#ANCIENT CHINESE MR BENNET

[viterbofangirllovestheuntamed]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jiāng Fēngmián/Yú Zǐyuān, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín & Yú Zǐyuān Characters: Yú Zǐyuān, Jiāng Fēngmián, Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín Additional Tags: Character Study, Marital Strife, Verbal Abuse, Borderline Child Abuse, ain't nobody happy in dysfunction junction folks Summary:

Greed. Ignorance. Hatred. These three evils lie at the root of all the world’s ills.

They are also firmly rooted in Yu Ziyuan’s heart.

[amarguerite]

Pan-Austen pirates AU? :D

1) oooh ok. I think a very fascinating translation of the power structure would be all the major landowning characters being captains of their particular ships

2) I think it would be particularly funny if the Bennets were directly plopped into infamous Chinese pirate queen Ching Shih’s fleet because at one point the pirates on their little fishing vessels managed to capture a Western ship in Canton, and also managed to pretty much evade all punishment by the Chinese Emperor. I think this would be a fun parallel to 2/5ths of the Bennet daughters making miraculously good marriages.

3) Mr. Woodhouse’s problem is that he’s a broken man on a Halifax pier, the last of Barret’s privateers. This has understandably put him off the whole piratical business and he (or rather Emma) is a well-known fence for stolen goods.

4) The Crawford siblings are some of the best pirates in the whole canon.

5) Catherine Morland is pretry convinced she is in the Pirates of the Caribbean while really she’s in Black Sails. Sorry Cathy, it’s not an ancient Aztec curse, it’s just capitalism.

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#you know it might be for the best that jin ling got his prenamed sword as a tragic keepsake #otherwise who knows what he would have named that thing #his uncles nodding indulgently and with pride as he chooses something like 'raising dread' or whatever #jin zixuan being basically a normal person saving the day from beyond the grave (via autumnslantern)

you know, maybe jfm should have had a clue that something was going south when his 13 year old son named his spiritual sword "sandu"

[viterbofangirllovestheuntamed]

Yunmeng Sibling Trio Love Languages

(NB: This evaluation will follow the CQL/The Untamed canon, as that is the version that I am familiar with.)

To recap, the Five Love Languages are as follows:

- Words of Affirmation - Acts of Service - Gifts - Quality Time - Physical Touch

I believe that all three Yunmeng Siblings have a primary love language that is distinct from the others, but evaluation is hard because of the A++ parenting of Yu “Tiger Mom from Hell” Ziyuan and Jiang “Ancient Chinese Mr. Bennett” Fengmian throughout the trio’s formative years at Lotus “Dysfunction Junction” Pier but I’M DOING MY BEST OKAY??? ANyhoo, here are my conclusions which very well might be incorrect!

Jiang Yanli - Acts of Service

I’ll start off with the easy one; it’s fairly self-explanatory. Yanli demonstrates her affection and care by cooking for others. She peels lotus seeds for Wei Wuxian in the middle of a tense family dinner. She is ultimately convinced of Jin Zixuan’s love for her when he plants a lotus garden for her with his own hands. She never leaves the bedside of an ailing loved one. Even her heart-to-heart talks with her brothers are delivered, not bestowed as heartening words, or gifted like trinkets, or provided like time. They are a response to a NEED she sees. (I adore Yanli, but sometimes I feel as if she too displays a slight favoritism towards Wei Wuxian over Jiang Cheng, and that is totally understandable if she was strongly shaken by his neediness as a starving orphan and his shaky position within the family. Such things would render Wei Wuxian as in a greater need of service than her privileged-heir-to-the-clan brother.)

Jiang Cheng - Physical Touch

Our boy just might be THE most messed up of the siblings, though he’s in a tight race. (Yay for him coming in first, for once?) And it really could go a lot of ways for him! He is CLEARLY starved for positive reinforcement (words of affirmation), works hard for his loved ones and/or those under his care (acts of service), and resents the attention Wei Wuxian gets from the distant Jiang Fengmian (quality time).

However, I keep coming back to the line “his own father had held him less than five times in his entire life.” (Or whatever the exact wording is.) Most of us probably don’t remember how often a parent held us; many of us were no doubt more concerned with squirming OUT of our parents’ arms so that we could go play. But there are more hints to this being Jiang Cheng’s love language than one line- a line from the novel, when here I am saying that I’m drawing from CQL canon! 

