#jiang cheng pack

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

No time to play. You are being sent away.

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#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #yu ziyuan #jiang yanli #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #Do you know how hard it was to *not* do a 'Sold To One Direction' spoof comic? It took nearly all my will power. #Mostly because it misaligns a little too far off from the canon events and vibes. #But sit with me for a moment. Consider it: #“BEEP BEEP BEEP. I threw my pillow at my alarm clock. ”Wei Wuxian get your lazy ass downstairs!“ Yu Ziyuan yelled. #I ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror to see my grey orbs staring back at me. #I put my long straight black hair in a ponytail with a red ribbon. #I went downstairs to see my adoptive mother holding a bottle of vodka and a cigarette. #'Listen up whore! I need money to pay the bills so I sold you. Your new owners will be here any minute so go pack!' #I stormed upstairs. There was no way I was going to let her sell me to a creepy old man! #I decided to run away. Since I'm not like other girls I don't have very many friends. #My gay friend Lan Zhan was mean but he lived like a block away. #As I opened the door I saw Wen Chao blocking the door. 'Ello Love. We're your new owners!' #I rolled my eyes and pushed him. 'Aren't you from that stupid Wen Sect? There's no way in hell I'm going with you!' #Hey again. It's me the OP of this blog taking a pause. I haven't actually read this story before aside from the memes #and I am honestly reeling from how this watpad fic chapter ends. What do you mean one of the one direction boys chloroforms her??? #Chapter 2 is so much worse #Why is there such a strong focus on the *eyes* of every boy!!! #This fanfic is a horror story actually. I came into it trying to make a funny parody but I got in over my head. Dear God. #It's me again. Several minutes have passed and I'm on chapter 4. What the FUCK is going on here? #I feel like I opened up pandora's box hoping for a fun little treat and got the plauge upon me. Dont read this fic.

[mossynebula]

Im coming out as a filthy poly gangsey and poly dream gang shipper. And perhaps. Even a gangsey and dream pack poly shipper. Im sorry everyone.

#the raven cycle #trc #the dream thieves #tdt #joseph kavinsky #kavinsky #dream pack #the dream pack #ronan lynch #gangsey #gansey #richard campbell gansey iii #blue sargent #adam parrish #henry cheng #proko trc #prokopenko #jiang trc #swanson trc #swan trc #skovron trc #skov trc #poly gangsey #poly dream pack

[noswordinourlake]

Rolls up three six months later with a pastel Jiang Cheng 🌸 hi hello

#the untamed #jiang cheng #jiang wanyin #cql fanart #theuntameddaily #mxtxnet #look i know jc wasn't in the Tanzhou scene i was using this palette for but he wanted to be SO BAD #packing his xianxia backpack and running off on adventures! #i had to add him to the group #my art

[whumpbby]

In any Omegaverse AU where Jiang Cheng is an omega, I imagine that Yunmeng Jiang has a much higher ratio of omega cultivators (and cyvillians) than any other sect. It kinda makes sense to me that omegas would chose to go there is given a choice - with the Yunmeng sect being so very defensive, build around an omega leader that had no time for shit and protected his own with his life.

Where else would they go?

To the Lan, that are so repressed that heats happen in seclusion and everyone is required to mute their scent 24/day and you can't openly find an alpha to fuck out of wedlock?

The Nie, led by alphas and basing their hierarchy on physical prowess? They don't discriminate against omegas - not in the usual way at least. But being the "weaker gender" never worked for anyone in Qinghe.

The Jin? Please -___- Jin Guangshan left the sort of a legacy that no omega worth their salt wanted to risk.

Yunmeng Jiang it is.

And the choice is a good one, because while Jiang Cheng doesn't cosnider his secondary gender anything pay attention to - he's okay with allowing his disciples the freedom to express it how they want. As long as the job is being done and no one disgraces the sect, the omegas can do what they want with their heats, the alphas can woo uninterrupted, children happen in and out of wedlock (more people, yay!). When out of wedlock, the kids are claimednby the Sect and raised by a flock of aunties (older omegas that lost their families in the war and needed to be givena job - JC found them a job) and it all kinda goes on.

Merging it with the idea that most of the Jiang disciples are basically Wei Wuxian 2.0. Jiang Cheng is the one outlier ruling over a pack of Wei Wuxians that think he's the bee's knees!

So, he ends up with a pack of gender-varied disciples that adore him and want the best for him, and are incredibly pushy about helping him with anything and everything.

And it all comes to head when post-novel, the disciples see their Leader brought to a lower point that they've ever seen him. And, the worst part, he's not healing.

The omegas in the pack instantly pinpoint the issue - with the pup (Jin Ling) gone, their sect leader has nothing to distract him from the dark clouds hanging over him. Nothing to make him want to wake up in the morning, apart from running his sect. It's a very dangerous position for an omega to be in.

Zgonghzu didn't even go through a heat in ages! There's nothing to take his mind off things, not even a bit of physical pelasure. That's very bad.

