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jonathankai · 7 months

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I was going for a text post, but ended up with a drabble about sharing bed on cold nights, getting used to non-sexual intimacy and Xue Yang loosing at his own games and being surprisingly content with it. Hope you enjoy!

During their first winter on one particularly cold night Xiao Xingchen offers his outer robe to A-Qing to use as a blanket. When she asks what about him, Xue Yang interferes, saying that they shall sleep together to keep each other warm. He just wants to tease, but Xiao Xingchen suddenly agrees. More than that, he seems to be... enthusiastic about it?

Later that evening, Xiao Xingchen reveals that since nights can be pretty harsh where he came from, it was common for children to share bed and sleep together. Xue Yang plays it cool despite being mildly irritated that instead of embarrassed (as was originally planned), Xiao Xingchen looks happy. However, after some time, this happiness dulls into nostalgia, sadness even, and Xiao XIngchen shyly asks Xue Yang if he can hug him.As they fall asleep, Xiao Xingchen shares stories from their sleepovers back at home in a hushed tone. And Xue Yang...

Xue Yang is not sure why he agrees to all of this – to this hug, to these stories. The whole thing clearly doesn’t go in his favor. Unlike certain someone, he’s never slept next to another person and he lets Xiao Xingchen share his stupid stories, so he doesn’t have to do the talking and can focus on his feelings instead. It does feel very nice and warm. He was worried that he will be repulsed by foreign presence, but Xiao Xingchen is not the problem. The problem is: since it’s an unfamiliar situation and since people only got this close to him when they tried to kill him, part of his brain is writhing, looking for a catch, waiting for an attack. Reasonably, Xue Yang understands that since it’s daozhang Xiao Xingchen, the worst thing that could happen is that he would drool in his sleep, but that doesn’t stop the alarm ringing in his head. Xue Yang falls asleep to warmth, to gentle hands around him, to soft whisper, but also to uneasy feeling in his gut.

That’s why, when he wakes up, the first thing his brain processes is that there’s someone close enough to kill him. Xue Yang’s hand flies to Jiangzai, but it’s not on its’ place next to him, so instead Xue Yang kicks as hard as he can and rolls back.

Xiao Xingchen wakes up to being kicked in the stomach, which sends him in a coughing fit. A-Qing wakes up then and immediately starts shouting at Xue Yang. Out of three, it’s daozhang who first accesses the situation. Everybody has a story, for many people their stories are tragic, and Xiao Xingchen has already figured that his new friend is one of them. So he assures A-Qing that everything is alright, and then tries to calm down the man.

Xue Yang has hard time remembering where he is, why fucking Xiao Xingchen is there, and why he tells him that no one will hurt him. It’s hard to get a hold of himself and remember the persona he’s supposed to play, but eventually he manages.

The winter is being pretty harsh that year, and soon enough Xiao Xingchen offers his outer robe to A-Qing again. He asks Xue Yang if maybe they could sleep together. and Xue Yang agrees on a whim. The thing is, that time he woke up disorientated and scared, and it took a while before he could bear his surroundings. And if he was to live with Xiao Xingchen, it just wouldn’t do. He has to train himself better.

It’s Xiao Xingchen’s idea that they should sleep next to each other, but not too close, so dear friend won’t get... triggered in the morning. So they do, and this time they talk about their day, what else can be done to make coffin house hold against the weather, whether they have enough logs stacked for winter or not and stuff like this. Xue Yang falls asleep mid-sentence, his last coherent thought being that it was a stupid idea, because it doesn’t get much warmer this way.

Xue Yang has always been adaptive and pretty soon he learns to wake up without as much as a shiver. Besides, they’ve been slowly scooting closer to each other in their sleep anyway, seeking the source of warmth. He rarely gets to wake up before Xiao Xingchen (seems that he’s pretty adaptive too and one kick in the stomach was enough for him), but when he does, he likes to throw his arm and leg around daozhang and pretend he’s sleeping, so when the other man wakes up, he always tries to disentangle himself as discreetly as possible. Xue Yang found out he can make it harder if he tightens his hold and makes a protesting sound “in his sleep”. The first time he does it, he kind of hopes that Xiao Xingchen would admit defeat and stay close for as long as he would entertain it. But even if Xiao Xingchen halts and doubles his efforts at being accurate, he always gets up and leaves Xue Yang.

One morning Xue Yang wakes up with Xiao Xingchen’s arms around him. He hasn’t hugged him since that first time, but they’ve been sleeping close for a while now, so Xue Yang doesn’t freak out. In fact, it feels nice, adds to the warmth, so he just spends some time in thoughtless bliss. But then he wants to get up. He tries to be sneaky about it, but the arm around him tightens. Xue Yang stills, waits a little bit and tries again, but the embrace tightens further. Each try only makes Xiao Xingchen’s grip grow stronger. Who knows how long it continues, until Xue Yang hears the voice of a clearly very awake person right next to his year:

“I bet you’re very proud of yourself”.

Xue Yang smirks.

“Why shouldn’t I be?”

“I knew you were awake each time. I just thought I’ll indulge you for a bit”.

“And what’s happening now? Payback time?”

“Well, I thought maybe this time you’ll indulge me”, Xiao Xingchen says, his voice soft with amusement, fingers lightly tapping some rhythm on the other man’s back.

Xue Yang closes his eyes. He lost. He got caught. By all accounts, he should be mad, but somehow, he isn’t. Somehow, he feels good.

Xiao Xingchen must have interpreted his silence in his own manner, because his hold becomes slack and he moves away so Xue Yang could see his face.

“I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t bother you. I should have thought about it sooner”.

“No, it’s okay. I got used to you by now, so you can hug me whenever you want. I won’t kick you again... I think”.

Xiao Xingchen’s eyebrows go up.

“You think?”

Xue Yang grins.

“Yeah. Scared?”

He finds it incredibly funny when the other man actually thinks about it until he smiles resolutely.

“Worth the risk”, he says.

As the worst of the winter cold passes, Xiao Xingchen ends up offering his outer robe to A-Qing three nights in a row, and she declines his generous offer each time. On the third night Xiao Xingchen looks so defeated that Xue Yang can’t hold it anymore: he breaks into laughter and says that if Xiao Xingchen wanted to sleep together, he should have just said so. This makes A-Qing’s hackles rise. She makes a snarky remark how there is literally no reason for them to be sleeping together since it’s not so cold anymore. Somehow, this makes daozhang look even more sorrowful, and Xue Yang decides that just this once, he will save him.

“But sharing bed reminds him of home! He does so much for an ungrateful brat like you, and now he can’t have even one good thing!”

“My friend, A-Qing is only pointing the obvious: we started this, so we could all stay warm”.

“Yes, but we don’t have to stick to this reason. Let’s create another one and move on”.

This makes Xiao Xingchen freeze for a moment just like he used to when Xue Yang played his tricks in the morning.

“Alright”, he says eventually, and all the sorrow he had before leaves him at once.

Xue Yang looks at him a little dumbfounded, suddenly realizing that their routine just went through permanent changes.

They are all quiet for a while, before A-Qing asks in a far more pleasing tone:

“Daozhang, if you are sleeping with him, can I have your outer robe?”

Winter slowly gives way to the spring.

#mo dao zu shi #mdzs #xue yang #xiao xingchen #xuexiao #a qing #yi city #mdzsips

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hanguangbuns · 1 year

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mdzs characters' minecraft play-styles

wei ying: redstone genius. and a master at social engineering. he uses both for chaos. he played on anarchy servers in middle school, and therefore a menace for all his friends who play casually. hes the type to try to crystal pvp jiang cheng and "accidentally" blows up his 24 dogs. nowadays, as an adult, he makes redstone machine tutorials and lag machines on servers for trolling purposes. he makes amazing pixel art

lan zhan: doesnt play computer games much but only played because wei ying played it. wei ying tried to goad him into playing together on one of those large public servers when they were teens but he refused. however he secretly went home and asked his uncle to buy him a copy and he proceeded to only play in creative mode for the rest of his life. he is also a redstone genius. he mostly makes aesthetic builds rather than actually beat the game.

jiang cheng: plays the game and does every thing right, but at some point he starts getting bored and wonders what the point of all of it is. he tames as many wolves as he can and has them run around killing mobs with him. he plays in survival single player, never in a server. wei ying always makes him open his world to LAN so they can play together, and he knows, he KNOWS he shouldnt, but somehow he does and ends up regretting it. his house that he took 2 irl days to build is now on fire. he gives up

nie huaisang: forever noob who only played because his friend wei ying convinced him to. he doesnt understand how to play it no matter how many times its explained to him. keeps asking questions about what to do after he chopped the wood. how does he get a sword. why isnt this stone dropping an item after he breaks the block. etc. when he does eventually get the hang of the game, he makes pretty houses and structures thats actually pretty good for a beginner.

nie mingjue: god at PVP and a legend in PVP servers for his extremely OP gear but also kind enough to help beginners that join. in survival he brute forces his way through the game and punches the mobs with his bare fists on the first night, no gear no weapons, low health low hunger. when things settle he tames a cat and makes a nice home. he plays only a couple hours a week bc he has to hit the gym. its comedic watching a grown, muscular man play minecraft

meng yao: set up a public multiplayer server with lots of special plugins and functionality it really looks like a good, legit server. however, no one except lan huan really joins anyways, but he puts his best into the server. whenever he finds out about people that shit talks him or just simply disagrees with him he has xue yang join their servers and grief their world.

lan huan: mostly watched his little brother play on the computer when they were younger but lan zhan let him play if he asked. hes fascinated by all the things to possibly do in the game, and likes the cute little animals. he also really likes lan zhan's builds and tries to make cute little houses himself! he was curious one day and played on survival, and by the time night came around he was panicking when all the mobs came chasing after him. he never played again

lan sizhui: actually plays the game fairly seriously even when all his friends are going around causing chaos in a nearby village. is that one friend that can balance playtime without impacting his school or social life, only on for a few hours a day but uses it wisely. he likes to make automatic farms with the redstone wisdom his mentor wwx bestowed upon him, and even goes the extra mile to make it OSHA certified—he labels everything and organizes all his chests by demension and block type. once in a while, he lets loose when his friends are in a particularly goofy mood

lan jingyi: lets out all his frustrations of real life into skywars and hunger games. he’s really good at parkour too. his favorite thing to do is troll jin ling. his setup is a shitty laptop he uses for school where the frames never peak past 15 fps and the wifi automatically cuts off at 10 pm in his household. he uses every minute he can get.

jin ling: insane rig set up purchased with both father’s and jiujiu’s money and plays with resource-intensive BSL shader mods on java and RTX settings on bedrock. he still gets beat in bedwars by Jingyi on a chromebook. every world he joins he finds and tames a wolf as fast as he can and names it after his irl dog, Fairy. once his dog got blown up by a creeper and he was inconsolable for days

ouyang zizhen: doesnt play minecraft much but will play with his friends on big multiplater servers when asked. the quartet plays factions and they all named him the leader except he never really gets online anyways

xiao xingchen: likes to play on a small, private server he port forwarded just for him and song lan. they played on easy mode and built houses and farms together and beautiful structures. soon, their world was joined by A’Qing, and eventually xue yang, except they didnt know it was xue yang and one day found their world tragically griefed

song lan: only played when xiao xingchen asked him to play. he suspected the player that joined their world was xue yang but he could never actually prove it and xiao xingchen would always give the player the benefit of the doubt.

xue yang: notorious griefer, hacker, and feared troller. he finds private servers with no whitelist and logs in to grief their world as fast as he can. he uses every trolling technique in the book: lava casts, wither boss spawns, illegal items, etc. he looks up to wei ying, a LEGEND in the mc trolling community, in hopes he can get his attention, but wei ying does not approve of his actions at all—HE never trolled and griefed private servers where people put their heart and soul into creating, only the big ones where admins would scam people out of their money. everytime xue yang is banned from a world, he just hops on an alternate account.

A’Qing: loves to get OP gear and make massive builds. however, after joining xxc she gets a new goal: to seek revenge against xue yang for what he did to the server. at some point, she finds her way into meng yao’s server and griefs xue yang’s base with massive amounts of lava buckets. sadly, it was only a temporary success because the server was easily rolled back. she’ll find a way

#mdzs #mxtx #look idk what to say either man #im not tagging all the characters #mo dao zu shi #mdzs headcanons

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lilapplesheadcannons · 10 months

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Yiling Limnid

Mo XuanYu blinked the sweat away from his eyes. He must have been hallucinating in the heat and exhaustion because surely the sign that looked like it was painted by a child on a wooden pallet couldn't really say what he thought it said.

He was jolted by a bony elbow to his ribs. Xue Yang waved his bandaged hand in front of his eyes.

"Hey, hey, are we on the right path? What does the sign say?"

"Limnid."

"What?"

Mo XuanYu screamed into his ear.

"LIMNID!!!"

Xue Yang leapt away like a frog that was the current world champion in high-jump.

"Whatchu did that for?" He grumbled while rubbing his left ear. "What's a Lim-nid?"

"I don't know. Maybe a demon?"

Xue Yang brightened up.

"We can't be very far behind then. Let's go." He grabbed XuanYu's arm and dragged him forward.

Stumbling on loose stones, Mo XuanYu questioned his decision not for the first time. After all, would the Yiling Laozu accept them as sacrifices and exact vengeance on the Mo family and Chang clan? Combined, he and Xue Yang didn't reach 100 cattys. The Yiling Laozu would probably use them as toothpicks. But what choices did he have? After he had punched Mo Zianyu and scratched Aunt Mo's face, he was as good as dead if he dared to return to Mo Manor. In fact, he was sure he'd die if Xue Yang left him behind.

