#a little bit of wangxian in the end

[justaghostingon]

When Your Brother Thinks You’re Being Cheated On: How Not to Introduce your third

A 3zun crack au

Jin Guangyao, Lan xichen, and Nie Mingjue have recently become a triad, finally taking their sworn brotherhood to the next level after many talks, tears, confessions, and scheming of a one Lan xichen to get both his boyfriends to be boyfriends together

Guangshuan is also dead far earlier than in canon under mysterious circumstances, which greatly helped the three come together and absolutely was not a bonding expierience for the three

They’re pretty happy, however this realtionship is still new, and with politics being as it is, (wei wuxian being out there in his burial mounds scarinf everyone by existing and stressing out lan zhan, jin zixuan a new sect leader and expecting a child soon, and nie mingjue suffering baxia’s backlash) they’re trying to keep it on the down low until things stablize a bit

What they forget to take into account, are there brothers

Lan xichen is probably the most innocent in this, he fully believes he’s told lan zhan, he talks about his lovers all the time! Surelly lan zhan was listening?

Lan zhan was not listening. He was brooding over wei wuxian.

He is vaguely that lan xichen liked nie mingjue from way back when they were kids, and hasn’t thought it changed, since lan’s can only love once. It’s their families curse after all. So when lan xichen talks about a-yao this, a-yao that, lan zhan thinks its just friendship talk (like what wei ying used to do to him in cloud recesses) and tunes it out.

Jin Guangyao has an excuse. His position in the jin clan is destabilized by the shift in leadership. The last thing he wants is for jin zixuan to think he can’t do his job because he’s also kissing the leaders of two rival sects.

Jin zixuan for his part, does not see the other sects as rivals to beat like his father did. He’s not thinking much of anything except that he’s really drowning in work, and both Jiang Yanli and Jin Guangyao are lifelines.

Jiang Yanli he can show his gratitude by being the best husband he can be. But jin Guangyao? How can he get his brother to stop being awkward and take a break, (and maybe be closer like everyone else is with their siblings?)

Then jin zixuan catches the heart eyes that jin guangyao throws lan xichen at a sect conference, so much warmer than how he acts towards his other sworn brother, with all that bickering (flirting).

So jun zixuan tries to set up jin guangyao and lan xichen, giving every excuse for one to visit the other, and ample alone time when they do. He’s rewarded once by coming in a room wirh out knocking to see them holding hands.

Jin guangyao pulls his hand away, but its too late, jin zixuan saw it, his mission is complete!

Nie Mingjue is the only one who was no excuse. His brother asks him about his love life all the time. He wants to know!!!

But nie mingjue does not want a meddling sibling in his buisness, and anytime it comes up he gets so embarrassed he can’t speak, so he shuts him out.

Nie huaisang has to use his own brain, and so wjen he spots nie mingjue blushing and braiding a flower into jin guangyao’s hair, he realizes his answer. Nie mingjue has finally acted on his old feelings for meng yao, now his awful father isn’t here to keep them aprart.

All three brothers are thrilled. Until….

Lan zhan finds out first. He’s walking in the cloud recesses, when he sees two people making out. One in a now familiar green, and one in …yellow.

Nie mingjue is making out with jin guangyao in the cloud recesses, right under his brother’s nose! The nerve!

Lan zhan is frozen solid for a good five minutes, just watching in horror, before he turns and storms away, determined to save his brother from such a faithless match.

Jin guangyao and nie mingjue were absolutely doing it on purpose. They caught a glimpse of lan zhan’s white robes and handsome appearance out of the corner of their eye and thinking he was lan xichen, decided to give him a show. When they weren’t hit with a solid body joining their embrace they realized something was wrong, it wasn’t xichen, but lan wangji. They both feel very embarrassed and do not want to bring it up to lan xichen that they ruined his brother’s innocent with the sight of their kissing.

Lan wangji meanwhile tries to tell his brother, but his brother won’t hear a word against nie mingjue, (and lan zhan’s phrasing was also really vague, stuff like: “nie mingjue is a bad man, and jin guangyao is a snake in the bunny feild” but give him a break, he was traumatized)

Lan’s only love once, lan zhan justifies to himself, its gonna take more than words to convince him.

So he goes to the only person he can think of in times of crisis, wei wuxian.

Wei wuxian isn’t very close to those three, he thought nie mingjue was a better man than that, but then again, all the sects did turn a blind eye to the wen prison camps, so what does he know? No. He’s only mad about this because lan zhan came to him so obviously upset, and wei wuxian can never resist an upset lan zhan.

So he works day and night, (while lan zhan gets covered in blankets by the wens and hugs a-yaun for comfort) to create a talisman that can capture an event in the instant it happens, like a painting!

(Its a camera, he invented a camera)

He then starts marketting them to the common people under a psydonim, so it will be a trusted device by the time news reaches the cloud recesses.

He then gives it to lan zhan and instructs him to get a photo of nie mingjue cheating to show to his brother as proof.

Lan zhan accepts with the gravity of a man going to war, and prepares to stalk his brother’s boyfriend.

Meanwhile, nie huaisang is in for the shock of his life at the next sect conference, when he sees thr flowers he had sent to jin guangyao’s rooms on his brothers behalf, were instead decorating the rooms of a blushing lan xichen, who said “someone very special gave them to me.”

This may seem an innocent gesture of regifting, but nie huaisang smells a rat. You don’t regift a lovers gift to another person, u certainly don’t leave the other person blushing and saying it was from someone “very special”

Clearly jin guangyao is two-timing poor nie mingjue! But don’t worry! Nie huaisang has the perfect plan! First he’ll expose jin guangyao for the liar he is, then he’ll have both nie mingjue and lan xichen rebound with each other, effectively ensuring their happieness while punishing the guilty party! (Lan xichen can’t know. He’s to good to cheat, and he loves nie mingjue to much,��� nie huaisang thinks, missing the obvious)

His plans however, face problems from the start. He first tries to expose jin guangyao as having a failed relationship before with qin su, to show to his brother jin guangyao’s track record isn’t great. But when he finds the actual reason “the mother told them both they were siblings, since she was no longer afraid of jin guangshan’s retribution since he was dead” it doesn’t help him at all! If anything it makes jiggy look even more honorable for covering it up and makinf it look like it was because he wasn’t good enough.

Then he tries to expose him as a liar in koi tower, lots of corruption there! But his every step is thwarted by some unknown force, one even he can’t out think

His only hope lies in the new talisman on the market that allows you to capture images. Surely if he catches jin guangyao in the act, that will be wnouggh to prove him unfaithful (even if it will prob take a few more steps to convince da-ge that lan xichen didn’t know actually and is s good choice for rebound)

The person who is thwartinf nie huaisang is in fact jin zixuan, mostly by all the back breaking work he’s done to weed out corruption, tiredness, and trying to keep jin guangyao to simpler, easy to do jobs.

See, jin zixuan saw lan xichen kiss nie mingjue on the cheek a couple weeks back, and even though he’s not certain if its actually cheating or lan xichen and a-yao broke up and lan xichen moved on far to quickly, he knows it must be taking a toll on jin guangyao

Not that jin guangyao is showing any signs, but that’s just the mask he’s always wearing. If Jin zixuan wants to see the real him, he needs to prove he can be someone he can trust.

So he starts giving jin guangyao simpler tasks to do, paired with babysitting the new born jin ling, things that keep him away from all the husle of court politics that put him into contact with his ex and his ex’s new man.

Jiang yanli is more than happy to help, talking about her own brothers to remind jiggy he has one too, and having tea with him while he holds jin ling.

Jiggy is glad for time with jin ling, but he likes doing things! He has to fight tooth and nail to get jin zixuan to let him help with the one month ceremony, and is far to busy with that to do any scheming of any kind

Everything comes to a head at jin ling’s one month celebration, where nie huaisang tries to publicly expose jin guangyao by working pictures of him with lan xichen into the slide show (yet another wei wuxian invention, he’s really on fire with these)

He then points out the obvious by “accident” and tries to reassure mingju there’s no way lan xichen would ever betray him like that

Lan zhan (who has brought wei wuxian for moral aupport) sees this and panics, showing his pictures (which he originally wanted to give to his brother in private) to prove his brother’s innocence and that its the other way around, actually.

To which jin zixuan angrilly stands up and points out how nie mingjue and lan xichen were the one’s who left jin guangyao and he’s not going to stand for anyone insulting his brother actually, and this is his psrty so they better back off or get out.

“Your here for formalities sake, we could easily have this with just the jins and the jiangs!”

“Anf me!” Goes wei wuxian

“And the wei sect!” Goes jin zixuan, accidentally acknowledging wei wuxian’s group of outcasts as legitimate and thus changing the course of history

It is at this point when 3zun realize the jig is up. In their attempt to keep quiet for politics, they made everything even worse.

They stand up and point out that no, no one is cheating, and yes, they are all together, all THREE of them, and that is not going to change anytime soon, and also could they have those photos? Lan xichen’s starting a scrap book.

See this is why i don’t tell you things, goes jin guangyao to jin zixuan, (secretly pleased he’d be willing to go against two sects for him)

“What the f- goes on in your head?” Goes nie mingjue to nie huaisang

“Brother i told you this ages ago,” goes a very disappointed lan xichen

“Lan’d can love more than one person?” Lan zhan says, eyes wide and uncompeehending “do i have to love more than one?”

“Don’y worry about it lan zhan,” goes wei wuxian. “You can love exactly how you want too.” Lam zhan looks at him with wide eyes, makes three leaps of logic, a d assumes this is wei wuxian acknowledging lan zhan’s feelings and giving him permission to court him.

Thus 3zun live happily ever after, having learned that communication really is key when you have three very over-protective brothers.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Redraw of my first post on this blog. Oh how far we've come B'*)

[Now with it's own redraw!]

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

Wei Wuxian and Narrative Agency – Part Two

For Xiantober Day Three: Conviction (of a sort)... in which the author temporarily forgets to focus on narrative agency or on Wei Wuxian, in favour of analysing relevant themes and characters that relate to Wei Wuxian. But he does get focus, and again, contextualising him is why i’m exploring these other things, so no harm done.

