#but also this really shows how well-liked wwx can make himself

[mxtxfanatic]

This was cute:

The clan had never had such a guest before, so all the juniors involved in pushing, shoving, and pulling Wei Wuxian in found the experience novel and a great deal of fun. Were it not for their clan’s strict rules, they would have giggled the entire way.

—Chapt. 11: Elegance I, fanyiyi

#human reads mdzs: take 2 #baby's first return to the cloud recesses #but also this really shows how well-liked wwx can make himself #he's turned his 'hostage' act into a game for the juniors #who would not have experienced this outrageous behavior before #but unlike with the mo manor this is a lighthearted moment

[hamliet]

Anon who talked about book 7 of TGCF here! I unfortunately will only have book 8 available this February :') once I get my hands on it I will review it here like I did for the last books if you don't mind! Meanwhile, I still have a lot of thoughts on TGCF, and I hope I don't bother you with how long this ask is 😅

I've seen an interpretation online of the bamboo-hat scene in book 6 in which it says that XL would've never ended up as White No-Face's successor even if the bamboo hat guy didn't appear, because it isn't in XL's nature to do something so destructive and evil. Is it bad that I think think this interpretation diminishes the impact the bamboo-hat scene has for me? Because to me what made that scene so great was the fact that kindness was indeed able to change someone at their worst and by consequence bring out their best self. Hell, what makes the conflict between JW and XL so interesting to me is because XL could've indeed become like him had he not received kindness in his darkest moments, and by consequence JW could've been like XL under the right circumstances. "XL is just naturally gooder™ than JW" is not exactly an interpretation I like, and I think it may even contradict the message of other character arcs in the story as well. HC was saved by the kindness he received from XL, and thus became devoted to him. When HX chose his revenge over his friendship with SQX, it didn't satisfy him, and it even made him more miserable, as he lost his only friend in the process. Guzi, by loving QR unconditionally and genuinely as his son, ended up bringing up to the surface a side of QR that perhaps not even QR knew he had, and it moved his heart enough that he ended up sacrificing himself to save Guzi in turn. QYZ became attached to YY because he showed him compassion when everyone else dismissed him and thought of him as nothing more than a brute. I could go on and on. In other MXTX's books there's also a big emphasis on the impact kindness and genuine connection can have on people. WWX could've easily become a XY or a JGY had he been raised in different circumstances. Hell, the constrast between Bingmei and Bingge hinges on the fact that Bingmei was shown kindness while Bingge wasn't, and the difference between them is of day and night.

Usually they mention the quote "What matters is 'you' and not the state of you.", and that part where HC knew XL wasn't the one who did the guilded banquet Massacre, but I didn't exactly interpret these quotes to mean that XL is naturally good™ in a way that he's able to do no big evil, but rather that he's naturally good in a sense that evil isn't something natural to him, even if he participates in it, which is a theme that can also be seen in characters like JW, HX and QR, who became who they are due to the circumstances in their life shaping them into who they became. It's even highlighted that QR used to be a shy and sweet kid until his environment raised him into a monster. Evil isn't natural but rather something slowly molded by circumstances is how I interpreted it. And as for the Guilded Massacre, it's more that HC saw XL rejecting cursing Yong'an after the bamboo-hat scene and thus rejecting White No-Face's philosophy precisely because it was proven wrong in his eyes, and therefore it would make no sense for XL to be responsible for the guilded banquet massacre later on.

Of course I could be completely wrong in my interpretation, but this is what I picked up while reading the novel. Maybe it's my bias against the immobility of the self? Once again I'm sorry for the wall of text, it's just that I have a lot of thoughts about the way MXTX's books handle the impact that kindness and connection have on the self. I also really like your theories and interpretations not only on MXTX's novels, but for other works as well (I'll only be able to read the ones on JW next month in order to avoid spoilers unfortunately)!

No, I completely agree with you. Actually, I'd go so far as to say that's misreading the story, and the ending--without spoilers--makes this textually explicit. Like, it literally says, not symbolically but directly, that the point is that Xie Lian could have become just like Jun Wu.

So, they're not just misinterpreting, they're misreading. I'm guessing theses are the same kinds of people who think MDZS's message is WWX=good JGY=bad, honestly, when again that means that you're missing the point of the story. (Good point about Luo Binghe, as well!)

To return to TGCF, Hua Cheng's "what matters is you and not the state of you" has nothing at all to do with Xie Lian being a "good" person. In fact, Hua Cheng is pretty explicitly amoral. He's loyal to Xie Lian because Xie Lian was kind to him and he fell in love with him. It does not matter to him whether Xie Lian does good or does bad; that's the point of Wu Ming. It only matters to him that he is Xie Lian, and Xie Lian told him he mattered and did not deserve to be treated as he was being treated.

Of course, one could counter that love itself is a moral virtue, so thereby it saves Hua Cheng and the whole world, but that's for another time haha.

And, of course, please do continue to share your thoughts!!

#ask hamliet #tgcf #mxtx

[stoopid-turtle]

Consuming Candies Pt. 1: GG and DD are le Gay

Everything is fake. I make up stuff for fun. Do not believe a word of it.

Intro post for this series

I'm a nerd so I feel I need to asterisk just about anything. Basically, this is my list of moments/candies that cemented for me a few things: 1) DD is hella gay; 2) GG is some flavor of gay; 3) that GGDD definitely had a thing around the time of the TU filming; 4) that they're still together.

1 and 2 are needed to establish 3 and, unless you go for a very different timeline than other turtles, 3 is needed to establish 4.

Such. A. Nerd.

I divided this up into 2 posts because I'm incredibly long-winded.

So, #1: DD is incredibly incredibly gay. There is no doubt in my mind. Here's why, in order with the most convincing moments first. Once I accepted these, the following points were easier to wrap my head around.

a) DD checked out another guy's ass at the Tencent Awards Night and exclaimed "Handsome" to his co-star.

Just what it says on the tin. I've watched these 5 seconds over and over, and I can't wrap my head around any other explanation. The man passes by, DD's eyes clearly sweep down, then he says "Shuai!" I'm usually skeptical of lip-readings, but this is unmistakable.

I put this as the most convincing for me because it's not a bts, there's no need for fanservice, it's an official stream of a video and there is literally no other way to interpret this. It's incredibly blatant. He's into men (and, notably, his co-star in LoF is clearly in the know since he makes the comment to her).

(Honestly, it makes me a little uncomfortable, because I've noticed DD has started covering his mouth when speaking to companions at public events, presumably so that fans can't try to read his lips. I'm sure he did not expect that ass-ogle to be noticed by anyone)

b) "I'm not talking about WWX, I'm talking about XZ." I discussed this in my turtle origin story, but this moment in the bts really knocked me over the head with that fact that DD was outright hitting on XZ. There was no way to interpret this as them joking around with the fact that their characters were in a BL relationship (a la the director referring to them as "lovebirds" or someone on the crew calling xz DD's "wife"). DD straight up flirts with GG. Gets turned down because the phrase he used was taken the wrong way. Then calls him "beautiful" (or "fairy-like"). When GG rejects this as not fitting WWX, DD just clarifies that he's talking about XZ not WWX. (Which, wow, what a line. DD is bold)

There's no het explanation for that moment, unless you want to posit that there was an intentional fabrication of fanservice (I address that issue elsewhere).

Add this on top of DD's other comments to XZ, calling him "erotic", asking for kisses, asking for him to sleep with him, declaring his love. A lot of this is joking around, but there's a safety in joking around when you're flirting with someone you like. You can retreat to the joke if they don't like it.

But this moment isn't even a joke. It's sincere. DD's flirting the fuck with GG.

It's not even hard to believe coming off a). DD is clearly into men. GG is very charismatic and seems to attract the attention of just about everybody who meets him (I get serious There's Something about Mary vibes from him sometimes in how people talk about him) (I am old. My references are old). Is it so hard to think that DD would shoot his shot?

He's on a cast with the guy, playing the love interest. They get along incredibly well. DD has a pretty high opinion of himself, to say the least. I'm not at all surprised he'd make a go for it.

There are several moments in the bts where GG teases DD for sending memes of himself (only the handsome ones) or sending (again, handsome) selfies of himself. It is funny, but it also strikes me as someone trying to get some reaction from his crush. It feels a little awkward to have GG openly teasing him about it but DD gets his revenge by showing off the pouty photo of GG, so he clearly managed to deal with it. (And GG clearly agrees that DD is handsome, so DD's text campaign worked)

c) The Nike rainbow shoes and ice cream.

Honestly, I wouldn't have this on here except for this post by potteresque-ire here on tumblr. Within the context in China at the time, and with the response DD received from his fans, it's clear that the rainbow Nikes + Ben & Jerry's were meaningful to DD. It's a shame that the political situation with Nike later required him to fall in line with the CCP and remove it, but I trust potteresque on the context that this post was a Big Deal.

d) His involvement with TU.

I've heard mixed things about the expectations for TU at the time of casting. The landscape for BL was rocky and the production company was unproven, but it was recognized that MDZS was a huge IP and so there was a chance that it could be a gigantic hit. There was also an equal risk that it would completely flop or not be allowed to air. Still, there's a fantastic interview with the non-GGDD cast of TU where the interviewer asks them if they knew that TU was going to be so big. There's a moment of awkward silence until somebody (I think WZC) just says, "No."

My understanding is that WYB was the biggest star they got on the cast. He had other opportunities, no doubt some that were more promising and that didn't result in him losing the support of his homophobic fans. But DD put his hat in the ring anyway.

Why? Maybe he wanted to roll those dice to see if he could sign on to something that would be huge. But he's also gay, and there's every possibility that he just wanted to act in a gay romance.

(This is putting aside some of the speculation that DD and GG knew each other or were even dating prior to casting.)

I bet he saw it as a rare opportunity to play a (censored) gay character, and he was willing to lose fans to do so (much like with the Nike post). DD is bold.

I go into this more when I talk about GG.

(Also, I don't know if he specifically went in for the LWJ role or if, like literally everybody else on that cast, he was trying to get the role of Xue Yang (srsly, what's up with this???), or if he just kept his options open)

e) He has no interest in women.

Just because a guy likes men doesn't mean he also doesn't like women. Except with DD, he seems to have 0 interest in women. At first, I could chalk this up to him being shy, not having much experience around girls, etc. But after a certain point, his clear disinterest has to be taken in consideration with his overt flirtiness and enthusiasm about men.

Basically, he doesn't have a problem with women. They're just not his focus in life or love. He doesn't light up around women. He lights up around men. I know this is real subjective, and that displeases my nerd heart, so the other points matter too, but this is really the heart of things. DD isn't interested in women.

Add onto this some implications he's made that he is...um...not sexually frigid (I tried to find this clip and was unsuccessful. Ah well.) and...well, you can't be shy with women and still be a horndog Leo if you're straight. That horndog energy is being directed somewhere else.

In sum, DD is just really, really gay. Don't hit me with those, "But his hobbies are so dudely" nonsense. Go meet some actual gay guys, list out their hobbies, then get back to me. DD. Is. Gay. Full stop.

#2. GG is some flavor of gay.

GG's always the more puzzling one. DD is so...loud and unapologetic. GG plays close to the vest.

I'm struck by some screenshots I saw of his university peers gossiping about him back in those days. People explicitly said he wasn't gay, so if GG was out back then, he was only out to a few people.

He came from a traditional family, and I get the vibe he was incredibly nervous at the idea of entering a gay relationship. I doubt he "didn't realize" he was gay until he met DD, because I think even the scaredest, most closeted person knows on some level that they're gay. But I think GG might have been set to remain in the closet for the long-haul.

There's an interview of GG done while filming where he's asked about DD (he smiles real big and it's really sweet). He gives the usual response of DD being slow to warm up to people, but when he's asked about his current impression, he exclaims that DD is "a lunatic" (I laugh every time I watch that). Then he comments that DD isn't scared to be "unconventional".

