#Mdzs fanon pet peeves

[leatherbookmark]

it's been 3 years since i got into cql/mdzs and it still baffles me that people really, like sincerely, look at nmj and jgy and think jgy is 100% the aggressor, the one in power, the one in control, and nmj is a victim who's never done anything wrong ever in his life AND would be a chill teddybear* Had It Not Been For The Evil Bastard. truly fascinating

[dephoraowo]

Wei Wuxian and a List of his Fanon Tropes

Wei Wuxian is one of the best characters in mdzs. He is, unfortunately, also one of the most misunderstood characters in mdzs. I will be compiling all of his fanon tropes so that readers will be able to differentiate the canon from fanon.

List of Fanon Tropes:

Wei Wuxian is stupid / lazy / annoying / rude / incompetent. (+ this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this.)

Wei Wuxian is a reckless or sacrificial idiot. (+ this, this, this, this.)

Wei Wuxian has low self-esteem. (+ this, this, this, this.)

Wei Wuxian is arrogant. (+ this, this, this, this.)

Wei Wuxian has depression. (+ this, this, this, this.)

Wei Wuxian is bisexual.

Wei Wuxian is suicidal. (+ this.)

Wei Wuxian is morally grey. (+ this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this.)

Wei Wuxian owes the Jiangs. (+ this, this, this.)

Wei Wuxian did the Golden Core Transfer purely out of love.

Wei Wuxian was favoured by Jiang Fengmian. (+ this, this.)

Wei Wuxian doesn't know how to take care of himself.

Wei Wuxian is oblivious. (+ this, this, this, this.)

Wei Wuxian was adopted into the Jiang family. (+ this.)

Wei Wuxian harms the dead. (+ this.)

Wei Wuxian was not mistreated by the Jiangs. (+ this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this.)

Wei Wuxian did not help the Jiang Clan after the war.

Wei Wuxian is an alcoholic.

Wei Wuxian regrets what he did to save the Wens.

Wei Wuxian is always thinking about Lotus Pier.

Wei Wuxian wants to reunite with Jiang Cheng during his second life. (+ this, this, this.)

Wei Wuxian is physically weak without his golden core.

Wei Wuxian tortured every single Wen in the Supervisory Office.

Wei Wuxian refuses to accept help from everyone around him. (+ this, this.)

Wei Wuxian thinks Lan Wangji hates him. (+ this.)

Wei Wuxian views the Jiangs through rose colored lenses.

Wei Wuxian never told anyone that he was thrown into the Burial Mounds.

Wei Wuxian is a people pleaser. (+ this.)

Wei Wuxian is seen as an equal / respected by Jiang Cheng.

Wei Wuxian is privileged.

Wei Wuxian's cultivation is demonic cultivation. (+ this, this, this.)

Wei Wuxian is ashamed of his cultivation.

Wei Wuxian's memory is bad.

Wei Wuxian has a hero complex.

Disclaimer, none of these posts belong to me. I suggest reading all of the wonderful posts of the users that I have listed down because they are quite good to read. I'm just listing down all the fanon tropes, pet-peeves, misconceptions, gripes, or horrible takes out there in the fandom in mdzs for my own reference and perhaps everyone out there who needs it.

If there are any more things that I have missed, please don't hesitate to share 😊🙏. I have unfortunately reached the limit for this post and will have to add to a separate post if there are more fanon takes.

[weiwuxianismybae]

My fandom pet peeves

Lan Wangji’s dislike of Jiang Wanyin

So, I dived back into the world of fanfiction and was quickly reminded of all the fanon things I hate. Starting with Lan Wangji’s unreasonable dislike of Jiang Cheng. In order to promote "Wei Wuxian's little brother Jiang Cheng", Lan Wangji's very good reasons to hate Jiang Cheng are reduced to some petty, stupid bs like "He [LWJ] didn't like how often Jiang Cheng hit Wei Wuxian." And later on we get this gem: "After some time LWJ understood that violence is JC's way of showing affection." Like, wtf? If my younger sibling (and I have one) showed their affection through violence, I wouldn't see it as love, but as abuse, 'cause that's what it is. And I'm not talking about the normal sibling fighting because that's not what Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng's relationship is. I mean, just reread the Cloud Recesses Study arc. The only thing Jiang Cheng seems to know is how to belittle and criticise Wei Wuxian. I'm not gonna lie, I found some of the remarks quite funny (I'm a passive aggressive bitch myself), but when that's the only thing that comes out of Jiang Cheng's mouth, it really starts to eat at you. I deeply respect Wei Wuxian's ability to not take it seriously. And when Lan Wangji’s actual grievances with Jiang Cheng are stated, we get the "but he [JC] still loved his brother" nonsense. Lan Wangji’s real reasons to dislike Jiang Cheng are as follows: abandoning Wei Wuxian, being the prime reason and catalyst of Wei Wuxian's death, spreading hateful rumours about Wei Wuxian (who else could have been the source of "WWX is responsible for Jiang Clan's massacre" if not the only surviver, besides Wei Wuxian, of the said massacre?), and hunting down the so-called demonic cultivators because "what if that's actually Wei Wuxian." I commend Lan Wangji’s restraint, because if it had been me, I would have long since punched that guy in the nose. And I absolutely love Lan Wangji’s attitude of "I won't look at you; I won't speak to you. Sizhui, you may speak on my behave."

