#Wen Ning is always a cinnamon roll.

[whumpbby]

Idk if there's a right way to say this but Jiang Cheng's biggest crime in and out canon is being not that pleasant to be around and i rlly wish people would acknowledge that instead of trying to paint him as The Worst in order to justify their weirdly intense hatred towards him

I'm going to ramble,sorry, that how I put thoughts in order:)

I think that's the perfect way to say it actually. And 100% fact imho. His biggest flaw is that he has no patience with other people's shit and no filter on how little patience he has. He lets people know he's unhappy with them. All his care and dedication is in his actions.

The way he cares about Wei Wuxian and then Jin Ling - even his scolding is an expression of care, always concerned about the way their behaviour can bring harm to them or to their sects. The way he sacrificed his life for Wei Wuxian without a moment's doubt and neve mentioned it. The way he was fighting a war and rebuilding the sect at the same time. The way his sect became absolutely notfuckwithable. The way he kept throwing himself in the way of danger for his loved ones in the Temple.

This is not some villain who only cares about himself - the way he's being painted by the antis.

There was this post somewhere saying that the biggest flaw in a fictional character is being boring - they can be a war criminal, as long as they're not boring.

I think for some people who are looking for pure escapism and feel-good simplicity (and nothing wrong with that, everyone does that) the "boring" gets replaced with "ugly". The depiction of trauma survivors that didn't "go through all that and ended up kinder". That didn't get over the tragedy in their lives to an appropriate standard. That are functional, but not happy. That bring back the bad stuff that happened because it still influences their lives and behaviours and reactions.

They want all the tragic trauma of the past, but without long-lasting consequences that aren't leading directly to cock-healing or fawning.

Like, if you think about it, no one went through the war in that book and came out "better". Absolutely no one. Lan Zhan drowned himself in guilt and directed all his anger towards Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian didn't stop running for even a moment and he became an intensely careless, emotionally dishonest person. Lan Xichen settled into not really doing much, coasting on his sects' position and JGY's help. Nie Mingjue became a bona-fide warlord who basically said "fuck these people, hunt them for sport for all I care". Meng Yao learned that you can stab your problems away. Everyone around them became incredibly trigger-happy for a long while.

And yet JC is the only one singled out as the Evil Walking The Land, because his trauma response isn't pretty and stoic and is specifically, understandably, targeting the Innocent Cinnamon Roll Protagonist and isn't fixed by the end of the book. He could have saved the world, but as long as he's not polite while he's at it then fuck him.

This is, like, primary school level morality were facing here xD

I cannot tell you how surprised I was when entering the world of The Untamed - prepared by Tumblr to see jC as this demon of a man and instead found this guy who, by all accounts, is in the right 99% of the time. Then I read the book and was staggered by the final reveal. And the absolute bullshit I was fed by people that wanted to sour me on the character before I could make my own mind.

Not even gonna get into how these people treat Wen Ning - whose whole existence is a horrific chain of horrific events ending in his absolutely awful existence of an actual slave... But he's such a cute puppy, eh?

Tldr: people who keep making excuses for hating JC do it to somehow justify the fact they can only accept Trauma Light in their fiction.

[kabybaali]

For Wen Ning's birthday event day 2, I made a Collab with my sweet friend uwu

Art made by me

Story made by @vahntares 💖

Wen Ning couldn't help but push the tray with the steaming red bean cakes away from the prying hands trying to steal them.

"Āiyā! I never imagined you could be so cold-hearted! You hide under those kind eyes and that beautiful smile!"

His cheeks tinged slightly, as he had never been accused of such things before, yet his hands remained firm and steady.

"The-they’re not ready y-y-yet!"

"Are you going to keep them away from me? I've never been able to taste one of these! A-Ning, please have mercy on this tormented soul, you're denying water to a man who spent years in the desert!"

More nonsense. Wen Ning could only hope that the heat in the kitchen was enough to explain the blushing heat on his face.

He stood his ground, as he had promised himself to give his best to the beaming young man in front of him, even if it cost him some teasing. Especially since, as he said, he had never tasted a red bean cake before and the experience had to be perfect. The young man pouted, yet Wen Ning already knew every single one of his false expressions inside out. So many months together were not in vain.

They met each other at a private event. Wen Ning's desserts were highly sought after and both his teachers and peers felt envy and admiration for his quick rise to fame. And that young man had been so fascinated by what he was eating that without a second thought he decided to spend the rest of the evening in the kitchen next to him.

After that it was hard to shake him off, although he never really tried. Something about his smile made it hard to refuse his company, not to say that all his remarks at the meal were very sharp and precise.

And all the requests he had were always gladly fulfilled once the cafeteria was closed.

It was a shared little space the two of them had build.

Wen Ning saw the red bean cakes and let out a big sigh.

"Fifteen minutes!"

Wei Ying shook his legs as he became increasingly impatient

"A-Ning! Don't you feel bad making me wait for SO long? Is this your customer service?"

Wen Ning thought it would be better not to answer. If Wei Ying ate the cakes at that moment he would most likely burn his tongue and all his effort would be thrown away.

''Good things come to those who wait'', he said to himself"

As if reading his mind, Wei Ying looked at him with such a plea in his eyes that it made Wen Ning's heart skip a beat.

"How about a milkshake!?"

Wen Ning yielded with a gentle smile.

Perhaps they both knew that if Wei Ying insisted again Wen Ning would eventually give in, but this was the game between them.

Request, bake or prepare, taste and please.

As long as Wei Ying had something in his mouth to taste he would be happy and as long as he was happy Wen Ning would be pleased as well.

Wen Ning began to take the ingredients out of the fridge. There was no use in asking about the flavor. Just as he knew all of his tricks, he also knew all the things he liked.

He looked up just long enough to make sure that Wei Ying's stubborn hands were away from the tray with the cakes.

And then he noticed something

Wei Ying looked different from the first time they met.

Wen Ning's hands began to mix the milk with the fresh fruits as his eyes continued to trail over him.

Wei Ying's face was not so sharply defined anymore, and the sharp lines had been replaced by something softer. His beauty was something that would hardly be overshadowed by the small cute rolls in his stomach as he sat up, perhaps that was why Wen Ning hadn't noticed it before.

When they first met, Wei Ying wasn't very aware of himself and in a certain light his skin would seem light, pressing against his bones. A very normal appearance by modern standards, standards Wen Ning did not approve of.

He added creamy vanilla ice cream and a dash of cinnamon to the milkshake.

Wei Ying, being totally honest, had more color in his cheeks and more energy in his movements. No one could blame Wen Ning if he refused to stop spoiling him with desserts.

Without being able to prevent it, his eyes met with the young man's. How long had Wei Ying been looking at him? Embarrassed, Wen Ning immediately lowered his head and continued to prepare the thick milkshake. He prayed that it hadn't been too obvious.

It was sheer agony to walk out of the kitchen and towards the table. His movements were stiff thanks to the embarrassment that kept flowing through his joints.

He held out the glass cup and a plate with some red bean cakes. He forced himself to act normal.

"H-here you go."

"But... You said it would take 15 minutes for the cakes to cool down..."

Obviously, if Wei Ying was told that the cakes would be ready in 15 minutes, he would wait 10 minutes at most. Wen Ning omitted this information and shyly shrugged his shoulders.

It was better to pretend that he made a mistake. 

Wei Ying didn't inquire further, he just let out one of his thunderous laughs and received everything.

Although there were neither customers nor critics, those kinds of moments were the ones that made Wen Ning really want to break out in a cold sweat. 

He had learned to take criticism and opinions about his work, but at the end of the day the only opinion that would matter to him would come from this outrageous young man.

He brought a cup of coffee with him to keep him company as he tasted the cakes.

When he reached the table, Wei Ying was already sipping the milkshake. Both of their hands tensed.

"Oh... damn... I blew it..."

The red bean cakes were supposed to be the main dish and Wei Ying had already sweetened his mouth with the milkshake. How could he properly savor one taste when his senses were coated with another, stronger one?

In a slightly desperate move, Wen Ning extended his cup of coffee that didn't yet have any sugar in it. Wei Ying joyfully accepted and took a good sip.

After that everything flowed as it was supposed to.

"They're not lying when they say the taste is addictive! So smooth! They're delicious! I'm so lucky to have A-Ning cook for me!"

