#i believe in a thing called 'wei wuxian can have a family with both his brother and his husband'

[mxtxfanatic]

Rereading the Madam Lan backstory to see what elements were in the book and what’s fanon, and here are some notes I found interesting that I might put together into something later:

Lxc says it was “love at first sight” between his parents, but when wwx comments on how the young are sentimental, he corrects to say only his father was in love. The only definite things we know about Madam Lan is that she didn’t love Qingheng-jun and she definitely murdered his teacher.

It never says that Madam Lan consented to the marriage, only that she was brought back in secrecy by Qingheng-jun and married to him against the clan’s will, implying they knew of his plans beforehand. But if the clan knew he was planning to marry her, why bring her back in secret? Was her murder public knowledge and he was trying to hide the fact that he was marrying a murderer from the other clans?

Despite lxc’s retelling not mentioning any choice on the part of his mother for her own fate (whether she actually wanted to be married or would have preferred execution), she is made to blame for his father’s autonomous choices, much like lxc later blames wwx for lwj’s autonomous choices that led to his “downfall” in the eyes of the clan. As much as lxc seems to love his mother, this is not a neutral telling.

The Lan lied to the other clans about the circumstances of Madam Lan’s imprisonment, a lie that no one else believed as they speculated that the Lan were simply too ashamed of her to let her be in the presence of others (which was true, but not for the reasons they believed). How common of an idea is this in this genre? Is there a Chinese equivalent of the attic wife trope? Also, if this was so terrible for them reputation-wise, why not just replace the sect leader altogether? It’s not like he was actually ruling from this point on.

Lan Qiren didn’t raise Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji; the brothers were raised by “others” until they were old enough to be taught by their uncle. Is this a regular thing to be raised by others who aren’t your immediate family despite family members still being alive and present in this genre?

Both lqr and the general clan took out their frustrations about the Madam Lan situation on her sons, and the narrative makes a point of noting this as a harsh upbringing despite the fact that “they had clearly done nothing wrong.”

Chapt. 72: Recklessness also adds an extra layer to this scene, as that’s when we find out that Lan Wangji had confided in his brother that he wanted to take “someone” back to the clan to hide them, so lxc had another incentive for telling Wei Wuxian this particular story. I also wonder this displays an ideological difference between how the twin jades view their father’s actions, as lwj’s admittance is not one of romance but seems to be more of guilt at his own impulses, while lxc seems to view it as a negative mark against their mother but not their father who actually took the actions (and later, a negative mark against wwx for inspiring said feelings in lwj). Or maybe this guilt is born from the clan raising them with the explicit warnings that they are not to be like their parents.

Neither wwx nor the audience can make a judgment call on whether how the Madam Lan situation was initially handled (the secret marriage and imprisonment) was right or wrong because there is so little information, but one of the few people who could potentially gain access to that information refuses to dig into it. I’ve talked about what this says about lxc as a character, but I wonder if lwj ever tried to access that info for himself.

On another note outside of actual text: would Qingheng-jun have been allowed to raise his sons had he not gone into permanent seclusion, or would they still have been taken to be raised by others despite his continued presence? Because as it stands now, his “punishment” was a self-induced one, not one forced on him by the clan, so his choice to not be in his sons’ lives was his own.

#mdzs #human reads mdzs #i think an interesting note that may go into a meta is how #qhj is given agency for his feelings and explanation for his actions but is portrayed as not responsible for the consequences #while madam lan is given no agency outside of the murder but is made reaponsible for the consequences of everyone else’s actions

[mvsicinthedvrk]

a friendly psa about (some) asian names ✌️

this is not me coming to you as an admin (though this message has been admin-team-approved), this is me coming at you as an ollie, who is tired. and i am going to attempt to kindly educate, because i have been playing wei wuxian for three years, and there are still occasionally people who call him 'wei.' pls believe that i know it's not intentional and that it's definitely not meant maliciously, but it's still tiring. so!! i wrote this nice little guide to (some) asian names, and i am hoping you will read it, and potentially learn something about a different culture, if this is new to you 💕

asian names are usually (not always! but usually!) structured as surname + given name. (aka family name first, then first name). so for example, my chinese character who is named mo xi, he's from the mo family, and his given name is xi. i mention this bc i have seen so many starter calls, etc, where people request from my characters using their last names, and i would love for this to stop. for my character named feng yu, his family name is feng, yu is his given name. that's why feng yu's brother is feng xin. they have the same surname, and that surname comes first 👍

**however!! this structure is not a broad-strokes rule; it doesn't necessarily apply to all asian characters or all characters from asian countries/fandoms. a lot of people still submit their apps for asian characters and prefer to list them on the taken/ooc pages with "given name + surname" in that order, so it's best not to make general assumptions. for example, sunny is listed on the ooc as playing an anime/manga character named madoka kaname. in this case, the character's given name is 'madoka' with the last name 'kaname.' how can you tell? if you look on the character's wiki page or on sunny's blog, either place will tell you that she does in fact go by 'madoka.' (so: you wouldn't want to assume that it's flip-flopped just because it looks like an asian name).

therefore, when writing with someone and trying to figure out how to write an asian name appropriately, generally the best thing to do is ask yourself: how is the other person structuring this character's name in their replies and starter calls? and can i look on the character's wiki page to figure it out if i'm unsure? finally, if neither of those help you, you can always just ask your writing partner. personally, i know my dm's are open and i'd rather someone come to me and say 'hey i was wondering how should i write X character's name' rather than see someone call them the wrong name, which makes me sad :((

finally, a note specifically for CHINESE names!!

with chinese names specifically, in mandarin you usually do call someone by their full name, even if it's someone you've known for a while. so whether i was longtime friends with wei wuxian or whether we just became friends recently, i would still call him 'wei wuxian.' this may seem overly formal, but i promise it's not.

now, it is acceptable to call someone by only their given name as long as their given name has more than a single character (syllable). so if i wanted to could call him just 'wuxian' it would be technically fine-- especially if we're talking/writing in english, that's fine. 👍 wen kexing can be called 'kexing.' chu wanning can technically be called 'wanning,' etc. it is odd for strangers, but if you know the person or especially if you're friends/close, it's definitely alright. (there's actually a lot of rules about nicknames/ closeness/ seniority and things like that, but without getting too complicated, you can assume this is generally fine.)

HOWEVER, if someone's chinese given name is one character (usually written with one syllable in pinyin/english), you really shouldn't call them just by that name. it's not technically rude, exactly, but it's awkward and off-putting at the very least. that's not what you call them. xie lian is 谢怜, with both names as one character each, so 'xie lian' can't just be called 'lian.' he can either be 'xie lian' (full name) or something like 'a-lian' if you really want to give him a nickname. likewise, pei ming cannot be called 'ming' even though that's his given name. he needs to be called 'pei ming' all together. mo xi is always called mo xi (never 'xi'), qi yan is always called qi yan (not just 'yan') etc. if you're not sure at a glance whether a chinese muse's given name is one-character or not, simply call them by their full name to be safe.

again, this might sound like a lot of work, but if you just look at my tag for xie lian or read whatever reply of mine you're working off of, you'll see me call him 'xie lian' in the narration, and you can just follow along with that. and once you figure it out one time, then ur good for any later interactions as well.

and that's it !! if you have questions, feel free to ask and i'll try my best to explain! don't feel bad if you've misnamed characters in the past, but i would really appreciate if people keep this in mind moving forward, because it will make my life so much more peaceful and relaxing. thanks for reading; i appreciate your time!!

#;; ooc ;; #[ chinese name psa ]

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

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1. hi, thank you for your efforts ❤️ i have a fic finder, because even though time travel fics should be so easy to find, i just can't find this one. wx both come back to the cloud recesses days, lwj finds out that wwx also went back bc he hears him humming/playing their song. wwx is given a dizi that has a name with 'dawn' in it i think? (by nhs who was probably the one who sent them back). they fix all the stuff of course

FOUND! The Wild Geese’s Tomb by The Feels Whale (miscellea) (T, 66k, WangXian, Time Travel, Fix-it, Temporary Character Death)

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2. Hello, looking for a fic where LWJ comes to Burial Mounds and WWX & he get into a fight. It’s pretty brutal, and at some point A-Yuan arrives and is in danger so LWJ protects him getting stabbed in the progress. I think it was a fix-it au.

The fic is during burial mounds settlement days. I think during the fight WWX doesn't fight LWJ personally but calls many many corpses to do it for him.

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3. Hi there long time lurker first time requester!! Love what you do, thank you!! I’ve found so many good fics through this blog.

Ok so for my ask, it was before I had an ao3 acct so it’s no where in my history! What I remember is SOMETHING happened and Wei Wuxian, Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan get thrust into modern times. They live together and somehow find their way back? Sorry that’s not a lot to go on :/ Thanks again!! @rogue-90-em​

FOUND! This sounds a lot like atlas in his sleepin' by anatheme (E, 49k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, JYL & WWX & JZX, fix-it, reincarnation, family reunions, dimension travel, temporary transmigrator LWJ, JC & WWX reconciliation, first time, sharing clothes, angst w/ happy ending)

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4. Hello I have been looking for this fic for awhile now and have had no luck finding it. It took place after Sunshot I believe. WWX had to marry NMJ so the wens would have a safe place to live. Later in the story LWJ in also married to NMJ and WWX.

FOUND! An Elegant Solution by giraffeter (E, 205k, niewangxian, canon divergence, arranged marriage, friends to lovers, fix-it, everyone lives au, courtship, polyamory, smut, Mojo’s bookmark)

NOT FOUND! Pastime (With Good Company) by nirejseki (Not rated, 25k, niewangxian, canon divergence, arranged marriage, WIP)

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5. Can you help find this fic? It's a modern fic about the aftermath of how wy was groomed and abused by one of jyl's friend. After getting out of that toxic relationship wy started a flower shop which his sibling try to visit frequently. Jc and lz is studying law together. I remember wy having a breakdown bcs he figured out that lz was the younger brother of lxc who was the doctor that treated him after his abused. There was also a scene where sushe harassed wy to the point of panic attack. Thanks

FOUND? #5 was written by AvoOwO on ao3 but seems to have been deleted. I think the title was something among the lines of "Daffodils to Ambrosia"?

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6. Hi! I’m looking for a fic where wangxian are both bored with their (separate) sex lives and decide to have roleplay sex with each other to liven things up. The first time they do this they pretend to be strangers in a bar. There was also one that time that was god/worshipper roleplay. It was multi chapter with each roleplay in separate chapters. Thank you so much for the help!

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7. Hey mods! There's this fic where the juniors tell mxy(wwx) that hgj is in love with another(wwx) bc they think mxy(wwx) loves hgj and don't want him to be heartbroken and turns out mxy(wwx) was actually, well, wwx lol— and after that they eavesdrop on a convo with hgj and wwx and find out mxy is actually wwx @sentientcongee​

FOUND? things we're all too young to know by someitems (T, 11k, wangxian, misunderstandings, junior shenanigans, mistaken identity, found family)

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8. Hallo! I'm trying to find a fic in which WY is a servant of the Jiangs (he is treated badly) and the Lans are guests at Lotus Pier and he walks into LZ and runs away (?) (I think he wasn't allowed to talk to anyone or was afraid he would get pubished). I have only read the first chapter and that's all I remember:/ Thank you so much!

FOUND! Flowers of pain by CorkaHadesa (M, 16k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Bad Parent YZY, Bad Parent JFM, YZY Bashing, JC Bashing, Jiang Family Bashing, Bad Sibling JC, Bad Sibling JYL, Protective LWJ, Protective LXC, Protective LQR, Bad Parenting, Family Issues, Child Abuse, Self-Esteem Issues, Happy Ending)

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9. Hi there! I'm looking for a fic I read a while ago in which LWJ creates a new cultivation method?? IIRC WWX had been thrown into the Burial Mounds and LWJ and JC are looking for him. I don't remember any other specific details, but towards the end LWJ finally reveals his new cultivation style. I think his whole thing had to do with the earth and connecting to it?? I know it's vague but it's probably been a year since I've read it ;-;

FOUND? From my heart's ground. by orange_crushed (E, 37k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Grief/Mourning, Corporal Punishment, Vomiting, Injury Recovery, Trauma, Blood Magic, Elemental Magic, Gardens & Gardening, Resurrection, Dissociation, Explicit Sexual Content, First Time, Language of Flowers, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family, Arson, Now Everybody's A Rogue Cultivator, Self-Harm for Blood Magic Reasons, Suicidal Thoughts, Spiritual Coma, Brief Reference to Temporary Incontinence as a Result of Said Coma, Self-Esteem Issues)

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10. hii first of all thank you so much for your hard work!! i’ve been searching high and low for this fic in my bookmarks and can’t find it anywhere :( all i remember is that modern day wwx ends up in the past? i also remember a scene where he reunites with jyl and it’s really sweet bc the one from his universe had died i think? i hope this is enough jdhdhd

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)

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11. Searching for a fic, any help would be appreciated! It was a vaguely knight-y/medieval setting, and after some shit went down, LZ was locked up and/or severely whipped by the Lans, and when the fic starts I think he's still having issues from that and traveling on his own. And then he reunites with WY - maybe I'm conflating fics, so these are just maybes, but it could be some sort of beauty and the beast situation? Or there's a moment where WY goes full-on YLLZ when he finds out how hurt LZ was.

FOUND! the necromancer's fairytale by iliacquer (E, 17k, wangxian, safe sane consensual non-con, past torture, not Lan friendly, happy ending, switch energy, rough sex, pain kink)

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12. Hi! im looking for a wangxian timetravel fic, i remember that they went back to the cloud recess arc in their old bodies and one specific detail i remember is wei wuxian changing his hair style to his future hair style because lan zhan was still doing his hair in the mornings, sorry i don't remember much else Thanks for the help!

FOUND? No, Lan Wangji, You Cannot Marry Someone You Just Met! by soulmateenthusiast (T, 40k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Time Travel, WWX and LWJ Are Transported to the Past, Attempt at Humor, Fluff, slight angst Gratuitous Amounts of PDA, Courtesy of WangXian, BAMF!WWX, Time Travel Fix-It, Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued)

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13. Asking this cause I lost those fic where A) Wangji was kid when got kidnapped and lives in brothel and he himself ask a witch to curse him ugly person B) Wangji is omega and lactates for A-yuan @selflovingmedj

13A)

FOUND? Turn Left by kianspo (M, 91k, WIP, WangXian, NieLan, Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, Friends to Lovers, eventually, references to child sexual abuse, not main characters, Canon-Typical Violence, Neurodivergent LWJ, LXC is the best brother, Slow Build, Lán Family Feels, specifically, Twin Jades of Lán Feels)

13B)

FOUND? 💖 so full of love i could barely eat by cicer (E, 40k, wangxian, ABO, canon divergence, breastfeeding, lactation kink, golden core reveal, fix-it)

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14. Hi I’m looking for a fic that takes place during the CR arc and has LWJ realizing that rewarding WWX works better than punishments and I think there are some scenes that take place in the library. I can’t really remember much else so I’d appreciate the help!

FOUND? Pigtail Pulling by protos_metazu_ison (G, 3k, wangxian, fluff & humor, crack treated seriously, cloud recesses shenanigans)

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15. Heyy! Im looking for a fic where wangxian went on a date(i think 1st) to a petting zoo. There what I remember the most is wwx pulling grass and lwj blurting out if he was stimming. I honestly can’t remember much. There were bunnies tho. It’s complete and i thinkk it’s part of a series! Please help me find it!!!

FOUND? 🧡#Bunny date by Onomatopoetikon (T, 15k, WangXian, Modern AU, POV LWJ, Autistic LWJ, WWX Has ADHD, First Dates, First Kiss, Holding Hands, LWJ Uses Actual Words, Neurodiversity, Developing Relationship, Twin Jades of Lán Feels, Fluff, Romantic Fluff) it's part 3 of a series :)

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16. hello. i've been wondering if you could help with this: i'm not looking for a fic, but i've been wanting to write one. i remember seeing some time ago a twitter thread containing certaing details and tips for writing modern aus set in china, but i can't find it. i was hoping if any of your followers would know something

FOUND? might be this twitter moment, if not, there's still some good stuff here!

