#Anyway (I make everything about jc sorry)

[add1ctedt0you]

"Ke... you just left like that. You have yet to call me... 'Father'! From now one, I won't have any family anymore. I regret it so much, son!"

[incorrect-web-novels]

It's like. Jiang Cheng definitely could have been a protagonist in another story, but he’s in a story where Wei Wuxian is the protagonist, and while Wei Wuxian doesn't see him as a villain in any capacity, which definitely makes him more likeable, Jiang Cheng has a lot of issues with Wei Wuxian, partially due to his family situation. He cares for him, but he’s also jealous that Wei Wuxian's the "hero" and can't just let things go. No one cares about the 2(?) days he spent finding help to save Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji when they were trapped in the Xuanwu Cave, and Wei Wuxian believes he's justified in saving the Wen Remnants (which, like, I agree with, but not the point). To Jiang Cheng, it seems, Wei Wuxian has a hero complex, and everyone* - even the readers - are feeding into it. Because he IS the hero of the story, in varying capacities.

*obviously not everyone agrees with Wei Wuxian's actions, but they are usually things Wei Wuxian believes he has to do. We, the readers, understand that Wei Wuxian did not intend to kill Jin Zixuan or Jiang Yanli and regrets it, but Jiang Cheng is show time and again to believe that Wei Wuxian thinks of himself as a hero - that Wei Wuxian's "good deeds" means he's a good person, to the point of ignoring the harm he's done.

This might not make any sense, but it's kind of interesting how Jiang Cheng antis hate Jiang Cheng for being cruel, jealous, proud, etc. (which are all valid & up to personal interpretation/version), but, like, that's a great portion of main characters in other stories. People LOVE ruthless and mean characters, partially due to their competence, which JC's isn't shown that much, but whatever. Characters who can't fully support "the hero" of the story, even when they want to. Jiang Cheng is incredibly jealous of Wei Wuxian, especially in the novel, yes, but that’s part of what makes him interesting imo

All this to say, it's really fascinating how Jiang Cheng is mainly hated because of his actions and emotions against Wei Wuxian and how he wasn’t willing to sacrifice the same things as him, which would drive him up the fucking wall that he's being compare to him in even that.

(Personally, I like Jiang Cheng, but no hate toward anyone who disagrees with my interpretation. If you don't like him, you don't like him. I'm sure there's more things ppl dislike about him, but I'm focusing on his jealousy)

[blackthewolf17]

I'm supposed to be making the logo for my sister's bakery, but every time I think of anything that has to do with bread my mind wanders wildly to this man.

Anyway this is my best attempt at imitating one of Leyendeker's paintings (there are many JC paintings that give me Jack vibes)

This also comes out thanks to my personal HC about Jack genuinely loving his craft as a baker, in his own way of course. I even have some Jack Horner x Lector thing revolving around this.

Imagine that you work for Horner, and you have been entrusted with the job of making a new recipe, everything is going relatively well with the preparation until you put your mixture in the oven and... wow, it hasn't managed to fluff up properly. Jack realizes what a mess you've made after several attempts to make your mix perfect, so in his own frustration at seeing that you're not capable of doing something that is so easy for himself, he decides to give you a class on how to do that dessert.

You have never seen someone so skilled at cooking in your life, and for several moments you can see him genuinely relaxed and happy to prepare a dessert.

That time comes to wait for it to cook in the oven, there is a long silence until you decide to ask about how he became an expert with desserts, he looked at you with that confused look that says "it's not obvious , son of bakers" but after a few seconds he decides that he doesn't lose anything by wandering a bit about his life whit you

Sorry for my grammatical mistakes, my English becomes terrible when I try to write slightly longer texts.

[least-carpet]

Your jc ships post is making the rounds again so I just wanted to say imo chengyi is also chengxian actually. It's less about the boytoy aspect and more about the mouthy un-Lan but still somehow Lan aspect.

...anyway I love how my jc stan brain has been infected by the inherent chengxian of the novel perfectly normal day over here

I made that post as a joke and it's now my second most popular post! So it goes on this webbed site.

I actually originally grouped chengyi under "Schrödinger's Wei Wuxian" based on vibes and then took it out again, but actual chengyi enjoyers seem to think it should be in there! I don't think it's about Wei Wuxian to quite the same degree as zhancheng or ningcheng though, for two reasons:

the sheer amount of emotional space that Wei Wuxian occupies for both Lan Wangji and Wen Ning

the way that this leads both Lan Wangji and Wen Ning to only evaluate Jiang Cheng in relation to Wei Wuxian.

Like a lot of the ideas they have about him are about how he interacts with Wei Wuxian, what Wei Wuxian has done for him, what Wei Wuxian thinks about him, and so on. The (unflattering) image they seem to have of him is all created in the context of Wei Wuxian, whether it's competing for Wei Wuxian's attention, being jealous of their teenage closeness, or while missing/grieving Wei Wuxian. It's a very lopsided picture because it's always mediated through another person.

So while I think all of Jiang Cheng's major emotional experiences are coloured by his childhood with then abandonment by Wei Wuxian, I think chengxian/zhancheng/ningcheng have like... an extra helping of Wei Wuxian, so to speak.

But yeah, everything does boil down to the inherent chengxian of it all, this is obvious to all of us and we are all extremely normal about it!

Also to everyone who has reblogged that post and wrote something like "sorry I wrote a novel in the tags," I posted that specifically to spread the allcheng brainrot and I'm very pleased it's working.

[kimboo-york]

A Short Treatise on Madam Yu

This is all about Madam Yu as represented in my fic The Bastards of Yunmeng, not canon!

Okay, first off, I need to make clear that I am not a Madam Yu respecter. I loathe the character, probably for very personal reasons. If Madam Yu is your babygirl, I’m sorry, this is not the meta for you.

WARNING: If you have not read up through chapter 11 of the fic, this meta is super spoilery!

This meta is not particularly spoilery for The Bastards of Yunmeng past chapter 11, but does have some information about characters that will become important later on. So, the usual warning about spoilers are in place here.

Read at your own risk, yada yada yada…

Importantly, nothing that happens in this story is meant to redeem Madam Yu. My personal headcanon is that she was a narcissist and unable to genuinely, selflessly love other people, and that is how I’ve written her here. She was in a very unhappy situation, but also she was simply not a good person overall, IMHO. It is interesting to consider if she was born that way or corrupted by circumstances, sure, but in the end, she was who she was. You can slap whatever diagnostic labels on her you want, I’m just saying she was toxic. Some people found that out later rather than sooner.

Honestly, I don’t know the specifics of how her affair with Wei Changze (and, very likely, Cangse Sanren) came about. What I DO know, however:

Jiang Fengman is sterile. She figured that out pretty quickly and took steps. This might be her villain origin story, actually; the only reason she was married off to him was to produce heirs, and so she had to do that no matter the risks. That Wei Changze was a cousin of Jiang Fengman’s and a strong cultivator in his own right made him a very attractive option, as any child of his would at least look like a Jiang.

Wei Changze is a complicated character in this story, but he’s also dead and cannot answer for himself. But here are a few important points: a) He did NOT cheat on his beloved wife. Not sure how that all went down, but it was consensual for all involved. I’m pretty sure Yanli was conceived before WCZ and CS officially got together, anyway. How Jiang Cheng happened, I’m not sure, but there was NO cheating. Well, aside from WCZ cuckolding JFM. I know this doesn’t paint Wei Changze in the best light, but what we know of Wei Wuxian is that he sometimes made outrageously dumb decisions with the best of intentions. (Maybe it’s genetic?) Personally I suspect he always disliked Jiang Fengman, though I’m not sure why. b) Also, I believe that when she was younger, before the bitterness and resentment took over, Madam Yu was very good at manipulating people (as many narcissists are). Yunmeng Jiang needed an heir and she was going to get it done. Anyway, I can’t say if Madam Yu seduced both CS and WCZ or convinced CS to share or what, but consent was given.

Madam Yu’s rage against Wei Ying had a lot more to do with her fear that a direct comparison to her son would reveal her secrets than with the rumors that he was JFM’s bastard.

I’m pretty sure that her feelings for Cangse Sanren were obsessive in nature, flipping from love to hate once she realized that CS well and truly had everything that she never would, including both WCZ and freedom. This definitely played into her hatred of WWX.