He met Xue Yang when he ran out of the Mo mannor, remarkably unscathed because everyone was taken aback by his sudden lashing out. Mo XuanYu was sitting in a corner alley in the market, soaked to his bones in the rain like an alley cat. He was too hungry to move but too ashamed to beg. Suddenly, he felt a kick to his back. It was a child closer to his age, looking angry and scary. Xue Yang planned to rob the little white-face, but he was completely caught unaware when the boy started sobbing uncontrollably. Instead of getting money, he had to spend some from his own hidden stash to buy a bun for the brat. He wanted to leave, but Mo XuanYu looked ready to start crying again if he was left behind. They have been travelling together since.

The bright idea of travelling to Yiling and bidding the Yiling Laozu to avenge them came from Xue Yang. Every time he looked at his left hand, he wanted to tear Chang Ci'an into pieces. So the boys walked across land to travel to Yiling. Their last stop was the Yiling market itself, where a cantankerous looking woman pointed out the road they needed to take to reach the burial mound. The village was soon left behind, and the road was pretty much empty now.

Mo XuanYu weighed their options. They could still return if they wanted. He opened his mouth hesitantly,

"Chengmei..."

Xue Yang whipped back his head to look at him. His eyes were glittering.

"You got scared, didn'tya? Sissy! Go back if you want to!"

"I NEVER SAID I WANTED TO GO BACK!" Mo XuanYu screamed. His eyes were stinging. Again.

Xue Yang looked apprehensive. He had a lot of experience with Mo XuanYu's tears in the last few weeks. Besides, he didn't really want XuanYu to leave.

"Then what?"

"There's a stone in my shoe. I just wanted you to slow down."

Xue Yang grumbled, but he also waited patiently as Mo XuanYu took of his right shoe and shook an imaginary pebble out of it.

"Come on, let's go. We are almost there."

He was right. They could hear faraway murmurs and laughter. Did the dead talk among themselves just like the living?

The hilly road took a sharp turn. Even Xue Yang's heart was racing despite his bravado. In his grip, Mo XuanYu's hand twitched but never slipped away. To pluck up extra courage, they stomped ahead. It was only early afternoon. Surely, the ghosts and spirits wouldn't attack them before dark?

They were confronted with a small crowd as they turned the corner. It was mostly old men, sitting or standing in old men fashion. Few were smoking. Rest stood around a duo playing Go. People were giving contradictory advice and muttering encouragement. The old geezer was obviously winning because he smiled like a smug Bodhisattva with wrinkles. The younger guy looked ready to throw hands.

Behind them, there was a small shopstand manned by a child not older than 5. There were water jugs and glasses on the stand. A banner marked "Frsh Limnid" behind the child lazily fluttered in the wind. He looked at the boys hopefully.

"Limnid? It's extra fresh. Only 5 coins."

The boys gathered their slack jaws off the floor. Disappointment and relief flooded Mo XuanYu simultaneously.

"Did you mean lemonaid?"

"Yeah, limnid. I need to sell another 10 glasses, or Xian-gege won't take me to his nephew's birthday party."

"Forget about that." Xue Yang screeched like a pterodactyl that was just kneed in the groin by an offended brontosaur. Ashamed, he lowered his voice. "We must have taken a wrong turn. No, how can that be? It was a straight road. That dumb broad at Yiling must have given us wrong directions to the burial mound. Wait till I get my hands on her!"

Someone cleared their throat politely behind them.

"Er, this IS the burial mound."

They turned around. More than his words, the man's appearance proved that this place was truly the burial mound. Despite their recent growthspurt, he towered over both the boys. His eyes were milky white, and his face was greenish-pale. Black vein marks ran on his throat.

"G-ghost general!"

Both of the boys took a step back. The young man grinned sheepishly. Behind him, a sudden cheer declared the conclusion of the game. The winner, whom everyone called Uncle Four, puffed up like a prized rooster.

Xue Yang found his voice.

"We demand to meet the Yiling Laozu!"

The ghost general scratched his head.

"Wei-xiong should be up from his afternoon nap soon. Why don't you wait for him?"

As if to answer him, Mo XuanYu's stomach grumbled loudly. Xue Yang's secret stash had finally given out. They each had half a bun this morning and nothing else since. Mo XuanYu blushed at the face of the angry look Xue Yang was giving him.

The ghost general grabbed them by their shoulders.

"Let's get you two to jie and granny first. You two need food. The Yiling Laozu won't run away."

"No limnid?" The child looked disappointed.

"Sorry, A-Yuan. But your rich-gege will be here tomorrow. You can make him buy all your stock then."

The boys allowed the fierce corpse to gently steer them forward. After all, how much worse could it be?

(It, in fact, ended up being much, much worse. A scary looking lady made them scrub themselves raw, and everyone snickered when she asked them if they washed behind their ears. Granny apparently went suddenly deaf every time they claimed they were full and kept piling up rice on their bowls. The Yiling Laozu laughed himself silly when Xue Yang's voice broke again. They had to share a bed with A-Yuan at night because his "rich-gege" was back sooner than expected, and A-Yuan kept throwing his legs over their stomachs in his sleep. Uncle Four offered to teach them Go and beat them blind every time. Before they got the Yiling Laozu to commit to their cause, an angry purple man came to collect him and A-Yuan for a birthday party. The Yiling Laozu pointed at Mo XuanYu and whispered to him. The purple man yelled some more and asked Mo XuanYu to get ready to go with them. Xue Yang tried to stand up to follow, but the angry lady knocked on his head and told him to sit still so she could finish changing his bandage. But this is not the place for these stories.)

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drama--universe · 2 years

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Untamed Reactions (Part 1)

Requested by @lelewright1234: Hello my friend! Well, I’m a huge fan of the Untamed series! I wanted to see if you could do a long headcanon of "The Untamed" series characters with an African-American/black! Reader (Can you add Poly!Wangxian and the boys of MDZS) who as their girlfriend/wife with skin as dark as the night, long thick braided hair, a skinny long yet short curvy body, and brownish-black eyes. (Remember Black Lives Matter and Happy Black History Month!!!) Oh also can you add parts where they have children as well? (You can decide how many each of them have!)

Pairing: Untamed characters x female!African-American!reader

Warnings: none

A/N I made this more of a bullet list story then a written image, but I'd love to make a one-shot based on this story board if anyone wants it, also divided it into parts, this one and for the next I'll do Lan Xichen, Guangyao, Xue Yang, Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen

Poly!WangXian:

You meet them in Cloud Recesses as adult (20-ish)

you come from a clan that usually hides away from others, due to a fight between your clan leader and the others (like Lanling Jin clan leader)

so when you first get introduced, most people are very curious

you look different, so that also gains you a lot of attention

Wuxian is the first to greet you

he's very interested in you

he also thinks you're very pretty

asks a lot of weird questions at first

loves your hair

but like alot

constantly asks if he can braid your hair sometimes, saying he learned how from Yanli

you then have to explain that it isn't like normal braiding per se

que him wanting to learn how to properly braid your hair, which you gladly want teach him

so when he comes by and your hair is loose

and he's confused

because it's suddenly fluffier

he also dragged Wangji along, you still don't know why

so Wangji is sitting in front of you as you drink tea

while you try to explain to Wuxian how to braid

he definitely does his best, but the first braid are kindly said terrible

but he gets it after awhile

the braids still aren't that good, but the thought counted

you re-did your hair afterwards though

but Wuxian got sulky when you removed his braids

so you kept one

Wuxian also noticed the little trinkets and beads for your hair

you quickly explained that it was a sort of tradition and that they had different kinds of meanings

this gains you Wangji's attention as you start explaining while putting the beads back into your hair

they are both very interested in your culture

they often ask you questions throughout your stay at Cloud Recesses, trying to learn more and more

Wangji has absolutely talked back when someone, even when indirectly, insults or berates your culture and looks

Wangji is kind about it

Wuxian is not

he almost attacked someone when they made a mean comment about your hair

and Wangji lets him

Wuxian is the one to ask if you wanted to join there relationship

and he was quite surprised when you accepted

you then start to wear two beads on Wuxian's braid

Wuxian loves this the most, Wangji is just grateful about it

you spend equal time with both of them

with Wangji you're usually in the library, both reading

with Wuxian you're usually in the city, trying all kinds of food

or you're pranking Jiang Cheng

usually the latter

some people laugh at your relationship

but not in a bad way

they just joke that Wuxian needs two people to calm him down

and it's true

he only calms down when both of you tell him to hush

but he demands cuddles after

which he gets

otherwise he gets sulky

and you don't like being ignored

you somehow are able to make Wangji less "stuck up"

he feels and looks much more relaxed when he's alone with you and Wuxian

loves when you comb his hair or hug him

surprisingly, he's much more affectionate then you'd think

not as much as Wuxian

but still a lot

not in public though

only Wuxian likes being affectionate in public

people often think Wuxian likes you more since he hugs you more

but it's only because Wangji doesn't like it

he doesn't get upset easily, but such rumors do affect him

and you are a lot more affectionate in private

you do really love them equally and showing this is very important for you

your marriage is very small, only family (this includes the Wens)

you have two ceremonies, one for their culture and one for yours

you have three kids after marriage

they're a mix between all three of you

your firstborn is a mix between you and Wangji in appearance

she has a light brown skin-tone and her hair is like yours, but her face/height is more like Wangji

but her character is like Wuxian's, loves pranking you

your second born looks a lot more like Wuxian

a fair skin, but your hair

he is more like Wangji, focused on studying and such

the third (and last) is a copy of you, but with hair like Wangji and Wuxian

is a mix of pranking and studying, so a bit like you

parenting is a bit difficult

your youngest is usually upset that her hair is different from her siblings

she doesn't like it when you don't braid her hair like her siblings, so you explain that it might not be so good for her hair

Wuxian braids it in a Chinese style instead to cheer her up

Wuxian plays with the kids the most

Wangji focusses more on their teaching

but overall you're a very happy family

Jiang Cheng:

You meet him at Lotus Pier

your family was invited by his father

you were 14 back then and he was 15

he doesn't care what you look like, but is a bit fascinated

he does like you

because Wuxian leaves him alone now

until he's forced to join you and Wuxian by his father

grows more fascinated by you over time

is that person who changes his actions towards you, but pretends not to

for example when you said that it would be disrespectful in your culture to just ignore someone's greeting, he made sure to always greet you back when you said hello (even when it was just a nod)

cares a lot more than he let's on

you don't see him again until he's sect leader

you greeted him happily and he greeted back instinctively

starstruck when he sees how much you had changed physically

thinks you're even more beautiful than before

you're the first person to ask how he is feeling

not as sect leader, but just as Jiang Cheng

you talked to him like you would to an old friend, not caring about his status

something not a lot of people had done or would do (even Wuxian was more respectful than before)

he definitely changes his character around that period

much more open and more smiles

you confess to him (which he still gets teased for years later)

your courting process isn't that long

he learns a lot

like how to braid your hair

makes the time styling your hair much shorter

and he's actually really good

often listens to you as you explain stuff to him

gets really happy when he learns that you only let people close to you touch your hair

doesn't show it though

you marry after 4 months later

do to his position, your wedding is filled with at least two thousand people (disciplines and leaders from all clans came)

and it's a Chinese wedding

Jiang Cheng is actually a bit upset by this

so decides to redo it with only you two to show that he cares

you have 2 kids after marriage

twins

they look more like you, but they have his eyes, which always make it funny

when they're annoyed, they look exactly like him

kids are a bit scared of them

but they're the sweetest once you know them

their hair is like his, but with light curls in them

but same thickness of your hair

so he styles their hair as well

sometimes in a more Chinese like style

you and Jiang Cheng decide to raise them in two cultures

you teach them yours and he teaches his

kids love it

he sometimes follows your lessons to learn more himself

Jin Ling is your third unofficial child (along with the rest of the juniors as well)

you took him in after the whole fiasco of Guanyin Temple (also helping him in becoming leader of the Lanling Jin Clan)

you also have three other babies

dogs

Jiang Cheng named them (in the most cliché way, of course)

Angel (2), Queen (3) and Prince (1)

he loves them so much

plays with them constantly

and looks soo cute when he does, all smiles

Jiang Chang wants a third child

because he wants every kid to have a dog that protects them

so..... you might have a third child

unless he adopts another dog, then you might have more

it's 50/50 chance to what happens first

but happy family nonetheless

Nie Huaisang:

You meet him at the very young age of 12

Nie Mingjue had just become clan leader

and he had started to force Huaisang into sword training

so Huaisang ran off

he met you in the forest

your family was traveling and you had stumbled off during break

and you found each other by the river

each on one side

and then he saw you and fell in love

he thought you were some sort of angel

dressed in a beautiful white dress and colorful beads woven into your hair

you only noticed him when you heard a loud splash

you couldn't help but laugh as you saw him sitting in the river

you spent quite some time with him after

you also gave him some dry clothes because it was freezing outside

even more reasons for him to think you're an angel

but then you leave again

you only give each other your names

but years later, you're both 17 at this point, you meet again

he doesn't recognize him at first

until he spotted the pattern on your dress

exactly like the painting he had given you

but you changed a lot compared to then

so did he of course

but you changed everything

your hair was much longer, long braid(s) that reached past your waist and your body had grown much more mature

he approaches you first

introduces himself and is so happy when you remember him

you talk a lot

he doesn't hold back on complementing you

on literally everything

it was supposed to be a party for clan leaders and such

but you two had spent most time talking to each other instead of talking to others

well into the night

the stars had appeared to light your way

you only left when the moon was at its highest

but you met again, two days later

just to talk again

Huaisang felt so secure around you

freely talking about his love for art

showing his collection of self-painted fans

you spend some time together while painting

you often wear vibrant clothes

he loves them, because they look like art as well

but he even loves the simple beads that you sometimes wore in your hair

he even jokes that you yourself are a work of art

calls you his muse after awhile

you always return the name, which often causes him to flush red

he asks you to marry him 2 months into your friendship

he refuses to do a wedding in front of the whole clan (or other clans)

your family is there and all his friends (including Xichen and Guangyao)

includes both your cultures as much as he can

wants to learn how to braid

doesn't do well

you haven't let him braid your hair afterwards

it took you 3 hours to take his first braid out

he's sulky, but understands

continues to learn on his own

gains much respect after he finished his 3th braid (because doing your own braids hurts after awhile)

stops trying to braid after that

about a year into your marriage, your first child is born

a girl

she's dark skinned, but has her father's looks

as she grows older, she grows to look more like him

when she's 5, her little brother is born

he looks more like him

except for his hair, a full head of curly thick hair

Huaisang is very busy as clan leader

but he makes it work

even if it means brushing aside his duties

has at least one day every month just for you guys

you'd walk around in the city

if your children would even look at something for more than a second, Huaisang would try to buy it

you have to stop him

people always laugh when they see their leader being dragged by the ear by his wife

with two happy children running behind you two

he teaches his kids all about history of his clan as well as other clans

as they get older, they learn his mischief

unfortunately, they're also great liars like him

he knows, you don't

which causes them to always come your way

only for him to hear and step in

he loves them too much sometimes though

but he's always scared

scared that war would return

or someone was scheming behind his back, planning his death

yet when he sleeps in your arms every evening, kids huddled around you as well

he feels comforted

like he can protect you at all times

that's all the will he needs to live and protect you

Wen Ning:

you meet him at cloud recesses at age 15

you were dragged by Wuxian towards Wen Ning's practice spot

Wen Ning was trying to aim when he spotted the two of you

the poor boy almost had a heart attack when he saw a new person with Wuxian

this causes his arrow to shift, flying your way before hitting the tree next to your head

you, however, didn't even flinch

which surprises both boys

you're like Wuxian, very talkative

you talk to Wen Ning afterwards as well

he likes listening to you

opens up to you and you fall in love

he gets extremely excited and if he had a tail, it would be wagging from side to side

you become great friends

and his sister approves, which makes Wen Ning even happier

he invites you over for tea or food

and you just chat with each other about you day or about your past

loves to hear what your home was like

you miss him a lot when he leaves to return to the Wen clan

and then all of a sudden

he's gone

just gone, no explanation

and you don't see him again until he's already the ghost general

he doesn't remember you fully until some memory pushes forward

you baby him immediatley

and scold Wuxian, because Wen Ning looks too pale to your liking and you hate the chains he drags along with him

he takes them off eventually (except for the one around his torso)

you're both very busy

he with Wuxian and you with your clan

but once everything is over

you meet again

you even join him while he goes on the adventure with Sizhui (spin-off movie: The living dead)

you get injured and he becomes so worried

until Sizhui tells him that you're fine

but even then

worried!!!

because what if you die from infection????

you joke at one point that you'd become like him

the joke flies over his head at that point

but he starts to blur out strange things

one of which is that he can't loose you

because he loves you

you just watch until he realizes what he said

and his face just starts turning pink

something you didn't think was possible

but you return the confession by kissing his forehead softly

(you forgot about Sizhui, who was in the same room)

(awkward bean is just smiling)

after the confession, it's still a bit awkward

Neither of you really know what to do in the relationship

but you figure it out after awhile

not that either of you minded hugging each other awkwardly

you marry pretty late, a year after you started dating

it's not really a wedding

more of a gathering

you just gave vows in front of friends/family

what you didn't know is that Wen Ning asked your family first

when you do find out, you go to Wen Qing's grave (not really a grave but rather a memorial) and ask for permission as well

After the wedding, he suddenly asks to braid your hair

and he's really good

learned from his sister

he likes brushing and braiding your hair a lot

it helps him relax his mind

and it takes your arm pains away, so you like it as well

two years into your marriage, you decide you want kids

but you don't have biological kids with Wen Ning

but you did adopt a few kids

mostly kids who were orphaned because of the "war" or other stuff

you have 3

but Wen Ning comes home with a fourth

you just accept it

he's a great father

always playing with the kids happily

and spoiling them

he can't say no...

which leads to hilarious situations

like finding his hair in various braids =knots

it takes you hours to take all of them out once the kids are asleep

comes to the point that you just teach them how to braid

now they braid his and your hair

even with the large braid you already had, you could see several smaller braids that they made (they were very visible)

and then the larger one from Wen Ning

with a red thread woven through per your request

you make sure that its always visible, proud to have it

he cares a lot about his family and he'll protect you at all cost

and you'd do the same

Jin Zixuan:

you meet at cloud recesses

he's not particularly nice to you

he's made fun of your different appearance

but you can see him looking as his group walks off snickering

the lingering gaze

and his eyes clearly show doubt

so you don't take it fully to heart

but it still hurts

because even if he doesn't mean it, others agree and laugh

he notices and the comments lessen from his side

but then the others find out

Wuxian is the one to take action (of course)

you had never heard so many creative curse words

and all were slung Zixuan's way

afterwards you approach Zixuan

tell him to ignore Wuxian's antics

but to your surprise, he bows a full 90 degrees

and apologizes

when you don't answer, he looks up to see your panicked expression

and he gets on his knees instead (?!)

you are quick to pull him up onto his feet

he's a future clan leader, no way he had to be seen on his knees in front of you

you tell him he doesn't have to apologize anymore, the first was enough

his clan members don't stop though

if anything it got worse

but they do it behind his back

only finds out when Wuxian yells at him again

never had he been so angry

he doesn't talk to his clan members about it yet

feels like the glare was enough

then he apologizes to you again

to which you pull him up again and smile

telling him that he has nothing to worry about

but he knows it's a lie

because Wuxian had screamed at him earlier

and didn't forget to mention that you cried because if the comments

but he doesn't say anything

until he sees you alone

and you were sadly looking at the stream in front of you while chucking stones in ever so often

he approaches you slowly, but you hear anyway

he doesn't know why you smile so brightly when you see him

it confuses him a bit, but he didn't think too much as he joins you

neither of you say anything

it's just silent

you don't talk about that moment the next day

but surprisingly, you meet every night

to just sit with each other in silence

until the 5th day

he finally speaks up

tells you to not listen to his clan members

because they're wrong

when you ask what he means

he just tells you that you're beautiful and unique (in a good way)

the rest of the night is silent again, but you sit closer to each other

and it isn't awkward anymore

you talk a bit more at night

you confide in him now

telling him what others say

and he'll be quick to debunk it

your marriage is announced later that week

in public by some Lanling Jin member

neither you nor Zixuan knew about it

but neither of you mind it that much

his "friends" have a lot to say about it though

and there not positive things (again)

it's in public as well, in the middle of the courtyard where everyone could hear

they probably thought that you would be embarrassed once Zixuan agrees with them

spoiler!

he doesn't

instead he argues back

and defends you whole heartily

which surprises everyone but you

your marriage only takes place when you're of age

it is a giant wedding, thousands of people attend the wedding

once dressed fully, you found yourself beautiful

and Zixuan definitely agreed

your hair was still down in the large braid with ornamental pieces in it

you also wore a heavy head piece (which looks a bit like a crown)

the red dress was also heavy, but it was beautiful nonetheless

you felt like a princess

but you couldn't ignore the whispers around you

your first night together is Zixuan trying to cheer you up

you actually cried at one point

but Zixuan is quick to lessen the thought

telling you every little thing he loves about you

which is everything

he spends the whole night telling you this

(in more than one way)

you only get your first child at age 23, 5 years into your marriage

a boy

looks like him, but has your hair

acts as a mix between you and Zixuan

is kind and patient, but a bit arrogant like Zixuan

not in a bad way though

just know his worth and is not afraid to use it to his advantage

a girl is born 2 years later

she looks more like you, almost exactly the same

but she acts like her father

quite a short temper

takes no sh*t

surprisingly, the two kids get along very well

especially if it comes to getting in trouble

(definitely not from your side)

someone talks bad about the family?

two little demons are watching

but they're very loved, even with some of the troubles they create

Zixuan learns to braid from you just so he can do his sons hair sometimes

even when your son prefers to wear it in a giant bun

so he braids your daughters hair instead

son eventually got jealous of it

so Zixuan makes a few braids to weave into the bun

now everyone was happy

Zixuan is a strict father

but your kids found a way

puppy eyes

courtesy of Wuxian

and there's no way he'll say no to that

you can

so he just comes to you while sulking

and you say no for him

he insists that the kids sleep in the same room for now

he's just worried for assassination

which is not that uncommon

kids usually end up in your bed though

huddled in between the two of you

and they're out by the time the sun is up

which gives you and Zixuan the opportunity to just cuddle

for like 5 minutes

then he has to start his duties

and you would start yours

that's how you live your lives

and neither of you would change it

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the-crimson · 11 months

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Ok, all my current thoughts on the 4halo/untamed cross over

going below a cut cuz this is going to get long XD

ok so there is a problem. Both bbh and forever fit Wei Wuxian and neither of them fit Lan Wangji XD I think bbh fits wwx’s profile more but ill compare which traits they have that match wwx -- (i main bbh and occasionally watch forever so take my interpretation of forever’s character with a grain of biased salt)

bbh: black and red color palette, associated with death/necromancy, ray of sunshine, selfless to the point of self destruction, insufferable prankster and joker, fierce intelligence hidden behind silliness, fiercely compassionate, lack of respect for rules or authority

forever: selfless to the point of self destruction, fiercely compassionate for everyone, very strong morals, lack of respect for rules or authority, strong familial bonds with others, fiercely intelligent and a brilliant inventor (create mod)

In another vein, I think the nature of 4halo’s relationship in cannon mirrors wangxian in a number of ways if bbh is wwx and forever is lwg - lemme explain XD

In the beginning, one party decides that they want to annoy and follow around the other party, who is disinterested and focused on other concerns. Through the persistence of the first party, the second grows fond of them and eventually sees that their souls are the same. The two work together over time to accomplish their shared goal and a friendship of mutual respect and admiration is born. Am i talking about 4halo or wangxian. Trick question. Answer is both.

When the brazilians were first added, bbh terrified forever with his grim reaper act and forever thought bbh was suss as hell because bbh was following them around the server while forever was with Richarlyson cuz bbh was worried Richarlyson would lose a life while they were thousands of blocks from spawn XD Im pretty sure it was only when they were working with the theory bros that forever realized bbh was trust worthy and the rest is history.

So, with my justifications laid out, I’m going to proceed with bbh as wwx and forever as a loose lwj. Here is my thoughts on casting for everyone else. This part is the hard part XD I’ll justify my choosing after it’ll all make sense XD (somehow we ended up with even less woman than the original cast which seems like it should be impossible but there are only 2 women on the smp sooooo) (also i only know most of the qsmp cast from bbh, Foolish, Bagerah, and Cell’s perspective and tumblr posts lol so... yea)

Wei Wixian: bad boy halo

Lan Wangji: Forever

Jiang Yanli: Foolish

Jiang Cheng: Maximus

Lan Xichen: Cellbit

Meng Yao/Jin Guangyao: Felps

Wen Ning: AyPierre

Wen Qing: Bagerah

Xue Yang: Quackity

Xiao Xing Chen: Wilbur

Song Lan: Philza

Nie Huaisang: Slimecicle

Nie Mingjue: Etoiles

Jin Zixuan: Vagetta

Wen Chao: Spreen

Wen Yuan: Dapper

Lan Suzhui: Richarlyson

Lan Jingyi: Dapper

Jin Ling: Leo

Ok, so context, most of these casting choices were more about their relationships than the characters themselves but here we go with my reasoning (am 100% open to alternatives let me know your casting choices in the comments!)

Jiang Yanli x Jin Zixuan = Foolish x Vegetta. Ok so Foolish is super laid back when it comes to lore but is incredibly protective when it comes to people he loves. We all remember his 10/10 acting when Forever hit Leo. I am just imagining him as Yanli telling Jin Zixun off during the crowd hunt like yes queen. Vegetta stands firm with his commitment to Foolish even when everyone is constantly saying Foolish is cheating on him and trusts him, wants to be with him regardless of the rumors. These two fit Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan’s end game relationship so much it makes my heart hurt XD

Jiang Cheng as Maximus. This one was one of the most difficult to cast but I think Max fits pretty well. From my experience Max can be silly but for the most part is pretty stoic and focused on the bigger picture. He is also pretty detached from others without any real solid connections other than Sophia.

Lan Xichen as Cellbit. This one was easy. Cellbit is super into all of the lore and enigmas just like Lan Xichen and while he has a somewhat serious personality he is always down for silliness and having a good time. Plus, his relationship to Forever is a given.

Meng Yao as Felps. ok this one was more uncertain as all I know about Felps is from the prison break XD but I know he and Cellbit are very close and Felps isn’t very good at minecraft so he’d make a perfect Meng Yao XD idk lol

Wen Ning and Wen Qing as AyPierre and Bagerah. This one is also a bit of a stretch. Bagerah is very devoted to her goals and family but also has a pretty strong moral backbone. Even though she is pretty silly a lot of the time, I think she’d make a good Wen Qing.

