#(also in this modern life mdzs does not exist)

[tavina-writes]

MDZS Society! aka: there's a lot less killing than you'd expect

This follows from this post and also the recent translations of MXTX’s most recent interview (which I can now no longer bother to find bc this has been sitting in drafts for like, siiiix months? More? Oh god anyway.) which reminded me about my feelings regarding MDZS society and how different it is from the martial societies we see depicted in typical modern wuxia. (Small disclaimer, I am a wuxia genre fiend and I love like, thinking about fictional societies so this is like, “AHA! You’ve unlocked my trap card!”) 

For the purposes of this, I’m going to be looking at MDZS/CQL’s depiction of the jianghu (which I think is fairly similar! I don’t actually think the show writers made CQL’s jianghu/martial society more genre typical than it was in the book) and comparing that with modern classic wuxia (mostly Jin Yong and Gu Long works.) For this comparison, I’ll be looking at a Jin Yong book — Legend of the Condor Heroes (which is widely considered the starting point of modern wuxia as a genre) — and one Gu Long book — Dagger Li/Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword (widely considered his most popular work) — and seeing how their societies differ from MDZS society. 

This will likely come in two parts because this one was already getting long, and I don’t think we can fit “how often does nobility exist in a typical jianghu and what do bloodline sects look like normally versus what they look like in MDZS” in this post along with the main topic of “is MDZS society a particularly physically violent place?” 

This post discusses how often cultivators are socially expected to kill people. Like, actual living human beings instead of, say, monsters or ghosts which have been categorized differently than like, human beings. 

EDIT: I forgot to talk about Dagger Li but this was already much too long sorry. Feel free to hmu for more thoughts though.

Now, it might be easy to think that cultivators killing actual people is a really common thing in MDZS/CQL universe! After all, they do have martial arts training and one of the prominent things about the first life is just how many people die both in the Sunshot Campaign and the fallout afterwards. However, I would argue that a lot of the traumas and related issues and reactions that happen in MDZS happen because cultivators are, by training and education, not actually prepared for killing actual living breathing human beings! (And also that the morality of this world prevents it for the most part) 

Now, we do actually get a pretty good window into what the typical training is like for young cultivators in MDZS, because we get a fairly well defined schoolhouse scene where LQR is asking them questions about "how do you tell the difference between various different problems we have to solve?" and "how do you go about fixing this problem?" and none of those include the moral quandary of "if I, a young cultivator out in the Jianghu, see a guy who is doing something I morally disagree with, under what circumstances do I beat him up and/or kill him." This does not appear to enter the curriculum at any point, leading me to believe that the morally correct number of people not like, ghosts or ghouls or fierce corpses, a regular average MDZS cultivator is supposed to have killed is approximately 0.

Which. Is a thing you get in a normal martial arts wuxia jianghu. There is generally the threat of "oh yeah this that or the other faction will be doing shitty things and thereby try to murder you." Instead, in MDZS/CQL most of the heirs of sects are...attending school together. Doing teenage things like partying and gossiping and attending classes.

And sure yes, there was a case of WWX and JZX trying to beat each other up. But the sects did sure let their kids stay at Lan summer camp for months on end (sometimes repeatedly, see NHS) without fearing for their lives or that anyone would steal another sect's techniques or otherwise causing real havoc or intersect warfare etc.

Which is infeasible in any other sort of Jianghu situation. For example, contrast this scenario with this scene from LOCH where Guo Jing's shifus are giving him advice since he is newly 17 and about to set out by himself into the great big world:

Guo Jing therefore bid farewell to his teachers. They had witnessed his battle against the Four Demons of the Yellow River, and were not too greatly worried. The young man had proved that he knew how to use the skills that they taught him. Therefore they let him leave alone. On one hand, the meeting of outlaws in Yanjing worried them greatly, so that they could not ignore it; and on the other hand, a youngster always had to travel the jianghu alone, in order to learn lessons that no teacher could pass on. At the moment of parting, each made their last recommendations. As usual when the Six spoke after one another, Nan Xiren was the last one to express himself. "If you cannot defeat the enemy," he said. "Flee!" He knew that given Guo Jing's dogged character, he would prefer to die rather than to surrender, if he met a master, he would certainly fight to the bitter end, even at the risk of death. That was the reason Nan Xiren gave him this common sense warning. " Martial arts have no limits," added Zhu Cong. " As the proverb says, 'For every peak there is one yet higher', so for every man there is one stronger. Whatever your power, you will always one day meet a foe stronger than you. A true man knows to retreat when necessary, when facing grave danger, it is necessary to contain one's impatience and anger. This what is meant by the adage, « If one preserves the earth and its forests, one does not fear to lack firewood ». It is not therefore not cowardly to take good advice! When the enemy is too numerous and that you cannot face them there, it is especially necessary to avoid being too reckless. Keep in mind Fourth Shifu's advice!"

Does this seem like the sort of advice that any Young MDZS Cultivator would get? "You're a good kid, but when you go out into the world, there will be people who straight up want you dead even though they met you 15 minutes ago, you cannot persist in fighting with these people because they will want you dead and you are a baby cultivator who needs to learn to run away when shit gets rough or you will be dead."

And again I come back to how MDZS cultivators are more like occupational ghostbusters because this really does inform how their society functions and runs and how everyone reacts so badly to the Sunshot Campaign beginning and its aftermaths and possibly explains how JGS could get his way after Sunshot.

Because what happens when you get a society that does train heavily in martial arts and have Able To Kill Real People Weapons who spends most of their time solving very black and white situations of "okay is this ghost whose eating people's livers good or bad? y/n?" and a clear hierarchy of "how do we get rid of the ghost eating people's livers in town x" instead of say "is it morally correct to kill this group of bandits who's been threatening the town" or "is it morally correct to kill this shitty businessman who's been holding people hostage and threatening to hack off their limbs" you have a reduced level of philosophical musing on like, "what is the purpose of martial arts, which is designed to kill people and what do I use martial arts for?" and "under what circumstances and situations would I personally find it morally correct to kill a man?" Which are all questions that Wuxia coming of age stories typically have, and I think MDZS does have, but expressed differently.

Again, it appears that the number of Real Live Human Beings that it is morally acceptable to have stabbed in your life is approximately 0 in this universe, and the expectation that you, personally, might have to fend off people trying to stab you over brunch is also approximately 0.

This also leads to a situation where like, questions of vengeance have very difficult escape hatches! If your parents are murdered on the job by an evil rampaging ghost, this is very sad and tragic and now you're an orphan and of course that's not good, but this is a occupational job hazard, not like, "Yeah Joe Bob from the sect down the street murdered my dad because #Reasons~, and now it's my legacy to grow up to murder Job Bob from the sect down the street to avenge my dad."

(I have a whole essay about how this pertains to both of the Nie Brothers, and how it pertains to JGY and also Jin Ling, and how this seems to routinely fuck people up in MDZS in a very specific way we don't typically see in other wuxias, but this is getting SO long as it is).

But yeah "the socially acceptable number of real living people (instead of ghosts or demons or fierce corpses or whatever) to have killed in your lifetime as a cultivator is approximately 0" means that the Sunshot Generation gets really really fucked up by all of this "killing real people" they did.

Which! might be why JFM was so slow to move on "yeah the Wen are threatening to kill your heirs." <- socially inconceivable behavior. Why society in general is so shocked by Xue Yang and the murder of the Chang <- which would be bad normally but not quite like this. And why no one did anything specific about JGS even if they felt he wasn't entirely correct. What are they going to threaten him with? Death???? A trial of his peers? Social Shunning??? Public shame???

"But Tav how does this relate to CQL!Su She's morality?" I hear you ask. Well you see, the question of "he should've been ready to die for his sect!" is utterly baffling in a society where nobody is expected to be ready to die for their sect on a regular basis because the idea that you should be ready for someone trying to stab you before brunch is utterly nonsensical in a world where most people expect that the baseline number of murders a cultivator does in their lifetimes is 0. That's the world he lives in.

On this regard CQL!Su She is utterly blameless. Nobody handed him a rulebook or expectations sheet for "the sect down the street will try to kill you" nor SHOULD they expect he'd be ready to die at a drop of a hat when no part of the education or social expectations include "ready to die for your sect because it's routine for people to try to kill you."

If you don't even expect to be stabbed and possibly die at a discussion conference where there are lots of cultivators from many sects why on EARTH would you expect to be facing down death in your own home when there's. cultivators here to kill you, this situation is so out of left field?

#modao zushi #mdzs #meta #my meta #su she #this is not a society *without* violence to be clear #but it's not the sort of place where it'll have been acceptable to murder and maim before breakfast #and that's why traumas happen as they do #I've been sitting on this for ages #please don't discourse in my notes about if 'murder' is a good thing or a bad thing #this is just an observation on like #'is it societally common for cultivators to run around killing people?' #the answer to this question is no

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

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1. Hello lovely mods! Itmf fics where there is an OC or just another mdzs character with a crush on WWX or lwj. Someone jealous of their significant other or just plain trying to flirt with one of them. But the pairing should be strict wwx/lwj throughout ofcourse. Thank you!

Su She Eats his Heart Out by KizuKatana (T, 16k, wangxian, modern, Guest-starring the belated but incendiary sexual awakening of LWJ, 3rd person pov, SS is hyperfixated on LWJ, LWJ does his best to pretend SS doesn't exist, WWX isn't even pretending he really doesn't notice SS exists, MM exists and is awesome, implied offscreen wangxian sex)

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2. Hello! Thank you for all the work you do in finding and recommending fics!! Presently, I am in the mood for Twin Prides of Yunmeng fics (although specifically ones where Jiang Yanli is still alive, so I suppose I should say Yunmeng Trio to be more accurate) protecting each other and being siblings, or fics that pertain to JC, JY, and WWX trying to protect and support each other from Jiang Fengmian and Yi Ziyuan’s A+ Parenting. Once again thank you so much and I hope you have a wonderful day!!

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

The worth of a life with no regrets by SnowdropsAndDreams (Not Rated, 21k, WIP, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Canon Divergence, Self-Indulgent, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Feels, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Dynamics, Yúnmèng Siblings Feels, JC & WWX Reconciliation, Post-Canon Fix-It)

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3. good morning and hope you're having a kickass sunday.i was wondering if you bestowe upon this lowly one your magic of "Rec-Finding". A) any type of meaningful apology to Wèi Yīng, after the truth comes out. like something substantial. especially (if not exclusively) w LXC. he victim plamed WWX and im not satisfied w the novel on that part (yay fanfics). I jus don't want to be immediate forgiveness. like i want a time skip that LXC is still being given a cold shoulder. tbc

hi again (rorro im verbose). B) do you have any recs Lan Zhan is more vocal to others, a public scolding of sorts, about Wèi Yīng's sacrifices and plight. but non of out of context self deprivation attitude that does more harm than anyway. ty for your patience. @masticateme

拨云见日 by RoseThorne (G, 1k, WangXian, Justice, Anger, Sect Leader Yáo Bashing, Cultivation Discussion Conferences, Restitution, Self-Indulgent, POV Third Person, POV WWX, Post-Canon) might count

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4. itmf fics where jzx and jyl are alive! I just want things with lots of family feels, like jl getting the support he needs from his parents and wwx and jc having their sis. or maybe fics where jzx actually gets to be the jin sect leader and can make these good changes to the sect. thanks in advance!

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5. could i ask for people's fave wangxian/gen cold read podfics? i adore and appreciate edited podfics obviously, but i was introduced to danmei through a twitch streamer's read-alongs where him stopping and laughing and discussing were a FEATURE ❤️ (also it kinda makes me feel better about having to redo sentences agshdjf) im fine with explicit podfics (but i do prefer canon dynamics if so) many thanks ❤️❤️ oh just to add to the cold read itmf- ive gone through a lot of kisahawklin's lovely work, which occasionally feature one of my fave things (not being able to finish a sentence due to losing it laughing)

[Podfic] Clarity (cold read) by flamingwell (G, 1-1.5 H, wangxian, Canon Divergence, past/present time switches occur throughout the fic, Podfic, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming)

I rec the podficer Dangercupcake! Specifically her podfics of Love, in fire and blood, and Please don't let me be misunderstood! She also does metas and linguistic podcasts/fics that are pretty cool!

podfic of "love, in fire and blood" by cicer by dangercupcake (M, 20h+, WangXian, Audio Format: Streaming, Audio Format: MP3, Canon Divergence, Slow Burn, Arranged Marriage, Politics, trans reader (podfic), cold read (podfic), no editing (podfic))

Podfic of "please don't let me be misunderstood" by sysrae by dangercupcake (Not Rated, 20-30M, WangXian, Modern AU, College/University, Past Child Abuse, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Car Accidents, Audio Format: Streaming, Audio Format: MP3, cold read (podfic))

[Podfic] Cold read of "a light hidden and singing" by occultings (microcomets) by KeriArentikai (E, 5-6h, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Canon Era, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, brief family abuse, mentions of wangxian's canonical kinks, Misunderstandings, Blood and Injury, Rimming, Outdoor Sex, Blow Jobs, Anal Sex, First Time, Miscommunication, Canon Divergence, Happy Ending, cold read podfic, unedited podfic, Getting Together) I haven't listened yet but enjoyed the fic

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6. Hiii I'm itmf a fic where wwx is reincarnated as a female plz

The Housewife's Guide to Causing Chaos by dvasva (M, 123k, wangxian, QS & WWX, NHS & WWX, WWX & LSZ & LWJ, canon divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Functionally Trans Character, Mild Sexual Content, Domestic Fluff, Love Confessions, Transphobia, Good Parents LWJ & WWX, Pining, WWX is a Tease, Grief/Mourning, Body Dysphoria, Fake Marriage, Canonical Character Death, Misunderstandings, Doting LWJ, Arranged Marriage, lying to your family about your demonic boyfriend taking over your wifes body for fun and pleasure, WWX is not in Mo Xuanyu's body, Misgendering, Mild Angst, Assumptions, Comedic Elements, non-sexual nudity, Blood, Discussion of Various Bodily Functions, Cloud Recesses Shenanigans, 4 years of mourning instead of 13, The Juniors start a conspiracy board, POV Multiple, Corporal Punishment, Trans WWX, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, pregnancy mention, Warning: JGS, Sexual Harassment, Threats, WIP)

patching the road with vague intentions by loosingletters (T, 18k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Humor, Developing Friendships, WWX Resurrected By Others, Trans WWX, Case Fic, POV WWX, POV LQR, Family, Good Uncle LQR, Hurt/Comfort, Golden Core Reveal, Slow Burn, Canon-Typical Violence, MXY Lives)

Plans fly out the window by English is my death (Lena013) (T, <1k, JGY/QS, JGY/WWX, LWJ & WWX, JC & WWX, reincarnation, canon divergence, QS does the ritual, YLLZ WWX, impersonation)

To Deserve So Much More by renysen (T, 19k, wangxian, getting together, one big happy family, no angst, getting engaged, family feels, female bodied WWX)

So You Want to Start a War by JaenysBloodcourt (T, 41k, WIP, MY/QS, MY/WWX, WangXian, Reincarnation, Half-Sibling Incest Mention!, QS does the ritual instead of MXY, WWX as a woman, MY Is His Own Warning, Canon Divergence, Impersonation, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Please check the notes before reading a chapter, Timeline What Timeline, WWX Has PTSD)

❤️ Beauty and the Boot by PTchan (T, 44k, wangxian, summoned by f!oc, Canon Divergence, Romantic Comedy, Genderbending, Denial, Fem!WWX, WangXian kids, Crack-ish, WIP)

Femme Fatale by coffeepie (E, 59k, WIP, WWX/WC, WWX/WZ, WWX/WRH, WWX/JGS, Porn, Smut, Possession, Crack Treated Seriously, Humor, Time Travel Fix-It, Penis In Vagina Sex, Anal Sex, Masturbation, Aphrodisiacs, Rough Sex, Minor WangXian, Canon Divergence, Oral Sex, Pre-Sunshot Campaign, Strangulation, Object Insertion, Exhibitionism, Voyeurism, Blood and Injury)

No Matter What You Are by LilyFaraday (M, 77k, WIP, WangXian, Female WWX, Genderbending, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Marriage of Convenience)

In Sickness and In Health (And In Strange and Unexpected Times Too) by purplemonster (E, 28k, WangXian, Fem! WWX, Mpreg, well technically not mpreg since he's a woman, Fluff and Smut)

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7. Hi for the next in the mood for are there any good dark Wei Wuxian fics?? I always see dark LWJ but dark WWX seems so cool too @iyo-luv

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8. Hello. I hope y’all are well. Thank you for what you do. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 i was wonderinf if you can recommend fics where The Untamed Wei Ying and Lan Zhan meet MDZS Lan Zhan and Wei Ying. Please and thank you.

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9. Hello ! Do you know any fics where the swords manifest as real people?

