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wutheringskies · 8 months

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Post-Canon Fics in MDZS...

You know, what would make post-canon fics great? If they adhered to canon! This post is honestly just a list of character tropes, and plot tropes I find incessantly OOC, replaced by plot tropes I wish we hyped up more.

1. Yunmeng Bros Reconciliation

There are plenty of reasons this will never happen. Firstly, Jiang Wanyin will not apologize to Wei Wuxian further beyond the apology that he has made in Guanyin Temple, because to apologize, you need to see "wrong" in your actions and regret them. Jiang Cheng doesn't have a similar morality index as Wei Wuxian and their beliefs have always been different. Not to mention Jiang Cheng is inherently bitter since he was young; following down the path of his mother. His first instinct when someone is being praised is so squash them down.

Secondly, Wei Wuxian will not apologize to Jiang Cheng beyond the apology of breaking that promise that only Jiang Cheng was left holding onto - a culmination of their broken dreams and desires, a marking of them being a generation of war.

The only thing both of them have in common is their love for Jin Ling and a shared, painful past - a past that Wei Wuxian wants to move on from, a past that Jiang Cheng is simultaneously rooted in, and moved away from.

Note: that this, I am speaking for is MDZS canon. Not CQL, as well, Jiang Cheng didn't directly kill those Wens which is the tipping point.

Replaced by: Loving Jin Ling

In the MDZS Novel, we go from seeing Jiang Cheng become increasingly abusive and violent towards Jin Ling as the stakes worsen and Jin Ling becoming annoyed and having arguments with him, not agreeing with his thinking.

We also see, Wei Wuxian, being the one to push Jin Ling to talk to Jiang Cheng in the Iron Hook Extra. We see Wei Wuxian being disgustingly affectionate towards Jin Ling, and Jin Ling being a tsundere about it and promising to himself that from the next time, he'll stick around Wei Wuxian in night hunts, implying these two will be consistently in each other's lives.

We also learn that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji take Sizhui out on night-hunts (a family). And that Sizhui and Jin Ling go on night-hunts together. Also, that Wen Ning often joins their night-hunts.

So, hear me out, post-canon fics revolving around this strange, muddly, messy support system and family that Jin Ling has amassed.

Yunmeng bros reconciliation is never going to happen; too much interaction might worsen their tentative mutual ignorance of each other. Wei Wuxian, who's always pushed himself into other's personal spaces, is fine with just ensuring Jiang Cheng is okay. Distance is better than proximity.

But what plausibly might happen is Jin Ling forming deeper connections with his scattered, support system. Jin Ling might open up to Jiang Cheng for help with this or that, as Wei Wuxian has advised. Jiang Cheng might learn how to not be emotionally abusive or harsh and show the love he has for Jin Ling in better ways. Jin Ling will probably end up getting closer to Wei Wuxian and Sizhui and understanding just so many things about, everything. He might be supported by Hanguang-jun.

He might grow up to be the best Jin sect leader there ever was.

2. Wei Wuxian navigating through a world where everyone hates him, withering away.

This is, not only one of the saddest post-canon takes, but also very OOC. It might not make sense what I'm talking about so I'll list out common tropes I put under this categorization:

a) Wei Wuxian has terrible self esteem

b) He feels undeserving of Lan Wangji's love and keeps him at a distance emotionally by seducing him for sex instead

c) He has a childlike innocence, he goes out and hears everyone talking shit about him and stays indoor most of the time

d) He is mistreated by Lan clan and Lan Wangji is oblivious to it all

And such. I definitely understand why these tropes are so popular. It feeds into a particular sort of misery but there is a lot that it ignores:

a) Wei Wuxian firstly doesn't have terrible self esteem. If he did, he wouldn't have made it this far (coughs, the big age of 21 or 22). People ignore the fact that Wei Wuxian is a strong protagonist. He is proud, and aware of his worth. He never plays down his talents. He understands quickly the perspective of other people, and already knows that the people who talk more, do less.

In his first life, he went through being coreless and powerless, hated by all, but still standing up for stuff he believed in and lounging and drinking. He's not afraid to make others uncomfortable with his presence. That is a part of his charm. He cares for the opinions of only few people - and those few love him.

b) The one where he's emotionally distant towards Lan Wangji is the one I possibly hate the most. Especially because these sorts of fics often have him distracting Lan Wangji from his bouts of worthlessness and insecurity by his body, and Lan Wangji jumps straight into action.

Lan Wangji knows Wei Wuxian well enough that he offers comfort to Wei Ying even when he doesn't realize he needs it; like hugging him in Intrustion extra when they are on the topic of servants. Wei Wuxian can read Lan Wangji well, and so can Lan Wangji. Both of them have a relationship built on mutual trust and understanding. Wei Wuxian isn't sticking around with the Lan Clan and the jingshi because it's what Lan Wangji wants, but it's also what Wei Wuxian wants.

Also, Wei Wuxian doesn't feel undeserving of Lan Wangji. He knows he has caused Lan Wangji a lot of pain, intentionally or not, and is dedicated to making him happy, and being in love. It was all in his Guanyin Temple confession - their relationship is not out of gratefulness or anything like that.

c) Wei Wuxian is innocent at his soul, but he's not a child. He knows what the world thinks and he doesn't care. He doesn't expect the world to talk nicely about him; he probably doesn't even hear half the chatter, and even if be acknowledges it, it doesn't need to emotionally hurt him. Unrelatable? Yes. But that's how his character is like.

And if he ever is hurt or surprised, he's going to seek comfort. Act childish, ask to be pampered, etc.

d) THIS one is so... We see Wei Wuxian stepping into the Lan Clan. One day later, he's sitting next to Lan Wangji in a banquet, accepted as his cultivation partner. Lan Qiren is definitely against his presence. But like, sincerely, how long will that go on when we know that Wei Wuxian is the one who takes Lan juniors to night hunts everyday? We also see Wei Wuxian acting independently with juniors onto missions where assistance from the Lan Clan was requested (Iron Hook extra) without any Lan Wangji or anyone else. He even has a jade pendant, just four days after settling in. Lan Qiren has to hear his moans like... every night. A few hours in and he's talking to a Lan female cultivator?

Lan Wangji himself has injured thirty three Lan elders and been punished by the worst punishment, probably, ever assigned. Beyond Lan Qiren's glares and admonishments, I sincerely doubt anyone can do or say much. What I don't doubt is that Wei Wuxian is loveable and makes friends easily, and that despite everything, he's Lan Wangji's cultivation partner. A teacher. Accesses all Lan cottages and buildings. And now an addition to the Lan family.

And as for what the general people speak, perhaps the Yiling Laozu will always be a figure that haunts children bed time stories. But Senior Wei, and Hanguang-jun's husband, and Wei Wuxian - is shown to be a figure that is loved, respected by many.

The whole of cultivation world TRIED to kill him (Second Seige). They were embarrassed. Only like 20 people were actually there to kill him.

These 20 people will probably never be able to touch a hair on his head.

The WHOLE of cultivation world was saved by Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and the Wens' remains. Stories always travel fast, don't they? The cultivation world has found their newest figure to hate - and it's not Wei Wuxian. Not just that, even the one with the most hostility towards him (Jiang Cheng) didn't DISALLOW him from coming to Lotus Pier where in front of him, they transferred crimes previously "done" by him to Jin Guangyao (like the death of Jin Zixuan - let's not fool ourselves and think anyone other than Jin Ling cares about the truth). Not just that, the cultivation world asked "Master Wei" for help.

Wei Wuxian didn't come back to life only to live a terrible, hated, agonizing life. Most people don't care. He doesn't care. Those who care are not strong enough. Those he cares about love him.

Replaced by: Wei Wuxian navigating through life without heavy burdens on his shoulder

Much of the fics focus on the "burden" of the trauma he's been through his life in the fics. Very few focus on the lack of burdens. Like... the guy is now well fed. His feelings are returned. There's nobody in danger. He has a body that can grow a core again. He can slowly pick up Suibian. He can learn new tunes on Chenqing. He can hang out with Wen Ning. He can think back to fond memories. He can paint, read, travel, teach, have great ideas and tap 100% into his actual personality.

He can process stuff he's been through in a healthier way. Like, I don't know, that intrusion scene where LWJ immediately hugs him when the topic of servants come is so important to me, because, it makes me wonder what sorts of conversations they have had. He now gets pampered and indulged - and we all know he loves it, but often the portrayals of his thoughts about being loved is very self critical which isn't canon. And it would be really cool for Wei Wuxian to have just, time, on his hand.

He was barely free for a year and changed the ways of the cultivation society forever. Without much resources or money. Now, the possibilities are endless. He can not only travel, but buy expensive stuff and have a bunch of Lan texts and a very educated and smart husband to help him invent more.

3. CQL Shade but Post-Canon Fics where Wangxian is too busy with responsibilities for each other ???

Why are you guys hurting yourselves? Like, there's only a certain amount of these sorts of fic that's acceptable until it becomes a sort of widely accepted canon.

I think it definitely has to with Chief Cultivator Lan Wangji. My poor baby, his romantic heart, extremely concise replies, and disdain for worldly matters (HIS LITERAL NAME IS WANGJI. HIS SWORD IS BICHEN) was ignored in the favour of making him a cold, busy husband who's sorting minor clan disputes, surrounded by length drabbles and politics by those that once killed his husband.

This is just so awful for me. In the intrustion extra, even after dressing up early, with a guest waiting outside (Master Qin), he lets the guest WAIT than wake Wei Ying up (who sleeps until noon).

If he became chief cultivator the world would collapse. If Wei Ying held onto his robes a little too tightly, he wouldn't even step out of the Jingshi.

Like he told Wei Ying, "I've been damned since long ago." Lan Wangji is a pure romantic. He's never going to be too busy for Wei Wuxian, or too distant, or too cold.

Like, guys just no. Let's write post-canon Wangxian. Not Madam Yu-Jiang Fengmian inspired Wangxian.