Wei Ying kept heaping praise. It was a good thing, as a baker he was very confident in his taste and sincerity.

Wen Ning took a coffee sip.

His tongue grew warm, then his cheeks, and finally his heart.

"¡ !"

He began to cough uncontrollably.

"A-Ning!" 

Wen Ning waved as he tried to calm himself.

The rim of his coffee cup tasted like vanilla.

"I-I.. The coffee made me ch-ch-choke!"

"Your face is so red!"

Wen Ning squeezed his eyes tightly shut as if that could keep him from losing his mind.

He could barely endure mild feelings and this thing he was experiencing was taking his breath away.

He summoned up his courage and saw Wei Ying's worried eyes looking at him. There he was, plumper cheeks, lips with little crumbs.

His heart seemed to beat faster. Yes, Wei Ying had definitely gained some weight. It was a lovely sight, seeing spring blooming on his body.

Unable to control the train of thoughts, Wen Ning wondered where else the extra weight had gone.

He remembered when Wei Ying entered the cafeteria. His hips and waist now had a more inviting curve, enticing him to sink his fingers into the flesh and knead it.

And the backside... It already drew his attention before but now, and despite having such an innocent mind, it was hard not to want to look at it again.

The cough came back.

''Shouldn't be thinking about this!'' Wen Ning thought to himself.

"A-Ning..."

Wen Ning felt pats on his back.

It took him a few minutes to recover

"Āiyā..." Wei Ying saw the plate in front of him "they were so delicious that there's only one left."

Wen Ning had a placid smile "I made them for you."

It could be his imagination, but an adorable blush appeared on Wei Ying's face.

"At least eat this one, say ahhhh."

Ready to refuse, Wen Ning opened his mouth, but of course, instead of words coming out, a soft cake made its way in. He bit into a small piece and the dough fell apart like silk.

Wei Ying pushed the cake back in.

It was clear he wasn't going to give up so Wen Ning decided to finish it before his mind went off again. The last bite was bigger, and he miscalculated.

Wei Ying's fingers were trapped between his lips.

Wen Ning felt like he might die of embarrassment, but he couldn't cough again because Wei Ying's fingers dragged out slowly and carefully, forced to travel a twisting path to his chin.

Wei Ying's gaze seemed a little agitated, a little lost... a little hungry.

Even if the desserts, sweets and pastries whetted the appetite, a bigger craving was rising between the two of them. Something even sweeter and warmer.

Wen Ning doesn't quite remember who made the first move. Was it Wei Ying who sat on his lap or was it him who lured him in?

Who made the final step to close the distance?

The taste of red beans, vanilla and coffee blended into one. Wen Ning thought that combination was better than anything else that he had ever put in his mouth. Ever.

Their lips melted against each other, wanting to be tasted in full. Slowly he let himself go, guided by Wei Ying's playful nature, kissing in an ever-changing pace, sometimes long and soft, sometimes faster and full of hunger. Wei Ying couldn't make up his mind on how he wanted to keep going and Wen Ning wasn't going to stop him finding new ways to do it.

They ended up completely out of breath and put their foreheads together to give each other a break.

Unknown to them, they had both been watching each other silently, waiting to decipher what it was that was keeping them uneasy.

Wei Ying let out a light, hearty laugh.

"A-Ning" he said as he playfully kissed Wen Ning's cheek

"That was delicious."

[wuxianxkexing]

Not going to lie Jiang Cheng is the perfect ship character. Let me explain.

With Lan Xichen: Xichen is probably the most mentally stable character in the series. He would be the rock that Jiang Cheng needs in his life, one that he has never really had. Xichen is unfortunately too perfect and good for this world, a true cinnamon roll. Jiang Cheng can and will be the asshole for both of them when necessary, but for the most part they would pull each other from the extremes of the spectrum to make them both more balanced people. This ship is for people who just want the best for Jiang Cheng.

With Lan Wangji: Drama, drama, drama, but who doesn't like drama? This ship is enemies hate fucking each other. This ship is staying together only because the sex is that good. They don't actually do each other any good being together besides the prostate orgasms. The only ship that would make Lan Quiren wish it was Wei Wuxian instead. This ship is for people who only care about how hot the characters are, not their romantic compatibility at all.

With Nie Mingjue: Honestly daddy issues Jiang Cheng needs a DILF protector. It would do him good to not have to be the strong one for once. I can't really think of what he could do for Nie Mingjue aside from being a person that Nie Mingjue could lavish with gifts, but you know what? Sometimes Sugar Daddy/Sugar Baby relationships work out. Unfortunately their relationship fights are probably kind of wild with both of their tempers but their dysfunctional asses think that it's "passion" instead of toxicity. This ship is for people who think lowkey toxic relationships are super romantic.

With Nie Huaisang: Another case of Jiang Cheng being the protector/asshole in the relationship but it's not a bad thing. Childhood friends to lovers is always OP romantic pairing and they both compliment each other rather well. Jiang Cheng is the responsible and take charge one, and Nie Huaisang is the fuck around because why not? one. Ideally Jiang Cheng's reliability would rub off on Nie Huaisang and Nie Huaisang's manic pixie dream girl energy would give color to Jiang Cheng's life instead of ruining it once again. This ship is for people who love it when one partner annoys the crap out of the other, grumpier, partner.

With Wen Qing: Could be a perfectly cute couple in an alternate universe. They both have similar thoughts and dedication to family. Wen Qing would teach Jiang Cheng to put his ego aside because she sure as fuck isn't going to. Jiang Cheng might have Zidian but he is the whipped one in this relationship. This ship is for people who like it when the woman dominates.

With Wen Ning: Wen Ning would fall in love with Jiang Cheng after he was nice to him one time. Jiang Cheng probably picked up his pencil or held the door for him once in Cloud Recesses and now Wen Ning simps hard for him. Wen Ning would at some point assume that they were already in a relationship because they spent so much time together and Jiang Cheng was always coming to his rescue but Jiang Cheng would be oblivious. This ship is for people who like slow burns/unobtainable relationships.

With Jin Guangyao: Jiang Cheng would definitely encourage Jin Guangyao to stop being such a brown noser and to live his life more authentically, potentially avoiding all of the problems that came about as a result of Jin Guangyao's extreme desire to fit in. With Lan Xichen's calm and steadfast acceptance and Jiang Cheng's encouragement to give less of a fuck what others think I think Jin Guangyao's life could have been different. After all Jiang Cheng wholly accepted Wei Wuxian as his actual brother despite it not being the case in reality, so I don't think Jiang Cheng is as judgmental about lineage as the average cultivator. As for Jin Guangyao he could've put his political prowess to better use in the Jiang Sect and taught Jiang Cheng how to play politics better. This ship is for people who like fix it ships.

Jiang Cheng can just be shipped with any other character and its fine. Like you can't ship Wei Wuxian with anyone other than Lan Wangji, it is just wrong and illegal because they are soulmates, but Jiang Cheng? Jiang Cheng who got blacklisted by every. single. female. cultivator? (And I think that is the funniest shit ever even though I love him. Like what could he have possibly done?) Who has canonically only been on 3 dates in his entire life? Who is the one character in the series who is all but officially confirmed to be a virgin by mxtx? Ship him with whoever, who cares? Literally any ship is a step up for our man and most of them would make him at least a slightly better person. Except Xue Yang, they'd make each other worse (unless that is your thing).

[mercyandmagic]

Heya Mercy! I'm the person who made the teen!wangxian fic rec list yesterday and it wasn't until you reblogged it that I remembered YOU WROTE ONE OF MY FAVORITE FICS EVER (i.e. The Oriole Behind You) so anyways if you don't mind, I would love for you to talk a little bit about that fic. I know it's been a while since that fic was published, but how did you come up with the idea? How did you come up with the ships? What was the process like when you wrote it? How did you come up with the twists and turns?

Anyways, thanks for being awesome. Keep slaying!

Oh! Thank you so much!!!

I didn’t come up with the forced marriages part. My sister @hamliet came up with the idea of Wen Ruohan setting up all these pairings. We both adore Wangxian, Xiyao, Xuanli, Nie Mingjue/Wen Qing, and Sangyu. I’d recently written a fic with Jiang Cheng and Mianmian (Sentiment), and Xue Yang/Chang Ping (Everything But a Father), and Hamliet pointed out that Jiang Cheng and Mianmian is perfect because he always blamed the fall of Lotus Pier on Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji defending her. If his siblings married the respective defenders, it only fits for Jiang Cheng to marry Mianmian, and I love that idea.

