#(i will call it the yanli influence)

[elspethdixon]

Okay I’ve thought about this for another five minutes and now I want the MDZS/SVSSS crossover where WWX still invents his own unique ghost cultivation path, but where Madame Yu does traditional demonic cultivation because she’s a literal demon from the Abyss (the Violet Spider because she’s an actual spider demon, maybe). She fell in love with a human cultivator and entrapped him into marriage against his will and is now going to make her dissatisfaction with the human realm all Jiang Cheng’s problem.

Everyone is sure that Wei Wuxian was making all those heretical suggestions in class at Cloud Recesses because the Jiang sect are literally in bed with demons. The Jiang heir is even half-demon! And since both JC and WWX lack LBH’s magic stallion-novel protagonist halo, it means they’re both subject to extra scrutiny. JC had better be the most conventional righteous cultivator ever to overcome the suspicion caused by having demon blood and a demon mom and WWX and his “but what if?” questions aren’t helping!

This situation only heightens JC’s issues about his father favoring WWX, of course. Of course his father wishes he had a non-demonic heir. Madame Yu’s talk about how Jiang Cheng isn’t good enough for Jiang Fengmian sounds even more plausible when there’s an actual objective reason for it.

The Jiang sect leader being married to a demon/potential demonic influence in the Jiang sect is the excuse the Wens use to go after them. Jiang Cheng’s core built up by years of righteous cultivation is crushed, but luckily for him, his demon heritage means there’s another way for him to form a core.

Wei Wuxian doesn’t need to make his dramatic sacrifice, though he still does all the research hoping that he can prevent Jiang Cheng from having to resort to the demonic path. But this time around, Wen Qing isn’t willing to do the transfer, because Jiang Cheng’s half-demon body might not even accept a fully human core - his body might just consume it demon-style and then he’d be doing demonic cultivation anyway and WWX would have made the sacrifice for nothing.

Wei Wuxian still ends up captured by the Wens, gets his core crushed, and the whole burial mound + cultivating with resentful energy to survive series of events happens just like in canon. Except this time Jiang Cheng doesn’t have Wei Wuxian’s golden core. He has his own core, reformed and regrown one defeated enemy at a time, and with each battle in the Sunshot Campaign he grows more powerful.

When Wei Wuxian returns from the burial mounds, he knows what his brother has been doing as soon as he sees him, and there’s no reason not to tell Jiang Cheng and Yanli all about it. Instead of demonic cultivation driving WWX and JC apart, they bond. They’ve both taken the “wrong” path to survive, even though their paths, both called “demonic cultivation,” are very different at base, they’re equally unacceptable and tainted in the eyes of the cultivation world and there’s no reason for Wei Wuxian to separate himself from the Jiang sect. He and his ghost general become the Lotus Demon’s left and right hands.

Shijie has always been very empathetic, and her demonic heritage means she’s sensitive to resentful energy, too (said heritage is why Jin Zixun originally rejected her). She was never able to properly cultivate the righteous human way, her demon traits were too strong, and forming a core the demonic way wasn’t allowed, but for a demon it’s never too late to start - WWX has his first necromancer apprentice.

Lotus Pier will never be accepted among the other sects again, but it doesn’t matter. The Demonic Sect Leader and his necromancer siblings are unstoppable.

#mdzs #au idea #what if literal demonic cultivation as in SVSSS-style demons #wherein madame yu is a demon and that changes everything #jc will reform his core one dead enemy at a time

[sasukimimochi]

i wanna ramble about my view on JC but i'm so bad at words

so like, i see posts where people talk about these things JC does or WWX holds back from, i don't wanna go searching but also want to leave these details out cuz i don't want to accidentally call people out cuz that is not my intention (not that i have the audience to do something like that) so i'm just gonna go from my memory and kinda summarize what i think abt him...

gonna add a read more line bc this gets long!

Uh, btw please no hostility i'm not trying to start arguments, these are just my thoughts i really wanted to get out there. i'm definitely no therapist or psychologist so take this with a grain of salt, this is the view of just an average reader who retains a lot of info [tho still manages to miss details at times]. Anyway if you have info you think i should have addressed, reply and i'll make additions if i agree/want to expand on the info presented to me!

So, WWX and JC have a weird thing going on, it's not exactly brothers but they definitely wanted that, the reason why i say they aren't solidly brothers is because i'm pretty sure Madam Yu has influenced JC from the start of his arrival which is why he doesn't call wwx a-xian or Wei Ying or A-Ying- Why he doesn't allow himself to let loose properly around anyone even in private, why he constantly scolds wwx, etc. i believe firmly he's been quite influenced by his parents due to him being the next sect heir and the pressure that comes from it, as well as what he feels like madam yu is correct on- wwx is uncle jiang's favorite.

Madam Yu still chides Yanli for doing domestic acts for WWX but not on the same level as JC, who is constantly under pressure by her to be the perfect heir to the sect. She wants him to be better than WWX, which of course affects all of the family but Yanli gets left out of the fire a bit, which i think is what gives her such a strength to do these supportive acts for the brothers [and why she's also both the brother's favorite. She's basically the mom they wish for. Supportive, understanding, and helps mediate them]. Though this is a burden she has to bear, it's not that big of a burden to her because she loves the two so much.

Jiang Fengmian... i might be spelling his name wrong, so i'll call him Uncle Jiang cuz it will be faster for me to type with no mistakes haha. Anyway, I have complicated feelings about him.

At first i thought he was great and did no wrong, but that was on my first pass and when i had just watched the donghua only. My opinion of him since i read the novel isn't bad, but it's not super good. He's in a complicated position! There's only so much he can do about his wife, they argue super often and while its not usually crazy loud, it's pretty intense. [also, i'm not sure if separation is really a thing that happened back then, i think that's really a modern thing.] I feel like we're likely seeing Uncle Jiang's will to fight dimmed down by the wear of time.

Consider: you have a family member who won't ever listen to what you say, regardless how sound your argument is- you can be completely in the right and have all the facts, but no matter how long you press on, the result never changes. Do you put in the same amount of effort for the rest of your life? No! You understand that no matter how much you argue that their answer will remain the same. I personally have a family member like this, and while i defend myself regularly, it does not go anywhere. That is the nature of some people, no matter what they may not treat your view with the respect it deserves.

anyway back to the main line here, i dont think wwx is wrong about what he said regarding JF to JC. "he's just hard on you cuz you're going to be sect leader" or whatever it was along those lines- WWX does not seem like the type to lie to make someone feel better and i think this is why JC appreciates that conversation so much (besides the heartfelt twin prides which is obviously something that stuck to him for a long time). And i agree, JF is definitely trying to prepare Jiang Cheng for his position as sect leader one day.

do i think Uncle Jiang is completely guilt free of favoritism? No absolutely not, he canonically holds wwx more as a child, which i think is hard to argue against- but i do think the context of that is missed in part by most. WWX may have been a bright kid with sun shining out his ass but he was also a scared kid that just got rescued off the streets after his parents never came home. A kid that was fighting for food from dogs and likely starving and scared because he was on the street for like 5 years [if i remember it was from age 4 to 9 in the novel]. Of course he got held a bit more- i can't imagine he would be completely unphased immediately upon arrival, at least with his Uncle Jiang who was totally willing to provide him comfort- which wwx probably desperately missed from his now dead parents. We know canonically that the memory of those parents, however small, is unreplaceable and dear to wwx- but having JF treat him dearly is truly a balm to what has happened to him.

I'm not gonna say JC didn't go through things that made him cry and want to be held, in fact if WWX came into the house and suddenly got a lot of attention, it's going to feel pretty shitty for JC! Of course this combined with abruptly losing his privacy and puppies was what initially had him pushing the other away, but as you could see, after WY breaks his leg after running off and they make up, they get really close and despite this looming responsibility and family troubles, the two are very bonded. imo making them look like 6 year olds in the donghua is an injustice to their relationship, because 9 year olds tend tend to have more emotional intelligence (?) at that age. I'm not sure how to phrase that, but basically making them look younger and act like giggling children took away from the scene a bit for me lol. Jc is old enough to realize he doesn't dislike wwx! This isn't a child quickly getting over his anger, he's young here yes, but he's decided in this moment that he cares about this new member of the family, despite being called the son of a servant. [which yes madam yu is once again influencing his view of this segregation but i think he is much better at ignoring this particular in his youth]

I am rambling more than i thought i would lmao- i have a lot of feelings about their relationship and i think it's skipped over so much

um, i'm not sure which direction i was going in before i went onto the parents. Let's skip forward.

lotus pier fell and not only did JC see wwx get humiliated and whipped and nearly disfigured, his mother who he was about to lose blamed wwx for so much. When you lose a family member you have an attachment to, whether it bad or good, this influences your thoughts about them and with no way to resolve said thoughts. i find this hard to explain, so i'm just going to hope you understand what i'm referring to here. Especially in ancient china though, i believe it's a big thing to hold such a high regard for your parents, but especially if they have passed? i can't say this is fact but i believe that is the case i just am sticking to my memory here. So these things in combination with Trauma, i believe starts this heavy, negative emotion in JC that is hard to unstick.

JC and WWX may get into a one-sided scuffle but soon after they cry together like children. They just experienced hundreds of lives lost- people they grew up with and trained with and cared for as well as the people who provided and cared for them- their family was unstable, but still was a family and support system- now they had only two people and one of them was far away, the one that was typically their pillar. I feel like a lot of people hold JC to an impossible standard in his situation- having a bad day and taking it out on someone is one thing, going through a traumatic massacre i think allows someone to get a bit unreasonable [though of course nearly choking him was quite far, remember, he's extremely unstable emotionally at this point].

"WWX didn't do that though!" of course not. WWX is a different person with a different personality, is older (though i don't know by how much), and is extremely resilient, but he does process his trauma just differently. As you see over and over in the novel, wwx goes through many things others wouldn't dream of, but he starts acting differently even before the golden core removal, not only after. He's going through the same things, but i'm pretty sure no one reacts to trauma the same way to the T. JC's just happens to be misplaced anger, which is probably way too simple a way to put it, but anyway...wwx also gets angry. very angry. The two both have the correct target of anger in the end, despite Jc's breakdown. He still harbors his mother's words, but at this point they're still in the background of his mind.

Now again we go forward- JC willingly sacrifices himself for WWX. Look, if he doesn't like wwx at all i think this is extremely contradictory. even if he was s*icidal, he could have chose other ways to get to that end if that was the case. and a gentle reminder that JC perks back up and is ready to fight once he believes WWX knows how to fix his core! i don't think he was truly wanting to die or anything like that until he thought he had lost everything except wwx and jyl. He believes in wwx's strength despite his constant fear of inferiority, so if he was gone, what would it matter if wwx was there to continue to protect yanli?

Essentially he was like 'well what are we going to do if i can't lead the sect? We would be in a homeless situation and there is a war.' aka there's not a lot of hope all around, i don't think he was only upset about the core, but it was definitely the main force because if he didn't have a core, how would he survive what was happening anyway? he's like 'if i'm gonna die let it be on my terms' yk? He also doesn't feel like he's strong enough before he lost his core to protect anyone. Without it? fat chance.

whew... this is a lot already, so maybe i'll post this and do a part two later addressing YLLZ arc, then the "present" one. i just have a lot of feelings about their relationship and i'm sad to see so much negativity around him...JC is quite flawed, but a lot of the characters are flawed! that doesn't make them bad characters, it makes them interesting and human.