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17. Hey! I was looking for a LXC x Oc, the oc was a jin who is like what people say dumb and the summer is something along the lines "The new madam Lan got pregnant and is craving for the bunny" I forgot the whole summery but it was like that. Anyways turns out she was actually quite smart.

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18. hello, hello!! when you have a chance, i would appreciate help finding a fic!! it was modern, and the only thing i remember was probably a part towards the end, and i think wwx was kidnapped by the wens and was on top of a building, someone was shot, & i think wen chao might've fallen off the building? wwx nearly died? sorry if this is really vague, but hopefully someone recognizes it!!

NOT FOUND! 🧡The World We Made by updatebug (T, 80k, WangXian, The Old Guard fusion, Immortals, Immortal LWJ, Angst with a Happy Ending, Junior Quartet is the best Quartet, JYL is the best, NMJ Lives, Reincarnation, Modern AU, The Old Guard AU, Team Give Xichen Nice Things, Team Unbury Your Gays, LITERALLY, Temporary Character Death) has a similar scene I think (only he gets kidnapped by JGY instead)

NOT FOUND! 🧡Rule Number One: Never get attached. by KizuKatana (E, 130k, wangxian, criminal underworld au, dark LWJ, ABO, note all tags)

could also be FOUND! Monotone, I think it’s not on ao3 directly anymore but is still available on a Google doc / the author has posted a link to monotone here / Monotone on Google docs, Anyway I think that's the shared link for #18. Pretty sure that's it. Ch. 23 Reset is WWX and Wen Chao on the roof of Nightless City. Wwx is shot and WC jumps off the edge.

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19. hello! I need help finding a fic. The only scene I can remember is the Jiang family and Lan Wangji sitting at a table (eating dinner I think) and Madam Yu says or implies something insulting/rude about Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji uses his engagement or marriage to Wei Wuxian to tell her off. Saying she has no right to say something like that about something that is his/belongs to him. I believe it was Canon era but that's about all I can remember.

FOUND! chapter 6 of 30 Days of Celebration with Yunmeng Jiang by starandrea (M, 41k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Family Drama, Telepathic Bond, Kink Negotiation, Wedding Planning, Weddings, Sibling Bonding, Fluff, Happy Ending)

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20. hi there! for the next FF, this modern-online-class au. it's in the pov of one of the students, though i remember it changes pov a lot. wangxian are professors, LSZ is in both their classes. he gets sick, and he never reveals who his parents are until WWX walks in on a call with him and his friends and they go >:0000 on him. theres a lot of student chatting. there was a scene with a student remarking on WWX's child's achievements on the wall and LSZ being extremely embarrassed about it. @revellingfate

FOUND! The Mystery of Professor Lan's and Professor Wei's private lives by SilverBells (G, 7k, WangXian, Modern AU, wangxian married and have a son, online classes AU, Self Indulgent Ficlet, Fluff, University AU, Professor LWJ and Professor WWX, University second year LSZ, Humour)

NOT FOUND! Lan Jingyi and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Cursed Information by fensandmarshes (T, 5k, WangXian, Modern AU, Crack Treated Seriously, Married WangXian, POV Outsider, POV Outsider on WangXian, Crack and Humour, LJY-centric, Hijinks & Shenanigans, LWJ is a Little Bitch, College/University, Nonbinary LSZ)

NOT FOUND! Yearning by Sanguis (T, 9k, WangXian, LingYi, Modern AU, Professors, Established Relationship, Married Couple, Bunnies, Pre-Relationship, Secrets)

NOT FOUND! And They Were Married And Had a Son Series by yellowcarnations (G, 8k, WangXian, Modern AU, POV Outsider, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Professors WangXian, Kid Fic)

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

[admirableadmiranda]

Hi

This is something I have been seeing on my fyp or I just noticed it cuz it annoys me but what do u think of the take “ the lan clan isn’t really much of an upgrade” even though wwx choose to be there? Lwj would never force him to be somewhere he doesn’t wants to be and wwx likes beings there as we see in the extras . Also it always comes with villain lqr even though that old men is more of a comedic relief than anything else

Well given that I call myself a Proud Lan Stan Who Can Read The Book sometimes in my tags, I don't think it'll surprise you too much anon to hear that I don't think much of that take.

While I respect that people can have their own problems and not find the Lan to be appealing, there is a certain take that insists that Wei Wuxian would not like it that tends to ignore anything that Wei Wuxian himself says to the contrary, that insist that he's a lot more bothered by certain interactions than we see on screen and that he would be happier off doing something else; usually starting a farm outside of the Jianghu.

I personally believe that those takes are people forgetting that they are not Wei Wuxian and that he consistently shows an appeal and fondness for the Lan throughout the book, masked as it may be in playful complaining. They inflate the things that would make them miserable, claim that Wei Wuxian could not like it there, usually citing the way that he behaves at Lotus Pier or in the Forsaken Battlegrounds, ignoring all the social and fraught dynamics in both of those places and conclude that MXTX did not know that she was doing when she put them with the Lan.

Lan Qiren is definitely meant to be seen as rather pathetic and powerless in the end; think of what he's reduced to. He has an order that no one obeys that is only mentioned once, he throws tantrums for Wei Wuxian having loud sex that Wangxian's solution is to have more loud sex about and Lan Wangji has taken over teaching in the Lanshi now. Wei Wuxian has always handled in him in the same way since he was a teenager and we get Wei Wuxian's textual feelings on him during the second siege, where we can see that he really is just not concerned about him.

I also do find it funny in how socially secure these people must feel to not recognize the vast difference in Wei Wuxian's positions now that he is a part of the Lan Clan, having gotten married to one of their most respected family members. He is no longer the main enemy of the cultivation world, he is no longer alone, he is no longer of a lower rank that they can besmirch him for. It may not be a blissfully perfect happy ending, but that wouldn't suit Modaozushi anyway. What it is, is an offering of security and quiet, where Wei Wuxian can engage with the jianghu on his own terms and have a place to go that he likes, where he is treated well and no one can really fuck with him because his husband is the head of discipline and the Clan Leader's beloved younger brother. Compared to all that he suffered before in the book, I fail to see how it is "not much of an upgrade".

Thanks for the ask, I do usually try to not get involved in Lan debates since most of the Anti-Lan takes do piss me right the fuck off for how easily they can be refuted with actual text and often contain a fundamental misunderstanding of Wei Wuxian himself.

By all means, you don't have to like them. But don't pretend that Wei Wuxian doesn't. Because that's not true.

#mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #lan clan #gusu lan #asks #anon #anon asks #proud lan stan who can read the book #hot button issues #fandom wank

[lilapplesheadcannons]

Chapter 11:

It was close to 4. Jiang Fengmian sprawled on the sofa with his forearm resting on his eyes. Jiang Cheng was sitting on the floor and changing channels on the tv. The dishwasher hummed in the background. Outside, children made the best of a Sunday afternoon.

Jiang Fengmian spoke suddenly, "A-Cheng, is there anything you want to talk about?"

Jiang Cheng felt tension rising. He stubbornly looked at the tv, "No. You want to go out for cold coffee?"

Jiang Fengmian said mildly, "If something is bothering you, you know you can count on me."

"Nothing's bothering me."

"You have been cooped up here the whole week. You don't need hot water in summer that bad. You have been crying."

Jiang Cheng snapped his head around. "You talked with mom," he accused.

Jiang Fengmian admitted easily, "Yes. She's concerned. So she called me."

"She has no business being concerned! She has no business calling you."

"A-Cheng!" Jiang Fengmian finally sat up. "Divorced or not, we are still your parents. We will still be a team when it comes to you guys."

"You guys weren't a team when she divorced you." Jiang Cheng felt his eyes stinging again. Damn it!

Jiang Fengmian sighed before lying back down, "It was not a unilateral decision. You know that."

Jiang Cheng tried to blink his tears away. Even 2 years later, even when he was a fully grown adult, his parents' divorce was a sore point.

"Look, your mom and I, we have been through a lot. We love each other, and we respect each other. But sometimes, we also bring the worst in each other. If distance means we can maintain a good working relationship while being there for you guys, then that's the best option, isn't it?"

Jiang Cheng still wanted to argue, "But mom..."

"..had made sacrifices you can't even imagine." Jiang Fengmian sat up again to meet Jiang Cheng's eyes. "It was a bad time, A-Cheng. We were almost going bankrupt. I had no time for you two. Your mom gave everything she had, all her jewellery, all her savings, her property she inherited from her family. She raised you and Yanli by herself."

Jiang Cheng vividly remembered. Dad, pale and gaunt, someone they only met on Sundays. Mom, who suddenly developed allergy to all her pretty rings and necklaces. Jie and Jiang Cheng celebrating their birthdays together with a small cupcake. Funny, those days seemed like they were from another life.

"She always was mean to Wei Wuxian."

Jiang Fengmian finally seemed to hesitate, "Well, my opponents started a rumour. Nasty, horrid things about me and Wei Ying's mom. You don't need to know the details. But it hurt your mom."

"Did she believe them?"

"Oh no, never. If she did, she'd have left me then and there. But it was enough to turn everything so bitter," Jiang Fengmian sighed, "We were very young then A-Cheng. I am not trying to use it as an excuse, but we were both younger than you are right now. And we were scared. I am sorry you guys had to suffer because of it. That's why, whenever you need us now, we'll be there for you. I just hope it's not too late."

Jiang Cheng leaned back to rest his head against his dad's legs. Jiang Fengmian slowly patted his head. They remained in silence until the sun set and the room was filled with darkness.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #cql fanfic #jiang cheng #jiang fengmian #the stages of a failed break up: chapter 7

[vazaha-tya]

lay me gently in the cold dark earth

It takes three days for him to ask. 

He and A Yuan just came back from their ancestral lands to pay respect to their family. The first day was spent telling stories of their trip and listening to Wei Wuxian ramble about this and that, basking in his good cheer and the warmth of his smile. Then the young master spirited them away for an impromptu night hunt with Lan Jingyi, which ended just as dramatically as any adventure Wei Wuxian takes part in. Today, A Yuan is with Hanguang-jun and his fellow disciples, attending lessons. Young Master Wei took Wen Ning to an unused training ground, intent on passing the time practising archery. 

They avoided crowded areas on their way there, the both of them just as uncomfortable wandering the austere Crowd Recesses without the people who make it more welcoming.

Despite his prior worries, he does enjoy the opportunity to take up the bow again. He hasn’t touched one since before his death. 

His anxiety won’t let him enjoy it too long, however.

After an hour of shooting, Wen Ning gathers his courage.

“Can I ask you something, Wei-gongzi?”

“Sure, Wen Ning, what do you need?”

He takes a deep breath he doesn’t need, lets it rattle in his dead lungs. He carefully lays down his bow and keeps his eyes lowered, lest he lose his nerves.

“I– I would like to be laid to rest.”

Wei Wuxian blinks, uncomprehending. Then realisation sets in.

He makes a wounded noise.

“What?” he croaks.

Wen Ning aches.

“I am grateful for the second chance you gave me. But I think my time has come now.” Wei Wuxian sounds like he’s been stabbed. “What is left for me to do, Wei-gongzi? My family is at peace, A Yuan is almost an adult now. It doesn’t have to be now, but. I am— tired.”

There is more he could say. 

He could explain that he is terrified of being used again. Of being left alone in this world with no place for something like him. Of the terrible stillness that sometimes seizes his limbs with no warning.

He could say he is tired of being a thing rather than a person in the eyes of passersby.

Whether as a Wen or as a conscious fierce corpse, he has no place in this world.

He doesn’t say any of this but he thinks Wei Wuxian can read it in his gaze.

“Please, Wei-gongzi.”

His friend shudders and drops his bow. He pulls out his flute instead.

“Won’t you call me be my name?” At least this once, he doesn’t say. For the first and last time.

He inclines his head.

“Hm. Thank you, Wei Wuxian. You are the best friend I could ever ask for. More than that, the best brother.”

“Surely not as good a sibling as Wen Qing?”

Wei Wuxian is crying, his grip on Chenqing trembling. 

Wen Ning would be in the same state if corpses had tears left to shed.

“No one can best jiejie,” he agrees. “But you do come close.” 

“Thank you”, he says again.

“Please don’t.”

He knows what he is trying to say.

Don’t thank me when I can’t offer you more than a peaceful death. 

Don’t thank me when I failed you and your sister.

“You deserved better,” murmurs Wei Wuxian.

Ah. Wen Ning didn’t know how much he needed to hear that.

“We.”

“Hm?”

“So— so did you. We— we deserved better.”

His friend —his brother— doesn’t look like he believes him. He nods nonetheless. 

Wen Ning suppresses a sigh. He hopes Hanguang-jun will have more luck than he and Wen Qing did at convincing him.

“I’ll have to— say goodbye to A Yuan.”

Wei Wuxian’s expression twists up.

“That will be hard on him. He just got you back.”

Wen Ning doesn’t know what to say to that.

So he says nothing.

#wen ning #wei wuxian #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #the untamed #one shot #i've been thinking about wen ning a lot #and what would happen to him post-canon #it makes me really sad #so i decided to write a fic about it #ideally this would have a second part where sizhui convinces him not to #since wwx's guilt complex would never allow him to go against wen ning's wishes like that #but even if that was the conclusion it would still be sad af because what is wen ning supposed to do now?? #third wheel wangxian until the end of times?? #i have FEELINGS about this

[battleguqin]

”Sizhui.” It’s not often that when they travel they’re alone, usually Lan Wangji has at least Lan Jingyi or one of the other disciples with them. A lot of time, actually, they even end up stuck with Jin Rulan somehow. With some luck, surprisingly, this time it had just been the two of them.

Lan Wangji isn’t good with his words, this is something both of them and entirety of the Cloud Recesses is aware. Somehow, being quiet makes him come off as conceited, narcissistic and cold. The last one, at least, he can see within himself. The others? There is a rule against being such ways and he doesn’t believe himself to have broken it yet.

With Lan Sizhui alone with him, he wanted to try and convey something though. So, while they walked along the beaten, dirt road, Hanguang-Jun paused in his steps and turned to face the young man. Already, he’s grown so much. The little, dirty boy, he had carried home from the Burial Mounds had turned into such a kind and capable young man.

Many times he sees Wei Wuxian in him. In the way he acted and how much of himself he gives to others. Ironically, he can also see a frightening amount of himself in him too. It makes him wonder, some days, if he was to harsh with him.

He can still smile though, and that is something he takes comfort in.

Lan Wangji took a breath and tucked his left hand behind his back, watching the boy he had raised as best he could. The boy he had named for the emotions that have held his heart in captivity for years. He is everything to Lan Wangji, and he would give whatever he could for him. To protect what was left of Wei Wuxian and everything he sacrificed for.

“I am proud of you.”

The young man was always attentive but when it was just he and his baba he was by far more at ease. He did not have to focus his attention on those who were less alert. It was always a pleasure to have him there with him. It was like a family outing. Not that Sizhui regretted spending time with Jingyi or the other juniors. He knew that Jin Ling liked the acceptance he found with them. None of them cared that Jin Ling was a future Sect Leader, it did not matter with Ouyang Zizhen when he could get away and it did not matter with A-Ling either.

At the call of his name Lan Sizhui turned his attention to the man who had raised him and lips curved up at the side. as he adjusted his guqin across his back. Giving him his attention to see what was needed. If someone were to speak ill of Lan Wangji it was absolutely certain Sizhui would correct them. Nothing of his baba was arrogant, arrogance was against Sect Rules. He was a good leader even though he did not have a lot to say. All of the juniors looked up to him, he was not on a pedestal . He was approachable and kind within the things he was most comfortable with. He had the right to not like someone and he had the right to not indulge someone's haughtiness.

The young man paused turning his blade rested against his shoulder as he folded his arms around it looking at him curiosity etched on his features.