They are the only thing Jiang Cheng has left, so they have to start pulling their weight. They have to save their sect leader!

The plotting begins.

#headcanon #abo headcanon #omegaverse #yunmeng jiang are the wolf-pack in love with their cat-boss #jiang cheng #jiang disciples

[difeisheng]

The origins of WWX and JC's golden core outfits drive me insane because there are two options:

A. Those robes are ones they actually owned, and WN went through their discarded belongings in Lotus Pier to ensure they had clean clothes to change into before they all sailed off

B. Both JC and WWX are wearing WN's robes

#the SYMBOLISM #these three are all intertwined in so many ways!! #wn either looking for a jiang robe for wwx OR having held onto a purple one from somewhere??? #aCK #also I'm not including jyl in this because i believe in her to have the foresight to pack extra robes with her beforehand #mdzs #cql #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #wen ning #ashton originals

[piosplayhouse]

Daily poll:

What's your favorite Jiang Cheng moment (can be from any adaptation)?

#mine is his breakdown in guanyin temple!!!! #i love my men packed with issues #🥰🥰 #this poll dedicated to my oomfies who are getting jiang cheng brainrot on my dash #mdzs #daily poll #jiang cheng

[incorrectly-quoting-mxtx]

Jiang Cheng: I said you could invite one friend.

Jin Ling: Jiujiu, they don’t come separately.

Lan Jingyi: Yeah, we’re pack animals!

#source: derry girls #source: unknown #incorrect quotes #incorrect mdzs #mdzs #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #mo dao zu shi #Jiang Cheng #Jin Ling #jin ling and his jiujiu #lan jingyi #mdzs juniors #Junior quartet

[least-carpet]

Maybe a chengxian' meeting post-canon? Platonic or romantic, as you prefer

100 years later, I have given up and concussed Jiang Cheng in the name of love and yunmeng shuangjie reconciliation. You know, if it's not working, give it a smack!

-

This wasn’t precisely the way that he had imagined this reunion going, reflected Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng lay across his lap, blood smeared dark against his forehead, face illuminated by a streak of moonlight.

Not that he’d imagined seeing Jiang Cheng again. Well—not on purpose—sometimes it crossed his mind, when he saw Jin Ling out of the corner of his eye. Something about the posture was very like Jiang Cheng as a teenager, if a little more brash and impulsive. Jiang Cheng had always been more hesitant in public, aware of the eyes on him.

Anyway, it had occurred to him, mostly against his will, when he saw Jin Ling or he smelled the sword oil Jiang Cheng had favoured (still favoured?) or someone mentioned Lotus Pier. He’d flung it away each time for some future version of him to deal with. Now the future was here, and it sucked.

Wei Wuxian squinted at the ray of moonlight. At least they wouldn’t be suffocated. The section of the cave they were trapped in had at least one opening that went up to the outside world.

They had tracked a very strange yao back to the cave where it lived, him and Lan Zhan and the juniors, and crossed paths with a Jiang team led by Jiang Cheng himself following the same kind of yao. Unfortunately, it seemed that they lived in packs. The resulting fight had gone badly. An over-eager hit from Lan Jingyi had smashed one into the wall, and that had triggered a cave-in, and now Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were alone in the dark together behind an enormous pile of rocks. On top of everything else, Jiang Cheng was unconscious, which Wei Wuxian really did not like.

The only thing he could think of to do was prop Jiang Cheng up in his lap and wait for him to come to. He didn’t know what Jiang Cheng would make of it when he woke up, but Wei Wuxian decided that he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

Jiang Cheng groaned and opened his eyes. “What happened?” he asked.

Wei Wuxian looked down at his face, and winced. Those pupils were not supposed to be different sizes.

“You took a hard hit to the head,” said Wei Wuxian, as cheerfully as he could. “Just stay still, will you? Rescue is on the way!”

He assumed, anyway. Lan Zhan wouldn’t just leave him here. He was very reliable like that.

“Rescue? Why the hell are we being rescued? What did we do this time?” complained Jiang Cheng. Something about his voice tugged at Wei Wuxian. It was less assertive that it usually was, tired, almost—whiny?

“You don’t remember?” said Wei Wuxian. This was bad. This was very bad. “There was a yao. Actually, there were quite a few yaos…”

Jiang Cheng let out a disapproving little huff. Distantly, Wei Wuxian noted that he had made no effort to get up from Wei Wuxian’s lap.

“If we’re late to dinner again, A-jie will be upset,” he mumbled.

Wei Wuxian froze. This was very bad indeed.

