#happy huisang day!

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

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1. 1. Hii, if it isn't too much hassle and if you're still taking asks, i have a question about a fic i think has been deleted? I'm not sure.

A) It goes like this : Nie Huisang goes back in time, and he gets his brother to bring a young, severely malnourished Wei Ying and is trying to keep him from being sent to Yunmeng ( he kept intercepting his brother's letters to Yunmeng to let them know about Wei Ying). And he has this idea that if he gets Wei ying to believe he is an ugly child (malnourished ++) and that everybody will love him for him and not his skills.

I had it in my bookmarks but i think it was recently deleted? If you have any idea please lmk 🙏 i've lost too many fics this way.

B) There is another fic that's been deleted? a while ago. Wei ying had to wear a mask and was told to never reveal his face. He was married to Lan zhan in an arranged marriage but then Lan Zhan was supposedly forced to marry Wen Qing? Wei ying ended up adopting A-yuan and his twin brother.

Idk if i remember correctly (if it's the same fic) but the last chapter i read Wei Ying had to be forced through a sort of cleansing from demonic cultivation and he basically almost died bleeding ( he told lan zhan he was the one he trusted to do it). I think in the chapter count only one or two chapters were left till the end of the fic.

Pheeew that was A. LOT. I am soooo sorry for the bother, but if you could give me a clue however small i'll finally stop thinking about them. THANK YOUUUUUU 🙏 @yeesh97

1A)

FOUND?! You'll See Me Again by Anonymous (M, 12k, WIP, WangXian, WWX Isn't Adopted by the Jiāngs, Adopted WWX, WWX is a Niè, Protective NHS, NHS time travels, NHS Is A Little Shit, NMJ Lives, Protective NMJ, Time Travel Fix-It, WWX is a Little Shit, Oblivious WWX)

NOT FOUND! Mulberry seeds by OurLadyoftheRain (G, wangxian, NHS & WWX, NMJ & WWX, Canon Divergence, nie WWX, WWX grows up in the nie sect, POV NMJ, Narration Heavy, Time Travel, from an outsider pov, Time Skips, every day all day is 'love wwx time', WWX & LWJ become friends early, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, POV WWX, POV Alternating)

1B)

FOUND! I think 1B is “A Price To Pay” by wangxianist. It had been at chapter 11/14 last time I checked in. The link was https://archiveofourown.org/works/34649677 and should be available on the Wayback Machine.

NOT FOUND! 🧡 decay by antebunny (G, 15k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Angst, Misunderstandings, Miscommunication, Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending, the fluffiest ending, Hurt/Comfort) I think 1b might be describing 2 fics and the second part might be

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2. Hi! I have been searching for a fic I read a while ago, but I only remember small details about it. Wondering if this sounds familiar to anyone: its wangxian time travel fic, Madam Yu is heavily implied to have had a past romantic relationship (or unrequited crush) on CSSR and JFM is implied to have been in a past relationship with WCZ. At one point, WWX & LWJ make a trip to Meishan Yu to meet an elder that helps forge a new spiritual weapon for WWX that will listen only to WWX & LWJ (during this process I think LWJ has to give up/break part of his guqin for some reason?) They fight the war, and then have to deal with WWX's reputation tanking post-war again - which is solved by a suggestion from JGY (something along the lines of "let the public see you as a dad (of a-yuan) and a husband instead of a demonic cultivating war hero"). @kilegriel

FOUND? And Time Is But a Paper Moon by sami (M, 139k, WangXian, XiChengQing, Time Travel, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Healing, Mental Health Issues, PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, BAMF JYL, Getting Together)

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3. Firstly I have to say that I love this blog! It's keeping my To Be Read pile very well stocked! 😁

Secondly, there is a fic I found on AO3 around a year ago and no matter what tags I try I just can't find it!

What I remember is that it is modern with cultivation, married WangXian, and that it's the beginning of an apocalypse where loads of people have been turned into puppets. It was supposed to be blamed on WWX but, coincidentally, he falls ill just before the start and couldn't possibly have done it.

Iirc the apocalypse lasts for about a week and turns out to have been caused by something contaminating the water supply with JGS and/or JGY behind it.

It might start with something like "On the first day of the end of the world…"

Does this ring any bells? Thank you in advance! @greywake

NOT FOUND! when the sun goes out by travelingneuritis (E, 176k, WangXian, Modern AU, Modern Cultivation, tech cultivation, Necromancy, Angst with a Happy Ending, insecurity around adoption, Dad!WWX, dad!lwj, Grief/Mourning, Mistaken Identity, Mood Whiplash, Body Swap, sex tears!, Falling In Love, Consensual Somnophilia, apocalypse (localized), Smut, unrealistic sexual stamina, Flashbacks, Time Skips, Illustrations)

FOUND! When the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation takes a week off by galaxy_in_your_eyes (T, 20k, WangXian, Modern With Cultivation, Canon Divergence, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, only those that deserve it, kind of fix-it, Zombie Apocalypse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Attempt at Humor, POV Alternating, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Gore, Mentions of Suicidal Thoughts, Brief Mentions of Cannibalism, I mean, Zombies, spoiler, We don't see the Zombie Apocalypse, It happens behind closed doors, WWX in quarantine, Wangxian being Wangxian, Mentions of Smut, Established Relationship)

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4. hi! do you guys know the fic where cultivators can exchange hearts? iirc lwj had taken out his heart after the events at nightless city and switched it with wwx's without wwx's knowledge @betafibiiiiiivviiixiiixxixxxiv

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5. Hi, could you guys help me find a fic :)? If I remember correctly, there was one part where Lwj gave a part of his golden core to Wwx and as a result there was a limit to how far they could be separated from one another.

FOUND? when you're doing all the leaving (then it's never your love lost) by tardigradeschool (T, 26k, WangXian, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Sharing a Bed, Sharing Clothes, Fix-It, the inherent eroticism of under robes, Golden Core Transfer )

FOUND? Of all the hands by typefortydeductions (E, 51k, Wangxian, Arranged Marriage, Canon Divergence, Emperor Lan Xichen, PTSD, Nightmares, Dual Cultivation, Mental Health Issues, Fluff and Angst, Dom/sub Undertones, Consensual Non-Con, Bonding, Mutual Pining, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Politics, Improper Use of the Lan Forehead Ribbon, the get wei ying some sleep agenda, yunmeng trio reconciliation) Has wangxian golden core sharing and the line "there is no separating their deaths now"

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6. Hello! As always, thank y’all so much for everything you do. I was hoping for some help finding a fic. It was a modern AU and Wei Wuxian was having some Gender Feelings, I think is the best way to describe them, and was sort of…jealous? of their very nice cishet neighbor. I think they live in a suburb and WWX gets kind of restless when he notices their neighbor is pregnant and he kinda maybe wants to play around with something like that, and anyway he tells LWJ this and they end up acting out a scene by having ‘normie straight people’ sex (i.e. LWJ basically does what he wants without worrying what WWX might want). There’s also a sex scene in the kitchen involving an apron against the counter by the sink, I believe, but that’s pretty much everything I can remember. Does it sound familiar to anyone? Thanks again!

FOUND! in picture frames; in dirty dreams by el_em_en_oh_pee (E, 17k, WangXian, Semi-Public Sex, Light BDSM, Vanilla Kink, Domestic Kink, Curtain Fic, Kink Negotiation, intersects SLIGHTLY with pregnancy kink and (consensual) feminization, Kitchen Sex, Missionary Position, Slice of Life, Fluff and Smut, a soupçon of gender, Aprons)

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7. Hye there i was wondering if you could help me find a fic where wei ying and the juniors were out on a night hunt and they stayed at an inn. Jin ling said something that hurt wei ying’s feelings, so he went to his room first. When he left, sizhui trapped him against the wall and revealed that the reason they have all the thousands of rules was because it was to make sure that their true strength wouldn’t be seen? He said something about how their eyes turn golden if they use their strength or power? And thats why lan zhans eyes are golden. thanks so much @nanasoo

FOUND! A Righteous Facade by RenaFair (T, 4k, WangXian, JL learns a lesson, protective Lans, mildly dark)

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8. Hi😊. Please I'm looking for a Wangxian fanfic where Wei Ying and Lan Zhan are in an arranged marriage and WY was being maltreated in the CR. LXC was the only one who was nice to him at first and LZ insinuated WY was cheating on him with LXC. I remember WY telling him he'll never let LZ touch him or something. I think it was ABO settings

FOUND? To Bring You Back Within My Reach by ablaiseofglory (M, 20k, WIP, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Angst with a Happy Ending, No dubious consent, Adopted Children, Kid Fic, A/B/O Dynamics, omega wwx, Alpha LWJ, Misunderstandings)

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9. hello! i am looking for fics and i am hoping that you or your followers have idea on what their titles are

A) fic where WWX got into an accident and it was really bad there was a scene where LWJ is talking about learning to love WWX and he doesn't want to unlearn

B) fic where WWX continued to be MXY and he became a disciple at the lan sect

thank you! ☺️

9A)

re:9a, can the requestor say if it's a modern au, secret relationship? I'll look for what I think it is in the meantime

FOUND? Almost Lover by vesna (mrsronweasley) (E, 37k, WangXian, Angst, But with a happy ending, Hurt/Comfort, a bad thing happens to wwx, lwj gets very sad, Hospital Scenes, Dubious Medical Science, please look away if that's important, pining for the person you're fucking, Friends With Benefits, Traumatic Injury, Modern AU, mention of past WWX/WQ)

9B)

FOUND? Love Song In Reverse by timetoboldlygo (T, 237k, WangXian, Amnesia, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Falling In Love, Slow Burn, agressively mixing and matching novel and cql canon, No Homophobia, Mentions of Starvation, Parental WWX)

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10. Hi there! I’ve got this fic in my head that I can’t seem to find. I think it was part of a series where Wei Ying is adopted by different clans. One of them was a fic where an eccentric cousin of the Lan qiren had been friends with cangse sanren and ‘won her first born in a bet’ and when she died he went out and found him using a compass? I think it had stuff about Wei Ying growing up loving inventing and explosions happening a lot @preciouscommoditybears

FOUND? A Quiet Life of Leisure by nirejseki (G, 7k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, WWX raised in another sect, WWX among the Lan, Alchemy, Explosions, this feels extremely self-indulgent since it's mostly about an OC, but it was what someone asked for, different Jiang sect dynamics)

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11. Can someone help me find these wangxian fics ?

A) Wei ying and the juniors were out on a night hunt and they stayed at an inn. Jin ling said something that hurt wei ying’s feelings, so he went to his room first. When he left, sizhui trapped him against the wall and revealed that the reason they have all the thousands of rules was because it was to make sure that their true strength wouldn’t be seen? He said something about how their eyes turn golden if they use their strength or power? And thats why lan zhans eyes are golden.

B) Its omegaverse and sizhui is jealous when wangxian have their biological baby bc they dont have time for him. He feeds his baby sister and makes her a meal but suddenly she dies. It turns out he replaced the berries with poisonous ones bc he wanted wangxian’s attention for himself as their only child.

C) Wei ying is trapped in CR, specifically in the jingshi. He and sizhui manage to escape from lan zhan, but it turns out sizhui told lan zhan before hand and he drugged him. Lan zhan had been drugging wei ying to make sure that he remains in the jingshi with him and sizhui wanted their family together forever.

D) Jiang cheng, huasang and wuxian go kn a camping/hiking trip? Anyways they take turns driving and the whole time jiang cheng is judging everyones ability to drive, including his. Huasang ran away from dage bc he didnt want to work out or something and jiang cheng has a crush on him (can’t remember) @minivminie

11A)

FOUND? A Righteous Facade by RenaFair (T, 4k, WangXian, JL learns a lesson, protective Lans, mildly dark)

11B)

FOUND? Sizhui's Smiles by RenaFair (T, 11k, WangXian, Possessive Behavior, A/B/O Dynamics, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Alpha LSZ, Mpreg, Minor Child Character Death, Read the summary between the lines)

11C)

FOUND? Good Days by darkbrokenreaper (T, 9k, WangXian, Domestic Fluff, dark!LWJ, Manipulative Relationship, Dubious Consent, Drug Use)

11D)

riding shotgun by beesinspades (T, 6k, NHS/JC, wangxian, modern, Road Trip, Comedy, Fluff and Humor, First Kiss, Swearing, one braincell trio chaos, LWJ is there because isn't he wherever the chaos is?, JC is #tired, Asexual Character, this is a collab so: with links to art!, Russian Translation Available)

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12. hi!! i’m looking for a fic where wwx has to marry a dead lwj. set in the victorian period (i think) the jiang family lost all of their money and the only way for them to survive was for him to marry lwj’s ghost. soon after he starts investigating lwj’s supposed death and tries to find his ( and lan qiren’s) killer. lwj’s ghost comes to talk to wwx and protects him! i can give more details if necessary i just really want to read it again and can’t find it !! <3 thank you!!

FOUND? lovers be lost (but love shall not) by la_muerta (T, 13k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, 1910s, Case Fic, Ghosts, Happy Ending, Background Relationships, Ghost Marriage)

FOUND? 囍 | a ghost wedding by sweetlolixo (E, 11k, Wangxian, Arranged Marriage, Ghost wedding, Pining LWJ, Ghost Groom LWJ, Corpsefucking in the most romantic way possible, Angst with a Happy Ending, Non-Explicit Sex, Love at First Sight)

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13. Hey! I have been looking for a fanfic, but after almost three hours of looking through ao3, I thought I might have better luck here.

It was about wwx going through increasingly bad bdsm encounters and not receiving the proper aftercare, so he just started acting more withdrawn. lwj notices and offers to care for wwx.

I don't remember if it was complete, but to the point I read, it was just lwj taking care of wwx. Sorry if it is not much to go off 😅 anyways, thanks in advance!

FOUND? like it's the only thing i'll ever do by quothhh (M, 5k, WangXian, WWX/Other (offscreen), Modern AU, Pre-Relationship, Aftercare, Sub Drop, Pining)

FOUND? try a little tenderness by ilip13 (E, 11k, WangXian, Modern AU, BDSM, Dom/sub, Aftercare, Subdrop, Reference to bad BDSM etiquette in wwx's past, Reference to wwx's self-worth issues, Cuddling & Snuggling, Getting Together, Little bit of miscommunication in the beginning but they get better at it, Blow Jobs, Masturbation, Reference to BDSM scenes)

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14. Hello! Looking for a fic that I think was some sort of sunshot fix it. The scene I recall the most is that wangxian were together and found a-yuan on the warfront and decided to take him in. They were totally going to tote him around with them while fighting in the war, but were more sensibly told to bring a-yuan back to lotus pier. I think yzy or cssr or lwj's mother may have been alive and at lotus pier, so they dropped a-yuan off to be with his grandmother and then went back to fight in the war. Thanks everyone!

FOUND? And Time Is But a Paper Moon by sami (M, 139k, WangXian, XiChengQing, Time Travel, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Healing, Mental Health Issues, PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, BAMF JYL, Getting Together)

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15. Hey, just wanted to ask about a specific fic that I remember, but for the life of me, I can't find at all. It is basically an arranger marriage au of Wangxian, but here Lan Wangji is an immortal who had travelled worlds looking for Wei Ying's soul after his death. There are some shenanigans and canon Wangxian shameless flirting in the mix. At one point Wei Wuxian ends up dressing as a woman when he is first going to meet Lan Wangji to get out of the marriage, but Lan Zhan finds it cute

FOUND? 4018 by sweetlolixo (E, 28k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, ABO, Older LWJ, Immortal LWJ, Pregnant WWX, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Age Difference, Boypussy, Vaginal Fingering, Dry Humping, Knotting, Blow Jobs, Dirty Talking LWJ, Angst with a Happy Ending, Size Difference, Feminization)

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16. I'm looking for a fic that about time travelling. It's were JC wished that WWX did not exist, thinking that it would solve all the issues but in the end everything went to hell. The Wen won the war and JC still lost his core and all cultivators are in hiding or prisoner. Thank you in advanced!🙏

FOUND? The Way It Wasn’t by KouriArashi (T, 72k, WangXian, XiYao, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, (eventually haha), Slow Build, Family Feels, Moral Ambiguity, Eventual Happy Ending)

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17. For the next fic finder, there was one where in the backstory, WWX once called JYL to come pick him up, but she got into a car accident on the way. I can't remember if she survived or was killed, but it led to WWX splitting with the Jiangs. The actual plot is equally as fuzzy I'm afraid, so I don't have a clue what to filter for.