Sizhui had developed his own views, his own morale. He knew what was right and what was wrong. He trusted in the teachings of his Sect and he was bright. He was able to form his own views and had been given those tools. He embodied the view Wei Wuxian had spoken of without knowing. Attempt the impossible. It was also Jin Ling's jiujiu's sect motto. Sizhui felt it was the role of a cultivator, they were to defend the weak, protect those that were in need and above all else be kind. It was what was right. Which is where he felt he was like Lan Zhan. He was upright and loyal. More so, he was noble without the arrogance of someone who knew they were as good as he was. Restraint was important as well.

The young man overachieved for reasons even he didn't fully understand, part had been fears of being put out of the Sect if he had not proved good enough. The other part was just a desire to learn and protect. Grand Uncle had said he was the best of his generation. He was head disciple, but the boy didn't take too much into the title. He was proud, without being full of himself. It was why he balked at Sect Leader Yao and his juniors who acted much like their sect leader.

Sizhui was happy he had been a happy child once he had gotten over the skittishness of being a tiny boy in a huge Sect. Even when eyes turned to look at him knowing that he belonged to the Second Jade. He put his best foot forward. Little Sizhui had disliked loud noises and startled easily. It was something that took him years to conquer but conquer it he did. Though he owed that to Jingyi. Who had been the loudest Lan A-Yuan had ever met.

The smile brightened greatly and he felt heat flood his cheeks. The smile took in his eyes as well and he bowed his head."Thank you, baba." he whispered. Sizhui rarely used the endearment in his older years because he understood that Hanguang-jun belonged to the Sect and he must share him. "All I have wanted was to make you proud and help others."

To Sizhui he was the world. He loved the man unconditionally and he had always done his very best to live up to the standards placed to him. He still lived at home even though he was getting old enough to be on his own. It had never struck Sizhui that he should move. He would with time. He just liked the comfort of knowing if the nightmares came, that he could go listen to Inquiry being played by his skilled father.

@guqinstrings

#Verse: Horizon of A New Day #guqinstrings #Lan Wangji #( aww my heart) #Sizhui smile could rival the sun

[coquelicoq]

idk, is it so much to ask that jiang cheng and lan wangji get kidnapped and are forced to spend time together, in the same room, with their cores locked? like fantastic, 16 years of practice at avoiding each other like the plague out the window because some chuckleheads who thought they were sooooo clever decided to lure the erstwhile yiling laozu into a trap by abducting people he cares about? so these two nemeses are languishing in some dungeon somewhere, exhausted from trying to escape, and jiang cheng makes a comment, and lan wangji is just oozing disdain from every pore, and two seconds later somehow lan wangji has managed to insinuate that jiang cheng doesn't care about wei wuxian's happiness despite only having said like three words total, and that is IT, jiang cheng has HAD IT, how DARE HE???? but again like i said they don't have any energy or power and obviously their weapons have been confiscated so they just...have a slapfight?? with their sleeves??? and they're SO serious about it??? wei wuxian shows up to kick some chucklehead ass and is all ready to bust them out of there but when he arrives they're just? batting each other in the face?? wearing THE most ferocious glares known to man?? the killing intent just radiating off of them???

so obviously wei wuxian is overcome, just look at them, roughhousing like real brothers, aiya you two, i knew you loved each other deep down, i'm so glad you got it all out in the open, now we can be one big happy family, we are going to do so many joint night hunts, everyone is going to bond, it's going to be so beautiful -

and like neither of them can correct him? because wei wuxian is so clearly happy about this, so if jiang cheng bursts his bubble, he's proving lan wangji's point, and if lan wangji does it, he's no better than what he's accusing jiang cheng of? so now they're locked in eternal stalemate, forced to pretend that their deep and abiding hatred is normal Just Brother Things because wei wuxian comes from the Stop-Hitting-Yourself-I'm-Not-Touching-You-I'm-Not-Touching-Youuuuu School of Fraternal Affection???

(plot twist: wei wuxian can actually tell their ridiculous slapfight is not affectionate but is pretending otherwise because so help him he IS manifesting brother-in-law reconciliation in this dungeon tonight if it is the LAST thing he EVER does -

and it turns out that being able to slap each other with their sleeves whenever they want is actually a great outlet for their mutual resentment, and before you know it jiang cheng starts forgetting that they aren't just doing normal brother things, and lan wangji is having such a great time not being totally repressed, that eventually there comes a day when lan wangji throws jiang cheng into the lake and jiang cheng just acts fake indignant instead of real indignant and wei wuxian isn't even watching them so it's not like they need to pretend and hey wait a second - are they friends now? did that work???? and then they all live happily ever after THE END)

#idk i think it could work #jc resents lwj for taking wwx away from him but he's used to that. mostly he hates lwj because lwj hates him #so if lwj a) stopped hating him and b) wasn't actually keeping wwx from spending time with him in any way #i think he could start to move on from it #and getting to see how happy wwx is around jc - and seeing what jc is enduring for the sake of that happiness - #eventually starts wearing down lwj's contempt for jc #he still resents jc for his perceived role in wwx's death but getting to slap him in the face with his sleeves is very therapeutic #i believe in a thing called 'wei wuxian can have a family with both his brother and his husband' #(justlistentotherhythmofmyheart) #and i just want wwx to have the things he wants so i say again. is it so much to ask that jc and lwj have a sleeve slapfight???? #i posit that it is not in fact too much to ask. rather dare i say it may be...the exact right amount to ask? #let wwx incite his favorite people to slap each other in the face with their sleeves in the name of fraternal harmony 2k21 #the untamed #lan wangji #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #cat!jc #cat!lwj #my posts #f #now is wwx capable of this kind of emotional manipulation? that's the real question #i think he is capable of it as long as he thinks it's for the good of someone other than himself #so now we just need a way to make that work and then we're golden

[korpikorppi]

Ok, a rather long post ahead. You guys know this scene in episode 50, right?

So, so many great things in it: it is such a great Wangxian scene and a family scene, and I love that Wen Ning is present there.

He and Sizhui have been growing close, and he clearly knows what Sizhui wants to talk to Wei Wuxian about: he looks at Lan Wangji (who also has an idea about where this is headed), looking slightly apprehensive, or perhaps like "Well, are you gonna say something, Hanguang-Jun?", and then fixes his attention to Wei Wuxian (while Lan Wangji fixes his to Sizhui).

This is such an emotional moment, with so much happening on everybody's faces, but I especially love the moment when Wei Wuxian, after several confirming glances to Lan Wangji, finally dares to believe the truth (the way he looks at Lan Zhan!).

And just look at Wen Ning! He is so touched, so happy for his cousin and for Wei Wuxian he'd be crying if he could ❤.

Wei Wuxian being Wei Wuxian does cry a bit and then recovers enough to make a show of hiding his emotional turmoil into a bit of flirting with Lan Zhan.

And Wen Ning is suddenly third-wheeling Wangxian, as usual 😄. Not that anyone seems to mind; the three are so comfortable with each other at this point, the Ghost General and Hanguang-Jun standing elbow to elbow, quite at ease, Wen Ning just trying to hide his slight smile 🖤. (The two probably get along well because neither expects the other to talk much, so they can just hang around together in companionable silence... And they know they would both protect Wei Wuxian, and Lan Sizhui, to the last.)

Sizhui has actually been left out for a moment, standing by himself a bit to the side, so Wei Wuxian turns his attention (and his antics) back to him, for the amusement of both Wen Ning and Lan Wangji (Little Apple seems quite unimpressed).

But Lan Sizhui! I am appalled! Blaming Wen Ning! The certified cinnamon roll!

Just look at him, protect at all cost 🖤! Nice way to include him in the joke as well, though (anyone ever call Lan Sizhui the best boy?) 😄.

And almost as a side note: just look at the intense expression on Lan Wangji's face. I swear the esteemed Hanguang-Jun is having some not-so-pure thoughts about Wei Ying at the moment, right in front of everyone's salads. Sheesh.

Wangxian stuck looking at each other. Wei Wuxian's hand in Lan Sizhui's hair. Wen Ning still slightly smiling. Little Apple still quite unimpressed. Lan Wangji's soft, content smile...Family. And that family also includes Wen Ning ❤.

A kind of sequel (yes, that).

#this makes me all mushy. gah! #wangxian #wangxian family #wei wuxian #lan wangji #lan sizhui #wen ning #little apple #the untamed #cql #theuntameddaily #random late night screencap edits #random late night ramblings #mine

[besanii]

paper-thin

[ WangXian ; XiXian ]

--

The war is won!

Gusu is victorious!

Hanguang-wang is alive!

--

A sizeable crowd has gathered on the streets outside of the palace gates by the time Lan Wangji arrives, freshly bathed and changed out of his travel-weary and battle-worn armour into his formal robes. He dismounts as the guards approach, keeping the reins in his hand as he shows his pass; they grant him passage with a low bow, moving to the side as he leads his horse through the gates as quickly as decorum will allow.

The maids and eunuchs he passes on his way to the Hall of Mental Cultivation pay their respects with low bows and bent knees, lowering their gazes as they murmur his title with something akin to awe. He nods curtly in response but otherwise does not halt in his progress—it would not do to keep the Emperor waiting, war hero or not.

It's been over a year since he went to war, defending Gusu's coast against the invading forces of Dongying. The war had been harrowing and brutal and there were many times Lan Wangji where hadn't been sure he would survive. But he'd fought on with grit and tenacity, acutely aware of his role as a member of the Imperial family to lead and inspire his troops by example. That is, until a well-aimed arrow caught him in the shoulder between the plates of his armour, and sent him overboard in the midst of battle.

He’d survived. Barely.

The doors to the Imperial study are open when he arrives, and the eunuchs kneeling on either side of the door touch their foreheads to the ground in greeting. He walks up to the eunuch standing closest to the door.

“I am here to see the Emperor,” he says.

“Yes, Wangye,” the eunuch replies.  He gets to his feet and turns to the door, raising his voice to announce: “Huangshang, Hanguang-wang begs an audience.”

They do not have to wait long for a response.

“Enter.”

The Emperor is still dressed in his court robes despite the lateness of the hour—the afternoon court session had been over for at least two shichen already—the black silk sleeves stark against the embroidered gold draped over the desk where he works. He puts his brush down as Lan Wangji parts the beaded curtain hanging from the archway leading into the main chamber, a smile already forming on his lips as he watches Lan Wangji kneel in the centre of the room.

“Your humble servant greets Huangshang,” Lan Wangji says, touching his forehead to the floor. “May our Emperor live for ten thousand years.”

“You may rise, Hanguang-wang,” the Emperor says. "We are very pleased to see you returned to the capital alive and well. Your service to the Empire will be duly rewarded."

Lan Wangji rises to his feet, sweeping over the invisible creases of his robe and shaking out his wide sleeves.

"Huangshang gives your subject too much credit," he replies. "I live to serve the Empire and will gladly give my life a thousand times over in its protection."

"Your devotion is recognised, Hanguang-wang, and appreciated," the Emperor says. "Nevertheless, a great victory such as this should be rewarded. Come, brother, is there anything you would wish for? Name it and it shall be granted."

Lan Wangji's hands curl into fists by his side.

"Huangshang would grant anything your subject wishes?" he asks quietly.

The smile on the Emperor's face freezes. A muscle twitches in his jaw as he swallows; he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and exhales slowly. The smile smooths into something cooler, but no less genial.

"Anything within reason," he clarifies.

Lan Wangji exhales and bows his head.

"Your lowly subject dares to presume Huangshang knows what it is I wish for," he says, keeping his voice carefully level. "There is only one wish—one request—your lowly subject would make."

He hears the Emperor sigh, a low, disappointed sound, and his stomach sinks with realisation. But he had not dragged himself out of the depths of hell and back here to give up so easily. In the three months he had allowed himself to be presumed dead, laying feverish and close to death with an infected wound, it had been this one hope, this one wish that had kept him clinging to life. If he survived the war, won the war, then nothing would stop him from coming back and finally—finally—asking for the one thing he's wanted more than life itself.

When he chances an upward glance, the corner of the Emperor's lips are drawn in tight and the crease between his brows have deepened. Lan Wangji has had years to learn the shape of the Emperor's moods, even the ones he hides behind pleasantries and polite smiles, and he knows the Emperor is displeased.

"We would advise Hanguang-wang to make another request," he says finally. Do not continue to pursue this.

Lan Wangji drops to his knees. "Huangshang, you know there is nothing else I would ask for.”

“Wangji, enough!” The room stills. A sigh. “Leave us.”

The eunuchs and maids turn in unison and bow, backing out of the chamber without a word; the door to the study shuts behind them. Lan Wangji curls and uncurls his fists against his thighs, breathing heavily through his nose as he struggles to get his heart rate back under control. He hears the rustle of fabric, followed by footsteps from behind the desk coming towards him, but he dares not raise his eyes.

“Wangji,” Lan Xichen says in an odd, stilted tone Lan Wangji has never heard before. “There is something you should know.”

--

Eunuchs and palace maids alike cower in the wake of his fury, scattering to the winds as soon as he passes. No one stops to question why a male member of the Imperial family aside from the Emperor and his sons is here, unaccompanied, within the gilded walls of the inner palace. Perhaps word had been sent ahead of his arrival, perhaps they had been expecting him--whatever the reason, Lan Wangji knows he would cut down anyone who dares stand in his way right now.

His mind is still reeling as he turns the corner along the once-familiar path that winds through the Imperial gardens, his feet following the route ingrained into him as a child still living within the palace walls.

He hasn't walked this path in close to fifteen years. Not much has changed: the trees and the flowers are the same--still the delicate gentians favoured by the previous mistress of this particular courtyard—only now there are also lotuses surrounding the small pavilion in the heart of the man-made pond, filling the air with their sweet fragrance. And inside that pavilion, an entirely different person is silhouetted against the afternoon sun.

A skirmish arose between Yunmeng and Qishan involving Qishan-hou's second son. 

Wen-er-gongzi was injured in the confrontation.

He takes a step forward, his feet suddenly heavy as though weighed down by boulders, dragging along the gravel. The person in the pavilion is still too far to have noticed him, but Lan Wangji has a clear view of the long black hair twisted up into a half-knot to expose the line of a long, slender neck, held in place by a fanzhan made of silver and set with blue sapphires. The sight of it makes his throat run dry.

Qishan demanded retribution for the injuries inflicted on Wen-er-gongzi. The life of his attacker.

Both Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen were each presented with a set the rare jewels at their coming of age, a mark of their status as members of the Imperial family. To see the same jewels adorning the familiar head of hair—

We believed you dead, Wangji. 

He drags his feet another step forward, the breath catching in his throat as the person in the pavilion half-turns at the sound.

We needed to protect him.

“Who goes there?” a eunuch calls, hurrying around the corner along the path around the pond. “This is Wei-xuanyi’s private garden, outsiders are not perm—”

“It’s alright, let him through.”

A lump forms in his throat so large he can barely breathe around it without pain; whatever hope of this being a cruel joke is crushed at the familiar voice. How many times in the past year has he heard it in his dreams? How many times has the memory of that voice called him back from the gates of Hell itself, when the rest of the world thought him dead?

The eunuch drops to his knees on the side of the garden path and bows his head; Lan Wangji takes this as a sign to proceed.

As a child, the garden path had always seemed wide and inviting; it had always led to his mother, the late Empress, the only source of light and happiness and home in his childhood. And yet now all he feels is dread, cold and dark, seeping out through the cracks in the surface of his façade with every step.

Lan Xichen’s words ring in his ears.

Wangji, it was the only way we could save him.

He stops at the bottom of the steps leading into the pavilion. Four steps. Just four steps, and yet his legs refuse to move, to take even just one more step forward; it is as though his body is fighting with everything it has against it. He can't move.

He is unsure how long he stands there at the bottom of the steps boring holes into the paved stones—it is difficult to keep track when one's mind is filled with the deafening roar of one's own heartbeat. It is not until the sound of footsteps, followed by a rush of activity in his periphery as the palace maids and eunuchs fall to their knees in unison, does he finally raise his eyes.