Why did she keep the letters? Because I’ve written her as a narcissist, and if there is one thing narcissists believe, it is that they are smarter than everyone around them and that rules don’t apply to them. She wanted to keep the letters, so she did. To be fair, they would never have been discovered if not for a freak lightning strike/fire in her quarters while she was away from Lotus Pier. Bad, bad luck.

I did toy with making Jiang Cheng’s father Wen Zhuliu, but I really wanted to bind the children closer together and I think that would have made JC feel isolated and left out instead. (I will maybe someday write the story of him being WZL’s son and inheriting his core-melting abilities, but that’s not this story.)

In Madam Yu’s favor, she offered to submit to her imprisonment and execution without a fight and make no attempts to escape if Jiang Fengman would at least let her children go free. He agreed, which is what led to their being immediately cast out rather than imprisoned. Would he have had them killed, eventually? I honestly don’t think so, but he might have sold them off or something.

Jiang Fengman offered Jinzhu and Yinzhu the option to return to Meishan in disgrace, but they declined and demanded to be executed along with their mistress as a point of pride. Yanli will find this out eventually, but it's not really important to the plot.

[missnight0wl]

Let’s talk about Elton Elderberry – and why he’s a total bitch

First of all, I want to thank @thedoodlecat because a lot of the ideas I’ll discuss were formed during our conversations. So, credit where credit's due!

Secondly, I want to make it clear from the start that it’s not quite a theory, meaning: I personally don’t believe Jam City might take the story in this direction. However, I believe that a lot of it might be a leftover of what’s the story supposed to be. And yes, it can also be explained by the writers having no idea what they’re doing, but on the other hand, it ties in with many interesting details from the past, mostly from Y5. And I still believe that year was super important for the narrative.

Now, without further ado, let’s move on to Elton. Spoilers up to Y7Ch56.

Ok, so the first thing that really bothers me about Elton Elderberry is that he was well aware of the Crown of Mneme, how dangerous it can be, and he had to at least suspect that it might be in the Sunken Vault – and for all those years, he did absolutely fucking nothing.

And it’s quite problematic because there’s no way he just… didn’t know about MC and the Cursed Vaults. At the beginning of Y3, MC told us that pretty much everyone could learn about it from the Daily Prophet. And we know that the Ministry was especially aware of it. Even if we ignore Moody’s involvement starting from Y6, first with Rakepick and then with Peregrine, we also had the Ministry sending Tofty to spy on MC during our O.W.L.s because of the Cursed Vaults. And honestly, I just don’t buy the explanation that Elton somehow… just didn’t hear about it. So, like, what the hell?

Now, I can hear you saying: “Oh, but of course Elton didn’t do anything because he wasn’t a character yet and Jam City probably just created him now!”. And you know what? That’s a totally valid remark and quite probable explanation. Still, I kept thinking about it anyway, and I quickly noticed another problem with Elton: how we actually learnt that he was directly involved in Ryusaki’s death. I mean, look at those scenes:

And then after our visit to the Archives:

(I just have to point out that he’s fucking grinning here…)

… and then:

Do you see the problem here??

Imagine this. You meet Steve. Steve tells you about the mother who died in a car accident with her two children. Sadly, she was the one who caused the accident because she was under the influence. Later you learn on your own that the said mother was a model parent, always there for her children despite having two jobs, actually sober during the accident, rarely drunk at all, and in fact, it was Steve who caused the crash. When confronted, Steve admits to everything and says he feels terrible about it and it haunts him every day. Would you believe Steve that he’s so sorry? BECAUSE I DEFINITELY WOULDN’T. In fact, I’d do everything to stay away from Steve.

Now, again, I’m aware that it might be simply JC’s incompetence in making a connection between the Crown of Mneme and Dai Ryusaki – even though it could’ve been easily done without Elton actively portraying Ryusaki as a bad guy. For example:

Elton: I advise you to avoid the Crown at all costs. MC: I wonder if it has anything to do with the Dark Scroll… Elton: You don’t mean Dai Ryusaki’s Dark Scroll, do you? MC: That dark wizard? Yes, I do. Why? Do you know anything about it too? Elton: *not answering right away and looking very ashamed instead, showing already that he doesn’t want to reveal the truth because of his loyalty to the Ministry, but also showing his guilt*

And yes, I know it wouldn’t be the first time JC didn’t see the simplest solutions in their writing. But as I was thinking about it more, I realised that if we assume that Elton indeed knew about MC and the Cursed Vaults all that time and did nothing on purpose, it’s both surprising and fascinating how many things start to add up. In this scenario, Elton would also want to portray Ryusaki as a bad guy. I know it doesn’t fully work currently because, in the end, it was Elton who let us go to the Archives, but I guess it’s possible that originally, we were supposed to learn the truth about Ryusaki in some different way. And either way, I have to point out that there’s something very off in this part of the story no matter what. I mean, let me ask you one question:

Why exactly Dai Ryusaki was killed?

Because if you think about it, it was never really explained… properly. Like, we keep using words like “miscommunication” or “misunderstanding”.

But… how the fuck can you kill somebody because of misunderstanding? I guess we’re supposed to interpret it as: “The International Confederation of Wizards thought Dai wanted to use his invention to do bad things while he was actually trying to destroy his invention once he realised it’s dangerous”. However, this interpretation doesn’t really make sense. Why? Look at Ryusaki’s notes we found in the Archives.

Ryusaki seems absolutely certain that once he destroys what he was about to destroy, it’s done. He accepted that his work would be no more after that. And that makes me believe that nobody else (or almost nobody) knew about his work. Because otherwise, he’d have to realise that someone might try to replicate his work, right? Or even force him to simply repeat it? Yet he’s not worried about it. And the thing is that Ryusaki was a very intelligent, reasonable, and conscious man. So… how the hell the International Confederation of Wizards knew anything to misinterpret Ryusaki’s intentions?

Well, what if there was someone other than Ryusaki who knew about his work after all? But Dai completely trusted that person, so that’s why he was so sure the whole thing would remain secret? What if that person happened to work at the British Ministry of Magic? What if this person was…

Elton “The Bitch” Elderberry?

Ok, so I know that everything I said so far is a big assumption, but I swear it does make sense, so please, bear with me. And I’ll actually start by summarising what I believe how it all began and then I’ll elaborate on each element because it’s gonna be easier for me that way.

So, I believe that Dai Ryusaki and Elton Elderberry were once good friends. They were both quite talented wizards, and while they had different goals in life, they realised at some point that the treasure from the Cursed Vaults might help them achieve that. Together, they created a group that we know as R. Unfortunately for Elton, Dai realised eventually that both his own invention and the Cursed Vaults themselves are dangerous, so he decided to quit. Elton didn’t like it, and he was afraid that Dai would try to stop him as well, so he decided to be proactive about it. Using his position as a Hit Wizard at the Ministry, he sold Dai out, claiming he’s a dangerous dark wizard. Elton kept R alive ever since, and he was waiting for MC to be born because MC is necessary to open the final Cursed Vault.

Of course, I assume that the original plans for the final Cursed Vault were different than what we saw in Y6. Also, from that point, I’ll keep calling Elton “Brelton” because:

BITCH + R + ELTON = BRELTON

… and I just think this distinction might be useful because, as I said, I don’t think it might still be true, yet it seems that Elton Elderberry will stay in the story anyway. Ok, but let’s talk about some details.

Dai’s and Brelton’s goals

As for Dai’s goal, it’s pretty straightforward. It’s basically said directly in the game: he wanted to help people with traumatic memories. What would be Brelton’s goal then? Well, let me remind you one note from R we found in Y5:

The interesting thing about it is that for the longest time, it was the only case where it was mentioned that R had any interest in immortality. As soon as the Dark Scroll was introduced, we only talked about R wanting knowledge. I even talked with my friend about how weird it is that the writers totally abandoned the immortality aspect (Bee, I’m not tagging you because I don’t want you to feel obliged to read this long-ass post, but if you’re reading it anyway: Hi! I’m talking about you!). In fact, I’m pretty sure that the word “immortality” wasn’t even used in the main story after that note from R – until our conversation with Elton in Y7Ch49:

And you know what? I don’t think it’s just a coincidence. Because it’s not even true! Every time we talked about Ryusaki’s potion, it was about mind-enhancing potion.

So… what if it’s the leftover of the original plans for Elton’s character? What if it’s Brelton who was all about immortality? And now, JC just looked at the notes made by Matt London and his team and simply put the immortality potion in there without thinking if it made sense. I realise it feels like another stretch, but I have to point out that Elton’s old age is a little sus – and they stress all the time how old he is. I mean, wizards do live longer than Muggles, but most of them don’t live over 300 years. (There’s actually the HP wiki page about it.)