As for Qin Su/Wen Ning, and Su She/Jin Zixun, I’ve written them in Brothers and Sisters and I adore the respective two cinnamon rolls and enemies-to-lovers aspect to our two bitter boys (Yes, I stan Jin Zixun because if I don’t, who will?). 

Hamliet asked me to write it instead, and I was all to happy to oblige. I initially set out to have a happy/cracky tone.

And then... Writing the twists and turns was really one of those things where characters take the pen and run with it. I opened with Meng Yao, and by the end of the first chapter, it was entirely different than the idea I’d had when Hamliet first texted me. A-Yao started revealing all this angst, and then Xue Yang arrived and still revealed more angst. Lan Wangji gave me even more angst with his pain in the second chapter. 

I wrote it faster than most stories, and the characters just kept choosing where to go. Some plot points remained unchanged: Wangxian had to have their questionable ‘first time,’ Xuanli needed to have Jin Ling. When I began to realize how many characters were having kids and that it wasn’t realistic... that’s when I side-eyed Meng Yao and realized it would make perfect sense for him to have slipped a potion in Qin Su and Jiang Yanli’s food. 

Jiang Yanli as the one orchestrating the rebellion was a surprise, but I really liked the idea of the gentle but brave Yanli as the driving force. She may be nice and sweet, but she’s incredibly brave in the novel, and I think she’s the type to risk everything for her son, just like she did for Wei Wuxian at Nightless City. 

I’ve always felt a little less comfortable with Songxiao, but diving into the stoic Song Lan’s feelings was really fun to try out and led to the surprising and humorous (to me) reveal at the end that he and Xiao Xingchen had never actually defined their romantic feelings before.

I think I was able to write it so quickly in part because this story was a great retreat during the tumultuous Spring of 2020. A comforting distraction from the outer hellscape. And... everything just kept falling into place based on how the characters worked out. 

Thank you for the ask – it’s been really fun to remember. :) 

[justawanderingbabbit]

Thoughts on Untamed, I has ‘em

In terms of casting, with certain exceptions (Nie Mingjue and That Mustache) I think The Untamed was pretty near spot on.

In terms of plotting... those parts that kept more to the book were the parts I liked best. The rest of the plotting just didn’t work at all for me. Characterization also had some shaky places.

I say this as someone who usually doesn’t have a strong reaction to the differences between a movie and a book, even when it’s a book I love. I didn’t mind the Narnia movies or the Hobbit or even Lord of the Rings. But the changes made to Mo Dao Zu Shi just don’t sit right with me.

Follow me below the cut for spoilers and some ranting. (Full Disclosure: I have not actually watched the series so everything I’m saying is based on what I’ve read about it, seen in crack vids and the like. This makes me a serious Not Expert.)

1) The whole “Rediscovered Research” thing. In the original book, Wei Wuxian claims he learned demonic cultivation from scrolls he found in the Burial Mounds. This isn’t entirely impossible, of course, but there’s a strong sense that (as he often does) Wei Wuxian is blowing smoke up everyone’s arses. Having there be a previous source for the whole thing makes Wei Wuxian less of the Mad Genius he is in the book.

2) The Yin metal concept feels like an attempt to make the mystical aspects of MDZS go away. If there’s a metal containing some hitherto unknown power, there’s nothing spiritual about it. I realize undead and cultivation is incredibly Unscientific but the story’s a fantasy. It doesn’t need to lose the spiritual and magical aspects.

3) Wen Ning being alive but... what... infected by the Yin metal... somehow? The man was dead dead dead deadity dead in the book. You’ve already got undead wandering around (at least I think that’s what they are) so let him stay undead.

I note that he remains a darling cinnamon bun in the series but loses something of that in the follow up flick (which I did watch because, damnit, Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui teaming up? YEAH.) 

4) The final temple scene. Now this I have watched because I wanted to see how they handled it. They didn’t even have a real enemy showing up, just the resentful energy from Nie Mingjue’s sword? And JGY just runs off screaming and is presumed dead. I mean... what happened to him?

5) Timeline. Okay, I get it. The timeline in the original book is a mess. MXTX is not the best at keeping her dates straight. Who am I to judge given some of the things I’ve done in my professional writing?

That said, aside from the 16 vs 13 year thing (which was fine because, ages, man!) the fact that Jin Guangyao (apparently?) kills daddy dearest (So sad, too bad) before he kills Nie Mingjue means he no longer needs to kill Nie Mingjue because he now has the power to do what his Da-ge demanded of him.

Which brings us to the last complaint:

5) I didn’t like Jin Guangyao when I first read the story. It wasn’t until the temple scene and Wei Wuxian realizes that so much of what went wrong in Jin Guangyao’s life was the result of the same sort of thing that messed up Wei Wuxian’s. Namely, good intentions and that road to hell.

For Wei Wuxian it’s a kind of “There But For the Grace of Lan Wangji go I” kind of moment. One which made me speculate that Jin Guangyao’s actions (to some degree) might have had better intentions than everyone assumed. Some of his actions were incredibly over the top, (like burning the brothel) but others we only have other people’s side of the story.

The Untamed’s version of Jin Guangyao is so completely villainous, compared to the book’s that he loses a huge chunk of personality. In the drama, he’s ruthlessly ambitious, a mastermind of all masterminds, brought down at last by a mastermind who he underestimated because he never saw Nie Huaisang as capable.

For me much of what makes Jin Guangyao a fascinating character is how grey his grey scale can be. You can, if you want, see him as the devious mastermind seeking control of the entire cultivational world. Or you can see him as someone who acts to preserve what he has, creating a tangled web of secrets behind the mask of a beautiful smile. A tangled web that even he knows will fall apart someday. I tend to prefer the latter, a tragic villain who might, given the right chance at the right moment, might have done so much better.

5a) Minor sidenote: Nie Huaisang is often assumed to be an incredible mastermind, one who persuades Mo Xuanyu to destroy himself in order to get vengeance on Jin Guangyao. And it’s possible. Wei Wuxian certainly thinks he did. If he did, however, he’s as bad or worse than Jin Guangyao because he uses a messed up kid’s life to achieve his purpose. And if that’s the case, I’d be worrying for the cultivational world he might end up leading.

Final Note: I don’t say The Untamed is awful and don’t watch it. There’s plenty of reasons (mostly eye-candy, for me) to do so. But for me, the book will always hold a much higher place in my heart, if only for the nuances and understanding of characterization that MXTX put in her story.

[quicktothebatjalopy]

emotional devastation speedrun

[gncatboymoved]

hmmm i really dont like how people treat wen ning

[korpikorppi]

The Untamed costumes extra:

Someone else's clothes

Ok. I will be making a proper costume post at some point for these robes, but something just clicked and got stuck in my head so I had to get it out.

What I'm talking about is this set of robes Wei Wuxian wears during the time he and the Jiang siblings are hiding in the Yiling Supervisory Office after the massacre of Lotus Pier:

This outfit has been bugging me for some time, because it seems... off. Firstly, this is the only time we see Wei Wuxian wearing the Jiang purple. Purple that does not really sit very well with the rest of the outfit. Secondly, despite the colour of the robes (black with some red accents), the outfit is Definitely Not Wei Wuxian in style. I mean, the cape? The heavy pleating and the sheer excess of fabric? It doesn't sit right with what Wei Wuxian typically wears. He might wear many layers, but they are always more sleek in style than this. And thirdly, talking about sitting right, the robes do not somehow sit right on him, they more like just hang on him (off him?), like they would be somewhat too large, too wide for him and had just been gathered in with the belt:

So, I'm pretty sure Wei Wuxian is wearing someone else's clothes, but whose? Wen Ning would be the most likely one, but this set does not seem like something he would have, not even for formal occasions.

But today while making the latest collage post it just clicked. Who is the other person who typically wears black (and red) and who seems to like wearing capes? Yes. This guy:

The robes Wei Wuxian is wearing, or at least the outermost vest and cape combo, are pretty much exactly in Wen Zhuliu's style! I mean, just look:

And considering the difference in Wei Wuxian's and Wen Zhuliu's build, that is how Wen Zhuliu's robes would sit on Wei Wuxian. Wouldn't it?