(Part One | Part Three | Full version on AO3)

It’s Not Just Optimism: Resentment and Self-Definition 

Before we discuss the narrative again, let’s take a break to discuss one of my other favourite aspects of Wei Wuxian. We’ve seen how the narrative treats tragedy, and we’ll soon explore how it reflects Wei Wuxian’s views on tragedy. But what actually are these views? 

Because the thing is – the narrative and plot can emphasise agency and choice all it likes, but focusing solely on that leaves out the character. And it’s Wei Wuxian’s character that deserves the credit for how he defines himself (…in-universe). If someone had gone through everything he had, who could blame them for being unable to keep going, unable to let go of resentment, unable to see anything that was still worth living for, to see any value in altruism?

(Also, I do have to emphasise this: you can have perfectly healthy coping mechanisms, but still get extremely traumatised. Everyone has a limit to what they can take, that limit differs, and that isn’t your fault. It just so happens that Wei Wuxian’s limit is extremely high (and even he reaches it when everything falls apart in such quick succession near the end of his first life!))

This isn’t something that’s ignored in MDZS. We see multiple characters who have gone through similar levels of suffering as Wei Wuxian, or even less suffering than him*, who do react in some of the ways mentioned above. Whether or not the narrative condemns them depends on if they hold onto resentment from their tragedies and use it to harm others – Xiao Xingchen and Qin Su, for example, aren’t condemned for their suicides (nor should they be, suicide/suicidal ideation isn’t anything anyone should be blamed for), because nobody was intentionally hurt as a result. But people like Xue Yang, who was treated cruelly and senselessly lost his finger, but went on to murder an entire clan as a result; or Jin Guangyao, who remembered the slights against him and his mother down to the exact wording of Jin Guangshan’s dismissal of her freedom, which may have justly hurt him but also unjustly lead him to both burn down a brothel and (separately) kill or imprison multiple innocent prostitutes; or Jiang Cheng, whose resentment for Wei Wuxian due to the latter’s actions lead him to harm many others after his death simply because they were similar**, are condemned.

Why mention this? Well, these different reactions show it isn’t just a quirk of the universe that people are more tolerant to pain – Wei Wuxian’s reactions are a deliberate choice on the part of MXTX, not a writing flaw stemming from misunderstanding the severity of trauma***. But more importantly, many of these characters deliberately foil Wei Wuxian, and so they can give us a good insight into what sets him apart from them (or rather, from the characters who aren’t completely broken by their pain, because that way we know it isn’t simply a difference in tolerance but rather one in attitude). And as I’ve discussed, this has to do with accepting events and letting them go, rather than holding onto resentment.

Part of this may come from differences in personality (though that’s never an excuse for hurting others) – but, though Jiang Yanli may claim Wei Wuxian was someone “born with a smiling look” (Chapter 24, EXR), there are two philosophies Wei Wuxian consciously holds onto that have to do with this attitude:

“Let the self judge the right and wrongs, let others decide whether to praise or blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on.” Chapter 75, EXR translation

“Remember the things others do for you, not the things you do for others. Only when people don't hold so much in their hearts would they finally feel free.” Chapter 113, EXR translation 

And crucially, these ideas directly contrast the actions and mindsets of the antagonists above. All three focus on their ‘gains and losses’, with their suffering at the hands of others being a major motive to harm those others/those affiliated with those others (Xue Yang’s finger; the slights against Jin Guangyao and his mother due to the latter’s job; Wei Wuxian’s ‘betrayal’ and his role in Jiang Yanli’s death, as well as false blame on him for the deaths of Jiang Cheng’s parents, and Jiang Cheng’s inferiority complex). Jin Guangyao and Jiang Cheng are also very focused on their reputation, or in other words, on whether ‘others decide (…) to praise or blame’ them (according to Chapter 10 of the EXR translation, in what seems to be omniscient POV heading into Jiang Cheng’s, the latter ‘cared about maintaining his reputation above anything else’. Meanwhile, much of Jin Guangyao’s actions were taken to protect his reputation, including the brothel burning, as a part of the aim was to conceal which brothel he grew up in (Chapter 104)). 

Additionally, much of Jin Guangyao’s resentment stems from how others treat (‘blam[ing]’ him, insulting him), compared to how they treat others (‘prais[ing]’ them):

“But do you know what it was that made me lose hope completely? I’ll answer your first question now. It wasn’t that I’d never be worth a single hair on Jin ZiXuan or one of the holes in Jin ZiXun, it wasn’t that he took back Mo XuanYu, it wasn’t that he tried every possible way to make me a mere figurehead either. It was the truth he once told the maid beside me when he was out indulging himself again.” Chapter 105, EXR

Though the other points didn’t make him lose hope completely, the implication is that they did affect him too (as shown by how he speaks about them), with Jin Guangshan’s words about Meng Shi being the final straw. ‘Los[ing] hope’ here of course relates to holding onto resentment, as Jin Guangyao’s loss of hope is what led him to murder out of his hatred.

Finally, both Jin Guangyao and Jiang Cheng also hold resentment due to holding onto what they’ve done for others, or even onto who they themselves are, without being treated accordingly – and though it makes sense to be hurt by all these things and these reactions are valid, the pain from holding that in your heart and the danger from holding onto it is precisely why MDZS condemns it:

“Why is it that even if I face everyone with a smile, I might not even receive the lowest form of respect, while even though your father was extremely arrogant, people flocked to him? Could you tell me why we were born from the same person but your father could relax at home with the love of his life playing with his child, while I never even dared be alone for long with my wife, shivering out of fright at first glance of my son? And I was ordered to do such a thing by my father as if it was natural—to kill an extremely dangerous figure who could flip out and conjure up a bloody massacre with his corpses anytime! “Why is it that even though we were born on the same day, Jin GuangShan could host a grand banquet for one son, and watch with his own eyes how his subordinate kicked his other son down Koi Tower, from the first stair to the last!” Chapter 105, EXR

(He brings up his role in Wei Wuxian’s downfall due to this as well, in addition to creating any excuse he can to absolve himself of others’ blame – he’s being treated unjustly and hated for something he’s done, even though he was ordered to do that thing by his father and it made sense!)

Jiang Cheng, “Are you stupid? You only counted the time to return and not the time to go there? Let alone the fact that after I got there I had to lead people and search through the entire mountain for the old banyan tree, then dig open the hole that got blocked up by Wen Chao and his people, and rescue you within seven days. Where’s your gratitude?!” (…) He raised his voice, “You killed the Xuanwu of Slaughter together with Lan WangJi, bathing in blood! How great is that?! But what about me?!” He punched his fist into a pillar in the hall, clenching his teeth, “… I have also been running around for days, completely exhausted, with not one second of rest!” Chapter 56, EXR

(And, a bonus to show this being a part of Jiang Cheng’s mindset without stemming from being hurt by a specific event, even when he’s being encouraging:)

“So it seems that both of you killed it together. What’s yours is yours. Why would you give him all the credit?” Chapter 56, EXR

(This moment is a nice display of the contrast between Wei Wuxian’s and Jiang Cheng’s mindsets as well, with the former focusing on what Lan Wangji (‘others’) did for him instead of seeking credit for his role!)

To repeat – of course these feelings are understandable, and I’m not blaming them for feeling this way. What I am placing blame on is letting those feelings drive you to murder many innocent prostitutes, or to let this sense of a debt you’re owed (which is what the philosophy is actually warning away from, because if you hold onto what you do for others, the natural expectation is that they’re indebted to you and should do something for you as a result) turn into resentment towards someone for not acting the way you think they should, leading you to help murder them, even if your sister sacrificed herself specifically to save their life.

This is the danger of holding onto resentment. And are these actions not a choice? Would you, independent of MDZS, absolve someone of a crime because their ‘personality just leads them that way’?

The same is true for acting on these two philosophies, and letting resentment go. And it’s all the more impressive when someone has as much potential resentment to hold onto as Wei Wuxian does.

Of course, Wei Wuxian himself isn’t completely infallible – which further supports the idea that this isn’t just a natural, unalterable quirk, since we see him act contradictory to his usual self as well. But the narrative’s view of resentment in these moments doesn’t change. Importantly, the times he does let resentment drive what he’s doing, during the Sunshot Campaign and Nightless City (as well as him being quick to anger at Phoenix Mountain, etc), it isn’t presented as in the right**** — and though he still lets go of it quickly enough to protect a group related to the one that hurt him (people of the Wen sect, the cultivators who participated in the Siege), it doesn’t prevent the harm done during these times. Additionally, the times he metaphorically can’t control and reign in his resentment in the form of guidao – at Qiongqi Path and, again, at Nightless City – pain is caused to innocents (Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli). This is what his internal thoughts have to say when he comes across cultivators gossiping about him, shortly after Wen Qing and Wen Ning have sacrificed themselves:

No matter what he did, not a single good word would come out of these people’s mouths. When he won, others feared; when he lost, others rejoiced. Chapter 77, EXR

He’s hurt by other people praising and blaming him! Holding onto this philosophy isn’t automatic, that decision isn’t simply encoded within him somehow.

But that brings us to another relevant theme: that these characters aren’t infallible, because they’re not mythical creatures or concepts brought to life. Everyone is human.

However, although he thought that his heart was like a stone, in the end, he was still human, not some emotionless grass or plant. Chapter 8, EXR

OuYang ZiZhen, “HanGuang-Jun, why did Senior Wei collapse?” Lan WangJi, “Fatigue.” Lan JingYi was amazed, “I thought that Senior Wei would never get tired!” The other boys felt somewhat astonished as well. That the legendary YiLing Patriarch could collapse from fatigue from dealing with walking corpses—they all thought that the YiLing Patriarch should be able to settle them with just a snap of his fingers. However, Lan WangJi shook his head. He only said four words, “We are all human.” They were all human. How could a human be tireless? How could they stand forever? Chapter 84, EXR

Even with Wei Wuxian’s temperament, even with his attitude, he’s still human! Just as he’s not immune from being affected by harsh words to do with his past, just as he’s not immune from being affected by exhaustion, he’s not immune to being hurt by or angry at his circumstances. As we see in the Sunshot Campaign and at Nightless City, he’s not immune to dwelling on his misfortunes, to being driven by his hurt and anger and by resentment he holds onto (consciously! At Nightless City, Wei Wuxian deliberately accepts the curses thrown at him, because ‘anger was the only thing that could suppress the other feelings within his heart’ (Chapter 78)). 