And the thing is that from the story point of view, it wasn’t even necessary to make Elton this old. Sure, it adds some flavour with the reveal that he was actually there when Dai was killed, but on the other hand, he mentions every now and then that his memory is not the best anymore etc. So, wouldn’t it be better if MC met Elton's son or grandson, for example? Personally, I think it would, and that’s why I’m gonna assume for the rest of this analysis that R was always about “enlightenment and immortality”, and that Dai Ryusaki represented the first element while Elton Elderberry the second one.

Why they needed the Cursed Vaults?

Ok, so now that we know what they wanted in general, let’s try to figure out why they went after the Cursed Vaults – and as I mentioned already, I assume that the original treasure was actually… well, a thing. I admit that I wasn’t able to figure out what exactly it could’ve been, but I have some ideas about what properties the Treasure could have, based on Dai’s and Brelton’s goals.

This time, let’s start with Brelton because it’s a bit easier. Basically, I believe that Brelton managed to invent something that grants semi-immortality, but it’s not the perfect invention. Sure, he’s still alive and his mind is not in the worst condition, but still. So, I think that he believes that the Treasure could improve his invention by granting actual immortality and/or eternal youth.

It’s a bit more complicated with Dai because we have to consider multiple elements. First of all, we have the mind-enhancing potion. The recipe for it was hidden on the Dark Scroll which was confirmed by the notes found by MC in the Archives. But earlier, MC also mentioned “a device”, and then they read: “I can’t bear to destroy my life’s work, but I know that I must. The scroll has already been hidden”. So… what exactly was he about to destroy? If we want to stick to the legend told by Corey, it might’ve been about the already-prepared potion. He might’ve also been referring to his research in general and his notes or something. But then we have the Crown of Mneme… And that’s quite interesting because we actually know that it’s something he found in Greece – which, by the way, confirms that the Crown was not something placed in the Cursed Vaults originally (I’ll return to it in a moment).

Either way, to simplify it a little bit, I’m gonna assume that Dai’s invention was about the Crown and the potion - and that together was considered his “device”. What about the Treasure then? I see a couple of options.

Perhaps the Treasure would give more control over the Crown or allow to exchange of thoughts both ways. I mean, what we saw in the game looked like the wearer could only send their thoughts, but if Dai wanted to treat patients with traumatic memories, he probably wanted to extract those memories.

Perhaps the Treasure could permanently remove/destroy traumatic memories. Because I don’t think you can actually do it with Obliviate, for example. I might be wrong, but I feel that there is always a small chance that the memory would come back or simply leave some mark behind it.

How the Crown of Mneme ended in the Sunken Vault?

So… If Dai was so certain that his invention was gone and to be forgotten, and on top of that I claim that he didn’t want to have anything to do with the Cursed Vaults, then how the hell the Crown of Mneme ended in the Sunken Vault? Well, I guess I won’t surprise anyone at this point by saying that it was Brelton who was behind it. And the best thing is that we actually know that R was in the Sunken Vault in the past – and that’s thanks to the note found in the Weird Sisters TLSQ:

So, this is what I propose. Brelton got the Crown of Mneme before Dai’s death somehow. I don’t think that Dai would just give it to him because I assume they already fell apart at that point. Or perhaps Brelton lied to Dai and offered that he’d destroy the Crown? Either way, he probably wasn’t planning to destroy it (as it might be useful for him), and he continued his search for the Cursed Vaults. Unfortunately for him, once he got to the Sunken Vault, he realised he couldn’t do anything without the key. And now, the key might be the Gillyweed/Coral Key Rakepick took from us in Y4, or maybe it’s about the siblings – or it’s both (like in my version of the story). Anyway, the Treasure was unachievable, so Brelton used this opportunity to hide the Crown of Mneme and just left.

Ryusaki and the creation of the Cabal

Ok, but why I assume that Dai Ryusaki even knew about the Cursed Vaults, to begin with? I just explained how it was probably Brelton who put the Crown in the Sunken Vault, and we don’t really have anything to prove that Dai needed the Treasure to improve his invention. Well, yeah. But we have something else. Something that I find very exciting. See, during our first trip to Knockturn Alley, we visited also Flourish and Blotts where we found a Black Quill containing this message:

And for the longest time, I was just… absolutely stumped by it. I couldn’t come up with any decent theory as to who left that note. But now, I do strongly believe that it was left by Dai Ryusaki. Brelton was too greedy to get his immortality and too afraid of his own mortality to leave the Cursed Vaults and refused to listen to his friend that it’s too dangerous. The note also talks about “them”, so maybe R had some more members at that point already (but only Dai and Elton knew everything). And you know what makes it even more fascinating? We found this Black Quill in the book by Maerwynn Montfort who’s a totally original author mentioned only in this specific scene in HPHM. Interestingly, Maerwynn is a feminine name that is of Welsh origin that means “joy”. And coincidently, Dai is a Welsh masculine given name (which means “beloved”), a hypocorism of Dafydd or David, as well as a masculine Japanese given name. Like…

Are you kidding me??

I mean, ok, sure. It might be just a coincidence. But you have to admit that it’s a pretty damn odd coincidence. Maybe Maerwynn was someone from Dai’s Welsh part of the family or just a friend whom he met there? Or maybe it’s just a pseudonym or something. But either way, it might be hinting at some (“Welsh”) connection. And that’s why they were exchanging secret information!

Still, that’s not even all I finally realised about the note. Because I also believe that it confirms that the Cabal from Jacob’s notebook is a different group than R – and I think that it was Dai Ryusaki who started that group.

Ok, so I explained the whole idea in this post. It’s one of my shorter analyses so I recommend checking it out. But to put it even shorter, my problem with the note from Y5Ch15 was always that Jacob was confused about why the Cabal wanted to kill him.

But R was very open about threatening Jacob and especially his family, so… it shouldn’t be surprising at all. He might’ve been confused if he was doing everything R told him to do – but then it doesn’t make sense that R would want to kill Jacob and MC. I mean, after Duncan’s death, they clearly told him to continue his search.

So, I always interpreted the Cabal as a separate group who wanted to protect the Cursed Vaults by killing the siblings because the siblings are necessary to get to the Treasure. And if we join it with the note from Flourish and Blotts, it totally adds up. Dai realised that the Cursed Vaults were dangerous and wanted to stop R. Brelton wouldn’t listen, so Dai wanted to destroy the vault portrait which, assumingly, would make it impossible to get to the Portrait Vault. On top of that, he started the group that was supposed to make sure that nobody would ever get hurt by the Vaults by killing the siblings (who can get the Treasure). It was about the creation of the Cabal this whole time!

Brelton as the true leader of R

In general, I have to say that Brelton being the true leader of R just makes more sense. In this scenario, it’d also mean that Peregrine is just… a current face of the organisation. A puppet. And yes, I keep saying that I don’t believe that Perry was always planned to be a part of the story, so why do I even mention him? Well, to be completely honest, I’m willing to accept that Perry was planned along with Dai and Brelton’s story – just not as MC’s father. Because it makes sense that Brelton would want to keep his position at the Ministry, and if so, he’d probably need someone to (occasionally) represent R. And that could be Peregrine. In fact, we saw some moments when the leader of R was treated weirdly ambiguous. The first case is our conversation with Rakepick in Azkaban. And yes, I know that we didn’t know about Peregrine then yet, so it kind of makes sense to leave it more ambiguous, but I want to point out a specific thing Rakepick said.

Honestly, I was always confused by it because “the one behind it all” sounds like someone who also created R, at least in my opinion. On the other hand, we had hints in the past that R is a rather older organisation. Not to mention that Perry claimed that he joined R, meaning that R was R before the current leader joined them. Of course, it is possible that Perry lies. It is also possible that the title of R is simply given to each leader. But… I don’t know. Rakepick’s words sound to me like she is talking about only one person. However, if that one person is actually Brelton, it makes sense that he’s both the current true leader and the one responsible for creating the organisation.

My other issue is with Olivia’s memories. Because Rakepick is very clearly talking to someone from R in those scenes, but for whatever reason we never learn who it was.