There, standing at the top of the steps, clad in soft, flowing robes of Gusu blue and Yunmeng purple, with Lan Xichen's jewels in his hair—

Wangji. Wei Wuxian—

Wei Wuxian lowers his head and bends at the knees, his fingertips clasped lightly by his hip. A demure greeting, wildly unsuitable for a member of the gentry.

“Hanguang-wang,” he murmurs. He raises his eyes slightly, enough to peer at Lan Wangji from beneath his lashes. Demure. Restrained.

The ground crumbles beneath Lan Wangji’s feet.

—I have taken Wei Wuxian as a consort.

--

Translations

Wangye (王爺) - equivalent of a Duke, usually Emperor’s brother or uncle

Huangshang  (皇上) - the Emperor; as per usual, I only use the pinyin when the term is used when directly addressing LXC

hou (侯) - equivalent of Marquis, second highest rank after 王

xuanyi (宣儀) - lit. ‘Propagator of Deportment’, a variant of the Tang dynasty concubine ranking pin (嬪) that doesn’t use feminine qualities; the second highest rank after furen/zande (夫人/贊德), used between 662-670 (possibly under Wu Zetian’s influence)

fazhan (髮簪) - hair ornament/pin

--

Notes

Title is taken from the Chinese phrase boming (薄命), which means to have an unlucky fate (usually in reference to women). It literally translates to “thin life/fate”. Inspired by a line in the song 雪落下的聲音 (the sound of snowfall; Story of Yanxi Palace OST):  此生 如纸般薄命 - this life, my fate is as thin as paper.

For those of you wondering where the hell I’m going with this—I have no fucking clue lmao. I just wanted to write WangXian angst with a dose of XiXian that doesn’t involve Dark!LXC for once. I also cannot be bothered to look back on this anymore, so any mistakes are purely cos I’ve given up working on this any further hahahahahaha *dies*

Inspired by a mish-mash of Story of Yanxi Palace (Fuheng x Yinglou reunion anyone???) and Empress of China (mostly the OST, but also the gorgeous costuming and setting of the Tang Dynasty).

Will I continue it? Maybe??? It took me weeks to even get my ass into gear to write this one snippet, I honestly don’t know if I will get around to writing more. But if it interests you, send me an ask about the ‘verse and I’ll try and expand more on it, even if it’s just headcanon form and not fic.

--

buy me a ko-fi!

--

#my writing #wangxian #mdzs #lan wangji #wei wuxian #薄命 #王爺機 x 妃子羡 #lan xichen #xixian #consort!wwx #emperor!lxc #duke!lwj #lan wangji x wei wuxian #lan xichen x wei wuxian #🔪🔪 #harem au #imperial au #set in the Tang Dynasty if we REALLY have to specify lol #paper thin fic

[robininthelabyrinth]

for the prompts: NMJ/JC - Everyone with a functioning brain cell can see that JC just needs someone to tell him he’s doing a good job. And if WWX isn’t stepping up? Well, NMJ definitely will. (Preferably smut and/or fluff) Thank you! ❤️

Compliments - ao3

It started in anger, out of spite.

Traditionally, the world took this to be a bad thing, but in all honesty the vast majority of projects in the Nie sect were started that way – they inherited fiery tempers and spiteful personalities from their ancestors along with their saber cultivation traditions – and it didn’t always turn out badly. There were any number of buildings, techniques, or technological innovations in the Unclean Realm that had started life as a furious fuck you to someone and only turned into something worthwhile about halfway through, once the person involved had calmed down enough to think about what they were doing, realize they were already committed, and then shrug and carry on forward because there was no point in stopping a charge midway.

What Nie Mingjue meant was: there was precedent.

He liked to think it started with Jiang Fengmian, but if Nie Mingjue was being honest with himself, it started back in the Unclean Realm when Nie Huaisang had told him, quite casually over dinner, that he thought that the female cultivator in his class was very pretty and that he’d be happy to marry her.

“Uh,” Nie Mingjue had said, very intelligently. “Huaisang, you’re seven.”

Nie Huaisang had not seen the problem. Instead, he explained very forthrightly that it was only right that he start thinking early on about his marriage, as getting married and having children would be his great contribution to the sect on account of being useless good-for-nothing unfit for anything else –

“Wait,” Nie Mingjue said. “Who told you that?!”

Nie Huaisang claimed he had deduced it.

Nie Mingjue claimed that Nie Huaisang was full of bullshit, and also that he wasn’t good-for-nothing even if he wasn’t good at saber, and anyway even if he was a total good-for-nothing he was still Nie Mingjue’s good-for-nothing and no one had better say a single damn word against him or Nie Mingjue would bite them.

“I meant stab them!” he explained, far too late; Nie Huaisang was already rolling around laughing to the point of tears. “I have a saber. I can stab people! I’m actually very scary, you know!”

Nie Huaisang hadn’t believed him one bit and had carried on, seemingly at peace and forgetting everything, but Nie Mingjue had gone seeking advice from all of his elders and counselors and the more dependable senior disciples of his sect, abruptly terrified that he was permanently damaging Nie Huaisang by raising him the wrong way or something. Didn’t children need encouragement at that age? Weren’t they all young and tender peaches liable to be bruised at the slightest glance or young sprouts that needed to be sheltered from the harsh wind lest they grow up crooked?

Everyone assured him that children were hardier than they appeared, flexible and capable of bouncing back from just about anything. He'd pressed, though, pointing out that even the most flexible wood would eventually form a crack in the face of a vicious hurricane, and in the end they'd admitted that it was better to avoid applying too much pressure at too young an age, that a child squeezed too hard or not hard enough might develop neuroses that would hinder them in the future.

They mostly tried not to look at him when they said that, presumably thinking to themselves that Nie Mingjue was little more than a child himself and had already been subject to the worst pressures possible, which would undoubtedly result in who knows what future issues, but he hadn’t paid that part any mind. As far as he was concerned, his life was already a loss – he had sworn to take revenge for his father, to make that ancient monster Wen Ruohan pay with his life for what he had done and furthermore he'd sworn to pay back the blood debt in full before any of that burden passed to Nie Huaisang.

Letting Nie Huaisang grow up happy – that was what mattered.

Letting him be insulted when Nie Mingjue wasn’t looking played no part in that plan. If Nie Huaisang were going to be insulted, let it be by outsiders who he wouldn’t need to care about! Within their Nie sect, at minimum, he should be doted upon and honored, or else those responsible would have to explain themselves to Nie Mingjue.

Those dark thoughts still lingering in his mind, he had gone to the Lotus Pier for a discussion conference, and that, perhaps, was where it really started.

Rumor had already made the entire cultivation world aware that Jiang Fengmian had found the orphaned son of Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze, and that he had taken him into his home as his ward, allowing him to become a Jiang sect disciple – treating him almost as one of the family, even. That much was known, so it didn’t come as much of a surprise when Jiang Fengmian proudly introduced him or even more proudly showed him off, praising him to the high heavens.

What did come as a surprise was how little he praised his own son standing beside him, despite them being only a few days apart in age. It was as if Jiang Fengmian had simply forgotten that such a creature existed, much less that he had himself contributed to its spawning, and the constant looks of hope – invariably crushed – the child sent him made it clear that the present situation had been going on for some time.

Fuck you, Nie Mingjue thought, seeing red, seeing instead Nie Huaisang in his failed saber classes, struggling so desperately to keep up with the rest even though his body wouldn’t allow for it, being told he was useless and a good-for-nothing and fit for nothing but marriage. Fuck you, Jiang Fengmian.

He couldn’t say that, of course.

So instead he said, “Excellent stance,” to the child, who'd received the courtesy name Wanyin but seemed to be universally called Jiang Cheng. “Do you know the others in the set?”

Jiang Cheng, staring at him, very slowly nodded, and demonstrated them.

“Absolutely perfect,” Nie Mingjue said loudly, drawing attention to himself with his over-loud voice that everyone would automatically forgive on account on him being both a Nie and a young man. “You can see how hard you’ve worked at it, and it has paid off handsomely. You are very lucky in your son, Sect Leader Jiang.”

“…thank you,” Jiang Fengmian said, a little bemused at being interrupted. He’d been talking yet again about Wei Wuxian’s brilliance at picking up the sword again after years of living on the streets without practice, even though at the moment the smiling boy's admittedly impressive skills were still largely wild and undisciplined.

Nie Mingjue nodded, and said: “When exactly did you say the opening festivities would be starting?”

Jiang Fengmian had clearly forgotten about that in his enthusiasm, so he quickly hurried back to the actual subject at hand and the discussion conference was started in earnest.

It was almost enough to allow Nie Mingjue to forget the matter and put it behind him.

Or, it would have been, if only Jiang Fengmian hadn’t continued to insert praise for Wei Wuxian at every possible instance – it was as if he were the man’s first-born son, rather than another person’s child.

Irritated beyond belief, Nie Mingjue started complimenting Jiang Cheng every time Jiang Fengmian said something nice about Wei Wuxian, and he made sure to keep his compliments accurate: he was a hard worker, dedicated and sincere, thoughtful, clever, not overly arrogant…

“Wei Wuxian came up with his own ideas for a sword style already,” Jiang Fengmian claimed at one point. “You can see him on the training ground now, practicing it – take a look!”

Nie Mingjue picked up a stone and flicked it over with his fingers, making Wei Wuxian jump half a chi into the air and nearly fall on his ass.

“Weak foundation, and he over-commits,” he analyzed dryly, because it was true, and because no one else was saying it. He didn't make it any harsher than it had to be: he had nothing against the boy himself, of course; it was only that he knew from experience that it was much easier to be the one being complimented than the one not. “He’s got his head so high in the clouds that his feet are barely touching the ground – the weakest fierce corpse would knock him flat as a pancake with a childish style like that. He’d be better off sticking with orthodox or he’ll end up in real trouble one day.”

“Sect Leader Nie, really,” Jiang Fengmian said disapprovingly. “He’s only nine.”

“Old enough to pick up bad habits,” Nie Mingjue retorted. “Your son’s the same age and he’s as steady as a rock. If Jiang Cheng keeps going as he is, he’ll have a strong enough base to outlast the fiercest storm.”

“A rock has no imagination,” Jiang Fengmian said, and was he actually arguing that his son was inferior? Out loud, in front of outsiders? Did the man have no shame? “Mingjue, you’re young, but you must know that my Jiang sect prizes freedom and creativity as the highest virtue –”

“Would you rather build a house using a firework or a foundation stone?” Nie Mingjue asked, doing his best not to outwardly bristle at the condescendingly intimate use of his name by someone who might be technically his elder but legally his equal. “Tell me, Fengmian, does your Jiang sect’s acclaimed ‘freedom’ only allow for people to be as fluid as the river and not as steady as the earth?”

Jiang Fengmian faltered, clearly not knowing how to answer that.

Nie Mingjue raised his hands in a sarcastic salute: “As the leader of a sect whose style is based on a grounded foundation, I would be very happy if you would educate me in your wisdom. No doubt my peers would benefit as well.”

Perhaps it was at that point that Jiang Fengmian realized that his words could be misinterpreted as an insult to all the sects whose styles were less free-flowing than the Jiang – just about all of them except for maybe the Lan and their subsidiary sects, given their preference for techniques modeled on the wind over the water – and moreover that this was a discussion conference, where every word was political, and that a great deal of people were glaring balefully at him. He hastily moved the conversation onwards, and left the subject of his sons for another day.

Later that evening, Madame Yu came over to where Nie Mingjue was nursing a bowl of very fine wine that he didn’t especially feel like consuming. Before he could start worrying about the Purple Spider’s intentions, she said, voice stiff, “Your words regarding my son are too kind. His skills are still inferior; he has a great deal of progress yet to be made.”

“He’s only nine,” Nie Mingjue said, feeling mortified that she’d noticed his little temper tantrum, which he had belatedly realized was probably extremely obvious. “Anyway, I wasn't lying. He has a good foundation; he’ll be a fearsome cultivator one day, there’s no doubt. I only said what I saw.”

“You didn’t comment about Wei Wuxian,” she said. “You must have noticed his genius.”

“Geniuses don’t need to be praised overmuch,” Nie Mingjue said. He himself had been termed a genius by his teachers, and he’d hated every single moment of it – couldn’t he just be good at things without having people fall all over themselves to compliment him? He’d enjoyed it at the start, but after a while it had started to wear on him; he was expected to be a genius in all things, and being simply ordinary was suddenly seen as failing. “It’s the ones that have to work hard that do, or else they’ll be discouraged…comparing someone to another person’s child works as a spur to a certain extent, but after a while it loses its potency as a tool.”

Your husband is a fucking idiot, he didn’t say. It’s his own son! How could he speak like that about him? Shouldn’t he be holding him in his palms like a gentle flame, protecting him from the wind and rain? How can he bear to scold his son when he hasn't shown that the scolding is meant for his benefit?

“Perhaps,” Madame Yu said, but it was clear on her face that she wasn’t about to start taking parenting advice from a half-grown sprout like Nie Mingjue. “Nevertheless, your words were kind.”

She swept away after that, much to his relief. He shook his head and daydreamed about a magic tool that would make this whole nightmarish experience go by that much quicker.

In the end, it went by at the same speed it always did. It could have ended there, but Nie Mingjue kept up the habit of blatantly complimenting Jiang Cheng in future sect conferences as well, if only because it clearly irritated Jiang Fengmian – less because Nie Mingjue was praising his son and more because it was so obviously meant as an indirect critique of Jiang Fengmian’s skills as a parent or sect leader, and moreover it reminded all the other sects of that unfortunate interchange and made them less inclined to listen to him – and of course, because, well, once you’ve started a charge, you had to finish it even if you came to your senses about halfway through.

He made sure to keep it proportionate, of course, since there was nothing worse than false praise. He didn’t really mean anything by it, other than the half-formed thought that someone ought to be doing it – that the boy should know that someone looked at him and Wei Wuxian and remembered to praise him first. Nie Mingjue praised Wei Wuxian too, of course, since the boy often deserved it; it was only that he made a particular point not to forget about Jiang Cheng, either.

(He also made sure the other sect leaders saw how well the technique could be used to fluster Jiang Fengmian, an intrusion into his personal life that could be masked in perfect politeness, and several of them picked up the same tact, though less consistently than Nie Mingjue – Sect Leaders Jin and Wen, naturally, always looking for a weakness, but interestingly enough also Lan Qiren, who was normally above such petty maneuvers. Possibly he was actually just complimenting Jiang Cheng because he sincerely approved of him.)

He didn’t think much of it.

Nie Mingjue didn’t think much of it during the other discussion conferences, or when he came to the Cloud Recesses to pick up Nie Huaisang, who had – amazingly – actually managed to pass this time, although the expression on Lan Qiren’s face suggested the pass might have more to do with the other sect leader’s desire to never see Nie Huaisang haunt his classroom ever again.

“You know what, don’t tell me. Tell me….hm…how did Jiang Wanyin do?” Nie Mingjue asked, hand over his eyes as if it could forestall the headache. “He’s a bright boy, and knows how to put his mind to something when he wants. Tell me about him instead, it’ll be less depressing.”

“He’s very bright,” Lan Qiren agreed. “Very thoughtful, and very thorough. He sometimes errs towards conservatism out of fear of giving the wrong answer, but that’s just a matter of confidence; his thinking is very good. He’s very clear-sighted as long as the matter is logical, rather than emotional.”

“No surprise,” Nie Mingjue grunted. “He’ll be a sect leader worthy of respect, in his time.”

When he’s rid of that father of his dragging him down, he thought ungraciously, and he saw Lan Qiren bob his head in a sharp nod of unspoken agreement.

“All right,” he said. “I’m adequately fortified now. Tell me about Huaisang.”

Lan Qiren gave him a look of profound sympathy.

It wasn’t until much later, during the Sunshot Campaign, that it was first called to his attention – by Jiang Cheng himself, oddly enough.