FOUND? Wrong Turn, Right Place by diamondbruise (E, 71k, WangXian, Time Travel, kind of, it’s more reality travel but there’s modern wwx and cultivator lwj, Mutual Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Jealousy, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, Misunderstandings, Cultural Differences)

FOUND? Against Entropy by Duochanfan (M, 40k, WangXian, NieLan, Modern AU, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, of an underaged character, Amnesia, Drama, Romance, Family Feels, Hurt WWX, Older JC, Homelessness, Angst with a Happy Ending, Protective LWJ, Protective LXC, Supportive LXC, Protective NMJ, Supportive LQR)

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18. Hi I'm looking for a fan fiction where near the end while at Cloud Recess Jiang Cheng is hostile to Weiying and lan shizhui / lan yuan also suddenly remembers Jiang cheng being at burial mound during the 1st seige, he is kicked out but comes across jingshe & seeslan zahn and weiying having sex, possessive lan zahn sees him and looks directly at him almost to show weiying is his and will never be Jiang chengs. @amj33

FOUND? «The Fault In Jiāng Chéng» by Anonymous (M, 3k, wangxian, JC & WWX, not JC friendly, Zǐdiàn Spiritual Tool, Blood and Injury, Sick WWX, Dark LWJ, Dark LXC, Smut, Stabbing)

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19. hello thank all the mods you for your hard work, you’re all amazing and i am so so grateful this blog exists!!

i’m looking for a fic where married wangxian somehow time travel and meet their past selves, who are both shocked that they end up getting married. i remember older wwx being annoyed at his younger self because he can see how he’s hurting younger lwj and older lwj mostly sitting in companionable silence with his younger self, because they mutually understand their love for wwx.

much appreciated 🫶

NOT FOUND! The Young, the Horny, the Jaded and the Jade: Partners in Time by Admiranda (T, 55k, wangxian, established couple, Crossover, road trip with your older selves, teasing your younger selves about their obvious crushes, yin iron does yin iron things, mdzs/cql crossover, adult wangxian, Teenage Wangxian, genius WWX, LWJ adores his husband, we're all in this disaster together, xue yang causes problems, WIP)

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20. Hello again! I've been trying to find two fics for weeks and just can't seem to find them. A) One was an arranged marriage between lan zhan and wei ying that was set up by the jins; wei ying was never part of the jiang and he had some funky death stuff going on in the burial mounds, and took in the wens. The jin made both the wens and the Lans think the other was going to attack and that's why they did the marriage. B) The other fic has wei ying and lan zhan getting together but keeping it secret; I don't remember much, just that in trying to save the wens, jiang change tries to marry wen Qing and madam yu gets pissed off and says that since it was wei yings idea, he should marry her. Wei ying is later crying to lan zhan because both of them know it's the only option they have to save them, so he'll do it. Lan xichen comes across them and realizes they're in a relationship, and decides to marry wen qing himself to fix it - later lan zhan and wei ying reveal their relationship. Thank you so much! @forgottenwhispersinthedark

20A)

FOUND! Fated series by LtLJ (G, 31k, wangxian, canon divergence, arranged marriage, post-apocalypse, magical apocalypse, hurt/comfort, YLLZ WWX, badass LWJ, canon-typical violence, angst w happy ending, case fic)

20B)

FOUND! ❤️ Gentians in bloom by teawater (M, 251k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, AU after cold spring, Political Marriage, Dysfunctional Family, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, LQR bashing (not really), POV Multiple, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Eventual Happy Ending, BAMF WWX, JC is actually a lot better than canon, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, YZY bashing (again not completely))

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#wangxian #mdzs #wangxian fic finder #wangxian fic search #the untamed #wangxianficfinder #long post

[moondal514]

Just Leave a Comment Fest 2023

I was too disorganized to post daily totals but my final overall comment total for the @justleaveacommentfest was: 56

Which, considering how busy my week was, isn’t half bad

Thought I’d make a fic rec list of a few of the fics I read (reread in some cases), loved, and commented on that were on theme for each day of the fest

Day 1: old/new fics

Fandom: All For the Game

Don't Speak Against the Sun by zeffyamethyst

adversus solem ne loquitor.

Sometimes it's not about winning, but how you play. Other times it's about doing whatever it takes to come out on top. Like, literally on top because Sarah enjoys holding Tish down.

The iconic 1st ever aftg fic that inspired Nora to create Laila and Alvarez

Fandom: All For the Game

The Love We Unravel by fullyvisible/ @fullyvisible

Jeremy deserves a comfortable, safe life; Jean knows he can't give it to him - and neither can Kevin. But they don't consider whether Jeremy thinks they're a risk worth taking.

Excellent KereJean angst

Day 2: <2k words

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi

dam wei ying your bobbies by Yuisaki

"Are you even seeing my nipples?"

Lan Zhan's hand is still pressed to Wei Ying's chest. The nipple in question is poking at the center of his palm. Possibly where his lifeline is, which is an unspeakably cruel piece of irony and the fact that kindness is dead in the world. "I see them," says Lan Zhan instead.

At the banquet after the Grand Prix, Lan Zhan measures the circumference of Wei Ying's chest, among other things.

Will never be able to look at donghua!yiling laozhu ever again without thinking of this fic and cackling

Fandom: Six of Crows

honey to taste by alltheworldsinmyhead/ @alltheworldsinmyhead

"She reaches up and rests her hand lightly on the nape of his neck, pulling him towards her.

“Let’s not go anywhere today,” she says. “Write me down in your calendar, Dirtyhands. I’m yours for the weekend.”

Some gorgeously written post-canon Kanej

Day 3: au’s

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi

notes on a rivalry by HeylookGiraffes/ @heylookgiraffes

“Ooo,” he says, turning the stand towards him. “‘Card-bored for cardboard ensemble,’ that’s original. Might as well write a dedication with that title.”

“You’re not even in music,” Jiang Cheng hisses under the background of voices arguing.

Nie Huisang raises an eyebrow and pulls out a French horn. In the front of the room, Wei Wuxian’s voice rises.

“I’ve never seen you use that,” says Jiang Cheng.

“I’m a man of many mysteries.”

Wen Qing turns around. Her rubberband and cereal box guitar creaks ominously in her hands. At her glare, the two of them fall silent just in time to hear Lan Wangji say, cool as a cucumber:

“It is no wonder that Wei Ying never writes for real instruments, since he can barely write for ones of his own creation.”

Nie Huisang looks like Christmas has come early. “This is even better than I imagined.”

Literally the exact modern composers au I was dying to read after I finished the MDZS novels

Fandom: All For The Game

Into The Deep by Fortheloveofexy/ @fortheloveofexy

Neil Josten stares at the large building in front of him, his mouth twisted into a small frown.

Yesterday, Browning had handed him a manila folder containing his new name, his new life. Included in that file had been a note, the same slightly crumpled note he’s holding in his hand now, with the name of his new employer.

Foxhole Aquarium. Ask for David Wymack

Absolutely iconic mer au

Day 4: rarepair/platonic

Fandom: BBC Merlin

The Shoemaker by fleete

Historical magical AU. In turn-of-the-century Glastonbury, Freya Lake is the headmistress of an orphanage for magical children. And despite all the seers’ dire warnings, Freya is happy; her infatuation with the shoemaker’s apprentice—who may or may not be a girl underneath his shirt and trousers—is slowly coming to a head. But then a woman claiming to be Morgan Le Fay shows up on the orphanage steps, demanding to see Emrys, and Freya is forced to rearrange her priorities.

Fun fact: this fic was one of the 1st portrayals of an genderqueer character I ever read and so rereading it years later made me quite unexpectedly emotional and I’m glad I got to fix my crime of having not left a comment on it before

Fandom: Good Omens

Should Old Acquaintance Be Forgot by xylodemon/ @xylodemon

In which Crowley starts over. Again, and again, and again

Hilarious and fantastic read

Day 5: try something new

Fandom: Mo Dao Zu Shi

work song (crawl home) by animediac/ @jaywalkers

Jiang Cheng looks at Nie Huaisang curled up on his bunk, covered by a spare set of Yunmeng Jiang robes, and something inside him remembers the stories of soldiers coming home to their lovers.

Chengsang is a ship that never would’ve occurred to me on my own (prob cuz I haven’t watched cql) but if anyone could convert me to it, it would be Róisín and this fic is of course gorgeously written

Fandom: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

The Pleasure Principle by fluorescentgrey/ @yeats-infection

"You weren't exactly starting from square one on the road to madness."

So I have watched exactly one Black Mirror episode (and it wasn’t this one lol) but Gen is such a talented writer that I would prob love reading even her grocery lists so it’s no surprise I love this fic despite my unfamiliarity with its canon

*

Loved this fest, will continue to comment on fics as I have been doing. Much love to fic writers out there, thank you for sharing all your work and talent <3

#fic rec list #fic rec #aftg #mdzs #good omens #bbc merlin #black mirror #just leave a comment fest #soc

[8verity8]

Random headcanons ping-ponging through my brain atm moment:

KINNEPORSCHE

Porschè isn't nearly as innocent as everyone thinks. I totally headcannon that he is the more pragmatic and level-headed brother. And unlike Porsche, he CAN hide his feelings (lots of practice being "fine" for his big brother) and is a really good actor when he wants to be. I think at the end of the day, he's probably more morally ambiguous than his brother, and there isn't much he wouldn't do for those he loves... and I think that the cute and innocent puppy persona is just that, a protective mask he learned to wear because it worked in his favor and made his brother happy.

Pete killed his abusive dad... I'm not sure if it's discussed in Canon, but regardless, I like my version better. Whether it was pre-meditated or in the heat of the moment, Idk... he totally would have offered to kill Vegas' Dad too if he thought in his wildest dreams that Vegas would be open to the idea.

On a similar note, Pete is DARK. Darker than Vegas, if we are being honest, he just hides it well, and Vegas doesn't hide it all. But, I totally think he took comfort in being "leashed" as a bodyguard to the main family and the reputation he created. Now it's Vegas (and his lingering reputation) which reins him in and keeps his darker impulses (although, Vegas indulges them just as much) in check.

THE UNTAMED

Nie Huisang is actually straight(ish)... and is basically the only one in his "friend group" to marry a woman. He likes pretty (and yes, sometimes men are very pretty--hes not opposed to the idea), but he gravitates more towards women, and he ends up married to a woman...

(In modern AU's) Lan Wangji is totally not a virgin, but he goes about his "liasons" with a very clinical, meeting his needs (like eating) sort of way. Simultaneously, Wei Wuxian doesn't have a clue. He thinks LWJ is pure as untainted snow... until he doesn't. (One of my favorite tropes tbh and I really wish there was more fic out there!!! *hint hint*)

#thai bl #kinnporsche #bl drama #kinnporche #bl series #thai drama #thaibl #the untamed #chinese bl #random thoughts

[gentil-minou]

omg mdzs!!!!!! congrats to see you getting into that!! do you have a fav character?

God the better question is WHO DONT I LIKE????

obviously obsessed with Wei Wuxian the prettiest little shit ever. He is nicknamed Bestie. I have a lot of feelings about him but mostly I think he is shojo manga heroine levels of wonderful and I love him for that.

Then we got Lan Wangji who has some of the BEST sass. I loved him in the drama because his acting was so good despite so few lines, but omg in the book is is AMAZING. The scene where they play tag bdsm style??? Obsessed he is baby. Also the novel makes me think he's ASD coded which makes me very happy yes.

His nickname is Boyfriend because of course. He is also shojo manga levels of heroine and hero and he rocks it. I will gift him many bunnies and ribbons to tie up wwx with sjsjfjjs.

I could watch them watch each other for hours ajdjjdjsjjd I'm usually good at not shipping real life people but god....please give me strength their bts videos are just sjfjkakfkks.

Then we get the other characters who all have important nicknames as well. Wen Ning is Puppy Bestie because he is a puppy. Im honestly in shock that his actor is actually one of the oldest cast members because um what????? This baby be 30+?????

I loved him and his sister so much and was so upset that her death was just like off screen????? Excuse me????? For my queen?????

She is Queen Bestie of course. I worship the ground she walks and honestly I need fix it fics. Also her friendship with wwx was so good????? Like I just wanted them to bffs why did they do her dirty whyyyyy.

Jiang Cheng is Angry Bestie. I don't need to explain myself. Boy needs therapy. I will not be the one offering it to him though he too much for me.

Or just give him bunnies I guess. I wish we spent more time on him and wwx reconciling but thats what fics will be for!

The youth kiddos are baby besties. A-Yuan gets an extra high pitched squeal added to his name because he is extra baby

I can't decide if they are my favorite but I'm so excited for all the fics about them being a family SO EXCITEDHDJFJKS (send recs if you got any btw)

Took me a while to warm up but Jin Ling was great and his scenes with wwx was just so much fun to watch. Also the actor is like the same age as lwj's and I'm like????? The skill to act that much like a whiney teenager. Amazing.

(Please send me fics where his parents are alive I need them I need them like air)

(Also side note: making the fearsome historied terrifying Yiling Patriarch afraid of doggies???? Genius!!!!)

Jiang Yanli made me sob so many times cause I spoiled myself early to not get attached to the characters who die but then of course I was an idiot and got attached anyways. She is Soup Bestie or Sister Bestie. Depends on the day.

The best part of their dynamic was me realizing I have chaotic middle child energy like wwx. And she's such a good big sister like she made me want to call my own and tell them I love them and thanks for making that god awful kraft Mac and cheese with soy sauce and Broccoli and did I mention I cried a lot? Like so much (please send fix it fics kthnx)

Lan Xichen is Brother Bestie but honestly he should really be the Number 1 Wangxian Shipper and Wingman.

Boy knew his lil brother was pining over a dead evil guy for decades and supported him. We stan.

I just realized I didn't give Nie Huisang a nickname oops but also i saw somewhere that his idea of faking incompetence so other people will get shit done is genius. I love him, I want to be him. Hence forth he shall be known as Girlboss Bestie.

^me every goddamn day of my adult life.

I kinda hate myself for this but I also have a soft spot for Xue Yang. He's such a petty little piece of shit but also his crazy and evil vibes were just so good. I think I wouldn't have felt the same way if I read the novel version first instead if the drama, but god did I love the way this actor brought him to life. He is called Psychotic Bestie and he wears that title with pride.

This scene did so many things to me it must have been bait but yes twas I, the baited.

Would personally like to sue mxtx for the emotional abuse that was the Yi City arc thank you. Blissfully ignoring canon to say that the moment Song Lan left that city A-Qing and Xiao Xingchen came back to life from the power of gay vibes and found family alone thank you very much.

I can't fit anymore gifs but the short answer is I love everyone I'm so deep deeeeeep deep in this and I think I'll be in here for a while

#please send me more asks about .mdzs #im like so enthralled #im on volume 2 of the novel #and idk yet if ill watch the donghua or read the manhua next or dive directly into the fics but like #im obsessed its so good #also the ost SLAPS #if you want my therapeutic input its that everyone needs therapy the end #bushy rambles #mdzs #the untamed #asked and answered #final side note this series has more abreviations than psychology and id have thought that would be impossible actually

[yibo-wang]

命运离愁黯淡 的辗转 几番孤身怅惘 的孑然 The cycling and turning of fate and sorrow, parting and darkness The solitude of sorrows and worries, faced again and again, alone

[translation]

 @mdzsnet ‘s NHS’s Birthday Event

#mdzsnet #the untamed #fymdzs #nie huisang #nhs #happy huisang day! #theuntamededits #fatal journey #pfav #gifs:mine* #m* #cdramaedit #ji li #gifs:cql* #hopefully my sleep deprived brain didnt make any errors but if it did im so tired im not gonna fix it #ccnet #asiandramanet

[robininthelabyrinth]

If it's not a plot point, how did HuiSang go back in time? MingJue used his saber as an anchor, but HuaiSang didn't have his yet?

part 3 of Same River Twice (ao3) (time travel Nie bros) or tumblr part 1, part 2

-

Being four years old again was a lot harder than Nie Huaisang thought it would be.

In fairness, he hadn’t expected to go back that far, but he supposed it wasn’t really up to him – if he’d wanted to have more control over his destination, he should have used the ritual on the saber that belonged to him. 

But Aituan - dear Aituan, good Aituan, his Aituan - wasn’t strong enough to support the ritual by itself, not after all those years of playing happy paperweight instead of cultivating. It was Nie Huaisang’s neglect; he had let Aituan’s spirit grow kind but not strong, because someone should be able to be that way, the way he’d once thought he himself could be under his brother’s protection. 

No, Nie Huaisang had known that if he wanted to do this crazy stupid thing, the only one that could help him was Baxia.

Bazia, who had grown strong beyond her years with the blood of evildoers, who had always indulged him, who adored Nie Mingjue more than was usual even for a saber of their bloodline –

He missed Aituan.

After the end of it all, when he no longer needed to hide his true face away behind a mask of incompetence, he had started to carry Aituan with him at all times, the way his brother had always wanted him to, and so that meant that his long-neglected saber had been by his side when he’d knelt before his brother’s tomb to begin the ritual. And when the forbidden array began to tear his body apart, Baxia indifferent to anything but the result, Nie Huaisang could feel his saber’s spirit reaching out and wrapping around his own spirit to protect him from the pain –

He’d thought that he might see Aituan again, when and if he woke up in the past, but it was not to be: right now, he’s only four. Aituan wouldn’t even have been forged yet, surely, or at most its still-unformed spirit would be lingering in a dormant not-yet-finished state in the special forges reserved for the clan, hidden deep within the Unclean Realm.

He missed Aituan. He hadn’t thought he would, given how casually he had always left it behind, but he did; he missed it dreadfully.

But it was still worth it to come back.

It had been worth it even just for the chance to try to come back. They had all been so broken, after everything that had happened. Nie Huaisang had had no choice but to avenge his brother, no choice but to use the only means available to him when no one would have believed him, his own hand too weak to lift the saber to do the job that needed to be done. He was a Nie, when all was said and done, and even the world itself was insufficient a sacrifice to lay before his brother’s memorial tablet.

He did not regret his choices.