Intervention of Spirits by Vrishchika (T, 4k, WangXian, Pre-Relationship, Canon Divergence, Golden Core Reveal, WWX Has a New Golden Core)

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10. Hi I'm itmf angst, can you please recommend fics where wwx just breaks / snaps and people are there to see it/ react to it ? ( could be characters watching memories , and it has that scene) thxx

Enough! by Jeeny271196 (Not Rated, 12k, WangXian, Gūsū Lán Sect Bashing, Jiāng Family Bashing, JC Bashing, LXC Bashing, BAMF WWX, Cultivation Sect Politics)

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11. Hi, I have been reading this completely amazing fics that are inspired by The Great British Bake Off, like "on your marks, get set, bake!" by BlackWiresOnHerHead and "don't threaten me with a good time" by livinginaworldofnoise, they are so fun and entertaining!! I wonder if there are more stories that deal with baking and cooking competitions. I have read the ones in the Reality TV compilation so anything else will be totally welcomed!! Thank you!! Be well!! :) @monicaop21

The Great Chinese Cook-Off by aubreyli, cafecliche, etymologyplayground, mme_anxious (G, 20k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, The Great British Bake Off Fusion, sort of; it's more of a cooking show, because most Chinese people use their ovens for pot/pan storage, Collaboration, Screenplay/Script Format, Humor, Baking, Cooking, Stress)

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12. ITMF Wei Wuxian best uncle to Jin Ling? Anything we get to see their relationship. It can be of any kind but it'd be nice to give it extra attention if JL doesn't agree with JC's treatment towards WWX! But anything goes really. You're doing amazing work, thank you!

hills and rivers by LtLJ (T, 56k, wangxian, Post-Canon, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Canon-Typical Violence, the family that hunts demons together stays together, and doesn't murder each other, Case Fic, BAMF WWX, Mojo's post)

Rotten Work by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 63k, WangXian, WWX & JL, Post-Canon, Protective WWX, Protective JL, Yunmeng Bros Reconciliation, Reluctant Matchmaker JL)

component parts by perfectlyrose (G, 1k, JL & WWX, minor wangxian, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Really it's angst but make it healing, Minor JYL/JZX, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, A couple of orphans figuring out family, and the legacy of parents)

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13. Hi, For the next itmf -any good fics where everything as in classic timeframe, Sects exist, pining exists, cultivation ethics problems exist, but no Jiangs in the picture. At all

Thank you! @best-before-end

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14. ITMF: A) serenity. I want fics that give serene atmosphere or feelings. Like

(ID: gif of waves gently moving on a beach)

B) fics which have beach in canon era. Or wx / wwx traveling to Ocean/beach place @whateverweilanlovechild

14A)

Of Winter Coats and Snowball Fights by Iggysassou (T, 2k, WangXian, Mentioned WN, Post-Canon, Married Couple, Fluff)

it's your soul by syriala (G, 3k, WangXian, Misunderstandings, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Fluff)

suddenly knowing you’re home by RavenclawLoki (T, 1k, WangXian, Fluff, head empty, no thoughts, only wangxian being married, Sleepy Cuddles, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, No Plot/Plotless, Post-Canon, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts)

14B)

Linger by the Door (I've Always Been Yours) by piecrust (T, 78k, wangxian, canon compliant, slow burn)

Judge Softly by Chrononautical (E, 32k, wangxian, LSZ & WWX, LXC & LWJ, LQR & LXC, LQR & WWX, Various OCs, Accidental Voyeurism, Masturbation, Non-Consensual Mind Reading, Oblivious WWX, WWX Has Self-Worth Issues, BAMF Wwx, Genius WWX, sex makes WWX stupid, LQR Tries, It may be more accurate to say LQR learns to try, Suffering LQR, Post-Canon Fix-It, Ghosts, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gūsū Lán Forehead Ribbon, Teacher LQR, Mutual Pining, Longing, Playful Sex, Use Your Words, Canon-Typical Violence, Switching, Virgin WWX, Love Confessions)

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15. For ITMF, are there any fics where LSZ's time in the Burial Mounds had some effect on him, whether he remembers his time there or not? Whether it's supernatural abilities (like in LSZ Sees Dead People), or being good at 'inventing' things (cause he saw them on WWX's worktable), or random healing knowledge from overhearing WQ lecturing WWX, even if he no longer remembers where he picked up any of that stuff. @thispatternismine

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16. Thank you for all your work!

Itmf fics which actively calls into question Lan Qiren's bias and lax adherence to the lan rules. I want a confrontation or am active argument not just a character thinking about it or speaking about it to someone else. Basically, Lan Qiren gets called out fic. Extra kudos if it's during the cloud recess study arc. Love

Going on charmingly by scribbet (T, 21k, WangXian, Teenage LWJ, Cloud Recesses Shenanigans, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, WWX is BSSR's Disciple, Genius WWX, Petty LWJ, Meddling LXC, Canon Divergence, JFM Doesn't Adopt WWX, Technically pre-relationship, POV LWJ)

Admonishment by bookwyrmling (T, 6k, LQR & WWX, Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, Teacher LQR, Student WWX, POV LQR, Mixed Canon, Gūsū Lán Sect Positive, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Golden Core Reveal)

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17. Hey, thanks for your work as always! I'm sure it has been done before but I couldn't find it and ITMF political intrigue fics! Extra points for fake relationships, scheming bastard coalitions, crossdressing your way to love and happiness or any of those things ☺️.

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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!***

#wangxian #wangxianficfinder #mdzs #the untamed #long post #i'm in the mood for a fic #wangxian fic search

[txxfiles]

give me all the fics where the boys kiss

Hi! It looks like I'm week 3!

I honestly have no idea idea what im doing really but i guess you'll just have to listen to me ramble about something i enjoy. Seems to fit the theme we've accidentally settled on and well! if theres one thing im good at rambling about its bl fanfiction. i read ALOT of fanfiction. like 13million words worth of it in 2023 alone (an estimate but i did the ugly math for jan and feb last year and id already read 2.7 million words so i dont think its too high an estimate).

ive read fics from too many fandoms to count and also have way more hyperfixations then any one person has a right too but the one that has owned my ass consistently for the last 4 years is The Untamed otherwise know as Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS).

The lovely Eucalyptus from week 2 was watching the untamed during covid (and holy shit what a wild ride that was) and the next thing I know im neck deep drowning in fan art and tiktok edits of beautiful chinese men that have no business being as talented as they are (Im looking at u Wang Yibo) This. shit. fucked. up. my. life.

then i turned to my good friend AO3 (love of my life i could not exist without you) and 4 years later ive read my tags dry. if its complete, ive read it. im getting desperate and ive started reading works in progress, yikes. its so risky i honestly cannot tell you how much anxiety it gives me. ive been burnt too many times.

HOWEVER

this does mean if you need a fic recommendation then your girl has got you covered, so i figured i would share with you my TOP SIX fic recommendations. im sorry i tried to make it 5 but i just couldnt do it.

I will be chasing a starlight by feyburner & sundiscus 

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji - 71,479 words - Complete

Omg. Wangxian Startrek AU. The pining, the miscommunication. I felt every range of emotion on this roller-coaster. I literally printed this out so that I could keep it forever. I wish I could read it for the first time all over again. This Fic hit AO3 like a comet. It even has it’s own Tumblr thread! Also comes with stunning fanart.

Paint smears on sunny days by SnowshadowAO3 

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji - 53,808 words - Complete

Modern Day AU, Musician/Single dad Lan Wangji falls in love with his son’s Art Teacher Wei Wuxian. I swear it's one of the cutest stories ever written, makes me feel all the good things. A-yuan is adorable and wangxian are hot and charming. The Ultimate wangxian comfort fic. 

Rotten Work by ShanaStoryteller 

Jin Rulan & Wei Wuxian - 63,907 words - Complete

Jin Ling fishes his Da-Ju out of the gutter post canon (Literally dying alone in a dirty inn, Wei Wuxian it's been 5 minutes pls) and decides if no one else is gonna keep him then he damn well will. 

It is perfect.  

Junior Quartet goodness, Yunmeng bro reconciliation and Jin Ling being a boss bitch little shit that has no time for anyone's bullshit. I cried as much as Jin Ling did in this story – which is alot. (Also another story ive made myself a solid copy of that i can love forever)

Joy In The Mindst of These Things by Glitterbombshell 

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji - 52,901 words - 5 Works

TEACHER WEI WUXIAN! I love this trope with my whole soul. Lots of adorable baby Lans, I would kill for them. Beautifully written. Lan Qiren gets a much needed wakeup call. Last story is incomplete but can be read without the 5th installment. SO WORTH IT, ive read it like 10 times

The One-Body Problem by mitisket 

Lan Jingyi & Wei Wuxian - 28,689 words - Complete

Well shit. How many times have a reread this story? I honestly couldn't tell you. Jingyi gets possessed by Wei Wuxian’s very tired soul pre canon and it changes nothing and yet everything. Their friendship gives me life and Jingyi fixes a lot of problems for his new bestie/mentor/uncle with his big mouth. Mom I love him 

The Edge of Night by Hobbsy3 

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji - 277,225 words - Complete

The best Zombie Apocalypse au on the MDZS tag honestly. There are so many good zombie film references in this one, i see you Train to Busan. Baby junior quartet, a perfect Wei Wuxian modern day depiction and so much love, angst and stress. It's delicious and I've never recovered.  

All of these fics are actually part of a mother document i made last week of all my favourite fics organised by tag because apparently thats what i do with my free time. hit me up if you need a rec!

Now that ive gotten that off my chest i'll let you be lol. maybe I'll do a rec for a different fandom next time. I definitely have enough to choose from!

Lots of Love,

Iris

#blog post #fic rec #mdzs #rant post #2024 #Iris

[kiriel123]

Fic recs MDZS/The Untamed

protocol & etiquette for modern cultivators: an unofficial field guide by SugarMilkTea

Modern Cultivation AU lwj gets sex pollen-ed and to protect his reputation wwx claims they’re a couple. Lwj is more than happy to go along and make this fake relationship into a real one, PDA included. Very sexy and hilarious

【已經打動我的心】So Sing To Me All Night by aroceu

Modern AU wwx listens to college radio dj lwj when he can't sleep and becomes his number one song requestor. The music choices are perfect, the facebook page chat is hilarious, and the emotions are overwhelming

riposte by Deinde

Modern Fencing AU lwj is one of the best epeeists of his age group matched only by wwx. Their chemistry is electric and their fencing is on point! Also loved all the little fencing trivia

Oh, to be lovers in Paris by ilip13

Modern AU wwx may have told his coworkers that his BFF lwj is the love of his life, which wasn’t a problem until his BFF came on a company trip with him which necessitated talking to his coworkers. Super adorable

i'm the one for your fire by occultings (microcomets)

Cherry Magic AU wwx turns thirty as a virgin, gains telepathy, and is shocked when he discovers lwj, his coworker who hates him, actually likes him. Wants to take care of him. Loves him maybe. Gave me all the feels

Themes and Variations in F# Major by defractum (nyargles)

Modern Musician AU lwj and wwx are both solo musical prodigies traveling the world. They’re ships passing in the night until suddenly they’re not. Creating music with someone who is in tune with you is a beautiful thing

Boy Trouble, We've Got Double by saltyfeathers

Post canon wwx and lwj are traveling together and everything is wonderful until the day lwj wakes up convinced he has a fiancé he’s very much in love with (not wwx) and has to find. Wwx goes along with him of course because he would never let lwj go. Part casefic, part love story, all wonderful

the rivers start to sing by fruitys

Alternate canon/Tangled fusion wwx has been trapped in a tower by the Jins. Lwj, fleeing with the Stygian Tiger Seal ends up in the Tower. They make a pact – wwx will back the Seal if lwj takes him to the Lantern Festival. They travel together! They fall in love! It’s so beautiful!!

tell me true by twigofwillow

Modern AU with fake dating. lwj’s family has a musical weekend event every year. They are expecting to see lwj’s boyfriend who does not exist at this weekend. Wwx, like a good colleague, agrees to help out. Funny how every description of lwj’s imaginary boyfriend perfectly matches wwx. So sweet.

mine to hold by alcego

Modern AU friends/coworkers with benefits, no one survives company outings unscathed with these two. During an illicit blowjob wwx starts vomiting feelings and they go from friends to boyfriends :DDD

#fic rec #mdzs #the untamed

[vermillioncrown]

This might be easier, remember the college au you wrote a little of? What if everyone there woke up with past memories?

not really easier but i appreciate the sentiment. have this whole thing of nonsense as a reward.

(transmigrators are on their third lives, reverse transmigrators are on their second lives.)

(we're just gonna stick with the canon characters i've already written in the college au)

(wangxian ot3 shippers, eat your heart out)

=

the dreamnightmare was so fantastic so disturbing that sy wakes late and nearly ends up missing his bus. he barely makes it, rushing towards the pre-lecture meeting spot where zyx should have a warm latte waiting for him.

he finds her lying on the dirt (as usual). she's dressed in her gremlin uniform, worn when she pulls an all-nighter (as usual). she... has a cigarette burning away between her lips (unusual).

"bad night?" sy tentatively asks.

"something i dreamt i was a butterfly, something something, am i a butterfly," zyx mumbles, thousand yard stare up into the canopy of the trees.

okay, then - a Strange Dream. his dream was fucking weird, but zyx's dreams were Cinematic Weird. Inception Weird. sometimes, he wishes she'd just ghostwrite for sqh with that imagination of hers.

zyx is usually down to talk about them. today, however, she doesn't start rambling about the details even as he waits patiently.

finally, sy plucks the cigarette from her mouth and stomps it out. "'now i do not know whether i was then a man dreaming i was a butterfly; or whether i am now a butterfly, dreaming i am a man'," he corrects. "zhuangzi."

"persona," she weakly insists.

"you banana-weeb-trash," sy rolls his eyes, "c'mon. we'll be late for lecture"

she becomes more present as they walk towards the lecture hall. whatever; if she wants to say something she'll eventually say it. sy needs to quickly drink his coffee and put it out of his mind. it's not like he'll let his own weird trashy isekai nightmare get in the way of respectfully interacting with his peers.

=

sy reaches class and immediately, disrespectfully stares. stares at lbh, a junior that is always early, always sits behind sy's seat, and always seems to have a smile on his face. it's a smile today, too, but one that seems too focused on his person.

sy feels his face start to heat up. he flashes a quick smile and turns to look elsewhere. his eyes (disrespectfully) lands on his other junior lqg. disrespectful, because he can't look away from how his (pretty) classmate stares at him. intently, with turbulent thoughts behind his face.

"shen -"

"- you!" and abruptly, lbh and lqg start punching each other in the lecture hall

what the fuck.

zyx stops walking and leans on his arm. "uh. huh... i was kidding when i said they were probably part of some fight club," zyx gives the duo a dispassionate look. "i love being right."

=

by the time her controls lecture rolls around, zyx is too fucking Done to give a shit about any dreams, no matter how mind-bendy and weird. did dream-zyx help her solve the homework? no? then she's not welcome in the real world.

(actually, zyx realizes and crosses out an erroneous line of work, that mistake seems so obvious now -)

"- hey! yunxun!"

she looks up. it's wei fucking wuxian, hovering over her desk with that shit-eating smile. fuck him, she's had nastier dreams with uglier people - 'you're not special wwx!'

"can i... help you?"

his smile turns awkward.

"well..., um, you know - since we're in this class and mechatronics together, i was wondering if you want to study with me?"

every word out of wwx makes her feel like she's being held hostage. study what? he's basically top of the class - does he want a complimentary blowjob or something?

"do you need tutoring money?" she tries deflecting as a joke. zyx is aware it comes off meaner than she wanted it to, but - she can already see how studying together will go. wwx, non-stop talking and solving everything. her, lead-tongued and in tears when she gets home.

"you want me to tutor you?" wwx perks up, before freezing and laughing awkwardly, "i mean, i don't think you need tutoring, but -"

"- i don't need tutoring," she deadpans.

fuck. all of their classmates are just... staring now. zyx resolutely turns back to her homework and notes, willing wwx to just go away.

he does not. unfortunately for her, he decides on one last attempt to annoy her and succeeds.

"hair like snow, your parting is a beautiful sorrow, who is moved by my incense -" he starts whisper-singing, hands braced on her desk and leaning in.

'fuck! nhs's karaoke invitation last week was a fucking mistake!!'

zyx slams her notebook shut and stands up. shorter than him by nearly a head, that doesn't stop her from glaring up and baring her teeth. "if you wanted to embarrass me, you could have just stuck with grades."

fuck it, she's not in the mood for learning anything. zyx grabs her bag and shoves her notebook in, barely remembering to toss her homework onto the lectern before stomping out of the room.

=

zyx's time smashing her list of angsty emo song covers on the piano comes to an abrupt end with a knock. she turns, dreading and knowing whatwho she'll find.

the indomitable lan wangjihot violin asshole glares at her through the window pane of the practice room door.

'fuck, man - don't you have class?! go to school!' zyx is completely aware that she's a huge hypocrite.

it's like god knows she had disrespectful dreams of her classmates, and is now punishing her. so rude - dreams are dreams, life is life.

she can't delay opening the door any longer. zyx finishes packing up and walks over to yet another mortifying social interaction.

"... hi? um. room's free, if you..." her voice fades as she elicits no response, facial or verbal.

finally, his glare changes. "zhu yunxun."

her fucking heart drops straight into hell the moment he says her name. he knows her name?!?! he remembers her?!!?!?

worse - a hot violin asshole doppelganger pops into the doorframe, smiling like the good twin to the original's evil.

(okay, she knows he's not evil, but he's kinda not... he's evil because she doesn't like how he makes her feel, okay?)

"wangji, is this the acquaintance that you wanted for your accompaniment?"

"mhm."

"hi, i'm lan xichen, wangji's brother - it's nice to meet you," smile-y (but no less evil) violin doppelganger holds out a hand. "you're not a music major, right? i haven't seen you around."

"hi, uh. zhu yunxun." zyx thanks the fucking merciful goddess that she is trained to autopilot crush hands in a handshake - can't compete with the sweaty engineering boys otherwise (never mind that she's basically a sweaty engineering boy). "i'm in the engineering department."

"you play as an extra-curricular, then?"

'no, i don't play at all! i don't know how to play!' all she has is five years of her uncle teaching her random shit. she can't say that for fear of her life, with frowny hot violin asshole glaring down at her and smile-y hot violin(?) asshole just... expecting down at her.

("what's a recital?" she remembers asking in class, when questioned about her piano lessons. holy fuck. time travel and go put her past self out of her misery, please.)

"Ah... hahah yeah, it's all just for fun... hey, sorry - i'm actually running late for a group meeting" she quickly darts between the two brothers, waving behind her as she runs down the hall. "nice meeting you!" she yells back.

=

sqh has been missing for a week. sy and zyx have noted it, but aren't too concerned (he texted a cryptic emoji missive, which they interpreted as 'mostly ok', which, okay). he gets in writing benders and squirrels away often enough. it's only by the 10th day mark that they need to drag sqh to air out in the sun.

besides, the two of them have other concerns.

"you're looking crustier than usual," sy says as his warm and polite greeting towards a dear friend.

