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Pls… pls elaborate 👁️👁️ so I can change my answer (in spirit) from crying a few days ago to crying right now!

Jiang Wanyin lies broken on the ground. Jin Ling, screaming, swings Suihua at the monstrous yao he'd just been pushed away from, the one that killed his jiujiu. Lan Jingyi should help, should move, but--anything that could kill Jiang Wanyin--

A clarity bell chimes as Lan Sizhui begins to play his guqin. The moment breaks, and Lan Jingyi leaps to flank the yao.

The battle is blue-lit by their signal flare and the full moon. Starbright sword flares sweep across the forest. Flashes of Jin Ling's qi, the golden brown of wutong leaves in autumn, bury themselves in the yao with every qi-laced arrow.

But it's only once Wen Ning holds the yao still that Wei Wuxian, responding to their flare via Hanguang-jun, eviscerates it with his trapped ghosts.

Hanguang-jun who is staring where Jiang Wanyin lies, his white robes bathed in red.

"Ah, stay back, a-Ling," a man's mirthful voice says. "Your jiujiu would be upset if I caught you, too."

Jin Ling starts "who the fuck" but is interrupted by Hanguang-jun's "Wei Ying."

Lan Jingyi turns to see Jin Ling's silhouette limned in red; Jiang Wanyin's body transformed by red; and a transparent youth in YunmengJiang-style robes sitting astride Jiang Wanyin, as bright and red as the setting sun, surrounded by a rainbow whirlwind of qi.

"Lan Zhan," the boy says laconically as a nearby tree cracks and falls. "Don't be boring for once, alright?"

As Lan Jingyi watches, the boy rests one hand on Jiang Wanyin's upper dantian and plunges the other into the swirling qi around them until all transforms to red. Another snap breaks the night, and Lan Jingyi realizes.

The little qi lights are from plants, bugs, and lesser spirits; the youth is draining the forest. An ash-black circle spreads from Jiang Wanyin.

Whose chest is moving.

"Jiang Cheng, wake up, ah? You're going to be late if you stay in bed all day." With the stolen vitality pulsing through him, the youth's features are clearer. He's handsome, his face much sweeter than Jiang Wanyin's sharp beauty. Mischief curls at the edges of his smile.

From Lan Jingyi's side, Wei Wuxian says coldly, "How often have you done this to him? Forcing foreign qi into his system will inevitably cause backlash."

The youth's smile sharpens. "Do you care, Wei-wanbei?" Without moving his hand, his thumb caresses Jiang Wanyin's cheek. "Besides, if I make it mine before I give it to him, is it really so different from spending years coalescing it into a golden core? His body knows me well."

"Gusu can integrate this part of your soul with the rest of you," Hanguang-jun says.

The youth laughs, and Wei Wuxian says "don't bother, Lan Zhan."

Ignoring his cultivation partner's advice, Hanguang-jun continues, "You will never rest until all pieces of your soul are joined. Let go of Jiang Wanyin, and come to me."

Jin Ling shifts. "You're healing jiujiu, right?"

"I am," the youth says, turning away from Hanguang-jun.

Jin Ling moves between Jiang Wanyin and Hanguang-jun, Suihua bare in his hand. "Let him do what he wants."

"How many times must Wei Ying destroy himself to fulfill a life debt to the dead?" Hanguang-jun demands, hand on Bichen.

Lan Sizhui finally speaks. "Hanguang-jun, Jin Ling, shouldn't we wait until we know more? None of us have the expertise to weigh in on Wei-xiao-gongzi's situation, do we? Applying theory without evidence could be harmful, too, Hanguang-jun." Then the traitor turns to Lan Jingyi. "If Zidian hasn't expelled Wei-xiao-gongzi, doesn't that mean Jiang-zongzhu is not possessed?"

"Yes," Lan Jingyi tries, then clears his throat. "Yes, Zidian wouldn't let its master be possessed. This must be something else."

A small voice interrupts the argument. "Wei... Wuxian?"

"Can't you call me shixiong just once, Jiang Cheng?"

"Started training first," Jiang Wanyin whispers.

"How would you know when my parents started training me? Especially since I'm older, and my mother is from a different tradition. Perhaps Baoshan Sanren starts her disciples at their hundred day celebration, hmm?"

"Stupid," Jiang Wanyin says. Then, "You're dead. Saw it."

"That was just my idiot body," the youth says with a smirk.