Xue Yang, Xiao Xing Chen and Song Lan as Quackity, Wilbur, and Philza. Okay hear me out. Xue Yang x Xiao Xing Chen has similarities to Quackity x Wilbur. Wilbur has been hostile to Quackity because Quackity keeps trying to steal Tallulah and Quackity’s been pretty wild since Tilin’s death. Obviously he isn’t anywhere near Xue Yang’s craziness but I think he’s the closest other than Slime. Philza as Song Lan to Wilbur’s Xaio Xing Chen

My thoughts when it comes to the kids, breaking mdzs cannon a bit here. Dapper is Wen Yuan during the burial mounds but they have the personality of Lan Jingyi post time skip while Richarlyson has Lan Suzhui’s personality XD. So, uh, idk haha Maybe Lan Wangji adopts both of them? or the characters are combine idk lol

Jing Ling as Leo also fits so well it hurts my heart. Leo is a lonly child who is super protective and kinda territorial with their parents. She would be so ruined if her parents were killed. I am just imgining Leo in Jin Ling’s scenario and my heart hurts for him.

Alternatively, if Forever is Wei Wuxian then Cellbit is Jiang Cheng and Felps is Jiang Yanli. Bbh is Lan Wangi, Wilbur is Lan Zichen, Quackity is Meng Yao, Foolish is Nie Huasang, Philza is Nie Mingjue.

uuuu yea those are my thoughts im tired now XD my energy levels have crashed and my brain no longer works. let me know what you think and what your headcannon are! :D

who knows if i end up actually writting this im already outlinging a 4halo modern au so well seeeeeee

#qsmp #4halo #the untamed cast is so massive #this was so hard #and im still uncertian about a lot of the casting #brian no longer work tho #maybe ill add more when my brain is cooperating #I made it throguh 90% of the post before my body was like #no more #we are going to sleep now #chronic illness sucks yall #XD #crimson speaks

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itsmarlboro · 11 months

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Flower Shop AU! — and yes, it's cliché— but I like the idea of a goth/punk Xue Yang, that dropped school ('cause it was too annoying, too many people and shits he wasn't interested), to manage some vintage shop from an ol' man —who was already tired and needed a break, looking for a kid to help him— and this brat was searching for easy money.

Xue Yang likes the shop, it's cozy, lots of colours and different kind of flowers, he actually didn't mind all the things he needed to learn in order to take care of the store. Perfect spot for cactuses, how much water a hydrangea needs, what's the best month and weather to plant hollyhock, etc. Also, the meaning behind each roses, and how to make perfect bouquets for special occasions.

Plus, the shop was located in a hidden corner, full of vintages houses and some old bars and restaurants, so there weren't many costumers but the outcome was more than enough to keep it running and also pay him a good amount. Anyway, yeah, he was also getting well-known because a full black clothed person? eyeliner, piercings and some tattoos? messy black hair up to his shoulders. yeah, he was also the reason more girls started to visit that place, and also boys.

But Xue Yang was already fixated on a person. A tall, young, delicate man, usually dressed in soft clothes, wearing warmth colours and cozy scarfs on winter, white loosen shirts and trousers that marked his slim waist. His hair was long, really long, usually left free and sometimes tied up in a ponytail, sometimes a loose braid. He was the complete opposite to Xue Yang, that was obvious.

Was this young man an usual client of the flower shop? no, but he used to drink coffee —yes, a past-century building, exposed bricks, and huge double wooden doors—. He would usually sit on the tables near the windows, looking at the not-at-all busy streets, with a pen and a book resting on the table.

Just one day, Xue Yang saw him get inside the store just once. And he was just observing every single plant, as if unsure of what to pick and Xue Yang thought it'd be a good idea to start a conversation, to help him out. And god, how pretty he was.

#mdzs #modern au xuexiao #xue chengmei #mdzs xue yang #xue yang #xuexiao #mdzs xiao xingchen #xiao xingchen #english is not my native language #too delusional

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bawkrya · 11 months

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Um actually, the toothpaste-[I shan't see the bit through but please use this ask as setup to unlock more cdrama infodumping, I like hearing about ur deranged men mwah<3]

hi jae im using your ask for the cql infodump.

ok so like we going into the intricacies of these three motherfuckers and why shipping them in certain ways is a little fucked/fundamentally misunderstands their character(s)/etc.

CW for discussions of a bit of a variety of abuse

NMJ - Nie Mingjue LXC - Lan Xichen JGY/MY - Jin Guangyao/Meng Yao

So: run down for those who may not know these characters and what they're about.

All together, the three are known as the Venerated Triad. The three all played major roles during the Sunshot Campaign-- a war of the Jin, Jiang, Nie, and Lan Sects against the Wen Sect, who was trying to take over all sects --with Nie Mingjue/Chifeng Zun (one in the middle) known for leading the Campaign, Lan Xichen/Zewu Jun (one on the left) Also leading on top of protecting ancient Lan books when the Lan Sect had basically fallen, and Jin Guangyao/Lianfan Zun (one on the right) infiltrating the Wen Sect and sending battle plans to Lan Xichen, which ultimately helped them take down the Wens.

After the Sunshot Campaign ended, the three swore Brotherhood, which is like, really complicated to explain, but in most books in this genre, it can be gay.

So like why is it bad to ship all three if they did one of the gay rituals. Well.

Jin Guangyao initially joined the Nie Sect, then known as Meng Yao, as a form of servant. He was known as the bastard son of Jin Guangshan (the Jin Sect leader), whose mother was a sex worker, and was raised poor despite having the blood of arguably the richest man in the cultivation world. He was bullied to actual hell wherever he went, until it was brought to the attention of Nie Mingjue-- the Nie Sect leader. NMJ defended him, and pretty quickly promotes him to be the second in command of his army, especially after seeing how skilled MY was in this subject. He basically becomes an advisor alongside NMJ, became friends with Nie Huaisang-- NMJ's little brother --and was very well trusted by NMJ. But, despite now having a higher position within the sect, MY was still ridiculed by the General, and quite harshly at that, literally just because his mom was a sex worker. For the drama I guess, MY just DOESN'T tell NMJ about this.

Later on, a mass-murderer named Xue Yang would come to be held in the jail of the Nie Sect. Without anyone else's knowledge, the two were already colluding, as at some point MY was colluding with the Wen Sect? This shit is so confusing on timeline when it comes to CQL it's kind of insane, but anyways, MY already knew Xue Yang, and after a few days of him being held in the jail, Xue Yang miraculously escapes as the Wen Sect very suddenly attacks the Nies.

While this is happening, MY very deliberately kills the General of the Nie Sect RIGHT in front of NMJ. Like NMJ saw the whole thing. But he still has the gal to be like XUE YANG KILLED HIM!!!! XUE YANG KILLED HIM DA-GE PWEAAASSEEE!!!!!!! but they don't really get to dwell on that because someone else tries to attack NMJ-- to which MY saves him by taking the stab in the stomach for him.

Once they manage to get the Wens off their ass, NMJ has MY come to the little Nie meeting room, and is basically like (through tears) WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT MAN. Because again, NMJ trusted MY a lot. MY was, at that time, probably his most trusted guy in the whole sect that wasn't his baby brother, and now he's murdered his general and let an actual insane criminal loose. While NMJ claims the only reason he won't kill MY is because MY saved him during the battle, there is a lot of underlying care that he has for MY, so he just exiles him and boots him out of the Nie Sect.

"why can't that be gay" to me its a very surface level take to just ship them off of this. have some nuance. we'll look into these characters more intimately later.

Now. From here. MY would join the Wen Sect as Wen Rouhan's advisor. And he's REALLY playing up the part-- because at this time, it seems most likely that the Wens will win the war-- so MY would have a high ranking govt. position in the ruling sect. But. Wrenches are thrown into the plan, and eventually, MY realizes that he needs to have an escape route for whenever the Wens tip over, and they're no longer on top.

This is where Lan Xichen comes into play.

At the time, the Lan Sect had been viciously attacked by the Wens, where the vast majority of its people were eliminated, and the Cloud Recesses/where the Lans live had been destroyed. Lan Qiren, Lan Xichen's uncle, instructed LXC to take the ancient texts from the hidden Library of the Lan Sect, and to run. Because, if everyone else did get killed, at least the ancient texts and the Lan Sect Leader would still be alive. And very begrudgingly, LXC does. While running away, MY would save LXC and provide him somewhere to stay-- which gives MY the out that he needs. He gains the trust of at least one of the leaders of the opposing Sects, and because it was trust gained out of mercy, it was something that he could easily use against LXC should it ever come to that.

Over time MY gains more and more of LXC's trust by sending him copies of the Wen battle plans, giving him intel about the Wens, etc. etc.. And as more and more of it proves to be right, the more LXC trusts MY-- even though he had previously betrayed NMJ in a major way. Because NMJ is still pretty pissed/sad about what happened. Though, LXC doesn't tell NMJ that MY is the intel because he knows it would piss him off.

etc etc etc time goes on, the Sunshot Campaign comes to an end with the Wen Sect going under, and MY is revealed to be the intel that saved the other sects. MY goes to the Jin Sect, getting the name Jin Guangyao (which is a whole other post I could go off about (tho in defense of JGY LMFAOO)), along with the title Lianfang Zun. Again, he's basically an advisor guy, except this time it's under his dad who fucking hates him to death.

This is when the three, LXC, NMJ, and JGY, swear brotherhood. And again this may not seem so bad for a ship, but this is a very heavily summarized thing. Let's get into JGY's craving for power.

No matter what context you put JGY in, he will want power. It's a matter of proving himself to a father who doesn't care about him, proving himself to those who ridicule him for having such a "lowly birth", all that-- he's a viciously insecure man. When he was with the Nies, he had a high rank. He was cared for and adored by the ruling family of the sect-- but the Nies weren't the wealthiest or most influential sect. The Nies weren't a small sect by any means, but they weren't the Wens-- who were able to overthrow an entire sect over night, and initially get away with it because the other Sects were too scared to challenge them. And when the Wens were going under, the Jin Sect was once again the most prominent sect-- even if it was NMJ who was leading the whole campaign.

This craving for power was something that NMJ had noticed and would quickly come to oppose, but as he was slowly succumbing to his way of cultivation, people weren't so ready to believe him. He was "irrational and violent", a stark contrast to JGY who seemed to make himself at home with his new position in the Jin Sect. And eventually, NMJ would start to shut his mouth on the matter, especially when not even Lan Xichen would fully listen to him-- and he had a deep amount of trust in LXC. He would start to comply to keep the peace, which meant swearing brotherhood to a man that betrayed him, and letting that man back into his home.

These trips JGY made back to the Nie sect was mostly to perform what I believe was called "Tranquility" for NMJ. The saber spirits that the Nies cultivate are self destructive for its user, which was why NMJ's health overall was starting to decline. He would have outbursts of rage, his mental state was skewed, all that. And Tranquility was meant to help sooth his Qi in hopes of postponing the inevitable-- there wasn't a single Nie Sect leader that lived a full life while cultivating saber spirits.

BUT! BC JGY WAS MAD AT NMJ! JGY altered the score of tranquility in such a subtle way that not even LXC would notice for like, 16 years, and did it in a way that it worsened NMJ's health. So like. For over the course of what. Six Months. JGY was slowly poisoning NMJ through these visits-- and as of canon for Fatal Journey (The Nie Spin off Movie), taught Huaisang this distorted score, which lead to NMJ murdering members of his own sect in a fit of uncontrolled rage. Literally only LXC was playing the right version of Tranquility for NMJ, but he wasn't the one able to make the most visits as he lived the furthest away from Qinghe/the Nie Sect.

But yeah um. NMJs fucked up state lead to the best scene (NMJ kicking JGY down a whole flight of stairs) and the worst scene (NMJ fucking self imploding). He dies because of all this thoguh. Yeah.

now for xichen. my lovely webkins plushie soaked in milk that gets slammed against a wall 20 times in a row.

I can't deny that Xiyao aka LXC/JGY was like......... a Thing. Ok. But the thing people fail to realize is that Xiyao is an abusive relationship through and through, because JGY only used it as a way to have power. And the thing that trips people up about this is because JGY is human. He's comically evil in every other instance except for his relationship with LXC, which is why people think it was earnest, and that they just didn't get their happy ending because of things JGY did "in the past".

And I won't deny that JGY did have some underlying care for LXC-- because abusers don't ever want to believe that they're doing something bad. He believes he's doing what he's doing for his own sake, that he's in the right because if LXC doesn't have trust in him, then who will? LXC is an influential figure still, even if it's the Jin Sect that's on top. And LXC is the only person who stands up for him regularly within the four major sects.

Xiyao in a plot related setting makes sense. It was a survival tool for JGY. LXC was a gay man who was very vulnerable during the war. His father was killed, his sect was on the brink of total elimination much like the Jiangs, the survival of ancient history was on his shoulders so he needed to survive-- and JGY provided that link. He was LXC's shoulder to cry on, someone he could trust with personal secrets, and while there may have been a genuine connection from JGY as well-- his whole intention with the relationship was to gain power. While LXC may have indulged in sharing secrets, JGY probably never did. Considering he kept the whole music score and murdering their sworn brother a secret.

You can even see how JGY functions relationship wise in maintaining a certain image in how he treats the whole situation with Qin Su-- his wife and um. Half Sister. He love bombs to hell, and when it doesn't work he gets angry and lashes out. I don't think he would have needed to be as unrestricted to LXC as he was Qin Su, because LXC very much............ Has Issues. And I don't think it's helped because his mother was locked up by his father in a cottage for years on end in total isolation. LXC has NOOO basis of a healthy relationship, so I'm sure he accepted what JGY presented at face value. Which is why I think it was so easy for JGY to maintain those lies for literally 16 years.

JGY took advantage of skills taught to him by LXC to murder NMJ. He took advantage of LXC's favor to put him in a good light to the cultivation world, and he was able to get in to the Jin sect with LXC's encouragement. LXC is the literal pillar to JGY's success, and if that pillar falls, he has nothing to back him up.

