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llycaons · 1 year

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Section Four: Possibilities

X. Wicked tricks and beyond: modern with magic AUs

XI: In another life: modern AUs - no magic

XII. Things that might have been: canon divergences/retellings (includes works with pre-ep50 getting togethers)

X. Wicked tricks and beyond: modern with magic AUs

*hide fox, and all after* by blackfeather (oogenesis)

summary: this fic!!!!! so this modern cutivation AU is mxy pov, he’s on the run and he’s going to get his revenge on the jins! this loosely follows canon so it involves dealing with nhs and bringing wwx back. this mxy is phenomenal, the worldbuilding and magic system is super cool, the action/thriller aspect is so gripping, the characterizations for nhs is incredible, the modern twist on canon events is really fun, and the kindness with which sensitive topics are handled is beautiful if I had to pick, this would be my alltime favorite cql/mdzs fanfic - it’s so beloved to me, which is funny since it focuses on characters I otherwise don’t care much for, and follows the novel while I prefer cql. the last time it updated it was right near my birthday, so I have even more of a personal fondness for it. even after years, I still find this fic so fun and compelling that it makes me lose my mind, so it’s a shame to say it’s unlikely to ever be finished, as the author has moved on from the fandom. I still think it’s worth a read. check notes: sexual assault/harassment/blackmail, suicide, and homophobia are mentioned work issues: none author issues: none

*NIGHT HUNTING* by detention_notes

summary: in a universe otherwise without magic, wwx and lwj start being haunted by mysterious references to cql canon. some drama but mostly lighthearted references and shenanagins. jc is hilarious in this one, and so is lxc. one of my old faves - spooky, tender, and silly. a perfect halloween read. cql characterizations work issues: none author issues: none

*this river runs to you* by aubreyli, sundiscus

summary: so wwx is a disgraced curse-breaker and lwj is a dragon in human form searching for something taken from him. the way that the cql plot was integrated into this narrative was so fun and surprisingly faithful to canon, and despite lwj being a bit too normal, I enjoyed the characters and their developing relationship. there’s some fluff, there’s some h/c, there’s some angst, there’s a dramatic finale. the misunderstanding at the end surprised me with how emotional it made me. a little schlocky, but a really good time. and I spent so long avoiding it since I didn’t like shapeshifting AUs, too. more fool me I’m reccing all works in this series; the first is the main fic and the others are shorts and oneshots. cql characterizations. work issues: none author issues: has written fuck or die and genderbends

*hold the fire in your palm by oogenesis

summary: wwx is an infamous demon a la bartimaeus, and lwj is a demon hunter. they’re mistakenly, magically bonded together when wwx is summoned to the human world, and have to figure out how to send him back to the demon realm while keeping his identity a secret. the better lwj gets to know wwx, the more he has to face his assumptions and principles regarding demons. the plot is really interesting and the romance is wonderfully developed. action scenes are a bit shaky but I think the worldbuilding and tantalizing mysteries more than make up for it. another sadly discontinued work, but I think it ends at a nice place anyway. novel characterizations, but not for the bad stuff there’s some discussions of homophobia, so mind the notes work issues: none author issues: none

*see you yesterday* by glyphic

summary: oh, boy. modern AU with cultivation - a russian doll-style death timeloop set in new york city following a wwx (believed to be dead) and lwj (studying for his doctorate) a few years after the roughly-canon adjacent events of nightless city. there’s some memory manipulation involved to make wwx and lwj forget each other after the war, but it’s easiest to just read it and see how it all comes together. the novel-inspired worldbuilding is absolutely incredible, and I was also impressed by the more cql-leaning characterizations and the wonderful relationship development. absolutely lovely descriptions of the characters falling in love and finding joy amidst some of the darkest lives I’ve seen them live. this is a very angsty and difficult version of the story and I did have to fight back tears more than once, but it was so worth it. currently unfinished but the last chapter took a year to come out so I’m holding out hope the final two chapters before hiatus went a little off the rails imo, wwx became just a little self-pitying for my taste and the plot was stalled in favor of longer-than-necessary flashbacks, repetitive descriptions of the showdown, and plainly stating the emotional state of the characters with writing less sophisticated and more cliche than I had come to expect. I hope that the next installment brings the higher quality of early chapters expect everything that happened to the wens, wwx, and mama lan in canon, plus child death. see notes for each chapter’s specific warnings; this is not a lighthearted or easy work work issues: none author issues: none

a bite of a vow, a taste of the truth by occultings (microcomets)

summary: kind of a guilty pleasure tbh because this is schlocky and tropey but modern AU wwx and lwj are cultivators who are assigned a case on the disappearance of all these couples and they have to pretend to be a couple in order to infiltrate and…yeah there’s succubi involved they have to 'prove' they're a couple. so they pretend? but there’s no actual sexual activity forced by situation or under the influence of magic when they do eventually get together I thought it was really sweet. the characterizations are good, there’s fun interpersonal drama/angst, and the ending made me smile a lot. I also liked the exploration of wwx’s backstory and I thought it tied in well with canon. what can I say, something this fanned fiction is kind of embarrassing but it's still fun work issues: several allusions to wwx's cnc fantasies. the actual sex scene isn't very appealing imo but nothing terrible author issues: allusions to cnc, genderbends, sex pollen

mdzs daemon au by natcat5

summary: you know I gotta have a daemon AU on here. this one is more well-researched than any other I've read. unfortunately it only covers CR arc and a bit of sunshot campaign, but the characterizations are great. cql specific work issues: none author issues: none

*give up your shape to the falling snow by thistleghost

summary: a moody and introspective modern with cultivation work - wwx is experiencing serious derealization and depersonalization, which I think were portrayed quite effectively. it doesn’t have much of a plot but he finds lwj and they spend some time together and explore his needs and get together, and he ends up in a better place than where he starts. cultivation magic is present but more background than than character drama this is indeed the petplay fic I had to abandon despite it otherwise being very compelling, then came back to because damn, the good parts really were very good. this one is heavy, so mind the tags/notes. wwx experiences suicidal ideation and talks about it later in the fic. he also engages in a sexual encounter (not with lwj), which he ends up disliking and wishing to escape, and which he thinks back on later as something unpleasant work issues: none author issues: has written genderbends and xiyao (in an AU where jgy is presumably not evil)

silt, or scurvy by astronicht

summary: a modern take on post-sunshot wwx, who’s living with jiang cheng and, without a golden core, grappling with his chronic pain while using dc as a tool to keep his body semi-functional. a loose couple of vignettes with no overarching plot, it’s introspective and quite sad in a way that I think characterized the canon arc very accurately. I esp thought that wwx being resigned to, but not comfortable with, his experience of being exposed and without privacy, and his mental health in decline with loneliness and isolation on top of his pain was a good choice the wangxian here is well-written, but they don’t get together and the work has been abandoned, and wwx is not a headspace where it seems possible that it’ll happen anytime soon. so their relationship is a comfort and a relief, but it doesn’t go anywhere further even if the implication (in the tags, at least) is that it eventually will. moody, reflective, rather painful, but not devoid of warmth and comfort, and a worthwhile read for all that work issues: none author issues: genderbends

*a tide in two seas by occultings (microcomets)

summary: modern AU with cultivation and interdimensional travel (think the golden compass). lwj and wwx, high school acquaintances, reunite on a train late at night. after a strange incident, they stumble into a mystery that tears them from their reality and forces them to confront their relationship. tagged cql but definitely novel-verse, though not in the bad ways. the character writing is incredibly good and avoids every single annoying pitfall I see in fic, especially novel fic. the wwx, jc, and lwj are especially excellent. jc is actually not bad! the plot isn’t the focus, but it’s just thrilling and the worldbuilding is really cool as well two versions of the same character make out and there's a longer sex scene with multiple versions of the same characters interacting sexually, but it was honestly not as weird as it could have been. check the author notes for further warnings. it’s impossible to review this further without spoiling the big chapter 1 twist, so SKIP THE REST OF THIS REVIEW IF YOU DON”T WANT TO BE SPOILED - - - they’re sent to canonverse and meet their married novel selves. both of them, esp wwx is fucking incredibly written. I love when he rags on his younger and more ignorant self, I love his confidence and his air of danger and his love and his protectiveness. he’s in mxy’s body and the modern AU wwx is in his original body, so that makes for some interesting scenes. and the novel wx is impeccable. they’re joined at the hip, deeply loving, respectful of their guests but not embarrassed about being married or sexual. it’s some of the best parts of canon, no rape jokes or treating them as sexual maniacs who traumatize children. wwx does gloss over his past actions a bit but it’s clear he knew what he did was wrong. annoyingly, the height difference between them is a full head and there's a few references to lwj having big hands, but it's really not as fetishy as most fics where that's the case he and lwj can clearly see what’s happening with their AU selves, so they guide the other set of themselves to admitting what they want. they did steal the show a bit so by the end I was more invested in them than in the modern AU wx, but it was a nice romance anyway. and it was funny when they have to explain wuxia concepts to the modern characters and vice versa. there’s a lot of explicit scenes in this, including an entire chapter where the four of them have sex. I thought it would be weirder than it was but the closest to ‘selfcest’ was just the wwxs making out. and it’s a chapter that’s easily to skip if you’re not interested in it - - - work issues: there's some accidental voyeurism of questionable consent but the characters all end up being into it. wwx calls himself a wife once author issues: allusions to cnc, genderbends, sex pollen