#yunmeng nos #canon jiang cheng #wei wuxian #no jiang bros reconciliation #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #wei wuxian does not have a low self esteem #on the topic of post canon fics #jin ling #lan wangji #lan zhan #wei ying #post canon #wangxian #mdzs meta #meta #mdzs essay

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chaos0pikachu · 3 months

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Film Making? In My BL? - The Sign ep01 Edition

So, if we're doing this we're doing this, so buckle in baby.

I'm gonna focus how the opening scene below, uses two narrative devices and one film technique to build out the scene as a whole: in media res, misdirection, and the long take.

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Okay so to begin, we have to start at the beginning, or well, the middle lmao

In Media Res

I saw a post in the tag that said something to the effect of how The Sign starting with no context and providing no information at the beginning was strange, with the implication it was bad writing. I disagree, fundamentally, because The Sign is using a very common literary device called 'In Media Res'. And in my opinion, uses this device very well.

If you're familiar with basic storytelling terms I ain't telling you anything new, but for folks who may not know, in media res is a latin term that means "in the midst of things" and lots of stories - both prose, comics, and film - use this device.

The most famous is The Iliad by Homer, which if you've ever read - and you should it's glorious also it'll give some context to Song of Achilles - you know it drops you full-on no context into the middle of things. The beginning will differ in verbiage depending on the translation you pick up, this free version starts with:

THE CONTENTION OF ACHILLES AND AGAMEMNON. In the war of Troy, the Greeks having sacked some of the neighboring towns, and taken from thence two beautiful captives, Chryseis and Briseis, allotted the first to Agamemnon, and the last to Achilles.

Right off the bat the story drops four character names and the setting with no real context. Who are all these people? Why is there a war? Well, keep reading to find out! It also starts the story with an action aka an argument - nay A CONTENTION!! Achilles and Agamemnon are such bratty bitches lol

Other (more mainstream) examples include:

The Dark Knight

Lost

28 Days Later

Mission Impossible (pick one)

Fight Club

Full Metal Alchemist (both)

MDZS

Inception

And, The Sign.

"In contrast to linear storytelling, which starts at the beginning and moves sequentially, in medias res is a nonlinear approach that can make stories more dynamic and immersive.

It's a technique that challenges the audience to make sense of the narrative puzzle, often revealing essential information about the characters and their motivations gradually." (source)

What's described above is exactly how The Sign, starts it's story, in the middle of things, specifically to create a puzzle for the audience to figure out gradually. If you watch the above scene, what's happening?

We get a (well done) overshot of an island (establishing setting), we see a group of soldiers (establishing the characters we'll be following) we see them doing military things (okay these are their skills, and they're on some sort of mission), their drone spots a group of people inside and a character says the dialogue "Listen up, you only have 15 minutes" (this establishes stakes, okay there's a time limit to this mission) "Team A will rescue the hostage" (okay now we know what the mission is and informs these characters are on a rescue mission).

Who is speaking here? We don't know yet, but a safe assertion would be this character, since they are the first character who speaks on screen, will be important.

And we'd be right because it's Phaya speaking, one of our main protagonists as well soon find out.

All this happens within the first minute; the show provides an interesting set-up. It deals out information in tidbits - setting, characters we'll be following, situation set-up, stakes - but not enough information for the audience not to ask questions.

I want to iterate that at this point, the goal isn't to "care" about the characters yet, so much as create an intriguing set-up based in action that will showcase various information about the tone, setting, and skills of the piece that will engage the audience. To make the audience ask questions, to engage with them.

When you open up on MDZS the protagonist, Wei Wuxian is dead and we have no context for this. Everyone is just in the middle of celebrating his death and we, the readers, do not care that he's dead or why he died. The story could have started in a more linear way, with him arriving at Cloud Recesses arguably the beginning of his journey, but would that have been as interesting? As engaging?

I like how this article breaks down the why of starting your story in media res is a powerful and often used device:

This is what The Sign is doing in this opening part. Starting the action of the series off with action and creating that immediate engagement. The scene also ends with a plot twist which connects to that final point about information control.

This isn't a technique I've seen often used in BL because BL is a sub-genre of romance and most romances are told in chronological order, rather than non-linearly - there are, of course non-linear romances, but most mainstream romances, and by extension most BL aren't told in this way - BL shows don't often have actual physical action. A majority, especially in Thailand, are grounded, closer to slice-of-life, coming-of-age, and comedy dramas - though we are starting to see a change in that trend.

So starting in the middle of things, like chepa the middle of what? Two dudes walking~ to Engineering class?

The goal of this opening scene is to pull in the audience, make them wonder and ask questions: "who are these characters? will they rescue the hostages? who are the bad guys? who is this character who's having visions?" and so on and so forth. It's a way to engage in the audience without having to slow down the narrative with a ton of exposition, or build up stakes slowly, rather it grabs the audience immediately and sets them in the middle of the tension asking them to engage with what's happening.

The Long Take

You've probably heard about "the long take" but to break it down, a long take is one continuous take without any edits/cuts. The film 1917 was famously filmed to "look" like one long take. One of the most cited and well known long takes is from Children of Men by Alfonso Cuarón:

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Now if you watch this movie you can tell why there isn't a lot of BL long takes because, god damn, they built a new type of car just to get that one scene. [read here for more on long takes]

So, The Sign. It's long take starts at about 2:08, following Phaya - again, we the audience don't know this is Phaya BUT since the camera is spending specific time with him we assume he is An Important Character and he is! Set up and payoff! Funny how that works - and ends at around 4:27.

[Sidenote I love that the take ends, not with a cut but a transition. Which I'll cover in another post but in the land of Thai BLs which favor cuts so damn much transitions were so refreshing to see]

During this long take, we establish that these characters are competent at what they do. We understand that they're military trained, in both hand-to-hand combat and firearms. We also get these two mid-close ups, which signifies these will be Important Characters:

And they are, the first shot is of Phaya, Khem and Thongthai and the second is Tharn and Yai.

This also sets-up the character dynamics; Yai and Tharn are already close and know each other so they are drawn to each other while on the mission, while Khem and Thongthai have a pre-established relationship but are still supporting behind Phaya.

This type of shot also allows for the audience to better see and follow the fighting that's happening on screen. Filming fight scenes are their own beast, and while there's no one school of thought on how a film scene "should" be filmed, there are techniques that that place some fight scenes above others.

The first video showcases some techniques on how to film a fight scene, while the second one at the 8min mark talks about the long take in John Woo's classic action film Hard Boiled.

This long take in Hard Boiled really showcases why long takes are so powerful in filming a fight scene specifically. They pull the audience further into the action and create a palpable energy that just works better than a scene with lots of quick cuts.

There's a reason one of the biggest criticisms of Mortal Kombat (2021) was that all the fights were edited to pieces while John Wick (2014) was a refreshing jolt to the industry.

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The Sign takes a page out of John Woo's book, and places the characters, and the physicality of the scene front and center, pulling the audience along with the camera in one long shot.

Long takes are hard, I can't really emphasize this enough, if you watched that video on Children of Men you can see all the intricate work that went into scenes that amounted to maybe 5mins of actual film time. Likewise this long take in The Sign is only about 2mins of actual time in the show BUT it's effective, it's engaging, its ambitious.

Which is why, I gotta give The Sign it's roses because of that ambition. Long takes are a lot of hard work, time, effort, blocking, rehearsals, on top of incorporating the fight chorography that's a lot and it looks good.

Now is this the best~~~ long take I've ever seen? lol no god but it's well done and ambitious especially for the sub-genre of BL.

Misdirection

Misdirection has more in common with in media res than the long take as it's a literary device and not a filming technique.

From Gotham Writers:

"In fiction misdirection can be either external or internal. That is, the author can be using the story as a frame to misdirect the reader, or a character in the story may be misdirecting one or more of the other characters. Or, of course, both." (source)

Misdirection is often used in thrillers or mystery narratives, Hitchcock used misdirection a lot in his films.

In Psycho the audience is lured to believe that Marion, the character the film opens with, builds up, and essentially sets up as our protagonist, is in fact our protagonist. She's not, she's murdered and her sister, Lila, is the actual protagonist of the movie. Sorry if this is a spoiler for an almost 70 year old film lmao

Misdirection is often used to set-up plot twists down the line. A good misdirection will leave clues for the audience when they watch back and go, "oh! I can't believe I missed that!"

In film The Sixth Sense is a good example of this, where the plot twist at the end doesn't weaken the film once you know it but rather, it enhances the film itself on a rewatch. Another good example of misdirection in film are both Knives Out and Glass Onion, where Rian Johnson will set up a non-linear story and then slowly unravel the information for the audience.

Take the scene where Marta, in Knives Out, finds Fran's body and hears Fran say "it was you" at least to audience ears. Then stands up looming above Fran's body. The scene cuts, and the audience is led to believe Marta has let Fran die to protect herself (since we the audience also have been led to believe Fran is dead) only to find out later that Marta didn't let Fran die, she is alive, and she knew Ransom was the killer.

The Sign uses misdirection in a much more simple way. It sets up an expectation: Phaya is going to die, upping the stakes from "must save hostages" to "must save a comrade" aka the character we, the audience, have been following for the last 11 minutes. It sets two characters, Chart and Phaya, as opposing against each other, for reasons we don't know - is Chart one of the villains? Why is he trying to kill Phaya? etc - and the audience is led to believe this is a life or death situation.

Then, plot twist. The reveal happens that this was all a training exercise, and there was never any "real" danger whilst also keeping the audience on their toes. And like in The Iliad, now we have context for the mission, and then the story is able to step back and explain.

It's not like, the best~~~ use of misdirection but there was a purpose to it. It sets up an expectation, and subverts that expectation of the audience - but in a good way not a Game of Thrones way. While also pulling the audience into the show by starting in the middle of the action rather than slowing down the story with exposition or giving their hand away to much that this was a training exercise.

If you knew it was a training exercise, suddenly the stakes feel less intense because none of the characters are in any real danger, but not knowing that, withholding that information until it's relevant, ups the stakes of the scene.

