#I'm just imagining JGS and JGY's faces

[drwcn]

apparently I'm not done with my newly resurrected chengqing bullshit -

semi crack semi angst idea that wen ning did to his sister what wen qing did to wwx, aka: wen ning had listened to wen qing all his life, but by god he was not gonna like her die for his mistake.

wen ning went to lanling by himself maybe with the rest of the wens.

in any case when the cultivators stormed the burial mount after wwx's demise, lwj found a-yuan, jiang cheng found wen qing.

just imagine the awkward lock-eye between these two dumb bitches

I won't snitch if you don't snitch.

obviously wq and jc has to work through some stuff but like...

very quickly jc realizes ppl straight up don't recognize wq. Think about it. She showed up for 35 seconds at Cloud Recesses and never attended class. And then... the war happened and she was never really a player. Probably some ppl met her, but how many of them are still alive?

Sure jc had to hide wq the first couple of years, but after jgs mysteriously bit the dust... things relaxed by a lot.

Jc being that bitch that stares everyone in the eye whilst lying to their faces: how dare you accuse my wife of being a dead war criminal.

Jgy: she is clearly wen qing.

Jc: Prove it.

Lqr *furious* : wangji, is this not wen qing?

Lwj: .....it is not.

Lxc & lqr: ????????

Wwx's resurrection would be wild.

[symphonyofsilence]

Jin Ling & his Xiao Shushu appreciation, 'cause I don't see enough of it.

Remember that Jin Ling avoided LWJ like plague 'cause he was scared of him shitless, to the point that when WWX fake called Hanguang-Jun he ran without even looking back literally seconds after WWX pulled the same trick on him with JC 'cause he didn't want to risk looking back just in case it was actually HGJ, but he stood against Hanguang-Jun AND sect leader Lan when he thought they were invading his Xiao Shushu's room? Only Jiggy's own intervention made him back down.

& IDK maybe the reason Jin Ling was there at that time was that it was the family section. But since Fairy wasn't with him, maybe he was visiting his uncle. & I find it hard to imagine, like, say, WWX visiting Jiang Fengmian or Lan Sizhui visiting Zewu-Jun or the Lan brothers visiting Lan Qiren in the middle of the night in their private chambers unless something very important has happened. I think according to the standards of their time, they must have been very close for this visit to happen.

Running to Xiao Shushu 'cause JiuJiu is angry with him & adorably hiding behind him 'cause Xiao Shushu spoils him.

Defending Xiao Shushu and having a firm belief that whatever he says is for Jin Ling's own good even in the face of his cool uncle after the rush of winning a fight against a group of his all-time bullies.

Still using the affectionate term "Xiao Shushu"even when confronting him about why would he kill his father, begging him to "say something". Give him anything to make it a little bit less painful.

Jiggy wanting to comfort Jin Ling even when he's crying because he just realized that Jiggy has killed his father.

Jin Ling looking so hurt when Jiggy says that JGS didn't let him hold Jin Ling as though he can't imagine a world in which his uncle is not allowed to hold him. Not being allowed to hold JL being a notable part of JGY's villain origin story.

Jiggy pushing Jin Ling out of danger.

Jin Ling screaming for Jiggy to run even after Jiggy took him hostage. And all the other shit.

(It's worth mentioning that in the books, Jiggy doesn't push JL out of danger and JL still screams for him to run, and he still calls him uncle instead of Sect Leader as he does in the show. It's also worth mentioning that the show made some stunning choices in the Guaniyn temple scene regardimg JGY & JL. As half of the things I'm saying about that scene here only happened in the show.)

Jiggy looking so worried as Wen Ning goes towards JL even though he himself has lost an arm and is bleeding to death. And only looking relieved when Wen Ning holds the blade.

Jin Ling being scarred for life here. Oh my poor, poor baby.

With much difficulty, he coughed up some blood. Everyone present heard a crack that was abnormally clear and brutal.

A whimper of a last breath left Jin GuangYao's throat.

Jin Ling's shoulders shivered. He shut his eyes and covered his ears, too afraid to keep watching and listening.

And my favorite scene that emotionally crushed me: Jin Ling remembering when his uncle gave him little Fairy & mourning his uncle & becoming the hero of the nation who finally told Sect Leader Yao to kindly go fuck himself. 'Cause he told him that his uncle was not worth his tears. Jin Ling thinking that they wouldn't dare to tell him such bullshits if his uncle were still alive. Baby Jin Ling feeling so comfortable around the sect leader and the Chief Cultivator that he could break things beside his feet and scream at him, and his uncle just understanding that he needs to leave him alone at that moment, his Xiao Shushu being the only one who could comfort him and make him happy at that point, his Xiao Shushu giving him his spiritual dog & one of his rare actual, geniune smiles that was so warm & kind that Jin Ling remembers to that day, this happy memory being the one that Jin Ling remembers Jiggy with after all the things he learnt in the span of two days. Him acknowledging that Jiggy's love for him was geniune and real & still choosing to continiue to love his uncle despite everything. Him learning that he can't really resent JGY, WWX or WN 'cause though they gave him reasons for that, they also gave him reasons against that. They gave him reasons to love them. And why choose hate when you can...not choose that. Him breaking a cycle of hate that few of the adults of the story did not drown in. And it must mostly be Jiang Yanli's legacy, but it also proves that Jiang Cheng & Jin Guangyao, despite their own numerous issues did something right raising such a child. He feels so secure in their love. And he's right in that feeling.

[mostlikelytofangirl]

You know what would be neat

In an AU where JGY grows up in the Jin (JGS being forced to accept him early in some way or another) and there are vampires

JGS is a vampire and so is Meng Shi. Madam Jin is human. As a result, JGY is a fullblooded born vampire while JZX is a dhampir

It would be really funny if people within the very vampire-heavy/vampire-as-aristocracy society look at JZX and JGY together and immidiactly choose to adress their woes to JGY.

Because JGY is all vampire, pointy ears and greyish skin and gaunt face and all, while JZX looks utterly out of place among the vampires because he looks like a normal human with fangs

And this infuriates JGS because JZX is his heir and JGY is a bastard lmao

Lol ok, idk if you meant for this to be hilarious, but it's just so funny to me to think that JGY finally could be considered of better "pedigree" than this brother for their society's standards and it's pissing JGS off so badly XD.

I can imagine this as a world where vampires are very few but very elite ala Vampire Hunter D, so JGS married Madam Jin as a sort of social or political move, like an alliance with a powerful human family idk, but also got MS pregnant, and despite her being very low in their hierarchy, she was still a full vampire and thus, the rules demand that their son be acknowledged since full blooded vampires are rare/hard to conceive/not very fertile/etc.

Except a bastard is very much NOT part of his agreement with the powerful human family he is supposed to be an ally to now (and whose fortune/political standing he now shares lol), so it's all very tense in his household now bc, as a son of a lawful marriage, JZX should be the sole heir... only he's a dhampir and, while not looked down upon bc they are still better than full mortals, someone like him would normally be considered lesser than his full blooded vampire brother.

It's so goddamned ironic that here is where JGY would finally be seen as the "right" Jin and the one the gentry would consider one of them :'D.

