#and while that could just be jc wanting to stop any demonic cultivators from fucking things up

[symphonyofsilence]

Here’s an AU that’s been stuck in my head for a long while (it entirely fucks up the magic system of MDZS, and borrows two elements from SVSSS):

the instructions for the summoning ritual, from Jin Guangyao’s room to Mo Xuanyu’s hand, get mixed up. He completes the rituals. He’s sure he did everything right. Step by step. By all evidence, it must’ve worked. So why was he still alive & well?

Miles away, in an inn in Dafan Mountain, Wei Wuxian wakes up in a body that’s wearing all purple. And has Zidian on his right hand. Panicked, WWX calls: “Jiang Cheng! Jiang Cheng!” and jumps up to find a mirror. He knows he hasn’t possessed Jiang Cheng. So why would he be in his body? all the while he keeps frantically calling Jiang Cheng’s name.

It takes several moments for JC to come to himself...as much as he COULD come to himself when he's lost control of his own body, & hears WWX’s panicked voice in his mind. All of this could have just been a sleep paralysis or something (except that he knows he wasn't sleeping. He was doing paperwork)...but then he hears his own voice calling his own name as his body takes the liberty to jump up & start searching the room.

Then comes the answer to WWX’s frantic calling from inside of his mind: “Wei Wuxian?!”

WWX lets out a breath of relief: “Ah...thank fuck! Jiang Cheng! You’re alive!”

JC answers furiously: “AND YOU COULDN’T STAY DEAD WHILE THERE WAS A MEMBER OF THIS FAMILY STILL ALIVE! YOU HAVE TO PERSONALLY COME BACK FROM THE DEAD TO CHANGE THAT!”

“If you’re still alive, then why am I here?!”

“WEI WUXIAN! YOU DARE TO POSSESS ME AND THEN ASK ME WHY I’M NOT DEAD ENOUGH?!”

“FFS! I didn’t possess you, Jiang Cheng! Would I be like THIS if I had possessed you?!”

“well then, use Zidian!”

“Use Zidi-Jiang Cheng! WTF! Don’t be so rash! beating ME with Zidian would be beating YOU with Zidian!”

“HANG ME with Zidian if it would get you out of me!”

“get me out of-...?OH! Ooooh! You’re right! Zidian does do that!...wait...how do you use this thing?”

WWX finally gets Zidian going (and is lucky that JC stops him before he fries them both with too much voltage within his first few seconds in JC’s body). and it doesn’t work. they’re still stuck.

WWX can’t think of any reason why this would have happened.

at the Mo Manor, MXY comes to the conclusion that perhaps he has summoned the Yiling Patriarch, but not into his own body. He has let him lose and now Yiling Laozu is seeking revenge for himself! MXY thinks that the person Yiling Laozu would most likely want to seek revenge upon would be his murderer and brother, Young Sect Leader Jiang. He has to inform him that his life is in danger. But with what he hears of Jiang-Zongzhu’s attitude toward demonic Cultivators, and people who even utter Yiling Laozu’s name, he doesn’t dare to approach him with the information that he not only has performed a demonic ritual specifically to summon the Yiling Patriarch, but he has put Jiang-Zongzhu’s life in danger, too! But on the other hand, if WWX doesn’t fulfill MXY’s wish. MXY’s soul might be forever destroyed, never to get reincarnated! Finally, after giving it much thought, MXY decides that he can try approaching his nephew, Jin Ling, and tell him that his Jiujiu might be in grave danger, and if they see WWX, tell him to come to Mo Village, and then MXY will run before JL comes for his life & JC even sees him, and he won’t be there for when JL tells these to his uncle. So, taking Lil’ Apple, he gets on his way to Dafan Mountain.

WWX is convinced that he can do a very good JC impression. But the problem is that at all times, it seems like Jiang-Zongzhu is doing a Jiang-Zongzhu impression. And also he’s holding back laughter. JC keeps nagging him in his head. when they’re not fighting (which is rarely. But fighting 24/7 in your own head, even for them, gets exhausting), back into the habit, WWX finds ways to tease and annoy JC. In his first life, he was exactly one (1) cm taller than JC, and he never lets it go. He takes any opportunity to say that “If I was in my previous tall body...” “If I had my 0.03125 chi...” “Life from down here...”.

JC’s head disciple, whoever they are, is WWX’s new nemesis. they’re his new JZX. Poor thing has no idea why they’re suddenly so out of favor with Jiang-Zongzhu. They were fine an hour ago. they think that Jiang-Zongzhu might just be in a bad mood. But no, they’re the only one getting this treatment. Others even say that Jiang-Zongzhu behaves lighter than usual. Occasionally, WWX snaps back at others with one of JC’s zingers™️ & then they temporarily forget the angst & drama between them as JC is like “You know what would have been better?” and WWX either agrees & is like “Oh, you should have said it back then!” or insists that his comeback was better. either way, they keep coming up with better and better comebacks for the next hour. When they’re trying to sleep suddenly one of them comes up with a very good one.

It doesn’t take 3 seconds for JL to realize that that’s not his Jiujiu. WWX explains to him that he too has no idea wtf he’s doing here (while JC in WWX's mind sneers that this would imply that he has any idea what he’s doing at other times) & he’s really trying to find a way out of his uncle’s body. He wisely withholds information about who he is. And also acts as a messenger between JC & JL. Who first and foremost, tells the brat to get a grip! Everything is under control. (It’s not)

During the night- hunt, When one of the sect leaders was going on about something that didn't interest LWJ, he thinks he saw Jiang Wanyin rubbing his nose in thought. Which is something that he has never seen him do. BUT YOU KNOW WHO DID?! It does happen that 2 people who are close to each other would occasionally pick each other’s habit. But 13/16 years after Wei Wuxian’s death?! Unlikely! The next weird thing he noticed is that when Sect Leader Yao was talking, he’s sure he saw Jiang Wanyin trying to hold back laughter in the exact same way that WWX used to do. Then, when he turns to sneak a peek at this peculiar behavior again, he catches Jiang Wanyin already looking at him, but not in the way that a Jiang Wanyin would ever look at LWJ. And! For a second it looks like he’s going to break into a smile but then he immediately looks away. And it doesn’t just end there. When one of the sect leaders that LWJ has seen talking to JWY hundreds of times before goes to talk to him, for a second there is a blank, confused look on his face as though he doesn’t recognize him. So, when LWJ catches him sneaking out of his room at the inn at night, suspiciously holding a flute in hand, he follows him. (it’s optional whether the flute is Chenqing or not. ‘cause, on one hand, I don’t know if JC would carry Chenqing with him at all times, so I think it would be in the Lotus Pier, but on the other hand, he did carry WQ’s comb with him everywhere. so...)

he didn’t know JWY could play the flute. or would if he could. he follows him to the depth of the woods, where there’s no one else but them. then, JWY starts playing the flute. it’s two or three songs that LWJ doesn’t know but have familiar compositions. And then, he plays a familiar one. Suddenly the leaves rattle and there comes a sound of chains and a man with the pale face of the dead, disheveled hair & wearing all black approaches. it’s the ghost general! a few moments of astonishment on JWY’s face pass and then he examines the ghost general and pulls something out from behind his head. But what’s more, is that he starts arguing with someone that is not Wen Ning who stands silently. LWJ catches sight of Zidian crackling for a short second on his hand. and then he hears clearly:” Jiang Cheng! CALM DOWN FOR A SECOND WOULD YOU?! Don’t you think it’s strange that Wen Ning is ALIVE when he should have been dead over a decade ago?! Don’t you want to get to the bottom of this?!”

LWJ thinks he knows what’s happened. he’s so overcome with the newfound knowledge that he slightly moves and straightens himself. his guan touches some leaves and the noise catches WWX & WN’s attention. WWX quickly sends WN off and then he turns to go, too. As he goes he erases any doubts that might have been about Jiang Wanyin being possessed by starting to sing in a quiet voice. he reasons “Well, Jiang Cheng, it’s either pretending that you were singing OR looking like you were talking to yourself AND the ghost general! Which is it gonna be?” and “Jiang Cheng! You’ve got such a nice voice! why do you never sing? I’m not gonna stop singing!”

WHY WAS THE UNIVERSE TESTING LAN WANGJI!! IT COULD HAVE BEEN ANYONE! ANY RANDOM PERSON! WHY WOULD HE COME BACK IN JIANG WANYIN'S BODY?! LWJ would see JWY & his blood would boil! He who had never had a single problem with his own brother in his life had the Cain instinct toward his brother-in-law. He would see WWX's expressions on JWY's face and he could SEE WWX behind JWY's face & his heart would miss a bit & the sun would shine brighter for a second before it registered that the expression is on JWY's face. It looks wrong and weird & it would give LWJ cognitive dissonance.

At Dafan Mountain, the Juniors think that Jiang-Zongzhu has had a qi deviation when he takes the time to explain to them how he figured out what the dancing maiden is, even engaging them in the conversation, while frantically searching for the young mistress. 

when he finally gets to Jin Ling and has to save him, WWX of course goes to hastily make a bamboo flute, but then he suddenly sees Zidian on his hand. JC yells inside his head to use it. But it’s only after he turns it into the lightning whip that he realizes he doesn’t really know how to use it. That spinning around and exactly hitting the target or using it as a lasso without wiping out everyone else in a close radius or even hitting yourself and controlling the voltage really needs practice, “Wrap it around her and pull. Wei Wuxian! what are you waiting for!” “How do you use this thing!”. Panic is creeping inside when he suddenly blacks out. and when he comes to himself, he’s standing over the shattered statue on the ground, Zidian in hand and around the statue, as the dust slowly settles. except that HE’s not the one standing! Jiang Cheng is! WWX is not the one controlling the body! JC has taken over by sheer protective Jiujiu power.

For the very first time, Jin Ling lights up when he gets a scolding from his uncle. ‘cause yeah that’s definitely his uncle!

And it’s here that they realize that JC can take over the body, too. And new war wages on.

Both of them know that WWX needs to take over the body to do his investigations and dark magic stuff on what's gone wrong that they’ve ended up like this, and what can they do to fix it. And that JC needs to take over in political and overall sect leader situations. And because demonic cultivation is harmful to body and mind, and WWX, JYL & JZX have all already died because of WWX’s demonic cultivation, WWX would really rather not risk Shidi’s life, too. So as much as WWX enjoys finally being able to fight with a sword again if the situation gets too serious, he agrees that JC would better be able to fight, both because he can use Zidian and, WWX is out of practice with the sword (But he starts to practice with both sword and Zidian. and he's LIVING! Even though JC would greatly amuse himself with WWX’s fails at wielding Zidian, he would give him helpful tips, too.) But both of them would say that “Once you take over, you’d never give control back to me! I’m not giving it to you!”

LWJ unnecessarily rushes to protect the Yunmeng bros thrice. 2/3 time he meets JC’s incredulous rage. One time it’s a very impressed and grateful WWX, LWJ just quietly follows them around to help in any way he can anytime he can. JC is super annoyed, and suspicious that LWJ knows. and WWX is stressed ‘cause LWJ knows both of them. How long can he fool him? Until LWJ finally calls “Wei Ying” and everything makes sense.

Since WWX is currently residing in his Shidi’s body, LWJ is spared the emotional torment of thinking that WWX is abusing and making fun of his love and devotion by harassing him.

On the other hand, WWX is made bluntly aware of LWJ’s feelings for him from the very first moment their eyes linger on each other for 0.05 seconds via JC’s very helpful gross-out, screaming, scolding, furious, outraged, and indignant commentary. “STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!” “STOP GIVING HIM SMILES AND HEART EYES LIKE AN IDIOT, WEI WUXIAN!” “OKAY, THAT’S ENOUGH LOOKING INTO PEOPLE’S EYES! TIME-OUT!” “I SWEAR IF YOU TAKE ONE MORE STEP TOWARDS HIM!” “I SWEAR IF HE GETS ONE CHI CLOSER!”

things like jumping down a tree in Yunmeng to see if LWJ would catch him are definitely out of the question, but not even making heart eyes at each other is without its obstacles with JC screaming in his head. (while WWX insists that they’re NOT making heart eyes. They're just making eye contact. Shut up, JC!)

Soon, MXY arrives at Dafan Mountain and finds JL, who is arguing with the Lan Juniors and Ouyang Zizhen and wants to talk to him privately. JL snaps that he doesn’t have anything with MXY to talk about privately. If he has something to say, say it here. And MXY thinks that it’s better actually. The Lan kids are good kids. If JL wants to eradicate him after hearing what’s happened, they’d stop him. So he tells his tale. when it’s finished, all of the Juniors just gape at him. MXY turns his head and freezes when he sees Sect Leader Jiang staring aghast at him with Hanguang-Jun by his side. all the wide eyes of the Juniors turn from MXY to Jiang-Zongzhu. As expected, Zidian starts to crackle on his right hand. But then, very unexpectedly, his left hand holds his right hand and tries to stop him. Not the way Jiang-Zongzhu usually stops touching Zidian and calms himself down. But he looks like he’s actually fighting himself! Then, JL who finally knows WWX is inside his uncle’s body jumps up and says: “You,,,!” but he can’t do anything to WWX without hurting his Jiujiu. But all the Juniors know that JL would never shout at his Jiujiu like that, they think they finally know what’s with Sect Leader Jiang’s “qi deviation”. that...actually...explains a lot.

MXY pales and starts to run, but is caught by WWX. WWX asks him what he’s exactly done. MXY explains the ritual step by step. WWX can say what drafts have mixed up to result in this. But he has no idea what to do now. because those drafts were never supposed to mix up. he guesses that the reason he’s in JC’s body must be related to his golden core that is inside JC. But he can’t say that to him. He instead tells JC that it must be due to...some unfinished business between them, to which JC replies that his unfinished business with WWX is that he hasn’t finished WWX. MXY then starts to beg WWX to take revenge for him because otherwise both MXY and WWX’s souls would be forever destroyed. Never to get reincarnated. Hearing this, JC panics. And immediately decides that they’re gonna get that goddamn revenge. At worst, they’ll get stuck together in his body until one of them dies and the other gets the body for himself. Of course, he would bring up a thousand excuses for why he agrees with this revenge plot, instead of telling WWX that he’s scared for his soul. It’s here that the Lan Juniors ask if MXY is talking about his aunt and uncle and cousin. Upon his affirmation, they tell him that they’re already dead. And explain what’s happened in the Mo Manor with the cursed hand. WWX is curious about that hand thing. But JC says that the GusuLan Sect gotta be able to handle one angry hand. It’s none of their business. He’s got a sect to run. The Lans say it’ll be good if they can visit and take a look. JL is kinda curious, too. But he’d never agree with WWX on any matter. So, he feigns extreme disinterest. “What about Young Master Mo?” Lan Sizhui asks. “What about him? Doesn’t the lunatic inherit the leadership of the Mo clan?” JC thinks. But doesn’t say anything, because he’s very, VERY crossed with MXY. To his surprise, nobody else points this out. The Lans decide that they’re taking MXY to Gusu to give him another chance at cultivation.

Days later, WWX bullies JC every second of every day to the point that he decides to let him have a look at the accursed angry hand. He’s extra bitter because he knows that WWX’s excitement has less to do with the hand, and more to do with seeing Hanguang-Jun.