So, what if it was actually supposed to be Brelton? And speaking of that, ever since we learnt that Olivia was working at the Ministry, I thought it was pretty suspicious, and I fully expected that R was controlling that. And what a coincidence that Elton became Olivia’s mentor for all those years…

Hell, it’d even make more sense why Verucca is so damn worried about Perry being cursed by Ryusaki’s amulet. Because if Brellton indeed betrayed Dai, then it could mean that it’s Brelton who’s the real target of that whole revenge plan. The curse might be simply generalising it because, well, it’s just a spirit that’s basically the essence of Ryusaki’s anger. But if Verucca knows about everything as a high-ranking member of R, then yeah, she’d try to stop Perry from hurting their dear leader Brelton.

And… that’s it!

Once again, like I said, I do not expect the game to confirm any of the things I discussed above. But that being said, I feel very confident about pretty much everything I said. And even though it took me months to finally write it all down, I have to say that putting it together was really fun and exciting. Who knows, maybe it’s the last time I feel like that about HPHM theory, at least when it comes to relatively new content. But even if so, I’m kind of glad that I got some semi-closure to the things that were bothering me.

[mqfx]

so a passing thought about post-canon sangcheng occurred to me & i would like to receive any wise counsel you'd like to give on my thought processes... 🙇‍♂️ they're a little disjointed. disclaimer that i havent read the novel in a while!

im not super convinced by the idea that nhs was able to control eeeeverything that occurred in his Great Revenge--i imagine a lot of it was incidental and opportunistic.

im not clear on whether jiang cheng would figure out that there was a masterminding aspect to the grand finale at the temple at all, bc while i think he's smart! he's also, like, so uninclined to overanalyse things that might uncover something painful for him (see: wwx's behavior post golden core transfer--unless you have to adjust for shixiong admiration/how jc places wwx on a competence pedestal? if wwx says he can handle it he can handle it, until he doesnt handle it so hard he dies. i guess.)

ANYWAY. i dont think jc would be friendly, or maybe he wouldnt like that he Was friendly with nhs if he thought nhs intentionally put jin ling in danger. im not sure if nhs DID! but im thinking in circles about whether jc would think that would have been the case. in my mind he is both endlessly capable of knee-jerk trust recindication (is that a word.) AND trust extended way past reasonable limits. but do you think that would be discussed (with jiang cheng loudly in tears about it in front of many rubbernecking witnesses, mdzs style?) at all? the most i can imagine is jiang cheng yelling obscurely around whether he can trust nie huaisang! clarifying details & inside voices are for the next generation.

i feel like there something to be said about how he trusts wwx with jin ling's safety, too...

this kind of doesn't have a conclusion im just interested in what you think of post canon sangcheng en generale-- it feels like a very different relationship from anything i can imagine in like... cloud recesses era. they're both miserable i think 😀 but actually post canon jiang cheng is doing better than usual than he has been for a long time, in a sense, and nie huaisang is probably thinking he should be doing better.

sorry this is so long!

ok firstable i must address "rescindification" bc it compelled me and apparently the noun form of "rescind" would be "recision" or "rescindment". heeheehee

now my thoughts on the matter:

2019 me wouldn't have agreed with this but remember 4-5 years ago i was only a college sophomore and was less capable of independent thought. since i was more caught up in fandom back then i generally went along with the headcanon that NHS Planned Everything, especially since it gave him more BAMF-ness(??) to, i guess, make up for the fact that he's not a "strong" cultivator. i would Like to delete the fic i wrote about it then but people like it a lot and i'd feel bad just taking it down. it's kinda like my sorrows of young werther (in that goethe regretted his first published work. not that im like goethe ew)

2023 me obviously thinks that's kinda eeehhh and i agree with you more now bc (flips through my memory of Hot Strategist Tips) no plan survives contact with the enemy. nhs wouldn't have been as effective if he had clear strict play-by-plays from the get-go. i think overplanning is what got jgy, because he kept stacking plots to cover his tracks but nothing makes a crime obvious quite like a cover-up

(unrelated question: if you're stark naked in the street, do you cover your ass or your balls? the correct answer is, you cover your face.)

as jgy's narrative foil and winner of that year's political oscars, nhs wouldn't make those exact same mistakes. not to mention, his strength (i think) is in recognizing patterns and doing the least amount of work for maximum effect--the hallmarks of the "lazy" (efficient) genius. plus it's not like he was starved for opportunity (again, bc jgy really was doing too much..... he really could've not gotten caught if he would just focus on the damn infrastructure)

also re:jc yes you're right my man's the king of repression and sublimation lol the whole "who is the REAL mastermind" would be the LEAST of his problems right nyeow!!! he has to help his nephew secure the succession and keep those scheming little rats of jinlintai away from jl, THEN he has to reckon with the fact that his brother is back, which comes with 15+ year old unopened baggage. wouldn't it be funny if he's like, an old retiree before nhs even tells him "yeah it was me lol" and that's finally the thing that kills him LOL sorry

ok that aside let's imagine a scenario where jc gets a whiff of an inkling of an idea that NHS Risked JL's Life (whether he did or not is irrelevant in this case). i'd like to believe that as an older sect leader, like yeah sure emotionally he's stunted like evel kneivel* but at the very least he should have the presence of mind not to scream at a fellow sect leader in the streets about Serious Accusations. (he is not as logical about wwx in canon because that's his big brother and no younger brother is ever logical about his big brother. also he knows wwx well enough that he can trust wwx Wouldn't Endanger Kids)

*get it. bc evel kneivel was a stuntman

imo jc would go in circles thinking "but no..... nhs wouldn't do that" then "but that's what i thought about jgy too......." and then working himself up to a froth. this will probably result in the most intense assessing death glares and some shady little quips in public. coin toss whether jc would decide to confront nhs about it privately. at least for as long as jl hasn't fully settled in on the role yet, i highly doubt jc would let his guard down for anyone, even nhs. maybe wwx

postcanon sangcheng...... keep in mind i have shipper goggles on. but they're not getting married babes im sorry if i'm keeping it realistic they both have Duties to fulfill and they live in a Society where they don't have time to...... governance is not just Paperwork, it's their lived reality and not everyone has the privilege of a living family to hold down the fort while one goes off traveling (@ lwj, but he can do whatever he wants forever). not saying that they'll get married to other people and have babies, mind you. especially in societies based on martial strength i think it would be less important to have an Unbroken Bloodline than it is to pass down sect techniques

at the end of it IF there's a romance then they're living off of stolen time, sneaking around during hunts and conferences. and i highly highly doubt it'll be a soft epilogue my loves they are two jagged broken people who have given up too much and gotten back so little. they are not gonna make each other better, but hey the consolation is that they also can't make each other worse! at least they'll have someone else who somewhat Understands what it's like. "miserable but not alone" is a boon if you've lost everything else that mattered

[yazzydream]

follow up to my HI/PD post, HERE'S SHIBUYA INCIDENT. AHHHHHHHH!!! i can't wait. this arc has some of my favorite moments in the manga overall. reminder that episodes restart aug 31st!

here are scenes and moments i'm most looking forward to seeing animated. also serves as an incomplete recap ig.

manga SPOILERS, obviously.

just gojo casually stepping over normies' heads. ignoring sorcery secrecy like fuck it.

FUCK. the whole... train station massacre. this entire arc has to be rated R right? that's why this airs at midnight in japan. (i hope it's not overly censored...) and THEN gojo drops this cold ass line. he's so intimidating. jogo SWEATING. why is gojo so hot? 😭 i love scary!gojo.

i will cry. he's so BRUTAL. 😭😭😭

look at him chasing after jogo. scary......... 😭

*screams quietly in hornyhorror* L👀k at this motherfucker tricking hanami to then turn around and brutalize them.

not jogo trying to help hanami by distracting gojo only for gojo not to give a shit and just obliterate hanami anyway! only yes, because this pragmatic side of gojo is everything to me. again, this post is for parts that will make me scream, and i. will. scream.