And yet – the result, in the end, was too much, too bitter to swallow. Lan Xichen’s eventual death at his own hand, when the guilt became too much for him and seclusion proved no remedy, had destroyed Lan Wangji, and even light-hearted Wei Wuxian had not been able to continue to smile once he realized that the injuries incurred at Guanyin Temple, both physical and mental, had damaged Jiang Cheng permanently, a decline the other man had hidden away out of either love or spite or both until it was too late to fix; they would never reconcile in that life, and the tragedy of the two heroes of Yunmeng sealed forever in stone.

Out of an entire generation of the Great Sects, Nie Huaisang was the only one left standing, and he had been broken into sharp jagged pieces so long ago that he didn’t really count.

He did not regret his choices - but in a better world, those choices would never need to be made.

He would make sure it went better, this time. Not just for himself, but for all the others, and most of all for his brother, who had only ever wanted to be righteous, to fight evil and help the innocent, and who died because nobody had listened to him, just the way they hadn’t listened to Nie Huaisang in all those years of walking alone on his road of vengeance. His brother, who loved him when he hadn’t been worthy of his love; his brother, who deserved the world and more.

His brother, who he sometimes even thought –

There’d been a moment there, when he’d been watching his brother train, that he’d had the crazy idea that Nie Mingjue had come back, too – that the burden of the future was not Nie Huaisang’s alone to bear. 

It had been when his brother had done that maneuver, the one he’d liked so much during the Sunshot Campaign, and Nie Huaisang had been the only living being who had known that the reason he’d trained the trick so hard in his youth was not because it was hard to block or because it granted the mercy of a quick death but rather purely because it looked awesome. Nie Mingjue had thrown his saber and recalled it with a flick of his wrist, and he’d grinned as if he hadn’t a care in the world and –

And that’s when Nie Huaisang ruined it by bursting into tears.

Because he was four, and four year olds didn’t have good internal emotional regulation, apparently. He’d thought at first that it would be an advantage to be so young – who would suspect a child barely old enough to wear proper clothing of scheming in the shadows? – but being four had turned out to be much trickier to manage than he had thought.

All of his feelings were so much, so immediate; it was as if the emotions of an adult were simply too large to fit into his child’s frame. Sadness, however minor or fleeting, was enough to utterly consume him, making rational thought impossible; a single pang of hunger was the same as starvation; and even joy –

His brother abandoned his training for him in a heartbeat, found and gave him a fan to amuse him, carried him around all day in his arms even though it meant he’d had to report for punishment – he said that Nie Huaisang would never be a burden to him, that he could live the life he wanted, no matter what, and that in the end his brother would always be there to hold up the world for him –

No, his brother couldn’t have come back in time with him.

His suspicions (surely even a talent of Nie Mingjue’s caliber wouldn’t have learned a trick like that so early, and so well?) simply had no basis in reality, a remnant of the paranoia he had cultivated in his heart as a guard against Jin Guangyao’s treachery. It was only Nie Huaisang’s fantasies tricking him, letting him dream that he was hearing the words that he would have given his left arm to hear when it was too late.

After all, none of the things Nie Mingjue had said were by themselves unusual – even by age four, everyone knew that Nie Huaisang wouldn’t amount to much of a talent, born as he was with weak muscle tone and barely any cultivation at all; they knew he was lazy and unmotivated, and more than likely to turn out to be nothing more than a good-for-nothing. Only Nie Mingjue had remained steadfast in believing that Nie Huaisang could make something of himself, valuing him when he hadn’t even valued himself.

No, it wasn’t so strange that his brother would say such things to him. It was only with Nie Huaisang’s knowledge of the future that the words seemed to be more than mere encouragement, that they seemed to be aimed directly at absolving him of his future worthlessness, forgiving him for having been the anchor around his brother’s legs instead of a support –

His brother couldn’t have come back with him. He couldn’t have, because if he knew what Nie Huaisang had done in his name, all those dirty tricks in the dark that were just like what he’d so disdained in Jin Guangyao, then he wouldn’t have said those words full of love, wouldn’t have thought them, wouldn’t have –

Nie Mingjue must never know, Nie Huaisang swore once again in his heart. He’d be careful, hide his tracks, make sure that his moves in the shadow couldn’t be detected by anyone at all; his brother that longed to be righteous would never need to know that his little didi that he treasured so much wasn’t worthy of his love.

He’d fix things, make them better, and Nie Mingjue would never know that things had ever gone any other way. Nie Huaisang would bear the burden alone, just as he had those many years, but this time he would have his brother by his side.

It would be worth it.  

Still, being four was hard. Nie Huaisang had started making moves right away, but his ability to manipulate people seemed to be significantly impaired – or maybe it was only that he’d underestimated the effect of his changes, that he’d acted before he’d fully figured out everyone’s personalities, and so ended up changing things more than he meant to.

For one thing, he’d never meant for Nie Mingjue to be the one to go to Yingchuan.

Nie Huaisang had used Wei Wuxian for his own purposes in his previous life, and he wouldn’t have been able to avenge his brother without him – he owed him karma, and such debts ought to be repaid as swiftly as possible. He’d figured that sending some Nie sect retainers to the area would be a good way to do that; even if they couldn’t save his parents, they should at least notice that there was a little boy in town waiting for his parents to come back from a night-hunt. At best, Nie Huaisang had figured on Wei Wuxian having a few extra years at the Lotus Pier, and maybe avoid developing that dog phobia of his.

He hadn’t expected Nie Mingjue to volunteer to go, though he supposed his brother was twelve, and therefore reckless and a little bit stupid in a way that Nie Huaisang probably shouldn’t find as adorable as he did, being only four himself. He definitely wasn’t expecting his brother to come back and tell him that he’d not only managed to save Wei Wuxian’s parents but that they were coming to Qinghe for some reason.

That was his brother in a nutshell, though. Typical overachiever.

Nie Huaisang wasn’t sure exactly how this would change things. He hadn’t intended on making such large changes, as it would swiftly render his knowledge of the future useless, but on the other hand, the future had turned out quite so badly, and after all in the end he knew the important things. He knew who was a good person and who wasn’t, he knew about the war that would come, he knew what tricks to be afraid of – no, it was better this way.

This way, he wouldn’t be tempted to blindly rely on a future that might change; this way, he wouldn’t risk the same future happening again, wouldn’t allow tragedies to take place when they didn’t have to. Instead, he’d do what he’d always done and react to things as they happened, turning each event to his own advantage.

Even if he wasn’t quite sure what possible advantage he could get from Wei Wuxian as a young child.

“Is it nice there?”

Nie Huaisang refocused and looked at his brother, who’d apparently finished his training for the day. It was so strange to see him with cheeks still rounded by lingering baby fat and Baxia disproportionate in her size; if he hadn’t later grown into a giant, he would have been seen as having been a bit too ambitious when he wielded her. “What was that, da-ge?”

“I asked you if it’s nice there,” Nie Mingjue repeated as he settled down next to Nie Huaisang in the shady part of the training field. “Wherever it is that your mind flew off to. It must be very interesting to keep you occupied for so long.”

Nie Huaisang ignored the teasing and immediately wiggled over, putting his head in his brother’s lap. His brother indulged him, moving Baxia to his other knee as he inspected her for any nicks that might need to be sharpened out later.

His brother always indulged him.

“I was just daydreaming,” he said, and it was even mostly true. The line between daydreaming and active scheming was a very fine one.

“Still thinking about maps?” his brother asked. “I know I said you were too young to take the ones out of the library, but maybe we can go to the market to buy some cheaper ones…”

Nie Huaisang shook his head, feeling guilty. He didn’t really need a map. After all, a map couldn’t tell him what he needed to know: he couldn’t be sure that Meng Yao was in Yunping City right now, even though that was ultimately where he ended up. And anyway, even with a map, it was impossible for him to find a way to go there now, as a four year old – he could do many things by mail without being noticed, but even he couldn’t think of a way to mail order a whore and her son – and even a cheap map was an expensive purchase for a twelve year old with a limited allowance.

“I just like thinking about other places, that’s all,” he temporized. “You went to Yingchaun – what was that like?”

“It’s not too far beyond our borders, so it was mostly the same, I guess?” Nie Mingjue said, sounding a little helpless. “Same animals, plants, weather…they say the further that way you go, the spicier the food, but we must not have gone far enough, since I didn’t notice a difference.”

“What about the people?” Nie Huaisang said, deciding to try to get more information about Wei Wuxian instead since he already knew that asking Nie Mingjue to act as a travelogue was an exercise doomed to frustration. “You said someone from Yingchuan was coming – are they from the sect there?”

“The sect – Yingchuan Wang? Certainly not. They’re barely a sect as it is; they were servants in Qishan once, but then either got thrown out or left in a huff and now they eke out an existence as a medium-sized fish in a small pond. They send their children to be servants in Qishan whenever they can manage it, and still ask for help from us on the sly because they can’t afford to deal with their problems themselves. No one of note there.”

That wasn’t entirely true, Nie Huaisang thought; after all they had produced the horror that was Wang Lingjiao. He wonder if there was some way to make use of her. She was about their age, and she hadn’t yet committed any of the atrocities she later would. Of course, one did need to account for the trouble that was her personality…

“– sure you’ll like him,” Nie Mingjue was saying, and then he grimaced. “It’s his parents I don’t quite know what to do with.”

Nie Huaisang sympathized more than Nie Mingjue would ever realize. Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren had excellent reputations as cultivators, but beyond that he knew nothing about them but their son – they were wild cards, their impact on the state of play totally unpredictable.

“Father has charged me with taking care of them while they’re here, because I’m the one who invited them,” Nie Mingjue said, and reached up to rub the space between his brows the way he always did when he was stressed. “It’s not like we’re doing anything special with them – they’re just guest cultivators, not joining the sect – but at the same time…I don’t want to make a bad impression.”

He didn’t say whether it was on their guests or on their father.

A moment later, he nudged Nie Huaisang a little. “You’ll help me, right?”

Nie Huaisang would burn the world down for his brother.

However, practically speaking, he was currently four.

“Of course, da-ge,” he said. “How can I help? What can I do?”

“You,” Nie Mingjue said with satisfaction, “can be a subject of conversation.”

Nie Huaisang had the distinct feeling that what his brother meant was that he planned to throw him to be a cute child at their guests every time the conversation hit an awkward point, but surely he wouldn’t –

It was exactly what he did.

Nie Huaisang really wished he could blame this on his brother being twelve, but honestly his brother had always been a little like that.  He’d only ever gotten away with his terrible social skills and even more terrible sense of humor because he was tall as a mountain, with a reputation for being taciturn (in large part due to his following the rule of “if you have nothing good to say, say nothing”), and of course there was always Baxia adding some intimidation effect.

It was a bit of a start to realize that in some ways, the Headshaker had been better at some of the parts of being Sect Leader than his beloved older brother.

It was not, however, a realization that Nie Huaisang had a lot of time to dwell on, because he had Wei Wuxian to deal with – and if he’d thought that the other boy was a handful when they were teenagers, it was nothing compared to him as a small excitable child visiting a new place for the first time.

Some things Nie Huaisang had expected: Wei Wuxian was bright, lively, intelligent to the point of brilliance, talented at whatever he picked up, and at all times inclined towards mischief.

He hadn’t, for some reason, expected the overwhelming hyperactive curiosity about – everything.

Wei Wuxian was five years old, really five, and he had some interesting gaps in his knowledge base. 

Complicated talisman craftsmanship? No problem. 

How to buy paper in the marketplace? No clue.

The particulars of setting up camp in the middle of a forest? No problem.

How to deal with servants? No clue. 

He could guide himself at night using constellations, but he couldn’t name all five Great Sects; he could cook for himself but didn’t know how to order food from a restaurant; he could sing songs but he’d never played catch-me or hide-and-seek; he could play bait for a vicious yao but had never met a cat –

That last one was a bit of a problem, since the Unclean Realm had a bit of a stray cat problem.

Well, it wasn’t a problem at the moment, since Wei Wuxian loved the cats, but it was going to be a problem when one inevitably tried to claw his face off when he tried to pet them more than they felt like accepting.

It’d probably end up being Nie Huaisang’s problem, too, since Wei Wuxian liked to stick to him no matter where he went – or rather, he liked to stick to him, follow him around, get bored, and drag him off to do something else. Usually something childish (understandable, since he was a child), and extremely distracting from what Nie Huaisang should be focusing on.

…a great deal of fun, though.

Nie Huaisang’s initial fondness for Wei Wuxian had, he would admit, been primarily nostalgic in nature, but it wasn’t very long before the other boy swept him away with all the same things that he’d enjoyed back in the Cloud Recesses: he was spirited, witty, and clever, a bundle of trouble and inventor of adventures, and he made even the most boring things a lot more interesting.

They ran around the Unclean Realm, pretending to be explorers who happened upon a mysterious realm; they went to the market and bought one of every treat; they volunteered to feed the ducks and pigs and chickens; they pretended to be vicious beasts and practiced their prowling and hunting on long-suffering Nie disciples; they climbed trees and crawled around the caves; they made their way into the laundry and tried on everyone’s clothing –

At any rate, Nie Huaisang had always been lazy and carefree by nature, and old habits were hard to resist. He was still young enough that most of his day was free and excess training was discouraged to avoid distorting his musculature, and well, he was four. Everything was funny to a four year old.

Funny, and very distracting.

Still, it couldn’t go on forever. He had scheming to do.

“Da-ge,” he whined, taking advantage of his current size to crawl into his brother’s lap. “Da-ge, he’s always around.”

“Says the one who’s leading him into trouble half the time.”

“Da-ge! I don’t! He’s the one doing the leading!”

His brother smiled. “Is a leader the one at the front of the battlefield or the one whispering plans into his ears?”

“…they’re only my idea about half the time. At most.”

Nie Mingjue laughed. “If he’s really bothering you, I can talk to his parents.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Nie Huaisang said quickly. He still didn’t know what to make of Wei Wuxian’s parents.

He’d tried studying them with an eye towards what he knew about Wei Wuxian as an adult, but the resemblance was blurry at best. Wei Changze was a gentleman, talented and charming; he always had a smile on his face, his eyes curved a little as if he was always laughing at some internal joke, and more often than not there was something lighthearted on his lips – there was definitely something of the future Wei Wuxian there. But it would be wrong to think of them as too similar: unlike his son, Wei Changze was prudent and thoughtful, contemplative almost the point of being reserved, cognizant of the dangerous undercurrents that made up sect politics; he wasn’t arrogant, and that made him nothing like Wei Wuxian at all.

No, the arrogance was all from Cangse Sanren.

She was a fierce woman, teeth bared whether in smile or grimace and hand often lingering by the whip tucked into her belt, somehow seeming both straightforward and yet mysterious – intense, arrogant, uncaring of all convention, she would let nothing in the world stand between her and her principles.

Nie Mingjue liked her on sight, of course.

Nie Huaisang was a bit more worried about the way she sometimes remarked about the ridiculousness of human law, usually during one of the enthusiastic philosophical discussions she’d been having with Nie Mingjue during their occasional spars – Nie Huaisang supervised only once, then realized that four-year-olds shouldn’t be worrying about their blood pressure and also that Cangse Sanren was probably good enough to not murder an over-enthusiastic twelve-year-old in the middle of his own sect. He’d mentioned it subtly over breakfast at one point, but that’d only gotten Nie Mingjue started up with their father about the differences between human and natural law when what Nie Huaisang had actually meant was that he wasn’t entirely sure Cangse Sanren thought of herself as a human.

She also had a way of sometimes looking at Nie Huaisang with a strange sort of smile, as if she knew, and ever since then Nie Huaisang had avoided her as much as possible.

“Well, if you don’t want him bothering you all the time, and you don’t want me to talk to his parents about it, what do you want to do?” Nie Mingjue asked.

“I just think he needs other friends,” Nie Huaisang said earnestly, widening his eyes in a way that made his brother look deeply unimpressed (but also amused). “Maybe someone at a different sect, so he can spend time writing them letters.”

Not that Wei Wuxian was especially proficient at writing, which made sense for his age, but Nie Huaisang had rather a lot invested in having managed to convince Nie Mingjue that his level of writing (full words!) was normal.

“Letters,” Nie Mingjue said, looking deeply skeptical. “Who were you thinking?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Nie Huaisang lied. “Someone our age. Probably from another of the major sects, since he still needs to learn all about the way the cultivation world works…oh, I know! How about the Lan sect? Don’t they have a second young master right around our age?”

He wasn’t being very subtle, he had to admit, but practically speaking, who cared? There wasn’t anyone around to catch him at it.

And it would be truly a pity to rob Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian of their chance for an epic romance - hopefully one that would end a little more happily.

His brother frowned thoughtfully. Probably searching his memory for confirmation, since it was still another year before he met Lan Xichen for the first time, but in the end he nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. The Lan sect is known for their rules and etiquette, and that’s precisely what Wei Wuxian requires most, and he’ll definitely get along well with Lan Wangji. I’ll write to – no, I’ll speak with Father; if he approves, we may be able to set up a meeting. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to foster relations between our sects at an early age.”

“That’s a great idea!” Nie Huaisang said. It was, too – maybe he could knock some caution into Lan Xichen’s head when he was still young enough to appreciate it. “And maybe we can visit Gusu one day!”

