#This is the best day for Wen Ning and it means *nothing* to WWX. A painful one-sided crush made worse.
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
Assisting Acquaintance Acquired.
[First] Prev <â-> Next
#poorly drawn mdzs#mdzs#wen ning#wei wuxian#Ignore how Wen Ning's hair looks here because I messed it up. Let's pretend he just sported a different hair style for a brief moment.#I am not exactly great at consistency but I am trying very hard to work on that (immediately messes up again).#Absolutely *love* how Wen Ning clearly remembers and admires WWX...who does *not* recognize him.#This is the best day for Wen Ning and it means *nothing* to WWX. A painful one-sided crush made worse.#It is bittersweet to realize that we care about someone more than they care about us. Sometime we pour love into a relationship-#-with someone who just can't reciprocate. It isn't always a conscious things either. Some people just aren't aware we care.#And painfully - so painfully - You can't make them aware. No act of kindness or gift or self sacrifice will make someone care about you.#You can martyr yourself for someone and they will continue on unchanged.#I think a lot about the parallels between WN and LWJ. Not foils - just reflections. A theme repeated.#People who give so much of themselves to someone who doesn't have the capacity to give any part of themself away.#I will die on the hill of 'Wen Ning would be the love triangle romance if that trope wasn't being avoided'.#And to be honest - thank the stars above that is the case. I do not know any good love triangles in media.#We are skipping some of the sad Jiang Cheng content because I really want to finish season 2 before May.#Sorry JC emo moment lovers...I'll deliver another time.
923 notes
¡
View notes
Note
hi I'm a little obsessed with your Anastasia au! how did Wei Ying get into the business of trying to find a LWJ impersonator, and how did he convince Wen Ning and Wen Qing to go along with his plans? xoxo thanks
omg thank you so much for asking! believe me, im just as obsessed as u are đŠ the wangxian syndrome... nothing in the brain but wangxian....
but to answer your question!
@mitchmotch and i decided its not that wwx was in the business exactly, but more that he spent those 13 years trying to Find actual lwj because he loves and misses him, before getting involved with the wens distracted him until he completely lost all traces he had of lwj. so he eventually gave up the active search, but always hoped to one day hear news about him
it wasnt until things got incredibly difficult for the wens that they resolved to more desperate measures. in this au, wwx never lost his golden core, BUT he still developed gui dao as a necessity after he moved the wens to the burial mounds as the first safe place he could think of. he tries not to use gui dao too much, as he's not yet 100% sure how to ensure it doesn't fuck with his golden core OR send him into a qi deviation lol. so staying in the burial mounds is. Not The Best
this all means: he and the wens Need food and money to move somewhere far far away, Somehow. theyve got little a-yuan to take care of, after all!
so when they run into zhen yazhu(amnesiac lwj) and wwx sees the similarities and the reward, he knows what he has to do. it takes about a day and a half to convince wen qing, but she knows perfectly well they won't last much without some form of help, so she gives in. wwx tries to reassure her by saying thats totally lwj, trust me jie, if anyone knows him, its me, dont worry about it. but even he has trouble believing himself fully at first (even though it really is lwj!)
#hades answers#ender-manly#mdzs#tysm for asking again!! mitch and i. we over here in dms typing out essays worth of words abt this au#its gotta go somewhere am i right#also as to how wen ning was convinced: it didnt take much#he trusts wwx so much so if wwx says this is a good idea#he has to believe it. if not for himself then at least for his family. for baby ayuan#wen ning actually had to help wwx convince wen qing lol#ALSO. extra tidbit for those who read the tags#zyz(lwj) lets the wens stay in his village while he wwx wen qing and wen ning head out to gusu#it helps cement him as a good person to wwx ;)#long post#if anhone sees tbis later- made some edits bc i ised the wrong term for wwxs cultivation#and since guidao does NOT hurt the user i will have to change that in retrospect#re reading the novels helps a ton :^]
15 notes
¡
View notes
Note
something I am confused about is the stab wound wei wuxian got from jiang cheng when he seceded from the yunmeng sect, was he lying when he said it healed in seven days (iirc)? or is wen qing just that good haha
Ok so I think this is where WWX's words have to be taken with a grain of salt, meaning that I believe that WWX did heal in seven days because Wen Qing is the best !!! and because his body was apparently uncommonly resilient (and WWX regularly pushed it to its limits)- So resilient that LWJ doesn't believe him and thinks he's speaking absolute nonsense when he talks about putting his guts back into himself and enduring- but that doesn't mean it was a minor injury by any means! Quite the opposite. It's also important to contrast the scene where Jin Ling stabs him :
Clenching his teeth, he could only try for the third time to go around him. All of a sudden, a coldness passed through his stomach. As he looked down, Jin Ling had already pulled the white bladeânow red with bloodâout of him.
He didnât expect that Jin Ling really would come at him.
The thought in Wei WuXianâs mind was, He could be like anyone, yet he just so happened to have taken over his uncle Jiang Cheng. They even like to stab the same places.
He couldnât quite clearly remember what had happened next. He felt that he tried to attack. Everything around them seemed frenzied. Not only noisy, their escape seemed to bump and jolt as well. He didnât know how long had passed, but when he hazily opened his eyes again, Lan WangJi flew on Bichen, while he was carried on Lan WangJiâs back. Blood had spilled onto half of his snow colored cheeks ...
upon waking :
After his sight finally went from blurred to clear, he suddenly realized that both of his hands were wrapped around Lan WangJi as though he was grasping a straw, clutching a floating piece of wood within water.
He immediately let go, almost wanting to roll away. His movement was so large that it hurt the wound at his stomach. He exclaimed an âahâ as he scrunched his brows, finally remembering that he was still injured. Amid the stars before his eyes, Jing Ling, Jiang Cheng, Jiang YanLi, Jiang FengMian, Madam Yu⌠Many faces spun around in a large circle.
Lan WangJi held him down, âThe wound at your stomach?â
Wei WuXian, âThe wound? Itâs fine, it doesnât hurtâŚâ
"iT doEsn'T huRt".... WWX đ
Wei WuXian, âHow long have I been resting for?â
Only having ensured that his injuries were indeed fine did Lan WangJi finally let him go, âFour days.â
Jin Lingâs sword stabbed right through. The wound hadnât been shallow at all. How it healed within four days without even leaving a scar behind meant that high level medicine of the GusuLan Sect had to have been necessary. Wei WuXian thanked him, mocking himself along the way, âIâve reincarnated but somehow Iâve become even weaker. I couldnât keep going after just a single stab.â
Lan WangJiâs voice was tepid, âNobody would be able to keep going after a stab through the body.â
Wei WuXian, âThatâs not true. If I was in the body from my past life, even if half of my intestines were dangling out, Iâd be able to stick them back in and continue fighting.â
Seeing that right after he woke up he began to speak nonsense again, Lan WangJi shook his head and turned away. Wei WuXian thought that he was going to leave. He hurried, âLan Zhan, Lan Zhan! Donât go. I was talking nonsense, my fault, but donât ignore me.â
Lan WangJi, âEven you are scared of others ignoring you?â
Wei WuXian, âI am, I am.â
He hadnât experienced the feeling of having somebody at his side when he had gotten hurt and woke up for a long time.
So, the narrative lets us know WWX was in fact not speaking nonsense. In the past:
Although he was stabbed in the stomach by Jiang Cheng, Wei WuXian wasnât concerned at all. He stuffed his intestines back into himself and like nothing ever happened, he even got Wen Ning to hunt down a few malign spirits as he bought a few large bags of potatoes.
When he returned to Burial Mound, Wen Qing bandaged his wound and scolded him as fiercely as possible, because it was radish seeds that she told him to buy.
I love this because I wonder how much selective memory WWX is employing here, recounting that WQ scolded him on the basis of the seeds he brought alone... lol đ Like I'm not saying she didn't scold him about the seeds <3 but she is a doctor.
Now ...benefiting from the Lan Clan's healing WWX managed to heal in four days in a weaker body from Jin Ling's stab wound, yet it took him around seven to heal under Wen Qing!!!'s care in a stronger body from jc's wound... :
After he drank a mouthful, Jiang Cheng spoke, âHowâs your wound from last time?â
Wei WuXian, âIt healed a long time ago.â
Jiang Cheng, âMn.â With a pause, he continued, âHow many days?â
Wei WuXian, âLess than seven. I told you before. With Wen Qing, it was nothing difficult. But you really did fucking stab me.â
There are definitely scenes where WWX loves to whine and be spoiled by Lan Zhan, but when it comes to more critical injuries he clearly dismisses wounds he suffers and downplays his hurts. This obviously isn't unheard of behavior for a heroic character. jiang cheng is creepy as balls to have stabbed him in the guts and then to ask about it like it was some creepy competition. A broken arm may not be thrilling but it's a big difference from the sheer violence of stabbing someone in the gut and spilling their fucking intestines. Not to mention WWX also took care to injure jc's non dominant arm so he could still wield his sword etc. It's logical to say there's an element of vindictiveness jc brought to their fight that WWX is either ignoring or choosing to overlook. I would also keep WWX's attitude towards his own pain in mind; His dismissiveness towards his own injuries when he speaks of other hurts & physical pain, and his resilience being at a point where LWJ, a powerful cultivator and person himself, thinks he must be spouting nonsense because it sounds impossible...
86 notes
¡
View notes
Note
Some Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian friendship please?
Like wwx was the first person to understand that Nie Huaisang was a "useless" young master only on purpose.
You can choose if :
Post cannon?
Cannon divergence?
Cannon divergence: where he's a better friend so he makes him joint he Nie clan? Or something? who knows?
You can also choose if Lan Wangji and Nie Huaisang are friends.
(Imagine NHS-WWX-LWJ are buddies since cloud recesses days and go forth, lol. Canon divergence from the point of JC denouncing WWX)
âListen to me for once!â
Nie Huaisang didn't mean to shout, not really. It is never a good idea to shout at his da-ge because it only provokes anger in return. But Wei-xiong is in danger and no one is helping. Nie Huaisang may be a useless cultivator in many peopleâs eyes but he refuses to be a useless friend.
The desperation in his stone catches da-geâs attention and his older brother looks at him with a severe frown, âThat boy is cultivating the ghostly path, Huaisang! Even his sect leader distrusts him!â
âExactly! Da-ge, Iâm not stupid, no matter how much you like to believe I am-â
âI donât!â
Huaisang ignores him, âI know Wei-xiong. He may be mischievous but heâs not evil. If you donât believe me, ask Lan Wangji! You can trust his word, yes? If you canât trust your own brotherâs.â
âWatch your tone,â Nie Mingjue growls, âYou have earned every bit of my suspicion, Huaisang. Donât pretend otherwise.â Huaisang winces, âIâm not dismissing your concerns but I need more than just your instincts to intervene. Do you have anything more than âi know him, da-geâ?â His brother asks and arches a brow.
Huaisang takes a deep breath and collects his thoughts. Hundreds of little observations, pieces of a puzzle too scattered, swirl around in his mind. He has held these pieces close to this heart for years, knowing that it wouldâve been disastrous to reveal them during the war. But Nie Huiasang can no longer afford to be silent. Every time he hears someone spitting out his best friendâs name like a curse, something in him burns.
Wei Wuxian is so genuinely good-natured, he will accept everyone as they are. Wei Wuxian is always willing to step between an enemy and a friend, ready to take the blow of them.
There are few people in cultivation as honorable and compassionate as Wei-xiong and Nie Huaisang doesnât want to see that light diminish.
Da-ge is silent, as though sensing Huaisangâs turmoil.
He straightens and tucks his fan away, meeting his older brotherâs gaze head-on, without hesitation. That is enough for da-ge to frown and gesture towards an empty seat. Huaisang quickly goes about making tea as he speaks, âPlease be patient with me, da-ge,â He begs, âLet me explain the full picture so you can see what I see. All of this may seem like speculation, but I have proof, circumstantial, but proof nonetheless.â
Nie Mingjueâs expression is now serious and placid, like heâs fully willing to listen to what his brother has to say.
âYou⌠you donât know, Wei-xiong. He cherished his cultivation, da-ge,â He explains, âIt is no accident or act of fate that he was so good at it - good enough to even challenge Lan Wangji. He did the work to get there; he was brilliant but he was also incredibly hardworking. His cultivation was the result of years of refinement. Suibian was his constant companion and he wielded it like it was his soul.â
His brother is still because heâs not stupid.
âIs it not strange that we hear rumors of Wei Wuxian being captured by Wen Chao- by Wen Zhuliu - and see him return with a new cultivation that doesnât require a Golden Core?â
His da-ge is definitely paying attention now.
âBut is it not stranger that the Wens claim they had taken Jiang Wanyinâs core, only for Jiang-zongzhu to come back stronger? His cultivation is so refined and powerful, he is now a force to be reckoned with. Is it not strange, da-ge, that a man that couldnât push his core even after years of diligent training managed to strengthen so significantly in a matter of months?â
âWhat are you saying, Huaisang?â
âIâm saying that Wei Wuxian doesnât have a Golden Core. He hasnât had it for the entire duration of the war. He lost it during or before those three months he was missing. Iâm saying those rumors about him being tossed into the Burial Mounds are likely to be true. Iâm saying that Wei-xiong is exactly the kind of person who would use word games to make people believe otherwise. Heâs also the kind of person who would do everything in his power to protect his martial siblings.â
Nie Mingue looks stunned, âHe walked into war without his Golden Core?â
âI am absolutely certain he did.â
Nie Mingjue stares at his brother, âBut you⌠donât believe Wen Zhuliu took his core.â
Huaisang hesitates, âThis is where I hesitate, da-ge. My instincts tell me it's not that simple. I have known both Wei-xiong and Jiang-zongzhu for a long time. We lived in close quarters and I may not be a good cultivator, but that doesnât mean I miss small details. Jiang Wanyin feels just as powerful as Wei-xiong did, back then.â
âAnd you believe thatâs impossible?â Da-ge arches a skeptical brow, âYou, by your own admission, donât like him.â
âWen Qing nearly published a paper on Golden Core transfer. Wen Ning rescued Jiang Wanyin from Wen Chaoâs grasp.â He takes a deep breath, âWei Wuxian just gave up everything to repay a debt that Jiang Wanyin admitted he owed.â Nie Huaisang doesnât know everything, but he has had years to figure out enough.
Suddenly, all the skepticism leaves his older brotherâs face.
âLetâs speak with Lan Wangji.â
---
Wangji-xiong takes it like a blow to his chest.
Huaisang sees him flinch and he sees Xichen-ge step forward in concern, âWangji...â Xichen-ge looks like he doesnât know what to say and how to reassure his brother.
Huaisang may consider Wei Wuxian his best friend, but he firmly believes that no one cares for him more than Lan Wangji.
The Hanguang-jun believes him. That's clear from his expression.
Wangji-xiong has likely been aware of those scattered puzzle pieces as well. He just hadnât put them together until now.
âThis is all speculation,â Xichen-ge tries to interject, âThere may not be any need to worry, Wangji.â
âWei Yingâs heart hasnât changed.â
Xichen-ge stills and Huaisang watches as icy resolve settles on Wangji-xiongâs face, âIâll bring him.â
âWangji-â
âWangji begs your pardon, xiongzhang,â The Hanguang-jun turns around and walks swiftly towards the door. He offers no other word or explanation.
âHuaisang,â Xichen-geâs voice is displeased, âYou should have come to me with this first. Wangji is⌠attached to Wei-gongzi.â
Surprisingly, it is da-ge who intervenes.
âIf you can give Meng Yao the benefit of the doubt, you can extend the same courtesy to Huaisang and Wangjiâs friend, Xichen.â Nie Mingjue is scowling, âWe have more reason to fault his character than Wei-gongziâs.â
It is probably the harshest thing da-ge has ever said to Xichen-ge and it shows. The First Jade visibly calms himself and nods graciously, but thereâs a glint of displeasure in his eyes. Jin Guangyao has been a bone of contention between da-ge and Xichen-ge for several months now. Huaisang should probably look into the matter a little more but Wei-xiongâs situation demands all of his attention.
Now that Jiang Wanyin announced Wei Wuxianâs defection to the entire cultivation world, heâs a free agent with a powerful ability and an even more powerful tool. With the Jins and their successful rumor-mongering, Huaisang fears they donât have much time. Jin Guangshan has already driven a wedge between Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian. How much more can they accomplish if Huaisang doesnât intervene somehow?
---
Wangji-xiong doesnât return with Wei Wuxian. He brings Wen Qing and wears an expression of outright fury on his usually stoic face.
âI transferred his Golden Core into Jiang Wanyin.â Wen Qing declares with a straight back and a steady glare. She looks right into da-geâs eyes, âI helped Jiang Wanyin recover from his captivity and then agreed to perform the procedure.â
Huaisang sits down as his worst fear is confirmed.
He had hoped⌠he had desperately hoped he had been wrong but as Wen Qing goes on to describe everything, explaining how the procedure worked and what Wei-xiong had to endure for his martial brotherâs sake, he becomes certain she is telling the truth.
And this is exactly what Wei Wuxian would do. It would be too far-fetched and outrageous for anyone else, but Wei-xiong- his capacity for self-sacrifice has always worried Huaisang and Lan Wangji.
âWhere is he?â Nie Mingjue demands, âDid you leave him in the Burial Grounds? In his state?â
âWei Ying refuses to come,â Lan Wangji says, his expression pale and tight, âHe must keep the resentful spirits at bay and protect the Wens. Thereâs a child among them, barely two years old.â
Xichen-ge sucks in a breath, closing his eyes in dismay.
âHeâs injured.â Wangji-xiong continues, âHe was gutted by Jiang Wanyin in a staged fight.â Huaisang looks up sharply, âHe hasnât healed and yet persists to place himself at risk.â
âWangji, we will help him,â Xichen-ge assures, âI apologize for not understanding the situation, but now we know and we will help him.â
âSo they fought to spare the Jiang Sect,â Huaisang speculates with a frown, âBut⌠why not just tell us? Surely Jiang-zongzhu knows he just had to mention his debt to you, Wen-guniang.â
âWe have misunderstood Jiang Wanyinâs character greatly.â That is a big condemnation coming from the Hanguang-jun himself. Huaisang is certain that Wangji-xiong isnât inclined to be charitable now. Jiang Wanyin did hurt Wei Wuxian seriously, after all.
âHe wonât move until we do something to help the Wens.â Huaisang concludes, opening his fan in a snap and waving it furiously, âBecause heâs just that stubborn. If he owes Wen-guniang and Wen-gongzi a debt, nothing is going to move him, not even Wangji-xiong.â
âI have never been able to move him.â Lan Wangji says icily and it seems like theyâre feeding off each otherâs ire.
Really, Wei-xiong is so frustrating to deal with sometimes. He doesnât know how Lan Wangji handles being in love with him, Huaisang already feels nauseous. Wei Wuxian is in such a precarious position now that if they donât act fast, he wouldâŚ
He would likely be imprisoned or killed.
âLetâs offer the Wens some protection then.â Nie Huaisang says.
âHuaisang,â Da-ge warns, âItâs not that simple.â
âWhy not?â He demands, turning towards his brother and Lan Xichen, âWill the Jins retaliate? If both Lans and Nies stand together on the matter, what will they do? The Wens donât need to be free, they need to be safe and healthy. We can keep them contained in a small farming village, forbid cultivation and absorb any children into one of our clans. Letâs take Wei-xiong into the Nie clan and let the Wens settle in the northern reaches. The area is fairly remote and life will be hard but safe, better than the Burial Mounds at any rate!â
He doesnât know what kind of expression he has on his face but da-ge looks faintly amused, âYouâll take on the Jins?â
âIf I have to!â
âHe means that much to you?â
Huaisang swallows and thinks of days spent in merriment and comfort. Of a friendly arm tossed around his shoulder and a laughing voice dragging him into all sorts of mischief. He thinks of warm silver eyes that never looked down at him and nods, âYes, he does.â
Wei-xiong has always helped him and treated him with respect. It is time for him to return the favor.
---
It is a near miracle that everything works out as planned. Well, almost everything. No one is pleased when the Lans and Nies band together to take over the Wen remnants. Fortunately, the Jiangs donât have any room to object. Da-ge doesn't hesitate to reveal that Jiang Wanyin owes Wen Ning his life. Jiang Wanyin's honor is called into question but he suffers no other consequence for his dishonesty. Nie Huaisang doesnât care but he notices how it guts Wei-xiong.
Apparently, when Wei-xiong and Jiang Wanyin agreed to part ways, Jiang-zongzhu only needed to say Wei Wuxian had left the Jiangs. There was no need to outright state that his sect brother had betrayed the entire cultivation world!
Either Jiang-zonghzu is incredibly naive or he deliberately placed Wei Wuxian in a difficult position without his knowledge.
Either way, Nie Huaisang is content to see that relationship severed. In his humble opinion, he makes a much better martial brother. And Wei-xiong could certainly benefit from being under the thumb of someone as protective as da-ge. Heâs entirely too willing to place himself in harmâs way!
Humming under his breath and happy that everything turned out according to plan, Nie Huaisang turns around the corner and pauses. He quickly takes a few steps back until heâs out of sight. Peeking cautiously around the corner, he hides a grin behind his fan as he sees Wei-xiong fall off a tree and right into Lan Wangjiâs arms.
Huaisang bites back a laugh when Wei Wuxian stays in place, arms around Lan Wangji shoulders and eyes peering up at the Second Jade.
He had been suspicious about them since Lan Wangji all but dragged Wei Wuxian to the Unclean Realm. His best friend arrived with flushed cheeks and suspiciously red lips but everyone pointedly ignored it, too eager to avoid that particular mess.
He smiles, chuckling under his breath when Wangji-xiong pulls Wei Wuxian closer and dips his head.
Turning around, he starts walking away, leaving the lovers to their business.
Besides, da-ge would want to know about this.
#short prompts#nie huaisang#lan wangji#wei wuixan#nie mingjue#anti jiang cheng#nmj is proud of his bb bro for standing up for what he believes in lol
271 notes
¡
View notes
Text
Let's take a moment to appreciate all those wholesome relationships that this show presented us with. They will be with me for years to comeđ⨠[LONG READ]
1) One of the most underrated relationships of the show. The unconditional love that Qing had for her brother, was so wholesome! She would look at him & see the entire world tranform into one person. While for A-Ning, his sister WAS his world and beyond.
2) There are brothers, there are fathers & then there is Xichen to his Wangji. From reading his baby brother like a book to taking away his pains before they crossed his path - he was the family Wangji deserved.
As for LWJ, Xichen was embodiment of God.