To quote an earlier post of mine: Wei Wuxian is constantly draping himself over Jiang Cheng, shoving him with his shoulder, slinging an arm around him, even punching him and getting into physical scuffles. Jiang Cheng is constantly hearing his brother say “hey I love you hey I love you hey I love you!”, and with all of that unspoken evidence poured over him almost every waking moment of his life, the poison from his mother and the ice from his father just... doesn’t stick. Even when he’s frantic and beside himself with grief over his parents’ deaths, accusing Wei Wuxian of being the source of their misfortune, Jiang Cheng is still is grabbing him, shoving and shaking him, even choking him- still actively seeking physical touch to process his grief. It’s when Wei Wuxian starts to physically pull away and avoid physically engaging with Jiang Cheng (”What? You want to fight?!”) after the Core Transfer/Burial Mounds that Jiang Cheng starts to panic and doubt Wei Wuxian’s love for him, thinking that Wei Wuxian doesn’t give a fuck about him or their sect family anymore.

“But what about all the times he shoves Wei Wuxian away?” you ask. Well, even THAT is an indicator, thanks to Wang Zhuocheng’s stellar acting choices. Look closely the next time you watch; Jiang Cheng’s shove offs are less “don’t touch me” than “you don’t REALLY mean you love me, if you REALLY meant it you’d listen to me and/or not get me into trouble, don’t [love language] you love me if you don’t MEAN it...”

Despite near-constant threats, Jiang Cheng has never once lifted a hand against Jin Ling, because doing so to the person who is his sole reason for living would be a complete betrayal of how he loves. And of course, when Jiang Cheng hugs, he throws his entire body into it, clings like an octopus, and does. not. let. go.

Wei Wuxian - Words of Affirmation

This was the hardest one for me to decide, and I only did so when I came to the conclusion that our Problematic Fave actually only receives said affirmation when it is... wordless.

Bear with me here.

This is NOT the same thing as acts of service! Acts of service anticipates or responds to a NEED out of love. Words of affirmation are a message that one IS loved, is WORTHY of being loved. There is nothing that Wei Wuxian needs more of believes less than confirmation that he is loved. He has been admired often, as a prodigy often is, but that admiration is shallow and fickle. Madame Yu’s poisonous words not only tear him down, but her own son too... a son that resembles his mother so much that he shares that vice. Thankfully, Wei Wuxian learned early on that Jiang Cheng’s words are not how he communicates, and learned to read the message inside-- the message that screamed “I’m sorry” and “I didn’t mean it” and “I’m just scared for you” and “don’t abandon me.”  

If one alters this love language title as “Messages of Affirmation”, the issue becomes much clearer, I think. Wei Wuxian knows all too well that words are cheap and often cruel. He craves that affirmation, that validation and celebration of his existence and intrinsic worth, but is often unable to process his own love language through speech alone. This is why Lan Wangji’s stand with him on the stairs of Koi Tower moved him to tears; it wasn’t an act of service, but a declaration that Wei Wuxian was worth trouble and damaged reputations. And of course, That Scene post-resurrection when Wei Wuxian is nursing Emperor's Smile outside the Jingshi as it starts to snow, and he's spiraling down remembering all these bad things and how little has changed and how everyone still hates him... and the sound of a guqin playing their song starts from inside. That beautiful, BEAUTIFUL moment of Lan Wangji silently saying "I love you, I'M glad that you're here, I think you're worthwhile"... but with music, not with actual words.

It’s worth noting that Wei Wuxian DOES still use and value words from the people he loves. It’s why he so easily showers compliments, and why he counsels Jin Ling to actually say “I’m sorry” and “thank you.”

I think, to be honest, Jiang Fengmian’s last words to him had much deeper resonance than one might realize because of this love language. His Jiang-shushu favors and spoils and praises him endlessly for years... only to have his final words to Wei Wuxian be an order that prioritizes his biological children’s safety (a.k.a. worth) over Wei Wuxian’s. The lengths to which Wei Wuxian goes, his icepick-through-Jiang-Cheng’s-heart words of “I did it to repay my debt to the Jiang”, are all a an echo of Wei Wuxian’s fear that if he does not honor Jiang-shushu’s last words then he was never really loved in the first place...