They get there with JL and some of the Jiang Disciples. After that, when the hand points in a direction, and WWX guesses that’s where we should go, JC says that that’s where “the Lans” should go. “we” are going to Qinghe to night hunt. Here was your fucking angry hand! you had your look! we’re going now!

and so they do, they depart at the same time as LWJ. Awkwardly for JC & LWJ, & To WWX’s delight (AND LWJ’s), it turns out that they’re going the same way for the first few miles. And the next few miles. then it turns out that the hand was pointing to Qinghe. Of course, JC thinks that even if they were crossing the narrowest road in the world only two could pass, and there was no other way, and all around them was on fire, no contact with Hanguang-Jun would still be necessary. But WWX & LWJ beg to differ. WWX annoys LWJ every chance he gets (or creates. these moments annoy both JC & LWJ, and LWJ might not be as fun as he used to be, but JC doesn’t disappoint. So WWX doubly enjoys himself), while JC avoids him like the plague. So one-moment LWJ is definitely-not-getting-hit-on-by-WWX-shut-up-JC! while another moment he comes face to face with a very disgusted and annoyed JC who immediately takes his leave. And those moments when JC & LWJ suddenly find themselves gazing into each other’s eyes are THE MOST AWKWARD and cringe-inducing moments ever. LWJ wonders if the universe is testing his love by making WWX come back inside JWY’s body. And thus, the poor YMJ head disciple is not the only one who gets whiplashes from seemingly one purple man.

LWJ only gains some face with JC when he helps them save JL from inside the wall of the soul-eating stone castle. and then immediately loses that face when he takes the liberty to examine the curse mark on his leg. JC decides that WWX has disgraced him enough for a day- or a lifetime, and starts fighting with him over controlling the body. once the fight starts, it doesn’t stop until they reach NHS’ inn, when they pause to see exactly where they are WWX seizes the moment to take control of the body. But after the door opens for him to see NHS, he realizes that it was really better if JC had control of the body because NHS knows both him & JC. He might doubt things. But WWX has some specific questions to ask NHS and has his own interrogation method. It won’t work if JC has to pause every second for WWX to dictate to him what to ask. NHS wouldn’t be scared. Well, that and WWX can’t just now hand the body to JC after such a hard-won victory.

NHS already finds it strange that MXY who was supposed to be WWX left the Mo Manor without even seeing the cursed hand. Could it be that MXY in his letter wasn’t clear enough about who are exactly the targets of his revenge? but he read MXY’s journal and it seemed clear. NHS doesn’t remember Wei-Xiong to be so dense. could it be that he was so uninterested in returning to life that he wanted to destroy his own soul? MXY going to Lotus Pier and the CR was expected, but what wasn’t expected was him not being on the mission to Qinghe with HGJ. Likewise, Jiang-Xiong following JL to the stone castle wasn’t unexpected, and his meeting with HGJ there wasn’t out of the realm of possibility either, but what was strange was that, since when had HGJ and Jiang-Xiong grown so close? Jiang-Xiong has visited the CR! he came with HGJ to Qinghe from the CR! NHS was sure that before, neither of the two would piss on the other if the other was on fire. But now they were sitting here, talking in complete harmony. strangely. Jiang-Xiong helps himself to a drink in the middle of the conversation and HGJ gives him another drink when that's finished?! Very odd. Also, Jiang-Xiong’s scowl looks forced. As if he has to remind himself to scowl when previously scowling came as naturally to Jiang-Xiong as breathing. He's pretty sure he saw the slightest shadow of a cold smirk once, which was not something that Jiang-Xiong would do. He felt like he saw him stopping himself from doing that again. And he looks more cold than furious as Jiang-Xiong would have been. And the interrogation method and the way of talking are familiar, but not Jiang-Xiong’s. He also shows interest in NHS’s fans, which Jiang-Xiong would never do. Most people assume that Jiang-Xoing is very confident, not NHS though, he knows that is a mask for his extreme insecurity, but even people who believed that he’s confident, seeing him now, would understand what confidence really looked like. And it didn’t look like Jiang-Xiong. After leaving them, NHS eavesdrops for a few seconds, and as expected hears HGJ arguing with WWX over letting him examine a curse mark apparently. What he doesn’t expect to hear is HGJ also arguing with JWY!-with a very different tone- over the same thing! He then hears Flute-playing from the room, and he knows he's fucked. His plan would never fall into motion with Jiang-Xiong & Wei-Xiong occupying the same body! If WWX said let’s go right, JC would say no we’re going left even if his destination was at the right and there was no road on the left! NHS has to do some quick thinking. During his research on how to bring back Wei-Xiong, he had read something about a certain “The Sun and Moon Dew Flower Seed” which would grow a body for a homeless soul. NHS doesn’t know how WWX is going to extract his soul from his shidi’s body while making sure that he won’t hurt JC or it won’t be JC’s soul, or both of them transferring to the new body. But he trusts he will find a way. Growing the body will take time. But NHS thinks that either by that time, they have trapped JGY, or if they haven’t, well at least they will then. in the meantime, Huaisang will do what he can to speed them up. So, NHS will visit Er-ge crying that a vicious ghost has appeared in Qinghe and NHS remembers that he has previously read about the way to deal with it in a book in the CR’s library. and when he made it to the library, he will slip in the book about “The Sun and Moon Dew Flower Seed” among the other books. If all goes according to plan, soon WWX and LWJ will have to visit the library to find the method that JGY has used to kill Da-ge. They’ll find the book then. NHS is pretty sure that HGJ is even more eager than WWX to separate him from JC.

JC already has to get on board with the goddamn wanker hand investigations since WWX claimed that the only way to remove the curse mark was to find all the pieces of the corpse, and if the curse mark wasn’t removed it would kill once it reached the heart, but things get really personal for JC when one night, they can’t sleep with Fairy’s constant barking, and on the morning, they hear a scream, and turns out that somebody has nailed a dead cat at the top of JL’s door. Somebody is deliberately messing with JL, and all JC knows is that he now has a corpse to nail at the top of some door. 

So the group of WWX/JC, LWJ, WN, the Juniors but now with the addition of some mouthy YMJ disciples to cause even more pointless arguments with LJY and JL, and MXY who now has made some small progress at cultivation and made some friends with the Lans embarked on their investigations. JC and WWX have to split time between JC’s sect leader things and WWX’s detective things, but WWX would be damned to cut his sleep short. So, no matter how late into the night JC wants to stay awake and how soon he gets up and starts screaming at WWX, WWX is going to get his 9 hours of sleep, and like it or not, so is JC. And they don’t always fight. Mostly they fight, but sometimes they just bicker. And reminisce, and help each other make fashion choices. Sometimes it’s just “Oh, that bakery is still there?” “Yeah. It’s that kind baker’s son now.” “Oh, that kid grew up!” Or “What happened to that water ghoul that that grumpy farmer preferred to us?” or “You know eating what would be just perfect now?”(whether WWX finds a mahogany woman comb in JC’s things and never stops pestering him is optional)

At Jinlintai, with the information JGY got from Yi City via Su Minshan, this whole new bestie situation between WangJi and Sect Leader Jiang, and rumors about Sect Leader Jiang’s recent strange behavior, he would probably guess what’s happened. And things wouldn’t have been so easy for JGY with JC being WWX instead of MXY. He can’t just accuse Jiang-Zongzhu of conspiring against him and go for an attack, hoping that WWX would go on the defensive and without a weapon would pick up Suibian and unsheathe it, so JGY can pull an uno reverse card. Because he and Jiang-Zongzhu don't have any previous grievances or any problems at all. In fact, they have a very good relationship. Jiang-Zongzhu supports LanlingJin Clan’s interests because that would guarantee JL’s future. And he's usually careful not to cause diplomatic incidents with other sects. He doesn't have many enemies. And JGY can’t just attack Jiang-Zongzhu without causing a full-blown war among the sects. And JGY’s heir, JL would get a lot of unnecessary burns here. And anyway, that would be a really pointless attack, because JGY’s pretty sure that Sect Leader Jiang doesn’t even go to bed without Zidian and Sandu on him. Why would he draw Suibian? (and that’s if anyone even gets to the sect leader before being torn to shreds by his disciples). and asking the others to hand in their weapons before entering his room would look too much like an ambush. The crowd would turn against him without even getting into the room. JGY could still frame some other sect leader that he’s had problems with, but fabricating evidence would take the time that he isn’t sure he has on his hands, and without evidence, a war among sects would begin. So. JGY instead of attacking JC, explains to the audience that he’s been shocked to have recently heard of Sect Leader Jiang doing some unorthodox method of cultivation that is way beneath him and is especially far from the righteous, venerable Jiang-Zongzhu who so openly despises these abhorrent methods and has opposed them for years and that JGY had some manuscripts of a spirit summoning rituals that he’s noticed are now missing. He remembers that his brother MXY has caught sight of them. But the thing is that different pages of different copies are missing. So if MXY has indeed done the ritual to summon WWX, it must have gone wrong. JGY then explains that he’s been holding his tongue and waiting for further evidence because he would never want to jump to conclusions and tarnish the honorable Sect Leader Jiang’s impeccable reputation. But now, with someone clearly plotting against the Chief Cultivator and the Jin Sect in general, the honorable Sect leader Jiang must understand that the safety of Jianghu is at stake. There’s a simple way to find out if Yiling Laozu has committed yet another crime against the great YMJ Clan and has possessed the brother he’s betrayed. If Jiang-Zongzhu can’t pull Yiling Laozu’s sealed sword out of its sheath, then JGY wholeheartedly apologizes for his insolence and puts an immediate stop to the outrageous rumors going around about the noble Jiang-Zongzhu’s involvement in Demonic Cultivation. Cornered like this, whether JC unsheathes the sword, or refuses to do so, both would give them away. The YMJ sect, JL, LWJ, and JC act very offended and put up resistance. In the end, LXC intervenes by saying that if Jiang-Zongzhu will honor them with a visit to the CR, the GusuLan Sect has methods of checking for possession and for exorcism by music and all. both SMS and JGY strongly suspect him of bullshitting. JGY does his “looking from under his eyelashes at Er-ge and batting his eyelashes like a Disney princess” thing and tells him “But Er-ge, how is this necessary when such an easy method is right here to put our minds at ease once and for all right here?” But JC continues to be offended and says that there is no way he’d do this demeaning thing. So, off to the CR, it is.

Luckily for them, they find the book NHS has planted there and WWX thinks he can find a way to transfer his soul to the new body without hurting JC. Unluckily for everyone else, Jiang-Zongzhu is really pissed and is giving everyone a hard time. Unluckily for JC, LWJ & WWX are really hitting it and LXC is wingmanning.  

The Burial Mounds happen pretty much the same. except that JC will still have his meridians at max power (This time, JGY visits the CR to ask about the progress of the Lans investigations and claims that WWX has already put his evil plan in motion when he got caught), and when WWX does his spirit-attracting flag thing both he and JC can kick ass with Zidian and Sandu, and let’s say they Dual wield with Suibian that LWJ brought with him. and also lots and lots of confusing switches between JC and WWX happen in the middle of the conversations. some might have lots of “who exactly am I talking to RN?” moments but those who even once had talked to JC know that the one who is permanently scowling and is in constant bitch mode, is Jiang-Zongzhu.

JC is definitely still very hostile with WN and MXY. Especially WN. But now that he had to constantly put up with them for a long while because of WWX, he’s used to them being around. He’s still hostile and they know to avoid him when he’s in control of the body, but it’s toned down. Like, it’s less “hostile towards a nemesis” situation and more “hostile towards a loathed neighbour” one. But on the night of the Guanyin Temple, when he feels things starting to get heated between LWJ and WWX, JC wrestles with WWX and can take control from him for a few moments enough to call WN and MXY to their room. then the four of them sit awkwardly in silence in a row staring at the wall in front of them. There’s a lot of tension between LWJ & WWX, any attempts at conversation by MXY are met with complete and embarrassing failure and he ceases trying, and JC and WWX fight in their minds. In the end, the atmosphere is so thick that they decide they might as well go to raid the temple right now.

JGY and LXC clearly don’t expect WWX to have been sleeping with LWJ while he resides in his brother’s body, and furthermore, he arrives with LWJ, so that conversation doesn’t happen. the fight with JC also doesn’t happen since he’s already there. Also, when Fairy comes and WWX hides behind LWJ, he does the thing that he usually does when Fairy is nearby, or he hears dogs barking, which is to leave the body to JC, and when JC sees LWJ protecting him from Fairy he's like “what do you think you’re doing?” and they start fighting and so, too busy fighting among themselves they don’t really talk that much with JGY. with that time saved when JGY tells SMS that they’re leaving after he’s done mentally scarring WWX and JC, he doesn’t have to go back to seal LXC’s powers again. He just says bye-bye to LXC and JL, and then to MXY- who was really worried for JGY when he got infected by poison and is very sad about what's happening to JGY, and still clearly hero-worships him but doesn’t look obsessed like before- he says: “Xuanyu, I’m glad you’re still here.” and leaves. MXY smiles. Upon hearing this, Jiang Cheng really wishes that he could look at Wei Wuxian.

LXC, LJ, and NHS didn’t get the closure they wanted. LXC needed answers. NHS needed San-ge dead. But both of them know that it's impossible to find one small man who's excellent at hiding in Dongying. But just in case, they both start quietly learning Japanese.

When all the shitstorm is behind JGY and he has time to think, he puts the puzzle pieces together. Inside the coffin was Da-ge’s sewed-together body. Who would have the most motivation to want to bring down JGY AND put Da-ge’s body in place of his mother’s? Who had the power and resources to get this much information about his past and bribe people? Who was the one who distracted him in the discussion conference so Qin Su could get that letter? Who was the one who was at Guanyin Temple that night without any reason?

So, a while later, LXC receives a letter that tells him to beware of Nie Huaisang. He’s not who he pretends to be. The letter also contains a list of people who may cause trouble for Jin Ling’s position as the Sect Leader of LanlingJin, inside and outside of the sect. It also has instructions for how to deal with them. and some general instructions for JL.

This kind of letter is nostalgic for LXC. With a now very bittersweet feeling, it reminds him of the Sunshot campaign. He really needs to see A-Yao. there are so many things left unanswered. After LXC does something about this information, he decides that the Sender’s address on this letter is his best lead. He decides that he’s going to Dongying.