#if your shidi won't shidi just hit the reset button for his brain and see if that fixes it! #wei wuxian confronted with teenagememoriesonly!jiang cheng in pain: HOW DO I TORTURE THIS CAVE TO DEATH? #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #yunmeng shuangjie #chengxian #mdzs + #I wish you would write a fic ask game #ask game #my fanfic #least-carpet thoughts #that's your queue #asks

[purplephloxpress]

It's August 21, which means: Happy Fanfiction Writers Appreciation Day! If you are a writer of fanfic, please know just how appreciated you are!! Fandom would be such a different space without your creativity and labors of love. 💜

In celebration of this most glorious holiday, @renegadepublishing ran an event where we bind copies of fics to gift to their authors, and I had the joy of binding The Tranquility of Water for @noppoh! It's a truly fantastic post-canon story and I love the exploration into the effects of the main story on its characters after the fact. (This is a story I love so much that I wrote up a page and a half crash course on The Untamed so I can try to force my sibling into reading it as well. Take that as you will)

The walls of the Hanshi creep in on him and so Lan Xichen leaves. He leaves Cloud Recesses and his seclusion, stealing away in the night with no-one the wiser that he even left. His feet bring him to Lotus Pier where a surprisingly kind Jiang Cheng seems determined to help him heal.

With a title like "Tranquility of Water" and the story largely taking place at Lotus Pier, I may have been a little heavy handed with the lotus imagery throughout the book, but it felt very fitting! The lotus on the cover was a last minute addition, but one that turned out so lovely. Just, you know, to tie everything together lotus-wise. (Another one of my favorite design details in the typeset is that both title fonts from the chapter headers and title page get repeated within the text of the story as the main characters handwriting fonts!)

I started the physical binding process of my copy while at the Renegade Retreat in April (and decided the week before that I wanted to change my body font... can you say formatting speedrun?) and up until that point I hadn't actually figured out what the cover and endpages were going to look like. Special thanks to everyone who contributed pieces to this binding (and who moral-supported me along the way -- my copy holds so many fun memories now) because it LITERALLY would not look like this without you all. I really love the way the color transitions worked out, with a predominantly blue/green case, fading into green, into pink, into the title page, and then transitioning back out at the end of the book.

And these endbands!! Friends, that is SILK embroidery floss that a friend brought to the retreat especially so I could experience the decadence of silk endbands. I will never be the same. (They're so smooth... so shiny... so slippery to work with, but SO WORTH IT)

(Binding details under the cut)

The pieces that went into this bind:

Fandom: The Untamed/Mo Dao Zu Shi

Pairing: Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin / Lan Huan | Lan Xichen

Bookcloth: Renegade Retreat Swap Table Special (I have no idea what it is, but it was just enough to make a copy for myself and the author and the color worked PERFECTLY!)

Cover paper: Opal Momi paper

Cover paper: Opal Momi paper

Endpapers: from the Craft Consortium Ink Drops - Dusk paper pack

Titling: foil quill

Endbands: leather cording core, silk embroidery floss for the bands

Body font: EB Garamond

Title fonts: Wintersoul and Bastian

Handwriting fonts: Bastian (Lan Xichen), Richardson Script (Lan Wangji), and Wintersoul (Jiang Cheng)

Tumblr insists on eating and doubling text in this section at its own whim, so if there's something missing that you're curious about, feel free to DM me an ask!

#ffwad #renegadelovesfic #fanfiction writers appreciation day #renegade bindery #ficbinding #fanbinding #purplephloxpress #adventures in bookbinding #the untamed #mdzs #xicheng #noppoh

[starrywangxian]

it always urks me when i see people saying that wei wuxian was really dumb to not realise that lan wangji was in love with him, and well it is a valid analysis (because there's no right answer here) i do think it's a shallow one. i do understand the appeal and the humour of wei wuxian being the smartest person of his generation but being too stupid to realise when he's in love or when someone is in love with him but i don't really think that's what happened.

i think it's more wei wuxian believing he isn't worthy of love and it's something that you have to earn.

if you think about his upbringing, when he was homeless he was still smiling and kind and never bothered people for food, he waited until it was given to him or would go after the scraps that no one ever ate.

and yi ziyuan really leaned into that fact, telling him he was indispensable and that he was just a pawn to protect jiang cheng and jiang yanli, that this wasn't his family and he was just a servant to them. blaming wei wuxian for everything and punishing him for his achievements instead of celebrating them. wei wuxian constantly felt like he owed the jiangs for taking him in and hence he sacrificed so much for them to 'repay' them.

so when lan wangji clearly shows concern and love for him, wei wuxian explains it away; he thinks that lan wangji is just so noble and kind.

the scene in cql where wei wuxian tries to say that he tricked lan wangji into helping him so that lan wangji's reputation wouldn't be harmed is an example of that. he thinks lan wangji is just kind enough to risk his own reputation to help him but wei wuxian doesn't think he deserves that so once again tries to sacrifice himself to save the ones he loves.

it's also why after their first time, wei wuxian says thank you. because he believes that he's earned lan wangji's attraction and he should be grateful for it. he doesn't consider that it's something lan wangji was giving him freely and willingly just because he loved him and he wanted to.

wangxian's miscommunication comes from lan wangji thinking wei wuxian doesn't love him or that he's just an amusement to him (particularly after their first time) and wei wuxian thinks he's not worthy of love and he doesn't deserve to be happy and in love.

it's a funny gimmick to say that wei wuxian was just too dumb to realise, and i even joke about it when i reread the novel too, but i think there's so much more to pack. with lan wangji too. their characters are so much more than that and their trauma runs very deeply and influences a lot of their actions.

so you're fine to say that wei wuxian is an oblivious dumbass but as long as you realise that that's only really the surface (wei wuxian is an oblivious dumbass yes but he love him for it all the same <3).