But nearly always, he chooses not to. The Wen remnants he saved were innocent, yes, and Wen Ning and Wen Qing helped him previously – but in his second life, he could’ve easily kept holding onto his resentment and left the cultivators who besieged him, who killed him and those under his protection, to die at the Second Siege. But he didn’t! He held true to his own philosophy, to judge the right and wrongs yourself independent of what others do, and saved them.

Because this is what’s important to him, because this is how he wishes to act in the present, and because he doesn’t let himself be defined by the tragedies he went through.

The donkey seemed as if it knew that he wasn’t in a great mood [due to others bringing up what happened in his past], and for once, it wasn’t being loud out of impatience. A moment of silence passed, and it turned around to leave. Wei WuXian sat by the stream, not responding at all. It turned around to look, throwing its hooves onto the ground, but Wei WuXian still paid no attention to it. The donkey had to come back sulkily, biting and tugging on the corner of Wei WuXian’s collar. He could choose to go, and he could choose to not go. Seeing that the donkey had [gone] as far as to use his mouth, Wei WuXian decided to follow him.  Chapter 8, EXR*****

Immediately after this, he’ll continue investigating the puzzle of Dafan Mountain’s night hunt; he’ll come across a ghost, ask where it’s hurt and offer to take a look at it; he’ll rush off to save Jin Ling and the Lan juniors, figuring out the truth behind the dancing goddess and being the only one to do so. Just as it’s more important to the narrative, this – quick thinking, problem solving, compassion, doing the right thing, even seeking out excitement – is what Wei Wuxian finds more important about his own self, and what he chooses to focus on.

Some final questions to end things.

If you saw Wei Wuxian, without any knowledge of what happened in MDZS, without any work done by the narrative structure or by knowledge of tropes – would you have expected the backstory he had? Would you expect his parents to have died when he was at an age where he could barely remember them? Would you expect him to have lived on the streets until he was nine years old, or to have been taken into an unjust and extremely volatile household, or to have (chosen to) lose the source of powers he was very proud of – shortly before he was thrown, now powerless, into the equivalent of hell for three months? Would you expect his first life to have ended because protecting innocents (knowingly) led to the entire world crusading against him, because their siege resulted in him being torn apart? Or would you not think of tragedy when it comes to this person who gleefully jokes and teases, who’s so smart and competent and knows it, who doesn’t focus on the negatives, who acts so confidently on his morals, who revels in life so much?

If you only saw Wei Wuxian’s backstory with no context of his character, would you expect him to remain this way?

And, if you saw Wei Wuxian’s actions in the present day, without knowing what tragedies happened in his past, would he feel like an incomplete character?

It’s impossible to answer, of course – even in the present day, you get information about his past.

But I’m inclined to say no.

(Part One | Part Three | Full version on AO3)

—

*But again, let me emphasise – especially in real life, doing the trauma olympics is never good! As I said, everyone has limits, everyone’s limits differ, and just because one person can cope with something doesn’t mean another person can, even with the same mechanisms. And that shouldn’t lead to any judgement!

I say ‘especially in real life’ because in fiction, some characters’ experiences are often made similar or different to others’ in order to parallel or foil them  – in which case comparison is often the point. But trauma olympics (‘this person suffered x amount so the other person should be able to take it!!’) is still bad, guys (especially since, as with MDZS, those parallels or foils are often there to explore the harm they do to others as a result, not simply how much trauma they can take).

**My thoughts on rumours here. Tl;dr, if Jin Ling (someone who’d want to defend him!) is saying he did (and that he “never let anyone go” – Chapter 24), if sources like Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui act as if this is the case (Chapter 10 – to defend, you could say personal feelings play a role, but Lan Wangji especially is someone who knows not to, and explicitly doesn’t, make judgements without conclusive evidence. Again, see my thoughts on rumours) – and if Jiang Cheng backs up this behaviour (eg by telling Jin Ling to kill every demonic cultivator he sees and feed them to his dogs in his introduction – Chapter 7), it’s probably not a simple unbased rumour. There’s enough evidence to support its veracity.

***However, do note that Wei Wuxian isn’t an outlier, either – Lan Wangji, Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui (once he learns of his heritage) are all examples of other characters who aren’t overcome or twisted by their pain, instead still aiming to make the world a better place. And this is Jin Ling’s whole arc, too!

****I delve a lot more deeply into this here!

*****The role this moment plays isn’t actually something I caught myself – it came from a post about a reread of MDZS’ earlier chapters. I can’t find it myself, but if anybody has the link, that would be great (so I can cite it)!

—

Also, a shoutout to this incredible meta by @righteousinadversity – it’s what made me want to delve into this aspect two years ago! It’s still one of my favourite metas, and you enjoyed this, you’ll definitely enjoy that, too.

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

Dec 19th

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1. Hello! I'm looking for a fic post canon in which the Lan elders get tired of LWJ and WWX going like rabbits so they give a teaching position to WWX, it sounds a lot tame than how it sounds hahaha

WWX teaches arrays and uses creative ways to make time to be with LWJ. I remember a lot of original lan juniors, all with names and Sizhui appears a little bit later. I think the story actually starts from Jin Ling POV because he's angry the Lan juniors become too good at escaping traps

Thanks a lot for your help :) @lauyuu

FOUND! 🔒 A More Practical Approach by Elhana (T, 9k, WangXian, Canon Compliant, Teacher WWX, Humour, POV Multiple, Implied Sexual Content, when you just want to get frisky with your hot husband but your in-laws crave their peace and quiet, huge conflict of interest right there, WWX is resourceful, wuxia magic shenanigans, Post-Canon)

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2. Hello! Thank you all for the work y'all do <3

I've been looking for a fic called negative: shoot or smth similar with model wwx and lwj studying... smth to do with business law, iirc. wwx ends up modelling to make money but wants to study toxicology and I think there's a recurring OC by the name Tang Liwei who's a photographer. I've been trying to find the fic but I cannot seem to and idk if it's been set to private or deleted or if it's just me. Any help would be appreciated <3 @rue-cimon

2 appears to have been deleted. I clicked the link from an old subscription email and it came up error 404

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3. Hi, I'm sorry for bothering you with this request. Do you know of a wangxian fic were towards the climax of the story Jin Guangshan tries to assault Qin Su, but she knows that he's her father and stabs him. The entire fic wangxian and company know something is up with the Jin sect and are trying to prove it. Also, I think the wen sect still exists after the war and some of them are demonic cultivators who are working with Jin Guangshan? And I think earlier in the fic Jin Guangshan uses a demonic cultivation array to mess with the sect leaders durring a cultivation conference?

I thought I bookmarked it, but I went through them and wasn't able to find it. Thank you for listening.

FOUND? Back To The River (So Learn To Swim) by kalany (M, 83k, CSSR/WCZ/JFM/YZY, XuanLi, WangXian, Fix-it fic, self-reincarnation, autotransmigration, time travel adjacent Pregnancy, access to appropriate obstetrics care, Childbirth, Unplanned Pregnancy, Polyamory, Polygamy, survival sex, unwanted pregnancy ending in termination, on-page death of a child, Murder of a Child, non-explicit discussion of sexual assault, Sexual Coercion, brief glimpse of sexual assault, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Sexism, background asexual JC, bisexual JFM, bisexual YZY, Bisexual CSSR, bisexual WCZ, Sect Heir JYLLZ) sounds like 'Back to the River (So Learn To Swim) by kalany. It's a time travel fic where Yu Ziyuan goes back in time.

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4. Hi i'm looking for a fic set post cloud recesses study arc. Wei wuxian returned to gusu to for individual study but he and Lan wanji haven't really spoken since he returned. This is all background for the fic. The main plot is centered around a nighthunt in which Lan Xichen takes wwx, lwj, jc and i think su she. They are their to restore a barrier of sorts that surround the town. The head of the town is a creep and is realised to be the reason for all the resentment trapped within the town. His new target was wei ying. Wei ying gets nose bleeds and has a ghastly encounter with a spirit while in the bath. I dont think it's finished but the last chapter ended with wei ying and lan wanji fending off the mayor guy- he falls off a railing i think. Idk why I didnt bookmark it but I can't find it for the life of me. I'm pretty sure I read it on ao3 but idk if it was posted anywhere else. Not sure if you'll be able to find it but thanks so much for your help!

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5. Hello:

First THANK YOU for finding fics its awesome that you help us that way;

Now there are 2 fics that I cannot remember well but

A- WY brings A-Juan to work he’s an office tech put him in a file cabinet LZ comes in and finds A-Juan then takes him to walk around while WY works and LXC and LQR buy stuff for him something like Gucci, Prada or another $$ stuff and a crib and more …

I know is pretty vague specially when there is a similar fic

B- this one has a lost A-Juan from LZ office and is found with WY antagonizing JC by making A-Juan press a button to mess with JC computer, WY send msg to come collect child because he is running out of red vines not sure

Thank you @bkpmystinen

5B)

FOUND? The Little Lost Piece... by Liebing (T, 4k, WangXian, Cute, LWJ dad, Business man, WWX is the IT support, LWJ is upper management, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Soft, child goes missing, Mild Peril, Happy Ending, Found Family, Modern AU)

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6. I am looking for a fic I read when I first got into this fandom. I cant remember much about it but Wei Wuxian is dead and Lan Wangji is angry at everyone who played a part (including his brother and uncle). What I remember the most is that he refuses to wear the Lan colors and starts wearing black and red, I think as both a synbel of love and grief, Everyone does eventual learn that Wei Wuxian was innocent and Lan Xichen tried to apologies to his brother but Wangji ignores him (I am pretty sure). Thank you @alyholmesz

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7. Could you help me find this fic? It’s one where lan wangji traveled back in time to during the sunshot campaign shortly After reviving his lashes as punishment and going to the burial mounds to find Wei wuxian but finding LAN shizui instead. Everyone around at the camp is confused on why lan wangji is acting strange and where the small child with him came from. @djalexdask

FOUND? Lan Yuan’s War by BurningTea (G, 196k, WIP, LWJ & LSZ, LXC & LWJ, WangXian, LWJ & WQ, Time Travel, Dad LWJ, Sunshot Campaign, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Rumours, Lots of rumours about LWJ, several people worry about LWJ, CQL Verse, Mental Health Issues, LWJ is very much not okay, Time travel has consequences, Sick LWJ)

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8. Hi! This is for fic finder. I dont remember much. It was canon divergent post war au i think. I dont know when but WWX and LWJ figure out their relationship and then gets enganged. JWY act as chaperone and bring a stick so everytime WWX and LWJ gets to close to each other, he use the stick to separate them and says that they need to get away to each other minimum as far as the stick that he hold. I think in one scene he give his stick to his diciple to chaperone them but that diciple is failed at the task. Thats all i can remember. Thanks @idontknowwhattowriteforusername

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9. Hi! So appreciate your recs!