"dude, fuck you." zyx takes an obnoxious slurp of her iced coffee. "i don't wanna hear it from sir gucci eyebags"

they both look rather worse for the wear. sy knows what he's dealing with - a strange feeling of being hunted. watched. the odd moods of some of his classmates. lqg's stares ('can he read minds? fuck, man - it's not gay if it's in a dream!'). constant lbh encounters, seeing him play frisbee on the quad and ripping off his shirt ('how the fuck did he know the shape of him??' he can't help but look downwards, like the call of the void, and - NO -).

but zyx? she's been working weirder hours than usual. and hasn't wanted to indulge in her typical hangouts or habits. "did you fail a project? a midterm?" skipping the gym (probably for her own good, sy thinks, looking at her husk-like countenance).

"no!" defensive, but likely not a lie from her expression. "... people are just... being annoying. i literally have to sneak into the comp lab at midnight to get anything done. dance practice location also needs to change - so a lot of running ragged scouting and asking for permission"

sy nods along, thumbing through forums on his phone. "this week has been a special kind of shit." he feels agitated, unable to focus on what would normally be an enjoyable distraction.

"for real -"

she freezes.

"what?" sy turns to her, but a second later zyx shoves her drink and laptop bag into his arms and fucking sprints away.

"oh, come on! your laptop weighs, like, a million pounds!"

two guys, one in the lead, rush past sy and give chase.

"what the fuck."

=

=

wwx wakes. the whir of his ceiling fan cuts through the fog of his dream. was it a dream? a full life, friends and family, love and war, suffering and pain, eventual happiness -

of course it's a dream. ha, why else would his acoustics lecture find its way into a perfectly fantastic xianxia -

wait.

he spends the next two hours on a wikipedia binge. more than thirty tabs open, all four corners of the screen filled with different windows. taylor series expansion, sure. controllability and observability, fine.

stability modes of aircraft? ... it makes sense, but wwx doesn't remember learning it. and yet... the equations of motion and the stability derivatives - they aren't - they're familiar.

calculus of variations - he was hoping to take that course next semester after he overheard zyx gush about it to her friend. the principles don't make complete sense, not at the moment. but the equations, the fundamentals... he knows them. his dream told him.

wwx knows he's brilliant by all standards, but this is beyond believable.

the third hour is spent humming different tunes into his phone. he knows them, but the dream-addled part of him needs to confirm, because what if - just what if -

fa ru xue, by jay chou.

try me, by foxwedding (this one took a while, without lyrics, the melody obscured by loud ocean waves, liberties taken with a guqin arrangement, but undoubtedly it was this song).

the other ones, he scours the internet.

and finds nothing.

in a daze, he grabs his flute out of its case and plays.

=

lwj wakes. it isn't unusual to get up before dawn. he hears the mourning doves coo outside, but today, his heartbeat is faster than their calm, morning cadence.

dreams were odd, and lwj's were vivid and seared into his memory. the emotional weight behind this particular one was overwhelmingly heavy. he feels each exhale, trying to steady himself, come out of him like a barely-contained sob.

eventually, the day must be met. lwj gets ready and heads to campus.

aural lessons, he suffers through. advanced theory feels stifling - he barely tolerates what the professor lectures.

for his general education course in art history, wwx's presence feels less provoking and more calming today.

"lan wangji!" his former dormmate calls out. "look, i drew you!"

it's meant to be a teasing doodle, one with wwx escaping lwj's strictness by burying him under a pile of textbooks. doodle lwj triggers the avalanche via tripwire.

lwj from a week ago would have burned with indignance at being teased, secret pleasure from wwx's attention, embarrassment from having his unruly feelings exposed, frustration at the lack of ability to comport himself as he desires.

lwj today feels nothing but mirth and fondness. it's like something untangled the messy knot of sentiment inside him, making it clear and obvious. there is no conflict, nothing to feel frustrated over.

"do i survive?"

wwx blinks. "uh - haha, lan-er-gege you're so strong, a few books can't bring you down!"

=

evening orchestra rehearsal comes. breaktime is lax, with the conductor too busy arguing the music director about the piece for this year. it seems that likely, the music director will have the final say and their lineup will change, so no one is eager to commit to something that's temporary.

wwx continues to sound out the half-remember melodies from his dreams. one of them, he hears the oboist hum along as he walks by (that was lwj's brother, wasn't it?) but it was so fleeting, wwx thinks he imagined it.

that one was harder to remember. he switches to the other melody. it elates him to figure out the development, everything slotting into place, that he is joined by strings on his second repeat and doesn't notice until he's halfway through.

wwx looks up and sees lwj slowly lowering his violin. before he can say anything, the conductor barks at everyone to return to their seats and resume rehearsal.

=

for lwj, coming to terms with the state of matters is not turbulent. there are midweek dinners at his uncle's residence, the man being a collector of fine traditional instruments. lwj has never learned anything besides the violin, unlike his brother - no amount of cajoling or demand was able to turn him from single-minded focus.

is it a surprise that touching the guqin on display felt like homecoming, even as the strings catch strangely on his violinist calluses? his left hand taps with confidence, right hand plucks, and a clear harmonic rings out.

=

is it a dream? is it not a dream?

wwx idly marks up his notes as he waits for the lecture hall to fill. a head of pink hair catches his attention.

it has to be a dream, he decides, watching zyx slouch her way towards her preferred seat. a dream with his prickly classmate in a prominent role, differing in every way but their names -

and wwx finds himself automatically moving to sit behind her as usual.

as usual. and it is - he can almost see the ghost of dream-zyx superimposed over this zyx, scrawling away at their notes. the same expression of pensive concentration.

he finds himself leaning over her desk, words spilling from his mouth. and when she gives him the look of dismissal, the memory in his brain desperately claws its way out, demanding he keep her from turning away -

well. blunt, cutting, and needing the last word. bravery when pushed. determined, demanding on oneself, proud. clever.

like two pitches slowly matching frequency, the dissonance in his mind dissipates.

=

it hurts. the echo of the same rejection happening, even dampened through an entire lifespan - the sting of it feels sharp and real.

it is her. a zyx less burdened with propriety, responsibility, able to run as she pleases and act unrestrained... and she runs from him.

"i... didn't say anything offensive, did i, wangji?" lxc asks tentatively.

he didn't. the same cycle of kindness, slowly leaking out until all lwj can see is her back. he remembers when they were children. he remembers when they were in freshman year. quiet discussions in the library. different teas, until she found by some hidden criteria the one to continue sharing with him.

somehow, in some manner, zyx has again found something lacking about him. in their first life, this old hurt was packed away, bygones as bygones.

who has overturned the cupboard of past lives, indeed.

=

"lan zhan."

lwj stops. wwx is standing at the bus stop, moonlight overhead. the two of them stayed late tonight, voluntold by the conductor to clean up for being distracted all rehearsal.

how could lwj be anything but distracted? he knows. he knows. wei ying is right there, in the same room. laughing the same way, same clever fingers on his flute, identical vivacious behavior.

"wei ying."

silence, before wwx breaks into the biggest grin possible to contain on his face. "lan-er-gege!" he sprints and leaps at lwj.

what is thousands of dollars, extrinsic in value, compared to lifespans of love? lwj drops his violin case and catches wwx in his arms.

=

"lan-er-gege, when did you know?"

"rehearsal. the 13th."

"wait. how???"

"figure it out yourself."

=

"i found her," lwj admits. it comes out like a shameful confession.

wwx huffs in amusement. "she doesn't like you much, either, huh?" he stretches in his seat. "you know, lan zhan..."

"... if she really hated you, hated me, there's nothing stopping this zyx from kicking us in the nuts."

lwj can't help but let out a small mirthful sigh. "i suppose."

"if she's the same, and she is - zyx has always been a stubborn mule that needs prodding and convincing."

=

they spend more time together, after that. but as if to make up for the sudden fill of lwj in his life, zyx seems to slip away like a ghost. if not for the fact that she answered the professor calling out names to return exams, wwx would have thought he made her up.

and of course, lwj's stubborn, stalwart faith that she is here.

it is pure chance that they see her walking down the quad path with one of her friends. the two are casual and close, reminding wwx of other-zyx and their relationship with that peacock.

this zyx lets exhaustion show on her face. lets herself be sloppy. feels safe, secure, and free enough to let her inner self show. objectively, it's not as beautiful and gilded as the comportment in that dream-like life.

it's something that wwx of both lives hunted for with persistence.

and it is habit of both lives - when zyx runs, wwx is riled into pursuit. how can he resist, when she keeps making such incredulous and hilarious expressions?

wwx starts running on instinct. "lan zhan! chase!" he doesn't have to look behind to know that lwj follows.

=

=

'fuck fuck fuck i shouldn't have quit track!!' zyx lambasts herself as she runs down the school arboretum path. fuck ticks, she's saving her life here - zyx cuts across the bushes to the other side of the grounds.

sigh. wow. okay, maybe she shouldn't have run because who would have thought those two would start chasing like velociraptors?? fuck, have some composure, assholes!

two figures leap out and tackle her into the river just as she started to catch her breath.

"- fUCK!"

#zyx au's #RT au #oblivious university #mdzyx #svzyx #Anonymous #inquiry #if anyone is wondering: sqh/mbj get their shit together within three days and are too busy sucking face to give a shit about their friends #sy is too busy dealing himself psychic damage for his cringey smutty isekai fantasy to actually pay attention to lbh and lqg #zyx (me) is prone to having really vivid dreams to the point where they just roll with it #wwx figures it out through wangxian.mp3/drunken dream (ch11 dbd) and bc he knows a bunch of stuff he shouldn't but dbd-zyx ends up teaching #lwj quietly accepts it through wangxian.mp3 and the guqin. always a romantic and faithful to the core #the final hurdle is convincing zyx that they're not fucking crazy #they as in wangxian and they as in zyx #(also in this modern life mdzs does not exist) #(also also yes i used to smoke and yes i've quit and yes it's awful for your health) #real talk: in 2015-16 i had this long-ass series of dreams with continuity and whatever about exo bc my friend was obsessed #through peripheral absorption exo funneled into my dreams and whenever i had an update on this dream fanfic #i'd narrate it to my friend #this friend and i both have dreams like this and when we lived together #it was common for me to either crawl into her bed upon waking or her booting my bf out our bed to start talking about last night's dream #(undergrad me was fucking grimey: sports bra + hoodie + basketball shorts + socks + sandals; a real fuckboy) #(it's because i didn't have to attend meetings with people who decide my livelihood yet)

[lansplaining]

last question made me think - thoughts on modern AU Jin GuangYao? Because I feel like while in a modern au maybe he has the luxury to be a bit more open about his anger or ambition at times , he's always going to be a very gracious and well-mannered person.

man this is SO tricky

let's just establish up front that i am tragically very weak for modern aus, i can't explain it, i have hated them in every other fandom i've been in, but for some reason here we are

but i think part of the reason i do like them so much is because The Villain Is Society to such a dramatic extent in MDZS, the questions an alternate setting opens up about who these characters could have been if they'd had other choices are sooo compelling

i don't know the Fandom History well enough to say, but i sort of assume the semi-default 'barely contained rage gremlin' take on modern AU JGY is heavily influenced, if not all but originated by the Meng Yao vs the HOA series, which is a story i deeply enjoyed but also found upon revisiting did not really ring true to me in its characterisations (though again, i really still enjoy them for what they are)

the biggest problem for me with a modern AU JGY is what his anger and ambition are directed towards. bringing down the local HOA and ruining wei wuxian's sex life? yes, sure, extremely funny. but i think it's a mistake to imply, as this kind of characterisation does, that JGY is inherently seething with semi-aimless ruthlessness and ambition that just needs to find a suitable target. his resentment develops because he is being deprived of a position he (correctly!) feels is not only his by right, but that he is very aware he has the talent and intelligence to make use of-- and even though it never gets framed in exactly these terms, from his earliest days in the jin clan, he is trying to pursue his own agenda in addition to doing his dad's bidding. the watchtowers come up, and are rejected by JGS, very early! JGY does not just want to be a jin just to be a jin, he has goals and plans for what he is going to do with the position he was born to

so in a modern au, it doesn't make sense to me to just give him a new setting to be ruthless for the sake of ruthlessness in. he pursues that strategy because it's what's required by the circumstances: his birth, the jin clan, the necessity to solidify his place in the clan no matter what as a first step. and that last one is the other key element: what exists in a modern au that he can only get through his family the way he can only achieve a stable place in cultivation society by being recognized by the jin? why can't he just pursue his goals by other means, and make JGS's recognition the final step, not the first one?

because i think of course you can build in a lot of that resentment and anger in emotional terms by whatever paternity bullshit you decide to have JGS pull. he doesn't need recognition, but he wants it, so maybe he goes to extreme lengths to get it for not-entirely-rational reasons, okay. but that just... doesn't feel like what JGY is actually doing in canon? as stated above, he has actual goals. his ambition is not 'i'm gonna be the jin heir woooooo,' it's 'i'm gonna take my place in society and make a difference.' but it's a misreading I think is really, really common?

and okay, this has gotten off-track, but i'm getting there now, because what this slight misreading does is turn JGY's constantly discussed and CONSTANTLY ignored persona of kindness and graciousness into-- well, a persona. an assumption that it's the customer service face, the emotional labour, that he's putting on entirely against his will. and this is partly a book/show divide, because ZZJ's performance leans into that reading quite a lot, with the way they cut to his eyes going dead in the smile. but I think we get so much evidence that this gracious and kind person is who he ideally wants to be. it's there in his title imo, it's in the way he leaves up JZX's murals, it's the fact that it seems the way he is most around LXC, a relationship that represents basically everything he truly cares about (and also, re: that last ask, really represents the idea that one of the things that comes with privilege is the power to be gracious!). i think there is less than no reason to think that in a modern AU, he wouldn't also dream of being that kind of person, even if he's in a job or a social situation or whatever where he can't always live up to that ideal for himself.

obviously the customer service jokes are all extremely funny in a modern setting, and i'll always allow a bit of sloppy characterisation for the sake of a good joke, but i do feel i have come across vanishingly few modern AUs that really consider the kind of person JGY would choose to be in a world with more choices, rather than just exporting his canon coping mechanisms with no real justification for them

#thoughts meme #ask meme #JGY #meta

[gloriousmonsters]

comprehensive list of every MDZS character that has made a ‘are we in a relationship/is this gay??’ post in an au where everything is the same except reddit exists and people use modern terminology when it’s funny

obviously, wei wuxian. ‘i’ve been playing gay chicken with this guy and sleeping in the same bed as him and he’s really quiet but he hasn’t been telling me to quit it like he used to and also he looks at me strangely sometimes and buys me drinks and we actually wound up having sex the other night--’ responses tend: ‘you’ve had sex how many times? yeah, that’s not technically a bromance’

lan xichen makes one while on the road with meng yao, lovingly detailing how they’ve been doing chores together and meng yao thoughtlessly called him a ‘good boy’ while doing laundry and it made him blush really hard, omg, and he wants to believe something might be there but meng yao is just so smart and talented and the situation’s difficult so he doesn’t want to presume even though meng yao keeps touching his hands while teaching him to mend clothes and seems to have a special smile just for him, etc etc. responses: people going ‘op just go for it’ and a bunch of people just calling him a sub

xiao xingchen and song lan make posts at the same time about their amazing friend that they share a common dream with and we kind of casually hold hands sometimes and call each other endearments but like, platonically? i think? reponses: ‘oh my fucking god *posts screenshot of the other one’s post*’. they wind up having a good laugh over it and making an update post about how they’re together now

years later xiao xingchen makes a post about how he’s been cohabiting with this guy who keeps on making jokes to make him laugh and teasing him by calling them ‘married’ and like, they are living together and sort of raising a teenager, well mostly she’s raising herself, but anyway - he thinks he’s getting signals but he’s had some trouble with relationships ending messily before, and he doesn’t want to presume something and make his friend uncomfortable, what they have is so precious... responses: a-qing’s burner account saying the guy is sus, don’t go for it. xue yang’s burner saying ‘he’s 100% into you. jump his bones’

jin guangyao makes a post asking ‘if a guy you really like and sort of had a summer romance with asks you to be sworn brothers, but like... also sworn brothers with your ex, what does it mean?’ and deletes the post after accumulating a bunch of responses demanding more info

jiang cheng demands to know that if you’re best friends with someone and they’re sort of your adopted brother but definitely your sect brother and they PROMISED with their OWN MOUTH to stay by your side and then they dump you to go off and cohabit with ANOTHER MAN and a bunch of refugees but that bit’s not important, that’s like, a breach of contract, right? because you’re in a relationship, right? responses: a number of people directing him to r/AITA. ‘op is this even a romantic relationship or is it a bro thing’ jc replies saying IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT IT IS and deletes, but not before screenshots are everywhere

xue yang makes a post about how he was like, sort of faking being into this guy for lulz but now he’s kind of caught feelings and the flirting-to-make-the-other-guy-uncomfortable has escalated to morning kisses and the dude keeps leaving candy on his pillow and like... do you guys think he’s just playing along with the joke, or is it serious? responses: ‘oh my fucking god op’ ‘yeah you’re dating. you’re like 75% married’ and a-qing’s burner account telling him he’s reading too much into it

su she makes a post detailing how he’s had a crush on his boss who’s also his friend for a while and so he doesn’t want to let his hopes make him assume anything but his boss is extremely touchy-feely with him sometimes and asks him to work late alone together on... projects, it’s not important what, and maybe he gets playfully called a ‘work boyfriend’ a lot and his boss goes out of his way to compliment him sometimes, etc... Multiple responses point out he’s listed like 80 kinds of HR violations. su she replies it doesn’t matter. responses assert that yeah, it kind of does, also did you mention your boss already has a boyfriend? red flag op. sms gets pissed at nobody addressing his actual question and deletes the post

jin guangyao makes a post asking how many times you have to ‘jokingly’ call someone your boyfriend and spend late nights working on projects while finding excuses to touch before you acknowledge maybe something is going on. he gets a few OH MY GOD IT’S YOU... MR HR VIOLATIONS responses before swiftly deleting

wen ning has attempted to write a post several times throughout his life and undeath and always chickened out and deleted what he wrote at the last moment. he finally just makes a post about regrets and wishing you’d asked things outright and shared your feelings on r/offmychest or something. it’s very moving and gets shared a lot. wwx absolutely sees it and comments ‘man the dude in this story must be an asshole to not realize op’s feelings’ with 0 self awareness. for my own happiness this absolutely is the start to an endgame ningxian postcanon au

lan wangji makes an account post guanyin temple to ask ‘if a man tells me ‘I like you, I love you, I whatever you, I want to fuck you every day’, does that mean we’re in a relationship?’ he ignores every response except the first person to just say ‘yep’, replies ‘thank you’ to that person and then never returns to xianxia reddit

#shitposting of the highest order #uhhh... #wangxian #xuexiao #chengxian sort of #xiyao #suyao #ningxian #songxiao

[pumpkinpaix]

Pleeeeeeease get into the class one at some point because I very much want to understand the class dynamics happening in the story but I have yet to find a meta that dives into it

god anon you want me dead don’t you alsjdfljks

referring to this post

okay, so -- my specific salt about class interpretations in mdzs are very targeted. I can’t pretend to have a deep understanding of how class works in mdzs generally because uhhhhh yeah i don’t think i have that. i’m just not familiar enough with the genre and/or the particulars of chinese class systems. but! i can talk in general terms as to why I feel a certain way about the class dynamics that I do think I understand and how I think they relate to the themes of the novel! i’m gonna talk about wei wuxian, the daozhangs, xue yang, and 3zun with, I’m sure, a bunch of digressions along the way.

the usual disclaimers: i do not think you are a bad person if you hold opinions contrary to my own. i may disagree with you very strongly, but like. this isn’t a moral judgment, fandom is transformative and interpretive etc. etc. and i may change my mind. who knows what the future will bring!

