#when he thinks Jiang Cheng has left him to go after his parents' bodies

[in-danmei-hell-send-help]

I think what kills me about Jiang Cheng antis is that a lot of their talking points reek of anti survivor rhetoric. As someone who is a survivor and has done a lot of advocacy for victims and survivors of power based personal violence, I want to be the first to inform you that the narrative of the “pretty survivor” (which is steeped in cishet normative, white supremacist, and ableist ideas) is an extremely rare case. Trauma survivors are rarely pretty. The Wei Wuxian’s of the world are incredibly uncommon. 

Trauma--especially intense, horrific trauma like what Jiang Cheng went through--often leads to intense issues of anger and hatred. It makes you deeply emotional and can often lead to you becoming unstable. Jiang Cheng lost his entire family and community in the span of a few years. He didn’t have access to therapy (something that literally anyone would need to heal from that), he had to rebuild his entire sect, likely had to fight an uphill battle in order to be a significant part of Jin Ling’s life, all while cleaning up the mess that Wei Wuxian left behind.

This is not to hate on Wei Wuxian, he’s my third favorite character (after Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji) and I love him deeply, but he left behind a legacy that Jiang Cheng had to clean up. Whether or not he realized this would happen, Wei Wuxian created a cultivation path (gui dao/ghost cultivation) that is extremely dangerous and horrific. While I still don’t know if I believe that Jiang Cheng killed every demonic cultivator he came across, I don’t know that it was necessarily a bad thing that he did kill them. We’ve talked a lot in the cxc server about gui dao and demonic cultivation and just how much it harms the mind and body. Wei Wuxian is the exception to the rule in having such control over it and even he eventually succumbed to it. If demonic cultivators are causing great harm, then a cultivators job is to stop that harm and the source of it. That may mean killing the demonic cultivator. I think people get mixed up when (I think it was Jingyi) said that Jiang Cheng kills the wrong person. I believe it was @twilightarc-gm who said that “wrong” doesn’t imply innocent but rather the fact that the person isn’t Wei Wuxian. We know that Jiang Cheng spent thirteen years trying to find Wei Wuxian and when he does find him, he doesn’t kill him despite having literally every reason to.

Like idk y’all, if the guy that got my entire clan wiped out, my sect burned down, and caused the deaths of my sister and her husband died and came back from dead, I wouldn’t just threaten him with a dog and yell at him. I would kill him. But he doesn’t he has every opportunity to in multiple instances after confirming that it’s Wei Wuxian, but he never does. He seems more interested in dragging Wei Wuxian home (literally stating that he’s going to bring Wei Wuxian home to Lotus Pier to kneel before his parents’ graves). Like that doesn’t imply that he’s going to kill Wei Wuxian, but rather make him repent. 

I think it’s telling that despite a lot of Jiang Cheng’s hurt and pain, he still chooses to not severely hurt or kill Wei Wuxian, it would be within his right to do so, but in the end after it’s all over, he let’s Wei Wuxian go. He doesn’t tell Wei Wuxian that he sacrificed himself for him, because he knew that Wei Wuxian would feel guilty and obligated to him, just like Wei Wuxian knew Jiang Cheng would feel guilty and obligated. That to me shows a survivor choosing to break the cycle of hurt and pain and I have to question why Jiang Cheng antis so often choose to ignore the side of him that does love Wei Wuxian (it’s up to the viewer whether they see that love as romantic or platonic), enough so to let him go and not burden him with pain.

Jiang Cheng’s story and character arc is at it’s core about trauma, survival, and rising above dire circumstances despite the odds. He attempts the impossible and manages to succeed in it. And to ignore that is a disservice to his character, survivors of trauma, and the effort MXTX put into creating such a complex and interesting character.

#Jiang Cheng #canon jiang cheng #jiang wanyin #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #yunmeng shuangjie #the untamed #cql #this sounds like a fucking essay #tell me u were a lit major without telling me u were a lit major #mdzs meta #jiang cheng meta #stop being shitty to characters that are ugly victims #it's fucking telling to a lot of survivors that u aren't a safe person #and that u don't care about survivors if they aren't a 'good' victim #news flash #the way abusers isolate their victims is by acting like pretty survivors #if ur gonna pull the the shit u do #and say with ur whole chest that characters like jc are irredeemable #then maybe don't say ur a safe person for people with trauma

[rosethornewrites]

NR, E, & M reading since 3/24

Finished

Not Rated:

WZL is Meng Yao's dad, by nirejseki

Prompt: Au where Wen Zhuiliu is Meng yao’s dad instead of JG. Meng Yao is raised in the wen sect, as his son also the idea of the golden-core-snatcher thing being hereditary or not would be fun to explore. It’s be the ultimate dagger-up-the-sleeve move. Meng Yao joins Wen Qing and Ning to study at the Lans sect.

NHS tries to fix things post-Sunshot, by nirejseki

Can you do one where Huisang is upset about the loss of his best friends? After the cloud recesses and the training camp he looked forward to seeing Wei Wuxian and JC again and now they don’t even like each other and WW is so cold now. Maybe they deserve a forced vacation?

Who gave Lan-xiansheng alcohol?!, by HeloSoph (🔒, 6 chapters)

Lan-xiansheng is drunk and certain facts are revealed.

Apparently, Lan-xiansheng is the reason behind the 'alcohol is prohibited in Cloud Recesses' rule...

'Well, you learn something new every day.' Nie Huaisang thinks.

Explicit:

Light the Lantern, Touch the Light, by Sirendipity (🔒)

Rogue cultivator Wei Wuxian is tasked to investigate the haunting of a brothel, where he is tricked into servitude by the cunning madam. Lan Wangji, under the effects of a dangerous curse, enlists the aid of Mo Xuanyu - a prostitute he has yet to learn is dead.

When the two meet, is it coincidence? Or is a conniving force bent on pushing them together?

OR

the sexy casefic one that no one - not even the author - expected to actually contain sex.

Grabbing At Clouds, by Bvbyphoenix (🔒)

Wei Wuxian has been dealing with a recent flair up of intrusive thoughts, and after a very rough night of sleep, Lan WangJi decides to dedicate a day to pampering him and keeping his mind distracted.

Some of that distraction comes in the form of domming him into not thinking so hard.

Mature:

Reclamation, by CordialCoroner (CordialCrow)

After her death at the hands of the Jin, Wen Qing's spirit lingers.

you need to stop seeing right through me, by lanzhandweiying

Wei Wuxian took a step forward, wanting to move away but strong hands held him by the waist and swiftly turned his thin frame around, making him face Lan Zhan’s perfect face.

The two were so close now, bodies touching each other, not even a sliver of space between them.

‘’Lan Zhan’’ Wei Wuxian breathed out.

‘’Wei Ying’’ Lan Zhan whispered back looking at him with an expression he had never wore before.

or a different turn in the forest conversation in episode 25.

Unfinished

Not Rated:

The Trial, by H_Belle

Canon divergence - Cloud Recesses did not burn and the Sunshot Campaign has not yet started.

Amidst the rising tensions in the cultivation world, the Wen Sect announces a special event planned for the next Discussion Conference - a trial of wit, skill and spirit, meant for the sect heirs only. For some reason, Wei Wuxian is asked to assist.

And what was this trial supposed to be, exactly?

To Recall and To Long for, by scallion_pancakes

Its Wei Wuxian's wedding day.

The Jiang family or at least what is left of it should be overjoyed. Yet, Jiang Cheng finds himself looking at his sister shrink further And further into herself.

He had to have a conversation with Lan Wangji.

Explicit:

hold out your hands, by Aminias

Oh no, this is bad. How could he have forgotten Wei Ying's considerate nature? Lan Zhan wants to marry him; technically this isn't their first meeting so Xichen will have to allow it. The characters for Wei Ying's name are written across his cup and Lan Zhan files that information away. It will be important to get the proper spelling of Wei Ying's name right later, he wants no mistakes when they go to the courthouse.

or

Lan Zhan hasn't seen Wei Ying since he gave him his first gay awakening. Now five years later with Wei Ying in front of him he handles it with as much chill as you might assume.

Heart of the Beast, by WaitForTheSnitch

“Wei Ying?” Nie Mingjue prompted him gently. “Where are your parents?”

“They went on a night hunt,” Wei Ying said, a bit evasively.

“Your parents are cultivators?” Da-ge asked in surprise. “Did they leave you here while they hunted? When did they go on their night hunt?”

“Four summers ago,” Wei Ying said a bit uncomfortable.

“Four summers ago,” Nie Mingjue repeated. “What are your parents’ names?”

“My mama is Cangse Sanren and my baba is Wei Changze,” Wei Ying told him, and recognition registered in Nie Mingjue’s eyes.

“Wei Ying,” Nie Mingjue said, sounding a bit regretful, “Your parents aren’t coming back.”

Or, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang run into Wei Ying while in Yiling and decide to bring him home. And it changes everything.

Mature:

But This Time, I Have You, by Lotus_Seed

Lan Wangji follows Wei Wuxian at the siege. They both die and get sent back to the past. This time, Wei Wuxian isn't alone.

Together, they work things out.

To Ride A Stygian Tiger, by Madyamisam

Wei Wuxian changes fate and is wounded while saving Jin Zixuan at the Qiongqi bridge and a great mystery starts to unravel many hidden secrets never known before. While trying to deal with his own increasing madness, seeing threats everywhere in past, present and future, he sets an impossible task to save everyone he ever cared about with his very life and soul.

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #cql #chen qing ling #untamed fanfiction

[bloody-bee-tea]

Hair cut

Jiang Cheng knows his life will never be the same again as soon as the hairdresser makes the first cut. He watches how more and more of his hair disappears and he knows it should frighten him—the prospect of what his parents are going to say, are going to do—should frighten him, but it no longer does.

He allowed them for far too long to control most aspects of his life and he is so incredibly over it. This is just the last fuck you he’s giving them.

Still, it feels strange to see his hair this short—especially since he went with the undercut he first wanted when he was around twelve. He guesses he’ll get used to it quickly enough though.

“And we’re all done,” the hairdresser tells him, fluffing his hair up a bit. “Do you like it?” she wants to know and Jiang Cheng turns his head this and that way.

“It’s perfect,” he declares and immediately puts the hair that’s left into a little ponytail.

It really is perfect.

“Good. It’s always such a shame to cut such long hair but I can relate,” the hairdresser says as she points to her pixy cut. “If you ever do want it shorter, still, then you know where to find me.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” Jiang Cheng says with a nod, though he doubts he’s going for shorter any time soon.

This is already such a big difference to his hair before; it reached the lower part of his back already and honestly, it was such a hassle to care for. That was mostly why he hated it, if he’s being honest, because he has other things to do than spend so much time properly caring for his hair.

At least now it won’t take hours to dry completely.

And if he’s being honest, he never understood his parent’s stance that long hair would show the world that they are one of the old families. As if anyone gives a fuck about this. If anything at all, people were talking about how outdated they are.

But Jiang Cheng, for his part, is over it.

Jiang Cheng tips the hairdresser generously and then leaves the shop feeling happier than he has in a long time. He feels lighter too and he guesses that will take some time getting used to, as well.

A glance on his phone shows him that if he wants to make it for family dinner on time, he’ll have to rush but Jiang Cheng doesn’t quicken his step. He is not going to let his parents dictate his every step anymore and they can damn well wait ten minutes for him.

It’s not like they are going to eat anyway.

Jiang Cheng takes a deep breath before he enters the house and he puts the key down on the sideboard, knowing damn well that he’ll not need it again after today.

“You’re late,” his mother yells from the dining room and Jiang Cheng squares his shoulders as he walks into the room.

“Punctuality is the most important thing in life,” his father says mildly, without even looking at him and Jiang Cheng scoffs.

“No, that’s kindness and compassion, not that you would know anything about that,” he gives back, just loud enough to be heard.

Jiang Fengmian raises his head, a disapproving look on his face but he’s interrupted by Yu Ziyuan’s scandalised gasp.

“Jiang Wanyin!”

“Mother,” Jiang Cheng says with a mild smile and pulls out a chair to sit down.

“What have you done? How dare you?”

“I’m sorry, is this my body or not?” Jiang Cheng asks. “If I want to cut my hair I can do that.”

“You cannot! You’re the face of the company! What signal will this send if people see you like this? This is entirely unacceptable!”

“And here I thought you two prided yourself on your oh so wholesome marriage,” Jiang Cheng mockingly says, damn well aware of the rising panic on his father’s face.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Yu Ziyuan hisses out, because all three people on this table know that their marriage is in shambles.

“It means that I quit the company months ago, mother. I’m surprised father hasn’t told you. I thought you talked more.”

He leans back in his chair, watching his words hit like a bomb and he honestly didn’t think this would be entertaining at all, but he was wrong.

The outrage on his mother’s face is amazing.

“What?” she asks, her voice dangerously low and Jiang Cheng enjoys watching his father squirm in his seat.

“Ziyuan,” he tries, his voice soft and placating and Jiang Cheng almost shudders with how much he hates this condescending tone.

“Do not Ziyuan me,” Yu Ziyuan spits out. “What does he mean?”

“It means, I quit my job at the company,” Jiang Cheng chimes in, because for all that this is amusing, he still has other things to do this evening and he does not want to hear them fight for hours on end.

“You can’t quit the company! You’re the heir! You’re going to inherit eventually. What kind of picture does it send if you quit?”

“Probably the right one,” Jiang Cheng says with a shrug. “Listen, mother, it’s not as if I was learning anything there.”

“You were working your way up!” his father now chimes in and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes, right where they can see it.

“You were parking me in the smallest broom closet you could find, trying to make everyone forget that I am even there,” he shoots back, no longer cowered by his parents.

He honestly never realized just how stifling they were, how demanding and demeaning until he walked out of the company and started his own life.

“And I wasn’t learning shit, because you made sure no one dared to give me any work,” he then adds on and Yi Ziyuan frowns at him.

“I thought you were wrangling that unruly boy,” she says with an accusing glare at Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Cheng shrugs again.

“I was, sometimes. But his genius ideas are rare and spontaneous and there were weeks on end where I had nothing to do. Where I died of boredom.”

“Well, if your work morale would be any better you would have found something to do,” Jiang Fengmian snappishly says and Jiang Cheng wonders how he can hate Yu Ziyuan so much and still pick up her habits.

“Well,” he mockingly repeats, “if you didn’t punish people who gave me jobs, maybe I would have.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Yu Ziyuan demands to know and Jiang Cheng shrugs, by now entirely unbothered by this.