Im looking for a fic where Wei Ying and Lan Zhan decide to dual cultivate before killing the Xuanwu of Slaughter and WY gets pregnant but nobody believes them.

I know that Wei Ying still gets thrown in the burial mounds and thinks he lost the baby but then he ends up having the baby (a-Yuan) and they have his 30 day event in a tent (I think) still around nightless city?

I know that he loses his core but because of the baby gets a new core too

FOUND! Impermanence, Transience, Permanence by Best Bepsy (BepsyGray) (E, 39k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Sunshot Campaign, Unplanned Pregnancy, Mpreg, Gore, Medical Procedures, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Assumed Miscarriage, Explicit Sexual Content, Cesarean Section, Childbirth, Golden Core Reveal, Impermanencia, Transitoriedad, Permanencia By Best Bepsy (BepsyGray) by VicoMejia73 (VicoMejia733))

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10. Hello! I’m trying to find a fic where Madam Yu and JFM lived and Madam Yu was specifically raising WWX to be a sort of bodyguard to Jiang Yanli and to follow her to Koi Tower after her marriage. And WWX felt a lot of guilt over it because he had fallen in love with LWJ and thus also wanted to get married and move to Cloud Recesses.

The specific thing I remember was a conversation between Madam Yu and JFM about WWX moving to Koi Toawer after Yanli’s marriage and another conversation with WWX, JYL, and JC talking about what WWX wants in life.

Both conversations happened at the end of the fix though, so I can’t recall the rest of the the plot, though presumably it was a Sunshot Campaign retelling.

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11. Hi! I’m trying to find a fic where Wei Wuxian has an OnlyFans and Lan Wangji finds out about it. Lan Wangji agonized over how to tell Wei Wuxian he has found it (I believe they are friends in the fic). Eventually they talk and Lan Wangji ends up helping with the OnlyFans (camera and lighting type help). Eventually Jin Zixun finds the account and sends it to WWX’s family members. That is all I remember. It was a multi chapter fic and it wasn’t very explicit at all. Thank you for all your help!! @kjwaikiki

FOUND? For a Good Time, Call by ScarlettStorm (E, 170k, WangXian, Modern AU, Getting Together, Pining, Porn, like in the writing and also as a plot point, onlyfans au, repressed LWJ, sex worker WWX, Minor Angst, major shenanigans, Background ChengQing, background NieLan, background XuanLi, Nonbinary NHS)

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12. Hello! I have lost a fic and would love help finding it again - it was a long form modern au where Wangji was kidnapped as a child and trained as a fighter for the Wens. He was kept in a cage where all he had was a picture book and his stuffed rabbit and he had a collar they put him in that he was terrified to remove cause they trained him to be super violent without it. Wei Ying played piano or guitar and it made Wangji come to him for help. Help me wangxianficrecs mods, you’re my only hope! @the-vaguely-shifting-void

FOUND? Across the street to another life by danegen (M, 99k, WangXian, Modern AU, unleashed au Family Fluff, Set in America, Hurt/Comfort, Past Child Abuse, Addiction, Crime, Amnesia, Ableist, Language, another fridged mother, POV Alternating, past wwx/ofc, past wwx/omc, Medium parent YZY, A-Yuan is wwx’s biological son, Musicians, Happy Ending)

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13. Hi! I'm looking for a wangxian fic but I don't remember it too well. Basically I remember that Cangse Sanren was still alive and she and Wei Wuxian were rogue cultivators. And Lan Wangji meets Wei Wuxian for the first during a night hunt I think. I'm pretty sure Wei Wuxian is bathing and then later everyone initially mistakes Wei Wuxian for a girl because he's used to wearing female clothes because of the way his mom raised him.

Thanks for helping!!

FOUND? 🧡 Resplendence by FrozenMarVel ( E, 187k, WIP, WangXian, CS Lives, Rouge cultivator WWX, Crossdressing, Canon Divergence, Fix-It of sorts, Fluff, Explicit smut)

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14. Hello! I'm looking for a fic where wangxian are sent back in time. They begin to change things for the better but as time passes lwjs core begins to weaken until he almost dies. The only other thing I really remember is that lwj was upset/uncomfortable around lxc and didn't really trust him. Thank you and hope you can help me find it!

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15. Hi, I really need help on that one fic in which WWX time travels temporarily to his Yiling Laozu self, back in the archery contest with the Jins, older WWX seduces LWJ and then they have sex in the forest, which was supposed to be the mystery kiss (WWX with his canon CNC kink and roping young LWJ with it) Younger WWX was aware and he was also there inside his body, but can feel everything. Later, older WWX leaves and gives advice that “If you want him to go harder, beg for him to have mercy on you” and “if you really want him to stop, go still”

Younger WWX pleaded for mercy (and he wanted it harder) and later get caught by Madam Jin, Jiang Yanli, and Jin Zixuan. His reputation was down the drain but at least he got the love of his life.

Like, he went from rapist to a smitten lover for WY.

Please please please, I knew I saved it but I can't find it anymore on my bookmarks.

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16. Hi so this is what I remember I think it's an alternate universe canon divergence wwx did not get adopted by Jiang and he's a prostitute he was given as a present to lwj but the person who gave it to lwj was kind of like mocking him and the person who was giving wwx to lwj was the horrible Jin cousin I can never remember his name because I can't be bothered because he's really irrelevant and it was a podfic as well I think it was a cold read or maybe not oh and wwx is not a cultivator and from what I remember there was only one chapter because the original work is still ongoing @constancebloodstone

FOUND? Gifted by Deastar (E, 7k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Courtesan WWX, Sex Work, but not between the main characters, as in canon the real villain is sex work stigm, Supportive LQR, 🔒 [Podfic of] Gifted by AuntieIroh)

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17. I am going crazy trying to find a fic based off of a screenshot I have. It's one where Lwj is an author and hgj and yll are the characters in his book. The scene is wwx screaming that the characters don't end up together but they do in the last line of the book. @abijo2024-blog

Hey, thank you for looking for the fic I messaged about, sadly not the right fic but it's so close. I wonder if the fic was taken down that has the quote from the in fic novel "come back with me. Come home. Home. I thought you'd never ask" I have a screenshot of the fic scene where wwx is yelling at Lwj and Lwj shows him the last page with that quote.

NOT FOUND! when we’re full of stories to be told by fakeplasticlily (M, 45k, WangXian, Modern AU, journalist wwx, Writer LWJ, Kid Fic, Fluff and Angst, Childhood Friends, Pining, Mutual Pining, Mild Smut)

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18. Hello, thank you for your hard work! Could you please help with finding a fic that's about soulmates, where if I'm not mistaken you only know who they are when they die, and no one alse can see the soulmate's ghost. What I remember most clearly was that apart from WangXian, LXC and NMJ were also soulmates and LXC banished JGY from Cloud Recess because upon NMJ's death he learned of JGY's treachery. WWX helped calm NMJ who was full of resentment. Thank you so much!

FOUND? The Cruelty of Fate by Procrastination_Sensation (T, 9k, WangXian, Major Character Death, Canonical Character Death, Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Minor LXC/NMJ)

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19. Hi! I've been looking for a fic where I remember wei ying living with his parents in a nomad community(?), I don't remember why but qinghen-jun kidnaps him to give as a gift to lan zhan, I think it was his birthday(?) and therefore lives in the harem, that's what I clearly remember, in one chapter lan zhan gifts(?) or allows wei ying to go riding with him and that's all I know, it was the royalty type

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20. hello I’m looking for a fic read a while ago, I don’t remember much aside from it being an omegaverse, lan wangji an alpha and Wei Wuxi an an omega. It was set during their time in cloud recesses and I think Wei wuxian presented, and lan wangji went feral or his instincts made his go crazy and hover over him to protect him. Sorry it’s not much but it’s all I remember. @djalexdask

FOUND? Yiling Laozu Reincarnated: The Alpha's Soulmate by Luna_Klebsiella (Not Rated, 39k, WIP, WangXian, Reincarnation, Time Travel Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Alpha LXC, Alpha JC, Omega JYL, A/B/O Dynamics, Omega Verse, No Golden Core Transfer, Top LWJ/Bottom WWX, Smut, Anal Sex, Mpreg)

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[wangxianficrecs]

Rewind 2024 - Part IV

WangxianFicRecs - Rewind 2024

The final part of our favourite stories published in 2024. Thank you everyone for your support this year and most of all, thank you to all the dedicated fanfic authors this fandom has - you're really the heart of it all.

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Thief's kiss

by danegen (@danegen)

E, 6k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: "This time, I’ll run, and you can chase me.” Lan Zhan’s eyelashes flutter in delicate, adorable confusion. “When I catch you . . .” “If you catch me.” Wei Wuxian wags a finger at him. “If you catch me, you can do whatever you want.” That makes . . . something happen on Lan Zhan’s face. Something that makes Wei Wuxian shiver. Wei Wuxian accidentally tells Lan Wangji about their strange game of chase that night at the inn. His solution to this predicament? Obviously, they need to play again!