The opening scene of The Sign imparts a lot of information without using a lot of dialogue and I find that impressive. We learn which characters will be relevant to the story - Phaya, Tharn, Yai, Khem, Thongthai and now we know, Chart is also important - that they are skilled combat fighters, knowledgeable in firearms, there's a fantasy element to the story via Tharn's visions, they're on an island which the setting for right now, and the tone and aesthetic of the show itself.

It's actually a fun scene to rewatch again with more context because I appreciated it even more. Which is just good film making.

I didn't talk much about the camera work - needless to say it's notable and fun - but maybe I'll save that for the next post. What other shows or scenes would be fun to breakdown? Drop me a line but heads up I don't actually watch a ton of shows so idk if I've seen xyz show lmao

Later chepies ✌️✌️

Other posts in the series:

Aspect Ratio in Love for Love's Sake | Cinematography in My BL - Our Skyy2 vs kinnporsche, 2gether vs semantic error, 1000 Stars vs The Sign | How The Sign Uses CGI

[like these posts? drop me a couple pennies on ko-fi]

#the sign #the sign the series #idol factory #phayatharn #chaos pikachu metas #chaos film metas #idk what to tag this as anymore rip #these posts are so looooooooong #brain is a fried egg someone pass the soy sauce #Youtube #pikachu's bl film series

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sasukimimochi · 1 year

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ok but

i came up with what i think is an incredibly cute idea for a mdzs au and i really might add it to my project list cuz it tickles my fancy.

i'm dying thinking about it so let me give as small of a summary as i can here lmao

*the big change here is LWJ. LWJ is essentially a lot less restrictive, but...mainly with WWX! Think of this slightly like a sober-drunk LWJ.

-WWX meets LWJ at Cloud Ressesses, as per usual. he's still strict, but something about him seems softer around WWX than with other people, and others notice it immediately while WWX has no fucking clue. (this doesn't mean he's not aware, this just means it's too early for him to understand there's a difference).

-LWJ intentionally catches WWX every time he does something against the rules, and is secretly the happiest guy ever bc he now gets to sit with WWX every day for hours. this will help it still be a surprise for WWX when LWJ starts opening up to him bc why does strict lan suddenly wanna friend me??

-it does not take long before LWJ is actually seeming to open up even if not in the way WWX expected. (at least a month so after his punishment) as a result, WWX stops doing as much bad things to get LWJ's attention, and simply hangs out with him a ton. (Jc is a bit jealous bc he always wants the two to hang alone. He doesn't think about it too much though cuz wwx is always outgoing so he thinks he's probably overthinking it- not that he thinks they're in a relationship at this point)

-WWX starts behaving a bit, just because he wants to hang around longer, but still ends up punching Jin Zixuan. As a result, LWJ convinces uncle to let him go to Lotus pier as both an escort and to study there since he's already a great lan student! (aka he just wants to stick around WWX) and after a great battle with the of eyes he is allowed to go.

-Thus starts the little adventures of our young couple doing whatever the hell they want for a while.

maybe i'll touch more on this later but

i decided to nickname the au "He's Definitely Sober" for now. if i change it i change it lol

i mean...think about it, just imagine this scene but with a sober lwj. i would literally die. it's like, some of my favorite things. I have always wished there was more of this lmao

scenario for fun-

LWJ: Wei Ying. WWX: Lan Zhan?

LWJ: I love Wei Ying. WWX: You what

LWJ: I want to court you. WWX: YOU WHAT

LWJ: i'll ask uncle in the morning. WWX: ////////???? REWIND.

LWJ: *shoves armful of gentian flowers in his arms* please. WWX, lost, flustered, and who knows what else: o...okay.

...and thus an awkward convo with jc the next day:

WWX, holding his flowers: so...

JC: *squints* WWX: i might have gotten asked about being courted...

JC: ...you're a man! WWX: i said that too but...

JC: but?? WWX: we're both guys so its hard to argue against

JC: *freezes, looking seconds from qi deviation*

somewhere in the Yashi Lan Qiren is also looking pretty similar.

#sasu speaks #because apparently im allergic to focusing i have to come up with an entirely new au instead #mdzs #jc #wwx #lwj #lqr #He's Definitely Sober #HDS #mdzs brain rot

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web-novel-polls · 1 month

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WN Weapon Tournament

[Please be courteous in the notes. Don’t make me block you.]

Chenqing - Wei Wuxian's dizi (MDZS)

Wiki Link

Hong Jing (TGCF)

Mod Propaganda: Snitch

Wiki Link

Jiangui / Ah! What the Hell - Mo Ran’s whip from 2ha

“There is only one person in this world who can open Ever-Yearning. This person is extremely important in your life; you must love this person dearly, and this person must also love you in return, and be wholly devoted to you.” - Ji Baihua regarding the Ever-Yearning box containing Jiangui

Mo Ran’s Holy weapon in his second life, Jiangui - which translates to “Ah! What the hell” due to Mo Ran accidentally exclaiming this when opening the Ever-Yearning box.

Jiangzai - Xue Yang’s sword (MDZS)

Submission:

i don't know shit about swords but jiangzai can split into two swords and that's Very Cool methinks

Little Palace Mistress’s Whip (SVSSS)

Submission: Shen Qingqiu is whipped, and not just for Luo Binghe?

Longcheng / Dragon City - Xue Meng’s sword from 2ha

Since Xue Meng could not receive a holy weapon from Jincheng Lake, he used Longcheng, a high-quality scimitar from Taxue Palace. From what I remember, Mo Ran gifted him the Wangshu Crystal from the Carp Essence that was requested by Song Qiutong to help him cultivate/add to his sword, making it something similar to a “heavenly weapon.”

Shuoyue - Lan Xichen's sword (MDZS)

Submission: The sword that stabbed through Lan Xichen's best friend, Jin Guangyao. Tragic sword.

Wiki Link

Suibian - Wei Wuxian's sword (MDZS)

Suibian is Wei Wuxian’s sword that sealed itself after his death. Its name translates to “Whatever” due to Wei Wuxian’s inability to think of a suitable name and telling Jiang Fengmian to name it “whatever.” This is, in my opinion, the funniest thing Jiang Fengmian has ever done in his life

Taerang - Alberu Crossman's divine item (Lout of the Count's Family / LCF)

Wiki Link

Fantasy gun rights

Xuan Su - Yue Qingyuan’s sword (SVSSS)

Mod Propaganda: Xuan Su is Yue Qingyuan’s iconic sword that is only drawn twice after he suffers from a qi deviation bonding his life force to Xuan Su.

Yan Zhen (TGCF)

Jun Wu’s Virgin Detector sword

Wiki Link

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lansplaining · 9 months

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Sorry if I ask but can you explain to me wwx's development character? I know I came as stupid but I can't see it😭😭. He doesn't even say sorry to jzx for killing him one time and he prefers to hide to lxc about sisi so he doesn't 'make the wrong choice'. I feel like he doesn't grow a lot...

this is actually such an interesting question and something i've been thinking about a lot since I finally finished my re-read of the final volume.

i don't think that wei wuxian undergoes what western readers at least-- i'm not qualified to speak for other traditions-- would expect from a protagonist's journey of growth. and, like i was talking about earlier today, it's certainly not a journey of growth that rests on a christian concept of 'redemption' through confession, atonement, or apology for the sins of your past.

wei wuxian is absolutely aware in the present timeline that his yiling patriarch phase was intense to say the least. he comments on having probably taken it too far re: the wen corpses he weaponized, and he cringes to see the way he struts around and publicly defies jiang cheng. when he first returns to life, he wants to just fuck off and ignore everything, but quickly realizes that he can't separate himself from the past, either practically or emotionally-- a step of growth!

but wei wuxian spends the entire novel in a state of denial so profound that he can't even directly confront, much less move on or grow from, the things he did in the past. he can't apologize in his head for killing jin zixuan because that would mean really thinking about what that meant and letting those emotions come back. he just keeps running from jiang cheng because deciding jiang cheng hates him is easier than opening his mind and heart to all the other things jiang cheng might be feeling and might have felt because of his actions. he can't make a real choice about what to tell lan xichen because that might require stopping and really thinking about where his consistent determination to make choices on other people's behalf has gotten him, and whether they were ever really better off for it.

a different story would be about wei wuxian confronting and thus working through and growing and changing because of these things-- but MDZS isn't that story. i'm not saying he doesn't develop as a protagonist, but the ways that he grows and changes are primarily about his relationship to lan wangji-- and in true MXTX fashion, the things that the primary couple feel for one another don't tend to extend into other areas of their lives or apply to other people. wei wuxian can confront the things lan wangji did for him, and his feelings of guilt about that-- and thus he can move on from them, he can wipe the slate clean. there's no need for thank you and sorry, we don't have to think about the past anymore, we just need each other in the present. it works for a romance, especially the specific terms of wangxian's romance, but denial is rarely a great route for increasing one's understanding of oneself.

#ask answered

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ninjakk · 2 years

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At the beginning of mdzs, there is this scene which is not said much in my opinion. The way Wei WuXian got so worried about Lan WangJi when he asked one of the Lans where is Han GuangJun. I would like to know your thoughts on this as you have read mdzs without knowing the love interests in this.

Wei WuXian is really protective of Lan WangJi if we look closer to all of his dialogue. At the second siege in burial mounds, Wei WuXian take close care even to the cut on Lan WangJi's finger. Wei WuXian love Lan WangJi so much. Just as one of your meta said, they love each other equally.

Hi Anon ☺️

Do you know what - I actually love that scene and the entirety of chapter 19. I think it sets up the rest of the novel quite nicely. It shows the reader just how well the pair work together so naturally and it helps establish the interesting mystery that they are about to embark on.

I have to say, although I originally read the novel unaware it included any romance - by the point you are referencing above, I was pretty much convinced there was going to be! Personally, I think I deserve a medal for resisting the urge to find out if the novel had undertones of romance in it! But I held myself back, because I was enjoying the idea of being somewhat in the dark about it all. So it was still just my assumptions, but I was certainly looking for any signs of romance by this point 😍

So let's take a look at the scene in question.

