#wwx will make everyone mad with the song

[sintiadaria]

Husbands get turned into cute little kittens, oh no, whatever should their spouses do?

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

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1. Hi ! I sincerely thank you for this blog and love it 💖. For the next itmf can you please recommend a) some modern world fics where either wwx / lwj come out to their families and are met by homophobia ( outright or passive ) and the other comforts them ? Bonus points if they confront the homophobic family members and make them see sense .

b) Hi! For the next itmf can I get a rec where wwx gets some closure regarding Jiang yanli's death ? Like it's her ghost or some dreams or some gods interfering? As i see her death was still an open wound post canon even so it will be really nice . It can even be jyl resurrected or something along those lines but it should be like after wwx resurrection .Thank you ! @beingdesiandqueer

1A)

a new kind of silence by deliciousblizzardshark (E, 11k, WangXian, Modern AU, Autistic LWJ, Communication Disorder, Trans LWJ, Protective WWX, Pregnant LWJ, Panic Attacks, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Getting Together, Oral Sex, Vaginal Sex, Soft WangXian, POV WWX) That's also one where WY opens the door and lz is there in the rain because lq reacted badly to him coming out and they later have to go get his stuff but I can't find it or the title I'll update if I find it

Caught Up In All This Bitterness by thunderwear (G, 2k, WangXian, Modern AU, Coming Out, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, LQR’s A+ Parenting)

Mad about the Boy by TriviasFolly (M, 62k, WangXian, 1950s America, Greaser WWX, Historical Smoking, Historical Viewpoints, Angst, Internal Struggle, Pre-Relationship, Historical Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, sexual awakenings, Sexual exploration, small town gays, Self discovery journey, Self love journey, gay acadamia, Song fic, teenage dramatics, smoll angst)

The Fifth Type of Non-Contact Force by Caixx (Not Rated, 83k, WangXian, Modern AU, High School, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Fluff and Humor, Actually Somewhat Canon, Mutual Pining, Horny Teenagers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Non-Graphic Smut)

1B)

is fan comic sufficient? Its not exactly a closure but more WWX trying to deal with his past

Discontented series by LaivineNinuiel (T, 85k, wangxian, LSZ & WWX, JC & WWX & JYL, Night Hunts, Demonic Cultivation, Changing POVs, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Pining, Bloodbath of Nightless City, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Case Fic, yunmeng siblings reconciliation, Getting Together, Love Confessions, First Kiss)

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2. Hi🌸 Do you know any fics where the cultivation world find out about wei ying beimg captured and in the burial mounds and his no golden core. They realise they musjudged him?

I'm Sorry & Thank You by Iamnotawriter (T, 12k, WangXian, LQR & WWX, Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Golden Core, Canon-Typical Violence, lqr's epipheny, Angst with a Happy Ending)

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3. Olá, tudo bem ? Você tem uma sugestão de Fic numa dinâmica beta e ômega? (Eng translation using translate.com: Hello, how are you? Do you have a suggestion of Fic in a beta and omega dynamic?) @silvanagomes87

sacrifice by quillifer (E, 9k, WangXian, light pain kink, Heat/rut, A/B/O Dynamics, A/B/O, light mythology insp, canon setting au, Slight Dirty Talk, very minor pregnancy kink, Bottom LWJ, Top WWX, Omega LWJ, Beta WWX)

A Sword With No Hilt by Deastar (E, 17k, wangxian, rape/non-con, canon divergence, ABO, beta/omega, omega LWJ, beta WWX, Qíshān Wēn Indoctrination, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, I wouldn't say we're quite in dead dove territory but this is a heavy one so proceed with caution, Guilt, Shame, Psychological Trauma, Non-Consensual Humiliation, Non-Consensual Voyeurism, this universe's version of rape culture turned up to 11) this one contains a lot of sexual trauma but it is VERY good and shows how they try to heal together in the aftermath

The Dare by Deastar (E, 16k, wangxian, ABO, beta/omega, omega WWX, beta LWJ, canon divergence, two self-sacrificing idiots go on a journey of self-discovery through the medium of marathon sex, unapologetically a fix-it, Post-Sunshot) This one is also a LITTLE angsty but mostly very sweet

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4. For the next intmf post your favourite 10-20k getting together fics? Modern or canon era ! (Preferably top!lz)

And Yet Here You Are by cosmicmilktea (T, 10k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Domestic Fluff, Cloud Recesses, settling down, Separation Anxiety, Teacher WWX, very light angst, Chief Cultivator LWJ)

The Fault in Our Stars by Vamillepudding (T, 17k, WangXian, Modern AU, Getting Together, Romantic Comedy, Comedy of Errors, Misunderstandings, the title makes it sound like a cancer story, it's not a cancer story)

I'll meet you coming backwards by ilip13 (E, 15k, WangXian, Modern AU, Time Travel, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Mostly soft fluff though, First Meetings, Mildly Dubious Consent, Blow Jobs, the mortifying ordeal of waking up and discovering you have a husband)

heart like a haunted house by Sanguis (E, 15k, WangXian, Modern AU, casefic, Witches, Haunted House, Magical Realism, Mild Gore, Pining, Getting Together, Explicit Sex)

simple love | 簡單愛 by auberjing (E, 19k, WangXian, Modern AU, Hurt/Comfort, Slice of Life, Getting Together, Falling In Love, Strangers to Lovers, Caretaking, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Feels, Grief/Mourning, Smut, Eventual Smut, Happy Ending, Hopeful Ending, Nude Photos, Nude Modeling)

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5. Thank you so much for your hard work! I have a request for an ITMF but I don't even know if it exists! I'm hoping for some sort of time loop/groundhog day fix-it type WangXian fic. Any ideas? @greywake

Wearing Down Every Bone by CSHfic, VSfic (E, 30k, WangXian, Groundhog Day, Time Loop, Temporary Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Case Fic, Curses, Pining, Getting Together, Time Travel, Night Hunts, Hurt wwx, Mystery, Angst with a Happy Ending, Use Your Words, Mutual Pining, Depression and Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, gratuitous use of empathy)

Respair by donutsweeper (T, 9k, WangXian, Time Loop, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Night Hunts, Resentful Energy, Post-Canon)

the cycle of regret by KouriArashi (T, 14k, WangXian, Groundhog Day, Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending)

Wearing Down Every Bone by CSHfic, VSfic (E, 30k, WangXian, Groundhog Day, Time Loop, Temporary Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Case Fic, Curses, Pining, Getting Together, Time Travel, Night Hunts, Hurt wwx, Mystery, Angst with a Happy Ending, Use Your Words, Mutual Pining, Depression and Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, gratuitous use of empathy) haven't read this one yet but have heard good things!

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6. Hi! ITMF supportive/protective Madame Yu? She doesn't have to be outrageously kind and sweet and ooc, but I would love to see her take on a bit of a helpful motherly role to WWX, JC, and JY, and I would LOVE to see her teach them to fight or protect them.

some things go forward by everythingispoetry (T, 73k, WangXian, Modern AU, Hospitals, Teenage Drama, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Happy Ending) she isn't the focus and just a background character in this one but i loved the scenes she had with wwx

❤️ the thing with feathers by RoseThorne  (G, 43k, wangxian, Transmigration, Time Travel Fix-It, Illnesses, Family, Scars, Memory Loss, Angst, Fear, Recovery, Sharing a Bed, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Good Parent YZY, Referenced Sexual Slavery, Blood and Gore, Sexual Tension, Arranged Marriage, Grief, Adoption, POV Third Person, POV Alternating, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Good Parent LQR, Clairvoyance, Butterfly Effect)

A Mother's Love by FirefliesNLightningBugs (M, 168k, WIP, WangXian, ChengQing, Canon Divergence, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Mostly combo of the Untamed and MoDaoZuShi timelines, Unreliable Narrator, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Miscommunication, Family Feels, PTSD, Post-Sunshot Campaign, Political Intrigue, Mystery, POV Multiple, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Genderbent WWX, Intersex WWX, not a/b/o, POV Original Character, Expanded Universe, Unplanned Pregnancy, Golden Core Reveal, WWX Has No Golden Core, YLLZ WWX, Getting Together, MXY Lives) kinda does this, tho madam yu is definitely influenced by her own motivations, rather than just kindness of her heart

Therefore, You Should Get To Know Him First by FlorQuinnUwU (G, 41k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Out of Character, For reasons, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Family Feels, Family Bonding, Sunshot Campaign, Good Sibling JC, Good Sibling WWX, Good Parents JFM and YZY, Yúnmèng Siblings Dynamics, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Dynamics, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Feels)

Zephyrs Blowing Below the Violet by Comfect (T, 64k, FengYuan, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Bad to Good Parenting, cursing, Anger Management, No Golden Core Transfer, Bad Parent YZY, Good Parent YZY, POV YZY, YZY Learning and Adapting, Not Everything Ends Up Sad, Happy Ending, YZY & JFM Live)

Sun Stained Lotus by MidnightLightHowlite (T, 70k, wangxian, YZY&WWX, good parent YZY, angst w/ happy ending, fluff, miscommunication)

🧡 Heaven Has No Rage by flipfloppandas (M, 51k, WWX & YZY, JFM/YZY,  implied wangxian, WWX/WC, WWX/others, rape/non-con, modern, hurt/comfort, protective YZY, good parent YZY, hospitals, medical procedures, vomiting, trauma)

The Spider and Hound by Alexirose (T, 29k, YZY/WRH, wangxian, JC/LXC, JYL/NMJ, canon divergence, slow burn, Likeable YZY, Motherly instincts and love, JFM is confusing, YZY badass mother, YZY scoldings, Good Parent YZY, Angst, Cultivation World DRAMA, JGS Bashing, Changed WC, WLJ Bashing, Shy WX, WRH Redemption-ish, Hot WRH, Blood and more blood, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Feels, Dry Humor, YZY & WZL friendship, intimacy, YZY pov, Hurt/Eventual Comfort, Trauma, Protective YZY, JFM & YZY argue, Psychological Trauma, Psychological Drama, Hallucinations, POV WRH, New Cultivation/Magic, WIP)

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7. Hello! Thank you for finding all these different fics it makes my reading experience much better! I've been wanting to find found family-esque fics of wangxian (or just lwj) raising or taking care of or being parental figures to Sizhui AND Jingyi! Thank you once again for this page and all that you do <3 @elymansss

Seen and not heard by eatmyass (E, 51k, WangXian, Case Fic, No Sunshot Campaign, AU in canon setting, Kid Fic, dadxian, Strangers to Lovers, Found Family, POV LWJ, Pining, Sharing a Bed, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Time, Falling in love in metaphors)

and having a marvelous time by varnes (E, 108k, WangXian, Sound of Music AU, (i know!!! i know. stay with me on this.), Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Family Feels, spies to lovers???, Protective Siblings, Angst with a Happy Ending)

oh, these are real things by typefortydeductions (E, 15k, WangXian, Modern AU, The Porn Is the Plot, Kink Negotiation, Under-negotiated Kink, Safewording, Light BDSM, Dom/sub, Fisting, Sex Crying, lil bit of gender stuff, Panic Attacks, Top Drop)

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8. hello! for the next itmf, do you know of any fics where Wei Wuxian's habit of fainting (presumably into LZ) comes up? id love it if it was a plot point, but ill take any fics where he does faint

The most dangerous thing is to love by KatAnni (E, 113k, wangxian, JYL & WWX & JC, WWX & WQ, JYL/JZX, JC/WQ, golden core reveal, fix it, everyone lives au, angst w/ happy ending, hurt WWX, found family, implied/referenced torture, implied/referenced cannibalism, PTSD, golden core transfer Fix-It, major character injury, WWX has a new golden core, asexual JC, whump, marriage proposal, wedding night) addresses in an AU sort of way

to the river of rivers by haysel (T, 27k, wangxian, post-canon, character study, pining, dissociation, getting together, misunderstanding, trauma, angst w happy ending, hurt/comfort)

梅花开放 | the plum blossoms bloom by doubletan (E, 6k, WangXian, Sickfic, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Established Relationship, Yunmeng Bros Reconciliation, Post-Canon, Anal Sex, Kissing, Crying, a lot of crying)

Not What We May Be by brooklinegirl (E, 29k, wangxian, post-canon, pining, bed sharing, case fic, hurt/Comfort)

Talismans by brooklinegirl (E, 10k, wangxian)

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9. hii!! for the next itmf, im really struggling to find modern or canon fics where wx have some kind of secret, like that they hide from their families and friends?? honestly, the problem is that i dont really know how to explain if, but secret relationships, some secret job, secret identity. it would be nice if both of them were into the secret. im sorry if no one can understand this request, though im fine with whatever you find!! thank you <33

Hiraeth by cherrywhiskey (E, 155k, WangXian, Modern AU, Fluff & Angst, Friends With Benefits, Pining while Fucking, Falling In Love, Separation, Getting Back Together, Angst with a Happy Ending, Second chances, food as a metaphor for love, canon-typical Jiang family dynamics, fighting, Bottom LWJ, Switching, Versatile WangXian)

Always Be Closing by betts (E, 32k, WangXian, Modern AU, America, Office, Kid Fic, Drunken Kissing, Semi-Public Sex, Sexting, Divorce, Falling In Love, Bank Robbery, Secret Relationship, Co-workers)

In Which They Are (Not So) Secretly Married by panda_desu (T, 99k, wangxian, canon divergence, fem WWX, secret relationship, secret marriage, implied sexual content, implied dub con, fluff, everyone lives au, no sunshot, intimacy, childbirth) if you dont mind reading fem!WWX i think this fit the criteria?

Post-war baby! by like_a_bird_that_flew (E, 24k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Mpreg, Secret Relationship, Relationship Reveal, ooc probably, Domestic Fluff, Good Uncle LQR, A-Yuan is Wangxian's son, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Humor, Crack Treated Seriously, brief mention of the Lan parent's dubious marriage, Weddings, Wedding Night, Eventual Smut, Established Relationship, petnames, Non-Graphic Depiction of Childbirth, Happy Ending, Pregnant WWX, Unplanned Pregnancy)

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10. ITMF WWX's golden core reveal in a big shocking scandalous way! The more dramatic the better!