Sure, he might have Su She, a dedicated follower who did a lot of his dirty work-- but Su She was despised even by LXC. He might have had Xue Yang to fall on for even filthier shit, but Xue Yang was a notorious mass murderer who eliminated a minor clan just because he felt like it. LXC was the ONE guy who he could rely on wholeheartedly to keep his reputation in tact. Which is why he begins to act so irrationally when he sees that he's losing LXC during the Guanyin Temple scene-- which is where JGY dies. AND GET THIS! GET THIS!

JGY DELIBERATELY. PULLS LXC INTO THE COLLAPSING TEMPLE WITH HIM, BEGGING HIM TO FALL WITH HIM-- BUT OH, OH LAST MINUTE HE PUSHES LXC AWAY FROM THE RUIN TO SAVE HIM ONE LAST TIME. SOMETHING THAT WILL STAY ON LXCS CONSCIENCE FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE!

their relationship is BUILT on JGY doing something good for LXC in order to make LXC feel like he owes him. I'm sure over the 16 years there were MANY positive events from JGY that LXC clings onto, but JGY still killed NMJ. He still killed Jin Guangshan, and pushed Qin Su into killing herself. He forced prostitutes into continuing to have sex with JGS even as the man was dying, he killed his own son with Qin Su after finding out they were related, and wiped out a minor sect after blaming them for the death of his son. He falsely accused Mo Xuanyu of sexually harassing Qin Su (or himself if u go off of the novel), and exiled MXY because he just didn't like him. All that! All that under LXCs nose.

so I just. I CAN'T take it when people say oh, i love 3zun because they make each other worse. NMJ and LXC TRIED to make things right between all three of them, and JGY couldn't settle for that. It's two victims and a murderer/abuser. Even when NMJ was still hurt by JGY's betrayal, he would ask LXC how he was doing in the Jin sect. He WANTED things to be better even if he knew things were getting worse, and he bowed his head out of respect for LXC, which would lead to his early death.

When you say shit like oh they make each other worse, I feel like that should only apply to characters who are mutually destructive. LXC was a victim of abuse. NMJ may have argued and fought back, but he was a victim of petty grudges. In an ideal world, NMJ would've been completely content with straightening things out and understanding the circumstances-- but the circumstances here were viciously damning, and JGY only made it worse.

and again like. LXC was a peacemaker. He didn't like that NMJ and JGY hated each other, even if they would be visibly pleasant to one another, he wanted them to go back to the way it had been before the Sunshot Campaign-- which is why I think he proposed the Sworn Brotherhood. But I don't think he knew every single intricacy that lead to the downfall between those two-- a simple solution like that wouldn't work.

And as I mentioned earlier on NMJ's and JGY's relationship to each other being surface level if you shipped them-- this may just be my own interpretation of NMJ, but I very much believe he saw JGY as another little brother. So, on the same level as Nie Huaisang-- who he cares very deeply for. JGY and NHS were around the same age (iirc jgy only a few years older, but not in NMJs age group), the two got along with each other greatly, and i believe both shared similar interests. So. I think the dynamic of NMJ holding JGY to the same standard as NHS is a lot more interesting and takes more things into account. Not every relationship between not-blood-related men needs to be romantic. lmfao. It also just makes the betrayal and how NMJ receives it a lot more personal to me.

These three have such an interesting dynamic to me that can absolutely be explored. Again I won't say that Xiyao is made out of nothing-- there's elements there, but to make them into a cutesy little pair is a vicious disservice to JGY's character, because you can't separate him from his manipulative nature. It's a core part of his character whether you like it or not, taking it away just takes away JGY's appeal. On top of that, shipping them for the abuse aspect is like..................... lmao. It's not mutually destructive. you're weird.

anyways nielan sweep, those two were sucking and fucking on the battlefield. a warriors bond can never be broken

(art by Valdrift, I commissioned this giggles)

#Asks #dragonji #HIIII THIS ASK IS FRM FCKING JANUARY #I have a milk ask sitting in my inbox from december too.

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deliciousscaloppine · 3 years

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Again Halloween is not really in my culture, so what always impressed me was the Halloween special most series would do- usually with someone from the cast killing the rest-i was like what was that?!

What i am asking is should I do a Halloween special for Qinghe Harem Stories

#I've written most of the next chapter and it has a spooky twist with Huaisang's exorcism #but Xue Yang is also pretty loose #there could be some very comical murders

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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

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how about song lan/jiang cheng and a happy ending, please? 💖 thank you for sharing all your amazing fics with us!

Untamed

As they travel towards the Unclean Realm, Xue Yang bound and carefully watched at all times, Xiao Xingchen naturally gravitated towards Wei Wuxian, sharing stories about the woman that had been Xiao Xingchen’s shijie and Wei Wuxian’s mother. Jiang Cheng, distinctly aware that if Cangse Sanren had not died that Wei Wuxian would be – at best – a familiar stranger, kept his distance from that discussion.

At first, he tried to distract himself with Nie Huaisang, but apparently Nie Huaisang had exceeded his quota for interacting with other people in a given day and wasn’t interested in anything other than a long nap in the carriage (Meng Yao, who had been recruited for use as a pillow, had shot him an apologetic look over his head), so Jiang Cheng had to find something else to do. If he wasn’t occupied, he felt useless, like he was intruding somewhere he oughtn’t be.

Somehow, he ended up walking alongside Song Lan.

“It’s an honor,” he said, feeling stupid and awkward. “Your name is – renowned, and your ambition to start a sect based on merit is very impressive.”

“On friendship,” Song Lan said, and Jiang Cheng blinked. “A sect based on friendship. Merit implies that you must have skills or talents that render you deserving of a place; the sect I dream of would have a home even for those whose only skill is in delighting others with their company.”

“That sounds nice,” Jiang Cheng said, feeling unwontedly wistful. Sometimes it felt like he spent his whole life trying to win enough merit, to demonstrate his value, to manage to justify having been born as his father’s son – trying, and failing, while all merit flowed naturally and effortlessly to Wei Wuxian.

He couldn’t even imagine a sect where that wasn’t necessary.

“You would be a good fit,” Song Lan said, and Jiang Cheng turned to him with wide eyes. “You care deeply for your friends.”

“I – I do,” Jiang Cheng said, stuttering over his speech. “I’d do anything for them.”

“Even if they didn’t do anything for you?”

“Why should they have to do anything for me?” Jiang Cheng asked, puzzled, and Song Lan nodded as if he’d said the right thing on the first try without straining, which might be the first time that had ever happened to him.

Suddenly feeling deeply moved, Jiang Cheng acted recklessly: he strode forward and turned to face Song Lan, stopping in his path and careful not to touch him – he would’ve just grabbed his arm if he were Wei Wuxian, but he’d noticed that Song Lan seemed to dislike too-close contact, even from Xiao Xingchen who was as close to him as a brother, and he didn’t want to offend.

“I’d like to be your friend,” he said, bold and brave the way a Jiang should be, and then promptly ruined it by coughing and looking down and muttering, “I mean, that is, if you want. No big deal.”

Song Lan looked at him thoughtfully. It made Jiang Cheng nervous, feeling like he was about to be rejected, but on the other hand it also felt kind of – nice, in some fashion, to know that there were other people in the world who had to think about what they were going to say, who didn’t have a ready answer for everything sitting on the tip of their tongues like Wei Wuxian always did.

“I would be honored to be your friend, Jiang Wanyin,” Song Lan said when he finally did speak, and then he smiled.

There are those that say that the smile of a solemn man was the most beautiful thing in the world, and after having seen it with his own eyes Jiang Cheng was inclined to agree.

A moment later, as if by unspoken agreement, they both turned and continued to walk along the road to Qinghe. They did not speak further on that subject, turning to others, but it was comfortable and evening the way almost nothing in Jiang Cheng’s life was.

When they finally said farewell, he had no regrets.

Later, much later, when so much had happened that Jiang Cheng could no longer recognize himself and fate led them to meet once more, this time at the house in which Wen Qing was hiding them, Jiang Cheng chased after Song Lan again: he called out from his window after him just as he was about to set out.

“Jiang Wanyin?” Song Lan asked, coming forward to him with a frown. For some reason, his eyes seemed not quite right for his face even though Jiang Cheng couldn’t quite put his finger on why. “I thought you were still asleep.”

“Comatose, you mean,” Jiang Cheng said mirthlessly. “One of the needles got bumped, and I woke up a little earlier…are you all right? I didn’t hear much, but – you got injured?”

“My eyes,” Song Lan said, which accorded with what Jiang Cheng thought he’d heard. “They’re better now, though.”

Jiang Cheng nodded. “I’m probably going to die,” he said, trying for a matter-of-fact tone but he was pretty sure that he mostly ending up sounding scared. “And even if I don’t, I’m – I’m not going to be able to – to do anything. For you. I’d be totally useless.”

Song Lan looked taken aback, and then visibly softened when he realized what Jiang Cheng meant. “I told you before,” he said. “It’s friendship, not merit. You don’t need to do anything at all.”

That in all likelihood, Song Lan would never found that sect of his went unspoken between them.

It was just the way of things. Like Jiang Cheng probably dying the second the Wen sect finally caught up with them and found him, useless and weak as he was, without the golden core that he’d worked so hard on all his life.

You couldn’t change things like that.

“Anyway, there are still Jiang sect disciples out there,” Song Lan said, and to Jiang Cheng’s surprise he offered his hand out to him. “You will gather them and reawaken your sect from the ashes.”

Jiang Cheng wet his lips. He wouldn’t, of course; he wouldn’t be able to, not without a golden core, without cultivation, without hope.

And yet…

He was useless. He should just die and be done with it, not linger around to act as a burden other people.

And yet –

Jiang Cheng reached out and clasped Song Lan’s hand with his own.

“If I don’t, I’ll come find you and join your sect,” he said, only half-joking. Who else would take him as he was now? “But if I do as you expect, gathering them up and re-establishing the Jiang sect…in that case, you come find me, all right?”

“Find you?” Song Lan asked, now truly surprised. “For what?”

“You said that friendship doesn’t have to be about merit,” Jiang Cheng said. “But just because it doesn’t have to be doesn’t mean you can’t bring merit into it. If you’re my friend, I’ll want to do things for you, if I can. If you can do something for me, then why can’t I do something for you?”

Song Lan thought about it.

“All right,” he said at last, and squeezed Jiang Cheng’s hand before letting go. “It’s a deal, my friend. Now lie back down and let me put the needle back into place for you. You need to rest.”

Jiang Cheng’s chest hurt – in a completely different way from his missing golden core and the scars from the whipping he’d received – and he nodded, retreating through the window.

“Don’t forget,” he said, lying down and letting Song Lan reach up to his forehead with the needle. “You have to let me help you, or else it’s not equal. All right?”

“I understand,” Song Lan said.

Maybe he did, because later still, when all the world had changed once again and Jiang Cheng wasn’t anything like the man he remembered himself being – after he’d gone up a mountain and come down renewed, had led an army and re-started his sect, had lost his martial brother and then his sister and then his martial brother a second time over, this time for good, and was helping raise his nephew during the half-year that he’d begged the Jin clan to allow him – after all that, Song Lan really did come to him.

“My friend,” Jiang Cheng said, clinging onto his arms a little too tightly. He’d almost forgotten that Song Lan existed in the wake of everything, had forgotten that there were still people out in the world who he called friend and who called him the same in return. “My friend, you’re here.”

“I said I would be,” Song Lan said, and hesitated. “I have a favor to ask. You said…”

“A favor? Anything. Well, within reason, of course.”

Song Lan nodded.

“I’m looking for Xiao Xingchen,” he said. “I thought I could find him on my own, but all this time has passed, and I still don’t know where to look. I thought – maybe –”

Jiang Cheng had power at his fingertips. He could order a search party – could order dozens – could set a bounty and have every cultivator and every common person in the whole of Yunmeng keeping their eyes wide open for someone of Xiao Xingchen’s distinctive description.

“Let me come with you to search,” he said instead. “Jin Ling goes back to Lanling next week, and I’ll be at loose ends for six months, bullying everyone in my sect with my temper. They’d be happy to the back of me for a while. We can pick up where you left off.”

Song Lan smiled at him.

It was as beautiful as it had ever been.

Jiang Cheng felt his chest grow tight – he’d thought once that it was hurt he was feeling, but it wasn’t, it wasn’t hurt at all – and he coughed, not sure how to verbalize all of his feelings or even if they would be welcome. Maybe one day.

“Well,” he said brightly, forcing his way through the embarrassment. “Where had you stopped searching? We’ll start there.”

“There was a mountain path,” Song Lan said. “The road sign said that the next place to stop was a place called Yi City.”

“Yi City,” Jiang Cheng said. “Hardly auspicious, but I don’t see why we can’t give it a shot. And with me by your side, if Xiao Xingchen is there or if someone who has seen him is – we’ll find him. See who’ll stop us!”

#mdzs #jiang cheng #song lan #my fic #my fics #watercolour-carnations

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veliseraptor · 1 year

Note

I think it's almost obligatory to ask for at least one hard head canon and one soft head canon for each of the Yi City crew, if someone hasn't already beat me to it!

well since I've done song lan and xue yang, that leaves a-qing and xiao xingchen! delighted to do them both.

A-Qing

hard headcanon: It's actually rather important to me that A-Qing couldn't become a cultivator. I feel like this is a less hard one than some of my other hard headcanons, but I'm putting it here because I have seen it come up and I actually prefer her to be very thoroughly a normal human being with no superhuman abilities whatsoever (other than the ones she acquires as a ghost), because it's important to me that she does everything she does, and is as capable as she is, and as brave, without being ~special~ in that particular way.