It was extremely scary for an accident to happen during the spirit summoning ritual, since nobody would know what being it would summon or what would happen if someone broke in. And, ever since the mingshi was built, there were almost no cases where the summoning failed. This made everyone more worried. Seeing that Lan WangJi didn’t appear, Wei WuXian had a foreboding feeling. If Lan WangJi was still in the Cloud Recesses, he would have hurried over immediately, as he heard the alarming chimes of the bell, unless…

Chapter 19 ExR translations

So first things first, WWX is more than aware LWJ is capable of looking after himself, but that doesn't stop him worrying or making a fuss about him at times! Even on a first read, we can tell from the Cloud Recesses flashbacks and the way everyone seems to be somewhat in awe of LWJ's skills, he must be quite formidable.

This is the first time we see WWX (in his second life) essentially running towards LWJ, rather than running away and 'trying to escape'. In fact the whole scenario was a perfect opportunity for WWX to grab a jade token and leave the Cloud Recesses, while everyone was distracted. But instead of taking advantage of the commotion, he is more concerned about LWJ. WWX instantly comes to the conclusion that LWJ must be inside the mingshi, where something has gone wrong, making him rather anxious. Which again, on my first read, added to my ever growing assumption that WWX had the hots for LWJ since they were teenagers.

Wei WuXian grabbed his hand at once, speaking in a low voice, “Which being’s spirit are you summoning? Who else is inside? Where’s HanGuang-Jun?!” It seemed as if the disciple had trouble breathing, “HanGuang-Jun told me to run away…” Before he finished his sentence, dark-red blood gushed out of his nose and mouth. Wei WuXian pushed him into Lan SiZhui’s arms. With the hastily created bamboo flute still by his waist, he went up the stairs in just a few strides. He kicked the mingshi’s door and commanded, “Open!”

WWX quickly approaches the person who escaped the mingshi, trying to gather as much information as he can and determine if LWJ is inside. It's quite telling that the only thing WWX manages to find out from the injured disciple is that LWJ is inside, yet he rushes towards the mingshi's door the minute he hears he might be in trouble. WWX dashes towards the door, unperturbed by the fact he might be attracting a lot of attention in doing so. Considering he managed to gain access to the mingshi so effortlessly and he is meant to be playing the part of a crazy subpar cultivator, he's not doing the best job of keeping in character! But I suppose we can let him off, because he's obviously worried about LWJ.

WWX has always cared about LWJ, more than he ever realised in his first life. Even during the Xuanwu of Slaughter chapters we can see WWX moves almost instinctively whenever he is worried about LWJ. Although WWX was most likely about to step in and help MianMian anyway, it's his concern for LWJs safety that causes him to do so in the end. Prior to that, he was being held back by JC. Seeing that LWJ was about to be attacked, without any means to defend himself, was the catalyst that finally encouraged him to go against JCs wishes and become embroiled in the situation. Later in this arc, LWJ is bitten by the Xuanwu of Slaughter, after pushing WWX out of the way to save him and WWX reacts reflexively once again.

If it dragged Lan WangJi inside, then he’d most likely never come out again! Wei WuXian broke into a sprint. Just as the head was about to shrink inside, he threw himself over, clinging to one of the teeth on its upper jaw. His strength could never have been able to compete with such a monster’s. Yet, under the life-or-death situation, superhuman strength had exploded within him.

Chapter 53

WWX himself even admits that his strength was no match for the beast, but he still rushed to help LWJ. He reacted so fast, even LWJ was shocked WWX managed to catch up before the beast disappeared into its shell. WWX manages to overcome the beasts ferocious jaws with sheer determination and his utter refusal to let LWJ die.

At times, WWXs rationale is even momentarily overridden by concern when LWJ is involved. We see this more in his second life.

Having heard a few clashes of the blades, Wei WuXian’s heart suddenly tightened. He blurted out, “Lan Zhan? Are you hurt?!” From afar, there came a muffled grunt, as if someone had received a critical injury. It clearly wasn’t Lan WangJi’s voice, though. Lan WangJi, “Of course not.” Wei WuXian grinned, “So it seems!”

Chapter 34

During the Yi City arc, we can see WWX react in a similar way to the scene at the mingshi. WWX can't see LWJ and he starts to worry about his safety once again. Granted it was quite a dire situation and LWJ was certainly at a disadvantage in the fog with a glowing sword, while up against someone who was not only familiar with his moves, but also had their sword glare masked. But as we later see, once WWX has calmed his emotions and his logic returns, he has total faith in LWJs abilities.

Lan JingYi approved, “Well, obviously. Of course HanGuang-Jun is good. He just never likes to show it off. He is very low-key, right?” The “right?” was directed at Wei WuXian, who replied in confusion, “Are you asking me? Why are you asking me?” Lan JingYi was on the verge of being angered, “So you think that HanGuang-Jun is not good?!” Wei WuXian touched his chin, “Hmm. He’s good. Of course. He’s really good. He’s the best.” As he talked, he couldn’t help but break into a smile.

Chapter 38

WWX is well aware of LWJ's impressive skills, but he can't help his feelings bubble up to the surface at times, whenever LWJ is in a situation that might get him hurt. Thus his rationale momentarily disappears on occasion!

As much as LWJ loves to take care of WWX, he in turn loves to take care of LWJ and make a fuss over him as well. We see this time and time again throughout the novel. As you said, the small but sweet scene where WWX cleans and covers LWJs wound using his own robes, during the second siege at the Burial Mounds, is one example of this.

There are numerous other examples of WWX making a fuss of LWJ, both in WWXs first and second life. We have WWX seeing to LWJs wounds in the cave, intending to use all of the medicinal herbs on him and ignoring his own injuries. Depending on if you believe the theory WWX obtained the perfume pouch for LWJ in the first place - there is also that. WWX even gives LWJ his cleaner inner robes, keeping his dirty outer robe for himself. It's all very sweet!

In his second life, we see WWX tenderly wash a drunk LWJ's face, worry about him not eating enough and fuss over his clothes when he accidentally gets blood on them. I think my favourite example of WWX looking after LWJ in his second life is from a scene at Guanyin Temple. WWX lovingly covering LWJs ears, to protect him from JCs painfully noisy attempt at distributing JGYs dark melody on his guqin - is just the cutest thing!

I find it quite funny as WWX is very much "HanGuang-Jun is just amazing! He can beat anyone!" and at the same time "Lan Zhan! Are you okay?! You have a tiny cut, let me see to that for you." Of course LWJ is exactly the same. He is also aware WWX is more than capable of looking after himself, but his reflexes are to protect him nevertheless. It's just so natural for them both! It's so sweet how instinctive it has always been for WWX to think this way about LWJ, even in his first life 💕

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji #mdzs novel #anon ask #answered ask

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darkreaderdan · 11 days

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🇼‌🇪‌🇮‌ 🇼‌🇺‌🇽‌🇮‌🇦‌🇳‌

┏━━━━━•❅•°•❈•°•❅•━━━━━┓

I figured since I have no idea what to post why not make the first one be about my fav character of all time.

When I speak of characters that I can never hate he will always be first on the list. WWX was the character that changed the way I a view things and just think in general. He was and is a perfect example of a flawed character and that's the thing I love sm about MXTX she never shy away from showing us that not everyone is perfect and you can see that across all her works. As basically an orphan he was taken in by the Jiang Clan and even with the way that Madam Yu treated him he was always ready to sacrifice himself for the clan because in his eyes 'that's the least he can do for the people who took him in'.

He also perfectly depict (imo) what a person discovering their sexuality is like. we can tell that he has always been open minded; shown when him and LWJ was punished and he showed LWJ the magazine of 2 men having sex, so it's not like he ever condemned his feelings towards LWJ it's just that it's a serious case of bi-panic ad a man confused in bi and didn't know. I was clear as day that he had feelings for LWJ cause even when he teases LWJ about the other girls you can see him feeling sad thinking LWJ does have feelings for them and not realize that LWJ basically married him in the cave at Cloud Recess. 🤣🤣

Wei WuXian has experience so much trauma in life and what makes MDZS/MXTX so great is that the trauma was never a result of the character's sexuality has we have seen in a lot of media. Yes, he experienced things, but that is a result of their society, from the wars to the raids to the massacre, all of these are things that shaped him as a character and not to say he always makes the right choice cause truth be told he doesn't, that's what made him such a well written and relatable character.

I know that this is all over but this is just how my thoughts were coming out and I wanna share. I will one day do a better character analysis on him but for now, that's all.

#wei wuxian #mdzs #mxtx #mxtx mdzs #lan wangji #wwx #mdzs wwx #grandmaster of demonic cultivation

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khattikeri · 2 months

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open question for MDZS fans who know more about Chinese: I noticed the wiki says Qingheng-jun is a courtesy name.

since it has the suffix -jun I'd been assuming it was a title, like Cangse-sanren or 3zun, whose titles ending in -jun/-zun are different from their actual courtesy names.

The wiki makes accurate, clear distinctions between courtesy names and titles for everyone else, so I'm curious if this is just an error on his page or not.

is it ever mentioned in the novel text why this is the case, or if Qingheng-jun is a courtesy name rather than a title separate from an unrevealed actual name? Would Lan Qingheng then be an alternative version of his courtesy name?

Canonically he was renowned as a famous cultivator at a young age, but Lan Wangji was the same, and he is known separately as Hanguang-jun. So why the -jun for Qingheng-jun if that really is his courtesy name and not a title?

I don't know anything about how it works but I'm deeply curious now that I've noticed that difference LOL

#keri chats #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #qingheng jun #cql #the untamed #begging people to respond this is 1/3 intense personal curiosity 1/3 chinese culture research 1/3 fic research #lan wangji #cangse sanren

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mdzs-is-rotting-my-brain · 1 year

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For @mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess

🎁 🐚✉️ (comfort, fluff)

I"m not convinced I nailed the 'comfort' or fluff on this one. But let me know, I'm open to criticism,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'd be worried about these if you didn't say they were harmless."