3) Again such underrated relationship. People only saw the way NMJ was harsh towards NHS but what they failed to see was how he loved his him beyond words. He protected him like a delicate flower.
And for NHS, NMJ was his home, refuge & utmost safety.
4) Shows seldom portray such a pure, unconditional relationship in a completely platonic relationship. Were they friends? Were they like siblings? Were they acquaintances? I don't know. But whatever they were, they were eachother's familiarity, home.
5) What Ning felt for Yuan was so beautiful. Ning was always taken care of by others but it was only with Yuan, did he feel this fierce protectiveness for. Not only were they the last ones surviving from their family, they had a connection so intangible.
6) These 2 have my heart. There were times when I used to think Wen Ning was an alternate representation of WWX. They shared their traumas, homes, loyalties. Both were terribly misunderstood by the society so they chose to turn to eachother for comfort.
7) Not making excuses for XY or his toxic obsession for Xingchen. However XY is a WWX gone horribly wrong. He's never felt a shred of emotion in his life - & the first time he did? He didn't know what to do with it. And that was portrayed so beautifully!
8) It might've started on a wrong note, but the way their relationship progressed throughout the show was beautiful to watch. The understanding, the maturity and the utter devotion they showed for eachother was so pure. We all knew Yanli was in love the moment she laid eyes on him, but Jin Zixuan only had Yanli's name on his lips even on his last breath.
9) The subtlety in their relationship could've easily missed but it was there and it was glaring for me. The way they jumped in to take the hit for eachother throughout the show was beautiful! They were so different in their own ways but together, they were eachother's best confidants.
10) Again, there might be differences in opinion here but their relationship was an absolute treat for me to watch. I loved their back and forth banter and the humour but beneath all of that there was also this hidden unconditional love of two people who had lost their everything and only had eachother to survive. They were eachother's support and weakness. And probably only reason to be alive.
11) I loved the growth in their relationship over time. From despising WWX to understanding him as a person, starting become fond of him and then finally somehow acknowledging him as his uncle - the growth was beautiful to witness. And WWX's obvious fondness and protectiveness towards him was so warming. Everytime he looked at Jin Ling, it was like WWX got his Shijie back!
12) You can hate Meng Yao all you want to but one thing that you can't deny is the fact that he loved Lan Xichen beyond all his agenda, revenge and very reason of existence. If there was one person whom he had any unconditional feelings towards, it was him. And it broke him completely to see that distrust in LX's eyes. And for Lan Xichen, Meng Yao was that one person who could never do any wrong. What a sad parallel to WangXian indeed!
13) I really really liked their interactions right off the bat. But what I didn't realise was how I would grow so attached to the beautiful relationship they'd eventually develop. I'm again amazed at how they have paid minute attention to even the smallest things in a completely platonic relationship! What wwx felt for Mianmian was responsibility and respect for being the strong woman that she was. But what Mianmian felt for wwx was unwavering gratitude, awe and immense respect. Her taking a stand for him when everyone kept quiet and him still remembering her even with how poor his memory was, says a lot about their mutual respect.
14) Another so so underrated relationship of the show! One of the things that hurt me was how wwx got distanced from such a beautiful friend over time due to the unfortunate circumstances that he was in. Wwx found a brother in NHS whom he could be himself with unabashedly. And in wwx, NHS found a guide, a partner in crime and a person through whom he manifested all his desires and wishes. It was one of the purest relationships and a classic example of "Friends are families that you get to choose for yourself".
15) However short their time together onscreen was, they left an undeniable effect on me. The way they silently kept on giving for the other person without a moment of hesitation, was so beautiful to watch. Xingchen was not only ready to give away his eyes but even his life for him while Song Lan was ready to dedicate his entire life to Xingchen, his memories and the time they've spent together.
16) You don't need me to tell you Yanli & WWX loved e/o. What needs to be acknowledged is how he was her world. In her eyes the little kid on top of the tree could do nothing wrong. When every single person showed their doubt - Yanli was unmoved. And it's like all of wwx's worries would just fade into a mist when Yanli & her soup were around. I believe wwx was fond of the soup not only because of the taste, but he had associated it to his shijie's presence. Losing Yanli was an irreparable loss.
17) I know there are diff in opinions here but JC & WWX are one of my favourite relationships in the show. Yes there were flaws & misunderstandings there but at the end of the day, the fact doesn't change that they were ready to die for eachother. With JC's every longing glance masked by misplaced accusation & every sad smile of understanding & helplessness from WWX, you could see every fight, harsh words & shoves came from a place of intense love. More than brothers they were each other's confidants first.
18) RANT ALERT: There was never, there is none & there will never exist a love so epic in magnitude.
While WWX's fast paced world came to a screeching halt when he met lwj, LWJ's monotonous life gained pace when he got hit by this sudden tornado.
For LZ, he understood the meaning of life when he met wwx. He understood there was much more to it than simply doing what is told. His love was so intense, he didn't even need the other's acknowledgement. He felt it, wwx was safe - that was enough.
For WY, lwj was that rein that didn't suffocate him rather guide him. He showed him how to love & let go. He made him understand actions spoke louder than words. It was lwj staying beside him through the end, that spoke louder than any words ever could.
#otp#chen qing ling#cql#hanguang jun#lan wangji#lan zhan#mdzs#mo dao zu shi#the untamed#wang yibo#yiling laozu#yiling patriarch#wei ying#wei wuxian#xiao zhan#wangxiao#yizhan#wuji#wangxian#mxtx#bjyx#bjyxszd#wang zhuocheng#xuan lu#friendship#relationship
297 notes
¡
View notes
Text
Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 26, part two
(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)
Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!
Content note: This episode has a lot of lightning, but this post does not have lightning flashes--Iâm using mostly stills for those parts, or Iâve snipped out the unfriendly frames before giffing.
Qing-Jie
Having successfully ruined Jin Guangshanâs party plan to get the Yin Tiger seal, Wei Wuxian dashes off to tell Wen Qing where her brother is. She hops up to hit the road with him, but then sorta-faints because sheâs starving. In a rare moment of tenderness between these two, he catches her and gently sits her down again.Â
Normally theyâre busy out-toughing each other, both before and after this moment, but right now Wen Qing is openly vulnerable. Wei Wuxian responds to that, predictably, with all of his kindness and with his usual slew of unwise, impossible-to-keep promises.
As she eats the bread heâs brought her--a parallel to an important piece of bread in his early life--he says they have to believe in Wen Ningâs survival. Cut to: Wen Ning, not surviving.Â
I mean, yes, yes, heâs only mostly dead, but heâs never going to be fully alive again, so. Â
24 Hour Party People
Back at the party, Jin Guangyao, deliberately, I think, goes to offer his pops a drink while his pops is still super furious and looking for someone to take it out on. The servant lady is like, better you than me, pal, and helps JGY get his drink ready. Pops, predictably, knocks the drink onto Jin Guangyao.
(more behind the cut)
Lan Xichen is standing by with a hanky and a face full of worry. Lan Xichen is so Lanny that he thinks JGY needs to go change clothes after getting clear alcohol spilled on him, rather than just letting it evaporate and smelling pleasantly of booze for the rest of the evening like a normal party guest.Â
JGY launches into a criticism of Wei Wuxian, which Lan Wangji listens to very carefully, frowning. Lan Xichen, Nie Huasang and Jiang Cheng listen as well, and donât speak up.Â
A Clear Conscience
Then Lan Wangji *literally* steps out of his brotherâs shadow, and speaks in defense of Wei Wuxian. This right here is Lan Wangjiâs turning point, as far as Iâm concerned. Xichen is gazing at JGY, totally on board with JGYâs spin of the situation, and his shadow falls away from Lan Wangjiâs face as LWJ steps forward.
Lan Wangji says, isnât what WWX said true? JGY puts on his customer service smile and says that the truth isnât something youâre supposed to go around saying out loud.Â
Iâd like to say this is whatâs wrong with cultivator society but this is really a universal human thing; every society has rules about upsetting the social order, and they are very frequently at odds with basic compassion and morality.Â
Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng stay silent but Lan Xichen goes and throws Wei Wuxian under the bus carriage, saying his character has changed.Â
Lan Wangji nods decisively at this, and bows to Lan Xichen, silently asking permission to follow Wei Wuxian. Lan Xichen grants permission, telling Lan Wangji to do his best. Lan Xichen probably thinks he and Lan Wangji are in agreement, in this moment, but that nod of Lan Wangjiâs was nothing of the kind.
That nod was Lan Wangji agreeing with himself; he is going to try to bring Wei Wuxian back but he is also going to listen to him. Meanwhile Lan Xichen is tying himself in knots to appease Jin Guangyao. The divergence between the brothers will just grow, from this point onwards.
Lan Wangji leaves to go follow his boyfriend conscience, while Jiang Cheng continues to silently listen to the commentary of others, and gets so mad he crushes a wine cup.
It Was A Dark and Stormy Night.
Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian arrive at the prison camp, and the first person they encounter is Granny, with a defaced Wen Banner in her hand and Wen Yuan on her back.Â
Whenever I read a meta or a fic that talks about how the juniors are so sweet partly because they are âuntouched by the warâ I want to point to this moment. A-Yuan endures an absolute truckload of war trauma by the time heâs four years old, and while Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji both deserve a lot of credit for saving him at great risk to themselves, Granny and Uncle Four are the first heroes of A-Yuanâs story. His kind, mellow personality has a lot in common with theirs.Â
This is followed by an eternity of Wen Qing running around asking if anyoneâs seen her brother. Eventually Wei Wuxian gets tired of this and gathers the guards together, threatening them with Chenqing.Â
He doesnât need to play it; just holding it up has every Jin dude instantly kneeling and scared.Â
The guards send him and Wen Qing go to a giant field of corpses, where Wen Qing runs around checking to see if any of them is her brother. Wei Wuxian starts off kind of detached and angry, but eventually snaps out of it, tucks away his flute and starts helping her to search.Â
Wen Qing finds Wen Ning, mostly-dead with a lure flag speared into his belly. Wei Wuxian grimly takes in the situation from across the field of corpses.Â
When he arrives at Wen Qingâs side he sees this talisman in Wen Ningâs hand.Â
This is the talisman that Wei Wuxian made for Wen Ning back in Gusu summer school, before the war. Itâs the one that Wen Ning was wearing at his waist when they met up after the massacre of Lotus Pier. Itâs supposed to literally protect Wen Ning from having his spiritual consciousness snatched, as well as being a symbol of Wei Wuxianâs sense of responsibility for, and affection for, Wen Ning.Â
Wei Wuxian, understandably, loses his shit at this point. Less understandably, he is about to decide that the best way to express his sorrow and rage is to re-animate the corpse of his friend, right in front of the corpseâs sister. Like, seriously, dude. Dude.Â
Ghost General
This super-questionable decision leads to one of the most badass sequences in the show, which is unfortunately chock full of lightning flashes, so not everyone can watch it. Wei Wuxian and his flute and swirls of resentful energy come marching out of the darkness of the corpse field, back to the guards.Â
The guards have decided to slaughter all of the prisoners and then run away, which would be a good plan except they should really have skipped right to the running away part of things. When Wei Wuxian accuses them of killing the prisoner in the corpse field, they claim that the Wens have a habit of falling off of a hill and dying. Wei Wuxian can relate.Â
At this point Wei Wuxian summons up Wen Ning 2.0, ultra badass edition, who comes flying through the air with his odd, straight-armed fighting stance and cool solid-black eyes and rock-and-roll hair.Â
Soundtrack: *Four Sticks*
Wen Ning proceeds to whale on the guards and scare the shit out of his relatives.
Then Wen Qing shows up and begs Wei Wuxian to stop. She explains that Wen Ning is only mostly dead. Like, if he was fully dead would she be okay with this?Â
Wei Wuxian tries to reel Wen Ning in and realizes that he is not actually in control of Wen Ning. Ok, see, right from the first day of Wen Ning 2.0, WWX is aware that his control is iffy. Why does he think heâs going to be able to control him later?Â
Anyway, this is where we learn Wen Ningâs grown-up name is Wen Qionglin. Wei Wuxian yells this name, and Wen Ning looks up like a cat hearing the âfood noise,â and then proceeds to get control of himself.Â
This is such a nice symbolic moment, that will be replayed later in the temple, when Wen Ning saves Jin Ling from Baxia.Â
Wen Ning has a remote-code-execution OS vulnerability throughout the story; his soul is at risk of being stolen, and he is magically controlled by Wei Wuxian, Xue Yang, Su She, and Baxia. Meanwhile Wen Qing, Wei Wuxian, and random kids on the street mostly treat him as a child, despite his clear adult capabilities. Wen Ningâs journey in The Untamed is at least partly about asserting his full adulthood, and his ability to overcome magical control is directly connected to that journey. Â
After getting Wen Ning to chill, Wei Wuxian calls the floating resentful energy back into his own body, which looks about as comfortable as swallowing a burp.Â
On the plus side, apparently resentful energy keeps your hair dry even when itâs raining.
Wei Wuxian should take a page from the guardsâ book and slaughter all the Jin witnesses to this situation, but he decides to be the better person and let them live. They go running off down the road, where they encounter Lan Wangji and give him the 411, saying that Wei Wuxian resurrected dead people.
Meanwhile Wei Wuxian collects Wen Qing--half-fainted, again, in an echo of the start of their journey--and collects the Dafan Mountain Wen group, who are hiding, wisely. When they see Wen Ning, Uncle Four and some others start to freak out, but Wei Wuxian tells them that fierce corpses are cool, and they all grab horses and mount up.
Where Are You Going?
Lan Wangji is waiting for them, nonconfrontationally indulging in some visual poetry while he waits.Â
In a show where every prop is exquisitely, carefully designed to enhance our understanding character, his Gusu-toned umbrella reveals surprising red and yellow threads woven in, right above his eye line as he looks at Wei Wuxian.Â
Wei Wuxian speaks first, saying âyou came to stop me?â Lan Wangji doesnât answer, but asks him where heâs going. Then Lan Wangji warns him that heâs about to abandon orthodoxy forever, if he follows through.Â
Wei Wuxian challenges this idea of orthodoxy, asking if Lan Wangji remembers the promise they made together, back in Gusu. Itâs worth noting that they both appear to think of it as a co-promise, even though Lan Wangji didnât speak aloud at the time.Â
The conversation will continue in the next episode, because whatâs better than a rainy romantic cliffhanger?
Soundtrack: Four Sticks by Led Zeppelin
#the untamed#the untamed gifs#wangxian#wen ning#restless rewatch the untamed#canary3d-original#my gifs#episode 26
200 notes
¡
View notes
Text
Ship: Wei Wuxian / Wen Ning
Summary: Wei Wuxian gives Wen Ning a heartbeat, but not in the way either of them expected.
Rated T, No Warnings Apply
POV Wen Ning, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, references to WWX's poor health, First Kiss, Pining, Cuddling, Presumably Unrequited Love, or more accurately: whatever these two have going on, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, and the inherent homoeroticism of necromancy
Ch. 1/2, 6k, read on AO3 above or on Tumblr below
Wen Ning has always known that Wei Wuxian is not someone to hesitate.
The moment Wen Ning enters the Demon Subdue Palace after packing up the last sack of turnips, Wei Wuxian grabs his wrist.
âCome look!â He tugs Wen Ning deeper into the cave, slender fingers wrapped around Wen Ningâs wrist. He grins at Wen Ning over his shoulder. âIâve made some more demonic devices, probably my best batch yet. Iâd like to see the impersonators down in the town copy these!â
Wen Ning steadies his balance, not fully recovered from Wei Wuxian suddenly whisking him away.
Wei Wuxian has never hesitated to touch him. Wen Ning still isnât quite used to it, having grown up in a family of doctors whose every touch felt calculated, and among clansmen more focused on war and strength than friendship. Clansmen who rarely respected him, never mind showed him affection.
Even now, he exists in a constant state of volatility due to his outbursts of resentful energy. Every family member in the Burial Mounds is careful around him, even A-Yuan at times.
But not Wei Wuxian.
Wei Wuxian is entirely different. Has always been different.
The first time they spoke, Wei Wuxian had already been comfortable with casual touch. Wei Wuxian hadnât hesitated to lay hands on him to adjust his archery postureâsteady hands he can still imagine on his upper arm and around the side of his ribs, friendly pressure like a heavy quilt, as Wei Wuxian comforted and praised him.
Then the war began, and Wei Wuxian choked him in Lotus Pierâfurious, merciless hands like paws of a frightened animal. Wei Wuxian hadnât hesitated then, either. He wouldâve fully choked Wen Ning had he not held back enough to let him speak.
Then the war ended. Now Wei Wuxian uses him as an armrest, fixes his hair, arranges talismans on him, even once tried to pick him up and carry him as a joke. (He'd been a bit too weak to manage it for long. Wen Ning hadnât thought that part was funny.) Now he drags Wen Ning around by the hand, all without hesitation.
Had Wei Wuxian hesitated before raising him from the dead?
Wen Ning isnât sure which answer would comfort him.
âTake a look at this one,â Wei Wuxian says as he places a stone tablet in Wen Ningâs hand. A faint black cloud winds around the tablet, the smokeâs path tracing the red fulu writings carved into its surface. âStill pretty weak, but Iâm getting closer to replicating yin iron with just regular stone.â
Wen Ning glances back and forth between the tablet and Wei Wuxianâs tired but enthusiastic smile. His eyes are bright with joy, but dark circles frame them. He hasnât eaten much in the past few days, instead focusing relentlessly on his experiments, despite needing to save energy to heal the stab wound from Jiang Wanyin.
But Wen Ning still hasnât figured out how to make him rest. Maybe admiring the new batch of demonic devices will help calm his inventive frenzy.
He nods, giving a small smile at Wei Wuxian. âThatâs good.â
âWeak yin iron will be much easier to use. Better for small applications here and there, less dangerousâŚâ Wei Wuxian squats by the scattered piles of demonic cultivation tools and notes, rummaging through to find another invention, the tablet already forgotten.
The black cloud around the tablet continues to swirl, small wisps seeping into Wen Ningâs skin. The tablet feels more like a block of dust than like stone, but despite his dulled senses, he noticesâŚsomething else. A second sensation.
A throb.
âWei-gongzi?â
âYeah?â Wei Wuxian says, squinting at a page of especially messy notes.
âDoesâŚdoes this have a pulse?â The stone continues to throb weakly, more of a resonance than a physical sensation, its aura cold like resentful energy.
Wei Wuxian looks up from the papers, one eyebrow raised. âItâs still doing that?â He stands and takes the tablet, examines it. âHm. This might be good! Iâll have to find out what flow pattern of resentful energy caused this.â
Wen Ning closes his hand. Strangely, he wishes for the tablet to still be pulsing against his palm. It had felt kind of pleasant, if disturbing. âResentful energy can create a heartbeat?â
âWell, itâs not exactly a heartbeat. But yes, if channeled the right way.â
ââŚDoes that mean I have one?â Behind his back to prevent Wei Wuxian from noticing, he presses three fingers to the inside of his wrist, where years ago Jiejie had taught him how to read the flow of his blood. A black vein of resentful energy now covers those lifeless pulse points. âIâve never felt it.â
Wei Wuxian turns the tablet between his hands thoughtfully. âNoâŚyou donât have a heartbeat.â Then he grins, one of those sly grins that crosses his handsome face slowly, as if an idea has rushed into him so quickly that he needs to pace his smile just to contain it. Wen Ning doesnât like those grins, because they make something flutter inside him.
âAt least, not yet!â Wei Wuxian adds. âDo you want one? I could figure something outââ
âNo, itâs okay. Iâm fine without one.â The last thing Wei Wuxian needs is another project to stay up all night forâleast of all an unnecessary project that Wen Ning requested by accident. Wei Wuxian has done enough for him already.
âIâm serious!â Wei Wuxian says. âIt shouldnât be too hard. I can test it right now.â He trails a finger over the blood-red writing on the tablet and mutters a few words under his breath. The black smoke around it thickens. âJust something temporary, to see if the idea works.â He steps closer.
Nervousness immediately jolts through Wen Ning. Itâs unfortunate that death has muted the nerve endings in Wen Ningâs skin but has done nothing to quiet his anxious mind, which is always at both its most overactive and sluggish around Wei Wuxian.
Wen Ning watches the tabletâs red markings begin to glow, watches Wei Wuxianâs expression harden to a chiseled concentration.
âCome here,â Wei Wuxian says.
If Wei Wuxianâs hunch works, Wei Wuxian will ignore his health until he finishes developing the method to give Wen Ning a permanent heartbeat. If it fails, Wei Wuxian will still ignore his health, this time trying until he finds a different method.
Itâs best to not let him try. To give him a firm âno.â
But Wen Ning has never been good at those. Especially when it comes to Wei Wuxian.
He has also never been good at lying to Wei Wuxian. Although he must do so for the sake of Wei Wuxianâs health, itâs hard to admit that he doesnât miss his heartbeat.
He misses many small details of his body. Jiejie had taught him the ways of Dafan Wen medicine, made him attuned to the evidence of life in himself. He knows how fast his heart rate is supposed to be while lying in bed, knows which pressure points she once worked at to calm his anxiety, knows the irregularities of the breaths he no longer takes.
He used to like his heartbeat, his breath, their soothing rhythm as he fell asleep. It was comforting to understand that much about himself, to follow this evidence of life, when in childhood a piece of his soul had been snatched and left the rest of him a puzzle.
Now the lack of this evidence of life feels like a testimony against him.
Wei Wuxian could return some illusion of life to him. Would be happy to do so.
Selfishly, Wen Ning wants him to try. Being a walking experiment has its unsettling momentsâmore accurately, a constant hum of discomfortâbut there is something morbidly enchanting about letting Wei Wuxian mold him into whatever he envisions. Into the magnum opus of a genius.
An even more selfish part of him wants to beg Wei Wuxian to try, because how symbolic would it be for Wei Wuxian to restore his heart, of all thingsâŚ
âWen Ning?â Wei Wuxian asks softly.
âOkay,â he answers, and instantly regrets it.
Wei Wuxian smiles again, this time the smile he saves for when he is about to tinker with the Ghost General. Wen Ning has learned all of his smiles by now, and he still doesnât believe that there is one specially for him. But Wei Wuxian gives him that reassuring nod, the warm curve of his lips, the eager yet slightly rueful glint in his eyes, and Wen Ning can only recall seeing that expression the previous times Wei Wuxian rewrote pieces of him.