"Lans only love once"

Please tell me I'm not the only one who gets toothache whenever I read this. When I came across it for the first time, I didn’t think much of it. Like, at first, I thought it was cute, but then it started grinding on my nerves. Why? Because it diminishes Lan Wangji’s love, trust and devotion to Wei Wuxian to a mere fate thing that is beyond your control. He is already being reduced to some block of ice (by the mob in mdzs and the fandom), and now you also simplify such an important part to his character. Like, where did this even come from? Yes, we have the famous Lan "I will leave this world, because my love is no longer in it" An and Lan Wangji, but that's it when it comes to die-hard romantics in the Lan Clan. The story of Qingheng-jun and Madam Lan is not really romantic (I'm not gonna speculate on what there was and wasn't between them because Lan Xichen telling Wei Wuxian about his parents had a different purpose, namely, to esteblish Lan Wangji as someone who doesn't just listen to what his elders have to say, but as someone who seeks to understand and then judge the reasoning by his own moral beliefs). And that's it. So where is "Lans only love once" coming from??

So why did I write all of this? Well, I'm just tired of seeing this over and over again. Aren't we all so creative? Come up with new head-canons (so that I have more things to criticise /jk) or stick to canon characteristics. Please.

[starrywangxian]

(pls fact check me if i'm wrong!! /gen and also disclaimer that i'm not chinese!!)

one of my biggest pet peeves with this fandom is that people confuse fanon with canon too much or they miss the cultural differences in mdzs because i keep seeing people say that wei wuxian is the adopted son of jiang fengmian and yu ziyuan which is not true.

normally, i don't want to be "that bitch" who comments on stuff like this but when it concerns the cultural difference and/or is relevant to someone's character than i will be That Bitch.

because wei wuxian was not officially adopted or fostered or any such thing.

wei wuxian refers to jiang cheng as "shidi" (师弟, shīdì) which means younger martial brother and is used for junior male members of one’s own sect. the character for "shi" (师, shī) means sect and the character for "di" (弟, dì) means younger brother but this is just a term of address. the same for jiang yanli: wei wuxian only calls her "shijie" (师姐, shījiě) which means older martial sister and is used for senior female members of one’s own sect. "jie" (姐, jiě) uses the character for older sister but again, it's just a term of address that shows you're familiar with someone and can even have romantic undertones. (meanings taken from the seven seas translation and my chinese knowledge which you're free to correct if i'm wrong! /gen).

wei wuxian doesn't directly refer to jiang cheng or jiang yanli as his blood or adopted siblings neither jiang fengmian or yu ziyuan as his adopted or fostered parents. there are a few examples when they make the connection and reveal that they see each other in that way though, which is why a lot of people see them as family and it happens a lot in fanfiction and fanart etc. for example, when wei wuxian compares them (jc and wwx) to the twin jades of gusu. or when jin zixun calls wei wuxian 'just a servant of the jiang sect' and jiang yanli says he's like a brother to her. wei wuxian also mentions in the family banquet extra that he went to the jiang sect's family banquets too. but wei wuxian isn't ever officially recognised as an adopted son.

so he would not be included in the family records. to the jiang sect's records, wei wuxian was just the first disciple and that's it. and this is so important to wei wuxian's character because he has no one. when he defects from the jiang sect, he's all alone with no support from anyone. he was just a disciple of the jiang sect and he served them like any other disciple then he defected and now he has no ties or relations to them.

a side point but this is also why people ship jiang yanli or jiang cheng with wei wuxian but that is a whole other can of worms that i don't want to open. (for clarity: i don't personally ship wwx with anyone but lwj but i see no problem with shipping wwx and jc or jyl! i won't go anymore into this as i'm not chinese so i can't really talk about the cultural differences as well as chinese people can, so you can listen to them instead!)

basically, the relationship between wei wuxian and the jiang family is purely down to intrepretation but just bare in mind that it is never official or canon in the novel!

[reileinaxiu]

MDZS Fanon Peeve: WWX and JWY Reconciliation (🤢🤮)

Warnings: Opinionated and probably biased JC bashing. Some cursing. Read at your discretion.

As much as I despise JWY he was a perfectly written character. As perfect as you can write an unhinged insecure megalomaniac underneath the facade of a political leader with their flaws(a lot of flaws).

But lets talk about the ending where people think JWY has changed for the better. Enough change that despite the unlikelihood there is a possibility for reconciliation which is to say none on my part. Which also infuriates me when browsing for fics.

One encounter can definitely change someone's perspective but that doesn't change every aspect of their world view. Especially someone late in their life and as set in their ways is as JWY.

Sure the Golden Core reveal and encounter with JGY might have JWY rethinking of his treatment of WWX during his first life.

But what about his anger about the burning of Lotus Pier, his sister's death, his distaste for LWJ and WWX's relationship? Don't tell me his entire world view just flipped just because he recognized WWX leaving the sect was as his fault? Don't tell me he learned to be a better uncle to JRL because he realized he was a terrible guardian and role model? No one shall dare tell me that JWY stopped being homophobic after the book. Would he actually be a better person just because he learned that the origin of the core he received was falsified?

That encounter had no repentance to the 13 years of hunting "demonic cultivators".

That scene had no realizations about how badly he messed up JRL. In fact he even uses JRL as an excuse to further attack WWX stating the JRL was parentless because of him. JWY literally pushes and shouts at JRL everytime he tries to help.

If this is being a good uncle, then JGY was a f***ing saint to JRL.

What we got out of it was him still feeling that WWX was the cause of the Massacre and the catalyst for his sister's death and how he betrayed him for the Wens. And how shitty he treated his own nephew who was just worried about his health. Oh and his inferiority complex the size of the Pacific.

He spits all that gasoline to set fire to already charred wood.

WWX: Take it as my repayment to the Jiang Family

JWY: Repayment, to my father, my mother, my sister?

WWX: Forget it it's all in the past, let's not mention it again.

He still had the f***ing gall to ask more from WWX as if those people were still alive and that his Golden Core and sufferings weren't enough. As if WWX needs to do more to recompense for the abysmal treatment he received in Lotus Pier. At least WWX has enough emotional maturity for the entirety of the story.

Boohoo. Spare me the tears. That was probably the most unsympathetic and pathetic waterworks I have seen to date.