OKAY so let’s begin!

here’s the thing about wei wuxian: he’s not poor. I think because characters use “son of a servant” kind of often when they’re trying to insult him, a lot of people latch onto that and think that it’s a much stronger indication of his societal status than it actually is. iirc, most of the insults that fall along the “son of a servant” line come after wei wuxian starts breaking severely from tradition. it’s a convenient thing to attack him for, but doesn’t actually indicate anything about his wealth. (exception: yu ziyuan, but that’s a personal familial issue) this is in direct contrast to jin guangyao who is constantly mocked for his family line, publicly and privately, no matter what he does.

so this, coupled with all the jokes about wwx never having any money (wei wuqian, sizhui’s “i’ve long since known you had no money” etc.), plus his like, rough years on the street as a child ends up producing this interpretation of wei wuxian, especially in modern aus, as someone who is very class conscious and “eat the rich”. but the fact of the matter is, wei wuxian IS rich. aside from the years in his childhood and the last two years of his life in yiling, like -- wei wuxian had money and status. he is gentry. he is respected as gentry. he is treated as a son by the sect leader of yunmeng jiang -- he does not have the jiang name, but it is so very clear that jiang fengmian favors him. wei wuxian is ranked fourth of all the eligible young masters in the cultivation world -- that is not a ranking he could have attained without being accepted into the upper class.

wei wuxian’s poverty does not affect him in the way that it affects jin guangyao or xue yang. he is of low-ish birth (still the son of jiang fengmian’s right hand man though! ok sure, “son of a servant” but like. >_> whatever anyways), but for most of his life he had money. he, jiang cheng, and their sect brothers go into town and steal lotus pods with the understanding that “jiang-shushu will pay for it”. this is a regular thing! that’s fucking rich kid behavior!!! wei wuxian is careless with money because he doesn’t have to worry about it. he still has almost all the benefits of being upper class: education, food security, respect, recognition etc. I think there may also be a misconception that wei wuxian was always on the verge of being kicked out by yu ziyuan, or that he was constantly walking on eggshells around her for fear of being disowned, but that is just textually untrue. i could provide receipts, but I admittedly don’t really feel like digging them up just now ;;

even in his last years in yiling, he was not the one who was dealing with the acute knowledge of poverty: wen qing is the one managing the money, and as far as we know, wei wuxian did little to no management of daily life during the burial mounds days -- mostly, he’s described as hiding in his cave for days on end, working on his inventions, running around like a force of chaos, frivolously making a mess of things -- it’s very very cute that he buries a’yuan in the dirt, but in classic wei wuxian fashion, he did Not think about the practical consequences of it -- that A’Yuan has no other clean clothes, and now he’s gotten this set dirty and has no intention of washing them. is this a personality thing? yeah, but I think it’s also indicative of his lack of concern over the logistics of everyday survival, re: wealth.

furthermore, i think it is important to remember that wei wuxian, when he is protecting the wen remnants, is not protecting common folk: he is still protecting gentry. fallen gentry, yes! but gentry nonetheless. wen qing was favored by wen ruohan, and wen ning himself says that he has a retinue of people under his command (the remnants, essentially). their branch of the family do not have the experience of living and growing in poverty -- they are impoverished and persecuted in their last years, but that’s a very different thing from being impoverished your whole life. (sidenote: I do not believe wei wuxian’s primary motivation for defending the wen remnants was justice -- i believe he did it because he felt he owed wen ning and wen qing a life debt, and once he was there, he wasn’t going to stand around and let the work camps go on. yes, he is concerned about justice and doing the right thing, but that’s not why he went in the first place. anyways, that’s another meta)

after wei wuxian returns, he then marries back into gentry, and very wealthy gentry at that. lwj provides him all the money he could ever want, he is never worried about going homeless, starving, being denied opportunities based on his class and accompanying disadvantages. who would dare? and neither wei wuxian nor lan wangji seem to have much interest in shaking up the order of things, except in little things like the way they teach the juniors. they live in gusu, under the auspices of the lan, and they live a happy, domestic life.

were his years on the street traumatizing? yes, of course they were, there’s so much delicious character exploration to be done re: wei wuxian’s relationship to food, his relationship to his own needs, and his relationship to the people he loves. it’s all important and good! but I feel very strongly that that experience, while it was formative for him, did not impart any true understanding of poverty and the common person’s everyday struggles, nor do I think he ever really gains that understanding. he is observant and canny and aware of class and blood, certainly, but not in a way that makes it his primary hill to die on (badum-tss).

this is in very stark contrast to characters like jin guangyao and xue yang, and to some extent, xiao xingchen and song lan. I’ll start with the daozhangs, because I think they’re the simplest (??).

I think both xiao xingchen and song lan have class consciousness, but in a very simplified, broad-strokes kind of way (at least, given the information we know about them). we know that the two of them share similar values and want to one day form their own sect that gives no weight to the nobility of your lineage and has no concern with your wealth. we also know that they both disdain intersect politics and are more concerned with ideals and principles rather than status. but, I think because of that, this actually somewhat limits their perception and understanding of how status is used to oppress. as far as we know, neither of them participated on any side in sunshot and they demonstrate much more interest in relating to the commoners. honestly, i hc that they were flitting around trying to help decimated towns, protecting defenseless villages etc. I ALSO think this has a lot of interesting potential in terms of xiao xingchen and wei wuxian’s relationship, if xiao xingchen is ever revived. regardless of whether you’re in CQL or novel verse, xiao xingchen really doesn’t know wei wuxian at all, other than knowing that he’s his shijie’s son. he knows that cangse-sanren met with a tragic end, like yanling-daoren before her, and that he wants to be different. but here is cangse-sanren’s son, laying waste to entire cities, desecrating the dead. I would very much like to get into xiao xingchen’s head during that period of time (and i think, if i do it right, i can write some of it into the songxiao fixit), but that’s neither here nor there, because i’ve wandered off from my point again.

i would posit that song lan is used to an ascetic lifestyle, and xiao xingchen probably is too -- but that’s different from poverty because there’s an element of choice to it. I also think that neither of them is particularly worldly, xiao xingchen especially. he lived on an isolated mountain until he was like, seventeen, and he came down full of ideals and naivete about how the world worked. I think that both of them see inequality, that they are angered by it, and that they want to do something about it -- but their solution is neither to topple the sects, nor is it to reform the system. rather, it seems to be more about withdrawing and creating their own removed world. I think that the daozhangs embody a kind of utopianism that isn’t present in the minds of any of the other characters, not even wangxian. honestly, baoshan-sanren’s mountain is a utopian ideal, but one that is not described. it exists outside of and beyond the world. i have a lot of jumbled, vague thoughts about utopianism generally, mostly informed by china miéville and ursula k. le guin, and I don’t think i have the ability to articulate them here, but i wanted to. hm. say something? there is something about the inherent dystopianism contained within every utopia, that utopias are necessary, but also reflections of the existence of terrible things in their conception. idk. there’s something in there, I know it!! but i suppose what I want to say is -- i do not think the daozhangs understand class and social hierarchy very deeply because they don’t see a need to examine it deeply. for their goals, the details aren’t the point. they’re not looking to reform within the system, they’re looking to build something outside of it. I think they spend a lot of time concerned with alleviating the symptoms of social oppression, and their values reflect the injustices they witness there.

regardless, even if their story ends in tragedy and there is a certain amount of critique re: the utopian approach, i think the text still emphasizes that xiao xingchen left a utopia and that he thought that people mattered enough for him to try, and that was an incredibly honorable, kind, and human thing to do.

YEAH SURE THE DAOZHANGS ARE THE SIMPLEST ok ok RETURNING to class and moving forward: xue yang.

i also don’t think xue yang has class consciousness lol, or not in any way that really matters, but I do think poverty impacted him in a much stronger way than it impacted wei wuxian. wei wuxian spent some years on the street as a child. xue yang grew up on the streets. chang ci’an’s horrific treatment of him was directly due to his class and social standing: chang ci’an is a nobleman and xue yang is not even worth the dirt beneath the wheels of his cart. what I think is the seminal point though, is that this does not make xue yang think particularly deeply about systemic injustice, because xue yang is so self-centered, self-driven, and individualistic. he is not even slightly concerned about how poverty and class might affect other people -- they’re other people. what he takes away from his experience is not an anger at being wrongfully cheated by a system, but an anger at being wrongfully cheated by a specific man.

xue yang is not particularly concerned with the politics of the aristocracy -- he has no obvious ambitions other than, “i want to eat sweets whenever i please”, “i want to hurt anyone who wrongs me”, and “i want to be so strong that no one can hurt me”. like, he just doesn’t care -- it’s not the kind of power he wants. he sneers at people for like, personal reasons, not class reasons -- “you think you’re better than me” re: xiao xingchen and song lan. to him, all people -- poor, wealthy, noble, common -- are essentially equal, and they are all beneath him. after all, what does he care what family someone comes from, how much money they have? everyone bleeds when you cut them. some of them might be harder to get to than others, but xue yang does not fear that sort of thing. it’s just another obstacle he needs to vault on his way to getting revenge and/or a pastry.

ANYWAYS onto jin guangyao (wow this is hm. getting rather long ahaha oh dear): I would argue that the two characters with the most acute understanding of class/societal politics and the injustice of them are jin guangyao and lan xichen. i’ll start with jin guangyao for obvious reasons.

where xue yang took the damaging effects of poverty as personal slights, I think jin guangyao is painfully aware that there is nothing personal about them, which is, in some ways, much worse. why are two sons, born on the same day to the same father, treated so differently? just because.

he watched his mother struggle and starve and work herself to the bone in a profession where she was constantly disrespected and abused for almost nothing in return, while his father could have lifted her out of poverty with the wave of a finger. why didn’t he? because he didn’t like her? no -- because he didn’t care, and the structures of the society they live in protect that kind of blase treatment of the lower class.

“so my mother couldn’t choose her own fate, is that her fault?” jin guangyao demands. he knows that he is unbelievably talented, that he has ambition, that he has potential, and that all of it is beyond his grasp just because his father didn’t want to bother with it. his mother’s life was destroyed, and his own opportunities were crippled with that negligence. it isn’t personal. that’s just the way things are. your individual identity is meaningless, your humanity does not exist. when he’s kicked down the steps of jinlin tai, it’s just more confirmation that no matter how talented or hardworking he is, no one will give him the time of day unless he finds a way to take it himself and become someone who “matters”.

jin guangyao’s cultivation is weak because he had a poor foundation, and he had a poor foundation because he was denied access to a good one. he copies others because that’s all he can do at this point, and he copies so well that he can hold his own against some of the strongest cultivators of his generation. he’s disparaged for copying and “stealing” techniques, but -- he never would have had to if only he had been born/accepted into the upper class. the fact is that i really do think jin guangyao was the most promising cultivator of his generation that we meet, including the twin jades and wei wuxian: he had natural talent, ambition, creativity, determination and cunning in spades. in some ways, I think that’s one of the overlooked tragedies of jin guangyao: the loss of not just the good man he could have been, but the powerful one too. imagine what he could have done.

jin guangyao spends his entire time in the world of the aristocracy feeling unsteady and terrified because he knows exactly how precarious his position is. he knows how easy it is to lose power, especially for someone like him. he’s working against so many disadvantages, and every scrap of honor he gets is a vicious battle. jin guangyao fears, and I think that’s something that’s lacking in xue yang, wei wuxian and the daozhangs’ experiences/understandings of poverty. i think it’s precisely that fear that emphasizes jin guangyao’s understanding of class and blood. jin guangyao exhibits an anxiety that neither wei wuxian nor xue yang do, and it’s because he truly knows how little he is worth in the eyes of society and how little there is he can do to change that. to me, it very much feels related to the anxiety of not knowing if tomorrow you’ll have something to eat, if tomorrow you’ll still have a home, if tomorrow someone will destroy you and never have to answer for it. it’s the anxiety of knowing helplessness intimately.

moreover, jin guangyao is the only person shown to use the wealth and power at his disposal to take concrete steps to actually help the common people typically ignored by the powerful -- the watchtowers. they’re described in chapter 42. it’s a system that is designed to cover remote areas that most cultivators are reluctant to go due to their inconvenience and the lack of means of the people who live there. the watchtowers assign cultivators to different posts, give aid to those previously forgotten, and if the people are too poor to pay what the cultivators demand, the lanling jin sect pays for it. jin guangyao worked on this for five years and burned a lot of bridges over it. people were strongly opposed to it, thinking that it was some kind of ploy for lanling jin’s personal benefit. but the thing is -- it worked. they were effective. people were helped.

i believe CQL frames the watchtowers as an allegory for a surveillance state/centralized control (i think?? it’s been a minute -- that’s the hazy impression i remember, something like a parallel to the wen supervisory offices?), but I personally don’t think that was the intent in the novel. the watchtowers are a public good. lanling jin doesn’t staff them with their own sect members -- they get nearby sects to staff them. it’s a warning network that they fund that’s supposed to benefit everyone, even those that everyone had considered expendable.

(did jin guangyao do terrible things to achieve this goal? yeah lol. it’s not confirmed, but his son sure did die... suspiciously...... at the hands of an outspoken critic of the watchtowers........ whom he then executed....... so like, maybe just a convenient coincidence for jin guangyao, two birds one stone, but. it seems. Unlikely.)

lan xichen is the only member of the gentry that ever shows serious compassion for and nuanced understanding of jin guangyao’s circumstances. lan xichen treats him as his equal regardless of jin guangyao’s current status -- even when he was meng yao, lan xichen treated him as a human being worthy of respect, as someone with great merits, as someone he would choose as a friend, but he did so knowing full well the delicate position meng yao occupied. this is in direct contrast to nie mingjue, who also believed that meng yao was worthy of respect as a human being, but was completely unable to comprehend the complexities of his circumstances and unwilling to grant him any grace. you know, the difference between “i acknowledge that your birth and status have had effects upon you, but I don’t think less of you for it” and “i don’t consider your birth and status at all when i interact with you because i think it is irrelevant” (“i don’t see color” anyone?)

to illustrate, from chapter 48:

大抵是觉得娼妓之子身上说不定也带着什么不干净的东西，这几名修士接过他双手奉上来的茶盏后，并不饮下，而是放到一边，还取出雪白的手巾，很难受似的，有意无意反复擦拭刚才碰过茶盏的手指。聂明玦并非细致之人，未曾注意到这种细节，魏无羡却用眼角余光扫到了这些。孟瑶视若未见，笑容不坠半分，继续奉茶。蓝曦臣接过茶盏之时，抬眸看他一眼，微笑道：“多谢。”

旋即低头饮了一口，这才继续与聂明玦交谈。旁的修士见了，有些不自在起来。

rough tl:

Probably because they believed that the son of a prostitute might also carry some unclean things upon his person, after these few cultivators took the teacups offered from [Meng Yao’s] two hands, they did not drink, but instead put them to one side, and furthermore brought out snow white handkerchiefs. Quite uncomfortably, and whether they were aware of it or not, they repeatedly wiped the fingers they had just used to touch the teacups. Nie Mingjue was not a detail-oriented person and never took note of such particulars, but Wei Wuxian caught these in the corner of his eye. Meng Yao appeared as if he had not seen, his smile unwavering in the slightest, and continued to serve tea. When Lan Xichen took the teacup, he glanced up at him and, smiling, said, “Thank you.”

He immediately dipped his head to take a sip, and only then continued to converse with Nie Mingjue. Seeing this, the nearby cultivators began to feel somewhat uneasy.

all right, since we’re in full cyan-rampaging-through-the-weeds mode at this point, i’m going to talk about how this is one of my favorite 3zun moments in the entire novel for characterization purposes because it really highlights how they all relate to one another, and to what degree each of them is aware of their own position in relation to the others and society as a whole.

1. nie mingjue, who is a forthright and blunt person, sets meng yao to serving tea and is done with it. he notices nothing wrong or inappropriate about the reactions of the people in the room because it’s not the sort of thing he considers important.

2. meng yao, knowing that his only avenue is to take it lying down with a smile, masks perfectly.

