#'oh but of course Wei Wuxian is going to take center stage; it's his story!'

[poorlittleyaoyao]

In a way, Qin Su's a lot like Lady Macduff. Lady Macduff also only exists for one brief scene before being viciously murdered for the sole purpose of harming her husband--both in-universe (Macbeth orders Macduff's family killed in retribution for Macduff rebelling against him) and narratively (guilt and grief over the loss of his family motivates Macduff to kill Macbeth). We know next to nothing about Lady Macduff, but she has so much PERSONALITY in those few minutes that she leaves an impact on the audience.

Qin Su also only exists for one brief scene, and also dies for the sole purpose of harming her husband both in-universe (Nie Huaisang may not have set out intending to kill her, but he sure didn't object to it) and narratively (Qin Su is but one entry in Jin Guangyao's List Of Crimes that doubles as a List Of Personal Tragedies), and also makes a lasting impact, except! Except.

Whereas we know more about Qin Su's backstory and her relationship with Jin Guangyao than we do about Lady Macduff's backstory and relationship with Macduff (Qin Su has her own name, for starters!), Lady Macduff's fridging pans out in the more traditional sense. Macduff's reaction to her death is the emotional centerpiece of the scene in which it occurs and is one of the most impactful moments of the entire play, even though the play is called Macbeth and Macduff himself appears in only two scenes beforehand. His handful of appearances after this moment are all about his now deeply personal hatred of Macbeth. ("If thou be'st slain and with no stroke of mine, my wife and children's ghosts shall haunt me still.")

Qin Su doesn't even get the dignity of that! The centerpiece of the scene in which she dies has nothing to do with her or even with her husband: it's Wangxian's grand romantic gesture on the stairs, followed by Wei Wuxian drawing Suibian. She stabs herself and she comes in THIRD. And forget about her having lasting impact! Lasting impact for female characters is reserved for Jiang Yanli and even she's on thin ice!

Just!!!!!! This is why it's important to me that Jin Guangyao weeping over her corpse is genuine and isn't just a Clever Ruse(TM) to dodge suspicion: though Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng certainly should have a response and fic authors who explore that are doing the Lord's work, Jin Guangyao is literally THE ONLY ONE who expresses any sort of emotion about Qin Su beyond "damn, that's crazy!", and I NEED FOR SOMEONE TO CARE.

[enbyleighlines]

Wangji Week

Day 5: Bearer of Light

—

The news said there would be a huge thunderstorm headed their way. But Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian both underestimated it, it seems.

The cracks of thunder and howling winds are keeping A-Yuan awake. He flat out refuses to go to bed, to separate from his Xian-gege and Ji-gege. And so, with all his infinite wisdom, Wei Wuxian had built a large fort in the living room with couch cushions and blankets.

It’s somewhat of a tight fit, for two grown men and a four-year-old. And Cabbage and Carrot, the family bunny rabbits, are in there with them, too.

But there are no complaints. A-Yuan is sitting in the center of it all, playing out a scene with his various plastic toys. He loves making them talk to each other. The toys are currently putting on a little play. Their stage is Cabbage’s fluffy rounded back.

After a year of sharing the same roof, the rabbit is well acclimated to the toddler’s shenanigans. Cabbage remains still, aside from the occasional twitch of the nose.

Carrot, on the other hand, is utilizing whatever little free space there is to hop around in circles.

Wei Wuxian is tucked under Lan Wangji’s arm, and despite the tight quarters, they have found a position that is comfortable for the both of them. They watch the impromptu performance of A-Yuan’s toys in respectful silence.

“We can’t go to the park,” one of A-Yuan’s toys says to another, “It’s night out.”

It’s amusing, really, to see how much A-Yuan soaks up from his surroundings. Lan Wangji smiles, but does not laugh. He has learned that A-Yuan takes it personally when people laugh at him.

Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, has to muffle his snicker into Lan Wangji’s neck. His warm breath tickles.

“But you said we could!” A-Yuan’s other toy protests in an identical voice.

“Oh, fine. We can go.”

The toys walk up Cabbage’s neck. Presumably, Cabbage’s forehead is the park.

“Here we are! Let’s play!”

Wei Wuxian giggles some more. “I can’t,” he whispers into Lan Wangji’s ear, “I can’t handle this.”

“Don’t laugh,” Lan Wangji tells him.

That, of course, only makes Wei Wuxian laugh all the harder. He curls up, holding his stomach with one hand, and muffling himself with the other.

A-Yuan looks up at them. His face is all scrunched up. It’s unclear to Lan Wangji if this means he’s angry or confused.

Just to play it safe, Lan Wangji apologizes. “We’re sorry. Go on.”

But A-Yuan tosses his hands into the air with dramatic exasperation. “You’re supposed to clap,” he tells them, in a dead serious tone.

“Oh? Is the play over?” Lan Wangji asks.

But Wei Wuxian doesn’t wait for an answer. He pulls himself together and begins to applaud, loudly.

A-Yuan smiles.

And then all the lights go out.

For just a moment, the world is still. Frozen in time. Devoid of light or sound.

But then A-Yuan shrieks.