All he learned was to leave WWX alone. Because nothing good comes out of trying to take what was never owed. a debt that was already paid.

So yeah. There's no changing angry toxic grapes so late in life. We get sh**** wine from fermenting wrongly from the start.

Just because they've agreed to forget doesn't mean they will ever forgive. What JWY became and what his part in the demise of the Wen Remnants is unforgivable to WWX. And to JWY, WWX's 'betrayal'(I laugh at JC stans in my head) is unforgivable to him.

Don't ever mention any possibilities of a WWX and JWY reconciliation to me. That tag should burn.

[righteousinadversity]

3, 9, and 10 for the ask game?

Thank you for the ask!

3. What’s your favourite aspect of MDZS?

Oh gods, there is so much... How complex and well-written the characters are, their motives, their fears, and what drives them. How tight the plot is, and just the story's execution - how even with all the flashbacks it never feels jarring.

But my favourite aspect has to be, without a doubt, Wei Wuxian. Just how brilliant a protagonist he is, his ideals, his determination, his sheer strength of will. Wei Wuxian as a character inspires me to be a better person, and I think that will always be the most cherished thing I have about MDZS.

9. What’s your favourite piece of fan content you’ve consumed (metas, fanart, fanfiction, etc)?

My favourite piece of fan content... well there are fanfictions that are definitely my absolute comfort fics, and metas that gave me such brilliant analysis of the work itself. But I would say @ladypfenix's song of swords will be an all-time favourite of mine (with its sequel not far behind). It is such a beautiful piece of work and you guys should absolutely read it!

10. What do you look for in fanfiction? What do the writers have to get ‘right’, and what things will make you click away?

What will make me click away? Oh plenty, plenty of things. Especially so for fics set in canon-universe. I am much more flexible about fics that happen in AUs because I can be brought into the belief of people being different with different influences. But even then, I am absolutely staunch about Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's characterization and also about the dynamic they share. This means none of the nonsensical fanon about WWX - conditionally smart WWX, insecure or arrogant WWX, politically inept WWX, oblivious WWX, WWX who downplays his own powers for JC or even because he is afraid of YZY, just... let him be in all his confident, powerful glory. Similarly, for LWJ, caveman LWJ makes me want to die, LWJ who is cruel to others who are not WWX, LWJ who is over possessive especially if WWX and he are not in a committed relationship yet, Manipulative LWJ, Dark LWJ are all my instant nos.

For Wangxian dynamic itself, I don't care for LWJ being the one who fixes WWX or whatever. I also don't care for LWJ being raised on a pedestal while WWX is someone who is barely worthy of him. These are common tropes I see, but I obviously don't care for the roles being reversed either.

Aside from that, for canon verse fics, I don't like abuse apologism, especially in the case of YZY. I don't care for fics that whitewash JC, JGY, XY. If they have a long redemption arc at a suitable point in the story, I could be convinced but like. It has to happen early. And there has to be a good redemption arc. But fics that act like they did not commit canon actions at all? Nope.

The cultivation world being framed as being in the right during the BM arc. I will jump away from that fic so fast-

And finally. Gui Dao is evil - or any substitute of Gui Dao in AU fics is evil - is an absolute instant no. I cannot handle it as it is almost always paired with reckless WWX/self sacrificing WWX.

I also have personal preferences regarding some side characters and only gripping plot and good WX characterization can keep me if certain pet peeves do show up.

As for what can the writer get 'right'? Well the opposite. Good WX characterization. Wen Remnants and WWX found family is always my favourite. Writing soft-hearted and timid side characters well is a personal preference I enjoy across all fandoms. I just... don't care for fics that look like it had been written by someone who knows the work through scrolling through a few posts on the net than by actually reading the book.

ask game

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Top 5 fanon/fandom pet peeves in MDZS English fandom

1: CAVEMAN SPEECH LAN WANGJI or refers to himself in third person as well as caveman speech (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ He is not a 3 year old and he is literally described as being precise and eloquent with his words so no one can misunderstand what he says or twist it. Choosing not to talk does not mean he does not know how to speak correctly.

2: Wei Wuxian "OMG I can't be worth Lan Wangji's love, he's so hot and fine and I'm just unworthy lil ol me that's so plain and awful" even when they are MARRIED.

3: Wei Wuxian crying at the drop of a dime like a sideshow act (eyes CQL and Xiao Zhan for this).

4: The utterly uncomfortable ways Wei Wuxian is feminized because he prefers to bottom like that makes him lose his masculinity all of a sudden when it is an in novel joke calling himself wife/mother etc and Lan Wangji is the prim proper one to act like a house husband while Wei Wuxian would be the one chugging beers and watching football. (PS... stop trying to het up gay relationships and relying on very outdated stereotypes, topping and bottoming is not gender dynamics, good thank you very much please come again)

5: Nicer than he actually is Jiang Cheng, he is caustic, sarcastic, unfriendly, a bitch and he is a pure pessimist and ruins the fun, he would literally rather die then help Wei Wuxian in getting together with Lan Wangji or support anything to do with that relationship. He is nice to no one at all.

[paperraptor]

#5 and #9 for the MDZS ask meme?

MDZS ask meme!

@averageace

#5: It might be a little cliche but Jiang Yanli’s death is still something i’m not sure i’ll ever get over, I remember being baffled the first time I watched it and she ended up there and dying and I was appropriately like WTF why are you even here. There are probs others but that one is sticking out to me (so is Wen Qing’s death but I think many of us are all pretty bitter about the death of these pretty ladies)

#9: This is an interesting one, I know I have had many moments in fic where I cringe a little too much but i’m struggling to put into words what it is that drives me crazy. There’s definitely not a whole lot I really dislike just a few pet peeves that’ll get me, specific things include pet names and when there are really long dialogs where LWJ talks a lot. Those are honestly the big things that come to mind, I know they are not necessarily fanon but off the top of my head that’s what I got.