“Why do you keep doing that?” he hissed, having stayed behind after one of their meetings.

Nie Mingjue blinked at him. “Doing – what?”

“You – you said – about me…!”

Nie Mingjue tried to recall what he’d said during the meeting just now. “That you – were doing an excellent job while facing much higher level of obstacles than everyone else?” he hazarded, because he had said something like that. “Or was it the bit about how if any of them had needed to rebuild their sect and fight at the same time, we’d all be doomed because they couldn’t multitask for shit?”

Yeah, it was probably that one.

“I didn’t mean any offense by referencing what happened to your sect,” he said, hoping to explain. “It was only –”

“I didn’t take offense,” Jiang Cheng mumbled. “It’s fine. I mean, it’s not fine, but – it happened, everyone knows that it happened, not talking about it isn’t going to make it not have happened. That’s not what I meant…why do you keep saying such nice things about me?”

Nie Mingjue blinked at him. “Because they’re true?”

Jiang Cheng’s cheeks flushed red. “You’ve always said nice things about me. Ever since I was a little kid – every time you saw me, at the discussion conferences, or the Cloud Recesses, or even in your letters to my father…”

He had in fact done that.

“I just want to know why. Is it – my father’s not around, you can’t be doing it just to piss him off, even though I know that was part of it. Why me?”

Nie Mingjue coughed a little, having not realized that Jiang Cheng had noticed. Or possibly even overheard, in regards to the Cloud Recesses. “I’m sure you’re familiar with the concept of the other person’s child,” he said, and Jiang Cheng nodded his head sharply, clearly thinking of Wei Wuxian. “You’re Huaisang’s.”

“Me?” Jiang Cheng seemed unduly vulnerable when he asked. “You compare him – to me?”

“It’s amazing he tolerated you at the Cloud Recesses,” Nie Mingjue said with a sigh. In fact, his brother had all but declared war on Jiang Cheng in absentia on account of all Nie Mingjue’s comments, only for his first letter home from the Cloud Recesses that year to be I see why you like him! He’s cute! A perfect match for you! because he’d apparently decided that Nie Mingjue had a crush on the boy.

Which he certainly hadn’t – at least not when he’d been that age, anyway. Jiang Cheng had grown up to embody every single one of the compliments Nie Mingjue had paid him when he’d been younger, especially with the maturity and natural aura of command that came to him after his personal tragedy.

“But why…you knew Wei Wuxian about as well as you knew me.”

Nie Mingjue snorted. “And that would have helped Huaisang how, exactly? If I wanted to compare him with someone who picked things up the first time they saw it, I wouldn’t need to go outside the Nie sect for that – I was also considered a genius when I was young. It’s no failing to be born without a vast and unending natural talent; Huaisang’s issue has always been his unwillingness to put in the effort.”

Jiang Cheng stared at him.

“Anyway, your father was so blinded by his adoration for Wei Wuxian that he overlooked your merits, which are different but no less impressive,” Nie Mingjue added. “As someone who was trying to figure out how to raise a child, it irritated me; I thought someone ought to make it clear to you that you were seen.”

“Yes,” Jiang Cheng said, his voice strangely hoarse. “Yes, you – you succeeded.”

He paused for a moment, meeting Nie Mingjue’s eyes intently, and then abruptly said, “I’ll be leaving,” and dashed out.

Nie Mingjue wasn’t entirely sure if that meant he should stop or not. Jiang Cheng had said he wasn’t offended…anyway, it was a fixed habit by now. He’d been doing it for over half his life! He couldn’t stop that easily! It would be like trying to stop his temper, or a charge – there was nothing for it.

Jiang Cheng would just have to live with a few compliments.

“Wow, you’re an idiot,” Nie Huaisang said when he told him about the incident, months later while he was lying in bed, recovering from the disaster that had been the end of the war. “I’ll fix this.”

“Fix what?”

“I’m going to tell him you’re dying,” Nie Huaisang decided.

“You’re going to do what?!”

“Stay in bed, da-ge! Doctor’s orders!”

The Nie sect chief doctor was an extremely terrifying person. Nie Mingjue stayed in bed.

Some time later, Jiang Cheng stormed in, face pale.

“Huaisang’s a rotten liar and I’m going to be fine,” Nie Mingjue said at once.

Jiang Cheng stopped mid-storm, and abruptly deflated. “Really?”

“Really. I would’ve stopped him, but I’m stuck in bed for the moment.”

Jiang Cheng took a seat next to him. “That sounds serious. You shouldn’t underestimate war wounds, especially given your sect’s tendency towards qi deviations...”

“Compassionate as well,” Nie Mingjue teased. “I’ll have to add that to the rotation of compliments.”

Jiang Cheng flushed red. “You’re…planning on continuing?”

“For the rest of my life, however short it might be,” Nie Mingjue said, because he was an honest person, even when it was inconvenient. He was going to explain about the habit, and the concept of stopping mid-charge, but he didn’t manage to start before Jiang Cheng grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up into a kiss.

After that, he figured that maybe explaining that part of it wasn’t necessary. He might be slow on the uptake, but he wasn’t actually stupid.

#mdzs #nie mingjue #jiang cheng #jiang fengmian #lan qiren #nie huaisang #my fic #my fics #compliments

[shanastoryteller]

Wen Qing says yes because all she can think of is the consequences if she doesn’t.

She probably should have spent some time considering what, exactly, the consequences of saying yes would be.

~

Wei Wuxian wants to go back to the banquet and shake Jin Zixun until the information they need falls out, but Wen Qing knows that’s a terrible idea, knows that he shouldn’t be helping her at all but he definitely shouldn’t stand in front of the whole cultivation world and threaten the Jin family for her. He asks one of the servants instead, something she wouldn’t have thought to do, but he insists that servants know everything and after a hefty bribe he’s telling them what they need to know and even turns a blind eye when they take a horse that’s been left unattended.

She’s skinny on a good day and she hasn’t seen a good day in a long time. Wei Wuxian didn’t used to be this thin, this breakable, but he is now, and she tells herself it’s a good thing because the one horse is easily able to carry both of them. He sits behind her even though he takes the reigns and she leans back into him because she’s been holding herself up for so long and she’s tired and he’s helping her, something no one has been willing to in – ever, really. She thinks she could almost count his ribs against her back and thinks if she’s alive tomorrow she’ll give him a lecture about eating properly without a golden core to nourish him.

They arrive just as a guard is raising a broken flag pole above his head to skewer A-Ning.

Wei Wuxian stops him, using a talisman to bind the man’s wrist to his own and jerking him away from her brother. Who is alive, and whole, and does not have a pole through his stomach. She’s crying when she holds him and Wei Wuxian stands between them and everyone else and looks at the guards and her people and says, “I have an idea. It’s a bad idea.”

“Your ideas usually are,” she says, but she’s still shaking at having her little brother back in her arms so it doesn’t come out as acerbic as she intended.

~

It is a terrible idea. She doesn’t have to agree to it.

She does.

They go to the nearest temple in Lanling because they need witnesses for this. The monks are confused and frightened but bear witness as she bows three times to Wei Wuxian and is bowed to three times in return.

She is exhausted and scared and is still unconvinced that she’ll live to see the sunrise, but Wei Wuxian had helped her when she hadn’t asked and saved her brother and wouldn’t let the guards stop them from leading her family from the work camp, so she marries him.

~

They go back to Koi Tower. It’s terrifying but Jiang disciples meet them and look askance at all the rest of them but don’t hesitate to obey Wei Wuxian. They surround them as they walk and if they have opinions about being told to guard traitorous Wen, they don’t voice them. Maybe the fact that they’re guarding Wei Wuxian too is enough.

They enter the banquet hall and everything is silent. She doesn’t know how to read the look on everyone’s faces and she doesn’t try. Instead she stands by Wei Wuxian’s side and does what she does best – she doesn’t flinch.

“Wei Wuxian!” Jin Guangshan shouts, appalled. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Sect Leader Jin,” he says, offhand, casual, as if having his hall filled with Wen is a perfectly ordinary occurrence. “You’re so good at throwing parties. I was hoping you would throw one for me.”

Jin Guangshan’s eyes narrow. “Why would we throw a party?”

“Well, it is my wedding day,” he says, and holds out his hand. Wen Qing places her hand in his, lets his other hand settle warm and proprietary at the small of her back. “My wife, Wen Qing. We were just married at the temple in Lanling. Feel free to question the monks if you don’t believe me.”

The silence breaks, everyone shouting now, and A-Yuan’s cry cuts through all of them.

She hadn’t known that Wei Wuxian had any experience with children, but he turns automatically, opening his arms, and Granny barely hesitates before placing A-Yuan into them. After all, if they can’t trust Wei Wuxian, they’re all dead anyway.

A-Yuan, astonishingly, quiets instantly as Wei Wuxian bounces him in his arms, settling his head on his shoulder and sticking his thumb in his mouth.

“You,” Wen Qing turns, sees Jiang Cheng looking between them, and she could probably read the look on his face but she doesn’t want to. “He’s your – you have a – was it when we, after Lotus Pier?”

She and Wei Wuxian glance at each other, and maybe this marriage will work out, because that one glance contains a whole conversation of things they can’t say. The timeline almost works. A-Yuan likely was conceived sometime around the fall of Lotus Pier. If there is a child, Wei Wuxian’s actions become more understandable, seem less like an act of war and something closer to what they really are, an act of love.

She could have, she supposes, laid with Wei Wuxian and gotten pregnant and bore a child in the years since they’ve seen each other. She didn’t, but the only ones who know that are either dead or just as desperate as she is for this to work.

Or. Well.

Jiang Yanli’s face is easier to look at, even as it does something complicated then smooths. She was there and awake while they all recovered with her and Wen Ning. She knows that she and Wei Wuxian didn’t have any sort of epic romance, or even a quick tryst, during that time. Wei Wuxian was so obsessively focused on helping his brother that the idea he’d have paused long enough for sex when he hadn’t for sleep or food is ridiculous. But Jiang Yanli meets her gaze then pointedly lowers her eyes and something like relief trickles down Wen Qing’s spine.

Wei Wuxian looks around the hall and if he hesitates over Lan Wangji, that’s a conversation for them to have later, if there is a later.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” Wei Wuxian says quietly, formally, and Jiang Cheng nearly flinches before catching himself. “Meet my son. Wei Yuan.” He lets that echo through the hall and then says, “I could not leave him, nor the woman who bore him, nor the family that raised him when I remained in ignorance.”

She lowers his gaze as if in shame, for having a child out of marriage, for keeping that child from his father, but mostly she can’t stand to see the look at Jiang Cheng’s face any longer.

~

There is intense debate among the clans. The Lan and surprisingly even the Nie vote against the Jin and agree for the Wen to be released to the custody of the Jiang rather than the Jin. What’s the difference between one great clan and the other, after all, and Jiang Cheng fights for this, fights for them, and Wen Qing knows he’s really fighting for Wei Wuxian. Their marriage makes things too complicated, like they’d hoped. A-Yuan makes things too complicated, and everyone in the hall mostly seems to want to go back to drinking. There is some poorly hidden sentiment that if Wei Wuxian wants a war bride he should be entitled to her, for his contribution to the war, perhaps, and Wen Qing hates these people. They do not call her and her family tribute but they imply it easily enough.

If the price of the lives of her family is her pride, that’s fine. She abandoned that a long time ago.

~

“You have been good for him,” Jiang Yanli tells her a month after they’ve moved into Lotus Pier, a month of being the wife to Wei Wuxian and the mother to the now Wei Yuan. She doesn’t do a particularly good job at either of these roles, she thinks, but Wei Wuxian makes a good husband and a good father and it was his idea but she can’t help but feel guilty, can’t help but think she stole for herself and her family what was meant for someone else.

Her sister in law’s words aren’t wrong, however. She doesn’t let Wei Wuxian drink so much anymore and forces him to eat. She’s there in his bed when he gasps awke from nightmares and when he can do nothing more but clutch his chest and weep. She gets the story of the Burial Mounds from him, eventually, and she doesn’t know how to heal that kind of trauma, but she holds him when he cries and thinks even if she can’t be a proper wife, she can do this, and she heals the damage demonic cultivation does to his meridians, and it seems like such little things, comparatively, but it helps.

She’s offers up the excuse that demonic cultivation makes using his sword difficult and people stop asking him to carry it. A-Ning sticks to Wei Wuxian’s side when she can’t, looking faintly sad whenever Wei Wuxian makes an unhealthy choice, which is even more effective than her scolding, although not as effective as getting A-Yuan to place his chubby hand on Wei Wuxian’s cheek and go, “Baba no.”

Without so many nightmares, with having people around he can talk to freely, with no one pestering him about his sword, Wei Wuxian shoulders all the responsibilities of first disciple and brother of the clan leader, something he apparently hadn’t been able to do before.

She knows what the rumors say. Those that had been against her and her family being set free, relatively speaking, are now patting themselves on the back. Clearly the fearsome Yiling Patriarch has been cowed by marriage. His bastard son, who he loved enough at first sight to legitimize, has softened his sharp edges.

Wen Qing knows that’s all bullshit and Jiang Yanli does too, but.

He is better.

Jiang Cheng can’t seem to decide between being relieved and grateful at having his brother back and resentful that it took Wen Qing to bring it about and – whatever his feelings about her are, and her marriage to his brother are, which she doesn’t know because she refuses to acknowledge them.  

“I’m glad,” she says quietly.

Her sister in law squeezes her hand, and Wen Qing squeezes back, and if this isn’t exactly the life she wanted, well. It’s a life. That’s more than she thought she’d have.

She has a loving husband and an adorable son and living, healthy family. There is nothing for her to complain about.

Just because it all feels stolen, just because it all feels like something she never should have been given, doesn’t make it less good, doesn’t make it less hers.

~

Wen Qing knows that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are in love with each other because she has two functioning eyes. She’s known that since she was a teenager in Cloud Recesses.

She had not wanted to come between them. She hadn’t planned on it. This all hadn’t even been her idea.

She’s guilty enough about it that she ignores her own feelings.

At first, she doesn’t have any, not really. Then it hadn’t been right.

She’s never felt greedy before. She doesn’t like it but she doesn’t know how to stop it.

~

They’ve been married for over a year the first time Wei Wuxian kisses her.

They’ve been married nearly two years the first time Wei Wuxian kisses Lan Wangji.

Something settles in her then, relief burrowing into her bones. Lan Wangji comes to her after, a combination of desirously happy and mortified, and bows to her and looks her in the eye when he tells her that he’s in love with her husband.

“I know,” she says kindly, “he’s easy to love.” She pauses, then says, “I do not mind. If it’s you.”

His lips part, and she holds the place that should be his, married to Wei Wuxian, but.

She can share, if he can. Even if it can’t be official, on paper, she and Wen Ning can bear witness to him and Wei Wuxian bowing to each other and maybe she’ll finally be able to breath when she can give back some of what she stole.

~

There are rumors about the three of them.

They don’t listen to them.

A-Yuan calls Lan Wangji his father and no one corrects him and that’s good enough for her, really.

It’s a good life, and it’s hers, and she’s glad of it.  

#fandom ficcery #untamed #what the fuck is this #i cannot emphasize enough #how much i didn't intend to write this #meant to write like four sentences just to get the idea out #and instead there's this #i just think wwx an wq would be a good married couple #i guess #i comprise the entirety of the wwx/wq community #i just think they're neat

[restingdomface]

Consider: what if WWX never lost his golden core so he never resorted to demonic cultivation. Now, this wouldn’t save everything. He’s still a grating little asshole who runs when he shouldn’t and won’t stop trying to befriend everyone he sees.

But that’s the thing entirely. Is that the elders of the clans would have no reason to call him anything but a war hero. He’s not a satanist hellbent on their damnation. He’s not raising the dead. He just ran off with some Wen remnants that he says never should have been in the camps to begin with.

Lan Qiren doesn’t much like the kid. He’s loud, he runs, he drinks. But he also stands by Lan Wangji’s side to keep him safe and fight with him, not thinking he’s better than him, but as an equal in their cultivation. That’s his nephews first friend. And he’s still his nephews friend.

