJ" and some other points that I added but forgot.

It'll be sad if they didn't answer it because they found out they're wrong and stubbornly held on to a fanon interpretation of JWY.

RIP, I fully feel that, if there was to be a reconciliation, MXTX would have written it.

She had done that for Lui Qingge and "Shen Qingqui". Shen Yuan was able to rewrite the plot in order for them to become friends and for Lui Qingge to become the "brother/martial brother" that Shen Qingqui had needed for a lasting friendship that in the other verse had been ruined and decimated with Yue Qingyuan. What he needed was not a savior complex but someone who was willing to be a loyal friend without the underlying issue of broken trust between them. Despite Lui Qingge's abrasiveness he is utterly caring and soft-hearted to those he loves and doesn't hold expectations over their head that are ultimately unobtainable for either side. He accepted his friends actions and let him make his own choices. What was needed between Shen Qingqui and Yue Qingyuan was closure which Shen Yuan was able to give by drawing a line that both could move on in life without continued guilt.

In Tian Guan Ci Fu, she let that reconciliation happen between Xie Lian and Mu Qing. Mu Qing was able to admit to yes his own fault and blame for the dissolving friendship between them. He admitted that he was jealous and that made him think unjustly of Xie Lian so much that he had been unfair and cruel. But he was the one willing to reach out and protect Xie Lian once more, he was the one to step up to mend a very broken relationship and also had the maturity to realize that Xie Lian did not need to feel like further friendship was owed. He let Xie Lian decide to keep Mu Qing in his life without throwing a fit that he was owed a place within Xie Lian's new life. He did not force himself on Xie Lian to demand to take him back as a friend or insisted he was owed it after reaching out to help.

Both have a massive stark contrast to the way Jiang Cheng is the major cause to Wei Wuxian's downfall. Neither of the above two were the ones to overtly harm their former friend by aggressively targeting them. Unlike the above two, Jiang Cheng did not better himself within the time he was granted away from Wei Wuxian. He stagnated and used that time to further insist that Wei Wuxian was the one to blame for all the wrongs within his life. That is not the basis for any reconciliation. Wei Wuxian knows that it is not something he himself wants and has no need to want to ever pursue a relationship that was built on his give to Jiang Cheng's taking. That is not a friendship or anything based within equality or the basis of anything to ever be equal even with sorries. Mo Dao Zu Shi is not a plot about forgiveness, it is about moving on from an unreconcilable past, and making the future better with the happiness you are granted and not being jealous or envious.

[featherfur]

Since you're the resident Jiang Cheng expert in the fandom, how do you think Jiang Cheng would react to Jin Ling being gay and coming out to him?

I am certainly flattered but I am far from the resident Jiang Cheng expert, especially since my brain has more holes in it then Chenqing and it’s a flute. And I do tend to have a slightly more sympathetic view of JC and his treatment of the sect that is very colored by CQL (which isn’t a bad thing) so I don’t think I can be considered an expert unless I could avoid frankencanon lmao. ^-^

As for your question… I think he’d be irritated but not because of Jin Ling, just that it makes it that much harder for Jin Ling to survive as a sect leader. He wouldn’t want Jin Ling to be in a marriage like his grandparents (either of them) but it does make life a fucking pain.

Lets be honest, Jiang Cheng took his brother literally leading to his sister’s death before he reached a point of not being able to forgive him… and then proceeded to just let him run around with nothing more than a threat and demand he apologize to his parents. And Jin Ling is Jiang Cheng’s kid, I don’t think anything could happen that would ever make Jiang Cheng not love him. Even if Jin Ling said he hated him, Jiang Cheng would only be a call away.

So Jin Ling coming out as gay? Jiang Cheng’s annoyed but he loves his kid, but now he has to try and help him through this. Because Jin Ling isn’t the respectable and paragon of justice that Lan Wangji is seen to be, and he’s not the badass murderer that scares ppl off like Wei Wuxian. He was raised by Jin Guangyao who died leaving a HUGE mess behind him that now falls on Jin Ling and will cause any ‘mistakes’ (it’s a homophobic society it’s wrong to think otherwise) to be be seen as even worse and damning evidence of his incompetence. It’s the reason JL tries to get Jiang Cheng to let him suffer alone instead of taking a reputational hit by standing with Jin Ling in the extras.

Jin Ling will be expected to have a wife, have a biological child, and to lead his sect with a level of decorum that would make even Lan Xichen bitch about it. So being gay makes their life harder, but well? If his kid really wants to be with some guy, atleast the most irritating one is already married (*couch* Lan Wangji *cough*) so Jin Ling can only marry someone better. But Jiang Cheng still expects a grand wedding and a kid, adopted or with a concubine, because he isn’t dealing with watching the Jin’s tearing themselves apart trying to be heir. And well, Jiang Cheng does usually try and keep the status quo, and it says baby for heir.

But man YMJ is fucking weird so,,, he can’t really say anything. (Like WWX being ‘shixiong’ even though JC has been a ‘disciple’ of his father the sect leader longer, and being head disciple despite Yknow… not being the first disciple by a long shot? And being the scourge of Lotus farmers who rely on being paid off for their menacing). He’ll definitely bitch about whoever JL chooses because no one will ever be good enough for his a-Ling.

But at the end of the day, they’ll figure out everything and as long as Jin Ling is happy and safe I don’t see Jiang Cheng caring all that much.

[wangxianficrecs]

Follower Recs

Stories I haven’t read yet, but clearly need to put on my ever-expanding List.

~*~

Welcome back queen [Thank you, it’s so lovely to be back!] if ur still doing follower recs I gotta recommend I would wait for a thousand years by bleuett it’s soooooooo good

[This one was actually recced to me by two different people, the other of whom said, “ Maybe I'm crying a little so I feel like a should recommend ‘I would wait for a thousand years’ by bleuett on ao3.”]... it’s def. on my List!

I would wait for a thousand years

by bleuett (T, 10k, wangxian)

Summary:  During the worst of winter, a traveler comes to stay at Lan Wangji's inn. He wears a red ribbon in his hair.

“Do you see the rabbit?” Wei Ying asks and points at the moon. “That’s the moon rabbit, he helps make Chang’e more immortality elixir. He keeps Chang’e company.”

“I do not wish the rabbit for company,” Lan Wangji says tightly. “You are the one I want by my side.”

“And I’m here, Lan Zhan. If you go to the moon, I’ll follow you, I’ll always be here now.”

~*~

I just read a great fic by aisthuu "every love story is a ghost story", didn't see it in your recs so wanted to recommend it! LWJ is a guqin composer and teacher, buys a cheap guqin off eBay which ends up being attached to WWX's spirit from canon era. It's bittersweet, LWJ deals with Lan's homophobia (implicit in a Lan way) and his feelings towards the ghost. This is author's only ao3 fic and honestly I don't remember how I stumbled upon it, but I'm happy I did and hope you will enjoy it too!  [I’ve recently read this one, and loved it!]

every love story is a ghost story

by aisthuu (M, 59k, wangxian, my bookmark)

Summary:  The man is in Lan Zhan’s bed. Did they—he begins to wonder, eyes trailing to where the man’s body lies under the blanket. Had Lan Zhan—?