counterpart by queensmooting

summary: similar to the above - parallel universes collide when a modern AU, single father lwj finds a canonverse wwx suddenly in his backyard. the two of them end up on a romp through time and space as they try to get him home, and become closer in the process. along with lwj’s young daughter, they see how again and again, versions of themselves find each other, and sometimes lose each other. it's a little bittersweet, but definitely has a happy ending. the anxious 'wangxian endgame 🥺?' part of me was not disappointed cql-specific characterizations, and really good ones at that. lwj is subdued but genuine, his daughter is a delight, wwx is a riot, and all the other versions of themselves ring true to themselves. original worldbuilding with exciting different worlds. and lwj is trans! work issues: one of the universes had a lxc who was together with a jgy but it was a very brief mention and no details about their lives were given author issues: A/B/O

Lan WangJi Baby Fever Nightcore Remix by foxcassius

summary: modern AU with cultivation, lwj pov - wwx reappears after years of the world believing him to be dead, and he’s got a baby! wangxian get-together, baby bonding, and a family reunion ensues. wwx is trans and written by a trans author, and I thought the intimate scenes were really well written. novel-verse work issues: none author issues: none. tho this is novel-only, the author is strongly mxtx critical

XI. In another life: modern AUs - no magic

*giant mancala* by astrolesbian

summary: wwx, jc, and jzx get locked in the basement the day before the xuanli wedding and proceed to get smashed. family bonding ensues. I just love this fic - very funny and heartwarming work issues: none author issues: has written genderbends

A Temporary Fix by bosgood

summary: short, and wq pov - she and wen ning and wwx are living paycheck to paycheck and on the run in the us from immigration authorities, who will deport them to face death if they’re discovered. it's a really harrowing and emotional journey, especially when they run into a familiar face while seeking medical care. this fic is devastating, but it's really well-done, it does not end on as depressing a note it could have, and it's not without its moments of levity and humor work issues: none author issues: jl/lsz

*Unstrictly Ballroom by Ariaste

summary: WOW. professional dancing AU. lwj rediscovers wwx after 13 years away from the professional scene and they embark on a quest to challenge heteronormative dance regulations. the characterizations are good! the writing flows well and is funny. the juniors are really a delight, jc is great except he’s maybe too heroic, and wq is a bit too mean :( also we never saw jyl which bummed me out. but mianmian had a really prominent role, and I loved how they incorporated sl and xx wwx is well characterized as a wonderful but not perfect teacher, and someone who masks constantly to avoid letting his true feelings or wants be heard. maybe a little more insecure than I'd like. lwj is correctly portrayed as an intense, obsessive, harshly disciplined professional who cares about doing right. however in the flashback part/his early 20s he was totally normal about stripping which I really don’t think would be faithful to his rigid, judgemental, traditional outlook as a younger man the drawn-out miscommunication plot is really annoying but their dynamic and chemistry is really good and the final scene is a brilliant amalgamation of the setting and canon themes and characterizations. really blew my expectations put of the water and definitely worth reading. either canon work issues: the issues with the drunk kissing scene were not as well examined as I would have liked but it was fine author issues: xiyao, jl/lsz

*strangers on the shore by seularen

summary: a super fun cold war-era spy fic where wwx and lwj, on the run, have to outmaneuver a blackmailer! not quite a modern AU, but close enough. I absolutely love the way this jyl is written - she’s personable, kind, bright, protective, daring, sneaky, and very human. switches between her pov and wwx’s. all the characterizations were excellent, especially lwj. the wx was really lovely. I enjoyed the drama and interpersonal tension and secret identities and intrigue, and the way relationship dynamics mirrored canon was very impressive. extremely well researched, and to my relief, not really taking the side of any country, but instead exploring the people and philosophies behind the conflict, and the injustices all government commit. all the spying in this fic is really for the safety of the characters, not to benefit any government there is some violence but really not as much as the tags make it sound. easily one of the best fics that actually confronts societal homophobia and how it would impact a wwx who knows he's into men and knows that's dangerous for his family. not ignoring homophobia, but recognizing it without making it gratuitous unfortunately the jc in this one is awful. just really disrespectful and ‘jokingly’ homophobic and he’s never called on it and he never apologized and I hate him, but him and wwx work together for some action scenes. and I think the writing also got a little away form the author at certain points, because the pacing got weird at the end and events seemed disconnected, and I could never tell where anyone was, country-wise. it was a bit confusing. still a satisfying finale, though! work issues: none author issues: none

你吃饭没有 / have you eaten? by heuheu_the_goose

summary: modern AU with lovely characterizations, about recovery from grief, and the expression of love through food, with a well-written trans lwj. so lwj hasn't seen wwx in almost a year, and neither has anybody else. he's still in touch with some of his friends, but hasn't contacted lwj once in all that time. why did he vanish? where has he been? is he okay? what was their relationship before he disappeared? what happened between them? and will lan wangji ever be able to speak to speak to him again? the mystery is fun in the first few chapters but I think it spends far too little time on actually dealing with grief and too much time getting really elaborate on the minutiae of self-analysis and guilt and ‘he’s going to hate me!!! he should hate me!!! which gets tiresome. it’s overall nice, and I liked it a lot, but it wasn’t quite as magical or romantic towards the end as I would have liked. the wq and a-yuan were really great though, as well as the lwj and wwx. worth reading for sure work issues: none author issues: none

on your marks, get set, bake! by BlackWiresOnHerHead

summary: if you don’t already like great british bakeoff, you probably won’t enjoy this fic. but I watch gbbo and I am just floored by how accurate this fic is to the show in terms of structure, dialogue, judging, tone, atmosphere, and food. a bit ooc by necessity, but not too much. mostly a lighthearted, funny, and engaging work depicting the characters we all know and love competing in this baking competition, with a satisfying conclusion. half of the fic is the juniors watching the show from the future and getting super invested, but I think that section is bad so I skip it. also there is wx at the very end, but I find the lwj and the romance very dull and forgettable, even cringe work issues: wwx (the juniors’ RA at college) just loves calling himself their mom author issues: well. see above. author is chinese, if that makes a difference? they’ve also written genderbends

Everything You Wanted to Find by brooklinegirl

summary: wwx and lwj visit the jiangs as a couple and things are good! it’s a sweet fic, I thought the character dynamics were all very natural and I enjoyed it a lot work issues: none author issues: age gaps, lsz/jl, and sex pollen

*and after all… by BlackWiresOnHerHead

summary: a funny little oneshot where characters keep trying to play wonderwall and other characters get mad and interrupt them before they can finish. that’s it. wangxian are cute. jyl is horny for her boyfriend. nhs is secretly a menace. jc is clowned upon. it’s good fun. note: this work uses the term ‘chengxian’ in the tags to refer to wwx and jc’s platonic sibling relationship work issues none author issues:: genderbends, wwx calling himself a mom