"Fuck you," Wei Wuxian spits.

At the noise, Jiang Wanyin's eyes flick to them. "A-Ling?"

"I'm fine, jiujiu!"

"Everyone's here because it's so rare to you lazing around," the youth says. "Do you think I could sell tickets? See Jiang Cheng take a break, only fifty tael!"

"Jiang-shixiong," Jiang Wanyin says, eyes back on the youth, taking huge rasping breaths between phrases. "Sounds better. Sixty tael, maybe."

"If he doesn't recognize you, then you don't know what this will do to him long-term," Wei Wuxian says.

"Oh, I do. I just wipe his memory every time. It keeps Jiang Cheng from digging me out of him, you know?"

"What."

The youth smiles beatifically down at Jiang Wanyin. "Did you think you got away with all of your not-quite-suicide, shidi? Did you think there wasn't a cost to being careless with yourself? Poor Pan Fu,¹ did his hero really not know what he gave his life to?"

"No!" Jiang Wanyin's fingers twitched, but even now his arm was more gore than whole. "Stop, stop. Shixiong, stop. Pan Fu, Pan Fu..."

"Still sad about that brat even now? Why am I not surprised. He wasn't even that strong of a cultivator; he just reminded you of me. Let go already."

"I raised him," Jiang Wanyin cries. "Don't, please, please."

Merciless, the youth bent down until their faces are centimeters apart. "What can you do to stop me? What have you ever been able to do against me, shidi?"

"Let me die, let me die, let me die, please let me die."

For a moment, the youth only gazes at Jiang Wanyin. "No," he says, and pours more of the forest into his shidi.

¹ Pan Fu is from this ficlet. No, Wei Wuxian wasn't jealous, why would he be? Pan Fu was simply to hand when Jiang Cheng threw himself into danger.

(To protect Pan Fu. But why should that matter? Jiang-zongzhu can't die for one of his hundreds of disciples. What would they do without him, hmm?)

#mdzs #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #yunmeng brothers #yeeeeeees #I do enjoy when wei wuxian is actually doing dark magic #and for Jiang Cheng ofc #not necessarily with Jiang Cheng’s knowledge or permission or anything like that #why would he need that

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-op I understand your feelings, but some things you might want to consider:

-readers need spaces away from authors - the author is going to dominate a discussion about their text while they’re in the room

-in my experience giving readers spaces away is more likely to drive comments and interaction, by keeping fandoms alive. I could sometimes tell I’d been recced somewhere, when I’d get a sudden burst of comments!

-not all authors are gonna want to host book club in their comments - comments are a place chiefly to talk the author. They really aren’t set up very well for reader to reader interaction on AO3.

someone I follow on the bird app just announced they're starting a very exclusive private fic server because they and a bunch of other people want to talk about how much they love the fics they're reading, and as an author can I just say that a really great place to talk about a fic you love is in the comments for that fic

I understand that people are trying to create safe spaces, but as the number of comments that I get on my fics dwindles with each passing year, knowing these spaces exist where my fics are being discussed, places that I am excluded from, makes me want to write fic LESS

I mean I guess who cares, right, because if I stop writing, there's 10,000 other people that will continue...but if you participate in a fic "book club" server and you say nice things there about a fic you loved, maybe copy and paste that into a comment on AO3?

the only thing fanfic writers are asking for in return for hours of hard work is attention. please don't rob us of the one thing that we hope for when we hit "post"

#fanfic #fandom #ao3

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i just want him to be happy and be with all of the dogs

#mdzs #jiang cheng #Give Jiang Cheng dogs #Amazing work op #Very healing

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#Mdzs #jiang cheng #jiang fengmian #yu ziyuan #can he not just get a hug #Love how you’ve drawn his lil face op

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“Such a puppy,” Rebirth writers, please

Welp looks like I am always gonna be a die-hard fangirl of Sephiroth subsisting on crumbs of characterisation of him pre-godhood, but this is more food than I’ve gotten in a while! -Glad to see rebirth Sephiroth is still slicing and dicing dragons like an absolutely overpowered badass -don’t even ship Sephiroth/Zack but wow, some fodder was seeded in the Sephiroth as super indulgent superior officer interactions

#ff7 #sephiroth #ff7 rebirth

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A performance review, sir???