Thoughts? Disagreements? Reply or @ me; I’d love to hear it! <3

[pegasusdragontiger]

another get-to-know-me meme

Was tagged by @dizzy-redhead 

Nickname:  Jo or Joey Zodiac sign: Taurus Height: Hmm well not sure lol when I was in High School we had to put down our weight and height one of the teachers measured me and she said 5’5 but at home it say’s 5’4 so One or the other!? Last Thing You Googled: Lordy as it is Easter Saturday was at my brothers place for Easter lunch and so haven’t really been online today  but I think the last thing I googled was Feud: Bette and Joan, about their feud in Hollywood soooo good. Favorite music artist: Really, I have to choose that’s like trying to pick between Chris or Seb or Bucky and Steve I just can’t I love so many manly from my parent’s influences like Beetles, Abba, Rolling Stones, The Animals, Elton John, Billy Joel, Mine Led Zepplin, U2, Linkin Park, Adele, Coldplay, Good Charlotte, Fleetwood Mac. I’ll end it there before it gets too long. Song stuck in my head: “The Only One by Adele  Last Movie you watched: Lol omg this is funny as I just watched it today with my nephews The Lego Movie, I liked it but as they were talking couldn’t hear some parts of it but so scattered and I had know idea what was going on? What are you wearing right now: Hahahhaa lol really? I just got home at it is now 5.08pm an had a shower so in my PJ’s. Why did you choose your URL: Oh this might be a long one, So my Dad loves Fantasia which made its way to me with the music and the cartoon stories that go with it my all-time favourite scene from that is the Pegasus/Greek theme as I am like an Ancient History nerd like I love watching doco’s and what not my favourite Pegasus was the black one oh so pretty. I was only like what 9 or 10 when the Disney Hercules came out and Pegasus his flying horse loved him! So that’s where that one came from. Dragon because I love HP, and got into GOT and just love dragons also seeing all the awesome pictures of them, another reason is because I was born in the year of the dragon and Chinese New Year fascinated me and been nerdy about them since. Tiger because I love and adore animals especially big cats watch a lot of Sir David Attenborough docos and reading about the big cats and they are so cute and adorable which my mum can’t understand why? So majestic! Do you have any other blogs: Um!?!?!?!?! I do have Twitter but I am hardly on there at all, on fb though does that count? What Did Your Last Relationship Teach You: Never been in one came close but I didn’t want to ruin my friendship with at the time one of my best friends and it was her brother and as another friend was dating him that friendship soured and I was like I can’t do that to her so yeah nothing came of it. So currently single and bloody getting nagged by relos because I should be the next married by their charts and popping out kids! Religious Or Spiritual: This is a toughie as I was raised Catholic but haven’t been to church in like 4 or 5 years so yeah a bit of both but so loose and not strict in anyway. Favourite Colour: Dark Blue like Royal Blue and a British racing Green and Dark Forest Green. Average Hours Of Sleep: Bahhaa I don’t know sometimes I think I sleep 8hrs but It could be more like 7 or 6. Depends as I suffer from Sinuses which makes me not sleep as well and also when I get the flu or cold I sleep even less with the coughing and the breathing, and all that yucky stuff. Lucky Number: Ummm!?!?!?!?! I have no bloody idea?? Favorite characters: Okay crackles knukles here we go, Darcy Lewis, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Elizabeth Bennet, Mr Darcy, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Belle, Samantha Stevens, Legolas, Aragorn, Eomer, Arwen, Thorin, Goku, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sesshomaru Thor, Tony Star, Jane, Pepper, Nat, Clint, Sam, Jarvis, Logan, Rogue, Remy, Draco, Blaise.  How Many Blankets Do you Sleep With: 0 in Summer as at night the temp is 40 degrees or over or 39! Winter 2 plus my Doona and on really cold nights a rug on top of that!. Dream Job: Would love to own or work in a bookshop where they sold homemade Chocolate! Having a full time job, not to worry about bills, taxes. And debt and all that stuff!