#sasu speaks #discussion #my ✨ opinions ✨ and facts pulled from novel canon #no discourse please i will simply die #i don't handle discourse well at all #i hope this doesn't feel like discourse god pls #i truly just want my views out there #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #wei ying #jiang wanyin #madam yu #jiang fengmian #jiang yanli #yunmeng siblings #uhhh idk what else to tag #so lets just leave it there #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation

[bnnywngs]

reached 500 posts today, so here's some treat for you guys 💙

←⁠(⁠>⁠▽⁠<⁠)⁠ﾉ

[LIFESTYLE] Lan Wangji announces engagement with influencer Wei Wuxian after leaked photos

by Su Minshan

On the last Thursday (12), an anonymous account on Weibo leaked photos of Lan Wangji and influencer Wei Wuxian on a high-end restaurant in Thailand, in what appeared to be a date.

Earlier this evening (20), the Lan Wangji's official Weibo account published a note announcing his engagement.

[picture of statement]

Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji's older brother and current CEO of Cloud Recesses conglomerate, has shared pictures with the couple in his personal account in a show of support. As well as the Jiang siblings, Jiang Wanyin and Jiang Yanli, together with the Jin heir and Jiang Yanli's fiancee, Jin Zixuan. Fashion Designer and heir of Nie Security, Nie Huaisang, had a different approach and shared a selfie with a caption saying he's, supposedly, the one who's going to design the couple's attire.

Wei Wuxian got his fame through social media, sharing pictures and videos of tourism and local cuisine, as well as vlogs of his life and tips to get discounts on expensive places. Getting more noticed when befriended Nie Huaisang, going to clubs and bars together in recent videos.

We tried to contact Lan Wangji's uncle and former Cloud Recesses' CEO, Lan Qiren, but haven't received an answer until the closing of this article.

Comments

[+1] a gold digger

[+7] definitely a gold digger

[+11] it's so obvious i had to laugh

[+31] if i had known it was so easy to fish a rich boy i would have done it since the beginning, sigh

[+40] i used to look up to him so much, but he's so dumb what the hell, and his brother supports this? even after his own scandal with that jin bastard??

-

"Ugh I hate it here." Wei Wuxian whined, slumping against the kitchen island and almost falling off the high stool.

"Are you reading comments on the internet, A-Ying?" his mother looked over her shoulder while cutting fruit beside the sink.

"...No..."

"Stop lying, you're bad at it."

"Ugh!"

Cangse Sanren chuckled and put the knife down "What are they saying?"

"I'm a gold digger, Lan Zhan's dumb, variations of that. They're even trying to drag Huan-ge's down again." Wei Wuxian pouted, waiting for his plate of bunny shaped apple slices.

"You? A gold digger?" Cangse Sanren laughed loudly, drying her hands "As if!"

"What are you laughing at, now?" another voice joined them.

"Baba! Mama is making fun of me!" Wei Wuxian whined loudly.

"Is she?" Wei Changze lifted an eyebrow in amusement.

"Our A-Ying is being called a gold digger by strangers on the internet." Cangse Sanren chuckled.

"Our son, a gold digger?" Wei Changze repeated in a flat voice "That's something I wanted to see."

"Hey! Stop making fun of me! I'm your son! You're supposed to love me unconditionally and protect me! You cruel, cruel, parents!"

The couple only laughed together.

"Should we leak information, then?" Wei Changze suggested, stealing a bunny apple from his son's plate.

-

[EXCLUSIVE] Wei Wuxian, the formerly anonymous heir of the Sanren fortune

by Luo Qingyang

Baoshan Sanren, as she is known publicly, is the most venerated politician of modern times. Winner of a Nobel prize of peace after helping those in need in various forms. Talked about in history books, as well as many authorized and unauthorized books written about her.

She is also has one of the biggest fortune in our country and in the world.

Since her rise in the political scene, Baoshan Sanren was and still is a very private person who shares little to nothing about her personal life. We know she married and then lost her husband in a earthquake, and that they had two children of unknown gender and age.

Until this week, when Baoshan Sanren's PR finally answered our emails.

Cangse Sanren, as she is to be known publicly, is the eldest daughter, married with a son. She is mainly known as "The clear sky after the rain", author of many popular books. Her husband is Jiang Corp. currently CEO, Jiang Fengmian's former right hand and rumored to be his half-brother, who left corporate life to get married.

Wei Wuxian is their son.

Although he is known as a social media influencer, few has the knowledge that he has a master's degree in engineer, and has patented various things throughout his life. Starting university when still a teenager and meeting his fiancee, a freshman at that time, in the music club later on as he was already a senior, close to graduate.

Wei Wuxian, following his grandmother steps, helps the less fortunate, giving free classes during summer, and paying the school fees of orphans.

Baoshan Sanren's youngest child wishes to remain unknown to the public, as they are still young.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's wedding is supposed to be a quiet and intimate affair, with only their loved ones present. We wish the couple a happy marriage.

Comments

[+10] oh my god

[+21] this is what they call a plot twist

[+26] wei wuxian is richer than lan wangji, holy shit

[+33] the guy was born legendary, we had no chance

[+54] i have no words, not only he's rich but he's also a good person?? how is this possible??

#mdzs #wangxian #wei wuxian #wei ying #lan wangji #lan zhan #cangse sanren x wei changze #wwx's parents are alive #modern mdzs #mdzs sects as companies #rich wwx #WHY THAT'S NOT A TAG #they're not idols just socialities #eat the rich #that means lwj eating wwx out #wangxian imagine #brief xiyao #i kinda love writing like this?? #author regrets nothing #happy 500 posts for me #my writing #bnnywngs writing #mdzs headcanons #mdzs imagine #i need to update my fics #maybe meng yao was the one who leaked the pics in revenge after being thrown out from their circle #working with su she obviously #cr conglomerate as in all kinds of schools universities and conservatory #mdzs fanfiction

[ddanmeissu]

i need someone i can yell at about my very niche tma au ;w;

(see me playing fast and loose between tma lore and mdzs canon under the cut wheeee~)

this is part headcanon, part drabble, all-around mess. just dont think too hard about it please

the classification of each entity isn’t fully documented yet, smirke’s 14 doesn’t exist, but each major clan has a specific fear that called their founders. there are also some entities haven’t been identified yet so a lot of fears bleed into each other 

they’re still cultivators here. they’re cultivating fear.

golden cores are the physical manifestation of your connection with your god within your body. the more you feed it, the more connected you are to your patron, the more powerful you become.

each clan is a powerhouse to a specific entity but their disciples can be touched by multiple entities (and honestly, i cant make everyone a slaughter avatar) only the sect leader needs to be fully devoted to their fear god

Gusu Lan = Beholding, Qinghe Nie = Slaughter, Yunmeng Jiang = Hunt, Lanling Jin = Stranger, and Qishan Wen = Desolation

wei wuxian was once heavily touched by the hunt. his mother a famous Huntress and rogue cultivator and his father a servant and close friend to the sect of The Everchase

jiang cheng’s Hunt core is slightly weaker but its fine because they are of the same pack. they are partners, brothers in everything but blood, and will hunt down anyone who dares to hurt the other.

jiang yanli isn’t an avatar, not marked by the hunt but touched by the Hive, manifesting more on the love/belonging and family aspect rather than the filth aspect

i have more Thots about the family aspects between hive/hunt and how they are both very possessive on who they call their Persons but expresses it different ways that mirror jyl and jc but that’s for a different post

during their time in the cloud recesses they meet a quiet watcher who wwx immediately zones in on him as his new “prey”.

lan wangji is silent and knowledgeable as is expected from a disciple of the beholding, but there is a certain chill around him that other eye avatars do not have

wwx stalks the poor boy, pounces on him whenever he manages to catch him alone, and is just a general disturbance all-around.

he does not feel the Eyes that sometimes watch him when he is alone.

lan xichen does not need the beholding’s power to see the way his brother looks at the young hunter disciple. he is pleased to feel the cold surrounding the jingshi has lessened. shufu seems perplexed and torn.

wwx’s also has his eye on jin zixuan, the pompous plastic peacock that’s engaged to his shijie. he isn’t actually allowed to hunt him down so he settles on dismembering the lifeless mannequins that he uses as servants.

(playing with the timeline here) they get kicked out when a text is destroyed within the Library Pavilion even though it was just a pornography book (any kind of knowledge is still knowledge) and even though it was lwj who destroyed it (the eye had punished him severely for that).

the desolation!wen are attempting to bring The Scourged Earth into the world. they burn down the cloud recesses “in the name of ‘cleaning up the place’ so that it would be ‘reborn from the firelight.’” ( - directly from the mdzs wiki)

the xuanwu of slaughter is an ancient manifestation of, well, the slaughter and cannot be reasoned with.

(”Lan Zhan, can you See anything?” “No. My connection with The Beholding has been greatly severed.” “Oh. well.. Uh, it’s kinda foggy in here huh? Here have my outer robe, you look kinda cold.” “…Mn.”)

lotus pier burns and jiang cheng loses his core. wwx asks flesh!wen qing for help because only an avatar of the flesh (the boneturner, though that isn’t its name yet) is able to carve open another avatar long enough to take something out and place it somewhere else.

jiang cheng immediately becomes a fully-fledged avatar using wwx’s hunt-influenced core. it manifests as strong bloodlust against the wens, fear of being seen as weak prey by the other clans, (and later, hunting down wwx and other end-aligned cultivators.)

wwx gets thrown in the burial mounds. he is dead for three whole months. and then he wakes up.

his hunter core is gone but that’s fine. he is alive not because he wants to but because he has to. when he is awake, he calls upon the dead to exact his revenge. the wens are defeated and everyone is in frightened awe of the new being that he has unwillingly become. when he is asleep, black tendrils of death plague his dreams. He relives the horrible memories of his own and others’ deaths. sometimes he can feel someone watching him but cannot see them in return.

wei wuxian is alive but he is not part of jiang cheng’s pack anymore. he does not follow them out on hunts anymore, doesn’t even bother to stay within the residences. he isn’t part of their pack anymore, abandoned their patron for something else more powerful, and for what? he feels resentment brewing inside him. resentment and fear.

wwx knew not to trust the polished and waxed faces of the jins. all the wen remnants are non-avatars, barely touched by anything other than the fear the jins had instilled by themselves. they do not deserve this cruelty, to be both entertainment and livestock for the rest of the cultivation world. it is true that death comes for everyone, but wwx will not let these people die at the hands of these strangers.

the wens become touched by the End during their stay in the burial mounds. wen ning, with flute music playing in his head, wins an archery game against Death and finally wakes.

 one day a cold mist surrounds yilling when wwx takes a-yuan out on a stroll. He loses him but finds him again clinging to a man in white robes that looks like he wants to disappear. wwx feels himself smile brightly at the sight. (”lan zhan! it’s so nice to see you again! It’s been so cold out today but luckily it’s warmer now!” “Mn.” “You really blend in with the fog with those white robes of yours. it’s okay though because i’m sure i can find you wherever you disappear to!” “Mn.”)

qiongqi path becomes a massacre of plastic mannequins and not!beings. the smell of death and manufactured flesh fill the air like an offering to his unwanted patron, and black tendrils surround wwx and his assailants. It blinds him and he can’t see it, can’t control it, can’t stop it as jin zixuan is pierced through his chest and falls to the ground, dead.

the clans are outraged. they speak in fear of him, they hear of his power over life and death and that he, like the wen fugitives by his side, is trying to bring about his patron into the world. they call for an attack, a bloodbath to take him down once and for all.

and a bloodbath it is. the entire cultivation world against a one-man army. fear rings high in the air and all the Entities are well fed in the aftermath, the most satisfied: Slaughter and (paradoxical to their intent) The End.

later, much later, when the siege is over and nothing is left of his anchor other than a small child marked by death, lwj accepts the punishment lashes and then goes into cold seclusion. the jingshi is completely covered by clouds of fog. no one can See him, the elders only get a debilitating headache when they try to pry too hard. not even lxc, who has become the Eye’s most devoted avatar, can know his brother’s whereabouts. only lan yuan seems to able to navigate through the dense gloom.

the world moves on

jin guangyao’s wide smiles are not conspicuous within the plastic faces and painted lips within lanling jin. If his limbs are too long or if his smile a bit distorted or if he disappears through a bright yellow door and doesnt come back then no one makes mention of it.