Wei Wuxian explains exactly what heâs going to do and how the resentful energy will flow. Wen Ning nods, and Wei Wuxian rests a hand on Wen Ningâs chestâcasually, moving without hesitation, like always. âIt wonât actually restart your heart. Just give the illusion of a pulse for a few minutes.â He furrows his brow as his focus intensifies. âThat is, if it works.â
The feeling of Wei Wuxianâs hand on the center of his chest is stabilizing, yet it sets Wen Ningâs mind into disarray, despite how many times he has felt this before.
Wei Wuxian closes his eyes, preparing to reroute the resentful energy inside Wen Ning.
A cool stream of energy enters Wen Ning. Growing colder, gushing rapidlyâ
Freezingâ
Then over almost instantly.
Wei Wuxian opens his eyes. âFeel any different?â
Wen Ning feels a bit dizzy, which is new. He hasnât experienced vertigo since becoming a fierce corpse. But that fades quickly, and soon he is left with only the feeling of thick fabric pressing against his chest where Wei Wuxianâs hand rests.
He shakes his head. âDoâŚdo you feel anything?â
Wei Wuxian shifts his hand, presses harder against Wen Ningâs chest. Waits, then sticks three fingers in the groove of Wen Ningâs neck, and that feels nice. Wen Ning almost wants to hold his hand thereâ
âNo. I guess it didnât work.â Wei Wuxian sounds much more tired than before. He removes his hand.
âThatâs okay. I donât need a heartbeat.â
âYou want one though, yeah?â Wei Wuxian begins sifting through the inventions scattered across the cave, perhaps looking for another device, perhaps just hunting for kindling to spark an idea.
Wen Ning had been too selfish by agreeing to this. Who knows how long Wei Wuxian will research this now?
âI donât want you to start another project,â Wen Ning says, and the faint thread of anger in his voice is stronger than he intended, even though that anger is mostly directed at himself. It's been harder to control his emotions since resentful energy began feeding them.
Wei Wuxian looks up, startled. Then he grins and gives a small laugh. âAre you turning into your jiejie now? Bossing me aroundâŚâ
The joke only strengthens Wen Ningâs resolve. It reminds him that he can invoke Jiejieâs authoritativeness. He has never been good at following in his sisterâs footsteps, but calling upon her immovability is almost as effective at steeling him as resentful energy. âYou should sleep or come help us outside instead of always working in here.â
Wei Wuxian rubs his eyes. âI know, I know. Youâve all told me many times.â He seems to regret the slight bite in his tone. He tends to snap once in a while, the effect of stress lashing out from behind his mask, but it always dissolves as quickly as it appears.
âIâll listen to you,â Wei Wuxian says, gently this time. Wen Ning feels a wave of relief. But then Wei Wuxian smirks and adds, âFor now. I really do have some theories I want to test.â
âButâWei-gongziââ
Wei Wuxian rises to his feet and walks over to him. Stands and looks at him for a while, then says, almost murmurs, âI have enough projects for myself.â He tucks a strand of hair behind Wen Ningâs ear, and Wen Ning nearly melts. âLet me do something thatâll make you happy.â
This is bad. Very bad.
Wei Wuxian isnât even telling the truth. His projects are all for the protection of Wen Ningâs family, not for himself. But the fond touch, combined with the sweetness in Wei Wuxianâs voice, is already enough to make Wen Ning bend.
He would much rather take care of Wei Wuxian than be taken care of. But if he werenât worried about being a bother, he would tangle his hair just for Wei Wuxian to run his fingers through it, to twirl and comb and braid it the way he unravels and reorders the resentful energy inside Wen Ning.
âYou really donât need to. Getting a heartbeat was just an idea,â Wen Ning mumbles.
âAnd a good idea! We all need more comforts around here, donât we?â Wei Wuxian nestles three fingers in the groove of Wen Ningâs neck to search for a pulse again, his brow knit in thought. Despite himself, Wen Ning canât help but be glad that he can feel that touch a second time.
When Wei Wuxian experiments on him, the tugs and surges of resentful energy donât exactly feel good. Itâs like ice cracking under his skin, leaving shards that poke out of him. Or like the bony hand of a skeleton yanking at his insides, ripping him apart and rattling the pieces around.
The pain and discomfort frighten him. Remind him of what Wei Wuxian is capable of. What Wen Ning is capable of.
Yet he finds enjoyment in the fear, in the icy fingers of resentful energy, because those are the shadows of Wei Wuxianâs hands on him, reshaping him.
And before Wei Wuxian experiments on himâŚthat feels too good. The dotingâalmost lovingâattention, the careful examination, mumbled words, soft touchesâŚ
Wei Wuxian pulls his hand away and brings it to his own throat. His glance darts around the cave as he seems to calculate something in his mind.
Then he grabs Wen Ningâs hand and presses Wen Ningâs fingers into his neck. The sensation comes delayed, but Wen Ning feels it.
A pulse. Wei Wuxianâs pulse.
Wei Wuxian continues looking around the cave and thinking, as if this is just another ordinary step in a routine. But to Wen Ning, this isâthis isâhave they ever done something this intimate? How can Wei Wuxian let him feel the rhythm of his pulse, of his life force, and act like itâs nothing?
Somehow that makes it even more intimate, that Wei Wuxian doesnât seem to mindâŚ
Wen Ning counts the beats to himself.
Too slow. Not by much, but Wei Wuxianâs heart rate is too slow for his age, his size.
Wen Ning would make a mental note to tell Jiejie, but he knows sheâs already aware. Wei Wuxianâs health has been deteriorating since he stepped back into the Burial Mounds.
âWei-gongzi?â
âMn?â
âIâŚI have a different idea.â
Wei Wuxian lifts Wen Ningâs hand from his neck, but doesnât let go. He smiles. âWhatâs that?â
âYou can just give me the tablet.â Wen Ning looks down at the slab of stone, thin black wisps of smoke swirling around it. âI can feel its heartbeat.â
âYou donât want your own?â
He shakes his head.
Wei Wuxian playfully taps the back of Wen Ningâs hand a few times. Four times, to be exact. Wen Ning canât help counting. âThat heartbeat isnât very human, though.â
Neither am I, Wen Ning wants to say, but he knows Wei Wuxian will scold him if he does. âIt would be more than enough,â he says instead.
âYouâre going to make the Yiling Laozu feel like a fraud if you let him give you scraps and call it âmore than enough.ââ He sighs and glances down at the tablet. âBut you can take it until I come up with something better.â
âThenâŚis there something that you donât think is a scrap?â
Wei Wuxian brings Wen Ningâs fingers to his neck again, and the warm pulse hums through his fingertips. âWell, thereâs my heartbeat.â He winks. âIâd still call that a scrap, though.â
âNo it isnât,â Wen Ning blurts.
Wei Wuxian raises his eyebrows. Then his expression turns thoughtful. âWould you rather keep feeling mine?â
Wen Ning doesnât reply, but he knows his face says everything. Not even rigor mortis can hide the answer.
âForget about that useless rock, then.â Wei Wuxian pats his chest. âIâll be your heartbeat for now.â
Wen Ning is sure that if he still had blood flow, he would be flushed. Panicked energy begins to twitch inside him. âN-No, itâs okayââ
âYou donât want my finest craftsmanship, and you donât want my scraps! What am I going to do with you?â
âNothing,â Wen Ning answers quietly.
âYes, something.â He takes Wen Ningâs hand and tugs him toward the slab of stone he uses as a bed. âHm. How should we do this? Maybeââ
âWei-gongzi,â Wen Ning says, exasperated. He likes that Wei Wuxian never hesitates, never slows downâitâs attractive, in a frustrating kind of wayâbut it often leaves Wen Ning in the dust with his mind still sputtering and struggling to function.
âAlright, sit here.â Wei Wuxian gestures toward the bed. âIf you want to,â he adds.
Itâs pointless to ask if Wen Ning wants to. He wonders if Wei Wuxian knows that he doesnât need Chenqing or yin iron to make him do just about anything.
Suddenly filled with dread, a dread that he is going to like this too much, he steps forward and awkwardly sits down on the edge of the bed.
âPerfect,â Wei Wuxian murmurs. He taps Wen Ningâs knee twice. âSpread your legs.â
Now Wen Ning is certain that he would be flushed if he were alive. âS-S-Sprâwhat?â
âHey.â He smirks and points a finger at Wen Ning. âWho taught you to have thoughts like that? Donât worry. I just need you to make room for me.â
Wen Ning gets out some garbled form of âokayâ and spreads his legs, creating enough space for Wei Wuxian to sit on one of his knees.
Which Wei Wuxian does.
Sit on his knee.
He also wraps his arms around Wen Ningâs neck and pulls him closer until his cheek touches Wei Wuxianâs chest.
âI canât do all the work myself.â He cups Wen Ningâs chin. âYou have to move too.â
Wen Ning swallowsâby habit, since he doesnât really need to do that anymoreâand positions himself so his ear rests over Wei Wuxianâs heart. He canât feel Wei Wuxianâs heartbeat through the robes, but the gentle sound of thum, thum seeps into him right away.
Warmth, too. A lot of warmth.
âGood?â Wei Wuxian hums.
Wen Ning makes a small noise of contentment in the back of his throat. He fiddles with his hands in his lap, trying and failing to find a good place for them that isnât Wei Wuxianâs legs. âI hear it.â
âOnly hear it?â
He opens his mouth to object, but he knows that Wei Wuxian will spot the lie before it leaves his lips.
Wei Wuxian opens the collar of his dark outer robes and lets Wen Ning rest his head on the thin red inner garment.
Even warmer. Softer.
He can feel Wei Wuxianâs heartbeat.
He hasnât felt something like this since he was a child. ItâsâŚnot what he expects.
Jiejie had taught him how to take a personâs pulse. How to place three fingers on each wrist and find the six pulse positions corresponding to the meridians of the body, to identify the different types of pulsesâtheir depth, width, length, strength. How sometimes the pulse feels like beads rolling along a table, while other times it feels like the crisp pluck of a guqin string, and so on, each revealing secrets of the body, guiding how to best heal the patient.
All that knowledge had once been exciting. It seems mundane, now.
The medical analogies for a pulse at the wrist, Wen Ning realizes, donât work to describe what a heartbeat from the chest feels like when itâs pressed against his cheek.
Itâs like wading in a warm stream, sunshine beating on him. The gentle lap of current, its smooth rhythmâthum, thumâlike the most natural and simple form of expression.
Wen Ning wishes Jiejie had instead taught him how to decipher a personâs soul by listening to their heartbeat, because with this strange, steady language reverberating in his ear, it almost seems possible.
âNow?â Wei Wuxian asks.
Wen Ning doesnât make a sound this time.
He counts Wei Wuxianâs heartbeats and tries to guess how many fit into a minute. They remain like that, long after Wen Ning loses count, with Wei Wuxianâs warm body in his lap. They both relax, and Wei Wuxianâs heartbeat eventually fades into Wen Ning, like itâs his own.
His awareness returns when he notices Wei Wuxianâs heartbeat slowing even more. He pulls away, immediately missing the comforting solidness of Wei Wuxianâs chest, and looks up to see a calm, drowsy expression on Wei Wuxianâs face. His eyes are heavy-lidded and almost fully closed.
âWeâve been telling you,â Wen Ning says softly. âYou donât sleep enough.â
Wei Wuxian rubs his eyes. âYou really are becoming bossy.â
âI just want you to take care of yourself.â
âYou and your jiejie are like a pair of vultures. Circling me when Iâm weak and picking at me!â He gives a wan smile and reaches around Wen Ningâs back to rub his shoulder. âBut I appreciate that you care about me.â
Wen Ning absorbs the feeling of Wei Wuxian stroking his shoulder, the thrum of Wei Wuxianâs heartbeat still lingering in his ear. âI appreciate that you care about me, too,â he mumbles.
Heâs not sure if Wei Wuxian hears, but figures he knows anyway.
* * *
The next day, Wei Wuxian lets Wen Ning listen again.
And the day after.
And the day after that.
It becomes a pattern, as reliable as the beat of Wei Wuxianâs heart. Wei Wuxian is more likely to skip a meal or lose a night of sleep than he is to shirk his self-proclaimed âheartbeat duty,â and Wen Ning begins to wonder if Wei Wuxian likes it as much as he does.
Then Jiang Wanyin and Jiang Yanli show up in Yiling.
That night, Wei Wuxian drinks like he wants to waterboard himself.
He forgets about heartbeat duty after that. Wen Ning lets him.
* * *
Two weeks later, Wen Ning brings a medicinal draught Jiejie prepared to the Demon Subdue Palace. The sun outside sank long ago, leaving behind deep blues and browns that bleed into the entrance of the cave. A single candle flickers on a rock shelf in the cave wall, illuminating the craggy wall and the floor strewn with bits of metal and wood and crumpled talismans.
Astoundingly, Wei Wuxian is not hunched in the corner scribbling away. Heâs in bed scribbling away, his sleeves rolled up and his tied-back hair slightly disheveled the way they are when he digs in the mud pond for the lotus pods that wonât grow.
He hadnât come out to farm since the day before. Wen Ning wonders if heâs fixed his sleeves or his hair since then.
Wen Ning steps over as quietly as he can manage with his clumsy feet and waits beside the bed, holding the draught with both hands and feeling a faint sensation of its warmth. âWei-gongzi?â
Wei Wuxian presses the wooden end of his brush into the corner of his mouth. âDo you know how to make a Spirit-Attraction Flag attract only ghosts of a certain age?â
ââŚNo.â
âMn. Iâwaitââ He cuts off and draws what looks like disjointed pieces of an array scribbled in the margins around rejected brushstrokes.
Wen Ning lets him write for a while, then says, âMy jiejie made this for you to drink.â
âAnd why,â Wei Wuxian asks without a pause in his writing, âis she spending resources on me instead of saving them for A-Yuan and the others?â
âYou need medicine, too. Because your stab wound still hasn't healed, andâand Jiejie says your body still isnât used to not having a goldââ
Wei Wuxian abruptly stops writing. Wen Ning clamps his mouth shut, and wishes he hadnât said anything.
With a lack of pleasure that he fails to hide, Wei Wuxian scribbles a few more things, then stands up, slices a cut in his finger, and begins trailing red lines on a Spirit-Attraction Flag. âIâm going down the mountain to test this.â He looks over at Wen Ning with a softened expression and walks out of the cave.
Wen Ning doesnât need him to say that itâs an invitation to follow. He always accompanies Wei Wuxian down the mountain. Heâd rather Wei Wuxian sleep, but at least leaving the Burial Mounds always puts him in a better mood.
After they pass through the final protective array and the forest around the path begins to change from grim black leafless trees to green trees shaded blue by moonlight, Wei Wuxian seems to relax. But instead of testing the flag in the clearing where he usually does, he continues walking.
They reach the edge of the forest. A few clouds in the sky hide some of the stars, but the moon is out, a bright half of a silver coin. They pass the town from a distance, still close enough to see amber dots of light from the few lanterns lit at this time of night, but far enough that even Wen Ningâs sharp vision canât discern clear shapes of the buildings. Wei Wuxian stares at the town once in a while, as if he can see something in the muddied blocks of light.
They enter a different patch of forest and stray just far enough inside for tree branches to reach across the sky again.
Wei Wuxian holds up the flag and examines it.
He lowers the flag to his side.
âWei-gongzi,â Wen Ning says quietly.
âYes?â
âDid youâŚâ
He trails off when Wei Wuxian begins slowly rolling up the thin canvas. âI think I just wanted to go for a walk,â he says. âIâll let the spirits rest today.â He sets the folded flag on a large rock and sits on the ground, his back against the stone, looking out at the plains and town from the recesses of the forest.
âI like walking with you,â Wen Ning says, and sits beside him.
Wei Wuxian usually buries his sorrow in his projects, in the crop fields, in his games with A-Yuan. This aimlessness is the closest glimpse Wen Ning sees of Wei Wuxianâs true state of mind. Wei Wuxian ensures that he is alone whenever he truly lets in his sorrow, but Wen Ning accompanies him during the times when he comes close. As if Wei Wuxian wants him to seeâwants someone to seeâbut refuses to reveal everything.
No one else but Wen Ning has sat next to Wei Wuxian while he draws portraits for no particular reason (he never shows them to Wen Ning, but Wen Ning can guess whom he draws), no one else has slept across the cave from him while he mumbles in his sleep, no one else has wandered down the mountain at night with him.
Wen Ning doesnât know if he should feel privileged or worried that Wei Wuxian lets him see this much.
He doesnât think he deserves to know Wei Wuxianâs deepest thoughts, but he wants Wei Wuxian to pass more sorrow onto him, let him shoulder some of the pain. Wen Ningâs heart is dead, he can take it.
âWen Ning,â Wei Wuxian says. He smooths his robes, adjusts his fitted sleeves. âI havenât done heartbeat duty in a while, have I?â
âYou donât need to.â
âMaybe I want to.â
Wen Ning looks down at his knees, but Wei Wuxian scoots closer.
With their backs against the rock, Wei Wuxian hugs him in, rests his hand on the side of Wen Ningâs head, cradling him against his chest. Wen Ning tucks his arms away, trying not to touch Wei Wuxian, but Wei Wuxian takes one of his hands.
âItâs okay,â Wei Wuxian says.
Wen Ning waits a moment, wishing he had proper breath to steady himself, then carefully wraps his arms around Wei Wuxian, nestling close to his slender frame.
It feels different this time. Not because their position is different, or because Wuxianâs heartbeat is any faster or slower, stronger or weaker.
There is no purpose this time. It isnât for Wen Ning to experience sensations more fully. It isnât for Wei Wuxian to find comfort.
They are just two bodies cast aside from life, bodies that struggled to catch each other during their fall until they landed in each otherâs embrace.
Holding Wei Wuxian feels as natural as his heartbeat, as inevitable as each thrum beneath where Wen Ning rests his head.
And just as fleeting.
Wei Wuxian is more alive than any person he knows, yet is wasting away more each day, having given up everything to protect the Dafan Wen.
And Wei Wuxian is not his. Only one thing ties them together: they have each made the other into a member of the living dead.
With whom did it start? Was it Wei Wuxian, who brought Wen Ning back as a fierce corpse, or was it Wen Ning, who held Wei Wuxian down as his core was removed? Or was it the world that did this to both of them?
But despite the thread of shared death that ties them together, Wei Wuxian could break that connection if he wanted to.
Wen Ning is bound to his family, bound to this unnatural body, bound to Chenqing's laments. He can never reenter the world.
But Wei Wuxian...
One day, Wei Wuxian may have the chance to belong in the world again. With his shidi and shijie, with Lan Wangji.
Wen Ning will always be banished to the margins of the world.
âHow long are you going to live with us?â Wen Ning finds himself asking.
Leaves rustle quietly in the forest, clouds disappearing above their heads to reveal more stars against the dark liquid sky. An owl hoots questioningly far behind them.
âUntil tomorrow,â Wei Wuxian says. âAsk me again tomorrow, and Iâll tell you again.â
âI canât ask you that every day.â
âThen donât ask me at all.â He strokes Wen Ningâs hair, over the back of his head and down his back. âIâm not leaving.â
Wei Wuxian continues playing with Wen Ningâs hair, running his fingers through it, stopping occasionally to work out a tangle. Not for the first time, Wen Ning wishes he could feel touch more strongly. He had dreamt of moments like these as a teenager, gentle caresses from Wei Wuxian, impossible moments. He hadnât realized he would receive them one day after they had given up their lives for each other.
âWhen do you think weâll get our next visitor?â Wei Wuxian asks. âThink I can make that Spirit-Attraction Flag into a Guest-Attraction Flag?â He chuckles. âWe can hang it at the ridge. People will be drawn from miles to come talk to us. Tell Uncle Four to get lots of fruit wine ready." He fiddles with the sleeve of Wen Ning's robe. "Iâll have you test out the flag. Wear it like a cloak, and go walk around Yiling to see how many friends you make.â
âI can barely get anyone to buy turnips from me.â
âChange of plans, then! Iâll make a Customer-Attraction Flag, and weâll finally be rich.â
Wen Ning smiles. âWhat are we going to buy once weâre rich?â
âToys for A-Yuan.â Wei Wuxian rubs across Wen Ningâs shoulders, back and forth. âEvery toy in Yiling.â
âWe should buy every toy in Lanling, too.â
âThatâll need a lot more money. Weâll have to grow bigger turnips.â
âA giant one.â
âA single giant turnip?â Now there is real laughter in Wei Wuxianâs voice. âIâll have to plant you as the seed to grow something big enough. Donât tell your jiejie. Although she might figure it out when you disappear, and meanwhile a turnip the size of the Burial Mounds takes over Yiling.â
âI still wonât tell her.â
Wei Wuxian makes a low humming sound. âI can always count on you.â
Wen Ning melts more into Wei Wuxianâs embrace, surrounded by his warmth.
âToo bad that no matter who we bury in the lotus pond,â Wei Wuxian says with a sigh, âthose plants still donât want to sprout.â This time he doesnât rub Wen Ningâs back or fiddle with him while he talks.
Heâs never said something like that about the lotus crop without following it up with a confident proclamationâBut when have I ever not achieved the impossible?, Theyâll poke their heads out soon!, My lotus flowers will be the biggest youâve seen, just wait!
Heâs never left hanging the chance that the lotus crop might not grow.
Wen Ning waits for the cocky remark, but it doesnât come. âTheyâll sprout if youâre the one growing them,â Wen Ning suggests, filling in the declaration that Wei Wuxian missed.
ââŚYeah.â
Wen Ningâs stomach sinks. He looks up. Wei Wuxian smiles at him and guides him to rest against his chest again.
âItâs only been two weeks. They might take a while,â Wen Ning says, his face nearly turned into Wei Wuxianâs robes.
âIâll just cheat and make a Lotus-Attraction Flag.â
âIâll help you.â
âOf course you will. Youâll also help me with the flag for attracting guests to marvel at the beauty of our lotus pond!â
Guests again.
Wen Ning knows that Hanguang-Jun had visited on the day his consciousness returned. Jiang Wanyin and Jiang Yanli had met with Wei Wuxian soon after. Both left marks on Wei Wuxian.
Is he thinking about them?
Wishing he had warmth of his own to give Wei Wuxian, Wen Ning hugs him tighter. He's not sure if they lower to the ground in one movement or slowly slide down, but eventually they lie on their sides, facing each other, arms tight around each other. Wei Wuxianâs heartbeat speaks, and Wen Ning listens.
Iâm lonely, it whispers. Iâm so lonely.
Who is there in the Burial Mounds for Wei Wuxian to feel the same affection toward as he feels about Hanguang-Jun? Or to provide the same comfort as the company of his siblings?