I can't say for certain, but it feels like it's in part a reference to DD being more bold with his sexual orientation. GG keeps things more buttoned up and close to his chest, but he clearly finds DD's lunacy appealing as he signed onto it.

Honestly, GG is hard for me to get a read on. When I see DD outside of the UT bts, I can see the continuity in his personality. I mean, yeah, everything's turned up to 11 in the UT bts because he's clearly infatuated with GG. But he's still a gremlin outside of the bts, just in a more subdued and less targeted way.

With GG, I struggle sometimes to see the continuity between his personality in the bts and his personality outside it (the wig doesn't help with this. it makes him look like a different person). Granted, I haven't delved into his solo work near as much as I have for DD (and, notably, he doesn't seem to do as much unscripted stuff as DD), but he strikes me as a person who is very adept at code-switching depending on the situation. DD is DD is DD, 24/7. GG is more adaptive to his surroundings.

I imagine that's one of the things that drew GG to DD (beyond the massive flirt-campaign...I mean, who could resist DD when he's going so freaking hard for it?).

Do I think GG's attracted to women? Honestly, not sure. I've not seen enough of his interactions with women or his history with women to say (I've spent way more time with DD outside of TU than GG). But I'm pretty sure he's attracted to men for these reasons:

a) His ideal life painting.

Put aside all the other interpretations people have for that. Just the fact that his ideal life included one (1) other person and that that person is a man is significant.

Admittedly, I don't know the background of the painting. It was used in an ad campaign, and if you watch the full video that showed the painting, the cat and bike elements are shown as inspired by stuff GG saw in a walk. I'm not sure how much creative control he had over the whole thing, and I've not been able to find anything in English about it.

But assuming that he had the freedom to paint his genuine ideal life, or at least enough of it to be the one to choose having a man in there (and why would the hotel specifically ask for a male companion in the painting?), then there's no het explanation for that. GG's ideal life is to be at the beach with his cat and another man.

b) When he wore Pride shoes to an interview.

Not just something that incidentally had a rainbow pattern. Straight-up Pride merch.

IME, allies don't wear Pride merch. Any ally I know who wears Pride merch will eventually come out as LGBT+ at some point. If you wear Pride merch, you're gay. (That's the rule)

Okay, more seriously. I grew up in the grimmer days of the 90s and 00s in US South, before rainbow-washing was profitable and before most studios felt comfortable showing even the slightest amount of gay relationships. Back when wearing a rainbow was a serious statement that would attract notice and might get you beat up (I had multiple friends who were physically attacked. I avoided it bc I am a trickster a bisexual and therefore invisible). Back then, the only people who wore Pride merch were actually gay. I can't think of any exceptions.

Later, as the situation for LGBT+ folks improved in the US (let's put aside the anxiety of the current anti-trans wave), I have seen a couple self-identified allies who wear Pride merch. But in every case, that ally eventually came out as gay. The "ally" label was a useful stopping place in their comfort with being openly gay.

Things may be different in China. I think in some ways, it probably resembles the way things were when I grew up--before gay marriage was legal and when the majority of people expressed disgust with gay people. On the other hand, the homophobia of the US has a strong religious element that doesn't seem to be present in China.

But all that regardless, wearing Pride merch is meaningful. Even now in the US, when rainbows are everywhere. It's definitely meaningful in China, where same-sex relationships are censored in the media.

c) I've discussed DD's overt flirting already, but another part of that "I'm not talking about WWX, I'm talking about XZ" video that struck me was GG's response.

He smiles, crinkles his nose, and shyly looks down. This is such a classic "I'm being flirted with and I'm into it" response (shy-person flavor). No straight guy would react to DD flirting with him like that. That reaction only makes sense if XZ is into being flirted with by men, DD in this case.

d) The BDSM conversation in the cave, complete with GG making an obscene, um, tongue gesture.

I'm trying my best to picture this as a conversation between 2 straight guys, and I'm failing here. The whole conversation is gay. Add in the literal tongue in cheek and it's incredibly flirty and suggestive. Like with C, GG's responses are just...not straight. They only make sense in a flirty context, and not one that's playing with them acting as Wangxian.

e) His involvement in TU.

This follows what I wrote for DD above. XZ was not as big a name as DD was at the time, so he was a relative unknown trying out for a role (for Xue Yang's role, specifically) on a show that may never air.

GG likely didn't have as many options open to him as DD at that time, so you could try to argue that he was just trying out for as many roles as he could.

But honestly, I think anybody who signed onto TU has higher than average odds of being LGBTQ+ themselves. Think about it. If you're queer and in the industry, you have few to no opportunities to play a role that reflects your relationships. You have few opportunities to work on a set that is overtly okay with same-sex relationships (at least, of the fictional variety).

You hear that a BL novel is being adapted and while you know BL novels are mainly for straight women, it's still gonna be a gay romance. Maybe your only chance at being involved in filming a gay romance. Of course you're going to want to be in on that.

Being in the closet sucks. Not being able to be yourself fully sucks. Back when I was a gay teen in the 90s-00s, I would just look up photos of girls kissing online (not porn. just kissing) just because I never saw that and it fed something inside of me that was missing. A part of me that was never reflected back at me. I ached for more lesbian relationships in TV and books, and I watched so many shitty movies/tv shows just because there were lesbians in it.

The media landscape is much better now here in the US, but when I think about how queer folk in the industry in China might feel, I think back to myself as a younger queer lady bursting at the seams to immerse myself in a world that actually had a space carved for me.

So yeah, being on the UT, in of itself, is a signal to me. It doesn't mean that everybody involved with it was gay. But I do think that it means that the odds of any particular person being gay is higher than in a non-BL production.

Admittedly, there's no way to prove this, and who knows? Maybe gay men would be less likely to want to work on a BL production because of the strained relationship between gay men and the boy-love genre. But I kinda doubt that because when your relationships are censored, you'll latch onto anything you can get that even resembles them. I watched countless anime made for horny fanboys because they had lesbians in them. I watched, literally, anything, no matter who created it. I know other gay girls who watched lesbian porn of the type made by and for straight men because they just wanted to see their own desires reflected at them, even if the reflection was a little wonky.

And that's just with watching media. Signing up to act in a project means you also get to connect with other people who are hypothetically okay with gay relationships. Who might even be gay, themselves. Fuck yeah, you're gonna leap on that.

So, yeah. This point is the last for both DD and GG but it's important because it establishes how I think about the production of TU. If the set had more gay cast/crew given the subject matter of the show, is it really so far-fetched that some people would hook up? Or start a relationship?

Once I convinced myself that GG and DD are some flavor of gay, the rest wasn't hard to buy into at all. But that's for the next post. :)

I am a clown and everything I say is fake. Don't buy into it.

Next Post: Consuming Candies Pt 2: DD ❤️ GG and GG ❤️ DD

#bjyx #yizhan #i'm a clown #everything is fake #this post gets really gay #almost as gay as DD

[youhideastar]

Fit for Purpose Deleted Scenes I: Alternate Version, First Half

Hi all! I have a lot of deleted scenes for Fit for Purpose - I mean A LOT, 10,000 words of deleted scenes, and that's in part because there's a whole other version of the story that I wrote and then mostly trashed: a three-chapter version where the first chapter looks like what Fit For Purpose looks like now, alternating present day and flashbacks; the second chapter retells canon (i.e., goes through WWX's story sequentially in flashback); and the third chapter picks up again in the present day with no flashbacks. I did this because (a) I was really worried readers would find it implausible that this universe's WWX would leave Yunmeng Jiang to defend the Wens and I wanted to show how that would go down and (b) there were some really cool flashback scenes that shed light on the worldbuilding or the characters' relationships that I loved but that didn't fit in the love story that Fit for Purpose was supposed to be all along.

Basically, there were two versions of this story fighting each other--one the love story, one the backstory--and the love story needed to win, and did. Ultimately, I imposed discipline on the story by creating a rule that every flashback had to be about (1) LWJ or (2) sex/romance. I then broke that rule several times 😂, but even trying to abide by the rule helped keep the story focused.

So the first set of deleted scenes I'm going to share is the first half of that alternate version middle chapter: retelling the drama's plot, but in this universe. It's just the first half for now (second half forthcoming) because I don't think you want to read a 5,000-word post 😂 and I'm going to try to keep my commentary on the scenes to a minimum so as not to make this post longer. Other deleted scenes posts are linked in the masterpost. I hope you enjoy!

The flashback chapter began with the Cloud Recesses arc. A pared-down version of this section made it into the posted fic.

When Wei Wuxian is seventeen, Yunmeng Jiang sends a delegation to Cloud Recesses for a year of study.

It gets off to a rough start when Jiejie’s betrothed—her betrothed!—kicks them out of their inn, and Wei Wuxian leaves behind their invitation. But it improves almost immediately when he finds himself dueling on moonlit rooftops and tackling cultivation mysteries with Gusu Lan Sect’s own head disciple: Lan Wangji, the sect’s alpha heir and one of the famed Twin Jades of Gusu Lan.

Lan Wangji is an impressive swordsman, and his cultivation knowledge is both deep and broad. He’s a challenge, a rival – something Wei Wuxian has never had. It’s exhilarating. The Second Jade of Gusu Lan is talented and beautiful, razor-sharp and bright-shining…

But.

But. He’s also such a fucking stick-in-the-mud. It’s not enough that he never has any fun – he doesn’t want anyone else having fun, either. Not even harmless, normal fun like fishing, or drinking, or fighting!

Wei Wuxian turns the problem over in his mind, and concludes that this is a boy who really, really needs to do some ‘practicing for the wedding night.’

Now yes, technically, what alphas and omegas do with Wei Wuxian is against the rules—sex is supposed to be reserved for your mate, and only your mate—and the upright, uptight Lan-er-gongzi is obsessed with his rules. But really. It would be a public service for Wei Wuxian to get that rigid fuddy-duddy well and truly laid, and that’s exactly what he intends to do.

He begins his campaign in the library.

Then you have the library and getting-LWJ-drunk scenes, which made it into the posted fic. Then this:

Anyway, after that, Wei Wuxian tones it down a little. He still tries to make Lan Zhan understand that he’s available – “many benefits to being my friend,” and all that. Still wants to make sure Lan Zhan knows he can come to Wei Wuxian for that, when he needs it. If he needs it. (Still hopes he will, because he stands by his opinion that Lan Zhan could use a tumble, for his own good.)

But he’s not sure anymore that Lan Zhan does need it. Lan Zhan is… weird. He’s prudish and judgmental and obsessed with rules and wound way too tight—Wei Wuxian still isn’t over the part where he turned himself in for drinking even though it was against his will—but Wei Wuxian is starting think that might just be… him. That’s Lan Zhan. And Wei Wuxian…

Well, he likes it. He likes Lan Zhan.

He likes his mean glares, and the way he ruffles like a startled cat when Wei Wuxian provokes him, and how fucking good he is at everything, how he can keep up with Wei Wuxian, and even push him, in a way that Wei Wuxian has never gotten to have and didn’t even realize he was missing. And he likes that Lan Zhan expects a lot of himself. That he holds himself to his sect’s annoying rules, even though he’s a rich, highborn alpha and could probably just coast on his birth and his brother’s reputation.

So. The embarrassing truth is, Wei Wuxian kind of likes Lan Zhan the way he is. Does he think Lan Zhan would be a lot happier if he were getting laid? Absolutely yes, and he’s not giving up on making that happen. But he doesn’t think he needs to fix Lan Zhan by getting him laid. Lan Zhan’s not broken. He’s just weird. And weird, Wei Wuxian decides, is okay.

Weird is, maybe, kind of great. At least when it’s Lan Zhan.

*

The thing with Lan Zhan, though, is that he kind of… makes Wei Wuxian forget. Forget what he’s supposed to be doing, forget what he’s supposed to be. Wei Wuxian’s life has been all about Yunmeng Jiang for so long that having something else—someone else—important in his life makes him—

No. That’s not fair. It’s not Lan Zhan’s fault. Whatever it is, this flaw in Wei Wuxian, this arrogance… it was there from the beginning. In his bones.