3. lan xichen, noticing all this, uses his own reputation to achieve two things at once: pointedly shame the other cultivators in attendance, and show meng yao that regardless of others’ opinions, he considers him an equal and does not endorse such behavior--and he does it while taking care that no fallout will come down on meng yao’s head.

is this yet another installment of cyan’s endless lxc defense thesis? why yes it is! no one is surprised! but this is my whole point: both meng yao and lan xichen understand the respective hierarchy and power dynamics within the room, while nie mingjue very much does not. this is not because nie mingjue is a bad person or because nie mingjue is stupid--it’s a combination of personality and upbringing. nie mingjue is straightforward and has no patience for such games. but then again, he can afford not to play because he was born into such a high position: that’s a privilege.

to break it down: meng yao knows that he is the lowest-ranked person in the room, sees the way people are subtly disrespecting him in full view of his general who is doing nothing about it. in some ways, this is good -- nie mingjue’s style of dealing with conflict is very direct and not at all suited to delicate political maneuvering. after all, the way he promoted meng yao was actually quite dangerous to meng yao: he essentially guaranteed that his men would bear meng yao a grudge and that their disrespect for him would only be compounded by their bitterness at being punished on his behalf. (it’s like, why often getting parents or teachers to intervene ineffectively in bullying can just be an incitement to more bullying -- same concept) meng yao’s reaction during that scene shows that he’s pretty painfully aware of this and is trying to defuse the situation to no avail. nie mingjue gives him a bootstrap speech (rip nie mingjue i love u so much but. sir) and then promotes him, which is pretty much the only saving grace of that entire exchange, for meng yao at least.

lan xichen, on the other hand, understands both that meng yao is the lowest-ranked person in the room and that any direct attempt to chastise the other cultivators in the room will only serve to hurt meng yao in the long run. he knows that if this were brought to nie mingjue’s attention, he would be outraged and not shy about it -- also bad for meng yao. so he uses what he has: his immaculate reputation. by acting contrary to the other cultivators’ behavior, he demonstrates that he finds their actions unacceptable but with the plausible deniability that it wasn’t directed at them, that this is just zewu-jun being his usual generous self. this means that the other cultivators have no one to blame but themselves, nothing to do but question their own actions. there is nowhere to cast off their discomfort. meng yao didn’t do anything. lan xichen didn’t do anything -- he just thanked meng yao and drank his tea, isn’t that what it’s there for? he doesn’t disrupt the peace, he doesn’t attack anyone and put them on the defensive, but he does make his position very clear.

i know this is a really small thing and i’m probably beating it to death, but I really think this shows just how cognizant lan xichen is of politics and emotional cause and effect in such situations. certainly, out of context I think the scene reads kind of cliche, but within the greater narrative of the story and within the arc of these characters specifically, I think it was a really smart scene to include. it also showcases lan xichen’s style of action: that he moves around and with a problematic situation as opposed to moving straight through.

not to be salty on main again, but this is why it’s very frustrating to me when I see people call lan xichen passive when he is anything but. his actions just don’t look like traditional “actions”, especially to an american audience. it’s easy to understand lan wangji and wei wuxian’s style of problem-solving: taking a stand, moving through, staying strong. lan xichen is juggling an inconceivable number of factors in any given situation, weighing his responsibilities in one role against those in another, and then trying to find the path through the thicket that will cause the least harm, both to himself and the thicket. lan wangji and wei wuxian are not particularly good at considering the far-reaching consequences of their actions -- again, not because they are bad people, but because of a combination of personality and upbringing. they’d just hack through the thicket, not thinking about the creatures that live in it. that is not a terrible thing! it isn’t. it’s a different way of approaching a problem, and it has different priorities. that’s okay. there are advantages and disadvantages on both sides, and where you come down is going to depend on your personal values.

okay we’ve spiraled far and away from my original point, but let’s circle back: i was talking about class.

I think it’s undeniable that class, birthright, fate etc. are some of the driving forces of thematic conflict in mdzs, and the way each character interacts with those forces reveals a lot about themselves and also about the larger themes of fate, chance, and what it means to be righteous and good and how that is and isn’t rewarded. a lot of the tragedy of mdzs (the tragedy that isn’t caused by direct aggression on the part of one group or another) stems from the injustices and slights that people suffered due to their lot in life. it isn’t fair. none of it is fair! we sympathize with jin guangyao because we recognize that what he suffered was unconscionable, even if we don’t excuse him. i sympathize A Lot with xue yang as well for similar reasons, though I understand that’s a harder sell. this is a story focused on the mistakes of an entrenched, aging gentry and the effects that those mistakes had on their children, and a lot of it has to do with prejudice based in class and birth status. whether the prejudice was the true reason or whether it was just a convenient excuse, the fact remains that the systems in place rewarded and protected the people in power who used it to cling to that power. mdzs is also a story of how the circumstances of one’s life can offer you impossible choices that you cannot abstain from, and it asks us to be compassionate to the people who made terrible choices in terrible times. it’s about the inherent complexity in all things! that sometimes, there are no good choices, and i don’t know, i’d like to think that people would show me compassion if I had to make the choices some of these characters did. not just wei wuxian, mind you, every single one of them. except jin guangshan because I Do Hate Him sorry. and i guess wen ruohan. i think that’s it.

good. GOD this is clocking in at //checks notes -- just over 5k. 8′D *stuffs some weeds into my mouth like the clown i am*

(ko-fi? :’D *lies down*)

#OH BOY OH BOY #mdzs #the untamed #mdzs meta #the untamed meta #?? #mymeta #meta #cql #cql meta #mine #cyan gets too deep in the weeds #im literally falling asleep as i'm typing right now so i'm SURE i've made mistakes and forgotten stuff but i am just. #*yeets this out into the void* #please read this i worked hard on it ;A; #class #class conflict #class consciousness #Anonymous #asks and replies #ok bedtime byebye

[bigbadredpanda]

Hi,, I hope I'm not bothering you with this and I'm sorry if my English isn't good, I hope you can understand my questions. I've been thinking about this for a while now and I tried to find information online but I found nothing.

MDZS is the first Chinese Novel I've read and I still haven't finished it yet,,but I've heard about rumors that said that MXTX is in jail, because she sold copies of her books. The rumor isn't true, however it made me wonder something,, I know China's censorship on lgbt related stuff is really heavy and that's why the donghua and drama adaptations of MDZS and other bl works are censored, but I didn't know that authors couldn't sell their novels.

So my question is,, how does MXTX earn money if she isn't allowed to sell her works? She has already finished 3 Danmei novels, and her works are really popular, they even have manhua, donghua or drama adaptations. The adaptations have earned quite a lot of money, but since she's an anonymous writer, does part of it even go to her?

To make the drama, the donghua and the manhua, producers had to ask her permission, I think. So, since the adaptations are doing well, she should get part of the profit, but how does it work? If the Chinese Government really is against lgbt themed works, shouldn't they have done something about her?

I really love her works and I hope that she earns something since she is the one that created all of them. Thanks for considering my question!!

Hi both of you and welcome to the cnovel fandom! Quick intro of the author, MXTX uses a pen name like many webnovel authors, it’s the abbreviation of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu which literally means “Ink Fragrance, Copper [Money] Stench” (墨香铜臭). Fun fact, it’s her mother who coined that name. MXTX wished to pursue a major in literature during university but her mother wanted her to graduate in economy instead while keeping writing on the side, that way she would have the fragrance of ink in one hand and the stench of money in the other.

We also know that she is fairly young, she wrote Scum Villain while she was a university student and she started working on the outline of MDZS in her final year. Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heaven Official’s Blessing) is the third book she completed and a fourth novel is/was in the works, its provisional title is “No rest for the death god” and is supposed to be a supernatural story taking place in a modern setting.

MXTX is one of the most popular webnovel authors on Jinjiang Literature City, the webnovel platform, but her popularity also comes with a great many detractors. You’ve heard some of the malicious rumours circulating in the English-speaking side of the fandom, it’s just a drop in the ocean compared to the outpouring of heated controversies in the Chinese side as the latter can have real-life consequences. There is a different nexus between the creator and the audience and the fandom culture is not the same either, it can be quite deleterious due to the tendency to report any content that one disagrees with.

Censorship in China is... ever-changing and nebulous. How severe it is depends on the medium. Nevertheless, gay literature (同志文学) does exist in China and it is distinct from danmei. I also want to nuance a bit the pervasive idea that anything lgbt is systematically and relentlessly censored in China. The reality is more complex than that and it would be dismissive of the hard-fought gains and visibility that Chinese lgbt activists have obtained these past two decades (some concrete examples: the work of the lgbt centre in Beijing or the pride festival in Shanghai). I don’t know if people are aware of this but lgbt dating apps are thriving in China, the most popular one, Blued, is also the largest lgbt social network worldwide. With that said, the official policy towards homosexuality is the three No’s: “no approval, no disapproval, no promotion”. A stance comparable to the “don’t ask, don’t tell”. It’s not explicit persecution but it manifests in the silencing of public discussion and the limiting media representation of homosexuality. In 2017, the top media regulator that oversaw radio, film and television  issued guidelines banning a number of things, this included obscene and violent content, homosexuality, superstitious pseudoscience (such as reincarnation or spirit possession). On top of that, there is also an ongoing crackdown on online pornography that gets increasingly intense. And that concerns everyone on the internet, it’s astonishing the lengths netizens will go to in order to circumvent the censorship, new slang is developed to refer obliquely to banned words, fanfics are published in image format to prevent text recognition, etc... The censorship might be increasingly prevalent but netizens push back with their resourcefulness. Pushing back is also not without significant risk. Perhaps you have heard of the case of the danmei author that received a severe jail sentence? A few Western media picked up on that and criticised the ruling that was deemed homophobic. Chinese reactions tell a slightly different story, the author's crime was not writing danmei, she was in fact accused of making a profit by illegally producing and disseminating pornographic material. I’m not too keen on the details but it seems she printed the books herself and sold them online. To some Chinese observers, the ruling was not discriminatory because she did break the law. To others, it was absurd because this law dates from an era when internet barely existed and it would have been much more laborious to mass-produce and share porn at that time. There’s a bit of truth in all these points of views. It’s also not disingenuous to say that lgbt content is more likely to be targeted than het content even if the charges are not directly lgbt-related.

Usually contracted authors of webnovel platforms have a more secure status. They get a fee from the purchase of VIP chapters as well as tips from the readers. Other sources of revenue arise when webnovels get popular enough to get the opportunity to be published through official channels or when adaptation rights are sold (I assume that the author receives a share of that deal but perhaps does not get any further financial gain from the adaptation or its merch).

To support the author, I would suggest purchasing TGCF on Jinjiang (guide) or buying the physical versions of her three novels in Chinese (shop, change to English with top-right world icon), the special boxsets of MDZS and TGCF come with tons of goodies!

Hope I could be of service and that my tirade was mildly informative ^^'

#mxtx #answers #nerdsupreme #meandering thoughts #trashysiomai

[inessencedevided]

A very overdue cql/mdzs fic rec list

for @accidental-child ​

I am so sorry this took me so long Axel! The pandemic has really done a number on my time-management skills and things like this often fall behind :/

The fics complied here are the ones i have not recced in the list for @helianthus21 before. You can find that one here, so you can check it out as well :)

The Wei Wuxian makes a wish series by natcat5

My attempt at a summary: this is a madoka magica AU (which i had not watched prior to reading this fic). Cultivators, in this universe, are created when a teenager makes a wish to the creature named Kyubey, which than grants them their wish and the power to fight witches, strange and destructive creatures of despair that lure people into their labyrinths. Wei Wuxian, at the beginning of the story is not a cultivator, but his friends are and so is the mysterious new student at his school, lan wangji, who follows him everywhere and seems to be obsessed with preventing him from making a contract.

My comment: my attempt at a summary does not do this story justice and is really just a setup. Honestly i cannot put into words how much I loved this story. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. It made me laugh, it made me cry for entire chapters, it drew me into it's world so much that I freaking dreamed about it! (I'm not kidding, I really did) Honestly, this fic deserves so much more attention than it is currently getting. Not only is the plot expertly crafted, with reveals that shock you and leave you reading, but the author also just gets the characters. The best thing an AU can do, in my opinion, is take familiar characters, put them in unfamiliar situations and then manage to make the way they react believable. And this AU nails that! The conclusion and the choices that Wei wuxian and lan Wangji make in the end felt exactly right. Not to mention, it has a stellar ensemble cast! Everyone is here (except Xichen sadly and I kind of think it is deliberate because without him, Lan Wangji lacks a support system). Again, I cannot recommend this story enough. It is, without doubt, my favourite fic series in this entire fandom. (Caution however: Do read the warnings in the tags and notes and take them seriously. They are there for a very good reason.)

Agapé (home is in your arms) by estel_willow

Author’s summary: Lan Xichen is in isolation. Wei Wuxian visits him. Together they find their way back to happiness, to clarity and to home. 

My comment: This one focuses on both Lan Xichen’s and Wei Wuxian’s issues and lets them resolve them together. I am such a fan of their characterisations in this fic, as well as Lan Wangji’s even though he is not the focus. I love it when non-romantic relationships are the focus of fics and especially when they are central to the character’s resolving their own issues and moving forward in life and that is exactly what happens here.

until you're big enough by lostin_space      

Author’s summary: Lan Zhan is sad and not hungry; Lan Xichen asks Nie Mingjue to help him. 

My comment: This one is a really short and sweet read about how Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue parent the their younger brothers. I just really liked how the author portrayed todler Lan Zhan, as well as these two teenagers doing their best to be the parents that both he and Nie huaisang lack. 

Night Music by Manogahela                

Author’s summary: There is a music that plays in the night at Cloud Recess....but there isn't suppose to be. Lan Xichen investigates the mysterious dizi music that can be heard from the Jingshi at night following the Siege of the Burial mounds.

My comment: I absolutely adored this one, mainly for two reasons: 1. I love an outsider perspective and Lan Xichen’s, at this point and with his limited knowledge is absolutely wonderful. First, he isn’t even sure is what he thinks is happening really is happening and when he is sure, his feelings are, understandably very conflicted. 2. The author’s style compliments this fic so well. Since most of it happens at night and Xichen isn’t entirely sure that he can trust his senses, there is a certain dreamlike quality to it that the author writes beautifully. This fic is part one in a series. Part two is a WIP, but also very much worth the read!

Company by WithBroomBefore                

My summary: In which Wei Wuxian is whipped within an inch of his life by Madam Yu when he is fourteen and comes to stay at the cloud recesses. He and Lan Zhan become friends.

My comment: My summary once again does not do this fic justice. Because it is so much more than just that. It’s such a beautful exploration of friendship and love and bodily autonomy. Wei Wuxian has a lot to work through in this fic, but really, so has Lan Zhan who has the opportunity to make friends at a much more mellow pace than in the novel/show and panics a little less because of it. The war still happens but has much less dire consequences. All in all, this fic left me with a wonderful warm feeling in my chest.

you are safe / loved / worthy / enough by everythingispoetry                

Author’s summary: One of the more timid-looking posts, in pale greens and creams and yellows, says Hello, I'm managing to be fairly high functioning right now but I'm really not doing as well as it may appear, and Lan Zhan feels as if someone sneaked into his mind and read his most secret thoughts, the ones he's never even dared to admit to himself.

(In which Lan Zhan, to his own dismay, finds himself with the help of the most obnoxious, cheerful, cheesy self-care instagram account known to men.)

(And Wei Ying.)

My comment: Listen, I have a complicated relationship with fics that depict mental health struggles in characters. They are all so incredibly valid and I’m glad they exist (every single one of them, no matter if i like them or not) but due to the fact that they tend to come from the author projecting their own issues onto characters (which is NOT a bad thing! that is what fanfic is for!) they are often hit-and-miss when it comes to characterisation. But this story ... it just GETS Lan Wangji. If someone told me a scenario in a modern AU that leads to him developing an anxiety disorder and depression, this is what I would have come up with. Because let’s be real, Lan Wangji is a perfectionist to boot, insanely competitive and needs to live up to his family’s expectations, while also not having much of an emotional support system outside of his brother and uncle. That’s a dangerous cocktail in the modern world and just screams of a burnout waiting to happen. So Lan Wangji, off to university, living alone in a strange city for the frst time, spends all his time in a carefully calculated study routine but slowly realises that the path he set out on was not one he chose because he liked it but simply the one that was laid out for him by his background and family, which then leads to him questioning the reason behind what he does. That reads as incredibly real to me. A good AU, in my opinion, takes the characters and their inherent characteristics and lets them meet new and unique challenges that they never would have encountered in canon, which then leads to new and interesting character developement. And this AU manages that perfectly! (Plus, if you are a university student like me who sometimes suffers from crushing anxiety about the path they chose in life, this is insanely relatable. What? I never said I wasn’t biased :P)

porn (but not actually) and waiting (a lot of it) by hyacinth4maria    

Author’s summary: Lan Xichen sighs as he settles into the couch next to Lan Wangji.

"What are you looking at?"

Lan Wangji, without pausing from typing the names Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian in the Love Calculator 3000, says, "Porn."

Lan Xichen chokes.

- Lan Wangji has a crush. Lan Xichen hadn't realized his little brother was growing up.    

My comment: this one was hilarious! Just Lan Xichen being both absolutely exasperated and amused by wangxian’s pre-teen drama. I almost choked laughing at the line that coined the title. The author has these characters down to a T and they used their powers to attack my laugh-musccles :D

the field meets the wood by astronicht     

Author’s summary: Wei Wuxian is a dark shadow in the barley. Wei Wuxian is sorry for the kind of compassion that he is about to hand out.

(in which Lan Wangji is stolen for salt, and Wei Wuxian unravels the world, a little)

My Comment: HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS IS SO GOOD. Do you ever read a story and just marvel at the author’s mind? This is one of those. The sheer genius of giving Wei Wuxian the ability to pull entire beings into non-being! The absolute galaxy-brain idea to link the canon mythology to modern astrophysics!!! Wei Wuxian creates a motherfucking black hole in this one!!! And it’s SO well written, too! The author does not shy away from Wei Wuxian’s sharp edges and his darker side but goddamn if he is not still loveable anyway. Just GO READ THIS FIC!

Abandon your post by StarsAlignNomore        

Author’s summary: After months as Chief Cultivator and separated from his soulmate, Lan Wangji follows Wei Wuxian out into the world. He searches for him. He finds him. He kisses him. They reunite, they talk, they resolve. Sometimes Bichen lends emotional support. Chenqing bites. Little Apple is there too.

Your typical Post-Canon-Reunion-Fic with much more emphasis on their spiritual weapons than expected.

My comments: This one just left me with a lot of mushy feelings. Also I adore the way the author emphasised the relationship between Lan Wangji and Bichen. And by the end, Wangxian finally figure shit out through actual open communication. Absolutely beautiful!