Now, it'd be interesting to see why JGS is upset at this development. It could be bc he legit loves JZX and not JGY and thus it's all a matter of his favorite son being given his rightful place despite of his half-blood nature. Or bc it endangers his alliance with the humans and he has to remind everybody of who his heir is every time there's the slightest insinuation that both his sons would inherit, or worse-- that of course his pure blooded son should be the one inheriting, how lucky he was to still have a vampire son despite marrying a human, surely he wouldn't defy tradition and taint his noble family by having a dhampir as head of the next generation when a perfect fully vampire Jin son is right there :')))))

It'd also be interesting to see how the brothers' dynamics would be, bc while things behind closed doors could go very much like canon (probably with MS being a concubine or something), when in public, it's clear that they would not be treated equally, if not having JGY be privileged in their social circle. How would that the boys' perception of themselves and each other be? Sorta like "no matter what ppl say, I am dad's heir and favorite son" or "dad may love you more, but everybody knows who is the weird one here"... or maybe they actually find solace in each other, one being there for the other when their family/society reminds them that they are inherently different and should be treated as such, only feeling like they can truly be equals when they are alone with each other.

It's a very fascinating scenario, let me tell you! I love me some vampires and I love me some Jin bros feels, so I'm so in with this :D

[thatswhatsushesaid]

Xiyao?

oh!! xiyao is the otp to end all otps for me (@verdantrivers tagging you as well since you also asked about them, even tho you already know everything I'm going to write anyway)

ship it 🤌

What made you ship it? in the novel, it was absolutely the teacups scene. but uhhh this is embarrassing but I came into this fandom backwards, and so my first exposure to xiyao was the show! tl;dr I was looking for a show on netflix to fill the void left in my soul after the depressing end of The Rise of the Phoenixes, and someone somewhere rec'd The Untamed because "it's gay and the gays get a happy ending!!" me, a depressed bisexual, "oh, what a relief, I could use a happy ending for the gays after all that depressing straight people nonsense I just suffered through." (joke's on me, my chosen gays did not get their happy ending, I clowned myself) anyway, /scuffs foot, it was the box scene. their cute little shuffle over the box. the shy yet lingering eye contact. meng yao's eyes doing the thing that zhu zanjin has them do every time he looks at lan xichen for longer than a second, like he's noticing how beautiful starlight is for the first time, and lan xichen looking like meng yao just awoke something in him that he didn't even realize was there until that moment. meng yao's beautiful face journey when he sees lan xichen and rushes to say goodbye to him. like... I feel it bears mentioning at this point that I knew so little about this show or the canon source material that I literally thought that xiyao was going to be the main ship with the happy ending just based on this moment alone, and so you can imagine by dismay once I realized how tragically wrong I was. RIP past me. anyway, while I absolutely prefer jgy's characterization and arc in the novel canon, I will nevertheless die for the way lhk and zzj chose to bring xiyao to life on-screen. they did the reading.

What are your favorite things about the ship? besides the siren call of a decades' long near-romance that is doomed by the narrative, probably that when given a choice (or rather, when jgy believes that he has a choice), jgy and lxc always choose each other, both when the stakes are low and when they are extremely high. one bad faith and garbage take on their dynamic that I often see trotted out by jgy's harshest critics is that he exploits lxc's affection for him exclusively to cement his position within the lanling jin sect and to further his own ambitions, which seems like such a dull and reductive way to view the nearly two decades they spend together in each other's lives. I also just don't understand where this interpretation comes from?? is it just from jgy using the pass token to get the song of spirit turmoil from the library pavilion's forbidden section? because yes, that was a violation of lxc's trust, but also like... would there even have been a forbidden section in the library pavilion for him to steal from if jgy hadn't sacrificed so much of his dearly bought social and political capital upon gaining his recognition from jgs to help the gusu lan rebuild the cloud recesses? this is not me trying to diminish that violation of lxc's trust, but just to emphasize that jgy actually had very little to gain, politically speaking, at the time he pressed his father to provide aid to the extremely vulnerable and weak gusu lan, but he did it anyway, and he did it because he knew lxc needed the help. smaller stakes: given the choice between being in anyone else's company or each other's, they always gravitate towards each other in any space they occupy together, and that does things to me lol.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? with very few exceptions, I don't enjoy lan-furen as a concept 🤷‍♀️ I didn't even fully understand why the lan-furen AUs didn't work for me until I read commentary specifically by you and @fincalinde and @confusion-and-more (I think) about how deeply jgy's pursuit of his birthright with the lanling jin is integral to his character. because I do remember reading objectively good and well-written lan-furen fic that should have been providing me with emotionally satisfying xiyao catharsis after getting hit by the truck that is the canon ending, and instead left me feeling like I'd eaten too many bites of a pie that was good yesterday but has already started to turn. idk that metaphor is getting away from me. also, more fics where jgy is the soft dom in the bedroom, please, that's my favourite jgy flavour.

[letteredlettered]

first off, you make good points. You're right, I over-simplified. You also pointed out in the tags that JGY was picking at JC's weak points when he said Yunmeng could've been the strongest sect post Sunshot; that's absolutely true, and it's not like you can really take JGY's words at face value. And you're absolutely right that nobody expected the Jiang sect to survive.

But second, I want to say the novel is partly about people's beliefs and expectations. If JC buys into the narrative that everyone is painting, then yep, the fact that they have no money, no hq, no personnel, and a very young leader puts them in a very tenuous position in the cultivation world. And you are right when you say that WWX understands this, because WWX is also buying into that narrative. WWX often fights the narrative and thinks outside the box, so it feels like there's some narrative weight when he agrees to be expelled from the sect.

But I would argue that the number one character who is always defying the popular narrative is JGY--which is not to say that JGY is out there dropping truth bombs while everyone else has wool over their eyes. I think part of the point of the novel is that sometimes the narrative the public agrees upon can be somewhat correct and sometimes it can be somewhat wrong; it's just never the whole story.

But you can bet that if JGY was JC, he would have leveraged WWX's extreme OPness to come out on top. Neither JC nor WWX were willing to do this. It may be because they're not ruthless enough--WWX certainly seems unwilling to use the tiger tally more than he has to, and certainly neither he nor JC want to rule through fear.

But my point was that JC didn't try to leverage WWX's power at all; he immediately believed what everyone was telling him--that WWX was a danger to his sect and not an advantage, and WWX believed it too.

To me, a better display of political acumen would've been for JC to recognize several key points: 1) WWX is the most powerful ally on the board right now, 2) WWX may not be the only person in existence dismayed at the treatment of the Wens, 3) none of the other sects and ecstatic about JGS moving into the power vacuum created by the death of WRH. With those things in mind, it's very possible that JC could've built alliances with non-Jin sects, saved the Wens, and kept WWX. It might not've been possible without resorting to the sort of tactics that JGY employs, but it would have put him in a position to lead the public conversation, not submit to it.

(I'd add that re #2 is the NMJ is hella powerful and just doesn't give a fuck about popular opinion. If he thought something wrong was being done he'd stand up about it no matter how unpopular. He hated the Wens more than anyone, so it's not like he'd really argue for the Wen remnants to be released and peacefully farm but somehow I cannot imagine a world in which he'd allow folks like Granny and A-Yuan to be abused because of their surnames. While I do think it can be argued that only WWX was idk, noble enough to look past the Wen name, I just really don't think this book is trying to say that no one else is capable of compassion or justice. In my mind part of the point is supposed to be that WWX is arrogant and can't accept help and thinks he has to do everything alone. That is, I'm not trying to say it's all JC's fault; WWX's flaws also led him to the same conclusions as JC, but imo MXTX is trying to say that there really were other possibilities that they did not see because they both bought into their own little stories.)