No one also notices the webs above them hidden in the high ceilings of lanling jin nor the tiny spiders that skitter around the gossiping servants, spinning and weaving threads of thick silk around them.

it takes years for his brother to come out from the fog and lxc nearly weeps at the knowledge that The Lonely had not forsaken another member of his family. still, lwj has changed. there is a certain chill around him now that persists wherever he goes. though he has always been silent since childhood, his silence now is cold and unfeeling, eyes faraway as if not seeing those around him and only floating through the days. He is not completely alone though and that is enough to alleviate some of xichen’s worries. 

time abates some wounds but certainly not all. there is still an empty cold pit in lwj’s chest but it does not bleed as freely as it did 10 years before. Before, he would have readily disappeared into the fog when the elders comes to look for him, now he chooses to disappear from the cloud recesses and absconds into night hunts. he goes wherever the chaos is, seeking (but not willing to hope) that he might find something that can stir the deadness in his heart.

tbc ?

#rotating this au hard and fast in my mind's eye #i actually dont know the overlap between the mdzs and tma fandoms but im just assuming there isnt much ??? #i kinda got too into it at the end there i didnt know where to stop lmao im sorry im pulling all of this outta my ass dskfjhkdhfk #i still have so many Thoughts for this au and cute lil scenes between these avatar fledgelings #i promise its not all Angst its just that lonely!lwj is a very good source of inspo #is this a fix it? maybe. maybe not. #on one hand i want everyone (except jgs and zixun) to love and be happy #on the other hand lonely!lwj is the entire reason why i thought of this au in the first place #according to the wiki the chinese name for cloud recesses means 'somewhere unknown deep in the clouds' #which is Peak Lonely vibes but i didnt find that out until after i wrote this oops #beholding!gusu lan is staying tho bc i love lonelyeyes!lwj hehe #i almost wrote an entire backstory in the tags about madame lan and how wangji inherited her Loneliness dhsdfkhd #i'll write that on a different post this one is long enough #LANLING JIN IS STRANGER ALIGNED BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL CLOWNS #i was thinking of jzx being replaced by a not!them after qiongqi ambush but hmmm maybe thats for another au hmmmm many thoughts #funfact! in MAG113 decker mentions that only a Hunter can kill an avatar of the End so. do what you will with that knowledge :) #OH HEY I JUST REMEMBERED WWX TOLD LWJ TO 'GET LOST' WHEN LWJ TRIED TO SAVE HIM DURING THE FIRST SEIGE JUST BEFORE HE DIED SO :)))) #MY LONELY!LWJ HEADCANON IS GOING STRONG #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #should i tag this as tma? nah #anyways here just take this

[lansplaining]

Would it have helped anything at all if someone had made sure JGY was allowed to hold the freaking baby, possibly even multiple times? (Specifically looking at Jin Ling’s parents here)

True, JL’s grandpa’s an asshole and his grandmother hates JGY, but Koi Tower is big enough to not be constantly tripping over two specific people/grandpa’s often distracted by his gross hobbies. There are plenty of hours in the day where JL’s parents could’ve made more of an effort to have people in that snake pit actually be on their little family’s side.

Like I get Zixuan doesn’t have a lot of experience in the sibling department, but he’s married to someone who knows a thing or two about fraught brotherly relationships 🤷🏼‍♀️

Sadly, I don’t think it does, because even to the extent that holding the baby is a symbol of JGY’s place in the family, JZX being the one to enforce that acceptance only works as far as he has influence over his father’s actions, which he doesn’t seem to. I think JGY would be happy enough being folded into the happy JZX family as younger brother, but only if that was a position that JGS also acknowledged and supported. Aside from the emotional desire to be accepted by his dad, which obviously being accepted by his brother can’t entirely replace, JGS’s dislike of JGY is way more active than your description suggests.

JGS is actively looking for reasons to get rid of JGY, and after JZX dies, actively looking for other illegitimate kids he can advance in place of him. We don’t know, but I think it’s safe to assume he loads JGY with all the demonic cultivation and bribery and torture because a) he doesn’t care if JGY gets killed in the process and in fact would prefer it and b) it’s setting him up to be used as a scapegoat if anyone ever calls them to account. If JZX adopts JGY and lets him hold the baby and eat lotus soup by day, JGY is still going to be fighting JGS’s desire to be rid of him by night.

As for Yanli, I strongly feel that the coping mechanism she developed growing up in a toxic family dynamic was a strong non-interventionist policy. You make comfort soup for the boys afterwards, but you absolutely do not attempt to directly intervene in the moment.

#ask answered

[kiriel123]

More fic recs for MDZS/The Untamed

Monoxide by carriecmoney

Wei Wuxian is an architect trying to improve airflow in building plans and accidentally summons a demon. Hilarious and the best mistake he ever made

My Home Is Your Body by phnelt

Star Trek AU! LWJ is a Vulcan, WWX is a Betazoid, they deal with the tension of their past while merging two crews into one, which is more complicated than it seems. Even with telepathy it takes a while to figure out. Owns my ENTIRE heart

KILF (Knits I'd Like To Fuck in) by ScarlettStorm

Modern AU. Sequel to For a Good Time Call and just as heartwarming and wonderful as the first. LWJ learns to knit, NHS and LWJ form their own stitch n bitch, WWX explores his gender, and the sweater curse is disproven

Pentimento. By orange_crushed

Modern AU. LWJ works with art and when WWX walks into his museum they take the chance to reconnect and rediscover their love. This was painful and amazingly well written I cried so many times while reading it

Crack me open, pour you out by Tenillypo

Post canon fic where Lan Wangji is cursed to verbalize his thoughts and feelings. Wei Ying takes him away to prevent him from insulting visiting cultivators with every petty, bitchy, thought and gets an earful of loving thoughts instead. LWJ is lethal when under the influence of truth

Rainfall by daltoneering

Modern AU. Wangxian decide to take their bdsm relationship to the next level and oh boy it is sizzling. There are sexy spreadsheets, debrief sessions, and lwj taking care of wwx in all the ways he needs

be still, my foolish heart by mirrorofprinces

Modern AU. LWJ comes over to WWX’s for hookups…and to see his bunny. WWX feels some kind of way about that (a little jealous, a little good). Delightful, adorable, and very sexy.

your problem as a mountain. By crowry

Alternate canon. WWX and NHS write letters to each other that devolve into slightly risqué fantasies, wwx’s focusing on an unnamed cultivator (aka lwj). NMJ, being a good older brother and seeing unsent mail sitting for lwj, sends those letters off. Very fun shenanigans ensue

on your marks, get set, bake! By BlackWiresOnHerHead

WWX, college RA, was a contestant on GGBO, a fact which all his little freshman go insane over. As the reader, I was right there with the freshman during their watch parties. I had never seen a single episode of the GBBO before reading, but I sure did after I finished!

Sonata, Acrylic on Canvas by JangJaeYul

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29037666

Modern AU. During a bad rainstorm, LWJ walks WWX home under his umbrella, and then stays for some of Jiang Yanli’s soup. Oh no terrible weather, guess he’ll have to stay overnight and share WWX’s bed :DDD. Gorgeous writing.

#fic rec #mdzs #the untamed

[shanastoryteller]

HAPPY HOLIDAYS SHANA LOVE,

I’d love anything PJO, HP, or MDZS.

THANKS LOVE ❤️❤️❤️❤️

a continuation of 1 2 3 4

Lan Wangji keeps inviting Jiang Yanli on walks and his uncle is almost in a good mood, which Lan Wangji takes to mean he’ll be engaged by the season’s end.

Lan Wangji keeps inviting Jiang Yanli on walks, and she keeps inviting Wei Wuxian to accompany him, and it’s glaringly obvious that he’s more than just a bodyguard and more than just a friend.

He’s an advisor.

Lan Wangji still doesn’t know the exact nature of their relationship, but he understands better what Jiang Yanli meant on their first walk together, that there can be no partnership with her that does not involve Wei Wuxian.

He was set to be made the first disciple of Lotus Pier, the youngest in their history, before he volunteered to take the place of her bodyguard instead. He and Jiang Yanli grew up in the same home, but it was only after becoming her bodyguard that he called her A-jie instead of Shijie. He’s not just strong but smart and he was there for all the lessons in running a clan that the Jiang siblings had received.

They’re probably revealing their hand a little too much to an outsider, but he understands why, understands why they’re allowing some of the ambiguity that surrounds them to fall away when they’re with him.

Jiang Yanli does not consider Wei Wuxian’s position in her life negotiable. There are plenty of people who would be willing to look the other way when it came to a lover, but this is more. Jiang Yanli’s husband’s influence and power will always be cut by Wei Wuxian, will likely always be lessthan Wei Wuxian, since he grew up with and even trained the Jiang clan. A husband from a foreign clan will be unable to compete.

Lan Wangji doesn’t care for power or influence.

He wants to serve his clan. He wants to an asset to any clan he joins. He does not want to be his mother, shut away and ignored and hated.

Jiang Yanli and Wei Wuxian smile a lot. They invite him and include him in their conversations without ever forcing him to speak himself. Jiang Yanli is kind and warm and Wei Wuxian is – he’s –

His cheeks flush and he tries to steer his thoughts in a different direction.

He enjoys spending time with them, alone, when they’re all allowed to be themselves. In Lotus Pier, he thinks they could be like that all the time. He thinks of waking up in Lotus Pier and having breakfast with at a table with just the three of them, thinks of finally getting to spar against Wei Wuxian, of sitting by Jiang Yanli’s side and able to help shoulder the burden running a clan, of him and Wei Wuxian on either side of her to shore her up to her greatest height.

“Wangji,” his uncle says at dinner. “We’ve concluded negotiations. If you have no objections, we’ll sign the betrothal contract and announce your engagement to Jiang Yanli.”

He looks down at his plate, trying to school his expression into a more neutral shape, but he can still feel the smile curling around his lips when lifts his head. “I have no objections.”