#back on my angst shit as promised <3 #but i could write so much about this you have no idea #this book has been my special interest for 4 years #i've had a long time to think about this #and while it is funny to say that wwx is just dumb #it's a very surface level interpretation #mxtx did not put her whole dubussy into writing wwx just to be mischaracterised and misunderstood by the fandom #wei wuxian #cql #mo dao zu shi #the untamed #mdzs #wei ying #starrywangxian #and i don't think you're ready for lan wangji's full character yet #because he is probably the most misunderstood and mischaracterised character out of the lot of them

[mdzs-fanon-exposed]

MDZS Fanon VS Canon: 2/?

Wen Ning fits Jiang Cheng's list of requirements for a wife

Rating: FANON – NEUTRAL

A lot of ships involving Jiang Cheng will use a list detailing the characteristics of his ideal woman as evidence for one pairing for another, and the character brought to me to evaluate as a suitable match was Wen Ning. Unfortunately, I have to rate this as fanon because Jiang Cheng's wife requirements... aren't canon to the novels.

In terms of the official adaptations, Jiang Cheng's requirements for his perfect wife seem to be Untamed-only canon, as part of the Jiang Cheng/Wen Qing subplot the drama invented. However, the MDZS Fandom Wiki (which, side note, is a horrible source for anything) credits the following list of requirements to a since-deleted Tumblr post:

Naturally beautiful, graceful and obedient, hard-working and thrifty, coming from a respected family, cultivation level not too high, personality not too strong, not too talkative, voice not too loud and must treat Jin Ling nicely. (source)

Using the Wayback Machine, I managed to find the original Tumblr post in question (seen here). According to the user who posted it, this is a translated excerpt from a Weibo post written by MXTX herself, listing 10 supplemental facts about the books – supposedly posted a year before The Untamed was first announced.

I do not have Weibo and cannot verify this claim, but regardless, I do not consider "word of God" to be canon for the purposes of this blog. Whatever MXTX's intentions were when writing this list, Jiang Cheng's requirements are not mentioned anywhere in the actual text, and so I cannot rate this suggestion as anything but fanon. You, the reader, are free to choose whether you think MXTX's supplemental material is canon-accurate.

As for Wen Ning himself: Canonically, Jiang Cheng "could never tolerate" him (Seven Seas Ch. 19, p. 251), and so unfortunately this ship cannot officially sail. Even if Wen Ning does fit every entry on this list, Jiang Cheng would not consider him a prospective match. I do not consider the list canon, and so any attempts to figure out if Wen Ning fits the letter of the list (if not the spirit) can not be anything but subjective.

But, well, this post is about the list itself, not Jiang Cheng's feelings about it. So while I'm here, I might as well have some fun with it.... Feel free to use the notes to debate whether or not you think Wen Ning is secretly right for Jiang Cheng's dubiously-canon standards.

Naturally beautiful: Wen Ning is ADORABLE and I LOVE HIM. You can't look at him and NOT call him cute; even Wei Wuxian thinks his "side profile [is] delicate and refined" (Seven Seas Ch. 12, p. 141). Would Jiang Cheng think this? Um,

Graceful and obedient: He's pretty meek and he's described as a yes-man (Seven Seas Ch. 16, p. 22), and he does what Wei Wuxian says a lot (under magical flute coercion or otherwise), but he can be pretty stubborn when he wants to be. I wouldn't call him falling off a roof "graceful," but I suppose that was after he was zombified.

Hard-working and thrifty: Yes – I can't imagine he got all those Wen subordinates by being completely lazy. And if anything he's kind of the pack horse for the Burial Mounds crew lol.

Coming from a respected family: Technically? Yes. The Wens have historically been a powerful and influential family, and Wen Ning is the younger brother of someone of "a rank on par with Wen Chao" (Seven Seas Ch. 12, p. 148). Functionally? Uhhhh

Cultivation level not too high: This one is debatable, but probably a yes. We don't receive much information about Wen Ning's cultivation level, since his fighting prowess isn't really plot-relevant until he dies, but he is described as "unremarkable" in comparison to Wen Qing. Just like, in general, I guess. (Seven Seas Ch. 12, p. 149)

Personality not too strong: See #2. I would say yes with some caveats. Especially (and ironically) when Jiang Cheng is involved.

Not too talkative/voice not too loud: Also a match! Wen Ning stutters a lot and doesn't really raise his voice unless he's angry, so he's pretty quiet. Remember that time he and wangxian were on that boat and Wei Wuxian straight up didn't notice him for like five minutes? Poor guy. Can you believe this happened to him twice.