Hi! I would love to read a JC and WWX post and how it is diff from what you’ve seen in western media!

I'd already started writing a JC post, so I wrapped that in to answer your question.

I follow a few JC fans so I see the backlash to the haters more than I see any haters, but apparently there’s some question in some people’s mind about whether Jiang Cheng loves Wei Wuxian, and I find that a little silly. That said, I think that to understand MDZS’s JC at all, you cannot just read the surface, so if you’re not thinking about him as a person or giving him any consideration beyond what other characters say and think of him, you’re not doing him justice. You’re also not going to see that he loves WWX and also loves several other people quite deeply, because a) JC's never going to be affectionate in his dialogue, b) JC's not going to even be affectionate in his body language or minor actions, and c) WWX, the main viewpoint character, is never once going to think about whether JC likes him or loves him.

Lots of posts have outlined better than I will how deeply loves not only WWX, but also his family, in particular JL. The short version is: JC’s his major flaws are all related to him loving his parents and getting shown very little affection in return—none at all from his father and only some in a backhanded way from his mother, usually in comparison to WWX.

As for Jin Ling, JC threatens him all the time, and even shoves him around a bit, but Jin Ling obviously adores JC and feels adored. JC is the one Jin Ling goes to when he's crying; JC is also the one who leaps to JL's side when JL is hurt. JL knows he's in trouble with JC when JL does something unsafe, but JL knows that his own safety is the most important thing in JC's life. Tellingly, JL rarely takes any of JC's threats seriously, and even tells other people said threats are bogus.

Then there’s WWX. Even while JC is berating WWX endlessly for making their clan look bad, he is literally carrying around WWX on his back. He is protecting WWX with everything he has. He sacrifices himself to the Wens to WWX won't get caught. After their falling out, after WWX lied to him for years and got their sister killed, JC still can't even stop himself from protecting WWX when WWX might get hurt by JGY's guqin string.

The guy is willing to throw himself on the fire for anyone he loves. Just heaven forbid he express any of it. But because he does not express love through speech, Wei Wuxian (who I will point out is a talker) doesn't understand this about Jiang Cheng—and this is shown to be a consistent flaw that WWX has. He also does not understand that LWJ is in love with him, despite LWJ defying all of society to follow him around and lift him onto donkeys whenever WWX gets droopy.

But I'd add the pretty much no one, other than Jin Ling, understands this about Jiang Cheng. If the cultivation world had understood JC, they would not have believed that JC and WWX had actually had a falling out. Part of the reason people don't know him is the same reason JC has such a terrible time with everything—WWX steals everyone's attention, praise, and fear wherever they go. No one is really looking at JC to admire his devotion or his loyalty, because WWX is there, doing it better than him, always. Imagine LWJ+WWX hadn’t defeated the Tortoise of Slaughter and had just been holed up in that cave for six days. All anyone would’ve talked about was how deeply JC must love his shixiong to make it back in such record time. It would all be “heroic rescue” this “unflagging loyalty” that. But instead, LWJ+WWX  had to really just steal the limelight.

In fact, the book is partly about the fact that people don't analyze people's actions too deeply. They believe what they hear. They believe what they want to believe. JC really can just say "I reject WWX" and they believe it. JGS can really just say "WWX is evil" and they believe it. Everybody says LWJ is perfect, so they believe he can't be a cut-sleeve who is in love with WWX. And WWX, who knows better than anyone that rumors aren't true, believes it too.

Even after WWX's death, JC's reputation is locked onto WWX. I do think this is JC’s own fault, given that he can’t accept his brother’s death and is obsessed with him but idk. Canon demonstrates that there’s a huge difference between what JC says he’ll do if he finds WWX and what JC actually does, and it’s not because LWJ is in the way. But no one really seems to pay attention to the difference between what JC says and what he actually does when the chips are down, except JL, so it’s no wonder everyone says he has torture dungeons, no matter how ludicrous that is.

I think what makes JC’s love for WWX particularly complex, and particularly incomprehensible in the eyes of the cultivation world, is WWX's position in JC's family. JC thought of WWX as a brother. He loved him like a brother. And yet JC was deeply aware that WWX wasn't his brother. JC's mom made sure that JC was deeply aware of that at all times, and you know what, so did his dad. And then, the rest of the cultivation world constantly talked about the fact that WWX was not a part of the family, that the Jiang Clan raised him like a son but he was really the son of a servant. MXTX expertly shows that this fact gets trotted out whenever WWX does something questionable--when WWX is brilliant, he's a lauded member of the clan, but when he is bad, he is of low-birth and adopted through charity. The truth is, it’s an unusual relationship for a world in which there’s a pretty big different between your clan (blood relatives) and sect.

How can JC hold both of these truths in his head? What makes it bearable for JC is that when they grow up, JC will be the Sect Leader and WWX will be his right-hand man; they will do everything together; they will be brilliant together; they never have to worry about blood or debt then, because then it won't matter whether they're brothers or best friends; the difference won't matter. They can both be the head of a family that they love. Except that doesn't happen.

JC’s parents die, and WWX disappears. I will, at this point in my understanding and credit to Jiang Cheng, say that the part about JC I find hardest to swallow is that he partially blames his parents' death on WWX. Yes, WWX stayed behind in the cave of the Tortoise of Slaughter to save LWJ, and yes, this meant that Wen Chao and WLJ have a particular grudge against him, which they use as partial excuse to attack Lotus Pier, but by god, that's a stretch. Lotus Pier would have been attacked anyway, and the fact that JC even partly blames the attack on WWX has far more to do with what his mom said about WWX showing off for the glory and bringing down the wrath of the Wens than it has to do with reality. YZY is going to say anything she can about how WWX being a hero with the Tortoise of Slaughter was actually a bad thing, because it's so fucking painful for her that WWX is a fucking legend when her son just . . . isn't.

As JGY points out, they were in fact the strongest sect once WWX comes back from the Burial Mounds and fights the Sunshot Campaign with JC. They could have been the power couple of JC’s dreams, but just as YZY pits JC against WWX, the cultivation world after the war pitted WWX against themselves and by extension, JC, and JC buys into it. I find this super understandable, and I think it’s pretty unfair to expect JC to be more understanding of WWX, given that WWX is constantly lying to him. Similarly, I think it’s pretty understandable that he doesn’t understand the plight of the Wens, given that WWX doesn’t explain it to him at all. From JC’s POV, WWX just leaves, at a time when JC really needs him, and he does it on a crusade for unrelated people—as though he never considered himself part of the family in the first place.

And you know what, that may be WWX’s POV too. He loves the Jiang family like his own family, but he’s also deeply aware that he is not blood. MXTX makes it very clear in canon that WWX felt that he owed the Jiang Clan, and not in the way you owe a family. That is—he doesn’t owe them his existence, but he thinks he does owe them his core and his cultivation. And he gives it all to JC.

I outlined above that the relationship between JC and WWX is unusual in the cultivation world given that they each feel like the other is family but are consistently reminded of the fact, and pressured to believe, that they are only sect siblings and that WWX is actually a subordinate. I also haven’t found many relationships like this in other media—though I’ll point out once again that my experience is mainly with western media. I think the closest things I can think of are stories in which the parties are of a different class but are raised together for whatever reason—because they actually are somewhat related but one of them has low class relatives, or because they were not as well-supervised in their youth but  one of them suddenly comes into money and is forced to leave his low-class BFF behind, etc.