Everyone in the Burial Mounds has tried their best to provide the support of a new family for Wei Wuxian. He has even called them his family. But try as they might, how could the Dafan Wen replace his shidi and shijie?
The shidi and shijie Wen Ning helped Wei Wuxian save, only to steal him away from. He knows that it was Wei Wuxianâs choice to lead the Dafan Wen to the Burial Mounds and live with them, but would he have made that choice if he had never formed a relationship with Wen Ning and his sister? The thought makes guilt churn in his stomach.
âWei-gongzi?â
Wei Wuxian runs his thumb in gentle circles over Wen Ningâs shoulder. âYes?â
âIs that something you want?â He pulls away from Wei Wuxianâs chest to look up at him, though not quite into his eyes. âGuests?â
âDonât take that all so seriously. If guests come, would they be as good of a drinking buddy as Uncle Four, or as good of a storyteller as Granny, or as energetic as A-Yuan? They couldnât compete.â
âBut you meant it,â Wen Ning says, surprised at the force in his own voice, quiet as it is. âIâll help you bring guests here.â
Wei Wuxian smiles and brushes his thumb over Wen Ningâs cheek, the touch warm and soft like hushed words. âYouâre already too good to me. Donât worry about me.â He sighs and looks up at the sky. âEach of us will have things we want, but canât have. Itâs just part of living.â
Wen Ning, too, looks up at the star-studded sky through the dark silhouettes of trees. The full shapes of the constellations are broken up, but he can picture which stars are waiting behind the black hands of tree leaves.
As he follows the disjointed forms of the constellations, he decides that he will relieve Wei Wuxianâs burdens.
He is not sure at what moment he makes the decision, but it settles into his bones and becomes his purpose for the night.
Not just for the night. For as long as Wei Wuxian is by his side.
The day Wen Ningâs consciousness was restored, he had heard A-Yuan singing a song about walking the âsingle-log bridge.â Curious, Wen Ning had asked where A-Yuan learned the song.
âXian-gege,â had been the answer. The songâs lyrics had been about Wei Wuxian walking alone into darkness.
Wen Ning will not let him walk alone.
If Wei Wuxian wants to walk the single-log bridge, Wen Ning will carry him across it.
âWill you tell me about them?â Wen Ning asks.
âAbout what?â
âThe things you want, but canât have.â
* * *
Thank you for reading! Next chapter is coming soon. If you enjoyed this fic, come visit me on AO3!
#ningxian#mdzsnet#theuntameddaily#wen ning#wei wuxian#mdzs#cql#the untamed#mdzs fanfic#cql fanfic#the untamed fanfic#mdzs fanfiction#cql fanfiction#the untamed fanfiction#emilu creations#emilu fics
66 notes
¡
View notes
Text
There was this viral tweet that went around about THE UNTAMED awhile back that was basically the cycle of every fan of the series that I have ever met: 1. Wtf, THIS is the show everyone is losing their minds over? This isnât even good! 2. Well, I guess itâs not that bad, itâs pretty watchable and fun, itâs all right. 3. I would now die for these characters. So, when I swore this drama wasnât going to be a big fandom for me, I was just going to watch the show and then fuck off again, I should have known better. Because here I am, crying about feelings about the entire cast and devouring fic and yelling at anyone who will spend even five minutes listening to me about how much I love the OTP, how much I love the Yunmeng Siblings and their Terrible Communications Issues, and the Tragic Sibling Duos and the Tragic Doomed Loves and The Cutest Juniors In The World and how I want to lock ALL OF THEM IN A ROOM until they sort out their feelings! THE UNTAMED/MO DAO ZU SHI RECS - EMOTIONAL CONSTIPATION RUNS IN THE FAMILY - YUNMENG SIBLINGS FIC: ⌠Still in the Water by airgeer, lan wangji/wei wuxian & jin ling & lan sizhui & jiang cheng, 45k   A year after Jin Lingâs early succession to the position of Sect Leader, a letter is delivered to him under strange circumstances. A night-hunt follows. ⌠no one lights a candle to remember by asravine, wei wuxian & jiang cheng & jiang yanli (& wangxian), 7.9k   âDidi,â Wei Wuxian says softly. His thumb on Jiang Chengâs cheek is calloused and warm and burns of affection. Jiang Cheng barely stops himself from leaning in. âDidi, donât cry because of me.â ⌠can people untie themselves, uncurling like flowers by annemari, wei wuxian & jiang cheng & jin ling & lan wangji, 19.3k   Wei Wuxian gets hurt on a night hunt. Jiang Cheng is displeased to find out that heâs been wandering around on his own instead of living with Lan Wangji in Cloud Recesses. He ends up fixing it. ⌠bark, bite by chashmish, wei wuxian & jiang cheng & lan wangji & jin ling (& wangxian), modern au, 3.4k   Jin Ling finds a dog and learns some new things about his uncles. ⌠before you stumble by ribena, wei wuxian & jiang cheng & jin ling & lan wangji & lan sizhui (& wangxian), 9.8k   âUncle,â Jin Ling says. âJust because Uncle Wei - I mean, Wei Wuxian - just because heâs leading the night-hunt, heâs teaching, heâs not doing anything wrong, he even notified you ahead of time -â ⌠Five Dogs, One Cat by ryfkah, wei wuxian & jiang cheng & jin ling & lan wangji & lan sizhui & lan jingyi & nie huaisang, 13.4k   If youâve ever believed me in anything, believe I want whatâs best for Jin Ling, the first line of the letter reads. Jiang Cheng has to stop and take a moment before he continues on to the next line: You must come to Carp Tower as soon as you can and lavish praise on the ugliest dog Iâve ever seen. ⌠Life is Very Long by Vamillepudding, wei wuxian & jiang cheng & jin ling & lan wangji & lan sizhui & lan jingyi (& wangxian), 12.7k   Wei Wuxian is a good for nothing, possibly evil, possibly fake uncle. But heâs Jin Lingâs good for nothing, possibly evil, possibly fake uncle. So it stands to reason that when Jin Ling starts to suspect that Hanguang-jun is mistreating his husband, he immediately recruits Jiang Cheng for a rescue mission. ⌠a symbol to remind you that thereâs more to see by paperminds, wei wuxian & jiang cheng & jin ling & lan wangji & lan sizhui & lan jingyi & ouyang zizhen, 9.7k   For as long as Jin Ling can remember, he has been immune to the majority of supernatural hauntings that plague the cultivation world. Or: what if Jin Ling had received his first-month birthday gift. ⌠plea from a cat named little plum blossom by rolameny, wei wuxian & jiang cheng & jin ling, 5.1k   Jiang Cheng is trying. Jiang Cheng is having a very trying day. At least the cat likes him. ⌠JC and WWXâs Get Along Sweater by newamsterdam, wei wuxian & jiang cheng & jin ling & lan wangji & lan sizhui (& wangxian), 29.6k   Convinced Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXian will never reconcile of their own accord, Jin Ling takes matters into his own hands by trapping both of his uncles alone, together, without their cultivation. ⌠passed down like folksongs, our love lasts so long by finedae, wei wuxian & jiang cheng (& background wangxian), 6k   winning a drinking contest, wei wuxian finds out yunmeng has got new folklore since heâs been gone. those are the stories of the Twin Prides of Yunmeng. naturally, he has to go confront jiang cheng for doing the opposite of talking shit about the dead; this is a confession of love. ⌠sorrow waited by curiositykilled, wei wuxian & jiang cheng, 2.3k   No one gets out of the Burial Mounds alive and so Wei Wuxian cannot have been in the Burial Mounds â but sometimes Jiang Cheng starts to think it might be the inverse instead. No one gets out of the Burial Mounds alive and so Wei Wuxian didnât get out at all. Someone, something, else crawled out. ⌠the trick is to keep breathing by alessandriana, wei wuxian & jiang cheng & jin ling, 3.4k   Jiang Cheng probably should have anticipated the assassination attempt. Heâd spent the last three weeks in Lanling browbeating the more intractable elders into supporting Jin Ling before his nephewâs first discussion conference, and he hadnât exactly been kind about it. Still, he was a cultivatorâ if someone was going to try and kill him, he expected swords, or curses. Not poison in his tea. ⌠the road in leaves no step had trodden black by Skadiseven, wei wuxian & jiang cheng & wen ning & wen qing, 1.6k   Jiang Cheng gets a little therapy session from Wen Ning, learns to plant potatoes, and decides heâs not giving up on something he wants. THE UNTAMED/MO DAO ZU SHI RECS - JUST STRAIGHT UP WANGXIAN OTP FIC: ⌠Fire in the Blood by Jo Lasalle (Jo_Lasalle), lan wangji/wei wuxian, nsfw, 20.7k   Wei Ying is traveling, and he gets busy. Lan Wangji knows that sometimes, Wei Ying forgets things. ⌠scapegoat by astrobandit, lan wangji/wei wuxian, 1.3k   Four ridiculous things the Yiling Patriarch was blamed for, and one ridiculous thing that was positively his fault. ⌠Content Warning: Romance by Ariaste, lan wangji/wei wuxian, nsfw, 5.9k   Wei Wuxian just wants a little warning before Lan Wangji says nice things. Lan Wangji just wants to love on his husband, thanks. ⌠Where the Lonely Ones Go by CSHfic, VSfic, lan wangji/wei wuxian & jiang cheng & cast, 23.9k   Accidental (haunted) baby acquisition ⌠devotee by tagteamme, lan wangji/wei wuxian, NSFW, 5.8k   Lan Wangji does not control Wei Wuxian. Not in the way many wish he would. But like thisâ ⌠nothing gold can stay by rikke, lan wangji/wei wuxian & cast, nsfw, 10.3k   Before Wen Chao can throw him into Yiling Burial Mounds, Lan Wangji finds Wei Wuxian. ⌠Wait, What? by MarbleGlove, lan wangji/wei wuxian & lan xichen, time travel, 1.5k   AKA, that time sixteen-year-old Wei WuXian showed up at Cloud Recesses, took one look at Lan WangJi and declared, âThatâs my future husband!â ⌠and Lan WangJi said, âMmâ ⌠Beyond All Reach by airinshaw, lan wangji/wei wuxian & jiang cheng & jin ling & nie huaisang & lan xichen, NSFW, 27.4k   Wei Wuxian heads back to Cloud Recesses to find out more about a curse someone has placed on him, that appears to do nothing. Until he meets back up with Lan Wangji and finds out that what the curse really does is stop them from being able to touch. ⌠Key Differences by pupeez4eva, lan wangji/wei wuxian & cast, 5.6k   Wherein Wei Wuxian ends up meeting an alternate version of himself who, much to his horror, never married Lan Wangji. Obviously he has to do something to fix this. ⌠the heart is hard to translate by vespertineflora, lan wangji/wei wuxian, NSFW, rough sex, non-con play, 10.8k   The moment comes almost out of the blue when, one relaxed spring afternoon, Lan Wangji decides that heâs ready to offer Wei Wuxian an opportunity to play out that very delicious fantasy about their stolen first kiss. ⌠Pigtail Pulling by protos_metazu_ison, lan wangji/wei wuxian & jiang cheng & nie huaisang & lan xichen, 3.7k   Wei Wuxian trips over Jiang Wanyin and sends both of them to the ground in a tangle of limbs and bruises. ⌠The Last Three Feet by etymologyplayground, lan wangji/wei wuxian & lan sizhui & lan wangji, 3.7k   A moment of down time in the Cloud Recesses. THE UNTAMED/MO DAO ZU SHI RECS - SOMETIMES YUNMENG SIBLINGS FIC, SOMETIMES WANGXIAN FIC: ⌠put your heart where your mouth is by protos_metazu_ison, lan wangji/wei wuxian & jiang cheng, 19.9k   Having lost a monthâs worth of memories might have been fine if Wei Wuxian hadnât managed to forget the part where he and Lan Wangji got engaged. If that was, actually, what happened. He hasnât figured out that part yet. ⌠Orchids in Lotus Pier by Vamillepudding, lan wangji/wei wuxian & jiang cheng & lan xichen & jiang yanli & jin zixuan & cast, 21.6k   Against all odds, Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng become friends. Itâs just Jiang Chengâs luck that people think theyâre courting. And itâs just Lan Wangjiâs luck that regretfully, Wei Wuxian is also People. ⌠Deeper grows my longing by feyburner, lan wangji/wei wuxian & jiang cheng, 4.4k   Jiang Cheng stared at him. âHow are you this dense,â he said flatly. âWei Wuxian. The common people arenât scared of you, theyâre scared of your husband.â âMy what,â said Wei Wuxian. ⌠A Civil Combpaign by Ariaste, lan wangji/wei wuxian & jin ling/lan sizhui & cast, 31k   âAnd,â said one of the pompous ministers, âthereâs the matter of a marriage to consider as well!â Jin Ling, who at the beginning of that sentence had expected to slam into the very last wall of his patience and lose his temper entirely, paused. âA what?â ⌠Being Known by dragongirlG, lan wangji/wei wuxian & jin zixuan/jiang yanli & jiang cheng/wen qing & nie huaisang & wen ning & lan xichen & yu ziyuan & lan qiren & cast, 36.3k wip   Teenage Lan Wangji drunkenly confesses his lust for Wei Wuxian during the guest disciple lectures at the Cloud Recesses and wakes up betrothed to him by way of forehead ribbon. It all goes from there. ⌠heaven and earth as witness by scheherazade, lan wangji/wei wuxian & jiang cheng & jin ling & lan sizhui, 8.5k   Jin Ling has an emotional meltdown involving Lan Sizhui. Lan Wangji predictably overreacts. Somehow, it helps Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian finally have a conversation that they should have had years ago. THE UNTAMED/MO DAO ZU SHI RECS - SOMETIMES CASE FIC, SOMETIMES WANGXIAN FIC: ⌠grow by cafecliche, lan wangji/wei wuxian & lan sizhui & the juniors, case fic, de-aged, 14.4k   Or: Wei Wuxian is cursed on a night-hunt, and the junior quartet rapidly finds themselves in over their heads. ⌠Linger in the Sun by etymologyplayground, lan wangji/wei wuxian & jiang cheng & ocs & cast, 39.4k   Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji find themselves cursed, unable to see or hear each other. They figure things out anyway. THE UNTAMED/MO DAO ZU SHI RECS - WHEN I WASNâT LOOKING, I DEVELOPED NIE BROTHERS FEELINGS FIC: ⌠Pushover by nirejseki, nie huaisang & nie mingjue & lan xichen & jin guangyao & cast, 1.9k   Every once in a while, not often, people who know them well will say that Nie Mingjue lets Nie Huaisang walk all over him. That isnât quite right. THE UNTAMED/MO DAO ZU SHI RECS - YOUR HONOR, HAVE YOU SEENA-YAOâS PRECIOUS FACE? - LAN XICHEN/JIN GUANGYAO FIC: ⌠half cloak & half dagger by Fahye, lan xichen/jin guangyao (& background wangxian), NSFW, 13.1k   Jin Guangyao lifts his head and smiles. "Iâm considering a problem.â âCan I be of any assistance with it?â He drops a kiss on Lan Xichenâs chest. With the nail of one finger he lightly traces the characters for irony on Lan Xichenâs side. âNot this one, er-ge.â ⌠Hindsight by clockwork_spider, lan xichen/jin guangyao, ~1k   Three years after the incident at the GuanYin temple, Jin GuangYao and Nie MingJueâs coffin was unsealed and their corpses, depleted of resentful energy, were finally laid to rest, their spirits released. In his dream, Lan XiChen is visited by the spectre of his sworn brother. ⌠beyond reasons by welcome_equivocator, lan xichen/jin guangyao & lan wangji, 5.2k   âa-yao,â he says, and you are almost surprised to hear it, but he is still facing away from you, âi know about the music.â ⌠Spring Dawn ă čąč˝çĽĺ¤ĺ° ă by iskendaris, lan xichen/jin guangyao & nie mingjue, modern au/reincarnation au, 4.5k   Meng Yao is given a second chance when heâs reincarnated. He doesnât want a repeat of the past. However destiny has a way of interfering, and he finds himself working together with student president Lan Xichen?! Really, what is this fate?! ⌠Hold the Baby by Moonsheen, lan xichen/jin guangyao & jin zixuan/jiang yanli & lan wangji/wei wuxian & jiang cheng, 6.4k   A collection of shorts: In which a chance encounter and a fussing baby causes a slight change to Jin Guangyaoâs MO. ⌠Ornament by syriala, lan xichen/jin guangyao & nie mingue & lan qiren, 1.6k   He starts to go into the bow again, and Lan Xichen intercepts his movement, stops him from bowing in a move that he might have learned from Nie Mingjue, and then his brain must short-circuit, because the only thought Lan Xichen has is that Meng Yao has the perfect height for forehead kisses. THE UNTAMED/MO DAO ZU SHI RECS - EVERY OTHER KIND OF FIC: ⌠fierce corpse Jin Zixuan by EHyde, jin zixuan/jiang yanli & jin ling & cast, 10.6k   Jin Zixuan died at Qiongqi Path. Then, Wei Wuxian brought him back. But what place does Koi Tower have for a fierce corpse? ⌠The Past Didnât Go Anywhere by FairestCat, jiang cheng & wen qing & lan sizhui, 2.3k   There are rumours going around of a woman â a healer â travelling the countryside alone. Jiang Cheng needs to know if the rumours are true. ⌠If you only knew then (the things I only know now) by Nillegible, jiang fengmian/yu ziyuan & wei wuxian & jiang cheng & nie huaisang & lan wangji & & lan xichen & jin zixuan & cast, time travel (of a sort), 34.7k wip   Yu Ziyuan receives a warning, a letter in Jiang Chengâs handwriting, familiar, though it seems to have evened out over long years of practice. This was from her child, but not. This Jiang Cheng, grown up in ways that it hurt to contemplate, had endured the death of his family, his Sect, and his soul. ⌠partly frozen, partly flowing by astrolesbian, lan wangji & lan xichen & lan qiren (& background wangxian), 4.9k   To discourage Lan Wangji from this idea would be to discourage him from loving, and Lan Xichen has always known that to be impossible. All he could do was nod as his brother looked at him, and finished, calmly, âZewu-jun, I accept any punishment you see fit.â ⌠Delight in Misery by nirejseki, lan wangji & jiang cheng & lan sizhui & jin ling & lan xichen (&background wangxian), 17.4k wip   For the first time in his life, Lan Wangji didnât want to go home. (what if he had another option?) ⌠into the light of a dark black night by dragongirlG, lan wangji & lan xichen & madam lan, 3k   On a snowy night in the dead of winter, Wu Yuhua, formerly known as Madam Lan, unexpectedly spends one last night with her sons before escaping from the Cloud Recesses. FULL DETAILS + RECS HERE
#the untamed#lan wangji#wei wuxian#jiang cheng#wangxian#xiyao#lan xichen#jin guangyao#jin ling#nie huaisang#nie mingjue#lan sizhui#jiang yanli#jin zixuan#xuanli#fic recs#the untamed fic recs#mdzs fic recs#mdzs#long post#really long post
430 notes
¡
View notes
Text
Light on the Door (ao3)Â (aka WWX in the Nie sect); tumblr: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4
Wei Wuxian woke all at once when someone dropped something onto the floor, but he kept his body relaxed and his eyes closed. It was only when the smashing sound was followed by a very familiar muttering â âShit, shit, shit, da-geâs going to kill me!â â that he relaxed.
âHow expensive is it that you think he would care?â he asked, opening his eyes and frowning when he found himself somewhere unfamiliar.
Nie Huaisang, who had been standing in the middle of the room and looking at the shards of a (admittedly very expensive looking) broken teapot with some dismay, promptly forgot all about the teapot and dashed over to him. âShixiong! Youâre awake!â
âYou say that like itâs a surprise,â Wei Wuxian said, reaching up to rub his head. âAm I â wait, is this Jiang sect grounds? Howâd we get to the Lotus Pier, of all places?â
The last he remembered, he and Lan Wangji had remained behind in the cave with the Xuanwu of Slaughter, distracting it while the others went out through the underwater exit, which had closed up when the Xuanwu had thrashed around. After a few days, when inedia would no longer help them and they knew their strength would begin to decrease, they had decided to fight it, and thenâŚ
âIs Lan Zhan all right?â he asked, abruptly concerned. âWhat happened to him? Did he ââ
âHeâs fine, you big baby,â Nie Huaisang said, throwing himself down on the bed next to him and promptly snuggling in for a hug. He had zero grounds to call anyone else a big baby. âHe woke up two days ago and already left for the Cloud Recesses. He didnât want to worry them any longer, and they need him, what with his brother still being missing.â
Wei Wuxian spared a momentâs thought for Lan Xichen, who was very nice and also a good friend of Nie Mingjueâs in addition to being Lan Wangjiâs precious older brother, but reminded himself that there was no point in worrying when it wouldnât do any good. That settled, he complained, âOh, thatâs rude! He left before making sure I woke up?â
âOh, you woke up yesterday before he headed out,â Nie Huaisang said breezily. âYou were sleep-drunk as anything, but you were awake and saying something about musical masterpieces. Possibly you might have started to say something about kissing, but tragically I was forced to gag you for your own health before Lan Wangji disintegrated from embarrassment.â
Wei Wuxian put his head in his hands. ââŚand so he left.â
âAnd so he left,â Nie Huaisang agreed. âDonât worry, he left you a nice long letter to read when you feel up to it â and when I decide to give it to you.â
âCruel.â
âCaring! You must think of your health, shixiong.â
âShixiong this, shixiong that,â Wei Wuxian teased. âWere you worried about me?â
Nie Huaisang glared death at him. âOf course I was! Do you know what you put me and Jiang Cheng through?! We left you in a cave with that thing, we got ambushed by the Wen sect the second we emerged ââ
âYou did? Are you all right?!â
âShut up, Iâm fine, Jiang Cheng handled it,â Nie Huaisang said, which â fair. Wei Wuxian would have to give Jiang Cheng many relieved thank-you-for-saving-my-little-brother hugs. âWe then ran for days to get someone to rescue you ââ
It make sense. The Lotus Pier was closer than the Unclean Realm, and Jiang Fengmian had always been a little unreasonable about Wei Wuxian; it was a good bet to make.
Still, even if theyâd travelled down from the Nightless City, they hadnât gone that far, and the Lotus Pier was a long way away.
âAre your feet all right?â he asked.
âNo! They are not! They are awful! There was blood! But not as much blood as we found all over you when we broke into the cave to find you lying there unconscious!â
Wei Wuxian resigned himself to spending the next shichen calming down Nie Huaisang from (admittedly somewhat reasonable) hysterics.