But how in hell would Wei Wuxian end up wearing Wen Zhuliu's robes? It's not likely that Wen Zhuliu just decided to stash his spare robes in Yiling, after all. I think the answer is here:

Jiang Cheng's robes were pretty much ruined during his captivity, and by the time Wei Wuxian arrived at Lotus Pier to rescue Jiang Cheng, his clothes must have been pretty ripe after everything he'd gone through while wearing them.

So I can well see Wen Ning, being the considerate and capable cinnamon roll that he is, going to look for and pack some clothes for them while waiting for the drugged wine to take effect. Finding clothes for Jiang Cheng, including some sets of purple underwear, but failing to find clothes for Wei Wuxian. And then, knowing where Wen Zhuliu was bunking, going and raiding his wardrobe to get Wei Wuxian something in black (because of course Wei Wuxian needs something in black!).

So now I'm stuck with the headcanon that the outfit Wei Wuxian wears in Yiling (and when he goes to the golden core transfer!) is a mishmash of Jiang underwear and sash (Jiang Cheng's underwear?) and Wen Zhuliu's Sunday robes. Help. Though there is a kind of weird poetry to that...

[annalacerda17]

Hi......if you don't mind me asking, can I ask, who are your top 5 favorite characters from MDZS? And why? And what are your top 5 (or top 3) fav moments from the novel? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks.....

Hi, I don't mind at all!

I haven't answered this before, so here I go.

Favorite characters:

1 - Definitely Wei Wuxian! He has everything I like in a character. He has a strong personality, he's funny and fun to read about, he's very intelligent, he's considerate and compassionate, caring and nurturing, always tried to make the best of a situation, doesn't wallow in self pity, he's not afraid to apologize when he feels he should but doesn't accept blame for things he didn't do , either. He never let his circumstances define him, he never allowed others to dictate what his place in the world should be and who he is allowed to be as a person, he's confident and trusts his own judgement, he's incredibly skilled but still has believable difficulty overcoming the challenges the narrative put in his path without needing to be dumbed down, he's competent, he's such a genuinely good person and I adore him.

2 - Definitely Lan Wangji. He's only slightly behind WWX. Like WWX, he's a genuinely good person, he's intelligent, perceptive and, unlike every other character in his social position, he's not blinded by privilege. What I love the most about his character is that he was able to recognize his shortcomings in the past and worked to overcome them without blaming others or being hypocritical about it. I like that he never holds WWX responsible for his own feelings, be it his love or his jealousy, and never expects him to change himself to accommodate his feelings. He's the most successful parental figure in the entire book, too. WWX's perfect match.

3 - Wen Ning. He's cinnamon roll with a secret savage side that only comes out when the ppl he cares about are threatened. What's not to love? But seriously, he's a good person who, despite not being very strong and not being particularly powerful within his sect, still chose to actively help WWX and JC because it was the right thing to do, even though he barely knew WWX and didn't care about JC's general existence. He did what he believed was right despite the great risk to himself and his family. It's no wonder he and WWX are best friends, as they share the same values.

4 - Wen Qing. She's queen. WQ is the best sister ever. She's protective, compassionate, intelligent and competent. I love her. She's a badass woman who never killed anyone, she's strong and she loved her family so much, including WWX. Her ending was so tragic, too. She deserved the world.

5 - The Juniors. I love them, they're so fun to read about. I especially love it when WWX teaches them. They give me hope for the future of the cultivation world. To me, although by the end of the novel, the social structures that allowed everything to go wrong are still in place and society hasn't really changed, just traded targets, it doesn't mean things will never change. One person, no matter how powerful, can't singlehandedly change the world, what they can do is touch the hearts of ppl. To me, although WWX didn't change the world, he did manage to touch the hearts of those juniors, the next generation, and it means that although it didn't happen immediately, eventually things will change for the better.

As for my favorite scenes, that's a really difficult question. I love the whole book, and to me, MDZS is the type of book where the scenes gain more significance when we look at them collectively rather than individually. But I'll try to rank my favorite moments here:

1 - definitely the confession scene. I love it because WWX really opens his heart to LWJ in this scene. Previously, WWX had always been guarded with his feelings for LWJ, he thought of excuses for his actions just in case LWJ reacted badly, he kept testing LWJ. We see in the past arcs, when he talks to JYL, that WWX used to think of love as something akin to a debt, a belief that was reinforced by the behavior of the ppl around him. So, when we look at WWX's character arc, his willingness to open his heart like that, in the middle of a hostage situation of all things, shows how sincere he is. And it's a beautiful confession. He takes care to clarify all of LWJ's points of doubt ( we've seen before that LWJ was afraid that WWX was only reciprocating his feelings out of gratitude, etc.)

2 - When WWX let's himself fall off that tree and LWJ catches him. It's a beautiful moment. I like how it parallels his fall when he was a child, and JYL failed to catch him. To me, this was the moment I felt LWJ was would never fail to be there for WWX. Like, I already knew that, because he'd been staying by WWX's side through a lot by then, but this moment cements it for me.

3 - The first time LWJ calls WWX "Wei Ying" post-resurrection and WWX realizes LWJ had known his identity the entire time. I love this moment because JC had just mocked WWX about LWJ not knowing his identity, which really hurt him. He was scared LWJ really was only helping him because he didn't know who he was, so when it turns out LWJ had always known, it's both reassuring and sweet.

4 - basically every moment when WWX is teaching the juniors. I love all of them. We get to see all the best parts of WWX.

5 - any time when someone accused WWX of doing something to them and WWX is like "who are you?"

[righteousinadversity]

I posted 130 times in 2021

45 posts created (35%)

85 posts reblogged (65%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.9 posts.

I added 458 tags in 2021

#mdzs - 109 posts

#wei wuxian - 92 posts

#mo dao zu shi - 78 posts

#wei ying - 62 posts

#lan wangji - 31 posts

#wangxian - 23 posts

#lan zhan - 21 posts

#jiang cheng - 18 posts

#the untamed - 13 posts

#untamed edits - 11 posts

Longest Tag: 97 characters

#it’s a normal response looking at yourself from the third pov he’s not being objective to himself

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Does anyone ever wonder about the disciples who followed Wen Ning's orders? The ones who Wen Ning says, "Never kill anybody at random"? The ones that probably helped rescue JC from Lotus Pier? The ones who were probably on the ship that Wen Ning used to sneak them out? The ones that protected them until they reached Yiling Supervisory Office from where the ship docked? (Re: chapter 59 and 60)

They are barely mentioned but if you think about it?

Wen Ning says he rushed to LP to see if he could save anyone. So, he and the disciples arrived too late to prevent the massacre. He also says that he can get JC out, and refers to the fact that he has a group of disciples who follow his orders. Like, these disciples helped Wen Ning rescue the heir of a sect that was annihilated by the Wens. The sect Heir who was practically wanted by the Wens. And they chose to obey the stuttering young master no one actually knew much about over Wen Chao. I know we talk about Wen Ning and Wen Qing a lot, but just... those disciples almost definitely were killed in Qiongqi. If they were under Wen Ning, they definitely didn't join the war. But we don't see young cultivators in Burial Mounds. So, Qiongqi, or another similar prison camp.

Like, sure, they could just be thugs that listen to everything but really... Wen Ning having thugs? That sweet cinnamon roll? Unlikely to say the fucking least.

And I don't know. Sometimes I just think about those disciples. About the fact, that their help probably cost them their lives. About the fact that they chose to do something good, despite it being treason, even when they knew the repercussions would be dire if they were found out. About the fact that none of them revealed their location because clearly, JC and WWX weren't caught during their stay in Yiling.

I don't usually care much for background characters, and these characters don't even have names, but by the gods they were a far sight better than the mob that laid a goddamn siege on a civilian settlement.

164 notes • Posted 2021-11-13 20:47:22 GMT

#4

I mean, there are characters that turn cruel and cold and uncaring when the world they saved turns on them;

And then there is WWX who actually died because of this and still doesn't let that change him. Literally. He is like: oh disciples of one of the sects that pledged an oath to kill me? Can't let them die. Murder hand trying to kill people who were at a siege trying to kill people he protected? Can't let them die either. People, who tried to kill him once, who wanted to kill him again attacked by fierce corpses? Whoops, guess I'll just be a fucking magnet for every resentful corpse in here to let them escape.