Given that this relationship is unusual, you don’t see a lot of situations like WWX’s, in which WWX feels like he owes the Jiang family his golden core and then gives it to him. But there’s another element to this sacrifice that I’ve only seen in one other piece of media, and that’s the fact that WWX knows that JC can’t live without being special, and WWX thinks he can handle it.

There is so much in western media about brothers giving up their lives to protect their brothers (Supernatural), or even just giving up their dreams and ambitions so that their brother can follow his own dreams instead (It’s a Wonderful Life). But these sacrifices are always framed as “I love him so much,” or “It’s my duty” or “I couldn’t live with myself if he didn’t get what he wanted” and sometimes even, “I can handle the suffering and I don’t want him to live with it.” But there’s something about WWX’s “eh it’s not a big deal to me  and it is to him” or his “bro’s kinda petty and can’t get over himself, whatchu gonna do” that feels stupidly singular.

WWX never says it isn’t a big deal. He never said that it didn’t hurt or that he didn’t make a sacrifice. He never said JC was pathetic or a loser or anything that diminishes JC or makes him less than he is. What he says is that JC is always competitive and comparing himself to others, which is true. But the other sacrifices in fiction that come close are a little more “I don’t want you to have to suffer” or even “I’m strong, and you’re weak, so I’ll take on this burden for you.” Meanwhile WWX doesn’t think JC is weak, and while WWX doesn’t want to suffer, he certainly doesn’t want to suffer himself. The sentiment feels closer to “you need to feel special so I’ll make that happen for you,” and there’s something about it that is a little condescending.

I mentioned that I’ve only seen this kind of thing one other time, and it was in a baseball anime called Touch that aired in Japan in the 1980s. Touch is a story about twins, one of whom is smart, talented, and works hard. The other twin, Tatsuya, is good in school and good at baseball, but at first seems like a lazy guy who only cares about joking around and having fun. Then you find out he’s a genius and a one-in-a-lifetime talent, but just never bothered to focus on anything because he’s so stupidly good at everything that he would just show his brother up, and his brother cares about excelling and Tatsuya doesn’t, so he just…was careful to never apply himself to anything.

WWX isn’t Tatsuya, in that when they’re on an even playing field, WWX doesn’t really seem to have any compunctions about showing off. But as soon as the playing field becomes uneven, he also has no compunctions about destroying himself so that JC’s competitive spirit is satisfied. There’s something about it that has a flavor of “I’m better than you,” even if it’s never what WWX meant to communicate. No wonder JC feels like a clown.

Like, in the end, WWX kind of did make a fool of JC, even though WWX did it out of both love and loyalty. I'm not sure I've ever read or seen anything else where such a sacrifice has such ambiguity, and it really makes the WWX+JC relationship one of the most complicated I've seen.

[amethystshipper]

I was scrolling through my dash, as one does, and saw .gifs of the scene where the juniors are defending WWX to Sect leader Yao, and I was just smiling and thinking “ah, the kids are all right this time, it will be better”. And then I realized that ... the kids were all right the previous generation, too? And it would have been so easy to see them band together, especially after everything?

Hear me out. In essence, there’s no difference between the juniors and the ... OG juniors. (We need a name for them. Is there a name for that generation??? Cause we have the parents, and we have the juniors, what are WWX&co named??? Whatever, I’m sticking with OG juniors.) Each of these groups went through shitty situations, the OGs arguably through worse with the war and all. But before the war, we have 2 major bonding moments: the Cloud Recesses classes, and the Wen indoctrination. What if they actually bonded together, and their relationships were more flushed out? (Keep in mind I only saw the live-action drama, so that’s what I’m basing everything on.)

So, Cloud Recesses. You have the Jiangs, and then NSH, LWJ, WN and WQ added to the group, more or less willingly. JZX is still being a little bitch, but whatever, he’s there too, along with MianMian, who is arguably his biggest contribution. I will admit, there are ... levels ... of closeness. But you have the three gremlins getting together, and LWJ pulled in (again, levels), you have star-struck WN and tough WQ (who, need I remind you, took care of JYL at least once, which I bet the latter will not forget). You have LQR spitting blood because the boy is definitely his mother’s son, but LXC smiling indulgently, seeing his little brother finally make friends. (And LQR will remember that CSR was mischief made human form, and her son definitely follows in her footsteps, but both of them wanted always to help and not destroy, so there is definitely something wrong with the accusations that WWX wants to take over the world. And LXC will remember the Wen boy who stayed behind to save one of their own, and the Wei boy who dived in to help them both, and will not believe the grim tales of the fierce Ghost General and the Yiling Patriarch.)

After CR, WWX/LWJ/JC/NHS have their little murder adventure, with a WQ cameo.  LWJ is added to the gremlin dynamic and sure, he might not feel like he fits in at first, but WWX cannot seem to stay away from him, and he suffers in silence with JC while WWX is being an idiot and risking his life, omg, stop that, get down you demented cat, and then finds that there’s a certain bond little brothers with big brothers larger-than-life have, and maybe having two more friends is. Acceptable. They’re all supposed to be 15-16 at this point, teenage boys that started this adventure fully confident, at least on the outside. And then Xue Yang happens. And this is, I think, one of the biggest turning point for these four. Because, to a certain degree, all of them rely on rules. Their own, if nothing else. And here is a guy who just ... wants to see the world burn. He kills with no remorse, admits it gleefully, and is just awful in so many ways. This is their first brush with how brutal the outside world is, when they start to doubt themselves and their convictions. But then! XXC and SL appear, and it’s a breath of fresh air! Because there are terrible people and worse situations, but as long as they hold fast in their beliefs and work together and trust eachother, they can beat them!

So they go to the Unclean Realm, and they meet Daddy NMJ. And he’s been watching them approach, and he sees his little brother laughing with the boy in black, he sees him cackling while the one in purple is swinging his fists around; he sees him share a smile with Xichen’s little brother while the other two are laughing so hard they’re bent over so far they’re almost falling to the ground. And he doesn’t show it, because the Red Blade Master is gruff, and tough, and mighty, but in his heart he’s already adopted these kids who include his baby brother in their circle with so much ease, it’s hard to imagine him on the outside. (And in the future, when people are yelling about WWX’s darkness, this is the image he will have in his head: four boys being innocent and happy and his, how dare you try to touch them?!)

Cloud Recesses burns. LXC is nowhere. And then. The biggest paradigm shift - the indoctrination. Everyone arrives in Nightless City. The three OG gremlins watch LWJ back to his jade statue default, they lose their swords, they are on the same side with JZX and WWX/JC don’t know which one of these frustrates them more. It should be the looming war. It’s probably the JZX part. Now, I assume they spend at least a few weeks there, I don’t remember if it’s mentioned. But WWX always tried to get in front, to catch WC’s attention. (Because he’s the disposable one, right? High enough in status that WC is satisfied when he gets to punish him, but not a sect heir, not someone who will bring down a whole sect if he dies. Little does he know.) So don’t tell me that the others don’t rally around him. (Discreetly of course. They learn fast that he just gets more protective if others are hurt because of him.) There’s nothing stronger than a common enemy, and the Wens and WC, specifically, are definitely that. So they watch, and they remember WWX being beaten, whipped, humiliated, all so that others will not be. Not to mention that one night that he doesn’t tell even JC about, because it would crush his little brother to know he couldn’t keep his promise. They remember him staying behind so that they have a chance to escape the murder turtle. (And after the war, when the adults will try to damn WWX for being too arrogant and too prideful, the OG juniors will remember the kid who stood up to the Wen clan and has the scars to prove it, and all to protect them. Where was Jin Guangshan? Where was Sect leader Yao?)