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cookin' up a storm, piece of cake

by livinginaworldofnoise (@gh0st-0f-luke)

G, 9k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: yiling_patriarch: first time making a cake with alcohol! it’s still in the oven but it smells great so far ↳ Gusu Lan Kitchen: There is no alcohol listed in the ingredients for this recipe. yiling_patriarch: i didn’t have any oranges or orange juice so i replaced those with a can of orange sparkling margarita! tasted super weird [★★☆☆☆] ↳ Gusu Lan Kitchen: Are you being deliberately obtuse? OR: life is tough for baker!lwj when online troll!wwx won't stop commenting on his recipe blog

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In the end

by apathyinreverie (@apathyinreverie)

T, 4k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Wei Ying does not die. He falls. But he has fallen before. Death devours him. But the dead have devoured him before. He falls and he breaks and still he lives. Or something like it, at least. (An AU where WWX does not die. Well, mostly.)

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Looked so alive, turns out i'm not real

by KatAnni (@kat-anni)

M, 36k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Part of MDZS Big Bang 2024

Summary: "Nothing leaves the Burial Mounds alive." Lan Wangji goes on a side mission night hunt with Wei Wuxian during the Sunshot Campaign, and finds out just how true that statement is. Inquiry rings through the room, and Wei Wuxian answers. This of course, has consequences. For the MDZS Big Bang 2024, Collab with @sweetlittlevampire

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Devil Flute Upon Graves, Wei Ying

by cloudyrobinwrites (jwyoomi) (@chirpycloudyrobin)

M, WIP, Series, 53k, Wangxian & Hualian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Wei Wuxian received the news of his first death a little bit too late.

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🔒 baby fever

by Mamoonde (@mamoonde)

T, WIP, 4k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Lan Zhan wakes to a pounding on his door in the middle of the night. For a moment, he assumes Wei Ying must’ve come over after all. Instead, it is Jiang Cheng, soaked and covered in mud, and holding a child— A child who looks up sheepishly, with the same light grey eyes as Wei Ying. “I told him we didn’t need to bother you, but he insisted you would want to help.” Jiang Cheng says. or: yet another wwx age regression fic. but modern cultivation au.

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had a marvelous time ruining everything

by livinginaworldofnoise (@gh0st-0f-luke)

G, 8k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: “Great news, though—well, actually, it may depend how you define ‘great.’” Wei Wuxian folds himself into a cross-legged position and makes a sweeping gesture with one arm toward the closet, from which Lan Wangji can now hear a strange rattling noise. “While you were gone I managed to catch another one!” “Another . . . cat?” Lan Wangji pulls the closet door open wider and stares at the cage he finds there, inside of which a small black cat is clinging to the ceiling bars with all the desperation of a cornered wild animal. “That’s Volcano!” Wei Wuxian says by way of explanation. “She’s a little spicy.” OR: 5 times wangxian's feral kittens get in the way of lan wangji proposing + 1 time they help

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🔒 sweet decadence

by breaththrou

M, WIP, 27k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Lan Xichen breathed in sharply, a crazed laugh escaping him. He lifted his gaze to meet his eyes, a look of despair etched onto the hard lines of his face. "My brother... my brother has always been our mother's child. For that, he could not live. He is gone. I could not find him, and I could not have brought him home. I can only hope now that Wangji is at rest," he said quietly, the wind whipping the greying locks of his hair around his face. Wei Wuxian stared at him, horrified. Lan Xichen looked away as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks. "I have only ever wished happiness for my brother, but I fear I have instead brought him death."

~*~

Catharsis

by Starfell123

T, 9k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: “Look, I know I’m probably foolish. I know that the chances of this not being a business-meeting are slim to none, but I need to know for sure. If Uncle Jiang wants to apologize, I’ll give him a chance to do so. If not, I want to tell him where to stick it in person.” Thirteen years after being thrown out by the Jiangs, Jiang Fengmian contacts Wei Wuxian and asks to meet. Wei Wuxian goes in the hopes of reconciling with his adopted family, but the circumstances he finds himself in wont allow that to happen. What will he do when his former guardian tries to arrange a marriage for him that will benefit the Jiang-sect?

~*~

To Love the God of Death

by Amber_Horizon

E, WIP, 27k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Jin Guangyao, God of the Sky, sees Mo Xuanyu's interest as an opportunity to gain control. Just before Mo Xuanyu is to be appointed the new God of the Underworld, he performs a self sacrificing ritual to escape his fate. Wei Wuxian returns from the dead after 13 years. He wakes in a new body, surrounded by evil talismans, and perhaps worst of all, face-to-face with Lan Xichen, God of the Sea.

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Tides

by Anonymous

G, 1k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: When their routine is interrupted, Wei Ying gets himself and Lan Zhan ready for bed.

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咏红尘 | an ode to red dust

by auberjing (@wrecklwj)

E, 39k, Wangxian | Mojo's Rec to be posted soon!

Part of Bottomji Big Bang 2024

Summary: A-Fu apologises for intruding. Shall I bring you a woman?” Lan Wangji recoils. The question lands like a physical blow: violent, distasteful, and absurd. “No.” “Then,” A-Fu murmurs. “If you wish, I could… relieve you. As a servant, it is my duty.” Or: Crown prince Lan Wangji is taken hostage by Wen Ruohan, who has taken the throne after deposing the incumbent emperor. While imprisoned, Lan Wangji is assigned a handsome eunuch servant named A-Fu. Outwardly, A-Fu is mild and attentive, but his whispered hints at rebellion appear to be the start of something momentous and revelatory…

~*~

redemption, repentance

by stiltonbasket (@stiltonbasket)

G, 3k, Xuanli | Kay's Rec

Summary: Five months after the Sunshot Campaign, Jin Zixuan travels to Lotus Pier to ask for Jiang Yanli's hand in marriage.

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Watch me ignite it

by tawaen

T, 10k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: The news spreads quickly across the cultivation world – Wen Ruohan is dead and his murderer declared himself the new leader of the Qishan Wen sect. Wei Wuxian is described as a demon, as a brutal warlord, as a threat to the very existence of the cultivation world. He is also, unfortunately, the most attractive person Lan Wangji has ever met.

~*~

🔒 counting the hours back to you

by ribena

E, 17k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: It has been three months, two days, eleven hours, thirteen minutes, and fifteen seconds since Wei Ying broke up with him, which is why he is the last person Lan Zhan expects to be knocking on his door at one in the morning. “Wei Ying,” he says, the name already strange and unfamiliar on his tongue, “what are you doing here?” “The trains are cancelled,” Wei Ying says miserably, and then looks up at Lan Zhan properly for the first time, if only for a split second. There’s nothing but utter defeat in his eyes. He wouldn’t be here, of course, unless all other avenues of rescue have been exhausted, because it has been three months, two days, eleven – “I have to get home. It’s my sister’s wedding.”

~*~

A Dragon's Tail

by IamTheLemonLord (@iamthelemonlord)

E, 36k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec to be posted soon!

Part of TopXian RBB

Summary: While visiting the Cloud Recesses for the first time, Wei Wuxian's tail intertwines with Lan Wangji's, a boy who wants nothing to do with him. Now engaged, the two have until they reach adulthood to get to know each other and decide if a future together is something they want. Things would be easier if horny voices in their head would stop yelling at them at inappropriate times.

~*~

Practical Considerations

by teawater & the_anthropologist

E, 96k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec to be posted soon!

Summary: After the Sunshot Campaign Wei Wuxian is fooling around in Lotus Pier, and Jiang Cheng decides that he'd be more useful to the sect if he was to enter a diplomatic marriage. Especially since Lan Wangji seems so keen on dragging him away to Gusu. Only Wei Wuxian doesn't expect any good to come from it...

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Where No Flesh Decks The Bone

by deliciousblizzardshark (@deliciousblizzardshark)

E, 20k, Wangxian | Mojo's Rec

Summary: When Wei Ying falls into the Burial Mounds, he’s rescued not by the Yin Iron, but by a strange, twisted creature who heals his body and slips into his mind. Now ridden by Lan Zhan, a bodiless creature ignorant of human customs and brimming with the desire for revenge against the cultivators who threw his mother into the Burial Mounds, Wei Ying has the power to take down the Wen sect for good– if he and the creature can learn to work together. (Or the Venom-inspired canon-divergence Untamed fic no one asked for.)

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Push It

by phonciblepbone

E, 7k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec to be posted soon!

Summary: "Wei Ying. Good morning. I assumed you had the same sex education as I had, and thus did not need to be informed of the existence of the prostate." "Not the existence, Lan Zhan, of course I knew they existed! I mean that it's…" Wei Ying trails off, looking at Lan Zhan imploringly. "Like that."

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Comfortable in your skin

by Dooiney_Oie (@lexicals)

T, 17k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec to be posted soon!

Summary: "Lan Zhan?" he stuttered, his own voice too deep, looking into a face that should be his and which was now flushed pink with anger. "What did you do?" was the answering reply. Despite the sheer fury being directed his way, Wei Wuxian started to laugh. "Me?" he asked, feeling a touch hysterical, not least because he was being scolded by himself, "You were the one who broke it!" - That nightmare scenario where you end up stuck in the body of the one guy who hates(?) you.

~*~

💙 I'll Take Such Great Care of You

by CheekyBrunette

G, 49k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec to be posted soon!

Summary: Sizhui has grown up with a single father. Now, he learns what it is like to have a mom.

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(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for these hard-working authors if you like – or think others might like – these stories.)

[mxtxfanatic]

Everyday Means Everyday, or the Forever Honeymoon

If you're like me, you probably ended your read of mdzs going, "damn, I'm glad wangxian got to ride off into the sunset and I hope nobody dares to bother them ever again." Luckily for us, mxtx obviously agreed and set us up with a multitude of extras focusing solely on wangxian's blissful marriage. On the last day of celebrating the great Hanguang-jun's love for his (deservedly) spoiled husband, here's some scenes of excellently fluffy pampering of the fearsome Yiling Patriarch:

Wei WuXian immediately added, “Fine, I know. No walking too fast, no speaking too loud, no this, no that, am I right? Don’t worry. Now that I’m back with you, I’ll definitely be as careful as possible to not violate any of the sect rules on your Wall. As careful as possible.” Lan WangJi didn’t even think about it, “It is fine. Even if you violate them...” Wei WuXian keenly picked up, “Hm?” Lan WangJi seemed as if he finally realized that what he said wasn’t too appropriate. He turned his head to the side for a moment before turning back, his face serious, “... Nothing.”