“You and your maps,” Nie Mingjue teased. “All right, all right; I’ll see what I can do the next time Father’s back.”

There was a wrinkle in his brow at that, which Nie Huaisang couldn’t blame him for it: their father was extremely busy at the moment, off dealing with Qishan aggression, and that meant they only ever saw him occasionally, and even then only at breakfast. It must be uncomfortable for Nie Mingjue, who loved their father dearly, and for Nie Huaisang, well…

He’d been back in this old body for a month now, adjusting slowly, and the one thing he couldn’t quite deal with was their father, as he was now: a good man, as temperamental as any Nie but in the main part thoughtful and steady.

Nothing like the monster he remembered.

It wasn’t fair to judge a man by what he was like following a deliberately induced qi deviation, Nie Huaisang reminded himself, just as he’d learned not to blame his brother for the lashings of his worsening temper during that period of spiritual poison. And yet – Nie Huaisang truly didn’t know what he’d do when the busy period subsided and his father came back to help guide their training.

He just didn’t remember what it was like to have a father instead of just a da-ge.

Something to worry about in the future.

For now, though, he had a pair of future lovebirds to introduce – and connections with another sect to build, so as to better gather support for the upcoming war.

Still, contrary to his expectations, the Lan sect weren’t their first visitors.

It was the Jiang.

#mdzs #nie mingjue #nie huaisang #wei wuxian #my fic #my fics #time travel nie bros #same river twice #misfits-den

[imber-serein]

Shattered

Lan Zhan | Mdzs | The Untamed

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

~ The night in the Cloud Recesses is cool, the bright moon and clear breeze winds around my heart, someone watches the snow, gazing into the days long gone ~ (Bu Wang)

The full moon was high in the sky above me. Glowing. There was silence. No talking, no animal walking around, no wind. Just silence. And my breathing. My breath was forming a cloud. It was cold. Like it was that year. The snow crunches under my shoes. And suddenly there was a noise. Shattering the silence around me. A joyful laugh far away. “Lan Zhan. Wait for me.” I perk up. That voice. Was it really him? A loud THOUD and then coldness spreads through me. “He did not”, was the first thought that crossed my mind. “That undisciplined…” I couldn´t finish the sentence when I saw another snowball flying right at me. Followed by another and another one. Even though Wei Wuxian ist good at martial arts these snowballs were far from threatening. But that doesn´t matter. One step to the side – the first one missed me, a quick move with my sword destroyed the second one. “Boring.” I could still feel the wet patch where the first snowball had hit me. It was cold. It reminded me that I haven´t realized that Wei Wuxian was there. I was mad at myself because I was so careless. It could have happened worse things. Yet, I only got hit by a snowball. Which actually isn´t that bad but still pretty annoying. My robe isn´t flawless anymore. And that seems to be the source of Wei Wuxians happiness. Even though he was pouting because the second attempt failed, the glimmer in his eyes never left. A second later was he laughing again, running over to me, flapping with his arms like a newborn bird that wants to fly. “No running in Cloud Recesses!” I scolded. Like it would change his behavior. Another rule broken by that mischievous boy. I´ve never seen someone so carefree and happy, no matter how hard the punishment was, the smile almost never left his face. “Lan Zhaaaan.” He sounded like a child. “You´re no fun. Play with me! You can consider it as training.” I couldn´t really suppress the eyeroll. “Childish.” And yet he was so happy. Wei Wuxian stands there, a pout visible on his face, the mischievous glint in his eyes. “I don´t remember a rule forbidding playing in the snow. So come on, don´t be stubborn.” That’s probably because you don´t remember a single rule. Even though you copied them like what…a thousand times already? But I know better than to answer. Instead I just turn away. “It will be fun, I promise.” The pout is visible in his voice. One could even say that it sounded a tiny bit whiny. With firm steps I start to walk away, feeling an unknown ache in my heart. My heart that I thought have frozen. I can hear him gather some snow. Probably forming another snowball to attack me. My shoulder still feels cold. I expect him to throw it again, another attack. I want to turn around, see Wei Wuxian playing in the snow like a child. But my feet keep walking. When I finally found the strength to stop and look over my shoulder I hear another voice. Laughing loud and shrieking. Jian Cheng and Nie Huisang were currently attacked by Wei Wuxian who looks like he found the joy of his life. The snow swirls around the three of them. Even from afar I can see the bid smile on their faces. I can hear Wei Wuxian shouting. The three of them are tangled together, nothing more than limps rolling through the snow. Their high laughs cut through the air. The ache in my heart gets stronger which each minute that passes. The more I look at them the more I envy them. Instead of joining I turn away, a forced “Boring.” leaving my lips. My body starts to walk again. The silence is long gone but I don´t know what sounded more beautiful: the cold quietness or the laughs of joy. Without realizing it I reach for the wet spot at my shoulder but my fingers only touch dry clothing. There´s no more laughing, no sounds except for my breathing and my footsteps. They´re gone, long ago. The snow kept falling since then but nobody played with it. Nobody threw a snowball again. There´s still silence around me and this time it´s maddening. Hurts my ears. The memories are beautiful and yet they hurt so bad. Even stronger than the whip. Everything was gone except for the ache in my heart. The regret, the disbelief, the hatred, the longing. A silent tear escape my eyes. Everything here reminds me of Wei Wuxian. Every single thing is connected to him. He never left me but I left him. I never regretted something so much than ignoring him. I would give everything to hear him laugh again, to see that smile on his face again. To see him again. I left him alone. The time continues, people come and go. They don´t know that feeling. They don´t know how it feels to see your loved one falling. To see that fire in the eyes extinguish. fate never was with us. We spend a lot of time together but I never realized how important he was for me. One never knows until it´s gone. And it´s one of the worst pains I know. But I promised him. I will wait for him. I will take care of Sizhui. I wish I could revive those moments. I wish I could act differently. Listen to my heart. The mistakes I made can´t be erased. I reach the lake which is not frozen yet but it will be soon. “If I get another chance, I will play with you, Wei Wuxian. I promise you!” I whisper to myself. The wind blows and for a second it feels like someone touched my shoulder, brushed over my face. But it´s only the wind. I realize that I´m still alone when I looked at my reflection on the water. It´s only the reflection of the noble Lan Zhan. Out of anger I throw a pebble at my reflection, breaking the smooth surface. And as it shattered into thousand pieces my hearts starts to ache again. Maybe in our next life … maybe then fate will be with us.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Finally found the courage to post some stories. English is not my mother tongue so hopefully it´s not to akward to read. I´m a big fan of The Untamed so... my brain wanted to write about Lan Zhan and here it is. Still in deep love with the drama. 

#the untamed #mo dau zu shi #lan zhan #gusu lan #emotionalstories #slight angst #lan wangji #mdzs #mdzs fanfiction #mdzs fic #mdzs fandom #writing #fanfiction

[foularcadebanana]

Keeping Your Promise

Prompt for Day 21 ‘Rustle’ and Day 22 ‘Warmth’ for the Untamed Fall Fest 2020. Listen, I spent like two days trying to make this readable, so enjoy the feels-storm!

Summary: Wei Wuxian may not have kept his promise, but Jiang Cheng makes sure to keep his.

Wei Wuxian knew that he had lost all rights of calling Jiang Cheng his brother. He had broken the promise that had meant most to him, and so he couldn’t expect Jiang Cheng to keep all of his, even after 16 years, could he?

He knew he was too old for this particular fear, that it had been too long, so long since Jiang Cheng had protected him from it. But he hadn’t been able to help himself. His reflexes and mouth had worked before his brain had, in thinking and stopping himself.

Wei Wuxian had known his day would go bad. There was a feeling in his chest that he had learned to trust from experience. It was in the rustle of the leaves in the wind, the way all of the shopkeepers paved the way for Wei Wuxian and his posse. His posse included his gorgeous Lan Zhan, his precious son, Lan Sizhui, that one Lan Wei Wuxian adored, Lan Jingyi, the romantic, Ouyang Zizhen, his sensitive yet bratty nephew, Jin Ling, and the bratty nephew’s ‘jiujiu’, Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian didn’t know how he had managed to gather so many people in one place, but they were going on a night hunt.

The hunt was for a ferocious monster so none of the senior members of their teams had let the juniors go on the night hunt alone. Even Jin Ling, being a sect leader as he was now, knew better than to argue with Jiang Cheng about this. So, things were going peacefully so far. They had the Jin Clan, Jiang Clan and Lan Clan disciples with them. There had been no need for them to think that any other clans would join them, but they had been wrong, apparently.

“That’s quite the search party you have there,” A familiar voice said. As all heads turned, a figure appeared, waving a fan close to his face.

“Ah, Nie-xiong!” Wei Wuxian delightedly clapped him on the shoulder.

“It’s nice to see you too Wei-xiong,” Nie Huisang smirked. Then he looked at Jiang Cheng. “Jiang-xiong,” he said with a nod of his head.

“Huaisang,” Jiang Cheng nodded back. Nie Huaisang’s lips twitched slightly at the greeting as he stepped forward.

He bowed to Lan Zhan first. “Hanguang-Jun.” Then to Jin Ling. “Sect Leader Jin.”

Jin Ling glanced over at Jiang Cheng and Jiang Cheng gave him an imperceptible nod of the head. Jin Ling blinked and turned to face Nie Huaisang, greeting him with a bow too. “Sect Leader Nie.”

It turned out that the Nie Sect had heard about the hunt too. The monster had entered all of their clans’ territories which meant that all four of their clans had a reason to be on the night hunt. Wei Wuxian felt like the entire family was finally together, and he couldn’t be happier. Some of the rest of the people in their group didn’t seem as happy as him though.

He watched as the Jiang clan and Nie clan walked together, with Nie Huaisang chattering with Jiang Cheng, while Jiang Cheng eyed Lan Zhan and his disciples warily. They kept their distance from the Lan disciples. The Jin clan walked behind Jin Ling, who was in an animated discussion with his friends but staying in close range of Jiang Cheng. So, the Jin disciples walked close to the Jiang and Nie disciples.

Wei Wuxian observed as most of the Jin and Jiang disciples talked to each other with easy familiarity, and the Nie disciples seemed to join in with the flow of the conversation too. Wei Wuxian wished the Lan disciples could socialise too. But he was sure there had to be rules against that too, especially during night hunts.

He knew of the strict rules against men and women mingling during night hunts so it made sense that the Lans stayed separate since the rest of the three clans had no such rules and there were several women on the night hunt. Wei Wuxian also realised that he had been unknowingly drifting towards the Jiang clan. A gentle tap from Lan Zhan brought him back to their group. He swallowed heavily and shook his head, trying to pull his attention away from Jiang Cheng, and his conversation with Nie Huaisang. But then he began to focus on the discussion of the juniors instead.

“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan enquired.

“I’m fine, Lan Zhan, it’s fine.” Wei Wuxian tried to smile for Lan Zhan, before a sound stopped him. “Wait. Does anyone hear that?”

His voice had been loud enough to silence the rest of the voices.

“Wei Wuxian, what are you hearing? Are you beginning to hallucinate now?” Jiang Cheng asked with a scowl. Well, at least he was talking to Wei Wuxian, he would take that as a step closer to reconciling with him.

“I don’t hear anything, either,” Jin Ling said, crossing his arms and wearing a similar scowl to Jiang Cheng. “You must be going deaf.”

Before Wei Wuxian could respond, he heard the sound again. His eyes widened, and he glanced over at Jiang Cheng before he could help himself. Jiang Cheng was staring back at him with an undecipherable expression on his face. “I’ll go take a look at it,” he said, his voice surprisingly soft.

“Jiang Cheng!” Wei Wuxian stepped forward, reaching out and grabbing a hold of his sleeve. “I’m coming with you.”

“Wei Wuxian—” Jiang Cheng started.

“Don’t. I’m coming.” Wei Wuxian spoke firmly.

“Me too,” Jin Ling spoke up.

“A-Ling,” Jiang Cheng tried, but to no avail.

“No, Jiujiu. I’m coming with you.” Jin Ling said, just as stubborn as both of his uncles, Wei Wuxian mused.

“Alright then, let’s go!” Wei Wuxian suddenly piped up. “The rest of you, stay here,” he added for the junior disciples’ benefit, “and wait for the signal, which will probably be one of our screams.”

With that Wei Wuxian cheerfully joined Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling, catching both of their eyerolls in the process. As they cautiously walked ahead, Wei Wuxian strained his ears to hear the sound. The three of them had disappeared from the view of the rest of the people on the hunt when they heard the sound again.

It was a sound that made fear crawl up Wei Wuxian’s spine and a cold sweat break out across his forehead. His chest rose and fell fast, his heart beating louder and faster. A dog. It was a dog’s bark. He could recognize it anywhere.

Suddenly, all Wei Wuxian could see was a dog chasing him across one of the docks of Lotus Pier, and Jiang Cheng stepping in front of him before he could fall into the water. Wei Wuxian could still remember the scolding the owner of the dog had received from Jiang Cheng. Nobody had dared to make the mistake of even being seen with a dog anywhere near Wei Wuxian after that.

Wei Wuxian had clung onto Jiang Cheng so tightly, sobbing so hard, that it had taken Jiang Cheng hours to calm him down and finally let go of his robes.

Thoughts of what the dog could do to him and the ways he could tear into Wei Wuxian and his robes, made him scream out loud. “A-Cheng! A-Cheng, A-Cheng, A-Cheng!!!” Tears welled up in Wei Wuxian’s eyes and purple robes swam into his vision seconds later. He clutched those robes tightly before he could think otherwise. “Save me, please, A-Cheng. Please! He’s going to— going to kill me. I— I—”

“A-Xian.” Those familiar arms wrapped around him, keeping him upright, and that familiar voice reassured him. “A-Xian, I’ve got you. I’ve got you. I’m here. You’re safe. You’re going to be alright, okay?”

Wei Wuxian tried to take deep breaths in as he heard Jiang Cheng ratting off instructions to Jin Ling. “Take the dog away from here. Make sure he doesn’t come anywhere around this area again and take a few people with you when you go. Take your Lan friends and the Ouyang kid.”

Jin Ling nodded his head and made a quick work of calming down the dog Jiang Cheng wouldn’t let Wei Wuxian see. But Wei Wuxian took a peek at it as Jin Ling passed by him, and the dog looked wild, with saliva dripping down it’s slightly open mouth, showing its sharp, pointy teeth. Wei Wuxian hid his face in Jiang Cheng’s shoulder, shaking again. He tried not to imagine the dog sinking its teeth into his own—

“Wei Wuxian,” Jiang Cheng said, in that gentle tone that Wei Wuxian had missed so, so much. He felt a sudden warmth in his chest. One that he had missed for months and months.

“Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian replied, his tone, thankfully, not wavering. Before either of them could get another word in, they heard the sounds of several dozens of footsteps. They both looked towards the source of the sound.

It turned out that Jin Ling would not have to go to his friends to get rid of the dog, since his friends had come to him, along with the rest of the disciples and sect leaders.

“Wei-xiong, are you hurt?” Nie Huaisang asked.

“We heard your scream,” Sizhui said. Ah, his thoughtful son.

“You seem fine,” Lan Jingyi observed.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said.

Wei Wuxian forced himself to stand up straight behind Jiang Cheng. “Ah, don’t worry. I’m fine.”

Jiang Cheng pointed to the dog, his gaze on Nie Huaisang as if explaining only to him. “It was a dog.”

“Oh.” Understanding dawned on Nie Huaisang’s face. And Lan Zhan’s shoulders relaxed just a tiny bit. Even Sizhui, who had a slight idea of Wei Wuxian’s fear sighed with relief.

So as the junior disciples went to go get rid of the dog, along with Nie Huaisang, who insisted on accompanying them for their safety, the rest of the people stood silently staring at each other.

Jiang Cheng cleared his throat as soon as Jin Ling disappeared from his view, turning to Wei Wuxian. “Are you better now?” He kept his face carefully blank, Wei Wuxian noticed.

“I feel much better!” Wei Wuxian said, trying for a smile, but failing. He froze as he felt Jiang Cheng’s hand gripping his arms.

“Do you mean it?” he asked, searching Wei Wuxian’s eyes. Wei Wuxian felt his heart skip a beat.

He nodded his head seriously this time. “I do. I feel much better now that the dog isn’t here. I know that the juniors have probably already chased it off.”

“Good,” Jiang Cheng replied. He tried to hide the relief showing on his face, but Wei Wuxian saw it anyway. So as Jiang Cheng cleared his throat again, let go of Wei Wuxian’s arm, and awkwardly began to walk away from him, Wei Wuxian seized the chance.

He used those few moments of openness and vulnerability that he got from Jiang Cheng to hold onto his robes. “Jiang Cheng,” he said, and Jiang Cheng stopped in his tracks. “Thank you, for keeping your promise, even when I couldn’t keep mine.”

Jiang Cheng pulled away and didn’t look at Wei Wuxian for the remaining part of the night hunt.