I. WILL. SCREAM.

it's like... ok, listen. in jjk i'm pretty sure sorcerers are atheists? (i have no idea if i read that somewhere or if i made that up. sorry.) but anyway, gojo is pretty much the closest thing to a god they have in a real tangible way in jjk? but this arc is a very blatant reminder that gojo is human. he'll do the best he can (which is generally very good, thank you) but he's not actually omnipotent. he can't, he hasn't saved everyone. he's failed a lot of people actually. here and in the future too. it's soo good. akutami may hate writing gojo, but he's excellent at it. gojo is perfect in everything he does but he still fails when it's important. shit, that's good. (this is another reason why i think he'll lose against sukuna but that's another arc altogether so moving on)

omg omg omg omg. the train bursting with transfigured humans is going to be so grotesque and awful. and gojo's distressed face! bby ahhhhh

he's so aghast!!! for a fucking good reason. this massacre is sooo out of pocket.

and what the fuck this entire plot is so fucked and out in the open. there's zero secrecy and separation from the normal world. this is a game changer to what you'd expect in this series. sigh~❤️ so good.

i hate mahito. HATE. but i felt this on a visceral level in the best worst way. lemme preface this by saying, when i'm reading an english tl of japanese media, sometimes certain phrases trigger my brain into wondering what the og japanese was saying. notably, a lot of japanese words are just onomatopoeias of what things sound like. so even though i haven't bothered looking up what this actually said in japanese, i imagined mahito saying there's "uja uja" of them. which is like the sound of many crawling/swarming insects. and it made me feel some type of way. disgusted actually. which is his point. lol

RUTHLESS PRAGMATISM, LET ME SCREAM IT

this shibuya post is just turning into me screaming about the satoru gojo fight. and im ok with that.

exhausted darling. i can't wait to see it. SHOWED UP IN THE TRAILER. I'M DYINNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG 💀

>:-I pouty baby

adorable.

jc this is such a typical shonen hype moment and the irony is absolutely killer. i wanna see this animated just so i can see the anime-onlys suffer.

gonna cap it here before i hit the image limit.

cont. in part 2.

[starrywangxian]

i read a lot of modern fics with cis straight boy wwx who doesn't know he's queer or anything and lwj has just always known from a young age but i think it would make more sense if it was the reverse.

like think about it, lwj doesn't use the internet as much as his peers (either because his uncle doesn't restricts his screentime or he just isn't interested in the internet as much as everyone else is) so he isn't up to date with everything his peers talk about. then he meets gender non-confirming, confidently bisexual wwx in secondary school and he's wearing all these pin badges that say "protect trans kids" or "fuck the cisystem" and lwj has no idea what any of it means.

wwx is like "wdym you don't know that gender is a social construct used to uphold a classist, captialist and oppressive society???" so wwx tells him everything. about neorpronouns, xenogenders and pre-colonial genders, all of it.

and it's like something clicks in lwj. he's always known that's he's different from the other kids (lwj has autism btw) but listening to wwx explain it all, it starts to make so much sense to him.

and he discovers that maybe he isn't as straight or cis as he thought. he tells wwx he thinks he's gay and he know that he isn't cis but he doesn't know what else he could be. but wwx tells him that he doesn't have to know! so lwj doesn't have a gender label and he's completely indifferent to pronouns and gender labels etc.

he's fine with he/him but one day he hears wwx talking to jiang cheng on the phone and he says "oh i'm with lan zhan and i'm studying with her" and he just starts crying.

wwx immediately hangs up and starts apologising thinking that lwj is crying because he just outed lwj to jc so wwx is frantically saying "sorry, i should have asked you first!"

but lwj is not crying because he outed him (he doesn't really mind jc knowing anyway) he's crying because it's the first time he's ever heard anyone use different pronouns for him and it feels so right.

he asks wwx "do it again"

but wwx doesn't understand "do what again??" but lwj doesn't answer and wwx realises "use she/her? for you" and lwj nods weakly.

so wwx does and lwj loves it. wwx starts using other pronouns including neopronouns like they/them and it/its and he loves them all!

/// okay sorry this was just meant to be a small post but skjdskdjks gnc!wwx teaching lwj about all these things and slowly realising that he too is queer and genderqueer just means so much to me <33

basically wangxian are t4t and i will die on this hill.

[r95irth]

It's asexual representation day so-

Here are my Headcanons concerning ace-spectrum sexuality for MDZS characters -(know that they're evolving as i write)

I HeadCanon...

Lan Qiren as Aro-Ace. He does not feel sexual desire at all (not ever) can see people are beautiful like he can see a painting is beautiful but that's it. He has never been in love and given his family's foolish decision history because of love, doesn't want to be. He doesn't understand love at all and i like to write him being completely lost with his nephews + brother's love tragedy. (His opinion is basically "Like could you perharps, just not fall in love with a criminal??? maybe that would have helped not being miserable???)

I rarely get to write him that way because i have friends who love Lan Qiren/Sisi dearly so I gave them their ship when i can. In Building a home and Burning roofs however he is going to be Aro-ace, and stay that way until the end.

Wen Zhuliu is Aro (but not ace) in Building a Home and Burning Roofs. I'm planning on a queer platonic relationship between him and Wen Xu (who is Ace but not Aro) idk how it will develop yet.

But when i think about it i think i like the other way around, with Wen Zhuliu being a mix of in love with WRH on top of his loyalty. Though i do like having him being just Loyal-to-this-extent too without involving love (because love is not the explanation for everything/every loyalty)

Wen Ning is a complicated character for me, i like him Biromantic, that's for sure. But i also like him as Aromantic (making his devotion for WWX entirely on friendship gets me). One day i might write him as an Aromantic character. But right now i want to write a fic where he ends up with Mo Xuanyu. (In Building a Home and Burning roofs and Just a drop he ends up with Qin Su so i'm done with this pairing for now) Either way i like to imagine him on the ace spectrum, not sex repulsive but definitely not seeking things beyond hugs and kisses naturally.

Wen Qing i know lot of people HC her as a lesbian, but i started with CQL so i ship her with JWY (and my crack ship is her with JWY and NHS). I have like 0 ship with her as lesbian, sorry >< it's just not my jam. But I do like her on the asexual spectrum, very much like her brother, not sex-repulsive but very aware of consequences of sex (diseases, pregnancy, labor) and not looking forward that complication in her life. Sex is never a drive for her, emotions/affection are.

Jiang Wanyin again i started with CQL so i ship him hard with WQ. But as i read the novel i started to like him as Ace too. Then reading fic i started to like him with NHS too and i decided that since he wasn't loved by his parents he deserves two spouses and not a love triangle. This is how my crackship was born xD Anyways now i HC more as Demisexual (so on the ace spectrum still) he needs to spend lot of time and bond with someone before he develops feelings of love then sexual desire. It takes a long time and he is confused about it. He doesn't like kisses, sex, hugs when he is witnessing them but as he starts having a relationship he finds himself yearningf or it and it infuriates him. (He is not going to end up like his stupid brother!!)

Unfortunately i have 2 NOTP with JC which are LXC/JWN (I need canon interaction to ship, i do not understand this ship) - and JWN/WWX (i just don't vibe with it, i like them as brothers u-u sorry for those who likes it)

Nie Huaisang should not have a place here as i HC him as very Allo-horny, pansexual and even sometimes lately trans. But since in my crackship he is with asexual-characters i want to say that he respects his partner's boundaries UU All he wants is attention and love and fortunately having 2 spouses assures that there's always one ready to give him some. Sure he prefers having them both but consent is sexy.

I like to imagine sharing his porn book with them and WQ is judging it like "it's doable" or "this is compltely anatomically inaccurate and dangerous" while JC is like "please can we not- in front of my salad!" until they kiss him silly and he is like "fine but i'm not doing that part èé you want this NHS you do ALL THE WORK!" and NHS whines bc he doesn't want to work :c (and ends up convincing JC to do all the work bc JC has a praise kink)

Nie Mingjue is my most certain HC, i HC him as Ace of course (otherwise he wouldn't be on that list). But i also HC him as being completely in denial / confused about it and not able to put what he feels into words. He loves JGY but not the same way he loves LXC who is his best friend but how? I HC that their fallout / break up is 50% due to heartbroken denial on NMJ's part. He turned into this diorcee character who couldn't see a single flaw in their partner during their marriage but now they are separated their ex only have flaws.

I adore putting him as the "too ace for this bullshit" type of situation. Especially stuck him between his little brother, (NHS) his best friend (LXC) and ex (JGY) and being like "why" "why do you want to lick his face??? actually neverminde don't explain i don't want to know"

Putting him in this situation made me relate to him (i find myself back in High school with people kissing left and right and me being like "cant' we just play football?")