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11. For the next ITMF, a) where are the Wen Ruohan redemption fics? Sami mentioned it in some endnotes and now I'm curious!

b) I'm rereading Sami's masterwork series, but I'm also craving more Lan Zhan is not a Lan fics (ever or anymore). Any recs? @mreisse

11A)

Communal Child-Rearing and Other Diplomatic Necessities by Elpie (Horribibble)

To the Heavens and the Earth by IsilmeLasgalen (E, 77k, WangXian, NingSong, XuanLi, MingXu, ChengYu, WWX is a Wēn, Marriage of Convenience, Accidental Marriage, Implied Mpreg, Time Travel, Canon Divergence, CSSR and WCZ Live, Cultivation Sect Politics, Bottom LWJ, Top WWX, Good Person WRH, Immortal WangXian, POV LXC, Mpreg, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Emperor WWX, Emperor LWJ, Past WWX/Other(s), Everybody Lives, Fluff, Angst, Smut, LWJ is LJY's Parent)

there r a few wrh fics in the vein of 'wrh finds out wwx is actually his long lost son/grandson and wants wwx to join the wen/like wrh both for personal and practical reasons' and so puts his plans of domination indefinitely on hold. So u might find a few under 'wwx is a wen' type tags.

nirejseki on ao3 (@robininthelabyrinth) has some

11B)

no step had trodden black by Stratisphyre (T, 32k, wangxian, LQR & WWX, JYL/JZX, canon divergence, madam lan lives, past rape, golden core reveal, hurt/Comfort, referenced to attempted suicide & suicidal thoughts, canon-typical violence)

The Best I Can by Zephyr (ZephyrAndTheSilverfish) (T, 26k, LJY & WWX, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Light Angst, Drama, Recovery, Coming of Age, Secret Identity Fail, Friendship, Rogue Cultivator LWJ, Road Trips, Sort Of, POV Multiple, Happy Ending) In this fic LWJ became a rogue cultivator not long after WWX death but the focus in this fic is not on LWJ but on LJY and WWX. There are LWJ POV too

lost no more series by hamlets_ghost (G, 43k, WangXian, LXC/NMJ, Angst, mention of imprisonment, hurt little comfort, child LXC, child LWJ, this does not have a happy ending im sorry, LQR tries his best, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, alcohol mention, Rogue Cultivator LWJ, LXC POV, LWJ POV, Pre-Relationship, WWX POV, pre- cloud recess arc, Pre-Canon, some violence, NMJ POV, Light Angst, mention of intention of punishing yourself (see chapter notes), madam lan left with lwj as a child AU, LXC deserves a hug not lan elder friendly, this is not how to raise a child, So much angst, Isolation, Loneliness, Hurt/very little comfort, LXC centric, wangxian is very cute and domestic, mention of punishment Gusu Lan style, Burning of the Cloud Recesses)

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12. I know this is more ITMF but any fic where LXC and LWJ relationship (as siblings) is explored like it could be strained or complicated specially after JGY or WY or just in general? Or it could be LXC bashing but I really wanna see the sibling dynamics 👉👈 --This one was moved from the last FF post to this one ~Mod L

Turn Left by kianspo (M, 193k, WIP, WangXian, NieLan, Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, Friends to Lovers, eventually, references to child sexual abuse, not main characters, Neurodivergent LWJ, Slow Build, Lán Family Feels, specifically, Twin Jades of Lán Feels, lwj-centric, Twin Jades of Lán Dynamics, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies)

Twelve Moons and a Fortnight by stiltonbasket (M, 290k, WangXian, Humor, Slow Burn, Post-Canon Fix-It, Long-Distance Relationship, Epistolary, Love Letters, Family Feels, a-qing lives, teenage romance, Adoption, Romantic Comedy, Happy Ending, Weddings, Case Fic, Parenthood, Politics) I think the "twelve moons and a fortnight" series on ao3 may have some of this, it definitely has some EPIC post canon lxc processing/reacting to canon events scenes (link in #16)

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13. Hie! I'm in the mood for a fanfic where wangxian adopts a baby/toddler (but no age restrictions really) [a-yuan exists and has the age he has now]. Please no calling Wei Wuxian a mom and it'd be nice if it had a more serious tone. @rkivees​

Little One by arcadenemesis (E, 8k, wangxian, post-canon, accidental baby acquisition, rated E for Everyday, case fic) probably not exactly what they had in mind, but “Little One” by arcadenemesis fits the bill and is really good. (WWX is called mom in a scene)

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14. Hi!!! ITMF for time travel fics but it's the juniors who go back to the past! :D I've read "The Stuff of Legend" by pupeez4eva and I really liked it!

❤️ Tragedy is Not the End by Hobbsy3 (T, 358k, wangxian, Time Travel, Torture, Hurt/Comfort, Golden Core Reveal, Canon Divergence from Qiongqi Pass, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Yunmeng sibling bonding, good dad wwx, good dad lwj, JZX Lives, JYL Lives, Junior Quartet Dynamics)

How Much Love Has the Inch Long Grass by Vainwyrm (M, 12k, WIP, WangXian, ZhuiLingYi, XuanLi, Time Travel Fix-It, Permanent Injury, Disability, Canon Disabled Character, Physical Disability, Non-canon disabled character, Self-Worth Issues)

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15. Hello! I’ve been craving some wholesome junior quartet fics. More specifically I’d like it to be about the kids in the Gusu-lectures. If not any I’m fine with some post-canon junior shenanigans. Thank you in advance. @itstheinfamoushogwartsjaguar​

Grim Grinning Ghosts by Theladyofravenclaw (G, 3k, Junior Quartet, Ghost City, mxtx crossover, WWX's Birthday, the juniors shenanigans, Gambling, slight mention of gore once they enter the city, but nothing very graphic)

Lan Sizhui's Got a Crush! By Theladyofravenclaw (T, 46k, Junior Quartet, LSZ/OFC, Humor, Fluff and Crack, Case Fic, Gūsū Lán Juniors Dynamics, Junior Quartet Dynamics, Body Horror, Mild Gore, Post-Canon)

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16. Hey for the next itmf can i get any fics where yunmeng brothers reconcile but Jiang cheng is the one who apologises? Like genuine remorse over his actions . Or a fic where lan qiren / lan xichen apologise. I don't know something along those lines because i have been feeling how I just the first siege was and i need the cultivation clans to apologise see the product of their actions and so on ...

Twelve Moons and a Fortnight by stiltonbasket (M, 290k, WangXian, Humor, Slow Burn, Post-Canon Fix-It, Long-Distance Relationship, Epistolary, Love Letters, Family Feels, a-qing lives, teenage romance, Adoption, Romantic Comedy, Happy Ending, Weddings, Case Fic, Parenthood, Politics) "twelve moons and a fortnight" series is EXCELLENT. There's an EPIC scene with lxc reacting to everything post canon in the main fic. There's also a marvelous side story in the series set during wwx's death where jc gets invited to Lan sizhui's courtesy name ceremony (which is how everyone learns this Lan heir even exists). And jc realizes he's his brother's kid and gives him "the bow of a dead beloved shixiong" - only sect bro older than jc was wwx, but no one living remembers. Greatwriting

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17. Hi there. So I'm currently in the mood of reading wangxian AU or canon divergence fics. If possible the fics shouldn't be a short story, and I really, really just want WangXian, other characters may appear or mentioned, but I'm not in the mood of reading other chara's self importance appearance, so yeah just wangxian.

E.g a canon divergence when LWJ took WWX to an exile after the bloodbath in Nightless City, or a scenario where they were in the run, or the post 13 years WangXian just run away and don't give a shit about the revenge drama NHS and JGY are having about, anyway, it must be 90% of the fic, should be about wangxian.

To be more specific, perhaps some canon divergence where wangxian just don't give a shit about the cultivation world? Either before the First siege happen, or post 13 years, but preferably before wwx dying because I think it's a pity for a fine man like YLLaozu to die, lol. Just a pair of husband running away, live in seclusion, feeling discovery, etc.

Or an AU of soulmate or abo, or martial arts au, royal drama au, where it's, again, only about wangxian.

I would love it if you could kindly give me some recc🙂 Thank you, and G'day~! @catmaid-san

Disclaimer for the next few recs, it's been a while since I've read these but I recall them being pretty focused on wangxian ~Mod L

the kite string and the anchor rope by fleurdeliser (M, 38k, wangxian, canon divergence, after the yiling date, sick child)

wide enough and wild by impossibletruths (E, 64k, wangxian, canon divergence, Getting Together, Canonical Accidental Baby Acquisition, Families of Choice, References to Depression, Canon-Typical Violence, Happy Ending, Noping Out Of Society With Your Boyfriend And Your 50 Wen Refugees: The Novel, Overzealous Use Of Imagery, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Well Except Wen Ning But He Was Already Dead So, Fix-It of Sorts, Podfic Available, Spanish Translation Available)

Diverge by WithBroomBefore (T, 13k, wangxian, canon divergence, fix-it of sorts, angst w happy ending, first kiss, implied sexual content, golden core reveal, LWJ pov, established relationship, sick fic, LWJ stays in the burial mounds, everyone lives au)

You Are My Euphoria by orphan_account (M, 17k, wangxian, canon divergence, fluff, making out, 5+1, pining)

love & longing, rabbit edition. by jaws_3 (G, 18k, wangxian, canon divergence, animal transformation, pining, fluff, first kiss, getting together, rabbit LWJ)

body and soul by TooSel (E, 41k, wangxian, canon divergence, fix-it, marriage proposal, everyone lives au, politics, yiling wei sect, adoption, smut, Friends to lovers, angst w happy ending)

I would wait for a thousand years by bleuett (T, 10k, wangxian, canon divergence, post-canon, memory loss, hurt/comfort, reunions, curses, intimacy, yearning, happy ending, Chinese mythology & folklore, immortality, fluff)

blossoms at the roadside by bleuett (T, 13k, wangxian, different first meetings, gardens & gardening, getting together, tenderness, happy ending)

Three changes. by orange_crushed (M, 18k, wangxian, Fluff, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Cloud Recesses study arc, Friends to Lovers, Romantic Comedy, Kissing, Fade to Black, Mild Sexual Content, Canon Divergence, No Sunshot, falling In Love, Non-Graphic Violence, Everyone Lives au, Sparring, Harm to Animals, Don't Worry The Animal is Fine Wangji Makes Sure of That, Developing Friendships, Wangji Makes Friends At Summer School, None Of This Makes Sense Until You Remember They Are All Teenage Boys, teenagers in love, They're A Mess Your Honor (And I Love Every One Of Them), Hurt/Comfort, Mild Blood, First Time)

Under every sky, in every way by naqaashi (M, 15k, wangxian, Curses, Curse Breaking, Merji, Love Confessions, Pining, Genius WWX, Little Mermaid Elements, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Angst w Happy Ending, Feelings Realization, Lan Wangji is a Mermaid, Idiots in Love, Getting to Know Each Other, Oblivious WWX, Falling In Love, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Canon Divergence, Making Out, Fairy Tale Elements, Public Display of Affection, shameless wangxian, Married wangxian, Accidental Voyeurism, Fix-It, Mythical Beings & Creatures)

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If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what  you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack,  whatever - it’s all good!***

[llycaons]

ep38 (3/3): fucked up dramatic irony time!!!!

so close so close!!

ahh! with just another centimeter he'd KNOW!

this shot is so gorgeous, I love it so much

you evil fuck!

and sl has to sit there while xy and xxc have this casual conversation about getting food, as if he doesn't exist or matter at all. just a puppet

and before he leaves, xy kicks sl into the dirt. god DAMMIT

and of course there's a-qing!!!! having seen everything!!!

god and xxc killed himself because of this. song lan isn't the only one we're going to see die

wwx so kind to her 🥺

GET HIM WWX!!!

the real power in this show is delivering incredible emotional stories, passionate and tragic and moving, full of complex and powerful relationships and characters, and then going back to a poorly edited zombie-fight with cheap props and awkward acting. like I can see why people think it's bad. it's not, but it could fool you

ohhh double meanings

literally everyone in the world going 'xxc HATES you' including xxc. what the fuck are xuexiao shippers DOING. yeah you know it's love when he kills himself because of your relationship. like there's no getting around that. 'aw xy makes xxc laugh' HE ALSO MADE HIM KILL HIMSELF. ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID. it's so satisfying to watch ppl say this in canon

I can't get too into it bc I get too mad but like wtf!!! also why do ppl ship xy w sl they had one swordfight and then they killed each other. there isn't even a relationship there they're just enemies and always have been

personal highlights:

ugh, a-qing my girl my girl <3 so smart and brave and bright. deserved the world

she and xxc have such a special precious bond. I wish they got better from the world

the chemistry between xxc and xy was insane tho gotta say. like they were flirting just like that. not going anywhere good, but very well-done

a-qing's 'answer my questions before I answer yours'

song lan staring at xxc and xy with all the heartbreak and fury he can muster. GREAT performance

xy was pretty funny for insulting sl's ability to insult him

cheetah-print robes. kind of a cunt move

the scene where sl tries to get xxc to touch his sword and realize his identity is INSANE. one of the most powerful and tragic scenes in the show. and so beautifully done, goddamn

HE IS DISGUSTED BY YOU TO THE CORE

[lemonade-of-gods]

Some mxtx headcanons cause why not:

- either SQQ or SQH figured a way to watch YouTube on the system. There is a version of dramamaster out there who makes crack videos on web novels and cdramas and SQQ is a religious fan. Also now SQQ is the proud owner of an entity that will play him "its britney bitch" when he enters the room for a peak lord meeting

- LBH and MBJ get told about the transmigration and neither of them take it badly. LBH is miffed that he can't see the system but MBJ is actually kinda indifferent

- SQQ finally gets the chance to let lose all his ranting and LBH gets dinner and a show. Also SQQ gossips so much about the peaklords and roasts each and everyone of them "but remember Binghe gossiping is beneath us so this is just an overdue rant" "yes shizun :D"

- it doesn't take long for LBH to understand that SQQ likes the junshang persona in bed, but it takes some planning and time for him to incorporate it jfjdjdj

- NYY joins the resentment of chunshan production team and draws excellent book covers. Somehow, SQQ has still not figured this one out till now

- Sometime late into the future XL gets offered a samosa stuffed with chow mein noodles and nearly beats the guy to death on the spot. When the cook died of old age and went to ghost city HC made him lose in gambling and he was never seen again

- when HC has to leave to attend to ghost city he leaves a few spiritual butterflies around to keep XL company. They can also see and hear everything so the second XL says that the shrine feels a little empty one chengzhu arrives on the spot

- XL bursts into song at random points of time and HC hums to it while overseeing Gambler's Den shit. The ghosts are working on a masterplan to convince chengzhu to hold a dianxia concert at some point

- SL and XXC both reincarnate as HC and XL

- LQR, despite what he might tell you and the rest of the world, is actually warming up to WWX (well, tolerate him at least, for precious nephew's sake)

- JFM was actually in love with WCZ the senior bi disaster and they had Experimented a few times before WCZ met CSR

- LQR was sworn brothers with WRH and Qingheng Jun was torn between encouraging his didi to loosen up and be with the arrogant wen and concern over his didi pining after such a volatile person. Sect Leader Wen's descent into madness (which made LQR grow a beard of sorrow) and Qingheng Jun's love affair was what convinced LQR that nothing good would come out of following this path

- when LQR watched LWJ defending WWX after the nightless city disaster he was even more pissed off after catching himself imagining a "what could have been" scenario with him and WRH

- despite Yunmeng Jiang and JL's best efforts, Sect Leader Jiang remains Painfully single into old age. He adopts a ward to succeed him

- WWX and JC never completely reconcile the way they want to, but through JL they find a way to start over

- JC considers LXC the least irritating in law. He also makes time to make soup for JL on rough days

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 21, part one

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

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Reunions

All together in The Unclean Realm, The Yunmeng trio find a spot inside where they can sit down and have a proper Yanli-Wuxian reunion, while Jiang Cheng sits across the table watching them. 