-
âSo Iâm worried about the Jiang sect,â Nie Huaisang said the second they crossed out of the Lotus Pier â by horse, since that required less from his torn-up feet.
Wei Wuxian looked at him sidelong. âAnd this wasnât something you could mention while we were there? To them?â
âIâm not so stupid as to start a fight with our allies by implying that they canât handle themselves,â Nie Huaisang said. âEven ifâŚâ
âEven if you donât think they can?â
Nie Huaisang sighed. âItâs not that!â he protested. âTheyâre very capable. Extraordinarily capable, even. But Sect Leader Jiang doesnât take things seriously enough â the way he tried to scold Jiang Cheng for lecturing you..!â
Wei Wuxian winced. Heâd managed to head that off at the pass, luckily, but Jiang Chengâs face had gotten that mulish expression of mixed envy and hurt that he hated to see, and it hadnât cleared up until Nie Huaisang fainted in order to escape the awkward conversation. It was a trick he pulled often, one that worked on adults virtually all the time and also amused Jiang Cheng every single time.
âAnd he doesnât take da-ge seriously, either,â Nie Huaisang said, sounding as if that were the worst possible crime imaginable. Wei Wuxian understood his feelings. âNot even after the indoctrination campâŚI just donât know if heâll take the steps he needs to in time.â
âYouâre right,â Wei Wuxian said regretfully. âUncle Jiang wonât want to think about it, so he wonât, but that wonât stop the war from comingâŚWait, hold up. You think the Wen sect would come here? Why?â
âI mean, itâs the logical next step to quash another one of the Great Sects,â Nie Huaisang said. âAlso, remember that time I fainted from the heat and they took me inside the guardroom? I looked at some of their papers; they were definitely planning on a siege.â
âBut why here?â Wei Wuxian asked, deciding to reserve comments on Nie Huaisangâs unexpected foray into espionage to a time when he could appropriately lose his mind over it, preferably with Nie Mingjue in the vicinity to add to the effect. âWhy the Lotus Pier? Jiang Cheng wasnât involved with sticking it to Wen Chao; that was Lan Zhan and Jin Zixuan, and then after that it was mostly me. No Jiang sect at all!â
âHe helped later,â Nie Huaisang pointed out. âAnyway, where else would they go? They attacked the Cloud Recesses once already, Lanling Jin is so slimy and double-dealing that they might as well count as a Wen ally, and if you had to pick between attacking the Lotus Pier or the Unclean Realm, between wishy-washy old Sect Leader Jiang or da-ge, whoâs been preparing for war since before you joined us, which would you pick?â
âWell, shit,â Wei Wuxian said, because Nie Huaisang wasnât wrong at all. Nor was he wrong to keep this from Jiang Fengmian, who would probably just pat them on the head indulgently before dismissing them. âWhatâs the plan, then?â
âShopping,â Nie Huaisang declared.
Wei Wuxian knew his little brother too well. He started grinning. âJust a couple of young masters going on a shopping trip? With a nice, small retinue?â
âWe could hardly be expected to travel with anything less,â Nie Huaisang agreed, grinning back. âEspecially with there being both of us, heir and spare! It would be disgraceful to send us out with anything less than at least a squad of Nie culivators. We could stay in Yunping, maybe? Thatâs not far.â
âYunping? Thereâs nothing in Yunping.â
âNot recently, no,â Nie Huaisang said, and shrugged when Wei Wuxian shot him an inquisitive glance. âPersonnel issue, someone da-ge met recentlyâŚnot a big deal. Iâm just curious about him, thatâs all. Iâll tell you about it on the way.â
âI love how you just decide these things and then pretend that I have some input into how things are going to go before doing what you want anyway,â Wei Wuxian remarked. âI take it that youâve contacted da-ge already, then?â
âOf course! Sent him a letter first thing once we arrived at the Lotus Pier. Are we going?â
âYes, fine,â Wei Wuxian said, rolling his eyes. âWeâre going, weâre going.â
-
âSo, I think we can all agree that that went badly,â Nie Huaisang said. âCan we all agree on that?â
âShut up,â Jiang Cheng said. His impression of being above it all was somewhat ruined by the tears still streaming down his face and the way he wouldnât stop hugging them both intermittently.
âListen, it could have gone worse,â Wei Wuxian said placatingly. âRight? Could have gone much, much worse. At least Uncle Jiang and Madame Yu made it out, and theyâll go crazy trying to find us.â
âYeah,â Jiang Cheng said, and sniffed, rubbing his nose. âYeah. Thatâs true. Thanks.â
Even with the best river-watching intentions in the world, the attack had come so quickly that theyâd only shown up midway through the assault on the Lotus Pier, just in time to find Jiang Cheng tied up in Zidian and floating downriver, a sure sign that Madame Yu had given up all hope of maintaining a defense, and naturally theyâd grabbed him and rushed in to help her.
A single moment of surprise had been all sheâd needed to finish Wen Zhuliu.
Unfortunately, even two full squadrons of Nie sect cultivators â Nie Mingjue hadnât stinted â couldnât change the end result, not against the massed forces the Wen sect had brought with them, not even if they sold their lives into the bargain. It was only enough to hold them off for a little while.Â
At Wei Wuxianâs order, they had gone back in again and again, getting as many Jiang sect disciples out as they could. Itâd been a good plan.
Getting captured hadnât been part of the plan.
Getting thrown into the Burial Mounds was definitely not part of the plan.
Fucking Wen Chao. Just because his smarmy stupid core-melting servant got killed and he didnât want to risk them returning as ghostsâŚ
âSomehow, the possibility of it being worse doesnât actually make me feel better,â Nie Huaisang said, scowling. He had the weakest core out of all three of them, so theyâd given him the one blanket theyâd managed to smuggle along with them â though technically, that had been Wen Ning whoâd done the smuggling, actually, a Wen disciple that Wei Wuxian had befriended in the archery contest.Â
Heâd apparently remained very sympathetic despite the war.
It wouldâve been pretty funny, if anyone had been in the mood to laugh: Wen Ning had arrived to the Lotus Pier late in a panic, nominally to provide medical services, although Wen Chao had implied in a snarl that it was actually to claim credit for helping. He had stuttered his way through excuses and apologies, offered to go start work right away, and then promptly beelined straight for the room where theyâd been trapped, sneaking them a qiankun pouch with a few supplies in hopes that they could use it when they escaped.
He hadnât known that they were bound for the Burial Mounds at that time, of course.
Maybe heâd have included some weapons they could use to fly out of here if he had.
Wei Wuxian had whispered to him âFind a way to tell Sect Leader Nie,â as theyâd been dragged away after hearing Wen Chao declare that he was going to dispose of them where theyâd never escape, and he could only hope that between that avenue and the Jiang that they would be found soon.
Ideally very soon.
They were running out of protective talismans, and night was approaching.
âStill could be worse,â Wei Wuxian said, thinking to himself that if Wen Zhuliu hadnât been garroted by Zidian they might have found their way here without even their golden cores. Definitely worse. âOkay. So. I have â an idea.â
âOh no,â Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang chorused.
ââŚyou two are so supportive.â
âItâs going to be a dumb idea,â Nie Huaisang said. âWe can tell. Your tone of voice tells us.â
âHeâs not wrong,â Jiang Cheng said. âItâs going to be dumb and self-sacrificing.â
âDumb, self-sacrificing and with a less than fifty percent chance of ââ
âMust you throw all my past failures in my face?â Wei Wuxian said mournfully.
âYes,â they both said.
ââŚfine. Iâm still going to do it.â
âWe never doubted that for a moment,â Nie Huaisang said. âNow tell us what heart failure weâre going to be dying of today.â
âWellâŚâ Wei Wuxian said.
-
âI think Iâm hallucinating,â Wei Wuxian announced. âIt may be the resentful energy going to my head.â
âNooooo,â Jiang Cheng said. âYou think?â
âCould be the reduced rations and extended inedia,â Nie Huaisang said, looking very tragic. âOr maybe these sad excuses for potatoes weâve been picking.â
âI am never eating wild-grown potatoes ever again in my life,â Wei Wuxian agreed fervently. âBut also, no, seriously, I think Iâm hallucinating, which we should write down as a possible side-effect of demonic cultivation.â
Jiang Cheng groaned from where he was lying on his back and staring up into the ever-clouded sky above the Burial Mounds. Heâd gotten tired of the writing-things-down portion of the experimentation process early on, especially when theyâd had to carefully unbind the one book Wen Ning had (rather inexplicably, but helpfully) shoved into the bag for them in order to get enough paper to do it after theyâd run out of space on Nie Huaisangâs fans.
âWe have to keep notes!â Wei Wuxian insisted.
âFine, fine,â Nie Huaisang said. âWhat are you hallucinating?â
âSuibian,â Wei Wuxian said. âFlying right at me. From the northwest, if thatâs relevant.â
âIt is extremely relevant, actually,â Jiang Cheng said, sitting up. âBecause itâs not a hallucination if I see it, too.â
Jiang Cheng was their control group, insofar as they could have a control when they were all stuck here being slowly consumed by the Burial Mounds. He and Wei Wuxian were about evenly matched in cultivation strength, so it only made sense for one of them to try demonic cultivation and the other not, and then Nie Huaisang had also started doing it, over Wei Wuxianâs protests, when theyâd realized that they needed two people for some of the arrays Wei Wuxian invented.
So if he was seeing things as well, that either meant that the Burial Mounds were affecting them faster than expected, or else â
âWait, you can see Suibian too?â Wei Wuxian jumped up to his feet. âSuibian! Suibian! Over here!â
âWait,â Nie Huaisang said. âWe donât know how Suibian will react to demonic cultivation ââ
Oblong meat boy! Suibian shouted in Wei Wuxianâs brain across their bond, familiar and perfect as always, descending like a whistling arrow. You left me alone! With evil people!
Wei Wuxian leapt up as high as he could and wrapped his arms around his saber. âIâm so glad to see you, you jackass of a saber!â
Apology accepted.
âIs he talking to his saber?â Jiang Cheng murmured to Nie Huaisang, who nodded. âI know he told us about the whole Nie sect cultivation thing - which I understand I shouldnât know about, but whatever - but Iâve got to say, itâs kind of weird to see it happening out loud.â
âYou think thatâs weird? You should see my brother and Baxia.â
âHow did you get out?â Wei Wuxian asked, ignoring them both.
Baxia tore open the wall where we were being kept, Suibian said, which probably meant that the war was going well and also that Nie Mingjue was on the warpath and very likely that Wen Ning had not managed to deliver the intended message, which would explain the delay in anyone finding them. Baxiaâs master gave me energy and told me to go find you, while he followed behind.
âDa-geâs coming!â Wei Wuxian shouted, and Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang dropped their supercilious commentator façade in order to cheer.
Hey, jerkface master. Why do you feel funny?
ââŚuh, about thatâŚâ
207 notes
¡
View notes
Note
I'm really curious about lwj meeting a-yuan. I mean, they met in the past, will lwj recognize him? Will he finally learn about wwx's involvement with the eyes of god?
There is a young man sitting by the bed with Wei Wuxianâs wrist between his fingers when Lan Wangji enters the room. His first thought is dangerâthey may be married now, but there are still those who oppose the union, and Wei Wuxianâs presence in his life, both socially and politicallyâand he immediately shifts to a more guarded stance: shoulders back, feet planted, eyes focused on the stranger in such close proximity with his consort. But then Wei Wuxian laughs quietly and shakes his head fondly and the fear eases enough to allow the tension to bleed from his person as he takes another step into the room.
Wei Wuxian spots him first, over his visitorâs shoulder, and his smile widens with delight.
âLan Zhan, youâre home,â he says, beckoning him closer with his free hand. âCome, I have someone Iâd like you to meet.â
It is easy to be swept up in the moment when Wei Wuxian is brimming with joy; Lan Wangji had always been helpless against it when they were youths, even more so now that they are married. There is nothing he would deny himâcould deny himâif it means bringing Wei Wuxian joy. Heâs already walking forward, reaching out to take his hand without a thought, brushing his lips over his knuckles tenderly. The casual display of affection never fails to bring colour to Wei Wuxianâs cheeks, a fact that Lan Wangji has learned only very recently and resolved to utilise as often as possible.
âWei Ying,â he murmurs. âHow are you feeling today?â
âBetter,â Wei Wuxian says, slightly breathless. He clears his throat and gestures for Lan Wangji to take a seat beside him on the bed. âLan Zhan, this is A-Yuan. He isâŚan old friend.â
The young man slips off the stool by the bed and sinks to his knees, clasping his hands in front of him in a formal bow.
âWen Yuan greets Hanguang-wangye,â he says.
Lan Wangji stiffens. âWen?â
Wei Wuxian squeezes his hand and gives a tiny shake of the head as Wen Yuan continues.
âPlease be assured that I mean you no harm, Wangye,â he says. He lifts his head to allow Lan Wangji a proper look at his face; his eyes are bright and clear, no hint of deception in them that he can see. âMy bogong was Yiling-hou, Wen Ruoheng.â
Wen Ruoheng, the Marquess of Yiling, Wen Ruohanâs younger cousin. From memory, Wen Ruoheng had not been a major participant in the war, choosing instead to remain neutral for as long as possible before Wen Ruohan had strong-armed him into obeying. Even then, Lan Wangji had known the man to be nothing but honourable to friend and foe alike and had held great respect for him until Jin Guangshan had ordered his execution before anyone had had the chance to defend him.
That his line had survived the genocide that followed the war and is here in this room with Wei WuxianâŚit was difficult to believe. He catches Wei Wuxianâs look of concern out of the corner of his eye and pats his hand reassuringly; he motions for Wen Yuan to rise.
âHow did you come to be here?â he asks. âAccording to the reports from Lanling Jin back then, Jin Zixun had left no survivors.â
At the mention of Jin Zixun, both Wei Wuxian and Wen Yuanâs expressions darken. The man has been dead for almost ten years now, but it seems their hatred of him has not lessened in the slightest. Lan Wangji had had very few dealings with him before his death, most of their interactions had been perfunctory at bestâformal greetings at state banquets that had little value to them outside of social nicetiesâbut he had witnessed a few of his moreâŚunsavoury characteristics in the aftermath of the war.
âWe left Yiling when I was very young,â Wen Yuan explains. âMy father was the younger son of a concubine. He was never really favoured and didnât have an affinity for the military arts, so after I was born, he took my mother and I to Chongyang. We lived as peasants, as doctors, along with members of other branches of the Wen clan.â
The smile on Wei Wuxianâs face turns wistful.
âThatâs where we met,â he tells Lan Wangji. â I stumbled across their settlement while out surveying the farmlands with my parents. A-Yuan was only three then. I must have been about ten or so, but he liked to follow me everywhere like a little duckling!â
The thought of a ten-year-old Wei Wuxian, still yet to outgrow the baby fat on his cheeks, with an even younger child clutching the hem of his robes, brings a soft smile to Lan Wangjiâs face. He glances over at Wei Wuxian when he feels a weight against his shoulder as he tucks himself against Lan Wangjiâs side; his heart skips a beat, as it unfailingly does every time Wei Wuxian welcomes his touch, and his ears heat.
Wen Yuan ducks his head politely to hide his own smile.
âXian-gege would come to visit us quite often while we were growing up,â he says. âHe even had me enrolled in school when I was old enough, and personally taught me how to use a sword. He taught me everything I know. I owe my whole life to him.â
âAh, thatâs an exaggeration,â Wei Wuxian says, embarrassed. âI did what I could, but the rest was all you, A-Yuan.â
âWithout Xian-gege, A-Yuan would not be alive today,â Wen Yuan insists. âI pledged my life to your service once before and Iâll do it again. Iâm not a child anymore, Xian-gege. You canât stop me.â
Wei Wuxian laughs helplessly in the face of his determination, but Lan Wangji can see the pleasure and fondness in his eyes. He does not yet know the full extent of their history, but he is grateful nonetheless to see Wen Yuanâs unwavering devotion to Wei Wuxian. He beckons for him to rise and resume his seat by the bed.
âWen Yuan,â he says, once the younger man is settled. âYou said you owed Wei Ying your life. What happened?â
Something unspoken passes between Wen Yuan and Wei Wuxian as they exchange glances; although he does not pull away, Wei Wuxian sits up straighter and lifts his head from Lan Wangjiâs shoulder, his grey eyes somber. But it is Wen Yuan who speaks, his words careful and measured.
âWhen the war broke out, my family was still in Chongyang,â he says. âAnti-Wen sentiments were growing stronger by the day, and we were only a very small settlement. Bogong insisted we move back to Yiling, where he could protect us. But not everyone could goâthose who were too old, too weak to travel. In the end, only a handful of people decided to leave. My parents and I stayed behind with the rest.â
His hands curl into fists in his lap.
âWe stayed for as long as we could,â he continues, staring at his lap. âAnd Xian-gege helped as much as he was able: getting us food, speaking up for us when others wanted to use us against Qishan, protecting us against people who tried to take their anger and hatred of the Wen out on us. But he couldnât protect all of us, not forever.â
Wei Wuxianâs eyes drift closed as if in pain, and Lan Wangjiâs arm tightens around his waist comfortingly; Wen Yuan continues speaking, his eyes distant and unseeing.
âMy parents begged him to take me away, to keep me safe. But thenâŚnot even a few months later, a mob attacked our settlement in the middle of the night and burned it to the ground.â A chill runs down Lan Wangjiâs spine as he raises his head to meet his eyes. âThere were no survivors.â
The look in his eyes is familiarâLan Wangji has seen it in his own reflection, in Wei Wuxianâs, and in the faces of countless others, both during and after the war. Haunted by ghosts and shadows, struggling to piece together fragments of their old lives. He inclines his head, a gesture of empathy that Wen Yuan accepts with a nod of his own before he continues.
âXian-gege kept me by his side, told everyone I was his protege, that he was training me to be a soldier. That way, no one would question who I was, or try to hurt me.â He looks to Wei Wuxian then, guilt and regret warring on his face. âI was not in Yunmeng when it fell. IâI wasnât there to protect you, Xian-gege. Iâm sorry.â
Wen Yuan slides from the seat and onto his knees, pressing his forehead to the floor. Wei Wuxian exhales around an aborted noise of protest, his lower lip trembling as his eyes grow wet.
âNo, it wasnât your fault, A-Yuan,â he says, voice choked by his tone fierce. âNo one could have known what would happen. You were only doing what I had told you to do. Itâs not your fault.â
It is an old argument, Lan Wangji surmises from the way they speak. An old argument that has been going on for years, best left to the people involved for a resolution. He strokes his thumb over Wei Wuxianâs hip, grounding him with his touch.
âWhere have you been since the war?â he asks instead. It successfully cuts through the silent argument between the other two, and Wen Yuan turns his attention back to Lan Wangji.
âTravelling, Wangye,â he says. âDoing my part to aid survivors. Searching forâŚâ
He breaks off with a questioning look at Wei Wuxian, who turns also to Lan Wangji and takes hold of his hands.
âLan Zhan,â he says. âI told you I had been taken prisoner after Yunmeng fell. Do you remember?â
Lan Wangji nods, his whole body going rigid at the memory. Wei Wuxian hesitates, looking down at their hands before he takes a deep, shuddering breath and meets his eyes again.
âI havenât told you everything,â he confesses quietly.
Notes:
Yiling-hou (夡éľäžŻ) - Marquess of Yiling, Wen Ruoheng (渊čĽć)
Yet another OC - think of him as like a nice version of Wen Ruohan. In canon, Wen Qing and Wen Ning are children of WRHâs favourite younger cousin and A-Yuan is the son of one of their other cousins (Wen Ning mentions that A-Yuan looks like his ĺ ĺź - a younger male cousin on his fatherâs side - and Iâve taken this to mean he is Wen Yuanâs father).
bogong (䟯ĺ
Ź) - great-uncle (fatherâs fatherâs older brother)
// buy me a ko-fi //
Master Post is here
#mdzs#wangxian#shattered mirrors au#shattered mirrors fic#ççˇćş X čąé瞥#my writing#lan wangji#wei wuxian#wen yuan#more plotty!#đŞ#not really knifey#but just to be sure#we find out more about Wen Yuan and what happened during the war#does LWJ know about Eyes of God yet?#not really#also LWJ doesn't know EVERYTHING about what happened to WWX yet#but he will#WWX won't go into too much detail tho#to spare his feelings#and before this he kind of already got an idea#also WWX doesn't know MXY and Madam Zhang told LWJ#hey nonny nonny#asks
303 notes
¡
View notes
Note
Do you think that a good chunk of Jiang Cheng's issues could've been solved if he just...had someone to talk to? At any point post-wwx? Like, I'm haunted by the fact that this angry lighting child is *alone*. At many points through the series, but especially at the end, when wwx has gotten some semblance of a family/support group that he's cobbled together, and Jiang Cheng has, what, his nephew? Maybe an advisor or two?? I'm sure being left alone with his demons while do wonders for him..?
oh god where do i even begin with this, i think this messaged opened a can of worms in my brain. but do i think that it would help jiang cheng tremendously if he had someone, like anyone at all, to talk to? of fucking course!Â
not even just post-wwx, a bit earlier too. i mean, there is a thing about jiang cheng, right? if we donât count jin ling in this equation, jiang cheng is one of those characters - people donât really enter his life, they just leave. in the beginning things werenât exactly the best, but he had his brother and sister, and all three of them, even tho they were raised in a very shitty situation with a lot of unhealthy habits and dynamics, they loved each other dearly. so he had them and he had his parents just, you know, being alive. so his was as happy as he could be for, you know, a jiang cheng. and then people just started slowly leaving his life.Â
and i thought about other characters that had some communication issues in the show, but they got someone, who would help them or just make them want to be better, and the characters that popped up in my brain were our terrible brothers-in-law - jin zixuan and wei wuxian. they had (and have) their own issues (some more than others), but- thereâs a very important but.Â
for jin zixuan there were, i think, two very important people in his life, who helped him to not become a complete arrogant asshole as that seemed to be the only way to survive being a part of jin family. mianmian who was with him since childhood, i would imagine. in their interactions, i think, we can see that she could actually understand him and his intentions (sometimes even she would end up being really confused, but no shit, of course she would). and for jin zixuan, growing up in a family like that, it probably helped a lot to have someone who actually tried to understand him and stayed by his side. and second person is, ofc, yanli. yanli for jzx is this reason to get much better, because oh shit, he was scaring away the woman he loved, and that is not how you get her to marry you. so he had to overcome himself at certain points. and together, i think, they started creating a healthier and happier way of living for both of them, actually caring about each otherâs needs and feelings (and then nothing ever happened to them and they lived long happy lives, the end)
wei wuxian is actually also an example of what can happen when a person thinks that they have no one at all in this world by their side. you know what happened to him because he thought he was alone in the entire world? he fucking died. jiang cheng, obv, didnât die, heâs too angry, his rage is his moving force, he just can't not keep on going. but yeah, then wwx came back and he had lan wangji, who showed him whatâs it like to have someone you can trust 100% by your side, wen ning, juniors, people just poured in his life and showed support. and it will take wei wuxian a all of fucking time to actually deal with his issues, but surely there is a base for that.
now jiang cheng. he isnât completely alone, itâs true. he has jin ling and for him jin ling is the reason to be better. he tries his best to not be his parents and, honestly, is succeeding at this sport. but jin ling, of course, isnât exactly a person suited for a role of someone to talk about adult issues with. he can be jiang chengâs anchor, sure, but jiang cheng is taking care of him. and heâs a kid. and jiang cheng need a friend. another soul that would get him.Â
and who could it be? wwx? even if (when) they make up in the future, i donât think they are those people for each other, you know? nhs? again maybe in the future, but during those 16 years he was locked away behind his own wall of issues and problems and stuff. jzx? i would love for them to be friends and they could probably even get each other, but they simply didnât have enough time.Â
and you know one of the saddest things, jiang cheng in his sect is surrounded by people who trust him and love him and care about him and would die for him. but jiang cheng doesnât need a person who would die for him. he already got one. look what happened. and he doesnât need someone, who would keep him in fear of one day hearing the words âthatâs what i owned to jiang sectâ. he has those people and itâs just not what he needs. jiang cheng never had a person who he could really feel was there just for him. (again, no blame goes to any of the yunmeng sibs for the situation that they were raised in. iâm talking about jiang chengâs feelings and his feelings only. not facts and othersâ feelings) and having a person who he could trust to just be there for him - that would probably help him a lot. but yep during the years when he needed that the most he was just alone.Â
#btw wwx lost at not becoming your parents sport#get it? because he dies#and also fucking tumblr posted the reply earier#why#i'm not finished with this essay#now i'm finished#i'm not sure this had a conclusion but you asked#there is what i think#the untamed#jiang cheng#meta#is it meta for me to mumble?#cql#anonymous
92 notes
¡
View notes
Text
After my post on Wangxian and unconditional love, among other things, I realized I forgot all about a source of unconditional love for Wei Wuxian: the Wen siblings and remnants.