And you love the first set of characters because let's face it, the world is exactly that terrible sometimes and noping out of society is so valid and understandable. Let them all rot to their deaths.

But the level of compassion, of righteousness that Wei Wuxian wields, is so goddamn moving. Like. This is why I love him. His righteousness is steady, unmoving. Untouched and untainted by others. The world can try all they want to cast him into a monster, but by heavens, he will never let them steal the heart that never once wavered from the moral path.

175 notes • Posted 2021-11-13 21:59:42 GMT

#3

I just saw a post in my dash that said that the reason for a majority of the problems in canon, is miscommunication between JC and WWX. Apparently, JC sits on his feelings and WWX is always running from his problems. And that if he just talked with JC everything would have been fine between them. That they were both egotistical and selfish. You know. Wei Wuxian. Running from his problems. Selfish.

I just.

You come into my home. You insult my morally upright fave.

How dare you.

Selfish? I am sorry, which part of ripped out his golden core through surgery of constant pain for two nights and a day was SELFISH?

Talked with JC? What the fuck was there to talk about? JC wasn't LWJ. He didn't give a fuck about WWX using Demonic Cultivation, even if it adversely affected him. His issue was with him not adhering to the social convention of cultivators carrying their swords and wasn't helping with YunmengJiang. Never mind the fact that his contribution to the war was the reason YunmengJiang got as huge a share of war spoils as the other clans, even though the disciples weren't as many. Never mind the fact that despite its almost total annihilation of the members, No one dared to dispute YunmengJiang's position as one of the four major clans because of Wei Wuxian's presence. Never mind the fact that disciples flocked to the Jiang sect because of him.

JC knew what there was to know. He knew Wen Qing and Wen Ning practically committed treason against Wen Ruohan and risked their lives when they saved and sheltered him. He knew that Wei Wuxian gave up something enormously precious - in that context, a boon from an Immortal - to give him his golden core back. Was that not enough for him to have the slightest bit of compassion? No fuck compassion, duty? Responsibility? He'd be dead, and YunmengJiang would have gone forever without them. What more does he need to know? Don't turn his apathy and refusal to acknowledge what others do for him to MisCoMmUnIcAtIoN.

Don't act like lack of communication is why JC and WWX's relationship fell out. WWX chose to do the right thing, and JC chose to turn his back on the life debts he owed. He either deliberately or intentionally caused a divide between the cultivation clans and WWX through lies (He tells WWX no one will speak for him, even when LWJ, LXC, LQY did. He tells the world that WWX is the enemy of the cultivation world when WWX proposed only to secede.).

For heaven's sake. This isn't some 'sibling drama' that can be fixed with a fight. It is the fact that JC genuinely treated WWX as a subordinate whose only purpose was serving him and fuck what he wanted. It is the fact that WWX was practically groomed to be a shield for JC. This is a legitimate, serious difference in their values and viewpoints, that would always inevitably lead to a clash. Because JC cannot imagine helping someone unrelated for no reason unless it was for the credit that came with it. However, WWX simply, unabashedly seeks to help. JC can't understand this logic, so he thinks it's a hero complex and a desire for prestige.

Miscommunication. Don't make me laugh.

218 notes • Posted 2021-10-21 11:42:00 GMT

#2

So, I was browsing the timeline on the wiki for fic purposes, you know, because I am throwing everything canon to hell, might as well keep the timeline steady. But, what I realized, was that:

Wei Wuxian is nine when he comes to Lotus Pier. NINE. Now, we know from canon that he cultivated the golden core only after he came to Yunmeng Jiang.

So, you're telling me, that this boy, had only been acquainted with the cultivation world for what, six years when he comes to Cloud Recesses. And by then, he's the fourth on the list of most eligible young masters, so talented he could fight with the Second Jade, who had probably started his studies to cultivating since he could walk and talk to a standstill without drawing his sword!

There's a reason they called him a prodigy. There's a reason no one ever conceived the idea of him not having his golden core later on in his life because it seemed very fucking plausible that this boy just created a whole new cultivation method on a whim.

Damn, every day I realise something new about Wei Wuxian and it makes me more of a simp.

250 notes • Posted 2021-10-14 20:28:32 GMT

#1

THE RIGHT THING IS NEVER EASY

What makes MDZS a great story, and not just a good one, is that WWX is an incredibly moral person, who puts doing the right thing above everything. Societal rules, personal relations, even his own health. This is not him being insecure or not having self-worth. It is him having an incredibly strong moral core, and recognising that sacrifices are often necessary when you want to do the right thing because the right thing is never easy. So, we have the general goal of the protagonist: Stand by what is right.

And why is the right thing not easy? This is where the conflict comes in. In MDZS, the conflict is man vs. society. It is WWX's tenuous position in the high society of the cultivation sects, which by the way, is filled with classist assholes, that lead to him being villainized. MDZS is a story of how society exploits rules and traditions, and turn dark. No one is wholly blameless in the fact. After the war, LXC, NMJ, and JC were all in positions of power to stop the brutality of the Jin Sect.

LXC's sins are more forgivable, perhaps, because LXC does stand up for WQ, and we really don't know the extent to which he and NMJ were aware of the wen remnants only being civilians. However, even when WWX points out very, very relevant points at the banquet, LXC, who leads the sect with the motto, 'Be Righteous' is unswayed, and doesn't pursue the matter.

NMJ, for all his strong sense of justice, clearly has no idea what it is like to live under a tyrannical dictator when he says,

Nie MingJue spoke coldly, “If she responded with only silence and not opposition when the Wen Sect was causing mayhem, it’s the same as indifference. She shouldn’t have been so disillusioned as to hope that she could be treated with respect when the Wen Sect was doing evil and be unwilling to suffer the consequences and pay the price when the Wen Sect was wiped out.”

The crime NMJ accuses WQ of is the same crime he is guilty of. Indifference. The only difference is that WQ actively went against WRH's command to join the battle lines, saved YMJ's heir and ensured its survival. NMJ, on the other hand, not only did not but later on, joined the siege against the innocents.

Again, we don't know how much the Nies and the Lans were aware there were only civilians. We don't know if the Jiangs and the Jins were the ones who carried out the slaughter, while the Lans and Nies fought the fierce corpses there. It is likely they believed there were cultivators and war criminals at the Burial Mounds, But, it is also likely that they had some idea that civilians were there as well.

And JC... well, we have absolute proof of JC's crimes. I have talked about this before, others have talked about it, and the gist of it is this. JC does nothing to pay back the enormous life debt he owes both Wen Ning and Wen Qing. Instead, he condemns them to death. He abandons his sect brother and turns the world against him. He leads a siege against a mountain full of civilians.

The Cultivation Sects would do nothing for the Wens, and this is further emphasised by the fact that even LWJ recognises that WWX has 'no other path'. This is not about MoDao. It is about protecting the Wens.

So, society exploited the ideas of 'righteousness', of 'justice', of 'honour'. During War, they all did awful things. But the absolute horror of what happened to the Wens was that they were brutalised during peace. The horror was that a dictator was removed, and in its place, arose a society that plundered and murdered innocents.

The thing is, we don't know, really, if even WRH was ever this blatantly cruel to civilians. We know he didn't care for their safety or anything - case in point, waterborne abyss, but QishanWen Sect was a vast, vast behemoth. We don't really know how much was his direct orders and how much was idiots like Wen Chao slacking off. We know he slaughtered the entire Jiang Sect, but again, cultivators. We don't know if Wen Ruohan pulled civilians into his power play in the cultivation world. (If there is actual textual evidence against this, please reblog and share. I read the novel quite thoroughly multiple times, but if I missed anything, please let me know.)

So, if the result of the SunShot Campaign was a society that slaughtered innocents, then how could they even call it righteous

So, again, conflict is Man vs. Society. ( In most fix-it fanfics, people remove this conflict, and are left with rather a shell of a fic. I theorize this is where most of the insecure WWX tropes come from -> so conflict becomes, Man vs. Self)

But Karma is an actual, real thing, and we see it happen. WWX, who stood by the right thing, who refused to let society declare cruelty as justice, was reborn, with a body that has a core he can cultivate and is able to live without regrets and live happily, with a man he loves. JGS, who was responsible for the whole thing? Look how he died. LXC's actions in response to JGY's crimes, lead him to being devastated, and goes into seclusion (Note that if a similar investigation was held with respect to the Wens, the tragedy might not have happened). JGY and NMJ, one slightly better than the other, certainly, are sealed as fierce corpses. JC is faced with total abandonment from the last person from his past, and the realisation that he has no right to compete with WWX, that WWX owes him nothing, which for him is devastating, as we see from how easily JGY uses it to manipulate him. The Jin Sect is surrounded by rumours and general dislike from the cultivation sects (Not you Jin Ling, you're doing lovely, sweetheart.)