My Heart’s Desire by phnelt

summary: a funny and sweet ficlet about lwj taking a shot at some jin event and getting drunk and trying to steal a painting and wwx wrangling him to take him home. established relationship. either canon. really funny! I love how judgemental wwx is about the jins work issues: none author issues: has written genderbends, cnc, A/B/O, and sex pollen

the whole day alone with you by fantasiavii

summary: hurt/comfort oneshot - wwx is trans and having a bad period. a very loving little fic written by a trans author work issues: none author issues: none

merry christmas ya filthy animal by belovedmuerto

summary: jzx pov! he, jyl, and their baby fly from china to california to spend the holidays with wwx, lwj, and their baby. jzx is endearingly awkward in this fic and he clearly loves his family so much. it’s funny to watch him and lwj vibing without needing to talk while their respective spouses carry the conversation, and the writing for the babies was really cute work issues: it described wwx as a gremlin and make him kind of annoying and immature, but not to the point where it ruined the fic. also, wwx and lwj start celebrating christmas here, which I don’t love, but they’re taking it as a family holiday/tradition for themselves rather than a religious event. since this is modern AU and set in the usa, I can see it. my roommate does the same thing author issues: none

the thought of us seems wholly make-believe by fensandmarshes

summary: very short, very fun oneshot where wwx, jc, lwj, and some others play dnd. jc gets mad. it’s hilarious work issues: none author issues: none

XII. Things that might have been: canon divergences/retellings

here is a map with your name for a capital by zerodignity

summary: the second in the series that contains his hands keep turning to birds and flying away from him (him being you) postres, wwx and lwj are traveling while trying to solve the mystery of the cursed arm. lwj is full of feelings he doesn’t know how to name and embarrassed of the potential of them not being returned. wwx is likewise nervous to be vulnerable, and has an unnamed gender dysphoria to boot their conversations around wwx's identity while and after they get together are really lovely and poignant. I liked how wwx's dysphoria during intimacy was managed. I also appreciated how inexperienced lwj was - it always makes more sense to me that he wouldn’t know what he’s doing. overall a unique concept with impeccable cql characterization the one odd thing is that lwj went from extremely insecure and unsure about wwx's feelings to understanding exactly why he acts the way he does and being determined to tell him how he feels after just one drunken confession scene. the change was so abrupt as to be jarring the tag about ‘sloppiness in regards to consent’ concerned me but I think it was referring to them kissing while wwx had been drinking. during the actual sex scene there’s nothing to worry about. they went slowly and listened to each other really well and respected each other’s boundaries. it was sweet. work issues: see above - drunk kissing author issues: xy/xxc

some nights we open up the flood by WhenasInSilks

summary: post-yi city meanderings on xxc and sl, leading to a get-together and tenderness. atmospheric and poetic. very strong parallels that haunt wwx, and lovely characterizations there was meant to be a second chapter where they have sex (I guess) but it was never written, but the first chapter is tidy and functions perfectly well on its own work issues: none author issues: song lan/xy, xxc/xy, niyao, xiyao. one of their works has 'rape/noncon elements' but I don't know WHAT that means and I'm too scared to look. tread with caution. this looks like one of the only good fics this person's written

*while covered in mud by merthurlin

summary: a BM fix-it fic where nhs decides he has a moral compass and shows up to prove to his brother than the wens aren’t a threat. humorous and unsure about wwx's feelings to understanding exactly why he acts the way he does and being determined to tell him how he feels after just one drunken confession scene. the change was so abrupt as to be jarring, heartwarming even if it’s not very realistic that all other problems could be solved so easily work issues: none author issues: xiyao

hey brother by fensandmarshes

summary: a series focused on trans wwx that follows cql canon. I liked all the works, but my favorite is you may think you’re winning but checkmate - so raw and devastating. trans author. and unlike other trans works I've been able to find, lwj is trans too! work issues: none author issues: none

a quiet room, a night, a dawn by BarbV

summary: a sweet little get-together fic set during the snowy scene in the jingshi. pretty straightforward and nothing particularly remarkable, but the dynamic and dialogue is very similar to how imagine it would go. very gentle, very tender work issues: none author issues: none

*To love you is to know myself by natcat5

summary: oof, what a monster. essentially a retelling of the story from lwj’s pov. it blends novel and cql canon, which wrecks havoc on the characterizations, but the resulting characters and story are so interesting. I like the writing and dialogue quite a lot, and the ending is incredibly satisfying. it skims over things in canon we already saw, so its not too repetitive. also, the title rules unfortunately the section that covers the first siege of BM just drags on so miserably and for so long that I really had to apply myself to make it through. worth it, but whew. also the very end of the main fic has some really nonsensical and contrived conflict but overall it’s a solid work the second work in this series, where wwx and lqr have a confrontation postcanon, is absolutely phenomenal and my favorite fic, bar none, about their relationship this is a very brief line, but when wwx is talking about some ghost women he brought back he implies sexual violence in relation to them/their deaths work issues: none author issues: none

*A Silent Song by SpicyReyes

summary: Deaf wwx AU that otherwise follows canon. this is handled really well, imo. author is working from familial experience and the integration of a Deaf character into canon feels realistic and grounded. it only covers a few scenes in the CR arc of the show before being abandoned, but it’s still worth a read. I would have loved an entire retelling; it was so interesting and the characterizations for everyone, especially wwx, were spot-on work issues: none author issues: none

*Wangxian extra scenes by deliciousblizzardshark

summary: a series of extra scenes slipped into canon, in which wwx and lwj get together far earlier than in canon. the series starts back in the cold pond cave, with snippets up until the sunshot campaign. young wwx and lwj are really cute and lwj’s melodrama is endearing and VERY funny, and I like how conscientious and kind wwx is compared to how callous he’s often written despite struggling with a lot of internalized homophobia, lwj is a lot more communicative than in canon, and wwx knows what he wants, so their attraction and regard for each other actually goes somewhere. of course, by the sunshot arc that makes everything even more painful. I like how the emotion was written, and the angst in the last few were just so on-point. also the lwj pov in the last work was darkly hilarious. cql canon work issues: none author issues: none

Covered By Frost and Snow by Siamesa

summary: novel-verse AU where a-qing is taken in by lwj after being attacked and left for dead by xy. I love the a-qing in this - even after for living for years with the lans she’s still sneaky, a liar and a thief, slightly manipulative, and cynical. because of her street smarts she feels protective of the juniors and of characters far older than her, including lwj. since she’s so different from the gentry and since she has such a personality, her relationship with lwj (and the rest of the lans) is genuinely unique in anything I’ve read. I also liked the way her past trauma is treated, and how she actually does impact the plot. imagining a world where she survived is so rewarding along with the above, wrote something tagged ‘dark!lwj’ whatever that means3Cbr>author issues: this fic is extremely faithful to novel canon dynamic so all the wx scenes stressed me out. it seems like there was no drunk sex scene which is a relief, but it has everything else + the trope of ‘these adults are so stupid and they need me, a teenager, to get them to admit they like each other’ which made me cringe a-qing is physically disabled in this one, which I liked most of the time, but her method of communication is often treated exactly the same as speaking, which is annoying because speaking doesn’t have the same mechanics or restrictions work issues: none author issues: none

Resilience. by Vrishchika

summary: short novel-based time-travel fix-it in which, four years after wwx’s death, jc uses an array to return to the sunshot campaign and tries to arrange for wwx to be killed by the wens. his actions change things in ways he doesn’t expect. jc is very much his angry, entitled, and homophobic novel self, so the way that his and wwx’s relationship deteriorates as wwx sets boundaries and seeks better treatment for himself with other characters is extremely satisfying. a comforting and honestly quite warm little fic where everything goes right for wwx, nobody dies who didn’t have it coming, and all is well. author uses the phrase ‘silver eyes’ a distressing number of times tho work issues: spoilers ig but lwj goes back in time as well to try to stop jc from hurting wwx, so his eventual relationship with wwx feels slightly creepy to me since this is an older lwj in the body of his younger self. he’s older by maybe 8 years and we don’t know exactly how old wwx was at the time, but maybe 18-20? a bit weird imo author issues: genderbends

Warmth in the Snow, a Light in the Dark by names_for_dusk

summary: one part of a longer series that I didn't find much interest in. already-together wwx and lwj talk, and then sleep together after the snowy jingshi scene. it’s sweet, they’re nearly married. there are some hiccups along the way when wwx isn’t ready to be as vulnerable is lwj is, but they’re working on it. and wwx glad to be alive and present. the first two parts of the series are alright, but the rest look bad work issues: none. there's slight experimentation with using force during intimacy that freaked me out when I first read it, but when I went back I realized it was honestly fine author issues: wow this person has a lot going on...dubcon, sl/xy, jc/wen ning, all the juniors together, xiyao, niyao

Ask Me Again by moonlitten

summary: not a very memorable plot - typical lwj stays at BM and it solves all the problems - but I’m including it because it’s the only fic in this list that was based on the donghua. this is apparent through the language and characterization choices the author makes, which are rather different from either novel or cql canon. a unique and at times bizarre experience that I quite enjoyed work issues: none author issues: none

This Tornado Loves You by etymologyplayground

summary: a getting-together fic set just after wwx and lwj escape koi tower. there’s no plot, but the style is really fun and I just love the way wwx’s personality is written. strictly novel-verse work issues: not too serious: - wwx admits to kissing lwj when drunk and lwj admits to the pm kiss. obviously it’s good they came clean because they didn’t in canon, but I really don’t like that they did it in the first place, and it wasn’t treated as seriously as I would have liked. neither of them minded! author issues: genderbends

Back to Start || Section Five

#fic recs #ficblogging #recs-4

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wutaijiemei · 5 months

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obsessed w how all the notes on the worst finale poll that included cql are just gonna be from ppl calling out the bizarre sinophobia in the text portion and then like 2 people who actually care about whatever else is going on in it um idk what was up with that i dont feel like deigning to give it attention beyond this but anyways. scrolling thru that blog really making it occur to me for the first time that maybe i have a problem with finishing tv shows .