Wen Qing held up the small blue and white gift box that had become the only regular occurrence in Wei Wuxian's life.

He sat up too fast, the heart monitor spiked, pain rushed from his stomach to his shoulder in a eye-blinding spike of pain. Clutching the well bandaged wound, he gasped for breath through the pain. White noise filled his ears for a solid minute before it faded back into Wen Qing' lecture, she wasn't talking to him but rather about his morphine drip, and the amount he was supposed to be on.

He fell into meditation breathing by habit, pushing the residual pain away and getting his breath and shaky limbs back under control.

"You good?" Wen Qing asked when he opened his eyes.

"Yeah. Shouldn't have done that "

She rolled her eyes, scoffing, “You’ve been awake for less than two hours following major surgery. You’re not used to it yet.” She handed him the box, “I’m gonna go find your doctor and talk to them.” She swept out of the room with all the fury of a patients rights violation behind her.

Wei Wuxian eased himself up slowly, crossing his legs and easing his posture until the strain of his stitches eased to a mild pain he could live with.

The box was smaller than the last one, he had to assume the contents would be smaller as well.

He smiled, running his hand over the plain blue box, and bow tied as neat and as perfect as every other box before it.

He wondered sometimes, the kind of man that pouty child in his blue overall shorts with the bunnies and carrots along the hem, and his pristine white shirt at the beach turned into. Besides a man that had found him and proceeded to mail back every single seashell Yu-furen told him he could not keep.

The kind of man that packed them all neatly into appropriate boxes and perfectly tied bows.

The kind of man that, no matter where Wei Wuxian went, from Lotus Pier, to Yi City, to Yiling, and finally to Gusu, found him and kept sending him seashells.

Wei Wuxian wasn’t sure he had actually gathered that many seashells, they’d been arriving one a week since he turned eighteen, no return address, no notes, nothing to give Wei Wuxian it was anything other than a creepy stalker.

But who else could it have been? Who else had Wei Wuxian ever dumped as many seashells and pretty rocks his ten-year-old arms could carry on? Who else had he met that wore blue and white? Someone from the Gusu Lan Sect? Sure, and that chubby cheeked child from thiriteen years ago maybe have been, or still was, a part of the Gusu Lan Sect. But if he knew Wei Wuxian had been living in Caiyi for two months, after taking all of the trouble to track him down through thirteen years and three moves, several upheavals, why would he not take the opportunity to come and see him?

The ribbon was silk, like all the others, sliding out of the perfect knot with ease, he wrapped it around his wrist, using his teeth to tie it off.

Nestled inside white silk lining was a gastropod seashell, a common turritella, mostly brown fading to white at the tip.

Yuan-er called them ‘unicorn horns’ and had glued several of them to the heads of his horse toys or the hoods of his cars, or two to a doll to make horns.

It felt more fragile now then it had when he was ten, he knew now how they were made, and how they washed up on the shore. But when he had been ten the world had been wide open. There was something new around every corner, if even exploring it came with bitter recriminations from behind him. The beach that one summer he was allowed to go had been once such place.

He’d never seen a body of water so big. The river in Yiling had been narrow, cold, and meandering, the water was always some form of green or gray, rotting piles of trash, bodies,, and waste the only smell for miles around the river. It took days to filter, and the poor people who lived around it were sick for weeks at a time if they had to drink before cleaning. The local government, despite years of effort, had done little to do anything about it by the time Jiang Fiengmen brought into the Jiang Sect as a ward.

In southern Gusu though, the water was a deep and brilliant blue, sparkling so bright it hurt his eyes to stare at the ocean stretching until it met the sky.

The sand was hot, rocks and shells biting into the touch callouses of his feet. Jiang Fiengmen showed little interest in his every discovery, and Yu-furen told him he could only take one home.

Not far from where they were, was another family, a woman and her two children, one of whom was politely reading while the other, with his chubby cheeks, and white-and-blue clothes, stared at Wei Wuxian like this was a private beach and he was intruding with his loud proclamations of every little new thing he found.

Ten-year-old Wei Ying didn’t understand why the boy was sitting under the umbrella, or why they weren’t dressed for the beach, and he hadn’t cared either. It’d only been a week since Jiang Fiengmen brought him in as a ward. Social skills would come later.

So, not only was it surprising that the boy that glared at Wei Wuxian like he was everything wrong with the world at that particlular moment, had not only kept all the shells, and rocks Wei Wuxian had dumped in his lap, and kept giving him as the day wore on until Jiang Yanli called him back for sunscreen where he passed out and woke up to find the boy and his mother gone, but now he was giving them back to him. Having gone through the trouble of tracking Wei Wuxian down and returning each shell one-by-one.

“This is why I don’t trust your care to anyone.” Wen Qing dropped into the chair beside his bed, flipping through his medical chart.

At least, Wei Wuxian assumed it was his medical chart, it’d be odd if she had someone else's.

“What’s happened?”

She snorted, “They brought someone down from the Lan sect to play Cleansing for you to purge your system of your guidao cultivation. Not bothering to check your golden core first. It’s no wonder your wounds became infected.”

He did wonder why they hurt so much when he woke up two days ago.

“That explains so much. How bad is my core?”

“Bad. The damage has spread to seventy percent now because it overcompensated trying to keep you alive during the Cleansing.” She looked at him, eyes flat and hard. He never liked that look on her. That banked anger, she was holding back for him, but she would be talking to doctors, nurses, and the board of directors and if any of them came out with their medical licenses, reputations, and egos intact, Wen Qing had lost her touch.

“You flatlined twice. The Cultivator should have stopped there, and the doctors did try to stop him. But he insisted on getting it all out.”

Wei Wuxian’s stomach turned, it felt like ice had ben poured down his back, he shivered, pulling the thin medical sweater tighter around him.

“The…boys?”

She put a hand on his arm without even looking, “You took care of your will last year, they’ll pass into mine and A-Ning’s custody.” She squeezed his arm.

“Oh good, they did list the cultivator here, now I know who we’re suing.”

“We’re…suing them?”

“Wuxian. There is a advanced directive in your medical file. Commanding any doctors that unless your life is in immeadite danger, you are to be treated by me or any of the Dafen Wen. Needless to say, while your injuries from the-” She waved her hand around, brows scrunching in thought.

“Crab yao.” He supplied.

“Yes, that. It wasn’t in danger until Su Minshin thought he knew better. They should have treated your injuries, stopped the bleeding and called me before anything else was done or medical decisions. Violating that, the hospital has made itself liable, and the Gusu Lan Sect for not ensuring they had the medical right to continue treatment after their ‘client’ flatlined twice in their cultivators care.” She snapped the file shut, squeezing his arm again, “I’m going to go talk to the board of directors, and the Gusu Sect leader. A-Ning is downstairs getting food with Yuan-er and Yu-er, they’ll be up here shortly.”

Wei Wuxian caught her hand before she left.

Family didn’t say thank you.

Jiang Yanli and Wen Qing taught him that. There was no need, they were family. Saying thank you was for strangers.

“Wear your white suit with the red flowers, you look like you could kill and not get it bloody.”

She smiled at him, “I’ll have A-Ning run home and grab it.”

Wei Wuxian held the shell in his free hand, watching her go. He reached under the medical gown to pull out the small blue pearl he’d threaded onto a leather cord.

The little boy with eyes as gold as every sunset Wei Wuxian had seen, had given it to him the last time he delivered an armful of shells.

It was the one thing he took home.

The hospital where he stayed had also been owned and operated by the Gusu Lan Sect. He wasn’t sure if they wanted to sweep the situation under the rug or were actually trying to make amends for his botched medical care, either way they were offered an extended stay at the Caiyi Cultivation Rehab Resort, also owned and run by the Lan Sect, but this one was owned by the main family, Zewu-jun and his relations.

A sprawling resort on the eastern shore overlooking expansive ornamental gardens, meditation gazebos, outdoor areas for relaxation and recovery, a private gym, indoor pool, heated jaccuzzi, and even a kids area though he had no intention of living his sons in anyone's care but Wen Qing or Wen Ning.

The receptionist was a polite young man, he had similar refined beauty as all the other Gusu Lan Sect Cultivators he encountered had. Fine, sharp, features with either wide or fine eyes, either dark or slightly lighter. They wore pristine white robes, and their sacred ribbons. None of them had the eyes of a sunset, or the magnetic pull of a child hiding from the sun.

They got the honeymoon suite, three bedrooms, a main room and a large balcony over looking one of the ornamental gardens and the ocean.

Wei Wuxian, Yuan-er and Yu-er would get the room with the biggest bed, Wen Ning and Wen Qing each got their own.

“I am supposed to tell you that Zewu-jun’s younger brother, Hanguang-jun, is also within the resort.” The Sect member that walked them up said, Wei Wuxian hadn’t caught his name, too busy trying to stop Yuan-er from pulling the fish out of the fountian in the foyer, “He is the only other guest at the moment, he is to be left alone.”

Wen Qing rolled her eyes, “Be sure he knows that we’re to be left alone as well. Don’t need anymore Lan hand’s fucking up my patient.”

The poor boy looked scandalized for a moment before he saluted them, leaving so fast he forgot to shut the door.

“Will I ever not be your patient when we’re in company?” Wei Wuxian asked, pushing the door shut behind the poor Lan.

“Yes, when people stop trying to kill you, and other people stop making it easy. You and A-Ning take the boys out for a walk, let them run off some energy after the car ride. I’ll order us some dinner.”

“Yuan-er, Yu-er, lets get out of Qing-ayi’s hair for a bit.” He called to the boys on the balcony with Wen Ning, “A-Ning you better come too, Qingqing is in a mood.”

He felt Wen Qing roll her eyes, he knew she was going to make him pay for that, probably ‘forget’ to order the chili oil, or something similar.

“Diedie, did you see the ocean? It’s so big. Can we go? Please can we go” Yu-er grabbed his pant leg with wide eyes. Xuanyu had the biggest doe eyes Wei Wuxian had ever seen on a child, he drank the sight of everything in like he wasn’t going to see it twice.”