Then the sleep-fog clears and Lan Zhan realizes that the young man isn’t quite opaque around the edges.

“You’re a spirit.”

The spirit narrows its eyes. “I’m so much more than that.”

(Lan Zhan buys a guqin off eBay for a suspiciously low price, only to find that it’s haunted. And now there’s a ghost in his bed.)

~*~

Ok so I absolutely have to rec "see you yesterday" by glyphic. It's a wip, but it's currently at 101k so there's a whole lot there, and it's terrible and wonderful and beautiful all at once. The way the backstory of canon events is adapted to the modern-with-cultivation setting is brilliant, and then there's the amnesia, and then there's the time loop. This fic lives permanently rent-free in my brain.

see you yesterday

by glyphic (M, 101k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  

Wei Ying 21:09 hey lan zhan what’s the weirdest way youve died

Lan Zhan 21:11 Falling encyclopedias.

Wei Ying 21:12 omg no way that’s so rude turning books against you???

Lan Zhan 21:13 A betrayal I will never forget.

On Halloween night, an exiled demonic cultivator and a Lan disciple get stuck in a time-loop, find each other, and try to figure it all out.

~*~

If you are looking for recs for yourself I absolutely love (the complete!) story Just as the Snow Melts by draechali on AO3. It's a canon divergence where everyone lives, even WWX! ~ @airmidcelt

Just as the Snow Melts

by draechaeli (T, 67k, wangxian)

Summary:  Like a snowy mountain top in spring the residents of the Burial Mounds trickled down the mountain and joined the flow of society.

“I went to the Burial Mounds,” Lan WangJi said.

“Ah, yeah… I’m sorry Lan Zhan,” replied Wei WuXian, “I hadn’t thought anyone would come to visit. I am still not sure how it happened; I brought A-Yuan to Yiling to play by the river and then ended up somehow teaching a bunch of children swimming and writing along with him.”

~*~

Hello! It's come to my attention that you have not as yet read Grandmaster of Meme-onic Cultivation! Please do! It's the only thing that gave me joy during 2020 😆 like proper belly laughs and disney villain style cackling. It is a wip, and it is long but so so worth it!! The author has reworked the entire canon through these message crystals and still conveys complex characters despite the tricky format. It's just so good!! Highly highly recommend it! ❤ ~ @theladypeartree  [Oh!  I’ve been subscribed to this one, and know that @swaglexander-the-great is a reliable provider of Hilarity, so I’m excited for it to be finished!]

Grandmaster of Meme-onic Cultivation 

by Hades_the_Blingking (T, 49k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  The Untamed universe is exactly the same, except everybody has magical crystals that have a suspiciously familiar messaging system. The story is pretty much the same as the show, except everyone lives!! (so minor changes).

or in which Wei WuXian tries his darndest to date Lan Zhan, Jiang Cheng possibly has a aneurysm, Jin ZiXuan is still the most awkward human alive, and Xue Yang makes me write some VERY cursed things. Written in chatfic format! :3

~*~

Chomrafy on AO3 deserves love and encouragement; she’s written a body of compact, poetic, and eloquent shortfics each of which can stand alone, but that comprise an intricately cross-referential and mostly internally-consistent universe. They’re grouped as chapters in works according to theme; for example, “in cupped hands” focuses upon Jin Ling and his second-generation baggage; “Departure in Autumn” portrays the last years of WWX’s first life. Follow the tag “Chomrafy’s MDZS shortfics.” [I don’t see this tag?]

in cupped hands

by chomrafy (G, 2k, wangxian)

Summary:  Of secrets, of futures, of love. A Jin Ling-centric collection of 200-word fics.

Ch.1: Jin Ling repays a debt (JL, JC, & WWX). Ch.2: Jin Ling and a ghost in the mirror. (JL & JYL) Ch.3: A matter of friends (JL & the other kids) Ch.4: In this house we don't keep dogs (JC & WWX) Ch.5: In the end, he remains silent (JL & uncles) Ch.6: A first night hunt, of sorts (JL & the other kids) Ch.7: Jin Ling, forgiving, forgetting (JL & LXC & JGY) Ch.8: Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling argue (JL, JC, & WWX) Ch.9: Jin Ling and his father (JL & JC) Ch.10: Jin Ling speaks up (JL, JC, & WWX) Ch.11: Jin Ling and a piece of home (JL, JC, & WWX)

Departure in Autumn

by chomrafy (not rated, 6k)

Summary:  Four perspectives. A steady march to the end.

Ch.1: Because if anything happens to them, Wen Qing would never be able to heal with these hands again. Ch.2: As long as this is still home, Jiang Yanli will wait as long as she needs to. Ch.3: Five times Jiang Cheng reaches for Wei Wuxian, one time he turns away. Ch.4: Whether the road is broad or narrow, bright or dark, they would have to keep walking. Wei Wuxian digs Wen Qing's grave.

~*~

Hello, hope all is going well. I don't have an ask, by I do have a recommendation. I read this fic a while ago and found it again. I just wanted to recommend this for everyone. Let me know what you think please. Thank you. [Oh!  This one’s in my To Read list, but  I’d forgotten about it.  Mmmm, fox!wwx and dragon!lwj.]

Ten miles of Lotus Flowers

by Yukirin_Snow

M, 274k, wangxian

Summary:  He was a mischievous fox spirit, wreaking havoc where he went, about to depart on a journey that would span centuries.

He was a heavenly prince, a proud dragon destined to ascend the throne to become emperor.

Neither expected their paths to collide over the span of three lives.

~*~

I forgot if it was your blog 😥 that recommended “Bestseller” (when Wei Wuxian writes the Xianxia cut-sleeve equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey, based entirely on his experiences with Lan Wangji, he doesn’t expect it to become the next big hit) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/21528316/chapters/51318766)

But OMG IT WAS HILARIOUS!!! I LOVED IT!! And if it wasn’t your blog, I’m so sorry for how weird this sounds 😭😭😭😭 I just loved this fic so much that I have to tell it to someone 😢 [It’s on my List, but I haven’t read it yet!]

Bestseller

by pupeez4eva

M, 8k, wangxian

Summary:  He had written the book to prove a point. It was never supposed to be a big thing, and he certainly never intended for everyone — Jiang Cheng, Zewu-Jun, the Juniors, literally everyone— to be reading about his sex life.

Oh God, he definitely needed to make sure Lan Zhan didn’t find out about this.

(Or, when Wei Wuxian writes the Xianxia cut-sleeve equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey, based entirely on his experiences with Lan Wangji, he doesn’t expect it to become the next big hit).