#i have seen so many of the shows listed . and like. 1 of the episodes in question. cause theyre finales.#well 2 if u count cql but i really dont think that should count as a contender like its just not a classic bad finale objectively speaking.#if u think it is bad television bc u dislike the show in general this does not matter #since a bad finale can only truly be determined by those with investment to begin with.#and objectively it is simply not a widely held belief that the ending sucks.#the true blood finale being on there on the other hand.#im counting that one.#but i still couldnt vote cause i had just. not seen the others .

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aelfwyn · 1 year

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Finally got my actual official ADHD diagnosis a few days ago after living in 99% sure land for YEARS, so to celebrate it is time for a

State of the Blog,

I guess.

So.

I joined tumblr to follow Sims 2 CC makers. So far, so good. Then Twitter's descent into madness began and I started following a bunch of other people and then I started watching CQL.

And it ripped out my heart and soul and tore them into a thousand pieces and then sort of smooshed them back together only to put them through the meat grinder all over again. And. I felt like I was never going to be okay again. It has been 3+ months and I'm still Not Okay about any of it.

Anyway, I was aware there was a whole world of CQL fandom and C-drama and danmei lit, so I very firmly told myself I would NOT go down that rabbit hole.

...

So obviously, since I watched The Untamed, I have

read MDZS

watched Love Between Fairy and Devil (which is SO cheesy but I loved it a lot and it cured my CQL-induced depression)

watched Untamed: The Living Dead

watched a bunch of BTS and Untamed cast vids on YT because how??? is anyone??? allowed to be??? this pretty??? pretty much the ENTIRE cast seriously it's unreal (also the Untamed Boys ep 5 scavenger hunt is hilarious)

started watching the Heaven Official's Blessing donghua, read TGCF Vol. 1, then finished the donghua (well, the available season of it)

started watching the MDZS donghua

wrote down a whole long list of other C-dramas to watch / webnovels to read

watched Legend of Fei and read a Bandits fan translation because the show is ... confusing - all in all very "meh" but ok to watch while knitting, I enjoyed Zhou Fei's outfits, and hey, it has this:

finished reading TGCF

started SVSSS

started reading fanfiction. Tons of it. I have not read fanfiction since high-school but apparently I needed more ... angst? And also fix-its, after all the trauma that MXTX serves up.

re-started learning Japanese because my brain now really wants to learn Mandarin but I've made a deal with myself that I won't be allowed to attempt that until I make some decent progress with Japanese

So. Doing GREAT on the whole rabbit hole front.

Anyway, since I've now apparently decided (accidentally started) to actually use this blog for more than Sims stuff, it is as good a place as any to put stuff I don't want to put on Twitter. But, for the moment, apart from this lengthy hello, I think I will remain the person at the tumblr party who's kinda only just got there and doesn't know anyone and will keep lurking in the corner nursing their drink until they find an opening where they can join a conversation without offending/off-putting/making a fool of themselves (or until someone more extroverted takes pity on them). Whoop.

Bonus soul-soothing cat love:

#just chatting #self

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purrfectly · 4 years

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wow lwj not going with wwx at the end..... is totally unacceptable..... not even jokingly i cant accept this even with cql only

#purrsonal #he wouldnt choose duty over him again???? what the hell.......#awful awful #anyways i finally finished cql #gonna watch fatal journey nedt #oh woof sorry tehnically its still going #calling nhs the devil!! bro im 😡#also walking down from cloud recesses as if ur not gonna spend most of ur time thete #edit #thou i suppose there is smth pleasant abt #rouge cultivator wwx who just comes home to gusu frequently #EDIT x2 #WAIT he comes back???#okay acceptable #nvm ending good #maybe i should wait for the sjow to actually finish before posting. lol

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suibianjie · 2 years

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Jiang Wanyin + sāndú 三毒

#mxtxnet #the untamed #jiang cheng #wang zhuocheng #chen qing ling #mystuff #mygifs #photoshop finally cooperated long enough for me to finish this #anyways this is a kind of visual exploration into JC's title and sword name #both of which contain Sandu or lit Three Poisons #there's a link above to a wikipedia article for anyone interested #but basically in Buddhism the 3 Poisons are considered to be the root of turmoil #and boy of boy does JC have some turmoil #but I think CQL did a good job of showing his journey towards overcoming each of them #There's greed/attachment for WWX's attention and loyalty but at the end he wishes him well even though their paths diverge #He's pretty much anger incarnate most of the time but at Guanyin temple he apologizes to WWX #And ofc he was ignorant to WWX's motivations and the golden core but finally learns the truth #i should probably write a whole essay about this but you know what im tired AF sorry lol #meta

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luna-lina · 4 years

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Xiao Zhan ✧ The Smiling Proud Wanderer

#xiao zhan #sean xiao #肖战 #cql cast #the untamed cast #the smiling proud wanderer #game #mine: cqlcast #well this took a while #I cropped and removed the writing on them #where I could #he looks so great #in these #what the hell #anyway #I didn't finish the edit for today yet :((#hope I will finish it in time #it's gonna be cute #finally no more pain :))

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wei--wuxian · 3 years

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me, midway through complaining about how lwj should Not be chief cultivator: and anyway, how many times throughout these 50 episodes have we seen him staring blankly into the middle distance and refusing to speak to anyone at political events

my partner, considering this: maybe chief cultivator just means he does that, but More

me:

my partner: nobody said he had to be any good at it

#cql #the untamed #lan wangji #lwj #and this isn't even getting into all the other reasons #like how lwjs priority list consists of a piece of paper with Wei Ying written on it in at least sixteen different styles and nothing else #jfc just let them be together and only caring about each other!!!!#they have had ENOUGH time apart and ENOUGH time caring about the rest of the cultivation world #can you tell i finally finished cql tonight lmao #anyway this is a piping hot take from my partner and i am here for it #lwj would not only not want to be chief cultivator anyway #he would actively be bad at it

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schnaf · 3 years

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according to plan

Summary: Xue Yang's plan was bulletproof. But he didn't factor Xiao Xingchen in.

Relationship: Xiǎo Xīngchén/Xuē Yáng | Xuē Chéngměi

Characters: Xiǎo Xīngchén, Xuē Yáng | Xuē Chéngměi Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Mention of Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen, be gay do crimes, and feel alive as you run away from police

Notes: This is my contribution to mdzsnet’s Xiao Xingchen’s birthday event! And - finally - my first fic in this fandom \o/

I didn't plan to do this. But I had a story in mind, about the Yi City disaster turning into an actual love triangle. What if Song Lan and Xue Yang had an affair once but Song Lan broke it off to get into a relationship with someone more appropriate? What if Xue Yang wanted to take revenge, even after destroying their relationship? And what if he realized there was more to Xiao Xingchen than the need to take revenge?

This is a tiny snippet that takes place in this universe. Maybe I'll write the full story one day! \o/

read here

#the untamed #xiao xingchen #xue yang #cql #xuexiao #oof i'm too tired to think of more tags #but ayyy only the first five count anyway #oh boi this wasn't planned at all #but i can't resist projects and events #so yesterday i was like 'i could write something for xxc's birthday :)'#and today i came up with 3847239 ideas #well at least i stuck to one that wasn't about his death #one where he's actually alive :|#oof i wanted to finish a fic in another fandom before i finally jumped into this fandom #but i am weak. and i can't resist the smiley boi.#... and xuexiao. whoopsie.#okay. enough rambling. go read the fic ayeee! \o/

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ctl-yuejie · 5 years

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all of the looks of Wei Wuxian｜the Yiling Patriarch ep. 33-50

#the untamed #cql #wei wuxian #demonic fashion tag #finally finished this opus maximum #luckily he doesn't have that many costume changes after coming back #but i went through all the episodes anyways to get good shots #could make a 9x9 compilation gifset for almost all of his looks #and these looks get darker and darker as the show progresses but the texturing is just amazing #and the hint of white from the lan sect #and the red hairband

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vrishchikawrites · 2 years

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I'm currently finishing the ubtamed but I was wondering why JC or LWJ didn't take a stand. From what I see, both of them didn't take a stand but JC usually gets more hate for that. However, wouldn't it make sense that JC couldn't hell considering his lack of political influence?