So he volunteers to go see these Wens, and finds them nothing more than children and elderly. The only two cultivators they have, gave up everything in their life, including their freedom, just to see what’s left of their family safe.

Everyone was so wrapped up in the idea of Wei Wuxian being evil, that even when presented with solid evidence that he wasn’t planning anything but a garden, they couldn’t wrap their minds around it being anything but a trap.

But I am obsessed with the idea of someone like Lan Qiren, who doesn’t even like Wei Wuxian very much, defending him. Saying that he fully believes that these people were being tortured by the Jin clan, and everything sorta just falling apart from there. He gives the Jiang clan enough backing in his conviction that they don’t have to choose between Yanli’s marriage to Jin Zixuan, or between the rogue adopted brother. They can have both, as a treat.

But also I fuckin love the idea of Lan Qiren moving them all into the Cloud Recesses and talking about how A-Yuan will act as any other disciple in their clan and Wen Ning and Wen Qing will work with the healers and the rest of them (tho maybe a few other kids too I love AUs where there’s more kids than just A-Yuan and that makes the Jins look even worse, they would be absorbed into the students too) can live a peaceful life of retirement while still watching over the kids there.

And WWX is just. So moved. That he does /anything/ possible to try and be a follower of all those stuffy rules, and LWJ is just. Subtly off to the side all ‘lol I got you wine’ and WWX is all ‘LWJ THATS RULE BREAKING’ and LWJ is all ‘idk what do now, brother said he would like this as a courting gift, brother??? Brother what do wrong???? BROTHER HELP ME!!!!’ And LXC is just subtly setting them up in their predicaments together and WWX is already in LWJ’s guest room, ‘huh, maybe y’all should keep A-Yuan for the night? Oh you only have two beds? It’s okay, you two can share so the baby can have the guest room’ but that one backfired too cause A-Yuan will take any and all chances to sleep with Xian-Gege and no he will not be in the bed with Young Master Lan that’s not how this works Xian-Gege, so now WWX is with the baby and LXC is all ‘ahhh shit that’s fuckin cute great now I have to get the baby used to LWJ so the three of them can cuddle’ and in this universe Lan Xichen, the upstanding Lan Sect Leader, abandons all morals and tells LWJ, to bury the child in rabbits. Just. Hand him a carrot and put him in the bunny pen. Just start handing him bunnies and don’t stop. Just make the child giggle and bury him in friends.

A-Yuan is much more open to communal bed sharing with all of them now. It’s nice. He’s baby. Also LWJ takes him and WWX down to Ciyi Town for day trips sometimes. They learn the baby gets super seasick when Uncle Jiang is there one day and Jiang Cheng has to buy new outer robes in town cause he’s wearing the baby’s lunch. Ooooof.

Mainly, the point of this post: I want a fic where LQR legit defends WWX cause he thinks he’s a hooligan, but not evil, and now he’s regretting everything at the WangXian wedding. It’s okay, Shifu, just get drunk.

#the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #the untamed #mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #lan sizhui #a yuan #lan qiren #fix it au

[mzdsanalysis]

Wei Wuxian’s Actions and Morality:

I am kind of confused on some parts, and i would really appreciate it if someone is willing to discuss it with me. It’s regarding Wei Wuxian, and his exact involvement in the events at the Accident at Qiongqi Path and Bloodbath of Nightless City.

Now, at the accident at Quiongqi path, Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning were just going to Koi tower for the full month celebration to which they had been invited to. Jin Zixun ambushes and threatens to kill him if he doesn’t remove the hundred hole curse. Wei wuxian tries to explain that he didn’t cast the curse and isn’t guilty (admittedly he could have done it in a better way). Jin zixun doesn’t believe him and continues to threaten him. Jin Zixuan appears, tries to diffuse the tension, but still insists that wei wuxian comes along to answer the accusations. Wei wuxian doesn’t believe him (he isn’t wrong to. Guys show up with a whole gang, accuse him of something he didn’t do, and then ask him willingly to come along to “resolve” the issue, though they had spent the past year slandering him and wanting to murder the people he is trying to protect. Just getting into his perspective of things.) Wei wuxian gets angry and accuses Jin zixuan of being on the whole thing, and is agitated and afraid. Which is when he loses control of the resentful energy, which extends to his control of wen ning, and that’s how wen ning, not currently being in control of his body, punches a hole into Jin Zixuan and kills him. Now, automatically, I am going to absolve Wen Ning of any guilt. He is literally NOT in control of his own body. He did that due to the Wei wuxian controlling him with resentful energy. But Wei wuxian also isn’t completely guilty. He was upset, confused, and to some extent scared. But not even subconsciously was he planning or intending to kill Jin zixuan. He lost control over the resentful energy. He put wen ning is a specific state, and then lost control over him, due to not being able to regulate his own emotions during the whole chaos. An accident. An accident that led to someone innocent being killed, but an accident none the less.

Now, I expect different peoples take on this is going to deviate somewhat and that’s fine. I am cool with it. In my opinion, he isn’t completely guilty, but is still responsible. He did not have the intention to kill Jin zixuan, but he DID kill him. It was because of the resentful energy that he was still learning about and how to control it. But if you are going to use a knife after everyone telling you it’s dangerous – although they are doing it just because they don’t want you to have the knife, they want themselves having the knife, while at the same time threating to kill your friends, so you don’t exactly have a choice, but use a freaking knife to, you know, NOT DIE – when you accidently stab someone, it’s still somewhat on you. Lan Zhan had warned him that it could end up badly if he did loose control over the resentful energy and wen ning, and wei wuxian dismissed it. But it was still something he was experimenting with and researching, and hadn’t completely figured out. So it’s not like he didn’t care or was dismissing that it was a bad thing, just that he genuinely didn’t think it would happen. He has been controlling it so far, and everything has been fine, and since he doesn’t exactly have any other options, he will have to continue using it, despite the arguments on the dangers of it.

Now, the bloodbath at Nightless City. Wei wuxian already knows at this point that wen ning and wen qing are dead, and he heads there to atleast collect their ashes and bring them back. When he arrives at the pledge conference, all the sects attending, all 3000, are collected together, and Jin Guangshan makes his speech. He announced that both wens are dead, and then spreads the ashes, the ones Wei ying had come to collect. Then announces that they were going on next day to kill the rest of wens anyway, along with wei ying, to loud applause from the crowd in attendance. Its only then wei wuxian makes his presence known. Before that, he was just listening on. Jin Guangshan makes some more accusations: at Qiongqi Path wei wuxian killed Lanlingjin sect members, the ones jin zixun brought to ambush him, and that wei ying is the one who made wen ning go in a rampage at koi tower (a lie. While jin zixuan’s death at wen ning – actually wei wuxian’s – was an accident, the rampage at koi tower, as we know for a fact, wasn’t an accident (confirmed by MXTX’s interview.) I am not sure if it was mentioned in the book, but from what I can recall, it was xue yang. I might be wrong, but it was still done on Jin Guangshan’s orders. So the deaths of members of the other sect’s members, Lan and Nie, and the others, lie not at wei wuxian’s feet but Jin Guangshan’s. Wei wuxian doesn’t take the accusations silently, and argues back: he was the one who was ambushed, who almost got killed. He has every right to defend himself against the men Jin Zixun brought to attack and kill him. The crowd says he shouldn’t have been so heartless, and in wei wuxian’s own words: no matter what the other sects throw at him, no matter how hard they try to harm and kill him, he is not allowed to touch them, harm their members, defend himself or fight back even if it cost him his life. The sects throw in their final arguments in:

Even if he was fighting back, it doesn’t account for the 130 people who died at koi tower at hands of wen ning.

He shouldn’t defend the wens. They are horrible and evil and guilty and deserve to die.

He is only doing it for his pride, and to prove himself a hero.

He laid the curse on Jin zixun.

Each of them are easily nullified.

Wei wuxian didn’t cause wen’s ning rampage. Jin Guangshan did. The 130 lives are on his own hands, not wei wuxians.

People aren’t guilty by association, especially by family relation. None of the wen remnants have any blood on their hands. They are from wen qing’s branch and are non-combatants, thus they were not involved in any of the Wen Ruhon’s actions. Nor were they involved in at the accident at Qiongqi Path or Koi tower. They are innocent.

The argument about his pride came from their attitude towards him from before his defection. They had admired his powers and were intimated by it, but didn’t like that he belonged to Jiang sect, and wasn’t willing to change his loyalties to belong to them instead. He also dared being defiant and outspoken, and powerful while being a servant’s son, and that’s a crime of it’s own in their eyes. Is wei wuxian’s slightly arrogant? Yes. Is he wrong to be? No, he is very powerful and is aware of what he is capable of. Is that a reason to hate him enough to want to kill him? No! wth

He laid the curse on Jin Zixun. He didn’t. Su she did. Jin Guangshan and Guangyo were aware of that, and still sent zixun to ambush wei ying anyway.

None of their accusation hold any weight to them. Admittedly, we know that because we read the book and these characters aren’t exactly able to do that. The only people here who know about it are Jin Guangshan and Jin Guangyao, who planned the whole thing in the first place. So, I am not going to paint these people as all evil. Some of the sect’s members did die. Some of these people have actually the right to be angry at what happened, though the anger is pointed in the wrong direction.

But the rest of the people are there because of the mob mentality. Because someone is guilty, someone needs to be punished. Here its 50 people and wei ying, one of their own ex members. But because they are not worth the effort, none of it needs to be investigated, to be proven. They have an available party to hold guilty, and it’s far too comfortable for them to put it on their heads rather than find the actually accountable people.

To an extent, it really does seem, by the proofs handfed to them by Jin Guangshan, the wei ying is guilty, That he actually did it. But don’t they owe to the 50 wen members who are about to be slaughtered like cattle, for no other reason than being associated with Wen sect and Wei wuxian, for atleast one of them to look a bit harder, to try a bit harder? I would say so. Wei ying would too. I don’t think the other sects would agree with us, but it’s ancient china society, and modern war ethics and laws aren’t exactly in place to prevent them from doing so.

Back to Wei ying, he gets shot at by a disciple. It actually pierces him, just by luck not in a fatal place but only by a fluke. It was aimed at the heart. The intention to kill was there.  He fires the arrow back, kills back the guy who tried to kill him. I don’t know exactly how anyone could hold him completely in the wrong here. We might not like it, but wei ying is not some pure white angel, nor a pacifist by any means. He is a soldier, a fighter, and he is amidst people who are literally moving to kill him by any means, and he just got an almost kill-shot. He has every right to defend himself, fight back, and honestly, kill back anyone who is trying to kill him. Eye for an eye, punch for a punch. It’s ruthlessly fair, despite sounding harsh. Honestly, it is harsh, but it’s not wrong, wither we like it or not.

He calls forth his dead, the battle begins. Lan Wangji tries to get him to stop, but it doesn’t work. There are definite tones of a sort of deliriousness. I am not exactly sure to how severe it was, but it shows he wasn’t exactly in an emotional and mental fit state. It’s definitely obvious when he tries to make his way to Yanli, and is too worked up to control the corpses crowding around, and the one standing behind Jiang Yanli. He is only able to do it when yanli asks him to stop it all so that she could tell him what she had wanted to tell him. He forces himself to calm down, and is only then able to control the corpses. (I am not saying the deliriousness was severe enough to absolve him of any responsibility he does hold in the event; I am merely acknowledging it’s presence.)

Then Jiang Yanli gets killed by the bow guy’s brother, and that when thing’s go from going downhill to just jumping right off the cliff. But unfortunately, MXTXs writing doesn’t exactly let us to be a witness to the scene, so the curtains close, and we are only allowed to make our assumptions on what happened, who/how/how many exactly died.

The point of this bloody essay is to determine the exactly how much of the event was Wei wuxian involved and responsibly for, so I can examine wei wuxian’s morality with all facts present.

If we go according to the book, wei ying:

Used some pretty grotesque methods to kill in the sunshot campaign

Allowed/ made Wen Ning kill his killers at Qiongqi Path

Accidentally killed Jin Zixuan

Kill Jin Zixun and his men after their ambush

Got in a fight on the way to the pledge conference with a group of cultivators: he broke one’s nose, kicked out his teeth, and made another fall and break his legs (not a severe injury according to lan wangji)

Fought in Bloodbath at Nightless city (after they had made the announcement, they were going ahead with the attack on the wen remnants and wen ying)

I am only including actions that me, anyone else (or the character’s) could possibly hold against him and question his morality with.

Here is where my confusion comes in. Now, I made the mistake of reading the novel only after finishing the tv show. As we know, the tv show took some liberties with the plotline and altered a few things. I honestly like a lot of the changes. Usually when tv shows make changes like that, it doesn’t always work out and it kind of depletes the essence of the story, but they actually managed it quite well. But one of the key changes were the plotlines around the Qiongqi Path accident and nightless city.

Divergences in the tv show:

At Qiongqi Path, Su she’s flute is what makes Wen Ning kill Jin Zixuan (+ Jin Zixun) rather than wei wuxian loosing control due to his emotions.

At the bloodbath, Su She playing the flute is what stopped wei wuxian from halting the battle and loose control of the fierce corpses.

(+ by the time of the battle, the wen remnants were already dead, so wei wuxian’s fight becomes more about revenge and grief rather than to protect them)

Basically, they abbreviated a lot of his action to other people. Which I understand, I guess. You are less in the character’s head while watching the tv show rather than when you are reading the book, and for the audience to develop a better and more empathetic relationship with a lead character, liberties needed to be taken to make him more sympathetic.

My debate on his morality, hence, is more focused on the book character rather the tv show (honestly, since even his only 2 serious offences are not even his fault in the show.) but in the book, they kind of are. He did kill Jin Zixuan: accidentally. He had no intention whatsoever of him doing it; not subconsciously or consciously. He was just feeling agitated and angry and viewed Jin Zixuan as a threat, and Wen Ning, who was in his fierce corpse state, interpreted as a need to kill jin Zixuan.

The only way you could put this against him is if you hold him responsible of using such an unstable and dangerous form of cultivation/magic. But he already gave an answer for that, which none of us can argue against: he didn’t have choice. He never did with demonic cultivation.

He started using it in the Burial mounds to survive and make it out.

He used it to seek justice for his sects massacre (go ahead and debate the need for that if you need to. I don’t)

He used it to fight in the Sunshot campaign, and he was a MAJOR force in the campaign, and a enormous contributor to it’s success. Could they still have won if he hadn’t been with them? Maybe, sure. But if there was any risk to loosing them, and wen sect remained undefeated, Jiang chen and yanli and wei wuxian were as good as dead. No way they or the other sects who had raised arms against wen sect would have been allowed to live or survive.

He used it to save Wen Ning and other wen remnants: war prisoners who were undergoing severe abuse and were basically being killed off. For no reason than being wens. Yes, I know it was common in ancient china to kill off the whole family. But it’s not right. Wei wuxian doesn’t think so. And neither do i.

He used it to bring back Wen Ning for Wen qing.

-  I don’t know where I read it that he brought him back for protection or as a weapon. He didn’t. He was pissed at what they did to him, and brought him to allow him to tell wei ying who had kill him then allowed him to get his revenge. He than made him sentient because he had promise wen qing & the other wen members that he could bring him back. He promised his sister that he could bring her brother back. That’s why.

He used it to protect burial mounds and the wen remnants: A bunch of non-combatant members that he had grown to love and care about as family. As you can see here:

“ He turned around, knowing that it’d be a long time before he’s get to see the people he was familiar with again.

But…right now, wasn’t he on his way to seeing people he was familiar with as well?”

He used it to fight back during the ambush. He doesn’t have a gold core; He literally cant wield a sword to defend himself. So he uses it to summon corpses to fight against Jin Zixun’s men.

·       He uses it to fight in the Bloodbath of Nightless City, after Jin Guangshan announced that they were going ahead with killing the rest of the wens and wei ying, and the attending crowd voiced out their excitement over the prospect.