Thanks for the ask!!!!

[tonyglowheart]

pure petty wank here but:

honestly it’s a huge pet peeve of mine when ppl tag or call it MDZS when they’re referring to CQL

like I get it, cross-tagging. and I’m also of two minds, bc the other petty side of me does think CQL could/should pay more homage to its originator, ya unfilial child you lol

but on the other hand... the canons, and like, the (CQL-only/centric) fandom dynamics/fanons are just different enough that I find it highly frustrating

esp when I’m going into the MDZS tag looking for non-CQL stuff and it’s 60-70% CQL-specific stuff

again this is a purely personal-level petty-level pet peeve, I ain’t trying to start shit, I just... on some level wish there was more MDZS content here lol :’)

[ctl-yuejie]

9 10 60

thank you soooo much!

9. A Fanon You Dislikehmm….i know i wrote these questions but i don’t think there’s a fanon i dislike….there’s more like an assortment of popular head canons that i wouldn’t co-sign

. lan wangji hitting wei wuxian in a kinky way

. comparisons between xue yang & wei wuxian saying wei wuxian could have turned out like him if it weren’t for the yunmeng clan taking him in, or just the general idea that wei wuxian could’ve ended up like xue yang (maybe that’s more connected to my beef with xue yang in canon :””D )

i think those are my biggest pet peeves atm? or at least i came across them quite often.

10. Favourite Fanfic Set-UpUhhhh!!! I love me powerful Yiling Patriarch stories where he survives the second sunshot campaign and anything and everything that focuses on the Yunmeng brothers relationship after canon. Also: every fanfic about the WangXian family regardless of universe.

some great “bamf!wei wuxian survives the second sunshot campaign and adopts everyone” fics i am currently reading:

Death of a Ghost by Gotcocomilk (also great Yunmeng brothers reunion fic)The storm comes and goes (and I keep walking) by Naamah_Beherit 

60. Character Developmentuhhhhhhhh..there’s a bunch of characters I adore but at the moment I have a lot fo thoughts about Jiang Cheng!

he really isn’t a good guy after wei wuxian dies (more so in the novel) and i love how complex and warped his story is. there’s never a point where i don’t understand his actions, but he is also super infuriating. 

The Untamed / MDZS ask game

[reileinaxiu]

MDZS Fanon Pet Peeve: the Jiang heir

Warning: Some cursing and expletive language.

I just noticed/realized is that there are fics out there with JWY, the bane of all matchmakers and decent women in all the land, would actually make his head disciple or any other person who wasn't Jiang blood into his heir.

Yes the classist, bigoted, JWY, naming some cultivator he recruited in the war to inherit his position as Sect leader.

I'm sad to know that there are actually fics out there that portray JWY as someone who could care less about the background of their heir and choose them for competency. Or worse. Choose them because they were apparently surviving Jiang disciples that WWX had trained because apparently sentimentality (which JWY never had).

I think worst of them all is when they think JWY would actually appoint WWX as the Jiang heir especially post canon.😱

See where I'm going here? That just goes to show how those writers understood him. Which is to say not at all.🧐

That's why I'm always struck by some fics that show JWY as dying a bitter single unlikeable person that he truly is at the end of the book. Those were particularly good 😊. I found more realistic compared to the drivel that I cannot unread.

I sometimes wish my brain can do selective amnesia so I can unread all the OOC JWY fics I've read in my dark history. 😓

Let's take a look at why he would never allow someone who was at least not his own child or blood relative to become an heir of YunmengJiang and why he shall remain a bachelor for the rest of his lonely angry lifespan.

First of all, I don't think it was really mentioned, but I doubt JWY is the last Jiang besides JL.

He might be the last main line Jiang there is within immediate succession. Maybe he had relatives who married out to come back to bolster the ranks or there were non-clan Jiang disciples who were not prevented from nighthunting were out on a hunt and escaped the massacre to rejoin the sect.

How many besides the main clan are actual gentry? Not a lot unless they married in or they were civilian gentry that joined (I'm calling it civilian gentry cause there was the Mo Family who were a non-cultivation family ruling their village)

I'm guessing not a lot in the Jiang Clan too. The Sect more or less survived the war but the Jiang Clan was probably down to JFM, JYL, and JWY. With JYL marrying out and JFM and YZY dying, the Jiang Clan was unfortunately left with JWY to continue the bloodline. Sucks for them.

YZY would probably roll in her grave, claw her way out of hell, and become a fierce corspe just to make sure that no one other than her children or her grandchildren were to inherit the throne of sect leader. And I believe JWY would think the same as her or seek approval from his parents even after death. Nor would he grant the Jiang name to anyone that wasn't his blood related family. Plus I think he'd rather slit his own throat than adopt some child.

Another thing is the tag Adopted WWX that gets me annoyed sometimes. In the novel he was never adopted he was just taken in as a ward and treated like nuisance. So it confounds me that people actually write how WWX was always in the clan registry or that JWY had the option of naming WWX as Jiang Heir.

If in the novel JFM couldn't deign to give WWX at least legal familial support through adoption why would JWY?

JWY who blamed WWX for a lot of things he never did and still blames him. Who couldn't even look at WWX's relationship with LWJ without sneering in disgust. Would actually give him a position of power that means the most to his egotistical life. Yeah nuh uh. 😑

As for a Jiang heir, he also would never appoint any of his disciples that position. Much less if they were rogue cultivators or backgroundless civilians that he recruited during the war. Much lesser if they were trained by WWX of all people.

He treats all of his disciples like subordinates where his command was unquestioned. What WWX was not are the qualities he looks for in his disciples. JWY would prefer all of his disciples to stay far away from any behavior WWX had. His disciples didn't blink an eye to when WWX was being dragged into an inn to most likely be tortured to death.