“Not today little sunflower.” Folding his legs, he sat on the floor, holding both of Yu-er’s hands, “Its late, and during this time of the year the water gets cold at night. When you have your first impression of the ocean I want you to love it. We’ll go tomorrow, as soon as the sun warms the water, okay?”

Yu-er considered that with all the gravitas a nine-year-old was capable of. He nodded, said, “Okay!” Before running off to find his brother.

During the adoption proceedings, Wei Xuanyu, at that time Mo Xuanyu, hadn’t wanted anything to do with Wei Wuxian, the idea of adoption, or a younger brother. Until Yuan-er, and his perfectly timed flu, threw up all over Xuanyu’s atrocious aunt. They’d practically been inseparable ever since, forcing Wei Wuxian to move Yu-er’s bed into Yuan-er’s room so he could watch over his brother.

“Take it easy.” Wen Qing said as they stood at the door, “Nothing extraneous, no running, no lifting the boys up, and definitely no holding them. You still have two-hundred and fifty stitches in your chest. The last thing your core needs right now is more damage to try and fix.”

Wei Wuxian smiled at her, “I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“I’ll watch over him jiejie.” Wen Ning said.

“See, I have the boys to keep me distracted, and A-Ning to babysit me. I’m all set.” He kissed her cheek, then ducked out of the room before she could threw something at him.

“Gross! Wei Wuxian!” He heard her all but scream before the door swung shut.

The ornamental gardens was manicured lawns and hedges with some purple leafed trees Wei Wuxian hoped were native to the area. Well-maintained moss grew artfully over recreations of historical gates, obelisks, or guardian dragons. a pavilion was built in the middle of the large lake with no walkway, only narrow stepping stones. The boys wanted to attempt the crossing, but he was pretty sure Wen Qing’s ‘nothing extraneous’ included fishing a nine-year-old and a four-year-old out of the lake. And it was occupied. Too far away to make out details, but he could see pristine white robes, a long curtain of black hair, and skin as white as mutton fat jade.

Remembering that the Second Jade of Gusu Lan was also at the resort, Wei Wuxian quickly herded the boys towards the Chang’e courtyard, tempting them with the idea of jade rabbits and a history lesson.

The Moon Courtyard was everything he expected. A monument to Chang’e on one side of the courtyard holding two jars of the famed elixer of immortality, and her husband Houyi on the other looking up at his wife, between them a moon of gentian blossoms sat in the center with four rabbits around the moon.

The boys fell silent upon enter the courtyard. Wei Wuxian couldn’t blame them, there was something about this place that felt more reverent that the rest of the garden. More…personal. It felt like an homage. an honoring. Similar to how he felt in family shrines, or at funerals.

It felt holy.

Keeping the boys respectful as they saluted to both Houyi and Chang’e before they crossed the courtyard and into the hedgemaze on the other side.

“Tag.” Yuan-er shouted, breaking whatever spell had fallen over them in the Moon Courtyard. He slapped Yu-er’s shoulder, “You’re it.” He took off running before Wei Wuxian could even found the words to stop him.

“No, wait. We shouldn’t play that game.” A-Ning said, catching Yu-er's shoulder, “Your die is still hurt. Go, I’ve got him.”

Wei Wuxian walked faster then Wen Qing would have probably been happier with, and walked faster still when he heard tiny sniffles, and a quiet voice.

Rounding the corner he saw a Lan Sect member kneeling in front of Yuan-er, holding a handkerchief to his chin.

Wei Wuxian never minded blood, he could shake off his own injuries as fast as anything, a strong golden core and guidao cultivation ensure, was his delicate balance not screwed up, he could heal from most injuries within hours or days.

Seeing blood on his son however, twisted his stomach unpleasantly. Squeezing his heart, filling his head with white noise.

“Yuan-er?” he was patting his son down, looking for the stab wound, the gunshot, the yao injury, anything that would make the blood on the white silk and Yuan-er’s tears make sense.

“I’m okay diedie.” Yuan-er said, he didn’t look okay. His eyes were wide, red and puffy, fat tears trailed down his cheeks.

Wei Wuxian pulled him into his arms, squeezing him tight, “Are you sure? We can go back to gugu.”

“He fell.” The voice beside him rumbled, polite yet oddly strained, “Scrapped his chin. I believe he is just in shock.”

“Thank you, I-”

Eyes. As gold as at the sunset. Set in a face as beautiful as every lotus blooming, mountain range covered in snow, or one his son's laughter of pure delight. Skin as pure as mutton fat jade.

He knew him, all at once, from seashells returned in ornately wrapped boxes, and caring so gently for a child that was not his.

“Zhan-er. Ah, Lan…Zhan?”

His face lightened as if Wei Wuxian had said a password only the two of them knew, easing from guarded wariness to calm, warm and accepting.

“Wei Ying.”

There was so much warmth in that simple address. The way his eyes roamed across Wei Wuxian’s face like it had been something he had been wanting to see for decades.

His gaze locked onto something at the base of his throat.

Wei Wuxian smiled, touching the pearl, “You kept mine as well…well kind of, you have been giving them back.”

“You said your Furen would not allow you to have them. I believed when you became an adult she could no longer tell you what you were and were not allowed.”

He wasn’t wrong, mostly because when he turned fifteen, an adult by cultivation standerds, she kicked him out of the sect. Something she’d been promising to do since Jiang Fiengmen’s death.

The tiniest sniffle brought both of their attention to Yuan-er.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I should take him back to his aunt, get him looked over. Make sure he’s fine.”

He found a hand on his elbow, gently helping him stand,

“I want to see you again.” His cheeks warmed at the sudden, bold, declaration, he buried his face in Yuan-er’s hair, letting out a mortified groan.

A huff, something like a chuckle, or a gentle laugh, “I want to see you again as well.”

He jerked his head up, noting adorably pink ears, smiling at the still beautiful face in front of him.

“Don’t laugh, we’re in the honeymoon suite, I came with my…sister and brother, and my sons, so we needed the extra room.”

It was unfair that he even frowned beautifully,

“Your wife?”

Wei Wuxian scoffed, “Would I be flirting with the second-most eligible bachelor if I were married? Not to mention I am the fourth eligible bachelor on that list. If I were married, you’d have known.” He bent closer, sandalwood drifted across his nose, it was a fitting fragrance for someone so refined and otherworldly beautiful,

“And here I thought were you paying attention to me. You knew when and where I moved within weeks of me getting there, and yet you thought I was married.”

“Diedie, Yuanyuan!”

In the cinamatic history of perfect timings, Yu-er and Wen Ning came around the corner, clamping onto Wei Wuxian’s leg, tugging at them so he could see his brother.

“What happened? Is he okay? Does he need the hosptial like you did?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Wei Wuxian stroked his head slowly, “He just fell and is a little shaken up.”

“I will walk you back.” Lan Zhan said, folding his arms in his voluminous sleeves, “I am staying a few rooms down from yours.”

The warning about not disturbing Zewu-jun’s younger brother now made sense.

“Oh, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” He added a teasing lilt so Lan Zhan knew not to take him seriously, “You see, we were warned not to disturb Zewu-jun’s younger brother. And if you come up to my room well…” he let his eyes drift up and down Lan Zhan, “...we’d disturb the whole floor I feel like.”

Wei Wuxian smiled, unable to stop the urge to tease even if he had better control over himself.

Really, if Lan Zhan didn’t want to be teased, he shouldn’t have been so pretty and refined and understanding and kind.

It’s his own fault really.

“Shameless.” Lan Zhan retorted, his ears darkening.

Wei Wuxian laughed, long and loud, like he hadn’t since the Chang Clan and Xue Yang disaster.

“I can’t yet anyways. I’m here to recover and I feel like you would be the ‘extraneous’ activity jiejie warned me to avoid.”

“Do you flirt with everyone like this?” Lan Zhan asked, turning to offer a hand to help Wei Wuxian down the stairs into the Moon Courtyard.

“Only the really pretty Lan’s that return seashells.”

Lan Zhan hummed. He didn’t let go as they crossed the courtyard, pausing long enough for Lan Zhan to make his own bows to Chang’e and Houyi before wondering back through the winding paths they took before.

The pavilion was empty now, of course it was. Wei Wuxian if Lan Zhan had seized the opportunity to arrange a meeting in the hedge maze when he heard them talking the boys out of going to the pavilion.

Wen Qing was waiting for them by the door, she stubbed the cigarette out before Wen Ning saw, her eyes darting between Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan and their joined hands and immediately decided she didn’t want to know a single thing about it.

“Yuan-er fell, I think he just scraped his chin, but could you look at him for me?”

Yuan-er was reluctant to be released, and he settled for leaning against Wei Wuxian while Wen Qing looked over his chin and hands.

“I’ll apply some antiseptic when we get back to the room.” She frowned at him, “You should have put sunscreen on before you went out. I don’t care that it’s spring, the sun is still cancerous.”

“Yes Jiejie.” Wei Wuxian suffered under her care, he really did. No spicy foods, no alcohol, no sex-she didn’t specifically say ‘no sex’ just nothing strenuous. Which is the same thing really-no fun.

Aside from Jiang Yanli, she was the best sister anyone could ask for.

“I am beside you, I will walk you to your rooms. Please disregard the staffs instructions not to disturb me.” Lan Zhan offered Wen Qing the appropriate salute, “I would like the opportunity to know you all further in the coming days.”

“He’s one of the good Lan’s” Wei Wuxian said, putting a hand on Wen Qing’s arm when he saw her stiffen and frown, “I doubt seriously he knows what Su Minshin did, or the Lan sects participation.”

“Su Minshin?” Lan Zhan brows furrowed, he looked at Wei Wuxian sharply “What has happened?” It was a question, but it felt like a demand.

Wen Qing sighed, “Why don’t you…come around for dinner. I can explain everything then. Does the Lan sect still eat at six?”

Lan Zhan nodded, “We do.”

“We’ll see you in an hour. Come one Yu-er, didi, Wuxian.”