NHS had guessed that if San-ge wanted to get in touch with anyone it would have been LXC. So he had LXC under watch. When he realizes that Er-ge wants to travel to Dongying, he says that he too, could really use a vacation, so why not go together? And before LXC can object, he invites himself and gets on board. And every step of the day he follows LXC like a shadow. LXC’s pretty sure that NHS doesn’t wake up at 4 A.M. So, one day he goes to visit the address on the letter as soon as he wakes up. As he had guessed, JGY isn’t there. LXC starts asking after JGY every day before NHS wakes up. Or at moments when he thinks NHS is momentarily distracted. But to no avail. LXC has to keep up the appearance that he’s really enjoying a vacation in Dongying. and no one is as adept at enjoying a vacation as NHS. Their hobbies are really different, but they’re able to compromise and meet each other in the middle. And it isn’t...not fun. Annoying or boring sometimes. But overall nice. With their search for JGY going nowhere, It’s truly turning into just a nice vacation. On the other hand, JGY hears from his sources that a cultivator in white, with a forehead ribbon, who looks like he’s ascended from heaven, who is with a dandy with impeccable fashion sense is searching for him. JGY doesn’t know why LXC would come to look for him with NHS. Could it be that he also wanted to kick his ass? As long as they’re together he can’t show himself to LXC. So he keeps them under watch closely via his sources. And eventually sees that LXC is really trying to shake NHS off himself, and only asks after him when NHS isn’t nearby, and his efforts seem sincere. But JGY still can’t risk going to see LXC since he’s sure that even when it seems like NHS is looking the other way, he’s watching LXC. He’s sure that he even has put means to eavesdrop in LXC’s room, and some people at the inn they’re staying at must spy for NHS so JGY can’t meet LXC when he’s having his morning routine while NHS is sleeping. One day, they finally give up on finding JGY and decide that they’ll go back home after the festival they’ve heard will soon be held. At the festival, NHS sees some fans that he deems exquisite works of art. LXC says that while NHS is looking at the fans, he’ll go to see the concert since he's greatly interested in the folk music of this new country and what kinds of instruments they play. After the performance, LXC talks to one of the musicians, and they invite him backstage to see the instruments up close if he wants. LXC goes and hears a yamatogoto playing. It’s a familiar tune. He approaches the sheer screen curtain behind which a figure is playing the yamatogoto. He pushes the curtain aside, and the person turns around. And smiles, as he always does “Hello, Er-ge. You wanted to see me?”

LXC gets explanations & some sort of closure. A-Yao tells him that as much as not seeing LXC will pain him, their visits will endanger JGY. Because NHS will now never be off JGY’s, and so by extension, LXC’s tail. Even now he must be already growing suspicious of LXC’s prolonged absence. And Lan Xichen’s first impulse is to say “What if I stay with you and we hide together? We’re good at this. It’s good. Remember?” But with all the things he’s learned recently, he’s not really sure. On the one hand, he realized that the A-Yao he knew and loved never existed, on the other hand, today when he finally saw him again, his heart pounding, he thought HE DID! HE’S HERE! RIGHT HERE! There was nothing they couldn’t work through. There was nothing that could diminish the joy of just hiding away somewhere from the world with A-Yao. As long as A-Yao was here, they could solve everything else. He might not have been the A-Yao he knew, but he was the A-Yao he loved. All versions of A-Yao, known and unknown, are A-Yaos LXC loves. It scares and assures him both at once. It didn’t matter if a part of LXC couldn't forgive him. Even that part preferred his company to most this world had to offer. But then again...no. He doesn’t know how much he can trust his own judgment anymore. He knows he needs time to think. But if he really gives it thought, he knows that he won’t arrive at the same conclusion once he takes his duty to his sect, and the burden he would place on Wangji who is now finally happy and carefree with WWX into consideration. When A-Yao asks: “Er-ge…you haven’t said anything.” He answers: “I don’t know, A-Yao. I’m not sure about anything anymore…nothing but one.” “And what’s that?” “It was...it was good to see you.” And so, LXC takes A-Yao’s yamatogoto, and to NHS he pretends that he’s been talking to a master of the art and is now going to start playing the yamatogoto. If NHS catches him deep in thought, it’s because he’s trying to get the hang of the new instrument. And maybe find a way to cultivate with it. Still, NHS is suspicious. In the end, just before NHS and LXC leave for China, NHS carries a murder attempt at JGY. It fails. An encounter between them is inevitable. But they just drink tea together and are very passive-aggressive. threatening each other with polite smiles and humor. Even complementing each other.

As long as they both live, they’ll always play cat and mouse. both of them are always going to attempt to murder each other and bring the other’s downfall. Both of them will continue to fail now that the element of surprise is gone. Sometimes they will just have tea and a nice, intelligent, dangerous passive-aggressive conversation. Neither of them will ever win but after a certain point, neither of them will want to. It won’t be so much about the eventual victory as it is about the game. If the other is gone, who will be so clever, so strategic, so familiar, so adept at the game and so wholeheartedly into it to play with them? and after all this time, if they’re not playing, then what are they going to do? What will they do with so much peace on their hands?

When LXC returns, he’ll tell others what they need to hear. (’Cause unlike SOME people he doesn’t withhold necessary information from people who have relevance to the subject), and he’ll have the “WWX GET A GRIP MY BROTHER LOVES YOU!” talk with the aforementioned WWX, too.

Finally, the body that has grown from “The Sun and Moon Dew Flower Seed” in the likeness of WWX’s previous body is ready for WWX’s spirit to attach to it. But by this time, JC, unfortunately for him, has already acquired: 1)an extra group of ducklings that consist of Lan Jingyi who takes any chance to roast him but is the only worthy opponent in JC’s league of sass game, one Ouyang Zizhen the poet, and Lan Sizhui who is really a good kid but with the minor bug of being the son of Hanguang-Jun and also a Wen, and WN's beloved cousin at that, and 2)three frienemies in the forms of one Hanguang-Jun, a fierce corpse that has killed his BIL, and a clinically insane former Demonic Cultivator. The aforementioned former Demonic cultivator has now made some progress in cultivation under the teachings of Lan Qiren and with huge effort and helps from the Juniors and with enough motivation in such a healthy environment. He also bagged himself a nice, good-looking, loyal, supportive, totally smitten Lan boy. And JC finally brought himself to remind him that he’s actually the leader of the Mo Clan now and by now somebody has most definitely usurped him. If he wants to take back his clan. now is already late. (But not impossible)

It will take a few years for WWX to wake up in his new body. He decides not to say goodbye to the Juniors, Wen Ning, and Lan Wangji. But Lan Wangji doesn’t need to be told anything. He knows Wei Ying. He’s lost him before for 13/16 years, and now he’s going to lose him again for another 5 years. It’s a painful goodbye that even Jiang Cheng doesn’t interrupt. Lan Wangji stays with Wei Wuxian and helps him with his guqin through tears that block his eyes as Wei Wuxian plays a strangely soothing tune on his flute until one last breath of Wei Wuxian in Jiang Cheng’s body leaves him and the melody stops. The flute almost falls from his hands but even as he collapses Jiang Cheng grasps it, and Lan Wangji catches him before he falls and puts him on a bed, then he quickly gets himself to the Sun And Moon Dew body in the soil. It takes a short while for Jiang Cheng to wake up. and he’s still dizzy and weak from feeling Wei Wuxian’s soul leaving his body, it was like a death by proxy, but it doesn’t stop him from getting up and dragging himself to where the new body in the soil is. Lan Wangji & Jiang Cheng keep vigil in that garden for 5 years. Lan Wangji almost all the time but Jiang Cheng as much as he can. When Wei Wuxian wakes up, he opens his eyes to Lan Wangji. And for the first time, that beautiful, beautiful face is full of emotions. Upon seeing him, Lan Wangji is sure that he can never look away. They can finally kiss. Lan Wangji has tears in his eyes. 

It doesn’t take long until WWX sees JC. He beams at him. One of his sweet, familiar, bright smiles. And the smile in return comes so naturally to JC that he doesn’t even notice to stop it, and trying to stop it would have been trying to stop the breeze from going its way. JC’s eyes shine in a way nobody has seen in years. With every fiber of their being, both brothers want to hug each other. But both of them assume the other doesn’t want them to. So they just stand staring and smiling at each other in suspense. Until WWX ruins the mood with a “life from up here” joke. JC gives Chenqing back to him.

In a moment of carelessness, WN upon seeing WWX’s new body happily exclaims: “And with a new golden core, too!”

and JC is like: “...wh-?”

***

Now that we took “The Sun and Moon Dew Flower Seed” from SVSSS, let’s take the Dream Demon, too.

The Yunmeng siblings had already reconciled without officially reconciling the way all siblings always do. By having to put up with each other 24/7. But the Golden Core reveal fucked things up severely again. WWX didn’t know where he stood with JC anymore. After JC’s mental breakdown, WWX didn’t know what to say to him or do when he sees him again. so he avoided seeing him after that.

The Dream Demon shows the worst moments of one’s life from a third-person perspective.

So, seeing the day WWX and JC were on the run after the fall of the Lotus Pier, and a teenage WWX went shopping, from a third-person perspective, the Current Wei Ying can see that a Wen Patrol marched into the street, Jiang Cheng caught sight of them, and quickly hid somewhere. Even knowing that these events belong to the past, WWX lets out a breath of relief. But then, the Wens saw WWX, and they started to slowly close in on him. WWX thinks “How on earth did I survive this?!” it was then that a violet shadow darted past them. All the wens ran after him.

WWX watches in horror. He's so shocked and horrified that his brain is slow to catch up. “Jiang Cheng you Moron you hid in such a good place nobody saw you why would you come out and run in the open you freaking idiot?!” But then it clicks for him. WHY WOULD HE RUN IN THE OPEN, INDEED?!

WWX has a complete meltdown. He drops to his knees in the middle of a street that is now empty of people who had faces, wide-eyed and shivering, while his mind whirls. He spent all these years thinking that JC had left him behind, but he had put him before himself! Before their sect! But…Jiang Cheng’s sacrifice was completely in vain! Wei Wuxian made it so! Jiang Cheng got tortured in his fallen home swarmed with enemies next to the hanged corpses of his freshly murdered parents, hearing tales of how they died from Wen Chao, only for Wei Wuxian to lose his golden core and die a short while after anyway! But of course, Wei Wuxian would give up his golden core for Jiang Cheng. Even now, he would do that. That’s something he mourned, but never regretted. But even though he never blamed Jiang Cheng for what he did in extreme grief, he would be lying if he said that he never thought how things would have gone had Jiang Cheng not gone back for his parents’ corpses. But just now WWX found out that he would lose his golden core anyway! Either at the hands of Wen Zhuliu, probably along with his life, or for Jiang Cheng. At least now it rests inside his shidi, used to rebuild their sect and protect their nephew! But Jiang Cheng is the shidi! He’s younger! His parents had explicitly asked WWX to protect & take care of him! How dare that brat decide to protect Wei Wuxian?!

WWX sits there going through the five stages of grief as he cries, shouts, and curses. The more he gets entangled in his emotions, the more he gets drowned in the dream. Just when it reaches critical levels and the risk of him dying there gets high, he suddenly notices current time Jiang Cheng standing there looking in bewilderment at the faceless people walking in the familiar street in front of him. “What brand new fuckery is this, Wei Wuxian?” He looks at WWX kneeling there with wide, red-rimmed eyes and tears on his face as if he sees nothing out of the ordinary with him. WWX has summoned JC into his dream with how strongly he’s thought about him.

Of course, JC knows the street, and by how devastated WWX looks, and how he’s dragged him into this, he thinks he knows the scene, too. He itches to repeat WWX’s own words to him “It’s all in the past. Don’t think about it anymore.” But he holds his tongue. He hates seeing WWX like that. He wants it to stop. But doesn’t know what to say. Until he realizes that there is nothing to say, really.

So he just goes to where WWX is fallen on the ground, holds out his hand to him, and says: “Wei Wuxian, Get up!”

He says it with a casual, easy reproachful tone as if Wei Wuxian is being lazy and sleepy on an early morning when they’re supposed to get to their classes. Or they have to clean their room before Madam Yu shows up. He says it as if it’s all as simple as that…and maybe, maybe it is. Maybe it is all as simple as that. They just loved each other to ruins. As simple as that.

So they both finally realize “I loved you completely. And you loved me the same. That’s all. The rest is confetti.” And Wei Wuxian takes Jiang Cheng’s hand and gets up with his help. (mirroring that scene in the meadows when WWX tries to pull JC up and JC disagrees.)

Hand in each other’s hand, they look at each other. As Wei Wuxian’s feelings untangle, all around them the scene shatters. Wei Wuxian finally knows that Jiang Cheng wants him to hug him. He did back then when Wei Wuxian came back in his original body, too. And even before that. So. Wei Wuxian pulls Jiang Cheng into his embrace. At first, he doesn’t get any response, but then, tentatively, Jiang Cheng’s hands wrap around him, too. And then, he hangs on to Wei Wuxian fiercely as if his life depends on it. Wei Wuxian knows that soon, they, too will disappear and he will wake up. So he clings on to Jiang Cheng tighter, and Jiang Cheng clings to him tighter in return. Wei Wuxian whispers: “I’m sorry, and thank you.” But before Jiang Cheng can say anything, he disappears in Wei Wuxian’s arms. And Wei Wuxian wakes up. He wakes up to a world in which he’s more loved than he thought he was. To a world where somewhere out there, he has a brother who cherishes him more than dear life. But then again, he’s always had.

#mdzs #cql #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #chen qing ling #mxtx #wei wuxian #wei ying #jiang cheng #lan wangji #lan zhan #wangxian #mo xuanyu #jin ling #nie huaisang #jin guangyao #meng yao #lan xichen #xiyao #wen ning #yunmeng shuangjie #yunmeng bros #twin prides of yunmeng #mdzs au #mdzs fanfiction #at first I was like I should write this as a proper multi-chaptered fic on ao3 but then I thought #nah it’ll join my endless pile of never-written fanfics I’ll just write the not!fic here #& I got carried away and now it's longer than the multi-chaptered fanfic would have been! #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #my two cents

[neverdoingmuch]

.

#something i see a lot is people getting annoyed at lwj for getting between jc and wwx #like saying that lwj shouldn't be so defensive and try & keep jc away from wwx bc how can they reconcile then!! #and it's like sweet yeah if you want a reconciliation that can definitely get in the way of it #but look at it from lwj's pov #he was told by everyone that jc killed wwx and jc never said anything to contradict that #(i think?? i dont remember that part very well??) #and then jc proceeded to spend the next thirteen years torturing and killing demonic cultivators #and while that could just be jc wanting to stop any demonic cultivators from fucking things up #it's pretty clear by the way that jc reacts when wwx comes back that he's killing them all on the off chance that one of them is wwx #jc then proceeds to spend the rest of the novel actively antagonising wwx #from trying to kill him to trapping him in a room with fairy #jc doesn't once show any hint that he wants to get along with wwx again and that he's not a threat #until the truth comes out #and say what you want to about whether they should or shouldnt reconcile #but lwj isn't being unreasonably when he's being cautious about letting jc near wwx #so no lwj trying to keep jc away from wwx isn't him being a 'bad' character #it's him being protective over someone who has been repeatedly hurt time and time again by someone who just a few weeks ago would have #killed wwx on the spot #from jc's pov it's a lot more complicated than that bc that's his brother who he loved and then lost #and he was betrayed by wwx and lost so much bc of him (so to speak) #and he carries that rage with him for 13-16 years and then he finds out the truth #& learns that he never actually lost his brother #and he wants to make up to him #but lwj isn't going to know that!! #and if you want to write a good fic/draw some good art that is loyal to the characters and realistic #lwj isn't going to step aside unless jc proves that he's not going to hurt wwx #and that's the nuance that would be nice to see #reconciliation between jc and wwx is hard work and part of it is *proving* that things will be different if you have a second chance: #that wwx won't hide things from jc and that jc won't keep trying to hurt wwx #and that's even before you actually reconcile

[no--envies]

In my opinion, one of the reasons JC went crazy after WWX’s death and started venting his own anger and hatred on every demonic cultivator he met, regardless if they were guilty or innocent, is that he couldn’t stand the fact that he hadn’t managed to deal the killing blow to WWX. After all his effort in leading the siege and using the information he had on the Burial Mounds to plan the action and convince everyone else to follow him, he wasn’t even the one who actually killed WWX. WWX died because one of his cultivation techniques backfired and he was torn to pieces by his own ghost army.