For years Jiang Cheng has been rejecting Wei Wuxian's free and easy affection; now Yanli might be the only person Wei Wuxian offers to hug until Wen Yuan comes into his life.

Jiang Cheng is really going through it. He'll do nearly anything for Yanli--except, uh, stay in the goddamn inn with her when she's sick and the Wens are hunting them--and what makes her happiest is Wei Wuxian. He's brought them together, and so he's happy, even though he's excluded from their dynamic. This absolutely fucking kills me.

Here Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian are sweetly pledging to always keep the trio together and put each other first. Neither of them will keep this promise. 

Wei Wuxian will leave first, to take the Wens to the Burial Mounds. Jiang Yanli will leave second, staying in Lanling at Jin Zixuan's request instead of accompanying Jiang Cheng to retrieve Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng will be the last to let go.

(more after the cut)

Nie Huaisang comes literally running in, filled with joy at Wei Wuxian's return. When he goes to pat his shoulder Wei Wuxian flinches away.

I feel like something important is happening in this rapid sequence of glances and expressions between Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang. NHS is startled, and WWX realizes he's shown something about himself that he didn't want to show. He glances at Jiang Cheng and back at NHS before laughing and covering his slip with a squeeze of NHS’s hand.

NHS switches from shocked to cheerful just as quickly, helping with the coverup. It’s like they have a quick mutual agreement, rooted in their history of shared shenanigans, to not point out that something is wrong.

Meanwhile, Lan Wangji is wandering around the grounds, having feelings. At this point it's presumably been at least a couple of weeks since their breakup fight. 

He sees Wei Wuxian sitting contemplating his flute, and as he sees him he goes from sort of neutrally apprehensive to full on angry judging, complete with sword clenching. 

Part of this may be that his feelings are hurt over their fight, but the larger issue is his distress over Wei Wuxian's apparent heretical cultivation.  That, at any rate, is what's on his mind when he's selecting music, later in the episode, and when he's selecting flashbacks. 

Party Time

Later, the Nies host an excruciating party to celebrate Wei Wuxian's slaughter of Wen Chao return. Jiang Yanli is sharing a table with Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng is sharing a table with his crippling social anxiety. 

Everyone starts grilling Wei Wuxian about his sword, because that's suddenly all anybody cares about even though Jiang Yanli, Nie Huaisang, Meng Yao, and probably plenty of other people don't carry swords most of the time.

Wei Wuxian says "after the Wens caught me, Wen Zhuliu crushed my core, so I can't use my sword any more, too bad so sad, can we change the subject?" And everyone is very understanding and admires his resiliency. HA HA HA HA HA. Of course he doesn't opt for that simple lie, but instead mopes audibly without saying anything.

Nie Huasiang tries to change the subject by asking how he killed Wen Chao. Apparently "I had a sexy ghost mostly flay him" isn't good party chat, though, so neither Wei Wuxian nor Jiang Cheng opts to tell the story. 

Everyone lapses into awkward silence, all the more noticeable because there are no dancers, musicians, or entertainers of any kind at this event. OP has gone to audit-kickoff meetings that were more fun than cultivator banquets.

Moment of Clarity

While the awkwardness builds, we hear the sounds of the Song of Clarity. Lan Wangji is skipping the party, which is part of why Wei Wuxian is so mopey. But instead of sitting and stewing in his anger, Lan Wangji has shifted gears, and is starting to work on his "save Wei Wuxian's soul" plan.

This isn't the God-botherer version of soul saving, however. Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian disagree about correct practice, but they both are still practitioners within the same spiritual system, and the majority of their beliefs are closely aligned.

Lan Wangji has powerful magic at his disposal, and now he's taking a step back from his plan of forcing persuading Wei Wuxian to give up heterodoxy, and instead he's preparing to use his magic to offset the consequences of Wei Wuxian's choice.

He still isn't ready to accept that choice, but he's working on it. This is a big moment for Lan Wangji's relationship with Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji is a deeply, deeply uncompromising person, as well as being super bossy, and he’s taking his first steps toward supporting Wei Wuxian’s free agency. 

Wei Wuxian leaves the party in the middle of Yao's toast, saying "I have to see you and your lover all over my tumblr dashboard but I am NOT going to listen to you talk!" He takes his wine to go roam around near Lan Wangji's quarters to pine and feel conflicted.  Lan Wangji has thoughtfully set up a projection scrim to catch his shadow and make the pining easier.

Jiang Cheng comes looking for Wei Wuxian, partly to reprimand him for rudeness and partly to see what the hell is wrong with him. Jiang Cheng is trying very hard to be pleasant. He's bad at it, but he's trying.

Wei Wuxian is trying to be unpleasant and he's pretty good at it. He won't say why he isn't using his sword. He’s obviously super fucking depressed about it, calling his former self childish for liking to spar, and only smiling once during the whole exchange.

He finally tells Jiang Cheng that he will always want to do the opposite of what Jiang Cheng tells him.  Jiang Cheng lets this go with an eyeroll.

(Point Break Quote Alert)

But actually this is a sign of trouble, right here in River City, with a capital T and that rhymes with P and that stands for abandoning the Jiang Clan. Wei Wuxian has just told Jiang Cheng he has no intention of obeying him; not just about the sword, but in general. That's no way for a disciple to talk. 

OP has nothing to say about this gif. OP watches gif over and over and over and over

Wei Wuxian ends the conversation by tapping Jiang Cheng's chest with his flute and then walking away. The (still nameless) flute has no problem with this - does it, like Subian, recognize Jiang Cheng as an extension of Wei Wuxian?

The next day, Wei Wuxian is chilling in his room, looking ungodly sexy in his bold slashed robe, holy frack. I mean, he is sex-on-toast at all times, but the cut of his post-burial-mounds combo is particularly heart-stopping when he decides to stick a knee or two out. 

He's meditating and flashing back to being in the burial mounds, where he was also meditating. I admire his ability to fractally meditate about meditating. 

Chenqing

He didn't put a sock on the doorknob, so Jiang Yanli comes in and startles him. He brandishes his flute at her before calming down. The flute definitely does not see her as an extension of Wei Wuxian, because when she touches it, it smokes and then knocks her out of the frame so fast it's comical.

Did they put her in a jerk vest for that shot?

Wei Wuxian hides the flute from her, freaked out by its behavior. She, however, is unfazed, and gives him the first & only affirmation he's gotten about his new cultivation path, and says the flute is "like Mother's Zidian."  She kind of walks him through the whole "first class spiritual tool" concept, beaming with approval and telling him he must name the flute.  

Jiang Yanli is hardcore Jiang Clan, seriously. Freedom and impossibility. You survived 3 months of mystery trauma and now you're all fucked up? We'll roll with it. You have a demon flute now? Rock on. You're going to use necromancy to beat the other clans in a group hunt? Gold star for you.

He names the flute Chenqing, which @hunxi-guilai​ translates and explains in depth over here.

Bichen

Lan Wangji has finished practicing the Song of Clarity, and regardless of whether it's had an effect on Wei Wuxian, he himself seems much calmer. 

As Wei Wuxian contemplates Chenqing, Lan Wangji contemplates Bichen and remembers Wei Wuxian's assertions about resentful energy way back in Gusu summer school. 

This time when he grips his sword, it's loosely, as if he's made some progress with his anger.

Soup

Jiang Yanli sits Wei Wuxian down for some soup, and talks to him about what's going on with him, saying he's changed. He insists he's fine and works very hard to be convincing.

She's not convinced but says she won't press him, and then abruptly shifts tone and works very hard to act like everything is fine. She leaves, taking a lot of soup with her, and Wei Wuxian remarks that it's unfair she is giving so much to Jiang Cheng. But of course, some of it is secretly for Jin Zixuan.

Everything isn't fine, as Wei Wuxian scream-meditates with resentful energy just rolling off of him. He's got some of the dark energy stored in the Yin sword in his bag of holding, but I get the impression that a lot of it is just stored in his body.

Club Ruohan

At some point in the episode we stop in to check on Wen Ruohan. He and his wind machine are mad that Wen Chao is dead. 

Meanwhile, his interpretive dances with the Yin iron now turn his puppets into...Klingons? Sure, why not. 

Literal Stand-Up Meeting 

Jiang Cheng needs Wei Wuxian at games night a meeting and comes running to Jiang Yanli to find him. He is freaking out and she tells him to chill. 

No matter what fuckery is going on in the world, Jiang Yanli is going to find herself a nice little outdoor table and she is going to sit her ass down and have some tea and civilized lady activity. Queen.

This shot of the meeting is composed so nicely. The blocking (placement of actors) in this scene encapsulates the familial dynamics, and I’ll talk about that as soon as I finish admiring Jiang Cheng’s proportions. 

Here we have four clans represented by four family pairs around the game war table. The Jin cousins, despite their differing personalities, are side by side, matchy-matchy, in lockstep. Jin Zixuan lets Jin Zixun do the talking for him, so maintains his own rep as a reasonable guy.  

The Nie brothers are even closer together, also in matching greys, Nie Huaisang giving all of his attention to his brother/clan leader. You can see his careful watching of his brother's temper...not fearful for himself, but fearful for Mingjue.

The Lan brothers have a growing distance between them; they are in different colors (which is pretty usual for them), and Lan Wangji is standing well away from his brother and the rest of the group. Partly this is his personality, but it's also symbolic of his growing distance from his brother and other proper cultivators. He's carrying WWX-related secrets, and he's wrestling with what he's learned.  

While Nie Huaisang is looking at Mingjue, Lan Xichen is turning around to see what's up with his own volatile sibling.

Lastly you have Jiang Cheng, alone in the room, with his shidi nowhere to be found, and seriously feeling the heat because of his isolation. 

He's alone in his purple, but the color value (lightness/darkness) of his robes exactly matches Xichen's. 

And Xichen, bless him, makes a point of speaking to him respectfully as a fellow clan leader, gives him a path out of the "where is your brother" conversation, and is just generally his kind and helpful self with Jiang Cheng.

Next: Awkwardness Increases!

[danhoemei]

Hi....can I ask, MDZS questions: 5, 8, 9, and 12 ...And can I ask (if it's not too much bother), also no. 5, 8, 9, 13 (but it's for TGCF)? Thanks alot.....

Of course! Always happy to get asks 💚

MDZS (spoilers)

5. Moment you fell in love with the series?

Honestly hard to say, my love grew gradually as I went further in the chapters, firstly with the prologue’s foreshadowing of the grand events and tragic past but at the same time knowing that the main character is not gone (because I’m not that keen on true tragedies). Then, I got hooked already in the Mo household arc when wwx showed incredible wit and was constantly several steps ahead of everyone, playing them by their noses, I love puzzles and detective stories so the promise of a plot filled with mysteries excited me. But I think the strongest thing that truly and completely grabbed me by the heart and mercilessly threw me into the “obsessed” bag was the first interactions between wwx and lwj. The clear fondness and care of lwj made me CRAVE for their backstory, I wanted to understand what he was going through and what lead them both to their current place. I wanted to know all of that but also watch wwx realise lwj’s feelings, because I’m very into slow burn and oblivious pining lmao, so this instantly checked my most beloved tropes like it was nothing.

8. Scenes that made you cry?

It’s been a while so I may not remember all, but first and foremost - yi city. Specifically the finale of the flashbacks, when sl was killed then xxc’s soul shredded and a qing murdered by xy. That was the first instance I wept for this novel, and I think it was the second time I cried that year at all. I rarely cry, so I think the only other time (just teary tho) was during the flashback when jc and lwj finally found wwx who was torturing wen chao. Them confronting their broken brother and beloved, whose heart clearly withered after too much pain, the helplessness and despair, the regret... Me watching this character, who I grew fond of and genuinely craved happiness of, driven to madness after months of unimaginable hell was already painful enough, but watching all that from the perspective of his loved ones? Overkill.

That was during the first time I read mdzs, which was over 2 years ago. Idk if I got more emotional or what but when I recently reread the ending I teared up at jc’s unspoken feelings and regrets. And when I started watching cql not long ago I was moved by the scene of wangxian’s first meeting after the reincarnation 😭 idk if it was wuji or sth but a small sob-like sound escaped my mouth then I keysmashed to my friend not a second later lmao. That scene is just so beautiful and emotional when you have the whole picture and know what’s going on in their insides.... 😭

9. Scenes that made you laugh?

Lmaooo it’d prolly be easier to say which didn’t make me laugh. Mxtx’s humor hits just the right spots for me, so I think there aren’t many chapters which didn’t make me laugh. Most of these laughs are probably situational humor, like literally just a sentence of a cheeky summary or a thought etc. But if it’s about the whole scenes, let me think. Some with Apple The Stubborn Donkey, some at Mo household (like the first cheeky interaction between wwx and the servants in mxy’s room), every single scene of drunk lwj™ lmfao, a lot of scenes during the gusu studying period (wwx’s constant teasing of lwj, the wwx-jc-nhs trio shenanigans, wwx vs lq like during lectures etc.). Idk there are just so many I could go on and on, this novel is hilarious.