Ignoring LWJ for now because those two aren't even in the same plane of existance. JC has, canonically,

1. Attempted to strangle WWX. Twice.

2. Thrown a fit when WWX saved people.

3. Discouraged WWX from saving people. Or attempted to and failed miserably.

4. Been both classist and homophobic.

5. Hid the fact that he owes Wen Qing and Wen Ning a life-debt and a debt of honor.

6. Let irritation and jealousy compromise his judgement.

7. Stabbed WWX until his guts fell out in a staged fight.

8. Declared WWX the enemy of cultivation world instead of just saying he defected, as they agreed before.

9. Seen a child and a few old people in the BM settlement and led a deadly siege against the settlement anyway.

As for JC and YMJ's circumstances:

1. LP was well on its way to recovery with new cultivators and a good reputation even before WWX defected

2. That reputation and popularity is absolutely because WWX is so terrifyingly powerful, everyone wants in on it.

3. LP didn't burn down like Cloud Recesses did. In fact, Wens left it nearly intact. CR was still under repairs well after WWX died.

4. He had enough political influence. He would have even more influence if he didn't, like an absolute dumbass, throw away the nuclear deterrent.

5. JGS was absolutely driving a wedge between him and WWX, it was so apparent that even a blind person would've been able to see.

6. Him throwing away his little nuclear deterrent actually helped JGS become more powerful. Affection and respect aside, it is an absolute dumbass move to let your most powerful asset walk away.

7. Political influence doesn't pop out of thin air. That would've been the absolute perfect time to establish his political power by, ya know, not letting JGS mess with his ego and brain. What would they do? Attack? With what army? JGS didn't have the balls to go against WWX until he engineered a situation where Lans and Nies were weakened and provoked to the skies.

8. WWX and his little settlement were peacefully exisiting for at least two years and the cultivation world didn't bother to do anything about it. Just what were Jins gonna do if WWX remained in YMJ or JC pulled his big boy pants on and acknowledged a debt?

Finally, to LWJ.

JC is a sect leader of a recovered sect. LWJ is a sect heir with elders, sect leader, and an uncle above him. JC doesn't have to deal with any of these things. Yeah, LXC coddles LWJ and LQR considers him a prized little cabbage, but they have no attachment to WWX or debt owed to the Wens.

They are absolutely not equals in terms of political power, especially not then. It is very likely that LWJ did say something to his brother and uncle and it was discarded but that is speculation. My comments about LWJ's lack of action during the BM days isn't about him not standing up against the cultivation world. It has more to do with what he could've done to help WWX and the Wens on a personal level. That's it.

When it comes to culpability and responsibility, JC comes of worse.

You're comparing a murderer attacking with a knife to a bystander witness.

Finally, The Untamed butchered the story. This is me being bored enough to correct erroneous takes from CQL and a fandom strangely obssessed with a canon antagonist. Take it how you will.

You can find all of this in the novel, btw.

#reader asks #re: jc #re: lwj

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cqlfeels · 3 years

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@lansplaining encouraged me to finish this random meta nobody asked for, so let's talk about Meng Yao, Meng Shi, and 孟母三遷 (mèng m�� sān qiān), a proverb about good parenting.

A warning: this is super long (even for me!) and is less quality meta and more my ADHD brain jumping around a maze of loosely related ideas. Proceed with caution!

Let me start by briefly going through why I decided to write this, because it’s important. In haunting Meng Shi’s tag in my starvation for Meng Shi content, I’ve multiple times come across the idea that Meng Shi pushed Meng Yao too hard, that she should’ve been more careful with teaching him to seek his father’s approval at any cost, and that she was too naïve. I’ve never reblogged this kind of post because 1) I personally think it’s rude to go out of your way to ramble about how much you disagree with someone on their own post and 2) if this was an isolated incident I wouldn't care either way, so I didn’t want to direct this rant at anyone in particular. It’s more to do with a tendency, primarily (as far as I can tell) from fans who haven’t had much contact with Chinese culture, to oversimplify Meng Shi and make her relationship with Meng Yao slightly disturbing, and I think part of it is due to CQL basically cutting out her entire storyline (so fans simply don’t have info about her to assess her fairly) and part is due to misunderstanding what a good parent is supposed to act like in the context of Ancient China.

[Of course, Ancient China is not a very useful historical concept, not any more than “ye olde Europe” - things change a lot based on time and place - but you know. It’s fantasy. Extremely broad trends are okay in this case.]

Anyway, the idea behind the posts I mentioned is, basically, that Meng Shi (usually through no fault of her own) is to blame for Meng Yao’s obsession with power, since his desire for approval was inherited from lessons she taught him. Just to start with, I’d argue that Meng Yao isn’t power-hungry as much as he craves security and respect, but that’s a different meta. Let’s assume that she really did teach him to be Like That. Was she wrong to do so? I’m not looking for “does that make for a happy, well-adjusted childhood?” or “would you raise your own son as Meng Shi did?” - I’m trying to figure out, would she have been considered a bad mother in the context of the society she lived in? I don’t think she would’ve.

It is surprisingly hard to find texts about the obligations of parents in Ancient China. Their main obligation is to raise filial children, but I feel like that’s not very useful: whether or not parents are good parents, children are expected to be filial, so a child being filial really says more about the child than about the parent. Maybe the parent completely missed the mark and society at large was what taught the child to be filial!

We can assume, of course, that parents were to raise good people, and that by learning what a good person looked like, we could figure out whether the parent was successful, but once again, I feel like that’s pinning things on the outcome, not on the process - the best of parents can end up with an awful kid and vice versa.

While thinking about all this, it took me a frankly embarrassing amount of time to remember the story of Mother Meng and Meng Zi, but once I did, it wouldn’t leave my mind - in part because the Meng here is the exact same Meng of Meng Shi and Meng Yao (yay! fun if useless parallel!), and in part because this is a story about how a woman can successfully raise a son by herself.

Okay, so important note: one of the most influential ancient Chinese thinkers is Meng Zi (孟子 Mèng Zǐ), who is known in the West as Mencius. If you've never heard of him - he's perhaps second in importance only to Confucius. When Mencius was still a young child, his father died, so he was raised by his mother, who is usually known only as Mother Meng (in Chinese, 孟母 Mèng Mǔ.)

Mother Meng's story is told in Biographies of Exemplary Women (列女傳 Liènǚ Zhuàn), which for around 2000 years beginning around the 18th century BCE, was the most commonly used book used to educate women. The book is divided into sections, each one showing a different way women could be honorable and good. Mother Meng's story is told in the Maternal Models section (母儀傳 Mǔ Yí Zhuàn.) The story has a few parts, some of which I'll quote, always from Kinney's 2014 translation.

Before I go on to quote it, though, I'd like to establish that Mother Meng's story is so, so famous that even if Meng Shi had never read this particular book, I'm almost certain she would've been familiar with at least the outlines of Mother Meng's story. I'm not cherry picking a suitable chapter from the book, I'm literally going with the most famous story in it because Meng Shi would be most likely to know this one if she knew no other story.

Okay, the first part of the tale takes place when Mencius is a young boy and Mother Meng is a widow raising him.

The mother of Meng Ke of Zou [a different name for Mencius] was called Mother Meng. She lived near a graveyard. During Mencius’ youth, he enjoyed playing among the tombs, romping about pretending to prepare the ground for burials. Mother Meng said, “This is not the place to raise my son.” She therefore moved away and settled beside the marketplace. But there he liked to play at displaying and selling wares like a merchant. Again Mother Meng said, “This is not the place to raise my son,” and once more left and settled beside a school. There, however, he played at setting out sacrificial vessels, bowing, yielding, entering, and withdrawing. His mother said, “This, indeed, is where I can raise my son!” and settled there. When Mencius grew up, he studied the Six Arts, and finally became known as a great classicist. A man of discernment would say, “Mother Meng was good at gradual transformation.”