READ ON AO3

#foularcadebanana #Yesimawriter on ao3 #untamed fall fest #untamed fall fest 2020 #the untamed fanfic #the untamed #mdzs fanfic #mdzs #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #jin ling #lan wanji #nie huaisang #lan sizhui #lan jingyi #ouyang zizhen #yunmeng jiang disciples #lanling jin disciples #qinghe nie disciples #gusu lan disciples #protective jiang cheng #scared wei wuxian #yunmeng bros #yunmeng bros feels #promises kept #promises broken

[cqlfic]

Hi, Im looking for a fic from nie huaisangs pov as far as i can remember. Its lan xichen/huisang. Meng yao took huisang as a lover to manipulate him in the past, towards the end in guanyin meng yao uses their sexual history to gaslight huisang saying that no one would want him cause hes used etc. Xichen comforts him after. Tried every combination of tags imaginable, but cant find it. Huisang is pretty bamf in this one.

hmm i haven't read any like this, but this search (Lan Huan | Lan Xichen/Nie Huaisang tag with character filter Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao, complete works, English only) yielded a result that looks promising. i quickly skimmed it and maybe it's the right one? let me know if it's not!

Standing on the outside, looking in...

link to AO3 AUTHOR: Morgana_avalon (@morgana-avalon) M, 61947 words, 14/14

RELATIONSHIPS: Lan Xichen / Nie Huaisang, Lan Wangji / Wei Wuxian, Nie Huaisang & Nie Mingjue

SUMMARY:

Set after episode 50. Hanguang-Jun and Wei Wuxian lead the cultivation world. After Nie Huaisang tricked Lan Xichen to come out of seclusion, our Nie sect leader returned home, leaving Xichen with a promise to invite him shortly. At the same time Wei Wuxian wonders if Lan Qiren will hate him forever.

Things start to change when something happens at the Guanyin temple, causing the old friends to work together once more.

Story has been finished, but as always I need to revise and edit. I aim for one part a day, but during the week posting might take a bit longer.

Also mention of psychological and sexual abuse, but it's merely being discussed. It doesn't happen during the story. It happened in the past.

sequel to Sorry and thank you, alternate universe - canon divergence, emotional/psychological abuse, abuse is discussed afterwards not in a graphic way, happy ending, lan wangji is still chief cultivator, set after episode 50, nie huaisang’s hand fan is a lethal weapon, is someone after the tiger seal?, lan zhan will always have faith in wei ying and follows him blindly, nie huaisang is wounded, wangxian, based on the tv-series and not the novel, lan qiren redeems himself, nie huaisang is lan xichen’s fated person, evil jin guangyao, wei wuxian’s golden core is restored, lan qiren growing protective of wei wuxian, jin guangyao possesses nie mingjue’s corpse, nie huaisang rather dreams than facing reality, jin ling is a sweetheart, frottage, nie huaisang becomes excellency

[!] second in the series Behind the mask...; first work: Sorry and Thank You

#fic hunting #fic hunting: resolved #anon

[vroomian]

WWX's pov please!!

aight fiiiine, i got like four asks about this lol

so snippet! the title for this short came from Butterflies by samsa, a very wwx/yrz song

the lightest kind of Midas touch 

:::

Wei Ying poked at the bitter mush the Lans were happy to call food. Truly, he wasn’t picky -- but this really was no way to compliment this meal. It was so sharp! So flavorless! So fitting of GusuLan!

"Quit playing with your food," Jiang Cheng hissed at him. 

Wei Ying pouted at his cruel little brother. "I can't help it, Jiang Cheng! It's inedible. Where's the spice? The chili powder? The meat?" 

"Wei-xiong, no talking while eating," Nie Huiasang whispered. "Lan Wangji is right there." 

Indeed he was. Lan Wangji's eating etiquette and posture were as graceful and correct as the rest of him. One would never think that the perfect Second Jade would ever yell at someone to get lost, with his gold eyes flashing, and his sword drawn. Wei Ying propped his head on his hand and watched the Second Jade eat. 

Two days ago, Wei Ying stumbled across Lan Wangji at the gates of the Cloud Recesses, waiting for someone. He looked so much -- smaller than he was at that moment. Now, there was no trace of his distress. His posture was perfectly straight, and his eyes were facing forward. 

Lan Wangji's eyes flicked up and found Wei Ying's. 

Wei Ying grinned at him. 

Lan Wangji's eyebrows creased slightly.

Later, Nie Huisang told Wei Wuxian that the third jade of Gusu was scheduled to return today -- and he never showed up. A question took root in Wei Ying’s heart. 

What kind of person would this Yan Ruizhi be, to have the attention of someone like Lan Wangji? 

#and so it begins #bfiasc #bfiasc sidestory #ditf #you've got questions we've got answers #theyukina99

[elliethefroggy]

Of Demon Ducks and Money Toads

SangCheng Month 2020 (on ao3)

Day 5 : Family

(somewhat of a continuation of day 2 (birds))

Nie Huaisang liked adopting creatures. It was a problem.

The problem started out small. A few birds here and there that would find a home in Nie Huaisang’s ever-expanding aviary. That was fine. Those small birds were easily dealt with.

Then Nie Huaisang went and found two large eggs from who knew where; he had just shown up one day with the eggs after he had snuck out for a walk.

A few weeks later, with the help of some gentle heating talismans, the eggs hatched into two of the ugliest baby birds Nie Mingjue had ever seen (and baby birds were notoriously ugly).

Huaisang would go on to call those two ugly birds Blossom and Dumpling because of course he would.

Blossom and Dumpling themselves weren’t a problem either at first. But then, they started to grow and grow and they didn’t stop. They kept growing until they could no longer fit in the aviary, until a bigger one had to be built just for them, until they outgrew even that cage. Until they were so big, they couldn’t stay in the Unclean Realm anymore.

Nie Huaisang had been distraught, thinking he would be forced to get rid of the birds he had started calling his babies (Dumpling and Blossom had been the first hatchlings Nie Huaisang had raised; Nie Mingjue wouldn’t be surprised if those birds really did think of Nie Huaisang as their mother).

Nie Mingjue hated to see Nie Huaisang cry and these tears had been the silent ones that Nie Huaisang only ever shed when he was truly upset, and so Nie Mingjue went further up into the mountains and spent a whole week trying to find a suitable cave for the birds that were apparently his nephews.

Huaisang had been elated when Nie Mingue had shown him the cave. He had thrown himself at Nie Mingjue and hugged him so hard that Nie Mingjue was barely touching the ground.

Dumpling and Blossom were moved into the cave and were as happy as ever, spoiled rotten by Nie Huiasang.

They never grew out of their ugly phase, but Nie Huaisang loved them and they made him happy, so Nie Mingjue was willing to love them too, even if no one ever quite figured out what type of bird they were (Nie Mingjue was certain they weren’t natural, but he never voiced that out loud).

The problem got worse when Nie Huisang befriended Jiang Cheng (they said they were just friends; Nie Mingjue didn’t buy it, but Jiang Cheng was a good and honorable person and wouldn't think of doing anything untoward with Nie Huaisang, no doubt much to Nie Huaisang's displeasure).

Jiang Cheng was a good ‘friend’ for Nie Huaisang but there was one glaringly obvious issue.

Jiang Cheng liked dogs, loved them. Yet, for some reason, he wouldn’t allow dogs in Lotus Pier. Unfortunately, that meant that whatever stray Jiang Cheng found would inevitably end up in the Unclean Realm. It was completely Nie Huaisang’s fault.

Nie Mingjue got used to the dogs like he had got used to the birds.

Jiang Cheng had asked Nie Mingjue if it was too much trouble having so many dogs in the Unclean Realm, and he had looked so concerned and somewhat guilty (even though, again, Nie Huaisang was to blame).

Jiang Cheng always looked so happy and relaxed whenever he spent time with the dogs, so different from the well-concealed uptight anxious mess he usually was, and Nie Mingjue had been incapable of saying that yes it was a problem. Instead, he had said that he was more than happy to have so many dogs in his home, and Jiang Cheng had looked so relieved that Nie Mingjue couldn't feel sorry for lying (maybe it was also somewhat Nie Minjue’s fault).

But it didn’t stop with the birds and the dogs. It was when Jiang Cheng started bringing mythical beings for Huaisang that the problem really got out of hand.

The first time it happened was a surprise. Nie Mingjue knew Nie Huaisang loved birds, but he thought Jiang Cheng had gone a bit too far with the phoenix which had apparently been named Firecracker.

“It’s an adorable name,” Huaisang said, gently clutching the baby phoenix in his hands, “Jiang Cheng came up with it.”

Nie Mingjue thought it sounded more like a fire hazard but he didn’t say that.

Firecracker got along splendidly with Blossom and Dumpling which meant the phoenix was here to stay.

Then came a rather fat three-legged toad (Huaisang insisted it wasn’t a money toad even with all the coins that kept appearing everywhere). There also were winged beasts that definitely shouldn't have wings, the odd fox with more than one tail, a duck that may or may not be a demon and so many more mythical and apparently-not-extinct beings.

(Nie Mingjue wasn’t sure whether or not these beasts were unofficial courtship gifts; he hoped they were because, if not, Nie Mingjue didn’t want to see just what legendary creature Jiang Cheng would unearth for an actual courting gift.)

By the time the juvenile dragon arrived, Nie Mingjue had gotten used to even the legendary creatures. Though, he really did wish Lychee (the dragon) would stop shedding her skin all over the place.

(Gods help Huaisang and Jiang Cheng’s future human children; Nie Mingjue didn’t imagine the naming process going well.)

Nie Mingjue tried explaining to them that they couldn’t adopt every creature they thought looked cute (which turned out to be all of them). He tried. He did not succeed. And, unfortunately, if the longing looks Huaisang and Jiang Cheng kept throwing at each other were anything to go by, this was a problem that wouldn't be leaving Nie Mingjue anytime soon if ever.

Nie Mingjue would just have to get used to having dragons and money toads and demon ducks in the family.

It wasn’t the weirdest thing to happen in the Unclean Realm, but it was up there.

#Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng are adopting all the animals #Nie mingjue did not sign up to have this many nieces and nephews #but he can't do anything about it #because he's never been able to say not to nie huasiang #jaing cheng unknowingly courting nie huaisang #nie huaisang loves all his children #even the ugly feathered ones #sangcheng #sangchengmonth2020 #sangchengber #nie mingjue #nie huaisang #jiang cheng #my fic #fic #mine #day 5 #family #of demons ducks and money toads #the untamed #mdzs #jiang wanyin

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

~*~

1. Can anyone find me wangxian fic in which lan zhan captures nie huisang and nie huisang ask Wei wuxian helps to save his brother from Meng Yao in nightless city @wangxianpet

FOUND? The Way It Wasn’t by KouriArashi (T, 72k, WangXian, XiYao, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, (eventually haha), Slow Build, Family Feels, Moral Ambiguity, Eventual Happy Ending)

~*~

2. I need help looking for a fic please.

All I can remember about it is that they were smuggling Wen Ning and possibly Wen Qing across a border somewhere and they put a fake mustache on Wen Ning. People kept complimenting it, even the bad Wens they came across, and some possibly even grew their own Wen Ning-staches after. WWX might've been dressed as a woman? I can't remember for sure.

Thank you!

NOT FOUND! Propagate Understanding by draechaeli (E, 175k, wangxian, not everyone dies, pregnancy kink, consensual non-con, adoption but they’re all birthed by wwx, mo xuanyu lives, temporary character death)

FOUND! Bloom where you are planted 🔒 by luckymoonly (M, 44k wangxian, MM/WQ, Canon Divergence, Fix It, courting, Mpreg, Sunshot Campaign, Fluff, Happy Ending, getting together early, Romance, WWX giving birth in the middle of the war? Most likely than you think!, Yúnmèng Siblings Feels, Smut, Drama, Blood and Violence, Minor Character Death, There Is Only One Bed, No Fall of Lotus Pier, Crossdressing, Shotgun Wedding, Mention of miscarriage (not WWX), wangxian Have a Breeding Kink, Giving Birth, Soft granduncle LQR)

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3. I just remembered a fic that would fit in the ghost comp but I forgot it's name 😔 it was a fic about wx haunting a house together and I think taking care of a yuan as they do? I may be thinking of two fics because I think there was one where they were ghosts in the bm and raised yuan too but in this one they died in a fire i believe and the house was alive? Again may be combining fics 😅 thank you!

Yes I think that was the bm fic I was thinking of! But I can't remember much of the house fic besides I think wen ning and wen qing lived in the house with yuan? And I think either xichen or Jiang Cheng appear at one point?

Those are definitely 2 different fics. I remember reading the Burial Mounds one, where they're both ghosts and they raise A-Yuan together, and there was no house fire. Couldn't find it myself, but hopefully that'll help someone else find one or both of these...

FOUND! Gently Haunted by LusBeatha (T, 19k, WangXian, Character Death, Sentient Burial Mounds, Autistic LWJ, Shutdowns, Canon Divergence, Ghosts, Child LSZ, Oblivious WWX, Getting Together, Ghost Marriage, ghost parenting, Grief/Mourning, but only for ghosts that are still present, Golden Core Reveal, Soup, Happy Ending) Wouldn't the one where they are both ghost raising A-Yuan in the Burial mounds be "Gently Haunted" by LusBeatha?

FOUND? The Ghostly Adventures of Wen Yuan by Llamamomo (Not Rated, 13k, WangXian, Ghost WWX, Ghost LWJ, Established Relationship, Married Couple, Supernatural Elements, Modern AU, Murder Mystery, Haunted Houses)

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4. For the fic finder, there's a fic I'm pretty sure I first found somewhere on this or the recs blog but I can't for the life of me find again. It deals with WWX accepting a deal where he'll be a prisoner of the Nie clan if the Wen remnants are promised safety. NHS is happy to have his friend around, but it's major depression hours for WWX

I remember him neglecting himself to the point of not brushing his hair for weeks

Thank you 💕

FOUND? Always walked a very thin line by tucuxi (T, 22k, NHS & WWX, JYL & WWX, WangXian)

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5. Hello! I hope you all have been having a great day. I have been plagued by this fic that I just can't remember the title! 😭

It was a post-canon fic where WWX just kept "bothering" LXC in his seclusion and sorta made him help in his research. There was also a scene where WWX got injured and LXC was there to help.

I really appreciate your help and thank you 🥺❤️

Agapé (home is in your arms) by estel_willow (G, 14k, WangXian, fraternal bonding, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon, Wwx is oblivious, lxc is patient, sizhui remains the best son, Wwx uses his words, Or tries to at least, Wwx is an unreliable narrator, Light Angst, well semi-lite angst, canon-typical self dislike from our favourite chaotic disaster bi)

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6. Hey! I was hoping you could help me find a fic. WWX has some "ghost brides" while they're living in burial mounds. There's some description of these ghosts picking and pulling at his clothes, skin, etc.

Hey! I'm #6 on the latest fic finder. I'm afraid that's not the fic I was looking for. It doesn't have f/f wangxian or any gender bending. The fic I'm looking for doesn't have any smut either

Not FOUND your grave, a garden; a barrow, your bed by twinagonies (E, 31k, Female WangXian, Canon Divergence, YLLZ WWX, Ruke 63, Gender or Sex Swap, Genderbending, BDSM, Power Play, Undernegotiated Kink, Restraints, Bondage, Impact Play, Cunnilingus, Vaginal Fingering, Bottom LWJ/Top WWX, Top LWJ/Bottom WWX, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Porn With Plot, Golden Core Reveal, Wēn Remnants Live, Mental Health Issues, Plants, WWX's Ghost Girls, Sex Magic, Dual Cultivation, POV LWJ, Switching) a wild guess but this one has the ghost brides doing a lot of touching with wwx. it is a genderbent f/f wangxian so it might not be right

FOUND? 🔒💖 love, in fire and blood by cicer (E, 360k, wangxian, immortal WWX, slow burn, pining, arranged marriages)

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7. I am looking for a specific untamed fiction. It is modern day. Wei wuxian is an omega. Supposed to rule all the clans. Gets injured when the Jiang fall. Lan zhan finds him and helps heal him in the back mountains. Later meet when the clans start fighting to mate wuxian. Lan zhan is selected as his guardian. Ruohan tries to force a mating but gets killed by wuxian.

Recesses basically function as assassins.

Qinghe tend to function as military.

Huasang and Lan zhan have similar scents. @manalover

FOUND? Under Red Skies by AngelSpirit (E, 169k, wangxian, graphic depicitons of violence, Soulmates, Fantasy, Wolves, Wolf Pack, Wolf Shifters, Alpha LWJ, Asena WWX, Wolf hierarchy, Everybody-wants-WWX, Multiple Time Skips, Canon Setting, Modern Cultivation, Fluff and Angst, Smut, Mating Bond, Werewolf, Scenting, Marking, Biting, primal, Royalty, Slow Burn, BAMF LWJ, BAMF WWX)

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8. Hi! I've been trying to find an a/b/o fic (Lz is an alpha and Wy an omega). What I remember of the plot is that people thought Wy was always hooking up around. Lz had a one night stand with him to try getting over his own feelings for Wy. When Wy went days later to confess to him, Lz said something about Wy hooking up around, and Wy left crying because Lz also believed the rumors about him. Wx, who was Lwj's roommate, said something about fucking Wy, so Lz punched him and went to apologize to Wy.

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9. for the next fic finder: i only know that it was post-cql and wangxian were writing each other letters until wwx broke his leg very badly on a night hunt? i don't remember much else, im sorry!