#prompt answers #prompts are closed #asks #brownielocks57 #untamed #aaaaaaannnnd that's all folks!!! #the end #i'll make the masterlist tomorrow

[tossawary]

A scene for the Jin Zixuan Time Travel AU popped into my head out of nowhere today, so here’s 1,000 words of a conversation between Jin Zixuan (died and time traveled) and Jiang Yanli (not a time traveler) in that AU.

More context: it’s the Untamed universe, probably. Jin Zixuan woke up just before the guest lectures at the Cloud Recesses, managed to set up a private meeting with Jiang Yanli once they both got to the Cloud Recesses, and has just told her that he’s time-traveled and a great deal about the future. Like, this man completely rejected the notion of lying to her.

Is “Jin Zixuan Loves Jiang Yanli” a tag? It would have to be a tag for this fic, because he is HEAD OVER HEELS.

-cut-

“I’m not mad,” Zixuan said desperately.

Yanli leveled him a faintly chiding look, though she still looked strained. “I didn’t say that you were,” she replied, though she had clearly been thinking it.

He didn’t blame her. He would also think that he was mad.

He could be mad. It was possible.

He opened his mouth and Yanli held up a hand.

“Please,” she said. “Let me think.”

It was a strange agony to remain silent, the urge to explain himself, to vomit out his heart in front of her, only grew stronger and stronger. But he could deny her nothing, least of all this.

Finally, Yanli seemed to come to a decision. “I have a few questions,” she said. “If I may.”

“Of course,” Zixuan said, relieved.

She wasn’t running away screaming yet. He had to be optimistic here.

“Why are you telling me this?” Yanli asked.

Zixuan blinked, not having expected this question. “What?”

“You could have told…” Yanli made a helpless hand gesture. “...anyone. Your father. Your mother. Any one of your family members. Why are you telling this to me?”

She looked faintly distressed.

“You are my family,” Zixuan said, stunned and aggrieved by his own past actions, before he cleared his throat. “We were married. Not… not for very long, unfortunately, but…”

“...But?” Yanli prompted.

“I miss you,” Zixuan thought. “It hasn’t even been a few days and I miss you.”

“We were family,” he said instead. “We will be family. Why wouldn’t I?”

Yanli looked surprised, but no less distressed.

“I’m just not certain what you expect me to do about any of this,” she said. “I… I am glad that you told me this. That you trust me enough to tell me this. I just don’t know how I can help.”

A thousand childish complaints came back to haunt Zixuan with the quietness with which Yanli made this admission. She was not a powerful cultivator. She wielded some social influence, but she was not considered charismatic or intimidating, or even particularly memorable, and people called her pretty like it was a generous concession on their part.

The thought made Zixuan want to go out and attack everyone who had ever said such things and dared to judge this young woman. Unfortunately, he would have to start with himself.

He would apologize yet again, but Yanli had asked him not to do so.

Instead, he said, “I trust your judgment. I trust you.”

Yanli looked surprised again and Zixuan hated himself for it.

“I don’t know who else I can tell,” he admitted. “I don’t know anyone else I would want to tell. Anyone else would think I’m mad, and probably tell everyone that I’ve gone mad, or try to use any sort of foreknowledge for their own power. I am… sorry to have burdened you with this, to ask you to carry this when I have treated you so poorly, but…”

He trailed off, uncertain of how to continue.

“...But?” Yanli prompted, again.

He looked at her, full of love, for this. For the simple fact that she had always been willing to listen, actively, but with patience. He had never in his life felt so heard or so seen.

“Forgive me if this explanation makes little sense,” Zixuan said, “I have… always had some difficulty arranging my thoughts and then sharing them. But when we were married, we spoke at great length and made many promises to each other, in order to… avoid repeating the mistakes that we had seen in other marriages.”

He said this last part wryly and, as he had hoped, it made Yanli smile. This great victory carried him forward into the rest of the explanation.

“One of the promises I made was to always be honest with you,” he said, “and to speak over important choices together before they were made. You said that your parents… did not have many civil discussions… or often discuss the decisions that they made together. That your father and mother often disagreed, and rarely compromised, and so to avoid your mother’s arguments, your father would often make decisions without her input, with the knowledge that she would berate him either way.”

Yanli looked slightly horrified that she had aired this dirty laundry from her parents’ marriage, and Zixuan could only give her an apologetic grimace.

“You also said that your mother would often make decisions without your father’s input, due to his absence, or else daring him to reverse and publicly disrespect her decisions,” he continued. “My parents are very similar, though they prefer to keep separate domains so that they are not often put into the position of disagreeing. My father… my father feels as though he should not have to answer to anyone, least of all my mother, and does not believe she has worthwhile opinions to contribute. My mother… is often forced to grin and bear his decisions.”

He did not feel the need to share that he suspected that, though they were friends, his mother did not wish to have Madam Yu’s fierce reputation, in part because his father did not wish to have Jiang Fengmian’s reputation. Jiang Fengmian tolerated much that, he suspected, Jin Guangshan would not be willing to allow from his wife.

Zixuan cleared his throat. “So we made a promise to each other to discuss decisions together, even if we disagreed and could not compromise, we would not make any arguments public or any important changes a surprise to the other. I… you said… and I didn’t want… for my decisions to be something you had no part in. For your life with me to be something that just… happened to you… without your permission. We would act as equals in our life together.”

He did not know if he had explained this well, surely someone else could have explained it better, but as he looked at her with hope, Yanli’s shocked expression turned into a hesitant smile. So, it looked like he could have done a far worse job of explaining himself.

“I know that you… don’t remember these promises,” Zixuan said, “but I do, and I intend to keep them… as you would allow it! Only as you would allow it, of course.”

“I think that I will allow them,” Yanli agreed, with a faintly teasing tone that Zixuan had missed as dearly as a drowning man missed air. “Though, of course, you will have to tell me what all these promises were at some point, so that I can be able to keep them as well.”

This was more than Zixuan had hoped for, and he could not help the ridiculous smile overtaking his face. He must have looked like a fool and a madman, and he could not bring himself to care.

“Oh, yes. Yes, I can do that.”

~

TBC

#tossawary mdzs #jin zixuan time travel fic #jin zixuan #jiang yanli #xuanli #fic ideas

[rynne]

Hello, can I ask something? I’d like to know your opinion on this. I’ve heard it said that WWX is the type to internalize blame, and JC is the opposite. Would you say there are parallels between JC and JGY with their whole “nothing is ever my fault I was pushed into this I have no choice” attitude towards taking responsibility for their messes?

Hi there! Before I get into the bulk of your question, there's something else I want to address:

WWX is not the type to internalize blame. WWX is actually remarkably good at not internalizing all the many terrible things that people have said to him.

Wei WuXian stood forward, accustomed to it. Madam Yu scolded, “You’re like this again! If you yourself don’t seek progress, then don’t drag Jiang Cheng along to fool around with you. You’re going to be a bad influence to him.”

Wei WuXian looked startled, “I don’t seek progress? Why, am I not the one with the most progress in the entire Lotus Pier?”

(Chapter 51, ExR)

Consistently, when people accuse him of things and he thinks the accusation is inaccurate, he defends himself. Here against Madam Yu, on Phoenix Mountain against Jin Zixun, at Nightless City before the fighting broke out, during the Second Siege...he faces a lot of people blaming him for things, but he doesn't just accept that blame, much less internalize it. He defends himself, then lets it go and moves on to continue being a confident person with healthy self-esteem.

There are some exceptions. When JC hits him in his feelings for LWJ, he has some wobbles. But he also gets over them and doesn't let them become a lasting part of his self-conception.

On the other hand, something he does do is accept responsibility where he genuinely feels responsible. We see that with his post-reincarnation reactions to being reminded of Jin Zixuan's and Jiang Yanli's deaths. Even though neither of them were fully his fault, he feels responsible, so blame for these can hurt him. But the distinction here is that the feeling of responsibility comes from him, not from other people imposing it on him.

Returning to your question about JC and JGY...there are some parallels there, but the attitudes are still different.

JGY does the "nothing was ever my fault I was pushed into this" thing. He does externalize blame to circumstances, to other people. But what I think he does do, and JC does not, is accept that other people can reasonably think what he did was wrong. He just comes up with justification after justification for it to make it so blame doesn't lie primarily with him. And underneath, he thinks that even if the actions are wrong, he is still right to do them because he's justified in doing anything he needs to in order to improve his circumstances or gain more power.

However, I don't think JC recognizes that he's done anything wrong at all, even from other people's perspectives, until his breakdown in the Guanyin Temple. He justifies things to himself so strongly that he doesn't think blame even lies with him at all. I think in large part this comes from having a convenient scapegoat since his childhood -- everything can be WWX's fault if he twists it enough, and he's so used to doing this that he doesn't even realizes that he's twisting things. That's why he called himself a clown at Guanyin Temple. Being slapped with the reality of the core transfer means that everything else is coming untwisted and he starts to see how ridiculous he is from an outside perspective. And even then, that's not enough for him to stop twisting things (he still wants to blame WWX for his family's deaths).

So I do think that JC and JGY are similar in that they'll find a scapegoat for their troubles, the internal process is still different. I think JGY recognizes that other people will think what he's doing is wrong (reasonably so, considering NMJ yells at him exactly that), so he has to come up with reasons that justify them, even if he thinks he's still right to do them because they're what's better for him. JC, though, doesn't even realize he's wrong and his externalizing of blame (usually to WWX) is a long-established habit. JC doesn't even think "I was pushed into this" because he did it willingly thinking he was right, and his position in society was such that he never had to get used to justifying himself.

#mdzs #mdzs meta #wei wuxian #jin guangyao #canon jiang cheng #anon #asks

[yiling-daddy]

Yes, that was me! I can definitely expand on my thoughts re: how Madam Yu’s behaviour reads differently to me due to my traditional, Chinese upbringing.

There is a lot of subjectivity as to whether Madam Yu can be read as abusive, and this reading is often influenced by culture—hence you often see completely off-base takes floating around. However, to me, the way that cultural context influences the reading will actually change depending on the relationship, so I will discuss each one separately. Most of the culturally insensitive takes are about her being an abusive or uncaring mother (she’s not), or that she’s a spurned woman (it’s more complicated than that), so you can skip down to the JC, JYL, and CSSR sections for that.

Madam Yu and Wei Wuxian

As a trend, I think western fandom tends to simplify Wei Wuxian’s dynamic with the Jiang family into an entire adopted family. Consequently, Yu Ziyuan gets perceived as this two-dimensional, evil stepmom figure—but I think this doesn’t capture the truth.

There’s a bit more variability among Chinese audiences when they read the Jiang family dynamic, partly due to our deeper familiarity with wuxia tropes, but mostly because there's a mediocre Netflix translation colouring the western interpretation. Though many Chinese fans do view them all as a sort of family unit and read Madam Yu as a stepmother, I do not. To me, Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Yanli view Wei Wuxian as family—but Madam Yu does not. Madam Yu views him as a servant, a disciple of the sect, and an outsider at the dinner table—and it’s not wrong for her to do so. It’s not gracious, but it’s not unfounded. I don’t think Wei Ying ever gives any indication that he views her as a mother, either.

If you agree that they don’t have anything like a mother-son relationship, all these insults/complaints that Yu Ziyuan levels at him—that he’s the “son of a servant”, that Jiang Fengmian is weird for openly favouring Wei Wuxian over his own son, etc.—these start to make sense? Like, it’s shitty to listen to, but none of it is wrong. Suddenly it reads less like pointless insults and more like actual points.