In Building home serie, I will probably explore his sexuality more. For now he is not sex repulsed (something i do like HC him as, but not always and not in this fic) - but he sexual intercourse is very much like a good training session for him. I can't wait to write about him exploring that, especially since LXC and JGY are horny (well they have problems so they can't be horny right now but-)

Wei Wuxian is totally demisexual in my HC. He does not imagine more than cottage core fantasy until he is certain of his beloved's affection. Then it goes to kinky land trainride wet dreams. I do think he is in love and in denial of his sexual urges (excusing it as teasing) until he is certain the love is returned. What does it say about his character? A lot. And i like to write about it.

Last but not least is Jin Guangyao as demisexual bi - listen my OTP (with Wangxian and ChengQingSang) is Xiyao. But i do HC him as Bi, and needing very much like WWX to be loved/respected to develop feelings. Qin Su is like this, i think he very much wanted to love a woman (bc to fit in and be the perfect son) and she was pretty and admired him so his heart caved. The only exception is LXC, he saw him and his brain went "pretty" then LXC respected him and his brain melted right away despite his precautions. I also adore HC JGY as having troubles with sex in general -being scared of it, of the intimacy, of the loss of control. Which almost brings him to the ace spectrum?

I do like story with Ace-sex repulsed and together and happy withtout sexual intercourses. (I aim to go for that with Wen Xu and Zhao Zhuliu in Building home serie; though i don't feel very confident about it) I loved KouhiArashi's fic "atypical courtship". But I don't write about isuch couples often because that hits very close to home for me and i don't write/read fanfics to be reminded of real life.

And here it is. The others characters in my mind are either hetero, homosexual or bisexual or pansexual but not on the ace spectrum. (Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji are very gay in my HC for example)

Know all those above are MY OPINIONS only (and as stated it changes too) don't take it personally i put the word HC for a reason. This is NOT a statement and presented as "the truth about this character's sexuality and everyone who disagree read the novel wrong"

[macverse]

Hubbell's Girl

---

A Joshtin - At some point, Justin says to JC "Your girl is lovely, Hubbell" and everything is different.

--

This references a few things I’ve mentioned in one of my previous Joshtin “Lance Watched” but it's not required reading to be able to enjoy this. Sorry, this is late. Life has been life-ing. I started this on May 13th if you can understand how much life has be life-ing. I know Justin wasn’t there (or at least not photographed or mentioned as far as I know) but my brain thought a little while ago that JC’s girlfriend looks so nice that Justin might like her unlike how it seemed that he hadn’t liked any of his past girlfriend while JC was dating them. I’m also not assuming that JC doesn’t like Jessica. I’ve just never seen the two of them in the same place for the entirety of Justin’s relationship sooooooo….that feels like something. Anyway, only JC could be with someone who makes me stop being distracted by how handsome he is. She looks like she’s really, really sweet. And she’s sooooo pretty. I love, love everything that she wears to appearances with JC. She and Michael are my favorite. I clearly have a type. I might have a small crush on her. Her smile! Okay, I’m gonna stop. Enjoy.

---

“That’s fucking unbelievable,” Lance says to JC as he takes a seat next to him across from the rest of the group. It’s the first official day of his Vegas birthday weekend. Lance has gotten very lucky to have almost all of his brothers here with him. Justin was on tour but he had three full nights in Las Vegas. He’d be tired and tight for time but he’d promised to drop in for a drink no matter what time it was. Among an entire hoard of his closest friends, Lance was also lucky enough to have Joey and JC in town to celebrate with him.

“The sign?” JC asks, referring to the nearly six hundred-foot electric billboards on the side of the Hilton across from where they are celebrating his 45th birthday. There is nothing like seeing your twenty-something-year-old face in an astronaut suit on the side of a building to remind you how much you’ve done in your life.

“I’m sure one of your friends, if not Michael…”JC starts but Lance interrupts him, once again amazed at how obtuse JC can be. “No JC. Them. Look at them,” Lance says gesturing at Jenn and Justin chatting away like they are old friends on a sofa the short distance across the Ayu dayclub from them. Lance looks back at JC, watching him look at Jenn and Justin. There is something about the way JC is looking at them. He’s not at all tense while he’s watching them the way that Lance expected. Lance thought for sure JC would want to split them up. He’s observed over the years that JC can be a protective boyfriend in the best way. Walking on the outside of the street. Keeping an eye on his girlfriends at parties to make sure they are okay. You know the cute, nice guy stuff that most men don’t seem to do anymore without begging. But this, whatever this is, feels like the opposite of what JC would want to see. 

Since Justin arrived, he and Jenn have been inseparable. The minute Jenn spotted Justin, she practically ran and flung herself into Justin’s embrace. It was almost like a scene out of a rom-com. Where the male interest comes back after years of separation when truthfully Justin and Jenn had last seen each other a few months ago at the LA performance at The Wiltern. Watching them greet each other, Lance half expected them to start kissing but Justin hoisted her up, carefully avoiding planting his face in her bust, and swung them around before putting Jenn back on her high healed feet. 

Something about Jenn and Justin together was captivating. Lance wanted to stop looking but he couldn’t take his eyes off of them. They complemented each other nicely. Although not entirely his style, Lance has been finding himself a little jealous of Justin’s latest wardrobe. He’d arrived in another subtly sexy, light-colored match-set linin outfit with a deep collar showing off just a hint of his buzzed, tanned chest. The outfit Jenn had on was sexy, full stop. A tight, colorful, and strappy dress with equally just enough skin showing to get your attention. Lance didn’t know how JC managed to not wisk her back up to their hotel room with her dressed like that. Their body language with each other screamed of their familiarity. The way they seem to be melting into each other due to something other than the desert heat, their bodies seemingly one despite not being each other's partner was enough to gravitate the gaze of anyone around them.

“That's real, isn’t it?” Lance asked JC. “They like each other?”

“When did that happen?” Lance asks again after JC doesn’t react to his previous question. JC shrugs and takes a sip of his drink leaving Lance to interpret the casual gesture as his response to Lance’s latest question. Justin and Jenn laugh loudly suddenly, Jenn falling backward into Justin, the back of her hand cascading across his chest while Justin’s arms flow around her both keeping her upright and emphasizing the surely hilarious story he is telling...

Read the full fic on my AO3

[mediocres-writing-blog]

MK LEGENDS: BLOOD BOUND

CHAPTER 13: First date

Waking up, the caped crusader would start off his morning regularly, but the second he eats breakfast, he heads off straight to the gym to proceed to beat the punching bag to a pulp, not knowing what else to do to relieve some weird feeling he has in his soul. He would leave, and his face was as red as the sun. He goes to the interrogation cells, and grabs a crayon and paper, walks outside and climbs up to sit on the top of the gate and draw. He makes a really shitty doodle of himself in his Red and white outfit throwing his knives at Shao Kahn’s tremendous head. Above Shao’s head is a text bubble that reads “bruh, im dead.”. Suddenly, Johnny Cage would walk out and notice this scene.

JOHNNY: What’re you doing up there, pal?

ROBIN: Oh, hey, mr. Cage. Nothing, just drawing a little bit, considering I can’t do anything else at the moment.

JOHNNY: You know, you can go out whenever you want.

ROBIN: Is this legit?

JOHNNY: Yeah. Don’t worry about Sonya, I’ll cover for you.

ROBIN: Huh. This changes everything. Thank you so much, JC. I’ll be back by 10.

JOHNNY: Sure. take later if you want.

Hearing this, Nico threw away the doodle and crayon, jumped down and rushed to his room, grabbing his jacket and phone. Quickly texting Melisa to meet him at the cafe close to the park they first met. He took a dirt bike and rode off to the city. After a few hours of riding, he finally met her at the place, where she was waving at him. He parked his bike on the sidewalk and walked over to her table, sitting on the opposite end of the table. As the waiter walks over, they make their orders, and chat as they wait.

MELISA: So, how’ve you been doin’?

ROBIN: Oh, you know… I’ve been… I think I said enough, I’ve just been.

She chuckled, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

MELISA: Well, I could say the same. It's not horrible, but not great either. But it’s mostly fine. I actually managed to sell some designs.

ROBIN: Wow, that sounds great.

MELISA: It is. And… you seem to be sweating pretty badly.

Until pointed out, Nico didn’t even notice the bullets of sweat going down his face.

ROBIN: Oh, uh, thanks, let me just…

He says as he takes off his jacket and hangs it on his chair, wiping the sweat off his face.

ROBIN: Anyways uhhhh… I noticed your jacket. Very edgy, I love it-

Realizing what he just said, the crusader’s face went fully red, and in his mind he could only think of one word… 

“  S  H  I  T  !  “

She didn’t seem to mind the comment, in fact, she smiled at it, as if he told a joke in class. 