*

It starts in Cold Pond Cave: standing side-by-side with Lan Zhan before the great Lan Yi, joined at the wrist by Lan Zhan’s ribbon in a way that would be scandalous, if Wei Wuxian weren’t a beta. If it actually meant anything.

Lan Zhan swears to find and seal the Yin Iron, and Wei Wuxian, standing beside him, bound to him, promises the same.

It doesn’t feel wrong.

It feels amazing. Swearing his allegiance to a goal, a responsibility, a quest – a shared responsibility, him and Lan Zhan, spurred on by chivalry and the common good. It feels like the only thing he can do, when so much is on the line. When the whole cultivation world needs this, needs him.

And then he makes the same mistake at Qixi, side-by-side with Lan Zhan again, watching their shared lantern rise into the sky. He makes a vow.

Not to serve Yunmeng Jiang Sect. Not to protect Jiang Cheng and Jiejie. Not to do what Jiang-shushu saved his life to do, what Yu-furen charged him with, all those years ago.

No.

He vows to curb the wicked, and protect the weak; to always stand with justice, and keep a clear conscience. And he can tell Lan Zhan is with him – that Lan Zhan is committed to the same ideal.

That feels good, too. It feels right.

Only later will he look back at that kid in the cave, that kid on the cliff, and feel a terrible tightness in his chest. Only then will he see where he went wrong – forgetting himself, forgetting his place, his purpose.

That life of chivalry, that fight for justice—that’s not what he’s for. That’s for alphas and omegas. His purpose was determined for him at the moment of his birth.

But stubbornly—selfishly—he had wanted more.

*

Because of that, A-Yuan will live.

*

Because of that, Jiejie will die.

*

He doesn’t know any of that yet. That Qixi night, the biggest threat to Jiejie, as far as he’s concerned, is her stupid betrothed.

Jin Zixuan snarls, “I said, I don’t want to hear about that girl,” and Wei Wuxian decks him.

It’s his duty: he’s known his whole life that he might be called on to die for Jiejie someday, so getting in a little fistfight for her is nothing.

Lan Qiren agrees. “Fighting is forbidden,” he says, explaining to Jin Guangshan why Wei Wuxian is not being punished for blacking the eye of his son and heir, “but of course a beta must defend his sister.”

It’s probably the first time he’s ever agreed with Wei Wuxian about anything. But then, who could better understand a beta’s obligations?

Jiang Fengmian is summoned, too, because of the insult to his daughter. When his meeting with Lan Qiren is over, he hugs Wei Wuxian and tells him, “I’m proud of you, A-Xian.” Holding Wei Wuxian by the shoulders, gaze warm and direct, he adds, “A-Li is lucky to have a brother like you.”

I really liked showing how the JZX fight reaction would have been totally different in this universe; that was one of the things I hated to lose.

Here are a couple other versions of the Lan Yi cave scene - it was so pivotal to explaining why WWX would ultimately choose justice over his family that I knew I needed to get it right.

It’s a good thing, Wei Wuxian reflects later, that Lan Zhan got dragged into Cold Pond Cave with him, and not one of the alpha or omega disciples. Lan Zhan would never have wrapped his ribbon around them—it would have been tantamount to an engagement.

Then, in retrospect, he fucks up.

It doesn’t feel like fucking up at the time. It feels like the only thing he can do: the problem of the Yin Iron is his problem, because it should have been his mother’s problem, because it was her shizun’s problem. When he swears to help contain the Yin Iron, and prevent it from being misused, it feels right.

He won’t realize until later that this is where it all started to go wrong.

That a beta who belongs to Yunmeng Jiang has no business making promises to anyone else.

If Yu-furen had been in that cave, he’d never have made it out alive.

*

In Cold Pond Cave, Lan Yi gives him a charge – a mission.

It feels strangely familiar.

He remembers Yu-furen telling him, “You protect your jie and a-Cheng. You live for them. Die for them.”

It doesn’t occur to him until later that those missions might conflict.

It’s only later that he looks back at that kid in the cave and wants to shake him, wants to slap him—

He sold something that day. Something that wasn’t his to sell.

His allegiance, after all, was already spoken for.

It was spoken for when he was seven years old.

This next scene is just a sketch. I would have fleshed it out more if I'd posted this.

He really wants to go with Lan Zhan to find the Yin Iron. JFM notices, gives him permission. After all, didn’t he defend his sister so well?

But, in fact, you should take A-Cheng with you!

And Wei Wuxian is thrilled. He is! Even better, to take A-Cheng on the quest, too. How could he possibly be disappointed?

When they catch up with Lan Zhan, he pretends he’s not happy to see them, but Wei Wuxian isn’t fooled. They travel through Tanzhou, and then to Yueyang, where the innkeeper has a spooky story for them about the home of the Chang Clan.

Well. Of course they have to go.

*

When they get to the Yueyang Chang compound, Wei Wuxian is immediately on edge. Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng are calm, though.

“There’s no one here,” A-Cheng says, impatient. “We’d smell it if there were.”

Wei Wuxian can’t shake it, though. He keeps hearing little sounds that shouldn’t be there, seeing flickers in the corner of his eye.

“Who has the sense of scent here? Me or you?” A-Cheng bites, irritated as usual.

And that’s when Xue Yang appears with a fistful of purple powder and almost leaves all three of them permanently blind.

Then we'd pick up with the Xue Yang and Wen Indoctrination scenes that make it into the posted fic. There's also a Xuanwu Cave scene in the posted fic; here's a previous version of that, emphasizing WWX already starting to choose LWJ over his family, while the final version treats him staying in the cave as an act of sacrifice for his family:

In the Xuanwu Cave, Jiang Cheng motions him over, hisses his name.

WWX hesitates.

He knows his duty. His place. It’s by his didi’s side.

Lan Zhan looks up at him, bloodied. His brow is creased with pain.

“Go,” Wei Wuxian tells Jiang Cheng. “Send someone back for us!” Hopefully by that time, Jiang Cheng will be safe back in Lotus Pier.

It’s not a question of starvation this time. No one will rescue WWX – he’s served his purpose, in getting Jiang Cheng out. Any further use isn’t worth the danger and effort of the rescue. And with the Gusu Lan still in hiding, it seems unlikely anyone will come for LWJ. They have only themselves.

Then there's the Yunmeng Shuangjie scene in the posted fic.

And then…

Then there are arrows, and a kite—and the long, bloody price of Wei Wuxian’s clear conscience begins to come due.

*

For a moment, it seems like he can pay that price himself. With a whipping—and then, when that’s not enough, with his right hand. He would pay it willingly, joyfully, to keep Lotus Pier and Yunmeng Jiang Sect safe.

But it’s not enough.

His entire purpose in life was to protect the Jiang sect and family. And now…

Lotus Pier is overrun, then lost.

A few lucky disciples are scattered; the rest, slaughtered.

Yu-furen and Jiang-shushu are dead.

Jiejie is pale with fever.

A-Cheng is destroyed by grief; is missing; is mutilated. Nothing lives behind his eyes except a slithering kind of self-loathing.

It is Wei Wuxian’s fault, all of it. He knows this.

Yu-furen tells him so; Jiang-shushu, too. A-Cheng, with his hands around Wei Wuxian’s neck. Even Jiejie doesn’t argue when he confesses that he’s the one to blame. The knowledge of his own culpability rots in his heart: noxious, lightless, and thick.

When he finds the technique for the golden core transfer, all he feels is relief that goes all the way down to his marrow. Finally—finally, he can begin to atone. Finally, he can start to make it right.

These events are also super pivotal, so I took several cracks at the fall of Lotus Pier. The problem with this next one is that it surfaces the idea of WWX being LWJ's mate - not good! That idea is supposed to be unthinkable (literally, WWX can't think it even though it is obviously the most plausible explanation for LWJ's behavior), and having YZY make this accusation here would undermine that. It's also just a freaking long speech for YZY to make. People don't make speeches like this in real life; I try to use them very sparingly.

The whip marks again, from Zidian as always, as Wang Lingjiao looks on. Wei Wuxian doesn’t fight. If by his death or mutilation, he can spare Yunmeng Jiang, then of course that is his duty.

But it’s not enough.

When Yu-furen shoves them into the boat, she snarls at him. “I hate you, you ungrateful boy! You had one purpose in this world, one, and you couldn’t do it – too eager to play omega for that Lan Wangji. You’ll never be his mate! This is the only family you’ll ever have, and you tried to destroy it, you hateful, hateful, unfilial boy.” She sucks in a breath. “This is your last chance. Protect A-Cheng and A-Li. Don’t you dare keep anything for yourself that could go to them. Not even your own life. Now go.”

So then I reworked it to take that part out, and work JFM in.

When Yu-furen shoves them into the boat, she tells him what a failure he is; screams it, with tears in her eyes.

“I hate you, you ungrateful boy! You had one purpose in this world, one, and you couldn’t do it.” She sucks in a breath. “This is your last chance. Protect A-Cheng and A-Li. Don’t you dare keep anything for yourself that could go to them. Not even your own life. Now go.”

Jiang-shushu is kinder. But the message is the same.

“Promise me you’ll always watch over A-Li and A-Cheng, A-Xian.”

And then, they’re both gone.

Okay, we pick back up with the aftermath of the golden core transfer:

It works. It hurts like nothing he’s ever felt before, but that doesn’t matter, because it works. Wen Qing asks him to stay with her until he’s fully healed, but A-Cheng and Jiejie need him. That comes first.

And so, empty, grey, and bleeding, he finds his way to the Yiling Tea House to meet with A-Cheng.

There, he finds an ambush.

Wen Chao laughs as his lackeys land their kicks in Wei Wuxian’s ribs, then turns away as if Wei Wuxian is beneath his notice. “A beta with no family is a dog without a master. Throw it in the Burial Mounds with the rest of the trash.”

*

Then he’s in the Burial Mounds.

In this want, he can knit together the strands of himself that had pulled apart. Revenge, for Lotus Pier and Jiang Sect, for Jiang Cheng’s core and Jiejie’s broken sobs, for Jiang-shushu and Yu-furen’s lives and the disrespect of their bodies after death. And revenge as another word for justice; revenge on the strong, for the weak; on the wicked, for the innocent.

He is revenge. And in that understanding, he walks out of the Burial Mounds. But not out of the dark.

The posted fic has a Burial Mounds flashback, too, but it's more... atmospheric, I guess? And it focuses on WWX being a tool for others to use, not on this theme of WWX trying to reconcile the ultimately irreconcilable values of justice and family.

The same is true of this next bit: there's an analogous bit in the posted fic, but it's the "why won't Lan Zhan just use him and shut up, like everyone else?" bit, focusing on LWJ's refusal to make use of WWX, instead of focusing on the conflict between what Lan Zhan wants from WWX and what WWX's siblings want, like this does:

When he comes back from the Burial Mounds, it’s so hard. Lan Zhan keeps saying, “Come back to Gusu with me,” keeps wanting to help. But WWX has learned his lesson. He cannot abandon JYL and JC to go to Gusu. He has to win this campaign, for them. So they can be safe. So they can return to Lotus Pier.

He can’t rest until that happens.

And all he wants, all he wants, is to rest.

That's all for now! Part II of the alternate version will be posted tomorrow-ish, and then assorted other collections of deleted scenes that are more traditionally deleted-scene-y, if you know what I mean. Feel free to ask if you have questions about any of this, I don't know that I explained everything super well!

ETA: second half of this is now here! Other deleted scenes posts are linked in the masterpost.

#the untamed #my writing #deleted scenes #fit for purpose #wangxian #cql fic

[ruthlesscalculuss]

I think many jc antis and some jc fans don’t realize that Jiang Cheng is not just an angry callous man. He’s arguably the most sensitive character in mdzs.