 Second, the bloodbath at nightless city. Yes, it was a very brutal battle with many casualties. But these people were planning to kill him and the wens. They had decided it by the time he spoke up. It was a definite thing that was going to happen.

 Now you can argue against the use of violence, and need of it. But while I am very anti-war myself, I still hold to the belief that there are some fights that are worth fighting for, that need to be fought for. The wen remnants were innocent, and no one, NO ONE, had the right to decide they needed to die just because they were wens. They were innocent people. They had not actively killed or participated in the massacre that the main wen sect had conducted, and being blood relations to the actual guilty party is not an indication of being guilty too.

You could also argue the value of 3000 lives against 50. I have seen people do it, and write metas about. But whats the value of 1 life or 10 or 50? How are we supposed to decide who deserve to live more? How is that anyway moral?

Wei wuxian didn’t act to choose one group of lives over the other. He did it to protect himself and the people he cared about, and that meant fighting against anyone who was actively intending to kill and harm them, and was an acting threat. As human being who, like any other being, has the right to defend himself, to protect himself, to survive and be able to live. 3000 people wanting to kill him, and wens doesn’t take away his right to do that. There isn’t a rule that if enough people want you dead and murdered, rightly or not, you should just let them go ahead with it and turn your belly up. That…just doesn’t make sense?

I am in acceptance that he is a grey character, with his flaws and his merits. What I am confused about is exactly how much black and white went into making his grey. Maybe because I watched tv show and read the novel at the about same time, I feel like I am missing something. Did I miss anything? Did he do anything else? Am I wrong? What do other people think? Where do you guys lie on your judgment of wei wuxian as person and on his moral stance?

#wei wuxian #Wei ying #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian meta #wei ying meta #the untamed meta #mo dao zu shi meta #yiling laozu #yiling patriarch

[admirableadmiranda]

This bit of the book - I'm confused by wx saying lw is having an affair. I know it's a joke, but have I missed something?

In the past, you wanted to give me your money pouch yourself. Why won’t you give it to me now? Just look at you. You not only stealing in secret, but you’re also having an affair in secret.” Lan WangJi plunged over and finally caught him, holding him tight in his arms as he protested, “We have prostrated thrice, so we already are… husband and wife. It does not count as an affair.” - ExR chapter 112

Well I see that it recently got translated by someone who had a different way to say that. But really it's just Wei Wuxian wanting to fuck with his husband a bit, saying that he's being all wicked and committing all sorts of crimes, having not only stolen the pouch that Mianmian gave Wei Wuxian, but also having an affair (aka having sex with Wei Wuxian while not being married) which is what Lan Wangji is protesting. "You cannot call it an affair, since we did bow three times and are married," because they eloped and bowed twice in the Yunmeng ancestral hall and a third time off screen.

The subtlety here that you may be recognizing that you're missing is their marriage is not legal yet. They call themselves married and clearly the bows is the part that actually mattered most to them, but it is not yet recognized by Lan Wangji's clan, so it is not a legal marriage, but simply one where they are calling themselves married and ignoring anyone who may disagree.

I am happy to say that them going to the banquet in the first extra does legitimize it and it's part of why they're both super intent on being there and being seen. For Wei Wuxian to go to the family banquet does mean he is recognized legally as Lan Wangji's husband with all that entails and there is no more clunky gray space for them to live in. Since Modaozushi is a world in which the legal sector is also tied to the family clans, without that acknowledgement for the two of them, they were not strictly speaking married, although I am willing to bet that if anyone tried to tell them that they would have none of it.

I hope that helps with the confusion! It's a subtle thing, something that's subtle enough that I forgot until I answered the question that it did confuse me at first too! Wei Wuxian can tease him about it because while they are married and call themselves married, it is not legal until confirmed as such by someone of power and so Wei Wuxian can say that Lan Wangji is being a hardened criminal and having an affair. He obviously does not believe so, but since one of his favorite things to do is rile up Lan Wangji until he loses his mind, it makes it a viable teasing option.

Thanks for the ask!

#mdzs #lan wangji #wei wuxian #wangxian #asks #anon #anon asks #in short it's wwx doing one of his favorite things #playing obtuse and being a goofball to make his husband react #also an excuse for MXTX to get them to say in universe 'we're married and that is a fact'

[theres-a-goldensky]

30 More The Untamed Fic Recs

Here we go again. Another Wangxian rec list. Are you bored of me yet?

Were these recs helpful to you? If so, you can check out my other Wangxian rec posts:

Part 1 - 40 recs

Part 2 - 23 recs

Part 3 - 23 recs

As ever, feel free to reblog.

You can also head over to my bookmarks on AO3.

(All recs are complete) (I’ve noted pairings, length, and rating, but not any warnings or additional tags.)

** denotes personal favorite

1. say it's here where our pieces fall in place by Lirelyn - ~69,000 words, explicit - Modern AU where Lan Zhan meets Wei Wuxian after he adopts a small A-Yuan, because Wei Wuxian also has a past with him. Lots of adorable family feelings and emotional hurt/comfort.

As often happened, Wei Ying’s voice preceded his entrance, calling to his co-worker through the open door, “Frankie, they forgot to order spoons again, can you hold down the fort a little longer while I —”

Lan Wangji was already looking to his entrance, head turning as if magnetized toward the voice, so he saw the moment when Wei Ying’s eyes landed on A-Yuan and the smile fell from his face. He looked stricken, and Lan Wangji immediately looked to his son in alarm. A-Yuan seemed fine. His small eyebrows were pulled together in a small frown as he looked back at Wei Ying, but that wasn’t surprising, given the expression on Wei Ying’s face. Lan Wangji had seen that face beaming, laughing, whining, wheedling, and occasionally angry, but never like this. He looked blank and hollow and it stirred something fierce in Lan Wangji: he wanted to rise up and obliterate whatever was making him look like that. Then his eyes lifted to Lan Wangji and there was a flash of something almost like betrayal, before he pressed his lips together and turned his back.

“I’m going to run out to the store and get spoons,” he said in a flat voice to his co-worker, and left without looking their way again.

2. the breaking of your soul (upon my lips) by sunsandships - ~41,000 words, mature - This is an AU of the novel where Wei Wuxian puts two and two together when Lan Zhan sneaks that kiss from him. It changes a lot of things.

Against his own will, Wei Wuxian found himself glancing at Lan Wangji’s hands. They were… certainly large enough that one of them could wrap around both of his wrists. And Lan Wangji was certainly strong enough, tall enough, broad-shouldered enough to bodily pin him against the trunk of a tree with no chance of him breaking free. Lan Wangji was the first person he’d come across in his slow comb through the vicinity of where he’d been so headily kissed.

Wei Wuxian drew a sharp breath. There was a connection to be made here. He didn’t think he was crazy enough to make it. Perhaps he truly was going slightly insane with demonic cultivation if he could believe Lan Wangji, the paragon of virtue and respectability, who lived unflinchingly under Gusu Lan’s three thousand edicts, who had at best only tolerated his presence as children, would sneak up to him while he was blindfolded, pin him against a tree, and steal a kiss from him in broad daylight.

3. and his wanting grows teeth by yukla - ~25,000 words, teen - This is a very interesting AU where Lan Zhan is a traveling cultivator and runs into Wei Wuxian and the Jiangs looking for shelter during a snowstorm. No spoilers, but this fic goes to a pretty dark place that genuinely shocked me, but I enjoyed. (Still ends well though.)

Without further ado, they are hustled past the entrance and into a smaller greeting area. Huang-bobo approaches the brazier in the center with his hands outstretched, warming his fingers in the heat, but Lan Wangji hangs back. As he carefully brushes the snow free from his shoulders, he feels the burn of a curious gaze trailing up and down his body, lingering at the guqin still strapped to his back; when the sensation pauses at his face and stays there, he lifts his head.

The boy with the ribbon lights up at the eye contact, flashes another dazzling smile, and gives a little wave.

“You must be new here,” he whispers, something like laughter threaded into his voice, eyes scrunching into winking half-moons. “All dressed up in white like that! You might lose yourself in the snowstorm!”

Something stirs to life in Lan Wangji’s chest. It’s—uncomfortable, he decides, and so he steps away. Teasing should not be encouraged with a response.

4. Ghosts Shouldn't by ShanaStoryteller - ~15,000 words, not rated - After Wei Ying's death, his spirit seems to linger. The story is told from Lan Xichen's point of view. I love an outsider point of view. I also love the way the author fleshes out his character as well.

Lan Xichen means to force his way inside, angry ghost of the Yiling Patriarch or no, but then his brother lets out slow breath, settling, the pain easing from his face as he falls back into a more peaceful sleep.

His hair is moving on its own, so subtly Lan Xichen might not have noticed it if he hadn’t been looking at Wangji so intently. It’s like someone’s running their hand through his hair.

The window frosts over suddenly, thick enough that he can’t see through it. Anxiety spikes through him so quickly he’s nauseous with it, but then the frost melts away and the opening notes of Healing start up again.

He can’t tell if it’s a warning or not. Maybe it’s just an acknowledgement. Wei Wuxian knows he’s there.

5. **leading tone by silencemostofall - ~32,000 words, general - This is a modern AU set in a world where people who love you leave a mark of color on you the first time you touch. Wei Wuxian has no color on him. So much emotional hurt/comfort. So much of Wei Wuxian's terrible self-esteem.

He can cover up his palms with his gloves, so that the blankness does not draw stares. But he has no marks on his fingertips, which he cannot easily hide, and none visible on his face or neck, the blankness of which is even more difficult to hide. People look at him and, with a single glance, understand the single most devastating truth that he knows about himself.

They assume that he does not have very many marks. He may be an eccentric, dramatic person, but the likelihood that an individual has all of their marks on, say, their feet or their torso or other places that are not immediately obvious-- that probability goes down as your number of marks increases. He can laugh as much as he wants about how he loves touching people for the first time with odd places, like the knee or the elbow, but it doesn't quite mask the feeling of other that he knows he exudes.

They assume that he does not have a lot of marks. This, while a heavy weight, is not unbearably so. It is okay that they think he is not much loved. It chafes a bit, and feels occasionally like something he has to furiously push down within himself, but it is not unbearable. What would be unbearable is if they knew the truth: that he does not just have very few marks, but none. That he is simply an individual who is not loved at all.

6. **pastel by antebunny - ~7,000 words, gen - This is a remix work of the above fic. It's from Lan Zhan's point of view and just different enough to be interesting. Still lots of emotional hurt/comfort. I love this concept a whole lot, and both of these fics are great.

It’s a simmering day in May, and Wei Ying is wearing long sleeves, long pants, and gloves.

His choice of dress isn’t unusual for many reasons. For one, there’s plenty of people who don’t like strangers seeing their soulmarks. There’s plenty of people who wish to keep them private by covering them up. For another, Wei Ying spends most of his day in various chilly computer science department rooms, He could just be wearing long sleeves for that.

7. one good thing by Yuu_chi - ~27,000 words, teen - Wei Wuxian has died (or did he??) and is haunting his old home. Lan Zhan moves in. This story has a happy ending! And so much yearning!

To the flowers struggling to grow on the other side of the glass, he says, “We’re getting a new roommate. Well, I’m getting a new roommate - you’re getting somebody who might actually be able to water you for a change.” The flowers outside sway a little in the breeze, and Wei Wuxian nods contemplatively. “He can’t be any worse than the last guy who lived here. Remember when I spooked him while he was cooking and he nearly burnt the house down? Of course you don’t. You’re fucking foliage, your memory is worse than mine. I remember though, so it’s cool.”

There’s the sound of shuffling behind him and Wei Wuxian looks up to see the stranger has entered the kitchen, setting the last of the boxes down on the table. Disgustingly neat handwriting declares the box kitchen - homeware. The stranger carefully brushes his hair back from his face and, without so much as a second of hesitation, cracks open the box and begins unpacking.

“Wow, you really don’t waste any time, do you?” Wei Wuxian marvels. “You literally just got here - who cares about unpacking? Sit down for a moment, breathe, have something to eat. It’s not going anywhere.”

8. with you, I am home by tellthemstories - ~47,000 words, mature - Modern AU where Wei Wuxian is being forced to return home to entertain marriage proposals. So naturally instead he "convinces" Lan Zhan to pretend to date him. I love a good fake dating fic, and this one hits all the right beats.

Lan Zhan does that almost-smile thing that Wei Wuxian takes to mean he’s happy, or at the very least not-mad. “You don’t have any money.”

“Not true. I have the money from our last job, when we settled the vengeful spirit for the flower shop girl.” (He doesn’t. They have Lan Zhan’s money. Wei Wuxian spent his on a pack of loquats and three bottles of Emperor’s Smile wine.)

“Fine,” Wei Wuxian says. “Do it for me.”

Thinking back on it two weeks later, standing alone in the middle of Jin Ling’s graduation banquet and watching Lan Zhan walk away from him, Wei Wuxian realises that this, this was the moment when he should have known. He should have realised in the way Lan Zhan doesn’t hesitate or negotiate and just says with that half-fond, half-exasperated tone he gets sometimes, “Fine.”

9. and in the spring i shed my skin by wvlfqveen - ~11,000 words, teen - Modern AU where Wei Ying can't find Lan Zhan, but hey, there happens to be a rabbit here instead. Features a very slow Wei Ying, emotional hurt/comfort and accidental love confessions.

Immediately, his heart settles and he grins down at his new friend. “Oh, hello there,” he coos, reaching out to pet the fluffy ears. The bunny is very, very still under his hand.

“Did Lan Zhan bring you today?,” he continues cooing. “I’m sorry I missed that, but your Dad didn’t tell me he was bringing you.”

Lan Zhan rarely brings his rabbits to work since they are as tolerant of crowds and unnecessary noise as he is. They were probably relevant to today’s lesson but…

Wei Ying frowns. “Why would he leave you alone? And where is your cage?”

10. how, or when, or from where by sarahyyy - ~10,000 words, gen - Wei Ying wakes up in the hospital with amnesia and can't remember the last few years of his life, including his best friend and the guy he's in love with.

Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes so hard Wei Wuxian is surprised his eyeballs don’t just fall out of his eye sockets. “That’s the worst part. He did. Whatever mating ritual you both have going on is so fucking weird, Wei Wuxian.” He snorts. “If you’d stayed asleep for any longer, I’d have lost my shit and thrown my myself out a window just so I wouldn’t have to talk to Lan Wangji again.”

Wei Wuxian blinks at him. “Is this a good time to ask who Lan Wangji is?”

Jiang Cheng glares at him. “Your Lan Zhan,” he says, annoyed. Wei Wuxian must look as confused as he feels, because Jiang Cheng’s annoyance bleeds out into concern. “Your Lan er-gege? Your soulmate, Lan Wangji?”

Wei Wuxian shakes his head. “No bells are ringing.”

11. ** a shared plate by yukla - ~26,000 words, teen - This is an absolutely gorgeous fic about Wei Wuxian traveling the world post-canon to rediscover himself and restore his faith in humanity and eventually find his way back to Lan Zhan. The whole thing is great, but the last two chapters are just *chef's kiss*

Lan Zhan,

Just as the mountains stand unchanging and the green rivers flow ceaselessly, we will meet again — and between then and now, you cannot hope to avoid my letters, either! Haha! Lan Zhan, I’ve seen so many things and met so many people, and it’s only been a month!

I miss you already

It’s so hot that I find myself missing the wind in Gusu’s mountains. Your poor Wei Ying is I’m melting away, Lan Zhan...

I’m realizing now, sixteen years is a long time to be away — the world is vast, and quite a bit different than I remembered. And in sixteen years, a child can also grow up into a man! It’s your job to catch me up on A-Yuan’s fun childhood stories! I do remember hearing something about a pile of rabbits...

12. with your arms outstretched to me by annemari - ~14,000 words, teen - Lan Zhan finally gets up the nerve to ask Wei Ying on a date, but things don't go as expected. Features emotional hurt/comfort (are we sensing a theme with these recs??) and just regular hurt/comfort.