That being said I do think Xiao Xingchen would put a lot of effort into trying to get her practiced in some meditation techniques but A-Qing is not really on board for that and consistently blows him off about it.

soft headcanon: I am not terribly attached to a definitive A-Qing backstory but I do tend to prefer one where, rather than her parents being dead, she was abandoned as being (a) more mouth than they could feed and keep other kids alive, (b) a girl (hence less valuable and potentially expensive because dowry), and (c) her eyes are weird, because I tend to like to keep the novel canon where even before Xue Yang blinds her, she has white eyes. (I do not know how that works scientifically; I have chosen not to worry about it.)

I also want her to know this, specifically, though I think she would actually tell people that she's an orphan rather than admit that she was abandoned voluntarily.

Xiao Xingchen

hard headcanon: Xiao Xingchen is really, excruciatingly bad at normal social interaction. Which is not to say he's awkward, or shy; he is, in fact, neither of those things. I think Xiao Xingchen is delighted to meet new people, and would happily talk to strangers, particularly pre-eye trauma. He's just a very friendly person who generally likes people, I think (again, particularly pre-eye trauma; after that I think he gets more withdrawn and reluctant to connect to people, because it feels like he's putting them at risk and also he doesn't deserve it).

But the thing is that he also doesn't have much of a sense of social norms or graces. And sometimes that can work for him because he is a very pretty powerful cultivator who has a certain level of fame, so he can get away with being a little weird. But every so often it's just.

This is more relevant the more important manners are in a place. Put Xiao Xingchen at a cultivation conference and he will (as someone wrote a post about at some point) eat the garnish, and casually insult someone to their face (not in a mean way! he's just giving his opinion and it happens to be less than politic!), and the infuriating thing to everyone involved is that (a) they can't do anything about it, because he's Xiao Xingchen, and (b) he doesn't even really seem to notice.

Song Lan notices. This makes Song Lan's life very hard. but also it is kind of fun, sometimes, to turn Xiao Xingchen loose on people, particularly when they are people Song Lan would really rather not interact with.

Less major but still important to me is that Xiao Xingchen has a deeply stupid sense of humor. He will and does laugh at anything, and hard.

soft headcanon: I think I've mentioned this one before - it's a soft headcanon mostly because it's pretty frivolous and doesn't come up much for other people writing against it, but Xiao Xingchen likes to nap, and will do so at odd hours and in odd places. It is one of the few truly frivolous indulgences he allows himself.

send me a character or ship and i’ll tell you my soft vs. hard headcanons for them

#conversating #thewasandshouldbeking #xiao xingchen #a qing #aggressively headcanons #the sad queer cultivators show

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needtherapy · 3 years

Text

The Necromancer’s Apprentice

Xue Yang has seen The Dark House and he’s heard the rumors that a zombie, a witch, and a necromancer live there. It’s stupid, obviously, but...well...maybe he’ll just sneak in one night and find out.

It’s better than doing nothing. It’s better than going back to the group home. It’s better than sleeping on the street.

Aka, three mildly feral twentysomethings are forcibly adopted by one (1) very feral thirteen-year-old Xue Yang.

Read on AO3

Many thanks to @coslyons for co-writing this with me (all the funniest parts belong to them) and @kevinkevinson for beta.

There is a Dark House in Ballard, and people say to avoid it.

It is probably not called the Dark House because evil lurks inside, although there is some debate about that. It is called the Dark House because it is black from threshold to cupola, from shutters to frames, and it looms on a block where whimsical shops of brick and steel are far more common. Unlike the thrift store and the record shop, the hiking outfitter and the vegan patissiere, no ivy reaches toward the roof of the Dark House. Unlike the local yarn store, no dogs sniff the Dark House’s gate, although at least two cats—also black, naturally—are always sitting on the porch.

It may not be fair to judge a house by its color, but the local legends are clear. If you step on the cracks in the sidewalk, the Dark House will steal your soul. The wrought iron gate of twining snakes comes alive under the light of the full moon to snap at unwary joggers. Children who walk alone after dark get eaten, and the yard is full of bones that wail songs of their murders.

Xue Yang sits on a bench, across the street, eating ice cream and admiring the house. He wonders about the sanity of people who mow the lawn and trim the roses, yet painted their pretty little house black, until it occurs to him that he could just go inside and find out.

He waits until dark, not to stay hidden, but because it’s a more terrible idea, and Xue Yang always gives himself permission to do more terrible things whenever he gets the chance. The high iron fence buzzes with a strange kind of energy that crackles in his palms, so Xue Yang wraps his hands tightly in his flannel shirt as he climbs over. His mother always said he was a practical boy, back when she was still around to say things.

Xue Yang lands in the backyard with a quiet thump onto thin and scraggly grass. The center of the yard is dark under the watery moonlight, with the dirt churned up and loose, and for the first time, a tiny twinge of warning pings in the back of his mind.

He ignores it.

With a flick of his wrist, he summons his knife, a long black switchblade that is seven kinds of illegal and which he loves more than anything else he has ever had, not that there is much competition. With nimble and practiced hands, he slides the knife between the door and the frame, twisting just right when he reaches the lock. With a grin of triumph, he turns the handle, shaped like a gaping mouth, and opens the door.

In the center of the room, there is a long sort of table that seems somehow to pull all the darkness of the room toward it. The shadows gather most thickly around a large, human-shaped lump laid out stiffly on top of it. Xue Yang reaches out to poke it and feels something unexpectedly warm give slightly under his finger.

The shadowy lump on the table sits upright with a sudden jerk.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Xue Yang shrieks.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” the shadowy lump shrieks back.

“Why the fuck is everyone yelling?” a voice says, and the room is suddenly filled with light.

The shadowy lump rips off the sheet and turns into a guy in his early twenties with a scraggly little beard and wicked bedhead. The voice belongs to a grumpy-looking woman wearing a fluffy pink bathrobe. She squints at him in the oppressive brightness, glaring for a long moment before apparently deciding to deal with the man on the table first.

“Wei Wuxian, I’ve told you a thousand times that the workshop is not a place for sleeping.”

“Technically—” the man begins, before being abruptly cut off by the woman.

“If the next words out of your mouth aren’t ‘yes, Wen Qing,’ then I don’t care. Go to bed.” She rounds on Xue Yang and he takes a tiny, involuntary step back. “You. What are you doing here?”

Before Xue Yang can answer, another guy—this one with long hair, killer tats, and a dedication to the goth look Xue Yang has to admire—runs in with a baseball bat held in his hands like a club.

“Jiejie! Is there something wrong?”

The woman—Wen Qing, she’d said—pinches the bridge of her nose and says, “It’s fine, A-Ning. I’m just trying to figure out what this little hooliganthinks he’s doing breaking into my house and tripping all of my wards while I’m trying to fucking sleep .”

Xue Yang is now convinced that what he’s broken into is some kind of madhouse, and he pastes a charming smile on his face, the one he uses when fists are clenched and the smell of alcohol burns in his nose. The smile whispers words like “anger issues” and “prone to destruction,” and it’s usually weapon enough, but he holds his knife a little tighter too, just in case.

The woman snaps around like she’s felt his fingers grip the handle of the blade and holds out her hand. “Give it to me.”

No. He will not. His chin tips dangerously, his smile grows icy spikes.

Her eyes narrow. “I could just take it.”

They face off for a minute, the tension almost palpable. Actually, Xue Yang thinks, it’s not tension after all. There’s something else in the air. It reminds him of the buzzing fence, and he doesn’t like the way it confuses him.

“Ah, Wen-jie, let him keep her. Can’t you tell? The kid is scared, they’re both scared, and it’s not like he can hurt us.”

Xue Yang is offended. He is not scared, but he’s relieved that Wei Wuxian spoke up all the same, because even though Wen Qing purses her lips and looks annoyed, she drops her hand.

“Fine.” She crosses her arms again. “Wei Wuxian, make sure our little guest leaves. I’m resetting the wards in five minutes and going back to sleep.”

“Yeah, sure.” Wei Wuxian grins and shoots finger guns at Wen Qing. “Sleep well and dream of me.”

Wen Qing rolls her eyes. “Yes, because I love having nightmares.”

“Oh shoo.” Wei Wuxian flicks his hand at the goth man and Wen Qing. “To bed with you both. I can handle it.”

Their footsteps creak on the wooden floors as they walk further into the house. Xue Yang and Wei Wuxian wait in silence until the footsteps quiet, and then Wei Wuxian turns to Xue Yang. The grin he’d been wearing drops off his face and he looks serious, his eyes shaded and dark.

“Look kid, you should know better than to piss off powerful witches. It tends to be bad for the health.” The side of his mouth just barely tilts upwards, more wry than mirthful, and he looks old now. Old and grey and tired. “So, we’ll just call this a learning experience, and you’ll never come here again, right?”

Xue Yang snorts. “Are you kidding? If you’ve got real magic why the fuck would I leave now?”

“Toddlers shouldn’t swear.”

“I’m almost fourteen, fuck you very much.”

“Ah yes, I am now so convinced you are an adult.” Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. “It’s two in the morning. You want to go home and go to bed. There’s nothing here for you to be curious about at all.”

Something sibilant and musical weaves its way through the words, and Xue Yang has his hand on the door knob before he fights off the slithering compulsion.

Holy fuck that was cool.

“Nah, I think I’ll stay,” he says, sauntering back casually, pausing to look at a weird painting of a monster facing off with an axe-wielding guy in front of a lighthouse. He feels a very strong sense of camaraderie with it right now.

Wei Wuxian sighs. “Sure, maybe you’ve got a little gift. But you’re a kid. Don’t you have parents who are going to, you know, notice you’re missing?”

Xue Yang stares him in the eyes, willing himself not to flinch. Something tells him this is a chance he’s never going to have again, a chance that requires honesty.

“No.” Xue Yang lifts his chin stubbornly. “I don’t.”

Wei Wuxian stares back, and Xue Yang gets the feeling that he sees all the years and all the disappointments that fit into that no. He doesn’t care. No one gives you what you want unless you take it.

This standoff lasts forever, or maybe it’s only a few seconds.

“She’s going to kill me,” Wei Wuxian mutters, and a little louder, “You can sleep on the couch tonight, but I’m locking you in the room and if you touch anything, I will turn you into a mannequin.”

He turns to leave, but looks back with a frown. “Wen Qing builds beautiful, elegant wards that you’ll never feel, never even notice if she doesn’t want you to. Mine will hurt. Don’t. Touch. Anything.”

Xue Yang decides, in the principle of magnanimity, to agree. “Whatever.”

Wei Wuxian shakes his head and points a finger at Xue Yang. “Go to sleep, kiddo.”

The words hold Xue Yang’s hand and lead him to the couch, make him lay down, and within minutes, he is asleep.

He opens his eyes to piercing sunlight and a pale face inches from his.

“What the fuck!” he yelps, instinctively grabbing for his knife and snapping it open.

“Mr. Wei, he’s awake and noisy,” the face says, and Xue Yang focuses on its features.

It’s the goth guy. His arms have full-sleeve tattoos, matching patterns of stark black geometric lines and circles, but his neck has weird black veins tattooed on it. His eyes, which are still way too close to Xue Yang’s, are so dark they’re practically black.

“Where’s the witch?” Xue Yang asks, sufficiently recovered to be an asshole.

“Boiling children,” Wei Wuxian retorts. He’s leaning over the table and taking notes in a tattered book, poking something with a tiny screwdriver. “It’s the only reason we let you stay.”

“Really?” Xue Yang can’t decide if that’s cool or terrifying.

“He’s always like that in the morning,” Goth Guy says conspiratorially. “By ten, he’s pretty nice again.”

“I’m never nice,” Wei Wuxian grumbles. “A-Ning, can you take our miscreant home, please? The last thing I need is cops knocking on The House door asking if we’re kidnapping children. Again.” “Okay, Mr. Wei.”

Xue Yang panics. He can’t go back there. Not since they found him alone with the fire. He knows what they’ll do, and he can’t go back. He won’t . He ducks under Goth Guy’s arm and has his knife angled under Wei Wuxian’s chin before he’s even processed the motor function commands “get up” and “don’t let him send you away.”

“No! You have to…” He scrambles though thoughts, desperate ideas, each one crazier than the last before he hits on words that work themselves loose from his mouth. “You said I had a gift, you have to teach me to use it.”

Wei Wuxian frowns, but instead of being afraid or angry, he tips his head and whistles, two notes that almost sound like a name. To his great shock and horror, Xue Yang’s knife vibrates in his hand, and his fingers snap open like a broken trap, dropping the knife onto Wei Wuxian’s waiting palm. He carefully folds the blade back into the handle.

“Jiangzai,” he says, almost affectionately.

It doesn’t mean anything, but then it does , and it hits Xue Yang so hard he collapses to the ground. The knife has a name, and he knows it’s right as soon as Wei Wuxian says it. Xue Yang’s heart pounds, and he hates it. He hates this motherfucker who just took his knife away and he hates the Goth Guy who is helping him back to his feet. He doesn’t want to stay anymore, and he shakes off Goth Guy, wishing he could throw his kindness on the floor and stomp on it.

Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. “Okay, maybe you have a little bit more than a little bit of a gift. But you still can’t stay, and I’m not teaching you anything.”

Xue Yang snatches his knife— his Jiangzai—out of Wei Wuxian’s hand and stomps to the door. “Fine. Fuck you.”

He gets as far as yanking the door open and slamming it against the wall before he realizes that there is a person in the way, and she doesn’t look inclined to move.

“Here you go, kiddo,” she says, handing him a bag. “I bought you some clean clothes and a toothbrush. A-Ning will show you where the bathroom is. Come back down for breakfast when you’ve changed.”

This is somehow more terrifying than when she was yelling at him. Yelling he understands. Now she’s just being...creepy. He stares at her belligerently, and she sighs.