He deserves to be seen through his hard exterior, because there’s something so interesting behind it. An angry man with no deeper thought would not keep Chenqing by his side for 13 years. No man with such little depth would cry and mourn at the golden core reveal and at the temple scene. His love and willingness to die for his nephew shows one of his best qualities: loyalty to family and his loved ones.

Him trying to help raise Jin Ling and treat him better than Jiang Cheng’s parents ever treated him is honorable. To be better than the parents who hit, humiliated, and neglected you- it’s a genuinely respectable thing. That takes character growth and reflection to be a better person, which can be hard especially in a case like Jc.

Jiang Cheng rebuilt lotus pier all by himself, yes he got support from the top clans, however he oversaw that everything was reconstructed and that the place could be a bright and functioning sect, even better before his fathers rule. By himself. That takes a certain level of devotion that I admire as well, and he doesn’t do it for greedy reasons like power like JGY, he does it because he’s been groomed to be the sect leader for so long, it’s basically a part of his personality now. And that in itself can be seen as another tragedy.

Btw the man was literally begging wwx to come back with him to lotus pier and to get rid of the wens, so that he could protect him, before things truly got out of hand “if you insist on protecting them I can’t protect you” That’s fear, that’s fear of another loss, the death of someone you care about. Also can we talk about how jc always knew he was second best to wwx? And hey he never was that angry with the man, never tried to push him down and make fun of him for being the son of a servant, he trusted and respected him. And I don’t think that was easy to do.

Also another thing. Jc never tried to hunt and kill or torture wwx. When he ran into him on the streets of that inn, he whipped wwx to stun him, and dragged him back to question him. Not even touching a hair on his head. He used fairy as a blocker, and did call him over to fuck with wwx, it wasn’t right but I get why he got pissed off. Wwx had made a…insensitive comment to say the least, because he was so used to messing with jc (and jc in turn) but forgot that things are very different now.

Also, jc never actually wanted to kill wwx when he saw him again, he whipped him to expel him out of mo xuanyu’s body because he thought he was possessing him and he did lash out at lotus pier but he tried to stop before it got any worse “Jiang Cheng didn’t really want to hit Lan WangJi, and immediately retracted his whip, but it was already too late.”

My point in writing all of this is that jc is not just an “angry bitter man”, he is man capable of warmth and forgiveness like how we see him forgive wwx in the temple after years of resenting him. It’s so easy for jc to just hate wwx, but he doesn’t, he says it himself “Why can’t I hate you?! Shouldn’t I hate you?!” The anger and hurt he’s fed for years are slowly losing its roots in his heart and he doesn’t know what to do except cry. This part of him, I think is too relatable. When you survive through expressing hurt as anger, when you have to deal with “you’ll never be good enough” I can understand and I wish others would acknowledge this type of canon

#canon jiang cheng #jiang cheng #mdzs

[letteredlettered]

@yellowwallsbluesky asked about new Untamed end!

ahhhhh here is 27,745 words of wangxian that will never see the light of day. Thank you for asking!

I mentioned in my post about lwjwwx2 that I had a really hard time writing CQL fic partly because I just could not imagine WWX having any sex or even being particularly romantic. In CQL, he strikes me as very in love, but not in a romantic or sexual way. The problem was a little bigger than that, though, because I also could not imagine LWJ having sex. To be clear, I thought of LWJ as extremely romantic and sexual. But while LWJ's desire comes across as extremely intense, he's so hellbent on doing whatever WWX wants and whatever would make WWX comfortable, never pushing a single thing on WWX at all. In the second half of the show LWJ strikes me as extremely passive unless WWX needs him; he lets WWX get away with everything and expresses himself so little and so poorly that I just didn't see how these kids could get it together! That was 2020 - summer 2023. Then I was on the couch and thinking about them and could suddenly imagine it happening! So I started writing.

If this was a real fic I assume it would make some people extremely impatient. It takes place directly after CQL, and neither of them have any idea what they want from each other or what they can be to each other. I've seen plenty of people say it's unrealistic for them not to understand each other by then. But for me personally it makes sense that you could love someone with your whole heart and never once consider sex or romance, so to me CQL does not come across as romance but rather the prequel to one that is not necessary consummated (even with kisses) in the next scene after the end.

The premise is that after the end of CQL they go back to Cloud Recesses. LWJ knows that WWX arouses him and that he wants to be as close as humanly possible, but this doesn't really correlate in his mind to wanting to have sex and get married. He doesn't even think about sex. He just wants, all the time, a undefined longing that feels desperate and unstable to him. Meanwhile he's determined to do anything in his power to make WWX feel safe and comfortable and welcome.

It's not really a characterization of LWJ that makes sense to me now. I think I just needed to get it down to deal with idk, the way the censorship makes CQL so weird. I think the way I would read CQL!LWJ now is that he knows he wants WWX romantically and sexually but has difficulty communicating it with words and also does not want to impose, because people have asked so much of WWX and WWX is so willing to sacrifice himself for people he loves, and LWJ does not want WWX sacrificed. The reason this WIP is labelled "new" is that I went back and started changing the LWJ characterization so he was someone who knew what he was doing.

Meanwhile, the WWX is actually more knowing than I see him now. He comes back to Cloud Recesses with LWJ and feels restless and confused about his place there. He doesn't feel like he has a real role and even if LWJ really likes him, he doesn't understand what he could be here. But then LWJ just keeps giving and giving and giving, and WWX becomes very aware of what it looks like, from the outside. WWX has never been concerned about reputation for himself, but he is aware that reputation is a thing, and he cares about it for LWJ, so he notices. And when he notices that other people think they're a couple, he also realizes that it's what LWJ wants too. And WWX's reasoning is basically "well, why not? I'd give him anything; if he wants it, he can take it."

So he pushes and pushes on the boundary of friendship. It's obvious he's not doing it because he wants it because he thinks LWJ does. But it's also obvious he's not against it and that he doesn't know what he wants and that he would rather be something for LWJ than nothing at all. The idea was going to be that after they finally have sex, WWX grows addicted to the cuddling and intimacy that occurs afterwards and wants it all the time--because he doesn't really want it otherwise. He struggles to accept that kind of intimacy unless there's an act of service involved, because he doesn't really feel worth of it.

I actually think that this was the breakthrough for me. Once I realized that WWX would very much like to be held but doesn't really know how to let it happen unless there's a good reason for it, I finally felt like I could write him and write the whole wangxian dynamic. Of course, my WWX changed too; I am definitely more likely to write him now as not having a clue about what LWJ wants from him. That said, I read this fic, and I still buy that WWX could see that LWJ wants this from him and that his response is "sure, I'll do anything," even if he doesn't necessarily feel strong sexual attraction. That WWX gets off on service, which is still something I can buy.

Anyway I only got 25% of the way through shifting the LWJ characterization when I started writing Say More, and I realized I never really had a goal or end for this fic. It was just something I needed to write to get to know the characters--though I will say, I reread it to write this post, and I still really enjoy it!

#wangxian #wips #my fics

[accio-victuuri]

CPN : Candies from Sunshine By My Side ( filming wrap ) ☀️

I may miss some minor candies but that’s just how it is cause people may interpret things differently. It’s just so nice to see new content from and XZ, and the fact that Sheng Yang is so cute! can’t wait to meet him!

some things already discussed previously:

night light fake rumor

same sun emoji used

disclaimer : everything below is cpn, speculation and interpretation that is very bjyx bias. if you’re not into that then please leave.

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

I wanna start with ZZ’s general aura and disposition during the wrap, and how happy he was. It’s really nice to see him be among a group of people that seems to dote on him and that he can be comfortable with. You can probably see some double standard talk going around, that yes, during CQL wrap, he was also happy — however, in the last day, there were moments that they both looked sad. Also the airport photos of GG next day where his eyes were swollen — from crying probably. Add one of the CPNs that they both cried when the filming ended inside their car. So yeah. As much as I see him happy, it brings me back to the bittersweet ending of CQL. I won’t add any video/photo evidence of this anymore because it’s a well-known fandom CPN.

I also just remembered how much of a jiejie collector XZ is. LOL. If WYB collects geges, then XZ collects jiejies. That’s what I noticed with his interactions towards his co-star. I think she’s another jiejie who is now doting on XZ. 😂😂😂😂

Moving on to the other CPN clues, starting with some usual fandom symbols that we see. I love adding those to every post because it shows how consistent they are. for example the logo animation of XZS where GG talks about the Moon. like how many times did we make a CPN between them connected to the 🌙? these might be hard to spot for new turtles or those who aren’t into cpns.

sunflower, the legendary fan given by wyb, red heart, apple watch — need i say more? for the drawing, i’m not sure if ZZ made it but the wink did it for me cause he usually does that. i mean, even WYB’s black panther was winking. sooooo… The 10:05 is a given, but the 10:23 is a nice one cause we’ve been associating him to 23 ( Ai Zhan / Love Zhan ). I have also been thinking about this number because for XZS lantern festival game, they are giving away 23 desk calendars. so specific.

this imagery from the vlog compared to WYB’s single video is just so similar. the sunshine allowing plants to grown. whether that me be literal or metaphorical. how they view the world is so hopeful 🤍🤍🤍 and this is why they get along so well. there is really no way they wouldn’t be close, even if they didn’t end up playing WWX / LWJ. I believe that somehow, they would find their way to each other and still have the relationship we think they have. 🌱

and yes, we know that this was part of the filming process. at the start, XZ planted it and during the course of the shoot cared for it and watched it grow. but the similarity in their message to people and to the world. I can’t. this is some next level coincidence and connection.

The use of words that are same/similar to the captions of Hidden Blade’s weibo account is next. It’s one of those things that I think XZ is purposely fucking with us. It’s not like you can claim that he copies HB, because they do not own those captions on their posts. it’s just words. However clowns will know — what are the chances that he is using the same/similar? Mister eloquent himself who also has a team that does his videos. It all seems intentional.

• “plant your own sun” / and then HB is always putting suns on every 100 million they get in the box office. the intention in XZ’s words is like, do it yourself. like a person works hard to get their success. similar to what happened to HB, they have very little backing and it’s because the movie is actually good that it’s getting the recognition.

• 春回大地 the return of spring. It’s from a chinese idiom which means that spring returns to the earth. It is described that the severe cold has passed, and warmth and vitality have come to the world again.

• 逐光而行 follow the light / 与光同行 walk with the light.

there is also a cpn going around about the sound you can hear from the radio. I am the last person to verify things like this but can you hear wuming? 💀💀💀

but I think the correct explanation is, what it’s actually saying is “how do you rate it?” ( or something like that ) and because of the sound manipulation, you can sort of hear wuming. this is not the first time XZ puts things that he purposely wants us to mishear. lol.

that’s all for now. i am still waiting for an actual trailer from this drama + one & only so we can have proper FMVs of Sheng Yang and Chen Suo. The AU / Parallel world Yizhan pairing to rule them all 😂😂😂

-END.

#yizhan #bjyx #there is no science here folks im just clowning like i always do #cpn talk

[magnaflourious-nerdity]

So the ask got deleted accidentally, but @autisticharrywells asked me about SANGYAO for toxic ship bingo, and now that I have forcibly dragged them through all 50 episodes, i can at last go off---- you FOOL! you have fallen directly into my trap!!! Muahahaha

I do not know how I ended up here. I don't know WHY I ended up here, except that I'm some kind of masochist.

Like I was all prepared to be 100% team wangxian otp and read all the fic and shit, and I started out so promising. (And I do love them...) But then. Then. That little demon brought a bird to class. And the other little demon protected him during the Wen thing. The stabbing ?? The warning as Meng Yao was leaving to huaisang DESPITE actively bleeding. The pleading to Mingjue to let Meng Yao stay despite no evidence of Huaisang ever really standing up to question NMJ decisions before like that (esp in front of other clan members) (other than with things like blowing off Sabre practice) THE FAN CLENCH. MY HEART. And THEN they committed their various atrocities during which the no turning back point was hit for them so many times and yet i do believe the remorse was there and so too was some affection still, twisted as it was by time and hatred and isolation and i... I just....I slipped?