"Oh, man, I was hoping you had some water with you," Wei Ying says. "I totally forgot to bring any for myself. Stupid of me."

"There is enough for both of us," Lan Wangji says. He has another bigger bottle in the car, as well.

Wei Ying hums but he only takes a few sips. He presses it back into Lan Wangji's hand. "I don't need any more."

Lan Wangji is considering arguing, but then Wei Ying shifts a bit, moving his ankle, and gasps very, very quietly.

13. ** A Lot of Edges Called Perhaps by hansbekhart - ~22,000 words, explicit - Wei Wuxian has finished traveling and returned to the Cloud Recesses and Lan Zhan. But their lives never do run smoothly.

“Lan Jingyi,” Wei Wuxian says, recognizing him after a moment. His heart slams against his rib cage. “Where is Lan Zhan? What’s happened?”

Lan Jingyi flaps a hand at him, gulping air. Wei Wuxian hands him the water, and leans back against Little Apple’s side as he waits impatiently for the boy to get his breath back.

“I’m so glad I found you,” Jingyi gasps, just as Wei Wuxian is about to throttle a proper answer out of him. “Hanguang Jun was in such a state when he woke up, we didn’t know if you’d come and gone already.”

“Where is he, Jingyi,” Wei Wuxian says, as evenly as he can. “What happened?”

14. So Why Not Crack Your Skull When the Mind Swells by greenteafiend - ~14,000 words, explicit - Wei Wuxian is cursed to feel extraordinary pain unless he's touching Lan Zhan. Yet more of Wei Wuxian's self-esteem issues and Lan Zhan's steadfast devotion.

“Are you hurt, Wei Ying?” Lan Wangji asks, pressing his hand to Wei Ying’s forehead to feel his temperature. There is no fever, but that doesn’t do much to mitigate Lan Wangji’s worries.

“No—I’m not hurt,” says Wei Ying, sagging forward to lean his weight into Lan Wangji’s hand like he can’t help himself.

It’s so strange—Lan Wangji can feel what Wei Ying is feeling. Although the relief is still very profound, wisps of other things are making themselves known; happiness; wistfulness; guilt. It’s all so fleeting that Lan Wangji can’t even begin to deduce what has provoked those feelings, but he wishes he knew their source.

15. puzzle pieces by Anonymous - ~6,000 words, teen - Modern AU where Wei Ying and Lan Zhan are roommates, and Wei Ying has started borrowing Lan Zhan's clothes.

“Hm? Oh.” With sleepy eyes that does— things to Lan Zhan’s heart, he blinks and tugs at the lower hem of the shirt, which is riding just above the curve of his thighs. Does Lan Zhan’s mouth water? Maybe. Yes. Absolutely. “Ah, yeah, sorry. Laundry day caught up to me before I could catch up with it. I saw this shirt left in the washer a few days ago, and—“ He blinks up at Lan Zhan through dark eyelashes that Lan Zhan wants to kiss, maybe, and gives him an uncharacteristically hesitant smile. “Do you mind?”

I mind the fact that we are not married, Lan Zhan thinks. But he can’t say that, and his tongue doesn’t know how to say anything else. So he stays silent.

“Oh,” Wei Ying says after a moment. “If you—oh, damn, I should’ve known, this is like real silk, must’ve been super expensive. Fuck. Okay, here, uh, I’ll take it off—“

16. ** Nothing But Trouble by brooklinegirl - ~60,000 words, explicit - Modern AU where Wei Ying is trying to be a good brother and get Jiang Cheng laid. Somehow this plan involves pretending to date Lan Zhan.

"I won't!" Wei Ying insists. "I'll ask out someone...high stakes. I'll find someone. I'll...okay, how's this? I swear that I'll ask someone out and keep at it for at least two dates."

"No."

"Three dates."

"Nope."

"Okay, okay, five. That's fair! That's more than fair! One person, five dates." He points at Jiang Cheng. "You have to do it, too. That's how a pact works."

Jiang Cheng stares at him. "Five dates," he says flatly. "Five. And yours can't be Nie Huaisang."

17. i'm the one for your fire by occultings (microcomets) - ~43,000 words, explicit - This is a Modern AU and a Cherry Magic AU! (Side note: GO WATCH CHERRY MAGIC IF YOU HAVEN'T.) But in short, Wei Ying turns 30 without losing his virginity and gets the power to hear people's thoughts when he touches them. He gets more than he bargained for with Lan Zhan. The author does a good job of translating the story to these characters. Wei Ying is not forced to be like Adachi, the main character of Cherry Magic. He's still himself, and the same goes for Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan’s voice is so clear, so sudden that it’s as though it’s spoken, the slice of a sharp object through velvet.

He’s touching me.

Wei Ying startles for a moment, wonders if he’d somehow heard his own thoughts instead, but — no, that had definitely been Lan Zhan’s steady, factual baritone, loud and clear.

God, this is still so weird. It still doesn’t seem totally real. But how else can he account for hearing Lan Zhan’s voice in his head, as clearly as if he’d spoken to Wei Ying directly?

18. like blue flame over my fingertips by tangerinechar - ~37,000 words, teen - Modern AU where Lan Zhan and Wei Ying are roommates, and Lan Zhan just finds himself wanting to take care of Wei Ying.

Lan Wangji’s roommate. Is a problem.

He doesn’t get an answer to the roommate problem until the next morning, when Lan Xichen texts him telling him that the apartment he’d suggested (and helped pay rent for) to Lan Wangji said in the small text that it’d be two people per apartment, the second bedroom wasn’t actually a guest bedroom, sorry, Wangji, you can move in with me if you want, I have space —

No. Thank you for your kind offer, Brother, but I will be quite fine, Lan Wangji texts back.

19. ** some impulse of delight by handclaps - ~20,000 words, explicit - College AU where Wei Ying decides he needs to help Lan Zhan get used to touching people. Lan Zhan agrees. Wei Ying is dumb and in love. Lan Zhan is less dumb, but still as in love.

Lan Zhan shakes his head and fumbles, tries to push the cotton wool into Wei Wuxian’s hand.

“Sorry,” Wei Wuxian says, realising. “Touching people, I know.”

He feels dumb. He thought he’d worn Lan Zhan down more than this, that they were friends now and that his whole no touching thing was mostly overcome. He took Wei Wuxian’s hand easily, right? He looks down at his belly full of scratches, dabbing at them moodily.

“Sorry,” he says, again.

Lan Zhan makes some kind of noise, but he is busy packing the first aid kit back, placing everything exactly where it was before.

“Lan Zhan, you’re going to have to do something about this,” Wei Wuxian complains. “I know you don’t like touching people and usually it plays as a kind of gentlemanly thing, but what about emergencies?”

20. And I Will Call You Home by Spodumene - ~43,000 words, explicit - Wei Wuxian returns after a year of traveling and rejoins Lan Zhan in the Cloud Recesses. He's doing a good job of pining and ignoring the obvious. Look, at this point, it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm a sucker for stories where Wei Wuxian deals with his ~*~issues~*~ and Lan Zhan takes care of him, whether he asks for it or not. This story has lots of that. I also enjoyed the case fic aspect of it.

“I do, I think,” Wei Wuxian admits. “Would be nice to see his face again after so long. And at least this time, I’m going to show up draped in finery. What do you think, Lan Zhan? I can’t possibly disgrace him—or you—wearing a cloak like that.”

“You could never disgrace me,” Lan Wangji says gently, that soft, affectionate look back on his face.

Wei Wuxian grins, warmed to the tips of his toes.

“I’ll remind you of that later. The next time I’m three jars deep and feeling especially shameless, you’ll have to remember those words, Lan Er-gege.”

“Of course,” Lan Wangji says simply.

Wei Wuxian smiles some more, overwhelmed by fondness.

21. darling, am i a chore? by martyrsdaughter - ~7,000 words, explicit - Wei Wuxian really, really wants Lan Zhan to call him 'gege'. Lan Zhan knows a trump card when he sees one.

“You know what I want,” Wei Wuxian purrs, reaching up on his tiptoes to throw his arms over Lan Wangji’s shoulders. “Call me gege, won’t you? Call me and I’ll stop.”

Lan Wangji knows he will not stop, regardless of what he calls him. Still, he thinks about it. If there really is a way to make Wei Wuxian stop, should he not consider it? He doesn’t have any real interest in curbing his husband’s insatiable mischievousness, but he does like knowing things about him—everything there is to know.

If there’s something that persuasive in the world, that it can bring Wei Wuxian into submission when no one is under threat, could he stop himself from seeking it?

22. your name, safe in their mouth by astrolesbian - ~11,000 words, gen - Wei Wuxian & Lan Sizhui fic with the Wangxian in the background. Lan Sizhui wants another dad and Wei Wuxian wants a son, they just don't know how to explain that to each other.

“Hush,” Wei Wuxian says, in a low croon, like someone quieting a baby. Then he blinks, and looks away, awkward. “I mean—you shouldn’t speak. You’re tired. Rest if you need to.”

Lan Sizhui tucks his chin into his uncle’s shoulder, and lets his eyes fall closed.

“It doesn’t hurt too much, does it?” Wen Ning whispers to him kindly.

Lan Sizhui takes a deep breath, and takes stock of all his aches, his ringing ear, his hollow chest, the way he had selfishly wanted Wei Wuxian to keep speaking to him in that careful voice, like he was just a child to be soothed and there was no real danger. How dangerous, to pretend. “No,” he lies. “It doesn’t hurt that much at all.”

23. when you're doing all the leaving (then it's never your love lost) by tardigradeschool - ~26,000 words, teen - AU where Lan Zhan with Wei Wuxian to Jin Ling's one-month celebration. Things go down, and it leads to Lan Zhan discovering Wei Wuxian's missing golden core. This obviously will not do, and oh look, the best doctor in the world just happens to be right here.

“How—“ Lan Wangji chokes. “His core —?” He looks at Wen Ning, half accusatory in his shock. “Jin Zixun could not have—“

“No, no!” Wen Ning says, holding out his hands. “He hasn’t had one for years, don’t worry!”

This is not as reassuring as Wen Ning seems to think.

“Please explain,” Lan Wangji says, pained. He feels for Wei Wuxian’s pulse instead; in the absence of a golden core, it will have to do as reassurance that he’s still alive.

Wen Ning is so anxious that the story comes out in a ramble, out of order. Lan Wangji wants him to hurry up, but he’s also not confident in his own ability to speak, so he just keeps quiet and lets him talk. His heart feels as if it’s about to fall from his chest, beating nearly twice as fast as Wei Wuxian’s does under his fingers.

24. A Match in the Making by lareine - ~30,000 words, teen - A Modern AU where Wei Wuxian sees his single and bad ass friend Lan Zhan and his single and bad ass friend Mianmian and gets some very dumb ideas.

To return to the point: Lan Zhan was peak adulting. Mianmian was peak adulting. And if they were both at the peak, then they were on the same level. What level? That mysterious level thing that everyone mentioned when it came to dating.

Whatever level it was, Lan Zhan and Mianmian were on it together. Wei Ying nodded to himself. So, Lan Zhan and Mianmian were allowed to date each other. The next question was: were they compatible? Did they have chemistry or whatever the fuck people called it?

25. Crack me open, pour you out by Tenillypo - ~16,000 words, explicit - Lan Zhan gets cursed to say whatever he's thinking. So his worst nightmare. Mutual pining, first time, all good stuff.

Lan Wangji freezes with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, lifting his eyes to stare at Wei Ying.

"I know! Just completely paralyzed." Wei Ying mimes being still as a board. "I don't know how long I lay there. It must have been two days at least. Good thing for Little Apple. He wandered back to the village when he got hungry, and eventually a few of them got brave enough to come look for me. When they rolled me over, the figure fell out of my hand and I could move again. Cunning little thing." He shakes his head. "I was weak as a kitten for a little while after they took me back to the village, and by the time I recovered, they'd burned the whole place to the ground. Such a waste."

Lan Wangji slowly lowers his chopsticks, heart racing unpleasantly. In his head, a picture of Wei Ying slowly wasting to death alone in the middle of the woods, with Lan Wangji a hundred miles away and none the wiser.

26. Crazy, Rich Cultivators by ShanaStoryteller - 13,000 words, no rating - Lan Zhan wants to bring his boyfriend home to meet his family. There are some things he definitely didn't realize about Wei Ying.

“He has a life here,” he says down the line. He doesn’t say that he has a life here too, one he likes a lot more than the one he had before. He misses home. He’d miss Wei Ying more. But he doesn’t say that, doesn’t say how vibrant he is and how beautiful and how little interest Lan Zhan has at seeing him among the high society he grew up with.

“Well, your life is here, Wangji,” his brother says. “You can’t stay away from home forever. You’re going to have to see how he does with the rest of us sooner or later. It might as well be sooner.”

It might as well be never, as far as he’s concerned. His family can meet Wei Ying at their wedding.

“I’ll ask,” he says.

Wei Ying has no interest in cultivation politics. They’re horrible, the five clans have an iron tight alliance that’s thirty seconds away from collapsing in on itself the moment someone from one sect steps on another sect’s toes. It’s the worst and he hates it. Surely even just the idea of it will be so horrifying to Wei Ying that Lan Zhan will be able to tell his brother no.

27. just our hands clasped so tight by electrum ~4,000 words, teen - Lan Zhan really, really, really just wants to give Wei Ying everything he wants.

“Despite your best efforts,” Wei Wuxian agrees. He shakes his head in mock-dismay. “How much longer do you think that will last if you keep buying everything I look at?” When this, too, fails to soften Lan Zhan’s resolve, he tries a different tactic. “We couldn’t even afford potatoes,” he says. “Back when I was with the Wens, at the Burial Mounds. Only radishes! If I survived that, I can certainly survive without another pretty comb.”

Lan Zhan’s expression is at once unmoved and yet somehow stricken. “I would have bought Wei Ying potatoes,” he says, like Wei Wuxian doesn’t know, by this point, that Lan Zhan would buy him anything. “If I had known…”

28. ** Rotten Work by ShanaStoryteller - ~64,000 words, no rating - Jin Ling & Wei Wuxian with Wangxian in the background. Jin Ling is the best boy! And as he tries to rehabilitate his sect and his family and keep himself alive at the same time, he realizes, horrifyingly, that he has to be the mature one.

29. ** an act too often neglected by Ariaste - Lan Xichen / Meng Yao, ~61,000 words, explicit - The Wangxian is in the background here, but the main story is about Lan Xichen meeting Meng Yao on a dating app and getting immediately dickmatized. Meanwhile. Meng Yao refuses to be won over by Lan Xichen's charm. It goes as well as you'd expect for him.

The caption below is equally sparse: “5’6. Demanding.”

Lan Xichen feels a low simmer of arousal kindle in the pit of his stomach, and he gazes at that word-- demanding --for nearly as long as he’d stared at the photograph. He swipes right.

A few minutes later, a notification pops up: < Hm, the size of your hands is promising.

This is familiar. This is the flirtation stage. Lan Xichen knows the steps to the dance.

30. My Land Beneath Me by longleggedgit - ~30,000 words, explicit - Modern AU where Wei Wuxian is cast out of his sect and out of China to America. And Lan Zhan just...follows.

Lan Zhan always waited for his tea to cool before drinking, which meant he had nothing to do but give Wei Wuxian a judgmental look. “No more McDonald’s.”

“You’re just bitter because you get indigestion from anything that actually tastes good,” Wei Wuxian grumbled.

Because Lan Zhan was insufferably mature and patient, he didn’t rise to the bait. “We have time to stop somewhere before class,” he said.

“Fine. But you’re paying this time.”

It was a bad joke, and predictably, fell flat; Lan Zhan was, after all, paying for everything, every time. Wei Wuxian frowned into his mug.

“You know,” he said, after another swallow, “you really don’t have to be here. I’m going to figure something out.”

*

Interested in 86 more The Untamed fic recs?

Part 1 - 40 recs Part 2 - 23 recs Part 3 - 23 recs

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