Additionally, if we consider that Wei Wuxian is a disciple of the sect who goes around and raises the ire of the Wen clan, corporal punishment suddenly looks very normal (again, within the culture). Hence, when I watched the donghua and CQL, I hated seeing Wei Wuxian getting whipped, but I didn’t perceive this as abuse—especially because of the political nature of the decision.

But it is definitely still possible to mistreat a disciple.

In CQL, you see Madam Yu throwing an unnecessary amount of vitriol at Wei Ying. In the novel extras, it's revealed that she regularly whipped him but never whipped the other disciples, indicating that it wasn't normal corporal punishment. She also whipped him for absurdly stupid reasons. To me, this signals that she tended to abuse her authority over him. Even if you don’t view her as an abusive mother to Wei Ying, it's fair to read her as an abusive authority figure.

Importantly however, "abuse" is a loaded word suggesting a violation of social norms, and again, the situation is complicated because the social norms of the setting don't match those of the modern world. Madam Yu is not overstepping her bounds as master of Lotus Pier—hence, people do not think very much of this treatment in-universe, including Wei Ying himself.

Madam Yu, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli

Okay, when I first watched CQL, I cringed when Madam Yu started dragging her family because she sounded like My Actual Chinese Mother. I felt for a second like I had transmigrated into Jiang Cheng’s body and I was experiencing his agony firsthand!

Madam Yu reads very realistically, and I think this is why it gets personal for a lot of Chinese people when this fandom discusses her character. Yes, she belittles and hurts her children for their perceived failures, but many Chinese people can tell you that this is just a common parenting style. And while it might look like bullying to an outsider, this behaviour is usually motivated by love. It is often also motivated by fear that the child’s future will be substandard. This is textually obvious when you consider what exactly Madam Yu yells about:

She snaps at Yanli to stop peeling lotus pods, because she shouldn’t act like a servant. If Yanli keeps behaving so passively, what kind of role is she going to fall into in the future—especially given that she is not a cultivator?

She berates Jiang Cheng for always being inferior to Wei Wuxian no matter what he does. If Jiang Cheng is constantly overshadowed by Wei Wuxian, what will that mean for his future as sect leader? Or his future status and reputation among the sects?

I can do these Chinese Mom Translations because parents in real life will actually say things like this out of concern for their children (insults included), in an attempt to motivate them... and it really does light a fire under our asses. I attribute many of my personal successes to this parenting style. Thus, when I see posts like “Madam Yu didn’t show any sign of caring for others” or "Madam Yu was a purely selfish and arrogant person" or “Madam Yu is an abusive mother and nothing else"—well, I can tell most of these people are not Chinese, or if they are, then they likely did not have a traditional upbringing.

While I don't think these uninformed readings of Madam Yu are necessarily racist, I do think they they are unpleasant for Chinese fans to constantly see. For those of us in the west that had this type of upbringing, we often struggle with trying to frame and process our relationships with our parents. For me, this was partly due to the emotional baggage of my upbringing (Jiang Cheng winning!!!)... but it was also because white society kept telling me that my parents didn't give a shit about me when obviously they did. That’s fucked up to experience. It reeks of cultural imperialism. Thus, when I see Chinese people getting annoyed at these Madam Yu takes, I’m not surprised. This is unfortunately a fictional discussion that very much resembles a real one for us.

Yu Ziyuan, Jiang Fengmian, and Cangse Sanren

A lot of people view Madam Yu as a spurned woman and assume that is her motivation for constantly antagonizing Wei Wuxian and her husband. But because I assume that a lot of her chaotic yelling stems from her concerns as an Actual Chinese Mother, my take is different.

Remember the scene where Madam Yu catches Jiang Fengmian scolding Jiang Cheng just after praising Wei Wuxian? She drags Jiang Cheng up to his father and, in both CQL and the donghua, says something to this effect (paraphrased from memory):

This is your son, the future master of Lotus Pier! Even if you don’t like him because he was born to me, his surname is still Jiang!

And in CQL, she also says this right after berating Jiang Cheng for not measuring up to Wei Wuxian:

But it’s not your fault. Your mother is no match for his mother.

Yu Ziyuan isn’t angry about Cangse Sanren because she’s jealous; she is angry about Cangse Sanren because she thinks Jiang Fengmian’s feelings for her are jeopardizing his competence as a father to Jiang Cheng. Viewed in this light, it also makes sense why Yu Ziyuan is hostile to Wei Wuxian in a way that alienates him from the family—constantly calling him the son of a servant, pointing out the rumours about his parentage, etc. She’s not doing this because she hates Cangse Sanren or Wei Wuxian; she’s doing it because Wei Wuxian’s presence in the family is threatening Jiang Cheng’s future in her eyes.

Bonus: Did Yu Ziyuan love Jiang Fengmian?

Yes! In both the donghua and CQL (I ashamedly admit I don’t clearly remember the novel), I thought their final moments made it quite evident that they cared for each other. They fought together, died together to protect their home, and reached out to one another in their final moments.

But when I rewatched Madam Yu’s scenes in CQL and the donghua, I realized we got other hints that westerners probably missed. I'll focus on CQL:

Right before Jiang Fengmian sets off with Yanli for Lanling, Madam Yu sees them off. She gives Yanli some snacks and then—without making eye contact with Jiang Fengmian—says that she’s also giving them medicine in case someone gets a headache. Jiang Fengmian pauses, because it’s obviously for him.

This is recognizable behaviour for a lot of Chinese people. I can’t tell you how many times my mother got apoplectic at me, and then the only follow-up was her going out of her way to make me my favourite meal. The chaotic yelling you see between Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan is also pretty typical to many Chinese parents, and again, the follow-up in my household was often one of them going out of their way to do something for the other.

This is just how the culture is in a lot of families. “Sorry” isn’t expressed in words; it's expressed in actions. “I love you” isn’t expressed in words; it’s expressed in actions. In Chinese culture, the dominant love language is acts of service. It's fleeting, but we get glimpses of that kind of love between Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian. 

#the untamed #cql #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #yu ziyuan #madam yu #jiang yanli #cangse sanren #jiang fengmian #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #damn i guess its madam yu loving hours here #my meta

[wangxianficrecs]

Follower Recs

Here are some more, both from readers and proud authors. Enjoy!

~*~

I would like to say that this fic is lovely and should be appreciated. I hope you like it. ~ @astarshine

Come Back to Me

by s6115 (M, 9k, wangxian)

Summary: “Second Young Master!” Jiang Cheng, rushing forward. “Unhand our disciple now!”

“You-“ Lan Zhan said. But the confusion was starting to become more prominent, showing in how he flexed his knuckles, adjust his grip.

“You,” Wei Wuxian said. "Do you remember me?”

Lan Zhan froze. So that was a no, he didn’t remember. His fingers adjusted again, completely ignoring Jiang Cheng as his shoulders were pummeled. If it was anyone else, they’d be asking a thousand questions. Wei Wuxian could see some of them in his eyes. Who are you was the first. Why do I feel like this was the second. That just made Wei Wuxian so curious, as well. Why was Lan Zhan so emotional (in his blank-faced way) if he didn’t remember?

The resentful energy had swallowed Wei Wuxian whole, but it had only grazed Lan Zhan’s hand. Was it possible he remembered the emotions, but not the memories themselves? Did he remember feeling their friendship, as fractured as it was, but not everything else?

AKA Wei Ying traveled back in time, and it seems Lan Zhan's emotions did, too.

~*~

In the spirit of self-love, I want to share with you my first MC fic that I completed while you were on break, and humbly ask that you add it to your to-read queue! I'm sure you have many many stories lined up to read, so please don't feel any rush at all! Any time you get around to it, I would be honored to have you read it & hear your thoughts, if you’re interested. Thank you again for all you do for the fandom! 😊❤️ ~ @superheavyrainmemes [I just read this one, and I loved it!  Here’s my bookmark.]

let me sing to you

by greybird_crookedbranch (T, 61k, wangxian)

Summary: A close call drives Wei Wuxian to protect the people he loves at any cost. But the real battle is within himself, and retreat is impossible. There may be casualties.

Or: Dealing with ordinary threats of the more average variety causes Wei Wuxian to struggle with the resentful energy that lingers in him. Lan Wangji wants to help. Decidedly less-ordinary threats follow.

~*~

For the next time you do reader suggestions, may I recommend this underappreciated fic. It’s JZX/JLJ and diverges after the broken betrothal. It’s a kinda sad/cute what if the Jins joined the Wens side of the war

This other war

by Misila (T, 30k, xuanli)

Summary: History books would record the Discussion Conference in Qishan as the precedent of the biggest rift fracturing in the cultivation world in centuries.

Jin Guangshan announced, with a wide smile and greed in his eyes, that the Qishan Wen Sect and the Lanling Jin Sect would collaborate more closely to achieve their shared goals.

Jiang Yanli, however, knew that wasn’t the beginning.

The beginning had been about one year prior, when Wei Wuxian got in a fight with Jin Zixuan and was expelled from the Cloud Recesses. When Jiang Fengmian broke his daughter’s betrothal and the Lanling Jin Sect lost its chance to extend its influence to the fertile lands of Yunmeng.

~*~

Fic rec! This one is a modern serial killer AU. The Yungmeng trio are all serial killers, when Wei Wuxian reveals he’s caught the attention of a very big fish in the serial killer pond. His siblings are very concerned, but the Yiling Laozu is very sure that Hanguang-Jun won’t hurt him if he doesn’t ask nicely.

scienter

by synonemous (E, 67k, wangxian, 4 works, series in progress)

Summary: Different shenanigans in the MDZS serial killer 'verse.

aw, r u worried bout me~? dont worry, bby, I gots it covered<3 [Sent]

Yiling. [Received]

*kisses* [Sent]

Mark your words. [Received]

Wei WuXian shivered. That was a new one.

~*~

#wangxian fic rec #follower recs #wangxian #mdzs #the untamed #follower rec #I HAVEN'T READ THESE YET #author boost #new work by a proud writer

[robininthelabyrinth]

anything with jin zixuan marrying into the jiang sect, instead of jiang yanli marrying out?

ao3

It wasn’t that Jin Zixuan didn’t love his mother – he did, he truly did. He loved her, he supported her, he stood by her side in every argument. He would do anything within his power to help her get everything that she wanted.

It was only that he took a very reasonable look at the circumstances and realized he couldn’t. He couldn’t get her the one thing she’d always counted for.

He couldn’t win the right of succession to be Sect Leader Jin.

Maybe if his mother had managed to stop his father from bringing home all his bastards – there were nineteen of them, all together, and those were just the ones that were willing to admit it so who even knew – he might’ve had a better chance, given that he was after all the sole legitimate son. But legitimacy only took you so far: he was neither the oldest of the children, nor the most capable, nor the most cunning. He wasn’t even the best connected, despite his maternal family’s support; that honor went to another one of his siblings, born to an especially well-connected family through unspecified circumstances that might or might not involve rape but which sufficient money had plastered over.

The only thing Jin Zixuan had going for him was his legitimacy, but his father had long ago taught him - however inadvertently - that there wasn’t anything magical about a wedding ceremony that made him better suited to the role of sect leader.