There's so much there!!! (and please keep in mind I'm mostly talking from a cql/the untamed perspective, though I have seen the donghua and am aware of book cannon, I just kinda prefer the show as the version I take to heart (with some notable jgy or Huaisang based exceptions bc i'm nothing if not willing to excuse their pretty boy mid-divorce war crimes))

These two have such a deep shared history that spans the entirety of the cannon, and their relationship is extra fascinating on rewatch as you can more clearly track the downward spiral of events.

There's also the tragedy that it COULD have been avoided, was so close to being avoided several times bc JGY is not really EVIL, (any one who says this is being super reductive imo) but he does preserve himself above all other things and people through sheer learned necessity (with the exception of xichen and isn't that also a beautiful part of sangyao tragedy?? That so clearly xichen and JGY were destined to be the tragic counterparts to wwx and lwj's relationship not nhs and jgy? That xichen was the only thing JGY ever sacrificed true parts of himself for, that huaisang knows that he could have done the same for him, but didn't? Because there was too much history with Mingjue to let it go, and also bc the devotion or affection he held for huaisang when they were both on the mountain never surpassed that point. He had too much caution to truly be himself, and Huaisang, I don't think could ever truly see past JGYs status in the way that xichen was able to since he served as his big brother's vice general and also his appointed companion to a degree. ) And where does that leave huaisang? Where he always is. ALONE. On a mountain he never fit in on in the first place. Where does it leave JGY? Stuck in a permanant customer service role to his awful father and branded further untrustable as a spy. Humilated and broken down to the point of just. So much murder. (Some of which I still maintain tain as a public service coughcoughJinGuangShancoughcough)

They are so much alike and yet so different in such key aspects, that I also have to believe they were meant to act as parallels to one another, just like wwx and jgy, or xichen and wangji. The planning and manipulation they both do (in their own ways bc i am in the camp that while huaisang is smarter than the average bear, smarter than he ever wants to let on bc it makes his life easier, he isnt able to truly outpace JGY's ability to craft a situation. What he is good at is manipulating people and social situations, and adapting his outlined plan extremely well on the fly- with the exception of maybe xichen. I dont think he meant to truly hurt xichen like that. I think that was a natural panic that if JGY was allowed to live it would mean Huaisang actually had to die at some point instead, Though I do also think perhaps there is some lingering resentment there that leads to it to bc why is JGY worth pardoning after his crimes to xichen? Doesn't this mean he inherently valued JGY over Mingjue, over Huaisang’s own pain and anguish? (he did, but not maliciously, lans are love blind we know this))

The tragedies of nie huaisang are inextricably linked to the tragedies of jgy and vice versa! Technically, huaisang, as a bastard of the clan leader with one of his concubines, (I think that's right) should be discounted as a noble son, esp considering his weaker nature and lack of talents dictated to be valuable by the standards of the nie clan. He should have the same status really or at least a status more closely similar to jgy who is constatly looked down on because of his mother's position and bastard status, despite his constant hyper competency, as we see so vividly. And yet Huaisang is given title and rank and (some) respect where JGY gets trodden into the mud and shit of life, even as he succeeds in raising the jin clans success through his actions and talents. Meanwhile, huaisang is thought to be a useless leech by others, untalented in the ways of ruling or anything that's deemed an actually respectable skill by clan leader standards. A pathetic little dude who doesn't know how to do anything, and yes, he does get cast as a headshaker in the eyes of the people, but it's never his background thats brought into question as to why he might be failing. It's considered a result of his personality, not his upbringing. And even then he doesn't get shit talked as much as JGY does. Huaisang has all the privilege that JGY was never afforded, and does that color JGYs view a bit? Does it make him just bitter enough that, when combined with his father’s looming threats and taunts, and Mingjue’s inability to ever let anything JGY does go, that he's willing to hurt huaisang in such a way, even just as a byproduct of his mission?

Huaisang’s plan is successful, bc people discount him as incompetent, yes, but also bc they still see him as a noble, as someone of enough inherent value, diminished though it may be, that he weilds that influence even when playing the fool. JGY doesn't get that respect even at his height of his power and competency as a ruler.

They are, neither of them, strong cultivators. But that factor only really affects JGY bc it means he has to fight even harder for acceptance and validation. Huaisang also gets the luxury of CHOOSING not to be a strong cultivator. Because his position in life IS secure, he can slack off. He is allowed to try his hardest to avoid the fate of his family and do his utmost not to cultivate in that manner. Which I think, too, causes some of the resentment. On both sides. Huaisang never has to work a day in his life, has barely any expectations to live up to and still gets the respect Meng Yao is constantly robbed of. And for huaisang- On top of killing his brother via musically-induced, full-bodied rage embolism, JGY is now also the reason that huaisang is thrust into a position he was entirely unprepared for way before he was supposed to be.

And we know, we KNOW that JGY is responsible for so many of Huaisang’s pretty little things. His beloved indulgences granted not by his own brother, but by his doting san-ge. Things that got burned or destroyed by Mingjue simplu for the fact that a) they were from JGY and B) they are not the type of things NMJ cosidereds respectabke hobbies or skills. A large number of his fans and painting supplies are gifts from JGY, and he stood up for and encouraged those hobbies against the person he probably fears the most at that point, Mingjue (even if he's already actively trying to kill him by then). And huaisang seemed genuinely pleased that JGY had found acceptance and was getting what he (thought he) wanted. The friendship and affection was real, just not near strong enough to withstand the crimes of the other.

And oh boy that divorce was rough and bloody and beautiful and tragic and I just love the messy nature of the relationship, how deep and how twisted it went and became. And i think, right up until the very end, JGY didn't truly want to believe that Huaisang was capable of doing this to him, I don't think he ever wanted to hurt huaisang again the way he had to when he killed Mingjue. Use him? Maybe. But not in a malicious way, not by his standards.

I am happy to read any sangyao content I can get, however! I love reading about them as companions on the mountain, growing together, bonding. Maybe young and in love? I love reading the gradual drifting apart. The years they schemed and used each other. The final divorce. And what comes after. Or what could never be. Any content, I will take, and it depends on where in cannon we are that a particular square is filled in.

Jgy had to fight for both acceptance and sheer survival, and huaisang never really had to do either. Except maybe during the ~10 years of the gap when Huaisang had figured him out, but was pretending to be useless to achieve his ends. You could argue the mindset that aside from just avenging his DaGe, he was also concerned about his own survival bc what if he became an Inconvienience instead of just the annoyance he was playing up to be? If he actually stood in Guanyao's way? It would be much easier to take him out than Mingjue, realistically. But what would be that threshold to have JGY actually do anything? Are Huaisang’s histrionics and uselessness useful to him? Or a result of guilty indulgence? Or left over fondness from a ti.e they were so close? Some combo of all? Who can say and I fucking love that uncertainty about them

Saying all that, these two are the poster child for OTP I don't want to end up together in Canon, lol. Unless it's one of the many time travel fix it aus, they simply have too much history and shared issues and rage between them to ever make sense working out. But their stories are so incomplete without the other, they are inexorably linked, and I just think they're neat!

(Please don't come for me cql fans. im sure I've misunderstood or posted an opinion that's utterly debatable on here. But like, also. I'm tired and I love them and I don't care.)

I have more to say about them that you'll probably get to hear at some point when we talk, but for now, they have BROKEN MY BRAIN.

Also, to all my fellow sangyao peeps: please feel free to send fic recs if you want. I am so hungry for the content.

#also do if ypu dont want to hear it do NOT ask my opinions on N*M*J* bc i have thoughts #that apparently a lot of ppl dont #and we are NOT invlusing fatal journey. a fun watch for like half the movie but also wildy out of character for everyone involved) #sangyao #cql #the untamed #meng yao #nie huaisang #I am not taking any notes on my taste level atm but thank you for fili g #also thanks to batthew for indulging me and letting me spout nonsense about my two favorite criminals in the jianghu #jin guangyao

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

🔥 Do you think WWX and JC would make up after canon? I personally don't, I think WWX made his boundaries clear but I'd like to hear your takes and reasoning!

No I don't, I've spoken on what I think of this in a similar post some time ago so I'll repost that here again.

I think what was shown within the novel, was as true of a “reconciliation” as the two could have gotten between them.

Wei WuXian, “Uh, I think it’s best if you… also stop keeping it on your mind. I know you’ll definitely always keep it on your mind, but, how should I say it…” He held onto Lan WangJi’s hand, saying to Jiang Cheng, “Right now, I do really think… it’s all in the past. It’s been too long. There’s no need to struggle with it any longer.”

This is Wei Wuxian extending the only thing he can do between them, which is letting things settle in peace, move on safely, to start somewhere new in both of their lives without the other. Wei Wuxian had never wanted Jiang Cheng’s thanks for what he had chosen to do, he had done it out of love, which for Wei Wuxian can’t be measured in debts owed. He is urging Jiang Cheng to let go of a past that will only haunt him unhappily, they can’t gain whatever had been lost. And I think Wei Wuxian had long known that before Jiang Cheng given he does not treat Jiang Cheng and he the same as he once did and had drawn a line of boundaries between each other well before Guanyin Temple. Note that he never once calls Jiang Cheng “shidi” after the timeskip as he once affectionately had.

Wei Wuxian does not ask for apologies to himself, he tells Jiang Cheng to apologize for his remarks to Lan Wangji more than once due his own sense of loyalties for those that extend their kindness to him as his own shame doesn’t take precedent.

Wei WuXian took the flute. Remembering that Jiang Cheng was the one who brought it, he turned over there and commented casually, “Thanks.” He waved Chenqing, “I’ll… be keeping this?”

Jiang Cheng glanced at him, “It was yours in the first place.”

After a moment of hesitation, his lips moved slightly, as though he wanted to say something else. However, Wei WuXian had already turned to Lan WangJi. Seeing this, Jiang Cheng remained silent.

By this point hours later Wei Wuxian is once again subconsciously showing where he has drawn the line. Taking to heart what he had said they should do, not take what had once happened to heart anymore and stop thinking about it. And once Wei Wuxian has made something clear he follows through with exactly what he had said he would do.

I think Wei Wuxian had made his intentions known, and as he says later he would rather remember the kindness and happiness in his life than the worst of it. He doesn’t need a reconciliation, he is with the family he has found and made for himself without being pushed away and takes the unconditional love that is offered to him. I had once likened his inquires in the extras like how someone would about an old past friend, of course you would ask about their well-being and hope the best, but that does not mean you want to ever really see them again in person after that relationship was shut and closed. It is bittersweet, but broken friendships always feel like that, a piece of someone will always care about who they used to be close to and Wei Wuxian was always very caring in his sentimentality even with the bad. But he does not crave for anything else from Jiang Cheng any longer as he has found his happiness with who he wanted.

As for Jiang Cheng, I think he needs to finally learn to ultimately be by himself and learn to be himself without his hold onto past dead hopes. He had built his reputation on that in a world that is ultimately moving on and changing while he stagnated in his unchanging hate for 13 years. But he no longer had that tether to continue it on any longer. His life didn’t end with Wei Wuxian’s death, and it didn’t end when he fully confronted Wei Wuxian with his hate. He’s given a chance to be out of what he thought was forever Wei Wuxian’s shadow, and personally I think, even if he “loved” Wei Wuxian, he never truly liked him as he never tried to understand Wei Wuxian as a person.

There is a lot of matters that can’t be buried between them, as people they are polar opposites in what they want and cherish. They are not what the other needs in their life. I think Jiang Cheng’s lesson is to move past a life that he had made a habit of to be selfish and Wei Wuxian was a passive catalyst that had helped him to fester that. Sometimes, it is just simply the better option to leave each other and move on without the possibility of being friend’s for ones own peace. And reconciliation isn’t always as satisfying as a fairy tale in real life, nor should it be an award for the bare minimum show of humanity to another.