That's why MDZS is an absolutely brilliant literary work. It shows that doing the right thing isn't easy, it is a slippery slope and you can fall very easily. But life always rewards those who try, and always punishes those who don't.

346 notes • Posted 2021-10-24 12:27:07 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[shipperneko]

List of all the fandoms I’m in. LETS GOOOO

also side note, these are not in order, I do not condone favoritism in anything fandom related for me.

Ruroni Kenshin (I have unlimited amounts of respect for this anime. It was my first anime, that i watched at a young age and I fell in love with it. I never finished it, but instead went back to it years later as a teenager. As you can guess, that threw me down an anime watching spiral, and I binged the whole thing. I haven’t watched the last episode, only because I don’t want it to end. But I owe a lot to it. Also before I go-KENSANO KENSANO KENSANO KENSANO KENSANO KENSANO KENSANO

My hero academia (*heavy breathing * SHIGARAKI SHIGARAKI SHIGARAKI SHIGARAKI SHIGARAKI SHIGARAKI SHIGARAKI SHIGARAKI oh yeah we got married. Yea, it’s a little hard with the whole ‘we’re mass murderers’ thing, but we make do. Oh yeah! And BKDK BKDK BKDK BKDK BKDK BKDK BKDK BKDK BKDK BKDK BKDK BKDK BKDK-)

Attack on Titan (Levi Levi LEVI Levi Levi LEVI!!! And also eremika ^^ love them. Great ship. Armins a cinnamon roll too!)

Mobile suit gundam wing (Heero and Duo. That ship sailed. They’re Very sweet to each other, even when duo has a gun up to heero’s head-and also what the heck is up with relena? She’s ANNOYING!!!!)

The untamed/MDZS (lets go wangzian lets go! LETS GOOOOOO!!!!! Lets go Xue Yang lets go! LETS GOOOO!!!!!!!!!! Lets go Wen Ning and Sizhui lets go! LETS GOOOOOO!!!!!!)

All portal games (I ship Human wheat and Chell so hard I wrote two full length novels about 1 chells pov for the second game and 2 how they get together ❤️)

Harry Potter (imma just go ahead and-*puts an ‘I ship Drarry sign on forehead *

Merlin (mertherrrrrrrr Gwen is the worst but mertherrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr)

DOCTOR WHO (was obsessed when I was three…still am ^^ 11 was my doctor, but now it’s 10. He’s so hot and pretty and tragic and UGH)

X-files (Mulder and Scully…. One of my first ships. Also the later seasons are not canon btw I WILL FIGHT YOU ON THIS-)

Five nights at Freddy’s (moondrop and sundrop give me life. I want to stay at their daycare forever.)

Babi Yodaaaaaaa (the cuteness I can’t-)

Wings of Fire (star flight hurts me. Also I despise Fatespeaker. Hmm? Oh what would I do if I was an animus? Make starflight murder her and tell her he never loved her and has always hated her, then return to sunny happily saying that fatespeaker is a jerk and left him. Sunny be like 💛💛💛💛💛💛)

Lord of the rings/ the Hobbit (SAM SAM SAM SAM SAM SAM SAM SAM SAM SAM SAM)

The maze runner (Tominewt tominewt Tominewt And yes Newtmas I hate Terese or whatever her stupid name is-I know what it is, I just don’t want my post to be poisoned by her disgusting name)

The hunger games (toast forever toast forever toast forever toast forever and Finnick is HOT)

The avengers (Loki Loki Loki Loki Loki Loki Loki Tony Tony Tony Tony Loki Loki Tony Tony Loki Tony…also lokis series was awful. He needs a new one-)

Percy Jackson (all da ladys love Leo. Including me..and Jason deserved better than Piper. Gosh I hate her.)

@sara576sf *heavy breathing * I did it. I did it for you

[sleepy-salami]

for @crysdrawsthings my beloved, who expressed interest in blorbos from my show, but I don’t really feel like doing this meme for any other fandom, so I decided to just make my own post lol + pictures and descriptions, because you probably have no idea who any of those people are, but I still want to talk about them!

(btw this is going to be a mess of book canon, live action canon, and random headcanons, bc I don’t always remember which one’s which and this is the most interesting way to engage with this story anyway)

blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)

Wen Ning!

My beautiful undead boy. A fierce corpse with social anxiety. The kindest person you’ll ever meet, loves his family and small animals, is routinely bullied by children, will help you hide a body if you ask nicely. I have no idea why he spoke to me so much, because I usually pick the most controversial and morally grey character I can find in a work of fiction, and this one is a 100% Good Boy, but here we are. He has a pretty impressive kill count for a cinnamon roll, though

scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)

Jin Ling!

He’s 15 and it shows. He has a dog! And a lot of issues! And an irrational desire to put himself in danger as often as possible! I want to pinch his cheeks.

scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)

Tbh that’s just Wen Ning again, because people don’t appreciate him enough, dammit. Yes he’s a 100% Good Boy, but he's also somewhere up there among the most tragic characters of the story, he's got depth, and his own motivations, and interesting conflict, and a lot of fun potential to explore. But he's too often overshadowed by other characters, and I think it's a shame.

glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)

(I don't think any of my faves are obscure enough, bc almost everyone has a role in the story and a group of dedicated fans, and the characters no one cares about... I don't care about either lmao)

Let's go with this guy, Wen Zhuliu!

He's a stoic henchman/bodyguard of one of the most annoying villains ever, and he's not being paid enough. A shining example of malicious compliance. An icon. I'm not even mad at him for all the murders.

poor little meow meow  (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)

Jin Guangyao!

Look at him. What a polite and trustworthy young man. He has cute dimples. You can fit him in your pocket. He's a customer service employee who's being yelled at by Karens every day of his life, and that's his villain origin story. Personally, I think he gets the prize for being the character with The Most Fucked Up Life in this novel, and I allow him to do some mass murder about it.

horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)

Jiang Cheng. It's always open season on Jiang Cheng.

*slaps Jiang Cheng on the ass* This bad boy can fit so many insecurities, parent issues and unprocessed trauma in him. He has the most epic entrance in the entire series, and 5 minutes later he's crying uncontrollably on the floor, because he's shocked and upset that his brother cared about him. He's a mess. He’s the most controversial character in this fandom, I’ve never seen a person who’s normal about him. He’s legally banned from dating despite being rich & hot, because no one wants to deal with All That. He's so fun to bully. What a guy.

eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)

Jin Guangshan.

Fuck Jin Guangshan.

[kurowrites]

"Took the wrong luggage AU" or "hugged the wrong person AU" wangxian please if you are free 🥺🙏

Wei Ying will only take about half of the blame, because really, what men in this day and age walk around with long hair, tied neatly in the back with a clasp? He only knows Wen Ning who does that, and so he sees long black hair and a clasp, and he assumes that this must be his second-favourite cinnamon roll (after Jiang Yanli, of course). He doesn’t really notice that the hair clasp is white instead of Wen Ning’s customary black, because who even pays attention to details such as these?

Wei Ying sneaks behind the bench his poor victim is seated on, and does what he always does when he greets Wen Ning: in one sweeping move, he wraps his arms around Wen Ning’s broad shoulders and leans in to place a big fat kiss on his cheek. As he draws back, he crows, “Ta-dah! It’s your favourite shixiong!”

Only that he’s not greeted with Wen Ning’s usual slightly embarrassed but still enthusiastic reaction to Wei Ying’s overly affectionate greeting, but suddenly has an incredibly stiff, frozen person in his embrace. And that’s when Wei Ying notices the white coat, and the white slacks, and the light blue turtleneck sweater; all items of clothing that Wen Ning very much doesn’t wear. And then the person still in his embrace turns their head just so, and…

Fuck.

This is most definitely not Wen Ning, but a person he has never ever laid eyes on before.