Lotus pier burns. WWX disappears. JC and LWJ look for him for 3 months. And then. And then he comes back. And he burns the Sun to the ground, using dark cultivation and corpses and no sword, and everything that they were taught not to do, ever. And he succeeds where everyone else fails.

Afterwards, when the dust settles but not really, when life comes back to normal but not quite, when things become too boring apparently, the young ones see their elders muttering. And gossip. And look a bit too much at WWX, too closely. But this was a generation forged in the fires of war. They were not like their parents, who had time to figure out their shit and then go to battle, no. They were kids when it all started. There are no more kids amongst them now.

So when the minor sect leaders, subtly encouraged by JGS and JGY, talk about the “young” LC being a leader at such a young age with honeyed words that hide rot, NMJ and LXC rise to his defense. Both of them became sect leaders at young ages, both of them know how hard it is. LQR rises as well and the older ones expect him to be on their side, but they forget LQR got entrusted with a clan and 2 children that he was not supposed to have, so he will never demean another who was in an even worse position, but rose to the occasion despite everything that happened. The Lans promote knowledge and learning above all, and many people can learn a lot from Sandu Shengshou, wouldn’t you agree Sect leader Yao?

When the Jin sect complains about the Stygian Tiger Seal, rumors begin to spread from behind hand painted fans that they are after the artifacts of other sects. After all, does WWX not belong to YungmengJiang? Therefore, do his creations not belong to the sect as well? Who’s to say they won’t go after the treasures of the other sects next?

When JYL destroys Jin Zixun at Phoenix Mountain, JZX steps up to the plate and stands behind his fiancee. WWX is obviously her little brother that she cares deeply about, he will be his future brother-in-law, and honestly Zixun where were you even during the war?? You have demands now because?? Go shoot some arrows and chill. (JC is just standing there with crossed arms, looking at Jin Zixun without blinking, keeping a tight grip over Zidian who is the definition of  “lemme at him!!!” Jiejie doesn’t like it when he slices and dices people, although she’s not leaving much for him to chew on. It’s the most fun he’s had in years.)

When JGY sweetly suggest that there might be a viper poised to strike them in the back, NHS innocently asks “but San-Ge, didn’t your blow to WRH’s back help us win the war?” (NMJ has never loved his brother more than when he roasts JGY. Really, he could cry with pride. Here, A-Sang, there’s that fan you wanted. I ordered new birdcages to be build back home, you can have all the birds you want. Training is ... postponed.)

When news about the labor camps and the slaughtered Wens are revealed, many stay silent. A few of them cheer. But there are also a few that remember a boy willing to save someone from drowning, willing to risk his life to save the dead bodies of two parents. They remember the best doctor of their generation helping them heal, and rest, and save their loved ones. They remember that they are not the only children who were taken by this war, that they were not the only ones forced to make awful choices that haunt their dreams. They remember that it’s easy to stand back, but yet there was always one who stood up for the others, who would stand up for them, so how can they not stand with him now when he most need it?

WWX is not alone. The YungmengJiang clan is not alone. These kids went through hell and back in the past couple of years, and they will be damned if they will let another rise in WRH’s place. This ends now.

[littlesmartart]

I'm pretty sure I'm w o r t h l e s s if I can't be of s e r v i c e

a genius anon suggested "surface pressure" from encanto as a 3zun song and I've not actually seen the movie but the moment I listened to the song I was like OH NO. TIME FOR FEMALE 3ZUN FEELS (under a cut, because it turns out I have a lot of them)

I've seen a good few AUs exploring different gender dynamics with 3zun but here are my personal thoughts:

I don't think Mingjue's life would change a huge amount if she were a woman - you don't mess with a person who's six foot, jacked as fuck, and carries a giant semi-sentient murdersaber, no matter what their gender is - I think she'd just have even LESS time for JGS and politics in general, and be just like... one rung further down on the privilege ladder than canon Mingjue. if Huaisang is male, it's possible she could be considered to be a stop-gap until he's old/capable enough to take up leadership, and that would likely make their relationship more strained than canon.

Xichen's life would still be very privileged, but as part of a sect where the very conservative elders seem to have strong influence, I imagine she'd have to fight pretty hard to be taken seriously as a leader (look what a mess Lan Yi got into! this is what happens when you let women be in charge!), not to mention be constantly dodging marriage proposals, as the elders would likely prefer she marry an outer cousin who could take over leadship whilst keeping power in the main family line. she would definitely struggle to get out of the shadow of the other notorious Lan women, and her fear of fucking up is even greater than canon Xichen's, as there's always been a little part of her mind utterly petrified that if she does something bad enough she will just get locked away forever - after all, isn't that what happened to Lan Yi? isn't that what happened to her mother?

JGY's life would change a lot and could go in so many different directions; for one thing, I cannot believe that Meng Shi would have raised a daughter the same way as she raised a son, and would have been much much less likely to put such a strong emphasis on joining the Jin sect. I feel like her priority would have been to educate Meng Yao as much as possible, and then get her out of the brothel as soon as possible. from there, I think it's possible that she could have gone on a pretty similar path to canon JGY, either as herself or dressed as a man, with the main difference being that a female Mingjue would likely be a great deal more sympathetic towards a female Meng Yao killing the guard captain (MY: he would not acknowledge my authority, called me and my mother whores, and stole all my ideas! Mingjue: [shocked pikachu face with angry eyebrows drawn on] okay you shouldn't have killed him but like... fuck that guy!!! what a prick!!!) and female Xichen would have a much greater understanding of her perspective (MY: I have to fight for even the most basic of respect and everyone looks at me like I'm a pastry they're saving to eat later! Xichen: I personally choose to repress my negative emotions as a coping mechanism but I can certainly see that such a position might drive you into a murderous rage). if she got as far as being acknowledged by JGS, I imagine he'd immediately start looking to marry her off - because a war hero daughter is still a daughter, and he doesn't like smart women - at which point... well, let's choose a happy ending and say one of her sworn sisters volunteers :)

[cqlfeels]

Hope no one minds if I share a half-baked 3zun theory with the class 😊

It really is half-baked and is shared more like a drunk guy yelling in the subway than like a fandom scholar presenting a lecture 💖

So, sworn brotherhood is way more complicated than exchanging friendship bracelets and promising to be BFFs. It involves the families of all sworn brothers (and we know how important families are in the world of MDZS/CQL) and, for political leaders, it unavoidably gets tangled up in politics. Though speaking of modern-day rather than historical sworn brotherhood, this paper does a pretty good job outlining the functions of ritual kinship, and it's very readable, so I do think people who are Into Serious Meta would enjoy it:

Anyway, here's why WWX speculates 3zun swore brotherhood:

Ever since Meng Yao betrayed the QingheNie Sect, the relationship between Nie MingJue and him hadn’t been the same as before. Then why did they later become sworn brothers? From his observations, aside from how Lan XiChen brought it up, having always hoped that the two would reconcile, the most important factor was probably the gratitude of saving his life and writing the letters. To be precise, in his past battles, he had more-or-less depended on the information that Meng Yao sent over through Lan XiChen. He still thought that Jin GuangYao was a talented person whom one would rarely come upon, and intended on leading him back onto the right path. However, Jin GuangYao wasn’t his subordinate anymore. Only after they became sworn brothers would he have the status and the position to urge Jin GuangYao, like how he disciplined his younger brother, Nie HuaiSang.