They do not understand the other's way of living. You cannot continue a relationship without understanding what the other needs or their views of life. They will be at a forever impasse because repayment and debts is what they grew up giving the other. Jiang Cheng still barely is able to understand why Wei Wuxian did not say anything, because bringing up that sacrifice would be breaking his soul. To reveal such a secret would shatter the happiness that Wei Wuxian finally earned by himself. It would be dragging Wei Wuxian back into a relationship based upon transactional favors and being granted live in return based on that again, while being able to take it away as Jiang Cheng saw fit.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian #canon jiang cheng #lol reconciliation #wei wuxian doesn't need it except it or want it #sometimes it is sadly that simple to end a relationship

[ninjakk]

JC attempts to rationalise away WWXs sexuality

For some strange reason, some people seem to take JC's comment below as gospel. Assuming that because he said this, WWX couldn't possibly have had feelings for LWJ in his first life - which of course, is ludicrous.

Just as WWX uses self deception as a coping mechanism, JC uses denial to try and rationalise things that make him uncomfortable or he does not wish to acknowledge. So, when he states the below, he is still in complete denial that WWX might have had feelings for LWJ.

Chapter 88

He’d never thought that Wei WuXian would have ambiguous ties with a man, for after all, when they grew up together, Wei WuXian had never expressed any such interest.

JC is lying to himself, because he still can't face the fact that WWX, someone he grew up with, might be anything other than straight or have feelings for a man. But deep down, he knows that this is simply not true. As I have already covered in a previous post, JC had suspicions about WWX's feelings towards LWJ since the very beginning. So, just to disprove his little rant above, lets take a look at all of the times WWX expressed he did indeed have 'such interests' in a man - right in front of JC. Obviously there are many other times WWX flirts or thinks about LWJ, but these are just the ones that were noticeable to JC.

So mentioning how pretty/handsome LWJ is three times in one conversation isn't showing any signs of interest, eh JC?

Chapter 13

Wei WuXian made the sound of an oh and asked, “Is he a lad who looks quite pretty?” Jiang Cheng sneered, “Is there anyone who looks ugly in the GusuLan Sect? His sect doesn’t even accept disciples with unclean features. If you can, find me one who has an average face.” Wei WuXian emphasized, “Very pretty.” He pointed at his head, “White from top to bottom, wearing a forehead ribbon, and carrying a silver sword on his back. He looked rather handsome, but with his straight face, he looked like he was mourning.”

.

Or the other times when JC was listening...

Chapter 17

Wei WuXian smugly tossed the loquat in his hand, and suddenly pointed at him, “Sisters, do you think that he looks handsome?” Lan WangJi didn’t expect Wei WuXian to suddenly talk about him at all.

...

Chapter 125

“Shijie, do you know Lan WangJi?” Jiang YanLi, “I do. He’s that Second Young Master Lan whom everyone describes as handsome and talented, isn’t he? Is he really that handsome?” Wei WuXian, “He is!”

...

Chapter 69

Jiang Cheng glanced at the colorful sea of handkerchiefs waving on the watching towers before turning to Wei WuXian, “Why are you throwing out flowers along with the girls?” Wei WuXian, “I think he looks nice. Can’t I throw a few as well?”

Not to mention throwing flowers at him, 'just like the girls'. Or the other gifts JC must have noticed WWX trying to give LWJ, like the loquat and the rabbits.

Or what about all the times JC caught WWX gravitating towards LWJ and chasing after him, even if he was being ignored...

Chapter 14

Everyone knew that their shouts were a bit too loud, and the noise had probably led him over, so they all shut their mouths. Yet, Wei WuXian jumped down and gravitated toward him, “WangJi-xiong!” Lan WangJi turned around and immediately walked away. Wei WuXian cheerfully went after him and yelled, “WangJi-xiong, wait for me!

...

Chapter 45

To Wei WuXian, the boy felt a bit familiar. After he thought for a while, he finally remembered and greeted the boy with enthusiasm, “Hey! WangJi-xiong, it’s you!”

...

Chapter 51

Within these past few days, there were many times when Wei WuXian wanted to approach him and catch up on what had been happening. However, Lan WangJi turned away whenever he saw him and Jiang Cheng had also beat it into him not to mess around. Now that they were closer, he couldn’t help but pay more attention.

...

Chapter 71

Wei WuXian, “How did you know that it was me who called him over first?” Jiang Cheng, “Do you even have to ask? Which time has it not been you? You’re a strange one as well. Clearly every time you part with him on bad terms, so why do you keep on trying to get him annoyed?”

.

Remember all the times WWX was trying to get LWJs attention however he could...

Chapter 16

He spoke, “Lan Zhan, I didn’t splash water on you on purpose. Water ghouls are really clever. If I said it out loud, they would’ve heard it and got away. Hey, don’t ignore me. Why don’t you look at me, Second Young Master Lan?"

...

Chapter 45

As Lan WangJi walked toward the entrance of the GusuLan Sect, Wei WuXian sneaked over before he could. Lan WangJi shifted to the one side, and he shifted to the side as well; Lan WangJi moved to the other side, and he moved to the other side as well. In short, he simply refused to let Lan WangJi pass.

...

Chapter 69

Wei WuXian turned to the Two Jades of Lan, who were drawing their bows on their horses, “Lan Zhan, want to help me?” Lan WangJi glanced at him. He didn’t reply. JiangCheng asked, “What are you up to this time?” Lan WangJi, “What?” Wei WuXian, “Can I borrow your forehead ribbon?”

.

Or maybe the time JC caught WWX thinking about LWJ, even after nearly a year of not seeing him?

Chapter 125

Wei WuXian grabbed another piece, “Nothing! Don’t misunderstand. I’m not gonna do anything. I just thought of someone.” Jiang Cheng, “Who?” Wei WuXian, “Lan Zhan.”

...

Chapter 125

Wei WuXian put his right hand above his brows, taking in the scenery. Amid the laughter, he let out a sigh. The others asked, “What’s wrong, Da-Shixiong?” “You’re sighing even when girls are chasing after you?” Wei WuXian swung the paddle onto his shoulder, grinning, “It’s nothing. I was just thinking that I invited Lan Zhan in all sincerity to come visit Yunmeng, yet he still dared to decline the offer.”

.

Or how about the fact WWX invited LWJ to come and visit? I don't see NHS getting an invite...

Chapter 125

Wei WuXian spat out a seed, “It’s fun to think of him. You don’t even know—he’s just too amusing. I told him, ‘Your sect’s food is disgusting. I’d rather eat stir-fried watermelon peel than eat your food. If you have time, come have fun with us at Lotus Pier…'”

.

Or maybe the time WWX suggested JYL names her unborn child after the man he is so obviously pining for...

Chapter 75

“Sure. The next generation of the LanlingJin Sect is named Ru. How about Jin RuLan?” Jiang YanLi, “That’s great!” Jiang Cheng, “No. It sounds like Jin RuLan, Lan being the Lan from the Lan Sect. Why should a descendant of the LanlingJin Sect and the YunmengJiang Sect be like someone of the Lan Sect?” Wei WuXian, “It’s not like there’s anything wrong with the Lan Sect, is there? The Lan flower is the gentleman of flowers; the Lan Sect is the gentlemen of people. A good name.”

WWX never acted like this with anyone else. Not even with any of the girls he's supposedly charmed. The only person he's ever acted like this with is LWJ. As I've explored in a previous post, seeing the way WWX acts around LWJ makes JC feel uncomfortable. Hearing the way WWX talks in a coquettish tone with LWJ, as opposed to his usual more boisterous tone with others, makes JC feel strange and he detests it.

No one could really blame WWX for holding back as much as he could around JC when it came to LWJ, especially with JCs growing homophobia and the environment he grew up in. In fact, it's probably one of the reasons why WWXs feelings are on a subconscious level, because Lotus Pier would not have been a pleasant place to live if JC suspected anything. But even with that in mind, WWX still inadvertently showed JC signs he was interested in LWJ from the minute they met.

We can only imagine what WWX would have been like if he'd actually accepted his feelings and felt safe enough to express them in front of JC and others when he was younger!

So from the above, we can clearly see JC not only had a suspicion WWX had feelings for LWJ - but he also got to see a number of signs to suggest as such, first hand as well.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #mdzs novel #wei wuxian #lan wangji #jiang cheng's canon homophobia #jiang cheng is blowing smoke out of his arse #jc is in denial #liar liar pants on fire #mdzs meta #where is nhs invite huh?

[miixz]

Been thinking about the beginning of MDZS because I was talking about it with a friend who just finished vol. 1, and I really love the placing of the CR flashback right after LWJ and JC's introduction and all the questions and context it brings. 

First we get introduced to both LWJ (properly at least) and JC in Dafan, and that segment as well as wangxian’s arrival to CR sets the tone for their current relationships with WWX. 

One is slightly confusing, because WWX has already ran from LWJ once, which implies that he expects a certain hostility from him that isn't there, made even more puzzling when he allows himself to be taken to CR with little resistance, and proceeds to annoy him the best he can to see what will come of it.

While the other is outright hostile, surprising WWX who had actually thought that JC would have forgotten his grievances by now, but leaving little to the reader to question.

"Unfortunately, the person who came happened to be from the Lan Clan, but even more unfortunately, he happened to be Lan WangJi! This was one of the people who had fought with him before, so he should retreat quickly. " (chapter 5)

"He thought that, after so many years, no matter how much hatred Jiang Cheng had held for him, it would have disappeared long ago. He didn’t expect that not only did it not disappear, it became richer, as if it was a jar of aged alcohol. To the point where at the present time, his hatred had grown to affect even people who cultivated like him!" (chapter 7)

Then our first flashback shows us that there is a lot more happening here. 

We learn that Lan Wangji used to be far less composed than he is now, getting flustered by WWX’s antics quite easily. But their relationship wasn’t really bad, just a little messy as they stumbled through navigating their teenage crushes. We’re left to wonder what went on in the future that WWX first called him an enemy, but it also shows us that what's happening between them now isn’t so strange. 

WWX’s shenanigans in Cloud Recesses are in line with the things he did as a teen, the only difference is that LWJ is responding in kind now and WWX is not really up to speed with this quite yet. 

There’s also the tangible impact WWX has had in LWJ's current life (the bunnies, the emperors smile) that speaks for itself about what kinds of feelings he’s held for WWX during these years.

(It’s not that much of a surprise since LWJ is the romantic lead after all, but it is very well crafted and I love the attention to detail there and how every little thing is connected and helps build up the narrative while WWX is busy trying to mislead us about his feelings)

Meanwhile Wei Wuxian’s thoughts on Jiang Cheng gain a new context when we learn that he hasn’t always hated WWX. 

That’s not a surprise exactly, considering how much WWX thinks about them and the past in Dafan, but it does invite us to question how it got there, and shows how the worst we’ve seen of JC can already be found in his younger else, while tragically also making you empathize with him after seeing through these glimpses that he had the potential to be much better had he not chosen to hold onto his bitterness.

JC and WWX’s friendship wasn’t perfect, but it had potential. Except we already know it went nowhere, just not how exactly that happened.

It’s just!! So good! Love that as early as this and in the most light hearted flashback we can already determine how LWJ was always on WWX’s side despite WWX’s previous lack of knowledge of this, get hints of what role JC could have played on WWX’s downfall given that even as a teen he was quick to jealousy and to put him down, then there’s wangxian and how both their feelings have been present since back then too. 

I haven’t had to think about all the initial mystery surrounding WWX in a bit since I already know the entire story, but I had fun seeing it through someone else’s eyes and it reminded me of how good the build up on that is and how much fun it is to pick apart the beginning. It’s a beginning that does a really good job of leaving us curious about what happened during WWX’s first life for his relationships to have gotten like this and it establishes a lot of things that’ll be solidified later when we get to the relevant flashbacks. 