Welp looks like I am always gonna be a die-hard fangirl of Sephiroth subsisting on crumbs of characterisation of him pre-godhood, but this is more food than I’ve gotten in a while! -Glad to see rebirth Sephiroth is still slicing and dicing dragons like an absolutely overpowered badass -don’t even ship Sephiroth/Zack but wow, some fodder was seeded in the Sephiroth as super indulgent superior officer interactions

#ff7 #sephiroth #ff7 rebirth

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-Hm, really like that the character models emphasise just how much taller he is than everyone else 😂 literally head and shoulders -and the sheer length of his hair

Welp looks like I am always gonna be a die-hard fangirl of Sephiroth subsisting on crumbs of characterisation of him pre-godhood, but this is more food than I’ve gotten in a while! -Glad to see rebirth Sephiroth is still slicing and dicing dragons like an absolutely overpowered badass -don’t even ship Sephiroth/Zack but wow, some fodder was seeded in the Sephiroth as super indulgent superior officer interactions

#ff7 #sephiroth #ff7 rebirth

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Welp looks like I am always gonna be a die-hard fangirl of Sephiroth subsisting on crumbs of characterisation of him pre-godhood, but this is more food than I’ve gotten in a while! -Glad to see rebirth Sephiroth is still slicing and dicing dragons like an absolutely overpowered badass -don’t even ship Sephiroth/Zack but wow, some fodder was seeded in the Sephiroth as super indulgent superior officer interactions

#ff7 #sephiroth #ff7 rebirth

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This is a canon and character that is into polyamory, so I counter with Rand/Matt/Perrin, the most woefully rare, including in canon despite being teased constantly 😭 the pattern needs all three ta’veren together to win, folks!

I'm finally mustering up the bravery needed to ask why Mat/Rand? In all sincerity. Is it the events of EOTW where they stay by each other's side no matter what? Is it the general appeal of both characters? Why Mat/Rand instead of Rand/Perrin? Like from the moment Mat learns Rand can channel he is actively fighting against his role in the pattern and trying to run far away from Rand. Meanwhile Perrin feels the pull toward Rand and accepts it. Like Dumai's Wells!! Perrin doesn't give a fuck what the Aiel or Dobraine says, he is going after Rand even if he must go alone!! Like?? Why not Perrin/Rand??

#wheel of time #rand al'thor #min looking at the three of them together #Are those omens of them being the last hope of the world #Or shoujo sparkles #Why not both?

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Possibly opening up a bit of a hornet's nest here, but I'm curious:

#kind of in the no set answer all heart camp #but the useful criteria I would use for that is does the character play an important part of the fic? #would fans/haters like to know the character features in the fic? #appearances or chapter count can help answer that #but it’s quite possible for a character to appear in all chapters but in the background #so not important enough to tag #fanfic

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There is the possibility that his writings were published after his death, pariah-hood and all, simply because it was all too useful? Which hilariously means either Jiang Cheng or Jin Guangyao published his work, and made sure to give him credit.

Cannot get over the amount of the impact Wei Wuxian had on the cultivation world as a scholar.

As for why they looked familiar… How could they have not come across as familiar? The creator of Phantom Attraction Flags was none other than the YiLing Patriarch!

It seemed like that, although the cultivation world hated him on the surface, they still used the the inventions that he came up with.

There’s obviously his inventions.

But also,

The cultivation world had a strict definition for the category of “ferocious ghosts”—they had to kill at least one person a month and continue the behaviour for at least three months. The criterion was set by Wei WuXian himself, and it was probably still being used. He was the best at dealing with this kind.

The fact that he created the criteria???

They use his ideas so much and so often, he had such a present and lasting impact on the world, and it makes the cultivation world’s hypocrisy even more glaring considering they curse his name to that day but he’s also their most trusted source for so many things.

#i add as supporting evidence that his man-cave in the burial mounds was covered in stuff #and I think the Jin raided most of his stuff #mo xuanyu also having had access to his papers #so this tilts it towards Jin guangyao being the one to publish #mdzs #wei wuxian #jin guangyao #dang forgot to mention my other theory #that he was teaching some of this stuff during sunshot #so that’s why people know he came up with it #all off the cuff much like we see him do with the juniors in yi city

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How it feels like being a Jiang disciple. Probably...