Standard unreliable narrator disclaimers apply, etc.

But I always found this... Strange. I do think this is part of NMJ's motivation, but I think gratitude for JGY's role in the war is not nearly enough to swear brotherhood (WWX was also instrumental to winning Sunshot, and I just can't imagine NMJ saying "that's enough for him to become my brother"), and I... Don't think NMJ is so charitable as to swear brotherhood because he wants oh so much for JGY to be Good and not waste his talents. Yes I think he loves being able to have authority over JGY again, but enough to justify swearing brotherhood? Eh. I can see LXC suggesting both these things to pitch the idea to NMJ, but I don't think it's enough for NMJ to go from active distrust to ritual kinship. Of course these are important factors, yes, but not the whole picture. For all else you can say about NMJ, that he takes oaths lightly isn't an accusation you can make.

Interestingly, besides mutual affection, etc, LXC and JGY immediately gain material benefits by becoming brothers. JGY gains social capital by being held up as being close to two different sect leaders, and washes away his past work for the Wen by ritually aligning himself with the two heroes of Sunshot. LXC, on the other hand, can get financial help for his destroyed Sect without losing face - he's not begging for help, he's just gracefully accepting his brothers' generosity. For xiyao, sworn brotherhood brings some measure of stability to the power play they're entangled in the post-war world - JGY exchanges his sect's resources for the soft power of the Lan. (Note that JGY also gets a way to justify to his father why the Jin will lose face if they don't help the Lan, which, if you read JGY as genuinely wanting to help LXC, is also a perk for both of them.)

And NMJ......... Gets to scold JGY into virtue, I guess??? What benefit is he looking for? Just personal satisfaction??? Is he not Nie-zongzhu, isn't he considering his sect? I mean, the Nie as a sect gain nothing by their brotherhood...... Unless you remove NMJ out of the picture. When NHS gets to power, the Nie are poised to gain a lot.

Although both JGY and LXC clearly love NHS, if he outlived his political usefulness (and let's face it, NMJ is sure he will), there's no way they can justify to their sects why they're helping him indefinitely. If NHS is their sworn brother's heir, though? They don't even have to explain themselves - they're expected to help.

Even if NHS is a disastrous sect leader, he automatically inherits an unbreakable alliance with 2/3 of the major sects. The Jiang sure as hell won't go to war against all the other major sects put together, and LXC won't allow the Lan to be anything but nice to NHS as long as he can possibly help it. The Jin are more of a wildcard because NMJ has no reason to believe JGY will ever inherit leadership, but NHS - and by extension his sect - having a Jin on his side is better than no Jin at all. Plus if JGS were a normal father it'd be super awkward for him to go up against one of his son's sworn brothers' sect. There's always assassination and all, but hey, NMJ can't fix every thing in one fell swoop, can he?

So like, I'm not saying it's canon or anything, but it is possible that NMJ - who may be a hot-headed dude but must be capable of some level of strategizing, if he's such a great military man - was counting on dying before his time and leaving behind a beloved but incompetent brother who needs every advantage NMJ can get him if the Nie are to not disappear in a generation. I don't believe he'd take such an oath solely to Turn JGY Into An Upstanding Citizen, but I definitely believe he'd take whatever oath he had to if it's to ensure the protection of both NHS and the Nie sect.

I still have to think things through (maybe this whole theory will fall apart if I remember some direct contradiction or another) but for now I'm inclined to headcanon that this was like, 50% of his motivation, the other 50% being divided among the other reasons WWX outlined.

[inalandofsadclowns]

OHHHH so this nmj/qs perspective is a new one for me but I love it!

First of all, I also don't think Qin Su would find this kind of drama appealing. Her reaction at finding out about years of lies and about Rusong was not under natural conditions. "Innocent, to the extent of seeming a bit dense" yeah no, not the type to crave reputation, especially not this kind. She might go as far as to cancel the wedding herself, the Qin family taking the responsibility on themselves.

Unfortunately, canon Nie Mingjue indeed wouldn't stir shit up for himself to keep Jin Guangyao's name clean, when the latter could also just be honest and bear the consequences. He'd rather help arrange jgy's fake death first lol.

Lan Xichen is an interesting option. He wouldn't ask jgy to reveal the truth to the world of course. He empathises with his past struggles too much to ever ask him that. He can't drag his own clan into a scandal either. He would certainly not do nothing, in fact, he would be the only grown-up and hold jgs responsible – the one who should actually be cleaning up this mess, and have him call the wedding off after a series of aggressively polite and politely aggressive private discussions..

Jiang Cheng though... honestly, made me think of his partner requirements: "naturally beautiful, graceful and obedient, hard-working and thrifty, coming from a respected family, cultivation level not too high, personality not too strong, not too talkative, voice not too loud and must treat Jin Ling nicely." Sure we don't know loads about Qin Su's personality, but honestly? Might as well fit into the criteria. No let me rephrase – might as well have been written about her.

I can see how if no one can/is willing to stop jgy and qs's marriage, then especially not Jiang Cheng. Who btw prioritizes his family even at the expense of others so why would he give half a damn about saving face for jgy? What if he does it for himself and for Jin Ling though, while benefitting jgy, who is kind of pactically family now?

Now hear me out HEAR ME OUT this is very good!

Since jgy is jl's uncle, obviously qs would have a close relationship with him as well. Even before the marriage they both spend a lot of time with jl, occasionally in jc's company as well. jc notices the complementary qualities of the lady (did I mention she treats Jin Ling well? Well she does.❕❕) Given that qs is let in on the secret (as she deserves), jgy and qs are just still looking for the right way to cancel the marriage, but the two have already given each other the emotional freedom of falling in love with whomever they wish. Following one of jc's visits at Koi Tower: Qin Su points at the grumpy pathetic sexy purple man like "I want that one." And um...do you see what I'm getting at?

AND AS A BONUS

Xue Yang appears at and interrupts the wedding ceremony and just fucking kidnaps Qin Su (not revealing his identity). Qin Su's gonna be fine of course, but now she can say that it was her kidnapper who impregnated her.