Must treat Jin Ling nicely: Do we count murdering his dad? Because if we don't, then Wen Ning treats Jin Ling very nicely. He even saves his life multiple times!

In conclusion: ?????????

#fanon vs canon #mdzs #jiang cheng #wen ning #rating: neutral #i am not going to provide sources for every part of my breakdown of the list bc it is so much just me fucking around with it #but yall are welcome to take this and run with it. tell me all the reasons u think ur fav character is actually jc's perfect match #*wen ning voice* if i had a nickel for every time i was on a boat with lwj and wwx (give or take assorted juniors) #and i wasn't noticed for a weirdly long amount of time #i'd have two nickels. which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

MDZS Inscryption AU maybe?

So I've been massively hyperfixating on Inscryption thanks to my good friend @sasukimimochi and I got an idea for an AU

If you don't know what I'm on about, here's a Wikipedia entry for it, if you do know, strap in.

This is based off Act I of the game:

-Wei Wuxian dies when he's thrown into the Burial Mounds

-Wakes up to a board game with a shadowy figure that reveals itself as the manifestation of the Burial Mounds and proposes a game

-If Wei Wuxian wins, he will be brought back to life. If he doesn't, he stays dead and trapped forever in the BM, so he agrees to play

-Unbeknownst to him, the way he uses the cards influences the life he will get if he wins

-All the sacrifices he makes are people that are going to die in the life he will have

-The powerful cards are the people that will participate in his demise in some way

-He wins the game, awakes, invents demonic cultivation, canon ensues

-At some point he realizes the manner in which people are dying is the way he played against the Burial Mounds and sacrifices himself to beat it

Here is my idea for the card pack:

Eternal sacrifice cat - Yanli

Squirrels - random people that die in Nightless City

Grizzly - NMJ

Great white - Lan Wangji

Black goat - Qin Su

Urayuli - Wen Ning

Mirror tentacle - Mo Xuanyu

Mantis god - Jiang Cheng

Child 13 - Jin Guangyao

Glitched card - turns into a sacrifice card: Jin Zixuan

Ants - Wen remnants

Ouroboros - Lan Xichen

Rattler - Xue Yang

Rat king - Wen Chao

Skink - Wang Lingjao

If y'all have any thoughts, feel free to add on!

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #original thots

[thatswhatsushesaid]

I've been reading this long fic, where I'm more and more flabbergasted, the author gives Minshan sympathy for his "betrayal of Lans" reasons, has him competent and does not prescribe him overt villany; and Jin Guangyao in this fic murders the fuck out of Jiang Yanli, Jin Lin and for some reason Jiang Cheng. What the fuck, I thought they were the pack deal. Have you convinced somebody of Minshan agenda but not the other parts? I feel you are the expert in this field I dont want to insult the author but i want to Understand Why

a minshan stan who hates jin guangyao….. what

mathladymeme.gif

#i mean on the one hand it is very nice to see my man minshan getting a decent shake in fic #don’t get me wrong!! i love that #but i feel like an essential component of sms’s character is his devotion to jgy #which imo is by and large a good thing for him #so idk how you can sympathetically write about one without also being deeply sympathetic to the other #but that could just be my bias showing #asks answered #su she #su minshan #emotional support henchman #he did crimes??? good for him 😌

[youhideastar]

WujiWatch: CQL Rewatch Episode 11

This episode is jam-packed – so jam-packed that I can’t remember whether Meng Yao is thrown out of Qinghe Nie Sect at the beginning of this episode or the end of the last one, but the last post was way too long so I’m putting it here regardless! I’ve got two things on the scene where Meng Yao is kicked out, and one thing on that weird scene where Wen Chao tries to ambush Lan Wangji on the way back to Cloud Recesses.

Fanon Meng Yao is this master manipulator, the smooth talker who moves the people around him like chess pieces—but the thing that stands out to me, watching the scene between Meng Yao and Nie Mingjue, is that Meng Yao’s behavior here is a masterclass in how not to influence people. Like, genuinely, I hope he wasn’t even trying, because otherwise, I’m embarrassed for him.

He starts out okay, talking about how the captain mistreated him, day after day, humiliating him, abusing him—Nie Mingjue says, “And so you killed him,” and if Meng Yao had said, “Yes. That’s why,” I really think Nie Mingjue would have understood. He wouldn’t have been happy about it—he still looks mad when he says, “And so you killed him,” but he’s not disgusted. He knows how long Meng Yao has been taking that kind of abuse from the other disciples, he’s tried (ineffectively) to protect Meng Yao from that, and if Meng Yao just couldn’t take it anymore and snapped, that would therefore be partly Nie Mingjue’s fault for failing to protect him.

But instead, Meng Yao, supplied with a perfectly good excuse for murder, the kind of thing that the hot-tempered Nie Mingjue could easily understand, says, “No, it wasn’t that.” He then raises and immediately discards another perfectly good explanation, saying it wasn’t because the captain repeatedly insulted his mother—which Nie Mingjue could also have understood just fine, and perhaps even found honorable, as a particularly bloody exercise of filial piety. Why even bring it up if you’re not going to claim it as a defense!?