~*~

I’d like to rec On Your Marks, Get Set, Bake! by @blackwiresgrowonherhead

It’s one of my absolute favorites and I laughed out loud so many times when reading it

on your marks, get set, bake!

by BlackWiresOnHerHead

G, 41k, wei wuxian & juniors

Summary:  Jin Ling resumes thumping on the door to room 721, and the small collection of freshmen starts chanting “Senior Wei! Senior Wei! Senior Wei!” with increasing volume until finally Wei Wuxian opens the door.

“Yes?” he says with his widest, most innocent eyes.

“Senior Wei!” demands Lan Jingyi, shoving himself to the front of the group. “Why didn’t you tell us you’re a contestant on this year’s season of The Great Gusu Bake Off?!?”

--

Several months ago, college student Wei Wuxian secretly competed in the most popular reality show in the country. The show starts airing in the fall. The freshmen in his dorm collectively lose their minds.

~*~

If you're in the mood for v. short ridiculous fun fic, may I suggest My chain hits my chest/When I'm bangin' on the radio by x_los It's 2k modern cultivators AU, featuring WWX calling LWJ's sword Bitchin' [omg I’m laughing so hard] and I think it's more fun going in blind?

My chain hits my chest/When I'm bangin' on the radio

by x_los

T, 2k, wangxian

Summary:  Lan Wangji finds he doesn't even need to call for help for Wei Wuxian to come running.

[vrishchikawrites]

I suck at writing dialogue.

Any advice, senpai?

Ok *rolls up sleeves* I have 10 tips!

1. Give characters individual vocal characteristics.

2. People don't write and speak in the same way.

3. Read the sentence in one breath.

4. Think about what the character would say and wouldn't say.

5. Characters interact differently with different people.

6. Use Dialogue to show what's happening and people's opinions on it.

7. Mind the dialogue tags.

8. Avoid cliche phrases.

9. Avoid saying obvious things.

10. People often don't respond logically or answer questions.

I've elaborated everything below and cut for length.

1. Give characters individual vocal characteristics.

LWJ has his famous 'mn' and I tend to use 'aiya' with WWX to showcase his casual manner of speaking. Nailing character voices at first is important to create natural dialogue. Clear vocal characteristics help readers identify one person from another, especially if you don't want to overuse identifiers like names or pronouns.

2. People don't write and speak in the same way.

People will sometimes skip articles, forego a few grammar rules, and will almost always shorten words and sentences wherever possible. Instead of saying, 'I'm hungry, I want to eat' most people will say, 'I'm hungry, want to eat' Remove all unnecessary words from the dialogue as much as possible, even if the character is considered talkative.

Use italics if you want to emphasize, ellipses to highlight pauses and indicate hesitation, dashes to also highlight sharper pauses. Use them instead of saying words to describe the situation.

3. Read the sentence in one breath.

When you finish writing the dialogue, read it out loud to see if you can say it in one breath. If not, add a pause or a full stop at appropriate places.

4. Think about what the character would say and wouldn't say.

LWJ speaks very efficiently. He always makes his point without speaking too many words. You wanna condense such a character's sentences as much as possible - without making him sound robotic because afaik, he doesn't sound stiff and robotic in Chinese (i may be wrong). WWX, on the other hand, is liberal with his speech but he's not verbose. To me, he doesn't say unnecessary words either, he just tends to elaborate more than LWJ does.

Before you create dialogue for any character, you'll need to understand what is characteristic and uncharacteristic for a person to say.

5. Characters interact differently with different people.

A person's tone will change based on who they're talking to. WWX will be more open and playful with LWJ, he'll take on a more mature edge when interacting with the juniors, he'll be distant and respectful with LXC, and distant but with an edge of sharpness with LQR.

Examples from the first chapter of Trapped and Patient

With WQ - "This is madness." He protests, "You're giving me too much credit!" With a stranger - Wei Wuxian taps on the table, smiling at the notes as the wine bottle is placed in front of him, "My friend, does that man come here often?"

With JYL - “Shijie! You know how restless I get,” His voice is cheerful, “What can I do here? I’m just sitting on my hands and languishing while everyone else is out there, preparing for war-”

With Sect Leader Yu - Wei Wuxian frowns, “Very well, I’d like to personally speak with them before I accept any sort of offer.”

With LXC - “I will tell you all, of course.” He assures and looks around, “I heard a few rumors and decided to offer my services to you and Chifeng-zun.”

With LWJ - "Lan Zhan! Lan er-gongzi!" He greets, elated, "I missed you!"

Everyone's tone changes based on who they're addressing and what kind of situation they are in.

6. Use Dialogue to show what's happening and people's opinions on it.

In T&P - Ch - 2 - WWX and LQR have a conversation and WWX says this:

He glances at Lan Qiren, “You have been in my position before, Elder Lan, was it a privilege?”

With it, WWX is able to explain his position in a way that is relatable to LQR, establish a connection with LQR, and lay the foundation for their relationship down the line.

LQR's response is an indication of acceptance and truce. It is also a conversation between adults instead of an elder and a teenager. If I played my cards right, I have showcased that LQR's perspective has shifted and WWX has grown enough and is cautious of his new position to take LQR seriously like he didn't before.

“Good. It is past time you live up to your potential, Wei Wuxian.”

Dialogue can establish the foundation of relationships better than paragraphs worth of description can and it does it in a way that is more personal.

7. Mind the dialogue tags.

He said, she said, etc, are sometimes necessary and sometimes they're not. If you can clearly identify the speaker, there's no need to add the tag. If the conversation is a rapid-fire exchange of words between two parties, you can forgo tags entirely.

He grins sheepishly, “I seek advice from you against his wishes, Zewu-jun. Forgive me for being a bit anxious.”

Lan Xichen waves his hand, “We’re both older brothers, are we not?

“Tell me about your new cultivation. It is remarkable.” There’s genuine interest in Lan Xichen's voice, “Where did you come up with the idea?”

“You’ll laugh,” Wei Wuxian says-

This dialogue uses the tag 'WWX says' only once and the rest of the conversation doesn't have it. Be conscious of the tags and where you use them.

8. Avoid cliche phrases.

Few things pull a reader away from a story than cliche phrases that people will rarely utter in their life. An exchange like this - "Why are you doing this?" - "Because I love you, damnit!" has become too common and isn't as effective as it used to be, especially when a character is confessing for the first time.

Best way to avoid cliche or cringy dialogue is to read the sentence out loud and consider whether it sounds natural.

9. Avoid saying obvious things.

If you've already written a paragraph on how eerily quiet a forest is, there's no need for a character to say - "It is quiet here isn't it?" Especially if the character is someone like WWX or LWJ, who are naturally observant. Don't let your character explain everything you have already described in text unless they need to explain it to someone.

10. People often don't respond logically or answer questions directly.

People tend to not answer questions directly. Even in serious conversations, they'll go about it a round-about way.

Wei Ying is silent for a while before he laughs softly, "Aiya, Lan Zhan, I already know what you wish to ask." Wangji waits patiently for permission and Wei Ying huffs and nods, "Yes, you may."