“It means that father cut the pay of people who gave me work. Or he cut their paid leave. Or he transferred them into completely different departments, where they couldn’t even properly work. That’s what it means. And just so you know, I have a new job and there people appreciate my work and actually encourage and support me. Because there I get to actually work.”

“How dare you,” Yu Ziyuan says, turning back to Jiang Fengmian, who seems to get fed up now as well.

“Please. We all know he’s not fit to lead.”

“Right,” Jiang Cheng says with a charming smile. “Because Wei Wuxian is going to do such an amazing job instead. Tell me, father, how many promising projects has he delivered to you in the last six months?” Jiang Cheng waits just long enough to make it clear that Jiang Fengmian does not have an answer to it. “I thought so. And—you want him to take over eventually, right? So how is his training going? Or has he simply vanished and didn’t contact you at all?”

Jiang Cheng damn well knows the answer to that, because Wei Wuxian keeps spamming him with ‘extended honeymoon’ pics as he likes to call them, but in truth he’s just travelling the world with Lan Wangji.

At least Jiang Cheng hopes that is what they are doing because he doesn’t even dare to imagine the kind of hell Wei Wuxian will be in if he eloped without even telling Jiang Yanli. Just the thought makes him shudder.

“That hellion is not going to take over the company. That is your birth right!” Yu Ziyuan hotly says and Jiang Cheng sighs.

“So here’s another thing father apparently didn’t tell you. When I quit I signed away all my rights to the company.”

And gladly, too, if he’s being honest.

That company has only brought misery to him—and his siblings, if he’s being honest—and Jiang Cheng was practically eager to get right of his shares. Jiang Fengmian probably thought he pulled one over Jiang Cheng when he demanded that as his price for allowing Jiang Cheng to quit, but in truth Jiang Cheng would have paid him to take those shares.

In fact, it was probably a win-win situation. For everyone but his mother.

“What is the meaning of all of this?” Yu Ziyuan screeches, slamming her hands on the table and before, Jiang Cheng would have cowered; would have flinched and ducked his head and gave in again.

But not anymore.

“The meaning of this is that I am done with this family,” he declares as he stands up. “I rejected my birth right and my inheritance and I reject your parenting as well. I’m a grown ass man and I can make my own decision. And my decision is that my life is now going to start. So excuse me, but I have better things to do today.”

He smiles at them both, mostly just to drive the point home and then turns around to leave, not listening to his mother yelling after him and his father trying to calm her down.

This is something they have to make out between themselves and Jiang Cheng is so over being in the middle of their fights.

He closes the door behind him, gladly leaving the key behind, and takes a deep breath. Now it’s not just his missing hair that gives him the feeling of being lighter, but also this. This whole mess of a family has been such a huge load on his shoulders, such a heavy weight to carry and now that it’s gone he feels like he could fly.

And there’s only one place he wants to fly to.

Jiang Cheng is humming under his breath as he drives over to Nie Mingjue’s place and despite all of his resolutions for this day, this has him more nervous than confronting his parents. But this is something he promised himself to do as well and if not today, then he’ll probably never do it.

He’s still riding the high of telling his parents where to stick it and he intends to use that high to the fullest.

So he doesn’t hesitate to ring Nie Mingjue’s doorbell but he does shuffle nervously on his feet. Jiang Cheng doesn’t have to wait long though because Nie Mingjue is opening the door quicker than Jiang Cheng anticipated.

“Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue says, a smile making its way on his face before Nie Mingjue’s eyes go huge. “What happened to your hair?”

There’s panic in his voice and Jiang Cheng did not expect this.

“I cut it off,” he says, trying for a nonchalant voice as he shrugs. “Don’t tell me you liked it better the other way.”

“I thought you’re not allowed to cut it off,” Nie Mingjue says, clearly scrambling for words. “You and Wei Wuxian both.”

“Right,” Jiang Cheng scoffs. “Because his unruly hair is clearly superior to a clean cut.”

“Sometimes I think we should check him for eggs when he spends time with Huaisang,” Nie Mingjue says and Jiang Cheng frowns. “I wouldn’t put it past him to use that disaster of hair as a nest.”

Jiang Cheng huffs out an amused laugh at that but there’s still this little nagging voice in his head that tells him Nie Mingjue hates it.

“You’re right, I never even thought about that,” Jiang Cheng admits. “But what do you think of this?” He tilts his head a little bit just so that Nie Mingjue can see the undercut as well and he wasn’t prepared for how Nie Mingjue can no longer meet his eyes.

“Yeah, no, this is fine, it suits you, very—” he gestures at his own face as Jiang Cheng frowns.

He can’t be sure but he thinks he hears Nie Mingjue mutter something about cheekbones and eyes and while Jiang Cheng would like that to be true, he needs clearer words.

“I didn’t take you for a nervous mess, actually,” Jiang Cheng says and watches in wonder as Nie Mingjue goes red in the face.

“Well it’s not everyday that the love of your life stands before you with the hottest haircut in the world,” Nie Mingjue snaps and then goes even redder in the face.

Jiang Cheng smiles at him.

“No, I just have to deal with the love of my life wearing the hottest braids in his hair all the goddamn time,” he immediately gives back and smirks when Nie Mingjue simply blinks at him.

“You don’t mean Huaisang, right?”

“I don’t mean Huaisang,” Jiang Cheng confirms and lets out a startled laugh when Nie Mingjue suddenly puts hands on his hips and pulls him close.

“Good,” Nie Mingjue whispers as he noses at Jiang Cheng’s temple. “Fuck, you’re so goddamn hot. Your cheekbones alone could kill a man.”

“Hopefully not my man, though,” Jiang Cheng gives back as he slings his arms around Nie Mingjue’s neck. “’Cause I’m hoping to keep him around for a while longer.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Nie Mingjue says and finally kisses Jiang Cheng. “But I thought today is family dinner? How did they take this?” he asks as he playfully tugs on Jiang Cheng’s short ponytail.

“Oh, that was hilarious, actually,” Jiang Cheng says as he leans back and smiles at Nie Mingjue. “I would prefer to tell you inside though. And I think I deserve more kisses, too.”

“You deserve all the kisses,” Nie Mingjue immediately agrees even as he pulls Jiang Cheng into the house.

Jiang Cheng expectantly tilts his head towards him and laughs when Nie Mingjue peppers his face with kisses.

Jiang Cheng thinks just for that alone everything today has been worth it and he’s looking forward to a whole lot more kisses.

And he knows Nie Mingjue will deliver.

Link to my ko-fi

#bt writes #the untamed #mingcheng #modern au #mdzs #getting together #hair cut #self confidence #first kiss #fluff

[winepresswrath]

I think I might be a tsundere for MXTX romances because I keep saying I don't care for them and read her books for everything but the romance, but I'm also weirdly attached to all her canon pairings???

You may be! I have a weird relationship to all of them that basically goes:

Scum Villain: her earliest and IMO least polished work, features both my least favourite and favourite of her canon ships, would not recommend to anyone without a small list of warnings, my absolute favourite of her novels.

Heaven's Official Blessing: I genuinely think this is her best novel, and it features my favourite of her main couples by a significant margin. Takes up comparatively little space in my brain compared to the other two.

MDZS: neither her best work nor my favourite of her couples. I'm completely obsessed.

#like yes cql helps with that #particularly because I do really like drama wangxian #but even aside from that it just does so many things I like! #It keeps me coming back #like did you know that Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian in the novel take turns rejecting both each other's thanks and apologies until they've #done the whole quadrant? #ahhh!!! how dare she #or oh man there's this great moment where WWX is running after Jiang Cheng #when he thinks Jiang Cheng has left him to go after his parents' bodies #and it's his lowest moment in the first life up to that point #it explicitly comes closer to breaking him than anything else has so far! #and a) that never being resolved in terms of him figuring out why jc did it while b) Wen Ning is the person who #rescues him from that despair #delicious

[wangxianomy]

Let’s talk about Wei Wuxian’s privileged life! The boy was born to rogue cultivators who left his four-five year old self alone at an inn then died and never returned for him. He spent the next three-four years on the streets fighting with stray hungry dogs for scraps of food, and constantly getting hurt. What a luxury!

Then miracles of miracles! He is taken in by someone who claims to be his parents’ friend and brought to a sect and introduced to the man’s family. The man’s wife hates him for being a dead woman’s son! Whips him with a first class spiritual weapon for the smallest things (like being half naked in a pool! How dare he?!) He is not part of the family, but eats at their table. He is constantly reminded of his parents status (how dare that son of a servant!) and the man who claims to be their friend never says a word to refute this. His status in the sect is extremely dubious. Who is he? A sect disciple? A servant? Only Jiang Yanli calls him a brother, and even she is reminded by her mother that he is in fact not, that he is a servant right there at the table. And Jiang Shushu doesn’t correct her.

He has a reputation of being frivolous when text tells us he is actually only friendly. He behaves ridiculously but never harms anyone. He takes punishments for his shidis, even when he doesn’t deserve them. He is chivalrous and brave and kind in his teen years. He is fun and has a lot of friends (cloud recesses arc, do read)

Things go bad when the wens start their ruling the world agenda and start attacking different sects.

He saves a girl from being disfigured, he tries to save the sect heirs and disciples from Tortoise of Slaughter, he sacrifices his chance to escape and kills a hundreds years old beast with Lan wangji. Thus he makes a name for himself and people don’t like that. But it doesn’t matter in the long run because he then gives his golden core to his sect brother and heir as repayment for everything they had done for him.

Even that doesn’t matter, because that sacrifice was so selfish! How dare he?!

The cultivation world turns on him after he wins them the war. Jiang Cheng turns on him even after he stood behind him as he rebuilt lotus pier (chapter 104, hatred part 7). Instead of helping people who made sure their parents bodies were returned to them and given proper rituals (Wen Ning is the reason the jiang parents ashes were there in the ancestral hall and Jiang Cheng knows it), he turned on them too. So Wei Wuxian does what he thinks is best for Yunmeng jiang as he saves those people. He cuts ties so people don’t hound the Jiangs for their heads.

Again the greed and jealousy speak for him, rumours upon rumours are spread when he farms radishes and prays for potatoes in the burial mounds.

People then have enough, they can’t see him living peacefully, they want him dead and his powerful tool in their own hands. So they ambush him, try to kill him and here he loses control and accidentally kills someone important. He is inconsolable. The people he tried to protect sacrifice themselves. And then he finds out that they sacrificed themselves for nothing but lies! He also finds out people are pledging to kill him and the elderly and weak and that two year old child! He still reasons and talks but they attack first. Then jiang Yanli, the only person who made him feel like family begs him to stop so he does for her. Then some hotshot wannabe tries to kill him, when he has stopped, and his shijie sacrifices herself for him. That’s three sacrifices by people he loved in the span of a day, all for naught. So he does what he swore he would never do.

Then he dies in a siege led by someone who had the permission to enter the wards he had built because he was trusted. Dies as he destroys the tool that caused all the devastation.

So when he returns and Lan Wangji is there with him at every step, he deserves it. He deserves being spoiled, he deserves being coddled, he deserves being trusted and respected by the juniors.

He died righting his wrongs, he died gruesome. His second life deserves to be free of the negativity and burdens and debts of the previous one.

#wei wuxian #mo dao zu shi #lan wangji #wangxian #this got long #jiang cheng #this is not jiang Cheng bashing this is Wei Wuxian appreciation

[vrishchikawrites]

You know what would be cathartic?

JC getting the ass whooping he deserves.

I can't get over how he gets zero repercussions for the massacre of the Wen remnants as well as torturing and murdering who knows how many people for 13/16 years... Etc. Sure after Guanyin temple we get a spark of hope that he might at least mend his ways, but then in the extras he's back to his old ways so 🤷

The only post canon I accept for him is that he finally manages to cross one line too many and someone just beats the shit out of him and wipes the floor with his mug (preferably WN or LSZ because those two are such good boys and they deserve a little violence as a treat but LWJ and WWX could get to let out some steam as well) meanwhile the rest of the cultivation world watches on like "yup he had it coming"

(this is way, way post canon but I had a vision in my head. I hope it works)

Age has done nothing to temper Jiang Wanyin's personality. He's still entirely too quick to anger, always a hair's breadth away from violence. Lan Xichen finds it distasteful but he's a Sect Leader and must maintain proper relationship with his peers.

His amiable masks strains, just a little, when his youngest nephew is pushed back by the fury of Jiang Wanyin's blade.

It was supposed to be a lesson but Xichen knows Jiang Wanyin's true motives.

Lan Zhenxing is Wangji and Wuxian's youngest child, adopted when he was discarded at the gates of Cloud Recesses as a little baby. He may as well be Wei Wuxian's natural-born son, given how much he resembles him in personality.

His uncle is very displeased but Wangji is not-so-secretly enamored. Nothing pleases him more than finding traces of his husband in their son.

The quality that Wangji adores, Jiang Wanyin detests.

Xichen has always wondered why Jiang Wanyin is so determined to remain bitter. It hurts no one but himself. Wuxian has moved on, it isn't in his brother-in-law's nature to linger in the past. Xichen has witnessed his blissful happiness first hand and is forever grateful it turned out this way.

There's no reason why Jiang Wanyin couldn't follow the same path; build his family, nurture new ties, and take the path of peace.

Now, as he watches Jiang-zongzhu pressure his little nephew, his 14-year-old baby Lan, he can't help but feel angry.

It is supposed to be a lesson, a way to correct the child's sword grip, a way to help him become lighter on his feet.

Xichen had permitted it, nudging his intimidated nephew gently.

It was a mistake.

His little nephew's face is white and eyes are wide. He is visibly terrified and there's no parent in the crowd unbothered by it. He sees several cultivators step forward with disapproving frowns. There are a few who even dare to call Jiang Wanyin's name, asking him to slow down.

The Cultivation world is very familiar with the man's temper but this is the first time they see his capacity for ruthlessness so starkly.

"Jiang Cheng," Xichen turns around to see Wei Wuxian walk forward and breathes a sigh of relief. Wangji is nowhere to be found but he assumes he's still engaged in writing a report of their most recent Nighthunt.

The differences between Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian couldn't be more stark.

Wuxian has a genial air and a youthful face. He barely looks like a father of three children, two of them already adults. Diligence and innate brilliance have allowed him to reach new heights of cultivation.

In terms of power, no one but Wangji is his match.

Jiang Wanyin, in contrast, has the look of a bitter, worn-down man. Xichen has always found it fascinating.