#mdzs #jiang cheng #yunmeng bros #yunmeng jiang #the sect JC deserves

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MEME FULFILLED PROPHECY

Despite being a mass of potholes and quite repetitive, PIDW is very popular, popular enough to have a community of fans. This means not only having fanart, fics and even merchandise, but also an entire culture, with fandom lore and yes, even memes.

One of those was “When Mobei-Jun gets married” it was used to indicate something that would never happen, like “when hell will freeze over” or “when pigs will fly”. It was so popular that there were even some variants, like “it happen at Mobei-Jun’s wedding” or “when Airplane marries Mobei-Jun off”

Shen Yuan really liked this meme because it was supported by canon: there had been several scenes where after a fight, Luo Binghe would look over the spoils and let his right hand man pick a boon. Despite the ever-present trembling maidens, Mobei-Jun would always pick a weapon, or in an instance an ancient relic that had once belonged to his clan. So yeah, Shen Yuan used it pretty often, once he even let it slip out IRL, but luckily no one got the reference.

He even used it once in a thread that went viral: it was a pointless debate over OP’s incorrect interpretation of an arc. Shen Yuan was clearly right, he even had quoted several chapters to prove his point and so the other user had resorted to personal insults. OP had typed something like “You are ridiculous! When will you admit that you are actually a fan of the novel and not an hater?!” To which Shen Yuan had responded with “When Mobei-Jun gets married”

Now, this should have ended the discussion in Shen Yuan’s favor: the meme usually got lots of likes regardlessly of the context, and so he would have won the debate.

But OP for reason had decided to tag Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky himself.  “Great Master Airplane, would you marry Mobei-Jun if it means getting Peerless Cucumber admitting that he likes your story?”

To everyone’s surprise the author (sleep deprived an high on caffeine and energy drinks) actually did answer “Damn, I would marry Mobei-Jun for free”.

True to his writing style Airplane dropped the bomb to never addressed it again. That comment had started another meme, although less popular than the other about Mobei-Jun having been married the whole time to the author himself and the ship AirplaneXMobei became the most popular for the character. There few fans that had written crackfics had been insufferable about it, even resurrecting the ‘I shipped X before it was cool’ format just to flex.

After transmigrating into the scum villain and masterfully avoiding the original good’s fate, Shen Yuan one day receives an invitation to a wedding, accompanied by a mission by the System that just says ‘True to your word: User must respect the vow he once made’. Shen Yuan immediately understands what this is about: he would rather jump into the Endless Abyss than do that.

#the scum villain's self saving system #shen yuan #shang qinghua #just cucumberplane friendship things

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Me, grimly soldiering along with Harrow reading Harrow the Ninth, only to be hit in the face with:

Ianthe: God, she’s so pathetic. I’m gonna marry her.

Old person threesome right in front of Harrow’s salad

Canon coffee shop AU

Half the chapters being an unreliable narrator behind the already established unreliable narrator (and in a way that makes perfect sense for the world building)

The power of poetry and obsessing over your blorbo transcending death, space and time to save the day / Why am I talking in meter?

Increasingly deranged love triangles including baby traps

This definitely feels like a darker book than Gideon the Ninth, (potentially because of 2nd book in series structural things?) but it…it sure does have a lot of stuff going on there.

#the locked tomb #harrow the ninth #spoilers #only vague ones but yanno #But the narration tricks are SO fun #such excellent use of 2nd person POV #also appreciate the two hulking beefy poets speed-running an enemies to bromance in the background

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Cumplane

Short top and tall bottom.

Boyfriends (????)

#svsss #shen yuan #airplane-bro #I feel that ??? about cumplane deep in my soul #OP draws Shen Yuan so pretty too #like perfect for a modern AU #and their Airplane-bro is always pleasingly slightly shady looking #perfect for the novel description of him as both handsome but inexplicably sleazy XDD (I paraphrase but yanno)

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I dont think lbh ever really tried to kill lqg during the 5 years of corpse-zun...but i think it would be hilarious if, because liu qingge is an anomoly who was never meant to fight lbh, who admittedly isnt on binghe's level but hes still pidw's war god.....

Lbh just is incapable of killing lqg. Like some sort of video game glitch, like when you take an item out of its designated area when youre not supposed to and the game cant quite do what you want to, everytime binghe tries to kill lqg some sort of looney tunes-shit happens that save lqg last minute. Like the worlds game engine can let them fight, and Lqg will never be able to beat lbh in a fight, but everytime lbh tries to actually kill the man, he starts falling into xianxia manholes and xianxia anvils start falling a la the beam falling during the skinner incident

#svsss #liu qingge #luo binghe #honestly love this for both of them

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My construction of what happened and possibly why (it is pretty vague in areas, particularly why Lan Xichen and Meng Yao separate.) This is purely novel canon; a lot of your current replies are referencing CQL, but you asked for the novel!