"What did you eat?"

Wei Ying picks up Wangji's hands and presses a gentle kiss on them, lacing their fingers together. He lingers for a moment before sighing, "My Hanguang-jun doesn't deserve to hear of such grim things."

Wangji curls his fingers because that might as be a confirmation. His heart breaks for his beloved and he closes his eyes, "Your husband wishes to know, Wei Ying."

"Mostly some small critters, Lan Zhan," he admits, "Sometimes I'd dig up roots of trees. They were softer and easier to consume. I managed to catch a few birds. Bugs, earthworms, maggots, crickets- they were plentiful.

WWX doesn't give a straightforward reply without LWJ coaxing things out of him. Characters lie, deflect, evade, blurt out excuses. LWJ consciously doesn't interrupt people but it is natural for people to interrupt each other's conversations too. Sometimes people will take a frustratingly long time to get to the point. You need to incorporate that.

"Hanguang-jun, surely you understand! Our village has faced draught ever since these children arrived and we finally know why! The Gods are displeased with us!"

Wangji looks at the children, feeling a stir of concern at their wan faces. They've already been beaten black and blue by angry villagers.

"I'll be taking the children," Wangji looks at his husband in surprise but doesn't voice any objections. It is rare for Wangji to deny his husband anything these days and Wei Ying's desires are often simple things, easy to fulfill with the greatest pleasure.

No one directly replies to the person who has spoken. That's also a common thing. Every question or comment doesn't need reciprocation to carry dialogue.

Of course, this is my amateur attempt. I would also recommend doing some online research. Hope this helps?

[silverflame2724]

Hello there! Can you make a sequel to the golden core reveal prompt where WWX verbally lashes out at a few of the cultivators for pitying him?

Sure! But just to warn you, even if he lashes out, people will probably brush it off as him being temperamental cause his core can’t regulate the resentful energy that’s probably irritating him! :)

______________________

Wei Wuxian couldn’t hide out in the forest forever. He eventually had to come out and go the banquet. But.....But.....

Everyone knows. He leans heavily against a tree. Everyone knows I don’t have a core now. 

What do I do now? 

After all, he just can’t get it out of his mind. The stares of pity everyone shot him. Wei Wuxian could brave anything, whether it be disappointment, failure, dishonor, shame, anger...... It couldn’t really affect him.

But if there was one thing he hated, it was pity. 

He hated that feeling with a passion. If people fear him, think he’s the devil, a demon, fine. He can take it. But for someone to pity him? Think he’s weak and fragile? That’s where Wei Wuxian crosses the line.

Maybe he could just run away and find somewhere to die. He had been planning on dying in the war. He just miraculously survived it and had no choice but to return and do his head disciple duties that he couldn’t perform as well as before.

Maybe this will be the last straw that finally gets Jiang Cheng to abandon him. After all, what use is there for a coreless Head Disciple?

But Wei Wuxian was coward. He wanted to leave on his own terms. Perhaps, if there was some reasonable, justifiable factor that could make him leave, then maybe--

“Wei Ying!”

“A’ Xian!”

Wei Wuxian whipped his head around to find his two most favorite people catching up to him. He caught the worried looks on both their faces and just fled. He didn’t want to analyze their expressions any further because what if he found pity in their eyes? If the two people he wanted approval from the most had that emotion, then Wei Wuxian might not be able to handle it anymore.

It was a futile effort to try and run from them when they were so close.

After all, Lan Zhan had such a strong core and Shijie, while her core was weak, still energized her and both of them caught either of his wrists, stilling him.

Wei Wuxian trembled for a moment but stopped trying to pull away from their grip. They let go but he refused to turn around. He took a deep breath and gave them the best smile he could manage.

“Is something wrong? Why did you come after me, Lan Zhan, Shijie?”

Lan Zhan seemed hesitant, trying to gather his words up. Shijie went first, carefully grasping his hands. “A’ Xian......A’ Xian, forgive your Shijie.”

Wei Wuxian shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Shijie.”

She just glared at him. “I do and you know it. A’ Xian, I asked you to pick up your sword many times without a care for your feelings. I knew something was off. I knew something might have happened. But I left it be because I knew that you would tell me eventually.” She studied his face. “Even if it wasn’t the whole truth.”

“Shijie......”

“I know I shouldn’t be confronting you so soon after this had happened, but I wanted you to know, and I’m speaking for A’ Cheng when I say this. We will never abandon you, even after this. You will still be the head disciple, you will still have a place with us.”

“But--Shijie--!”

“But nothing.” She said firmly. “Of course, neither of us will force you to. But A’ Xian, if not A’ Cheng, you could have at least turned to me for help. You know I wouldn’t judge you. You’re my didi, no matter how much the world denies us of  that fact.”

“Shijie.......” He trailed off. “Okay.”

It seemed like Lan Zhan gathered himself together at this point. “Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji started. “Wei Ying, I.....I’m sorry.”

Out of everything he expected Lan Zhan to say, that was not it.

“Wei Ying, I am guilty of forcing you to stop demonic cultivation. I did not stop to think why you would go down that path. I kept pushing where I knew it hurt and I didn’t stop. I.....I apologize for that.”

“Lan Zhan, no. It’s fine. You didn’t know. I made sure no one would know.”

“Still.”

Wei Wuxian shook his head. “It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

Neither of them believed him, but let it pass.

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

No matter how much Wei Wuxian wanted to decline going, he was still the head disciple of the Jiang sect. He was required to attend. 

He should have known, though, that despite the banquet starting off as normal with the reinstatement of Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan’s engagement, that things wouldn’t go on so easily.

Namely because of Jin Zixun.

“And why is he here?” Jin Zixun, who apparently hadn’t learnt his lesson, pointed at Wei Wuxian. “He’s not even a cultivator.”

Wei Wuxian barely suppressed a flinch as all eyes in the room swiveled to him.

“He is my brother.” Jiang Cheng glared. “He is the head disciple of the Yunmeng Jiang sect, regardless. And you will respect him as such.”

Jin Zixun snorted, ready to unleash a tirad, until Jin Guangshan cleared his throat and told Jin Zixun to be quiet or he’ll be escorted out.

 There was a moment of silence before whispers started up about Wei Wuxian giving his golden core to Jiang Cheng, and oh, how did that happen?, there were rumors that Sandu Shengshou lost his core to Wen Zhuliu, oh really.......

The gazes of the people in the room turned from concern to confusion to pity and Wei Wuxian just couldn’t take it anymore.

“Stop looking at me like that!” Wei Wuxian yelled. “Stop that! I’m still the demonic cultivator that you all love and hate, so don’t look at me like that!”

“Wei Wuxian---”

“A few days ago, all you could ever talk about was how uncontrolled and feared I am. I’d rather have your fear than your pity! So don’t look at me like that!! I don’t need your pity, I’m fine!!”