The rules say to tag 20 people so lets hear something from the new followers! (If you want to! If this makes you anxious, I’m super sorry, just ignore it)

@cevansnews @mcgregorswench @dresupi @littleplebe @ariallane @allaboutevans @avaalons @pinkpandorafrog @phoenix-173 @purplepingupenguins @wahwahwaffles @aenariasbookshelf @chrissihr @steeleholtingon @bitchsince1976 @glynnisi @hollyspacey @holdmecloseandfast @hushhorizon @its-sweet-jade 

[viterbofangirllovestheuntamed]

#I love jfm most days #but im never forgiving him for what he did to Jiang Cheng #AS MUCH AS MY OWN LOGIC begs me to believe that the man did it to make JC tougher for the inevitable position of authority he'd have to tak #We all know deep down he disliked him because of how much he resembled Yu Ziyuan #Like Yanli was also their child but she obviously took after the Jiang line more than the Yu line #Yu Ziyuan might've seemed like a complete bitch but ONLY because of who the narrative focused on. #Wei Wuxian was the MC so ofc her mistreatment of him was highlighted #but thinking in her perspective she wasn't entirely wrong with her bitterness against WWX #like was her being a bitch to wwx good? #nope #but did she have a fair reason to be bitter that her husband cared about his ex's kid more than his own son? #absolutely #maybe if jfm actually gave more fucks about jc then yzy wouldn't be as much of a bitch to wwx. #anyhow the point of this tag-rant is that yu ziyuan as a mother was AMAZING #she gave jc the tough love but balanced it out by actually caring about him as a person #had jfm not neglected jc then maybe yzy would have given a little more of a flying fuck about wwx #because NEVER LET IT BE SAID THAT YU ZIYUAN DIDN'T CARE ABOUT WWX.#If she really hated wwx#he'd have been dead long before he grew up #That's why she smiles when she sees jc and sours up when she sees wwx #GOOD JOB JIANG FENGMIAN YOU FUCKING PLAYED YOURSELF #Anyhow the CQL cast nailed their emotions #If anyone dares say the Untamed was anything short of a cinematic masterpiece #im gonna gut them like a fish (via chickie-empress-kie)

thirty-one days of jiujiu(ly)  —  day twenty-one  + with bonus a-niang !

[viterbofangirllovestheuntamed]

JFM meanwhile doesn't even notice he's busy trying to arange things so a-xian doesn't wind up stuck in gusu just because he's got his heart set on that lan wangji ah young love so nice that they're following their hearts unsurprising that jiang cheng wound up with a suitable arranged married but she seems nice enough maybe they won't hate each other! wen ning is having a great time either way swimming! wei wuxian as a brother in law! yanli has adopted him and made him soup! he's going nighthunting all the time and learning so much about water ghouls! (via op)

you got the same quiz result! now I need to hear what you think about Wen Qing & Madam Yu dynamic. imagine if Madam Yu hadn't died and Jiang Cheng marries Wen Qing and they all have to like, 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘺. I can't decide if they'd absolutely hate each other, grudgingly respect each other, or end up getting on like a house on fire (baoshan-sanren)

\o/ Excellent. I feel like all of these options are plausible, but the inherent dysfunction of the Jiang household would probably tip them away from getting along for real. There’s only so much you can enjoy someone’s company when they’re kind of your boss and you’re constantly dreading the next time you have to witness a hideous couples fight between them and their husband who is also kind of your boss.

Even so, I think Wen Qing is one of the very few people who could not only survive but thrive with Madam Yu as an mother in-law. I don’t think she’d get particularly attached to either of the Jiang parents, but they’d be fine with her bringing her little brother to Lotus Pier and neither of them are the type to threaten to feed him to a zombie if she doesn’t comply with them, so they’re a pronounced upgrade. Wen Qing is fine with being outwardly deferential and demonstrating her value while inwardly thinking an authority figure is an asshole. They can bond a little over being extremely competent in their respective fields of medicine and making patients for people who practice medicine.

Wen Qing loves her work and is very good at it, so Yunmeng Jiang winds up with a thriving medical cultivation sub-specialty that’s prestigious and conveniently keeps her very busy. I think Madam Yu would also genuinely think Wen Qing is a better match than Lan Wangji, even if he is the Second Jade of Lan, so Jiang Cheng has won at marrying well and that’s inherently soothing. Whenever things are getting too tense Yanli miraculously sends a letter explaining why her brothers, their spouses, and Wen Ning are essential to her salon/conference/plans to redecorate the nursery in the most auspicious way possible and she generally gets away with it because the Jins suck but are indulgent enough as in-laws.

Alternatively Madam Yu says something terrible about Wen Ning three days after the wedding; Jiang Cheng tries to deflect and when Madam Yu goes for him his face goes tight and pinched and unhappy and Wen Qing decides the quickest path to peace is war. I don’t know who wins but Jiang Cheng has a very bad time.