...

Wei WuXian gloated, “With what you said, if you began to practice your arm strength ever since so young, you can do absolutely anything upside-down, can’t you?” Lan WangJi, “Mn.” Seeing his eyelids droop, almost as if he was a bit embarrassed, Wei WuXian grew even bolder in his words, “You can even do me upside-down?” Lan WangJi, “I can try.” Wei WuXian, “Hahahahahaha... What did you say?” Lan WangJi, “I can try tonight.” Wei WuXian, “...”

—Chapt. 114: Banquet Extra, exr

However, just as he was about to brave up and down the entire bowl of the weird medicinal soup all in one gulp, he suddenly realized that the bowl in front of him was already empty. Wei WuXian, “???” He couldn’t help but picked up the delicate little bowl, thinking, I did just drink one tiny sip, didn’t I? Is there a hole on the bottom and everything leaked out? But the table was spick and span, without a single trace of soup. Wei WuXian looked to the side. At the same time, Lan WangJi had his last sip of the soup as though nothing happened. After he closed the porcelain lid, he looked down, and was currently using a snowy handkerchief to wipe the corner of his mouth. But Wei WuXian clearly remembered that Lan WangJi had long since finished his bowl. He also discovered that Lan WangJi’s table seemed to be a lot nearer to his than before the banquet started. It was like it’d been shifted stealthily. Wei WuXian, “...”

...

After a disciple brought over the warm water used for bathing, Lan WangJi, who’d long since dressed himself, peeled the stark-naked Wei WuXian out of the thin blanket and carried him into the wooden tub. Somehow, Wei WuXian could continue to sleep even as he was steeped in water. Lan WangJi pushed him gently, and he’d catch Lan WangJi’s hand, kissing it both on its palm and its back, rubbing it on his cheek before he went back to sleep. When the pushing really began to annoy him, he’d whine a couple of times and pull Lan WangJi down, eyes still shut, cupping Lan WangJi’s face as he kissed a few more times, murmuring, “Good boy, stop messing with me. Pretty please? I’ll get up in just a bit. Yeah.” And with a yawn, he’d fall back asleep, clinging to the edge of the tub. Although he knew, even if the room burned down, Wei WuXian would probably find some other place and sleep, Lan WangJi still persevered in waking him up starting at five, then endure dozens of pecks expressionlessly. He brought breakfast to the Jingshi and laid it on the desk that in the past only held ink, paper, and brush, then fished the dead-asleep Wei WuXian out of the tub to wipe him clean, dress him, and tie his sashes. Only then did Lan WangJi finally take a book from the shelves and flip open to the page with the dried flower bookmark, sitting by the desk and slowly beginning to read.

—Chapt. 115: Banquet Extra, exr

Wei WuXian wanted to continue playing dead, but it seemed as if Lan WangJi opened the lid of something as a strong savor of spice overwhelmed the cold sandalwood that originally perfused the Jingshi. At once, Wei WuXian got up from the ground with a roll, “Er-gege! I’ll do everything you say for the rest of my life!” Expressionless, Lan WangJi took out the dishes from within the box and laid them on the desk. Wei WuXian gravitated towards him. The sight of the red color atop the half-a-dozen white plates made him so joyous that his eyes glowed red, “You’re too kind, HanGuang-Jun, it’s so thoughtful of you to go out of your way and bring back food for me. You can order me around no matter what you do from now on.”

—Chapt. 116: Banquet Extra, exr

As [Lan Wangji] watched Wei WuXian cling to the edge of the tub, reading the notes carefully and at times propping an elbow on the desk to write, the candlelight reflected against Lan WangJi’s eyes seemed to flicker with warmth. Although his words were rather bold, claiming he could go two more rounds and such, it was difficult for him to not feel the fatigue, having run amok in the mountains with the boys for the whole day, messed around in bed for half the night, and marked a stack of notes. After he forced himself to meticulously mark his portion, he tossed it onto the desk before sliding into the water. Quickly yet gently, Lan WangJi picked him up, wiped him dry, and transferred him onto the bed.

...

Oh, right. HanGuang-Jun, I’m out of money. Give me a bit more, won’t you?” Lan WangJi, “Simply take the jade token to withdraw the money.”

...

Wei WuXian, “... I told you to stop talking... Even if you say just one word, I won’t be able to hold myself from responding... Okay, Lan Zhan, let’s sleep. I... can’t anymore... I really have to sleep... See you tomorrow, Lan Zhan...” He kissed Lan Zhan’s neck, and indeed soon fell heavily asleep. It was all darkness and silence amidst the Jingshi. A moment later, Lan WangJi planted a gentle kiss in the center of Wei WuXian’s forehead. He whispered, “Wei Ying, see you tomorrow.”

—Chapt. 120: From Dawn to Dusk Extra, exr

[Lan Wangji] walked beside Wei WuXian, “Which one do you want?” Nothing of high quality would be sold at the small, street- side businesses. They were mostly filled with little objects that were adequately put together and looked decent from afar. The porcelain turtle that Wei WuXian got was already the best looking one out of the bunch. Wei WuXian looked around the scene. The more he looked, the more he felt that every one of them was ugly and that he didn’t want any of them, finding the decision difficult. Suddenly, he saw a stuffed donkey that was extremely ugly, so ugly that one wouldn’t even be able to ignore it when glancing across. He beamed, “That one’s good. It looks like Lil’ Apple. There, there—get that one.” Lan WangJi nodded. He stood four yards further than Wei WuXian and turned around as well. The hoop landed on it perfectly. The crowd cheered and clapped. Lan Wangji turned around to look at Wei WuXian who leaped inside with laughter and seized the donkey, carrying it under his armpit as he clapped the loudest, “Again, again!”

—Chapt. 126: Yunmeng Extra, exr

[bloopitynoot]

17 Novel Canon Cultivation WangXian Fics

This is rec list two for @yiling-laozu-is-loml

Here are some of the parameters of the list:

Cultivators in ancient China based WangXian fics

Long form fics only (I tried to stick to 50K plus - most are longer- and all are completed fics).

Canon based on novel only! No yin iron plot CQL plotlines (though some of these do include some donghua but minimal)

BottomXian if applicable only

can include: canon divergent, fix-its, and time travel (I included all of the above)

I'm not going to lie I had to cut out so many of my favs because of the Yin Iron plot BUT I still think I put together a stellar list.

A lot of them are fix-its some are totally unique in their plots and I have a few Yilling-Wei sect fics that I adore and hope you do too!

Enjoy the list!

1 no one ever said the single-plank bridge had to be walked alone (174009 words) by rosemu

Chapters: 24/24 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Jiāng Yànlí/Jīn Zixuān (background), Mò Xuányǔ/Xuē Yáng | Xuē Chéngměi (Background), Sòng Lán | Sòng Zǐchēn/Xiǎo Xīngchén (background), One-Sided Xiǎo Xīngchén/Xuē Yáng | Xuē Chéngměi - Relationship Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Yílíng Wèi Sect, Fix-It, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji Stays at the Burial Mounds, Fluff, Angst, Domestic Fluff, Canon-Typical Violence, Found Family, Slow Burn, not the slowest burn but they do take their sweet time, LWJ and WWX get to be Dads together, the healing power of homoerotic flute/guqin duets, EXTREMELY self-indulgent, Happy Ending Summary: “Have you heard? The esteemed Second Jade of Lan, Hanguang-jun, has defected from the Lan sect! He’s living at the Burial Mounds now apparently.” “What?! That scourge, the Yiling Patriarch, has managed to corrupt even the most ideal, upstanding cultivator. How truly terrifying!” Lan Wangji learns to follow his heart over the rules just a little earlier and it changes some things.

NOTES: A fix-itish but also Yilling-Wei sect fic in which Lan Wangji just never leaves the burial mounds after his visit? So many things are fixed with the second jade just kind of always being by Wei Wuxian. This fic has wholesome energy and found family vibes.

2 Cultivating immortality (230949 words) by KizuKatana

Chapters: 44/44 Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Rogue Cultivator Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Pining, Mutual Pining, Wei WuXian low self-esteem, BAMF Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, BAMF Lan Wangji, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, not sure if this qualifies as fix-it but that was my emotional need/intent, Hurt/Comfort, unreliable narrator (wwx's self image is…), sect wars happening, Canon typical darkness, demonic cultivation descriptions in detail, self-indulgent exploration of the creation of demonic cultivation and how it changed wwx, JC and lwj are reluctant (VERY RELUCTANT) allies, Madam Yu and Lan Qiren are made to face up to their faults, Jiang YanLi is badass (fight me) though not in terms of cultivation strenght, JC gets a chance to redeem himself, Found Family, Top Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Bottom Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, First Time, novel canon relationship dynamics, Please do not post to GoodReads or any other site Series: Part 1 of Cultivation partners universe Summary: “A weapon is not the same as a spouse, even if that weapon is powerful.” The words had barely left Wei Wuxian’s lips when he found himself slammed against the trunk of the nearest tree, Lan Wangji’s hands gripping painfully tight around his shoulders, practically lifting him from the ground. “Wei Ying is not a weapon!” Lan Wangji bit out. Wei Wuxian had said many things that had angered the illustrious Second Jade in the past. When he had been in Cloud Recesses as a youth, it had been Wei Wuxian’s favorite hobby. But he realized had never managed to truly enrage Lan Wangji with anything he had said until this moment. - - - - The Lan sect has been putting pressure on Lan Wangji to find a cultivation partner. They don't like the one he chooses.

NOTES: Baby WY has a journey to discover his self worth in this fic. The canon divergence happens after he's kicked out of cloud recesses and the subsequently kicked out of the Jiang sect via Madam Yu. There is a rogue cultivator WY plotline paired with Sect pressure for Lan Zhan to get a cultivation partner and the stubborn man vs oblivious man 230k is fantastic.