I think JC couldn’t accept this. After everything he had done - and thinking he was justified in hating WWX for all the perceived wrongdoings he believed he was a victim of - WWX had managed to surpass him once again. Nobody was able to kill him, not even him.

We know JC’s reaction in the aftermath of the siege because JGY and XY directly comment on it in the extra focused on them:

Xue Yang, “What about his flute? Can you get me Chenqing?”

Jin GuangYao shrugged, “Not Chenqing. Jiang WanYin took it.”

Xue Yang, “Doesn’t he hate Wei WuXian the most? Why would he need Chenqing? Didn’t you also get that sword of Wei WuXian’s? Give him the sword in exchange for the flute. It’s long since Wei WuXian stopped using his sword, while Suibian sealed itself and nobody can pull it out. What’s the use of keeping a fucking piece of decoration?”

Jin GuangYao, “You really ask me to do the impossible, Young Master Xue. Do you think I haven’t tried? How could anything be that simple. That Jiang WanYin has already gone mad. He still thinks Wei WuXian hasn’t died. If Wei WuXian returned, he might not search for his sword, but he’d definitely come for Chenqing. And so, he would definitely not give up Chenqing. A few more words of mine, and he might blow up.”

Xue Yang sniggered, “A mad dog.”

(Chapter 118, ExR translation)

Whatever JC had tried to achieve by leading the siege, he wasn’t able to achieve it. If the only thing he had wanted was to punish WWX for his deeds, he would have been satisfied with his own role in WWX’s death. I don’t think killing WWX was the only thing he wanted, though. He was probably trying to prove something, to himself and everyone else. He wanted to prove that he could surpass WWX for once, and that WWX had been wrong all along in choosing to put himself at risk to help others instead of listening to him. He wanted WWX to admit it was all his fault.

After a while of silence, Jiang Cheng asked, “You’ll stay like this from now on? Got any plans?”

Wei WuXian, “Not at the moment. None of the group dares go down the mountain. People don’t dare do anything anything to me when I go down the mountain either. It’ll be fine as long as I don’t stir up trouble on my own.”

“On your own?” Jiang Cheng sneered, “Wei WuXian, do you believe that even if you don’t stir up trouble on your own, trouble won’t come and find you? It’s often impossible to save someone, but there are more than thousands of ways to harm someone.”

Wei WuXian replied as he ate, “A man with strength can defeat ten with skill. I don’t care if they have thousands of ways. I’ll kill whoever comes.”

Jiang Cheng spoke in a cool voice, “You never listen to any of my opinions. One day, you’ll come to understand that I’m the one who’s right.”

(Chapter 75, ExR translation)

JC had always tried to convince WWX to abandon his path. Since he couldn’t outshine WWX in any way, he wanted to at least prove he was right in the path he had chosen, that choosing to help others at the expense of oneself ultimately wasn’t worth it. But WWX wasn’t swayed in the least. He kept walking resolutely on his single-plank bridge in the dark, regardless of what anyone else thought.

WWX was aware of JC’s mentality: he knew JC wouldn’t willingly put his own reputation at risk to help him protect Wens if he could avoid it. This was one of the main things that divided them since they were teenagers: their values and outlooks were simply too different, it was only a matter of time before their choices made them take completely diverging paths. WWX was fine anyway, he could take care of himself - this mindset could be seen as too overconfident, but he wasn’t completely wrong. He knew he could protect the Wen remnants even without relying on anyone else, since he managed to do it for two years before everything crumbled at Qiongqi Path.

In the end, Jin Zixun ambushed WWX accusing him of something he hadn’t done, and everything spiraled down so quickly he couldn’t do anything to prevent it, until he lost control of his demonic cultivation and killed Jin Zixuan. The sects’ suspicion towards him turned into open hostility and everyone was immediately ready to consider him an actual threat to them all. After the bloodbath of Nightless City, WWX was labeled as the scourge of the cultivation world, an enemy that should be eliminated to guarantee everyone’s peace and safety.

At first glance, one could think JC was right and WWX was wrong. But if this was really what the novel is trying to tell us, why was JC unable to move on for thirteen years, while WWX was immediately ready to start a new life and leave everything in the past after he was brought back? Even when JC managed to capture WWX and confronted him, WWX didn’t have anything to say to him.

The cup was steaming. Before he had taken a single sip, Jiang Cheng suddenly hurled it at the floor. He lifted the corner of his lip slightly and spoke. “You—you don’t have anything to say to me?”

[...]

“I don’t know what to say to you,” Wei Wuxian replied sincerely.

“So you refuse to repent,” Jiang Cheng said in a low voice.

In their past conversations, they had frequently tried to sarcastically undermine each other. Wei Wuxian thus replied without thinking, “Similarly, you haven’t improved a single ounce either.”

Jiang Cheng’s answering smile was brimming with fury. “Fine. Then let’s see which of us truly hasn’t shown an ounce of improvement.”

(Chapter 24, Fanyiyi translation)

I think this exchange is very interesting: WWX and JC are no longer bickering or teasing each other as they so frequently did in the past. What had once been a complicated relationship with genuine affection beneath it all, now retained only the semblance of it. There’s no more warmth, no more anything worth trying to repair. While JC is still adamant about using WWX as a scapegoat to avoid reflecting on his own mistakes, WWX has long since moved on. He doesn’t even feel resentment towards JC, he just wants to live his new life freely.

JC is an interesting foil for WWX, their interactions show how fundamentally incompatible they are and both of their character arcs highlight one of the main themes of the novel: the importance of letting go of all the grudges and negative feelings and remembering the good things, since only then one can truly be free. This is something WWX knows perfectly well:

Wei WuXian propped his arm on Lil’ Apple’s head, spinning Chenqing in his hand, “My mom said you have to remember the things others do for you, not the things you do for others. Only when people don’t hold so much in their hearts would they finally feel free.”

This was one of the only things he remembered about his parents.

(Chapter 113, ExR translation)

#mdzs #mdzs meta #jiang cheng #wei wuxian

[crossdressingdeath]

Phoenix Mountain serves a purpose for so many things that it’s once of my favourite moments in the novel. It told us about the soup incident and that JZX will stand up for a servant, but while good intentions he only knew one side which was good foreshadowing for his death. Good intentions but not understanding the full picture. We see how much WWX loved JYL and she loved him and they make it clear it’s a familial bond and they always stood up for the other.

We get JC showing up after the conflict happens and only hears people talking about how arrogant and disrespectful WWX had just been acting and JC takes their word for it. Maybe he doesn’t fully believe them but he lets their words influence him way too easily.

We even get a privilege aspect to it, right after we find out while WWX took a third of the prey, JGY doesn’t reveal until after everyones scatted that NMJ had killed over of the prey and LWJ takes note of it. So while everyone got on WWX’s case of taking a third, no one dared to say anything about NMJ and if we say they didn’t know, JGY still didn’t bring it up until everyone was gone and LXC even laughs saying that’s how NMJ is. So while NMJ gets a pass, WWX gets the brunt of it. Not that LXC was one of the people going after WWX, but it shows how no one went “well that’s how he is” and laugh it off for WWX like for NMJ.

There’s no much that happens in this flashback and I love it, I always pick up new details I missed whenever I reread it.

Yeah, Phoenix Mountain has so much going for it! It’s great! It does a good job of summing up WWX’s position, too; he’s got JYL’s support and (although he doesn’t know it) LWJ’s love, but the rest of the world will target him even if he’s not doing anything different from what they’re doing and JC will side with the people telling lies about him despite the fact that there’s no reason for him to believe them.

You know, I didn’t even really notice the fact that NMJ basically does the same fucking thing WWX did but JGY doesn’t even mention it until everyone’s gone and everyone who does hear that NMJ also took a solid third of the prey just... laughs it off. It’s only a problem because it’s an inconvenience that JGY has to overcome, which is easy enough to do just by increasing the size of the hunting grounds; what can you do about it, NMJ’s just like that, we can hardly stop him from being a badass! But when WWX does the same thing, just using the demonic cultivation that the sects praised all throughout the war instead of a sword, he’s arrogant, it’s improper, how dare he “cheat” like that. JYL is the only person to call them out on the fact that WWX didn’t break any rules or do anything wrong, just used all the tools at his disposal; they didn’t complain about NMJ going all out with his sword and killing everything he could, so from a purely objective standpoint there is no reason for them to complain about WWX using demonic cultivation. Of course, the real reason is that they think WWX is too powerful; reading deeper, the real real reason is that... WWX is, as far as the sects are concerned, a commoner. He’s reaching above his station. The mere son of a servant has no right to embarrass the sects so thoroughly. It’s fine for NMJ to take a third of the prey, he’s a sect leader, but WWX? WWX is nobody. None of these high fancy nobles want to face the fact that this nobody son of a servant is stronger than any of them, and in fact probably stronger than most of them put together. 

And since WWX is the power behind the Jiang sect and less power behind the Jiang sect makes it easier for JGS to shove his boot down JC’s throat (no, I am not done with the “JC is a Jin bootlicker” comments and I likely never will be), that makes him a target even beyond him being the son of a servant. It’s not just the sects making a point of targeting him in particular, the Jins are also push for him to be seen as a target. Note that JGY deliberately waits for everyone to leave before saying that NMJ did pretty much the same thing WWX did; anyone who might have gotten as upset about NMJ as they did about WWX is gone when NMJ’s actions come up. The whole targeting of WWX is actually fairly brilliant on the part of the Jins; they combine JC’s blatant disregard for and unwillingness to defend his brother with societal beliefs on people climbing up the social ladder into what is essentially the perfect storm; all they needed was the opportunity to unleash it, which WWX and to a certain extent WQ unwittingly give them when she goes to him for help with the Wens. It’s... horrible and evil, but brilliant.

#mdzs #cql #wei wuxian #...i may have gotten slightly off topic #anon #asks

[mdzs-headcannons]

I loved how u answered the angry grape appreciation request😂 so why not spice it up a bit?: a fem.s/o having clandestine meetings with the ever so high-strung Sandu Shengshou?

(Featuring a confused and laughing WWX discovering them)

Oooo, I don’t think we’ve done spicy before! JC is getting all the asks lately lol it’s been great! I hope you enjoy this one:)

Jiang Cheng’s (surprisingly good) love adventure!

Here’s the thing. Jiang Cheng doesn’t really do “secrets”. They’ve fucked up his life enough, and if you don’t have to remember a lie then it’s that much easier to get shit done. He tends to be upfront about most things. Yes, he does make a point to punish demonic cultivators. No, he didn’t threaten to cut out Sect Leader Yao’s tongue (though sometimes he’s considered it). No, Wei Wuxian is currently not to be allowed in Lotus Pier aside from accompanying for sect business. Yes, Jin Ling definitely has his support now that he’s sect leader for Jin Sect.

He’s a pretty open guy. Except for one itty bitty point.

Gods and demons alike forbid that Sect Leader Jiang Wanyin, Sandu ShengShou ever have to go through the mortifying ordeal of talking about his feelings. He doesn’t do it. He never has, he doubts he ever will. He keeps it all bottled up, wrapped tight around a core that isn’t his, and he’s going to keep it right there, and then one day he’ll die.

Or well, that was the plan.

But then there was...well... her. And she was great! She was kind, and bright, and brilliant, matching him wit for wit and step for step. And for whatever reason she didn’t seem put off by his scowl, and... well he didn’t really plan it, but it happened. Now they’re meeting a couple nights a week out in their pavilion (which no one knows is theirs but them) and there’s... touching. And kissing... very good kissing, not that he’s had much fucking practice but damn. It leaves his chest all achy and his fingertips jittery, and Zidian hums on his finger and makes her laugh. Gods he loves her laugh.

But... but they don’t talk about it. When he sees her in the courtyards, or coming in from wherever, he’s as formal as he is with everyone else. She makes no move towards him and he acts likewise. And it’s not that he doesn’t want to- gods he wants to- but for each person that knows, that’s another leak. Another mouth to be wary of telling.

He isn’t ashamed of what they’ve done. He knows how he feels, and he knows she deserves every ounce of anything good he could possibly give her. He’d ask for her hand if he didn’t think it would strike her with whatever curse haunted him. But it seems like everyone he’s ever let in to his life, really let in, ends up dead or choosing something or someone else over him.

So he doesn’t say anything. It can’t hurt him if he doesn’t admit that it’s real.

But that doesn’t work out either.

They’re in their pavilion, he’s come up behind her and kissed her shoulder in greeting like he always does, but she hasn’t turned to greet him back. He shifts away, leaning against the railing next to her, and watches as she looks over the pond with a faraway gaze. That smile he loves so much is nowhere to be seen.

“Do you ever wish...” she starts quietly. “That there was...more? Than this?”

...this is it. He knows it, and it leaves him stiffening in an instant. He’s familiar enough to know when she’s avoiding something. He knows... she’s finally realized that’s she’s worth more than this, she’s found someone better, she’s realized he’s broken and jagged, she’s going to leave him, he’s going to be alone again and-

And gods he was a fucking idiot to think that not telling her he loves her would make this hurt any less.

“I don’t know what-“ she starts before shaking her head and starting over. “I am grateful for the time we get to spend together like this. I know you are a busy man. But... I... I wish for more, Wanyin. I don’t want to feel like we’re hiding... whatever this is.”

“...” He is silent for a long moment, his brain struggling to catch up. “You... you are not afraid to be seen with me?”

She looks at him, her gaze sharpening. “If I didn’t want to be seen with you, do you think I would be here at all?”

And he’s not sure who moves first, but it’s like a dam breaks and they’re kissing, like always, but it feels like more because she wants him, not just like this but him- the person. Jiang Wanyin. In spite of his imperfections.

“You’re sure?” He asks against her lips as she sneaks a finger into his lapels and his hands settle on her waist. “You won’t change your mind?”

“I love you, you fool,” she murmurs back, and now her hand is all the way inside, pressed against the warm skin over his thudding heart. “You’ll be hard pressed to get rid of me now.”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t talk about his feelings. He just kisses her harder and hopes it comes across in translation.

“Aiya! Jiang Cheng don’t you know good leaders should be resting at this hour? If you were up you could have come to greet me and Lan Zhaaaaand oh my god what are you two doing???!”

Jiang Cheng flails and trips back into the railing with a loud curse. Who the FUCK let Wei Wuxian back here? The Lans weren’t even supposed to show up until tomorrow!

His sort-of-brother is looking at him with eyes the size of the moon, gaping like a fish as he flicks between the two of them before letting out a strained laugh and turning away while he gets up to fix his robes. “Cheng Cheng, and you call me shameless! Kissing this maiden out here like that!”