It was all plannes out of course. I'm not yet sure how, but Su Minshan is in it, too. I just can't imagine jgy not involving him, that's all.

i know i’m late to the party but: thoughts on nie mingjue/qin su? not specifically “do you like/dislike it”—just in general! (including platonically or maybe an emergency marriage of convenience inconvenience)

(i think that nmj finding out that something is janky before jgy’s wedding—but not knowing not exactly what—would really throw a wrench into things, and i think there are some interesting possibilities to explore :3x )

HMMM YEAH

Nie Mingjue is absolutely someone who would act if he learned about the Qin stuff prior to the wedding-- unfortunately, his version of acting probably be along the lines of 'threaten JGY into cancelling the wedding/telling everyone, or he'll do it himself.'

i WANT the world where NMJ is the type of person to find out what's going on and have the tact and political savvy to recognize that stepping in and demanding to marry Qin Su himself is literally the only thing that could stop this wedding while not causing a life-ruining scandal for everyone. there would absolutely be a scandal, but that's why NMJ is literally the only one who could get away with doing this, because he can whether any gossip, because he doesn't care. people would gossip about JGY too, but it would presumably be sympathetic, and he can handle that. JGS would be annoyed at the embarrassment, but he hates NMJ already anyway. what's Qin Cangse supposed to do when a leader of one of the great sects demands to marry his daughter? everybody would see it as NMJ throwing his weight around and recognize that no one else really had a choice.

poor Qin Su, though-- I can't imagine anyone who falls in love with JGY/Meng Yao taking very easily to NMJ. however, he'd at least definitely explain the situation to her, and maybe she'd be the type to learn how to make the best of an arranged marriage.

it's really a perfect example of MXTX's great writing in terms of boxing characters into a corner based on their own world and personalities. one of the great sect leaders stepping in could fix this with a relative minimum of embarrassment for everyone, but LXC can't because of his sect's reputation, NMJ wouldn't because of his personality, and Jiang Cheng both could and would, but he doesn't know JGY or the Qins well enough to care.

[vermillioncrown]

What about... zyx!jin guangshan?

dude problem solved. don't be a man-slut

"oh fuck, at least i'm donghua-jgs" he's... pretty, i guess.

(i mean, being cql-jgs wouldn't be too bad. you still have your wealth and your life and your able body, just - "why did karma make me my dad??")

if pre-everything, just... slowly become a better sect leader, father, and husband. (in that order bc it's the most believable and important order of operations)

can you imagine the den of snakes that run llj? likely, jgs's behavior gives the lanling elders a lot of leeway, and people in power don't like that power being taken away. so... a slow maneuvering it is. who is amenable to change? who must be changed by force, instead?

maybe z!jgs has to keep up the slutty behavior. but he starts picking favorites. ones that he can be candid with, ones that he can get to help him and he can help back (bc waking up in this place, where truthfully no one is on your side... terrifying. first step is to secure your life)

(have you read that webtoon like wind on a dry branch? just like that harem. holy fuck the dialogue in that webtoon fucking slays)

next, secure the sonion's... everything. madame jin will live, she's an adult. triage dictates the kid first. how old is he? can we play catch? it's just starting to be more attentive, show more interest, more engagement. a kid shows up, take him in. "what, lanling jin is too poor to feed another mouth? this old man cannot have the face to deal with his consequences?"

(jzx says a thing. z!jgs half-squats to talk to his son "hey, little man. you can't say that. it's not nice" he'll make his sons get along)

("ah fuck, i gotta whip that jin zixun into shape, too, huh...")

finally, make peace with his wife. figure out the background of their marriage (definitely not love... holy fuck what if it was loveinfatuation on madame jin's part, she marries, and now this proud woman is stuck in a terrible marriage and refuses to lose face by showing heartbreak or )

(... nah. nah?)

well, whatever it is, solve it. z!jgs's got this. legit, even when he's slutting around, he's not actually sleeping around (kinda skeevy. z!jgs doesn't know how xianxia birth control works. also where to get an sti exam???) and he needs to convince lady jin.

wrh will be wrh, regardless. but z!jgs has the luxury of knowing people will... mostly survive (it's a bit cold, but they won't go out of their way to help things along or whatever. it would draw too much of the wrong attention). and as long as he behaves himself post-ssc things will be okay... right?

make jzx into sect leader and then "adios, i'm flying to the bahamas with your mother"

"what's a bahamas???"

=

if transmigrate as things are already in motion, honestly, what can't be stopped with a "son, you're doing great" to jgy?

(okay this would be a huge political intrigue in lanling-type story. palace/harem/politics and z!jgs doesn't even have a bunch of concubines. just a council of old farts trying to tell him this and that.

ugh)

[briapia95]

I read all of the arranged marriage AU and it's Chef's kiss. Because I'm a terrible person, I imagined the rest as Ultimate Bad End AU™ wherein LWJ loses his core and becomes Yiling Patriarch, dies in the Burial Mounds after LXC dies at Qiongqi way and WWX stays miserable and in cloud recesses because he thinks he ruins everything he touches and he doesn't wanna fuck things up for JC and Yanli

Omg that’s brutal and I love it xD. I imagine that the original AU while angsty, it won’t be as brutal (I think), but just for the lols let’s imagine that. I have this named in my docs as “the super bad ending lol noooope” just so you know;

[Here for the original AU]

LWJ is a powerful cultivator but there’s so much he can do anything against Wen Zhuliu (WZL?) when they’re at one of Dusk Creek Mountain’s many caves. He does not see it coming, one moment they’re trying to get away from the Xuanwu of Slaughter, Wen disciples trying and failing to climb back the way they’ve all come from and the next moment WWX is pushing himself in between Luo Qingyang and that wicked brand Wang Lingjiao (WLJ?) had used to threaten them since this excuse of a night-hunt began.

WLJ burns WWX, as in canon, but this time seeing this LWJ  furiously attacks the other Wen cultivators, WLJ realizing shit, I shouldn’t have done that, starts panicking and screaming; causing more mayhem in the midst of the current chaos that’s happening. This gives an opening for the other disciples from the different sects to fight against the Wen cultivators, using their corpses to distract the Xuanwu for a while many of them are able to climb out of the cave.

Meanwhile, WC tries to shut WLJ up, her clinging to him and making it impossible to escape, but then LWJ is coming after him too, that’s when WZL comes in between them. Too fast, too driven to protect his master for LWJ wrath. WWX somewhat near realizes, screaming “Lan Zhan!” in warning and desperation, but it’s too late now, he’s too far away, the second master of Gusu Lan has now gotten his golden core shattered.

The pain is not as terrible as the sudden cold that sinks into his bones. Making him almost lose his consciousness right there and then. He does not notice WC & company fled, WWX enraged and confused, manages to come to LWJ’s aid but because of plot reasons -don’t ask me- they still find themselves trapped inside the cave with a wild Xuanwu that while appeased, is still a threat to them. (the same happens here, JC & co. go get help now with the added bonus of not being pursued by the Wen)

WWX’s guilt starts to simmer, “if you had not come to my aid you’d still have your core intact, Lan Zhan, why would you do something like that?”, he whispers, tears streaming down his cheeks and onto LWJ’s cheeks, LWJ face pressed against WWX chest as he softly streaks his hair while his other arm keeps their bodies together.

“Is it not apparent?” LWJ asks, words strained from the effort that takes not to lose consciousness.

WWX trembles, throat thigh, tears still not stopping, “You are a stupid, stupid, man, Lan Zhan. Has nobody ever told you that? A stupid, noble, too good man” he finishes as the presses their lips together for the first time. LWJ kisses back, he has dreamed about this moment for months now and it’s everything he ever hoped for, his only regret that it has happened in the worst circumstances imaginable.

Flash forward to the rescue, they can’t really kill the Xuanwu of Slaughter but its hunger is quelled enough for it to not come when they get them out. JC is there and so is LXC and enough disciples to form a small army (Both Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan sect forces intact and ready for action since the attract on Lanling Jin)

The state of LWJ’s core is kept secret since only WWX and WC & co know, everyone else too distracted fleeing the cave to notice.