Wei Wuxian stood, holding Yuan-er.

He stared at Lan Zhan, pristine features staring after Wen Qing.

“She’s making it sound far worse than what it was, really.” He kissed Lan Zhan’s cheek, he wished he flushed as subtly as Lan Zhan, cause right now he was sure his face was as red as tomato, and he couldn’t blame it on the sun.

“See you at dinner.”

He got two steps before he was pulled to a stop. Lan Zhan hadn’t let go of his hand yet.

Lan Zhan stepped up to meet him, his free hand drifting to Wei Wuxian’s cheek. His eyes searching his.

“I…have wanted to give you this for a long time.” He pulled a white envelope out of his sleeve.

Like the boxes it was plain envelope and no fancy seal. Even in its simplicity there was a subtle extravagance in the embossed paper and textured cloud design.

“Do not open it now. And you do not have to answer now, or soon. Just to know it is an option.”

It took every ounce of Wei Wuxian’s self control to not rip open the envelope until after Lan Zhan-apparently forgetting he was walking him back to the room-vanished around the corner.

Wei Wuxian walked over to the stone bench beside the door, slid his nail under the seal and opened it.

The paper was light blue, with a subtle pattern of seashells in hues of cream and blue.

Wei Ying,

If you remember me, I am a friend you once made thirteen years ago. I am Lan Wangji of Gusu Lan. I am a friend still.

If you want, would you join me in Gusu?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That concludes the final three emoji prompt.

thanks to everyone that participated and sent in requests.

A special thanks to Moma (Mdzs-owns-my-ass) for waiting two days longer.

While doing research for this prompt, I noticed the similarities between Chang'e and Wei Wuxian.

Legends vary about when, and why Chang'e ascended to the moon, but there was always the constant theme of rabbits and two bottles of immortality elixer and her husband was an archer.

Wei Wuxian climbed "ascended" the Gusu Sect walls at night, during a full moon with two bottles of Emperor's Smile, later he gave Lan Wangji two rabbits and the Lan Sect uses jade entrace tokens. The Archer is represented both in Wen Ning and Lan Wangji.

MXTX is Chinese, it makes sense that similarities from Mythology and Lore would be in her books, I just thought it was fun to notice it.

Anyway, I'm off to practice writing short oneshots.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji #mdzs fanfiction #fanfic #mirmb prompts challenge #mirmb writes #three emoji prompt #three emoji challenge

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mischievouschan4 · 6 months

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Fic Tag Game

Thanks for tagging me, @starwalkertales!!! I've had my eye on this one for a while, and now I have the push to do it haha

Here we go~

How many works do you have on ao3?

For both my handles: 19, but technically 20 if you count the one I abandoned............oopsie 😅 Specifically for Star Wars: 17

2. What's your ao3 word count?

Amazingly, it's a nice even number right now?! 126,000 😲

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Main fandom: Star Wars (Obikin, QuiObiAni) Previous fandoms: Hocky RPF, MDZS, Promare

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1) WorldBigFlameUp with 620 kudos; this is for the Promare movie, GaloxLio with (dirty) domestic fluff post canon 2) Transference with 471 kudos; my current QuiObiAni golden child; Obi-Wan time travels to save the galaxy and receive aaalllll the love he should have gotten the first time around 3) Wisdom Teeth Woes with 260 kudos; really really cute SFW Obikin, the obligatory post wisdom teeth removal amnesia fic 4) How Anakin Got his Groove Back with 161 kudos; switch Obikin, I fondly refer to this one as "BDSM fic" 😌 she's filfthy, she's fun(ny) - maybe?, she's got BSE (big switch energy) from Obi-Wan LOL 5) I Know You Love Me with 150 kudos; HockeyRPF, my Toews/Kane (bottom Jonny) fic from the Chicago Blackhawks glory days *big sigh* **tears up** And the honorable mention abandoned fic (Thorki) at 718 kudos LOL (no judgment, okay?? I was a practically a bebe when I wrote it 😅)

5. Do you respond to comments?

................................I need to be better about this. I definitely do for Transference every time I update with a new chapter, but I find it hard to keep up for some of my other fics (EVEN THOUGH I CHERISH EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!!)

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

nOnE oF mY fIcS hAvE aNgStY eNdInGs 👀 (like actually)

7. What's the fic your write with the happiest ending?

I swear they're all happy! But I think the sugary-est fic overall has to be How to Fall in Love with a Lawyer, you can't say no to Obikin engagement! But also, I think The Kenobi-Skywalker Family Goes Viral is also quite adorable (not that I'm biased or anything ha)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have been lucky! No hate so far, just some very astute fans of canon that have pointed out inconsistencies haha (which is 100% acceptable)

9. Do you write smut? What kind?

HA... YES! I do lots and lots and lots of smut! But almost all of it is MxM I think!

10. Do you write cross-overs?

Historically, no. Would I be open to it? ...I think I could be convinced...

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yesssss!!!! And it is such an honor?!?! My QuiObi fic Seasons of Love was translated by the amazing @cakushi into Russian😭💓💓💓

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

NOT YET!!! BUT SOON!!! I'm looking at you, @dark--whisperings 💖

14. What's your all time favourite ship?

QuiObi probably? 🥰 It's definitely my comfort ship.

15. What's your WIP you like to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Oh goodness, welp, I have a WIP called Love and Devotion (MDZS/The Untamed fandom) which is a pseudo-Regency AU for Lan Zhan/Wei Ying that's just sitting there 3/maybe 6 ish chapters in........... I really do want to finish it, but I need to get my head out of Star Wars first....

16. What are your writing strengths?

Visualizing situations to translate them into words

CUTE FLUFF

Writing in a way that's comfortable for me to read out loud

Extensive research (both for smut and non-smut content hehe 😼)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

GRAMMAR (I switch between present and past depending on the fic and it screws with my brain so much)

Pacing 😠 (How much detail is too much detail?? IDK)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Select lines yes, I have for Love and Devotion since the original content is in Chinese and that's my second language, but entire chunks? Definitely not. I usually just do italics to signify another language haha.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I'm honestly not super sure LMAO back in my fanfiction.net days I wrote for both Death Note and Alex Rider hahaha

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Probably Transference haha when you put that much effort into a long-fic, it's hard to not put it on a pedestal.

Thank you so much for tagging me!!! Had lots of fun thinking about these.

Apologies if you've been tagged already, and apologies if I missed you! Anyone can pick this up if you find it interesting!!

@dark--whisperings @thesilverqueenlady @dreaminghour @briliantlymad @anakinsthot @cakushi @to-proudly-go (Omg I’m sorry I left you off!)

#I WAS BLESSED WITH A TAG #fic tag #star wars fanfiction #just writer things

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ripeteeth · 2 months

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Writing Patterns

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there’s a pattern! Tagged by @perverse-idyll, thanks for tagging me! This is really interesting, especially as I’ve been playing with my writing style and changing it up lately.

1. “A long cloak of night has fallen across the bed.” [Milk Teeth, MDZS, Jiang Yanli/Jiang Cheng. If I’m ENTIRELY honest, this is an inside joke with myself, as an old livejournal friend once described Snape by saying “pick up your long cloak of darkness and get to therapy”, which is a statement I think describes Jiang Cheng quite well.

2. “The trouble with stories is that they don’t always line up quite right.” [Over My Dead Body, MDZS, Wangxian, WIP. I like to bullshit about storytelling and story structure. There’s something fascinating about the interplay of author and reader, and of reminding the reader that they are sitting down to a story. There’s a special charm when the author editorializes and goes off on tangents - such as Victor Hugo in Les Mis - and while I am no Victor Hugo, it IS extremely fun to do.]

3. “‘Please,’ you say, and he likes it when you say it.” [empty, save you and i, Good Omens, Aziraphale/Crowley. I just love the cadence of this and the way it establishes the close, confessional second person POV.]

4. “Naked, wrapped in silk, and turned away on his side.” [say it like you mean it (with your fists for once), Kinnporsche, Gun/Vegas. Does the lyric “why is the bedroom so cold / you’ve turned away on your side” from Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart haunt you like it does me? I like how this established the feeling of isolation and loneliness.]

5. “This is how it goes.” [Zoetrope, MDZS, songxuexiao. Again with the storytelling.]

6. “The day he meets them is a red-sky day.” [blood, bones, and butter, MDZS, songxuexiao. Red sky at warning, sailors take warning! How else should you introduce my babygirl Xue Yang? I’m realizing a lot of my lines have tucked-in references, allusions, and inside jokes with myself.]

7. “Spring is pale in Revachol.” [Revachol Calling, Disco Elysium, Harry/Kim, WIP. Honestly, I don’t like this line and if I ever rewrite it, I hope to have something that fits better. This doesn’t grab in the way a DE fic should grab the reader. God, this WIP haunts me. Someday I WILL finish it, but it’s been three years since I’ve played the game and I absolutely need to play it again to get a feel for the voices.]

8. “The walk home is lonely.” [long slow love song, TGCF, fengqing, WIP. I really like short first sentences, huh? I suppose this is just brief scene-setting. Mu Qing seems like a guy who takes a lot to open up, so a short opening line suits him.]

9. “He wonders how he’ll die.” [impact, Beyond Evil, lee dongsik/han juwon. I’m proud of this one. I feel like this sets the tone and grabs attention. It’s just a short fic inspired by J.G. Ballard’s Crash, so I can’t think of a better way to begin.]

10. “When Kinn had been a boy, he’d had an old tomcat that liked to sleep in his bed.” [shotgunning, Kinnporsche, vegas/kinn/porsche, WIP. Introduces this as a Kinn character piece.]

Bonus from unposted Frankensmut: “One should not travel these woods alone; the Wild Hunt is strong here, and all are prey.” [Introduction to Natural Philosophy, Frankenstein, The Creature/Victor Frankenstein, WIP. An opening line that promises you that the hunter WILL get his prey. I promise you this.]