“We’re in my private fucking quarter, I’ll kiss her however and wherever the fuck she wants!” He growls back, Zidian sparking even as she blushes and chuckles next to him. “Unlike you and your husband, jabbing out each other’s tonsils whenever you damn well feel like it!”

“Looks like you’ve discovered how fun that can be Cheng Cheng,” Wei Wuxian laughs, yelping when a snatched lotus pod pings him in the back of the head with a yell of “stop calling me that!”

He’s got to chase his personal chaos gremlin the fuck out of his private wing and back to its spouse, so they don’t get to follow their usual routine that night, but it’s ok.

After all... She loves him.

#team sandu shengshou #is this spicy? I can’t tell. #there’s touching but ultimately I’m a fool for FEELINGS #I will make JC Experience Emotions and no one can Stop Me. #wwx the Chaos Gremlin #Jiang Cheng... ficlet? #is that what we’re callin these?? #idk #jiang wanyin #jiang cheng #sect leader jiang #wei wuxian #wei ying #mdzs #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs headcannons #mdzs asks #mdzs blog #the untamed blog #the untamed asks

[restingdomface]

Hi. So. Idea. Where WWX is in the burial mounds for like three years now. And JC and JYL come to visit (instead of him coming to Koi tower) cause he says he can’t risk leaving (he’s more paranoid and also extremely worried cause A-Yuan has been sniffling for three days now and he’s terrified his baby is getting sick) and so Jiang Yanli is all ‘fuck that, I’m going to show XianXian his baby nephew’ and Jiang Cheng is all *deep sigh* ‘fuck, fine’ and they head off to the Burial Mounds.

Of course, JC hasn’t seen anyone in the BM since the first time he came there, the only other times he saw Wei Wuxian was in Yiling, surrounded by undead guards and Wen Ning, actin all paranoid and shit.

So they get there. They’re lead to the cave where Wei Wuxian is working on some devices while A-Yuan sleeps in the back. Yanli is secretly horrified at the state of how he’s living (how he’s willingly been living for the past three years to protect these people) but quietly accepts that it’s just in her A-Xian’s nature.

They have a tearful reunion, Wei Wuxian gives little Jin Ling a pretty bracelet with protection beads on it, and gets to hold him. (Yeah tbh I think that Yanli would be willing to bring Jin Ling into the BM cause she trusts WWX but tbh it’s very possible that no one but Jiang Cheng would agree with her lol).

But of course, like every time they come there, JC can’t keep his mouth shut and asks why WWX insists on protecting these feeble people. Why he insists on staying here and practicing demonic cultivation and raising an undead army.

And then they hear it. A little voice coming from the back area, calling out to them.

‘A-Die, A-Die...’ the little voice trails off to sniffle, and sad little moans were made. Wei Wuxian’s face goes from delighted to poke fun at Jiang Cheng, to absolute worry, in seconds. He’s heading for the back room before either of his siblings could ask who that is.

When he comes back out, there’s a little boy in his arms, and he’s gently mumbling soothing words to him while he rubs his little back.

Jiang Cheng’s eyes were huge, and he took a step back in shock. ‘Did he call you A-Die?’

Wei Wuxian stared at him for a long moment, as if not expecting them to ask that, before nodding cautiously. ‘He did. He’s been doing that the past six months or so.’

Yanli looked down at him with eyes that flirted between nervous and excited, before a slow grin spread over her face. ‘A-Xian, is that Jin Ling’s big cousin, then?’

Wei Wuxian gave her that smile of sunshine that even made Jiang Cheng soften up a little. ‘Is that the kid you were trying to keep from eating dirt, the first time I was here?’

Wei Wuxian snorted, pressing a kiss to A-Yuan’s little forehead. His fever was actually going down he thinks. Wen Qing has been medicating him as regularly as possible. ‘You know, that’s probably why he’s sick now. No matter what I do, he sucks his fingers.’

Yanli looked distressed now. ‘He’s sick?’

Wei Wuxian shrugged. ‘Just a fever, to be honest. Hasn’t thrown up any.’ He leaned in so gently speak in the little one’s ear. ‘A-Yuan, A-Yuan, do you want to meet A-Die’s brother and sister?’

A-Yuan looked up with glazed eyes, glancing around for a moment before he finally landed on people he didn’t recognize. ‘Oh?’

Wei Wuxian nodded, coming over to stand next to the two of them. ‘Yeah. This is Auntie and Uncle. Aren’t they nice?’

A-Yuan looked up at Wei Wuxian beseechingly. ‘Brother-rich?’

Wei Wuxian giggled so hard he snorted, taking a step back to right himself again. ‘Oh, my little A-Yuan, Lan Zhan isn’t here right now.’

A-Yuan pouted so impressively it was like he was trying to imitate his father. Jiang Cheng snorted. ‘I heard he was considering stopping by when he heard that we were going to come too. I assume he wouldn’t be an unwelcome guest?’

Wei Wuxian’s grin was bright again, looking so lovestruck that Jiang Cheng wanted to hit him. Why did his siblings have to fall for men Like That? It was getting annoying. He sighed, reaching out his hands for the warm bundle in Wei Wuxian’s arms. ‘Well, don’t be so stingy, let me hold the little dirt eater. On this day, uncle’s will bond with their nephews.’

The look Wei Wuxian gave him when he handed the curious toddler over was so soft, it nearly made Jiang Cheng emotional again.

No one else was there. His siblings would never reveal such a terrible weakness to the world. He could handle this.

#the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #the untamed #mdzs #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #a yuan #lan sizhui #this is set just a day or two after a yuans fever starts #but this time hes got medical care and stuff #lwj is gonna show up in a day and convince them all to go to gusulan because the jins can suck his toes #they save all the wens the end #a yuan is adopted by wwx and lwj does therapy wifh him to grow a new golden core #and then they use duel cultuvation to make it stronger 😏

[trensu]

Episode 27: The One where I Want to Punch Basically Every Sect Leader in the Face. Repeatedly. With a Chair.

And we start off back in the rain, AKA OUR ENDLESS TEARS

Wwx is like, do you remember our promise?

And lwj flashbacks TO THEIR LANTERN SCENE FROM THE ONE WHERE LWJ FINALLY SEES THE LIGHT

WE GET TO SEE LWJ’S PRECIOUS BABY FACE AS HE FALLS HEAD OVER HEELS IN THAT FLASHBACK

IT HURTS SO GOOD

Wwx: i wished to stand with justice and live without regrets. But tell me now, who’s strong, who’s weaker? Who’s right and who’s wrong?

Lwj: wei ying! 

Oh god, his voice! HE’S DISTRESSED

Wwx: is this the promise we pledged our lives to keep?

THEY BOTH LOOK SO HEARTBROKEN RN

Oh, look, lwj is doing the deathgrip of gay yearning on bichen again. We haven’t seen that in awhile AND I WISH WE WEREN’T SEEING IT NOW

Okay, but for real, how can lwj look so hurt here when the actor is literally doing nothing with his face??

I know i’ve mentioned that before, BUT C’MON, HOW?? HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK??

Wwx: my only regret is that i didn’t stop the jin clan who took living people as bait

I REGRET YOU NOT TAKING DOWN THE JIN CLAN TOO

WE COULD’VE AVOIDED SO MANY PROBLEMS IF WE’D JUST KILL OFF 90% OF THAT CLAN, OMG

And now wwx is all, i missed my chance to protect wen ning before so now i MUST leave to save him

BC WWX IS THE BEST MOST HONORABLE PERSON IN THE WORLD

Oh no

Oh noooo

He’s pulling out his demon flute. We’re gonna get THAT SCENE

Wwx: lan zhan, if i finally have to fight them, i’d prefer to fight with you

Wwx: if i am doomed to die, at least i can be killed by you. That would be worth it.

HE SAYS THAT BC HE TRUSTS VIRTUOUS LWJ TO STOP HIM IF HE REALLY IS IN THE WRONG

AND I AM SCREAMING IN PAIN RN

BC LOOK AT LWJ’S FACE

HE’S LISTENING TO HIS SOULMATE TELL HIM THAT HE WANTS HIS DEATH TO BE AT HIS HAND

Oh god, he’s doing the bichen deathgrip again

He tears his gaze away from wwx and turns to the side TO LET THEM ALL GO PAST

EYES LOWERED AS HIS HEART BREAKS INTO A MILLION PIECES

HE’S CRYING OH GOD HE’S CRYING

THERE ARE TEARS GOING DOWN HIS FACE, OH GOD WHY IS THIS HAPPENING

HE DIDN’T EVEN CRY WHEN HIS HOME GOT BURNED AND HIS FAMILY WAS MISSING AND/OR DYING

And now he drops his umbrella to the ground AS HE TRIES TO DROWN HIMSELF IN THE RAIN

*HYSTERICAL SOBBING*

THEY PACKED ALL THAT HEARTBREAK INTO THE FIRST 6MIN OF THE EPISODE, WTF, SOMEBODY STAB ME

And after all that emotional torture we get Plot Stuff happening

Blah blah wwx at the burial mounds blah blah sect leader banquet blah blah

Ugh, gross, they’re letting the idiot sect leaders talk again

They’re all blah blah wwx is evil blah blah he murders ppl blah blah we hate him blah blah

SHUT UP YOU BUNCH OF WALKING HUMAN-RIGHTS-VIOLATIONS

This whole part here is so difficult to watch. They’re literally just trash-talking my PRECIOUS SUNSHINE BOY

Jc, lwj, and lxc look visibly uncomfortable with what’s going down and they kind of sort of tried to defend wwx but they didn’t present a united front or hold their ground

Instead they let yao and ouyang run their stupid mouths

Anyway

Here’s little itty bitty bits of almost wangxiantics in the middle of this mess

Jgs: yeah, jc, i know wwx is your trusted bro and all but idk if wwx actually respects your authority. Do something about it, maybe

Lwj: *subtly glares at jgs*

And then everyone joins in on dragging wwx’s name through the mud bc apparently that’s the hot new thing in the cultivator world

If you look closely while this is happening, you can see that lwj legit GRINDS HIS TEETH with how much he’s holding back. MY POOR BB HAVING TO SIT THERE AND LISTEN TO EVERYONE DISPARAGE HIS SOULMATE

Jgs: wwx totally doesn’t respect you, jc, my bro. Everyone here heard him say how much he thinks you suck or whatever

Lwj: No I didn’t.

OOOOH, LWJ IS ANGRY AS HELL

HE’S OUTRIGHT GLARING AT JGS 

Jgs: what??

Lwj: i never heard wei ying say that, nor did i see him disrespect clan leader jiang

HANGUANG-JUN I LOVE YOU, LOOK AT YOU DEFENDING THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE, I’M SO PROUD OF YOU 

And ugh, disgusting, jgy steps in to be all “oh, well, wwx said so many awful things that day, who can possibly remember the specifics?”

Lwj visibly swallows here, as if he’s choking back a response, and his lips are all pursed. 

HE’S FURIOUS. HE’S ROILING WITH IMPOTENT ANGER, WHICH IS THE WORST KIND OF ANGER, TBH

That’s all the wangxiantics we get from that terrible awful sect leader banquet

THOSE SECT LEADERS NEED TO GET PUNCHED IN THE FACE

LIKE, A LOT

WITH A CHAIR

OR A TABLE

YOU KNOW WHAT, LET ME JUST TAKE BICHEN AND BEAT THEM ALL WITH IT

OR BETTER, YET, I’LL USE BAXIA. I WON’T EVEN CUT THEM UP. I’LL JUST BEAT THEM WITH THE BROAD PART

*ANGRY YELLING*

Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute! 

This isn’t a wangxiantic

But it is an EPIC MOMENT that should be commemorated.

Because here we get…

*drum roll*

MIANMIAN BEING A BOSS

Jz: blah blah wwx kills our people indiscriminately blah blah

Mm: not indiscriminately

Mm: indiscriminate is not accurate

And everyone around her is like, confused and offended because they’re assholes

Mm: in this specific case, if the overseers did abuse the Wen prisoners and kill wen ning, then what wwx did was not “killing indiscriminately”

Ouyang: nah, the overseers said they never abused/killed anyone

Mm: OF COURSE THEY’D FUCKING SAY THAT. THEY DON’T WANT TO FACE PUNISHMENT, YOU IDIOT

(okay, she didn’t call him an idiot outright or swear, but it was totally there in her tone of voice and also ouyang is an idiot so there)

Mm: you all think you’re so smart and voice your opinions so loudly

Mm: I SECEDE FROM THIS BULLSHIT. FUCK THE JIN CLAN AND YOUR STUPID CLAN POLITICS

And she throws down her jin robes and mARCHES RIGHT OUT OF THAT SHITHOLE WITH HER HEAD HELD HIGH

MIANMIAN PLEASE MARRY ME

Lwj watches her do that and two seconds later follows her out bC HE RECOGNIZES BADASSERY WHEN HE SEES IT (and also she defended the love of his life)

And that badass moment ends

But the banquet of idiots keeps going

The jin clan needs to learn how to shut the fuck up

God, they just go on and on and on

Why are they torturing me like this

OH WAIT, WE’RE OUTSIDE THE BANQUET HALL NOW

We see lwj and mm standing together on a terrace, talking to each other

BUT WE DON’T GET TO HEAR WHAT THEY SAY TO EACH OTHER AND THAT HAUNTS ME TO THIS DAY

WHAT DID THEY SAY

TELL MEEEEEEE

Oh, side note to let you all know this direct quote from nmj - “that girl really has a backbone.”

Okay nmj, i’m slightly less angry at you now. I won’t try to beat you with bichen or a table or a chair.

(but now i kinda wish mm would join the nie clan. I think she’d do well there and also i want to see her carry a gigantic saber)

We get some chitchat with the Official Bros™ but idc let’s move on 

(tho i do appreciate the look nmj gives jgy, like, HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME lolol)

Ooooh, now we’re getting lan fam time

ANGRY lan fam time, uh oh.

Lqr: lwj, have you regretted it? I didn’t punish you when you broke into the Forbidden Chamber bc i thought you’d self-reflect 

Lqr: you shouldn’t have gone to qiongqi way and let wwx go. Should you make one mistake after another?

And lwj is kneeling in front of him this whole time with a blank face

Lqr: what’s the use of getting you to memorize the Great Big Book of Lan Fam Rules?? Tell me, what is rule 52?

Lwj: No association with evil

He answers immediately and without any inflection to his voice.

Lqr: did you forget what happened to your father???

AND WE FINALLY GET A REACTION HERE

Lwj practically gasps and lifts his gaze to meet his uncle head-on

Lwj: my mother, she…!

Lqr: hold your tongue!

And just like that, lwj shuts down again; expression flat and gaze lowered

GOD, THIS CLAN HAS HURT HIM SO MUCH THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE

I MEAN, THEY MUST’VE, FOR HIM TO BE ABLE TO JUST DISCONNECT LIKE THAT

THAT IS NOT THE BEHAVIOR OF A NORMAL WELL-ADJUSTED PERSON

Basically the entire lan clan needs to go to therapy, like, STAT

Oh, i just noticed, lwj has his fists clenched at his sides. He’s clenching them hard, too. I think they’re trembling a bit, actually…

Lqr: i’ve been taking care of you since you were a kid; you’re like my son.i was strict bc i wanted you to stick to the right path and avoid your father’s tragedy

Lqr: that’s what i wanted to say to you. I hope you choose the right path. You may leave.