[viterbofangirllovestheuntamed]

#Jiang Cheng’s sect is also 100% wild idiots and paperwork and servant work is the only discipline that works #and they definitely still go out on boats and steal lotus seeds and come home drenched to a grumpy sect leader who herds them in #like a dog herding in sheep barking angrily but also carefully checking them over #it’s just that the Jiang Sect also knows how to behave when they want to stab someone and it would take them about #twenty seconds to realize that there is Something between father and son and instantly jump into perfect polite mode #so that Jiang Cheng looks better and also as a silent fuck you to the sect leader they’ve never met who tries to tell them what to do #Jiang Cheng didn’t go out with a rabies shot and catch a bunch of feral rogue disicples #bring them into his home and carry them through war #spend every hour of every day protecting defending training and caring for them #for them to give a fuck about literally anyone else who would try and tell them what to do #(exception is Jin Ling because Jiang Cheng said it was okay) #but also I’m sure Fengmian would hate the way the Jiang Sect is under Jiang Cheng and Jiang Cheng would go insane if he had to go back (via op)

I am mildly obsessed with the differences between Jiang Cheng’s Yunmeng Jiang and Jiang Femgmian’s Yunmeng Jiang and how if either of them met the other’s as adults how they’d react.

Jiang Fengmian who turns his head away at the rigorous mind numbing training that the disciples of Jiang Cheng have for just political situations, not even counting the actual sword forms. The rigid spines and blank faces that don’t break for a second, like his son created an army of robots rather than living people.

Jiang Cheng’s bitter envy that all of his shidi and shixiong under Jiang Fengmian got to laugh and play for hours without the fear of war. Who snicker during meetings and don’t fear the consequences of the glaring Sect Leaders because they don’t yet know the pain of that Sect Leader sneering down on the corpses of their family.

Jiang Fengmian wondering where he went wrong when he walks through the rebuilt halls of Lotus Pier and not a single person is anything more than ramrod straight, not one person ‘free’ but held down by propriety that chains and chokes one. Who won’t relax even when he tells them too, simply insist it’s not proper and return to their mindless forms.

Jiang Cheng gritting his teeth with annoyance as Jiang Fengmian leaves Lotus Pier with only a handful of joking disciples rather than the entourage that every other sect leader has to play that political mind game that Jiang Cheng can never escape. Who laugh gently at him when he says to stand up straight because their Jiang Cheng had never be able to say no to them, never been able to not give in and if Madam Yu isn’t there then whats the point?

Jiang Fengmian watching Jiang Cheng order countless disciples into work that’s not suited for them, making them act as servants as punishment and forcing them to do things below themselves. The disciples who complain and whine but not at being disrespected, but… at not being ordered to do sword forms until they drop. Yet they do each task diligently, any teasing is light hearted and the actual servants gently guide them in caring for everything.

Jiang Cheng reaching out on pure instinct when his mother’s whip flies through the air at a disciple and grabbing hold. Staring wide eyed as the words escape his mouth without realization “No one hurts my people” then the agonizing self hatred that floods him seconds later, her words are nothing compared to the fire he just poured in his own nerves and the punishments he’ll give himself later. But he doesn’t step down, doesn’t apologize, he’s felt the blood of his people pooling in his hands and he will be damned if he or his family is the cause of it

Jiang Fengmian meeting the eyes of the rogue cultivators turned Jiang disciples that would never have managed to get past madam Yu’s training, yet here they are. Angry, with teeth bared at his words toward his son about being too controlling and too much like his mother. Jiang Fengmian realizing that this is not his sect, not at all, in more ways than one. Jiang Fengmian watching as the Jiang Disciples founded in war and blood and under the protection of the merciless Jiang Cheng, step up against Jiang Fengmian to support his son instead. The Jiang Disciples who don’t say a single word but the fury rolls through their veins at the idea of anyone who could insult their Sect Leader and that blood lust is visible in their eyes. The Jiang Disciples who, with a single flick of Jiang Cheng’s hand, glide away to haunt the shadows instead with polite words more venomous then vitriol insults.

Jiang Cheng walking the Pier of his past, of his home, of the one place he wants to return too more than anything else and realizing he actually doesn’t want to. That the people who stand before him from his past, they’re in his heart but they are not his people. Jiang Cheng realizing that while he wants so desperately to go back to that home, wants everything to go back to where it was, he isn’t someone who could go back. Sect Leader Jiang Wanyin doesn’t belong in the Jiang Sect of his father, maybe he never did, and it hurts and aches and his father’s distaste hurts even more.