What I’m really learning here is that 1. I need to work on finishing my goddamn wips, and 2. wow I really rely on passive voice to open. Huh. Are there any other patterns? Maybe some authorial direction to remind the reader of the story structure. I’ve also got a bit of a penchant for short opening sentences followed by paragraphs that either elaborate on it or negate it, usually heavier in length and description as a counterbalance. Like adding acid to balance fat or sugar. Truthfully, I’ve kinda grown bored with my typical writing style, which is partly why I haven’t posted much fic lately. Art is all about pushing yourself and trying new things and innovating. I’m dead sick of writing present-tense third person limited and am vibing with first and second-person POV, which aren’t fan favorites for fic. I’d also LOVE to try something much more zoomed out, like omniscient third-person.

This was fun! Tagging @brawlite-archive, @iodhadh, @jaggededges123, @rcmclachlan, @weatheredlaw, and @darcylindbergh if you’re vibing, and anyone else who’s interested!

#bro i really gotta sit and write #i’m going to a writer’s retreat cabin this weekend so maybe i’ll get y’all a little frankensmut ficlet #or some sexy sexy miserable salieri thirst

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distort-opia · 2 months

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Op, since you seems to like mdzs (idk if you like others mxtx novels), then do you like other chineses novels?

[hands shaking over the keyboard] Ha. Do I like other Chinese novels, you ask... I am literally in Chinese novel hell right now, because I just finished reading all official translations of 2HA and foaming at the mouth.

I've been reading Chinese novels for a long time (and watching Asian dramas of all kinds, and reading manga/manhua/webtoons). I'm not even sure what I started with when it comes to Chinese novels, but I'm pretty sure it was something by Priest... either Guardian (Zhen Yun) or Silent Reading (Mo Du). Then I rampaged through all three big MXTX novels, all before The Untamed even came out. The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi, or MDZS) is definitely my favorite; I would raze the earth for Wei Wuxian, much like poor Lan Zhan.

I'd have many good novels to recommend, but this answer would end up incredibly long if I reviewed them. Here's some of the ones I liked most:

Peerless by Meng Xi Shi

Remnants of Filth by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou (Meatbun)

The Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou (Meatbun)

Mist by Wei Feng Ji Xu

Little Mushroom by Shisi

However, if we're talking about personal favorites that I've read more than once, besides MDZS... it's definitely Thousand Autumns (Qian Qiu) by Meng Xi Shi. I've never found a novel with a dynamic that is so... distilled Psychopath & Autistic, and why these kinds of personalities can work together-- despite it being perceived as toxic. Yan Wushi is a horrible, horrible old man and I want to affectionately invent new ways of torture for him. The plot is basically him (leader of a demonic sect) trying to break and corrupt Shen Qiao (the leader of the most revered sect who had recently gotten betrayed and lost everything). It's literally Yan Wushi constantly going "Don't you ever wanna go feral, don't you wanna go apeshit??" while Shen Qiao just refuses to go evil. But the immovable object falls in love with the unstoppable force despite all the horrid shit thrown his way. And then the unstoppable force also falls in love with the immovable object.

What are some of your favorites though? I'm always open to recs... as I restrain myself from hunting down the last volume of 2HA online and wait for the official translation from Seven Seas to come out :)

#...yes I know. Yanshen follows my preference for ships to a fucking t. it needs no pointing out #in my defense all the other novels have different dynamics!!#asks #chinese novels

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artofyuzanrath · 9 months

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"Good things never last"

@mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess prompt request "Lwj finds the scene, freshly so, as lxc just finished his revenge. Instead of fighting him, lwj takes his own life, both in grief and as punishment 😌" This ficlet is a continuation / based on this. !warnings are in my (original)tags if you want em! it's rather dark so keep that in mind!! Hope you enjoy reading my sad fic ~

Happiness, Happy is what Lan Wangji was for his Xiongzhang when he suddenly left his seclusion. Four long years had gone by since his brother first left the cultivation world and traded it for a life of solitude. Leaving the warmth of the outside world for the frostiness of a cave. Four years had gone by since he eloped with his husband, his Wei Ying. Four long years it had been since he last saw his brother, and his gentle smile. So when that smile suddenly greeted him on a sunny day, he felt nothing but joy for his brother. His brother who seemed better, seemed happier, at peace. Filled with purpose.

Wangji should have realized back then, Happiness, always comes at a price…

Now, he stares blankly at his face in the reflection of his own blade. Bichen still glows beautifully despite the red flecks of blood coating its once pristine white exterior. He feels heat pooling around him, while the rest of him gradually feels colder, and colder. Yet Bichen continues to shine within the dark confounds of the cave he’s in. The warmth around him grows and grows, making his body seem even colder by contrast. But, no matter how cold he feels right now, nothing will ever be colder than what he saw in the eyes of the one who murdered his husband.

He feels his hands, still around Bichen, shaking. Mind and body growing numb at the thought. He truly does feel sick now.

All of this, and for what? A revival of a foul man. Who’s only fate was to die again? He dealt with it himself, Bichen making it swift and clean. He wanted to be certain Wei Ying was safe and that, that man would never return. Would never cause harm or turmoil again! Wangji never noticed the ice growing in his brothers eyes when he relayed the news to him…

He found out when he later returned to his and Wei Ying’s home. Walking inside he felt…a growing unease stir within him. It was quiet, too quiet. Yet whatever he may have felt or thought, nothing, nothing could have prepared him for what came next.

When he finally entered his home he was met with a sight that nearly caused him to drop his sword. He was completely and utterly frozen where he stood. His husband, His Wei Ying. His lively beautiful love of his life, was laying there, slumped over the table in the middle of the room. Unmoving, Cold, with not a single heartbeat left in his body.

And further back in the room, in the shadows, pouring themselves a cup of tea as if nothing was amiss. Was the one who did it.

Lan Zhan didn’t know what hurt more, his dead husband, or knowing who it was that killed him.

The person responsible calmly put down their still steaming cup, and slowly opened their eyes. When he looked at him, at his eyes, Wangji felt himself grow still. What he saw was, …nothing.

No guilt, no remorse, no feeling, Absolutely nothing.

Those eyes…. They didn’t belong to the brother he once knew. He could only continue to stare at him while Xichen stood up, gently straightening out his robes like he wasn’t standing in front of his didi’s dead husband. Like he hadn’t murdered him!? Yet, when Xichen finally started walking, and passed him by, he couldn’t even find the strength within him to raise his sword. Couldn’t raise it against the man who he once lovingly called his brother. All he could do was stupidly stand there, paralyzed, looking at the scene in front of him. Unable to turn his gaze away from his unmoving husband.

Hearing the door slide shut behind him was all he needed to break. He screamed, and ran towards Wei Ying. He couldn’t even avenge him, all he could do was hold his husband’s body close in his arms, and weep. And weep he did, until his husband’s flesh became bones. Those too, he held. He dressed him, caressed him. Made him meals that no one ate. Brushed his hair until the last strand fell, and he kept every one of them. Even tried desperately to place them back where they belonged, to no avail. He bathed his bones and cared for them, just like he used to. Tucked them into bed and slept beside them. Loving them-, him, as he would have, ‘til the ends of time if need be.

Until one day, they came. Barging into their home, they took him by the arms and dragged him away from his beloved. Too weak to resist, When did he last eat? they tried hauling him away, away from the man he loves. Away from his joy, from his life, his happiness, his heart!

He yelled at them, he doesn’t remember what, He just wanted them to stop!

They didn’t listen. But they didn’t remove him from his house immediately. Not before.., before making sure he saw what they did. He didn’t know what was worse, Seeing disciples from his clan, ones he even taught, took on night hunts together, ransack his home and touch his Wei Ying. Or, hear his brother. Normally so softspoken, so kind, gentle, look him in the eyes, unseeing, uncaring, cold like ice. And declare him sick, ill, disturbed. Demand that he need to be put in seclusion. Until he was cured of his supposed delusion.

Another disciple, he could care less who it was, turned to his brother and questioned. “What about this?”

Wangji looked up with what little strength he had had left, to see what or who they were talking about. His husband!? Why ? Why were they looking at him, haven’t they done enough to him already?

He would never forget his brother’s next words. They would haunt him, play on repeat in his mind until his last breath. “dispose of…him”

“But” the disciple, or was it another one? Responded. “But, what if reincarnates? Or, or, someone rises him from the dead again?”

“See to it that he won’t”

“but how-“

Lan Xichen turned to him, locking eyes with him when he next spoke. “Do whatever it takes.”

A chill ran down his spine, those eyes, those eyes! He realized something, as he’s being dragged away. He recognizes someone in those eyes. Golden robes…. Perhaps he was the naïve one after all….

A drop of water falls into the pond beside him, pulling him back to the present. The cold damp air of the cave greets him, and the droplets of water falling from the ceiling onto the ground, reverberate throughout the cave. They’re the only thing he has for company, here in his supposed seclusion. For his supposed “healing”. Or so the tale was spun by his brother. No one questioned him.

His Xiongzhang, never visited. No-one even bothered to check his belongings when they threw him in here. Didn’t care….nobody…cared. They just left him. All by himself…

He’s alone, when he plunges Bichen into his heart. Alone when the warmth of his blood burns against the iciness of the cave.

Alone, knowing his husband won’t return.

Alone, with the knowledge that he failed, failed to protect him, again!

He failed, failed, Failed!

His trembling hands push his sword in deeper, twisting it. Making sure his golden core won’t be able to repair the damage. He doesn’t deserve its miracle of healing. Not anymore.

He's alone, when he feels himself slipping, life slowly bleeding away. One drop at a time. He feels it, feels his body starting to give up, his hands loosening their grip on the hilt of his sword. His breathing slowing down.

He manages to let out a weak chuckle. Perhaps it’s his punishment that his mind forces him to think of his brother now, instead of the smiling sunshine that was Wei Ying. But nonetheless he wonders,

Was it worth it, your moment of happiness. was it worth it, destroying mine.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wei ying #lan zhan #lan wangji #lan xichen #wangxian #writing attempts #cw death #cw murder #cw suicide

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