According to the translator's footnote, "gradual transformation" is "a childrearing technique, whereby a child is morally formed through daily exposure to correct models of behavior."

From this story comes the proverb 孟母三遷 (Mèng Mǔ sān qiān) - "Mother Meng moved three times." It's come to mean that a parent - especially the mother of a male child - should spare no efforts to provide an environment that will give their child a good education, paying particular attention to what models are surrounding them.

I'm sure I don't need to say if Meng Shi was at all familiar with this proverb (and she would probably be), she must have been very stressed out over literally raising her son in a brothel. (Here I must mention sex workers in ancient China were often essentially owned by the brothels, so literally "moving three times" wasn't really an option for Meng Shi even if she could miraculously pick up another trade.) Meng Shi did however at least try to surround Meng Yao with the accomplishments appropriate for the son of a cultivator:

Xiao-Meng, are you still learning those things lately? [...] The things your mom wants you to learn, things like calligraphy, etiquette, swordsmanship, meditation… How are those things going? [...] His mom’s raising him as a young master of a wealthy family. She taught him how to read and write, bought him all those swordsmanship pamphlets, and even wants to send him to school.

Meng Yao actually talks a little bit about “those swordsmanship pamphlets” in the only time in canon he directly shares memories about this mother:

Lan XiChen, “Your [guqin] skills are also considered quite fine outside of Gusu. Were they taught by your mother?”

Jin GuangYao, “No. I taught myself by watching others. She never taught me such things. She only taught me reading and writing, and bought a handful of expensive sword and cultivation guides for me to practice.”

Lan XiChen seemed surprised, “Sword and cultivation guides?”

Jin GuangYao, “Brother, you haven’t seen them before, have you? Those small booklets sold by the common folk. First jumbled sketches of human figures, then deliberately mystified captions.”

Lan XiChen shook his head, smiling. Jin GuangYao shook his head as well, “All of them are scams, especially to fool women like my mother and ignorant children. You won’t lose anything by practicing them, but you definitely won’t gain anything either.”

He sighed in a rueful way, “But how could my mother have known this? She bought them no matter how expensive they were, saying that if I returned to see my father in the future, I had to see him with as much competence as possible so that I don’t fall behind. All of the money was spent on this.”

See what’s happening? Meng Shi cannot physically take Meng Yao to cultivators, but she spares no efforts in giving him the closest thing she possibly can -- figuratively, we might say she moved three times.

Of course, these booklets don’t work, but as Meng Yao says, how could she have known this? The cultivation world is very closed off - think of how the entire Mo household gathers to see Lan juniors, and how Wei Wuxian mentions once that “Cultivation families, in the eyes of common folk, are like people favored by God, mysterious yet noble.” Not just noble, but mysterious. That tracks, too - I mean, they live in inaccessible households and mostly leave to night hunt or visit each other, neither of which is an activity that would allow commoners to get much more than an occasional glimpse of them.

Now, if Meng Shi doesn’t even know that a pearl for Jin Guangshan was just a trinket, if she doesn’t know even the wealth of a major sect, how can she read booklets and decide whether that’s genuine cultivation or not? All that she sees is a chance for Meng Yao to be surrounded by the ideas and skills of the people she wants him to emulate - cultivators - and therefore she does everything she can to get him that chance. Mother Meng moved three times.

Okay, but maybe the argument is not “Meng Shi shouldn’t have pushed Meng Yao to cultivation” but rather “she should’ve pushed him, just not too hard." To that, I present another tale from Mencius' childhood:

Once, when Mencius was young, he returned home after finishing his lessons and found his mother spinning. She asked him, “How far did you get in your studies today?” Mencius replied, “I’m in about the same place as I was before.” Mother Meng thereupon took up a knife and cut her weaving. Mencius was alarmed and asked her to explain. Mother Meng said, “Your abandoning your study is like my cutting this weaving. A man of discernment studies in order to establish a name and inquires to become broadly knowledgeable. By this means, when he is at rest, he can maintain tranquility and when he is active, he can keep trouble at a distance. If now you abandon your studies, you will not escape a life of menial servitude and will lack the means to keep yourself from misfortune. How is this different from weaving and spinning to eat? If one abandons these tasks midway, how can one clothe one’s husband and child and avoid being perpetually short of food? If a woman abandons that with which she nourishes others and a man is careless about cultivating his virtue, if they don’t become brigands or thieves, then they will end up as slaves or servants.” Mencius was afraid. Morning and evening he studied hard without ceasing. He served Zisi [a great scholar whose grandfather was Confucius] as his teacher and then became one of the most renowned classicists in the world.

Notice that Mother Meng moved three times to ensure Mencius would have the highest of aspirations - to become a scholar. But just aspiration isn’t enough. Not by any means. Now that Mencius is actually studying, Mother Meng is willing to take an extreme action to ensure he's taking it seriously. Mencius doesn't have a father to smooth his path to success. He has to learn that aspiring to greatness isn't enough. He'll have to put in the effort as if his life depended on it. And if he doesn't persist in his hard work, everything he's done thus far will be useless. Sounds like a lesson imparted on young Meng Yao, doesn’t it?

A lot of fandom rage towards Meng Shi would apply to China's Best Mom Contender, Mother Meng. She gives her son big dreams, and teaches him how to go about achieving them in a society where failing is easier than succeeding. Yes, it's fair to say that Meng Shi taught Meng Yao to refuse to settle for anything less than being “Jin Guangshan's son, a respected cultivator.” Yes, it's also fair to say that she probably didn't allow him much time to play like children his age did. But unfortunately, in the world of MDZS, poor children probably wouldn't get to play anyhow, the difference is that they'd usually be working, not studying. Studying is a privilege! It’s a privilege Meng Yao could not afford but was given to him anyway, through his mother’s many sacrifices. We can even say that while she was alive, Meng Shi was trying to ensure Meng Yao would one day have a better life, at the expense of a fun childhood - and that's very Mother Meng of her, whatever our modern Western sensibilities might have to say about that.

Finally, I’d skip other tales (which show Mother Meng and an adult Mencius) and go straight to the poem that ends the Mother Meng section:

The mother of Mencius

Was able to teach, transform, judge, and discriminate.

With skill she selected a place to raise her son,

Prompting him to accord with the great principles.

When her son’s studies did not advance,

She cut her weaving to illustrate her point.

Her son then perfected his virtue;

His achievements rank as the crowning glory of his generation.

I’d like to focus on the last verse - “His achievements rank as the crowning glory of his generation.” All that Mother Meng wanted was for Mencius to not completely ruin his life, but he became great. You can so very easily see a parallel with how Meng Shi hoped Meng Yao would be a cultivator but he became Jin Guangyao, Chief Cultivator, styled Lianfang-zun, one of the Three Venerable, hero of the Sunshot Campaign.

Of course you can say “Jin Guangyao did many Very Wrong Things to get there, though!” Which, sure, okay, fair point. How many and how wrong depends on which canon we're discussing, and your own interpretation, but there’s no version of the story in which Jin Guangyao is 100% an innocent child uwu. But blaming that on Meng Shi is just... straight up weird? I don’t see anyone going “If Jiang Fengmian hadn’t adopted Wei Wuxian, he’d never have dared become Yiling Laozu!” and that’s pretty much the same logic. Would street kid Wei Wuxian have invented a new type of cultivation if he had never been taken in by the Jiang? Probably not, but raising undead armies is very much not something Jiang Fengmian could’ve predicted. In the same way, how could Meng Shi have predicted that teaching her pre-adolescent son “You are the son of a cultivator, act like one and earn your place in society” would’ve ultimately resulted in innocent deaths? How could she predict “You’re not destined to having the same horrible life I did, you can get something better than this” was a bad thing to teach? I quite honestly don’t know.

Finally, I'd like to point towards a much flimsier evidence that Meng Shi did great as a parent. And that is Meng Yao’s love. Nie Huaisang at some point comments Meng Shi is someone who Meng Yao "cherishes more than his life," and I think his assessment is correct.

Even putting aside the fact he built a whole temple to get his mother to reincarnate into a better life, and even putting aside how he refuses to flee the country without her remains, there's still crystal clear evidence that Meng Shi must've done something right. Because a lifetime of people using his mother to bully him doesn't seem to have made Meng Yao resent her. Had their relationship not have been very strong, odds are he'd feel bitter and/or ashamed of her. That doesn't seem to be the case. He's attached to her even decades after her death.