What’s more, in his heart of hearts, Jin Zixuan didn’t even want it.

He wasn’t – he didn’t really like fighting. Or politics, or scheming, or any of it. It just wasn’t his personality. He didn’t like games of influence, he didn’t like backstabbing people that trusted him, he didn’t like gossiping and slandering and not being able to believe in people’s good faith and any of that, and no matter how much his mom pushed him, he didn’t think he’d ever like it. 

But that was what Lanling Jin did, what Jilin Tower was like, and if he wanted to take up the Sect Leader’s seat and reside in the Fragrant Palace, he had to get over himself and accept that that’s what the rest of his life would be like.

Forever.

Until someone murdered him and took his place, anyway. It almost felt inevitable, sometimes. 

Or, because he really truly didn’t want the job, because he really truly didn’t want to die, he could try to think of something else. Some way out.

For example, he could, and did, go to Jin Ziyao and ask him for help.

Jin Ziyao stared at him, eyes narrow and calculating as they so rarely were – he was very good at keeping a bland polite smile on his face, the best at it of all the people Jin Zixuan had ever met, and he’d met a lot. 

“That’s an interesting thing to say, brother,” he said, gently eliding as always the fact that they were the same age, born on the same day to different mothers. “Very interesting indeed. I must ask, though - why are you saying it to me?”

“Because you’d be the best at the job,” Jin Zixuan said honestly. He really thought so: Jin Ziyao was smart and clever, cunning enough to wear a kind face and tricky enough to actually pull off the impression of actually being kind, since people were more willing to forgive kind people, but also ambitious and ruthless enough to survive and maybe even thrive in the political world the way Jin Zixuan wasn’t. “And because you’re smart enough to come up with a way for me to get out of this without dying, if you wanted to.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere. Why would I want to?”

And that was the rub, wasn’t it? Jin Zixuan was the legitimate son, the rightful heir, and his father, their father, was just as likely to name Jin Zixuan as the next sect leader no matter how unfit for the role he was on nothing more than that basis as he was to name anyone else with a much stronger claim. 

It was in everyone else’s best interest to kill him, if they were ambitious.

Maybe not his sisters. They wouldn’t inherit no matter what happened to him.

(Sometimes Jin Zixuan wished he was lucky enough to be born a nobody, little Jin Ziyu, who just wanted to play with make-up and avoid all contact with his maternal Mo family. Nobody cared about Jin Ziyu, and everyone liked it that way.)

“You know my position,” Jin Zixuan explained. He didn’t need to say it out loud; he was bitterly aware that it was basically his only personality trait: legitimate heir of Jin Guangshan, the rich boy everyone thought would be the next sect leader unless someone else got in the way. “My support could be worth something to you.”

“Especially if it’s sincere,” Jin Ziyao murmured, looking thoughtful, contemplative. It wasn’t an outright no, anyway, or at least not yet. “And you would be sincere, wouldn’t you?”

“There’s a reason I said that I’m not fit for the role,” Jin Zixuan replied, his voice dry to hide the fact that his heart was in his throat. Jin Ziyao was the one most likely to succeed in finding a way to get him out of this mess, but he was also the most likely to figure out a way to kill him without being blamed for it, too.  There was a reason he’d come to him, but that reason was the danger - who was to say that Jin Ziyao wouldn’t decide it’d be safer to kill him, and to use this to accomplish it? He could be signing his own death warrant. “And even if you’re smart, competent, good at managing things, well-connected, and well-liked, you can still use my help.”

Jin Ziyao had only a single fault: his mother had been a prostitute. People still judged him for that, something which made no sense to Jin Zixuan whatsoever – it wasn’t Jin Ziyao’s fault what his mother did before he was born – but it meant he lacked legitimacy even more than the others. 

Having the legitimate son backing his claim would be a strong argument in favor of overlooking that.

“You know your mother won’t like it,” Jin Ziyao said. Testing, probing; he hadn’t agreed yet.

“I know,” Jin Zixuan said simply. “But I hope that she’d like me being dead less.”

He wasn’t actually sure about that. His mother loved him, yes, but he had never entirely determined if she loved him for himself or as an extension of herself – a symbol of what she would be fighting towards. A sign that her struggles with her husband had a purpose, that all her humiliation would one day be worth it.

That one day, when he was sect leader, she would become the true power in Lanling through him. 

(Jin Zixuan didn’t know what she imagined would happen to all his illegitimate brothers and sisters in that situation, and he didn’t want to; it put a sick feeling in his gut to think about it – which he supposed meant he did know, after all, what she would want, but was instead choosing to ignore it.)

Jin Ziyao studied him for a long moment, presumably trying to analyze his sincerity and how firm he was on the idea. 

Jin Zixuan didn’t rush him, knowing it was a gamble on his side as well: it would be worse for him to help Jin Zixuan out of the line of succession only for Jin Zixuan to change his mind down the road. It would make him look bad, make him a target for the others, and the backstabbing nature of Lanling politics meant that luring someone in with a request for aid was exactly the sort of trap someone might lay out.

Sometimes, Jin Zixuan was really, really tired of Lanling.

Maybe something of that showed on his face, because just when he was starting to lose hope, Jin Ziyao abruptly nodded – almost to himself – and said, “All right. How about your marriage?”

“What about my marriage?” Jin Zixuan asked, puzzled. 

He’d been engaged to his mother’s best friend’s daughter since before he was born, and amazingly enough the engagement had held despite everything – probably because they had barely met, to be perfectly honest. And also the fact that being surrounded by brothers that hid daggers in their smiles gave Jin Zixuan enough experience to realize that he was being deliberately incited when his so-called friends started telling him that he deserved better than a girl most often described simply as being nice.

After all, he’d already started doubting by that time that he even deserved the accident of his legitimate birth, so forget deserving any girl.

Also, being nice sounded…rather nice, actually. Certainly a relief, assuming she was actually nice rather than just pretending to be the way so many of his sisters were.

(None of them liked her, which suggested she might be.)

“You should get to know your intended better,” Jin Ziyao said. “Visit her more often.”

Jin Zixuan really wasn’t seeing the connection between that and his request for assistance, and Jin Ziyao’s gaze softened a little bit, though Jin Zixuan wasn’t sure if it was with sympathy or merely pity.

“It’ll make it easier for you,” he clarified. “For when you marry in.”

Marry in?

Marry in. The Jiang sect was a Great Sect, with enough power and influence to make unreasonable demands – and his father desperately wanted the alliance with them. If they could be convinced to demand that he marry in rather than having Jiang Yanli marry out, pointing to their smaller numbers or the tragedies that had befallen their sect…

Jiang Cheng would like having his sister around. He was also notoriously standoffish around women, and had viciously rejected any effort to be matched with one of the illegitimate Jin girls; it might even be possible to suggest to his father that allowing Jin Zixuan to marry in would mean that there was a chance that Jiang Cheng would be willing to leave his sect to a nephew surnamed Jiang, winning the Jin sect both an alliance and inheritance all at once.

Best of all, it had to be him. The Jiang sect had only agreed to the engagement because of Madame Yu’s friendship with his mother, not for any political reason; if his father tried to substitute him with someone else, they might break it entirely…

And someone who married out couldn’t be the heir.

“You’re a genius,” Jin Zixuan told his brother, who smiled crookedly in acknowledgement. “What should I do? Do I just – go over there? Send a letter? I can’t write letters…”

“Let me think about it,” Jin Ziyao said. “I’m sure I can come up with something more subtle than you.”

#mdzs #jin zixuan #jin guangyao #my fic #my fics #succession #Anonymous

[ouyangzizhensdad]

I just realized that The Soup Incident might be a good incident/scene to hone in on to explore how CQL handled Jiang Yanli's character. In CQL it is Once Again Another Wei Wuxian Thing (being about his losing control over demonic cultivation; which is not canon to MDZS) while in the original novel, and kept in the audio drama extra, the narration focuses instead of Jiang Yanli and her own feelings and experiences there. The Soup Incident in the novel is actually part of HER story.

Hi anon,

I have to admit, after going back to the novel, I’m not sure I’d say that the Soup Incident is not mostly about Wei Wuxian (for reasons I’ll elaborate on), but it is certainly very different. So let’s get down to the nitty gritty of it.

Omniscient!MianMian and Modao-Trigger-Happy!WWX: Or, the Soup Incident in CQL

Let's break down how the scene takes place in Episode 22 of CQL.

The first thing that jumps out, during the viewing, is how.... confusing the sequence through which information is presented ends up being. The scene technically starts at the end of another scene, as WWX is looking at injured/zombie-fied cultivators alongside LWJ. Then a random Jin cultivator runs in and tells him to come, that Jiang-guniang, she--! Why a random Jin cultivator decided to come and get WWX is... unexplained and feels nonsensical: it’s hard to understand how that would not just be pouring oil onto the fire to be bringing in WWX and it is likely hard to believe that a Jin cultivator would have more loyalties towards WWX or JYL than JZX. One can also question why someone would run to WWX, and not JC, JYL’s actual sibling and sect leader--or not even make sure to also call on JC. Why JC is totally excised from this adaptation of the Soup Incident never really starts making sense.

So WWX rushes along (LWJ later following), and finds JYL inside a tent crying with only the company of a JZX that looks very unsympathetic towards her display of emotions. WWX gets angry, JYL tries to have him step away (physically pulling him) but WWX demands answers from JZX. At that moment, MianMian rushes in with more Jin cultivators following after her. Now, you find yourself thinking, well if someone knew about what happened and went to get WWX, wouldn’t it have made more sense for that person to be MianMian?--but that's also when you start thinking.... but if they were alone in the tent, how did so many people know what was transpiring? 

MianMian arrives and WWX asks her: "tell me what on earth happened here" which, as a viewer, made me go.... but she literally just came in? Why would WWX assume that she knows what happened and why JYL is crying? Also, thumbs down at having CQL!WWX yell at MianMian because that just seems.... cheap and ultimately out of character. He's angry at JZX, very much so, but why would he be angry at MianMian at this point--she hasn't done anything? She just came in? It just doesn’t jive with WWX’s characterisation to spread the blame to bystanders, even if the scene suggests that the ~corrupting~ influences of modao are at play.

JZX likewise invites MianMian to explain what happened, which again, prompts you to think: why does everyone think she knows what is going on? Weren’t they alone when WWX barged in? While MianMian starts the explanation, which includes telling WWX what her sister has been doing in the camp (you have to love when a character tells another character something they would already know), we see LWJ looking at the scene and deciding to stand outside (because in the previous episode WWX told him to ‘stay out of the Jiang sect's affairs’).

MianMian explains that JYL has been making soup and asked to have a bowl delivered to JZX: that latter piece of information being news to both JZX and WWX. What were the odds that the one person who gets asked to explain what happened between two people we found in a room alone for seemingly no justifiable reason is also one of the three people (JYL, A-yuan the servant and now, for convoluted reasons, MianMian) who knows the truth about the bowls of soup. Moreover, we are led to believe that while MianMian thought it would be inappropriate for her to bring the soup to JZX in JYL’s stead, she was fine with not telling JZX who made the soup to honour JYL’s shyness when 1) CQL sets up that MianMian is sort of JZX’s right-hand man, so to speak and 2), as far as I can remember, we don’t really get any sense that MianMian and JYL bonded or why MianMian would support JYL cooking for JZX when their engagement was already annulled. I appreciate that CQL tried to give us an explanation for why MianMian became omniscient for the purpose of this scene and thus would know something that JYL told no one in the novel, but it honestly creates more questions than answers (including why the shy JYL just didn’t do what she did in the novel, which is to just secretly bring the bowl of soup to JZX).