3 like speaking to my heart (613672 words) by SnowshadowAO3

Chapters: 42/42 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Daemons, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canonical Character Death, Some people live!, And some people still die in this fic it's just a matter of who STAYS dead and who is really dead ;), additional warnings in specific chapters, if you don't know what daemons are that's ok because I explain it in the author's note, also by slow burn I VERY much mean slow burn Summary: Wei Wuxian is staring up at the sky, thinking idly about the taste of Emperor’s Smile on his tongue, when Suibian jumps full force onto his stomach and cries, “A-Xian, don’t be mad!” The sheer force of her pounce knocks the breath out of him. The resulting pause is just long enough for Jiang Cheng, who up to this point has been laying rather peacefully next to him, to shoot up and demand, “Oh great, what did you do now?” To be fair, the question isn’t exactly unwarranted. Suibian looks an absolute mess: twigs stuck in her fur, dirt smeared across the white fluff of her underbelly. She’s panting up a storm, little heh heh heh gasps that haven’t edged into her normal high-pitched laughter. When her ears press back against her head, she could almost pass for pitiful. “Bichen hates me.” Wei Wuxian’s first thought is Why would Lan Zhan’s daemon hate you?, but it’s followed quickly by remembering exactly where he is, how little trouble he’s caused today, and the fact that he hasn’t seen Suibian for a few minutes. A grin spreads across his face. (Or: The most important name a cultivator will ever pick isn’t for their sword. It’s for their daemon.)

NOTES: This is still ancient china cultivators but has a little bit of au due to cultivators having daemons. It loosely follows the book plotline as well but is canon divergent. I honestly did not expect to love this 600k fic so much but it had my HEART. I fell for the plot as well as the sentient daemons and the role they play in helping these two sort out their feelings.

4 From Whence You Came (79393 words) by kanzaki19

Chapters: 12/12 Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Jiang Yanli/Jin Zixuan, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin/Wen Qing Additional Tags: Time Travel Fix-It, Night Hunts (Modao Zushi), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Fix-It, Canon-Typical Violence, Time Travel, Happy Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending Series: Part 1 of Second Chances Summary: Do not take those you love for granted, tell them you love them. You may never see them again. After being torn from the life he has lovingly settled in, Wei Wuxian finds himself back in Qiongi Path. Faced with immediate threats he grabs hold of every opportunity to better the lives of his family.

NOTES: A solid fix-it from Qiongi Path. WY dies and wakes up mid battle with enough time to save Zixuan. This changes the timeline for the best but at the expense of their established relationship in the alternate timeline. A little bit of mourning there, but still a happy ending though!

5 my life's journey is far from over (148672 words) by thelastdboy

Chapters: 40/40 Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Madam Lan Lives (Modao Zushi), Jiang Yanli Lives, Wen Qing Lives (Modao Zushi), Post-Sunshot Campaign (Modao Zushi), POV Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Slow Burn, Yiling Laozu Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Recovery, Hurt/Comfort, Healing Is a Slow Process, therapy is good actually, All women deserve better, Modern AU but not too modern™, mlm/wlw solidarity, the mortifying ordeal of discovering you're into bdsm while you're caught up in political intrigue, Kink Negotiation, Kink Exploration, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Lives, Mental Health Issues, References to Depression, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Burial Mounds Ensemble as Family (Modao Zushi), Single Parent Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Selectively Mute Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Eventual Smut, Light Dom/sub, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Get a Happy Ending Series: Part 2 of the journey is far from over Summary: No one knew that Wei Ying survived the Burial Mounds. No one knew that it was his music that flooded the battlefields of the Sunshot Campaign with corpses. No one knew just how much he had given for his family. Now the war was over and Wei Ying found himself in Yiling once again and after spending years surrounded by nothing but death, he had to learn what it feels like to be alive again. He was dead to the world and for the first time wondered what it would be like to live for his own sake. Or: Wei Ying meets Lan Zhan after the war, both broken and searching for purpose. Wen Qing will do everything to save her little brother. Jiang Yanli learns that not every problem can be solved by soup alone.

NOTES: The story of what happens the war if no one knew that Wei Ying survived AND won the war for them. This has such a beautiful relationship between Lan Zhan and Wei Ying and features a jailbreak of (alive!) Madam Lan. It's healing and wonderful, but also expect the angst. Fear not though, it has a happy ending! BONUS: it does have a prequel which is part 1 in the series. Also very good but Lan Wangji POV and Wei Wuxian is presumed dead.

6 Vow (216627 words) by draechaeli

Chapters: 47/47 Rating: Explicit Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Mainly Novel with a few CQL and Donghua bits, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Temporary Character Death, WWXs dead for a lot of this, but he’s having fun, BeliefGod!WWX, Original Children Characters – Freeform, Adoption, Adoption but WWX birthed them all, Pregnancy Kink, Mpreg, minor male lactation, Consensual Non-Consent, Light Bondage, easy to skip nsfw chapters, brief crossdressing, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, because JGS, Mentions Canon Typical Incest, Canon Typical Violence Summary: “If you’re not good the Yiling Patriarch will steal you in the night!” It was never true, in fact the first child stole herself, the second was gifted, the third begged. By the time people realised that all the homeless children of Yiling, and all the daughters about to be sold had disappeared, it became, “If you’re unloved the Yiling Patriarch will save you.” Sometimes when you make a vow not even death can release you; as Xian-Gege the Eliminator of Evil, the Protector of the Weak, and the Saviour of Children finds out.

NOTES: A fun God!WWX fic in which the vow that WY made and the belief in the Yilling Patriarch brings him back. Such a solid fic, I love the way that WY goes from hated demon to loving deity of children, women, and those in need. He does die in this and is mostly dead for a good portion of it but it is worth it for the reunion and wholesome hoard of children he collects.

7Propagate Understanding (175626 words) by draechaeli

Chapters: 34/34 Rating: Explicit Additional Tags: Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Pregnancy Kink, Consensual Non-Consent, Light Bondage, Adoption, Adoption but WWX birthed them all, Mo Xuanyu Lives, Mò Xuányǔ has an arc, Original Children Characters - Freeform, Babies for Everyone, Crossdressing, Temporary Character Death, easy to skip nsfw chapters, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary: A-Yuan was birthed by Wei WuXian, A-Yuan called Lan WangJi ‘Father’, A-Yuan had Lan WangJi’s nose! Was it the time that Wei WuXian took his forehead ribbon at the Wen Discussion Conference Archery Competition?—he’d have to ask Brother. As a physician, Wen Qing has to suffer fools constantly; if Lan WangJi is determined to be Wei WuXian’s baby daddy, she wasn’t going to stop him, especially if it could save them all. And if it leads to some misunderstandings on the topic of marriage and propagation—well, it is not Wen Qing’s fault if Lan WangJi became the world’s best and worst matchmaker, making sure that children everywhere had parents.

NOTES: This fic premise is absolute crack! and is one of my favourite niche crack! fic themes. In which the joke "I birthed him myself" is taken literally and the cultivation world truly believes the Yilling Patriarch and Hanguang-jun had a child together. So good, bless Wen Qing in this fic honestly.

8 Bring Your Wonder (Lose Your Faith) (75406 words) by kianspo

Chapters: 12/12 Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Different Sunshot Campaign, straight boy wei ying, Feelings Realization, everyone is slightly darkner here, hints of xiyao if you squint, but not yet, meng yao has a plan, Protective Lan Huan | Lan Xichen, Protective Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, by which i mean they set the world on fire, BAMF Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, it's not all tragedy i promise, Angst with a Happy Ending, Twin Jades of Lan Feels, duh - Freeform, POV Multiple, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji Whump Summary: Canon divergence starting from after the Xuanwu Cave. What if it wasn't Wang Lingjiao who came to Lotus Pier? What if Wen Ruohan had sent Wen Zhuliu instead? The respectful, sensible Wen Zhuliu, who knows how to work the room… In which Wei Wuxian loses his hand (he gets one better), Lotus Pier is saved, the Lan Clan is said to be dead to the last man, there's a horrible banquet in Nightless City, someone accidentally plays Sleeping Beauty, and there's that awkward moment when you realize Meng Yao is the sane one (except not really). It's a dark, dark night, but the sun will rise eventually.

NOTES: This is one of my favourite BAMF WWX fics. It is VERY dark, and Lan Zhan is not okay in the majority of this fic but my goodness is it fantastic. WWX does get his hand cut off and then proceeds to be tossed into the burial mounds but his new hand and demonic cultivation are so rad. Worth it for the pain!

9 if you can't beat them, recruit them (228416 words) by moeblobmegane

Chapters: 48/48 Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Conspiracy, Spies & Secret Agents, Team as Family, Found Family, Burial Mounds, Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Pining, Morally Ambiguous Character, Rumors, Politics, Background JZX/JYL, Developing Friendships, Good Uncle Lan Qiren, Demonic Cultivation (Modao Zushi), YilingWei Sect Series: Part 1 of wwx time travels and accidentally creates a platonic harem Summary: Rather than mourning a future that had not happened yet, he would rather work with all his might to prevent it from happening. […] His aim was to fortify his home and his family so that they would never again be left vulnerable to greedy cultivators aiming for his genius. For that, he needed help. He may be a genius, but he was not the cunning manipulative man they thought him to be. No, that was not him. He knew who was, though.   (Or: Wei Wuxian uses a powerful array to go back in time and builds a secret squad to prevent the misfortunes of the future.)

NOTES: Another fantastic time-travel fix it in which WWX post the tragic loss of his husband and son builds an array to go back. In it he befriends and recruits the antagonists of the main timeline and fixes things. This was so good- especially if you like morally grey characters and want a bit of Meng Yao and Xue Yang redemption.

10 Song Unwritten (94846 words) by ShotsOfSunshine, Kytrin

Chapters: 20/20 Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Characters: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Cangse Sanren, Wei Changze Additional Tags: Temporary Character Death, Angst with a Happy Ending, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Get a Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts, Alternate Universe, cql meets mdzs, Transmigration, Parallel Universes, Yiling Laozu Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Alternate Universe - Yílíng Wèi Sect, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, References to Depression Summary: Lan Wangji knew what miracles were. He'd been given one second chance for happiness already, only to have it snatched away by an enemy he could not fight -- time. Now among his husband's research, he had a chance at another one, but to seize it he would have to take matters into his own hands and fight for it. Even if that meant the fight would take him to another world. After all, Hanguang-Jun followed chaos. And when was Wei Wuxian not at the center of chaos?