Here is the thing: first, Wei Wuxian had a few years with his parents, he barely has memories, yet he remember the sense of happiness, joy, and the love of his parents, both for each other, and for him.
Then, he lose them, and faces the streets. And then heâs picked by Jiang Fengmian, and brought âhomeâ... and right away thereâs an issue with Jiang Cheng and puppies. Yu Ziyuan also shows displeasure.
Jiang Yanli shows care for him, while Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian make peace, however, from here on, Wei Wuxian is under constant disapproval by Yu Ziyuan.
And I believe Wei Wuxian is not blind to Jiang Cheng being hurt by what his mother says, and the apparent not-care his father shows. But he says it and I believe heâs right: Jiang Fengmian is lenient toward Wei Wuxian because Wei Wuxian is not his son. What appears as indulgence, is simply that he doesnât care all that much past what Wei Wuxian is bringing to the clan.
He doesnât seek his safety: he could have chosen to make Wei Wuxian stay to Lotus Pier rather than let him go to Nightless City, but he didnât. He even said âhe can chooseâ, which make him wash his hands of responsibility and make Wei Wuxian own up to his own fate. And his last words to me nailed the confirmation: he doesnât give any word of care, he only echo what Yu Ziyuan said: protect my children.
Wei Wuxian grew up knowing heâll be scorned by Yu Ziyuan regardless of whether or not heâs truly at fault, and knowing Jiang Fengmian doesnât really care, as long as heâs around, he let him do what we want, knowing Wei Wuxian is loyal to the Jiang and to his children. Jiang Cheng express it awkwardly, but his attempts at âtamingâ Wei Wuxian âhero complexâ is that he recognizes no one else is trying to stop him from harming himself (including his father). However, because Jiang Cheng let himself be influenced, he doesnât show unconditional love, Wei Wuxian knows he cares, but Wei Wuxian also recognize Jiang Cheng doesnât understand him.
This leave only Jiang Yanli that he can be himself with. We understand he feels safe with her, to show his true self, that he know heâll be love without condition, because it is to her, and only her, he asked such a thing as âwhy does someone like someone elseâ. And thatâs why his hesitancy to tell her anything about the three months disappearance is so heart-breaking, and she can be seen being worried still: for the first time, he doesnât tell her.
And this shows how he views himself. For the first time, he thinks there is finally something that might be the one think Jiang Yanli wonât accept. That heâs become something that finally is where she draws the line. No one else before her truly showed any unconditional love, and heâs terrified what will happen if he let her see who he has become.
And it explain why he push away Lan Wangji: he knows Lan Wangji values are righteous, to Wei Wuxian, if Lan Wangji disapprove of him, it means heâs something that cannot approved of. Which then reinforce the idea that he cannot show Jiang Yanli what heâs become.
In the end, heâs traumatized, and scared to be rejected by the two people he cared for the most. He knew he felt pulled to Lan Wangji, he cared for him, he knew in his heart he valued him, just like he values Jiang Yanli. If he allowed himself to be vulnerable, and he got rejected, it would break him. So he didnât take the risk.
All of that to arrive to the Wen siblings.
And the important thing I realized is that it never was a question of owing each other anything.
Wei Wuxian met Wen Ning, and showed kindness to him, which is pretty clear Wen Ning rarely, if ever, received, outside of his sister and the branch of their family. Its enough for Wen Ning to want to come when he hears about Lotus Pier, and willing to help them.
When Wen Qing enters the scene, she knows the risks, but there is a vital factor that made her decide to let them stay hidden and recover: her brother. Yes, she is a healer, however, it was risky to allow this, except, this was someone who inspired loyalty in her brother, someone who treated her brother well. Someone with a brother that was hurt.
Then, Wei Wuxian asks her to do the surgery, and she refuses. She knows what this will mean, and the thing is, I do end up thinking heâs not blind to how heâs been treated. He had to develop his own moral compass because either heâs scorned no matter if heâs at fault or not, or heâs âindulgedâ, or heâs not understood. He cares, and he sees himself as owing everything to the Jiang, but I feel like he knows how it can sound like. Wen Qing refuses because she isnât certain he truly realize what he is asking, or she questions how willing he is, past any conditioning. But he insists, and she sees something that let her know that he does know what he is asking for.
Ultimately, Wei Wuxian is still misunderstood when people think his choice is because heâs been conditioned: yes, of course, we can understand someone shouldnât have to sacrifice himself, that they shouldnât have to âpay backâ in such a manner... except no one asked. No one forced him to do this. He looked at his brother, and decided he didnât want to see him like this. Wen Qing refusing meant he had the occasion to rethink his choice. He still chose.
Thatâs why they also speak of not owing anything to each other: Wen Qing chose to help them, and Wei Wuxian chose to go through the transplant. They understand the risks they took for each other, they had each other life in the other hands (if WWX and JC are seen, its death for WQ, if WQ fails, its death for WWX).
And thatâs why they donât seek each other, they owe nothing to each other, understand where they stand in the war, and trust each other has continued to follow the path of their heart. Wen Qing didnât betray her values as a healer, nor did Wei Wuxian betray his own values.
However, Wen Qing ended up desperate, and there was only one person she knew had values she could trust: Wei Wuxian. She knows what she is asking out of him, but just like she didnât leave Wei Wuxian and his brother to their own fate, Wei Wuxian would not leave her and her brother to their own fate. Just like he chose for the transplant, she knew Wei Wuxian would choose what is true to his heart.
And so they end up in Burial Mounds, Wei Wuxian once more doing a sacrifice, yet it is done out of his own choice, the refusal to betray his own values (be it that it was the care for his brother back then, or the protection of innocent now). And here is the thing: Wen Qing knows about Wei Wuxianâs core.
And the Wen Remnants are well placed to fear him, distrust him, be unkind to him, but they donât. More than that, they welcome him as family. He becomes family to them, and they become family to him. No one judges him, they all see him, and none of them disapprove of him, and they care for him.
To me, Wei Wuxian only ever had two things that were truly his: his demonic cultivation, and the Wen Remnants as family.
He says it himself: he owes spiritual cultivation to the Jiang. But demonic cultivation? He chose to not die, to resist, to survive, to return, to continue following his own values, and developed his own tools for it. He saw the scorn of others, but knew his heart, and stayed true to it. Everything âbadâ about him was his trauma, not his cultivation (proven as to how he is, after his death and return).
And the Wen Remnants, they became his family. The Jiang siblings are his family of adoption, but the Wens were the family he, himself, adopted. They were to him what the Jiang Clan was to JC: the people he would protect, the one he placed first.
If JC and/or JYL had no one else to turn to, WWX would have protected them too. But JC had a whole sect, and JYL was part of it. More than that, the best protection was to distance himself, the Wens already had a tainted reputation, like his own, but not his siblings (and same for LWJ). He couldnât take that risk.
And the strength of his heart and values show when everything goes extremely bad: he accidentally kills JZX, he doesnât manage to protect/save the Wen Siblings, and still he doesnât outright slaughter everyone, he attacks after being provoked. He also stop when JYL show up, but because someone else tried to kill him, he sees her protect him and die to protect him... just like the Wen Siblings.
And he just effectively lost the last, and first, sibling who has loved him unconditionally. The Wen Siblings knew all about his lost core, while JYL knew about him in many ways. Loosing all three of them, effectively meant he lost the three people who knew him best and loved him without condition.
Is it so surprising that his psyche broke there? He went mad with grief, the trauma catching up to him. Then he finds himself conscious again, away from Nightless City, not knowing there is still one person who loves him.
And what does he decide to do? Break the seal. Now, I realized a thing: he didnât die from breaking the first half. The accounts are confusing on purpose, but he himself is seen thinking about how he broke half of it, but didnât have time to break the second before the Siege happened.
This means he knows how to do it without dying... or he was already half dead.
Then he looses the Wen Remnants, heâs Sieged by the whole cultivation world, including his own brother. Thereâs no Lan Wangji in sight, leaving him uncertain whether he doesnât deserve to die in Lan Wangji eyes, or if heâs not even worthy of Lan Wangji being present. Or if its a last kindness, to not be part of the people who attack him.
But Wei Wuxian has lost everything, everyone, his own brother is here with hate and grief in his eyes, Wei Wuxian knows there is greed behind the Siege, and so he finishes what he started: he destroys the seal.
And to this day, I am still convinced there was no backlash, but rather, a last command, either conscious, or one he didnât realize he made but born of how he was feeling.
However, because he never returned as a vengeful ghost, this make me consider that, for all his death was violent, he died with a peaceful heart.
He knew his own heart and values, and he followed them to his last breath. He knew the greed and blindness of the cultivation world, but what would he do? Kill them all? Be what they claimed he was? No. And then, to him, he caused the deaths of people he never wanted to: JZX and JYL. To someone who gave his core because he considered he owed it to the Jiang, what will he give, if he consider he owed to repay the deaths he caused?
He chose, died with peace in his heart because he followed it to his last breath.
And I wonder if the corpses âeating himâ werenât eating the resentment within him. Thatâs a whole other headcanon to develop.
But yes, all of this to say: the Wen Remnants were WWX family, the Wen Siblings became his siblings, and WWX remained true to his heart up until the end.
Thatâs why he didnât return as a vengeful ghost, and why he was calm and level-headed when he returned. It also strongly imply his temper and so-called âlack of controlâ were due to his trauma. Yet, this just goes to show how strong willed he is, to both survive the Burial Mounds, and never loose himself, and show that he is truly the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, because he never lost himself through it, and still mastered it.
13 notes
¡
View notes
Text
Escapade Vid - The Untamed
I could say this was my attempt at meta on an underappreciated character and that's why I wanted to vid Wen NingâŚ
Nah, I just think he's hot.
Wen Ning has this adorable babyface and big eyes. Just my type. And then he got a goth makeover and became a creepy zombie, increasing his hotness by ten thousand times. The Living Dead was everything I wanted except for dubcon possession porn, and it both irritates and cracks me up to see how many people find it OOC and badly made. I agree the colors are an abomination though--but more on that later.
I like Wen Ning the best because 1. He's hot and 2. He's one of the most competent characters and compromises his morals the least. Mianmian might be one up on him given how her story turns out, but in a whole series of craven idiots, I like the suicidally moral characters, especially when they're competent.
And also JC. Because I like his face. (What? I never said my Untamed feels were deep.)
I wanted to make this vid last year, right after Escapade. I spent forever finding a song, and I'm glad I did it then because it was a nightmare. I can find love songs easily, but I don't really care about WN/WWX, nor would most love songs fit that. It's clearly one-sided, but WN is also clearly totally happy to follow him around forever. Happy love songs are out. Pining angst is out.
WN is also motivated by high ideals more than specific family feelings. WQ wants to protect her family. WN wants to repay his debts. WN is a shy doofus on the surface when we first see him, and he acts flustered around most of the older characters, but this is deceptive. I feel like the most revealing scene is when he pops up at Lotus Pier, ready to grab JC and take on his entire clan. In what universe was this a good idea? What is he even doing there? Why did it actually work???
I wanted a song that encapsulated WN's quiet stubbornness. The trouble is that like 99% of popular music is either about romance or about being a confident badass, and most of the confident badass music is "Fuck you, ex boyfriend, I'm stronger now". I did not want an ex boyfriend song. A bunch of other songs are macho, flexing dudes talking about how they'll win the sports competition. Obviously, that was out. There are a very few songs like Try Everything, but they're awfully perky for covering Wen Ning's entire story, including him getting, you know, gruesomely murdered.
I honestly can't remember how I found the song I picked. I was probably listening to Happy Hanukkah on endless repeat and saw it in the Youtube sidebar. (Look, it's a great song for all times of year. Shut up.) Matisyahu has many amazing songs that build and move in ways ideal for vids.
I then sat on this source/song combo for a year because, well, it sure was a year. But when we got close to Escapade, I realized I wanted to finish it for the con.
Clip choices:
I'm not going to include the full lyrics on their own since they're in English and on every lyrics site. Instead, I'm putting the relevant bits between my explanations of what I chose and why. A lot of it came together quickly. I knew I wanted to include cute WN moments, like him being bullied by kids, and they wouldn't fit in the main narrative, so I had to put them in the intro.
Feel like the world don't love you They only wanna push you away Some days people don't see you You feel like you're in the way
I had a lot of trouble with 'push you away' since, generally speaking, no one does push him away. However, this is a vid from Wen Ning's own perspective, so it felt like an acceptable match to use the part where Wen Qing tries to leave him behind as they go on a hunt. She's objectively correct to do so given what happens, but Wen Ning is clearly upset that she tried. He doesn't want to be protected, especially at the cost of other people's safety.
Today you feel as if everyone hates Pointing their fingers, looking at your mistakes You do good, but they want great No matter what you give they still wanna take
I was very clear from early on that I wanted to use 'mistakes' for what Wen Ning is actually upset about: ruining Jin Ling's life. Of course he feels super guilty about what he did, despite it not being his fault, but the specific fallout Wen Ning is going to care about is a kid's feelings, not the political drama. That gave me the idea for what to do with 'good' and 'great'. More than most characters in the series, WN is not impressed by the power structure or reputations--scared, yes, but not impressed. WN likes bringing people food, at little things that are quietly good, and their society does not value that. (Cf. everything about Jiang Yanli's betrothal before Jin Zixuan catches feelings.)
'No matter what you give' I used for a shot that is probably not going to read as anything in a convention vidshow. He's bruised up, so I was hoping it would read properly visually. The actual context of the shot is WN having been thrown in the dungeon for being a traitor to the Wen. And yet, when the Wen are defeated, does he get a pardon? Nope, ignominious death. It really didn't matter what he did: these factions are all thoroughly corrupt and the entire system is garbage. It's all power-hungry assholes and sanctimonious prisses ripe for manipulation. All that mattered was that he was a Wen, and the Wens were either on top or being exterminated.
Give your love and they throw it back You give your heart they go on attack When there's nothing left for you, Only thing that you can do, say
The next part is WWX being an ungrateful little bitch. He's understandably stressed, but it still cracks me up that he's all up in WN's face and WN is literally only there to help him. WN might feel an obligation, but WWX sure isn't earning it here.
'When there's nothing left' I wasn't sure about. WN hitting rock bottom is arguably when he gets killed or maybe when they're in the burial mounds, but that didn't work with my structure. I chose to put a montage here of all the times that WQ tells him to stay safe by ditching WWX. I sympathize with WQ, but as WN comments in one of these scenes, he's following their own family code that she taught him. WQ cares so much about protecting WN (and the rest of their little part of the clan, but let's be real, it's mostly about WN) that she's willing to collude with a mass murderer just to keep him safe. Maybe it's only because he's a younger sibling, but WN seems to see things a lot more clearly. I laugh every time he's like "Uh huh, uh huh" as she lectures, and then the next scene is him running off to do something dangerous again.
Today, today live like you wanna, Let yesterday burn and throw it in a fire, in a fire, in a fire, Fight like a warrior, Today, today live like you wanna, Let yesterday burn and throw it in a fire, in a fire, in a fire, Live like a warrior
For this round of the chorus, WN is burning his Wen clan membership in a fire, and the heroic thing is running away, living to fight another day. WN has no ego, nor would ego be helpful here.
Buuuut, equally, being an actual warrior means hurting people, and while he was literally mind controlled into murder, that still couldn't have happened if he hadn't been already involved in violence and fighting. Violence you regret is also part of this life, and so is accepting responsibility for your actions. (Sure, he's very literally not responsible here, but WN doesn't know that at the time and doesn't feel that even later.)
There's some things you should let go, They're only gonna pull you down, Just like weight on your shoulder They are only gonna make you drown
I swear The Untamed has the best casting for a variety of face types. I recognized everybody from the moment they appeared⌠Except for Su She. Whom I forgot entirely and couldn't recognize at all. Doh.
It wasn't till I was clipping the whole series for this vid that I realized that the reason Wen Ning gets possessed here is that he's the only one to notice Su She's plight and go to his aid right away. I think on first viewing, I read it as him just getting possessed before he could get in the air, but that's not what's happening at all. His dumb ass stayed behind to try to help someone. Seriously, fuck Su She. They live in a grotesquely shitty power structure, but WN responds in admirable ways, while Su She just whines that he's not on top.
We all swing high, we all swing low, We all got secrets people don't know We all got dreams we can't let go, We wanna be brave, don't be afraid
WN's secret is that he gets possessed so easily and why. WQ is refusing to tell WWX in this scene, but he has figured out something is up and gives her a talisman for WN, which shows up later in the plot to great emotional effect--though not in this vid, alas.
The butterfly reveal was one of the first things on my timeline as I recall. I have Many Feelings. Also, this is me, so yes, I totally ship them. >:D
WN and WQ showing up to accept responsibility is kind of a dumbass move, but it's definitely brave. I enjoy how WN just keeps barrelling through the plot in a way that should mean he's the cute woobie who dies early on to prove the world is bad⌠and that instead leads to him being one of the strongest fighters, making it through the series, and finding A-Yuan again. (Though, okay, he did that first thing also. Heh.)
I ended on Jin Ling because I was so struck on rewatch at how the juniors first meet Wen Ning.
Today, today live like you wanna, Let yesterday burn and throw it in a fire, in a fire, in a fire, Fight like a warrior, Today, today live like you wanna, Let yesterday burn and throw it in a fire, in a fire, in a fire, Live like a warrior
I dimly recalled this fight, but it wasn't till I was clipping that I realized just how much focus each of them gets and how WN is literally strangling them and such. I just remembered him fighting people, not who. It's hilarious how quickly after this (in their timeline) we have doofus woobie WN being cute and them being like "He's my murder zombie! âĽ"
For this chorus, I focused on that change. WN is rescuing them. "Yesterday" is their scared faces. Here, being a "warrior" is apologizing to JL. And maybe WN doesn't really owe an apology, but JL does deserve one. Almost no one in the series seems to give a shit about how JL is feeling.
And then my favorite scene with my two faves! WN is finally telling JC what he has probably wanted to for ages. WN is a wuss when it comes to himself, but he gets righteously pissed when someone else is being mistreated. The yesterday he's letting burn here is his promise to keep quiet⌠along with viciously burning down every bit of self perception and hubris JC ever had. Ouch!
Your heart is too heavy from things you carry a long time, Been up you been down, tired and you don't know why, But you're never gonna go back, you only live one life Let go, let go, let go, let go, let go, let go,
Bless the sequel movie for literally being entirely about Wen Ning's internal struggle. The way he breaks free of the bad guy's hold is by accepting the past and letting go of his guilt over things he can't change.
Today, today live like you wanna, Let yesterday burn and throw it in a fire, in a fire, in a fire, Fight like a warrior,
He's just so hot in this movie! This first chorus is him coming out of the hallucination, having beaten his self doubt and then beating on the villain.
Today, today live like you wanna, Let yesterday burn and throw it in a fire, in a fire, in a fire, Live like a warrior
Okay, in actual canon, JL mostly joined them because he was competing with LSZ like the bratty little asshole he is, but I wanted to highlight how JL got over himself enough to join the other juniors on team WN. Also, WN defends both him and LSZ in this scene in ways he couldn't back then.
Today, today live like you wanna, Let yesterday burn and throw it in a fire, in a fire, in a fire, Fight like a warrior,
This I wasn't planning on at all. As I was clipping the whole series, I was thinking that WN's possessed footage here wouldn't be narratively useful since he went and got taken over again, but when I rewatched for visually impressive stuff to use interstitially, I realized that--holy shit--he's defending Jin Ling in this scene. And he succeeds. I included both a shot of Jin Zixuan, which everyone caught in the vidshow, and a shot that nobody mentioned: Wen Ning's bloody fist after ripping JZX heart out to go with Wen Ning's bloody hand on the sword in the present as he struggles to keep it from Jin Ling. Here, fighting like a warrior means keeping the sword off of JL, even if WN can't defeat the spirit or resolve the entire situation himself.
ALSO I HAVE MANY FEELS ABOUT JC JUMPING IN FRONT OF JL.