As long as JWY lives and breathes and has the final say so he would never appoint, WWX or any of his disciples Jiang heir. Only by some miracle he actually gets married and has a child will the Jiang Clan have an heir because he is mostly like to die single. Also YunmengJiang sect would probably be fine under temporary leadership of someone who is not the Jiang Clan heir.

So why would he forever remain a single fermented grape?

JC stans are probably the only ones that would marry him and those don't exist in the MDZS universe.

One. He was blacklisted by all the matchmakers in Yunmeng.

I would say it takes skill to become rejected by an entire region of eligible families and their daughters. But no he is just an ***hole who can't keep his opinions to himself and aims to be as rude and derisive as possible towards perfectly fine ladies. In the audio drama he insulted a lady's choice of colors and perfume for smelling like, and I quote, "noxious poison". I mean wtf?! If that's how he treats all the females then it's no wonder he's not married yet. Plus three more off screen blind dates that went horrible.

Two. He will never marry because he has standards.

Standards he will probably not budge on. Those were: 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.

The last one is the only relatively reasonable standard he has set. The rest is just him being picky he might as well get a doll dress it in red and marry it.

Three. No one in their sane state of mind would marry someone with the reputation of a rabid dog.

JWY, has gone on to torture people of inconsequential backgrounds, to death, for years. I say inconsequential because I doubt he would target people who had societal backing. People like Xue Yang who was under the Jins and proven to be a homicidal demonic cultivator with a record of massacring entire clans who he did not pursue because he is a coward.

The slightest suspicion not always with verified proof a person gets dragged to Lotus Pier to be flayed to death with a lightning whip. He barely even proves any of his victims to be demonic cultivators before whipping them or interrogating them further. Lots of firm connotations and even secondhand accounts of people being violently whipped on the the docks of Lotus pier.

WWX as MXY was already allegedly proven to not be possessed but JWY still insists on dragging him to Lotus Pier.

WWX dodged a bullet when LWJ was there to protect him.

Someone tell me if I'm not too far off and this is a viable argument that JWY will remain heirless or at least single for the rest of his f***ed up natural life? And would never name a Jiang heir that doesn't meet his requirements. Maybe even add to this discussion. Much appreciated 😌.

References:

https://modao-zushi.fandom.com/wiki/Jiang_Cheng

Jiang Cheng | Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Wiki - Fandom

[reileinaxiu]

MDZS Fanfic Pet peeve: Drunken sex

I don't like it when people write WWX and LWJ having drunk sex and then WWX immediately regrets it later and runs away because he thinks he took "advantage" of LWJ's inhibited state . The pining angst is just downright painful to read sometimes, and the separation period afterwards even more so.

(see chapter 232 of the manhua or Exiled Rebel Scans Chapter 98 Longing(6))

In the manhua, (basing this mostly in the manhua.) WWX was perfectly fine snuggling and kissing LWJ in his sleep.

.

It was LWJ who visibly rejected WWX at that moment when WWX said "Thank you" LWJ thought WWX was thanking him for the physical intimacy (which LWJ did not want their relationship to be just about give and take) instead LWJ misunderstood that thanks when WWX was about to confess!

Only then did WWX spiral into a depressive mood thinking he took advantage of LWJ, furthering the misunderstandings by saying that it was "normal" to do things between friends to spare himself of his feelings that he thought he misplaced.

The same could be said about LWJ. I recall some fics that portray LWJ regretting his drunk escapades thinking that he took advantage of WWX during his own drunken state. Then he too would run away leaving WWX. Making WWX think that LWJ regretted what happened between them and we're back to square one. Again, in the book/manhua LWJ was half asleep content and aware to be in WWX's arms I don't think he suddenly just got sober that instant WWX said thank you.

.

So yes, if it ever came down to a drunk first time sex WangXian would have gotten together much earlier if it wasn't for LWJ's misunderstanding not just WWX's. Give my Sunshine Boy a break he is obviously thrilled to share intimacy with LWJ in any context as long as LWJ physically shows to be accepting and reciprocating afterwards. People who are thinking of writing a drunken first sex scene between WangXian please don't make it anymore angsty than it should really be. It was fun to read once but now it's a little too repetitive and almost everywhere.

Oblivious!LWJ tag should be more common than Oblivious!WWX. But in truth they are neither oblivious. They just have piles of misunderstandings between them in canon. So this tag really shouldn't exist unless people really like giving them this personality trait.

[reileinaxiu]

How I became Anti Jiang Cheng/Wanyin and Anti Jiang in General

Fair warning/s:

Dramatic story sharing. MDZS meta that blur with some fanon pet peeves. Jiang family bashing (yup includes YZY, JWY, JFM, and even JYL). Lengthy story/experience sharing. Some cursing/foul language, okay a lot of cursing that I censored might have missed just in case. Some ranting I guess. And maybe some leaps in logic. Chaotic writing.

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So long story short:

I've read a fic with the JC bashing tag, enjoyed it and browsed and read more content about it and I was thoroughly anti JC by the end of it all.

An example is

"All will be well when the day is done" by abCEE. If you haven't read it I recommend it if the Lan clan still hasn't been ruined in your eyes.

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Long story not so short:

Okay as you all might know or not know, I was introduced to the MXTX fandom through a fanfic crossover and entered through the donghua.

When I watched the donghua I was sort of indifferent to the Jiang family as a whole. I thought YZY was just this super stern drill sergeant type of woman. Maybe unfair to WWX because of her own bias towards his heritage. JFM was this timid person in front of his wife who doesn't want to get into conflicts. JWY was this broken grieving person after the Lotus Pier Massacre. And JYL was this mother/sister role model that had an unfortunate end.