FOUND? Between The Lines by Witch_Nova221 (M, 153k, WangXian, Epistolary, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Letters, Falling In Love, Love Confessions, Love Letters, Long-Distance Relationship, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, Canon-Typical Violence, Post-Canon, Idiots in Love)

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10. Hi! For the next itmf, I have been looking for a fanfic in my bookmark and my history I couldn't find it 😅

I think it's (abo) I don't remember quite good I think Jiang Cheng ran away for lotus pier with wei ying to the woods later on lan zhan and lan xichen will find them and take them back to lotus pier, madam yu wants to beat wei ying and wei ying take the blame and Jiang Cheng wants to stop madam yu because lan zhan was there to and lan zhan is wei ying mate, and I think lan zhan will step in front of wei ying, and later on Jiang fengmian slap Jiang Cheng(I think it chapter 9 or something 😅) @rayan12sworld

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11. Hi! I remember reading a modern au fic on AO3 where Lan Wangji, while preparing for an arranged/political marriage, finds out he was actually married to Wei Wuxian and needs to divorce lest he commit bigamy. Lan Wangji does not remember getting married at all! Less clear on the following details: Wei Wuxian was either missing or dead, and Lan Wangji travels to the courthouse where it happened for more info. He finds on the back of a photo of the occasion that Wei Wuxian had written it was the happiest day of his life.

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12. Hi. Firstly I wanna say I absolutely adore this blog and thank you for providing us WangXian fans with amazing fanfiction.

I've been dying to find this one fanfic but I have no idea where it is now and after constant serching I decided to give it ago.

From what I remember: Lan Wangji is taken prisoner and kept in a prison next to Wei WuXian who is some sort of creature (a Phionex to be exact) and Lan Wangji watched helplessly as he is tortured everyday to provide for the Wen Sect using his tears, Phionex cry, etc.

I also remember Wei WuXian helps him escape the prison and Lan Zhan goes back for him but (I think) Wei WuXian already burnt Nightless City and saved the civilians and the Wens but is unconscious.

Please, I hope you have better luck in finding this fic, I've been dying to reread it.

Thank you in advance!!!

FOUND? a thousand hills, no birds in flight | 千山鳥飛絕 by defractum (nyargles) (E, 26k, WangXian, Mythology, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon adjacent setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort)

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13. Hi! I’m looking for a Pregji fic. It’s post-canon and I think wangxian had some sort of post-sex misunderstanding that led wwx to leave. Lwj finds out after that he’s pregnant. I remember the juniors going out and searching for wwx, trying to bring him back. (I checked the Pregji compilation, but it wasn’t there and it’s not under the pregnant Lan zhan tag on AO3) thank you!

FOUND? A Joy That’s Hard to Find by airinshaw (E, 26k, wangxian, Post-Canon, Getting Together, Mpreg, Misunderstandings, Minor Angst, Anal Sex, Fluff and Smut, Kissing) After their first and only night together Wei Wuxian disappears. As Lan Wangji tries to find him again, he gradually realises that Wei Wuxian left him with an unintended gift.

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14. Mood for story where wei wuxian disappears into some faraway land with cliffs. Then appears as some powerful sect with the wen survivors and song lan xiao xing chen. Apparently he rides a dragon to battle.

FOUND? 💖 Echo, Murmur, Dream, Here by bluerainmist (M, 51k, wangxian, canon divergence, WWX survives, sect leader WWX, yiling wei sect au, slow burn, angst w/ happy ending, getting together, pining, love confessions, reunions, mind all the tags)

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15. Hi 😊 huge fan of your blog, I've found so many gems here so thank you and keep up the good work.

I read a fic last year and it's driving me insane because I cannot find it please help....I such at summaries but I can recall that LWG stepped in front of a sword that was met for Yanli , they thought he died because his brother had him away . WWX gives him self up to the lan sect for punishment @b-rabbitsposts

FOUND? If I Could Go Back in Time by Runningbarefoot (M, 122k, WangXian, NieLan, Canon Divergence, Role Reversal, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Pining, Angst with a Happy Ending, Grief/Mourning, Loss, YLLZ WWX, Eventual Happy Ending, The Twin Jade Brotherhood, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Healing, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng Dynamics, Slow Burn)

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16. hi there! for the finder; theres this one v specific scene i can remember but nothing else. it was definitely canon divergence — they were trying to save yzy and jfm (after the massacre of lotus pier), and they were still alive. they brought them to wq, who did heal them, but jfm was worse for wear while yzy... out for revenge i think? i cant remember all else but if anyone has an idea that'd be great thank you! @revellingfate

NOT FOUND! could be "A Price To Pay" by wangxianist, which was sadly deleted

FOUND! I’m aching and I know you are too by edenwolfie (M, 236k, WangXian, XuanLi, Canon Divergence, Fluff, POV Alternating, POV Outsider, Family Feels, Humor, Romance, Engagement, Fix-It, Drunken Shenanigans, Hurt/Comfort, Qíshān Wēn Indoctrination, Canon-Typical Violence, Fall of Lotus Pier, Sunshot Campaign, First Time, Possessive Behavior, Panic Attacks, Everybody Lives, Established Relationship)

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17. Hi, I'm hoping that you could help me find a fic. It was after wwx death, lwj keep on dreaming a life where wwx didn't die. Then he found out that the incense burner is the source of his dream. To avoid the pain of losing wwx, lwj start to sleep more and it started to affect his health. Lqr and lxc notice this and try to interfere since lwj condition keep getting worse as he choose to stay asleep. They tried to warn and stop lwj but he ignored them and keep using the incense burner. Later lqr and lxc found out that lwj is dead. Sorry if I'm ranting but that's all I can recall. I can't remember the name and wish to read it again. I would really appreciate it if you could help me find it. Thank you in advance! @mayuchi96

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18. Hi lovely Mods! (＾▽＾) I hope you can help me find these fics I've been looking for!

A) WWX builds (is that the word?) a new core, that isn't a golden core, and I think it's something about yin vs. yang cultivation?

B) WWX grow op with XXC, and I think WWX get a title in the same style as XXC and SL?

C) I just remember a scene where LWJ gives WWX a knife (dagger?) made of like the same material a Bichen, and say something about it protecting him when LWJ can't?

hope you have a great day!

18A)

Not FOUND Did I Not Explain Why the Sunset Turns Red? by 3988Akasha (E, 110k, wangxian, time travel, canon divergence, Canonical Character Death, Soulmates, Demonic Cultivation, Original Female Character(s), Emotional Constipation, Minor Character Death, Hand Jobs, Sexual Content, Bathing/Washing, Idiots in Love, Poetry, Mild Gore, Anal Sex, Angst, Rimming, Blow Jobs)

FOUND? 🧡 Never Again by Hauntcats (T, 67k, WangXian, WWX & WQ & WN, Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Angst, Not JC Friendly, BAMF WWX)

FOUND? 🧡 a stone to break your soul, a song to save it by rikke ( M, 180k, WangXian, Arranged marriage, Canon Divergence, Hurt/comfort, Light angst, Canon typical violence)

18B)

Not FOUND I Will Call You By Name by DisasterMages (T, 73k, SongXiao, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Family Feels) I'm not sure about the title for WWX but he grew up with XXC and SZC

18C)

FOUND! 💖 Looking at You Always, All Ways by Keysmashed T, 29k, wangxian, time travel fix-it, fluff, nostalgia, mild angst w/ happy ending)

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19. A) I have been searching for a specific fic for a while but I cannot find it anywhere. It's an ABO Au with Alphaji and Omegaxian, LWJ is older (35ish) and WWX younger (18ish) and they're being set up on an arranged marraige. WWX is originally hesitant but falls for LWJ and it turns out LWJ travelled from a universe where WWX died and found this one where he lives. There's a scene where LWJ gets jelous of LJY and one where WWX dolls up to look silly but YZY lets him bc he looks cute. Thank you!

B) I remember very little about this fanfic except that LWJ travels back in time to his child body but keeps his power so everyone thinks he's a reincarnated ancestor (or smth)so let him do anything, this includes him destroying the wall of rules. I think WWX also has returned and the story follows both of them. It's the destruciton of the wall that sticks most in mind. Any info would be amazing! Thank you!! @yilingweiclan

19A)

FOUND? 4018 by sweetlolixo (E, 28k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, ABO, Older LWJ, Immortal LWJ, Pregnant WWX, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Age Difference, Boypussy, Vaginal Fingering, Dry Humping, Knotting, Blow Jobs, Dirty Talking LWJ, Angst with a Happy Ending, Size Difference, Feminization)

19B)

FOUND? A Life Without Regrets by naqaashi (M, 74k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Crack Treated Seriously, musical cultivation, Slow Burn, Pining, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Murder Husbands, PTSD, BAMF WWX, Demonic Cultivation, POV WWX, Cultivation Sect Politics, Worldbuilding, No Yīn Iron, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, Artist WWX, Musician WWX, Night Hunts, Fate & Destiny, Bad Parent JFM, Bad Parent YZY, Golden Core, Cultivation Theory, Sentient Burial Mounds, Father-Son Relationship, Dysfunctional Family, Grief/Mourning, Parent-Child Relationship, Angry WWX, Pining WWX, WWX is Not Okay, No Golden Core Transfer, BAMF LWJ, Pining LWJ, POV LWJ, Angry LWJ, One-Braincell Wangxian, Love Confessions, Idiots in Love, WIP)

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20. Oh woops, missed the collection window.

Anyways I've been trying to find this fic for a few weeks now, so no rush.

I'm trying to find a specific fic that is NOT decay by antebunny, because I was reading that one and got reminded of the fic I'm trying to find!! But it has a similar plot hook: the Lans broker a ceasefire with the Yiling Patriarch, under the condition that they purify WWX of resentful energey & WWX agrees, even though he assumes it will kill him. Unlike "decay", i think in this fic the purification ritual was held *not* at Cloud Recesses -- maybe in Koi Tower?? Anyways LWJ is also the one to perform the purification, halfway through he realizes what the ritual is doing to WWX and improvises a change in the music to save his life, while still making it seem like the proper ritual was completed. @businesstiramisu

FOUND! A Moment's Warning by Neery (G, 8k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Misunderstandings, Golden Core Reveal, JL Gets His Bracelet)

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#wangxian #mdzs #wangxian fic finder #wangxian fic search #the untamed #wangxianficfinder #long post

[guqin-and-flute]

I'm back for more mingli shenanigans to say that nmj would absolutely cry when their kids are born, not just the first, all of them, he's got big emotions

YAY MINGLI SHENANIGANS!!

You know, one of the things that I absolutely love about Nie Mingjue is how many times he cries. And I think Yanli would, too.

She has had enough of tears that come from frustration, fear, sorrow, loss, resentment, rejection. Helplessness and pain. There have been so many tears from arguments and worry. And yes, Mingjue cries when he’s sad, when he’s overwhelmed, but he also cries when he’s happy. When he’s proud.

He cries when she tells him she’s pregnant. He cries when he holds their first daughter for the first time, open and shaking, hands so tender and gentle that it was like he was holding something made of glass. He cries when she takes her first steps, shocked blinkings as he presses the back of his hand to his mouth to keep from making a noise and startling her into falling over.

He cries again when she tells him she’s pregnant again. He cries when their second daughter is born, smiling and gentler than the first, but still full of short, huffed breaths and sniffs. He cries when Huisang forms his golden core, late as it is, maybe only enough to keep him steadily on his sabre for flight and not anything fancy, but he is proud. 

He cries when, on his days where he’s certain he’s not doing enough, as a Clan Leader, as a brother, as a husband, as a father, when Yanli holds his face and looks him in his eyes, smiling and just tells him again and again, ‘You are enough.’ It’s not that she wants him to cry, but she knows when he does, it’s finally sunk in and the bit that was scared heard it. 

#LET MEN CRY! LET MEN CRY! #mingli #jueli #mingyan #nmj #jyl #my fic #rarepair #my stuff #ask #text #SORRY FOR THE WAIT I WANTED TO CONTRIBUTE #greenwitching

[mattiander]

Jiang Cheng / Nie Mingjue fakedating

modern au where jiang cheng needs a date to a wedding he doesn’t even want to go to and nie mingjue is a sucker for his little brother. i don’t even know.

In hindsight, Jiang Cheng would blame everything on Nie Huisang because of course, who else would he blame this on? 

It wasn’t his fault that he’s still trying desperately for his parents approval, it’s not his fault that when his father talks approvingly about how Wei Wuxian is coming back from his travels and is bringing Lan Wangji, and then his mother turns on him and pointedly asks him about who he’s bringing to Jin Zixun’s wedding that Jiang Cheng states quickly ‘I have a boyfriend too. He’s coming.’ Because of course, he loves Wei Wuxian like his own brother but he doesn’t want to forever remain under his shadow.

And when his mother actually smiles at him, he doesn’t want to take back the lie.

So two weeks before Jin Zixun’s wedding, he’s sitting at his desk at work thinking Shit. And because misery loves company, he goes drinking with Nie Huisang who visibly brightens at this idea, and offers to get him a fake boyfriend.

And Jiang Cheng, drunk and miserable and wishing that he had maybe been open to the idea of romance at some point in his life, agrees. What else does he have to lose?

When Nie Huisang texts him two days later with a barrage of texts, exclamation marks and emojis about ‘i have someone for you to take!!!! call me! when do you finish work???? can you meet us after????’ Jiang Cheng almost has a panic attack out of sheer embarrassment.

When he goes to the restaurant and sees Nie Huisang sitting at a booth with Nie Mingjue next to him, face blank and bored, Jiang Cheng almost has another panic attack out of pure humiliation. He wants to turn right back around and hide in his home until all of this goes away but - Nie Huisang has already seen him and is waving at him. 

Jiang Cheng has a lot of flaws but cowardice has never been one of them, so he walks up and slides into the chair with as much grace as he can manage. (It’s not enough).

Nie Huisang doesn’t even give him a chance to speak before he’s speaking a mile a minute, locking his arm around Nie Mingjue’s. “-and I know da-ge was going to the wedding anyway, so it’s not like you need a extra invite for him and he was going to be so bored because Xichen-ge can’t make it and I thought this is perfect! Isn’t it perfect, da-ge?”

Jiang Cheng can barely even get himself to look at Nie Mingjue but he hears him make a non-commital grunt.

“Isn’t this great? Of course, we have to come up with a story of how you guys started dating and why you hid it but this is so fun!”

Nie Huisang’s in one of his excited moods where nobody can get a word in edgewise. Jiang Cheng fiddles with the glass, his hands, anything to keep himself from looking at Nie Mingjue. 

“- and let me just go to the bathroom, I’ll be right back. Da-ge, order for me, please!” Nie Huisang says before bustling out of the booth

“Why are you even helping me?” Jiang Cheng asks because he has to know - people don’t just help him or make his life easier without some other hidden reason.

Nie Mingjue just shrugs, “I owed A-Sang a favour. I also just don’t want to be there so decent company helps.”

Which - it makes sense. It makes sense but Jiang Cheng has to tamper down the little thrill that tries to unfurl itself at the idea that he’s not bad company. He may not be great company but at least he’s not scraping rock bottom in Nie Mingjue’s eyes.

(So, he may still not be over his apparent schoolboy crush on Nie Huisang’s cool older brother. He was 15 when he had a spiritual awakening when he was at their house after school and Nie Mingjue had walked past him without a shirt and that - that had been an interesting revelation.

Being Nie Huisang’s friend means that Jiang Cheng’s life has circled around Nie Mingjue’s - they had sat next to each other at Nie Huisang’s graduation, ignoring Wei Wuxian loudly whooping next to them. When Nie Huisang had drunk called Jiang Cheng at 3am crying and asking to be picked up and Jiang Cheng went to the bar, it was mere seconds after Nie Mingjue, who nodded at Jiang Cheng and muttered ‘thanks and sorry’ while hauling his brother to the car. When Jiang Cheng moved and it turned out that Nie Mingjue went to the gym near his house and had offered to spot him, he had accepted and very carefully not looked too long at Nie Mingjue’s arms and broad shoulders and thighs.

So. He may not be over that crush yet.

He figures he’s always been stupidly loyal about things, why would this be any different?)

“You know you don’t have to do this? It was just a stupid statement - it’s not like anyone’s going to hold me to it,” Jiang Cheng offers. He knows he’s not the most social or charming and he can barely handle himself, let alone asking someone like Nie Mingjue to tolerate that.

Nie Mingjue just snorts. “I know your mother. She’s going to hold you to that.”

Which...is true. Shit.

“It’s fine. A-Sang owes me a favour from this. I might convince him to actually get a real job after all of this,” Nie Mingjue states, and then something like a grin curves at the edges of his mouth. “Really - I’d rather talk to you than have to put up with anymore of those Jin assholes. I’m only going because I’m expected to”

Which makes sense but before Jiang Cheng can think of anything witty or funny or remotely decent to say, Nie Huisang’s back and taking a seat.

“We have to come up with a story, so how about this-”

-

And that’s how Jiang Cheng is standing at his parent’s door with Nie Mingjue just behind him. It’s a family dinner, mere days before the wedding and his mother had insisted that she bring his mystery boyfriend around, to get to know him. It’s his parents and A-Jie and her husband and it should be fine, easy, they’ve rehearsed this story with Nie Huisang and how they should address each other but -

He cannot knock on the door because they’ll know. No matter what he’s done, whenever his parents look at him, he feels guilt and shame and the deep sense of lacking well up in him and they’ll look at him and they’ll know that he’s lying and he’s so useless he can’t even get a single person outside his family who will willingly spend more than 10 minutes in his presence and then there’ll be the comparisons to Wei Wuxian and his perfect fucking boyfriend and A-Jie and her fucking peacock and -

“Breathe,” says Nie Mingjue’s voice behind him, soft and deep. Jiang Cheng wasn’t aware he was so close and that is distracting enough to stop him from his train of thoughts (also distracting enough that he forgets to breathe for a second but he puts that aside to deal with it at a later time.)