In Wei Wuxian, that Golden Core had thrived and shone with the brilliance of the Sun. In Jiang Wanyin, it has lost all of its lustre. It remains powerful, but nowhere near as potent as it should be.

Twenty three years ago, Wei Wuxian had gotten a weak body and a weak core. He build it up again and now he stands tall, strong, and practically glowing with the might of his spiritual prowess.

It is perhaps the person, not the core itself, that determines a cultivator's power.

Wei Wuxian steps between a furious Jiang Wanyin and his son, running a gentle hand over the boy's head to reassure him, "Go keep your A'die company, a-Xing. He's stuck with paperwork and would love a distraction."

All traces of fear have already left Zhenxing's face and he is back to his good-humored self. He bows to his father and Jiang-zongzhu cheerfully and walks away.

Wei Wuxian stares down at Jiang Wanyin with no trace of kindness on his face. The gentle father is gone, this is the Wei Wuxian his brother has carefully brought out with years of love and unceasing devotion.

Confident, self-assured, and absolutely unwilling to be anyone's victim.

"If you're angry, take it out on someone who can actually beat some sense into you, Jiang Cheng."

"Wei Wuxian!"

"Jiang Wanyin," His brother-in-law echoes mockingly, "Did you think you could harass my son and I would just let it go?"

"He's a weak if he needs your protection, even now." Jiang Wanyin says and Wuxian's expression turns frosty.

He unsheathes Suibian, "It seems like you need a sound thrashing."

Xichen coughs to conceal his laugh as Jiang Wanyin scowls furiously and rushes at Wuxian.

It is a short match. Sandu races forward and Wuxian spins out of its way, Suibian singing through the air as he cuts a shallow slash across Jiang Wanyin's chest.

The sight of blood silences everyone.

Wei Wuxian doesn't falter. It would seem everyone has forgotten just how ruthless the Yiling Laozu can really be when provoked. Wuxian presses Jiang Wanyin like the Sect Leader had pressed Lan Zhenxing. He becomes a swift, merciless, overwhelming force that has Jiang Wanyin scrambling backwards to avoid the more deadly strikes.

All the while, Wei Wuxian is calm, his lips quirked and clothes unruffled. He spins in a flurry of rich black silks and brings Suibian down with such force, Jiang Wanyin loses control of Sandu.

The sword clatters to the ground and Jiang Wanyin looks up at Wei Wuxian with fury and embarrassment.

"My son is weak, huh?"

One must wonder, Xichen thinks absently, how a man with every advantage in his corner manages to squander his potential so completely.

Jiang Wanyin is of noble birth, handsome in appearance, and posses a golden core that had immense potential.

And yet.

Xichen shakes his head as other cultivators nod in approval of Wei Wuxian, murmuring among themselves.

Apparently, no earthly advantages can overcome the faults of one's character.

"The good and righteous are always strong," His uncle says with grim satisfaction and Xichen looks at him in surprise, "Even if their bodies are weak." He thinks back on the young Wei-gongzi, back from the dead in a weak body. "The wicked and resentful are always weak." Lan Qiren starts walking away, following Wei Wuxian out of the training field, "Regardless of the power they hold."

Xichen looks back at Jiang Wanyin, who is stalking away with humiliation written on his face, ignoring the disapproving frowns aimed at his back.

What a pity.

#short prompts #wei wuixan #lan xichen #anti jiang cheng #post canon

[robininthelabyrinth]

Beautifully Spent

aka Five Times Lan Qiren Left The Lan Sect Behind

- Chapter 5 -

It didn’t matter how many years it had been, or that he had died and returned in a different body, or even that he was now a married man, an adult, well-respected by the whole cultivation world – being summoned to have tea with Lan Qiren still had a way of making Wei Wuxian feel like a disobedient schoolboy all over again.

He thought that they were on better terms now than they had been before, at least. At some point after he’d finally settled into the Cloud Recesses for good, Wei Wuxian had started assisting Lan Qiren with his classes, or perhaps more accurately, Lan Wangji had made a request with an eye towards his uncle’s uncertain health, Lan Qiren had refused, and Wei Wuxian had bullied his way in to act as an aide anyway by simply showing up and refusing to leave.

At first, he’d thought Lan Wangji’s idea was a terrible one, thinking that after all he was on bad terms with Lan Qiren, who disapproved of him as a general matter and of Lan Wangji’s relationship with him in specific, and therefore that they were on such bad terms that his presence would only make things worse. Only…one day, he had seen Lan Qiren coughing into his sleeve after they’d all had a brief scare as a result of a badly phrased letter from Lan Sizhui and spotted blood, and then suddenly been assaulted by the memory of Lan Qiren bleeding from all his qiqiao, crying out half-unconscious for Wei Wuxian to stop butchering his flute playing as if that was the only thing he remembered how to condemn.

It was not a memory that Wei Wuxian particularly enjoyed – the man had been his teacher, after all.

So despite his misgivings, he’d gone ahead and done it, and brazened it out the way he always did. They’d fought like cats and dogs at the start, Lan Qiren tetchy and querulous, Wei Wuxian too often inclined to argue just for the sake of arguing, but just as he’d been on the verge of giving it all up as a bad idea, Lan Wangji had, in his oh-so-serious way, told Wei Wuxian that he did not need to assist his uncle if he thought he couldn’t handle it and that, of course, had only lit a fire under his ass to actually manage it.

(Yes, he knew that Lan Wangji had done it on purpose, but it wasn’t like he didn’t use his own sexy wiles to convince Lan Wangji of all sorts of important things, like having a drink with him once in a while.)

At any rate, Wei Wuxian had gritted his teeth and forced himself to play along a bit better with Lan Qiren’s monotone lecturing, and after a while he found to his surprise that assisting with the classes actually wasn’t anywhere near as boring as he thought it would be. In turn, Lan Qiren had eased up a little on him, explaining the reasons behind what he was doing upon request, and things started to work better, little by little.

And now – now they were having tea.

Weird.

“You’ve adjusted well to the Cloud Recesses,” Lan Qiren said, accepting the tea Wei Wuxian poured for him. His voice was neutral and monotone, but Lan Wangji had assured Wei Wuxian that his uncle’s voice always sounded like that, and sure enough all the classes they shared together seemed to bear it out. Even when he was horribly upset and coughing up blood, his voice stayed as toneless and dull as ever; the only thing he really adjusted was the volume.

“Ah, I’ll never quite get the hang of when you wake up,” Wei Wuxian said, automatically deflecting, but Lan Qiren shook his head.

“Ancillary rule,” he said, and a few months of sitting in on Lan Qiren’s classes made Wei Wuxian ponderously put his hands together and say, using his own best monotone, “Ancillary rules support the fundamental rules. Even the keystone in an arch doesn’t stand alone.”

Lan Qiren nodded, serious despite Wei Wuxian’s attempt at teasing (clearly unsuccessful). “And yet you have adjusted to the underlying purpose of the rule regarding when to wake, which is to fill as much of your day with meaning as possible. Your relationship with Wangji is going well?”

Wei Wuxian choked a little. “Uh, yes.” He hoped Lan Qiren wasn’t thinking of dissuading him now – they were already married! Lan Qiren had even participated, accepting Wei Wuxian’s respect in the place of Lan Wangji’s parents. “Did you have any…questions…?”

Lan Qiren shook his head. “You’ve also repaired your relationship with Jiang Cheng, have you not?” he said instead, changing the subject, and – on firmer ground – Wei Wuxian nodded. “Good. He’s an excellent sect leader.”

“He is, isn’t he?” Wei Wuxian said, feeling fond as always when he thought of Jiang Cheng. “He grew up so well.”

It would have been better, of course, if Wei Wuxian had been able to be by his side – but it hadn’t been meant to be, and now they were getting over that.

Lan Qiren nodded.

There was a few moments of silence, and just as Wei Wuxian was wondering if it was his turn to come up with a conversational subject, Lan Qiren put down his cup.

“Xichen has been out of seclusion for over a year,” he said. “Wangji helps him with the work of sect leader, but the bulk has returned to his hands, and he is doing well with it.”

“Yes, definitely,” Wei Wuxian said, but he had to admit he was a little puzzled as to where this conversation was going. It seemed clear that Lan Qiren was leading somewhere, but with all these subject changes, he couldn’t keep up. “Teacher Lan, what’s your point?” he asked, taking a sip of his own tea.

“I want you to take over my classes.”

Wei Wuxian choked.

Lan Qiren politely waited for him to catch his breath. “I’m serious.”

Wei Wuxian had just been about to ask if he was joking. “Why?” he asked. “You love teaching classes.”

It was true, too. He hadn’t appreciated it as a child, seeing only the old man hiding in Lan Qiren’s bones, but Lan Qiren truly loved teaching students – and he was good at it, too. It was impossible to teach those that didn’t want to be taught, so for a reckless idiot like Wei Wuxian who hadn’t been willing to listen, he’d ordered him to copy the rules as a punishment; as a result, to this day, Wei Wuxian could still recite each and every one of them. If Wei Wuxian hadn’t gotten into that fight with Jin Zixuan and been pulled out of the classes so recklessly back then, he might’ve had the chance to learn what he was learning now – not just the basic foundation of what the rules were, but why each rule existed, the history and background of it, the debates and complexity about its meaning, the way each rule intersected with all the others. How the rules, even when seemingly meaningless, had a life and background of their own; how they could be associated with various points of good conduct, of righteousness and ethical behavior.

When they could be broken, and why.

Lan Qiren might be an old man from the bottom of his soul, he might speak in a monotone and be stiff and unyielding and stubborn, slow to change his fixed views on things and even slower to pick up on sarcasm or undue cleverness, but he worked with each student on how to understand what he was trying to convey, teaching them not only the content of his lectures but how to learn. He wasn’t especially patient, wasn’t especially gentle, was overly strict, but his students learned – sometimes despite themselves.

And now…he wanted to give up on his classes?

“Is something the matter?” Wei Wuxian asked, distressed despite himself, thinking of bad blood welling up in Lan Qiren’s chest – thinking of all the stupid things he’d done to aggravate him, whether now or in the past. Had the old man’s health really gotten that bad?

“Nothing is the matter,” Lan Qiren said. “And my health is fine, no matter what Wangji might have you think. It is merely a matter of time. Of time, and of dreams.”

“Of…dreams?”

“Mm,” Lan Qiren said, and for a moment he sounded exactly like Lan Wangji. “When I was a child, I once dreamed of being a traveling musician. I thought I’d roam the world, playing for anyone who would listen, and when I had my fill of wanderlust, return home – retire – teach.”

Wei Wuxian had had no idea. He could scarcely imagine Lan Qiren as a child – no, he couldn’t imagine it at all. Much less wanting to leave the Cloud Recesses as something as daringly bold as being a traveling musician! Not even a rogue cultivator, but a traveling musician!

The brief moment of glee that the image inspired got snuffed out a moment later when he recalled why, exactly, Lan Qiren had never gone out to fulfill his childhood dream. He knew the story well by now, the story of Lan Wangji’s father and mother, their mutual disaster. Wei Wuxian was intimately familiar with sacrificing everything for his loved ones, but he couldn’t even imagine how it must have been to be Lan Qiren – his dreams destroyed by his brother’s selfish actions, another person’s love affair leaving him chained to his sect and raising two children as if they were his own.

Even Jiang Cheng had the comfort of knowing that his life had been destroyed by an enemy.

“I became a teacher prematurely,” Lan Qiren said, nodding when he saw the light of recognition in Wei Wuxian’s eyes. “I have enjoyed it, as I always expected I would. But it is not enough. It is time.”

“Time?” Wei Wuxian echoed, and then realized: “You want to be a traveling musician? Now?”

Surely it was impossible.

Lan Qiren was – not old, no, not really, but his health was bad; he had never recovered from the attack on the Cloud Recesses, from Wen Xu’s vicious attacks that had nearly crippled him. Moreover, he wasn’t just some nobody who could go around unnoticed – he was the only sect leader left from his generation, even if he had technically only played an interim role, and more than that, he was the honorable teacher Lan Qiren, who could turn any waste into a gentleman. He’d taught hundreds of students over the years – Wei Wuxian had seen the records – and he counted among his students some of the most influential people in the cultivation world.

Even Wei Wuxian, who’d been in his class only a month or so and spent most of it in punishment, felt distress at the thought of Lan Qiren trudging through the mud of the mortal world with a guqin on his back, playing for his supper. How would those who had actually done well in his class feel?!

“It will not be as I originally imagined,” Lan Qiren said, entirely calm. “I plan to visit my former students, if they would have me there, and travel only between their homes – it will not be as stressful as the life of a rogue cultivator. I will have the sect’s resources available to assist me. It will be fine.”

“But -!”

“Xichen is sect leader, and recovering well from what he lost. Wangji is your husband, and happy. The only thing binding me to the sect now is my students – and you have helped me with my classes for months now. You are charming and thoughtful, charismatic; the students listen to you. You will do well with it.”

“I don’t know all the rules!”

“You know enough.”

“But – but –”

“If you say no, I cannot go,” Lan Qiren said, and he didn’t even sound angry about it, merely accepting. “I have a duty to see to the juniors’ education. I would entrust you with it, but I will not force it upon you. But I would very much appreciate it if you would agree. Will you do it?”

If I say no, I’d be the one locking you here, Wei Wuxian thought, and swallowed. That didn’t seem right.

“…all right,” he said, and was rewarded by one of Lan Qiren’s rare smiles. “But you have to get me up to speed first!”

“Of course,” Lan Qiren agreed. “I will plan to go only after the New Year, in the spring. I will tell Xichen and Wangji of my decision this evening.”

Wei Wuxian felt his heart freeze at the thought of their reaction at discovering their beloved uncle’s plans – and finding out that he had played a critical role in enabling it.

“Uh,” he said. “I…may need to go out tonight. For a – thing. Important thing! Very…Lotus Pier! I’m going to the Lotus Pier! Urgently!”

Lan Qiren looked at him, unimpressed.

“It will not be that bad,” he said. “They will understand, and there is no reason for them to be concerned.”

“Oh yeah?” Wei Wuxian said, and crossed his arms. “Want to bet on that?”

#mdzs #wei wuxian #lan qiren #my fic #my fics #beautifully spent

[angstymdzsthoughts]

I've been thinking about this particular au in while. An au where Wei Ying went mad (or a bit crazy ) during his childhood in Lotus Pier.