That didn’t help.

The cultivators merely brushed off his tirade as a side effect of demonic cultivation that he was unable to ease due to being coreless. Wei Wuxian felt the continuous noise of people talking about him drown his senses. He breathed harder and harder.

He felt a familiar hand wrap around him but he shook it off and fled the room. He couldn’t stay in there a moment longer. He didn’t think he could stay anywhere a moment longer.

Because everyone knew.

Because everyone knew.

That he was weak and vulnerable and pitiful.

Wei Wuxian broke.

___________________

Don’t know if this was satisfactory but here you go! I’ve turned off asks at the moment because I need to fill out a few more prompts and want to have the time to get to all of them, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless!

[sincerelystranger]

authors note: three moments in Jiang Cheng’s 16 years without WWX

One.

Rage is not the right word for what Jiang Cheng feels that first year.

Rage is too weak. Too clean. Too simple.

There’s something alive in Jiang Cheng’s veins that first year. Something that drives sleep and sense away from Jiang Cheng, leaving him empty of everything except this burning need to find something – anything – of Wei Wuxian’s and… and make sure that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

So, maybe he goes a little insane that first year.

Maybe that’s the year that people start making rumors, start saying things such as:

“Don’t mention the Yiling Patriarch around Sandu Shengshou – he’ll kill anyone who mentions him!”

“I heard he captured a rogue cultivator who dabbled in demonic cultivation and tortured him to death!”

“It’s said that if he knows that you have one of the Yiling Patriarch’s inventions, he’ll kill you and destroy your soul.”

These rumors aren’t necessarily good… but they do put him on the fast track to getting some goddamned respect from other clans. Or maybe respect isn’t the right word.

Fear.

Yeah.

They call him crazy and unhinged… but also righteous and furious and strong.

(Son of the Violet Spider, they say, he got all of his mother’s poison.

They don’t mention his father.)

Some idiots actually come up to him and thank him for killing the Yiling patriarch…

They thank him.

Sandu creaks in his hands and Zidian crackles threateningly on his clenched fist.

This can’t be rage, he thinks as he watches the stupid cultivators run away from him.

Jiang Cheng knows rage.

Rage doesn’t hurt like this.

Two.

Jiang Cheng tries to forget. He won’t ever forgive – he doesn’t know how to forgive – but he tries to forget.

Because it seems unfair to his sister and his mother and his father to let this traitor occupy so much of Jiang Cheng’s head (and his heart).

That traitor doesn’t even deserve to be remembered.

He doesn’t.

He doesn’t.

And Jiang Cheng hates him.

Jiang Cheng hates him and hates him and hates him.

(Because hating him is so much easier than missing him and Jiang Cheng would rather cut off both his arms than admit that. It feels like betrayal to miss him, and Jiang Cheng can’t decide which part of himself he hates more: the part that can’t seem to forget him even a little bit or the part of himself that misses him so much that he aches.)

Jiang Cheng hates him and maybe Jiang Cheng hates himself a little bit too.

Because…

Because sometimes he dreams.

He dreams of hands, only a little larger than his, guiding him as he pulls his bow string. Dreams of an arm swung over his shoulder, pulling him into another half-baked, hair brained scheme. Dreams of…

“I’m never going to be able to cultivate my golden core,” Jiang Cheng rages, furious tears running down his face and onto his pillow.

The room is dark and quiet and Jiang Cheng feels humiliated by his tears and his inability to do anything right. He’s angry and embarrassed and a little bit sorry because he had said horribly mean things to Wei Wuxian earlier that day. He hadn’t really meant any of it, but he had been so angry because everything came so easy to Wei Wuxian and of course he’d develop his golden core before Jiang Cheng.

Of course.

Of course, but it still makes Jiang Cheng so irrationally angry and jealous and…

(It would have been so much better if Wei Wuxian was his real brother. Then Jiang Cheng wouldn’t have to worry about being the best and leading the Sect one day. He could just be happy for his brother.)

Jiang Cheng hears a soft sigh and the rustle of blankets as Wei Wuxian gets out of bed.

Just the soft sound of Wei Wuxian’s bare feet padding towards him is enough to make something loosen in Jiang Cheng’s chest.

Good. At least Wei Wuxian isn’t mad at him for what he said earlier. Jiang Cheng hadn’t really meant it anyway. He had just been…

“A-Cheng,” Wei Wuxian says, and Jiang Cheng stays curled away from him. His pride keeping him from turning towards Wei Wuxian even when he wants to.

Wei Wuxian just sighs again and climbs onto Jiang Cheng’s bed and curls up behind him.

He’s bigger than Jiang Cheng, because of course he is.

He places a hand on Jiang Cheng’s solarplex – where Jiang Cheng’s golden core should be.

“A-Cheng,” Wei Wuxian says again, “Breathe. Focus. Do you feel this heat here?”

Jiang Cheng nods, just a little.

“That’s your golden core – you already have it. So don’t be upset.”

Jiang Cheng breathes and feels the warmth in his chest. Feels it expand and contract with his breaths.

“If I have it, why can’t I activate a talisman?” Jiang Cheng asks, suspiciously, ever hesitant to be happy.

“You have to learn how to move this heat around your body,” Wei Wuxian says, and he moves his palm from Jiang Cheng’s solarplex up to his heart and down his arm to his hand. “Once you do it once, it’ll be easier to do it again.”

It… seems to make sense.

“Why does everything come so easy to you?” Jiang Cheng asks petulantly. Feeling relieved but still a bit sore and ornery.

“Because I think everything is easy,” Wei Wuxian says matter-of-factly. “Everything is so difficult to you because you think of everything difficultly. If you relaxed, I’m sure everything would come easy for you too.”

It’s the type of logic that only makes sense when it comes out of Wei Wuxian’s mouth and Jiang Cheng finds himself rolling his eyes.

“Whatever.”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes aren’t wet when he wakes from these dreams but…

But Jiang Cheng feels the ghost of something run down his arm and…

Maybe he would have an easier time forgetting that traitor if that traitor hadn’t…

Jiang Cheng puts a hand over his solarplex, breathes in and out.

Whatever.

Three.

Jiang Cheng only cries once.

Jin Ling is thirteen and he’s just won his first archery competition.

It’s… magnificent… and it should be a perfect day of celebration and pride but…

But Jiang Cheng is in the cursed Burial Mounds, frantically searching for, for something, because…

Because…

Because the moment Jin Ling had won, he had turned around to look for…

“He won, goddammit!” Jiang Cheng screams, feeling half out of his mind. “I taught him and he won and you’re the fucking traitor who killed his parents so tell me why the fuck I’m still searching for you?”

Why had the first person he searched for been him? Not his sister, not his father, not even the fucking peacock.

Him.

Him?

Why?

Jiang Cheng slams Sandu into a rock and doesn’t even feel a hint of satisfaction at the way it splits in two.

He falls to his knees and screams.