Instead, Meng Yao says it was because the captain claimed credit for Meng Yao’s work. If I were trying to think of the least persuasive excuse you could possibly make to someone like Nie Mingjue, that would be up there. To Nie Mingjue, even admitting that you care about getting credit for your work is distasteful. To kill someone over it? Once he hears that, he’s not just mad, he’s revolted. It is not hard to foresee this reaction. For Meng Yao not to see it coming, or for Meng Yao to see it coming and think Nie Mingjue likes him enough to overcome that reaction, is a huge miscalculation.

Is Meng Yao a talented manipulator? Clearly, he is, in some circumstances. But at some very key points—this scene and the confrontation with Qin Su particularly stand out—that skill deserts him. I think, in both cases, he cares too much about the people he’s confronting, and it impairs his otherwise sharp judgment.

The other and last thing I want to say about this scene is that it is no accident that the “Meng Yao gets thrown out” scene takes place in such close proximity to the scene in which we meet Yu Ziyuan. It would have been easy to introduce her character at several previous points, including the meeting breaking up the engagement she arranged, or a scene during Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli’s return to Lotus Pier. But the writers choose this moment: the moment when the viewer has just learned—and Wei Wuxian has just been reminded—that even a highly valued, talented sect member with an important role can be tossed out with nothing but the clothes on his back, at the sect leader’s whim. Wei Wuxian carries himself like the typical powerful, comfortable young master, with his expensive clothes and blithe disrespect for authority. But this is the episode where you see what’s underneath—where you come to appreciate how precarious his position truly is.

One last little random thing, about the scene where Lan Wangji is walking (why?? he can fly!) back to Cloud Recesses and is ambushed by Wen Chao, first by a sinkhole opening up in the road (why?? again, he can fly!), and then by a physical attack from Wen Zhuliu. Wen Chao tries to intimidate him verbally, calling him “Lan Zhan” (Wen Chao’s beef with Lan Wangji, like Jin Zixun’s, is so weirdly personal) and saying that he hates Lan Wangji’s condescending tone, which is fucking hilarious because Lan Wangji has never in his life said a word to Wen Chao. Lan Wangji fends the Wens off with one of Wei Wuxian’s sparkle-distraction talismans and then vanishes.

What I find interesting about this scene (besides the fact that I literally always forget that it exists and am surprised to see it again when I rewatch haha) is that, after all of the above goes down, Wen Chao says, “That’s Wei Wuxian’s [Name of Talisman] Talisman!” (I’m serious, my recall of this scene is so poor, even after five times.) This is one of the very few clues we get in the series that teenage Wei Wuxian is famous throughout the cultivation world for his inventive genius with talismans. Wen Chao might have been able to guess that the talisman came from Wei Wuxian just based on the fact that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are friends, but the only way he would know the specific name of the talisman is if he’s heard about Wei Wuxian’s inventions, even all the way in Nightless City where they’re all busy pretending the rest of the cultivation world has nothing to offer. (And this isn’t the writers using Wen Chao to pass along information the viewer needs – we have no need to know what the talisman is called, it won’t come up again.)  Kind of neat!

#cql #wujiwatch #the untamed #meta #meng yao #jin guangyao #nie mingjue

[whumpbby]

Thinking that because it seems that the Demonic Cultivation was mostly something that Jiang Cheng took care of - either as a way to unload his grief or as taking responsibility of his shixiong's mess - it's possible that the Jiang disciples were the ones that were the best versed in dealing with DC.

Now I am headcanoning that - because JC seems like a man that has shit in hand and runs a tight ship - there's a group within the Yunmeng Jiang trained and experienced specifically to deal with Demonic Cultivation specifically. Like their Spec Ops. They are prepared to come in fast and hot, deal with the issue asap and start the clean-up - armed with talismans made to deflect DC, tame the corpses and help send them on.

So, like, one day WWX hears that there's some Demonic Cultivator causing problems in the area he's hunting with the Lan juniors and goes to deal with it. It still pisses him off that his only lasting legacy is not about his genius or his heroics (or even his good looks), but it's this thing he invented out of horrific desperate need and that's now used to cause chaos and hurt people. So, he feels it's his duty to go there and talk some sense into the person in question.

Except, as soon as he arrives at the scene and ascertains that yeah, the issue is serious and maybe it's better for him to send the disciples back home and call in reinforcements (Lan Zhan), because he can take the DC down, but the clean-up will be immense - when suddenly a group of cultivators land in front of them with a swish of purple robes and gets to work.

The battle is almost sad. In no time at all the fierce corpses are tamed, the cultivator thrown down and bound with talismans, and the cultivators are dispersing across the area to set up burials for the corpses and arrays meant to send the ghosts onwards.

It's all precise and quick, sure steps and short commands. A well-oiled machine with soldier-discipline cleaning the area of resentment. So unlike the usual exuberance and free-style of the Jiang.