MELISA: Well, aren’t you a comedian? Actually, it is a little sunny today, huh?

As she said that, she took off her beanie, showing off her cobalt blue hair. Robin, seeing it, tries to avert eye contact, to make the moment less awkward.

MELISA: Ooh, here’s the lesbian panic. I see it already.

Robin looks behind himself, addressing the readers.

ROBIN: Someone, somewhere, is very happy right now… Happy pride, you lovely idiots.

He then turned back to the designer. As she looks at him with a hint of disappointment.

ROBIN: Sorry. Still getting used to not being a douche.

The waiter would then return with their coffee, and wait for the pay. Nico would then rummage through his pockets, but seeing that he forgot the money. He then looked at Melisa.

ROBIN: You don’t happen to have any money, do you, Lyss?

She sighed, and took the exact cost for the coffee. The two would drink up, hop on the bike and head west. He parked somewhere near a graphic design school, and after that, they walked.

MELISA: Well, I’ll give you this. Not a horrible first date, but do remember, a gentleman pays the bill for his ladies meal.

Robin would shrug, looking down at the ground, but then taking a deep breath, looking up and breathing out.

ROBIN: I’ll keep that in mind. Next time, I'll bring the money, and pay for a new leather jacket.

She’d chuckle, lightly punching his arm.

MELISA: Save that for a professional date. Now, it’s kinda getting late.

ROBIN: Yeah, I should really get going, too.

He said as he jumped back on the bike. 

MELISA: Oh, Nico, before you go…

Nico would turn to her, as she walks up to him and gives him a hug. He, much like Liu Kang in 11 when he gets hugged by Kitana, doesn’t know how to respond, so he just sits there, blushing.

MELISA: Thanks for taking me home.

She says before letting go. Nico’s a bit confused, but then understands when he sees her tap on the door that has a velcro label with her name on it.

ROBIN: Oh! I, uh, no problem. See ya, I-I guess.

He says as he drifts off east, as he’s in a rush to get back home. Melisa sees him driving off into the sunset, and smiles, while thinking to herself.

MELISA: He’s not even hiding the fact that he’s crushing on me.

She then enters the building, and entering her apartment, she sits on her window and plays some music to relax.

[black-n-white-wings]

I'm glad someone posted before me on that take, because more and more I just want to uninstall Tumblr again when I see some takes. Sorry, your post on JC and JYL is really an excuse just to spill out everything, but it was super interesting, though. I have more and more people blocked, not because they don't have the same pov or interpretation as me, I love people who don't agree but can be cordial on different topics. Just... The vitriol. The ridiculous takes, the blatant misinformation that influences new people that look for safe spaces in fiction and the communities created around, and the way it is more often than not a way of *attacking real people* of the SAME FANDOM as us is... Well, it's disheartening.

The fandom is actually pushing me away from the media.

It's something that could and must be discussed outside of fandoms, obviously, but fiction should be something that makes us feel happy, out of the real world and it's fuckery, especially if we often engage in fan discussions, and create and analyse and expand around these worlds. They're supposed to be happy pockets, ways of learning about new things or about ourselves, meeting people and laugh together or have meaningless arguments that should be laughable.

I'll write my rant on MDZS now, I think. I don't have any reach anyway, nobody cares but maybe I'll feel better :

I love Jiang Cheng. He's a character I'm really passionate about, and a lot of people are passionate about him, actually. Whether they love him or hate him, they have a lot of things to say about him. I read intelligent meta about him, with book quotes and historical elements, and back and forth from fans, and while sometimes I don't agree with all the takes I come across, it was great. And then I read absolute garbage, completely unjustified, no sources, just... ways of making people feel bad for loving a FICTIONAL CHARACTER. #canon Jiang Cheng is a great example of everything that is wrong in fan space, the war and the clear intention of harming real people, of making them feel like shit, about a FICTIONAL CHARACTER. Crossing between the stans and the antis, purposefully, to start arguments is something I have NEVER SEEN in any other fandom I was a part of. Listen, I don't care if you don't like the dude, or if you like the dude so much you seethe at the idea someone doesn't like him. He doesn't care either. He's not real. However, explaining to someone that they are awful because they love a *child abuser* is... Whoa. Take a step back. Touch some grass. What people are enjoying in media is not a testament to who they are IRL (or y'all would be in hell, I have seen shit, read fics, and so many people cannot be like this IRL, they use internet to explore and try things and it's really not that deep, FFS). About JC being an abusive parent... It's factually wrong as a take, easily disproved if you read the book, watch the live action, whatnot... But it's also very cruel to just say shit like this to real people. Maybe the person you're talking to has a past of being abused, or is actually abused and turns to fiction to make their day better. There are a *lot* of wild takes and just mean insults.

I have a lot more to say about the character, how I think he evolved in such a complicated space inside the world he's part of, and the external factors that made him Like This(tm). I don't say anything because I'm terrified of putting my thoughts out there, not because I won't reach a lot of people, or because I'll feel like speaking into the void. But because I'm absolutely terrified of you all. But I'm almost 30 and you all have managed to make me feel like shit. What about younger people? Less inexperienced people? People that just try to have a good time? Can't you be polite? Can't you agree to disagree without turning mean or condescending? Can we just... Not?

Well that's it. My mutuals are going to be confused as hell, sorry 😅 I had to get it out of my chest *some way*

To say JC was disrespecting his sister's sacrifice by blaming WWX for her death is a bit of a reach, honestly. Especially since that's obviously his trauma speaking. Merely him trying to put the blame onto someone because sometimes, when we grieve, we feel better when there is someone to blame. Something to attribute those feelings to and hope that by hunting it down, maybe they'll finally go away? And that maybe he will finally get the answers and feelings of closure he yearns for when he does?

We see his conflicted feelings throughout the latter part of the story and how he struggled with them, after all (Which is another tragic aspect of his and WWX's character, which we can't ignore).

Even then, you could argue that in the moment, that was just how JC perceived and rationalised things. WWX did lose control at Nightless City. And whilst it wasn't intentional, and this time by the hands of someone else, rather than his own "zombies", we can see why JC would rationalise it to be WWX's fault. That's what trauma does to a person.

Also, the implications that JC sees his sister as some "commodity" is just wrong and unfairly misrepresenting his character, too. Sorry. Especially whilst he respected all of her wishes throughout. Be it her choice to marry JZX or not, despite JC and WWX hating the dude.

Allowing her that choice to either reject the arrangement (which was hugely beneficial for the sect btw and something families did back then), or accept it by choice is a big deal for a dude of that period tbh. Especially whilst JC effectively had "control" over his sister (which again, he never exercised. She was always the big sister to him, whose word he respected. We see this when he confides in her during the search for WWX during the war). So no. She wasn't a commodity for him. JC started a siege over this woman. He loved her dearly and to reduce their relationship to something so surface level is disingenuous and so not what the author wanted to convey in her work. Js.

To sum up, whilst JC was factually wrong to accuse WWX of the death of his sister, we can see beneath the surface why he reached that conclusion, regardless of the facts.

Context matters greatly here. And WWX did inadvertently bring that threat to them. What doesn't help is also the events that took place before this.

WWX refused to open up to JC when prompted. He kept things from him prior to the incident and just.. Looked culpable as heck for everything despite actually being innocent (especially since this took place not long after the death of his brother in law which was apparently by WWX's hands). All feelings of confusion, anger and grief were bound to mount up and unfortunately, WWX was going to be the outlet for all that because behind it all, there he was. Looking responsible for all that went wrong for JC (despite us as the reader knowing that there's more to the situation than that and that wasn't true. But remember, JC doesn't see what we see. So it's only natural he's going to attribute all that's gone wrong in his life to the man that was always there, somehow at the core of it -ahem. No pun intended there!-).

But all this aside, you've got to remember that JC does let WWX go in the end anyway. He drops all feelings of malice as the truth comes out and he learns that WWX wasn't actually fully responsible for everything he accused and hated him for.

To still hate JC for initially blaming WWX for the cause of JYL's death is a bit silly tbh, especially when they effectively closed that chapter at the end of the book and moved on anyway.

JC doesn't pursue him anymore for answers and nor does he continue to hold him accountable for everything. To bring up his old feelings when the book is finished and all has been put to bed is unfair tbh. Especially when some of you won't even put yourself in JC's shoes and try to come to understand how he came to that conclusion in the first place.