“Why am I always the one searching for you?” he screams, embarrassed and angry and… and aching. “Just once – just once – can’t you...”

And Jiang Cheng can’t say anything else because he can’t stop fucking sobbing and it’s embarrassing and he wants to fucking die.

He hates him.

He hates him.

He hates him.

“Can’t you just once…”

[crossdressingdeath]

is it just me or do you/anyone else reeeaaaallly want some more aus out there where wwx grows up in the lan sect with a healthy family (okay, the twin jades didn't see much of their parents after their mother passed away, if at all) but I have this hc that lqr treated them well. and wwx would feel much better having no one to constantly pressure him into just... not being himself? how he wouldn't have to live with constant stress at not being able to talk about how he feels for fear of hurting his siblings' feelings or the adults' relationship? imagine how the whole story would change if only wwx had been honest about losing his golden core (but that brings up a whole nother point about how he wouldn't have to give his core away if he didn't feel like he *owed* the Lans if they didn't shove it down his throat all the time like the jiangs did!!) ahhh either way forgive my rambling I'm sorry i just have a lot of thoughts about this au but tldr; despite its 145000 rules wwx would have a much healthier time growing up in the lan sect, especially since lxc would treat him very well and genuinely care for him as an older brother and/or sect leader, and lqr/the other adults would be impartial at the very least instead of giving him unnecessary flak ;-; even nmj would have treated him better!!

Honestly if you look at the Lan rules a lot of them are just variations on “don’t be a dick”. A lot of it seems to be them codifying unspoken societal decency stuff. Most of the rules are things that WWX would just do anyway. Like, there’s a reason why when he actually settles there he’s happier than he ever was in Lotus Pier. And yeah, things like the golden core transfer wouldn’t happen because the Lans would teach WWX that he does in fact have value and deserves to feel happy and safe. And with the core transfer itself it wouldn’t be necessary because the Twin Jades are too strong to give up on life just because they had to be normal. If nothing else they wouldn’t be catatonic so there would be a discussion. Maybe they’d figure out something where they split the golden core and both of them would have enough to build a solid foundation. Basically yeah, WWX would be a lot happier and safer growing up in Gusu even with all the rules, because the Lans would never tolerate the sort of abuse that the Jiangs all but encouraged.

[llycaons]

ep24 (pt 2): wwx and lxc best brothers in law and I stand by it

I was worried this ep would be boring but it has not one, not two, but THREE great character-driven conversations, and this first one coming up that's one of my favorites scenes in the whole show. it's time for LAN XICHEN'S INTERVENTION TALK

people call this a shovel talk, and that annoys me because 1. they are way more popular in fanfic than I think they are in real life and 2. he's not threatening wwx, he's reminding him that people care about him and try to keep that into account and whatever is going on it's bad for you and we can HELP you!. it's not quite an intervention, and it's undertaken as much for lwj's sake as wwx's, but it's close. and I believe that lxc is fond of wwx. he likes him!

wwx taking liberties with the actual sect leader is really funny esp since lxc is so polite about it and wwx is like super embarassed immediately after. he doesn't overreact like lwj, so wwx is properly chastened

famous foreshadowing line

YES YOU DO??!!!! this is coming immediately after jc's scene lamenting that wwx isn't there to help lmao

very funny of him. he's like 'oh hehe I'll come to him if he can't come here! visiting my friend who's copying texts and just watching him will be super fun!' boy you are so far gone you're happy at the idea of just sitting there watching him write...

the double meaning here really slams you in the chest. I can see why people consider it a shovel talk but it's really not! he just wants wwx to understand people (lwj) care about him and are trying to help him

it feels like this is THE most direct acknowledgement of what wwx and lwj have going on, at least as of yet

he is but. buddy. buddy

oh and this short argument is enthralling. ALL their issues piling up

jc pushes wwx down expecting him to be able to defend himself, and when he can't he's confused and blames him...and the kicker is, when he actually goes to try to help him, wwx tells him to stay away. another microcosm of their relationship...

wwx is being super frustrating but jc really can't wrap his head around not knowing something huh. he just can't accept a change without understanding why it happened

this scene is sooo sad...jyl crying in the shrine, wonderinf ig wwx will leave them, wwx reassuring her of course not, where would I go? but that's not really an answer, is it? I don't think wwx wants to leave LP, or ever truly wanted to, but he can have conflicting feelings about his home as a site of great trauma for him, a place he no longer feels he can contribute to, and a place where he faces verbal attacks daily. after jyl left, it was really not a healthy environment for him...

you wound me!

he is her little boy...she will forgive him anything *flashes forward* well almost anything

probably for the best

from wwx pov it was as if a large purple savior descended from the clouds with the most delicious food he'd ever eaten in his life and offered him a permanent home. of course he's attached

...given how trusting he was of strangers giving him food, it's a good thing nothing else bad happened to him. well, maybe he had good intuition even back then for people he shouldn't trust. he's been a really good judge of people overall excepting his initial judgement of lwj, and of jgy

[baoshan-sanren]

Chapter 31

of the wwx emperor au I’m thinking of calling Lan QiRen’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week oh god it’s only gonna get worse

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 Part 1 | Chapter 8 Part 2 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 Part 1 | Chapter 15 Part 2 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 Part 1 | Chapter 22 Part 2 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27 | Chapter 28 | Chapter 29 | Chapter 30

The Lan Sect camp is small. It is also a bit pitiful, with a distinct lack of tents, bedrolls, or any other necessary accommodations.

Still, Wei Ying is impressed by their diligence. Long before he is aware that there is a camp in the vicinity, a lookout has already spotted them and signaled their approach. The location had not been carelessly chosen either. The sight lines to the north, east, and south are clear, and to the west, a rugged hill rises sharply, hiding the camp from the Immortal Mountain watchtowers.  

He does not have to ask how the site for the camp was chosen. He is already beginning to suspect that Lan QiRen has many more layers than he lets on, aside from the unexpected sense of humor.

Three other Nie Sect disciples have caught up with them on the outskirts of YiLing, providing a small escort. According to Nie XuanYu, another dozen are following a distance behind, ensuring that the Emperor��s presence remains a secret. Lan Zhan is walking by his side, his posture dignified and reserved. He does not speak.  

Despite clearly intending to remain out of sight, the Lan Sect disciples have not gone as far as to trade in their white uniforms for something a little less obtrusive. Among them, it is easy to pick out Nie MingJue’s dark shape, which makes the figure next to him that of Lan XiChen. The two people across from them are unfamiliar. He takes one of them for a Lan Sect disciple precisely due to the color of robes, the white layers glowing brightly in the darkness. It is not until the figure turns, displaying an equally white blindfold, that Wei Ying stumbles a step.

“Uncle?”

The answering grin, visible even in the gloom, propels him forward.

“Uncle!”

Forgetting he is no longer twelve years old, he crosses the last bit of distance at a run, and nearly knocks Xiao XingChen over with his exuberance. XingChen laughs, his grip as tight as Wei Ying’s.