12. You can give a happy ending to Jian Cheng, Song Lan or Lan Xichen, who do you choose? (edit: I forgot this one xd)

I feared this question the most lmfaoooooooooo. As hard as it is.... I think song lan. I’m very sad for lan xichen and I love jc but both of them, even tho they lost a lot, still have people who love them and care for them and I believe with time they would be fine. Song lan? Damn he suffered so terribly much and he ended up as a walking corpse with his only reason to go on being the hope that the shredded soul of xxc mends in many years. How tragic is that. So yeah, if I could choose one of them then it’d be song lan, poor guy 😭

TGCF (spoilers)

5. Moment you fell in love with the series?

I think it was the ghost bridegroom arc. At that point there was some exposition already (even though still mostly confusing), and I already grew much fond of xie lian and his two ‘helpers’, bad at disguises and jarringly obvious but in a heartwarming way, generally all the characters which appeared even if just side-characters felt very real and that impressed me. Then the whole investigation and solving a mystery with elements of horror started happening which is just *chef’s kiss* exactly up my alley. But what finally put a leash on me and tied me to this novel in the most final way was san lang’s appearance and the interactions between him and xl 🥺 He fascinated me, and I loved his cheeky, eyes-only-for-mc, smart and teasing vibe, exactly my Type xd If I were to pick a specific scene then it was their meeting on the cart after which I remember I stopped putting this book down unless forced to. I am very much fond of this scene to this day.

8. Scenes that made you cry?

BOOK 4. Just. Book 4, you cursed little- Uhhh I think I cried at least 2 times there but at this point my memory of those events melted into a fest of pain and regrets, so I can’t state them clearly xd Possibly ruoye’s creation :’) and wu ming’s sacrifice :’’) and hc’s awakening at the shrine :’’’’’’’’) if you know what I mean. And maybe somewhere else too but idk anymore, it’s just all PAIN

The other instances were the tragic culmination of the venerable of empty words arc :’’) And this scene at the finale when hc gave all his energy to xl :’)

Damn this novel really squeezed my tears out huh

9. Scenes that made you laugh?

Similar to mdzs, this book is a mine of humor for me. Starting with xl’s ascension and all the shenanigans in heaven, mq and fx being themselves, hc’s cheeky comments towards these two like during banyue’s arc when they tried to test him, pei ming my hilarious beloved every scene with him is golden, quan yizhen being adorably derpy and yin yu running away from him and thwacking him with the shovel lmao, the ghost city in general, banyue & pei su cooking at mount tonglu arc. Gods, I love mxtx’s humor and the balance between laughs and pure agony. Incredible.

13. Headcanons?

Hmmm hx checking in on sqx and indirectly helping him out, and sqx slowly healing from his trauma. I like to imagine whether it’d be possible for sqx to ascend again, even tho I remember from the book that it sounded pretty much impossible. But with the heaven being in such a messy state and slowly rebuilt anew, with the need for new gods to fill in the spaces, and with how much sqx helped during the final fight, maaaaybe heaven would grant him this honour with time, make some exception for his crippled cultivation etc. Maybe he would spend some more years helping people as he did, his legend continued spreading, especially after people realised during finale that he was a god, so the story about this fallen god who now helps people in need makes him gather more and more followers until he ascends as the god of beggars, the sick, and the poor. I wonder if by that point he would consider himself worthy of that place and accept it, but if not then I think xl could persuade him that he can help more as a god than mortal. And so, he continues to grow and heal. Anyway, I haven’t thought this through too much, so just throwing random self-indulgent thoughts

(Ask game)

[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.

[drwcn]

Not to bring up the distasteful teenager memory of Twilight LMAO, but yall remember that part of the story where it is revealed after Rosalie turns into a vampire she goes and devours every single one of the men who r*ped her.

Fierce Corpse!Qin Su coming for Jin Guangshan’s life.

JIGGY was always looking for ways to make a fierce corpse wasn’t he? Well consider this.

Madam Qin confronts JGY, but it was already too late. Qin Su was already pregnant. JGY, being the dumbest smart person, realized he has fucked up, but what to do? It’s not like he can tell Madam Qin he knocked up his own sister accidentally. Unknowing of this, Madam Qin then went to Qin Su to tell her the truth. Surely even if that degenerate won’t stop this marriage, once Qin Su finds out they are related, she wouldn’t go through with it.

Well, little did Madam Qin expect, once Qin Su finds out, she’s so overcome with disgust she takes her own life (canon compliant, I think? idk what that episode was about to be honest. I always assumed Jiggy drugged her to keep her quiet, but Qin Su was the one to take her own life. Jin Rusong is at best a ball of cells at this stage and abortion is a staple trope of cdrama don’t @ me. I take no criticisms.)

Well shit, now Qin Su is half a step away from death. Jiggy discovers this first, and is like O.O oh feck, but also... opportunity????  He recruits evil gremlin extraordinaire Xue Yang, and beginner’s luck takes them to a successful resurrection.

*cue Mary Shelly shaking her head from beyond the grave or... in the future....technically.*

Qin Su is rightfully like wtf JGY, but Jiggy is like aight sis i know you’re mad, but hey now that everyone knows what’s the deal here, I think we have a common enemy: Jin Guangslut. Should we kill him or should we kill him?

Xue Yang: yo so .... you still gonna get married or what?

Qin Su: if you even think about getting married i swear to god -

JGY: ....okay, how about “fake” marry. Once dear old Dad is dead, we can...idk have an amicable separation. I can even set you up on a date with a guy I know in the fierce corpse community. His sister is still in my basement come to think of it -

QS: what

JGY: what

QS: you are a fucking nutjob, Jiggy, you know that? I can’t believe I was attracted to you.

JGY: first of all that’s hurtful, but... hey at least you didn’t insult my mother.

QS: why would i? our mothers are innocent. *deep sigh* okay fine, how should we kill JGS, I vote for castration. Also *points to the black veins on her paste-y complexion* this is gonna be a problem.

XY: *quirk an eye brow* realllly starting to see the family resemblance now. Don’t worry I got make up to cover that up. Also gotta find you some blush, so you don’t look so ... undead.

~

JGY “so we get prostitutes -”

QS “No. Jiggy, I’m sensing some internalized classism. Let’s just sic Xue Yang on him and be done with it.”

JGY “....you were less bossy before.”

QS “I was also less dead before. Also, Xue Yang doesn’t mind, do you dear?”

XY *eating the candied pastries QS got him* “Nah, not at all, jiejie. I can wear a dress and get dolled up if you want, but I want silk and the dress needs to be tailored. Bespoke. *points to his plate* These are great. Do you have more?”

JGY: *facepalm* what have done.

QS: created a fierce corpse you can’t control. Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it brother?

~

QS “I feel bad for Chifeng-zun. If I had to sit and watch you and Lan Xichen make eyes at each other over the guqin day in and day out....”

JGY “Oi, you’re not even my real wife.”

QS “Doesn’t mean I can’t nag you. Also, you have an issue, you know. You can’t just murder your way to the top.”

JGY “I wasn’t -”

QS “Save it. If you give Xue Yang enough candy, he’ll tell you anything.”

JGY “NMJ is a problem. He disrespects -”

QS “You think maybe the reason he thinks you’re a untrustworthy little shit is because you are...an untrustworthy little shit? Also he’s always violent and aggressive towards you...yeah ‘cause you’ve been playing Terrible Temper Tango on repeat for weeks.”

JGY “.....................” *well sis does have a point, maybe i should re-evaluate my strategy “Then what do you suggest I do?”

QS:  I believe Xue Yang calls it “when it doubt, fuck it out.” 

JGY: ...............................you two need to stop hanging out together. 

~

Jin Guangyao and Qin Su spend many nights in the secret chamber plotting together. Apparently the Jin crazy can both be inherited and developed. Qin Su decides her second life is rather nice, and having power is nice too, but she’d rather have some friends. 

*Jiggy and Qin Su’s Ten Step Plan to Un-Fuck the Cultivation World*

Aka Jiggy’s illegal but necessary emergency U-Turn. 

Step 1: Start playing some nice music ffs, and maybe when NMJ is in a better mood, the venerated Triad can be the venerated Triad. ;) 

Step 2: start treating MXY better. He could be useful as a loyal brother. 

Step 3:  Sic him on Nie Huaisang. They seem like they could do well together. Also, the easiest way to get through to NMJ is through his little brother.  

Step 4:  Make Jin Guangshan disappear.

Step 5: Speaking of little brothers, they’re gonna have to eventually deal with Lan Wangji. Even Qin Su’s 78 year old grandma with cataract can see he’s just a liiiiittle hung up on Wei Wuxian, who is unfortunately....dead. 

”How do you suppose we fix this particular problem?” 

”Isn’t there some cultivator prisoner found guilty punishable by death in your single minded cleansing of your political enemies?” 

"Of course. Go on I’m listening, mei-mei.” 

”So while you were off being shady, I did some research. There is a spell. I think a potential trade off could be made if we bargain right. Their soul, which was forfeit anyway, in exchange for a lifetime of protection and financial stability for their families.” 

“>:) dear sister, where have you been all my life I’ll never know.” 

Qin Sun, “Just make sure they’re not too hard on the eye. Lan Wangji doesn’t seem to be the shallow type but one never knows.” 

Step 5: Jiang Wanyin needs an emotional laxative like... last year. Look into resurrecting Jiang Yanli. Once she’s alive, all that Yunmeng Bullshit will resolve, and you will also have a Lotus Pier forever grateful for Jin Guangyao and Qin Su’s kindness. If that doesn’t work...idk get Jiang Wanyin a dog. 

“Okay, hooow are you going to get a woman to give up her soul to -”

“Can we fierce corpse her? Wei Wuxian had a bunch of undead ladies hanging around right?” 

“........worth looking into.” 

Step 6:  Jin Zixuan. Yikes -

JGY “I didn’t kill Jin Zixuan. Wei Wuxian did.” (note: CQL washed WWX of any responsibility for the deaths of others by making it so that the Song of Turmoil caused him to lose control. This, in fact, is not what is written in book canon. WWX did lose control by himself without external influence. I can cherry pick the plot points I want to keep.) 

QS “..........but you sent him to his death.” 

JGY “..........”

QS *Deep sigh* “Who can we throw under the bus this time for Jin Zixuan’s death, Jigs? Someone that won’t be missed...got it. Su She.” 

JGY “He’s loyal to me, he’s an ally -” 

QS “Listen here, once you resurrect Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian, you will have the eternal gratitude of Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan. Who gives a shit about Su Minshan that simpering turd.” 

JGY: True. *he’s understood by now that he could get rid of those who would talk shit, belittle, and disrespect him...but he could always do more with a couple of important influential people who would spread words of his goodness. Stubborn righteous cultivators like the Jiangs, Nies and Lans.* “Also Jin Zixuan’ll be an undead, not able to inherit. We’re safe.” 

QS: “Exactly.” 

Xue Yang: eating candy......... *eye roll* 

Step 7: Because Step 6 didn’t work out, forget about Jin Zixuan. 

JGY: “you know... maybe Jin Zixuan moved on.” 

QS: “Would explain why we couldn’t call his soul back the way we called back Jiang-gu’niang.” Qin Su glances back at Jiang Yanli’s soul-infused clay body in the process of being reanimated (lifted this idea straight from Inuyasha - ahem- kikyo.) “It’s probably better this way. I don’t like the thought of sharing the control of Lanling Jin with more people.” 

JGY:  “Ah, blood of my blood you are indeed.”

Step 8:  Reveal Jin Guangshan’s evil deeds. Once they kill Dear Ol’ Dad, they can just blame EVERYTHING on him and have him be the disgrace of the entire cultivation world, and them the unfortunate children left to do his bidding and trying the best they could to salvage what they can from his trail of ruins.

Step 9: Reunite Wen Ning and Wen Qing. Lie. Blame it all on Jin Guangshan who is too dead to argue in his own defense. If Jiang Wanyin finds out about Wen Qing...well, information gets around. 

JGY “So about that Date.” 

Qin Su: “Yes I distinctively remember you promising me eligible young men of the Fierce Corpse Community.” 

JGY: >:) I’m here to make good on my words. 

Step 10: Reap the benefits of a world restored. 

[zhuhongs]

Upon rereading tgcf, one of the biggest complaints I have is how lackluster all the extra chapters were. literally none of them were good and all contained rlly gross and harmful sentiments (like the amnesia one which.. yea.. or all the things implying xl should get pregnant for hc thus equating gay relationships with hetero ones and playing into the wife thing and just GOD I HATE MXTX) 

There were a lot of little plot points i wish that had been further elaborated on more in the extras as opposed to hualian being ... like that. I had enough. Like mdzs had actaully good extras (minus the incense burners) that were nice side stories that elaborated more on the characters. Like the hook one with the juniors was so cute and i loved seeing them grow more. Or the lotus pod extras omg.. im such a lotus pod extra stan. those were so cute and gave us a lot of good insight into just how lovestruck lwj was during the times when he didn’t see wwx. mxtx should've stuck to those sorta extras in tgcf but NOOO. SO I have a list of so many other more interesting things those chapters couldve been spent on like:

A resolution on He Xuan’s revenge and his character arc. Bc its implied He Xuan is still hanging out and watching over sqx and that taking revenge didn’t fully satisfy him bc ok.. yea shi wudu is dead but he xuans family will never come back. Now what does he have to live for?? i wish we couldve seen a look into his life during the entire ordeal. like a chapter from his perspective while he was posing as Ming Yi  and maybe a look at a conversation btw he xuan and the real ming yi or a chapter after SQX was banished to see what he’s doing now. Also what did he xuan owe hua cheng money for anyways?? Like ik not every little thing has to be explained but I Want to Know. PLEASE more goth boyfriend content now I just wanna see him :,((

a better resolution of yin yu and quan yizhens storyline. im still mad abt how that plot point was split btw books 3 and 5  when it was rlly out of place and  there were other more pressing plot matters and it just rlly deserved more time. Also i thought yin yu died!?!?!? but apparently one of the extras says he’s alive and man... i;m not reading any more of the extras to see that, give me a full yin yu and quan yizhen chapter.. fuck.

a day in the life of the guoshi fangxin or general hua PLEASE especially like one where hua cheng was SO CLOSE to meeting xie lian but had no clue that xie lian was there at the time but the two did smth that inadvertantly helped the other and they still were connected even though they hadnt met omg pls that’d be so nice. like imagine Hua cheng catching a glimpse of the guoshi in public in yong’an while he’s trying to follow some lead that points to xie lian or maybe following a lead to capture qi rong bc he said he knew qi rong was a part of the yong’an stuff and originally thought the guoshi was one of qi rongs pawns. like can you IMAGINE him getting so close. but at the last second he did smth small that impacted xie lian. like they bumped into eachother on the street or smth. god i’d go crazy

OR vice versa.. like a day in the life of the young ghost king hua cheng. Like again, one of my biggest issues was that hua cheng just knew everything and its never really explained how he got all of that info. like yes he’s been alive very long and has eyes and ppl working for him everywhere but like... how did he build that network?? I’d love to see a chapter of young ghost king hua cheng travelling around trying to learn as much as he can abt the world and how it can help bring him to xie lian. and the two maybe are in the same kingdom for a bit and they don’t meet exactly but hua cheng stops some fight or something and helps xie lian indirectly or maybe xie lian is performing on the street in some costume and hua cheng doesn’t recognize him and smiles and gives him a coin or smth. idk i’m just dying for any sorta extra chapter or fic like that. i’m honestly so tempted to write my own but i cant write

also!! we’ve seen how xie lian picks up people down on their luck near him and show them kindness (like banyue, lang ying, xiao ying, he tried to with san lang but we know how that ended lmao) so i’d love to see another little vignette of him doing that on his travels and how every person he meets teaches him smth about life and being a good person and idk, i just think it’d be rlly sweet. i love this facet of his character and feel like we didn’t see enough of it towards the end.