#mdzs #mdzs meta #wei wuxian #lan wangji #canon jiang cheng #jiang cheng

[truly-morgan]

[LSZ trying to help dad]

Junior Quartet | Mo Dao Zu Shi Modern AU 26-07-2021

[#lansizhui trying his best to help dad, modern]

where on the weekend lan wangji has to go to work really early because of urgent business that suddenly needed him. He leaves after giving a kiss to his husband, promising to be back as soon as possible. doesn't notice how his stay-at-home husband is running a cold (because he was doing repairs under the rain the day before). wei wuxian simply mumble to him not to overwork himself at work before going back to sleep.

He doesn't want to hold back lwj (he knows he would as well have said no to whoever needed his help at work otherwise). He wakes up a couple hours later when little Lan sizhui comes to him wondering where his dads are.

"baba is a little bit sick today," he says, his voice sounding a bit nasally, "sorry I won't be able to go to the park with you like I promised yesterday" he laughs a little bit, then lets the young boy scold him about working under the rain for so long.

wwx ruffles his hair slightly, getting up from the bed, fishing for one of lwj shirts before making his way to the kitchen with lsz. He is pushed into a chair as his son works around the kitchen to make a simple breakfast for them. It make him smile softly, instead of giving instructions to the boy so he knows what to do. they eat as lsz retail some thing that happened throughout the week with his friends, wwx happy that he is leading the discussion as his head feels too heavy to do that.

"Let's watch some movie today, the chores can be done another day," he says as he takes lsz to the couch to put on some of the boy's favourite animated movies. Yet wwx can only last through twenty-ish minutes before falling back asleep. but lsz doesn't mind, baba needs sleep to recover! Plus he is a big boy now he can take care of himself while baba sleeps.

Big boy also helps around! he is sure baba will be so happy if the chore is made today so tomorrow they can play if he feels better.

So lsz takes on picking up things that are not at the right place (which is not a lot since lwj already has the habit to tidy up after they did something). He dusts away on furniture, goes around the house with the broom (not using the vacuum so baba can sleep peacefully!).

He even gathers the laundry that needs to be done, starting with his father's one, following mentally the little song wwx sometimes sing as he takes care of it to remember what to do (baba showed him before so he can do it!). Of course, through all this he doesn't forget to feed their pet bunny, playing with him a little bit before going back to his big boy task!

after his little break, he goes to mop the floor, trying not to spill water everywhere.

When he sees that lunch is slowly getting closer he goes to prepare some tea and sandwiches for them.

wwx ends up being woken up from the smell of something burning, his mind slow to realise it /should not/ smell like something is burning right now.

He dizzily stands up quickly, trying to make his way to the kitchen quickly. yet he nearly falls to the ground because of a wet patch, caught by strong arms. He looks up at his husband, looking a bit confused first. "A-zhan~" he smile a bit, before remembering what he was worried about first.

They find little lsz in the kitchen, looking at the toaster unsure what to do as his toast has not jumped out and is now burning. lwj is the one to unplug it, hugging his anxious son and asking why he didn't ask baba for help.

"baba was sick so I wanted to make him something to eat" he said, "And I wanted to help him with the chores so he could keep resting!".

and with this starts the adventure of cleaning up what lsz did by accident. throwing away the burnt toast, leaving to the side the cold tea. whipping away the rather large puddle of water lsz didn't he had created. then when they get to the washing machine lsz is relieved that there is no disaster here. "I did like what baba told me to do!" he says proudly.

lwj hummed as he open the finished washing machine, only to frown a bit. he takes out one of his previously white shirts, now turned pink because of wwx red shirt.

poor little lsz looks horrified at this, tears slowly creeping in the corner of his eyes. His other mistake could be fixed, but he just ruined his baba's shirt!! and he knows how much baba prefers his clothes to stay pristine white.

at this wwx sits on the floor with him, hugging him tightly as he slowly rocks him from side to side. "It's alright, a-yuan did his best, baba won't be mad at him, you didn't know you needed to separate the white clothes from the colour" he gently tells him.

"Isn't it right?" wwx asks as he looks back up at lwj who was holding a couple of his now pink shirts.

"mh, I am not mad at a-yuan, you didn't know better," he says. Plus, it was not like he never had his clothing ruined by a certain someone who doesn't own any white clothes.

"What about we let baba make us diner while he makes an instruction sheet for next time hum?" he suggests to cheer him up, "Like this, you will be able to do it next time even if I'm not with you".

and this is exactly what they did, lwj made something for the three of them (not without scolding wwx a bit for not telling him he was sick) while wwx was making little instruction sheets with lsz about different chores.

Of course, to show lsz that he is not mad at him for changing his shirt's colour lwj goes two weeks with his pink suits before buying a new white one. and of course, he doesn't throw away the pink clothes either

Original

#tweet archive #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lan sizhui #modern au #fluff #kid helping parent #lsz is just trying to help wwx

[fannish-karmiya]

Hi,

I'm really interested in hearing your opinion on if you think WWX was attracted to LWJ in his first life? I think LWJ was the only person he showed such feelings for - even if he didn't fully realise it himself at the time.

As for him flirting with girls in his first life, I feel like this was just him being charming and it was always to gain something like an item or information, or at times possibly LWJs attention. It was never heartfelt, he never said anything about how much he was attracted to them in his thoughts. He's only ever described LWJ with such details (in his first life, and second)

I also think growing up with at least one possible homophobe (JC?) he might have unconsciously suppressed his feelings for LWJ as best he could and at the same time consciously flirted with girls because it was expected of him. Let's be honest, he was really good looking, charming and outgoing - he could have had a girlfriend if he wanted to.

Finally, in his first life there are a number of occasions where he gets a little close to LWJ and is rebuffed (out of LWJs shyness perhaps) - the cold spring, when trapped in the cave together - immediately after he is, in a sense, rejected by LWJ he has to reinforce his intentions were nothing but platonic "don't worry I'm not into men". He only ever says this to LWJ as if covering his actions, even possibly trying to convince himself as well.

I'd love to hear your opinion on this 😊

Oh, absolutely I agree, 100%! Thank you so much for this ask!

I think the fact that fandom has such a weird view of WWX's feelings in his first life is largely down to people not being very good at picking up on gay subtext.

As you say, WWX's flirtations with girls are shown to really be a matter of getting free stuff or just being friendly. In fact, in two instances he does so for LWJ: in order to get the pouch containing medicinal herbs from Mianmian, and back during the lectures in Caiyi Town he flirts with the girl who tosses him a loquat and encourages her to give one to LWJ, too (he even asks the girls if LWJ is more handsome than him!).

Meanwhile, WWX flirts with LWJ constantly, but it's all stuff which can be hidden behind a veneer of just being friendly teasing. Heteronormativity plays a huge role, here; if WWX gave half of the attention he gives to LWJ to a girl, everyone would see it as flirting. He tosses flowers at him on two separate occasions, calls him nicknames like 'Lan-er-gege' (I get the vibe that a term like 'da-ge' is more...guyish? WWX calling him that feels quite flirtatious), feels the need to cozy up to him when they're in the cold spring and both naked, teases him about stealing his clothes, constantly comments on how beautiful LWJ is...

WWX also has a habit of trying to backtrack and reframe his thoughts on LWJ through a heteronormative lens. He'll think things to himself about how beautiful LWJ is, then try to backtrack and convince himself that he's only considering what a girl would think. Even without the direct homophobia he likely has witnessed, simply growing up with only heterosexuality being presented as an option has a huge impact on a young person and makes it very hard to acknowledge that your own feelings are homoerotic in nature.

And WWX definitely comes across as trying to convince himself as much as LWJ that he's not interested in men....and only after it seems to him that LWJ would find it off-putting if WWX were interested in him.

I'm honestly amazed that anyone can read the past storyline and conclude that WWX wasn't head over heels for LWJ back then!

#mdzs #wangxian #wei wuxian

[admirableadmiranda]

No worries if you feel like not answering and reccing, but do you have any all time fave recs for MDZS? I would love (and trust you) to hear more about them 💜

Hi Anon! You're so sweet, I just had to give you some answers!

Because I am a fickle person about faves, this is by no means an exhaustive list, but here are some of the ones that I return to over and over again. Some of these will have either characters or relationships that people may not care for so much, but you asked for my favorites so I will still share openly.

Falling to the Rhythm by Selenay just makes me really happy, it's a Strictly Come Dancing au where Wangxian are paired together and fall in love over the course of the shows. Features some light Yunmeng siblings and JC being a grumpy brother, but I rarely find that annoying in modern aus where he's not in the same positions he is in canon and the dances and ways they fall in love make me so happy. Also perhaps an unfairly tagged oblivious WWX, he's no worse than genuine canon CQL WWX who doesn't have reasons to make connections sooner than he does.

Preparing the Soil by Rynne is one of my all time favorites, where Lan Wangji creates a space for his husband in the Cloud Recesses and the effects of the Lan Qiren forbidding the juniors from talking to Wei Wuxian rule are dealt with. Lovely and warm and full of how much Lan Wangji loves Wei Wuxian and how much Lan Wangji himself is loved, it makes me smile and is one of my comfort reads.

Sunny Horizons by Justdoityoufucker (now orphaned) A really sweet fic that a former friend wrote for me containing happy Wangxian and a hearing disabled Wei Wuxian. While sadly our friendship seems to be over for good, this fic still makes me really happy and reminds me of the good times.

Wei Wuxian's Birthday Oneshots by origami79 is one of my favorites for just being a very cute collection of somewhat interwoven fics and a couple of art pieces all about celebrating Wei Wuxian! While the author hasn't returned to it yet, it's a reread for whenever I want a reminder that Wei Wuxian is also really loved.

Catching Your Reflection Passing By by Suspicious Popsicle is a very sweet story about soulmates in a very different way from how I've seen it any other time! Containing a Lan Wangji who has grown up seeing Wei Wuxian in shared reflections and a Wei Wuxian who can sometimes open doors and see Lan Wangji in doorways, it was really sweet and warm. Contains the same Yunmeng siblings/modern au disclaimer as Falling to the Rhythm.

The This River Runs To You series by sundiscus. My first Dragonji and also a case fic/modern cultivation that scratches the right itches. A smart Wei Wuxian and happy ending. Same Yunmeng siblings/modern au disclaimer.

glitteringmoonlight in general. She has a lovely array of works for all moods and all of them celebrate my favorite characters very well.

A Feast for the Eyes by Lareine. This one is just fun; both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji run youtube cooking channels and A-Qing absolutely geeks out over getting to watch the two of them together. Only has two chapters, but what two we get are just a lot of fun and I really enjoy the free silliness of the story.

Grandmaster of Cultivation: Walkthrough and Guide by athylia

A very fun take on a fic where it's a guide to getting (or not) the secret route for the video game bachelor Lan Wangji in Modaozushi the video game!

notes on a scene by wishingswell. Another dance au where Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are ballet dancers. Soft modern au, but the focus is really on Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji.

Both parts of constellations by northofallmusic. A story set during the Sunshot Campaign where Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji have to hide in a cursed tomb from Wen soldiers and it changes things just a little bit.

fish & wild geese by impossibletruths. Modern farm au where Lan Wangji returns from the big city to his childhood home and works through the grief of losing his mother and reconnecting with Wei Wuxian who lives on his grandmother's farm.

the place where you are by BlackWiresOnHerHead. A space travel au where Lan Wangji is a scientist on a mission to catalogue data of a supernova and Wei Wuxian is the mechanic of the ship that will take them through this solar system before it explodes. Has one chapter with a higher concentration of Jiang Cheng than I'd like, but otherwise I find the fic really enjoyable and the very sciency space ship traveling feeling something not easily done nor replicated.

Unavoidable by diamondbruise. Lan Wangji does not know who this Wei Wuxian is, but Wei Wuxian is in the Cloud Recesses to break a curse on his beloved. Lan Wangji can't shake the feeling that something is wrong about the whole situation. A curse fic that doesn't make me cringe or wince at the Wangxian and has the really adorable part where if Lan Wangji forgot he loved Wei Wuxian the first time, he'd just fall again.