Today, today live like you wanna, Let yesterday burn and throw it in a fire, in a fire, in a fire, Live like a warrior
Sometimes, WN is not that sweet. He traps this dude in a hell of his own making instead of letting him kill himself because Wen Ning can be a vindictive little bitch. And then he strides off into the matte painting sunset.
âĽâĽâĽâĽâĽâĽâĽâĽ
Other vidding notes:
I totally wanted to do something with Chinese characters, but there wasn't really space, and after much dictionary-searching and asking, it's clear that Chinese does not use morality metaphors involving a compass pointing true north. But that effort was not wasted since I needed a good font for my other vid.
Vidding The Living Dead turned out to be a pain. I had completely forgotten it was in another aspect ratio. The shots look much more beautiful before one crops them. That said, none of them are that beautiful because the entire film has this atrocious green color filter over it. It's like they're all wading through mud at all times. Ughhhhh. I spent so long trying to fix the color on that final scene to be at least a little pretty for my vid.
Still, the film had exactly the emotional tone I wanted. It very much skewers the fanon that WN is entirely the bashful wimp he appears to be on the surface when we first see him. It makes overt the change that we see over the series. It's also fundamentally different because it's a situation where WN is the senior person and in charge of someone. We've seen him babysit a small child, and we've seen him around the juniors with lots of people of his generation also there, but we've basically never seen him out from under WQ and WWX's thumbs. It's only natural that he's acting more authoritative here. His smackdown of the villain is very much in line with how he treats JC during the golden core reveal. WN is not a forgiving guy when he thinks someone has been selfish and awful.
Throughout this vid, there are shittons of color, speed, and motion effects. I don't normally use a lot, but it turned out to be a lot of fun this time. I should find another project to use effects on.
The vid:
Available on AO3.
13 notes
¡
View notes
Note
I used to see WWX as sunshine incarnated and how it hurt me when I realized that it's mostly just fake and he's really not. I thought he was such a genuine person and when I realized that he hides so much of himself that he's not very genuine at all my heart broke a little and I needed to share my feelings. I still love him though, but it was a huge shock to me that everything I initially fell in love with was actually wrong. I hope this little ramble wasn't a bother.
Hello, anon! First off, youâre not bothering me at all; even if I canât reply to all of them, I read and appreciate every ask I get. Iâm sorry to hear youâre feeling a bit disillusioned with WWX; I know some would say heâs just a fictional character, but I think all of us here can attest to the power fictional characters have in impacting the lives of real people. Your ask made me think a lot about who WWX is, so I hope you donât mind me sharing my own thoughts on the matter! Just a few disclaimers before I get into it: all analysis is based off of drama!WWX, as that is the adaption I know best, so keep this in mind as you read because I know his characterization varies a bit from adaption to adaption. WWX also happens to be my favorite character from the show, so this could will get long :â) Iâm also going to continue on with the assumption that youâve seen the show in its entirety!
I think one of the most important things to understand about people, fictional or real, is that we, like ogres, have layers. This is just what happens when you exist in a world where different settings with different people bring out different sides of us as dictated by societal norms. Does this make someone fake? I would say no, mainly because I think thereâs a difference between acting âfakeâ and being fake. Anytime I speak on the phone with a stranger I automatically assume my âtelephone voice,â which sounds quite different from my talking-with-friends-and-family-voice. I donât leave such phone calls thinking to myself, âwow, Iâm such a fake,â because I know that when speaking with strangers, being more polite than I would be around close friends and family is respectful. I think what it comes down to for me is, regardless of how I am presenting myself, am I staying true to my beliefs and values? This is why I think WWX is in fact very genuine, and I would also argue that it is his genuine nature (once revealed) that attracts LWJ to WWX.
Returning to the idea of people having layers, we must recognize that people are not static; we are constantly reacting to our settings and thus our moods fluctuate accordingly. WWX is sunshine incarnate, but he is also someone who has suffered a great deal over the course of his life. To expect him to smile no matter what is a cruel burden to impose on him, and I believe it is a burden he feels in canon. Because both Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu impress upon WWX that he must keep Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng safe, that they are the priority, WWX feels compelled to smile and put on a strong facade so that he doesnât crumble and fall apart, thus âfailingâ his adoptive parents and siblings. So while these smiles may simply be masks to hide his pain, thus not ârealâ smiles, they do not make WWX himself fake, but rather (imo) reinforce his genuine nature because his motives are genuine, even if his smiles may not always be.
There are also times when he smiles and acts extremely cocky in front of others, only for this facade to immediately fall away the moment he is alone/out of the public eye. One of my favorite examples of this is in episode 26 when he questions Jin Zixun about the whereabouts of Wen Ning. The entire time he is there, he exudes a cocky disregard for formality and the established hierarchy, even going so far as to say, âIf I, Wei Wuxian, want to kill someone, who can stop me? Who would dare to stop me?!â Once he has the information he needs and turns to leave, however, we immediately see the cockiness fall from his face to be replaced by one of...remorse? Iâll let you guys decide for yourselves.
[gif credit]
I think it is worth noting that his facade fades once he looks at LWJ, because LWJ is one of the few people at this point in time who WWX respects, and whose opinion of WWX still holds value to WWX. And so again we see that WWXâs outward behavior does not seem to align with his inner feelings. Look at the situation that WWX is in, though. He is just one man, albeit a powerful one, going against the biggest, most powerful clans. If he shows an ounce of weakness, theyâll eat him alive. And so in order to stay true to his beliefs, WWX puts on a show. In episode 25 we also see WWX put on a show of shooting many arrows simultaneously while blindfolded. @cal3ris made an excellent post on here stating that WWX was not just doing this to show off, but that he was ensuring the temporary safety of the Wen prisoners by pulling off such a feat so as to ensure no other cultivator would attempt the challenge after him. In situations such as this one, it works in WWXâs favor that the vast majority of the cultivation world believes him to be nothing but a showoff with a big mouth. And of course, there is a part of WWX that does enjoy being in the spotlight! Especially if someone he wants to impress is watching~
At the beginning of the Gusu days flashback (ep 3), we see WWX before everything goes to hell. Heâs constantly smiling, goofing around, and is a genuine gremlin of a lad. This is real! Heâs a teenager in the flush of his youth, heâs with his beloved siblings, heâs smart and talented, the list goes on and on. For people who donât know WWX, he comes off as a shallow person with no real depth who thinks of nothing but goofing around all day. For those who know WWX intimately, like Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng (though heâs less vocal about it), they know this is not the case. The point is, WWX doesnât care what people think about him. He doesnât care because he knows who he is and what he stands for. This is a huge part of who WWX is as a person: âI donât care if they slander me, as long as I have a clear conscience.â It is also one of the defining things that connect Wangxian to one another, which brings me to the point of LWJ being someone whom WWX hates to deceive, because he greatly values LWJâs good opinion of him. We see how much it pains WWX to put distance between himself and LWJ, but we also see that WWX is willing to do so if he believes it is for the best. In episode 20, after being reunited with Jiang Cheng and LWJ, we see WWX purposefully push LWJ away with cold precision. Once more he plays his role with practiced ease, but we see his mask fall as he watches LWJ walk away.
WWX goes from this:
[gif credit]
to this as soon as LWJ isnât looking at him:
[gif credit]
Having just returned from the Burial Mounds, WWX is very unstable, both physically and mentally. For the past months that heâs spent in the Burial Mounds, survival has been his priority. We see this instability and the signs of PTSD manifest quite a bit throughout the Sunshot episodes. In episode 20 Jiang Cheng hugs WWX, who honestly seems at a loss as to how to respond. In episode 20 we see LWJ step towards WWX, who immediately steps back. We also see WWX shrink away from Nie Huaisangâs touch. This is incredibly telling because WWX is someone who likes physical touch and proximity. Heâs constantly putting his arms around Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang and constantly puts himself in LWJâs personal space (much to LWJâs initial chagrin). I believe WWXâs behavior post Burial Mounds comes from a desire to protect himself from those around him as well as those around him from himself. [apt gifset here] Nothing about this WWX is fake to me. He is acting differently here because he is different. Trauma does not define a person, but it does change a person. Post Burial Mounds WWX is a different person, but he has not lost what makes him him, which is his strong commitment to his beliefs and morals. For WWX during this time, I donât believe he has the emotional strength to relive his trauma to those closest to him, so he settles for brushing them off with excuses and yes, fake smiles. This also ties into WWXâs habit of internalizing his own struggles so as not to burden those around him. Hopefully at this point a clear pattern has revealed itself: no matter how WWX presents himself on the outside, he never compromises his beliefs.
After being resurrected in Mo Xuanyuâs body, we see a WWX who is far more reminiscent of the carefree teenager back in Gusu. We see WWX slowly heal from the traumas of his past life and we see him begin to smile again, not because he needs to, but because he canât help it. We might be tempted to look at this WWX and think, âah, this is the real him,â but I think this does a disservice to the complexity of his character. The point is, itâs all WWX. The pranks, the smiles that crinkle the corners of his eyes, the creativity, the cockiness, the way his laughter bursts out of his body at times and at other times comes out like a sigh or an afterthought, the way he looks out for the juniors, and both his quiet and loud rage are all what makes him who he is. Certain aspects may be muted at times, but thatâs to be expected. WWX is by no means perfect, but I would say he is painfully genuine. Just think, would LWJ feel so strongly about him if he werenât?
As I feared, this got way too long and I probably rambled and repeated myself and got off track, but itâs fineâŚ..
#the untamed#wwx#wei wuxian#wei ying#ask#anon#Anonymous#does this count as meta? pretty sure it's just me blabbing about how valid wwx is lmao#also DUDE why is tumblr putting the read more in the ask and not where i want it???
112 notes
¡
View notes
Text
[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]
[now all on AO3!]
Nie Huaisang wakes up from his overexertion-induced sleep after about 14 hours, and about 24 hours before his brother wakes up. He has this time to think
He doesnât use it to think, because his brother is still unconscious, comatose from a severe qi deviation. Chief Physician Nie Fengji, Wen Qing, Wen Qingâs Uncle Six, and assorted Nie physicians do obscure medical things to him involving spiritual energy, needles, a dash of surgery, and actually more of the poison that nearly killed him, in what Nie Huaisang can only assume is some sort of physician-approved hair of the dog scheme, and Nie Huaisang participates by sitting quietly in the corner until even that is deemed too in-the-way and heâs banished first to the hallway and then, with physician authority, to his own bed
they do search, and find some of the yin-storing grass hidden in Wen Ningâs pillow. Nie Huaisang doesnât go to bed; he goes down to the third guest room and takes A-Yuan and Granny out for a walk just long enough for a couple disciples to beat Wen Ning enough to look good later - split lip and bruises, etc. In case anyone comes checking the story he gave Jin Qixian
Wen Ning, he hears, bears it with aplomb. Just in case itâs the Wens who are lying, Nie Huaisang doesnât really give a shit
But on the third day since he collapsed off Baxia into the main courtyard, Nie Mingjue wakes up. Heâs groggy and weak, physically and spiritually, but he shoves himself into a sitting position with a glare, catches and holds Nie Huaisang reflexively when he flings himself at his brother with a relieved laugh. Someone pulls him back - âstop putting weight on him!â - but itâs enough. Itâs enough.
Wen Qing has three-day bags under her eyes. She says quietly, âThat heâs awake - it shouldnât leave this room. Not until Nie-zhongzhi is more recovered, and has decided what he wishes to do.â She nods toward Nie Mingjue
âWhat the fuck happened?â he demands, and itâs the weakest snarl Nie Huaisang has ever heard. His brother is already sagging back against his pillows. âJin Guangshan was actually polite before I left Lanling, but I donât remember...â
âHe poisoned you,â Nie Huaisang says bluntly, because heâs thinking again and that was the last straw he needed to be convinced of how this happened (he never really stopped thinking, deep beneath the anxious terror and anticipation.) âNo, this stays here...or can he be moved to his own bedroom?â he asks the Chief Physician. âItâd be more comfortable, and easier to hide his state from any spies Jin Guangyao might have - I mean, I assume he has spies. Iâd want to...â
[the mastermind]
A few days later, Nie Huaisang arrives at Lotus Pier and begs his friends to take him out on the town. Distract him with food and wine and cheer from the stresses of home, where his brother is still comatose and everyone is starting to expect him to be responsible instead
Jiang Cheng is busy with Sect Leader duties but Wei Wuxian takes him up on it immediately. Thereâs nowhere quite like Yunmengâs piers for goofing around - somewhere around the fourth street theater show and second jug of wine between them, Nie Huaisang leans over and asks, âThe next time thereâs a cultivational conference at Carp Tower - would you be interested in making a ruckus?â
theyâre walking down the street in a crowd. Itâs very hard to be overheard on the street in a crowd
âLike tonight?â Wei Wuxian grins and he, too, looks like this night has been a welcome break
âWithout me,â Nie Huaisang admits. âJust to have some fun - make a scene! Cause a fun distraction!â
A single jar of wine in Wei Wuxian means heâs still mostly sharp. âA distraction for what?â
âOh, you know,â Nie Huaisang says airily, hides half his face behind a coy fan and says more quietly. âHelping some of those Wens dying in Jin Guangshanâs work camps.â
Wei Wuxian has never had much head for intrigue, but at least he whispers. âThe same Wens who assa- who tried to assassinate your brother?â
âNo, silly!â Nie Huaisang baps him with the fan, laughing, and hopes WWX sees in his eyes that heâs serious. âThatâs a different thing. This is just to have some fun!â
Wei Wuxian meets his eyes, and his face splits back into a grin. Itâs regained the sharp-toothed edge its been carrying since the end of the Sunshot Campaign. âWhy not? I could use a little fun myself!â
The next cultivation conference at Carp Tower is in just three weeks, and Nie Huaisang spends them frantic. Thereâs so much to do, and he canât let anyone know about any of it. There are plenty of empty houses, empty entire villages - the war was fought in Qinghe only second to Qishan, for Wen Ruohanâs determination to capture the impenetrable fortress clanÂ
he wants to err on the side of making sure people will have shelter, especially with winter coming on, but he needs to err on the side of stealth or theyâll never pull this off -Â
but how are they (how is he) going to pull it off anyway, honestly; thereâs only so many times he can storm in and demand things with a wild combination of pitiful tears and borrowed authority...he canât exactly get another note for the actual Jin clan -Â
...though...
they donât need that many extra roofs, at least, if there wonât be that many people (priority of the Dafan Wens, of course, to repay Wen Qing and because, honestly, theyâre the largest group that survived the initial purges, being mostly non-combatants)
he tried and failed to put the distraction out of mind, because thereâs really no way to know in advance what Wei Wuxian would do, much less how to handle it. whether it would create a day or a week or several more years of chaos...
and then there was the really difficult part: getting Nie Mingjue to stay the fuck in bed, or at least in his own suite of rooms. Nie Huaisangâs brother was the worst patient possible, which was unfair, because Nie Huaisang himself wouldâve loved to have an excuse to lounge in his bedroom doing leisurely, sedentary activities for few weeks. Instead he was out running around organizing things - while letting as few people as possible know what he was organizing or even that he was doing it - and Nie Mingjue was being threatened every other day by Wen Qing and her needles
To make matters more exciting, 10 days out from the cultivation conference, a delegation arrived without from YunmengJiang - Jiang Wanyin himself, and riding with him, Jiang Yanli. Nie Huaisang met them in the courtyard; she stepped gracefully off her brotherâs sword and gave him a hug that was, honestly, meltingly comforting and kind
âNie Huaisang! Iâve been so sorry to hear about Mingjue-gongzi. I would have come sooner, but, you know, weâre only stealing this time from a trip to Lanling for more wedding planning.â She gestured to a pair of disciples who between them hauled a tureen the size of a small child. âI brought some of my best medicinal soup - I donât know if it will possibly be right, but A-Xian told me how hard itâs been for you, and I just had to try to help.â
offer
âYouâre too kind, Jiang-guniang.â He fluttered his fan anxiously. âIâm sure Da-ge would thank you if he could, but...â he blinked away tears. âI canât even let you in to see him; the physicians even turned away his sworn brothers.â
skeptical outlining of situation
(Jin Guangyao was obviously right out, and the idea of involving earnest, idealistic Zewu-jun in any sort of conspiracy made Nie Huaisang think fondly of breaking out in hives)
âOf course,â Jiang Yanli said sympathetically. She took her brotherâs arm back to lean on, and Nie Huaisang took his cue to bow and offer her refreshments and a set - maybe with a view? He knew all the best places. Jiang Yanli, genuinely frail enough to not be expected to do much more than look lovely, accepted
they had a very pleasant conversation about other things - poetry, who was and wasnât being invited to the wedding, the latest fashions in Lanling (Nie Huaisang sighed wistfully)Â
eventually Jiang Yanli asked, between one sip of tea and the next, âThis event youâre planning with A-Xian - could it be postponed? Say, six months?â
the wedding. Nie Huaisangâs breath caught briefly - now that would be a distraction in its own right, even without anything Wei Wuxian could pull
but he thought about the emaciated, flinching Wens in the Qiongqi Pass camp, and those back in Qishan who werenât much better off, and shook his head. âNot for those to whom it would matter most.âÂ
and, frankly, he couldnât ask his brother to stay quiet so long, and he really would prefer than Lanling not know Nie Mingjue had truly survived until they were ready to strike back
Jiang Yanli hummed thoughtfully. âWhat about...two, two-and-a-half months?â
...there was nothing happening in two months, except the middle of winter. which would make roads more impassible, maybe to their advantage, but only if a couple different things went wrong...
but Jiang Yanli was smiling sweetly, like someone with a plan
âI think that would be wonderful,â he said, and sipped his tea back at her
Jiang Cheng punches him on the shoulder before they go and says he doesnât seem like heâs doing completely terribly at everything, which is the Jiang Cheng equivalent of a supportive hug and 10-minute earnest pep talk. Nie Huaisang is genuinely warmed
Jiang Yanli, mentally cracking her knuckles as her brother flies her to Carp Tower: time to seduce my fiancee, the third hottest man in the kingdom, into putting a baby in me so we can speedrun our wedding prep - for a good cause! god I love my life
[the grifter]
unfortunately, two-and-a-half months is too long a delay to use the usual âask for forgiveness, not permissionâ method, not least because Nie Huaisang has to explain to his brother why he wants him to keep pretending to be comatose, when even his physicians are starting to agree that he needs exercise more than rest
âNo,â Nie Mingjue says flatly
âDa-ge,â Nie Huaisang pleads. âItâll just be so much easier if everyone thinks Iâm running around like a terrified rabbit!â
âWhy do you insist on being useless at all times?â Nie Mingjue growled, a familiar old song. âIf you just applied yourself - â
âBecause itâs easier!â Nie Huaisang cried (a newer tune). âBecause I donât want to be a great warrior, I just want to make pretty things and have friends and have fun - and when I do want something, itâs much easier to get it if no one thinks Iâm worth anything - â
âOf course youâre worth something,â Nie Mingjue snapped. âYouâre the heir to QingheNie and youâre my brother!â
Nie Huaisang really did cry easily. He blinked away the tears.
âThe Jins tried to kill you, da-ge,â he said quietly. âAnd they tried to make it look like a qi deviation.â (Like Father, went unsaid. Like my mother and your uncle and three of our cousins, one of whom was only thirteen.) âI want to make clear to them what we think of that.â
Nie Mingjue unclenched his hand from Baxiaâs hilt, with whom Nie Fengji and Sixth Uncle had finally agreed to let him reunite. âThen we kill one of them back,â he said. âNot this underhanded, indirect...and with Wen-dogs...â
âIf I could kill Jin Guangshan and Jin Guangyao in one stroke, right now, Iâd do it. But that would start another war, and we could survive another war, but a lot of our people wouldnât. Only about seven out of ten survived the last one.â He bit his lip. âAnd the Wens...not all of them were monsters, weâve seen that, and the Jins tried to blame the ones we know are alright. This will show them that we can make up our own minds.â
Nie Mingjue was silent for a long moment, and Nie Huaisong resisted the urge to shift from foot to foot. His brother was never impressed with fidgeting.
âFine,â Nie Mingjue said at last. âDo your scheme. But youâd better prove that youâre right, Huaisang.â
âI will, Nie-zhongzhi.â He stood at parade attention.
âAnd you wonât use it as excuse that youâre too busy to practice your saber.â
âDa-ge!â he whined instantly. âBut I will be busy! We need to tar all the house roofs in Ning Village, and find about fifty spare horses, and weed out any spies in our household - oh, and do you have any letters from Jin Guangyao I can look at? And...â
News came that the wedding of Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan had been moved up to two months rom now and Nie Huaisang whistles under his breath then flinches reflexively, before he realizes thereâs no "Twin Pridesâ around to smack him for disrespecting their sister
But two months somehow passed even faster than that first week had. Homes to quietly repair and no few medical supplies to stock up on, winter snow-ready horses to find and discard with another trip to Yunmeng, social visits to carefully negotiate...
Gossip flowed, as always. Gossip said: Nie Mingjue has survived the dastardly attack on his life; heâs still half-dead or heâs twice the warrior he ever was or he personally executed every Wen in his dungeons. Gossip said: the witch Wen Qing had seduced him and stabbed him with a poisoned blade; the witch Wen Qing had fallen in love with him and saved him from a random qi deviation; the witch Wen Qing was actually the Yiling Patriarch in disguise and both of the above were true. Gossip generally agreed that Nie Huaisang was still wavering between disconsolate over his brotherâs brush his death (and his own brush with Sect Leadership) and dragging anyone who would heed him out for drinks and entertainmentÂ
Jin Guangyao did have spies in the Unclean Realm, of course; he knew their value. His girl in the kitchen got fired over some mistake with a roast, but the guest cultivator and the chambermaid and assorted people in the nearest towns generally agreed: Nie Mingjue was back on his feet but still rebuilding his strength under the careful eye of his Chief Physician, and didnât remember anything from the day of his qi deviation. Wen Qing was dead, as were all the other Wens - she and Wen Zhichen had preformed well in healing the damage sheâd done in her attempt to poison the sect leader, under threat of their own deaths, but when Nie Mingjue woke up he'd ordered their deaths without even the dignity of public execution. Nie Huaisang was so wracked with guilt over bringing them into the house that heâd actually started practicing saber sometimes, and just a little heartbroken over the death of the child in particular
this last, Jin Guangyao found out himself, as well as confirmed most of the rest when he was allowed to visit his sworn brother and ended up letting Nie Huaisang sob on his shoulder for two straight hours. He had to have the robe steam-cleaned, but it was very informative
âWould you like us to kill the rest of the Wen-dogs?â he asked his sworn brother. âOr you can do it yourself, of course.â
Nie Mingjue snorted dismissively. âI killed the ones who were the biggest problem. Keep working your dogs to death as you like.â
The night before they were supposed to leave for the Jiang-Jin wedding, Nie Huaisang sat in his brotherâs chambers (as he had taken to doing many evenings) and absolutely failed to focus on his paints.