ALSO hua cheng only seems to respect one heavenly official besides xie lian and thats yushi huang.. i assume thats mostly bc she was the only one to help xie lian and let him use the rain master hat to bring water to yong’an. I was thinking maybe when he was a new supreme he had run into trouble and maybe was picked up by the rain master and helped him heal and in return he promised to help protect her village from harm in the future. Like i know a heavenly official wouldn’t cooperate with a ghost like that but yushi huang is different and doesn’t really care about the heavens so i think she would protect him if he could do something to benefit her village. ik this is kinda far fetched but when he first became a supreme I’m sure a bunch of ppl probably tried to mess with him and didn’t rlly believe him to be undefeatable bc he hadn’t proved himself yet also i doubt all his power came overnight. he had to learn how to use it once he escaped the kiln. and some group probably thought they could weaken him somehow. I’m thinking maybe a rlly well formed group of ghosts actually caught him off guard once and he had to retreat and was picked up by the rain master and stayed with her and learned from her a bit. i think it’d be a cool concept also i just rlly want more yushi huang content and i’m on their friendship agenda bc he rlly did seem to actually respect her when she first appeared and i think it’d be cool if the two had some history together.

Also idrc if this was addressed I couldve missed it But!! Did xie lian ever tell Hua cheng that the reason he got the curse shackles and was banished again in the first place wasnt bc jun wu wanted to punish him, but because he requested it. And specifically requested it bc he felt guilty abt letting wu ming take the human face disease and disperse for his sake. So he took the shackles and descended to atone for that?? Bc I dont recall hua cheng learning that bc his soul was already dispersed at that point so it didnt follow him and xie lian didnt say anything so uhhh... someone should tell hua cheng that. Like I dont think xie lian rlly said how much hua cheng meant to him and didnt show him he was loved in grand ways. Like xie lian did always care for bc in other ways but I think if hua cheng learned abt this on screen it wouldve been such a great moment and I'm rlly surprised mxtx didnt address this iirc!?!? Like imagine jun wu telling Hua cheng this in the kiln bc xie lian wouldnt say it himself. Imagine how cool that would be.

Also a small thing adding into the whole young ghost king Hua cheng stuff. Its implied and p much stated that hua cheng isnt his real name. That he likely doesnt have a real name bc his parents died? (It's not clear. I'm still mad at mxtx for not making his childhood clearer). So I'd like to see when and why hua cheng chose that name for himself. The new tgcf ending song kinda hints at its meaning with the lyrics "for you I'd fill a city of flowers" as xie lian is the flower wielding martial god so it's probably inspired by that. Also xie lian saved hua cheng from leaping off the city walls but I'd love to hear him say it bc the implication of his name didnt dawn on me for quite a bit and I dont know if everyone made the connection. Again I sure as hell didnt. So itd be cool to see a chapter that takes place in his past after just ascending as a supreme

Overall I rlly think tgcf had a lot more potential to be even better and a lot of that comes down to fleshing out the side characters and letting hualian have more of a storyline independent of one another. like i know the appeal and message of tgcf is that through love, people can overcome anything, but fuck man. i just wanna see what these two (mostly hua cheng) where like in the absence of each others presence. Part of what I really liked abt mdzs is that we got to see that longing develop btw wangxian when the two weren’t together and how they thought about each other and did things in thei others spirit bc they knew the other wouldve done the same thing. but whatever, mxtx was too consumed by her own unhealthy idea of what devotion and true love looks like but still. i rlly think the extras couldve helped the story be better rather than be fujoshi fuel that i try to bleach from my mind -_-

[aspiringprofessionalnerd]

Lan Xichen Defense Rant

It’s weird to me to see so many posts that characterise Lan Xichen as a dumb and/or passive character in the MDZS/Untamed universes. Maybe it’s because I identify with his personality and experiences, but it seems to me that that assessment is a bit unfair. Here’s why: 

-Emotional and academic intelligence. Sure he doesn’t have the keen cunning that Jin Guangyao does or the mad sort of genius that Wei Wuxian possesses, but Xichen is an intellectually adept man, a talented cultivator, and, perhaps most importantly of all, intensely perceptive. He can read people like LWJ and WWX well, with an intuitive sense of what each one needs. He operates behind the scenes so you don’t always get direct glimpses of it, but take for example his invitation of WWX to the lake on LWJ’s behalf, or his ability to recognise WWX in Mo Xuanyu’s body. He’s also able to offer valuable insights on people that his peers would overlook (for example, arguing that WWX had not caused any trouble after Qiongqi Way and was therefore not as violent or unhinged as the Lanling Jin were making him out to be). His perspectives provide nuance to characters and situations in an environment where the people around him are prone to characterise one another in black and white--and, as we know from watching WWX’s character vs. his reputation as the Yiling Patriarch, those black and white perspectives are often convoluted.

‘But this guy was completely duped by Jin Guangyao, the big baddy with the baby face! How is that being perceptive or a good judge of character?’ you say.

Well...yes and no. 

Sure, Lan Xichen defended Jin Guangyao for longer than any of us were quite comfortable with, but I can’t help thinking of what he said about Jin Guangyao himself: about how the person he saw was different from how people were painting him; about how JGY was loyal, and lonely. And the thing is: HE WAS RIGHT. Jin Guangyao was part vengeful mastermind, but he was ALSO the person who helped bring down Wen Ruohan, the person who served as a kind and devoted sworn brother to Lan Xichen himself. Again with the failure of black-and-white characterisations: Jin Guangyao was a complicated individual whose actions didn’t allow him to be put in a neat little box. Lan Xichen’s impressions of JGY are not wrong or inauthentic; they’re simply incomplete. WWX and LWJ saw the aspects of JGY that LXC didn’t; LXC saw and understood the aspects of JGY that no one else did. All three of our boys were ‘right’ about parts of JGY and who he was. The fact that what Lan Xichen saw was the more positive side does not somehow make him stupider  or less accurate than his peers, and I think it shows wisdom and integrity that he’s willing to take LWJ’s and WWX’s insight son board at all rather than denying them outright.

-Social and interpersonal position. Lan Xichen cannot be evaluated in a vacuum any more than the other characters of MDZS can; his available courses of action are shaped by the roles he occupies, especially that of Lan Clan head. He frequently has to be the grown-up who smooths things over between other people. Sometimes this is across clan leaders, sometimes between family members (notably LWJ and the cantankerous Lan Qiren), sometimes between friends (LWJ and WWX #okaysoulmatesyeahiknow), and sometimes across other REAL AWKWARD dynamics (NMJ and JGY, servant/master turned traitor/traitee turned sworn brothers turned murderer/victim). In some ways, LXC simply doesn’t have the OPTION to make some of the choices that the younger cultivators with less responsibility do (or at least if he did, the ramifications would look very different). That said, he contributes in his own way. As mentioned above, LXC helps fill in the gaps and brings a more holistic picture when the people around him are combative. I tend to see this as a manifestation of his goodness and his empathy, not of cowardice or inaction. 

Perhaps characters like WWX and LWJ read more heroic because their actions are more decisive; however, I’d like to point out that these actions are the result of them being very selective in who they care about and protect. LWJ basically says ‘fuck it’ to everyone who isn’t WWX, and WWX gives up his care and attachment to the world--even his adoptive family in some respects--to watch over the Wen refugees. (Another nice pairing to illustrate this is Song Lan and XXC, who care deeply about each other OR about saving the world but have virtually zero middle ground between those extremes). LXC, on the other hand, tries to gather as much intel as possible and consider the different angles before making a decision. This approach often illustrates his ability to see goodness in people and exceptions that those around him overlook. Thus, he’s not trying to avoid decisions altogether; rather, he is attempting to make his decisions (and those undertaken by his colleagues) as informed as possible. Consideration itself IS a form of action here, and an important one. (Take as a contrast WWX. Noble choices? Hell yeah. Doing the right thing? Usually. But you best believe that there are moments that I scream ‘WWX you IDIOT’ when his good heart gets tripped up by his Gryffindor-y impulsiveness.)

-Storytelling perspective: I really feel for Lan Xichen. The Twin Jades of Gusu are both very private people, but LWJ has Lan Xichen to translate for him at critical moments (especially in the context of WangXian developments), and as time goes on we see WWX unpack some of LWJ’s mysterious heart as well. Lan Xichen doesn’t have that at all. As a result, we don’t get the same in-built sympathy of ‘oh THAT’S where he’s coming from’ to justify his actions or even see how deeply events are effecting him. (Take by contrast Jiang Cheng or WWX, for whom we can imagine virtually every excruciating detail because we’ve been sitting with them through all of their experiences). The tragedy of Lan Xichen is that he spends so much time and energy helping other characters (and us as readers/viewers) empathise with other people, but has no one in the story to extend him the same courtesy.

So, long story short, I think Lan Xichen is kind and good and intelligent, and his ability to mediate (often from the margins) does not undermine his importance as an admirable character.

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

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1. Hi there, I'm looking for a Jiang Cheng time travel story. I don't remember the how or why but it was during the Sunshot campaighn and he remembered that Wei Wuxian didn't seem to suffer any symptom to Demonic Cultivation after his marriage to Lan Wangji, contributing it to his healing songs, and planned to have Lan Wangji marry into Lotus Pier this time... @krysaniar

NOT FOUND! Brother-In-Law's by ILikeReading101 (M, 305k, JYL/JZX, JC/WQ, wangxian, canon divergence, time travel fix-it, graphic depictions of violence, rape/non-con, sexual assault, butterfly effect, memories, self doubt / self harm, angst w happy ending, fluff, rape recovery, everyone lives au, PTSD, unhealthy coping mechanism, depression, emotional manipulation, second chances, WIP)

FOUND? Lynchpin by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 103k, WangXian, JC & WWX, Time Travel, Fix-It, Lynchpin [PODFIC] by Opalsong, [PODFIC] Lynchpin by Gwogobo)

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2. Hi! I'd love if you could help me find fic that might or might not exist. I don't know if i imagined it myself somehow or i actually read something similar but it was about how wangxian were getting frisky and ayuan finds them and gets mad at wwx because he thinks wwx is hurting rich gege. That's it, that's all i remember. I have found fics where it's the opposite and ayuan is mad at lwj instead but that is not what I'm looking for. Is there a fic like that? Or fics similar to that premise? It can be canon or modern timeline. I just need something where ayuan throws a fit because he thinks wwx was trying to hurt or fight lwj, poor wwx. Thanks. 😊 (also in a itmf)

SIMILAR! No Talk of Milky Thighs by DeviyudeThoolika (E, 87k, WangXian, ChengQing, XiYao, MingLi, past WWX/others, past LWJ/others, Bickering husbands, Modern With Cultivation, Pining while fucking, BAMF WWX, Arranged Marriage, YLLZ WWX, BAMF YLLZ, Protective WWX, Protective LWJ, Good Sibling JC, exes to married, Exes to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Everyone Loves WWX) although it doesn't fully fit what you're looking for, a fic that i recommend is No Talk of Milky Thighs by DeviyudeThoolika. Specifically, Chapter 28: Sex Education. Sizhui sees WWX push LWJ, then LWJ tackles him to the floor hehe. But Sizhui doesn't get mad, instead, he and Jingyi try to uncover, analyze this case of rough physical interaction between his parents 😅 The fic is funny, hot, and exciting especially the wedding 😁

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3. Hello! Can you please help find this fic? I don't remember much. I thing wq make a deal with sushoot soldier that she will give yiling to them in exchange of her famaly and her safety. Wwx fights with a bow and killed wzl using a bow in battle at yiling. I think that jc knows about golden core transfer because he awakened at close at the end of procedure. Thats all that i can remember. Thank you!!

FOUND! Justified in Knowledge by Comfect (G, 50k, JC & WWX, JC/WQ, wangxian, WWX & WQ, WQ & WN, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, Golden Core Reveal, Golden Core Transfer, Everyone Lives AU, except like WRH and WC, And probably a cast of thousands because its a war)

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4. Thank God for fic finders! Hopefully you can help me find this one bc I've been dying to reread it.

This fic is a sci-fi Au, with Ship Commander LWJ and Inventor?/Engineer? WWX It opens up with WWX escaping captivity from the Jins, who kept him prisoner for 13 years, making him invent for them, and forcing him/torturing him with android? body modifications.