An exceedingly handsome person, his brain unhelpfully adds, with clean-cut, noble features.

And Wei Ying just slobbered all over this exceedingly handsome person that’s very much a complete stranger.

FUCK.

He lets go of the stranger and jumps back in a panic, flitting around the bench as he’s stuttering out an apology. He might have a thick face, sure, but putting his mouth on innocent bystanders is a bit much even for him. And this man very much looks as if he isn’t used to spontaneous make-out sessions. Unasked for ones, at that.

“I am so sorry,” he repeats for the probably twentieth time as he hovers in front of the person he just assaulted. “I thought you were my friend. I would never – I mean, not that you’re not handsome and everything – but I would never just, without asking, you know, smoo–”

At this point, the stranger seems to take pity on him. He fishes out a handkerchief (who in this day and age owns a handkerchief made out of actual cloth?) and delicately wipes his own cheek, right where Wei Ying slobbered all over him.

“It is fine,” the stranger says stiffly. “Be more careful next time.”

“I will,” Wei Ying promises with emphasis. “Believe me, I will.”

They settle into an awkward silence, Wei Ying’s hands fluttering around in the air uselessly as he tries to think of anything else he could do to show that he’s sincere in his apologies. He’s never been very good at being genuinely apologetic, his mouth turning a ‘sorry’ into some kind of joke, and it often only serves to rile people up even more. So he stands there and flounders as the handsome stranger straightens himself out again, until he looks as unruffled as me must have before Wei Ying’s sudden attack.

The stranger then looks up at him with a critical eye, almost as if he’s fearing that Wei Ying might be gearing up for a second attack.

(He’s not.)

“You should go look for your friend,” the stranger says. It’s not exactly impolite, but the words come with a sense of finality.

Please leave so I can bleach this incident from my memory as soon as possible, Wei Ying hears.

“Sorry,” he says again.

And then, because he’s an idiot, he adds, “You have very nice hair.”

Because that’s the first thing Wei Ying noticed about him.

The stranger looks at him with a slightly incredulous gaze, probably wondering why Wei Ying won’t get the memo, and just shut up and leave.

“I tried to grow mine out too,” Wei Ying says, desperately trying to get himself to stop speaking and completely failing. “But it never works out for me.”

He flicks his own sad excuse of a ponytail, the slight curliness of his hair making it look even messier than it already is.

The stranger is quiet for a moment, probably mentally calculating if it’s worth murdering Wei Ying in broad daylight in order to get his peace back. That’s usually the reaction normal people have to him. Only this has to be a new record in how fast Wei Ying managed to get them to this point.

Then, “It suits you.”

The compliment is so unexpected that Wei Ying gapes for a moment.

Which is definitely not his best look.  

“Really?” he asks, incredulous.

“Hn,” the stranger replies, nodding once. As if that was a reasonable question to ask. And a reasonable answer to give.  

“Wow, that’s just sad,” Wei Ying sighs, more to himself than to anyone else. “First I assault you and then I’m even comforted by you about my looks. That’s pathetic, really. Comforted by the victim. And compared to you, I’m just a… blob.”

The stranger looks at him again, possibly starting to wonder if Wei Ying is some kind of dangerous, disturbed individual or out to mug him. Maybe both. Not that Wei Ying has any intention to mug a handsome man. Or anyone at all.

Except for stealing a few kisses, maybe. He could do that, because this stranger is, after all, handsome.

Actually, he did that already, he realises. He kissed him on the cheek. He was just apologising for that.

For a smart man, he’s really astonishingly stupid. And the man even took pity on him and told him that he looked good with a ponytail.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” he asks again, a little desperate. After all, he does feel sorry for what he did. “I feel like I should do something for you in exchange. I’m not sure what is appropriate, though. I don’t usually go around assaulting handsome men in the streets, believe me. No matter how tempting it might be.”

One of the exceedingly well-formed eyebrows on the stranger’s face twitches lightly. That’s about the most extreme facial reaction Wei Ying has received so far, and he isn’t entirely sure how to read it.

“Seriously,” Wei Ying emphasises. “Let me do something for you. As long as it doesn’t cost too much money though – I’m hopelessly poor.”

“There is no need,” the stranger finally deigns to reply. “Your apology is enough.”

“Wow,” Wei Ying cannot help but observe. “I wish all people were like you. No demands for compensation? You’re letting me off the hook very easily. But then, I guess the longer I’m standing around here, the more of a punishment this is for you. Uh. I’ll show myself out?”

The stranger looks at him again with a critical eye.

“You were waiting for you friend.”

It is more of an observation than a question.

“Yeah,” Wei Ying answers anyway. And then, he unnecessarily adds, “He also has long hair like you. That’s why I thought you were him.”

The stranger seems to consider that for a moment. Then he gestures towards the empty half of his bench.

“Wait.”

That.

That’s strangely nice of him, Wei Ying thinks with slight confusion. And hopefully not a precursor to murder.

In any case, he’s not going to look a gift horse into the mouth. With a feeling not unlike relief, he plops down onto the free half of the bench, and then smiles at this oddly civilised stranger.

He looks even handsomer from up close, Wei Ying cannot help but notices, and from here, he’s in a prime spot to admire the light golden shimmer of his eyes.

Wei Ying is struck. Such captivating, serious eyes, with a hidden depth that momentarily robs Wei Ying of his breath.

Something warm rises in his chest, sweet like honey.

Then he scolds himself. What foolish thoughts he’s having! Getting all mushy just because of a pair of reasonably pretty eyes!

(They’re beautiful, but that is not the problem here.)

“Wei Ying,” Wei Ying says, because if he doesn’t, he’ll probably say something much worse. “I promise I usually don’t assault handsome men on the street. Well. Unless I know them. I mean–”

There is the smallest twitch in the corner of the stranger’s mouth, and Wei Ying realises with uncomfortable, sudden clarity that the stranger is probably laughing at him.

It’s mortifying.

Maybe almost as mortifying as assaulting a perfect stranger with slobbery kisses.

If he had at least made it a good kiss. But no, he had to be all gross.

“Lan Zhan,” the stranger says, his voice serene, as if he hasn’t just accepted Wei Ying’s offering of peace.

Well.

Wei Ying thinks he might be able to deal with that.

“Lan Zhan,” he says, unable to contain a smile of his own. “It’s nice to meet you. This time without physical assault.”

---

When Wen Ning finally finds him twenty minutes later, Wei Ying has somehow successfully acquired a mobile phone number he’s 60% sure is not fake.

How, he isn’t entirely sure.  

[gusu-emilu]

Ask me my Top 5 anything

Anon asked for Top 5 Post-Canon Junior Quartet Moments where they have to fight without using cultivation. Here’s my headcanon/scene rambling...

1. Lan Jingyi defeats a vengeful ghost just by roasting it for how it died

That’s it that’s the scene

2. Everybody forgot their talismans

Lan Sizhui is the Junior Quartet Mom who usually has a huge stash of extra talismans ready to go because the other three always forget to bring enough. But it turns out that just before they left for this nighthunt, Wei Wuxian secretly borrowed all of Sizhui’s talismans to “experiment” on them and return new versions as a present later.

So now the Junior Quartet is running around in utter chaos yelling for Wen Ning because nobody has talismans

3. Ouyang Zizhen learned how to wrestle from a poem

Listen, if there’s one way to motivate this boy, it’s with a very long ballad about two lovers who went on epic journey together and had to wrestle a band of actually-sympathetic-but-still-wrong criminals while simultaneously working through their relationship issues and tearing up about their beautiful memories together and confessing their undying love to each other. The narrative not only detailed every single line of their heart-rending dialogue, but also every blow in the fight, and Ouyang Zizhen is excellent at memorizing things when he wants to be. (Bonus points if he got the poem from Nie Huaisang)

4. Lan Sizhui is surprisingly good at hand-to-hand combat

Technically, Lan Sizhui is a Wen, so he wasn’t born with the formidable upper body strength of the Lans. While training with the Lans, he couldn’t rely on sheer power like the others and had to develop clever strategies (fake-outs, unorthodox moves, tricking opponents into thinking he’s unintimidating, etc). Sizhui doesn’t actually take the offensive very often in combat, and instead draws his opponent into making mistakes.