I want to be very careful with equating mutual affection with good parenting, though. When I was a rather rebellious teenager, my mother (in typical Chinese fashion) used to say that parents and children don't have to love each other as long as they're dutiful to each other, by which she meant that a parent-child relationship isn't informed by warm and fuzzy feelings, but by whether you'd be willing to do anything for each other. Specific to my case, she meant "I don't care if it makes you hate me, you will do as you're told because that's what's best for you." (That may also be the reason why people more familiar with Chinese culture see the Jiang family less as outright abusive and more as #complicated, but that's another meta.)

Whether your kid wants to hug you every time they see you is of no consequence to traditional Chinese thought - raising them to be the best they can is all that matters, because at the end of the day, you won't be around forever, but you can definitely set up your kid's life so that it goes smoothly and virtuously. How that's accomplished varies depending on many factors, but to have the goal be "I want my child to love me" rather than "I want to raise my child right" would've been considered selfish as hell.

So even if all that Meng Shi had given Meng Yao had been stern lessons about the need to go get his birthright, she would've still have been considered a good mother!! In fact, she would've been doing everything she was supposed to do, under extremely difficult conditions! (Remember the importance of environment? That Meng Yao grew up to want to be a cultivator despite having probably never even met one speaks wonders about Meng Shi's childrearing powers!!)

But just based off how over the top Meng Yao's filal dutifulness is, I'd go a step further and say that even as she did the impossible, she was also loving enough to inspire genuine affection. This is complicated because children who have present fathers could expect their mothers to be tender with them. The first century BCE text 禮記 Lǐ Jì or The Classic of Rites says that:

Here now is the affection of a father for his sons - he loves the worthy among them, and places on a lower level those who do not show ability; but that of a mother for them is such, that while she loves the worthy, she pities those who do not show ability - the mother deals with them on the ground of affection and not of showing them honour; the father, on the ground of showing them honour and not of affection.

But when the father figure is lacking for any reason, the mother must abandon her tenderness because someone must guide the child, and without a father, the role falls to the mother. A single or widowed mother had to be very careful to not smother their children with affection and raise useless, spoiled kids, or so it was thought. (The presence of Qingheng-jun and Lan Qiren is why Madame Lan can be so affectionate with the Lan boys, by the way - if she was raising them by herself she would've been expected to be much more practical. AUs where she just gets her kids and runs away could do very cool things with this idea. But I digress!)

Where was I? Oh, okay. Because Meng Yao seems to not just respect, but actively miss her, it seems that Meng Shi somehow managed to deal with her son on the ground of both honor and affection, to paraphrase.

So basically, all things considered, it seems not only would Meng Shi have been considered a great mom (if people could look past her being a prostitute, anyway) but she also went above and beyond the bare minimum. She truly spared no efforts on any front to make sure her son had everything your average gongzi would have - someone to teach him and someone to love him, access to education and confidence in his birthright. That she couldn't actually make him a cultivator, that she couldn't actually raise him in a proper home with no one being cruel to herself or him - that's immaterial. Even Mother Meng couldn't control what her neighbors did, only what she taught her son! The key point is Meng Shi tried. She did everything she could to educate her son right. You couldn't ask more of her, and quite honestly, you should probably be asking less.

Of course we can't err on the other extreme and say she was Perfect. Given MXTX only ever writes flawed characters, we can safely assume that if we'd known more about Meng Shi, we would've seen many flaws. Indeed, just the fact she didn't teach Meng Yao the guqin when he apparently wanted to learn it might point to some conflict we don't know enough to speculate about (maybe she focused too much on cultivation when Meng Yao's interests lay elsewhere? Maybe she wasn't able to sufficiently shelter him and he felt it'd be a burden to ask her to teach him anything? Maybe maybe maybe, go wild with your fics.) Nevertheless, I would never hold a female character to a higher ideal than a male character - if the male cast of MDZS can be a hot mess and still be admirable for what they're trying to do, then so can Meng Shi.

At the end of the day, when I look at Meng Shi - and I've made myself a document with all the references to her in the novel canon so I could easily contemplate her life and character - all I see is a woman every bit as determined and resourceful as her son, willing to do everything it took to raise her little boy into the sophisticated and ambitious man he became.

Finally, here's a fun little parallel that I'm 100% sure was unintentional but I still love. I said Meng Shi couldn't have moved three times. She couldn't, but I think maybe she taught her son he was worth moving three times for. Qinghe Nie. Qishan Wen. Lanling Jin. Isn't that super fun to think about?

Alternatively, tl;dr: Oh My God I Can't Believe We're Blaming Women For The Actions Of Their Adult Children In The Year Of Our Lord 2k21, Meng Shi Was Doing Her Best, Chill!

#drinking game #take a shot every time i say 'finally'#this post refused to let me get to the end of it lol #i think because i'm extremely salty about fanon stage mom meng shi #(to not say tiger mom meng shi which crosses into outright racism. but i'm giving people the benefit of the doubt)

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llycaons · 8 months

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ep31: (2/2): they're bad! they're bad!

this moment is just done so well. the dramatic shots, the slo-mo falls, the shocking spurts of blood, wwx's trembling horror, this final shot of jzx dead on the ground. excellently made

xz's expression is killer here. he just nailed the sickening shock and horror and despair and terror of what just happened. jzx's death has both massive far-reaching political consequences and extremely painful and close personal ones as well

like this, this is devastating. they were waiting for him! they wanted to see him!

I saw a post ages ago about how 🥺 they were all dressed up nicely they planned this! and I think that's a bit dumb because obviously they're dressed nicely and what exactly did they even plan since jc and wwx's plan consisted of 'make it known that the jiangs and wwx are finished' and it was lwj who suggested the invite and jyl who requested her husband to go through with it so I'm not giving jc any credit here

was this meant to be comedic because omg

xl's performance here was also SO devastating. you can see the moment the rug is ripped out from under her - there's that sudden, sickening emptiness swooping in your gut that I think she conveys rly well. and jc is so concerned for her too oof

wwx being constantly badgered by the resentful spirits he controls...

wwx is truly at his breaking point here. he has never attacked wen ning, never been aggressive towards someone innocent. and it just shows how deeply upsetting this is - and not just for himself and jyl but for his baby nephew too!

he's also questioning his decisions. not reminiscing or regretting, but actively questioning himself and his choices. wwx has never had to wonder, he's always been so confident in the right path even when it hurts him

god, hearing him ask this like a lost child is really sad. the world just pushed him to this place

first of all who is a-shu second of all WHY WOULD YOU SAY THIS AND THEN EVERYONE LEAVES??? at LEAST tell him about the baby. this bothers me every time it is the single most annoying plot hole in this show

in the novel, there's some really unpleasant scenes in the beginning where wwx climbs into bed with lwj in hopes of being kicked out of CR and lwj slaps a paralyzer on him for it and they just sleep like that which I feel like would be a really awkward and uncomfortable situation to be in but after this scene I feel like it wouldn't be surprising if wwx has genuine trauma related to be made immobile

the last time this happened, myu tied him up and sent him away from his home, about to be destroyed, about to die. and now wn and wq are keeping him paralyzed while they tell him about their plans to turn themselves in, facing death and worse. and wwx is absolutely powerless to help them. I can imagine being paralyzed as trigger for him, putting him back into some of the most traumatic and guilty and grief-laden moments of his life. but of course nothing wwx and lwj ever do with each other is anything but mildly awkward at worst

I do remember that wwx liked being tied up later after they're together but I actually understand that. playing with something that can be/was used to hurt you in the past but it's something you have control over so you're able to play with it and make it something safe and fun. I do think a lot of fics go too far with it and I don't really see kinkiness for their cql selves but I get it in theory. anyway

wwx is still trying to survive this. he's not an optimist, really, he's just refusing to give up. and wq is more pragmatic. she knows the world she's living in. and she loves wwx

so so sad how even though wwx has sacrificed so much and hurt so much for others, he still bears guilt for not being able to do more. it's not fair! there's so much suffering in this series

this is also so fucking sad oh my god wen qing

the iconic words 😭 wq is very somber and gentle in this scene, much different than the brusque and sharp-tongued woman in the book. I think this suits the atmosphere much better. she's crying and so is he

we've seen this sleeping-tear before

and here she is, smiling at her family. what I gather is, they all decided to come with her and wen ning too. and since wwx was asleep, they couldn't tell him about a-yuan

but still, shouldn't ONE person have stayed? to look after the toddler? he was FEVERISH when lwj found him! to look after wwx? he's been paralyzed for days and he doesn't have a golden core

god you know I usually see these tragedies filtered through wwx's experienced because he's my focal point, but this is so fucking tragic just for their sakes. they're ready to die here. and the jins will scatter their ashes to the wind

back to jyl, who's looking miserable enough to make me sad too

the funny thing is, jyl's story is very sad but she still has a chance. she's of noble birth. she'll reincarnate. and yet it's her scenes with wwx that still hurt my heart

the wens met a more tragic end but I was so happy when they carved out a place for themselves and lived their lives with wwx. it was a joyful little community. maybe because by the end, their story seems resolved. even if there was no justice, wen ning and lsz are alive and they'll honor their memory. but the jiang siblings don't have a clean ending. there's still a bleeding wound there, even at the very end. one sibling lost, and one warped beyond all recognition into a hateful and vile thing.