But he has a home to step back too, even as he hurts he can look and see his people waiting for him. Ready for any order, any mission, any party, anything he offers them they’ll take like it’s a blessing.

[viterbofangirllovestheuntamed]

#I dunno that they were canonically besties though #Jin Guangshan SAYS that they are/were besties #but Jin Guangshan was an excellent manipulator #v good at setting the stage #creating the agenda #whatever #when they meet in the Cloud Recesses it's more like they have the forms of intimacy than the actual substance #and when JGS later says that oh woe he was like a brother to me #he is p clearly trying to get JC (and everyone else) to see him as an older and wiser father figure #who gets to call the shots and make the rules and decide what is and isn't important #JFM is more like #he lets it slide #he lets a lot of things slide #he was definitely not known for his incisive decisive whatevericisive personality (via theendofcake)

Every time I get mad at Jiang Fengmian, I think about how he and Jin Guangshan are canonically besties and remember that I should actually get madder at Jiang Fengmian.

[viterbofangirllovestheuntamed]

It's simultaneously very sad and very VERY funny Everyone else has these dreams and aspirations and JC's like 'I would just like my father to love me' granted Yanli doesn't have to live with her parents once she's married and WWX is kind of known for running off to do his own thing so i guess if you realize you have to live with your parents for the rest of existence (or well... should have) then you might want more love and affection As much as YZY fucked up her kids I don't think they ever doubted that she cared about them but man JFM really had JC waiting on the edge of his seat daily hoping for his Dad just to be okay with the fact that JC isn't dead This is like the LXC letting LWJ kidnap ppl thing VEry very funny to me because it's fiction ala very very sad thing to most ppl apparently (via op)

Do you ever think about how Wei Wuxian's dream was to protect the world and the little people and be good and Yanli's hope was to be loved by the person she loved and have a happy family and Jiang Cheng is just going through the first half of life like "If my Dad could hate me a little less that would be great, if not it's okay. I knew it was a long shot. I don't like me either."

[viterbofangirllovestheuntamed]

#i am rattling the bars of my cage happily at this suffering #I’m sorry JC but you’re just so angstyyy #ahhhhhhhh#OKAY SO LILE #ON ONE HAND! #Chinese culture is all about being filial and JC has ALWAYS tried to do that even when he loses his temper or messes up #all he wants is to be a good son while his parents are alive and honor them when they’re dead #like he tries so hard to be a good sect heir and make his dad proud! #BUT #he’s also been a Sect Leader for almost as long as he lived with his parents #HE promised to protect his people HE promised to do whatever it took HE led them through war and gave them homes #HE made the oath#he needs to be the one to protect his people no matter the cost #but what if the coast is your own parents hatred anger disappointment and everything you spent the first half of your life craving being #tossed at your feet with a reminder that you’ll never be good enough for anything as grand as your fathers sect or heart? #but on a third thought wtf is he going to do go make another sect? then we’d have all the post war YMJ disciples holding him down so he #doesn’t drown himself or qi deviate out of stress and anxiety (via featherfur)

Also like, c’mon guys the angst of JC going to the past and the realizing that if he stops the war he effectively kills everyone born in YMJ in the last 13/16 years? JC realizing that if his entire home doesn’t die then he never has the loyalty of the family that he built and protected for almost two decades?? Can he kill them? They won’t know, but he will. Could he do it or would it drive him mad? Could he ever see a child of YMJ and not think about the ones who used to be underfoot? Could he train disciples without thinking about the ones he carried through war? Could he hear “Sect Leader” and not choke thinking of everyone he swore to protect after the war?

Do you realize how fully you could break him?? You could pin him between WWX and his sect again and make him cry!! Save WWX or kill his family? AGAIN!! Parallels!

Let one family burn or be the executioner of the other! Save the family you were born into or the one you carried through war and swore yourself too! Save your sister or the YMJ child you know was born to your second disciple! Save your mother or your right hand man! Save your father or the children you raised in your home! Save your brother or every person who looks to you for protection and supported you through war!