Wei Wuxian is kinda stumped. How are these people, and why are they getting in his way? He didn't even manage to get any fun! You, baby Lan disciple, explain!

"They're the Red Brigade", the disciple explains in a hushed voice. "Jiang-zonghzu's personal guard. They hunt Deminic Cultivators."

Red? Ah, their uniforms are adorned with a red ribbon on the shoulder. How sentimental of Jiang Cheng. His shidi really missed him! (or wanted him dead, there's also that option). But no time to contemplate that, because these guys are super efficient and if WWX wants to do any investigation of his own (translate: being his nosy self) he has to haul ass before they clean up everything!

So, he goes to the leader of the pack with an intention of comparing notes! The guy is respectful, but so cold! Eh, is he even a Jiang? So much like A-Cheng! Well, he knows how to deal with people like that - everyone will fold when bothered for long enough!

So, he keeps following the leader and talking bullshit, as his brain takes notes on everything he can see around. The talismans they use, the arrays, the spells - that's all pretty high level and super interesting. Huh, even their clothes are embroidered with talismans (a page out of the Lan book, maybe? Sneaky, Jiang Cheng, sneaky!) and their they use ghost flags...

But something is strange. He can see traces of his own work here and there - and he's used to seeing is tools ironically used across the cultivation world, but these are... kind of not? There are traces of his work, but the sigils are not his, the flags are not his, the talismans are not his. Like someone engineered his work backwards and created something that was similar, but entirely different.

As if someone wanted or needed tools to deal with Wei Wuxian's creations specifically, without the risk of being used against them in the heat of battle. One of the cultivators has a qinqin strapped across her back - the strings are made from metal, so it's not for musical cultivation (huh, so that's how Jiang Cheng came up with the idea of disrupting Su She's music in the Guanyin Temple, it wasn't coincidence.). They came in prepared to counter anything a Demonic Cultivator would throw at them.

Hell, he can admit that going through them on his own wouldn't be easy (because he was always helplessly optimistic about his own skills)...

Oh, Jiang Cheng did his homework.

"Wei-gongzi, can I help you with anything? Shouldn't you be taking the Lan juniors home?"

Uh-oh, he was getting on someone's nerves. Better retreat for now.

But he wasn't about to drop the matter.

The Jiang Sect had a SPECIAL OPS! how was he supposed to leave that be?

He was invested, he wanted to discuss! He needed to compare notes!

#headcanon #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #mdzs #yunmeng jiang spe cops #XD

[loosingmoreletters]

Summary: Jin Ling has never met Lan Sizhui. On Dafan mountain, confronted with a statue they can't defeat on their own, he learns why.

Jin Ling has known all his life that he would one day lead a sect. Nowadays, he knows there was a time when it wasn’t certain which sect it would be, if he might have been presented as the Jiang Heir under the guise of while his cousin would have inherited the Jin Sect. But Jin Rusong is dead, which leaves Jin Ling with his father’s sect and too many cousins and sect heirs to talk to. He’s been exposed to the children of most famous cultivators, their parents hoping to make some connection.

The only one he’s never met is Lan Sizhui, which stands at odds with how close their families are. Their uncles are sworn brothers, it is obvious they should’ve met, but Lan Wangji keeps his son by his side and far away from politics.

If they weren’t running from a cursed statue hellbent on killing them all, Jin Ling would probably be expected to make introductions, but he has trouble keeping even far away from it to make an attack.

“Sizhui!” a loud Lan boy shouts, panic carved into his very heart. “Sizhui, get away! You’re not supposed to fight something like that!”

Supposed to, Jin Ling notes while he tries to pretend he isn’t shaking in fear. He said supposed to, not can’t.

Lan Sizhui smiles in a manner Jin Ling would categorize as apologetic, then he straightens his back and walks into the path of the attacking statue.

“Sizhui!” the Lan boy cries just as the statue’s arm pulls back to strike Lan Sizhui down.

Jin Ling can’t do anything but watch as her hand approaches, ready to squeeze the other teenager to death. He waits for the impact with fear in his gut, eyes open wide even though he wants to tear away from the sight of destruction.

It’ll be over in a moment, Jin Ling thinks hysterically. She’ll just kill him, and nobody’s moving to protect him. There’s not a single adult around, if jiujiu were just here—

The statue towers above Lan Sizhui and just when the impact should come, an unholy scream leaves her and resentful energy explodes around Lan Sizhui. The resentment forces Jin Ling and every other cultivator in vicinity to the ground as it spreads and spills, ripping into the statue like a pack of feral dogs.

Jin Ling struggles to keep his eyes open at the brutality. Even though a stone statue isn’t made of flesh, he can still see her bleed as the resentful energy feeds on her.

And right in the middle of that assault stands Lan Sizhui, not a single injury dealt to him.

He has to be in control of the resentful energy, but the thought alone seems ridiculous enough to startle Jin Ling into a breathy laugh. The righteous Gusu Lan wouldn’t tolerate a demonic cultivator in their midst, and yet while disturbed, none of the Lan cultivators in attendance seem surprised.