Oh, but when had uncle become so small?

Nearly four years have passed since their last parting. Is it possible that Wei Ying had grown so much, that he no longer has to lift his gaze to see XingChen smile? Unexpectedly, he feels his eyes prickle, and rubs his face with both hands, covering the sudden wistfulness with a laugh. He is happy to see that uncle’s faithful shadow had not grown smaller, still towering over them both.

The man attempts to bow, and Wei Ying latches on to his forearms, keeping him upright.

“Song Lan. Did I not say my uncles should never bow to me?”

A ripple of shock travels through the surrounding Lan disciples. The Empress’ brother is conspicuous enough, his sword and blindfold easily giving him away, but the man at his side had been taken for a simple bodyguard. To hear the Emperor address him as family raises more than one speculative whisper.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” Song Lan says, “I had forgotten.”

“Ah, ah, now I am Your Majesty, but the last time you were at the Immortal Mountain, you called me a rotten little troublemaker. You threatened to kick my royal backside off the rooftop if I insisted on staying out past midnight. Do you remember that?”

The politely respectful expression on Song Lan’s face shifts into fond exasperation, “I am afraid my memory is especially poor lately, Your Majesty.”

Before he could think of a way to respond, Wei Ying suddenly realizes that Lan Zhan’s presence, which had been steady at his side since YiLing, is no longer there.

He turns to find him standing a few steps back with Lan XiChen and Nie MingJue, obviously attempting to remain invisible.

“Lan Zhan!”

Although he thinks he has never seen Lan Zhan look this alarmed, not even when he had mistaken Wei Ying for an assassin, he grabs the edge of the voluminous sleeve anyway, excited to introduce the man he means to marry.

“Come meet my uncle.”

Lan Zhan allows himself to be tugged forward, and offers a formal greeting, his posture rigid, his face unreadable.

Uncle is all gentle politeness, admitting that he had been the one to send the Lan Sect disciples into YiLing, unaware that his request had gone directly against the Sect Leader’s orders. He expresses regret for having placed them at risk, and from Lan XiChen’s expression, Wei Ying surmises that uncle had already apologized once.

XingChen inquires after a few of the Lan Sect members he had met on his travels, mentions that he dearly misses the excellent cuisine at CaiYi town, and compliments the Lan Sect efforts in LianYi during the drought.

In short, uncle is trying, to the best of his ability, to put Lan Zhan at ease. But although Lan Zhan is unfailingly courteous in return, his palpable discomfort does not wane.

Suddenly, Wei Ying feels guilty.

It occurs to him that he has done nothing but pull and push Lan Zhan in every possible direction for the past five days. Less than an hour ago, he had done a terrible job of confessing how he feels, managing to not give voice to any of his carefully planned out, honorable intentions. His fumbling is unlikely to have produced anything other than frustration and confusion, to which now, Lan Zhan must add a dose of casual banter with the Shan Empire’s notorious Rogue Prince.

The moment XingChen runs out of pleasantries, Wei Ying tugs on Lan Zhan’s sleeve again, but gently this time, trying to convey an apology, “Lan Zhan, we should go sit by the fire. The night is getting cold. Uncle, come sit down and tell me what brings you to YiLing.”

“Your Majesty,” Nie MingJue cuts in, “it is quite late. If you mean to enter by the Five Phoenix Gate instead of sneaking in the same way we had snuck out, I am afraid that delaying your return will only work to our disadvantage. We should start back the moment the rest of the Nie Sect arrives from YiLing.”

Wei Ying cringes. He had not even considered the mechanics of returning with the rest of the Lan Sect disciples, let alone with uncle in tow. Uncle Jiang will be upset, and Madam Yu-- he shudders. Best to not think of unpleasant things until they are upon him.

“Very well, please instruct the Lan Sect to break camp. Uncle, will you come with us?”

XingChen turns to Song Lan, and Wei Ying thinks that even after all these years, it is still eerie to see, how they seem to share a look of understanding.

“We are hunting,” XingChen says, “so our stay must be short.”

Wei Ying waves his hand, “I knew that much without being told. You are terrible uncles, both of you. I know you would not have come all the way to YiLing just for my birthday.”

The fond exasperation on their faces is now identical.  

“Tell us what you are hunting,” Wei Ying grins, “Perhaps we can help.”

“Not what,” XingChen says, “but who.”

“A person?” Wei Ying exclaims in surprise, “an ordinary person?”

“There is nothing ordinary about this person,” Song Lan says, his expression turning hard, “So far, over three hundred people have been slaughtered by him. He has obliterated four villages and two small clans, leaving no one behind.”

Wei Ying feels a chill, “Who is he?”

“We do not know,” XingChen says, his calm edged with frustration, “He leaves no witnesses. One merchant, who had happened upon a village not long after everyone in it had been killed, spoke of seeing a young man, a boy, still alive. He could have been a lone survivor, or he could have been the perpetrator, but he was long gone by the time we arrived. So far, we have been following the trail of dead bodies across the Empire, but know little more than we did months ago.”

“You think he is here,” Lan Zhan asks, his discomfort seemingly forgotten, “In YiLing?”

“The trail had gone cold in LanLing,” Song Lan says, “but there was an incident between LanLing and YiLing, a group of bodies discovered in an old barn. The method by which they were killed was similar enough to bring us here.”

“I do not understand,” Wei Ying says slowly, “There are appropriate channels in place to deal with ordinary murders, even if they are beyond gruesome. What are you not telling me?”

Song Lan glances at XingChen again, but this time, XingChen ignores him, the twist of his mouth tight and unhappy.

“You know why the murders are occurring,” Lan Zhan says coldly, “There is a purpose to them.”

Lan Zhan’s expression is hard and determined, as if he means to shake them both until the information they are holding back flows forth. He looks grim, his spine straight, his fingers tightly wrapped around the sword. He looks dangerous. He looks regal.

Wei Ying feels his face tingle. There is an uncomfortable coil of heat building in his stomach at the sight, and he bites his tongue, hoping the flash of pain will stop the heat from spreading.

“Resentful energy,” Song Lan says.

XingChen looks even more unhappy now, but he does not make a move to stop Song Lan from speaking.

“We think he has found a way to harvest and store resentful energy.”

“Impossible,” Lan Zhan breathes, “even YanLing DaoRen himself could not--“ he cuts off abruptly, mouth snapping shut.

Wei Ying is still reeling from the information, not quite able to come up with the right words. But he immediately understands why Lan Zhan has fallen silent. YanLing DaoRen could not store resentful energy, but his failed attempts are the stuff of nightmares. Raving mad, he had threatened to shift rivers and level mountains once his experiments were complete. But in the end, the only place he had ever been able to store resentful energy was his own fragile human shell, which had rotted from inside out, unable to contain the power he craved.

Wei Ying clears his throat, “How can you be sure he has found a way to store it? Perhaps he is only following in YanLing DaoRen’s footsteps.”