[viterbofangirllovestheuntamed]

he's the worst! like maybe he thinks HE'S happy so therefore... jc must be? seen some fics where it was like well they're puppies how attached could he possibly be because jfm has no gd clue about how a-cheng has struggled to make friends or maybe he's like look I got you an Obligatory Friend that's better than dogs right? which I think it worse way to immediately put a shitload of pressure on that relationship ddoes jfm know how to i teract with children?? he did okay in that fever dream jc had during core transfer but was that a memory or a fantasy? madam yu being nice means signs point to fantasy anyway why would you expect a seven year old to be mature about this it's a miracle that they DID become brothers despite everything insert platonic soulmate theory here (via heavymetalalchemist)

I’m being mean to Jiang Fengmian for fun now but what kind of asshole:

 takes away a kid’s puppies

tells him it’s because the orphan he just adopted is afraid of dogs

tells the poor baby orphan “my kid will definitely want to be friends and share a room with you don’t worry! He’s your shidi now!”

leaves the sad orphan in the courtyard while his kid has a meltdown about the dogs so they can work it out between themselves?

 If he’d tried to introduce cats to each other that way he’d be down a cat.

[viterbofangirllovestheuntamed]

JC attempts the impossible every time he tries to get his dad to notice him I mean already attempting the impossible is such a vague description but I can't help but feel that there are multiple methods to doing it recklessly charging in trying a bunch of crazy shit and seeing what sticks that's how wwx does it meanwhile dogged determination relentless pursuit of one's goals pushing oneself to always be better and try to achieve perfection that's JC could you imagine how terrifying YunmengJiang would have been if wwx hadn't left the mad genius combined with the diligent dedicated executive no wonder all the other sects tried so hard to drive them apart god this just makes me hate sect leader yao more WE COULDA HAD IT ALL the idea man and the man with the plan? not to mention the iron hand in velvet glove that is yanli damn I'm angry now (via heavymetalalchemist)

How Jiang Fengmian could criticize Jiang Cheng for not understanding what it means to attempt the impossible when he's holding out hope for his parents' trash fire of a marriage despite a lifetime of experience with them is beyond me. Even Wei Wuxian is like aw, buddy. Signs point to no.

[jayktoralldaylong]

I was just singing touch touch touch touch touch touch touch, got to Jiang Cheng and it was in fact TOUCH!!! YAAAAASSSSSSSSSS.

Yunmeng Sibling Trio Love Languages

(NB: This evaluation will follow the CQL/The Untamed canon, as that is the version that I am familiar with.)

To recap, the Five Love Languages are as follows:

- Words of Affirmation - Acts of Service - Gifts - Quality Time - Physical Touch

I believe that all three Yunmeng Siblings have a primary love language that is distinct from the others, but evaluation is hard because of the A++ parenting of Yu “Tiger Mom from Hell” Ziyuan and Jiang “Ancient Chinese Mr. Bennett” Fengmian throughout the trio’s formative years at Lotus “Dysfunction Junction” Pier but I’M DOING MY BEST OKAY??? ANyhoo, here are my conclusions which very well might be incorrect!

Jiang Yanli - Acts of Service

I’ll start off with the easy one; it’s fairly self-explanatory. Yanli demonstrates her affection and care by cooking for others. She peels lotus seeds for Wei Wuxian in the middle of a tense family dinner. She is ultimately convinced of Jin Zixuan’s love for her when he plants a lotus garden for her with his own hands. She never leaves the bedside of an ailing loved one. Even her heart-to-heart talks with her brothers are delivered, not bestowed as heartening words, or gifted like trinkets, or provided like time. They are a response to a NEED she sees. (I adore Yanli, but sometimes I feel as if she too displays a slight favoritism towards Wei Wuxian over Jiang Cheng, and that is totally understandable if she was strongly shaken by his neediness as a starving orphan and his shaky position within the family. Such things would render Wei Wuxian as in a greater need of service than her privileged-heir-to-the-clan brother.)

Jiang Cheng - Physical Touch

Our boy just might be THE most messed up of the siblings, though he’s in a tight race. (Yay for him coming in first, for once?) And it really could go a lot of ways for him! He is CLEARLY starved for positive reinforcement (words of affirmation), works hard for his loved ones and/or those under his care (acts of service), and resents the attention Wei Wuxian gets from the distant Jiang Fengmian (quality time).

However, I keep coming back to the line “his own father had held him less than five times in his entire life.” (Or whatever the exact wording is.) Most of us probably don’t remember how often a parent held us; many of us were no doubt more concerned with squirming OUT of our parents’ arms so that we could go play. But there are more hints to this being Jiang Cheng’s love language than one line- a line from the novel, when here I am saying that I’m drawing from CQL canon! 