In this way, Sizhui takes after Uncle Wei Wuxian for his inventiveness and Uncle Wen Ning for the fighting skills behind his cinnamon-roll veneer. But of course, Sizhui would rather not fight someone for real! Even in a friendly sparring match, he’d try his best not to actually hurt his opponent, and after the match is over he’d apologize profusely and heal any injuries they did get. Still, I think Sizhui deserves the chance to have a fun sparring match with his friends once in a while. Let’s just say that Jin Ling and Ouyang Zizhen were very startled the first time they got utterly defeated by Sizhui! Meanwhile Jingyi already knew what the outcome would be and was laughing the entire time.

(Little post-script: Yes, hand-to-hand combat is messy and rather un-Lan-like but let’s just say the Lan disciples do train in it. After all, Lan Wangji does an awful lot of arm-grabbing and kicking during his fight scenes. Perhaps another Uncle that Sizhui takes after?)

5. A nighthunt in which Jin Ling should not have gone swimming

The juniors are on the bank of a river, taking a break after searching for hours and finding nothing to hunt. Suddenly there’s a giant splash in the river!

None of the juniors can figure out what it was. Since Jin Ling always brags about how great he is at swimming (his mom was from the Jiang Clan, home of the best swimmers), Ouyang Zizhen dares him to go into the river and find out what made the splash. Well, Jin Ling’s over-pompousness is coming back to bite him because he never actually practiced swimming, he just knows he’s good at it...thinks he’s good at it...of course he’s good at everything...maybe...

But he can’t back down now! He jumps into the river and swims out to the site of the splash no problem. He dives under, closes his hands around a large carp (that’s all it was? haha Ouyang Zizhen was scared of the splash for nothing), and brings the fish to the surface to show off to the others. That wasn’t so hard! He really is the best swimmer!

Then the carp grows into a giant water dragon.

Jin Ling has no sword, no talismans, no nothing because he left them all on the shore to go swimming!

Okay, I cheated, this isn’t actually about Jin Ling fighting without using cultivation because Uncle Jiang appears out of nowhere, slays the dragon, and yells in fury at Jin Ling while trying (and failing) not to reveal how melodramatically emotional he was about Jin Ling possibly getting hurt

~Thanks for the ask! Nonny I hope this is what you meant lol. Someone send me more asks to get carried away with, this is fun!

[mikkeneko]

Hi for the Untamed ask game, 4. Best Symbolism, 35. Who Is The Biggest Disaster, and 59. Character That Surprised You The Most?

4. Best Symbolism

I'm not always fabulous at identifying and analyzing symbolism in other people's works (or even my own for that matter) but the bunnies stand out as very obvious symbolism, which I am quite taken with. They stand for love, and gentle feelings, and fun silly sex, and they also stand for Lan Wangji's heart. I think my favorite bunny-symbolism related moment is the post-timeskip scene where LWJ and WWX are visiting the bunny field together. LWJ carefully picks up a bunny and gently hands it to WWX, who immediately starts to run roughshod over the poor bun with his careless manner while LWJ gives him a "can you not" look. That's his heart he just handed you, Wei Wuxian! Be gentle with Lan Wangji's heart!

35. Who Is The Biggest Disaster

Y'know, I think I'm actually going to name and shame Jin Guangyao here.

On one hand, you might argue that he got away with an awful lot of shit for an awfully long time, spending some 10-ish years on top of the (cultivation) world until NHS managed to unseat him. But on the other hand, how (relatively) easy it was to unseat him really kind of uncovered just how much disaster he was keeping a lid on! From the moment he impulsively murdered a dude in direct view of his boss and then panicked and tried to lie and claim somebody else did it, till the very end of his life getting shanked by the one dude he had always tried to keep clear of his own mess... he's a mess!

And a lot of it I blame on his dad -- I blame a lot of things on his dad. See, here's my take on JGY. I don't think he was evil, and I don't think he necessarily had to turn to evil. He was ruthless and brilliant and ambitious and ready to do whatever it took to achieve his aims, but his aims -- security and safety -- were not inherently bad ones, and not inherently ones that required harming vast numbers of people to get there. There are any number of people whose service he could have ended up in, that could have used his talents to make the world a better place instead of a worse one.

But instead, he ended up under his dad, who took a look at this brilliant and ambitious and capable boy and decided "I think I am going to set him to cause problems." And he did. He set him to tasks of poison and slander and blackmail and destroy. And Jin Guangyao did, eventually, turn on his dad and off him, but by that time it was too late to stop. He had already murdered his way into a deep, deep pit, and he could see no way out of that hole except to keep on murderin' until he eventually built a big enough mountain of bodies to climb out on. And in the end, it buried him.

59. Character That Surprised You The Most

I'd have to say Wen Ning here! I was fully prepared to like him, but I was definitely surprised by how much of the story revolves around him, at one point or another, and by how much he's able to assert his own person and personality despite being very firmly in the Sidekick/Minion role. He helps the Jiangs on his own! He outs WWX's secret on his own! He reunites with A-Yuan on his own! He sets out at the end of the series on his own! I love my undead Wen cinnamon roll and I wish him only the best, and am confident that those who love him in-world do too.

MDZS Ask Meme

[danmei-trash]

WangXian as Parents Pt 2

A random Jin clan elder: Young Master, the hunt may be dangerous. Do you want more people with you?  JL: No nevermind I can handle this alone  Also JL: Drags his Junior bros and WangXian dads along with him.

LJY once asked WWX to attend the parent teacher’s meeting as his dad

OYZZ and LJY have flaunted their dads in front of all their other friends but they’ll never admit it in front of WangXian

LSZ too has threatened some hard to deal clients using WangXian’s name

LWJ not so indirectly praises all of the Juniors

Random cultivator in a meeting: My kid can kill three demons in one strike! LWJ: My children make friends with the demons The random cultivator: ...  LWJ: try getting on my kids’ level

WWX has paintings of each and every Junior, tucked inside his sleeves and shows those to people every chance he gets.

WWX: *to a waiter in a bar* Yeah the demons are kinda restless nowadays but- *pulling out the paintings*  have you seen how handsome my sons are?

WWX makes funny faces from outside the window during a Lan sect lecture LQR pretends to not notice

LWJ cooks various dishes he has learnt from travelling all around and cooks them for his husband and children

He also allows LJY and JL to eat more than three bowls

LSZ once made a bouquet of flowers for WWX

WWX cried tears of joy on LWJ’s shoulder that night “A-Yuan is so cuttteeeee!!!!! *sobs*”

JL can now tolerate spicy food not to WWX’s level but way more than the others because of his uncle and WWX

LJY and LSZ always feed Lil’ Apple plump and ripe, best quality apples

And because of that, it now never eats what WWX gives it

Lil’ Apple and Fairy are now best of friends

Whenever the Juniors get punished to copy Lan rules, LWJ pretends to not notice that they skipped a few hundred rules

All kids love the classes which are taught by WWX yes LQR allowed it because he’s always making jokes and praising everybody

They also love the classes taught by LWJ because somewhere in the middle of the class he gets lost in WWX’s eyes (who was sitting in the class cause he wanted to see how hot his husband looks while teaching) and that decreases the class duration (also they’re cute as hell so)

LJY and JL once fell asleep on Wen Ning’s shoulder WWX and Wen Ning tried their best not to cry

LJY tried to play WWX’s flute

LQR had to confiscate it WWX had to swear that LJY would never be able to touch it again

The only Junior allowed to touch Chenqing is LSZ because everybody trusts him

LQR allows LSZ to call him grand-uncle

JL used to flaunt that he knew the sword techniques of both Jiang sect and Jin sect but had to shut up because LSZ knows Wen sect, Jiang sect and Lan sect

Seriously LSZ looks like a cinnamon roll but can really kill you in such a way you will regret being born

I mean he is WWX’s son and we all know how he annihilated the Wen clan

LSZ got angry once. Nobody ever wants to get on his bad side now

LJY and JL always fight for the last piece of chicken which LWJ cooks cause that’s the best

And in the mess of the quarrel, WWX manages to eat that piece

LJY and JL didn’t talk to WWX for an entire week until he bought four whole chickens for them to eat alone yes they can eat a lot

WangXian have composed a lullaby to play for the Juniors during night hunts even though they obviously are too old for it (except OYZZ. HE loves it)

OYZZ wants to learn a musical instrument now

They’re the happiest family honestly

Part 1