“Listen, you little shit,” she says, bending over to look him dead in the eye. She doesn’t have to bend very far, he realizes. She’s actually tiny, even though she seems as big as the Fremont troll. “You will either go willingly with A-Ning, who is very nice, or you can test my patience and get buried in the yard with all the rest of the naughty children who break into my house. Your choice.”

Yeah, that’s more solid ground.

“Fine.” He grabs the bag from her and waves at the Goth Guy. “Lead the way, A-Ning .” He means it to be an insult, but Goth Guy just grins.

Xue Yang hears Wei Wuxian ask, “Wen Qing, what the fuck,” before Goth Guy herds him up the wide staircase, and he doesn’t hear any more of her answer than, “A-Xian, I can’t let him leave. You don’t understand, I did a location…”

This close to the Goth Guy, Xue Yang decides to acknowledge that the pale translucence of his skin is probably not makeup.

“I’m Wen Ning, by the way. I doubt Mr. Wei or jiejie introduced me,” Goth Guy—Wen Ning—says in a casual tone.

“So are you actually dead or what?” he asks Wen Ning, and Wen Ning grins.

“Or what,” he answers enigmatically, and gently shoves Xue Yang in a bathroom with pink tiles and a claw-foot tub.

Once he’s bathed and changed, Xue Yang heads back downstairs. Breakfast is bacon, eggs, and toast, and he doesn’t even pretend it isn’t the best food he’s eaten in a week. It is, in fact, the first food he hasn’t stolen in a week, and that alone is a novelty.

He’s halfway done with his food when Wei Wuxian, who hasn’t touched a bit of his and looks as sullen as an orange, says, “I have been informed that there is some arcane rule about teaching a gift you discover, and my...how did you put it, dear Wen Qing? My immortal soul and earthly being will be in danger if I don’t capitulate to the inevitable?”

He glares at Wen Qing, and she smiles sweetly at him.

“Whatever,” Xue Yang says around a mouthful of eggs. “Are you going to eat that?”

Wei Wuxian passes him the plate of food, and Xue Yang closes his eyes in bliss. Food is amazing.

“There are conditions—don’t look at me like that, Wen-jie. I agreed, okay? I get to set conditions. First of all, you do whatever I tell you. If I tell you to sell turnips on the street corner, you better sell some goddamn turnips. Second, you don’t touch anything unless I say it’s okay. A lot of this stuff,” he waves his hand around the white and yellow room, which looks surprisingly cheerful for a kitchen in a black house, “is priceless and dangerous, so…”

Wen Qing clears her throat and glares at Wei Wuxian.

“Uh...don’t touch anything.” Wei Wuxian finishes, snaking a piece of bacon from Xue Yang’s plate and shoving it into his mouth before disappearing back into his workroom.

Wen Qing rolls her eyes. “I promise he’ll actually teach you stuff once he pulls his head—” She visibly checks herself. “Once he stops being an idiot. More bacon?”

The rest is on AO3

#the untamed #cql #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #xue yang #wei wuxian #wen ning #wen qing #Seattle #modern au #modern with magic #found family #the untamed fic #13k words #I just think teenage Xue Yang would have been very different with a family

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canary3d-obsessed · 4 years

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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 07 part one

(Masterpost)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Clan Sanren

Lanny Granny gets a second wind and continues her Yin Iron Webinar.

Wei Wuxian explains that although he was adopted by the Jiang Clan, Baoshan Sanren is his grandmaster, via his mom. Lan Yi claims to think that this is pretty great.

Lan Yi: Wow, amazing, my ex girlfriend who I dumped has settled down and started her own family Clan now, that’s so great. I’m so happy for her. So happy. So great. I mean, when I left I didn’t really picture her finding happiness first, you know? I kind of expected to have settled down myself by now but it’s hard to date when you’re trapped in an ice cave putting headbands on rabbits for 100 years. But it’s fine! I love my life and I’m sure eventually I’ll find that special rabbit person. Anyway I’m just...SUPER happy for Baoshan. Really. Really happy. For Baoshan.

Lan Wangji also appears to have thoughts about it, because he reacts pretty intently.

Lan+Sanren 4EvR.

Wang Yibo is looking extra fine in this cave sequence, with no headband to distract from his fierce eyebrows.

Lan Wangji asks Lan Yi if she’s the one who pulled them into the cave, and she says nope, and then nobody ever explains how they ended up in the cave. “Perhaps it’s destiny” does not count as an explanation.

Lan Gran explains that her battery is running down. The Lan bunnies are not energizer bunnies, apparently. She also tells them that it’s impossible to destroy the Yin Iron and that the only solution is to put it back in the cave and try to suppress it again.

(more after the cut)

However by Episode 23 it inexplicably becomes super easy to destroy the Yin Iron...

...meaning Lan Yi spent 100 years in a cave for nothing, other than writing the Definitive Guide to Rabbit Headbands.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji get back into Hardy Boys cultivator mode, but this time with an extremely long held gaze, which I think is their first time doing this.

I mean...even if these boys are 100% neurotypical (and hello, they are not), this is a LOT of eye contact. I can't gaze that long at anything except my phone screen.

We Will Achieve The Thing Together

Narrator: they will not achieve the thing

The reason I got into c-drama in the first place is, after decades of western storytelling tropes, it’s so refreshing to watch a story and have literally no idea what’s going to happen. Even when the story sets things up to happen a certain way according to my learned experience of stories, it just doesn’t play out that way. For example, if you’re watching The Lost Tomb Reboot and you expected the jade-mining sequence to end with a slave uprising, you were as surprised as I was.

Here Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian promise to do their best to find and suppress the Yin iron. Lan Wangji is going to fail at this, allowing this here piece to fall into the hands of the Wens, because unlike his uncle he's not willing to let his clan die to protect it.

Wei Wuxian is going to take his not-doing-the-thing several steps further, finding and refining his very own piece of extra-badass Yin iron. Yes, he has reasons for this and a lot of stuff happens along the way, but in terms of your typical quest storyline, it would be as if Frodo figured out how to use the one ring to kick Sauron’s ass, rather than (with help) destroying it. Again: this is why I LIKE c-drama.

Lan Wangji tries to shut Wei Wuxian out of his quest and Wei Wuxian makes a short but utterly character-defining speech.

You can’t stop me

I know what’s right.

And then he says that his Grandmaster Baoshan Sanren was isolated because of the Yin Iron, and he has a responsibility to her. Lan Yi agrees. So...he just kinda quit the Jiang Clan right there, didn’t he? In favor of eventually becoming a wandering cultivator like his Grandmaster and clan uncle (Xiao Xichen), and like his mother.

He is also going to follow in his father’s footsteps by upsetting his Clan Leader when he falls in love. Gosh, he also, like his parents, will die and leave an orphan to fend for himself. So -- the apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess.

He doesn't realize the pickle he’s getting himself into, of course. Being Wei Wuxian, he thinks he can balance all of his increasing obligations, but being human, he won’t be able to.

Pardon Our Entwinement

Lan Yi leaves to catch the spiritual plane, the Yin iron drops, the ward breaks, and Wen Ning appears to download a new software update. The kind that breaks your video driver and photoshops your eyeballs.

Wen Qing comes nosing around the cave wall, and Jiang Cheng stops by to ask what she’s up to.

He hopes she’s trying to find his brother, just like he will fail to do for her & her brother one day.

The boys fall out of the wall together, in a nice example of the “oops I’m accidentally humping you” c-drama romance trope. To keep it censor-friendly, Wei Wuxian is actually on the ground next to Lan Wangji’s right knee but the shot is framed so that at a glance he appears to be in a much cozier position.

Lan Wangji goes on an expression journey don’t say facial through several “oh shit we’re caught” faces, while Wei Wuxian shows Lan Wangji a few iterations of his oh-face.

Jiang Cheng wants to know what the fuck they have been getting up to for a day and a night.

The movie wasn't so hot, it didn't have much of a plot, we fell asleep our goose is cooked our reputation is shot

Wen Qing detects that they were somewhere cold and decides it’s her turn to ask nosy questions. Lan Wangji does the guilty startle thing.

Fortunately Wei Wuxian doesn’t have that problem.

He turns his answer into a prolonged whine about how cold it was, how lost they were, etc. This annoys Jiang Cheng into dropping it and saying they should head back.

I’m awesome right? so awesome right?

Wei Wuxian gives Lan Wangji a significant look to show that he’s deploying a rhetorical strategy on purpose to distract his questioner. Lan Wangji super does not know how to do that.

Flute + Yin Iron = Profit

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji get to watch as Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen tame the hunk of iron and stick it in the bag of holding. Wei Wuxian pays verrrryyy careful attention to this whole “use a flute to control the Yin iron” lesson.

Lan Xichen really should reconsider his music-lessons side hustle. Arguably this one doesn’t turn out as badly for him personally as teaching guqin to Jin Guangyao does, but it doesn’t turn out great, either.

知己啊 - zhi-ji-ah

This mostly-tedious Yin Iron conversation with the elders includes a super-important WangXian moment.

Wei Wuxian calls Lan Wangji his zhiji. This is the same word he will use later in the “what am I to you?” conversation during the Jin night hunt, and the word Lan Xichen will use when saying why Lan Wangji wouldn’t repudiate him during his forced isolation. As always, for the full meaning of this word, @hunxi-guilai is brills.

A Wen spy bird shows up, and Lan Wangji really wants to chase it, but Lan Xichen says no.

This happens a lot, actually. Lan Wangji is not a cool-headed person, despite appearances. Likewise the boys want to go searching for the Yin Iron and the adults want them to slow their roll.

Being a teenager is frustrating, particularly with a classic “I didn’t actually listen to you before making a decision” adult like Lan Qiren in charge.

Lying is my First Class Spiritual Tool

Nie Huasang shows up and has his usual hilariously varied reaction to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji - an enthusiastic “Wei-Xiong!” followed by a nervous & meek “Lan Er Gongzi” and a bow to Lan Wangji.

He wants to know what happened and Wei Wuxian once again shows his powers of rhetoric.

I like to call it my “devil snake.”

He puts off all of Nie Huaisang’s potential questions by really knowing his questioner well and completely distracting him.

This time Lan Wangji seems impressed.

Jelly Jiang Cheng

Young Master Cockblock shows up and lets loose with a display of total naked jealousy. That carving on Wei Wuxian’s bed back in Lotus Pier...is that him and Jiang Cheng? Because damn, this boi is jealous.

...and so is Lan Wangji, apparently, or at least he’s disappointed to have Wei Wuxian taken away from him like that.

Yearn Mode Enabled

Club Ruohan’s Foyer

Wen Chao and Xue Yang stand awkwardly in Wen Ruohan’s vestibule talking to the boss through a giant door, because sure, why not.

This doesn’t bother Xue Yang, who as usual has no fucks to give. Except that today, Wen Ruohan tells him that the budget for his project finally got approved, which lifts his spirits quite a bit.

His project to single-handedly slaughter an entire clan, and he is super excited about the kickoff meeting.

Wen Chao is mopey because his brother gets all the good murder assignments and his dad doesn’t appreciate him. Boo fucking hoo.

Periodic reminder that He Peng looks like this when he’s not playing Wen Chao.

Part 2 coming soon!

Soundtrack: Wake Up, Little Susie by the Everly Brothers

Bonus

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #the untamed meta #wangxian #the untamed gifs #restless rewatch the untamed #canary3d-original #wei wuxian #lan wangji #the untamed spoilers

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electroniccollectiondonut · 3 years

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okay so i've accepted that i'm very into lucien (which is honestly pretty on brand of me given that characters i've been very into in the past include feanor, xue yang, and mordred) and now i'm thinking about a fic where after they deal with all the cognouza shit, the balance of power between lucien and the m9 shifts. instead of dying, lucien is alive, stripped of his powers, his friends all dead, alone in his own mind for the first time in literal years. and the m9 want molly back, but also, lucien is kind of pathetic like this, and he can't hurt them, and he still looks like molly, so it's hard for any of them to bring themselves to strike at him. so they let him hang around because he would definitely get himself killed if they left him alone and even though he's a dick they would feel bad about that. and for the purposes of The Plot or w/e they have to traverse back through aeor together and there's extremely reluctant bonding and lucien has a rough time of it because honestly i'm just in this for the angst and whump potential of a suddenly-powerless lucien climbing out of the depths of aeor with a group of people who only loosely tolerate him because he looks like their dead friend who was all about second chances.

#cr lucien #lucien nonagon #critical role fanfiction #critical role

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gingersnapwolves · 3 years

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The Untamed, a brief summary [Part 3/6]

Part One: Sword Wizard School

Part Two: The Search for the Yin Iron and the World’s Worst Summer Camp

Part Three: The Fall of Lotus Pier and the Sunshot Campaign

Here’s where it starts to get dark, folks.

Ext, Lotus Pier [Yunmeng]

Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng get back, and Wei Wuxian promptly collapses because they were in the cave for a week and then he walked all the way back to Yunmeng. He sleeps for three days. When he wakes up, Jiang Yanli gives him soup. Jiang Fengmian comes in to congratulate him for killing the evil CGI turtle snake. Wei Wuxian tries to say it wasn’t a big deal. Jiang Cheng tells him he only got it done because he was playing the hero, and Jiang Fengmian reprimands him for being a jerk.

Yu Ziyuan comes in and the two get in a big fight over how Jiang Fengmian treats the kids. Yu Ziyuan says people think Wei Wuxian is actually Jiang Fengmian’s son, and Jiang Fengmian gets pissy about it (which is fair since it insults both his friends). The two of them storm off. Jiang Cheng is upset because his father doesn’t even like him. Wei Wuxian tells him not to be so hard on himself and says he’ll beat up anyone who’s mean to Jiang Cheng, that he doesn’t want anyone to think he’s anyone’s son but his parents, and that he’ll always be Jiang Cheng’s right hand man. It’s super sweet honestly.