Lwj still bows respectfully before taking his leave

And i’m sure y’all are wondering, hey trensu, why did you make us endure that angry lan fam time that hurt us deep in our soul?? That wasn’t wangxiantic at all!

That’s where you're wrong, my friends!

It’s actually SUPER wangxiantic bc lqr kept drawing parallels to lwj’s dad the practically whole time

You know, the dad that married their mother who murdered some guy and had the whole world turn against her. 

(Sound familiar?)

The same mother that dad loved with his entire being and did what he could to keep her safe from the ramifications of her actions? By marrying her? And hiding her in the cloud recesses?

YEAH, HE’S EQUATING WANGXIAN WITH LWJ’S PARENTS’ TRAGIC ROMANCE

Bc, you know, that’s a totally hetero comparison to make lol

Oh, now we get to see our favorite Disaster Het be less of a disaster

We’re not going into detail here bc we’re not here for hetero shenanigans, yuck (actually, i’m apparently weak to Pining Idiots of all kinds bc this whole jzx/jyl scene is giving me tender feelings)

BUT

I do want to add that OMG FOR REAL LWJ AND JZX HAVE SO MUCH IN COMMON WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR LOVE LIVES, IT’S FANTASTIC

I NEED 10 MILLION FICS OF THEM COMMISERATING OVER THEIR SHARED DISASTER-NESS

Also, how the HELL did jzx end up being the one who was able to express his intentions clearly? He was all “please don’t go to the burial mounds, stay here with me so i can protect you from all who would want to hurt you”

DAMN IT LWJ, IF YOU’D JUST SAY THAT TO WWX, HE’S UNDERSTAND WHAT’S GOING ON. 

YOU CAN’T JUST BE ALL “COME TO GUSU” WITH NO EXPLANATION

Jzx accomplished this before you did, YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED.

Huh, okay, i guess i did go into a bit of detail with that hetero nonsense. Oh well.

Now we’re at the burial mounds again with wwx

AND WE SEE A-YUAN PROPERLY FOR THE FIRST TIMEEEEE!!

ANY A-YUAN MOMENT IS BY DEFAULT A WANGXIANTIC, GUYS, TRUST ME.

AAHHHH, WE SEE A-YUAN DO THAT LEG-GRABBY THING HE DOES!!!

HE’S SO CUTE. TOO ADORABLE.

I LOVE YOU A-YUAN

Lol, wwx is all if you don’t let go i’ll plant you like a turnip

And a-yuan plops himself down in the dirt like YOUR THREATS DON’T WORK ON ME, OLD MAN, I LIKE BEING IN THE DIRT

Then he asks wwx for 3 elder brothers and 2 elder sisters, awwww. He thinks wwx can grow them in the garden (like cabbage patch kids!!!)

Plot stuff happens

Blah blah wwx and wq share moment blah blah jc shows up blah blah

Lol

Jc sees that glowing talisman door thing and is like THAT SIGN WON’T STOP ME BC I CAN’T READ

And then whips it down with zidian

Now we get some feelings-laden Yunmeng bros time

A-yuan shows up and leg-grabs jc and it’s ADORABLE

But jc yells at him bc he’s a JERK

Wwx scolds jc and then is a Dad to a-yuan: don’t put your hand in your mouth, you were just touching dirt!

Awww, we get to see jc fight back a smile at this! HE WANTS TO BE AN UNCLE, I JUST KNOW IT.

Plot plot plot stuff happens

More plot stuff happens

And the episode ends with us still in the burial mounds with the yunmeng bros

And you know what, i’m just gonna focus on our BAMF mianmian moment bc quite frankly the rest of the episode either had me in tears of anguish or spitting mad. There was no inbetween. 

I’m gonna end up having blood pressure problems at this rate.

I’m too poor young to have blood pressure problems.

The Jin clan better pay for any medical bills I get because of them, I'm just saying

Return to Masterpost

#WangXiantics #wangxian #the untamed #cql

[callanthea]

How Lan WangJi’s Character Could Be Improved

@arsnovacadenza​​ recently commented that Lan WangJi isn’t a super compelling character, and I wanted to share my thoughts on this subject!

First and foremost, let’s just make this clear: Lan WangJi is a very good and likable person. He’s always willing to help someone in need, he’s badass, he’s extremely hardworking and studious, he’s very generous and kind, he’s really warm and loving towards WWX, etc. etc. This point is pretty much undeniable. 

However, just because someone is a good person does not mean that they are a compelling character!! 

What do I mean by compelling character? I mean a character who has relatable thoughts, motivations, and development. A character with multiple sides and facets, with various flaws and strengths that are displayed over the course of the plot. A character who you could legitimately see as a real human being.

With these traits in mind, there are two areas of LWJ’s character that I take issue with.

1) LWJ never truly grows much as a character. His only real development was to fall in love with WWX and become less stuffy. This development happens extremely early (when he’s a teenager), and he never changes after this has finished. This is because LWJ never makes any mistakes, so he never has a chance to learn from those mistakes. 

[EDIT: Don’t get me wrong, I very much enjoyed LWJ’s development in the flashbacks when he learned to stop repressing himself. But in the present-day story, he really doesn’t go through any changes at all. Sure, you can say him having finished his character arc in the flashbacks is the whole point, but IMO it’s more than a little awkward for LWJ’s character arc to be over before the story has actually begun.]  

(By “mistake”, I mean something the story acknowledges as a mistake. Defending WWX at SPOILER LOCATION was not a mistake, being unsuccessful in taking WWX back to Gusu was not a mistake. The story never treats these like bad decisions, and LWJ never learns anything from them. LWJ has absolutely no regrets about these actions, and would gladly try to do them again.) 

By the time of WWX’s resurrection, LWJ is already too perfect and has nowhere else to grow.

[Compare this to another Kuudere archetype love interest, He Xiuyuan in Poor and Humble Sect. One of the key plot points in that story is how He Xiuyuan goes through immense struggles to suppress his inner shameful nature and desires. He Xiuyuan was also aware of his unintelligence compared to the MC, and initially wanted to be a mindless follower of the MC. These are real character flaws that must be overcome. And of course, it’s super fulfilling when He Xiuyuan allows himself to chase his true desires and gains the confidence to stand alongside the MC as an equal.]

2) LWJ’s motivations are all related to protecting WWX. The moment that WWX reappears, LWJ drops literally everything else in favor of making WWX stay by his side. Okay, don’t get me wrong--based on the sheer tragedy of WWX’s life before his first death, the only way he would ever get a happy ending would be if someone always stood by his side, believed in him, and supported him. But believe it or not, a person can have more than one motivation. It’s a little uncomfortable that Wei Wuxian is Lan Wangji’s entire world for literally all of the  present-day story scenes. The story would be more interesting IMO if a) Lan Wangji had other obligations/goals besides being so incredibly (almost slavishly) devoted to WWX, or b) Lan Wangji’s devotion to WWX was treated with at least some appropriate consequences by the story.

[Compare this to the love interest in MXTX’s previous novel: Luo Binghe in Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System. Luo Binghe was absolutely obsessed with the MC there, but the MC was realistically very uncomfortable with this level of obsession. This became a point of conflict between the two. Overcoming this conflict made their relationship much stronger and their character development more satisfying.]

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The combination of these two points leads to something strange: MDZS is not Lan WangJi’s story at all. It’s very very much Wei Wuxian’s story, while Lan Wangji kind of just... tags along. 

I mean, it’s really nice that MDZS is so focused on world-building and plot that the romance can take a backseat. But I find it strange that almost all the side characters are more interesting/complex (IMO) than the main love interest. Literally every other character in MDZS makes mistakes, and then develops and/or suffers as a result. Even Mianmian grows more than LWJ did, despite her very little screen-time.

------------------------------------------

So how could LWJ’s character be improved in my opinion? Again, I have two solutions so far.

1) Play up and analyze LWJ’s flaws over the course of the story. 

LWJ does actually have flaws when you look closely enough, it’s just that the current story doesn’t really treat those flaws as flaws (LWJ doesn’t receive any negative consequences for them). I mentioned that all his motivations are related to protecting WWX--that kind of blind faith can be a flaw! In fact, Lan Xichen suffers because of a similar degree of devotion/faith towards Jin GuangYao. 

-What if the story played up that parallel between the two Lan brothers, and led to their relationship worsening (at least temporarily, before it got better)? 

-What if the public opinion of Lan Wangji went down the drain because of his defense of WWX? Imagine an arc where LWJ and WWX were /both/ on the run.

-WWX’s negative character traits are wonderfully examined through the use of Jin GuangYao and Xue Yang as foils, “what Wei Wuxian could have been.” So, what if LWJ’s negative character traits were similarly analyzed through an antagonist who was LWJ’s foil? (No, I don’t mean Su She. Fuck Su She, he is garbage both as a person and as a character. He has the stupidest motivation imaginable: “hurr durr I hate Lan Wangji for being too perfect, so I’m gonna be evil now.” His entire existence is such an obvious straw man designed by the author purely to make Lan Wangji look good in comparison.) 

I think a perfect third major antagonist would be someone whose main flaw is their undying devotion out of love, which drives them to increasingly villainous acts. Think someone like Wen Zhuliu, but with a bigger role in the story, preferably replacing Su She. Confronting this kind of antagonist would give LWJ the opportunity to grow and prove he won’t make the same mistakes as that character. 

2) Give LWJ a more complex character dynamic with WWX.

I think MDZS would be more interesting if LWJ and WWX disagreed more in the present day. If LWJ was more hostile towards demonic cultivation, if he and WWX legitimately fought over this issue. If LWJ felt more conflicted about WWX’s past crimes when he went berserk at Buyetian. If WWX wanted to reconnect with his old life but LWJ disagreed, and the two had an argument. 

As it is right now, there’s never any real conflict between WWX and LWJ besides the usual “hmmmm should we be a couple???” 

Seriously, just compare the complexity of the LWJ-WWX dynamic to the JC-WWX dynamic or the Three Brothers dynamic, it’s not even fair. 

I’m not asking that LWJ and WWX hate each other, hell no. But you can love someone without worshiping their every move. You can love someone and still think they are making a mistake. In fact, you need conflict in order for a relationship to come out more powerful and resilient than it was before.

-------------------------------------------

All in all, I like Lan WangJi’s character just fine. He serves his purpose in the current story very well. I just do not love him the way I love many other characters in MDZS. I’m disappointed that he didn’t get the full character depth/development/exploration he deserves, especially since so many other characters in MDZS do. Lan WangJi deserves to be more than just the “ideal perfect boyfriend” character. He deserves to be as deep as a real human being too.

#mo dao zu shi #mdzs #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #gdc

[neverdoingmuch]

something that i’ve seen a lot in fics and posts is people getting annoyed at lwj for getting between jc and wwx and/or jc and wwx’s reconciliation. someone will write about lwj trying to maintain distance between the two of them and people will complain about how lwj overstepping his bounds and be mad that he’s not letting them be brothers again. which like yeah, fantastic, if you want a reconciliation lwj is definitely going to be an obstacle stopping that, but you need to look at it from lwj’s point of view.

lwj was told by everyone that jc killed wwx (or at the very least was responsible for his death) and jc never contradicted that. he also led the siege of the burial mounds; he wasn’t someone who tagged along to try and keep his reputation without actually partaking in the bloodshed, he didn’t come to help save wwx or the wens, jc led the attack on the burial mounds. that implies a certain level of intent to kill or harm that can’t be easily ignored.

jc then proceeded to spend the next thirteen years (or sixteen because he did this in cql too) torturing and killing demonic cultivators. while you could interpret that as jc just wanting to stop demonic cultivators from fucking things up and causing any mayhem and suffering, it’s pretty clear from the way jc reacts when wwx comes back from the dead that he was killing them all on the off chance that one of them was wwx. to be clear, jc garnered a reputation of killing anyone who might have possibly been wwx. one of mdzs’s themes is about the damaging nature of rumours, so you could try and interpret jc’s reputation as a rumour that’s spun out of control, but, given the way jl reacted when jc captured wwx, it’s probably fair to say that there’s a decent amount of truth in his reputation - a reputation that lwj is probably well aware of.

so now you have lwj living in a world where the one other person who should be mourning the loss of wwx is someone who caused his death and is still so caught up in their past that he keeps wanting to kill him again if he ever comes back. this isn’t a condemnation of jc’s character, it’s just the image of his character that his actions cast. 

anyway, wwx comes back to life and jc immediately tries to kill him, forcing lwj to step in between them to protect wwx, and then jc spends the rest of the novel actively antagonising wwx. this is from trying to kill him some more to trapping him in a room with his greatest fear to trying to ruin his relationship with the one person who’s standing by his side. jc doesn’t once show any hint that he wants to get along with wwx again (unless you count him telling wwx to kneel before his parent’s tablets and then when he does exactly that, attacking him again) until the truth comes out at guanyin temple. 

say what you want to about whether they should or shouldn’t reconcile but lwj definitely isn’t being unreasonable when he’s being cautious about jc. if wwx were to tell him that he wants to reconcile with his brother and make amends, he’d probably first tell him that there’s nothing to make amends for but then he’d let wwx do that - lwj would keep close to wwx to protect him but he wouldn’t get in the way of their reconciliation. at the end of the novel though, wwx and jc split paths and the focus is on the future that wwx gets to have with his new family instead of his past with his old family and reconciling with jc. so no, lwj trying to keep jc away from wwx isn’t him being a “bad” character, it’s him being protective over someone who has been repeatedly hurt time and time again by someone who, just a few weeks ago, would have killed wwx on the spot. 

from jc’s pov it’s a lot more complicated because this is his brother who he’d loved and lost, who he thought had betrayed him and caused him to lose so much, and he’s carried that rage with him for 13(/16) years. and when he finds out the truth, when he learns that he’d never actually lost his brother, he might decide that he wants to make up with him. we know that the twin prides of lotus pier are a dead dream - they’d been killed after the sunshot campaign and their coffin only sealed properly in guanyin temple - but they could still be family if they put the effort in. 

now jc might want that, he might wake up one morning and decide that he’s lost too much to let wwx and jc live their second life as strangers, but lwj isn’t going to know that! lwj isn’t going to know about the way wwx had comforted jc at his lowest by telling him about how they could be the twin prides, he isn’t going to know about the way wwx had pulled away after the war when jc needed his strength the most, he’s not going to know about the way jc clung onto the promise of wwx’s future by his side only to have wwx leave him. all lwj knows is that jc has spent just as many years hating wwx as he did loving his brother. and if you want to create a reconciliation for wwx and jc that is accurate and loyal to the characters, you need to be able to acknowledge that; lwj isn’t being petty towards jc because of some contrived reason, he loathes him because of everything he did to hate wwx and spit on his memory. 

lwj isn’t going to step aside and let jc get anywhere near wwx until he proves that he’s not going to hurt wwx again. there’s a lot of nuance in their relationship - being between wwx and jc or between lwj and jc - that tends to get flattened down and ignored in order to make a reconciliation work. reconciliation between wwx and jc is hard work and part of it is proving that things will be different when you’re given a second chance. when lwj got given his second chance, he did everything he regretted never doing before - he stood by wwx and protected him and loved him and he was unabashed and proud in everything he did for wwx. jc and wwx have been given a second chance too and them becoming brothers again isn’t as simple as lwj being pissy and protective and wwx and jc drinking a lot and then deciding they’re brothers again, it’s jc showing that he doesn’t want wwx dead anymore and wwx trusting jc with the truths about himself or the world that he’d always tried to hide from him. and that’s even before they actually get to reconcile. 