Specifically, he was also kept close to JGY, which gave him an opportunity to escape at some sort of large Space Federation Meeting that LWJ and his ship were attending. WWX is caught by LWJ during his attempted escape and is brought back into LWJs ship, where they are then chased by the jins the rest of the story. I can't remember much about the rest of the story besides the general WWX whump, wangxian being sand and horny for each other, and their ship being hunted down by the jins. The other sect leaders are in the background in their own ships

I hope it's still out there and didn't get deleted, I haven't had any luck finding it in ao3s science fiction tags

Thanks for the great work you guys do! @homosexualhooligan

FOUND! Stars bring us apart (Stars pull us together) by Sixlayerhouse (sixlayerhouse) (E, 124k, WangXian, ChengSang, Hurt/Comfort, (Vaguely) Star Trek AU, Psychological Trauma, PTSD, Body modifications, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Recovery, married!wangxian)

not FOUND! To the Edge of the Stars (And Back Again) by AnaraneSindanarie (E, 24k, wangxian, 3zun, graphic depictions of violence, space au, space force, slow burn, angst)

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5. Hi? Please help me find this fic: in this wei wuxian sacrifices himself to bring another wei ying to his body from another universe, because his lan wangji died. I remember that the other wy's lwj died too, when he tried to save wy's parents maybe? And at first lan zhan was wary of him, not believing that he was anither wei wuxian, but when he tried to fight with him, he finally believed it. I've been searching for this at least an hour and i can't find it. Thank you guys, you are lifesavers❤️❤️

For #5 unfortunately it was not that. It was canon settings. Some things i remember: before yllz sacrifices himself, he kidnaps hanguangjun, and when the other wei ying wakes up in his body and frees him, he immadietly knocks him out and takes him back the cloud recesses. From there wei ying escapes and the jiangs find him at the side of the road and they believe him, that he is not the yllz. Thanks for the reccomend tough, i'll check the fic♥

not FOUND 134340 by silverclaw (M, 18k, WangXian, Space, Space Opera, Heavy Angst, Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Closure, Parallel Universes, Coco the robot, Hopeful Ending, in terms of closure and healing, parallel!lwj and wwx form a bond, mentions of captivity, dystopian themes)

FOUND? Transverse by Kytrin, Mslead (E, 192k, WangXian, ChengSang, ZhuiLing, ZhenYi, Dimension Travel, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Enemies to Lovers, Transmigration, Past Lives, Canon-Typical Death, Don't worry - he gets better)

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6. Hi!!! I'm looking for a fic where alpha Lwj thinks ômega Wwx is a fuckboy. He decides to have one night with Wwx to see if his feelings might disappear. Wwx, who is not a fuckboy at all, thinks Lwj is in love with him too, and confesses to him some time after their one night, but Lwj turns him down rather cruelly, even insinuating he is promiscuous. He regrets it once Wwx starts crying. I also remember Wc/Wx said something about Wwx, and Lwj got into a physical fight with him before going to apologize to Wwx.

Hi, it's number 6 from the lqst foc finder. It's not the threadfic by Kizukatana. It was not a threadfic, it was on ao3.

sounds like it might have been a threadfic by Kizukatana on Twitter, but i don't remember exactly

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7. Hi! I'm looking for a fic! Basically, the fic starts off with wwx dead. He died when the wens came to lotus pier and madam yu had him whipped, his hand cut off, and thrown into the river. LZ is called to play inquiry for him by JY and JC. They find out that he's been hanging around as a ghost/river god and they're afraid he's turning resentful. Later they find out that the new bead disciple has been doing all the stuff they had suspected wwx of doing when the head disciple kills his own brother. Wwx ends up taking over the body of the brother and coming back to life to bring him justice and he gets to keep the body! Over time he starts to look more and more like himself without the wounds he died with.

Madam Yu gets frozen as punishment for all her bull.

LZ and WWX end up getting married and on their wedding night they go to the jin sect and check on JZ who they find out has been getting poisoned by MY who was setting up MZ.

They also find the wen remnants at a labor camp and save them.

In this fic, wwx is very strong, maintaining the power he had when he was a river god.

Thank you for any help!!! @koilily

FOUND? You still sound like a song by Moominmammashandbag (M, 64k, wangxian, WIP, Ghost!WWX, Mystery, LWJ plays inquiry, AU from after the Wens came to Lotus Pier, Most people lived, not everybody died, Angst with a Happy Ending, river spirit!WWX, Angst and Feels, description of murder, imminent smut, Execution, bad dog names, Poisons, Discussion of Attempted Murder, BAMF WWX, Family Feels)

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8. Hey, can you please help me find this fic?

WWX is the son of HuaLian.Something happens and LWJ betrays him or something? I think it was bcuz of an illusion or something by JGY?

Then WWX creates a new sect w/ XXC and SL.

A-Yuan and someone else are called something twins cause they fight together so well.

The heiresses from Phoenix and Mermaid clans want to marry WWX and try to court him.

Thank you for your time 🌼🌼@utxqia​

FOUND? Crown Prince of The Two Realms by Jeon977873

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9. Please help me find this angsty modern Wangxian fanfic - It starts with LWJ and WWX as college roommates to (secret) lovers but then WWX has to leave him due to the Wen clan; Madame Yu helps him change his identity and leave the countr. Few years later he resurfaces as a pretend fiance of Wen descendent to overthrow WRH. He has an uncanny resemblance to WWX which he constantly denies; until the old college friends have a reunion & a game of drunk truth/dare where WWX slips up & LWJ/WWX reunite.

FOUND? Talk Hard by DeviyudeThoolika (E, 161k, wangxian, JYL/LXC, JZX/WQ, JC/MM, modern, college/university au, roommates, falling in love, getting together, separations, getting back together, BAMF WWX, protective WWX, drunk LWJ, good parent YZY, pining, fluff, politics, hurt/comfort, slow burn)

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10. Hello!

Please can I ask for help with finding a MDZS fanfic - I have been looking for days to find this angsty Wangxian fanfic on AO3 but I don't have an account and I seem to have lost my browser history as well! I will try to summarise as best I can..The fic is based in a modern world, but the rivalry in cultivation sects still exist. It starts with Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian as college roommates, where LWJ is very introverted and one day he gets hurt/beaten up by the Wen clan and WWX takes care of him, then he slowly starts warming up and spending time with WWX's friends - NHS, MianMian and JC. WWX is oblivious to LWJ's feelings initially but eventually they become boyfriends but none of their friends know about their relationship. Then one day WWX has to go away because of the Wens (I can't remember exactly how, but Madame Yu helps him escape, change his identity and pretend to have disappeared off the face of the earth). He goes through a lot of different jobs but also joins some secret forces and becomes very skilled in defence and weapons. Few years later, he surfaces again with a whole new identity (I think as MXY?) as a pretend fiance of a long-lost Wen descendant to try and overthrow the tyranny of WRH. He looks exactly like WWX but they manage to convince everyone he is not and just has an uncanny resemblance to him. LWJ is convinced it is actually WWX but WWX keeps his distance to keep LWJ safe. Eventually the truth comes out when the whole friend group decides to go out on a holiday and play a game of drunken truth and dare. Here WWX confesses his first love and how they got together in college which gives him away; he stops trying to pretend he isn't WWX. There is a very sweet reunion scene with LWJ and WWX but it ends up with them arguing. At this holiday, they get attacked by goons sent by the Wens and WWX get out to defend them - this point is where I lost the fic :'( @wingedangelthing

FOUND? Talk Hard by DeviyudeThoolika (E, 161k, wangxian, JYL/LXC, JZX/WQ, JC/MM, modern, college/university au, roommates, falling in love, getting together, separations, getting back together, BAMF WWX, protective WWX, drunk LWJ, good parent YZY, pining, fluff, politics, hurt/comfort, slow burn)

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11. Hello! I'm looking for a fic I read ages ago and only remember very little of. I think it was either a war prize or arranged marriage fic? But that could be wrong. What I do remember is that when wwx kills the big bad, everyone expects him to take the crown and be evil or something, but he immediately turns and offers the throne/crown/sword/whatever it was to lwj. Help? Thank you so much for all the wonderful work you do!! @deathdefyinglifeleaps

#11 Oooh, that’s a good one, but not the one I’m looking for. Thank you for reminding me that this one exists, though! (Also, sorry I’m wicked late to this? Not sure how I missed it… my bad.)

Not FOUND pitiful destiny, point your finger at me by sassybluee (E, 66k, WangXian, Royalty, Yílíng Wèi Sect, Arranged Marriage, Pining while fucking, Childhood Friends to Lovers, Secret Identity, Under-negotiated Kink, Donghua YLLZ, CQL LWJ, Top/Bottom Versatile | Switch WangXian, Identity Porn, Porn With Plot, Resentacles, YL WWX, Additional Warnings In Author’s Note) Im not sure, but... Try it?

FOUND? to porcelain, to ivory, to steel by sunsandships (E, 27k, WangXian, Vaguely Game of Thrones Inspired, Arranged Marriage, top!WWX, top!LWJ, Dubious Consent, Intercrural Sex, Oral Sex, Breathplay)

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12. Hi! I am looking for an amnesia fic, and it wasn't in your compilation. All I got to read was the 1st chapter, Wei Ying wakes up in the hospital and can't remember the last decade of his life - he thinks he's still in college. He doesn't recognize the people who are in his room, and wonders where the Jiangs are, and freaks out when one of them - Lan Zhan - says he's his husband.

not FOUND but the days, they will blur by TheGirlWithTheKite (E, 60k, wangxian, modern, temporary amnesia, hospitalization, cat accidents, kind of college/university au, flashbacks, repressed memories, recovered memories, character deaths, smut, angst w happy ending, hurt/comfort, kid fic, established relationship, getting together, pining, miscommunication, distrust, insecurity)

FOUND! When I Was Older by jadztone (E, 60k, WangXian, Modern AU, Amnesia, Angst with a Happy Ending, low key pre-slash zhuiling)

not FOUND High On Information by Latigra (M, 110k, WIP, WangXian, XuanLi, Hurt/Comfort, Amnesia, Established Relationship, Injury Recovery, Family Drama, Set in USA, Shitty US Healthcare System is Good for Fictional Drama, Modern AU, mild body horror, Traumatic Brain Injury, Warnings at End Notes, Past Drug Use, ADHD, Jealousy, Dom/sub Undertones)

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13. Hi! Thank you for all the work you do, could you please help me find a fic? It was wangxian, after the war for sure, I remember JGY was blackmailing WWX into obedience and silence by threatening JL at Koi Tower, it featured NMJ and NHS in major roles. I think someone was horrified that WWX didnt think he was allowed to get mail? Or he didnt think he was allowed to reply? WWX was a prisoner somewhere and he was treated decently, just very isolated. Something like that, Im sorry I dont remember more and I hope Im not conflating two fics into one… (rest of ask in an itmf)

FOUND! Always walked a very thin line by tucuxi (T, 22k, NHS & WWX, JYL & WWX, WangXian)

For 13, I can't seem to find the fic but I remember it! It's a post-Qiuongqi Path AU where WWX surrenders on the condition that the Wen are safe (I think they go with the Lans?). And he ends up swearing not to use cultivation of any variety and becomes the prisoner of the Nie, but JGY threatens Jin Ling and Jiang Yanli if he shares any secrets he shouldn't and also arranges for his letters to be stolen.

There's also a scene where WWX comes clean to LXC about no longer having a golden core because LXC was trying to get him to play cleansing for NMJ and won't take no for an answer until WWX tells him that he *can't*

Hopefully that'll jog someone's else's memory!

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14. Hello, I lost a 🦊xian - 🐉ji fic. They didnt know each other, but somehow they spend a night. Later foxxian has eggs. He dont know who’s the father until kids grow horn. I remember jiangs call lans about kids. When they come to yungmeng, wei ying dont let to Lan Zhan come near the kids. Does this sound familiar to you? @nursnus

Pretty sure this is one Twitter fic I've partly read 🤔🤔 will see if I can find the link to it

FOUND? This Twitter thread by cerbykerby (dub con, mpreg, memory loss, fox WWX, dragon LWJ) I'm like 99% sure it's this one

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15. Hi! I just remembered a fic I read when I was new in the fandom but I lost it long ago. I remember that madam yu forgives wang lingjiao during the attack to lotus pier and convinces her to switch sides, and later wlj marries jiang cheng. Hopefully someone here knows it 🙏🏼 thank yall so much

FOUND! Everything But a Father by mercyandmagic (M, 97k, LXC/JGY, WangXian, happy sibs, angst, fluff, happy yunmeng trio)

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16. Hi there! I've been wanting to re-read a fic and was hoping someone knew what it was, because I can't seem to find it by tag or among my bookmarks where it should be.

Wei Ying is starting a new (music, I think) school and ends up in a fancy, soundproofed suite with lan zhan as a room mate. At first he thinks LZ is ignoring him, but eventually figures out that LZ is deaf and just wears the headphones to keep most people from approaching him because he doesn't want people to know. Wei Ying begins learning sign language and adjusts his interactions with Lan Zhan to account for his inability to hear without letting on that he knows.

Later in the fic, they end up playing music together, they get together, there's a dinner or something with Lan Quiren, and Wei Ying finds out that Lan Zhan had specifically chosen WY out of the prospective options to be his room mate, but I can't remember the exact reason. The fic may have been unfinished, and I'm hoping it wasn't taken down!

Thanks much! @tevokkia

FOUND! Comfortable Silence by WritersBlock823 (rdlaserna) (E, 65k, wangxian, LXC/NMJ, modern, college/university au, deaf musician LWJ, musician WWX, pining, smut, bottom LWJ, fluff, sexual harassment, blood & violence, angst w happy ending) If ever u wanna find it again, it is in the deaf lan zhan tag🩵

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17. Hello, wonderful WangxianFicFinder mods. I find myself looking for a fic I read quite a while ago. It was a Lan Wangji pov fic (I think) post canon, where he reflects on the age difference between him and Wei Wuxian and gets maudlin about it. At some point, they travel together and end up at the edge of the desert and LWJ takes some time alone in the desert to reflect and is joined/found by WWX later and they resolve their relationship issue. My history is too long I can't find it T_T. Help… @kinoumenthe

It was post resurrection, not modern :)

the worrying about age difference is right, that's the part I was remembering, but there's no desert in this one I think ? I maybe be squishing two different fics together in my mind…

Oof, I remember reading this one, LWJ was traveling in chief cultivator business iirc

the-marathon-continues-nip: #17, is this post resurrection and set in canon or is it modern?