#cql fic #cql fic rec #mdzs fic #mdzs fic rec #mdzs #cql #wangxian #wangxian fic rec #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lan xichen

[drwcn]

tfw when you get off work early once in a blue moon and come across crap in the mdzs fandom AGAIN. you know, after the whole yzy debacle i was gonna steer away from drama, but this isn’t drama, this is just misconception, and not even historical/cultural misconception, straight up modern day misconception that will get actual people into trouble. i was informed of this drama by a tumblr friend who works in law (whose identity i will not reveal), who is very concerned because...you know...lawyers actually deal with consent and capacity.  Apparently this op must’ve blocked me, because i can’t access their post, but nevertheless im about to be a petty bitch and call them out on their bullshit. 

Not gonna name any names, not gonna even tag this, but my followers, if you see this post, just know that this ask is NOT TRUE. I can’t stand the idea that you’re being misled. If you already knew, thank god, if you didn’t know, well now you do. 

Okay. Now the rant starts: 

CHILD, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING????

Okay “med major” whatever the hell that’s supposed to be...are you a pre-med? If you are, sit down, you haven’t learned enough to know what you’re talking about, also don’t say this^ in your med school interview you will not get in. If you’re in med, child.... did you....pay attention in your medical ethics class? Or any class? 

A) Jiang Cheng was not suicidal. At no point did he say he wanted to kill himself. And if you are a clinician of any kind you would know that:  when assessing for suicidal ideation, you do have to ask outright, you can’t just “assume” they are suicidal. 

B) Being unconscious and “being kept” unconscious are completely two different things. Did you think...if you went to the hospital for acute lower right abdominal cramp and your doctor found out you had acute appendicitis that they would just...wheel you into the OR for an appendectomy without asking for your consent first???? Why? Because “you’ll be kept unconscious” by anesthesia during the operation ?????? What the fuck you talking about??? 

This thing you’re doing an extremely terrible job of describing is called “assumed consent”. And medical personnel would only assume consent when a patient is a) unconscious and cannot be woken up due to trauma or illness, b) there is an immediately threat to life unless medical intervention is undertaken, c)there are no indications on the person such as a DNR that would suggest the person does not want help, AND d) there are no substitute decision maker or power of attorney present. All four criteria have to be met.  You understand that even for patients who are “kept unconscious” through sedation may be taken off sedation to be brought to consciousness so that their consent may be obtained before new interventions are introduced, right?? You learned this in your so-called “med” classes??? Right???? Because if you didn’t even brush the bare basics of medical ethics in your education, why are you coming on the internet flaunting your non-existent medical expertise and misleading unsuspecting citizens.  

Sit down and stop talking. 

(also this post is not about the cultural relativism of consent and family in chinese culture. that’s a different topic all together. do not bring it up here.) 

#what the fuck is going on today #?????????? premeds are you okay???????? #coriesss

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

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1. Hi Hi! There’s this fic that I feel might have been deleted but I wanted to try to find it anyway. The fic was about Wei Wuxian dying and getting reborn as the son of a massive wangxian fangirl. Wei Wuxian grows up with his mom reading fanfic of him and Lan Wangji and he also reads the actual novel and learns a few things he didn’t know before. They even bring Lan Wangji into their world through the novel I think at some point. 🙏🏼 Please help

FOUND! What Your Heart Desires by pupeez4eva (M, 7k, Humor, Crack, WWX is reborn in the modern world after his first death, where the MDZS novel exists, WWX becoming VERY well acquainted with the whole novel)

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2. Hello! Can you help me find a fic? :< I've read a fic where wwx is a human sacrifice and he is residing in Cloud Recesses. He cannot go outside his house. He also has chains on his ankles. Also, lwj is his guard. I forgot the tags :(( thank you ver much! <3

FOUND? The Sacrifice's Last Guard by 0_Heta_0 (E, 24k, wangxian, falling in love, hurt/comfort, smut, angst w/ happy ending) The GusuLan Sect is in charge of guarding the gods' chosen sacrifice until their twenty-second birthday. For years, Lan QiRen has held that duty. However, after he is called away on urgent clan business, Lan WangJi is asked to step in and guard the sacrifice for his last few months of life.

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3. Ok, not sure if I’m doing this right. But could you please help me find a wangxian fanfic. The premise is that LWJ is on a night hunt and is somehow transported to a modern world. And while he is silently panicking little A-Yuan runs into him and starts crying which brings WWX running. He thanks LWJ and offers to get home lunch. That’s all I remember, I don’t know if it was a one shot or a WIP. Thanks for your help. @gwencaer

FOUND! CH. 4 of Cosmic by apathyinreverie (T, 10k, WangXian, Modern AU, Time Travel, Oneshot collection)

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4. Hi! I can't find I fic I've read so many times and hope you can help me! It's one where wwx is a ghost and looks after jl, and becomes more aware after saving jl from a fierce corpse. Wwx kinda haunts lotus pier and jc eventually finds out after an intersect tournament(?) where jl uses one of wwx moves to beat lan sizhui. Then jc accepts wwx and wwx disguises as a new jiang sect member. Does this seem familiar at all?

FOUND? Death of a Ghost by Gotcocomilk (E, 107k, Family bonding, Fluff, Angst, Parental WWX, BAMF WWX, Hurt/Comfort, Ghost sex)

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5. Sup! I'm looking for a fic where wwx is in a coma, and the fix mostly takes place through his dreams. A lot of what people are saying to him outside of the coma comes through the dream, and I remember I think Lan Qiren notices that he has a boner? And they're excited irl bc that means his body can move? I know it's such a weird thing to remember but it did stick out. I think in the dream hes trying to keep custody of a-Yuan as well. Thanks for looking!

FOUND! From Underneath by steppjes (M, 15k, WangXian, Major Character Injury, Modern AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Supernatural Elements, Demons, Ghosts, Hallucinations, Grief/Mourning, Mutual Pining, The Troubles of Baby Acquisition)

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6. I’m looking for this one fic on ao3. Wangxian are married and Lan Zhan decides to compliment wei ying. Wei ying gets so flustered that he like you can’t compliment me without a schedule meeting three days in advance. Lan zhan does that and continues to compliment him and make him blush and it end with lan zhan writing a formal letter stating that he plans to compliment him in 3 days and it will eventually lead to “Everyday” @harrypotter55

FOUND? Content Warning: Romance by Ariaste (M, 5k, WangXian, BDSM, Praise Kink, nonsexual kink, which turns into sexual kink, wwx's canonical fetishes, Kink Negotiation, basically my ongoing mission to demonstrate to fandom that Kink Can Be Unbearably Soft Actually)

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7. Hi, I hope you are doing well. I am looking for a fic where wwx is a rapper (i think he was part of a boyband before??) and big fan of classical musician lwj and asks to work together which is great for both. Set btn NYC&LA. On scene i remember is wwx falls sick due to old knee injury at AMA afterparty but media paints it as drug addiction. I am desperate to find the fic. Please help!!

FOUND? Melodies series by sassybluee (T, 241k, WangXian, Rapper WWX, Classical musician LWJ, Modern AU, Slow burn, Fluff, Hurt/comfort, Light angst, Knee surgery)

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8. Do you remember the name of the fic where wwx goes to gusu with lwj to submit to cleansing, but lwj doesn't realise it will kill wwx as the demonic cultivation is what's holding his body together? There's a bit where wwx asks lwj to do the cleansing and he thinks that the lans know it will kill him?

FOUND? 🧡decay by antebunny (G, 15k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Angst, Misunderstandings, Miscommunication, Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending, the fluffiest ending, Hurt/Comfort)

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9. I was wondering if you knew a post-canon fic where there's a scene in which JC, WWX, LWJ, maybe LXC and the juniors(?) All end up in the forest during a night hunt(?) And are forced to relive the Nightless City massacre and see Jiang Yanli die. And not sure if it's the same post-canon fic but one where the Elders of some sect (I think it's the Moling Su?) accuse the Jin(?) Sect of something during a discussion conference and Nie Huaisang helps out.

Mikkeneko asks: For #9 - is this the same fic where Jiang Yanli gets brought back to life following revisiting the massacre?

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10. hi there! sorry again to bother and thank you so much for everything you guys do 💕 i'm looking for a fic where it's a yunmeng shuangjie reconciliation if i'm not wrong. i don't remember the exact plot, but i think on a night hunt (?) jc and wwx get separated from the group and they encounter a dog yaogaui and jc has to fight it in order to protect wwx (i think they're both injured or sth as well and they're not in great terms yet), thank you! @bi-bi-bitteraf

FOUND! many envies by newamsterdam (T, 21k, JC & WWX, Canon-Typical Violence, Night Hunting, Ghosts, Action/Adventure, Reconciliation, Brotherly Love, Complicated Relationships, Cultivation as Plot Device, Novel Spoilers, Post-Canon, Yunmeng Shuangjie) JC and JL rescue LSZ and a cowering WWX from a pack of dog guai (and *then* JC and WWX get separated from the party.) / in many envies, after JC and WWX get lost, they’re confronted by the Baihu of Carnage—which looks more canine than feline.

thank you so much!! the one i was looking for was definitely many envies 🥰

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11. Heyo Mod L and Mod C. Looking for a fic where i only remember one weird fact. WWX can only drink alcohol and eat meat? Not sure about the meat part but I remember it’s on CR and WWX need alcohol to sustain? Please help me. It feels like something i made up!(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞ @sandriya-artemis

Hi! Fic finder #11 here. It’s not the tiger verse series. I think WWX is a demon? Another titbit I remembered is i think WWX almost collapsed before they found out. JC is a good brother here! Thank you trying!! I’m kinda losing my mind over this. I even went thur the demon WWX tag but i dunno it’s deleted or i just couldn’t find it

NOT FOUND! The Tiger has Destroyed his Cage by updatebug (G, 54k, WangXian, Shapeshifters, Fix-it fic, Animal Pelts, Tiger WWX, Found Family, adopted family, Yungmeng Siblings, Canon appropriate angst and violence, Gratuitous OCs) hi, for no. 11 on the fic finder, id love to know if the asker meant the tiger fic because it does have a scene where lwj overhears jc commenting that without alcohol itd be unbearable for wwx (hed even get him poppy to be able to sleep), and they also mention the meat thing

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12. Hi! It’s @lustinyiling again. I really appreciate you guys running this blog as well as Mojo running @wangxianficrecs !! For the next fic finder, couldu help me fund the one where Wei WuXian was a servant for the Wens and when Lan XiChen and Lan WangJi visited they wouldn’t let him eat so Lan WangJi shared his food with him? The next time they go back Wei WuXian is with the pigs where he’s barely moving and waiting for the pigs to eat him. Then the jades take him back to cloud recesses and nurse him back to health.

FOUND? The Dawn Shepherd by FairyGardenCorgis (E, 145k, wangxian, hurt/comfort, angst w/ happy ending, PTSD, trauma, emotional & physical abuse, sexual abuse, torture, trust issues, slow build, gang rape, MIND ALL THE TAGS!)

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13. I’ve got a Fic Finder ask, because the answer will fulfill #14 on this post: I recall a fic where WWX, having lost a hand either to YZY or during his ordeal in the Burial Mounds, formed a prosthetic hand of resentful energy. Mondengel is a likely suspect, but I’ve failed to find it.

NOT FOUND! ❤️Love made visible by Moominmammashandbag (M, 31k, zhuli (jiang yanli/wen zhuliu), wangxian, canon divergence, fix-it, major character injury, amputation, hurt wei wuxian, angst, JYL is a ROCK, and she cultivates with food, Hurt/comfort, Mojo's Post)

NOT FOUND! brave enough to breathe by Sour_Idealist (M, 10k, JC & WWX,Canon Divergence, Golden Core Fix-It, canon-typical family dysfunction, Torture, secondary character death, Canonical Character Death) #13 MIGHT be brave enough to breathe by Sour_Idealist YZY cuts off his hand, and in later installments of the series WWX makes a prosthetic hook which he cultivates with, but not with resentful energy, since the core transplant doesn't happen in this AU.

FOUND! A Leg Up for a Helping Hand by @mondengel (M, 650, WIP, WangXian, Amputation, Angst) That sounds like they couldn't find the bit I wrote here. I put it as part of a longer work: but I just posted that first chapter to AO3 incase they wanted to read it

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14. Hi Mods! For the fic finder - I remember a very angsty fic, from LSZ’s POV. He grows up in the cloud recesses with LWJ and WWX after LWJ saved them after the siege. No one else seems to interact with WWX. He teaches LSZ to play wangxian, and he plays it to LWJ, who is stunned and sad. It turns out that WWX was either a ghost or a figment of LSZ’s imagination. There’s no happy ending. Does anyone remember it? Thanks!

FOUND? The Intervening Years by roserocksrapidly (G, 11k, LSZ & WWX, LSZ & LWJ, bg wangxian, canon divergence, LSZ centric, parent-child relationship, fluff & angst, hurt/comfort)

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15. Hi, how are you? I'm looking for a time travel fanfiction on AO3, but I can't find it. I remember a scene (in the first chapters, if not the first chapter) where shortly before WWX discovered the rest of the Wen (where he had discovered them and was just about to talk about it, I don't remember, sorry) but a "wind" swept through the whole room and everyone came back with their memories from before they died except WWX.

And he wonders who Patriarch Yiling is and, ironically, pities him for having more than the majority of the cultivation world at his back

FOUND! second verse, same as the first by Cerusee, Mikkeneko (T, 41k, WangXian, ChengQing, NieLan, Time travel, Crack treated seriously, Everybody lives, Implied/referenced suicide, Memory loss, Canon Divergence) I would add one comment: the scene that the asker describes is actually from "yakety sax arrangement for guqin and xiao" rather than "second verse same as the first." Just mentioning since 2nd Verse is the second in that series, so you won't find the scene in question if you start there.

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16. oh god ok so I read this fic a while ago and i can't find it TT_TT wwx is drowned in the lotus lake by madam yu as a punishment and he nearly dies? lwj takes him to cloud recesses and his siblings also come along and it is mostly about wwx healing. i specifically remember him being unable to smell lotus flowers anymore, or even look at them bc of the trauma of drowning with them.

FOUND! 🧡 rain falls and soaks into the earth series by RoseThorne (T, 36k, WangXian, WIP, Near Death Experience, Attempt Drowning, Madam Yu Bashing, Recovery, No war AU)

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17. Hi im looking for this fanfiction where wex turn into a kid and Lwj put him in little Lan robes that use to be a yuan. Then like Wei ying tried to drink the tea Lwj was drinking and spit it out and started banging his cup on the table singing. Then like Jin ling said he'll get the dog on wwx if he doesn't take a bath and wwx starts bawling yeah that one

FOUND? I think this one is 💖 sugar stains by lanjingyeet (T, 18k, wangxian, post-canon, de-aging, shenanigans, child WWX)

~*~

18. Hi! I was wondering if you could help me find a fic please. It was a time travel fic I believe. In it WWX was killed by a mob of people while he was left alone and when LWJ found his body he held him until LQR came and yelled at him for doing so until LWJ cut his head off for shouting while WWX was sleeping. Any ideas? I read it when I first dived headfirst into the fandom and it got buried in the hundreds of fics I read like it. Help Please! @kasey1939​

Oh damn! I've read 18 but can't remember it either! 🤦🏽‍♀️😆 It wasn't that lwj killed lqr right away, he took wwx's body home and was looking after it like he was "just sleeping" then when lqr was like this is gross and has gone on long enough is when lwj kills him...

18 has been itching away at my brain for 2 days now! I'm pretty sure it would be ragged under time travel and the scene described is.. a vision? Glimpse that wwx observes after he has died/time travelled. Wwx died post canon I believe and the time travel is so that lwj never goes that dark... but this is only a small part of a larger fic :/ tricky tricky!

FOUND! Third Times the Charm by Kyerian and LadyLilyAnne (E, 117k, WangXian, Major Spoilers, Crossdressing, Happy Ending, Time Travel, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Minor Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Mentions of self-harm, Romance, Weddings)

NOT FOUND! they would call you my queen by HeavenlySkyfarer (E, 10k, wangxian, major character death, dark LWJ, decent to madness, royalty AU, murder, attempted rape/non-con, insanity, dark musical cultivation, ghost WWX, resurrection)

NOT FOUND! The Ones Left Behind by JaenysBloodcourt (T, 3k, wangxian, LXC & LWJ, major character death, not Lan elder friendly, dark LWJ, dark LSZ, dark LXC, heavy angst)

~*~

19. hey, hello! looking for two fics, and this is driving me nuts bc i read both of these not long ago and now I can’t find them anywhere. A) the first one is time travel, but the reader doesn’t find that out for sure until the end. it’s told from lwj’s pov, but it’s wwx who time travelled back to the day when he and the jaing arrived at cloud recesses. he goes back to the inn to get their invitation, and then never returns. lwj has never met him, but he’s deeply influenced by jyl’s desperation to find him, and he keeps looking for him, even as canon begins to diverge greatly. many years later he does run into wwx, who is living happily as a rogue cultivator with his son a’Yuan and their donkey. it ends with him joining them ofc

B) the second one, i’m kind of hazy on. it’s an au with shapeshifter clans. the lan are dragons, i think, not sure about the rest. one thing i remember is that jin and jaing (and yu maybe) attack wen (and nie?) unprovoked (i think wen ruohan is dead and wen xu is the sect leader), and the war is very different. the lan dont come into it until later, and they do it for the sake of the nie, I think? Anyway, wwx is unhappy abt the war, he advised against it, knows they’re in the wrong, but he’s loyal. Also, he’s full human, not a shifter, which is rare for a sect general. He and lwj clash on the battlefield, and they’re pretty well matched as long as lwj isn’t in his dragon form. They form a truce to help civilians out, try to stay out of each other’s way, and after the war ends, lwj asks for wwx as, idk, his prisoner or war prize or smth, but he does it to protect him. NOT jiang friendly, as i recall. if anyone recognizes either of these, i’d be so grateful 🙏

19A)

FOUND! Strange Regrets by sunrise_and_death (T, 6k, wangxian, time travel, angst w/ hopeful ending, everyone lives au)

19B)

FOUND! Crossing Paths by Ilona22 (M, 21k, wangxian, shapeshifter au, war between sects, not Jiang friendly, war crimes)

~*~

20. I have a fic finder request if you don't mind :) The scene I remember is just after the Sunshot campaign and the Jin (I think?) have been holding Wen cultivator prisoners during their trials. WWX meets with a Wen prisoner scheduled to be executed who has agreed to give WWX his golden core and it turns out the Wen is A-Yuan's birth father. I remember that the transplant does occur and the man is executed and WWX and LWJ still end up AY's parents. Ring any bells? Thanks! @airmidcelt

~*~

#wangxian #mdzs #wangxian fic finder #wangxian fic search #the untamed #wangxianficfinder #long post

[deistarr]

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

~*~ JC-Negative Fic Rec List ~*~

~*~*~*~ Complete Multi-Chapter Fics ~*~*~*~

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Since there aren't many MDZS fic rec lists that cater exclusively to those of us who dislike Jiang Cheng, I decided to make my own. This is the second of three lists on this theme - which will all be linked to a master-post - for one-shots, complete multi-chapter fics, and ongoing WIPs.