[winepresswrath]

my og shen jiu-yue qingyuan feelings are deep and sincere now and i’m not happy about it.

[graceshadowwolf]

God, the last time I posted something on Tumblr was last year 👀;

Sorry bout that. Life hit hard, and it gave me burn out.

Anyway, I did a thing!

I wanted to make some comics about MDZS AUs that I think about, and I also wanted to try out this new brush (which is why dog!WWX looks inconsistent af). Also, puppies ^v^

About this AU:

Basically, everything is canon until WC throws WWX into Burial Mounds. WWX becomes a dog demon and solos Sunshot Campaign with the cultivation world as his extras (he don't need the amulet).

Post-Sunshot Campaign, everyone fears him more than in canon and kinda gives the Jiangs the eyes when they still interact with WWX (read: JC can't help petting WWX).

Wangxian actually communicate!

Then, WWX rescues the Wens (because WWX quickly found them via his nose, he was able to prevent WN from dying) and takes Yiling as his territory. Some sects tried to hunt WWX, but dogdemon!WWX is OP, so they learn to just leave WWX alone, treating him as some sort of wild animal.

LWJ and the Jiangs (+JZX) secretly visit WWX sometimes, and Wangxian also make lots of pups!

[silenteyes]

If Wei Wuxian Grew Up In Different Sects (or with our lovely Rogue Cultivators)

ft. fanfictions I’ve read for each of them - excluding Yunmeng Jiang Sect

Warnings: Spoilers for MDZS, Canon-typical Yu Ziyuan and her treatment to WWX, a few uncensored cursing

Yunmeng Jiang Sect

Clearly, we know that he and the Jiangs have a- complicated relationship. With Jiang FengMian it’s on a thin line, and though it’s clear he cares for WWX - JFM still sees WWX as just a disciple, not a son because the last words he says to WWX are “A-Ying, A-Cheng... you must look after him.”

With Madam Yu it’s clear that their relationship is unhealthy, she basically abuses him. With Jiang Cheng it’s also unhealthy - as much as I loathe to say it, they will NEVER get the reconciliation we want because WWX has done too much for JC to forgive and JC and his anger issues are not safe for WWX. The only ACTUAL healthy relationship he’s got in the Jiang Sect is with Jiang Yanli. She forgives a lot and it’s clear she loves WWX.

Gusu Lan Sect

Ah - yes, this one. In all honesty, if he WERE to be found by the Lans he would’ve probably be well-behaved since he was just a child and easy to, how do I say it - teach. 

He might still have his playfulness but it would be toned down quite a lot. I also like to think that he would get along with Madam Lan and most probably prevent her death. This may be an unpopular opinion, but he and Lan Xichen would get along well, and LXC would be the one to make him comfortable first. WWX would still grow close with Lan Wangji of course, but if anything happens he would not go to LWJ first.

If they grew up together, I’m sorry - but I can’t imagine that he would date LWJ then. But, you can think the other way around! I don’t boss you and tell you who to ship and who not to ship! 

Fanfiction: ‘Some call it kidnapping. The Lan Clan call it adoption.’ by IceBreeze 

Summary: “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, look!” Wei Ying did a twirl. “I’m the same as you now! Am I pretty? Say Lan Zhan, am I pretty?”

Huan muffled a laugh behind his sleeve as A-Zhan said “Mn,” eyes never once leaving Wei Ying. There was something a little like awe in his stare, like Wei Ying was the only one in the world to him at that moment, and if Huan hadn’t already known that his little brother cared deeply for Wei Ying then that look would have been all the confirmation he needed.

(If A-Zhan knew what marriage and romance was beyond the vague explanations he’d heard then he’d probably already be courting Wei Ying, with all the dogged determination he shows everything he puts his mind to. It’s adorable, and Huan supports it wholeheartedly, no matter what direction it heads in the end).

Or: an AU Wei Wuxian is taken in by the Lan clan instead of the Jiangs.

Qishan Wen Sect

Hm, this one is quite complicated. To be honest, WWX would probably fit in well in the sect, and Wen Ruohan most possibly cares about power, and WWX is powerful so he’d care for him AND Wen Xu. Wen Chao is just there in the background being bullied, I like to think.

WWX would make Wen Qing their head doctor and give her more power, while he would also help Wen Ning with archery. All and all he would be alright in the Wen Sect, but there would still be a couple casualties here and there, because of Wen Chao’s jealousy.

Fanfiction:  ‘ He was brighter than the Sun’ by AncientOceanmelody

Summary:  Wei Wuxian was the head disciple of Yunmengjiang Sect, he was the pride of Yunmeng. Jiang Fengmian see him like a son, everyone (except Madam Yu) love him.

He would do everything for those who were dear to him.

So why do is feel horrible when Uncle Jiang didn't hesitate when he offer himself to the Wens instead of Jiang Cheng?

Why is he crying?

After all, he was just the son of a friend, the son of a servant, is was obvious his Uncle would prefer his Sect over him.

Qinghe Nie Sect

Again, I’m gonna be honest, but this sect would be the BEST one for WWX to grow up in. Nie Mingjue would get along great with WWX (we’re ignoring canon GROWN WWX) and Nie Huaisang has another brother :D

NHS and WWX would use their time to cause mischief and plot stuff while NMJ is like “These are my brothers. They’re annoying. Don’t you fucking dare lay a finger on them.”

Just - THEY WOULD BE THE HEALTHIEST RELATIONSHIP EVER IN ALL THE SECTS! NMJ taking care of WWX and NHS, NHS constantly worrying over WWX and NMJ because they fight (you know- war I mean) and WWX just being the self-sacrificing moron he is and protecting NMJ and NHS

Fanfiction: ‘shades of grey’ by cl410

Summary: This was why he didn’t like to leave the Unclean Realm, Nie Mingjue thought with dismay. Guileless dark eyes blinked up at him, tiny hands clutching at his robes.

Or: Nie Mingjue comes across Wei Wuxian before Jiang Fengmian, and decides Nie Huaisang could use a friend.

Lanling Jin Sect

OH BOY! I just love Jin Zixuan getting along with WWX and being an older brother to him. I would think that if JZX (Not Zixun, I despise him) grew up with WWX they would definitely get along and have a healthier relationship than the Yunmeng Bros. Jin Guangshan would definitely not see the point in having WWX in there, and Madam Jin is much more empathetic and she would be the on to take care of WWX.

You may be wondering - Jin Zixuan is Jin Zixuan. Wouldn’t his pride get in the way of things? He’s not called a peacock for no reason, and yes! I can see why you think that! But look at MianMian! She’s JZX best friend BECAUSE she probably grew up with him, and it’s clear in terms of temperament she’s better than JZX and she might even rival him in swordsmanship. If given the choice to grow up with him, WWX would have an amazing brotherly relationship with JZX, and would most likely accept the fact that WWX is amazing and would be PROUD of him. 

Also JZX’s relationship with Jiang Yanli may improve JUST BECAUSE WWX is there

(I might just be biased, idk)

Fanfiction: ‘Twin Treasures’ by crossdressingdeath

Summary: When Madame Jin happens to come across Cangse Sanren's orphaned son on a trip to Yiling, she can't bring herself to leave him there. Wei Wuxian finds a somewhat different family. Jin Zixuan finds a little brother. The course of history changes accordingly.

(Some things are written in fate, but even fate itself changes.)

Rogue Cultivators - Song Zichen and Xiao Xingchen

Let me point out first that Xingchen is ETHEREAL! HE’S THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PERSON ON THE PLANET! (Song Jiyang is amazing istg I’ve never watched The Untamed but I’ve SEEN clips of them like 哥你怎样那么美). 

ANYWAYS, BACK TO THE POINT! Xiao Xingchen and Song Zichen would be amazing parents, don’t deny it. SZC would be rocky at taking care of WWX at first but he would get the hang of it and be the most over-protective person on the planet and would KILL ANYONE who hurts his family. Xiao Xingchen on the other hand would be the doting and loving parent. He spoils WWX but not as much as SZC (though he would never admit it). SZC and XXC would be the best if you want WWX to have parental figures.

Fanfiction:  ‘Frost moon's sun’ by RenaFair

Summary: Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan had dreamed of founding a sect together, that is until Xingchen heard what happened to his shijie. The two then decides to put their little dream on hold as they care for a pair of tiny hands between them, protecting the little boy with a sunshine smile as best as they can.

Alternately; Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan adopted Wei Ying after his parents' death.