#mdzs #modao zushi #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #lan wangji #yunmeng bros #i guess? #like i love reconciliation fics a lot but they do tend to flatten down a lot of the reasons why they fell apart in the first place #it's not as simple as wwx joining the wens and jc being betrayed/left behind #give us development!! make wwx and jc work on their relationship!! #two brother who have to spend time getting to know each other again - getting to know the real people they are & not the image they have of #each other in their own minds - and working through their problems is so much more interesting than just wwx going yeah im sorry and jc #saying me too and now we're brothers again #or jc just stomping into cloud recesses and demanding to know why he wasnt invited to the wangxian wedding with no prior indication that #either of them wanted a reconciliation #just! use the complicated relationships tag for them! they deserve it! #invest the time to do character analysis and have them work through their miscommunications and issues and *then* be brothers again #AND STOP MAKING LWJ THE BAD GUY!!! #he is concerned and protective - he's not smothering or overprotective or getting in the way #he's behaving exactly as he should in that situation!! #the untamed #cql #idk if this post counts as long? for me it isnt but for you it could be #lemme know if i need to add a read more #also! this isnt me shitting on jc!! this is me saying hey look there are multiple povs in this story and this is lwj's! #i tried to be as objective as possible but the fact is that mdzs is about miscommunication so there's gonna be complicated relationships #and it's not a bad thing!!

[crossdressingdeath]

I mean in-universe, it’s pretty clear that it’s not even seen as ethically dubious because the only reason WQ is hesitating before doing it is because she thinks it’s a too big sacrifice on WWX’s part. Also it's always amusing when JC stans think that pointing out why WWX did what he did is defending what he did while my dearest wish is precisely that WWX was only a little less nice or just a little older, having had time to process more of his childhood abuse and to witness what kind of a1/5

person JC really is and why it’s a bad idea to put him in a position of power in a sect, and then not giving JC his core. WWX ending up as a sect leader post-Sunshot, demonic cultivation or not, would fix all the tragedy in the plot, the Wens will be saved, JYL and JZX will not die, JGS and JGY’s twisting of the truth to manipulate public opinion will fail because WWX will be there to stand up for himself, the Jiang sect will keep living according to its motto and be respected because it’s2/5

led by a cultivation prodigy instead of being feared because JC can’t hold his temper, even to the point that no one wants to marry him and give him heirs which puts the survival of the sect in very grave danger--and all this just at the price of JC’s life! Fandom often says that it’s rumors that killed WWX, but I disagree, the single thing that was the most responsible for WWX’s downfall was JC not standing up for WWX, so by replacing JC in sect leadership or even imagining an OOC JC that3/5

cares about other people, so many catastrophes would just not have happen. Even JGY said so, with JC just acting a little friendlier to WWX, all his carefully laid plans wouldn't have worked! Also another stupid take I see often is that JC was right to distrust WWX and abandon him because he could see that WWX was lying to him post-Sunshot… and no, JC didn’t see that? He very clearly brought into WWX not carrying his sword around because of arrogance and disrespect and he never until the core4/5

reveal thought there were any other explanations to how WWX acted. And even supposing that JC felt something was strange, then what stopped JC from talking to WWX about it as he was never shy about criticizing the way WWX acts or thinks before and they also lived together? Ah, it’s the eternal JC stans’ burden, trying to find a way, any way, to make JC’s actions look better, but, no matter what, always ending up making him look even worse than in canon.5/5

Honestly, even if JC did realize WWX was lying to him... that’s still a horrible reason to abandon him. Oh, WWX isn’t just not carrying his sword because of arrogance, better call him a traitor to the sects and leave him to die! I mean... what the fuck. Everyone else in the novel who recognized that WWX was lying about something was concerned and wanted to help him and the stans are arguing that it would be totally reasonable for JC to leave him to die over it? I mean, that genuinely makes him look worse than if he was just so oblivious to WWX’s struggles that he didn’t realize something was up.

Honestly, I’d love a fic where WWX either knows the future or just is more aware of JC’s personality and what he’s like as a leader and has to choose between giving JC his core (and saving his brother’s life) and not giving up his core (and saving all the people who would die or suffer as a result of JC’s poor leadership).

#mdzs #cql #grapehate #wei wuxian #anon #asks

[trensu]

Episode 32: The One where the Moonlit Rooftop BETRAYS Us

Remember how the last episode brutally tore the heart right out of our collective chest?

Well get ready to dial that pain up to ELEVEN BC THIS TIME AROUND THEY RIP THE HEART RIGHT OUT OF US AND THEN CRUSHES IT BENEATH THEIR HEEL

And i can’t even skip most of it!! Bc it is crucially important to know what state of mind our beloved sunshine boy is in for everything to make sense!! 

Especially for what’s going to happen in the next episode!

So we HAVE TO SUFFER. THERE’S NO WAY AROUND IT.

We start our episode at the super fun jin ancestral hall in lanling where jyl is mourning the death of her husband!!

Enjoy this bc this is literally the least painful moment in the entire episode!!!

My precious sunshine boy is lurking behind a pillar, guilt-ridden and alone

He can’t get any nearer bc of the guilt

But he can’t stay away bc that’s his sister, his most precious person

Too bad madam jin spots him

AND THEN JYL SEES HIM AND STARTS CRYING

WWX’S FACE HERE, OH GOD, I CAN’T EVEN DESCRIBE IT

STRICKEN? HEARTBROKEN? DESPAIRING?? WHATEVER IT IS, IT MAKES ME WANNA CRY

So he flees, he can’t face his sister, not when he’s the reason she’s grieving

We’re in the middle of a forest again! It’s even less fun than the last time we were in the forest!

MY DARLING WWX IS HALLUCINATING

HE’S HALLUCINATING HIS SISTER

HE’S SO DESPERATE FOR ANY SCRAP OF KINDNESS OR AFFECTION HERE. 

HE’S SO ALONE.

THE RESENTFUL ENERGY IS TAUNTING HIM “LET US OUT, LET US HELP YOU. YOU CAN ONLY RELY ON US”

HE’S SCREAMING BACK AT THEM, “GET LOST, GET LOST, LEAVE ME ALONE”

IT’S AWFUL. I WANNA DIE.

Now we’re at Qishan, listening to a bunch of cultivators gossip

Again.

The Wens’ bodies are hanging from rafters, all out on display in the open

Because slaughtering them wasn’t horrifying enough, they had to humiliate them after death too. Fucking jin clan.

Wwx appears behind the group and scares the shit out of them (GOOD)

He calmly pulls out his demon flute and starts playing

Within three notes he’s got the entire group of gossips pinned to the ground. Then he played a little extra just for kicks.

THAT’S MY BOY, SHOW ‘EM WHO’S BOSS

Now he’s like, why’d y’all stop talking? Weren’t you saying how you were gonna stop me?

And some idiot rando is like, you think you’re hot shit bully us weaklings?? You should go fight the clan leaders at their big celebration.

Wwx starts to choke him out bc he’s annoying him but wwx gives us this epic line

“Every injustice has its perpetrator.”

And he ditches those basic bitches to hunt down the guys that killed his people

Now we’re watching all this pompous sect leaders celebrating the murder of innocent lives, but we’re not gonna get into it bc they piss me off and nobody needs to pay attention to jgs’s speeches ever

Although i will mention that lxc and jc both look very conflicted at the events that are going down

HANGUANG JUN!!!

We’re back with the basic bitches and lwj appears!!

Lwj: where is wei ying?

Of course his first words in the episode are about wei ying. 

And they’re all aw, you just missed him bro, he left about an hour ago 

Lwj: where did he go?

And they’re like, Nightless City to hang out with the sect leaders!

Lwj’s face here is just, Worry and Dread. 

We’re back with the sect leaders. Jgs is talking again

Thankfully, wwx interrupts him with his mental breakdown!!

AND HE INTERRUPTS BY SHOWING UP ON A MOONLIT ROOFTOP

MOONLIT ROOFTOP, HOW COULD YOU??

YOU WERE SO KIND TO US BEFORE!! WE TRUSTED YOU!! WE LOVED YOU!!!

WHAT DID WE DO WRONG?? HOW COULD YOU BETRAY US THIS WAY??

Jgs: what are you doing here?

Wwx: why can’t i be here? don’t you guys want me here? I’m saving you the effort of hunting me down!

Then there’s a lot of back and forth with rando cultivators throwing accusations at him and wwx making Valid Points left and right

As we all know, Valid Points don’t make a smidge of difference against the incredibly stupid and obstinate. 

We won’t get into too much detail here bc it honestly doesn’t even matter what they’re saying, but there are a couple cool lines that i wanted to include

Somebody says something about him having a grudge against Jin Zixun a year ago

Wwx: Little characters like him i forget in 3 days, much less a year.

Which, like, LOL bc he’s right, jz was an insignificant little worm except worms are good for soil so he’s MORE insignificant than a little worm (i’m sorry worms, i shouldn’t have insulted you that way!!)

Later somebody says something about how they had admired wwx before but now they hate him

Wwx: Both your hatred and admiration is so cheap!

WE DO GET A COOL SCENE HERE THO

Some basic bitch shoots him with an arrow and it hits him right in the chest

Wwx barely even flinches

He tears that arrow right back out and covers it with resentful energy

Then LITERALLY THROWS IT BACK AT THE GUY WHO SHOT HIM AND PIERCES HIS CHEST

IT WAS AWESOME

And then he gives us another cool line.

Someone calls him vicious for shooting the guy who shot him before and he says “you’re already branding me as someone who uses wicked tricks, you can’t be counting on my mercy to let it go, right?”

It’s basically a whole ‘you want a bad guy? I’LL SHOW YOU A BAD GUY’ moment. Which looks cool, right, but is also super upsetting bc THIS IS MY PRECIOUS SUNSHINE BOY

MY PRECIOUS SUNSHINE BOY WHO ONLY EVER WANTED TO PROTECT THE WEAK AND DEFENSELESS

Now there’s a battle breaking out! Between the cultivators and the resentful spirits wwx summons 

WWX LOOKS SICK AF PLAYING HIS DEMON FLUTE AND SUMMONING SPIRITS, LIKE ALWAYS.

But we don’t care about this battle.

This battle doesn’t matter. Even if it does look pretty cool.

Because all the important stuff happens on rooftops, as we already know.

And on the rooftop WE SUDDENLY HAVE LWJ SHOW UP WITH HIS GUQIN

HE’S PLAYING MAGIC MUSIC.

HE’S FACING DOWN WWX.

Wwx: lan zhan, you’re here. You should have known i’d be immune to the Song of Clarity

Lwj whooshes his guqin away.

Wwx: lan zhan, i knew one day we were gonna have a real fight.

anD WWX STARTS PLAYING HIS DEMON FLUTE AGAINST LWJ

LWJ DRAWS BICHEN AND STARTS DIVING SWORD FIRST TOWARDS WWX

AND EVERYTHING HURTS

WWX SLAMS HIM BACK WITH RESENTFUL ENERGY BUT LWJ PUSHES RIGHT BACK

Lwj: wei ying, stop it!

Wwx doesn’t respond. In fact, he’s kept his eyes closed and unresponsive since he started playing his flute, PROBABLY BC HE CAN’T BEAR TO WATCH HIMSELF ATTACK HIS SOULMATE

I ALSO CAN’T BEAR TO WATCH HIM ATTACK HIS SOULMATE BUT HERE I AM WATCHING BC APPARENTLY I ENJOY SUFFERING

Lwj: wei ying, stop it now!

Wwx: lan zhan, do you think i have any other choice now?

Lwj: the situation has changed!

Wwx: what?

Lwj: trust me. It’s not that simple.

Wwx: what do you mean?

But before we can get any answers or clues or anything useful, we get interrupted by jyl’s voice crying “a-xian!”

And thus begins the world’s WORST, MOST PAINFUL GAME OF MARCO POLO EVER

Because jyl is on the battlefield, still in her mourning robes. And she’s calling for her brothers. 

Both jc and wwx hear her and instantly start looking for her

Wwx ditches the rooftop (and lwj with it), gives up his high ground and dives into the battlefield to look for his sister

He gets attacked by some cultivators and we hear the strum of a guqin

Lwj followed him! And defended him against attacks, BC THAT’S WHAT HE DOES FOR HIS SOULMATE. THAT’S HIS WHOLE THING.

Lwj: wei ying, your flute!

What he means is, keep playing, i’ll protect you from attacks while you get to your sister

And wwx starts playing again, bc EVEN AFTER he and lwj fought one another with all they had, he still trusts lwj

Jyl, jc, and wwx all take turns calling each other’s names. MY YUNMENG SIBS ARE TRYING TO REUNITE

Meanwhile we see lwj flitting about the edges of the screen blocking attacks left and right, and keeping wwx safe

SUDDENLY, we hear the sound of a second flute pierce the air! And the puppets get more vicious. WWX IS NO LONGER IN CONTROL

Btw, apparently, we the audience are the only ones who can hear this second flute BC NOBODY ON-SCREEN SEEMS TO QUESTION THE FLUTE MUSIC PLAYING EVEN WHEN WWX VERY OBVIOUSLY DOESN’T HAVE THE FLUTE AT HIS MOUTH TO PLAY IT

IT’S SO FRUSTRATING. I THOUGHT THESE CULTIVATORS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE SOMEWHAT INTELLIGENT BUT NOTHING THEY’VE DONE EVER SHOWS THIS

And oh fuck, once the second flute takes over the puppets we get the SAD BACKGROUND MUSIC FROM “THE ONES WHERE WE GROSS SOB FOREVER”

FUCK

I CAN’T 

I’VE BEEN FUCKING PAVLOV’D TO INSTANT TEARS AT THIS MUSIC, DAMN IT ALL.

NOOOO, NONONONONO I’M NOT READY, I’M NOT READY, I’M NOT READY

The yunmeng sibs are still crying out for each other as this Sad Music plays aND I JUST CAN’T.

They finally set eyes on one another, only to see a puppet come up behind jyl

Jc is begging wwx to stop the puppet bc he thinks wwx is still in control

Wwx is so desperate here that he doesn’t even use his flute, he just starts SCREAMING at the puppet to stop, “GO AWAY, DON’T TOUCH HER”

And lwj sees this all happening! He follows wwx’s line of sight and sees that jyl is about to get cut down by a puppet

LWJ SEES THIS AND IMMEDIATELY TRIES TO GO TO HER AID

BC HE KNOWS JYL IS WWX’S PRECIOUS PERSON. TO PROTECT HER IS TO PROTECT WWX’S HEART

Also i like to think that lwj and jyl bonded over their love for wwx way back in “the one where jyl captains the ship” so he’d want to protect his friend anyway

But he gets intercepted by two other puppets who attack him and keep him stalled far away from jyl and wwx 

FUCK

WHY

GOD DAMN IT

The puppet cuts down jyl from behind

AND IT FUCKING HURTS ME IN THE DEEPEST PART MY SOUL

And wwx is in a state of shock bc HIS SISTER, HIS BELOVED SISTER IS HURT, HIS SISTER IS HURT

Wwx makes a mad dash towards her

But Lwj intercepts him and says “wei ying, stop your puppets! Stop them!”