Everything erupts into chaos. Lan Wangji gets entangled with Wei Wuxian’s flailing limbs as they both instinctively move to comfort A-Yuan. Both rabbits take off in opposing directions, uncaring of who they step over to make their escape. The shriek has morphed into wet sobs and garbled gibberish.

Lan Wangji tries to reorient himself. He finds A-Yuan in the darkness, and pulls the child into his lap. Wei Wuxian, who grabbed A-Yuan at the same time, ends up being pulled along with him.

“It’s okay,” both of them are saying, “It’s okay, you’re okay.”

Their touch seems to soothe A-Yuan’s anxiety. His crying quiets, and he ends up just trembling in their awkward mutual embrace. His breaths are still sniffly, but they’re evening out.

“The power just went out,” Lan Wangji explains, once he feels like A-Yuan has recovered enough to hear it.

“Must be the storm,” Wei Wuxian says, “Do you have a flashlight?”

“Mn.”

But Lan Wangji is reluctant to leave his boyfriend and foster child alone, even if it’s only for a minute. Now that the initial shock has worn off, there’s something comforting about being bundled up together in the dark. Lan Wangji wants to savor the feeling.

Wei Wuxian doesn’t rush him. Instead, he just fumbles around until he can take Lan Wangji’s hand.

It’s A-Yuan who loses patience. “Ji-gege, flashlight?” He asks.

“Of course.” Lan Wangji blinks, trying to make out the outline of A-Yuan’s head. But it’s not use. Everything is the same shade of black. So he makes his best estimate, and presses a tender kiss to where he assumes A-Yuan’s forehead would be. He misses and kisses hair. Close enough.

Then Lan Wangji detangles himself from the comfy family huddle, and heads off to find the flashlight.

It’s a little easier to see outside the fort, though the windows don’t cast much light. The rain is so thick, it completely obscures the sky.

Lan Wangji remembers the layout of his apartment well, though. He navigates around the furniture without much of an issue, and makes his way to the kitchen, where the flashlight lies.

Finding the flashlight is easy, but it’s only half of the battle. When Lan Wangji flips the switch, nothing happens. The batteries are dead.

And so Lan Wangji has to shift around his drawers for replacement batteries. This is a far more arduous task, because he has to find the right size, based on what he thinks will fit in the flashlight. Then he has to insert them all both ways, not knowing which side is positive and which is negative.

As Lan Wangji fiddles with the batteries, he can hear Wei Wuxian’s voice in the other room.

Wei Wuxian is singing a silly little song to A-Yuan. It doesn’t rhyme, and the melody isn’t particularly consistent, either. Which means Wei Wuxian is making it up as he goes, which is even more endearing, somehow.

After a minute, A-Yuan starts chiming in during the chorus, which thankfully stays the same each time.

Lan Wangji’s heart clenches. Wei Wuxian and Wen Yuan— he loves them with a depth that is unfathomable, even to himself. But that’s fine. To try to describe it would flatten it. He just wants to ruminate in it, relish the heavy weight of it in his heart.

It takes some time, but finally Lan Wangji solves the flashlight puzzle. This time, when he flips the switch, it immediately emits a powerful beam of light that momentarily hurts to look at.

Triumphant, Lan Wangji returns. He shines the light on the blanket wall of the fort. Wei Wuxian and A-Yuan’s shadows dance and rejoice.

“There he is! Lan Zhan, bringer of light!”

A-Yuan bursts out of the fort and rushes to cling to Lan Wangji’s legs.

Laughing, Wei Wuxian follows after. He doesn’t quite tackle Lan Wangji with the same enthusiasm as A-Yuan, but then again, that would knock them all to the floor. But he does join the group hug.

“I was wondering what was taking you so long,” Wei Wuxian says, between gifting Lan Wangji with light kisses up the side of his jaw.

“Had to change the batteries.”

“Ahhh.” Wei Wuxian gives Lan Wangji a few more playful pecks. “That must have been a pain, in the dark.”

Lan Wangji shrugs.

Wei Wuxian laughs. “Always so modest, my Lan Zhan. Too modest, if you ask me. If it were me who managed to change batteries in a pitch black room, I’d be gloating so much.”

Lan Wangji can’t help but smile at the thought. Wei Wuxian is right. He would have gloated. And Lan Wangji would have happily praised him.

“Oh!” Wei Wuxian takes the flashlight from Lan Wangji. “You know what we should do, now that we have a flashlight?” He positions the light underneath his chin, to make spooky shadows grow across his face. “Ghost stories!”

“No!” A-Yuan screeches, and buries his face into Lan Wangji’s pant leg.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji says.

Wei Wuxian lowers the flashlight. “Ahh, okay, no ghost stories. Then... how about shadow puppets? A-Yuan, I can show you how to make a bunny rabbit!”

That gets A-Yuan’s attention. He glances up at Wei Wuxian. “How?”

“Let me show you!” Wei Wuxian takes A-Yuan’s hand in his, though he has to walk with his back slightly bent to do so. “Lan Zhan, you can hold the flashlight for us.”

“Mn.” Lan Wangji follows, with a smile on his face and a pleasant fullness in his chest.