MianMian continues by explaining what just transpired between JZX and JYL, which at first confuses you as a viewer until a flashback begins. Unfortunately, the flashback once again creates a whole new set of questions. It tells us that the altercation between JZX and JYL happened in front of a crowd of onlookers mocking JYL that nevertheless excluded MianMian. Feeling generous, you choose to assume someone who was in the crowd got over the hilarity of shade being thrown at JYL to fetch MianMian (the Jin’s voice of reason in CQL?) and give her all the deets. It also at the same time tells us that JZX berated JYL outside the tent, at its entrance, which is also where JYL starts crying while holding on her tray. The flashback ends with JZX going inside the tent, and viewers are left to speculate why JYL went inside after him and why the crowd dispersed only to come back. Did JYL intend to explain things further? Did she want to deliver the soup, even after JZX’s unkind words? Did they film this scene and choose not to include it? When did one of the Jin cultivators decide to go and fetch WWX? It’s not that having “plotholes” is the worst sin a story can have, but there is a threshold at which the way you present information is just too confusing for the viewer them to remain immersed in the story.

Anyway, back to the present. After the explanations, WWX goes "how dare you said that to my shijie", random Jin cultivators go "Jin-gongzi did nothing wrong, come on, let’s all be mature here wei-gongzi" and WWX, after all this while, finally hits JZX in the chest and sends him flying. We are left to assume that it is because he now knows the truth that JZX does not defend himself or hit back.  The Jin cultivators draw their swords and WWX use modao against them. JZX doesn't try to stop him to defend his sect members, nor do MianMian or JYL step in to stop him. LWJ hears the modao music and realises shit is going down. JZX gets up, stands in front of WWX and waits to be hit--in the face this time. MianMian and JYL finally step in and put themselves between them before WWX gets another hit in. WWX keeps his fist raised in the air in the most laughable pose ever (I just want to adjust his stance: baby, that ain't how you pack a punch, you'll at most inconvenience him. Please.)

But quickly you realise how convenient it is that his arm is raised like that because that means LWJ can swoop in and grab his wrist (ah, the renown CQL romance made of wrist grabs and stares). LWJ tells WWX “冷静” which the subtitles choose to translate in the most informal way possible (“cool down”), making the audience go gasp! is WWX about to have a qi deviation or lose control of his modao?!

WWX and LWJ share a meaningful stare. Then WWX stares at JZX, who stares back at him, and without saying another word WWX leaves first.... not even checking if JYL is following! But thankfully she follows him out, and that's pretty much the end of the scene after LWJ makes his own exit and JZX looks to the side, in... shame? self-doubt? annoyance? (unsure what that expression is supposed to mean). 

Oof.

Differences between CQL and MDZS

In the novel, the soup incident is told to the viewer during the Phoenix Mountain arc as context to explain WWX’s antagonism toward JZX when he spies him walking alongside JYL, and includes some memories prior to the Soup Incident.

On the side, as Lan Wangji saw his contempt, he lowered his voice, “What has happened between you and Jin Zixuan?”

Wei Wuxian snorted.

To ask why Wei Wuxian hated Jin Zixuan so much would require a lengthy explanation.

In CQL, the event is instead presented linearly during the Sunshot campaign arc. In the novel, the scene is entirely reported to us--we only get one line of dialogue that is not otherwise integrated into the narration. We are told a condensed version instead of seeing it unfold. While it would have been possible to portray in a visual medium the feel of a reported and condensed event, the production probably thought it would be easier to just have the scene unfold in "real time". This however brought up a number of challenges since many information could not be provided by a 'narrator' reporting the event with the gift of hindsight. This is how we get Omniscient MianMian who, for convoluted reasons that make little sense if you look at them closely, possesses all the necessary information to untwist the misunderstanding. At the same time, telling the story linearly offered possibilities that we don’t see the production team make use of: for instance, they could have shown in previous episodes JYL cooking as part of the war effort, or have JZX mention the cultivator who he thought had brought him the soup, etc., or even plainly show us JYL giving the soup to be brought to JZX as what would have seemed an innocent reminder of her warm feelings for him which would have later paid off through the incident. Instead, we get told most of what happened and we still have to suffer through a flashback.

Moreover, the integration of the events into a linear form of story-telling removes the framing of the events as they are presented to us as a reader. It is not the end of the world, but it makes the storytelling in this scene less efficient. In the novel, while the narration covers information that WWX didn’t directly witness, it is presented in a manner that aims to explain opinions and feelings held by WWX at that point in the plot--bringing more context to the conflict that takes place moments later when he confronts JZX for now the third time in the story.

Those who knew about [the soup incident] all said it was only a misunderstanding. What wrongs remained now that it had been clarified? Wei Wuxian felt differently. He hated Jin Zixuan to the extreme: he was to him a conceited male princess, an ostentatious peacock, a blind man who only looked at appearances. He did not believe in the slightest that a narcissist like Jin Zixuan could realise his mistake and suddenly take interest in Jiang Yanli. He’d probably been hurried and scolded too much by Jin-furen, and thus the reluctant completion of his tasks.

This is part of the reason why I wouldn’t necessarily say that the incident, in the novel, is about JYL per se. Of course, it helps us understand JYL, JZX and their evolving relationship--but it is ultimately through the framing of WWX’s distaste for JZX that we get the events. As well, since it is framed in that manner, it also provides context for what will happen in the same arc--it is more efficient.

However, I do agree with you, anon, that the novel allows us a little bit more insight into JYL’s thought, and what about JZX’s words hurt her so much. Having the crux of her sadness not being necessarily the unjust words being thrown at her by the boy she likes but the realisation that JZX “had never understood her and had never wanted to understand her either” makes it more tragic, in my opinion--especially considering we have been shown that, unlike JC or WWX, JYL has had an unlimited reserve of goodwill towards JZX even when he was not showing the best side of himself.

Jiang Yanli could finally tell a few things from Jin Zixuan’s words.

From the beginning, Jin Zixuan had never believed that a maiden like her, born from a noble sect but had low cultivation, could do anything on the battlefield or help with anything at all. To put it simply, he thought that she just wanted to find a reason to approach him, that she was just here to add to the trouble.

Jin Zixuan had never understood her, and had never wanted to understand her either. Of course he wouldn’t believe her.

After he said a few harsh words to her, standing where she was, Jiang Yanli had burst into tears. When Wei Wuxian returned, this happened to be the scene that he saw.

The webseries also removes another layer of depth to the storytelling by changing the events surrounding the misunderstanding between JYL and JZX. MXTX’s writing leans into the sociological and, at times, the cynical, being concerned with observations of how people act in A Society. Wherein CQL JYL asks, at MianMian’s suggestion, a servant to bring the soup because she is “too shy,” in the novel the servant discovers JYL’s secret and manipulates JZX into believing she is the one who transferred warm feelings into a bowl of lovingly-prepared soup and shamelessly reaped the benefits of JZX’s gratitude and regard. It feels almost like we are supposed to be at least a little impressed by the strategic mind of that character, who knows exactly how to play JZX without ever truly incriminating herself.

She had fair looks and knew to take opportunities. Out of curiosity, she followed Jiang Yanli for a few times before she was able to guess what was going on. Keeping her composure, she loitered outside of Jin Zixuan’s house after Jiang Yanli brought the soup, purposely letting Jiang Zixuan see her shadow. [...] Cleverly, the woman never acknowledged anything, but instead denied it ambiguously, her cheeks flushed, making it sound as though she was the one who did it, but didn’t want Jin Zixuan to know how much trouble she went through.

As is already clear, another deviation is the inclusion of characters who were not in the original scene--MianMian and Lan Wangji--, while others, namely Jiang Cheng and Jin Guangshan as well as the conniving cultivator, are now absent. This change creates, to a degree, a shift in stakes to the incident--having both sect leaders getting involved suggests how big the fight between WWX and JZX had become and how it could have impacted inter-sect politics. However, in the webseries, there is not really a true fight between JZX and WWX. This is partly because the physical altercation begins after all is revealed. In the novel, JZX gives back as good as he gets because at that point in time he does not feel like he has done anything to deserve WWX’s ire.

Although his shijie had an easy temper, except for how they cuddled and cried together the day the three of them reunited after Lotus Pier was destroyed, she hadn’t really shed many tears in front of others, much less cry so loudly, so pitifully in front of so many people. Wei Wuxian was filled with panic. As he tried to ask her, Jiang Yanli was crying so badly that she couldn’t even speak properly. Then, when he saw Jin Zixuan standing on the side, astonished, he fumed with anger, wondering to himself why it was that dog of a person again. With a kick, he pounced on Jin Zixuan. The fight between the two would have alerted the Heavens. All of the cultivators around the base came to break up their fight. 

A related and important missing aspect in the CQL scene is a small detail that is impacts the tone of the novel: "Amid the ruckus, [WWX] finally understood what was the cause of all this, and became even more angered. He spread his tough talk, saying that one day he’d definitely make Jin Zixuan die in his hands [...]". This element of dramatic irony is one that would have been very easy to include in the adaptation, which is why I'm very surprised and confused they didn't. Perhaps because it makes WWX 'look bad'? Is the inclusion of WWX using modao and seeming on the verge of a qi deviation (something that is not in the novel) a gesture towards this? That is, a choice to replace dramatic irony serving as foreshadowing with straight-forward exposition?Your guess is as good as mine.

Overall, the events as described in the novel do feel differently than what we have in the novel, both because we have more context (like the fact that JYL rarely cries--something that is definitely changed by CQL because boy does JYL cry often in the live action) but also because of a number of choices, especially regarding JZX. For instance, JZX is described as being astonished at JY’s crying (since he doesn’t know she is the one who truly made the soup), but in CQL he just looks kind of pissed off that’s she’s sobbing and intent on ignoring her?

As well, after WWX asks the servant cultivator to be brought out and a few rounds of questions reveal the truth, we get to see more of a stark difference. Where he was fighting WWX just moments ago, when WWX curses and hits him, he stops fighting back. Having the prior instance, where he was more than willing to stand his ground, contextualises his later decision not to fight back--whereas in CQL we don’t get to see this shift in attitude, since from the get-go he does not defend himself.

Another significant deviation is that it is no longer JYL who is the person to stop WWX’s wrath--being replaced by LWJ. In the novel, no one but JYL is able to: "If not that Jiang Yanli held up her hand a while later, while Jiang Cheng and Jin Guangshan came to pull Wei Wuxian away, it was likely that even now Jin Zixuan wouldn’t be able to attend the hunt of Phoenix Mountain." This difference is even more stark considering CQL!WWX leaves the tent without making sure JYL is also leaving with him. Of course, inserting LWJ helps with getting more angsty fanservice moments but it unfortunately cheapens, to a degree, the exploration of WWX’s relationship with JYL.

TLDR

While I think it is difficult to argue that the soup incident, in either works, is mainly about JYL, the CQL version adds confusion while dropping many of its layers and nuances, and does provide less space for the audience to learn  about JYL and JZX as a result.