“They’re going to figure it out,” he says quietly, staring at the doorbell. 

“Not if we do what we said we were going to, A-Cheng,” Nie Mingjue says and then he rings the doorbell.

Jiang Cheng takes several quick breaths and digs his nails into his palms. He’s not a coward.

When A-Jie opens the door and she almost softens and smiles brightly at both him and Nie Mingjue, he thinks it might be okay. It could be okay. 

“Nie Mingjue, I didn’t expect to see you here,” she says, her voice soft and gentle. “I hadn’t - Jiang Cheng is always so private about his happiness that I had no idea!”

And that’s A-Jie down, which is good. He can do this.

They follow her to the dining room where his parents are talking to Jin Zixuan and the conversation screeches to a grinding halt when they spot Nie Mingjue. The peacock looks like he’s choked on his own tongue and that gives Jiang Cheng at least a little bit of joy.

“Nie Mingjue?” his father says. “What are you doing here?”

“Jiang Cheng wanted me to meet his family formally - I apologise for the time it took for me to do this,” Nie Mingjue says, half-bowing gracefully. Jiang Cheng would like to look at him but his eyes are focused upon his parents, who seem to have been frozen in shock.

“A-Cheng?” his father says, mildly, after a beat too long. “We hadn’t known. You’re welcome to our home, please sit.”

Jiang Cheng’s hands are not shaking. He sits heavily on the closest chair, only half-aware of Nie Mingjue sitting beside him.

And - it’s fine. His parents are polite and A-Jie is always so kind and friendly and even the peacock tries his best to hold a conversation. Nie Mingjue is more than fine, he speaks confidently and even gets his father to laugh at a story.

It’s all fine, until his mother tilts his head and says, “How did you - this - how did this happen?”

And they have practiced and Jiang Cheng may not be naturally talented but he’s good with practice so he speaks up - “We were at a dinner party Nie Huisang was hosting and started talking and - well. We like each other.”

His face flushes as he says it. He deliberately doesn’t look at Nie Mingjue or his parents, and instead looks at A-Jie. She smiles at him sweetly.

“That’s hardly the details,” his father says. “There must be more to it? I know our A-Cheng isn’t very good in those situations.”

Which is correct. He’s not but he doesn’t appreciate his father saying it out loud in company. And it’s not like he’s any worse than others, like Jin Zixuan or even Lan Wangji. His ears heat with the embarrassment and he’s ready to speak, eyes still fixed on A-Jie when-

“I’ve liked A-Cheng for a while. It was very nice of him to give me a chance,” Nie Mingjue says. “I think things happened at the right time for us.”

“Surely, you don’t think you’re suited to each other?” his father says and - oh. It had been going too well, of course he should have expected this.

“You’re very different from each other,” his father continues. “Do you think this will last?”

Oh. 

Jiang Cheng swallows down the humiliation and the hollow feeling in his gut, finally looking at his father. He opens his mouth but once again, Nie Mingjue is answering for him. “As much as anyone knows they will last. I like A-Cheng a lot - is that not enough for now?” Nie Mingjue even reaches and squeezes Jiang Cheng’s hand under the table.

(Jiang Cheng is not going to combust. He’s not.)

His father blanches and Jin Zixuan, who occasionally has moments where Jiang Cheng can understand why A-Jie tolerates him, asks how they plan on getting to the wedding.

Nie Mingjue keeps his hand on Jiang Cheng’s for a few moments longer before he lets go.

-

“I,” Nie Mingjue says softly when they’re in the elevator, “do not like your parents.”

Jiang Cheng snorts. “They’re fine, they’re just. Expressive. About their opinions.”

“Don’t defend them. Who even talks like that?”

While the idea of Nie Mingjue defending his honor stirs up something small in him that he can't name, he can’t let this go further. Logically, he knows his parents haven’t necessarily been what he’s needed growing up but he’s an adult now, with a job and his own apartment and a life outside of his parent’s expectations and requirements. He’s doing fine. He will be fine. “They’re my parents. They want what’s best for me.”

Nie Mingjue glowers at him, his voice low and mutinous. “Wrong is wrong, Jiang Wanyin.”

Annoyance flares in his gut. “Don’t.”

Nie Mingjue actually rolls his eyes. “At least the actual wedding weekend will be easier. And there’ll be alcohol.”

Jiang Cheng is used to his parent’s disapproval and disappointment. He’s not ready for Nie Mingjue’s on top of that, especially not when he’s been so nice and not even made fun of him once for this stupid lie that is his life. He feels bad and he hyper focuses on his guilt, as he always does. “You don’t - you know you don’t have to do this, still? We can just pretend we broke up now -”

“I am not a quitter.”

And that is the end of that conversation. They’re silent for the rest of the elevator ride.

---

i’m just a big fan of jiang cheng.

#jiang cheng #nie mingjue #mingcheng #mdzs #maybe one day i'll sit down and actually properly write a fic again instead of this word vomit

[cross-d-a]

I want to know ALL about Wu Xie embarrassing time traveler!Li Cu!!! ✨✨ I'm also v intrigued by Nie Huisang death death death

(Also, Cross you have so many wips; I read in awe. And to think I thought I had a lot of star wars fix-it ideas! I only have anything at all written down for two of them!)

(this refers to the WIP tag game I completed a few days ago!)

Wu Xie being EMBARRASSING & Li Cu Time Travel: 

I’ve got a series of interconnected oneshots planned where Li Cu just- accidentally hops back in time to every drama/book and helps out the Iron Triangle. and it’s more like LI CU embarrassing WU XIE haha

I thought it’d be HILARIOUS if Li Cu got to see how Wu Xie (UR MY DAD BOOGIE WOOGIE WOOGIE) is so YOUNG and STUPID and EMBARRASSING when he’s young!! Wu Xie making (ACTUALLY) innocent doe eyes at an emo Xiao Ge?? GROSS. Wu Xie accidentally (DELIBERATELY?) setting off multiple traps in a tomb?? Li Cu is 10000/10 going to RECORD THIS on his phone and bring it BACK to the future and make fun of Wu Xie FOREVER. Also!!! There are SO MANY SNAKES in Ultimate Note!! And?? Conveniently?? Li Cu has a lil’ snake buddy?? MAYBE HE COULD HELP??? 

I basically want Li Cu being the Actual Competent One and the baby Iron Triangle floundering. Mostly Wu Xie. I want Wu Xie floundering. I also want Wu Xie SO EMBARRASSED when Li Cu hops back to his own time. 

li cu: DAD UR AN IDIOT 

wu xie: i DONT WANT TO RELIVE IT PLS AND THANK 

li cu: nO!! U ARE GOING TO SUFFER!! UR SO STUPID u set off FIVE TRAPS

wu xie: i hate you 

li cu: no u don’t u just told me u loved and appreciated me for saving ur life like ten minutes ago. there were tears in your eyes. actually they were streaming down ur face. u might have been hugging my leg and sobbing

wu xie: tHAT WAS SIXTEEN YEARS AGO FOR ME OK i am an OLD MAN

Nie Huaisang death death death:

I think it’s hilarious that you picked out one of the resurrective immortality fics considering we were JUST talking about the old guard hahaha. This one I actually have a good chunk written so far, so here is a long snippet near the beginning. Context is that Nie Huaisang’s mother is VERY pregnant and she’s riding through the mountains to visit her family before she gives birth. WARNINGS for gore (kinda??) and child death and just- DEATH in general:

There are beasts in the mountains. Ravenous, born of fury and blood, more ragged spirit than flesh. Their claws are jagged and broken and their maws drip with sizzling saliva. They have roamed the mountains for years and years, and have only grown more enraged, voracious.

The Nie Clan have always harnessed the butchery of their past. Binding rage and ruin to themselves, channeling it through their hearts and into their swords until they are one and the same. Until it feeds upon their flesh and their spirit, gnawing on their bones, carving out a little space for itself between brittle ribs. Until, one bloody piece at a time, it consumes them whole.

The Nie Clan’s power is also the source of their doom, and these beasts who roam and know only hate hate hate are Nie-furen’s doom, as well.

They descend upon the Nie in the dead of night, a roiling mass of snapping teeth and furious howls. There is blood, screaming, desperate flashes of Dao magic and heavy blades. But there are too many and it is not enough.

But the mighty Phoenix of the West has always been filled with unmatched fury and she is full of new life and about to burst. She will not let her child die here today. Not before he can breathe sweet fresh air and keen that first high cry. Not before his father can cradle him in his arms and his older brother can plant a kiss on his forehead.

That rage within her swells. It devours her spirit and bleeds out her eyes as she screams screams screams- a raging beacon of power and brutality and every ancestor’s grief.

She slaughters everything in her path.

When she comes to, she is soaked in blood and there is pain in her belly and an ache behind her eyes and in every breath- but she is alive. She lies amidst the ruins of her people and the lingering darkness of vanquished spirits and Shan Xifeng—

She goes into labour.

It is long and hard, lasting through the night into the bloody dawn and beyond. She manages to crawl to the edge of their encampment but no further. She twists into a curl of agony and cries into the clouded sky.

Her son is born on the cusp of evening, just as the sun slides behind dark, ragged peaks. He is born soft and warm and silent.

Shan Xifeng cradles him in quaking hands. Cups his cheek to her breast. His tiny head is blood-streaked like his mother. Blood-streaked like her friends and family around her.

It is an irony that on one of the most important days of her life, she is surrounded by her loved ones and yet they are all dead.

“Little one,” she murmurs, and tilts his limp head. “Little one, please.”

But he is silent as the dead around her and that grief swells again in her breast. It gnaws on her ribs and scrabbles at her throat and she is shaking shaking shaking.

“No,” she spits. “No! He has done nothing wrong! Nothing! Does he not deserve his first breath? His first cry? Does he not deserve the family that awaits him?!”

She screams into the sky and tastes blood between her teeth. “Take me instead! I beg of you! Please let him live! I would give my life! Every single one of them, so that he may live!”

Her sword quakes along with that dark raging thing within her and she clutches her dead son close.

Then—

The faint, elegant curve of a fan in the corner of her eye. The shift of cloth, the echo of a breath. The glimmering of ethereal gold and silver, like someone has spun the stars and sun above into delicate thread.

Summoned, like a beast to blood.

“All of them?”

Shan Xifeng knows better than to face an unknowable thing and so she bows as low as her broken body will allow. She stares into the bloodied dirt and breathes in dust and rasps, “Yes.”

“Hm.” A flicker of a stretching smile, coy, with a hint of sharp teeth. She does not see the fathomless dark behind those stark white teeth, a gaping void of ravenous benevolence. It is hidden behind the flare of the fan. “Do you understand what you ask for?”

“I do,” she says without hesitation.

The grin widens, lips scarlet and dark against bone-white skin. “Then I shall grant your wish.”

A shift of cloth, then a cool hand cups Nie-furen’s cheek, guiding her up. Her eyes flicker open and she sees what no mortal has ever seen, and then that fan whispers against her cheek and blood-red lips press against hers and the last thing she feels is her golden core trembling spasming dying as life is pulled from her breath- all the lives she has ever lived, the one she lives now, and every life she could have ever lived.

Shan Xifeng falls into the bloodied dirt beneath, still clutching her dead son to her breast. And then there is no one left living in that small clearing.

Pale, bony fingers trace a delicate line through the blood that lingers upon her cheek. It is still wet and useful. Stained fingers press against scarlet lips and the life held between stark white teeth is breathed anew into that blood.

Carefully, bone-thin fingers trace a deliberate character upon the newborn child’s left cheek. The blood shines, brilliant and devastating, before fading back into a gruesome name across pale skin. Slowly, the child begins to twitch, brows wrinkling in displeasure, before a high keening wail escapes tiny lips as the child take its first breath.

“Your mother does not know what she’s doomed you to.”

A day later, travelers upon the road hear a faint keening noise not far from their wagon. When they find the clearing, they gag and retch. When they find the weak, whining child clutched in his dead mother’s arms, they shake their heads and then stare at the crest emblazoned upon the woman’s clothes.

Two days after that, the child is delivered to Nie-zongzhu’s disbelieving arms.

“No,” he says, violent spirit quaking deep within him. “No. It- it is not true.”

The traveler ducks his head and clasps his hands in a bow. “I’m sorry, Zongzhu. We were not able to take the bodies with us. You’ll have to send someone to check, but…it was the crest of your house. And…” he hesitates, then nods to his companion who stumbles up and offers a sword.

Not just any sword. A dao.

Shan Xifeng’s dao.

Feng.

“No,” Nie-zongzhu cries, falling to his knees.

“I-I’m so sorry,” the traveler stutters. “I am so, so sorry, Nie-zongzhu.”

Nie-zongzhu sobs, clutching his newborn child to his chest. “Little one,” he weeps. “Oh, little one. At least life is kind enough to have spared you.”

“Yong,” the traveler blurts.

Nie-zongzhu stares uncomprehendingly, tears running hot down his cheeks.

“It- it was written upon his cheek in- in blood. I- I think that is what his mother named him. She must have done it with her dying breath. She must have wanted you to know. He did not enter this world nameless.”

“Yong,” Nie-zongzhu echoes, trembling. “It- it is a good name, for my brave little boy.” He cups his son’s cheek and sobs. “Brave like- like his mother,” he murmurs, voice thin and quaking. “She named you well.”

And perhaps it is bravery that made Shan Xifeng give up the chance to ever be reborn. Perhaps it is bravery that saved her son’s life.

But it was all a mother’s wretched love, and Shan Xifeng did not write the character for brave upon her son’s cheek.

No, it was not Yong for bravery, but Yong for eternal.

And it is not his mother who wrote it.

Perhaps it is bravery that saved her son, but is the curse of eternity really a kindness?

No, no Shan Xifeng did not truly understand what she asked for.

But Nie Yong soon would.

The next section starts with:

The second time Nie Yong dies, he doesn’t even realize it.

He is four years old.

and the third section starts with:

The third time Nie Yong dies, his Adie kills him.

He is nine years old.

It’s basically an Angst Fest with a happy ending bc...I just need a happy ending Always. I just REALLY love resurrective immortality and I love making my favourite characters Suffer :)

I hope these were fun and satisfying to read!! 

♪(ﾟ▽^*)ﾉ⌒☆

(also omg NO it’s a CURSE!!! I WISH I could just finish SOMETHING!! ANYTHING!! OMG!!! I am so envious you’ve managed to restrain yourself to a few!! Also!! I am SUPER excited to find out more about your fix-its!!! :D)

#tag game #my fic #cross talks #wip tag game #ask game

[ibijau]

Worst engagement AU // on AO3

Lan Wangji gives friendship another try, and Lan Xichen has a pretty shitty day

warning for infidelity :D part of this chapter had been posted wayyyyy back (in fact, it was the very first thing I posted for this AU!) but it’s been touched up a lot

It is rare, this year, to find Nie Huaisang alone. So when Lan Wangji, one afternoon, sees the other boy walking alone in a garden with a stack of papers under his arm, he takes his chance and greets him. 

"Lan gongzi! I was thinking you'd taken a dislike to me," Nie Huaisang replies with a half smile. "May I help you with something?" 

A certain guilt makes its way in Lan Wangji's chest. He hasn't meant to avoid Nie Huaisang. If anything, he has wanted to check on the other boy for those past three months, at once still worried about his break down at the end of the previous year and quite stunned by the changes since his return. And he knows, of course, that Nie Huaisang would not have been opposed to a conversation, since the other boy often smiles at him when their eyes meet. 

Lan Wangji would have been happy to pursue the budding friendship they started last year, but Nie Huaisang’s entourage made it difficult. It is good that Nie Huaisang is not so alone this year, but did he really need to be friends with Wei Wuxian, who is the most irritating, and annoying, and clever, and gorgeous, and disrespectful person Lan Wangji has ever met?

"I was wondering if Nie gongzi would like to have tea."

"Really? I'd love that!" Nie Huaisang exclaims with a large smile that quickly dims a little. "Ah, sorry, that was probably too loud. I've gotten bad habits with the others, but don't worry Lan gongzi, I can still be quiet as well. When would you like to do that?" 

At the moment, Wei Wuxian is being punished for fighting with Jin Zixuan, while Jiang Wanyin is dutifully waiting for his father's arrival. Lan Wangji cannot be certain he'll get such a chance again. If he allows for this moment to pass, maybe when Nie Huaisang comes to have tea with him, Wei Wuxian will try to tag along. It would be absolutely awful. Lan Wangji doesn't want to have Wei Wuxian in his house, ever.

"If Nie gongzi is free now, I am as well." 

The older boy considers that for a moment.

"I had plans for later, but nothing too important. It’s fine if I miss out on that or if I’m late, especially if it’s to have some time with Lan gongzi. Let me just go drop those in my cabin," Nie Huaisang requests, patting his pile of papers. 