Themes and Variations in F# Major by defractum (nyargles) this time it's a Wangxian are musicians au! Lan Wangji is a professional violin and pianist, Wei Wuxian a flute prodigy. While they traveled in similar circles since they were young, this is the story of when they finally connect. Contains some Jiang stuff I usually ignore as I'm not in it for the Jiangs, I'm in it for the Wangxian.

make this chaos count by devotedbones. Wei Wuxian gets to clock a guy in the jaw with his flute. Also contains one of my all time favorite lines "They had one foot in childhood and the other in the grave" describing the young men who went into the Sunshot Campaign. Fully CQL characterization.

CSI: Gusu Edition by Stratisfyre. I'm a sucker for fics where cultivation is blended with other more real world stuff and Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian being basically forensic scientists with cultivation is a really lovely blend. Contains some good uncle Lan Qiren and more CQL level characterization, but I still enjoy it more than a year later.

Future Cultivation AU by Aki_No_Hikari. A modern cultivators in college au in a world where Mo Xuanyu did not sacrifice himself to revive Wei Wuxian, but Wangxian's reincarnations met again in the future anyway. I love all the world building and thought put into it. The fifth installment is a particular favorite.

vinegar jug by dandelion-san. Future Lan Wangji arrives in Cloud Recesses Lectures and decides to entertain himself while waiting to go home by indulging all of little Wei Wuxian's whims easily. Little Lan Wangji tries and fails to not completely die of jealousy. Hilarious and the right tone for the situation.

Four Parts Honey and One Part Vinegar by masked. The juniors try to determine why Wei Wuxian never gets jealous when people are fawning over or trying to seduce his husband. In the end, the answer is very simple.

花无百日红; the flower that withers by yiqie. Sort of a time travel fic and sort of not. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji encounter an invention that sends them tumbling back through their memories, unable to change anything but revisiting their pasts through fresh eyes, forgiving themselves for the things they did to survive.

and so my heart beats wildly by lily_winterwood. Modern cultivation au where cultivation is now an olympic sport! A bit more heavy on the misunderstanding level than I usually like, but they're teenagers for most of it so it fits more here, and they solve it pretty quickly once they get the hang of actually talking instead of walking on each other's hearts by mistake. Also contains yunmeng bros and kind of sad JC, but in a way that I really don't find that annoying.

shadows in the sun rise by Yuu_chi. Another Lan Wangji is cursed fic, but this one is absolutely about the highlights of how well Wangxian understand each other. As Lan Wangji's senses are locked to him, they are able to continue communicating almost the whole way through until the curse is broken, a very lovely difference from the way a lot of these curse fics go.

grow by Cafecliche. Wei Wuxian is temporarily cursed to be a small child. The juniors take good care of him.

moonlight caught in mutton fat by Raitalzen. This time it's a Twin Jades get cursed fic and Wei Wuxian and Lan Qiren team up to break the curse before it kills them for good. Seems to be following entirely CQL characterization so normal feelings about good uncle LQR are rendered irrelevant and also contains one of my favorite violently murderous Wei Wuxian because someone tried to kill his husband tropes.

The Guests of Cloud Recesses by cafecliche. There's a ghost in the Cloud Recesses and Wei Wuxian is uniquely qualified to deal with its problems.

Turnabout by miixz. A new favorite that I accidentally missed cause I started on page 2 of my bookmarks. Lan Wangji unexpectedly travels back in time and through his knowledge of what will come, changes the world for the better.

Tread Lightly on my Ground by AshayaT'Reldai. A rarepair fic of Lan Xichen and Qin Su! Before she can marry Jin Guangyao, Qin Su is assaulted by Jin Guangshan and runs off to Gusu in hopes that Lan Xichen will protect her and her unborn child from the Jin. Warnings should be taken into account.

I hope some of these wet your whistle, these are the fics I like to reread when I want something familiar.

#mdzs #mdzs fic rec #asks #anon #anon asks #please don't judge my taste #I like what I like #and I know what I can ignore for an otherwise more pleasant story

[connectjump]

okay modern-day au with the MDZS characters, but make it a ghost-hunter au because it's been rattling around in my head for a while.

the unlikely four-man squad starting: wwx, jc, nhs, and lwj.

wei wuxian -

the unofficial leader of the group made it after a night of drinking and eating snacks with jc & nhs where he brought it up and they all went "sure why not".

wwx is the dude who always has something funny to say and jc is always ready to throw a response that others will quote or make fan art of.

makes a lot of equipment since he likes making things, and tinkering with whatever they do own to make it even better.

even better meaning it'll annoy the living hell out of jc.

is a bit of a spirit magnet. this is both good, and dangerous due to nhs's sensitivity to spirits.

he picks the places that the group will go to and is always ready to drop extra history of the place at the worst time.

aka the things, a ghost or demon might have done to a living person.

wwx : SO! it was in this very room that this one dude died [very horrible death]. jc is very much on the side of team, "stop talking before you freak out nhs anymore than he already is."

may or may not have talked lwj into joining their group. he may or may not also tease lwj any chance he gets.

jiang cheng -

jc is the voice of reason on the team. for every three ideas wwx has, jc has four ready in response of why, no, and absolutely not.

in charge of finding places to stay, and finding local shops in the area to interview folks.

probably hates the sound of the spirit box.

jc very much seemed the one whose not so easily startled when something happens, and usually has a logical explanation to keep himself and others calm.

jc can repel spirits to a small degree, the zone is about a 5mm radius around his person and those near him are safe and unaffected by the spirits. he isn't aware of this skill.

the designated driver of the group. can read a map, but uses the GPS that was gifted to him.

He's also the one who comments on the layout of everywhere they visit because if nobody is going to mention how POORLY thought out these old haunted buildings are. he will bring it up.

"these blueprints fucking suck. i would come back to haunt this place and the son of a bitch who made it if i died here." - jc

nie huaisang -

nhs joined the group because what's more fun than doing something with your friends after doing things you do not want to do.

poor nhs.

nhs is very much the sort of guy in the group who is like "i know a guy, who knows a guy and that guy knows something really interesting about this place."

wwx and jc never ask how nhs knows people or the more cryptic things about the building because nhs's only response was "the ghosts told me" in the most serious voice and they've been too scared to bring the question up again.

how and what nhs knows can be for nhs to know only.

wishes that he wasn't the one left alone in an area all by himself without the lights on, a mag light, a radio, and a spirit box.

spirits like the little guy, but nhs does not care much for them.

the one who's the most sensitive to spirits. but lwj is helping him with training to better resist the push & pull from spirits.

lwj and nhs are an unlikely duo when working together and outside of ghost hunting. the two know one another prior to ghost hunting due to their families, but never really interacted much more than was needed of them.

lan wangji -

the fourth member of the group! a surprising addition to the ones who know him and a fan favorite.

lwj is good with the equipment that they use and watching cameras when at base camp.

his family has knowledge of spirits, how to handle them, bring them peace, and help them crossover.

lwj makes sure that the group is well-protected and safe if the location is truly dangerous to them. wwx is always happy to show off whatever little charm (sometimes a little rabbit is often doodled on the charms!!) or a talisman lwj has made for the group.

he helps to round the group out, and fans enjoy how monotone he sounds and how unaffected he seems by the supernatural occurrences happening.

lwj is often paired with wwx when the group splits up into pairs. fans seem to enjoy their interactions, especially seeing how close the two of them become since lwj is very much still lwj.

lwj finds himself impressed with the group as a whole, everyone works well with one another, and their personalities mesh well.

when on break from ghost hunting wwx gifts lwj two rabbits, he will often post pictures of them online or send pictures of them into the ghost hunting group chat. the rabbits are spoiled rotten, most of it is lwj, but jc is also the next biggest spoiler of the rabbits with wwx and nhs being tied.

#i DonT cARE ABOUT tHE rABBits #mdzs au #mdzs modern au #mdzs ghost hunters au #the ghost hunting quartet #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #nie huaisang #lan wangji #I WASN'T SUPER SURE OF HOW TO TAG THIS BUT TAKE IT #GET THE RATTLING OF THIS AU OUT OF MY HEAD!!! #sorry if it's ooc!!! i just want this to be free of my brain #jc my beloved #in this au lwj get's friends and by golly does he care about them #trust me the ghosts are scary but nhs is even more scary #- jc when asked if he likes lwj's rabbits while holding bags of rabbit goods #wwx is very much a chaotic loveable goober as per usual and you can believe when he realizes his feelings for lwj #he is very much like :0 and is a very cute mess #if anyone else finds joy in this bless you i just want these goobers to have some good fun silly times #feel free to babble or yell if you enjoy this! #papaya mumblings

[coffeeandritalin]

Just some thoughts and feelings inspired in me by this post from @kimalysong

(Note: I normally try to keep CQL and the novel separate - influenced by where I think it matters to keep them separated. In this case, I mix the mediums because I feel like the narratives help support each other - especially since CQL had to be censored.)

Yas! I feel like WangXian is a great example of how 'opposites attract' should be portrayed! They come off as opposites at first, but their opposing traits serve to complement and balance each other.

Just the simple trope of 'one is talkative while the other is quiet' shows this so well. WWX has a point to get across and will use as many words as it takes while LWJ seems to be in competition with himself over how few words he can use to convey a thought. Even though these are opposing traits, how each person uses their trait in a way that complements the other person.

Yes, WWX has a lot to say. For a long time, the cultivation world refused to listen (this goes as far back as Cloud Recesses days when LQR and even JC immediately dismissed his idea of using resentful energy - and likely further than that). LWJ, on the other hand, is determined to make sure WWX is heard. (Even if LWJ is the only person listening - WWX will be heard, d*** it!) (Even pre-resurrection, LWJ really tries to be there and listen to what WWX has to say. There are just a lot of other things that get in the way of them successfully communicating with each other.) At the same time, LWJ isn't just a sponge that simply absorbs everything WWX says. He frequently deliberates with WWX and doesn't hesitate to give his thoughts and suggestions.

On the other end, LWJ says very little out loud. WWX is aware that LWJ doesn't say much. In the novel, WWX even acknowledges that LWJ isn't the type of person to state his wants aloud. WWX, though, wants to know what LWJ is thinking and feeling. Throughout the story, WWX asks LWJ about his thoughts, opinions, likes, etc. The most important thing here though is that, despite having so much to say, WWX deliberately makes space for LWJ to speak. He creates a conversational atmosphere for LWJ and gives LWJ lead-ins and prompts, but he also gives LWJ the option of whether or not to answer.

Now, I want to point out that having very little to say aloud/through words is not the same as having very little to say. LWJ makes a conscious and personal choice to not say everything out loud. Instead, LWJ speaks through his actions (this includes all those microexpressions from CQL). This is important because, over time, WWX learns how to read/'listen to' LWJ in LWJ's preferred communication style. WWX continues to chatter on using his preferred style, but he becomes very attuned to all of LWJ's non-verbals.

This makes me think back to the scene where LWJ and the juniors bring WWX back to Cloud Recesses after the incident at DaFan Mountain. LXC comments that LWJ seems happy, and WWX is on the side, thinking, "WHERE ARE YOU GETTING THAT!?" If the incense burner for some reason brought them back to that moment, I bet present-WWX would also now be able to tell how happy LWJ was.

Thinking about it now, with how much WWX has always stared at LWJ, I think he's always been attuned to LWJ's non-verbals to some degree. He just wasn't sure that he was interpreting everything correctly until much later. But, I digress...

I just find that their conversation dynamic is so supportive of each other. It's not one always talking and the other always listening. They converse. Through natural trial-and-error, they learn to converse in ways that support and nurture each other's conversation style. They each place so much emphasis on ensuring the other person has a voice in their relationship. I just... I can't... I need to stop, or I will continue repeating the same thing over and over again in 300 million different ways using slight word variations.

#mdzs #mdzs novel #the untamed #cql #mdzs lwj #mdzs wwx #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #i love their relationship so much