Please forgive my English, it's not my first language (• ▽ •;)

Hope u still enjoy it regardless

Little WY refused to stay at the inn and went with his parents. His parents hid him inside a tree when things started to go south, and told him to wait for them. When they didn't come back for a long time, he tried to search for them. What he found was their corpses and ofc little WY tried to wake them up, shaking their bloodied bodies with his tiny hands while calling their names. Did they left him because he was not a good child? Because he insisted to go with the on their night hunt? He wouldn't know, they would never answer him again.

Soon he decided to give up, lay down near their bodies and just talked to their corpses like when they were alive. Not long after that, he heard wolf howling. Before he could fully realized what was happening, a pack of wolf are already approaching him and his parents bodies. He was scared but tried to fight them, his parents' swords were there, but it was simply to hard for him to use, he only has his tiny hands, to protect what was left of his parents.

He tried but all was futile, as he watched his parents bodies be eaten by those wolf, while his body full of bite marks. Body shaking in a cold night, tears streaming down his face, eyes empty, many emotions clashing inside him as he sat there. Soon the wolves turn their attention to him and WY started running, he didn't where to go, his body just screaming for him to run, even if his mind couldn't quite register what was happening, to shocked to really process anything.

He finally reached a town (probably Yiling I guess?? I'm sorry idk) the wolves lost him already. He the found an alleyway and made it his makeshift living place. The concept of death was still quite strange, his parents were alive then they're not, his little self couldn't quite accept it just yet.

He then tried to make 2 straw dolls (like in the donghua ep 8?? if I'm not wrong, sorry) he called them, A-Niang, and A-Die and just smiled at them. He talked to them, because no one will really talk to him anymore, he missed his mother chattering and his father's soft gaze. Those dolls were his only company, just him and his parents, safe in his memory, full of happiness and maybe, just maybe his parents would consider coming back for him if he kept talking them. And life as a street rat went on (with all that stuff no child should ever went through)

One day, (a wild ) Jiang Fengmian appeared (I'm sorry (￣ヘ￣;))

You know the things that transpired when Jiang Fengmian found WY and brought him back to Lotus Pier. And we start from there.

WY didn't want to leave his 2 dolls behind back then, so he still has them with him and he still talk to them as if they're his parents.

He tries to do his best, and he excelled in all the things he does, even surpassing Jiang Cheng, but WY doesn't realize that. And ofc Madame Yu is not happy.

She begins to punish him, make him kneel for hours at the Ancestral Hall, and she even whips him sometimes.

All those punishment make WY feels out off place in Lotus Pier, why is she so mean to him he just doing what he should be doing right, he hasn't seen anyone get punished as much as him.

He thought he didn't do well enough, so he tries to do better, he doesn't want to get kicked out after all.

And one day Madame Yu snaps, she whips him then leave him in an empty dark room. He's sobbing because of the pain and the dark empty room doesn't help. It only serves to make him more stressed out, it reminds him of that night after the wolves attacked him, the pain, the darkness, the silence, there's only him and his thoughts.

And his thoughts is not really a fun company to be with in situations like this. (he's stuck there for idk 4/5 days? anyway)

And things happen (u get the idea)

This kinda goes on for some times and Little WY kinda snaps. (I mean what do u expect dear Madame Yu )

Wei Ying used to be all alone with his thoughts, started to talk to himself and anything he finds interesting. No person will talk to him anymore (like back then), because who will talk to some madman (still a young teenager technically; 11/12 idk u pick)

He laughs with the blooming lotuses and the rippling water, eyes unseeing, trapped in his personal euphoria inside his mind, oblivious of all the painful things in life.

Madame Yu then locks him in a room far from others to see, like some embarrassment in the Jiang sect she must hide from the outside world. (The room it's not that bad, but still it's very cruel to do so Madame)

I kinda want LWJ to meet WY, imagine

LWJ walking in Lotus Pier (for whatever business he has) then he found a beautiful pond full of bloomed lotuses with a bridge across it ( accidently wander too far) But sitting on that bridge, a person far more beautiful than any of the lotuses in that pond is laughing and seemingly talking to the lotuses there. When he takes a closer look, the person is indeed laughing, but it looks as if they're laughing mindlessly, he also takes note on how pale and frail the person looks. Who's this person might be?

And that's it.

Thank you very much for sticking around!

#submission #wei ying #wei wuxian #lan wangji #madame yu #yu ziyuan #insanity #angst

[chenqingssuibian]

jiang cheng... he's so good. he's just a ball of grief and maladaptive coping strategies shambling around in the form of a man with so, so much resting in his shoulders. in the years his brother is dead his only fuckin personal relationship was with jin ling, his dead sister's son who he never should've been raising

and god, he must be bitter about that, too. he never should've had to raise jin ling. jiang cheng is not his sister, and whenever jin ling looks at him he probably sees who jin ling could've been, if his parents hadn't died. his nephew's defensive nature, his quick temper - he knows where those came from. he has seen that glare stare back at him in the mirror his entire life, he knows exactly where it came from and im sure it kills him. do you think he apologizes to her, when he visits the family shrine? does he get on his knees and tremble from the effort it takes to keep the tears at bay? im sorry, a-jie, im sorry that he's growing into me. it creeps up on him in his darkest moments, I bet. im sorry i raised him wrong.

yanli would disagree with him if she could. he did the best he could, a child raising a child and reviving a sect and seeing the ghosts of all he's lost every time he turns a corner. he is near mad with grief, hatred, guilt, at everyone and everything and especially himself because there must have been something he could've done, right? something he could've said to talk sense into-

but there isn't and there wasn't and he didn't. all he has left is jin ling, his nephew, a boy with a jin's delicate beauty and his sister's eyes and his mother's temper. he gets jin ling a dog, and he teaches him archery, and it doesn't take long at all for him to be the best in the clan and then one day he finds jin ling shooting down kites at the drill grounds and he's not wearing jin gold for once, and-

and for a split second, he sees his brother. by the time jin ling has noticed him jiang cheng has snapped out of it, but it shakes him to the core. his eyes linger on the purple of the robes jin ling has borrowed, the comfortable grip with which he holds his bow. jiang cheng had made it himself, special, because words fail him but actions hit home and even if he can't say it he has to make sure his nephew knows he's loved.

he stops coming to watch jin ling practice archery, after that. he starts keeping extra robes in jin colors around, too. maybe jin ling notices. maybe not.

he mourns the day jin ling declares himself too old for hugs. no one touches him, the fearsome sect leader of yunmengjiang, no one but jin ling. there are no casual touches because everyone who grew up with him, saw him awkward and gangly and twelve, everyone who really knows him - they're dead and gone. but he respects jin ling's choice, flicks his forehead right over that red dot between his brows, and never hugs him again.

how many years until someone hugs jiang cheng, after that? how long does he go without a touch from another? he doesn't hug wei wuxian when he comes back, at least not for a long, long time. there's too much pain there for him to reach out and sling his arm around wei wuxians shoulders, to punch him in the gut, to be his little brother again. but he wants to. mo xuanyu's smaller than his brother's first body, weaker and thinner, but the spark in those eyes is wei wuxian's and so is his smile and his posture. they never meet on purpose and every time they run into each other it's like the air has been sucked out of his lungs. what angers him most, now, is how much he wants to hug him. lan wangji does, and so does lan sizhui and lan jingyi and ouyang zizhen and even his flesh-and-blood nephew jin ling - everyone touches him, all the time, and the only one who can't is him. he feels like he's fifteen again, annoyed that his brother pays more attention to their clan members than him and even more annoyed that he's pissed off about something so trivial. brother brother brother, his heart screams. brother brother brother, with each pulse of the golden core in his chest.

do you think he cries? jiang cheng has spent so much of his life hating and resenting the way he loves wei wuxian, wishing it could be simple. love and hate are difficult to tell apart. i hate you, he sobs against wei wuxian's shoulder, clinging like he will disappear if he doesn't dig his fingers in and make him stay.

i know, wei wuxian whispers, and he clutches jiang cheng's shoulders like he's afraid too.

i love you, they mean. and maybe, jiang cheng thinks, one day they'll be able to say it.

#cql #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #the untamed #im clearly unhinged #this wasnt supposed to devolve into this but okay #jiang cheng #yunmeng bros #wei wuxian #jin ling #they're very messy and i love them Lots

[drwcn]

CQL!AU: Everyone is an orphan except Wei Wuxian, and the Twin Jades are dark practitioners. Needless to say, that changes things. (canon what canon) 

Master Post

~

[1-3]

[1] Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan were the ones who died early. Wei Changze returned to Lotus Pier to become the guardian and regent of his best friend’s son and heir. 

Lotus Pier was black and white. Lifeless. 

That was the first thought that crossed Cangse Sanren’s mind when she and Wei Changze docked at the port, swords in hand, and their little son in toll. 

The people mourned. Posts were temporarily closed, the market suspended. Windows and doors of their bustling riverside town were firmly shut, with white and black drapes hanging from its sills and fluttering in the wind. 

Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan were dead. Two young cultivators, parents, taken from this world too young, gone before their time. 

“A-Ying, come child,” Cangse extended a hand to the boy who glanced around at the unfamiliar place with timid curiosity. 

“A-niang, what’s going on?” 

“No questions. You must behave yourself today.” Cangse brought her son closer to her, watching her husband’s usually smiling, gentle face pull taut into a mask that betrayed none of the grief he felt underneath. He held himself taller today, shoulders pulled back, spine rod-straight and jaws clenched. She’d forgotten, after all these wonderful years of travelling the world with their family, that this place was once his home. 

“Er’shixiong,” a man greeted them at the pier, flanked by a party of younger Jiang disciples, all appropriately garbed with white sashes around their waist. “Cangse-daozhang.” 

They had spoken in depth about returning. Cangse knew there was nothing she could do to stop him; Changze’s devotion to Jiang Fengmian ran deeper than she understood. It was never herself that Yu Ziyuan should’ve resented; though however misplaced Madam Yu’s jealousy had been, it was a moot point now.  

Chang’ge, I will not ask you to choose between your love for him and your promise to me. If Lotus Pier is where you wish to go, I will go with you. I cannot promise however that I will always stay. That — is not my nature. 

Thank you, Wumei*. I understand. 

They found Jiang Wanyin, the little lord, and his sister Jiang Yanli, in their mourning robes, kneeling and crying before their parents’ funeral altar.  

Wei Changze sunk to his knees beside them, and folded his body until his forehead hit the ground. “Shixiong,” he spoke to the spirits. “I’ve come back.” 

“Who are you?!” The boy Jiang Cheng, five-years-old and hurting, blurted out rudely through his tears. His sister held him from behind and gave a trembling nod of deference to the older man. 

“Wei-shishu.”  

Beside her, clinging to her skirt, Wei Ying looked up and asked quietly, “A-niang, are we going to stay?” 

Cangse Sanren, the favoured fifth pupil of Baoshan Sanren herself, smiled down quietly at her only child and smoothed back his hair. “Yes, A-Ying we will. Lotus Pier is home now.” 

(JC 5 yro; WWX 5 yro; JYL 8 yro)

[2] When Qingheng-jun’s respected mentor died - murdered - he made a very different choice. He turned his back on his clan and his responsibilities, and escaped into the wild with the woman he loved. They were just an ordinary family, living away from the chaos in a paradise of their own. But even Eden eventually falls, and nothing gold ever stays... 

Take A-Huan and A-Zhan and go! Do not stop until you are safe. Do not turn around. Do not come back. 

Shijie! You’re injured! Let me help you - 

Zhao Ming! Zhao Zhuliu, you listen to me: their names, Lan Xichen for the older, and Lan Wangji for the younger. It’s what their father and I wanted for them. 

Shijie - jiejie - 

Now go! Go! 

A-Niang, come with us! A-Niang, don’t go!! A-Niang!!! 

The forest burned like the autumn sun at dusk descending from the sky, red and golden and glorious. A single figure stood amongst the flames, corpses littered at her feet. Bichen fell from her grip, barely making a sound as it landed against dampened earth, soaked with Lan blood.  Those who fought her were dead, but she feared that she did not have long either.

“Rong-gege,” Qiu Baiti collapsed onto her hands and dragged her body towards the man who lay still amongst the carnage, arrows piercing his front, his sword Shuoyue still clutched tight in his left hand. 

Lifeless eyes remained open, as though he could not rest. 

“Rong-gege,” Baiti called helplessly, crawling to him and laying her head down against his chest. There used to be a heartbeat there, and if she closed her eyes, she could almost hear it again. “Wait, don’t go without me...” 

She was so tired and bled from so many places. It was not until a sharp cry and a familiar face descended from the sky that Qiu Baiti realized the inferno which surrounded her was not yet hell. 

"Qiu-jiejie!" Cangse rushed forth, almost tripping over the corpse of a dead Lan disciple in her haste. “Lan-da’ge, he -” A horrified gasp drowned the rest of her words. 

“Cangse...you’re here...” 

Cangse gathered her bosom sister into her arms and immediately drew upon a torrent of spiritual energy from her core, channeling them into her fingertips to heal her friend. She could tell that whatever combat Qiu Baiti had been through, it had already taken the little life inside her, and now hers was following it to the other side.   

“Hold on, I can save you - hold on -”

“Cangse - Cang - stop, it’s too late.” Qiu Baiti lay limp there.  

Death, it drew near, but she was ready. She closed her eyes as a slip of tear escaped beneath her lashes. "I did this to him, to all of them... if I hadn't...it’s all my fault. I was the one they wanted; he was just trying to protect me. A-Huan, A-Zhan...."

Trembling and in near hysterics, Cangse sobbed, “No, don’t say that! Where are the boys?” 

“Safe. A-Ming has them...you mustn’t tell anyone. Not anyone, promise me. Not even Lan Qiren. Especially Lan Qiren... Rong-gege trusts his brother, but I - I - promise me - promise -” Qiu Baiti gasped for breath, gurgling blood in her throat with each laboured attempt. 

“Qiu-jiejie, please - don’t - I - I promise.” 

“Good...Cangse...” Qiu Baiti clutched her hand and smiled, a crimson wound cutting across her pale, beautiful face. “Good.” 

And then she died, with the red of the forest flames still in her eyes. 

Cangse held her friend - dear, damned, dead - and allowed a scream to tear through herself. From the depth of her grief, she released a pulse of unrestrained spiritual energy that rippled through the dense woods as though the storm of her anguish could not be contained. And like a measly candle-light assaulted by the winter wind, the forest fire was extinguished in an instant. 

The sun was gone, and the night was dark.  All was quiet, but there was no peace to be found. 