#my brain isn't fully functional these days so do not expect this to be a very clear piece of meta #mdzs meta #cql vs mdzs #anon ask #jyl #jzx #wwx

[agendratum]

so i saw this tweet

and remembered a little discovery i made when looking for screencaps for an edit. before i write anything else i need to clarify tho, that there is no blaming yanli for anything ever, especially not in that scene where she was literally dying, but yeah

yeah

so 

this is probably the moment when jiang cheng’s presence gets acknowledged the most by yanli in the whole scene, because she is holding his hand, but yeah, she isn’t looking at him

then he gets angry with wei ying, yells at him, but then yanli looks at him and calls his name. and the look on jiang cheg’s face 

jiang cheng is holding her hand and looking in horror (i think?) at wei ying, but their whole attention is on each other. yanli reaches out to hold wei ying’s hand

and then

she takes the hand jiang cheng is holding away too to reach for wei ying

and the fucking look on his face

is actually killing me

the amount of pain, the amount of misery. 

no wonder people talk so much about jiang cheng not being able to even imagine that someone can love him for just him. 

his sister rushes to nightless city to save their brother, who’s on a rampage murdering people. she doesn’t even look at him and when he blames wei wuxian, she already forgave him. 

his brother is here, but he isn’t really here with him. his sister is here, but she isn’t really here with him. and in the next ten or so minutes they both are gonna be dead. and he will keep on living knowing that they left him all alone in lotus pier long before they left him alone forever, always caring more about somebody else than him. 

(that is of course not what i think, but that is what i believe is circling in jiang cheng’s head on daily basis after the nightless city. i love all the yunmeng siblings equally and i don’t think that any of them fucked up more than the other. the kids are not ok, and it would take them so much more time to get rid of the influence of their fucked up childhood than the time they actually had)

anyway, this scene right here came into my house and personally beat me up and now i can never forget the look on jiang cheng’s face when his sister took her hand away from him to reach for wei wuxian, who she never blamed for anything and who, for the next 16 years, jiang cheng will blame for everything

#the untamed #cql #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #wei wuxian #wwx #is it meta for me to mumble? #meta #yunmeng siblings

[randomprose]

jiang cheng with the junior quartet in which they've outgrown their fear of him and they realized sect leader jiang is just a giant grumpy cat with mother-hen tendencies.

when they night hunt with him occasionally he always has snacks and buys them street food if they finish early. he'll scold them for eating unhealthily but buys them the treats anyway. once, ozz said he's never had zongzi so jc bought them all one each from a stall.

he doesn't even say anything to wen ning anymore. when he sees that the juniors are with him, he just gives an acknowledging nod and a gruff reminder directed at the four of them to don't do anything stupid before going on his way. like he trusts them with him.

but anyway, these juniors start to pester jiang cheng whenever they're in yunmeng and they've somewhat learn how to decipher his scowls and screams from normal fond-bordering-on-affectionate ones to actually angry ones—the latter of which is rarely ever directed at them.

they're over at lotus pier whenever JL is. JL doesn't get to go there much now because of his sect leader duties but when he is, he is sure followed by his friends. it's like they've decided lotus pier is their go to headquarters where they can fool around and shit. jiang cheng would pretend he hates it and finds them all a nuisance ("don't you kids have your own sects to go home to?? lotus pier is not your play place! why are you brats always here?!") but he's really glad JL's got friends with him now. he used to be such a lonely child.

overtime, they just randomly pop up even when JL isn't there. jiang cheng is always surprised to see either lsz, ljy, or ozz in the compound saying they were in the area and decided to pop in for a greeting like: hi sect leader jiang! how are you? been to any night hunts lately?

they're over there a lot that they even have their own regular guest quarters by now. ones close to JL's suites in the family compound. they sometimes train with the disciples but otherwise they just mess around lotus pier and swim in the lakes. especially in the summers.

JL is ecstatic! finally! people who understands his jiujiu's weird show of affection other than wwx! JL thinks his jiujiu is just severely misunderstood but he really is just a Big Softie with grumpy tendencies.

oh and he teaches them stuff too obviously, but not in the way that's playful and interactive like wwx or direct like lwj. jiang cheng's wisdom comes in random bouts in the middle of night hunts. small tidbits on fighting born out of experiences from the war and life in general. the profound ones come when he's two bottles deep just before turning in or when they're strolling on busy night markets going home and he doesn't even mean to but the juniors are like 'wow that makes so much fucking sense we never thought of it that way what the fuck.'

when the juniors are night hunting near yunmeng or if lotus pier is their meeting point and jiang cheng doesn't get to come with them, he makes the servants pack them extra snacks or pile them on to JL to share with his friends. the servants are careful not to say anything but they all know it's under sect leader jiang's orders

ohmygod jiang cheng is such an overbearing mother hen. but in a good way! the juniors learned to enjoy it the best they can and needle him into buying them snacks or letting them do stuff they normally wouldn't get away with from wangxian. he's literally the grumpy uncle who's also the most indulgent.

on god can you imagine jiang cheng being THAT UNCLE who lets u get away with small misdemeanors?? ABSOLUTELY INSANE. but he does with the juniors!! like he trusts them to not be so stupid and call for help when need (also they have a fierce corpse as a companion most of the time anyway, so).

some sprinkles of wangxian bc i'm a slut for them: 

wangxian notice that they've been talking a lot about sect leader jiang. “oh,” wwx says, “you went night hunting with jiang cheng? when was this how come i’ve never heardof it?” he's clearly itching to ask more he's practically vibrating.

ljy: don’t worry wei-qianbei you're still our favorite! sect leader jiang is our close 3rd  wwx: 3rd? who's 1 and 2? ozz: you and hgj are #1 of course! wwx: we tied for #1?   ljy: yeah you're practically a package deal. do not separate and all that wwx: who's #2 tho? ozz: wen-qianbei! wwx: huh. valid.

jl: speak for yourselves. jiujiu is my #1. wwx: that's also very valid too a-ling. otherwise i'll have to scold you for being unfilial and jiang cheng will break your legs for breaking his heart.

once while relaying a report, lsz called jiang cheng ‘shūshū’ and wwx had to do a double take because um what? what did you just call jiang cheng? lsz blushed and stuttered an explanation before jl explained obnoxiously:

jl: jiujiu told him to call him that. told him to go to the ancestral hall to pay respects too. he must really like you sizhui.  ljy, #1 sizhui fan: of course he likes sizhui! everyone does! wwx: is it true sizhui? lsz, blushing:...shūshū's nice... wwx:...jiang cheng...shushu...nice..ok....okok...

lmao one of them (either ozz or ljy but i think it will be more hilarious if it's ljy) slipped and called jiang cheng 'jiujiu' once just because he kept hearing jl calling him that. jiang cheng just turns to him with a mild "that's jiang-zongzhu to you, lan jigyi."

and god!!! ljy is so mortified!!! this is worst than that one time he accidentally called hgj 'dad'!! it doesn't help that his friends are assholes (yes even sizhui!!) and never let him live it down. especially JL!! he's all "don't go stealing my jiujiu now" fuck you JL!! as if ljy will!!

also, once when they were sassing jiang cheng, (they get!! to sass sect leader jiang!! and he only threatened to break their legs once!!) and ljy got the last word in, jiang cheng hit him w/ a "is that any way to talk to ur uncle? huh, nephew?" which effectively shut up ljy as his friends roared in laughter propriety be damned!!

((yes i was thinking of that B99 episode where jake peralta called captain holt dad and holt went in for the ride and called jake 'son' lmao))

goodddd!!! i live for the junior quartet discovering that underneath jiang cheng's rough exterior he's a Big Softie who's also hilarious even when he doesn't mean to. JL is very happy with this development and wwx is happy to hear stories about his brother having fun with the kids.

this ran long but i also just wanna says this is because of queen jiang yanli's influence (you guys notice how yunmeng trio are all good with kids?) 

ANYWAY! this is me again with my 'Jiang Cheng is Great With Kids So Give Him More Kids To Take Care Of' agenda and you all should jump in on it thank you.

[posted on twitter]

#i just think jc will be so good with kids of all ages #he's got so much love to give #and noone to give it to #so it's just all pent up inside him #so he's all rage-y and shit #jiang cheng #junior quartet #lan sizhui #lan jingyi #jin ling #ouyang zizhen #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #headcanon #mdzs headcanons

[pharahsgf]

"but i thought i'd spare you all the extra four paragraphs" miss penta pharasgf i love reading your replies don't ever filter your words girl 🙏🥺 we are here to listen with respect ❤️

ty... i have a lot of unorganised thoughts re: fixit aus though so this is gonna be messy lol

imo most of them misunderstand and oversimplify the situation wei wuxian was in politically & what the jins were trying to achieve. like jin zixuan's death wasn't some chance incident, the jin clan was deliberately and strategically backing wei wuxian into a corner while organising a smear campaign against him so they could justify gathering the sects to assassinate him and seize the yin tiger seal. if wei wuxian had managed to avoid conflict, they would have found some other way to paint him as a threat that needed to be neutralised, and wei wuxian would still be without the resources and social influence necessary to defend himself.

"omg but if he'd just asked for help-" jiang cheng told him point blank he wouldn't help him and that no one else with any influence spoke a word in his defense. a disneyesque Good Ending where everyone gets to save the day Together and wei wuxian goes through some didactic character development so he knows to Just Ask For Help... doesn't actually work when these characters canonically let wei wuxian and those under his protection get slaughtered without doing much of anything. even lan wangji, who obviously wanted to protect wei wuxian, was too hesitant to go against the sects to actually do so.

in the end i do have to wonder what most of these aus are actually, like. fixing. fics that go out of their way to avoid wei wuxian's death usually end his story on a worse note than it does in canon, as the erasure of his rebirth denies him the chance to let go of his debts and regrets and traumas, keeps him in a body that's literally falling apart with no hope of recultivating a core, and more often than not ends with him either maintaining an unstable and miserable existence in a place that traumatised him OR returning to the jiang sect to continue being jiang cheng's loyal slave. like. i cannot overstate how much worse off he is in 90% of fixits i've read than he ends up being in canon.

wanting jiang yanli and wen qing to live is something i can understand but you barely need to change anything at all to make that happen, like literally just say "the jins kept wen qing alive in secret and jiang yanli's wounds weren't fatal" like there's your fixit. no need to mischaracterise the jins or derail anyone's character development. ezclap. also lbr most aus where they live don't manage to do anything interesting w them anyway, jiang yanli barely even gets to raise her own son most of the time bc ppl are more attached to the idea of "single dad jc" than they are to jiang yanli's personhood & wen qing is relegated to a piece of furniture for the sake of #wangxian family feels.

in the end i feel like the primary concern of most of these fics is just to make everyone who didn't help look better. all the characters who turned their backs on those in need now get to have their turn at being the hero & instead of having to endure the consequences of their canon decisions and grow as people (the horror!) they get to yell at wei wuxian for being too arrogant to ask them for the assistance they declined to give him. the initial anon said it already but i'm so tired of people acting like everything wei wuxian does is good as long as it's anyone but him doing it. (special shout out to jiang cheng! ppl will really criticise wei wuxian's choices on his behalf and then write fixits reassigning all wei wuxian's actions to him and calling it heroism. wonderful consumption of media)

#replies #anonymous