I did not like them(probably never will at this point), I did not hate them (I should have hated them more), thought they were developmental to WWX as a character (still true but for a completely different reasons). But that was it, they were characters that had fulfilled a role.

Oh what a foolish uninformed lamb 🐑 I was back then.🥲 The donghua did not even begin to skim the surface of it all. Or maybe it did in an artistic license type of view and it was the kind people on the internet who analyzed the story and the original work that just pointed out to me what was obvious now. 🤔

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Thank yous especially to: @flautistsandpeonies ,

@jiaoji2 , @withthewindinherfootsteps , @ladypfenix, @ninjakk and many more that I might have missed or yet to discover. Your mxtx content are entertaining and enlightening.

And thank yous to your works on AO3: Hauntcats, Karmiya, FlautistsandPeonies, Vrischika, miixz, glitteringmoonlight, justdoityoufucker and many many more great writers out there.

I definitely 😁 recommend their works.

Their works and posts have opened my eyes. 👀 And many others who I might have missed.

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This was how knowing more both ruined and saved my love for MDZS.

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It started when I began delving for fanfic on ao3, after finishing the donghua. Naturally, I began with the fics with the most Kudos, so I set my filters with the most words or the most Kudos along with the WangXian tags (Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian).

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Lo and behold one of the top fics at that time was a Jiang Wanyin centric time travel fic that I shall not name but bury deep within my reading history/bookmarks. I do not want to horrify you guys too much who are anti JC like me but the short synopsis was JWY travels back in time and fully supported WWX 🤢 throughout the Sunshot Campaign doing all the the things JGY pointed out in the Guanyin Temple incident getting a happy ever after of everyone lives(even JGY 😰) and noone dies(except mostly the Wen Sect not the Dafans) and JWY marries WQ 🤮.

Yes. I can't believe myself to have thought that was actually good. I got ulcers just thinking about it 🤢. What's worse 😱 is that I've read through several similar fics with JWY as a good brother, anger misunderstood trope and thought nothing of it at the time.

One of the worse of the worst were my ignorance when reading fics with side JWY/LXC tag.☣️🤮 If I knew I would have never touched any of these fics. But I absorbed the MDZS content through various media sources so my understanding was obscured at best and completely reconceptualized at worst. I hope my realization wasn't too late that I ended up reading about a homophobe in a same-sex relationship.

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My poor ignorant self,😔 I forgive you for ever thinking any of those were acceptable homage to the masterpiece that is MDZS. Alas those fics in my read history will be part of a dark past that I might visit some day again only to treat it as the radioactive ☢️ toxic waste it truly should be handled as.

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Don't get me wrong. It doesn't make any of those God awful plot devices better but at least those fics were still very entertaining and I appreciate all the work and effort the author had put in to writing them despite their uh...😦 misconstrued outlook on the actual canon personalities of the characters. Some of those fics were really long and well-written at least. So I find it a shame their great writing skills have gone in this direction.

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Maybe 🤔 if I read those as extremely, extremely OOC then I guess they could be slightly acceptable. But till today there are plenty similar fic being written out there, and published everyday. I must sometimes cope by completely erasing JWY or any OOC Jiang from my mind whilst reading these types of mistagged fics. OOC JC tag should really be common so I can filter them out of my searches. I will always be grateful for ao3's sort and filter system.

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Another, when exploring the fandom at first was that I was intrigued, amused and even confused 🤔 by all the controversy. On youtube, there were content creators fawning over JWY. So hey, I thought he seemed like a decently popular character.

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Then someone pointed some things out to me and I was like " OMG 😱 What sort of deranged sick scum is this person and why the f*** out of all the villains that got their karma he still lives with a position of power".

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Then I realized again after reading more mdzs meta, "Almost everyone in the Cultivation World except WangXian, the juniors(of every sect), WN, WQ, LQY and maybe NHS at some point are all corrupt assholes that deserve some sort of karma still lives with positions of power" 😱😱😱

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So yeah. One of my problems when identifying good not OOC fanfics was because tags like the good sibling jc, yunmengbros reconciliation, etc.😖 was normalized by a lot of writers that other writers started referencing OOC fanfics as the true personality of those characters. That's why a newbie like me entering the fandom just binge read anything that was popular at the time and thought that it actually somehow corresponds to the original work. I am sometimes tempted to unsubscribe from certain MXTX content creators because they are JC stans. But I am conflicted cause they make really good WangXian content as well 😰.

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For example:

Like when writers completely disregarding WWX's most important character traits to fit him into an OOC template @withthewindinherfootsteps discusses this very soundly and points out WWX's core philosophy. Writers have gone to create completely new characters and stamped them with the same name. They have lots of reblogs and discussion with this particular post

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Maybe it's because I haven't read the entirety of the original work yet (I've only watched the donghua, the cql, followed the manhua, and skipping to favorite scene in thenovel translations) but further evidence pointed out by readers of the original work had thoroughly converted me. I do not commend any of the Jiang Family's treatment of WWX.

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Feel free to skip to the rabbits if you prefer not to read some of these heavy criticisms about the Jiang Family and some cursing. Oh and maybe a bit of conspiracy theory meta.

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Let's begin with this literal raging b*tch, YZY.

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YZY was a child abuser, a hypocrite, and liar.

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"What do you mean what do we do?! Can't you see yet? They came here prepared. Today's fight couldn't have been avoided. Soon afterward there'll be herds of those Wen-dog arriving. Leave first!"

"Shut your mouth! It's all because of you little...!"

-Exiled Rebel Scans Chapter Poisons (3)

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These lines had been itching at me from the very beginning so... This was the Lotus Pier Massacre. A lot of others (particularly those who stan her) might think it was a sad heroic sacrificing moment as a mother that made a lot of people misconstrue YZY's true nature. She was neither self-sacrificing nor a mother.