â - Iâm sure I can handle the lieutenants left in charge, though really I havenât talked to them as much so theyâre more likely to be suspicious, especially if I didnât get the calligraphy right - â
âHuaisang - â
â - and the Wens themselves, I mean, this has to go quickly if itâs going to work at all - what if Wen Ning hasnât gotten word around - we havenât heard from him since yesterday, what if they found him, he could be- Wen Qing is going to kill me - â
(the Nie sect wasnât given to duplicity, but that didnât mean their fortress of a sect building didnât have a few spare secret rooms and passageways, in which to hide a handful of Wens for a couple months)
âA-sang - â
â - hell, what if the arrays donât work and we all just die - but itâs the only way; horses wouldnât be fast enough, especially with the heavy snows this year - â
âNie Huaisang!â Nie Mingjue barks in a parade-ground voice.
Nie Huaisang spins around mid-pace to stand at attention, one hand behind his back and the other on his saber hilt. A very few reflexes have been successfully trained into him
His brother scowls at him from the bed, where he sits in lotus position as the worldâs grumpiest, most broad-shouldered guru. Nie Huaisang braces himself
âIâm proud of you,â says Nie Mingjue
âI- what?âÂ
Nie Huaisang has spent the last two and a half months careful of every expression he made, but now he isnât sure what to do at all.
âYouâve actually put effort into this. Itâs needlessly elaborate and only just barely honorable, and itâs certainly not saberwork. But itâs...something.â He nods.
â...oh.âÂ
his posture does relax in surprise. but then, the parade-attention was never going to last
âYou will pull off this absurd scheme, and you will not be in any way injured in the process, because if you are, we will go to war with LanlingJin.â
âYes, da-geâ
âNow shut the fuck up, or Iâll call Wen Qing in to put you to sleep, while I do this bullshit boring nightly meditation.â
Nie Huaisang ducks his head. âYes, da-ge.â
oh, a smile. a smile is the expression he wants to make
The day of the wedding of Jin Zixuan of Langling and Jiang Yanli of Yunmeng dawns auspiciously bright and the ceremony lives up to every portent. Carp Tower is decorated with even more red than gold. The bride is radiant enough to make the sun weep for jealousy; the groom looks pretty good, too; and they only have eyes for one another. Both her brothers cry, Jiang Cheng stoically and Wei Wuxian loudly; Madame Jin looks even happier than the newlyweds; and Nie Huaisang makes sure heâs among the first to offer the happy couple congratulations, so he can equally quickly slip out and set off a teleportation talisman
He appears in the woods near the first town in the Qishan that the spare Wen cultivators and other prisoners of war are being stored in. A dozen Nie cultivators are waiting expectantly, led by Zhao Huandi
Nie Huaisang quickly strips himself of the outer layer of wedding-appropriate finery, leaving his ordinary dayâs slightly-nicer-than-most-would-bother-with finery. He tucks the extra beautiful stuff carefully in a qiankun pouch and asks, âEveryone ready?â
nods and salutes and murmurs of agreement
He briefly channels a completely different work of fiction: âLetâs go steal a small populace.âÂ
Itâs actually...very easy. âIsnât the young lordâs wedding today?â asks the man left in charge while Jin Qixian, being a cousin of the family, is at that wedding. âWhy arenât you at that?â
âI didnât practice my saber for a week and my brother got sooo angry.â Nie Huaisang pouts. âHe forbade me from the party of the year, and gave me a job to do instead! Itâs not fair - Iâd be happy to do a favor for san-ge any other day!â
The lieutenant eyes the orders heâs been handed, in Jin Guangyaoâs handwriting with Jin Guangyaoâs signature. âWell, it does all seem to be in order.â He waves to the nearest guard. âHey, start rounding up the prisoners - all of them!â
Nie Huaisang had two months, a lot of correspondence, and a great deal of practice imitating art styles. Heâd been able to forge his own brotherâs handwriting since was twelve - Jin Guangyaoâs was much easier. Much neater
Nie Huaisang spotted the guard whoâd been kind enough to let Granny come with A-Yuan, that first time, and pointed at him. âMake sure you get all the old people and babies and stuff, too! Anyone who canât come on their own!
As Wens start to gather (be gathered) in the main square, most of the Nie cultivators clear a space and sketch out a large array in blood, a little from each cultivatorâs hand. Itâs wide enough for about forty people to stand in. When itâs done, Nie Huaisang nods to a disciple standing to the side with a bow. She leans back and shoots an arrow with a red ribbon into the sky. It vanishes in a spark of golden light
one of Nie Sectâs messenger arrows. It will land at Wen Qingâs feet in Qinghe to let her know that theyâre on their way, and she can be ready with whatever medical care and reassurances she wants
He claps to get the muttering, anxious crowdâs attention, and canât quite help but grin as he gets it. He gestures to the bloody array, reminiscent of a teleportation talisman on a grand scale. âAll right, who wants to leave this terrible place where everyone hates you in exchange for a new terrible place where everyone hates you, travel by serving as the first test subjects of the Yiling Patriarchâs new mass-teleportation array?!â
[the hacker]
(a jest. Wei Wuxian definitely tested it first, on himself and a bunch of rabbits and himself+Jiang Cheng (in that order.) He promised.)
itâs a little out-of-character, but most of the guards who react just laugh meanly. And the Wens, hell yes, have been prepped. A handful protest, beg mercy or insist that this is their home, but for the most part, Nie Huaisang can recognize amateur acting when he sees it
thank goodness - they need a ratio of at least 1 participating cultivator to every 6 civilians to power the array, or the Nie cultivators supporting it from outside will exhaust themselves immediately
as the first group is going, a burst of light bright enough to blind, an arrow falls from the sky to Nie Huaisangâs feet. The note attached is from Liu Lifang: wonât take Lianfang-zunâs orders
aw, hell. He hesitates - another arrow lands, a green ribbon on the end. The first batch of Wens arrived safely in Qinghe
he passes both arrows to Zhao Huandi and murmurs, âIâm going to go sort this out. Make sure everyone gets through, stop it if something goes wrong with the teleportation. If something goes wrong with the Wens or the Jins...try not to kill anyoneâ
Zhao Huandi bows, turns and immediately starts shouting for the array to be checked for the next batch. Nie Huaisang makes some hasty, whining excuses to the Jin lieutenant, pulls out another teleportation, and-
arrives in the filthy refugee/prisoner city with a bit of the ache of an over-taxed golden core. He rests his hands on his knees for a moment, catching his breath
Still better than sword travel. Heâs going to bother Wei Wuxian for these all the time, now
the woman left in charge in Jin Guangchaoâs place is engaged in a staring glaring contest with Liu Lifang at their supervisory office. But have their arms crossed and the tension is so thick theyâre both clearly itching to slice it with a sword
Nie Huaisang tumbles through the door with a whining, âWhat? Why did you call me?â
âI actually sent my message to Sect Leader Nie...â says Liu Lifang, with masterful confusion
âWell, he sent me,â Nie Huaisang complains. He turns to the other woman. âWhatâs the big deal? Da-ge said we should have a note for san-ge - that is, Jin Guangyao, Lianfang-zun - â
She scowled even more darkly. âMy orders come from Jin Guangchao and his from Sect Leader Jin Guangshan, not from Jin-zhongzhiâs bastard sonâ
[split-second thinking]
âOh, but Guangyao-ge really knows what heâs doing,â said Nie Huaisang, wide-eyed. âHe was so good at organizing everything, before da-ge had to banish him that one timeâ Bait...
ââSo goodâ?â she challenges. âThen whyâd he get banished at all?â
âOh, you must have heard of my brotherâs temper,â Nie Huaisang whines. âHe gets so angry when one little thing goes wrong, and then Meng Yao - back then - did a pretty big thing...youâre so lucky Sect Leader Jin is more forgiving.â Hook...
âIt would be terrible if Jin Guangyao did something to so anger Sect Leader Jin,â she said thoughtfully.
âIâm glad I doubt he ever would!â He gestured to the forged papers in Liu Lifangâs hand. âAnd as you can see, we have direct orders from him for you to release these prisoners into Nie Sectâs care - so wonât you do your duty and obey, so I can get back to my party?â
Do your duty, the orders themselves arenât your responsibility, theyâre his. The Jin cultivator nods slowly, then bows sharply, formal and faux-friendly. âOf course, Young Master Nie. How good of you to help your brother like this.â
Sinker.
(also not the worst idea, actually. a little dissension thrown into the Jin clan would be great)
Once again, most of the Wens are almost more willing the queue up than the guards are to make them, though many do blanch at the twenty-foot teleportation array drawn in blood (maximum power for minimal cost, Wei Wuxian had explained). A few are genuinely terrified of leaving; a few are almost certainly just enjoying the drama
a young man, as grubby as the rest and face hidden behind a shy curtain of hair, steps into the array without a flinch, and gives Nie Huaisang a subtle thumbs up. He waves back, just as underhanded, and lets slip a relieved sigh as he mentally crosses out âaccidentally got her brother killed and/or captured/tortured/etcâ on the list of reasons Wen Qing might kill him one day
[the thief spy]
(it hadnât been easy to convince her to let him go in the first place. but really, Wen Ning was quick-thinking, trustworthy to all who met him, and good at staying hidden when he needed to. and they needed the Wens helping power the arrays, not to mention just not putting up a fight - everything going much quicker with word spread as to what was really happening. And, Nie Huaisang prided himself, it was just a little bit kinder)
this cityâs worth were half gone to Qinghe when another messenger arrow landed at his feet in a burst of golden light. A purple ribbon - First Disciple Han Xiaoshi was done at Qiongqi Pass
sheâd taken a much higher percentage of skilled warriors (not that all Nie Sect cultivators werenât skilled warriors) than the other groups, as well as a âsignedâ note from Jin Guangyao. The work camp at Qiongqi Pass was the place Nie Huaisang least minded if the rescue of the Wens turned into a fight with the Jins. Sixth Uncle had taken nearly as long to get back into good health as Nie Mingjue, and he hadnât liked hte way the inspectors smiled
[the hitter]
a few minutes later, a blue-ribboned arrow meant the first Qishan group was all through, too. Nie Huaisang and Liu Lifangâs group was the last to finish
they went with the last batch. One disciple stayed behind to clean it up and fly home - no point in sharing the Yiling Patriarchâs proprietary inventions with Jin Sect if they didnât have to
the mass teleportation array is much worst than the single-use talisman. Nie Huaisang feels like heâs been turned upside-down and inside-out, and wrung out like a wet cloth besides. Golden core, more like yellowish pith. He does his best to stay standing
heâs knocked flat by the impact of a small mass slamming into his shins at high speed. âSang-ge! Sang-ge! You didnât say everyone was going to be at the wedding! Was it fun? Where are your pretty clothes?â
âMy extra pretty clothes are in my qiankun bag, A-Yuan.â He pushed himself to sit up, and attempts to distangle the toddler from his legs. âWhich is good, because youâre getting my normal pretty clothes all dirty on the ground!â
A-Yuan squeezed him even tighter, to show that nobody was the boss of him, then sprang away with his hands behind his back, looking like butter wouldnât melt in his mouth. That, too, lasted for about half a second before the boy was bouncing in place again. âDid you know that Uncle Four is here now, and Auntie Three, and Zhui Li and Mengmeng and Han Yao got a puppy - â
âA-Yuan, stop harassing the poor man!â Granny hurried up behind him at a much slower pace than a toddler could manage. She bows, over A-Yuan-head, eyes shining. âYoung Master Nie has done a great service for us this day. You should be saying thank you.â
âItâs the least I can do,â he says, dreaming briefly of sliding a sword through Jin Guangshanâs throat. He forces himself to stand - the world has mostly stopped swimming - and pulls her upright, and pokes A-Yuan with his foot so he follows suit. âA-Yuan was just giving me a report - yes, weâre the last batch!â he calls to a cultivator approaching with a querulous expression. âYouâd better send an arrow to da-ge to tell him that itâs all okay!â
Second Disciple Ling Jiaoshi nods and scribbles out a note, and hands it to a junior trailing behind him with a bow and arrow
behind them, around them, about five hundred Wens and Wen-associated people are milling around a deep valley tucked into Qingheâs mountains. Most are avoiding the three great arrays painted in blood in the center of a some fields, mirrors to the ones in Qishan and Qiongqi Pass, though the landing sites will be inactive with their pairs destroyed. Many are exclaiming to see family and friends again, or looking around in wary uncertainty, or both. The main source of order is being imposed by the multiple triage tents, sorting out who needs medical attention and who just needs a blanket and hearty meal. Nie Huaisang can hear the Chief Physician yelling at someone in the distance
A-Yuan tugs on his hand and repeats accusatorially, âYou didnât say everyone was going to be at the wedding! That must have been so big! Are we all staying with Sang-ge and Miss Yi now? And Aunt Qing and Uncle Ning and Uncle Nie-Who-Needs-Quiet?â His eyes widen and he tugs even harder. âDid you bring new candy?!â
Nie Huaisang laughs and pulls from one pocket a silk flag in brilliant red, filched from the wedding decorations. âNo, but I did get material for a new fan. Do you want to help me paint it?â
To be concluded with a brief epilogue!
#mdzs#the untamed#nie huaisang#wei wuxian#jiang yanli#jin guangyao#nie mingjue#a yuan#UH#THIS WAS...LONGER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE#BY A COUPLE THOUSAND WORDS I'M NOT GONNA LIE#I HAD TO GO TO SLEEP BEFORE FINISHING EVERYTHING#i just wanted...jiang yanli to have fun...and then the nie bros were almost kind of discussing feelings...#and then we still had to pull off the heist...
160 notes
¡
View notes
Text
So, I finished The Untamed and ok ok I think I have collected most of my thoughts about it. (Iâm late, so I guess these thoughts donât really matter, but I wanted to put them somewhere and here seemed like the place.) SO hereâs a post absolutely NO ONE WANTS and imma do it anyway cool cool.
Firstly: love. This entire show is about love. Obviously other things too ok Iâm simplifying for the sake of my point. But importantly it is about love. The love for our families, found, made and blood. The love of soulmates, romantic and platonic. The love of humanity, of the people known and unknown, love for them purely because they are human and are therefore deserving of love. The love inherent in honour and duty, the sacrifices made for that love. Loving someoneâbravely, in the face of every adversity, despite being told itâs wrong. Learning to be true to that love, learning to love faithfully, learning to love, to show love, to be loved.
Bless the tireless translators. Yâall. The work you do is often thankless but yâall are so valued. Thank you.
The music. I actually donât have the words for this, I can only thank the composers and musicians for the gifts they have blessed us with. My heart my heart my heart.
The costumes, set, props and cinematography are all so exquisite. Iâm not an expert in any of these fields but I can see the care and detail paid to each facet of this show. What an absolute visual joy. Stunning.
And now, the characters.
Iâll start with the ladies. They deserved so much more. We deserved to have more than just one by the end, but I understand this wasnât their story (still hurts tho).
Jiang Yanli. Proof that kindness is powerful. Her heart holds entire worlds. She is not weak (donât even try me I swear to the gods). She holds her family together. She takes care of her siblings. She feeds their bodies and their souls. WWX is rightâJZX does not deserve her but thatâs because nobody does. But Jiang Yanli deserves to be happy, therefore her marriage to the Flower Peacock is valid purely bc it makes her happy. She stands up for whatâs right, she will not compromise her morals, she will defend her family to her last breath (and so she doesđ). She does not harden herself, she does not have to. Her patience and kindness, her softness, her gentlenessâthings that are seen as weaknesses or inferioritiesâare what put her above all around her. She is gracious, she is strong, she is loving, she is determined, she is brave. She deserved better.
Wen Qing. A queen. A powerhouse. The most brilliant mind. A lightning-quick and sharp-bladed tongue. She loves Wen Ning so much and her love is powerful, just as Jiang Yanliâs. Her dedication and devotion to her people, her true family, not just a name, is incredible, inspiring. Why? Because sheâs not perfect. So she learns. She grows. She becomes herself. When sheâs at the Burial Mounds, she essentially adopts WWX as another younger brother, caring for him because she knows he wonât care for himself, and she does so out of love and respect. But she never replaces Jiang Yanli. She is keenly aware of all she perceives WWX loses because he aids them. Hence the pivotal, crucial: Iâm sorry and thank you. She walks to what she knows is her own death with her head held high and her hand in her brotherâs, offering love and support and what protection she can to the end. She does not flinch. She does not bow. She fights with all of her and surrenders with grace not reflected by those she surrenders to. Honestly I could write an entire thesis on Wen Qing but Iâll cry too hard so Iâll just leave it here that she deserved better, she deserved to live, she deserved to be free.
Mian Mian. Mian motherfucking Mian. Here is a woman who stares injustice full in the face and says no fucking way, says over my dead body, says you and what army old man. Strips the robes of the hypocritical off her own damn body, throws them at the feet of a false god and walks out, back straight, head held high. She makes her own way in the world, carves out her own life, finds love and happiness and lives. She does not compromise. She does not bow. She fights and she wins and she is glorious. And she lives she lives she lives.
Yu ZiYuan. I may be in the minority here but thatâs ok. No I donât approve of her abuse, just gonna nip that one in the bud right out of the gate. Was she fair? No. Was she cruel? Yes. Was she an incredible fighter who fought for her family, for her home? Who showed raw courage and furious strength in the face of insurmountable odds? Who loved a man with her whole bitter heart, loved her children with that same fractured heart? Was clearly the subject of spiteful rumour and vicious gossip and did not let it defeat her? Refused to bow to anyone? I do not like her, do not like how her bitterness made her cruel. But seeing her wield her blade, take wound after wound, witness the death of her love, then take her own blade and rob the monsters invading her home of the satisfaction of taking her life, took her own life with her own hands because thatâs how she did everything in her life so why the fuck wouldnât she do it in death too, who crawled her way to the man she loved, laced their fingers together so he wouldnât die alone, so they could both die held? How can I not respect her.
Ok. The lads.
Jiang Cheng is a man-child idiot with the emotional expression range of a loquat, an inferiority complex the size of the moon and self-worth issues going back farther than the Big Bang, and I love him, ok? He loves so hard and so much and it is heartwrenching that he cannot communicate that. Some of his best moments are actually in the background, which is both funny and terribly sad. His rage is at times ridiculous, at times frustrating, at times all he has left, his joy is bright but brief, his grief is devastating. Watching JY greet WWX after the 3 months in the Burial Mounds. The entire temple scene. Crying on his knees. We were to be the Heroes of Yunmeng. Take care. Fuck me right in my feelings ok.
Wen Ning is so fucking precious and I would die for him for all eternity. What an absolute gift his character is. I honestly canât write much more about him because Iâll cry. But special mentions to his interactions with A-Yuan/Lan SiZhui and the incredible scene where he reveals to Jiang Cheng the truth about his/WWXâs golden core. Unparalleled emotional intensity. The equal parts tenderness and fierceness of his love is breathtaking.
And the loves.
Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen. There is a lot of tragedy in The Untamed. There is great sadness in the main plot line and even in the small side plots. The Ballad of Song Lan and Xian Xingchen (as itâs come to be known in my head) is for me the most devastating and poignant. They just wanted to do good, to wander the world together and do their part to make it a better and safer place. Itâs noble, yes, but itâs also so human, so close to home. Because we all want that, to know that we can do some good before we leave this world. They do not want to be involved in the petty squabbles, the undignified and cruel vying for power and dominance. They simply want to live and be. The fact that both of their deaths are pointless, could have been avoided, are the faults of poor timing and terrible terrible luck and cruel turns fate is almost what makes it sadder. Xue Yang screams that XXC is not better than him, that his righteousness and the righteous way he has attempted to live his life is all for naught. And then he is immediately proven wrongâXXCâs heartbreak means he canât become XYâs puppet. SL is free from XYâs control and avenges himself and XXC. Which is also somehow just as devastating. That XXC and SL were so close, so very close to being together, to living, to making it, but didnât. Nothing grand or heroic about their deathsâjust the unknown and unpredictable nature of life. There is no rhyme or reason, no big important plan, no fate or destiny. They both simply die as we all one day will. And it is their potential cut short, the love and life they couldâve had, that hurts the most. They are not Lan Zhan and Wei Ying: they do not get their second chance, their reunion, their happily ever after. The look shared between SL and LWJâthe shared grief, the recognition, the understandingâand LWJâs brief and unelaborated-on comment to WWX âhow fortunateâ speaks volumes. How fortunate you came back/I found you/thatâs not us when it couldâve been. That final shot of SL walking away and the brief out-of-focus moment of XXC walking beside himâparticularly when itâs echoed with the parallel of WWX and LWJâchokes me every time.
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan. Soulmates in every sense of the word. Their song. Their bunnies. Their child. The years they were robbed of. The yearning. The pining. The loyalty. The growth. The love the love the love. The loss the loss the loss. Every Lan Zhan. Every Wei Ying. Every glance. Every soft breath. Every gentle touch. The tenderness. The intimacy. The quiet acceptance. Their love story is one of the ages and, on a personal note as a queer person, what a gift it is to see a queer love story like this. (even when censored as a bromance, which like I mean, they tried but the glances alone are +9000 gay pining but whatever and yes I am making a joke because Iâm crying donât look at me)
TL;DR: I am so thankful The Untamed/CQL/MDZS and all of its adaptations (the source material included obvs) exists. I am so thankful to the writers, translators, casts, crews, creators. I am thankful for the community of fans that exist that love it as I do, who share that love and passionâwhether through passionate discussion, rich fanfic or mind-blowing fanart. I am thankful I live in a time where content like this exists and can be shared. I learned a whole lot and Iâm so grateful there arenât even words. Love yâall. Iâm gonna go be soft now. đ
#Bee gets real soft#Bee gets a little bit too deep into feelings#this is...long#long post#im so sorry#i just have... a lot of feelings#the untamed#CQL#MDZS#wangxian#lwj x wwx#this is a lot#im SOFT#DONT LOOK#yall can go ahead and ignore this whew#excuse me i need to go be soft#Bee maybe waxes poetic???#bee watches the untamed#and cries#a lot#song lan x xiao xingchen#jiang yanli#wen qing#mian mian#jiang cheng#wen ning#yu ziyuan#tagged: and they were soulmates
84 notes
¡
View notes