 Cangse buried Lan Cenrong and Qiu Baiti in two unmarked graves side by side beneath a tall oak tree. She sifted through the bodies and the grime and collected the spiritual weapons they left behind — Shuoyue, Bichen, Liebing (cracked in two places) and the strings of Qiu Baiti’s shattered guqin — and stored them away in her qiankun pouch. She hoped one day that she would find Zhao Zhuliu and the sons Lan Cenrong and Qiu Baiti had left behind, and return these items to their rightful owners. 

It was not until three years later, not too far from her shifu Baoshan’s sacred temple nestled in the snowy mountain peak, where Jiang Yanli had been brought to strengthen her health and train as Cangse’s direct disciple, that Cangse perchance came across Zhao Ming again. 

He was accompanied by two youngsters, two beautiful jade-like children who called him jiufu. Cangse was not surprised in the least to find that both of them have learned the technique for which their mother and jiujiu were hunted: the core-melting hand. 

(LXC 9, LWJ 6 -> LXC 12, LWJ 9 ) 

[3] They called her “The Little Queen”. Wen Qing never wanted to be Sect Master, or Deputy Sect Master, or Regent Sect Master. She just wanted to live quietly with A-Ning and Wen-popo and study the art of healing that her parents practiced. But alas, life had other plans. 

Wen Qing was a month short of her tenth birthday when her life changed forever. 

Wen Ruohan, her father’s older cousin, who’d always been close with her family, had come to visit Dafan. Wen-bobo didn’t have siblings, and her father Wen Ruotian was as close as a brother to him, more than any other Wen descendent of their time. 

Wen Qing liked Wen Ruohan well. He was doting and found her intelligent. Her parents chose the simple village life, but they often spent New Years and holy days at Nevernight at Sect Master Wen’s behest and invitation.  

When Wen Ruohan came to Dafan and told her folks that there was a piece of the Yin Iron inside the Stone Fairy, her father had been eager to help, though weary he was of those powers he could not understand. 

He’d been right to be afraid. 

The extraction had gone horribly wrong, and the rebound of dark energy had eviscerated all those near by, her mother, her father, and Wen Ruohan himself. It was by the skin of her teeth that Wen Qing managed to yank her baby brother Wen Ning out of the way. Then, without thinking, she caught the vile, wretched thing as it sailed through the air. It landed in the palm of her hands, and there she stood, regarded with fear and bewonderment from all those in witness as the cursed item, which burned the life out of cultivators much older and seasoned than her, quieted in her small hands. 

The Elders said she had...a nature affinity. For what, they could not say. 

Wen Qing was brought back to Nevernight and given the name Yuefan: to exceed mortality. Within days, the heavy crown of Sect Master of Qishan Wen was placed on her head. 

It was then that she learned that her Wen-bobo, with no inclination to marry and bind himself to another, did not leave behind a legitimate heir. His young sons, 4-year old Wen Xu and 2 year-old Wen Chao were born to him by women of ill repute.  They were kind, good boys, but they were infantile and illegitimate. Wen Qing felt for them, but she could not change their fate. So for the time being, she accepted what she had to. 

The adults did what they could for her, but there was no one in the cold, vast palace of Nevernight to mind her or nurture her. She stood alone upon the towers where the eternal flames, fuelled by Qishan Wen’s combined spiritual energy, burned in their iron brazier, and watched over the lush volcanic mountain range that was hers to govern and protect. Those beneath her - servants, disciples - feared her and her unknown powers. Those advising her - Elders, mentors - had their own agendas. In any case, they stopped seeing her as a child the minute she held the Yin Iron in her hands and lived to tell the tale. 

It was a secret, they told her. She must guard it well. 

The Chief Cultivator Jin Guangshan sent his ambassadors to congratulate her succession. Gusu’s Lan Qiren and Qinghe’s Nie Heqiu both arrived consecutively to pay their respects to their ten-year-old colleague and fellow Sect Master. 

There was a momentary rumble amongst the Wen Elders about whether Nie Heqiu’s older son Nie Mingjue would be a good match for her someday, but as he too was set to inherit, the idea was put aside as quickly as it was brought up. 

Then came Yunmeng’s regent Wei Changze, bringing along an entourage of Jiang disciples and a boy one year her junior, the son he conceived with the revered Cangse Sanren. 

Wei Wuxian. 

Wen Qing liked him enough. He was spontaneous, agreeable, and clever, and he found her aloofness fun to provoke. They would’ve both been satisfied with the arrangement had she not met Yunmeng Jiang’s young Jiang-zongzhu some years later, and had he not crossed paths with the vengeful and infamous Lan Wangji. 

But life, as the gods have planned it, must have its mysteries. 

(WQ 10, WWX 9) 

TBH?  

Note: 

Wumei - fifth sister, Wei Changze’s nickname for Cangse. 

Details of Cangse and Wei Changze’s name as well as Qingheng-jun and Madam Lan’s name can be found here .

jiufu 舅父 - maternal uncle, formal.  

#cql #the untamed #wei changze #cangse sanren #qingheng-jun #madam lan #wen qing #cql ficlet #It’s Sunday and I worked about 60 hours this week #and i say the jades are evil #and so evil they will be #i do recommend listening to gloria regali when reading this #or like the GoT soundtrack lmao #obviously some deaging of wen chao and wen xu #im literally imagining young queen amidala for wen qing lol #maybe i'lld write more if ppl wnat to see more of this disaster au #corie fics #carbon in the steel

[shijiujun]

Okay if y’all have read my top 2020 danmei list from a week or two back, you’ll know this is currently my favourite danmei (outside of Qi Wei Shang + 2ha hahaha), so here’s a proper, full rec!

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary:

Ji Yan Ran is the Emperor’s brother and wields military power in the novel, and it starts with an object being stolen from the palace. Ji Yan Ran has to retrieve the item secretly, and so enlists the help of Feng Yu Sect’s Sect Master, Yun Yi Feng, who heads the martial arts world’s one and only information trading post. Yun Yi Feng does not deal in business that involves any royalty, but Jing Yan Ran offers him something he cannot refuse - the Blood Red Lingzhi, a rare and mystical herb that is rumoured to be able to treat his life-threatening condition.

Yun Yi Feng was used by his shifu when he was younger to test out all kinds of poisons and cures, and since then, his body flushes dangerously hot and cold frequently, with bouts of severe coughing fits in between. Throughout the first mission where he spends time with Ji Yan Ran searching for the stolen object, he allows Jing Yan Ran to take care of him. Their relationship is pretty flirty and touchy right off the bat, with Ji Yan Ran knowing really clearly that he wants to take care of Yun Yi Feng. When Yun Yi Feng goes anywhere without a coat, JYR always has one ready. He promises all his riches to him, even his mother hahaha (but that’s because he knows he deceived YYF with the Blood Red Lingzhi and is willing to give YYF everything else while also continuing to look for the lingzhi for him). 

Of course, they have to uncover a plot and conspiracy against their enemies who are plotting to dethrone the Emperor, and also reveal the secrets of Yun Yi Feng’s birth.

Read:

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Not Available | Novel Translations | Manhua

Characters:

1. 云倚风 Yun Yi Feng (right) - The revered Sect Master of Feng Yu Sect as his sect controls the flow and movement of information. People from all over buy information or hire the sect to help them get information, and is considered a neutral sect within the wuxia world. Very intelligent, a cool-headed strategist who also loves riches, whose eyes light up at the sight of treasures and money.

He was a child remnant of a war, and picked up by his shifu Gui Ci, who brought him to this island to live with other kids he picked up. His first few years were spent rather happily there, but then one day the man gave all the children bowls of what they thought was soup but ended up being poison because Gui Ci wanted to test out his new concoctions. At the end, only YYF survived after multiple ingestions of poisons and experimental cures. Because he was the ‘strongest’ out of all the other children, Gui Ci began testing out all sorts of poisons and cures on him after. If someone came to him after having been poisoned, Gui Ci would poison YYF in the same way as a test subject to use cures on, and only after they worked on YYF would he use them on the patient. 

His shifu is considered a mad man, and the last straw was when he locked YYF up with several scorpions for a few days and YYF was the closest thing to death at that moment, and afterwards, realizing that he’d gone overboard, Gui Ci is more careful about poisoning him, allowing him to have a slightly more normal childhood, but because of this YYF’s body would flush hot and cold frequently and unbearably. He manages to escape from Gui Ci and sets up Feng Yu Sect.

He only has 5 years left to live if he doesn’t find the Blood Red Lingzhi, when he meets Ji Yan Ran and his request. After meeting JYR he realizes how sweet life is, to have someone who always thinks of him, who cares about his well-being, who wants to make him happy, who buys and gives him everything he wants. In the beginning he is unable to reciprocate knowing he’ll die soon, but they get together anyway after a close call, as JYR tries to find the Lingzhi for him.

He also loves to cook and play the zither, but is so bad at both!! He’s so terrible that every time he approaches the kitchen or the zither the servants themselves try to redirect him subtly and chase him away because they CANNOT stand his dishes or his music hahahaha.

2. 季燕然 Ji Yan Ran (left) - Army commander/general, and a prince. Close to the Emperor, who’s his older brother, and takes a liking to YYF the moment he meets him. He bluffs YYF, says that he has the Blood Red Lingzhi, and then realizing how much YYF needs it, he feels more guilty and guilty for lying to him, and once admitting it, he promises to do whatever it takes to find it for him.  

He’s very smart as well, has eyes only for YYF and is willing to indulge him in every single whim he has. If YYF complains that he doesn’t have anything to wear (even in jest), JYR has the garment stores in the whole city send 10 outfits each for YYF to pick. And even though he hates YYF’s cooking and playing of the zither, he lets him do it anyway, fond but exasperated while everyone is staring daggers at him for not stopping YYF.

A few years ago, a close friend of his and the Emperor’s died, and JYR suspects that their father had something to do with it. It’s something that has been troubling him for many years and it’s a dilemma for him because he has to balance between questioning the Emperor but also trusting him and being a good brother/official to him, as clues keep pointing towards the Emperor and his father being involved in shady deals/decisions. His relationship with the Emperor, his brother, can be described as close, but of course even though they are close and trust each other to a good extent, there is still room for a tiny bit of doubt that both brothers are well aware of due to their positions, not that this affects their relationship.

Openly is affectionate to YYF in front of everyone, including his mother, who likes YYF alot as well. YYF once worried if the Emperor would oppose his relationship with him, but JYR said that their relationship should put the Emperor even more at ease, because the world and other officials would not recognize an Emperor who liked men and didn’t have any children, meaning that JYR becomes an even smaller threat to the throne.

3. 暮成雪 Mu Cheng Xue - An assassin who keeps popping up throughout the novel, and is a frenemy to YYF especially because he stole the cuteass snow leopard that was supposed to be YYF’s and refuses to return it. Not good nor bad, he does whatever he’s paid for.

4. 江凌飞 Jiang Ling Fei - JYR’s godbrother, who didn’t have a good childhood with no one to protect him in the Jiang family, one of the big wuxia families in the novel, as he had no parents and was technically brought up by his scheming uncles/cousins etc. He befriended JYR when they were younger and acknowledged JYR’s mother as his godmother because she was truly and genuinely good to him, and spends a large part of his days running in and out of the Jing manor. He’s JYR’s right hand man, but his dream is to be a bum wandering through different parts of the world, having fun whenever instead of being boggled down by duties to the Jiang family and other things.

Amazing Scenes:

YYF unceremoniously using JYR’s arm as a pillow while he’s talking 

Basically YYF fainting and getting sick a lot and JYR always there to catch him ;-; To dote on him!!! Ahhhh my heart

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

The first time YYF plays the zither in the Jing manor, JYR’s mother, shaking, goes to JYR and asks, “Is Yun-er learning some evil cultivation music?”

YYF tends to go out to the markets and will buy back 2kg of flour for example, while all the servants shudder in the fear and cry in front of JYR, who can only sigh but indulge him

YYF’s favourite things include JYR’s mother taking his blankets out to soak up the sunlight in the day so he has fluffy, warmth-filled and fresh-smelling covers everyday to collapse into

JYR once asked YYF if it’s a good thing that he met him, and YYF says, “Of course it’s a good thing I met wangye, because of you, I now know that life can be sweet and warm too.”

YYF carves out what he thinks the Blood Red Lingzhi looks like based on some bogus description JYR gave him and because he’s so hopeful and happy about finally being able to have the lingzhi, he carves it out and wears it like a pendant, and everytime JYR sees it he wants to slap himself for being such a motherfucking asshole and deceiving this man

YYF keeps forgetting his cape/coat, so JYR always gives him his, but YYF keeps taking and not returning and on the fourth time it happens, YYF looks at JYR expectantly, and JYR says, “You’ve already taken three, this is my last one, I’m gonna freeze to death, left without a cape if I give you this one”

JYR always tempts YYF into doing things by giving him treasures, and jokingly promises YYF his army commander ring, which symbolizes his authority and power, and YYF unceremoniously takes it knowing what it is, and refuses to return it to him - After a few times this happens, JYR makes a replica of it so they matchy matchy ;-;

They travel South in a holiday for a few months after the first arc is wrapped up, knowing that YYF doesn’t have much time left to live, and every single day is painful for JYR as the time YYF spends conscious decreases day by day

YYF asks for some oil/salve to use as lube from the army camp’s physician, a night before JYR is due to go off for war, and the physician scolds the messenger for having the time to think about such thoughts, and when the messenger says it’s for YYF, physician is like “... oh. okay, here you go, give this to him” without another word HAHAHAHA

#a sword of frost #danmei #danmei recs #一剑霜寒 #min's why you should read #cnovel #i'm determined to complete 10 so bear with me yall!!! #hahahahhaa

[wangxianficrecs]

Follower Recs

There are nearly FORTY THOUSAND AO3 stories in the MDZS universe, and I am just a single person with limited time, so....  Here’s a bit of y’all doing my work for me!

~*~

Mojo, I know it'd probably be recced before, but I have to recommend stiltonbasket's Twelve Moons and a Fortnight. It has made me squee of cuteness, hold my breath with suspense, marvel over the worldbuilding and character interactions, and just awed me at how well every original piece of lore and HC ties back to canon. I cried over it, only to cry laughing the next chapter. it kept me going through an entire year of lockdown and is finally coming to an end, and the resolution was magnificent.