To quote an earlier post of mine: Wei Wuxian is constantly draping himself over Jiang Cheng, shoving him with his shoulder, slinging an arm around him, even punching him and getting into physical scuffles. Jiang Cheng is constantly hearing his brother say “hey I love you hey I love you hey I love you!”, and with all of that unspoken evidence poured over him almost every waking moment of his life, the poison from his mother and the ice from his father just… doesn’t stick. Even when he’s frantic and beside himself with grief over his parents’ deaths, accusing Wei Wuxian of being the source of their misfortune, Jiang Cheng is still is grabbing him, shoving and shaking him, even choking him- still actively seeking physical touch to process his grief. It’s when Wei Wuxian starts to physically pull away and avoid physically engaging with Jiang Cheng (”What? You want to fight?!”) after the Core Transfer/Burial Mounds that Jiang Cheng starts to panic and doubt Wei Wuxian’s love for him, thinking that Wei Wuxian doesn’t give a fuck about him or their sect family anymore.

“But what about all the times he shoves Wei Wuxian away?” you ask. Well, even THAT is an indicator, thanks to Wang Zhuocheng’s stellar acting choices. Look closely the next time you watch; Jiang Cheng’s shove offs are less “don’t touch me” than “you don’t REALLY mean you love me, if you REALLY meant it you’d listen to me and/or not get me into trouble, don’t [love language] you love me if you don’t MEAN it…”

Despite near-constant threats, Jiang Cheng has never once lifted a hand against Jin Ling, because doing so to the person who is his sole reason for living would be a complete betrayal of how he loves. And of course, when Jiang Cheng hugs, he throws his entire body into it, clings like an octopus, and does. not. let. go.

Wei Wuxian - Words of Affirmation

This was the hardest one for me to decide, and I only did so when I came to the conclusion that our Problematic Fave actually only receives said affirmation when it is… wordless.

Bear with me here.

This is NOT the same thing as acts of service! Acts of service anticipates or responds to a NEED out of love. Words of affirmation are a message that one IS loved, is WORTHY of being loved. There is nothing that Wei Wuxian needs more of believes less than confirmation that he is loved. He has been admired often, as a prodigy often is, but that admiration is shallow and fickle. Madame Yu’s poisonous words not only tear him down, but her own son too… a son that resembles his mother so much that he shares that vice. Thankfully, Wei Wuxian learned early on that Jiang Cheng’s words are not how he communicates, and learned to read the message inside– the message that screamed “I’m sorry” and “I didn’t mean it” and “I’m just scared for you” and “don’t abandon me.”  

If one alters this love language title as “Messages of Affirmation”, the issue becomes much clearer, I think. Wei Wuxian knows all too well that words are cheap and often cruel. He craves that affirmation, that validation and celebration of his existence and intrinsic worth, but is often unable to process his own love language through speech alone. This is why Lan Wangji’s stand with him on the stairs of Koi Tower moved him to tears; it wasn’t an act of service, but a declaration that Wei Wuxian was worth trouble and damaged reputations. And of course, That Scene post-resurrection when Wei Wuxian is nursing Emperor’s Smile outside the Jingshi as it starts to snow, and he’s spiraling down remembering all these bad things and how little has changed and how everyone still hates him… and the sound of a guqin playing their song starts from inside. That beautiful, BEAUTIFUL moment of Lan Wangji silently saying “I love you, I’M glad that you’re here, I think you’re worthwhile”… but with music, not with actual words.

It’s worth noting that Wei Wuxian DOES still use and value words from the people he loves. It’s why he so easily showers compliments, and why he counsels Jin Ling to actually say “I’m sorry” and “thank you.”

I think, to be honest, Jiang Fengmian’s last words to him had much deeper resonance than one might realize because of this love language. His Jiang-shushu favors and spoils and praises him endlessly for years… only to have his final words to Wei Wuxian be an order that prioritizes his biological children’s safety (a.k.a. worth) over Wei Wuxian’s. The lengths to which Wei Wuxian goes, his icepick-through-Jiang-Cheng’s-heart words of “I did it to repay my debt to the Jiang”, are all a an echo of Wei Wuxian’s fear that if he does not honor Jiang-shushu’s last words then he was never really loved in the first place…

Thoughts? Disagreements? Reply or @ me; I’d love to hear it! <3