"Homework?" 

Nie Huaisang grimaces at the very idea. 

"No, I have been painting a bit. I'll just drop them and…" 

"I would like to see them," Lan Wangji cuts him. "Bring them." 

"Really ? Well, if Lan gongzi insists…" 

Lan Wangji nods, and Nie Huaisang easily gives in. With this matter settled, the two of them head toward the house Lan Wangji shares with his brother and uncle. When they reach the door, Nie Huaisang hesitates, his easy smile faltering a bit. 

"Is your brother likely to be there?" 

"Brother is helping Uncle deal with sect business, since Uncle is expecting visitors. Neither of them are likely to come." 

Nie Huaisang instantly relaxes at the news, which isn't a surprise. Lan Xichen has been complaining a great deal about the time he is forced to spend with Nie Huaisang, and how unpleasant it always is. Lan Wangji imagines the feeling is shared. It seems odd to him, because both his brother and Nie Huaisang are fine people with personalities mild enough that they’re easy to get along with. Still, if they’ve decided they can’t bear each other’s presence, it’s their problem, and he’s not getting involved in that.

That's why rather than to stay in the main room, as would probably be more proper, Lan Wangji prepares tea and then takes the other boy to his bedroom. That way, if Lan Xichen comes home, Nie Huaisang is less likely to have to deal with him. It also means that Nie Huaisang gets to see the painting he gifted Lan Wangji hanging on the wall. 

He looks absolutely stunned to see it there. 

"So you really displayed it?" he mumbles. "I thought your brother was poking fun at me because it's such a bad painting. I should have known better, it’s not like he has a sense of humour. Still, to put something so bad on the wall like this..."

"I like it," Lan Wangji protests. "Brother too likes it." 

Nie Huaisang snorts and crosses his arms on his chest, tilting his head to glare at his painting.

"I doubt that. He hates everything about me."

"Brother likes how you paint," Lan Wangji objects, inviting Nie Huaisang to sit at his desk, the only table available.

Nie Huaisang sits down. He accepts the cup of tea offered to him and glances at it, but quickly puts it down on the table, lips pinched. 

"Nie gongzi doesn't like this tea?" 

"I don't like any Lan tea, I think. You people always make it too light, it's just warm water.” Nie Huaisang presses a hand against his mouth. “Ah, sorry, that's rude! I'm so sorry, I'll make an effort to be more like before." 

"Like before?" 

Nie Huaisang nods and drinks some tea with a forced smile. 

"You like me quiet, right?" he asks. "I haven't had to be quiet in a while. I miss it a bit, actually. I like having friends, but it's so much effort sometimes, and it gets hard to keep up with people like Jiang-xiong and Wei-xiong. Thanks for the chance to… Ah, I probably speak too much as well?" 

"You speak less than Wei Wuxian, so it is fine,” Lan Wangji replies, unwilling to admit that he minds chatter a little less these days. After that month of overlooking Wei Wuxian’s punishment, he’s had to get used to it.

"Well, that's not hard,” Nie Huisang chuckles. “He even talks in his sleep sometimes." 

Against his better judgement, Lan Wangji finds that detail endearing. He adds it to the list of little things he keeps learning about Wei Wuxian, although he would rather die than confess such a list exists. 

"It is fine that Nie gongzi speaks more now," Lan Wangji states. "Nie gongzi said last year he was one to follow demands and not make them, I'm glad this is changing." 

"Oh, right, I never thanked you for that!” Nie Huaisang gasps, before breaking into a large smile. “But after what you said, I spoke with my brother when I went home, and he agreed to let me try different things. Lan gongzi, I'm very grateful for the kindness you showed me that day, and for your good advice. I don't know what I would have done without you."

Lan Wangji nods in acknowledgement.

In all honesty, and remembering the state Nie Huaisang was in after being told he failed his exams, Lan Wangji has some idea what the older boy might have done if not given some comfort and encouragement. Most of what he said was spoken out of fear that his brother might turn into a widower before even getting the chance to marry, and Lan Wangji was half certain that it was mostly nonsense but… if it helped Nie Huaisang, he’s glad.

“Since Nie gongzi no longer has to hide, will he show me his work?” Lan Wangji asks, glancing at the small pile of papers the other boy dropped on the floor.

“Only if you show me yours. Lan gongzi paints as well, right?”

Lan Wangji nods. He does, but only because it is what a young man of good birth must do. He doesn’t find in this the pleasure his brother and Nie Huaisang seem to take in it. Still, it is not unpleasant to have someone other than his brother appear excited about the prospect of seeing his work.

-

The day has been unpleasant so far for Lan Xichen, and he does not particularly expect it to improve. His uncle is in a terrible mood and making it felt around, all because of this business with Wei Wuxian, which is… 

If Lan Xichen could allow himself to be honest, he’d say the entire matter is ridiculous. Wei Wuxian isn’t an easy student, but he’s far from being the worst they’ve had either. As for this argument with Jin Zixuan, the fault is divided between the two of them, so it’s unfair that one gets punished more harshly. Certainly Wei Wuxian has misbehaved here and there, but he’s clever, and if Lan Qiren had just found the right way to get through to him, things would have gone better. 

Except his uncle isn't one to question his methods, and so Wei Wuxian must carry the blame alone. Much like last year when Nie Huaisang had to shoulder his failure alone, when surely, after how much effort the other Nie boys confirmed he put into studying, such bad results should have made any teacher question themselves. 

It is an unpleasant day, and Lan Xichen feels so rebellious that he asked to be excused when sect leader Jiang and sect leader Jin arrived, for fear he might say something he shouldn't. 

Leaving the adults to their gossips and complaining also means he is free to go inform his brother that Wei Wuxian will be leaving. This, too, Lan Xichen blames on his rebellious mood. He knows his uncle doesn't want Lan Wangji to have anything to do with Wei Wuxian, now that it is clear his upstanding nephew cannot influence the other boy and might instead be lead astray. Too bad for Lan Qiren. If there's finally someone who insistently wants to be Lan Wangji's friend, Lan Xichen wants to encourage that. 

And so as soon as his uncle allows him to leave his side, Lan Xichen heads straight for home. At this hour, his brother is likely to be there, either meditating or practicing the guqin.

When he enters the house, the faint aroma of tea in the air confirms that Lan Wangji must be there. The main room is empty, so he must be in his bedroom, most likely meditating. Lan Xichen is sorry to disturb him, but hopefully Lan Wangji will be grateful to be given a chance to rush and say a few last words to Wei Wuxian. 

As Lan Xichen walks toward his brother's room though, he is struck to hear voices coming from that direction. His brother is not one for guests and there is hardly anyone Lan Wangji is close enough to bring into not simply his house, but his bedroom. 

This mystery is quickly lifted when Lan Xichen reaches the door to his brother's room and finds him sitting at his desk, Nie Huaisang at his side. The two younger boys have spread a large quantity of papers on the table before them, paintings by the looks of it, and are so busy chatting about them that they haven't noticed Lan Xichen. 

It is so odd to see Nie Huaisang this relaxed. When Lan Xichen sees him in the distance with his friends, he is always jumping around, laughing and smiling and nearly as loud as Wei Wuxian. And of course during their weekly meetings, Nie Huaisang is sullen and closed off. Lan Xichen might be tempted to think that this is closer to how Nie Huaisang was last year, but even that would be inexact. Nie Huaisang never used to smile this much, and he always carried himself as if he were scared to take too much space. Nothing like this Nie Huaisang who is calm but clearly happy, and doesn't hesitate to reach across the table to take a painting. 

"Oh this one is so good!" 

Lan Wangji glances at the painting in question.

"Hm. It is brother's. He gave it to me to copy."

Nie Huaisang blushes slightly at the blunder. Lan Xichen expects him to drop the painting or make some disparaging comment, but instead the other boy inspects it carefully.

"Well, it figures,” Nie Huaisang sighs wistfully. “Your brother is a painter beyond compare… I could never even hope to paint with such controlled lines. Everything is just perfect, exactly as it should be… it must be amazing to be this good. I hope to be half as skilled someday." 

Lan Xichen’s heart races at the unexpected compliment. Considering how Nie Huaisang speaks to him when he is present, he would have expected him to say much worse things about him in his absence. Even if he didn’t want to offend Lan Wangji by insulting his brother, it would have been easy to say something more neutral, or nothing at all.

“Huaisang could ask brother to teach him,” Lan Wangji suggests.

“No,” Nie Huaisang huffs with a bitter chuckle. “Your brother has made it very clear to me that he thinks I should give up on painting to focus on studying. He’d never do anything to encourage me on that path. And even without that, he hates me too much to ever want to spend more time with me.”

It stings that Nie Huaisang would believe that, when Lan Xichen has repeatedly asked to see his paintings, only to be denied each time. It stings also that Lan Wangji just nods along and drops the matter, grabbing instead a different painting to inspect it.

"This one is nice." 

"You think?” Nie Huaisang pouts. “It could be better. I really like that view, but I can never do it justice." 

"It is nice," Lan Wangji insists. "I like it." 

"Really? You can have it if you want. Or… or if you'd like, I could paint something especially for you. As a thank you for your help." 

"There is no need." 

"There is much need,” Nie Huaisang grumbles. “You don't realise how much it changed for me. Ah! I know what to give you!” he exclaims, his smile turning devious. “I painted a portrait of Wei Wuxian a little while ago, do you want it?" 

At this most cruel attack, Lan Wangji looks away. In doing so, his eyes fall on the door of his room, only to find Lan Xichen standing there. Lan Wangji appears a little uncomfortable at this intrusion, but nods at him to acknowledge his presence. This, of course, attracts Nie Huaisang’s attention. 

The change is immediate. A moment ago, Nie Huaisang was relaxed and smiling easily, but as soon as he spots Lan Xichen he tenses and hurriedly grabs the paintings laid on the desk so he can hide them.

"I guess it’s getting late," he says stiffly. "I have other appointments today. I will go now." 

"You don't need to," Lan Xichen sighs. "I was just here to tell my brother that..." 

"Don't worry, I'm already gone," Nie Huaisang insists, dashing past Lan Xichen with a mess of papers held against his chest. "I know where the door is." 

Before either brother can stop him, Nie Huaisang is already gone. Lan Xichen isn't exactly surprised that things turned out like this, but he feels somewhat guilty for interrupting this conversation when the other two seemed to be having fun. Indeed, Lan Wangji looks mildly annoyed at him. 

"I just came here to give you some news regarding Wei Wuxian," Lan Xichen sighs. "I thought you'd want to know as soon as possible that uncle has decided to expel him." 

"Jin Zixuan provoked him," Lan Wangji protests. 

"I know, and I also think it's a little unfair, but uncle won't bulge. You know how he gets when he's sure he's right. At least you might have a chance to say goodbye, they're all discussing sect business now, and Wei Wuxian is in the courtyard for his penance." 

It says a lot about Lan Wangji's distress that for once, he doesn't even try to deny his interest in Wei Wuxian. Instead he hurriedly tidies his desk so he can head outside. Eager to help, Lan Xichen gathers the remnants of their tea (Nie Huaisang’s cup is still full, he can't help but notice) and brings them back to the main room so the servants can wash everything. He is then quickly joined by Lan Wangji who holds a few sheets of paper and appears uncertain what to do with them.

“Nie gongzi forgot those,” he explains.

Lan Xichen glances at the papers. They can’t be what Nie Huaisang offered to give to his brother, they’re only studies (excellent studies; it seems Nie Huaisang’s skill has grown even greater since the rabbits) which means he must have simply missed them in his haste to go away. Judging by his expression, it’s clear Lan Wangji feels he should return those without delay, but also that he’d much rather go check on Wei Wuxian.

“Give them to me,” Lan Xichen asks. “I have nothing to do right now, I can drop by the Nie cabin.”

Lan Wangji all but shoves the studies into his hands and hurriedly leaves the house. When he’s gone, Lan Xichen allows himself to chuckle. His brother’s crush is really adorable. It’s a shame that Wei Wuxian is leaving so soon, these two might have gotten somewhere with a little more time. And if it had turned into something serious, Yunmeng Jiang isn’t a bad ally to have. Marrying Lan Wangji to a servant’s son isn’t ideal, but everyone knows how much Jiang Fengmian favours his ward, so they could have gotten a real alliance out of it. Perhaps if Lan Wangji gets a little bold and offers a correspondence to Wei Wuxian, if they get to meet again… Lan Xichen wouldn’t mind having a brother-in-law like that to shake up things in the Cloud Recesses.

That’s a consideration for later, though. First, Lan Xichen has his own fiancé to think of. He takes his time heading for the Nie cabin, feeling no hurry to face Nie Huaisang’s bad mood for the second time in a single day. A shame because these studies are so good that Lan Xichen can’t stop glancing at them as he walks, half certain that he can recognise the exact view of them mountains they depict, and he would love to talk about that. Still, he’s half hoping that his fiancé won’t have returned to the cabin directly, and that he can drop the studies to one of the other Nie disciples. 

On a day like this, of course he shouldn’t have hoped to be lucky. As he gets close to the cabin, Lan Xichen sees Nie Huaisang in front of the door, having a conversation with a Lan disciple whose face is not visible from where he stands. Nie Huaisang does not seem particularly enthusiastic about the company, but still ends up following the other boy behind the cabin.

Lan Xichen goes after them. He tells himself that it is only because he needs to return the paintings, but there might be a hint of curiosity as well. The two boys are so taken by whatever they're planning that they don't even notice he's getting close behind them.

“I’m just saying you could have warned me,” he hears the Lan disciple complain when he’s almost caught up to them. “I waited a long time, I thought maybe something had happened.”

“Listen, if I wanted to be scolded, I’d go hang out with Lan Xichen,” Nie Huaisang retorts. “I got busy, that’s all. I’m barely in the mood at all, so count yourself lucky I’m not sending you away.”

The Lan disciple, whose face Lan Xichen still can’t see, shrugs. He then steps closer to Nie Huaisang who throws his arms around his neck as they lean closer to each other and…

Lan Xichen feels punched. His hand clenches on the paintings he’s holding, tight enough to probably rip the paper, but right now he can’t care about that because… because…

“What are you two doing?” he hisses.

It all goes very fast. Nie Huaisang pushes away the Lan disciple with enough force that the boy cries out and falls to the ground. The boy glances up and, realising who found them in this compromising situation, he scampers off hastily, trying to hide his face. Lan Xichen should stop him, because what just happened broke so many rules, enough that this boy could probably be sent away from Gusu Lan, but he’s too stunned to react.

Nie Huaisang remains where he is, looking rather annoyed as he crosses his arms and glares at his fiancé.

“Do you really have to ruin everything for me?” Nie Huaisang asks. “How annoying.”

“I don’t think you’re the one who should be upset,” Lan Xichen replies, rather more weakly than he would have liked. “I’m the one who caught my fiancé kissing someone else, aren’t I?”

Nie Huaisang smirks and shrugs in that cocky way he does now.

“And what are you going to do about it? Have the engagement cancelled?” he taunts.

“Is that why you did this?” Lan Xichen asks.

He knows that Nie Huaisang hates their engagement, far more than Lan Xichen himself does at this point. But he had assumed that Nie Huaisang understood how important the alliance between their sect is, how much Gusu Lan and Qinghe Nie need to count on each other. Every day that passes gives more proof that Qishan Wen is preparing for war, this alliance is so important, regardless of personal feelings, surely Nie Huaisang is clever enough to understand...

“I know we can’t avoid getting married,” Nie Huaisang retorts with another insolent shrug. “But we’re not married yet, and I know you don’t want me, so… can’t you at least let me have fun with someone who does?”

“Do you like him?”

Just saying the words hurts because suddenly, Lan Xichen realises that he might end up living the same life as his father, with a spouse who only reluctantly tolerates his company and would rather be anywhere else. He remembers how wistful his mother looked sometimes, especially toward the end. He doesn’t want to see that expression on Nie Huaisang. He certainly doesn’t want either the lonely life his father condemned himself to.

Nie Huaisang laughs to his face.

“You Lans, it’s always about love and all,” he mocks. “I don’t care about that. I just want to have a little fun with someone before I’m forced to be faithful to you. Kissing people’s nice, you know?”

Lan Xichen flinches. Nie Huaisang smirks, walking closer, leaning toward him, his head cocked to the side.

“Ah, but actually… I guess you wouldn’t know, right? Bet you’ve never kissed anyone, eh?” He steps closer still, slowly, like a wolf stalking its prey. “Lan gongzi… want me to be your first kiss? I’ll make it good, I swear.”

It’s a shameless proposition, one that Lan Xichen should immediately refuse. Instead, his eyes fall on Nie Huaisang’s lips and he aches to feel them against his, to hold the other boy close, to touch him, to...

Nie Huaisang laughs again.

“Right, of course not. Well, I can’t make you want me, can I?” he snickers. “Whatever. I’ll go now. But please, next time… don’t interrupt, okay? It’s rude to bother people when they’re having fun.”

He saunters away as if he doesn’t have a worry in the world. Lan Xichen watches him go, once more filled with hatred for this fiancé he didn’t choose.

It has to be hatred.

He refuses to give another name to the gnawing coldness inside his chest.

#xisang #worst engagement au #jau writes #ooof that was a hard one to write for some reason it just didn't want to happen! #but welp now lxc knows #and jzx is about to become free real estate