*[I’m subscribed to this and keep waiting for Part One to be completed, but instead later parts keep getting posted:  is it completed but not marked?  I am confused.  And eager to read!]*

Twelve Moons and a Fortnight

by stiltonbasket (G, 267k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  "Let me get this straight. You really want me to stand in for you while you help Jin Ling settle in at Koi Tower?"

"Who else do I have?" Jiang Cheng snaps, ears turning scarlet as Jin Ling tries to pretend he isn't listening. "Father trained you to serve as my deputy, didn't he? And don't say you don't remember, or I'll break your legs."

"Well, yes," Wei Wuxian manages. "Uh. I'll just let Lan Zhan know I'll be at Lotus Pier until you're back at home, then."

Or, the one where Wei Wuxian spends the year before his wedding as Yunmeng Jiang's acting sect leader, and the cultivation world's greatest love story finds its happy ending with the help of three juniors, a teenage romance, and one very involved (and exasperated) younger brother.

~*~

May I recommend fielty by milkpunch a sort of AU where lwj in order to save his sect from being destroyed by nine after wen rouhans assasination goes to work as a guard to Jin zixuan where he meets wwx the right hand of Jin guanguao... ~ @pastashouldbeeatenwithafork

Fealty

by milkpunch (E, 84k, wangxian)

Summary:  Before, there had been two reigning kingdoms. Both claimed to be blessed by the sun, but with vastly differing views. One, under the name of Wen, was washed red with blood and violence, its soldiers fierce and stoked with a fiery blaze. The other, under the name of Jin, was bathed in golden light and glory, its soldiers proud and heavy with coin and prestige. The two kingdoms went to war for the true honour of having the sun’s blessing, fighting for many long years with many lives lost.

Jin Guangshan, emperor of the Golden Sun Palace, found that the sun favoured him more.

To prevent his kingdom from being crushed, Lan Zhan, second heir to the Lan kingdom, exchanges his freedom for that of servitude to the Jin kingdom. He is appointed as Jin Zixuan's personal guard, but there's more on his plate than just keeping the Jin heir safe. The Golden Sun Palace is not all that it seems, and the dazzling lives of the royals are less perfect than they appear.

~*~

Hey, I was wondering if I could rec a fic to you. My bestie wrote it for the Lunar New Year Wangxian gift exchange and it definitely did not receive the attention it deserves. It's a really fun mermaid/arranged marriage au! ~ @leahlisabeth

More Than This Provincial Wife

by ApprenticedMagician (T, 6k, wangxian)

Summary:  The negotiations surrounding the Lan & Jiang alliance through marriage encountered a few snags in the beginning.

~*~

I love your blog! I saw a recent post where you listed some rec's from other people? [Thank you!  And yes, I always appreciate and am happy to share your recs!]  I just read the WIP A Corpse Called By Name jaemyun and LOVED it! It's a zombie apocolypse AU, where Wei Ying gets bitten by a zombie.... and I don't want to spoil anything from there, but it is amazing! No pressure to put it in your blog, but wanted to send a note just in case. Thanks for all you do!

A Corpse Called By Name

by jaemyun (not rated, 37k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  A continuation of zombie drabble!

She loses her brother in a hoard of the undead.

She finds a corpse wearing his face in a convenience store.

The corpse calls her name.

~*~

Hi! I was wondering if I could rec this short fic that I recently found and really liked! The narrative is an inner monologue and I think it captures lwj really well :)

binding me in spells (till my heart's devoured)

by gaysgaysgays (G, <1k, wangxian)

Summary:  His scars are a reminder of his hurt, a reminder that he had healed.

(or a study of lan zhan's scars)

~*~

I found a fic I had recently asked you about, so I thought I'd share it with you: Seasons of Falling Flowers by merakily (http://archiveofourown.org/works/28522326). I rediscovered it completely by accident after listening to spinifex's excellent podfic adaptation. This is the fic where Lan Qiren despises Wei Wuxian until Wei Wuxian catches a cold and Lan Qiren find out about his golden core. That part is about 3/4 of the way through. The fic is wonderful and shows a rigid but surprisingly introspective Lan Qiren. ~ @clmoryel [Oh!  I just read this one yesterday!  Here’s my bookmark.]

Seasons of Falling Flowers

by merakily (G, 40k, wangxian, lan qiren & wei wuxian, podfic)

Summary:  Like a parasite, Wei Wuxian has this way of growing on people when you least expect it.

Over the seasons, Lan Qiren slowly pieces back together his relationship with Wangji and learns to like Wei Wuxian in the process.

(“Will you rejoin your sect?” As soon as the words leave his mouth, Lan Qiren regrets his wording.

He is not surprised when Wangji’s eyes narrow, flashing with offence. “There is no need to rejoin what one has never left. I did not turn my back on my sect. My sect turned their backs on me.”)

~*~

Hi! Can I rec a fic? "bring you home" by Alasse_Irena on AO3 is a modern AU and is one of the most beautiful and atmospheric fics I have read. Thanks for you work running this blog! I have new Wangxian fics to read <3

bring you home

by Alasse_Irena (T, 28k, wangxian)

Summary:  Wei Ying rents a run-down cottage in a small town by the sea, looking for a quiet place to hide after the war.

Lan Zhan has always dreamed of the ocean. He returns to the town where he was born, and where his parents died, to find out why.

Instead, they find each other.

~*~

Good morning lady mojo, I hope you’re having a good day! I wanted to rec a fic, Breathing Firestorm by ladyshadowdrake. It’s 111k and great but barely has any love, which is unfair. You mentioned it in the last ‘in a mood for’ post but I think it should have more of a shoutout because it’s a lot of fun and I liked it a lot. Have a great day ♥️  [Oh!  I was subscribed to this one and saw it had been recently finished.  It’s def. on my list!]

Breathing Firestorm

by ladyshadowdrake (M, 111k, wangxian)

Summary:  After years of a mad quest, Wen Ruohan is finally given proof of a powerful creature living among mortals. He is delighted to find that it truly believes itself to be only a boy named “Wei Wuxian.”

While Wen Ruohan tries to unlock Wei Wuxian’s secret, the sects unite against him. If he can achieve his goal before they arrive, even the combined might of the cultivation world would not be enough to humble him. Meanwhile, Lan Wangji dreams of Wei Wuxian in the Cold Pond Cave, and works tirelessly to rescue him from Wen Ruohan’s clutches. No one is prepared for what awaits the allied sects in Nightless City at the conclusion of the war, and it very well might mean the end of the world as they know it.

~*~

Hi Mojo, firstly thank you for all the hard work you put into running this blog, I’ve found so many fics that I probably would have never come across if it wasn’t for your fic finders posts and your personal review posts.  [Aw, thank you!]

I don’t know if you’ve read this fic before or if it’s been mentioned before on your blog (I’ve done a quick search of your blog and couldn’t see it, so if I’ve missed it I apologise!) but if you’ve got a fic rec post coming up, I would suggest “The shapes a bright container can contain” by litbynosun.

It’s a case fic about 16k words long and set after canon. Whilst it’s not the main focus of the story it does delve slightly into chronic illness of wwx (the ailments of mxy’s body) and lwj (his continuous treatment of his scars) which might cover a few requests in the IITMF posts in future.

Thanks again for all the hard work you do! ~ @dulachodladh

the shapes a bright container can contain

by litbynosun

M, 17k, wangxian

Summary:  "Lan Zhan, look at this," Wei Wuxian calls. "They don't have organs, but they're all… fuzzy."

He gently strokes the corpse's arm -- it's covered in soft, pigmentless downy hair, like a rabbit. Lan Wangji crouches next to him and nods. "Lanugo," he says. Wei Wuxian raises one eyebrow. "They were malnourished for quite a while before death," Lan Wangji elaborates. Wei Wuxian scans the bodies again. Indeed, they both have sunken cheeks, and their abdomens are empty of both organs and fat padding. “That’s a question,” he says. “Did they starve to death, and have their bodies desecrated after they were already deceased? Or were they murdered, and simply starving at the same time?” "We should stay," Lan Wangji tells him. This is not an answer to his question. It is an offer to search for answers.

Or: Wei Wuxian and his family solve a ghost haunting. Wei Wuxain's old enemy, societal injustice, rears its head again.

#follower rec #wangxian fic rec #I HAVEN'T READ THESE YET #wangxian #mdzs

[bloody-bee-tea]

Parents

Jiang Cheng is still panting heavily when he goes to check if they really did kill the yao, but when he turns slightly to make a joke at Nie Mingjue, his husband is nowhere to be seen.

“Mingjue?” Jiang Cheng yells out and he doesn’t want to admit it, but fear grips his heart.

The last moments of the fight were pretty hectic and rough; what if something happened to Nie Mingjue and Jiang Cheng didn’t notice it?

“Mingjue?” Jiang Cheng yells again, louder this time, when no answer comes and he goes back to where he thinks he saw Nie Mingjue last.

“Shush, Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue scolds him out of the blue and Jiang Cheng follows his voice into one of the many destroyed houses around the place.

The did not lose the whole village to the yao; these are long abandoned houses they simply found the yao at and so Jiang Cheng frowns.

“What’s going on?” he asks, carefully stepping into one of the destroyed houses but he comes to an abrupt stop when he sees what Nie Mingjue is holding.

“Is that a baby?” Jiang Cheng breathes out and is at Nie Mingjue’s side a moment later.

“Yes,” Nie Mingjue says, even though it’s pretty obvious that the squirming and clearly upset bundle in his arms is a human baby.

“What happened?” Jiang Cheng demands to know and steps closer to check the baby over.

“I don’t know. She made a sound and when I came in here, I found her all naked on the ground, not even crying. I hope she’s okay.”

Now that Nie Mingjue said it Jiang Cheng realizes that he cut his own robes to dress her, and the act just makes him love Nie Mingjue more.

“Let me see her,” Jiang Cheng says, holding his hands out expectantly and when Nie Mingjue drops her into his arms he checks her over more thoroughly.

There are no visible wounds on her and even though she seems a little bit too cold, she’s quickly warming up, now that she can leech off Jiang Cheng’s and Nie Mingjue’s body heat.

“She seems fine to me,” Jiang Cheng decides. “Maybe a little bit hungry, but she doesn’t seem injured.”

“Thank the gods,” Nie Mingjue breathes out and gently strakes his finger over her cheek. “I was worried because she wouldn’t cry. I still remember how Jin Ling was, it seemed strange for her not to make a sound.”

Jiang Cheng decides not to take offense on Jin Ling’s behalf, because he was one loud baby and instead says “Babies are much more sensitive than we give them credit for. If her parents were hiding from the yao, it’s likely she somehow picked up on the fact that she needs to be quiet.”

“She’s barely older than six month,” Nie Mingjue says with a frown and Jiang Cheng presses her protectively to his chest.

“And maybe she’s just especially bright,” he snaps back and then walks out of the house. “Come on, we still have to let the healers check her over, maybe we missed something,” he calls over his shoulder when Nie Mingjue doesn’t follow him immediately.

“Alright, alright. But Wanyin—no getting attached. We’re not keeping her,” he says and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes.

“Of course we’re not keeping her. I don’t want any more kids, Jin Ling totally was enough for me,” he cheekily says, though immediately the doubt cuts deep again.

Jin Ling is only six, but the kid already has an attitude and he has his nose high up in the sky and Jiang Cheng is afraid that he fucked him over for good. He is not fit to raise any kid, least of all his sister’s child, and absolutely not the sweet baby in his arms.

“As long as you remember,” Nie Mingjue says and then keeps a hand under the babies bum the whole time they walk.

As if Jiang Cheng would ever let anything this precious drop.

~*~*~

“How is our baobei doing?” Nie Mingjue asks with a huge smile as he walks into the infirmary.

They are keeping her there for a lack of better accommodations, though Jiang Cheng is getting out all of Jin Ling’s old stuff again. Soon enough she’ll be able to sleep with them in their bedroom.

“She is perfectly alright,” Jiang Cheng gives back and looks up from where he’s sitting on the floor, tickling her tummy and watching her squirming around and squealing with laughter.

“And how is my most amazing husband doing?” Nie Mingjue asks as he drops a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s head and then blows raspberries onto the babies tummy.

“I am doing very well, too, thank you for asking,” Jiang Cheng seriously gives back and then erupts into laughter when Nie Mingjue gives him a disgruntled look at that.

It makes the baby clap her hands together and kick her tiny, tiny feet in the air and Jiang Cheng simply melts at the sight.

“And news of her parents?” he asks, mostly to distract himself from the urge of squeezing her to death and Nie Mingjue shakes his head as he sits down next to Jiang Cheng and picks her up.

“No. There were reports of a family running from the yao, but no one knew them and no one seems to know where the parents ran off to. I left a message in the house we found her in, in case they come back, but I don’t think it’s looking promising. It’s been a week already.”

“Yeah,” Jiang Cheng thoughtfully says and offers up one of his fingers for her to hold on to. “What a shame.”

“Yeah,” Nie Mingjue agrees and then they fall silent.

Well, at least until their little baobei starts to scream bloody murder because she’s hungry.

~*~*~

They are laying in bed, Jiang Cheng tracing senseless shapes into Nie Mingjue’s chest when he speaks up.

“We’re not keeping her, right?” Jiang Cheng asks and Nie Mingjue tenses.

“Wanyin, I thought we were agreeing on this,” he cautiously says and Jiang Cheng props himself up to look at him.

“We are. I am not fit to be a father; I was barely able to be an uncle to Jin Ling and raising him—I did so much wrong. I’m too much of my mother and not enough of my father and I’m just—”

“Well, from what you told me about your parents and from what I have seen with Jin Ling you are exactly the right mix of them. Just from the top of my head I can come up with at least seven instances where you held or carried Jin Ling, so I’d say you are perfectly good.”

“I messed up so much with him,” Jiang Cheng mutters. “The real damage will only show when he’s older, just you wait.”

“Well, pardon me, but your parents were shit and you turned out alright if I dare say so,” Nie Mingjue tells him and pulls him into a kiss. “And I am not actually keen on being a dad, either. I was pouring so much into raising Huaisang when our father died and I don’t know if I can raise anyone without the explicit expectation of them having to be a Sect Heir.”

Nie Mingjue sighs and Jiang Cheng snuggles closer to him.

“Look at how I messed up with him. I put so much pressure onto him all the time because I feared I would die young and now he avoids any kind of responsibility as if his life depends on it. I already fucked up once. I’m not going to do it again.”

“You didn’t fuck up,” Jiang Cheng protests. “If anything you spoilt him too much. You were too lenient. It’s not like he ever cowers when you yell at him, right? He’s clearly not afraid of you or the consequences you keep threatening him with, because he damn well knows you’d never follow through.”