-Meng Yao is 14 when Meng Shi dies, and leaves Yunping/Yunmeng in the southwest to travel northeast to Lanling after. That’s presumably why he doesn’t ever try to join Yunmeng Jiang - he wants to join the Jin. It’s noted in text as a difficult journey for him too, so it’s not easy for him to return to Yunmeng.

-Jin Guangshan’s rejection and Meng Yao’s second stair falling incident happen after Meng Yao reaches Lanling. News of this incident seems pretty wide spread, if cultivators in Qinghe can mock Meng Yao about it later - I presume this is why Meng Yao can’t join a sect around Lanling, because who would want to offend Jin Guangshan or Madame Jin?

-Sunshot starts around 3-4 years later. Meng Yao is probably drifting around until then, most likely trying to pick up cultivation, but also just survive. (This is where I think part of his bad rep for “stealing” techniques comes from). Shortly before actual Sunshot, Meng Yao rescues Lan Xichen. Gusu is south of Lanling, so either Meng Yao was wandering around Gusu, or Lan Xichen had run north to Lanling before he got into the trouble Meng Yao rescues him from. -Sunshot also didn’t kick off properly until after the fall of Yunmeng Jiang! It was the four main clans making alliance against the Wens that defines the start of the “Sunshot” (shooting down the Wen) campaign, the Jiang being represented by Jiang Cheng.

-During early Sunshot Meng Yao joins the Nie forces, either in Qinghe or Hejian (probably Hejian since Nie Mingjue was fighting there). Both are north of Lanling. Looking at this geography makes me suspect Meng Yao was hanging around Lanling for the 3-4 years up to Sunshot TT_TT. I think Meng Yao again probably joined the Nie forces just to survive, or to be around other cultivators; the Wen weren’t allowing other major Sects like the Jiang to freely night hunt, so what chance would a single mainly self-taught cultivator like Meng Yao have?

-Why would Lan Xichen and Meng Yao separate? Well, Lan Xichen ran with part of the Lan’s library, but also later in Sunshot he started wandering and rescuing other Sects while Lan Qiren handled actual defence of Gusu. So presumably at some point Lan Xichen managed to hide the Lan books somewhere safe, and could then act more freely fighting the Wen. There is nothing in novel canon to say why really but I would hazard Lan Xichen and Meng Yao separating had something to do with this - either Meng Yao couldn’t keep up with Lan Xichen, or Lan Xichen felt obliged to hide the books from everyone including Meng Yao, or not put Meng Yao in additional danger from knowing. I sometimes like to toy with the idea of Lan Xichen hiding the Lan library with the Nie, but considering Nie Huaisang gets sent to Gusu for safety later on this is probably actually pretty unlikely. (I like the reciprocity of it though, with the Nie and Lan guarding something for each other, and it would also be neat background for swearing brotherhood later on!)

My novel timeline with actual (Exiled Rebels) citations in column H and a map from ishiyaharukun’s translation of an MXTX interview for reference. (The geography might not be spot on, but given real-world names are used in story, I think the directional associations are fair.)

Hey, novel people who can come with citations!

The timeline is busted, but what chronology is given for Sunshot generally and for Meng Yao’s trajectory after getting kicked down the stairs more specifically?

Because! Given that he’s from Yunping and joins up with the Nie clan to fight during Sunshot… what led to Meng Yao, born and raised in Yunmeng, to join up with an isolated northern sect (whose peculiar cultivation practice means they are less likely to welcome him as an inner disciple) and NOT with the local sect with ties to Lanling Jin that is currently desperate for new inner disciples and will take and advance anyone who can prove themselves?

Was Meng Yao living near Qinghe already? Was Sunshot already in full swing for a REALLY long time before Lotus Pier’s destruction? Was it a quirk of timing, and he joined up with Nie Mingjue in the little sliver of time when Jiang Cheng is still recovering/in hiding? Is it unstated because timelines and geography are fake and they’re even more fake if you aren’t one of the story’s two leads?

#mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jin guangyao #mdzs timeline