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She knew. She logically knew that the Wens were prepared and the fight couldn't have been avoided yet she still had the absolute gall to blame WWX of all the people present just because she can and just because she saw him beneath her. After punishing WWX herself as an act of 🤬 subservience to the Wen Clan she couldn't admit it that she herself was the one that escalated the entire situation to the Wen's advantage when WLJ taunted her about the supervisory office. She made everyone including the children to fight in that bloodbath just so her pride as a lady of a great sect remain unquestioned only saving her child and asking the disciple she abused mentally, emotionally and physically to give his life for JWY's sake. And look where it got her. If you ask me now, I'd say she totally deserved that humiliating death and WN should have left her and JFM's body to rot compared to my tragic first impressions.

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JFM is as much as an abuser as YZY was. He was an abuser through neglect, and some form of exploitation. A lot of context clues lead to YZY regularly punishing WWX excessively. It's never really mentioned that JFM stopped any of these especially since it is most likely those punishments were handed indiscriminately without just cause other than YZY's hate for WWX.

Shown in the Lotus Pod Extra where it's only WWX who gets punished despite every other disciple doing the same thing. Punished with a whip a that!😨 And that was just an Everyday probably casual occurence in the summer.

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The exploitation I have less evidence on that but from what I can understand (or don't) is that a disciple of a sect is more or less an employee and that they at least have some sort of regular stipend besides the facilities, housing and education given to them, otherwise why bother to become a cultivator of a sect when your financially challenged. I'm sure there's at least a few disciples who would send money back to their families because a cultivator's job has some monetary benefits that attracted them to Cultivation sects.

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(Ps. Someone argue the flaws in my logic or support it with further evidence that you can find, I'd be grateful)

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This isn't the case for WWX though. From the novel it was said that WWX explored the markets in Yunmeng and took whatever he pleased because the locals knew to send the bill to Lotus Pier and maybe he got an allowance that only equates to pocket money. It could be seen that he was well taken care of at least financially.

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But from my point view its an indirect form of exploitation. This could be seen as WWX not having his own money to spend for himself making him monetarily dependant on the Jiangs generosity (which was barely existent). It made WWX all the more differentiated from the other disciples who were compensated for their rendered services. Especially since he was made the head disciple at such a young age he should have gotten a comparatively larger paycheck(ancient china payrolls) maybe even equal to the senior disciples because he takes on a teaching job.

When WWX was in the Burial Mounds with the Wens I don't think he had his own assets to claim and fall back on when JWY removed him from the sect. He was one of the key figures to victory in the Sunshot Campaign don't tell me he wasn't properly compensated for his contributions? If someone out there thinks that he gave his spoils of war to the Sect, then f*** the Jiang Clan, I call fraud and exploitation.

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That's right folks! Lotus Pier was equivalent to a Japanese Black Company! Modern laws, on child labor and treatment addendums aside, at least in regards to WWX that is. Not only was WWX put to work in abhor conditions (abused; verbally and physically) he was also barely compensated, if not at all, for his services. YZY didn't make it any better siting unreasonable excuses of immeasurable debt that WWX took to heart. JWY also follows her mother's footsteps even when she died he also imposed this debt on WWX even when WWX already went above and beyond what stipulates on what a head disciple or even regular disciples owe to their sect. I could really care less how JFM didn't want to upset his wife or some other excuse, he is Sect Leader! He couldn't have not known what was going on. This has got to be some form of exploitation. 😡

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I should write a separate post for all the things messed up about JWY. But to sum it up he expected WWX to abandon his moral code to pander to his sect leader position and Sect's reputation and leave to the Cultivation World's bloodlusts what was essentially a village full of civilians, children or weakened cultivators. He blamed WWX for JYL's death when he clearly witnessed what actually happened, it wasn't WWX who landed the killing blow(WWX even killed that stupid attacker the moment that happened, JWY saw that as well). He went on torturing to death anyone who slightly resembled WWX or was suspected of practicing unorthodox cultivation (keywords on slightly resembled and suspected never proven or justified) for years! Also hellbent on torturing and killing WWX in his second life by using his fears and guilt and that d*mn whip he inherited from his b**** of a mother. And he is an overall bitter and unpleasant character to be in the presence of. I could keep going on and on because there's a whole lot more and there is not enough words to describe how much of a terrible person he was by the end of the book.

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Lastly, there is JYL. 🤨She wasn't very significant as the person WWX made her out to be. She wasn't a bad person but she also didn't make any strides to be better or do good. She always tried to make compromises but it was usually for the sake of others especially JWY and at the cost of WWX because she viewed him as being capable of carrying any burdens with a smile and not as a person that struggles or gets hurt by superficial or personal remarks. A peacemaker, timid like her father, avoiding conflicts instead of actually solving them. She claimed WWX a brother during the Phoenix Mountain Hunt and demanded an apology in the name of her sect but that all crumbled like a sandcastle on the beach and forgotten as dust in the wind when JZX confessed publicly and she secluded herself in her happy little married domestic life.😤 Either she was just an oblivious fool just like her husband and would have caused WWX's death by asking him to stand down when he was clearly being attacked or she really believed everything would go well if everyone calmed down or something. Or she was just incredibly gullible to the point of trusting her marital sect that repeatedly put down WWX. She is like LXC in this regard, and I have a lot of negatives and barely-there positives about him as well.

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What frustrates me in fanfics with her in it is that she acts like both her marital sect or natal sect could never be in the wrong and that it should be WWX who should adjust is behavior when they were literally trying to kill him.

Is it appropriate to rant about other fics that pissed me off on tumblr? I won't cause it feels rude on some level.