“Is that right?” Nie Mingjue asks, raising one eyebrow at Jiang Cheng. “Just like Jin Ling laughs at you whenever you threaten to break his legs?”

“That’s different,” Jiang Cheng huffs.

“I don’t think it is,” Nie Mingjue argues and then rolls them over onto the side so they can sleep.

“No more kids,” he mutters, burying his face in Jiang Cheng’s hair and Jiang Cheng agrees.

No more kids for them.

~*~*~

It’s been two months by now since they found little Baobei in the abandoned house and they have formed a routine around her.

The healers complained after two weeks of her being in the infirmary that she can’t stay there anymore so Jiang Cheng and Nie Mingjue took her to their own bedroom, letting her sleep right next to their bed, so they could keep an eye on her.

“Good morning, little baobei,” Jiang Cheng says when she grumbles herself awake and Nie Mingjue laughs at the sight.

“She’s just like you,” he jokes and Jiang Cheng can’t even manage a proper frown over her head.

“Shut up, she is not,” he denies and Nie Mingjue has not even the decency to argue with him about this.

“Let’s go find Jiang Zedong and hear how the search for parents for her is going,” Jiang Cheng mutters, a little bit miffed that Nie Mingjue wouldn’t indulge him in a little argument, but when Nie Mingjue comes over to pepper first Baobei with kisses and then Jiang Cheng, he decides it’s forgotten.

When they ask Jiang Zedong about the issue he stares at them like they lost their minds.

“What do you mean, possible parents for her?”

“What do you mean, what do we mean?” Jiang Cheng bites back, though he’s aware that the look is a little bit ruined with Baobei in his arms. “You’re supposed to look for possible parents for her, what’s going on?”

“You mean for other people to take her in?”

“Other people? Who else would take her in?” Nie Mingjue asks as well, and when Baobei starts to sniffle, he takes her right out of Jiang Cheng’s arms.

It turns out that Baobei is a very sensitive baby, and she picks up on moods incredibly well. They haven’t found much that can sooth her, but resting against Nie Mingjue’s chest always seems to do the trick.

Jiang Cheng can relate. It’s a very good chest to lean on.

“You?” Jiang Zedong shoots back and Jiang Cheng quickly reaches out when Nie Mingjue’s arms go slack.

He manages to secure Baobei until Nie Mingjue remembers himself and hugs her close again.

“We’re not looking to adopt,” Nie Mingjue tells him, and Jiang Zedong frowns in confusion.

“But didn’t you already? I mean, she sleeps with you and you modelled your whole day around her. You come running when she cries or makes any kind of sound and no offense, but you don’t even allow the healers to hold her for her check-ups. I am actually afraid of what you’ll do if I tell you that we did find someone to adopt. Honestly, I just thought you would keep her.”

Jiang Cheng blinks at Nie Mingjue who in turn blinks at him.

“We didn’t want to adopt,” Jiang Cheng eventually says and Nie Mingjue nods.

“Well, to me—and everyone else—it looks like you already did. Now if you excuse me, I have real problems to solve here,” he then tells them and simply marches off.

Jiang Cheng wonders what demon was possessing him when he appointed Jiang Zedong his second in command, but when Baobei gurgles he forgets that thought.

“We weren’t looking to adopt,” Nie Mingjue says and bounces Baobei in a soothing manner.

“No, we weren’t.”

“Maybe—maybe she adopted us?” Nie Mingjue tries and Jiang Cheng sighs, before he leans into Nie Mingjue’s side.

“My soul, maybe it’s time we face the truth,” he gravely says, and surprisingly enough he’s not terrified out of his mind. “We’re done for. We are her parents.”

There’s a moment of silence from Nie Mingjue before he shrugs.

“Could be worse, I guess,” he says and lifts Baobei up high in the air.

Jiang Cheng fights the urge to snag her out of his hands, because what if he lets her fall, but by then Nie Mingjue already has her safely against his chest again.

“Just promise me, Wanyin: if I put too much pressure on her, if I demand too much of her, you’ll have to smack me over the head.”

“I’ll smack you over the head whenever I please,” Jiang Cheng cheerfully tells him but then he nods. “Of course I promise. And—the same goes for you: if I snap at her like my mother did or if I don’t give her the affection she deserves, you’ll have to smack some sense into me.”

“I promise, my heart, but you already did a good job with Jin Ling.”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t comment on that, because the fear that he fucked his nephew up sits deep, but when Baobei babbles happily at him, he pushes those thoughts away.

“Oh shit,” Jiang Cheng suddenly says, and looks with big eyes at Nie Mingjue. “We have to come up with a real name for her!”

“Oh fuck,” Nie Mingjue wholeheartedly agrees and then they dissolve into laughter because if that is their biggest worry right now, then maybe they’ll be alright.

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

#bt writes #the untamed #mdzs #mingcheng #mdzsbingo #established relationship #canon divergence #adoption #found family #quite literally #fluff

[spockandawe]

I cannot for love or money let go of the idea that like... I don’t think Lan Wangji canonically was sleeping with Jiang Cheng while Wei Wuxian was dead. But I’m enthralled how easy it would be to slot that into place in the story. And my favorite part of Jiang Cheng is how messily he’s emotionally imploding in the story present, and the big reason I would argue why lan wangji/jiang cheng didn’t actually happen is because I think the present would have been so much messier, but... that’s also exactly why I’m so delighted by the idea of just. Slipping it in there and seeing just how much hotter this dumpster fire can get.

Like, Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji are both MESSES in their own ways in this story. Jiang Cheng’s turmoil is loud and obvious, while Lan Wangji’s is a lot more self-contained (I was hit harder than I expected by lan xichen’s callout where he was like ‘IT WAS SO OBVIOUS HOW HE FELT’ and wei wuxian just completely blacked out that couple of days, and he’s been fake-flirting with lan wangji while lan wangji thinks he knows exactly how he feels and is so gentle despite how from his pov wei wuxian has been pretty darn cruel and AUGH). But also, I just got my heart broken by the way the main story ended on the note of Jiang Cheng failing to tell Wei Wuxian that he didn’t go back to Lotus Pier to get his parents’ bodies, he went back because he drew the attention of the Wen soldiers to protect Wei Wuxian, and I’m gonna CRY.

Jiang Cheng is a fragile, brittle mess on the whole, and while I wouldn’t say that he’s hungry for love in general, he’s desperate for approval from His People (and since his parents have both failed him hard on that count and his sect was effectively exterminated, that adds up to wwx and jyl). And when Wei Wuxian dies, he’s left horribly wounded over losing everyone he’s ever loved, blaming Wei Wuxian for it, blaming Wei Wuxian to break his promise to stay by his side, and, very importantly, blaming himself for not being enough to protect and/or keep the people he loves. I don’t want to rehash his whole arc, but these are critical character notes.

And if a horrible, grief-stricken, ill-considered affair between Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng, possibly even a long-running (if irregular) affair, I think... I think they would hurt each other too much for it to be healthy, or for it to be a relationship-relationship. But they’re both overflowing with emotional wounds, and Lan Wangji is observant, and even if he gives Jiang Cheng less to work with, Jiang Cheng is real good at spamming attacks until he finds something that hurts. Knowing each other’s weak spots so that you can hurt each other isn’t a healthy kind of intimacy, but it’s still a kind of intimacy. And in general, I also feel like Jiang Cheng would be pretty awful at keeping as much internal emotional distance as he intends in their not-relationship. I’m not going to write this essay right now, but I’ve got thoughts about this.

But, where I’m headed. Is the present day. Where Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng are still desperately, hopelessly hunting for any hint of Wei Wuxian, and understanding each other and spending more time near each other than they want(?) because of that shared goal.

And then Wei Wuxian comes back. And Wei Wuxian chooses Lan Wangji.

The POTENTIAL of this implosion!!! I don’t want to undervalue what we get in canon, because canon DELIGHTS me. But just imagine the doubled blow, when Jiang Cheng is abruptly ditched by the two people who understand him the best, who each had.... in theory some kind of connection with him. He melts down terribly just over Wei Wuxian still being alive, and i don’t think it’s even possible to untangle how much anger is thanks to how he wants to hate Wei Wuxian vs how much is being upset over Wei Wuxian choosing someone else, again. But what if we add, simultaneously, more of a meltdown because his not-boyfriend has ditched their not-relationship without a backwards glance, and he stole Wei Wuxian when he knows how much this means to Jiang Cheng, and that reluctant/resentful intimacy between them taking an abrupt turn into a mutual jealous mistrust, and they could be such a tag-team if they trusted each other enough to share, or were forced to share early. But Lan Wangji got the first opening and he took it, and neither of them is certain enough of Wei Wuxian’s love to even consider sharing after that imbalance is in place.

Part of what fascinates me is because Jiang Cheng is already doing Not Great for a lot of canon, and I just. I want to add more fuel to the fire. As far as canon goes, he got hit with that Complete Abandonment truck way back in the past, and has had time to cope and push some of those issues down. So...... what if we hit him with the truck again, and he’s taken super off-guard, because it wasn’t supposed to be possible again, but, you know, your brother rises from the dead and two seconds later your not-boyfriend elopes with him, it’s a little hard to predict things like that. I want more reasons for him to be upset with Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and himself. I want extra concern from Jin Ling as he watches Jiang Cheng refuse to admit that anything is wrong. I’m assuming that Lan Wangji would be prepared to keep this secret until he died, but that Jiang Cheng would 1000% spill the beans in his meltdown at Lotus Pier (oh my god, the ways that would flavor the first wangxian sex scene, holy shit), and that Jiang Cheng would be an extra messy wreck when he shows up at the guanyin temple

And also, I very much want a scene where Lan Wangji tries to reassure Wei Wuxian that yes, okay, he slept with Jiang Wanyin, but don’t worry, it didn’t mean anything, and Wei Wuxian is upset because ‘hold on, you slept with him and it didn’t mean anything? Lan Zhan, how could you? he’s very sensitive!! :(’

#mdzs #jiang cheng #lan wangji #wei wuxian #psst read by proxy i forgot how much i loved that fic #maybe i could write that first wangxian encounter with that context #longer fics are beyond me rn #but that might be manageable #is it i don't know #my brain is mush

[silverflame2724]

Guardian angel idea: When WWX died his spirit still worried for the last Wen: his dear A-Yuan. Even in death, WWX protects him, becoming a (sort of) guardian angel. His spiritual consciousness is fractured and weak, all he knows and can see is the soul of the boy he has surrounded in his protective aura. Every night WWX holds his beloved son in his dreams, hums away nightmares, reminds him that he's loved even tho he'll never remember. Every day, he defects harm away. “He’s blessed!” they say, “he is clearly Hanguang-jun’s son.” (Yes, in a way, for only they hold WWX’s undying love)

LWJ mourns in private. He never allows A-Yuan to see him play for his lost love. He always makes sure that his son is far away before he wallows in his grief, and so could never reach WWX, because Sizhui carried his soul.

Mo's ritual only succeeded because Sizhui was *there*, close enough to call WWX away from his task.

Wei Wuxian felt numb as his body was torn and eaten to shreds. What was he even living for? The Wens were dead. Shijie was dead. Jiang Cheng hated him. Lan Zhan-- 

He was tired. So, so tired. He just wanted to leave, to go, he wanted to rest--

“X-Xian-gege......Granny.......” A small voice sniffed. “Where....are you? Yuan was good. Yuan waited in the tree. Where are you?” 

A’ Yuan?! Wei Wuxian started forward and realized how transparent he was. Oh. I’m......dead. A’ Yuan began crying again, clutching Wei Wuxian’s red hair ribbon - Where did he even find that??? - and Wei Wuxian paid no mind to his new form.

That’s right. Everyone I cared for is dead or hates me. But A’ Yuan......I have to protect A’ Yuan! The sects didn’t care if they killed civilians. If they found out that A’ Yuan was a Wen, they’d--! Wei Wuxian couldn’t let that happen. Not his little radish. Frantic to protect his baby, he decided to attempt a sort of pseudo possession on his hair ribbon. In this way, while he was attached to his ribbon, he could protect still separate from it and protect his baby. After all, the ribbon might get lost. He had to attach himself to objects close to A’ Yuan so that he could always protect him.

But Wei Wuxian was worried. There wasn’t any food or water and Wei Wuxian’s abilities as a ghost were limited considering how recently it was when he died. He could, however, use demonic cultivation to get some corpses to grab some food for A’ Yuan. He had to be discrete though. Those annoying sects were calling him in an effort to purge him and he didn’t want to give any sign that he was around.

Luckily, a few days later, a bloodied Lan Zhan arrived and took A’ Yuan away. Wei Wuxian tucked himself back into the ribbon, relieved. Lan Zhan would take care of A’ Yuan. But why was Lan Zhan injured?? With injuries like those, Lan Zhan must have gotten them from before the Siege. But what happened??

Wei Wuxian had to think on it later. What mattered most was A’ Yuan. Everything after that could wait.

.....................................

A’ Yuan got a fever on the way back to Cloud Recesses. Lan Zhan was obviously worried, speeding up Bichen despite his obvious injuries. Wei Wuxian made sure their journey was unimpeded by any danger. They crash-landed by the foot of the entrance to Cloud Recesses. Wei Wuxian was frantically hovering over both of them - not that anyone could see him - and was grateful for Lan Xichen arriving and taking both A’ Yuan and Lan Zhan to the infirmary.

.

.

A’ Yuan lost all his memories to the fever but Wei Wuxian was content with that. Better for A’ Yuan to start on a new slate. 

When Lan Zhan awoke, he was clutching the ribbon Wei Wuxian was possessing so Wei Wuxian had to hop off of it. Before he left, he looked over the wounds. They looked oddly like discipline whips, but what would Lan Zhan have done to earn them? Maybe he got injured on a night hunt.

Wei Wuxian slipped away and to A’ Yuan, possessing the hair ribbon the boy was wearing. With the assurance that A’ Yuan was no longer suffering from a fever, he could feel his soul starting to weaken. He had held himself together for too long and expended too much energy in making sure no yin creatures got close to his son and Lan Zhan.

With the last of his energy, he completely fused himself with A’ Yuan, hoping that his spiritual consciousness would protect him.

.

.

.

Wei Wuxian has only flashes of awareness from then on - though he grew stronger as the years passed -, usually choosing to use what little energy he had in chasing away A’ Yuan’s faceless nightmares with calming music he would hum, entering his peaceful dreams to remind him that he was loved whenever people bullied him for having no parents.