Eventually, the statue’s body stops twitching and the resentful energy returns to Lan Sizhui’s side, dark smoke twirling around him in an almost playful manner. How can Lan Sizhui stand it without throwing up? How did Jin Ling not sense it before?

“Jin Ling!”

Turning his head feels like a task as tiresome as running the steps at Koi Tower up and down, but he manages just in time for Jiang Cheng to arrive at his side and kneel down next to him.

“Jin Ling, what happened?” Jiang Cheng asks, but Jin Ling has no answer for him. How is he meant to explain that Gusu Lan has been harboring a demonic cultivator?

But his uncle is a Sect Leader, and he’s the strongest person Jin Ling knows. If anyone can deal with this, then it must be him. He’s been protecting Jin Ling for as long as he’s been alive.

The resentful energy around Lan Sizhui doesn’t seem to disappear. From a distance, Jin Ling can’t tell perfectly, but it almost seems like it’s not putting any strain on Lan Sizhui either. If anything, he appears to brighten as the energy tightens around him and wraps him up like an odd approximation of a hug. The limbs are too long, and the skin is as pale as a ghost’s. It can’t be human what steps out of the twilight there with its hair hanging in dark ribbons, dragging over the floor like rivers through Yunmeng, but it has a mouth that’s far too wide, turned up in a mockery of a smile.

And then a high pitch hum leaves its throat.

“A-Yuan,” it croons. “A-Yuan, my A-Yuan.”

It comes out like a song that sends shivers down his spine. Jin Ling thinks of the spirits of mothers who lost their children. They always linger, and they sing to him just as sweetly.

The clearing is dead silent; not even the forest around them dares to speak, thus making Lan Sizhui’s words echo all the louder.

“Hello, Xian-gege,” Lan Sizhui greets and leans into the monster’s touch. “Thank you for protecting me.”

It purrs in delight and wraps even more of itself around Lan Sizhui, who embraces it just the same.

“Always protect my A-Yuan,” the monster promises. “Always and always and always.”

And then it turns its head to stare at the cultivators surrounding them and Lan Sizhui’s robes wrinkle beneath the monster’s grip tightening. “Are they hurting my A-Yuan? They can’t hurt you, I won’t let them, I won’t tolerate it.”

“No, Xian-gege,” Lan Sizhui is quick to reassure, his voice only now strained. “I am fine. You kept me safe, right?”

“Yes,” says the monster, but it doesn’t look away. “I keep my A-Yuan safe. Nobody will hurt you, I won’t—”

The monster interrupts itself with a snarl and sends another wave of resentful energy, striking a Lan holding a talisman paper. “No!”

“Lan Sizhui!” another one of his sect members shouts as the monster grows more agitated. “Control it!”

There is no controlling monsters like that, don’t they know better? They can only be destroyed and Gusu Lan obviously failed to do that. Why was Lan Sizhui even allowed to leave Cloud Recesses if his presence contained such a spirit?

“Xian-gege,” Lan Sizhui says as he holds onto the beast as if he had any ability to stop it, “Xian-gege, you have to stop. They’re not harming me.”

“They will!” the monster screeches. “They always lie! Nobody will hurt you, I will make sure, I promise, I promise, my A-Yuan, nothing will ever hurt you again.”

“I know,” Lan Sizhui insists. “Xian-gege, I know, but you have to stop, remember? You promised to stop.”

At that, the monster cocks its head, bright red eyes narrowing as if in thought. “I promised?”

“Yes,” Lan Sizhui says. “To me, to Rich-gege.”

And then, suddenly, all at once, the resentful energy subsides. “I promised,” the monster says quietly. “I promised Lan Zhan?”

“Yes,” Lan Sizhui says. “You promised.”

The monster lingers a moment longer, then it wraps around Lan Sizhui so tightly that Jin Ling thinks it might just kill him before it vanishes and Lan Sizhui drops to his knees, breathing heavily.

“Sizhui!” the loud Lan boy from before shouts and runs to his friend’s side, stopping only a few meters short of him, hesitating.

“It’s alright, Jingyi,” Lan Sizhui replies. “Xian-gege won’t attack you.”

And that’s apparently all Lan Jingyi needs to know before he embraces his friend just as tightly as the dark beast before. The stark difference between the two images is enough that Jin almost wonders if the last minutes weren’t just a nightmare he’d got caught in. But his uncle’s hand is still on his shoulder and pulls him to his feet before Zidian comes to life.

The latter does not go unnoticed by the Lans either.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” Lan Sizhui says quickly. “Please don’t attack. Xian-gege won’t take lightly to it.”

“Xian-gege,” Jiang Cheng echoes. Jin Ling has never heard his uncle speak with such disbelief and horror in his voice. “Tell me, how long have the Lan been sheltering you and Wei Wuxian, Wen Yuan!?”

#mdzs #lan sizhui #wei wuxian #jin ling #jiang cheng #lan jingyi #mdzs fanfic #fanfic