ENTER A USELESS MESS

Meet Sect Leader Yao. He’s super annoying and shows up occasionally to require exposition and give the characters an excuse to explain things to the audience. His sect just got attacked by the Wens and most of his people are dead.

This obviously ain’t cool so Jiang Fengmian goes to talk to the leader of the Lanling Jin about joining up to fight Wen Ruohan. He brings Jiang Yanli with him for some reason.

While he’s gone, Jiaojiao shows up to demand Wei Wuxian be punished for all the shit he did in Qishan. Yu Ziyuan is enraged at Wei Wuxian for upsetting the Wens, or possibly just at Wei Wuxian existing in general. She whips him with her cool lightning weapon and injures him badly, while Jiang Cheng begs her to stop. Jiaojiao says this isn’t good enough and demands they cut off Wei Wuxian’s hand.

It looks like Yu Ziyuan is going to do it, but then Jiaojiao pisses her off by telling her that once the Wen have taken over Yunmeng, Yu Ziyuan can help out by being their governor or whatever. Yu Ziyuan gets pissed and starts beating the shit out of Jiaojiao. It’s really satisfying.

Wen Zhuliu shows up. He clearly has some history with Yu Ziyuan, because he calls her ‘Violet Spider’ and she calls him ‘Core-Melting Hand’. A rarepair is born.

All hell breaks loose. Jiaojiao signals their troops. Yu Ziyuan takes both Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian and throws them in a boat, and then ties them up with her lightning whip. She tells Wei Wuxian to protect Jiang Cheng with his life, which he would undoubtedly do anyway, blames him for everything that’s happened, and tells him she hates him. Then she starts the boat going down the river.

They’re still struggling to get free when they run into Jiang Fengmian coming back. Rather than release them, he ties Jiang Yanli in with them and goes to the defense of Lotus Pier. He also tells Wei Wuxian to protect Jiang Cheng with his life. They really want to drive this point home.

Int, Lotus Pier [Yunmeng]

Yu Ziyuan has killed like a hundred guys all by herself. It’s awesome. Jiang Fengmian shows up and charges to her rescue and promptly gets killed. Great job, Jiang Fengmian. Yu Ziyuan sees that they’ve lost and kills herself rather than be taken prisoner.

Ext, Lotus Pier [Yunmeng]

Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng have gotten back to find that their parents are dead along with most of their sect members. It sucks. They run away, which is honestly the most sensible thing to do.

Int, an inn [Yunmeng]

Jiang Yanli is sick. Jiang Cheng is shell-shocked. Wei Wuxian goes to get them food and medicine. When he returns, Jiang Cheng is gone. He gives the medicine to Jiang Yanli and tells her to stay there until he can get Jiang Cheng and get back.

Int, Lotus Pier [Yunmeng]

Wei Wuxian is looking for Jiang Cheng. He grabs a random Wen and starts to choke them to steal their uniform, only to realize it’s Wen Ning. He asks Wen Ning if he was involved and Wen Ning says no, he heard that Wei Wuxian was in trouble and decided to commit a little light treason. He offers to get Jiang Cheng out.

Ext, Lotus Pier [Yunmeng]

Wen Ning puts a bunch of drugs in the party punch. Wen Zhuliu sniffs it and clearly detects shenanigans. Wen Chao tells him to stop being a pussy and drink. Wen Zhuliu decides that if his boss wants him to pass out on company time that’s okay by him, so he drinks.

Wei Wuxian is waiting in a boat. Wen Ning comes back with Jiang Cheng, who is badly injured, and the magic lightning whip. He offers to take them to his sister’s house in Yiling so they can lay low.

Ext, Yiling Supervisory House [Yiling]

Wen Qing is understandably a little miffed that her brother decided to commit treason without checking with her first. But in for a penny, in for a pound, she patches Jiang Cheng up and hides them in her living room or something.

Jiang Cheng wakes up the next day and is basically a shell of a person. Wen Zhuliu, it turns out, has the ability to crush someone’s golden core, which is where they keep their spiritual power, so they can’t cultivate any longer. Think of it like cutting off a Jedi’s connection to the force. He’s lost his will to live and lies there like a dead thing for like two full episodes. No judgment.

Wei Wuxian starts reading every book Wen Qing owns in an effort to find a way to cure Jiang Cheng, despite this being said to be impossible. He finds one. She tells him not to do it because of the sacrifice that’s involved. He remains committed.

For some reason, Song Lan shows up. (Batman from earlier.) Xue Yang attacked his temple. He was blinded and has been wandering. Xiao Xingchen took him to see Baoshan Sanren, a famous cultivator in the mountains. She does not run a sect but will occasionally take on students. Xiao Xingchen was one and so was Wei Wuxian’s mother. Song Lan’s eyes are getting better.

Wei Wuxian tells Jiang Cheng that they’re going to go see Baoshan Sanren, who he knows because of her connection to his mother, and that she’ll restore his golden core. They ask Song Lan to take Jiang Yanli to Koi Tower (Lanling) so the Jin sect can keep her safe. He agrees.

Ext, a random mountain [Yiling]

Jiang Cheng goes up the mountain blindfolded. Wei Wuxian tells him to say his name is Wei Wuxian and ask Baoshan Sanren to restore his golden core.

Ext, a random town [Yiling]

Look, I’m gonna be honest with y’all. What happened between these two scenes is something that I figured out as it was happening, and I was never aware it was supposed to be a ~big reveal~ later. My wife likewise figured it out and treated it as fact. When it’s revealed later it’s a big deal to Jiang Cheng, but it wasn’t a big deal to us. However I’ve seen some people talking about how they didn’t figure it out until then, so I thought maybe I shouldn’t say what happened. But then I thought, this is just a summary, if you cared about spoilers you wouldn’t be reading this, and it’s much easier to explain what happens going forward if you know.

So, on that note, Wei Wuxian cut out his own golden core and gave it to Jiang Cheng. Or actually Wen Qing did the procedure. So now he has no golden core and can’t cultivate. Which sucks because he immediately gets captured by the Wens. He taunts Wen Chao, who decides not to kill him because he might become an angry ghost. Instead, they throw him into the Burial Mounds.

Ext, The Burial Mounds [Yiling]

A big battle happened here and it’s full of dead bodies and restless spirits. Cultivators have tried over the centuries to clean it up, but nobody who goes in ever comes out. Wei Wuxian lands in the middle of this mess and it sucks.

The creepy sword he’s been carrying in a spirit pouch asks if he wants revenge. Turns out he does. It’s super hot.

Ext, everywhere [everywhere]

Everyone is hella pissed that Lotus Pier was sacked. (I guess it was fine when it was Cloud Recesses for some reason.) The four great sects (or what remains of them) band together to fight Wen Ruohan. We see shots of lots of people looking badass. The mission to overthrow Wen Ruohan is dubbed The Sunshot Campaign.

Ext, the Indoctrination Bureau [Qishan]

It’s been three months. A bunch of nobodies are yukking it up that Wen Chao killed Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji comes out of nowhere and forces them all to kneel. It’s super hot. They admit to him and Jiang Cheng that Wei Wuxian was thrown into the Burial Mounds. Obviously this makes him very unhappy.

But on the plus side, they get their swords back. Yay! The disciple offers Wei Wuxian’s sword to Lan Wangji even though Jiang Cheng, who is Wei Wuxian’s brother and sect leader, is literally standing right there, so clearly everyone knows they’re married.

Ext, the Unclean Realm [Qinghe]

Everyone’s coming to Qinghe to discuss the final campaign. Wen Xu is now dead despite having never made another appearance, killed by Nie Mingjue.

Jiang Cheng reunites with Jiang Yanli, who has been in Lanling this whole time. She didn’t even know Wei Wuxian was missing and she’s pretty upset to hear about it.

They have a battle strategy meeting. Lan Wangji asks if he can go kick some ass in Yiling, and Nie Mingjue tells him and Jiang Cheng to go ahead.

Nie Mingjue asks Jin Zixuan how Meng Yao is doing in Lanling, having assumed (for some reason) (actually the reason is from book canon but didn’t translate to the show very well) that Meng Yao would have gone there. Jin Zixuan tells Nie Mingjue that Meng Yao didn’t go to Lanling, and that even if he did, his father would not have welcomed him. Nie Mingjue appears upset, possibly regretting that he exiled Meng Yao over one measly murder.

Ext, Yiling Supervisory House [Yiling]

Wen Chao and Jiaojiao are having a great time until a mysterious man dressed all in black shows up and uses a mysterious flute to drive everyone there insane and kill most of them. Wen Chao only escapes because Wen Zhuliu rescues him.

The next day, Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng show up, view the carnage, and say ‘well that ain’t good’.

Jiang Cheng finds Wen Qing imprisoned in the basement. She doesn’t know where Wen Ning was taken. She thanks him for the rescue and says they’re even now. He gives her the comb he bought for her back in the first arc. Or actually he just sets it on the table because he’s bad at romance. We don’t see whether or not she takes it.

Int, an inn [Yiling]

Wen Chao is totally nuts and freaking the fuck out. Wen Zhuliu is trying to get him to calm down long enough to treat his injuries, while mentally updating his resume again.

A mysterious man in black shows up with a flute and summons a demon or three.

Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng, who have been tracking Wen Chao, show up in time to hop up to the roof and look through a convenient window to see what’s happening. It’s revealed that the mysterious man in black is *drum roll please* Wei Wuxian! He is super hot.

Wei Wuxian is doing absolutely fine with the murdering but Jiang Cheng jumps in anyway, using the lightning whip to kill Wen Zhuliu, which, props to Jiang Cheng. Wen Chao cowers in a corner.

Jiang Cheng asks Wei Wuxian where the hell he’s been, returns his sword, and hugs him, and your tears are ‘what the hell I thought this was a silly show about sword wizards’. Wei Wuxian has clearly forgotten what hugs are. It’s sad.

Lan Wangji ruins the moment by demanding why Wei Wuxian is using seriously evil magic to kill people. Wei Wuxian says ‘you can’t tell me what to do, mom’, which does not help the situation at all. He and Jiang Cheng murder Wen Chao while Lan Wangji stands outside looking messed up about it.

Ext, the Unclean Realm [Qinghe]

Wei Wuxian is reunited with Jiang Yanli and shit I’m crying again.

Jiang Yanli’s worried about the evil magic. She talks to Lan Wangji, who tells her that it sure is evil and Wei Wuxian shouldn’t be doing it because it will corrupt his mind and temperament.

Everyone wants to know why Wei Wuxian isn’t carrying his sword. He blows them off. (It’s because he can’t use it, since he’s not a cultivator anymore.)

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian manage to use their words for exactly one (1) scene. Lan Wangji says ‘let me help you’ and Wei Wuxian says ‘okay’ and then promptly spends the next ten episodes not letting Lan Wangji help him.

Int, the Unclean Realm [Qinghe]

There’s another battle strategy meeting. They discuss the fact that they need something that can counter Wen Ruohan’s yin iron. Wei Wuxian says ‘I’m working on it’ and then refuses to give them any details and leaves, which is super rude, my dude.

Lan Xichen is getting information from a mole in Wen Ruohan’s troops. Nie Mingjue asks where it’s coming from and Lan Xichen beats around the bush.

Wei Wuxian wanders off to have a PTSD breakdown.

Ext, somewhere I don’t remember

Jin Zixuan is a jerk to Jiang Yanli. It’s about soup. It’s as stupid as it sounds. Wei Wuxian loses his temper even though it’s stupid and nearly evil magics Jin Zixuan and a bunch of guys to death. Lan Wangji tells him to chill.

Ext, Nightless City [Qishan]

They’ve fought their way to Nightless City! Now all they have to deal with is that Wen Ruohan has like a zillion zombie puppets. It goes as badly as you would expect.

Int, Nightless City [Qishan]

Somewhere along the way, Nie Mingjue had the brilliant plan to sneak in and assassinate Wen Ruohan during the chaos of the battle, despite the fact that Nie Mingjue is akin to a rhinoceros and does not sneak. He is immediately captured along with a bunch of his guys.

Meng Yao is here! He has big ‘look how much better I’ve been doing after the divorce’ energy. He kills a few of Nie Mingjue’s guys and then taunts him about how much he sucks.

Ext, Nightless City [Qishan]

Despite the fact that it took Wei Wuxian three seconds to summon evil spirits over his sister’s hurt feelings, he stands around for like twenty minutes watching every non-main-character get murdered before he’s like “oh, right, the creepy sword I have was yin iron all along” and he’s made it into an amulet which enhances his power. He seizes control of Wen Ruohan’s zombies and makes them all kill each other. He is super hot.

Wen Ruohan stops murdering Nie Mingjue when he realizes this is happening and goes out to see what’s going on. He and Wei Wuxian, who is still super hot, have a brief exchange before Meng Yao fucking stabs Wen Ruohan in the back like a badass motherfucker.

Wei Wuxian passes out which seems reasonable.

Int, Nightless City [Qishan]

Nie Mingjue is pissed. Lan Xichen quickly explains that Meng Yao is the one who was undercover and was passing information back to him the whole time. Nie Mingjue points out that Meng Yao killed his men. Lan Xichen points out that Meng Yao had to, because he didn’t want to blow his cover. Nie Mingjue begrudgingly accepts this explanation.

Turns out that when Lan Xichen was fleeing the Wen sect burning down Cloud Recesses, he ran into Meng Yao, who headed to Gusu after leaving Qinghe because Wen Chao told them that Wen Xu was going to attack it. Meng Yao saved Lan Xichen’s life, and with this paragraph, a hundred fanfics were born.

~end part 3~

#the untamed #liveblog

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