On night hunts, while he did sit back and allow A’ Yuan to grow, he would definitely not allow the spirits to injure his son. Whenever Lan Zhan was close to A’ Yuan - now Sizhui, Wei Wuxian would also make sure to deflect harm away from him, though Lan Zhan may not necessarily need it.

Every night, Wei Wuxian felt tugs on his soul of people calling for him and he ignores them all, except for the one coming from Lan Zhan. And while he’d love to go see why Lan Zhan is calling him, he doesn’t have enough strength or willingness to separate from Sizhui.

And Wei Wuxian was content in spending the rest of eternity looking after Sizhui. He would stop, of course, if he deemed the world safe enough to leave his son in. But otherwise, he’d stay forever.

..........................

That is, until the tug calling for his soul was too strong, too near for him to resist. He finds himself yanked away from A’ Yuan and stuffed into an injured body, given tasks that he has to complete unless he’d like his soul to be rendered to shreds.

___________________________________

The prompt seems to cut off there, but if you’re wondering what happens next, here’s my notes:

WWX keeps his memories of the in-between and agrees to go to Gusu pretty easily when canon events happen

WWX thanks LWJ for saving A Yuan and LWJ asks how WWX knows and WWX says oh, I was with him this entire time

LWJ is like what, I’ve been trying to reach you for so long why didn’t you answer

And WWX is like what why would I answer, 1) you hate me and 2) yuan isn’t safe I had to protect him

LWJ is like I don’t hate you

WWX is like ???? Then why call me

LWJ: I wanted to know if you were at peace

WWX is like oh, well I couldn’t really be at peace until I knew yuan would be safe in this world I still don’t think he is

Then canon happens and WWX is like well, if this happened in the 13 years I was dead I would have been at peace and left I suppose. LWJ is NOT amused

#wei ying #wei wuxian #lan zhan #lan wangji #lan yuan #lan sizhui #mdzs #guardian angel WWX #sort of

[demonictales]

BITTERSWEET - XUE YANG X READER

this wasn't requested but i got this idea shortly before i fell asleep so i figured I'll give it a try and see where I'll land with it. let me know what you think, aite? characters briefly featured: nie huaisang, nie mingjue, wei wuxian, lan wangji about 3k words

TW: MURDER, CHILD ABUSE, DEATH

It was a bright day in Yueyang as you walked quietly next to your father, only sweet eight years of age. You were the youngest of clan leader Chang Ci'an's children, your older brother Chang Ping, at home complaining why you were allowed to follow your father to Yueyang on this day while he had to learn swordman ship. It was your birthday, so you begged your father to let you come along and you did. Looking out of the window of the ox cart you were riding the eyes of the young child were looking left and right, dazzling items everywhere. But the toy stall was mostly what caught your attention.

"Diē diè, can I have some toys?" The angel like soft tone of your voice making your father laugh heartily. " How much more do you want today ? " He responded patting the place next to him. "Pretty please? It's my eight birthday. -- " You argued. "After I am done with my business here we'll walk the market." It was his final word and you were more than happy. Perhaps you'd even bring something for your brother. Not long after spoken words and a few hours after midday you finally enjoyed the market running from stall to stall until a sweet scent filled your nostrils. Your eyes became big when you spotted the freshly baked sweet pastries on a stall, running for it and it seemed you weren't the only one being lured by the sweetness flowing through the air of the Yueyang market. Next to you stood a boy, probably around your age, a bit taller than you and not as clean. His clothes were ripped apart and dirty, a beggar you concluded. It kind of made you sad but you couldn't do anything about it. One of the servants had caught up and you ushered him to buy you some pastries, delightfully taking a bite as you saw the boy next to you eyeing them. He could take them off of you if he'd ran fast enought but fate had different plans. You handed him some, two pastries, because you wanted too. He seemed hungry and you hated the feeling of being hungry to an extrend that made your eight year old body angry in a different way. You'd throw quite the tantrums. Perhaps that came from being to spoiled by your father. And speaking of the devil here he came, voice rough and loud. " Boy, do you want some pastries? " Ci'an asked, but you knew his tone, he wanted something in return. Your father did not even let the boy speak at all while pulling out an envelope. " If you can deliever this letter, young boy, I'll buy you the pastries. Find me afterwards." That was something nice you thought to yourself. Making him word but giving him food as payment. What your naive little mind did not know was that your father had other plans in mind and simply kept walking away from the pastries stand, leaving you to walk around on your own for a little while longer before asking you to hop onto the cart again to leave for home as it was soon dinner time. Xue Yang did gladly do as he was told for he could have some sweets and finally some food in his stomach. Yet the encounter didn't go as planned, instead he was angering the recipient of the letter and the boy had to deal with the consequences. Being dragged to the nearby liquor shop next to the stall where pastries were sold Ci'an and his daughter were long gone, leaving a young naive boy hungry outside, waiting in despair for trusting people. All the boy wanted was something to eat, so he roamed the streets until he found the man and his ox cart, a girl's head looking out of the window excitedly as she spotted the boy. "Diē diè! Diē diè!" You spoke loudly, rushing your father to stop the cart as the boy was running behind. " The boy has returned. You have to buy him pastries now." Though, as naive as you were you saw another side of your father that day, changing moods from being so generous to annoyed and angry. You had never seen him like that. And he did not stop the cart, not until the boy ran in front of it, halting it on his own terms. The scene played in front of your innocent eyes, making you cry. This was not how you knew your father to be, not in your eyes. The sound of the whip beating flesh making you fall back onto the ground of the cart, begging your dad to stop as it scarred you. Crying like a coward, just like the display of your father made your anxiety well up. For far you enjoyed your day, your birthday. Getting more toys, even finding something for A-Ping, your older brother and even sharing pastries with the boy outside just to see it all turn into a small nightmare during day. The sudden movement of the cart made you fall back again onto the ground until you heard a scream from underneath. It was not something you wanted to ever hear again. But the yells from people

around reminded you of what your father had just done. 'How cowardly to hurt a child. ' ' He really has no shame. ' 'Chang Ca'in you bastard.' 'Stop involving others in your quarrels. ' Peaking outside, you only saw a small group of homeless people gather around the boy who's name you never learned. Lying on the ground bleeding in pain and agony, holding his hand while crying. If you could only help him as you rode further away from the scene, back home. The past few days did not change a lot, you practically begged your older brother or any servant to take you to YueYang to find the boy and eventually one servant gave in. It took you a lot of convincing but you tried your best to find the boy. You had packed a small bag with bread and cheese and fruit. It wasn't a lot but it should be enough for a day or two. You even stole money from your father, hopefully it was enough to let a doctor help him. Ever since that day you saw your father in different eyes and learnt quickly he wasn't as great as you thought he was. You were only eight but you grew up faster than you wanted it to be true. You had spent all morning trying to find the boy until noon, you asked any beggar on the street, any stall owner, anyone you could probably think of and find until you found him dozing near the liquor shop next to the pastries. Their sweet scent filing the air around you once more. Carefully you approached the young boy, afraid you might scare him. He looked peaceful lying there and you did not want to wake him up. He sure had to be in pain. As quietly as you could you put down the small bag with food next to him, along the way you even bought a small bottle he could fill up with water. You wanted to apologize for your father's actions but you did not want to disturb him so you whispered something while being crouched down next to him. "I'm really sorry, little brother. Please eat well and get treatment or medicine. I wish it would not have happened.. Hopefully, you can accept my sincere apology." Little did you know he was listening as your eyes scanned his hand, you could not imagine the pain he had gone through, but there wasn't much more that you could do. You knew you were in trouble if your father found out you apologized to a beggar, especially to someone he caused harm to. Yet no one but Xue Yang knew that the two of you would meet soon again.

THIRTEEN YEARS LATER

You had soon learned to leave your home as fights with your father became bigger and more unbearable. You were ashamed to be a part of his cowardly behaviour and did not tolerate it. So eventually when you turned eighteen, you left the manor and roamed the cultivation world, working on yourself, getting to know yourself and making aquaintances. One of your aquaintances was Nie Huaisang. He was a refreshing young man you'd enjoy drinking with, leading you to meet Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng and even the most famous Lan Wangji along your journey. Nie Huaisang had become a good friend of yours, eventually you were a welcome guest at Qinghe. It was rare but welcomed, you saw him as family, a brother you enjoyed spending time with. Even now, you resided at Qinghe having Nie Mingjue talking sense into you for going back home on your mother's birthday and visiting her. Your father's reputation had spread wide and far over the years, making you embarrassed to even carry the last name of Chang but here you were, bowing to the clan leader and biding your farewell. Qinghe might never be your home nor would the Nie Clan ever be your family, but at least you had a place to stay and you were more than thankful of it. Many times had you spoken to Mingjue and expressed your thanks and all you could do was to repay his hospitality with loyalty. Hard to earn but easy to give and be accepted. Leaving at dawn it took you about two days to arrive at Yueyang. At the gates of a place you called home, though the atmosphere around it did make you shiver as you tigthly held onto your sword. Something seemed terribly off and it was a feeling you hadn't felt in years, nothing except one thing could compare to it. The hair on the back of your neck stood up, as you slowly approached the gates of what was once your home. Unbeknownst to you, someone was watching rather excitedly from the rooftop, ready to attack at any given moment. The quietness drove you mad as you kicked the door open, being greeted by hanging corpses yet the scenery of mass murder unfolded behind them. There was you clan, wiped out from existence. Elders, children, servants and anyone you once knew, lying in their own poodles of crimson colored blood. What happend? Who did this? Where was your brother? Where was your mother and your father? All security forgotten you run forward, looking for your parents. " Mother! --- Mother! " Unwillingly your vision became blurry as you stumbled through the corpses of what once belonged to your name. The stinging smell of death making it hard to breath. How many days were they laying there for already? A loud dull thud was heard as you fell to your knees, tears running silently down your pale cheeks as you cradled your mother's cold body to your chest, sobbing without content. Oh how he enjoyed the drama unfold in front of his eyes, better than any theater you could see at the market. Though even he did not let one person live, something about her seemed familiar. He could not pin point it, all he wanted was the revenge for what this man had done to his hand. It was worth the massacre and the now free show as he landed quietly a few feet behind her. She must've been the last remaining person of this god forsaken clan and his last victim to get full revenge. "I should never have let home in the first place. I'm so sorry, mother. I'm so sorry.." Your words were swallowed by your mothers dark hair. You would mourn her for a long time, she was a gentle lady. A few feet away you saw you father, nothing but anger welled up in you as you placed your mother down onto the cold ground, your robes stained by her blood. You had never felt this much rage or anger inside of you as you grabbed your sword, ready to hit whatever flew into your way. Standing above him, you could not hold one piece of respect for him. It was his fault again, for you to feel so painfully lost once more. " What kind of father are you? --- You cannot even protect your own wife. " Broken words had left your lips. " All because you were so cowardly, playing bigger than what

you could pay for. " Quietly those words left your lips, " Now we are no more. There is no more Chang clan, all because of your greed. " Out of nowhere someone started clapping, as if he waited for just the right moment. Faster than lightling you pulled out your sword, facing the young man in front of you, close to where you kneeled moments ago next to your mother's body. "What a tragedy! But brilliantly spoken. ----- It was indeed his fault. " Xue Yang crossed his arms behind his back as he came closer, step by step. " It seems I have not yet fully killed every single member of this clan. --- Who might you be? " He smiled mischieviously at you, but you answered either way. " Chang Y/N. -- Only daughter of clan leader Chang Ci'an. --- " "Today must be my lucky day then. I will for once and all end all of the clan members life. -- " Xue Yang dashed forward, a devilish smile as both of you fought amidst the chaos created by him. Usually something like that would excite you, you could flaunt your skills thought it was a different matter as you landed on the roof, holding him away from you. "What have we done to deserve being slaughtered?" You questioned him, not even bothering asking for his name in return. All you knew was that he had to die today, for the sake of your clan and that they may rest in peace. "Fine with me. " He grinned. as he held up his hand, turning it to look at it at every angle. Silently you watched as he turned around, voice raising. " Once upon a time there was a child, all he wanted was some food. ----- He met a men on the marked here in Yueyang, saying that if he'd delivered a letter, he'd buy him the pastries. As young and naive as the child was, he did so, the only thing on his mind was the food he would get. " The story seemed awfully familiar to you as you remembered the day, your eight birthday. "Though, he did as he was told, Chang Ci'an left without ever paying his debt to the boy. Instead the boy was beaten up, kicked out of the liqour shop and left hungry on the street. Dumb as he was, he confronted the man just ----" "--- just to get whipped and his hand crushed by an ox cart. " You finished his sentence as Xue Yang whipped around in curiousity, wondering how you knew. "You're the boy I met back then. The boy my father hurt. ------ " It was a moment of carelessness from your side, letting your guard down bit by bit. A change of attitute in your behaviour. " I came looking for you, to apologize. I left food and drink and even money to get yourself treatment. " Xue Yang's head was slightly tilted, oh he did remember, but that did not still his urge to have the clan burned down to ashes for what they did to him. She had shown him care indeed, but that was long forgotten he had no mercy, not the elders or children, not even you. "Why? --- Why di------" The sound of metal falling on the bricks of the roof filled the early evening. You had lost the grib on your sword when you looked down, the blade that pierced your back turned red with your blood dripping down, stopping you mid sentence. He had taken advantag of you being distracted, but could you blame him? No, you couldn't. Falling forward onto your knees, you started coughing up blood until you were kicked down, landing onto the stairs of the entrance, feeling the hit of the stone underneath you in your bones, shattering you into pieces from the pain you felt. Turning onto your back in pain, you saw him looking down at you. A huff left your lips, coughing again, quietly choking on the blood that filled your lungs. " What--- what is your--- name?" Words came out in pieces, all you could do was lay there, barely able to move as your own blood colored your robes in dark wet liquid that was warm. "Xue Yang!" "I'm sorry, little brother Xue Yang.." Your words were barely above a whisper as your head fell aside, your vision becoming darker by the second, all you remember was a young boy you once handed two pastries too because he seemed hungry. What you did not see was the smile that had left Xue Yang's features, the agony that

he enjoyed before hearing your words, the same words but with his name, the same words you'd spoken as you thought he was sleeping. In the end, you had the last word, not him. And your friend had to witness you and your clan being whipped out of existence, reporting to his brother that you had passed away at home being murdered.

For Xue Yang hearing those words being spoken lastly, it was everlasting terror.

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