Not FOUND The Price of Old Wishes by SoManyJacks (E, 67k, WangXian, Minor canon divergence, Angst, POV LWJ, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, semi-verbal!LWJ, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide)

NOT FOUND! Bitter Plants Bearing Sweet Fruit by Kryal (M, 83k, WangjXian, canon-typical horror elements, Worldbuilding, Desert, Misuse of Historic Setting, Original Character Death(s), Case Fic, aftermath of canon, Established Relationship, Nothing Explicit But Shameless Innuendo) (I'm not sure if this is the fic you've been thinking of since I haven't read it but I thought I'd try after seeing the summary ^^; - Mod C)

FOUND! brighter than the sun by qinghe (ocheeva) hidden in a collection by the author, (E, 21k, wangxian, post-canon, hurt/comfort, implied JC & WWX reconciliation, implied/referenced character death, smut, bottom LWJ, first time bottoming, autistic LWJ, sensory overload)

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18. top of the morning to you! thank you for all your hard work for this community 💜 i'm looking for a fic that includes non-Jiang! Wei Ying who lives in a village of refugees (i think?) after the war. I remember he was a cultivator but he sealed his core and lived like a normal citizen

FOUND! 💖 Xiao-Ying of the Third Refugee Village by abCEE (T, 31k, wangxian, WWX banished from Jiang sect, not Jiang friendly, found family, mpreg, fluff, flirting)

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19. You guys saved my brain last time, I'm hoping you can save me again! It's Gusu lecture era canon divergence, with LQR is a good teacher. The students hold out against the invading Wens with creativity (WWX), cunning (NHS) and sheer body mindedness (everyone else LOL). The scene I recall most is that WWX has a plan involving resentful energy and is voted down. Eventually the defenders get driven into the caves, with LQR being tortured outside and he refused to give them up. LZ turns to WWX and says what was that plan again? Eventually, the Nies show up to help drive out the Wens. At 5he end, NMJ says something about they would be glad to take their help in the SSC no matter how little they can contribute and LQR says "About that...." It was a one shot probably less than 20k. I've gone though good teacher LQR and equivalents for months, and I'm at page 58 of my AO3 history with no hits. Help!! @mreisse

FOUND! Home Alone by nirejseki (G, 3k, gen, canon divergence, home alone inspired shenanigans, attack on cloud recesses, hurt/comfort)

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20. Greetings Kay and Mojo! I'm searching a fanfic that i read sometime ago, it was from Cloud Recesses Days where WWX teased LWJ soo much that LWJ had to put silencing spell on WWX which he didn't knew was too strong, that result WWX's lips get sealed (poor wwx) and LWJ couldn't undo it. While searching how to undone the spell WWX learned sign language and thus somehow created bond with Jin ZiXuan. Thank you! @let-it-be-rainbow

FOUND? Couldn't Scream Couldn't Shout by mermorgie (T, 42k, WIP, WangXian, Not for jc stans, i tried to not bash jc too much but like, Muteness, Sign Language, references to selective mutism, Homophobic JC, canon jc characteristics, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Anxiety Attacks, Pining, LWJ is a Panicked Gay, Supportive Sibling LXC, JZX Tries, LQR Tries, Protective JZX, Scheming NHS, Bisexual, JZX, LWJ is Bad at Communicating, WWX Has ADHD, Autistic LWJ, WWX Has a Fear of Dogs, Jiāng Family Bashing)

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[anxious-witch]

Fierce corpse!NHS

More details about the au that I might write one day under the cut

The timeline is all over the place so just fyi

-Meng Yao decided to poison NMJ with a poison that causes qi deviation instead of going through the whole hassle of learning to play song of clarity

-Huaisang clowns around and drinks it instead, causing qi deviation, or at least the beginning of it

-NMJ would have died quicker bc he was heading there anyways, but since NHS didn't practice his saber, he doesn't

-I still didn't figure out if JC and NHS are a thing here but either JC brings him to burial mounds and asks WQ to help him, or NMJ asks JC to do whatever it takes to help NHS, even if it includes asking help from the Wens and WWX

-WQ tries but she can't save him and either JC or NMJ ask WWX to do whatever it takes to save him

-so WWX turns him into a fierce corpse

-lots of drama about NMJ' black and white morality and the fact that his brother is literally a fierce corpse now

-they agree to make everyone else believe NHS died

-NHS making a plan to ruin JGY's reputation by "haunting" him at night until he confesses or everyone labels him as mad

That's basically all I have no but yeah. Feel free to ask me about it if you are curious about anything

[wildmagicplant]

i was talking with @ XichensLiebling on twitter the other day, and she suggested an idea slightly different from this, which i spun into this idea. unlike her, i have no patience and also no motivation to write, so instead of making my version into a fic, i’m just tossing it onto tumblr. sorry yall, enjoy this mess of a ~story concept~ for protective wwx and the juniors

post canon, the juniors are on a night hunt

i’m imagining sort of a scooby doo scenario, in that they thought they were investigating a haunting, but it turned out to be asshole humans - the haunting was real, but the bad guys caused it somehow, to try and get money or land or something. it doesn't matter, other than that the bad guys got the drop on the juniors because the juniors were busy fighting the actual spirits and weren't expecting to get clocked in the head by a heavy stick

so the juniors wake up all tied together, in a cave or a clearing in a woods, and the bad guys are discussing what to do with them, and then another couple bad guys lead in wwx, who has his hands tied behind his back and is supposedly captured, and the juniors despair, because ‘wow these guys must be way more intimidating than they thought, if they can capture wwx.’ but also he's smiling and joking at the bad guys, who are ignoring him, so... maybe it's not so bad?

and wwx does the whole 'fancy seeing you here' thing at the juniors and jin ling is like 'what the fuck, how are you so calm' and then the bad guys yell at them

and wwx is still smiling and looking like all of this is very amusing to him

the bad guys start arguing among themselves, but a few of them are like. shoving at the juniors, and grabbing pieces of their clothes to be like 'see this one looks rich' 'this one must be from the jin sect' as they argue about what they should do with them

and then one of them roughly picks at jingyi's ribbon, and all of Our Heroes stiffen, and wwx says, still not sounding worried, but also not nearly as jokingly as before, 'don't touch that, don't you know it's rude?'

and the bad guy gives him a Look and is like, 'what? don't touch this?' and leans over and rips sizhui's headband off

and the other juniors all gasp and sizhui is Mad, which would ordinarily be its own kind of Shocking Moment, but it is very very overshadowed

because wwx stands up, very deliberately flicks his fingers and the ropes binding him fall off, and the juniors look around and see shadows rising all around them, and it feels cold suddenly, and it's late but not late enough that it should be this dark, and they huddle together a little, and some of the bad guys have maybe taken notice, and are looking around nervously, but not the main ones who'd been grabbing the juniors, and certainly not the one holding sizhui's ribbon

the shadows are clinging to wwx, and he reaches inside the front of his robes and pulls out chenqing, and he says, 'you should have listened,' as seriously as any of them have ever heard him be, and he stands completely still as he starts playing, a horrifying melody - it's not discordant or un-musical, but it's haunting and it seems to worm its way inside their ears and it feels like they'll never stop hearing this song, and the shadows aren't just shadows anymore but bodies and faces and clawed hands forming out of them, dragging the bad guys away into the dark surrounding them all, except the main one, the one holding sizhui's ribbon

wwx takes the dizi away from his face, but the sound somehow lingers as he says (so quietly that the juniors are surprised they can hear at all and more so that it sounds so perfectly clear to all of them), 'you have no right to touch that.' and delicately takes the ribbon from the man's shaking hand. wwx holds on to it as he starts playing again, and the shadows swarm over the man, covering him and tangling over each other so thickly that the juniors can't see him at all, they can only hear the piercing, relentless music and the man screaming, and they see the shifting darkness, and then the darkness fades away and the man is gone.

wwx walks over, and unties them, and hands sizhui his ribbon without saying anything

'let's get out of here' is all he says, and his voice is still hard and eerily unemotional, and they all just follow him back to where he's clearly set up camp, with a fire (hastily put out) and little apple (ignoring all of it) and a bedroll. wwx lights the fire, and then lays down on the bedroll, turning away from them

they huddle around the fire, and it's quiet for a long time, and once they finally think wwx is asleep, jingyi hisses, 'what the FUCK was that'

jin ling says, 'that was yiling laozu' and he sounds bleak

zizhen is shaking his head, 'i'd heard the stories but i thought- i thought they were lying, like they were about everything else'

sizhui isn't really looking at anyone else, just staring into the fire, and he says 'i thought... i don't think he was like that around me. i didn't know'

and it's quiet for another long moment as they all think about what it must have been like, fighting in a war with that happening all around you, even when it was on your side

and then jingyi visibly decides to try and cheer everyone up and elbows sizhui. 'still, it was kind of sweet that he did that all for you'

jin ling rolls his eyes, but zizhen nods. sizhui looks up 'what? no, he was saving all of us.'

zizhen says 'yeah, but he didn't get MAD until they took your ribbon.'

sizhui gets kind of blushy but he still protests that it was about all of them, and jingyi teases him about having the scariest dads, and zizhen starts describing it like a ghost story, and no one hears jin ling mutter 'they really are brothers', and back turned so none of them can see, wwx lets out a long breath and manages a little smile

[isozyme]

unprompted salt: lan xichen is not impartial when it comes to jin guangyao

everyone’s all like “oh lxc, so unbiased, so open” no he is not! he has to be dragged kicking and screaming to the conclusion that jgy is a bad, bad dude. the fact that he’s willing to be dragged at all puts him head and shoulders above almost every other character but my god that is a low bar

allow me to present my case below the cut. this is long and stupid and largely an excuse to watch all the parts where zewu-jun has a super-bad day.

now, lan xichen perceives himself as a logical, unbiased, fair person. his own code of morals forces him to at least consider evidence that’s shoved directly in front of his face. (good job at having principles, lxc!) his morals don’t preclude being super stubborn and coming up with alternate explanations for everything

(just because lan xichen thinks he’s impartial doesn’t mean that we, the viewer, need to believe him. learning how to avoid getting snared by a person’s narrative of their own life is an important life skill)

he admits that he knew about some of jgy’s crimes:

oh lan xichen, you poor bastard

it’s not quite clear how long he knew but i’m assuming it’s been a long time. he’s not stupid; he knows jgy has killed people and he looked the other way. and honestly, within the context of the show, i’m not mad at lxc for that! wwx’s killed loads of people, and lz isn’t going to litigate every single death either. however...i wouldn’t call that an unbiased viewpoint. and when evidence started piling up that jgy was really, really likely to be a baby-killer etc, idk, maybe it could have factored in

let’s move on to the kicking and the screaming:

our heroes show lxc glowy-baxia and present the case for jgy being involved. lxc is not having it.

“weird how all signs point to jgy pulling some shady shit,” says wwx “like, all of them”

lxc shoots back “actually i have been spending every single night together for a month with jgy and he has DEFINITELY not done any shady shit, also i’m not saying out loud i’ve been getting comprehensively laid lately but i am saying it silently”

“maybe he teleported?”

“no” says lxc.

“but -- “

“no. conversation over. also i know you’re wei wuxian; don’t take it personally but you could call this a polite threat”

our heroes present that no really nmj’s head was really definitely for sure in jgy’s pier 1 torture room, he just moved it. lxc is not having it.

“did you see it with your eyes, wangji? not your probably-not-evil husband’s eyes, your personal eyes in your personal head” lxc would like to know

lan zhan would like his esteemed brother to know that his trust in wwx is absolute and his trust in jgy is 0

lxc is MIFFED by this response

our heroes demonstrate that wwx heard the song of clarity while taking a spa day inside nmj’s head

lxc is very pleased to point out that wwx has made an error in his playing. wwx says “hey! no! i’m great at the flute! i played it exactly as jgy did, so the one who fucked up is him”

“you know that i, incredibly powerful clan leader lan who controls your rather perilous not-getting-executed position, am the one who taught jgy the song, right? maybe you should be slightly more careful about insulting my boyfriend, who is very clever”

“okay good point,” says wwx “counterpoint: he is so clever that he definitely fucked up on purpose. kinda shady, eh?”

lxc is starting to get increasingly worried that his kicking and screaming and defense-lawyering is not going to make wwx stop coming up with uncomfortable conjectures

our heroes go to the library and point out that what jgy played sounds a lot like the evil music in the evil book that happens to have a few critical pages torn out of it

“this is the Restricted Section of the library,” says lxc. “no jgy allowed, can’t have been him”

wwx is not impressed and notes that jgy is great at showing up in extremely inconvenient places, feat: all of jgy’s spying in the past

lxc’s strident defense is falling apart! fuck!

“i need to test this evil magic on myself,” says lxc, somehow still not convinced.

“BRO SERIOUSLY” says lan zhan with his entire face, which is very frowny.

yes seriously. more consideration is required.

xichen, i get it. you are being so good and so patient and only a little bit tetchy that these two punks are trying to break up a decade and a half-long loving gay relationship. you are considering both sides. you aren’t going to let jgy arrest wwx and hammer mind-control nails into his head. but we gotta admit that maybe you have an extremely strong preference for “not guilty” in this case.

it’s okay. a man’s allowed to be gay about things. 

even when those things are murder.

[inessencedevided]

The Untamed, episode 45 - watching notes

I'm at this stage of fandom rn where it's really hard to concentrate on anything else 😅

Every song I listen to gets dissected for how it relates to wangxian

I need to concentrate on my thesis but instead I'm pondering how the untamed raises questions about collectivism vs individualism and how my western perception of that might differ greatly from a native chinese person or even the author's intention

Can't I just write my thesis about THAT?

Alas, I digress ...

Back to our regular programming :D

Last time one Sophie watches the untamed wwx went all Sherlock on us and used his formidable skills of deduction to expose Backpfeifengesicht's plan of killing everyone and blaming it on wwx

I've heard from several people that the next few episodes are their favourites, so no high expectations at all :D

Nobody wipes the blood on their chins away. Might be about the aesthetic

I adore detective-duo-wangxian so much!! Especially because wwx does 99% of the talking but then lwj will chime in with a single word and it's 100% devastating :D

If anyone knows any well written case-fics for these two, please, I need recs! (For after the show)

Backpfeifengesicht makes good one point and that is that jgy already is at the top of the cultivation world. So what does he gain from all this?

Or is it simply that he's afraid of wwx because he's a rebel and might act against him? (Don't answer that. I wanna find out through the show ;))

Wwx just casually revealed that he's been to cloud recess and that he handles went to the restricted section forbidden chamber. What will you do about, Lan Qiren? Huh? 😂

Oooh! Backpfeifengesicht is the ghosted faced man! I thought it was Jiggy himself!!! 😱

That makes way more sense though!

Lan Sizhui! Jin Ling! Oh you brave boys! 😭

Someone hold me 😭

But why does he not take zidian now? He's done so before!