Plot happens and the war starts, WWX being the former Yunmeng Jiang head disciple and married to the second young master of Gusu Lan goes to war too. (Also, hello there guilt, we love some self-sacrificing WWX that has not been able to cope much with the knowledge that his husband was defending him, therefore, in his mind, him being the reason he lost his core, even if LWJ has told him repeatedly that no it’s not his fault).

So as the war drags on, his husband not coming back and in a desperate attempt to help him and some convenient plot sprinkled in the way, LWJ finds himself at burial mounds, flash forward to three months later and ta-da! Yiling Patriarch! LWJ.

Let’s say the first supervisory office he goes to is the Yiling one, he meets WQ, and remembers how fondly WWX spoke about WN that time they met at the Qishan Wen discussion conference, so he does not kill the elders and healers, a-yuan’s mother probably in early pregnancy. But since this is a nope AU he does kill the rest of the cultivators, (probably a-yuan’s father amongst them), ordering WQ and what’s left of her people to try to leave somewhere far away or to renounce the Wen name or something. Then WC & co meet the same end as the novel canon.

So, the sunshot campaign is won thanks to LWJ, JGS is dead and JZX is sect leader, engaged once again to JYL and JGY being his right-hand man or something. LWJ is now cultivating resentful energy (probably in a more moderated way) and WWX still in love but now feeling more guilty than before, since now his husband is walking the path he used to abhor. 

There’s tension between LQR and LWJ because of the heretic path and all that, it becomes worse since LQR makes it clear that he thinks LWJ’s decision to help WWX all the way back in the cave was foolish. WWX pours himself into researching a way of cultivating a golden core again, he sneaks into the forbidden section of the Library pavilion but is found by someone (Su She?) and then heavily punished by LQR.

This leads to a big argument between LQR and LWJ, WWX intervenes, they get punished, LQR rasping out when is finished “This is your fault, know that my nephew who I have raised as my own is now walking this path because of your insolence and arrogance. His pain is your doing.” Guess what, it’s super effective, more guilt piling onto WWX. But at the same time that’s when LWJ snaps, he takes WWX and leaves for Yiling, he’ll create a home for them where nobody will reproach his method of cultivation, where the hollowness of WWX’s eyes disappears into the brightness he fell in love with.

They find WQ’s group at the bottom of the burial mounds hiding. After LWJ’s attack, the cultivation world believed all the Wen at Yiling died. Together they form a settlement at BM. And they’re happy for a while, LWJ limits the use of resentful energy, WWX researching with the input of WQ and all the nice and soft interactions between them and the Wen remnants.

That is until they’re invited to JL’s 100th-day celebration, the ambush, both JZX and LXC appear here, but something goes wrong, LWJ loses control of his powers when he tries to use the STS, and just when the people brought for the ambush are about to shoot him LXC steps in the way. The arrows were poisoned, and struck vital points, he dies bleeding out in LWJ’s arms.

It’s all a blur, next thing he knows he’s kneeling inside the demon slaughtering cave, WWX speaking softly to him, almost in a pleading way, holding him and petting his head, “come back to me” “it wasn’t your fault” “I love you” “don’t leave me,” LWJ breaks down again, the death of his brother a pain too hard to bear.

The siege happens (Lead by Gusu Lan and Qinghe Nie) and LWJ, still too distraught for any clear thinking, uses the STS once more. Not without making WQ use her needles on WWX to make sure WWX and, say, A-yuan are out of harm's way. There’s a goodbye and one last kiss. He tries to hide them but he’s not fast enough and WWX catches LWJ being struck by LQR’s sword, the pain in the elder’s eyes apparent even if he’s trying to hide it in righteous fury.

JC finds them, WWX now free from the needles is holding a-yuan as if his life depends on it, he tries but he can’t help his brother. WWX married into Gusu Lan and he’s now being taken as a temporary prisoner by LQR, the older man still takes pity on A-yuan, so he brings him back promising no harm will be done to him.  

WWX heart is in shatters, everything, the downfall of his husband, the death of his brother in law, the mental breakdown that took away his Lan Zhan even before LQR did, everything was his fault. If he had not married Lan Zhan, if he hadn’t told uncle Jiang that he was more than fine with marrying LWJ, everything would’ve been fine, Lan Zhan would be alive, the Wen probably too.

Months later JC is at Cloud Recesses, demanding WWX to be brought back to LP, but he refuses, he refuses to taint something else, better to be a prisoner there than a free man endangering the lives of people he loves.

Thirteen years pass and there’s a distress flare signal shot from Mo village. There’s no second thought, WWX will be dead before something bad happens to a-yuan.

I was not able to make it a tragic tragic AU (of an AU), so here’s a hopeful ending at the last moment xD Also! Thank you so much for reading the original AU, it makes me so glad you enjoyed it c:  

[thatswhatsushesaid]

Hi! So I did a fair amount of rereading in this specific area for a fic I'm writing but fuck if I know where I've been. I would rather die than try and find it all again so I am humbly requesting that someone else do it for me your help. I feel Pretty Damn Sure that Jgy never touched Qin Su after he knew that they were siblings. However, my friend pulled up a passage from the ExR tl: “Jin GuangYao hugged his head, his voice bitter, “… I never touched A-Su again after our marriage. A-Song… we had him before we married. Back then, I was afraid of further delay and additional issues…” (bold added)

...and I can only remember, aside from this, Qin Su saying something like "no wonder you never...ever since...ever since then", in ryukiseth's translation of the webnovel. Given only those two sources, it seems ambiguous as to whether he never touched her again after he knew OR after their wedding night. What do you think?

hey!! i am always happy to go digging around in the text for literally any reason at all, but for this one i feel pretty confident that i don’t need to, because i agree that it is left ambiguous at least insofar as whether or not jgy was intimate with qin su again before their wedding. however, my personal read is that i do think he had no choice but to consummate the marriage on their wedding night.

which is just. fucking awful—for jgy, of course, because He Knows (and is horrified), and awful for qin su precisely because she doesn’t know. but i imagine she can tell something is wrong, if the way zzj plays it in cql is any indication. like… look at his face.

he looks like he’s going to be physically ill.

the reason i think they likely were intimate on their wedding night is because i don’t see how he could have avoided it without bringing a lot of undue criticism and scrutiny down upon himself and qin su both. i don’t know if it would have been customary for the marriage bed to be, uh, inspected the morning after, but even if something that invasive weren’t expected, i suspect there were other risks factors to consider. what if qin su fretted to her maids or friends about her new husband treating her coldly? what if those rumours made it back to qin su’s father? (jgs isn’t her dad, he’s just the shitty sperm donor ok) given how hard jgy had to fight to get the marriage approved in the first place, it seems likely that qin su’s father might seize on an opportunity to annul his daughter’s marriage to jgs’s most ambitious bastard, in hopes of securing a different match for her. which might have been the best scenario for everyone involved—if qin su weren’t, you know, already pregnant. and jgy knows firsthand what happens to women who are pregnant out of wedlock.

so, yes, those are my thoughts on the matter. tl;dr i do think jgy consummated his marriage to qin su, and then proceeded to never touch her ever again. that much i definitely believe is indisputable truth, not just because jgy says so himself, but because as you pointed out, qin su makes it clear that jgy never touched her again, too. and she has no reason to ‘perform’ this narrative for anyone else, since as far as she knows, she is only speaking to jgy in the jinlintai treasure room.