I never really got over jyl's death. maybe it'll be different this time

the way he's imagining her nor finding fault with him...ough

wwx running out of the abandoned BM community to the gentle refrain of that song about missing the past...just kill me now

#hopefully will have the courage to finish the arc this weekend #wwx's death doesn't scare me as much as jyl's #we don't even see him dead body and maybe that's the difference #and it's his pov! I know I'll see him again in a minute #cql re-rewatch

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agendratum · 3 years

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ok so

as usual after finishing an arc of mdzs my head is full, many thoughts. so let’s talk about the guanyin temple confrontation.

first thing that i kept paying attention to were actually the changes made in order to turn it into live-action. so in cql they had to make the gray-gray characters, the “there are no good or bad guys, just people and their circumstances” characters (unless you’re jgs, than yeah you’re a bad guy and everyone agrees on that actually) into slightly more black and white characters. by the end of cql we are lured into this fake sense of security, “haha, we know who the bad guy is!” (then a year passes and here you are, now a jgy apologist), by the end of mdzs, you just know that, well, decisions were made, unfortunate decisions, by many different people.

cql had to make wwx into a bit nicer version of himself. the good protagonist couldn’t lose control and accidentally kill a bunch of people, and then kill another bunch of people fully willingly, cause his sister just died and that was the last connection he had to the idea that something still matters in this world. no, out protagonist should be... like a little bit nicer than that. so they lifted some of that responsibility for atrocities off him, but they couldn’t just evaporate it, could they? they had to put it somewhere. they put it on jgy. after all he’s the big bad in the end of the story, well, the only surviving person from all people that could be considered big bads, he’s the one that “did every terrible deed imaginable”. he could take that responsibility, they had to make his grayness into a slightly darker shade anyway.

i am actually kinda surprised by how different my reaction to jgy was in mdzs. obviously, there is a year difference between me watching cql and me reading this part of mdzs, and over that year i changed my opinion on jgy 5 thousand times and joined the camp “actually meng yao deserves all the best things in the world”, but anyway. when i was watching cql i was like, oh my god, can someone just kill him already, before he does something bad again, before more bullcrap comes out of his mouth, and also stop yelling at this kid about all the “valid” reasons to why you killed his dad. in mdzs my reaction to jgy’s confessions was like, “huh. he has a point”.

now don’t get me wrong there, some shitty things were done, but the thing is, the things he did really made sense from his point of view, from this position and life experience he really had no other way to go. i especially was convinced by his reasoning to why he couldn’t cancel his engagement with qin su. not only he would suffer from this story, because he already went through so much to make this marriage possible, but also qin su’s parents and herself would most likely suffer, their public image would be destroyed, only jgs wouldn’t lose anything. and you could feel the hatred and bitterness he felt towards his father talking about this, and everyone in the temple could agree with that, because he “just forgot he made another child”, he didn’t even notice.

another interesting detail for me was lxc saying, “it’s not that i didn’t know that you did some of these things, it’s that i thought you had a good reason for doing them”. so yeah, a reminder, lxc isn’t blind and he isn’t an idiot. he trusted a person he thought he knew better than anyone else, and he believed in this person. the problem, i think, is that “a good reason” is different for lxc and for jgy. lxc would understand a righteous reason, doing something for the greater good. working for wen ruohan? that was explainable. they all were fighting in a war, fighting for the better, brighter future, and meng yao’s contribution to that future was immeasurable. what if he killed some people there? he had a good reason in lxc’s eyes. but meng yao had other good reasons in his life, some of these reasons lxc never had to deal with in his life. survival, for example, is one of them. meng yao’s early years were very different from lxc’s. not to say that lxc’s life was easy, but it was never truly unstable. meng yao had to learn how to survive in a world where no one wanted him. he lived with one dream, promised to him by his mother, a future where he wouldn’t have to suffer anymore, where he wouldn’t have to smile at people he hated, please every one of their desires so they wouldn’t harm him. and then he entered this life promised to him and he still had to survive, but now in a luxurious man-eats-man world of lanling jin.

meng yao’s life really was this unstoppable ball of snow rolling down the mountain, and every decision he made just made the ball bigger and it would just roll faster. there is even a moment where jgy accuses lxc of being naive. lxc isn’t really naive, of course, it was said in the heat of the moment, but it is a fact that lxc was never kicked down a staircase, never had to crawl back up, and the thing is, at the bottom of the staircase, there are other good reasons to do things.

and in a way lxc understood that jgy in his position really didn’t have any other choices, he just couldn’t find peace in this mindset. he kept repeated through that part, “and yet, and yet, you shouldn’t have done that, you should have...” and he never said what exactly jgy should have done. because lxc doesn’t know. jgy doesn’t know. no one knows. what choices were better? how could he fix all that and still survive? in a way, lxc saying that reminded me of wangxian farewell in the burial mounds. when lwj asks, “you really indent to keep going like this?” and wwx, who wished, who longed for another solution, for some way out, asked him, “what else can i do? what method can i choose to resolve this, not use this technique and still protect people i want to protect?” and lwj didn’t have an answer. lxc didn’t have an answer either.

another amazing thing about guanyin temple confrontation, is that it’s very heavily wwx’s pov. most on the novel is his pov of course, but there were a loot of his thoughts in this arc. and he was rather understanding towards jgy. not in a way “i agree with every reasoning behind every decision you made” but in a way “i understand that you had your reasons, but all of them will become irrelevant really soon, they already are, because the crowd will only remember you as a son of a whore who did every terrible deed imaginable, and all the good deeds will be forgotten”

now his thoughts on nhs, or who he suspected nhs to be, were way less nice. especially compared to live action, nhs didn’t make such an impression on me as he made through wwx’s thought process in the end of guanyin temple arc. of course, wwx is no sect leader yao, he is not the one to jump to conclusions, he just noticed that if you put some facts together, they actually start making a lot of sense, and formed a full picture. but he didn’t have any proof, so he kept it mostly to himself. yet he still thought for a moment about nhs as someone who didn’t care about collateral damage that much, who was ready to sacrifice lives of juniors, sect leaders, anyone, if it would add to jgy’s kill count and make his fall and destruction even more disastrous. not that those are not the things that happened in live action, but you know, when wwx put it all together like that in one paragraph, i really felt it. like, oof, dude it’s ROUGH. and not even jgy’s death was enough, as nhs basically admitted to stealing meng shi’s body and planning to repay jgy for what he did to nmj’s body. yikes

i mean i still support nhs in everything he does, but yikes

also side note, glad that the dead cats situation finally became clear for me. this whole year i was so confused about who left all these dead cats for juniors to find. i thought maybe xue yang did?? to lure wwx?? so apparently it was also nhs. good to know.

another detail, probably the last one my brain can generate for now, that pained me a great deal was my poor child jin ling. i already cried about some things related to him and this arc, but there was another little one in the very end here, after jgy died. jin ling realised, that there were now three people, wwx, wn and jgy, his little uncle, that were responsible for his parents’ death. people he had every right and reason to hate. all three of them. and yet he couldn’t hate any of them. he couldn’t avenge his parents, that died so long ago he couldn’t remember them, because all three people responsible for what happened, had something, some reasons, some circumstances, that made them really not the bad guys in jin ling’s life. and they all cared about him, protected him. how could he hate them? how could he not? and in this way this poor child repeats, unfortunately, his uncle’s curse. to have someone he wants to hate so much but just simply can’t. it warms my heart at least that jin ling has a much better support system than jc had when he had to live through that experience. so there is hope.

#not rereading this #ok that's a lit i'll for sure reread this later #lie*#yana reads mdzs #and writes long long long metas #meta #the untamed

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