These are all the fics I've found to date which portray Jiang Cheng in a negative context. Not fics which don't mention him at all; but fics which actually portray him as his canonical self, and/or engage in JC-bashing. Not all of them bash him; but none of them engage in JC-whitewashing.

Each rec is listed with the story title/link, author, rating, chapter total/completion status, official summary, warnings, my personal summary/notes, comments on how JC appears in any additional MDZS fics by that author (if I had time or it was applicable), story setting, and word count. All fics feature a WangXian pairing unless otherwise stated.

If anyone knows of any other JC-Critical MDZS fics which are not included on this list, I'd be thrilled to hear about them. I will continue to update this list as I find good additions to it.

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Closer Than Eternity by Netrixie (Rated T; Four Chapters; Complete)

Author's Summary: Wei Ying just wants to graduate, figure out what he's doing with his life, and make sure there's a Starbucks within twenty feet of him at all times.

It would be a lot easier to accomplish if he wasn't being stared at by worryingly familiar golden eyes every time he opened up his social media accounts.

-

In a world where immortals keep to themselves, one of them has decided to let himself be seen.

Warnings: MCD; WWX - who is eventually reincarnated - and most other characters are mentioned or implied to have died of old age as well at some point. So lots of sadness and angst, but also a very HEA! 😄

(Not entirely JC-negative; since it's implied that WWX would have been pleased to reconcile at some point if JC had been willing, and JC does show up to pay his respects after WWX dies. (Which LWJ rightfully tries to scalp him for! 😉) He's otherwise very much true to canon, and only plays a very small role.)

My Summary: When MXY!WWX starts to show signs of aging and LWJ doesn't, they realise that he accidentally became immortal. MXY's body and core aren't strong enough to do the same; but LWJ is willing to wait as long as it takes for his Wei Ying to come back to him.

While WWX is old enough when he regains his memories that it seems unlikely he would have had no other relationships/hookups in the past, the fic never once references or even implies anything of the kind. Which makes me happily able to believe that he was subconsciously waiting for LWJ, and neither of them was ever with anyone else.

(I generally enjoy this author's work; though most of it is NieLan, their WangXian is excellent. I believe that for the most part JC is either only mentioned or plays a very small role; but since the author got into the fandom with CQL, their fics tend to be written with more CQL characterization. Though this fic does adhere to novel canon for the most part. JC does not appear to be a part of WangXian's life in any of the author's post-canon fics, however.)

Post-Canon/Canon Compliant, Modern AU/Reincarnation Fic; 26,601 words.

Not This Time by Marinelifeclub (Rated T; Twenty-Eight Chapters; Complete aside from Epilogue as of 05/27/21)

Author's Summary: Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang and Lan Wangji decide to team up to go back in time to protect the people they love.

The catch is, Jiang Cheng switches some characters in the array to erase Wei Wuxian from existence thinking everything will be better without him.

Lan Wangji and Nie Huaisang are upset about the change; but as long as Jiang Cheng has his family back alive he doesn’t care about their feelings.

Warnings: Slightly dark LWJ; attempted harm of a child, canon-typical violence, eventual light torture (of JC; well-earned). Also lightly JYL-critical.

My Summary: This has to be the most satisfying Time Travel AU ever for someone who hates JC. He's basically just his usual, post-canon self; and he gets every inch of the karma he deserves. It's just delightful, and the story very satisfying and enjoyable.

WangXian adopt 3 kids in this, and there are also background pairings of 3zun and XuanLi. I'm including it in the finished fics because only the epilogue is left, and it can be read as complete as-is.

Time Travel Fix-It AU; currently 93,444 words. (As of 05/27/21)

It's A Crazy World We Live In by pupeez4eva (Not Rated; Two Chapters; Complete)

Author's Summary: Wei Changze is reborn as Wen Yuan. Cangse Sanren is reborn as Lan Jingyi. Understandably, this changes a lot of things.

(Or, Wei Changze tries to get used to a life where he is both the father and son of the exact same person, and Cangse Sanren is just loving being the most un-Lan Lan to ever live).

My Summary: I love this. It's just an adorable little story about how A-Yuan was the reincarnation of WCZ (which I think is a sweet premise), and in this AU he regains the memories of his past life as WCZ when he's a baby. Implied future LSZ/LJY.

It's now my personal HC that LSZ was WCZ's reincarnation and CSSR was LJY's; they just didn't have memories of their past lives. (Which means I ship LSZ/LJY now, I guess? TBH I'm not fussed about Junior pairings.)

There isn't really JC bashing in this so much as WCZ having murderous impulses following the "staged" fight with WWX.

pupeez4eva is one of my favourite MdZS authors when I just want to laugh. Sadly, their work is generally a bit too JC positive for my tastes; but I love their fics anyway.

Canon Divergent Fix-It; Divergence happens during the Jin ambush at Qiongqi Path; words.

Key Differences by pupeez4eva (Not Rated; Two Chapters; Complete)

Author's Summary: “I don’t understand,” Wei Wuxian said, while his alternate self continued to stare at him with almost a look of hurt in his eyes. There was longing in there too, which Wei Wuxian would have easily recognised if he paid enough attention. “How could you not get together, after everything. What even went on in the Guanyin Temple if you didn’t confess?”

“The Guanyin Temple,” Wei Ying repeated incredulously. “You’re asking me if I confessed at — honestly, a lot went on that day. It was a life and death situation. There was no confessing.”

Wei Wuxian stared at him, appalled.

-

(Wherein Wei Wuxian ends up meeting an alternate version of himself who, much to his horror, never married Lan Wangji. Obviously he has to do something to fix this).

My Summary: This is basically a Post-CQL Fix-It; where MDZS!WWX accidentally dimension travels to the Post-Canon CQL universe. He meets CQL!WWX, and he is not impressed with this terrible reality. At all.

It's implied that eventual reconciliation with JC is something that the WWXs (both of them) do or should want. But it's just a brief mention, and when he appears he's very much his canon self; and nobody pays any attention to him.

Post-Canon Dimension Travel AU; MDZS/CQL X-Over; 5602 words.

What Your Heart Desires by pupeez4eva (Rated M; Three Chapters; Complete)

Author's Summary: Needless to say, he soon realises that he hasn’t even scratched the surface of the strangest parts of this new world yet. Like the fact that there is a book based entirely on his life.

(Wherein Wei Wuxian is reborn into a world where everything is different, his entire life is part of a novel, and where his new mother is apparently its biggest fan).

My Summary: This is, admittedly, crack. It's crack; but it's also hilarious.

JC doesn't really get bashed in this; he just acts like his canon self - but what makes this fic so great is that he suffers. Emotionally, sort of. In the sense that he's made so angry and upset you can practically see him having a stroke while you're reading about it. It's glorious.

Part of the reason I love pupeez4eva's fics even though they like JC is that even when the fic is somewhat JC positive, he suffers. He's so miserable, and it makes me very happy.

Canon-Divergent Reincarnation AU; diverges after WWX's death; 7939 words.

no dawn, no day, i'm always in this twilight by butterflyghostwings (Rated E; Two Chapters; Complete)

Author's Summary: Shadows of black envelop Wei Ying, caressing the edges of his robes, mixing with his half-unbound hair. Thick smoke lingers in front of his face, and all he can make out are red eyes, a sharp smile, like a knife cutting through the dark fog.

A sense of wrongness fills him, smothering the surge of hope and happiness and relief.

“Wei Ying?” he tries again.

-

Lan Wangji is haunted by something that follows him out of the Burial Mounds.

Warnings: Suicidal thoughts, self-harm (canon branding), grief.

My Summary: Very sweet and sad, with a bit of an empowering ending. This fic is basically a metaphor for learning to co-exist with grief. The ending was just so good.

Canon-Compliant; starts immediately after WWX's death, continues to Post-Canon; 21,783 words.

To Spend Eternity With You by andrian_kres (Rated E; Six Chapters; Complete)

Author's Summary: Lan Wangji has been grieving Wei Wuxian's death for twelve years. The night before the thirteenth anniversary, he dreams of a different first meeting that is painfully Too Real.

...and then he keeps having it while he and a newly resurrected Wei Wuxian deal with the arm they found in Mo Manor. Is the universe trying to give them a second chance...twice?

-

Wei Wuxian has been dead for...years? So, why is he alive? And why is he dreaming about Lan Zhan? Why does he keep dreaming about Lan Zhan?

My Summary: This is very satisfying to read. It does not attempt to make any allowances for JC's behaviour; and WWX acknowledges - at least in part - that his life with the Jiangs is/was... not really healthy or pleasant. While it is mostly MDZS Canon, there are some CQL elements mixed in as well.

Time Travel Canon Divergence; starts the night before WWX's resurrection, includes time travel back to Cloud Recesses Study Arc; 13,282 words.

his right-hand man by Anonymous (Rated E; Two Chapters; Complete)

Author's Summary: Overhearing something he should know better than to listen to, Jiang Wanyin regrets the wrong things.

*******PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS FOR THIS FIC!*******

Warnings: rape, a bunch of unsavory implications regarding the master/servant dynamic and generally phobic language from JC. Rape is about M-level explicit; oral - I think the reason it was rated as E was becauee of the squicky/triggery nature of it. Suggestion that there might have been more, but not explicitly clarified either way.

Slightly ambiguous/open ending; you know there will be a reckoning/resolution, but it's up to the audience to imagine in exactly what way. Very Dark JC; sort of Dark LWJ (if vengeance counts as dark), and WWX healing enough to be unforgiving.

Author's Note: This was really for my own catharsis so I am not interested in hearing about how your precious baby would never do something like this, thanks. And since someone asked: yes, I do hate JWY, but his shitty behavior is interesting because of how unhinged and shitty it is.

My Summary: This is, sadly, all-too believeable as an unwritten part of canon. It's kind of squicky; but I personally didn't find it explicit enough to be triggering. JC is VERY IC.

Mostly, I just really enjoyed WWX deciding that he's not interested in protecting JC anymore, and that he does deserve vengeance. Plus JC's fear when he realises what's coming for him is delicious.

Set Post-Canon (with a flashback to immediately after the fall of Lotus Pier); 4601 words.

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#grapehate #Jiang Cheng critical #Anti Jiang cheng #fic rec #fanfic #fic rec list #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #mdzs fic #mdzs fanfiction #mdzs fic rec #wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji

[ouyangzizhensdad]

i've debated with myself so much about madam yu and saw you rt that post defending her and i read it but it still didn't sit right with me, i'm not chinese but i am from one of those taugh love mom cultures and still find her extra bad, i asked a few chinese people who don't stan the book and they were horrified at the defense and said that it was not normal, sure she shows regular ch mom characteristics but she's like the hyperbole of a ch mom so does anyone own the monopoly of wha's normal?

Hi there anon, 

This is only my pov and I cannot speak from the perspectives of Chinese and Chinese diasporic people, nor for the people who wrote on the topic of Yu-furen (I can only speak of how I interpreted the posts I came across).

My understanding of the situation, however, is that they are not attempting to do with these posts what you are suggesting. You ask “does anyone own the monopoly of what’s normal”, which suggests you believe the posts meant to give a definitive answer on what is ‘normal’ behaviour, when in reality the posts seem to have been made with the opposite aim in mind: to remind people who do not share the cultural background of the intended audience of MDZS that there does not exist a single definition of what constitute “normal” behaviour and that fandom discussions dissecting every single action or word of Yu-furen’s toward any character to portray them as “clear signs of abuse” has been difficult to stomach and might even feel imperialistic for people who have been raised by parents who came from a cultural background where some of these very behaviours are not regarded as abusive.  

These posts, in general, have also seemed to attempt first to explain the nuances of Yu-furen’s relationship to WWX, which often gets wrongfully portrayed as her unequivocally being his adoptive mother or a legal guardian. She is not a mother figure to him and does not act toward him from that position. These have also aimed to remind people that the behaviours and care we feel are “owed” to “children” as a group are spatiotemporally specific, and influenced by a variety of factors--in this case, WWX being the child of a servant and a disciple of the sect. By reminding people that, in her position, in that specific spatiotemporal moment, Yu-furen would have been allowed to be much more extreme in her disciplining or could have simply refused to let WWX stay in Lotus Pier, what I feel these posters are doing is not telling Westerners that they personally think it would be appropriate behaviour towards a child, but rather highlighting that this means something wrt how Yu-furen is characterised in the context of the novel considering that the intended audience of the novel would be aware of that reality. Differently put, that it suggests a framing of Yu-furen as someone that does bark more than she bites even if she does bite. And aside from the irrelevant surface-level readings of Yu-furen as a sort of “girlboss” that seem to originate mostly from the CQL-verse in any case, I’ve never seen anyone suggest that she is irreproachable. All the serious analyses I’ve seen acknowledge that Yu-furen is meant to be a complicated figure or acknowledge that she abuses her authority in the sect by giving WWX punishments she does not bestow on other disciples. What they seem to disagree with is the ways western fans make sweeping generalisations and accusations without the relevant context, which comes off to them as insensitive and coming from a place of cultural ignorance.

Maybe it is time for a discussion that humanist thought, that which underlines so much of our modern understanding of rights and social progress, flattens spatiotemporal differences (or, as they often talked about, cultural differences), staying deeply rooted in Western supremacy when it aims to provide a single answer to what is right and what is a right. It can verge very easily into the evangelical and the imperialistic: we have only to look at the influence of the “global” LGBT movement has had on erasing  localised social organisations and identity markers by superposing themselves unto them as more intelligible ideas through which to barter for rights with the political class. Or worst, by having the “global” LGBT movement frame localised expressions of queerness as not progressive enough or harmful (sometimes I think back at Gaudio’s ethnography of queer men in the Hausa-speaking region of northern Nigeria, and how the men who took on the penetrative role in sex  generally switch to self-reference and being referenced in a feminine way and using “women’s talk”, and thinking “wow, they would be so cancelled or condescended to by tumblr kids 😬”). 

The point of this tangent is not to underline that everything about humanism or its influences on modern life are bad, but that it is an intellectual “tool” that can be do harm and be imperialistic and racist (since it is generally the White, Christian-adjacent, Western standards that are posited as the moral truth that defies differences in cultures and material contexts). And most of the discussions of what “adults” owe to “children” (ideas that are generally treated as homogeneous and clear-cut across time and space, as apriori categories), of what rights are owed to children, exist within these frameworks. Or, they might exist within the framework of “science,” as if science itself cannot be influenced by Western imperialism and researchers’ biases. Reading western language acquisition research and comparing it with cross-cultural ethnographic sociolinguistic research on language acquisition really highlights how some of the science that informs “good parenting” in the West is incapable of realising how much the material and cultural context of the West influences the results that are supposedly controlled. 

Or, again, the idea that science can help us define clearly and once and for all where the line between shitty actions and abuse, or discipline and abuse, should be drawn, is to me one that cannot be dissociated from a belief that science can provide us with definite truths about our existence as social animals as if these sort of truths were not inherently positioned and negotiated. It is an uncomfortable idea, isn’t it, to realise that two people can be against abuse but at the same time not draw the line at the same place? How do we best grapple with the discovery that “abuse” is not an apriori category but rather one that is constructed according to varying forms of positioned and shifting knowledge and experience? I do not have an answer, but I certainly think that fandom arguments will probably not be the best place for that level of philosophical discussions. 

To conclude, anon, I do want to acknowledge that your ask seems to come from a place of concern and perhaps even hurt. And that is perhaps why the posts from Chinese diasporic people in the fandom might appear to you as dismissive or flippant towards the interpretations of other fans of the novel. But perhaps without this prism of concern and/or hurt through which your perception of these analyses are filtered, you might have been able to notice a lot more nuance to their points than what your ask suggests. And that is not a criticism per se, but simply a reminder that, sometimes, some topics are difficult for us to approach clear-headed and to receive differing perspectives in good faith. In any case, I am certainly not the arbiter whose opinion on the topic will finally settle these debates, as such you might want in the future prefer to direct your questions (politely of course) to people who penned such analyses or who can speak from the relevant cultural perspective. If your aim in sending me this ask (because I reblogged a post you disagreed with) was to judge whether I passed your litmus test for being “morally just” to decide whether anything I have to say on any other topic is still worth paying attention to, well I suppose you now have your answer. 

#anon ask #abuse cw #fandom discussions #yu-furen #long post

[vermillioncrown]

thoughts on reverse transmigration with dbd characters?

many thoughts.

usually the love interest is reverse-transmigrated so... who?

what age are you bringing these people over?

is zyx going back to their modern first life? or do they know zyx but this life's zyx doesn't know them?

is this crack or is this semi-serious?

are they coming full-on 'i got lost from dragon con' or 'i'm a classmate that woke up with a whole 'nother life that i just remembered'?

if there is any iteration that modern-day zyx has to house more than one motherfucker. ANon. my guy. good, dear anon

why? zyx (i) is a poor grad student, floating above poverty line but one incident away from eating shit at all times. zyx (i) could ask their parents to help but what the fuck no they'd kill me

how do you even begin explaining anything

modern-day zyx (okay it's fucking me) i am beholden to so many people, that if even one fucking dude shows up i will have to explain myself to a minimum of eight people within three hours of the transmigrator making contact.

there's no room in my apartment. even pre-quarantine, it's a tight 3.5 people (3 + cat + friend who really really liked roommate #2 and basically lived w us) and only 1.5 bathrooms.

i'm gonna have to feed them. i love feeding people but on my terms and on my schedule only

the main inside joke of that time, between my friends, was '____ okay, then; pay rent'. how are they gonna pay rent???

if you're making zyx transfer back to their life after going through even a bit of their second life, congrats that's it you broke 'em. no longer a functional being.