Wwx doesn’t listen to him. He flings lwj’s arm away and keeps running

Wwx finally makes it to where jyl fell, where she’s now being cradled in jc’s arms

Wwx reaches for her but jc shoves him away

Jc: you said you could control them, you said there was no problem

He’s not even really yelling here, but his voice is all cracked, hoarse, and pained

Wwx: it’s not me, i don’t know! i didn’t make them kill people, why can’t i control them? I lost control of them!

WHY IS THIS HAPPENING

I’M HURTING SO MUCH RIGHT NOW

I’M SICK OF CRYING, SHOW, I’M SICK OF IT. PLEASE STOP. WHY MUST YOU HURT ME

Jyl is still alive!

Jyl: a-xian, xianxian

She reaches and puts her hand on the side of his face

Jyl: you ran so fast, i didn’t have enough time to look at you and talk to you

AND I’M FUCKING SOBBING BC SHE SOUNDS SO WEAK AND WWX HAS TEARS STREAMING DOWN HIS FACE AND EVERYTHING FUCKING HURTS

Jyl: i wanted to tell you--

But she doesn’t get to finish that sentence bc she sees someone aiming for wwx’s back and she shoves him out of the way to protect him

She gets a sword to the chest

And the rando cultivator holding the sword is all it’s not my fault, i was aiming for you, wwx this is your fault!

FUCK YOU RANDO CULTIVATOR FUCK YOU STRAIGHT TO HELL

Wwx starts to choke him out, which is good bc i wanted to do that myself too

And jc is sobbing, rocking his sister’s body

AND THIS IS WHERE THE EPISODE ENDS

WHAT

THE 

FUCK

NO, I CNA’T, I CAN’T, I’M HURTING SO MUCH, COME BACK AND MAKE IT BETTER GOD DAMN IT

I HAVE NO MORE TISSUES!! TISSUES ARE CURRENTLY A HOT COMMODITY, I CAN’T JUST GO OUT AND BUY MORE

FUCK, JUST LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE. I CNA’T ANYMORE.

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#WangXiantics #wangxian #the untamed #cql

[trensu]

Episode 25: The One where They Frolic in the Forest but like, Sad This Time

Okay folks, buckle up bc this one has a lot of Hetero Drama and Stupid Plot Things

But look!! I’ve made it to the halfway point of the show!! I’m so proud of myself

We’re gonna skip as much of that as possible

BUT this one has some EPIC moments to make up for it

We start at Lotus Pier

Stuff’s happening that we’re not interested in 

except for how our resident Disaster Het jzx comes by to invite the jiang clan to the jin clan’s awesome sleepover with sweet sweet party games

Plot plot plot

WE’RE AT AN ARCHERY COMPETITION!!

I guess that’s how they open sleepovers in Ancient Fantasy China?

LWJ AND WWX ARE STANDING NEXT TO EACH OTHER

OUR BOYS ARE SHARING SCREEN TIME!! WITHOUT HURTING US!!!

Blegh, jgy is talking

And here the jin clan bring out their wen prisoners bc they think it’s fun to place them in front of the targets??? anD THEY GET AWAY WITH IT??

THEY DID THIS IN FRONT OF BASICALLY THE ENTIRE CULTIVATION WORLD AND NOBODY SAID ANYTHING!!

I WILL NEVER BE OVER THIS

WTF IS WRONG WITH THEM

Wwx at least tried to protest but jc shut him down, bc their clan really isn’t strong enough to stir up trouble rn 

BUT THERE WERE PLENTY OF PEOPLE IN MORE SECURE, POWERFUL POSITIONS THAT COULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING

I’M LOOKING AT YOU, LXC. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE LAN CLAN MOTTO, HUH?? WHAT HAPPENED TO RIGHTEOUSNESS???

*takes a deep breath*

Okay, okay

I’m calm, i’m cool

So that happened

Jzx tries to show off by shooting an arrow and getting a bullseye without hitting any of the prisoners

And wwx sees this and is like, hmmmm, i can humiliate jzx AND discreetly protect the wen prisoners!!! (and give the audience a bite of wangxiantics)

Wwx: lan zhan, do me a favor

Lwj: what’s the matter?

Wwx: can i borrow your forehead ribbon?

CAN I BORROW YOUR FOREHEAD RIBBON

THE SPECIAL ONE THAT NO ONE BUT FAMILY AND SPOUSES CAN TOUCH

I JUST WANT TO BORROW IT IN PUBLIC WHERE EVERYONE CAN SEE. NBD

Lwj just stares at him in response and wwx sulks but doesn’t push it

(lol, jc sees that go down and is just completely exasperated, like, one day, can we get one day when you don’t OVERTLY FLIRT WITH LWJ in front of EVERYONE??)

(the answer is no. no, he cannot do that, jc)

(he’s not allowed to not flirt with lwj)

Since he couldn’t get the super special forehead ribbon, he uses one of his own wrist ribbon things to blindfold himself

Please take a moment to appreciate the fact thAT HE WAS GONNA USE THE SACRED FOREHEAD RIBBON TO BLINDFOLD HIMSELF, THE KINKY BASTARD

Wwx: nbd nbd, imma just shoot 5 arrows whilst blindfolded and hit every bullseye there is WITHOUT harming any of these innocent war victims.

It’s all in the twirl, baby

He does a Dramatic Twirl, Smirks™ and then releases those arrows like nothing

And afterwards he has this proud little grin on his face bc hell yeah, he just owned jzx’s smug ass AND prevented any harm from falling on innocent people

Also, LOL, NMJ’S REACTION TO THIS WAS GREAT

He sees wwx be a badass with a bow and arrow and immediately turns to lxc next to him with an expression like HOLY FUCKING SHIT, DID YOU SEE THAT, THAT WAS AWESOME and starts clapping like a madman

For future reference, this is the correct response to wwx all the time, I’M SO PROUD OF YOU BB

After all that, wwx struts back to stand next to lwj and gives him a proud little smile. It’s so cute, so cute.

Jgy is talking again BLEGH

Now we’re in the forest!! For hunting reasons!!

Wwx makes himself comfy by a tree and plays Magic Music on his demon flute and is all pretty while doing it and supposedly gets all this prey to jump into Jiang nets

we never actually see this happen but everyone says it happened and who am i to argue?

(actually i like to argue one-sidedly at the screen a lot but this was not important enough so whatever)

Also, side note, jc is KILLIN IT with his fashion choices in this ep. LOOKIN GOOD BRO

But we don’t care about any of this 

We care that WWX SUDDENLY SPOTS LWJ WALKING ALL ALONE IN THE FOREST AND HIS WHOLE ENTIRE FACE LIGHTS UP LIKE THE FREAKING SUN BC HE’S SO HAPPY TO SEE HIS SOULMATE

IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL

And then it gets sad. Sad times in the forest :(

Wwx was totally making a move to get lwj’s attention but he stops himself

Bc he remembers the conversation he had with lxc about how the ones he cares about can be hurt by his decisions

Thank goodness lwj notices him back

Wwx looks so surprised but also pleased the lwj sees him

And ofc lwj does not hesitate to go to wwx

BC THEY LOVE EACH OTHER AND ARE SOULMATES

Wwx: hey lan zhan, i heard you got tired of writing out the Lan Fam Rules~!

He’s happily engaging him in conversation!! He’s trying to tease him again!

Too bad lwj does not go along with it

This whole “let’s ruin wwx’s attempts for pleasant conversation by bringing up sad things” is getting really old lwj, stop that

Lwj: i made some progress in composing the music score and i’d like to share it with you to see if it works

eXCuSe mE??

HE’S BEEN WRITING MAGIC MUSIC FOR WWX??

HOW THE HELL DID I MISS THIS BEFORE??

I THOUGHT HE WAS JUST LEARNING FORBIDDEN MAGIC MUSIC, NOT CREATING MAGIC MUSIC FROM SCRATCH SPECIFICALLY FOR WWX

HE LOVES HIM SO MUCHHHH

Wwx: lan wangji, lan wangji

Noooo he’s reverted to calling him formally!!

And his tone went all flat!!

DON’T DO THAT

Wwx: who do you take me for? Why can’t you leave me alone?

DON’T SAY THAT

WHY ARE YOU SAYING THAT

YOU DON’T WANT HIM TO LEAVE YOU ALONE

STOP HURTING ME LWJ LIKE THIS

The minute wwx asks him that, lwj lowers his gaze when previously he had his eyes glued to wwx’s face the whole time

Bc WWX JUST STABBED HIM IN THE HEART WITH HIS WORDS

Lwj: who do you take me for?

He says all somberly, STILL NOT LOOKING AT WWX

Oh god, their faces are breaking my heart

After lwj says that, wwx stares at him for a long moment before canting his eyes to the side AND THEY LOOK KIND OF TEARY??

I THINK??

THAT MAY JUST BE MY TEARS

SOMEWHERE, TEARS ARE INVOLVED

Wwx: i once treated you as my lifelong confidant (AKA SOULMATE)

Lwj: i still am

*SOBBING*

~THEIR SONG~ IS PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND

THEY’RE STARING AT EACH OTHER WITH SO MUCH FEELING

I WANT TO TEAR MY FACE OFF

Aaaaand the moment’s interrupted bc of stupid jzx and his Hetero Drama

Wwx hears someone approaching and he grabs lwj by the arm and drags him to a hiding spot where they can spy on jzx who just appeared with jyl

You know, i love how whenever wwx grabs lwj to drag him somewhere we get a bit of slo-mo stuff to, i guess, emphasize wwx is touching lwj or something

Not that we need the emphasis

It’s not like we’re not already hyper-aware of their EVERY INTERACTION

So now we get to watch wwx and lwj spy jzx and jyl

Lol, i wonder what lwj is thinking

Does he watch this and sympathize? Does he get secondhand embarrassment bc he knows he doesn’t do any better expressing his feelings to his soulmate??

I can’t imagine he has any actual interest in spying on Disaster Het jzx

Lwj is a Disaster Gay 

There can only be so much Disaster at a time, y’know?

or maybe he’s just thinking OMG WWX TOUCHED ME OMG WWX IS SO CLOSE

yeah, that’s probably it

Okay, there’s Hetero Drama going down 

Blah blah blah

BUT WAIT, jzx just made jyl tear up AGAIN

Wwx is all ready to tear jzx a new one but lwj holds him back before he could give away their location

Like, if asked, i’m sure lwj would say “oh, i stopped him to avoid an inter-clan incident” or whatever

But his REAL reason for holding him back was bc he was enjoying have wwx so physically close to him again

While secluded in a hidden spot

I mean, there’s less than a foot of space between them

I wouldn’t be so eager to give that up if i had wwx that close to me either

But lwj can’t hold him back for long bc jzx does another douchebaggy thing and wwx has had Enough

Wwx goes to defend his sister BC NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO MAKE JYL SAD, OKAY?

Wwx and jzx argue and then jzx draws his sword and takes a swing at wwx!!

SO OFC LWJ SWOOPS IN AND PARRIES THE BLOW

Lol jzx is so confused as to why lwj is there suddenly

You just tried attacking his soulmate, bro

what did you think was gonna happen

Ugh more Hetero Drama

Gotta say, i do enjoy watching jzx get scolded by his mother

Asshole cousin starts stirring up trouble and throwing a hissy fit about how wwx used his demon flute to catch 30% of the prey and how it’s Dishonorable and Cheating behavior

Lwj turns to wwx for a moment here and is like “30%??” idk if he’s impressed or concerned here.

Maybe both

Lwj gets a lot of Feelings around wwx, okay?

Lol, while asshole cousin is ranting, wwx turns his back on him to look at lwj

Wwx: oh, lan zhan, i didn’t thank you earlier for blocking that attack for me! Thank you~!

WHAT A POWER MOVE

HE GETS TO INSULT ASSHOLE COUSIN AND STARE AT HIS SOULMATE’S BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL FACE

WIN-WIN

Wwx is holding it together until asshole cousin accuses the jiang clan of having a corrupt or weak family or smth?

Then he starts getting all twitchy the way he does when Resentment kicks in

Asshole cousin continues to goad him and wwx starts to reach for his demon flute

Lwj flies to his side and grabs his arm!

Lwj: wei ying, concentrate. Wei ying, concentrate.

(wwx has a knack for making lwj repeat himself)

Jyl joins him to help wwx calm down

And now we take a break from wangxiantics for BADASS JYL TIME

Jyl goes and apologizes all sweetly to everyone for wwx’s supposedly rude behavior or whatever

And then turns to asshole cousin

Jyl: i might not know much about hunts, but i know there’s never been a rule about catching too much prey

DAAAAMN, GIRL

Jyl: it’s not his fault you can’t hunt prey. He used a different method that he worked hard to learn

Jyl: FURTHERMORE, you called him the son of a servant when he is my dear little brother

Jyl: so i would like for you to apologize to wwx

JYL IS THE GREATEST SISTER IN THE WORLD

Madam jin is like, ah, it’s not that big of a deal, let the boys squabble 

And jyl shuts that down by telling her that wwx is family, an insult to him is not a trivial matter for her

GOD I LOVE HER SO MUCH

Blah blah plot blah blah jzx is a Disaster Het in front of Witnesses blah blah 

Gross, sect leader yao goes off on a rant

We’re gonna ignore him

We cut to wwx downing a jar of wine in the middle of town 

*sigh* i don’t even know why i bother telling him off at this point, he’s obviously not worried at all about alcoholism

Ooooh, and now we’re getting Lan Bro time. Very wangxiantic lan bro time

Lxc: lwj, i can tell you’re worried about something. What is it?

Lwj: …

Lwj: lxc, i..i want to bring a man to Cloud Recesses

(guys, the ellipses here actually happened. We actually hear lwj do a start-stop on his sentence)

(THIS FROM A GUY WHO DOESN’T SPEAK MUCH BUT WHEN HE DOES SPEAK, SOUNDS LIKE A PRINCE)

(Our boy is Overcome with Feeling rn)

Lxc: bring a man back to Cloud Recesses?

Lwj: bring him back…and hide him there.

Lxc: hide him?

Lwj: …

Lxc: he may be unwilling to go, right?

LXC KNOWS WHATS UP BC THERE’S ONLY ONE MAN WHO HAS EVER AFFECTED HIS LITTLE BROTHER THIS WAY

Lwj stays silent here, and the lan bros manfully stare off to the distance

(I like to pretend that here lxc starts coming up with elaborate kidnapping plots bc he wants his lil bro to be happy and that’s only happening if he drags wwx back to their home)

(i mean, locking up your soulmate against their will is a Lan family tradition, isn’t it??)

AND THAT’S WHERE IT ENDS

THIS SHOW DOESN’T PULL ITS PUNCHES, DOES IT?

This forest frolic was not nearly as fun as the last one :(

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#WangXiantics #wangxian #the untamed #cql