"You little fool!" Is "I love you" in Jiang-Cheng-speak :D

"We're done for! What can we do??" - wwx *strips*

Sorry

Bahahaha 😂😂😂

I just burst out laughing waaay to loudly for the fact that I've got people sleeping in the room next to mine

But look at Lan Qiren when he sees wwx strop to reveal anat is probably his nephew's undershirt 😂😂😂

He's probably questioning every decision that's let him to this point :D

This is completely inconsequential,but I couldn't keep quiet about it anymore because I every time he makes this motion, it always sends a shiver down my spine!!! Notice that wwx (or rather Xiao Zhan) is one of these people whose fingers bend in the opposite direction??? I know it's just a normal thing some people can do, but I can't watch it!! It makes my fingers hurt just looking at it 🙈🙈🙈

Is he turning himself into a demon lure flag?? 😱

Lan Jingyi 🥺🥺🥺

Also does wwx now just transfer his self-sacrificing tendencies to lwj?

Nothing is as hot as these two together in a fight scene

Jiang Cheng doesn't want to leave them behind. He does care! :') he just never unlearned how to unravel his love from his anger

Sizhui running up to greet his dads :')

Look at them! I'm soft guys 💔

He called him Yuan!! 😭😭😭

So this is it. Any doubts I ever had about Sizhui's identity are gone

Will he finally recognize him??

Why don't you say anything lwj? This one time, I beg you!!

Sect Leader Yao still at his gossip shit even 16 years later 🙄

Lam sizhyi is seasick! Why is this so cute! 😭

Oh Wen Ning!! He recognized A-Yuan? Right?

I want to hug Lan Sizhui for his openness and kindness towards everyone he meets, no matter their status or what other people say about them! (Wen Ning now or who he thought was Mo Xuanyu the supposed mad-man) and I wanna hug lan Wangji right after for raising him to be like this :')

Oh Wen Ning! 😭

That's how I'd look at Sizhui, too, if I met him - poor unadulterated wonder :')

And just think about what that means for Wen Ning! He's not the last of the Wens! All their fight wasn't for nothing. This child, their legacy, survived 😭😭😭

"Can I call you A-Yuan" "Of Course." God I'm gonna burst into tears 😭

I'm actually bursting into tears!!

Isn't this the dream of anyone who has ever lost someone? :')

"He's like a brother and father to me" :')

And he raised him from when he was 4 or 5? So ... A-Yuan was about 2 when the Wens died? Right? Then 5 would fit with lwj's 3 year isolation

Ob god, it's the butterfly-toy!!! 😭😭😭

Wen Nings smiling through his tears! I can't! 😭💔And he's got the one from the market!

Aww, wax isn't wearing the white undergarment anymore. Too bad

Oh poor Jin Ling ...

So much grieve that he could probably never process. There so many lost kids in this story, hurt by things they had no control over 😔

I mean, I get it. That's the person who killed his parents (without being in control, but he doesnt know that) and everyone is just talking to him as if it's normal and that didn't happen. But he can't forget,but he doesnt really understand either and he has no outlet. Of course he'd just ... crash 😥

And who would have thought I'd ever try at a flashback of Jin Zixuan's death :(

For once, it'd be nice if the adults actually acted like the parent figures they're supposed to be and explain things to their children 🤦‍♀️

I'm so thankful though, that no one even thinks of scolding him for crying. Jismg Cheng only asked who it was that made him cry (and looks like he'll kick their ass). Generally, thus show has a very healthy attitude towards tears. Most characters cry when they are faced with tragedy, regardless of gender. Men being allowed to have appropriate reactions to grieve (instead of a single men tear or just punching things) is really nice to see

Oh Yao dude whose courtesy name I can't remember, shut up!

Thanks Ouyang Zizhen! You get me

I live for these children standing up to their elders

Meanwhile Nie Huaisang is just on the sidelines, enjoying the show :D never change!

The Lotus Pier theme song alone is making me cry rn 😢

Why can't wen Ning come in?

Oh Sizhui!

He many times do you want to make me cry happy tears today?? :')

Little turnip-baby ❤

But why doesn't lwj say anything ??? 😭

Lan Wangji raised A-Yuan smong a bunch of rabbits??? 😭

Now he's a turnip baby with a taste for carrots, how cute is that? :')

Holy shit, wwx and lwj are really joined at the hip these days of lwj won't enter the hall if wwx isn't allowed to :D

Lwj 😑 "no misbehaviour"

Someone. Knows. Their. Husband.

Okay sorry, but as painful as these cuts must have been and yes, while you do see scars on this prostitute's face, they in no way warrant these horrified gasps as of they had all seen a monster 🙄

Xue yang. Fancy seeing you here in this not at all disturbing sub-plot 😬

Okay that's creepy. That's really creepy

Shouldn't Jin Guangyao have a bit more compassion for these women?

On the other hand, he was born to menacingly stand behind a curtain 🤷‍♀️

W. T. F. ????

Jin Guangshan??? o___O

That's the most skin we've ever seen on this show and it's in a scene like THIS? 😬

THIS IS HOW JIN GUANGSHAN DIED? 😱😱😱

How?

How can you die from sex?

And then jgy made them keep going?

UGH

These poor women :/

So there's someone who set her free on purpose, right?

Bicao has really interesting eyes!

Oh wait, took me some time to catch up. This is about Quin Su and why she killed herself, right?

WHAT??

They were siblings o_O

They just went full game of thrones on this ...

Hey Jin Guangshan, screw you for raping that woman

Wait, is that why jgy had him die like THAT?

I'm so confused about how that happened btw

But why would Jin Guangyao merry quin su anyway? Was this some kind of political marriage that he couldn't call off?

This episode answered some of my questions but raised about a dozen more 😅

@sweetlittlevampire @fandom-glazed @elenirlachlagos @allhailthedramallama @luckymoony @kyrrahbird @i-love-him-on-purpose

5 episodes to go. I'm both happy because I can't wait to brows the untamed tag without looking for spoilers and extremely sad 🥺

Right now I'm planning to watch one episode each day until friday and then watch the last two on Saturday, hopefully quite early, so I can spend the rest of the day crying my eyes out over it, without having to worry about such trivial things as being a functioning adult or a responsible student 😅

[theislehoney]

purple nights (wwx/lwj, modern au)

In late October, by the time the bookstore closes at eight, the sun has been down for hours and the streets of the university town are filled with early drinkers and the glow of streetlights. Across the street, the lights of the university are warm and steady, filling the space between the cragged oaks and the night sky. Pedestrians fill the sidewalk, walking in clumps large and small, and laughter filters through the wide glass windows of the bookstore. Only a few ever glance over to see Lan Zhan standing there, basking in the hollow silence of a shop emptied out just after closing.  

The last customer to leave let in a gust of damp, chilled air, and though the street shimmers silver with every passing set of headlights, the night is grim. It has been raining all afternoon. Lan Zhan does not relish the thought of the long walk to the parking garage where he left his car. 

With half the lights in the bookstore off, the shelves are filled with shadows. Lan Zhan is the last one left tonight, and he is just finishing the last accounting of the register when the front door groans and he looks up, surprised to see a figure in black stepping inside. The man carries a black umbrella, which he folds and shakes out over the mats by the door. Nonetheless, droplets scatter across the tiles.

"We close at eight," Lan Zhan snaps, too footsore after his shift to bother with niceties. He could have sworn he'd locked the front door behind the last customer, but he must have forgotten.  

The man looks over at him, and though he wears a black mask over the lower half of his face and his hair is hidden by a floppy hat, there is something familiar there. It tugs at Lan Zhan. 

"I know," he says, and there is something about the folds of his eyes that suggests that he is smiling. 

He leans the umbrella against the wall and strides over. He reaches up—one hand to his head and the other to his ear, to remove both hat and mask in a single, fluid motion. He drops the items into the counter and leans forward, chin in his hands. 

He really is grinning, the kind of smile that leaves Lan Zhan dizzy, and which he hasn't seen in months. 

"Even for me, Lan Zhan?"

Lan Zhan stares, forces himself to blink. "Wei Ying."

"That's me!"

Wei Ying is dazzling. Lan Zhan hasn’t seen him in months, his idol schedule keeping him constantly booked and traveling the world. He texts Lan Zhan constantly, peppering his grammatically obscene conversations with selfies and photos of whatever distant landscape is is traveling through, but he did not send Lan Zhan even one text letting him know that he would be in town tonight. Lan Zhan glances over at his phone to be sure, but the notifications are blank -- Wei Ying has not texted, or called, or said anything at all. 

His confusion must show. 

“I wanted to surprise you,” Wei Ying murmurs. He reaches across the counter, where a thousand customers have slid their books today, and yet the gesture feels illicit. He lays his hand on top of Lan Zhan’s. His fingers are cool. “Don’t be mad at me.”

Did he come right from his last shoot? Lan Zhan’s thoughts are wild as he takes in the sight of Wei Ying. He is beautiful and otherworldly, his makeup glittering even under fluorescent lights. His eyelids shimmer gold and a tint of pink clings to his lips. Little cut stones have been affixed, a row directly beneath each eye, and they sparkle like diamonds every time Wei Ying blinks. His nails have been done as well, trimmed and painted silver, and someone has glued little charms to the nails of three of his fingers, little dangling stars and chains which catch the light and dance with his movements. The sight of him knocks the breath from Lan Zhan. 

"Not mad.” He wants to climb over the counter and wrap his arms around Wei Ying. He wants to run his thumb across the jewels beneath Wei Ying’s eyes and lick the gloss from his lips. He settles for turning his hand over to touch Wei Ying properly. “When did you arrive?" he asks.

"About an hour ago. We wrapped the video shoot early and I hopped right on the plane, which was dumb because I'm now I’m totally lagged and my legs are dead but I couldn’t resist because I have a whole weekend off—did you hear that, Lan Zhan, a whole three day weekend—and I wasn’t going to spend it cooped up in some shitty hotel room waiting for the next shoot and thinking about-—"

Lan Zhan has always been weak to Wei Ying. He pulls himself forward and across the scuffed counter; he grasps Wei Ying’s jacket and hauls him forward so that they both gasp. He kisses Wei Ying. It is instinctual. Once Wei Ying starts, he can go on and on until he doesn't remember where he started. Lan Zhan has always loved to silence him this way, lips to lips, ever since they were graduate students together, curled into cold stone alcoves on campus and making out when they should have been studying. 

Wei Ying lips are slick with gloss, and Lan Zhan kisses him long enough to get a bit of a taste of it, to tug at Wei Ying’s bottom lip gently and then settle back. He does not let go of Wei Ying’s wrists. 

Wei Ying blinks at him, hazy and startled. As his eyes refocus, his lips quirk up into a smile. He twists his wrists around so that he can grab Lan Zhan in turn, and the charms glued to his nails tickle Lan Zhan’s wrists. 

“You flew like this,” Lan Zhan says, hardly a question at all. 

“I did.” Wei Ying’s grin widens. “Got some looks, that’s for sure.”

Lan Zhan will climb across the countertop if that’s what it takes. His gaze sharpens. 

Wei Ying laughs. “Nothing more than looks, I promise! Besides I kept the mask on most of the time anyway, so everyone kept their distance.”

“Hm.”

“Really! Lan Zhan, I swear.” He leans forward and presses his fingers against the bones of Lan Zhan’s wrists, hard enough to send shivers down his spine. All heated thoughts of others watching Wei Ying, admiring him, melt away. 

“Why? Do you think they were interested in me?” Wei Ying asks, pairing the questions with a comical shimmy of his eyebrows, wild enough to make Lan Zhan smile. 

“I wore it for you, you know.” Wei Ying shifts and his hands slip free. He reaches up to brush his fingers across the jewels fixed beneath his eyes, a delicate touch. “I mean, it was for the shoot, but after we wrapped I looked in the mirror and I thought: Lan Zhan would love to see me like this. So I ran out before the stylists could get at me.” For the first time, Lan Zhan notices that his clothes are unique as well—made in his customary all black, but cut at jarring angles and layered in a way too strange to be anything by purposeful. He looks like his clothes have been cut apart and reassembled incorrectly. They are likely designer, and even more likely expensive. Lan Zhan can’t stop staring at him. 

“Jiang Cheng is going to be pissed.” Wei Ying sounds nearly delighted. 

“Wei Ying.”

He looks up from his perusal of his outfit.

“I need to finish totaling the register, and I need to lock up.”

He nods and flicks his fingers in a gesture that says: go on then.

“Then we are going back to my place, I will fuck you until you see stars.”

Only Wei Ying can make him say things like this.

“Mark your words, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying purrs. “I’m going to hold you to that.” 

Lan Zhan drags his gaze away and goes back to the register. The numbers on the page swim before his eyes for a second and he freezes, pen lifted.

“Can I help with anything? I cleared the weekend—I told you that already, but I wasn’t lying, I really cleared the whole weekend—so I’m yours. Whatever you want, I’m here.”

Lan Zhan grips the edge of the counter to steady himself. 

“Go stand by the door,” he orders. “Try not to drip on anything.”

The words come out harsher than he means, and Lan Zhan would curse at himself, but Wei Ying is already nodding and gathering his hat and mask from the counter and striding over to the door. He slouches against the frame in a move that would not be out of place for a photoshoot. Thus posed, he refuses to look away from Lan Zhan. 

Lan Zhan is going to devour him. 

The accounting is harder than it should be, tonight. Lan Zhan has to check the columns three times before he is sure that he has the numbers right. He closes the account book and pulls the drawer, then takes it to the safe set into the wall to lock away. 

That done, he retrieves his coat from the stand where he hung it when his shift started this afternoon and shrugs it on. It is long, the color of tea mixed with cream, and made of wool. Unsuitable for weather like this, which will soak it and leave his coat-closet smelling of wet sheep for days. He snags the keys from the counter. He turns off the last of the lights. The store falls into darkness, only the lights in the window display remaining on.

“Ready?” Wei Ying asks. The lights from the streetlamps limn Wei Ying with a mercury glow. 

Lan Zhan nods. They step out and stand beneath the awning. It is hardly raining, now, but the chill of the storm clings to the air as a kind of mist, different from the kind that curls out from between their teeth when they exhale. He turns back and locks the door.

Wei Ying crowds close, threading his arm through Lan Zhan’s and pulling until they are side to side. He is warm, the kind of searing heat that Lan Zhan craves. 

A whole three days of Wei Ying. It seems impossible. 

Lan Zhan reaches over and curls his fingers around Wei Ying’s wrist. He slips beneath the edge of the sleeve, feeling Wei Ying’s pulse steady and sure. Something in Lan Zhan sings in response. 

Wei YIng glances over. He grins. His eyes shine, bejeweled and strange and more beautiful for all of that. 

He opens his umbrella, and they step out from beneath the awning, into the rain. 

—

[song inspo: pporappippam(보라빛 밤)]