Also I hate the line she said about WWX being born with a smiling face. That's like putting unrealistic expectations on WWX's head. Just because he can bare a lot of things with a smile doesn't mean he cannot get hurt? Newsflash putting up a smiling front is just one way WWX protected himself emotionally from all the rumors and vitriol from YZY. I know I'm being overly harsh but I can't help but feel infuriated. WWX is a strong person for putting up with the Jiang's bull****, horse****, dog**** whatever **** I can think of under the sun and still manages to be an inherently good person but that doesn't really justify everything that was done to him.

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🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇🐇

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@righteousinadversity sums it up pretty well WWX's sufferings in life and a good chunk of that list is because of the Jiangs or could be traced back to the Jiangs.

If these realizations weren't enough to get me to go anti Jiang Family, I'd be wondering where my common sense went. I became extra wary of those fics tags with something like Good parent YZY & JFM🤬, Good sibling JC 🤮, Yunmengbros feels🙄, and a surprisingly eye watering amount of word vomit. 🤢

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This doesn't mean I condemn all the fics out there that don't adhere to canon personalities even the ones I've already read. If the ficwriter was reasonable enough in writing a life altering event or tagging that the characters are going to act OOC. Then sure I might read a modern AU where JC is a reasonably less asshole of an adopted brother. Or an AU where the JWY and JYL try to makeup for their parents wrongs etc. I could probably stomach it with minimum nausea. Still doesn't mean I have to like it, I am just a poor deprived soul that seeks to consume as much mdzs media in my free time.😔

Although Post-canon fics where WWX or LWJ get along with JWY, 😑 yeah I'm drawing the lines where lines need to be drawn. I might make the time to delete a lot of bookmarks from my archives.

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The only thing that saved my love for MDZS was WangXian and that speaks for itself because there's a lots of scummy characters (scummy as irl people, they were perfectly fine characters that drove the plot) and WangXian happens to overturn all those flaws because they are the exact opposite to such toxic relationships and toxic people. Plus just because I bash the Jiang Family so much doesn't mean I should stan WWX for the novelty of getting behind the hero or protecting a victim.

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It's because WWX is genuinely a good person that I will stan him with all my squishy beating heart🫀!

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He sees injustice and seeks to correct it. He had literal life costing wrongs done to him and he does not seek further resentment . He knows not to forgive and not to forget but also knows when to let go. And LWJ learned a lot from WWX and he became his moral compass. God 🤩 they are just so good together, good for each other, and good for everyone.🥲

May they forever ♾️❤️ be a happy couple.🥰

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The rest of the trashy cultivators of the Cultivation World can get eaten by the Xuanwu for all I care. 🙄#turtlefood

I might get started about how I came to dislike the Lans in general or wished fiery deaths for most of Cultivation World. But that's for another time.

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Is it hypocritic of me to continue reading these awful OOC Jiang fics? Maybe a little. 😐

Does it take me away from potentially great reads?

On my sane days I'd avoid them like WWX avoids dogs. If I'm feeling curious or just really hoping to find something fresh to read, I'd suck it up and pretend the poorly characterized Jiangs are florid mouthpieces used by the author that I can probably forget and ignore.😖

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I think I have the same problem with Postcanon fics where WWX gets along with his in-laws. I read them ignorant of how the original work actually ended. Now I despair at how awful my reading history looks and I became very critical of the type of fanfics I presently enjoy.

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Taking a page out of @FlautistandPeonies

Jiang family stans don't shit my post. I have literally tagged this anti-everything I can think of the first few lines were literally in big font titled "How I became anti JC"

Fellow mdzs meta readers come at me with gentle criticisms or discussions or comments (emphasis on gentle please 🥺, I'm a sensitive soul that easily loses confidence)

I got the courage to post this after reading a fic with YZY being her petty bitchy self. It was gloriously infuriating that I console myself with the WangXian ending. I might recommend that fic after it's gotten more chapters out (I don't want anyone getting conniptions from the cliffhanger) along with other anti Jiang Family fics.

[ctl-yuejie]

9,17,21, and 58 for the ask game!

thanks for the questions!!

9. A Fanon You Dislikehmm….i know i wrote these questions but i don’t think there’s a fanon i dislike….there’s more like an assortment of popular head canons that i wouldn’t co-sign

. lan wangji hitting wei wuxian in a kinky way

. comparisons between xue yang & wei wuxian saying wei wuxian could have turned out like him if it weren’t for the yunmeng clan taking him in, or just the general idea that wei wuxian could’ve ended up like xue yang (maybe that’s more connected to my beef with xue yang in canon :””D )

i think those are my biggest pet peeves atm? or at least i came across them quite often.

17. Purer Cinnamon Role Than Wen Ning(sorry for all these typos in the ask game) hmmmm...Wen Ning is pretty much peak pure cinnamon roll, but from the younger generation Ouyang Zizhen might even out-perform him. sure he is loud and direct, but also doesn’t know how to act in most social situations because the world is such a happy place for him and did you know that Hanguang-Jun and Senior Mo are dating and they’re not as dramatic about it as I want them to be but still super cute, and wtf Hanguang-Jun is now married to the Yiling Patriarch and all my dreams have come true, i have no idea why Lan Qiren looks so constipated maybe that’s because of Jingyi.....

21. A Fanon You Likehmmmm....this is pretty much canon but WangXian adopting everyone and everything while roaming the country & Wei Wuxian managing to cultivate MO Xuanyu’s core.and the lan wangji played inquiry for 16 years fanon. not because i think lan wangji would try and bind wei wuxian’s spirit to him but more so to find out whether he’s at peace and at some point it becomes this tiny remembrance song he plays for wei ying once a year.

58. What Would You Place In Your Secret Chamber Behind The Mirror?tbh I am super bad with throwing things away so I fear it’d just become my secret trash stash that gets so bad that i blindly fling things through the mirror, not even trying to step into the room again.

secret botanical garden! - screams the sapphic in me 

The Untamed / MDZS ask game