Song Lan shakes his head, “Over three hundred people gruesomely slaughtered by him alone? Taking in that much resentful energy would have driven him mad. He could not have passed all this time unnoticed. The signs of his deterioration would be obvious to anyone who crosses his path. No,” he shakes his head, “I am afraid we must assume that he has succeeded where YanLing DaoRen has failed.”

“The greatest threat since YanLing DaoRen,” Lan Zhan says softly, “and you did not inform anyone. You did not send a word of warning to the Emperor.”

His voice is soft, but the grip on his sword is now so tight, that Wei Ying can see his fingers turning white from strain. He has seen Lan Zhan angry before, but never like this. This fury is cold, and devastating, and magnificent to behold.  

“Did it not occur to you,” Lan Zhan says, “that he is heading towards YiLing for a reason? That the Emperor’s birthday festival in YiLing is precisely the sort of chaos in which he can be easily concealed? That hundreds of visitors are entering and exiting the Immortal Mountain City each day, being screened by ordinary guards who would never sense an object filled with resentful energy? Did it not occur to you that the Emperor is the most likely target of this creature, and that he should be warned?”

“WangJi,” XiChen’s voice comes from behind them, a gentle warning.

He moves to stand by Lan Zhan’s shoulder, a calming presence next to Lan Zhan’s cold fury.

“Please forgive my brother,” XiChen says, “he spoke in haste. He means no disrespect.”

Lan Zhan’s expression clearly states that he may have spoken in haste, but that the disrespect was meant and well deserved.

Wei Ying does not want Lan Zhan upset with uncle. He does not want Song Lan angry with Lan Zhan for disrespecting uncle. But he can do absolutely nothing about either of those things, because his mind is utterly preoccupied by the fact that Lan Zhan is dangerous, and beautiful, and incensed on his behalf.

Lan Zhan is afraid that this madman means to hurt Wei Ying. Lan Zhan is worried about him. Lan Zhan cares about him. Lan Zhan cares about him.

He feels his mouth trying to stretch into a smile, and curses himself six times over. Everyone around him is tense enough to draw swords, he should not be grinning like an idiot.

Lan Zhan cares about him!

“Your Majesty.”

XiChen is looking at him. There is something uncomfortably knowing in his gaze.

Wei Ying clears his throat, then does it again. He is afraid his voice will come out hoarse and obviously besotted.

“Lan Zhan is right,” he says, “I may be well protected, but every Sect Leader and Young Master in the Empire is currently residing at the Immortal Mountain. They may all be at risk. Why would you not send word?”

Song Lan has moved closer to XingChen, as if he means to protect him from Lan Zhan’s fierce gaze. He opens his mouth to speak, but XingChen silences him with a touch to the elbow.

“I believe the Young Master is correct,” XingChen sighs, “We were wrong to conceal it for so long. It has been a frequent subject of discord between us, this decision. But Song Lan does not understand the power dynamics at court. He does not understand the precarious balance involved in ruling all the Sects in the cultivation world. YanLing DaoRen’s name still invokes fear and mistrust. I was afraid-- I was afraid that the truth would sow panic. Worse, that it may give some of the Sects an opportunity they have long sought, to remove YanLing DaoRen’s bloodline from the seat of power, and take the throne for themselves.”

“We intended to catch him long before now,” Song Lan says roughly, “We could only be certain that he is heading in the direction of YiLing on the second day of the festival. The trail was days old by then.”

“I am sorry to have placed the Lan disciples at risk,” XingChen says softly, “but once we learned that you were wandering around YiLing on your own, unprotected, we used whatever means we had at our disposal.”

“I was not unprotected,” Wei Ying says absently, “Lan Zhan was with me.”

He spends a few moments preoccupied with the idea that the incidents at the Immortal Mountain and the man uncle is hunting must somehow be connected. But no matter how he turns the events over, he cannot see that they have anything in common. A man who had slaughtered over three hundred people in order to collect the resentful energy from their corpses does not seem like someone who would go through the trouble of coating Lan Zhan’s teacup with poison.

Still thinking so, he realizes that everyone else has fallen silent. Song Lan is frowning at Lan Zhan. Xiao XingChen is smiling softly, his head turned in the direction of the camp, as if privy to something amusing that only he can hear. XiChen is smiling softly too, his eyes trained in the opposite direction.

Lan Zhan is not smiling. He is staring at Wei Ying, his ears red, his expression somehow lost, as if Wei Ying had done something preposterous again.

Wei Ying is pretty sure he has not done anything to merit that expression.

“Lan Zhan?”

Lan Zhan shakes his head and looks away. Behind them, Nie MingJue clears his throat.

“Your Majesty, I do not mean to interrupt, but the Nie Sect is all accounted for, and the Lan Sect is ready as well. We should head back.”

Wei Ying nods. During all the fascinating revelations, he has managed to forget what waits for him at the Immortal Mountain.

He thinks he would rather face a mass-murdering madman than Madam Yu.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

I'mma be real honest with you I find WWX dynamic with JC more interesting than Lan Wangii. Lan Wangii a good supportive husband and I love reading fics for Wangxian but I wished fic authors would dive deeper in JC and WWX relationship that formed in canon and not have their brain be muddled with fanon JC.

I feel like WWX and Jiang Cheng realtionship to be twisted sense of love and possession on JC part not WWX obviously. Their relationship pretty dark in canon ? And honestly the one trait I'm actually happy for JC was he didn't develop into wanting WWX body to be included in his list as well? 😅 They were raised as brothers tell me if WWX was more distant from JC from the beginning would the disaster struck as hard?

I admit this is why the fallout of their friendship in canon is so interesting for me personally, the ugly part of it is very realistic and MXTX did not shy away from the fact that Jiang Cheng was not good at all for who Wei Wuxian was a as a person (i.e him being one who was naturally kind, willing to forgive to remember the happy things done for him and loyal. I think this is why Lan Wangji balances him out since he is willing to be the one to step up to let the forgiveness part not overstep into letting Wei Wuxian be walked over again by Jiang Cheng specifically).

Now if there was a romantic aspect ever, I do think it would make Jiang Cheng 10x more disgusting then he already is. Along with a thankfully unexplored dynamic of Wei Wuxian ever being sexualized. I think it also helps to explore that any sort of relationship even platonic ones, can be unsalvageably awful despite caring (more so on one parties side) and it can come from anyone who has that much of their own self-hate and selfishness they project it on the ones who are holding a hand out.

I don't think it would have been in Wei Wuxian's nature to stay distant to anyone he is in close proximity with, and unfortunately, Jiang Cheng had been the one for him to meet first as his first significant friendship. In that way it was just as inevitable as his love for Lan Wangji was. Theirs just isn't the happy end that Wangxian was able to achieve as is realistic with growing and distancing relationships.

As for my interest in it, I can say I am far more of a sucker for the happy end that Wei Wuxian is able to achieve then the pain he was put through before with the Jiangs.