(y'know, i always held a morbid curiosity of what happens after to the teens that become heroes; when they finish the hero's journey and need to come back to society. it must feel like living in a parallel dimension, like a ghost.)

also you're bringing the new love interest transmigrator along. into a place where i already have emotional ties, a partner, and a life we're building. like those romcom films where old quirky love interest breaks up long-time couple, it sucks for the collateral.

transmigrator lover-boy/girl, even if zyx has gotten as far as getting together with them in xianxia hell, if zyx wants to keep their mind intact: no more love.

=

the only way this won't be painful is if dbd zyx doesn't come over, but transmigrator does. they need to find the zyx equivalent and survive/whatever quest for a duration before they can return.

upon meeting zyx irl, zyx receives untraceable bank transfers that cover boarding this mf. they need to convince zyx (and her bf, and her roommates, and her friends, and her cat) to let them stay.

(dude, what the hell i'm fucking almost 30 i don't want to deal with no fucking teenybopper i got shit to do)

(i cannot imagine a dbd character around my age transmigrating that's happy, unless it's post-dbd if dbd isn't too bittersweet; thus i keep imagining teen/young adult transmigrator(s))

=

(or dbd zyx co-piloting modern zyx body to help, and will eventually leave)

=

OH FUCK THE LANGUAGE BARRIER

bro. 我的普通话很普通 okay??? even worse than that.

we'd be google translating shit this whole fucking time

=

is this a reverse-transmigration where mdzs will exist for them to see? that's ultra-messy. vetoed.

=

pre-quarantine i was at the lab for most of the day... and still taking classes. they can't tag along for work bc it's personnel-controlled based on clearance, and i can't protect them from being called on in a grad-level lecture. where do i put them??? Do they play video games at home?

do i have to work from home earlier than 2020?

=

you know, the easiest person to put up with is mianmian. and/or wen qing.

=

they'll really cut into my gym time

=

=

=

(in a very far-off extra post-possible-wangxian-ot3, this is a temporary scenario via the dream incense.

you know how the first incense extra was about lwj opening up to wwx, humanizing him, assuaging his deepest desires/worst fears?)

=

Her nose wrinkles and expression turns disdainful, as it always does when something was perceived odious. The scent?

Wei Ying discreetly sniffs the incense burner. Perhaps due to it not being the customary sandalwood they both have grown used to, within the Jingshi?

Zhu Lin is oddly sensitive to things as such.

"Unfortunately, this one has some records to peruse," she said, grabbing Lan Zhan's zhongyi and waiyi to quickly cover up and head towards the library. No one would bother stopping either of Hanguang-Jun's special guests. "Enjoy the night," she adds, fingers dance across Wei Ying's jaw, an appreciative stare over Lan Zhan's form and a small uptick of the mouth, before leaving.

Still so modest, Wei Ying smiles and briefly holds where she touched, who could have imagined? He turns his attention from the door to Lan Zhan, whose eyes' gleam intensify with the light of the rising moon. Wei Ying sets the incense burner down and saunters over to his half-dressed lover, letting his red hair ribbon fall like a caress down his body.

Despite their third being absent, it does not preclude the remaining pair from activities.

=

When they wake, it is to discover that they fell asleep between further disrobing and settling on the bed while kissing. There is nothing to lament - both Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were thoroughly undone within their shared dream, satisfied in all ways. It is a first that both he and Lan Zhan awaken at the same time - at the hour of compromise between their usual habits.

Lan Zhan's eyes blink, and Wei Ying can see his mind rubbed raw and tender. He grabs his hands with reassurance, and Lan Zhan slowly tightens the grip in security and affection.

=

Zhu Lin is still reading her records in the library, annotating in another notebook simultaneously. She makes a noise of acknowledgment when Wei Ying announces that a late breakfast (or early lunch) will be in the Jingshi.

"Almost done," she mumbles, her speech turning casual in midst of concentration, "I will likely take a nap after. In a bit, A-Ying."

"Don't let it get cold, okay?"

"Mhhm." A glare at the book. "Fuckin - ..." her mumbles become incomprehensible.

Both he and Lan Zhan have appointments, and it is not until the sun is halfway to the horizon that they have an opportunity to check on Zhu Lin in the Jingshi.

She lays not on the bed, but on the floor in front of the table and curled under the borrowed robes of last night. Lunch has been picked clean. Lan Zhan hurries to their third's side, driven by the sight and the immensity of his sentiment.

"Ah, don't move her - you know she's comfortable there," Wei Ying laughs. He settles down next to her form, legs stretching out.

Lan Zhan sighs and pulls the thickest layer higher on Zhu Lin's shoulder. "I know." And then he freezes while looking around the room. "The incense burner -"

It was still burning. Rather, likely the disciple delivering their meal saw the incense reached its end, and decided to replace it.

What an opportunity! Wei Ying catches Lan Zhan's eyes, and their thoughts are as one, as always.

=

Wei Ying sees Lan Zhan before anything else. There is nothing else to see.

"As Zhu Lin has said, many years ago, 'those who tell tales usually have no actions to speak for them'," he starts with relish.

"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan admonishes without true reproach.

"Passion hides within the admired but secretive Zhu-gongzi," Wei Ying continues, "like my Lan-er-gege. Shall we wager to what depths?"

Lan Zhan does not respond, but Wei Ying can feel the heat radiating from him. His earlobes have flushed as though they were plucked until bruised. "She..."

The dreamscape materializes in front of them.

It... is an alien one. Gray, smooth expanse - stone-like yet shaped unlike stone. It paves the surrounding land. Neat buildings of wood and translucent glass sit before them, imposing in their regularity. Beyond that, the dreamscape is unformed.

No one is around, but it was the same with Wei Ying's dreams - until they found their counterparts.

A single door opens.

Lan Zhan turns a glance at him, and Wei Ying answers the silent question by following barely a step behind.

The inside of the building is no less puzzling. Dim from the curtains, but not derelict. Compact, packed, and Wei Ying can start to guess at the furnishings. Some of them, he amends, seeing an obsidian-black slab that reflects a warped image of the two in the entranceway.

"A dwelling," Lan Zhan says. "A residence."

"We barely saw Shuangfeng that discussion conference, didn't we?" Wei Ying thinks out loud. "And Zhu Lin has never mentioned her clan's estate."

They both mull it over, and while there is not an answer more probable -

It is a curious place. Still devoid of others as they wander its modest space. A room takes on an odd violet glow, and when they peek inside it is a room of porcelain and small potted plants.

A mirror, polished crystal and glass, shows their wide-eyed stares directed right back.

It starts to become unsettling. There is another landing in this dwelling, and they walk up the floors with woolen texture, hearing wood creak below. Another violet room, larger and a recessed basin - some sort of washroom, then.

Two doors stand closed on either side of them.

One door is locked, no matter how Wei Ying tries to coax it. The second one gives with a gentle push. It is a personal suite. Shadows dance from the sunlight streaming in.

"It's a bit cramped, isn't it?" Wei Ying comments, looking around.

"Workspace," Lan Zhan points out. "Not unlike Wei Ying's."

It holds truth. The room is packed with shelves along most of the walls, furnished densely. Bits of clothing draped for airing, bursting full wardrobes, and tables seated with strange black chairs that cannot be anything but workspaces. One table holds a plethora of little figurines, the details on them intricate and their coloring done so finely. Another obsidian-like slab on the table. Brushes more fine than the most delicate of calligraphy brushes, small pots of pigment haphazardly arranged.

The second table, which Wei Ying nearly missed but Lan Zhan inspects first, is covered with the same reflective slabs. Small ornaments litter the tiered surface of this table, all variety of implements and tools. The lower tier is stacked with papers precariously, impressive in their snow-white color and sharp, crisp forms. Upon them, there is writing and diagrams so esoteric that Wei Ying cannot begin to guess at their contents.

"... looks familiar, despite -" Lan Zhan picks up one of the papers. "If this residence is Zhu Lin's, then this must be her work."

"So diligent!" He can see the same pattern with how her strokes linger and drag, but the emphasis is on utility and speed. "Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan - did you pick up more than naughty words from our Zhu Lin?"

"Ridiculous," Lan Zhan responds, but again there is no heat and the earlobes reveal all. He sets the paper back down neatly.

"She's always been like this, then?" Wei Ying laughs fondly.

They turn their attention to the final section of the room. An opaque canopy flutters from the window breeze, shielding whatever is behind it from view.

"Shall you? Or shall I?" Wei Ying drawls, his heart beating with anticipation. Likely, the fun will begin here.

Lan Zhan is no less eager than he, and reaches one hand to sweep aside the curtain.

=

A woman lies on the bed behind the curtains. Lan Zhan nearly flinches back from the immodest state of dress, and Wei Ying himself has to steady his breathing and hold the apology on his tongue.

Fabric so thin, wrapped around flesh so obscenely, even walking out with one's inner robes would be more polite. He averts his gaze. Short trousers, barely a loincloth at this point, cover this woman's lower half. Healthy in form, well-proportioned, skin the color of diluted honey.

She is alive. She breathes. She is part of the dream.

She is asleep. Her hair - long and unruly, vibrantly colored like everything else in this dreamscape, black blending to a flushed pink like blossoms on a branch - obscures her features. Slim hands, slender fingers tangle in the pink strands like another curtain pulled shut for privacy.

Wei Ying can make out the glint of precious metal on the one exposed ear, and near her mouth.

Through these observations, she continues to sleep, languid and curled like a large tiger.

"You two."

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan turn, the surprise of someone living in this almost-unmoving dream jolting them into awareness.

Zhu Lin stands before them, dressed in Lan Zhan's robes like last night. Wei Ying is about to call out a greeting, but -

Her expression is blank. No warmth, no sly smile. Eyes watchful, posture yielding the pretense of being casual while leaning against the doorframe.

He can feel Lan Zhan tense next to him. Lan Zhan has always been more perceptive of the nuances in Zhu Lin's moods.

"This one must ask you two to step away from that woman."

Because Lan Zhan's hold on his wrist grows taut, Wei Ying does not argue and moves with Lan Zhan.

Given space in the cramped room, Zhu Lin walks over towards the bed. The few steps she takes are measured, restrained, but in a way that Wei Ying cannot help thinking she wants nothing more than to dart over.

She reaches the bed. They cannot see her expression from behind, as she stares down at the woman for a while.

Finally, she pulls the curtains shut.

"... who is she?" Lan Zhan dares to ask in the heavy silence.

"Lan-er-gongzi, is it not obvious?" Zhu Lin turns around. Her face holds the terrible smile she only puts on when forced into a fight she must desperately win.

"That is me."

#zyx au's #mdzyx #RT au #on mrts #on dbd #Anonymous #inquiry #dbd what if #my defining trait is getting stressed about things that aren't even happening #i'm too practical for reverse-transmigration #you can go feed a bunch of teenagers on a shit salary and get back to me on that #if i had to house zhou le i'd be twisting that mf's ear #wait can i claim them as dependents for my tax refund??? #enjoy the whatever this is #zyx will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into being known

[coaxionunlimited]

Moderately Rare Untamed/MDZS Fic Recs

For when you find fic from sorting by kudos, but you’ve got tag fatigue and you want to read something new. Or, hey, maybe you just want some MDZS fic recs. I’m not here to judge. * means it’s incomplete, for those of you that care.

Obligatory WangXian Category:

crack in the mirror by the_pretzel*: The premise of this one is that Wei Wuxian gets transported from the modern world into a mystery novel series, set in ancient China. But he’s in the body of a character that’s about to get married, and then murdered by his husband. So he breaks the engagement by starting a new one with Lan Wangji and then the first chapter ends. This one is a rollercoaster. WWX soon discovers that his character’s been keeping secrets, and he’s got to figure them out if he wants to get out of this alive. If there was a best drama award for fics, this one would get it. Every chapter has me on the edge of my seat in a different way, as WWX gets out of one mess only to find himself in a bigger one. And that doesn’t even touch on the romance - this is one of the ones where you can just about feel all the pining LWJ is doing, even though it’s WWX pov and he’s oblivious to all of it. Honestly, this fic is the reason this rec list exists.

set your old heart free series by words-writ-in-starlight: Do you like crying? I like crying. That’s why I’m recommending this series to you, so you can cry too! I’m putting this under WangXian, because it’s a story about Lan Wangji and you can’t really have LWJ without the pining, but the real core of the story is the family LWJ has built in Cloud Recesses. Lan Shizui and Lan Xichen, and eventually (because this series starts just after WWX dies - what, I did say I liked crying) Wei Wuxian joins in. There’s even a little Wen Ning! If you like having feelings and also any of the characters I’ve mentioned, like, at all, this series is worth checking out.

The Terminus of Gravity by sealdog: Every fandom needs a space opera au, and sealdog delivers. This is pretty much a strait transportation of the plot of canon to the future and also space, with a side of epistolary and Wen remnants family time, and I’ll stop there because I don’t really want to spoil it. I’m a huge sucker for melancholy and pining and also well written space operas, because even if the premise isn’t your game, it is well written, and it’s worth a read.

Tales from Bunny Mountain by telarna: Lan sect turns into bunnies because of an excess of yin ener- look, we get Lan Zhan as a bunny with bonus Lan Shizui as a bunny. Do you really care why? This is another one of those fics that’s in the WangXian section because if LWJ and WWX are in a fic together, some things just come naturally, but the real draw for me is- well, I’m not going to lie, most of the draw was LWJ as a bunny, but I stayed with the fic for Jin Ling. Good Jin Ling characterization and a lovely, mischievous WWX, who also happens to be a very good uncle. And we have Lan sect as bunnies. Terrible, troublesome bunnies. 11/10, a must read.

through a window softly by impossibletruths: Okay, finally, we finish off the WangXian section with a fic that is actually about WangXian, not just featuring it prominently. through a window softly is a college au where LWJ and WWX are two different types of music major and also neighbors. WWX plays flute and LWJ plays violin and sometimes they stand outside their apartments and play together and pine for the mystery person that’s playing music with them. Look, they fall in love through playing music together, I’ve been looking for a fic like this since WWX first pulled out his flute in canon. There’s misunderstandings and identity porn, if you need some excellent bonus reasons to click this one, and I enjoyed both of those immensely. But what I really, truly loved was WangXian and love and music, and the intersection of all three.

Nie Huaisang: gen edition. Because I have a favorite character and that’s your problem now.

Mistakes We Made by Rachel3*: Nie Huaisang travels back in time and decides to prevent his brother’s death. This is the Nie Huaisang fic for me. I love love love his characterization here. Rachel3 strikes the delicate balance between the sweet kid he once was and the mastermind he grows up to be, making him competent but not an OP genius and sympathetic but not, like, a very good person. The plot is complex and realistic, tackling the sort of complex struggles (both interpersonal and large scale) that time travel fics very rarely bother with. If you've ever been curious about NHS, if you’ve ever even wanted to know him slightly better, this is the fic for you.

The Lost Cause by KouriArashi: AU in which Nie Huaisang and Jin Guangyao work together to take down Jin Guangshan from the beginning. I recommended the last fic for good characterization. I can’t in good conscience say the same for this fic, but that’s kind of the point. If you’re tired of moderation and realism and just want someone to take the hammer and fix canon already, this is the story for you. It’s hilarious and cathartic, and manages to be totally lighthearted even though it’s 100% about murder and manipulation. 

say those words (it’s not forgotten) by paranoid_fridge: This is edging on too well known for this list, but hey! My recs, my rules. And this is an absolute must read for everyone ever. If you haven’t read it, you should, and if you have read it, you can probably stand to do it again. This is a story about Nie Huaisang’s birthday. It’s a slice of life story, and a character study, and a little bit of a feel good hurt comfort fic, and it does all of those things magnificently. The author tags every relationship in this fic except the one braincell trio, which is a shame because it really is a NHS & WWX & JC fic, and if you weren’t craving one of those then why are you in this fandom? Why are you on my reclist? 

SangCheng is my OTP and that is also your problem: 

best behavior by inberin: I might as well take this space to recommend the whole sangcheng revenge au (dancing ashes under the sun (will cast their shadow when the winds rise) by paranoid_fridge really is the fic for it, but it’s too well known to make this list). The premise is simple, Jiang Cheng lost his golden core, the Wens won, and Nie Huaisang is taking them down from the inside with JC as his right hand man. best behavior makes the list for JC and NHS trolling each other (my favorite part of any sangcheng fic), and the lovely angst of two teenagers who grew up much too fast. The writing style of this one is lovely and poetic, the imagery is on point, and the sangcheng chemistry is the best.

Of Trespassing and Table Slams by LiteralistSin: I’ve put a fluffy fic in every category so far, and it’s SangCheng’s turn. There’s not much plot to this one, just SangCheng trying to outmaneuver each other and NHS being a little shit, and JC getting to win for once. Oh, yeah, and NHS gets kissed on a table. Everything my SangCheng loving heart needs.

everything rynleaf has ever written:  I’m putting this one under sangcheng because rynleaf has three sangcheng fics, and I couldn’t pick just one. Really though, you should at least check out What Remains of Meng Yao too, if you like crying. The sangcheng fics all strike the lovely balance between sangcheng tension and trolling each other and really truly sincerely caring about each other beneath all of it. Rynleaf writes some of the sweetest Jiang Cheng you ever did see, even when you’re looking through NHS’ jaded eyes. NHS is great here too, in all his secrets and his magnificent bastardry, you can just feel the smug smile he’s got on in every scene.

our footsteps sing a reckless serenade by ThirtySixSaveFiles: Because I cannot believe this one has so few kudos. Seriously, it’s a 46,000 word long modern with magic au where Jiang Cheng and NHS have an arranged marriage and fall in love. And that’s not even getting into the intrigue and the secrets NHS is keeping, and the murder mystery- There’s a lot of reasons to love this fic, and you definitely want to read it and discover all of them.

#wangxian #the untamed #mdzs #nie huaisang #sangcheng #fic recs