NOTES: This is a transmigration fic with a morally grey Lan Zhan. After losing WY he decides not to ascend and instead uses an array for another timeline. I will say head the warnings, Lan Zhan's father is vile and there is child abuse here so pleas ehead the tags it is very awful, it does have a happy ending though. Bonus for Wei Wuxians parents being alive!

11 Time Kept Flowing (201383 words) by notoneforreality

Chapters: 35/35 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Additional Tags: Timeline? What Timeline?, Grief/Mourning, major character death is wwx, who comes back, Family, Canon Era, Autistic Character, Autistic Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Kid Fic, Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji raise the kids, Co-parenting is hard, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, POV Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, POV Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, POV Alternating, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, just realised 'major character death' is like most of the cast, but it all happened before the story opens, Canon-Typical Violence, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, at the top of each chapter, Golden Core Reveal (Modao Zushi) Summary: Jiang Cheng goes back to the Burial Mounds after the siege. He finds a ruined settlement and a feverish child. Then Lan Wangji turns up, half dead himself, and Jiang Cheng is not prepared for any of this. He takes them both back to Lotus Pier, because he's not leaving anyone to die on his watch, and they both need medical care. Then they just end up…staying. At least Lan Wangji is as unimpressed with the situation as Jiang Cheng is. (Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan accidentally become co-parents and have to deal with the repercussions)

NOTES: This is the Jiang Cheng & Lan Zhan platonic coparenting fic I didn't know I needed. It was so healing and while WWX is dead for a good chunk of this he does come back. This is a fantastic fic if you want some hurt/comfort, mourning, and healing energy. I will warn it does have a lot of hurt and the Lans come under scrutiny (justifiably). But happy ending!

12 the past drifts away with the waves (58025 words) by thelastdboy

Chapters: 15/15 Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fall of Lotus Pier (Modao Zushi), Major Character Undeath, Yu Ziyuan Being an Asshole, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Minor Character Death, Major Character Injury, Amputation, Loss of Limbs, Transformation, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Fierce Corpse Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Kinda, Merperson Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Heavy Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, No Sunshot Campaign (Modao Zushi), Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Cultivation Sect Politics (Modao Zushi), Not Cultivation World Friendly, Resentful Creature Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Undead Merperson Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Fanart, Slow Burn, Getting Together, Revenge, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Resentment, Demonic Cultivation (Modao Zushi), POV Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, River Spirit Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Non-Human Genitalia, Dark Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Depending on who you ask, Monsterfucker Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Wen Remnants Deserve Better (Modao Zushi), Wen Remnants Live (Modao Zushi), Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Get a Happy Ending, Sect Leader Wen Qing (Modao Zushi) Summary: The next time Wei Wuxian became aware of his surroundings and was able to form semi-coherent thoughts, Wen Zhuliu had just finished tying weights to his feet. Both his arm and his back were still bleeding and he felt as if he had been flayed. “Should I make it quick?” Wen Zhuliu asked him, offering a small mercy. But Wei Wuxian shook his head. “Give me your worst,” he snarled, his teeth coated in blood from where he had bitten his tongue at some point. “I will come back to end you all,” he promised darkly. “Very well,” Wen Zhuliu merely said and drowned him. Or: Yu Ziyuan cuts off Wei Wuxian's hand to appease the Wens. He gets drowned in the lake behind Lotus Pier and resentful energy transforms him into a river spirit. After avenging his own death, he finds his way to Yiling.

NOTES: Very cool fic in which WY dies by Wen Zhuliu's hand and becomes a creature of resentment. He turns into a very cool undead water spirit with incredible power. He saves the wens, has a child, and gets the boy in the end. This story is for the monsterfuckers but don't let it fool you, it is kind of tragic. I swear there is a happy ending but the pain is rough.

13 Bitter Plants Bearing Sweet Fruit (83099 words) by Kryal

Chapters: 8/8 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Additional Tags: canon-typical horror elements, Worldbuilding, Desert, Misuse of Historic Setting, Original Character Death(s), Case Fic, aftermath of canon, ridiculously long author notes, Because I Have Nowhere Else to Talk Headcanons, Established Relationship, Nothing Explicit But Shameless Innuendo Summary: Patience is a bitter plant that bears sweet fruit. Lan Wangji doesn't know why Wei Wuxian is so interested in traveling to a city at the very edge of the civilized world. After Yunping, what secrets could possibly be left? But the desert remembers many things.

NOTES: Not going to lie this was a really cool casefic. The husbands go on a journey to the desert and solve a mystery. The coolest part was the difference in cultivation and belief systems outside of the sects territories. This is a healing fic- fantastic vibes.

14 We Meet at the Thousandth Step (315914 words) by Rynne, Admiranda

Chapters: 44/44 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Cangse Sanren/Wei Changze Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, No Sunshot Campaign (Modao Zushi), Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze Live, Rogue Cultivator Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Night Hunts (Modao Zushi), Genius Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Inventor Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Plot, Romance, Drama, Fluff, Strangers to married, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Developing Relationship, Minor Violence, Case Fic, Mystery, Flirting, Wei Wuxian's Canon-Typical Flower Flirting, Arson, There Was Only One Bed, Getting Together, First Kiss, Meeting the Parents, Resolved Sexual Tension, Resolved Romantic Tension, Wei Wuxian Is a Good Big Brother, New Relationship Bliss, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Blood and Injury, Yiling siblings, Married Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Honeymoon, Wangxian's Baby Fever Series: Part 1 of The Different Paths We Tread Summary: As they both go wherever the chaos might be, Lan Wangji and rogue cultivator Wei Wuxian, eldest child of the famous Cangse-sanren, find their paths converging. Soon they'll discover in each other the perfect partner for night hunting…and beyond.

NOTES: A canon divergence in which Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze both live and raise WWX as a rogue cultivator (also he has a sister and it is wonderful). Lan Zhan and Wei Ying meet during a night hunt and then keep making excused to hunt together. Such a beautiful and wholesome slowburn with lots of the Wei family teasing. A healing fic for sure.

15 Dispersing Clouds (283284 words) by dreamingofcake

Chapters: 54/54 Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Genius Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Inventor Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Not Jiang Family Friendly, Abusive Yu Ziyuan, Canonical Child Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, Eventual Sex, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm (Background Character), Background Character Deaths, child deaths, Good Uncle Lan Qiren, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Cultivation Sect Politics (Modao Zushi), Homophobia, Heteronormativity, Feelings Realization, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian is Not Oblivious, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin Bashing, Jiang Yanli is Not Angelic, Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan Bashing Summary: While the Wen Clan is embroiled in subduing internal conflicts within Qishan, the Jiang Clan hosts the annual discussion conference. It has been one year since the disastrous archery competition where Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji last met but Wei Wuxian remains as optimistic as ever. An unlikely friendship begins to blossom and without the looming spectres of conquest and war to strengthen his ties to the Jiang family, the trajectory of Wei Wuxian’s life changes.

NOTES: Definitely a fic if you're feeling completely angry at the Jiangs- it is definitely not in their favour. Terrible Madam yu and equally appalling Jiang family (In that they do nothing and normalize abuse). This fic does feature an absolute brilliant Wei Ying and a smitten WangXian with a bonus of the Lans actually not being terrible.

16 A Heart Undying (114855 words) by NonsensicalRambling

Chapters: 26/26 Rating: Mature Additional Tags: Undead Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Canon-Typical Violence, canon-typical dead things, the burial mounds, Fix-It of Sorts, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Wei Wuxian probably needs a hug, the horrors of the sunshot campaign, Eventual WangXian, these boys will use their words!, No Yīn Tiger Seal, no beta - deal with it, Morally Gray Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Animals Eating People, Wei Wuxian's questionable choices, Morally conflicted Lan Wangji, Oblivious Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Creates a Sect | Yiling Wei Sect, Yiling Laozu Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Sect Leader Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji & Wen Qing have an Understanding, if Wen Qing were being paid she'd deserve a raise Summary: No one escapes from the Burial Mounds alive. No one. Just because Wei Wuxian made it out doesn't make him an exception. He knows he's surviving on borrowed time until someone finds out, but until then he's going to make that a problem for the Wen. And if no one does find out, well, he'll figure that out later. If only he could stop being so hungry.

NOTES: Okay this fic is actually rad as hell. The premise is so cool- WWX landing in the burial mounds and DYING but transformed. If you like vampiric energy but also God!WWX vibes this is the fic for you. It moves fast but the plot is so cool.

17 Practical Considerations (96963 words) by teawater, the_anthropologist

Chapters: 20/20 Rating: Explicit Additional Tags: Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Found Family, Spouses to Lovers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Politics, Scheming, Lán Elders are assholes, BAMF Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, BAMF Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, eventually BAMF Lan Xichen, learning to make decisions, Learning Self-worth, Self-Esteem Issues, Sweet Wangxian, Domestic Fluff, Fix-It, JC is a big asshole, he improves somewhat but it's open-ended, WWX learns to stand up for himself, Quote: Come Back to Gusu With Me (Modao Zushi), POV wwx, POV LWJ, POV JC, Golden Core Reveal (Modao Zushi), Teacher wwx, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It (Modao Zushi), Alcohol as a Coping Mechanism, Past Suicidal Thoughts Summary: After the Sunshot Campaign Wei Wuxian is fooling around in Lotus Pier, and Jiang Cheng decides that he'd be more useful to the sect if he was to enter a diplomatic marriage. Especially since Lan Wangji seems so keen on dragging him away to Gusu. Only Wei Wuxian doesn't expect any good to come from it…

NOTES: An arranged marriage canon divergence fic in which "Come Back to gusu" is a term of endearment (but WWX does not know this). This fic goes form WWX being married and thinking he's being punished to married and absolutely THRIVING. This is one heck of a healing fic- great ending!

[piosplayhouse]

I don't know if you'll answer but I need to know the lore behind sexy times with Wangxian, like is it a fanfic? why do people hate the author??

It was the longest mdzs fic posted during its time in 2021 and gained extreme notoriety for its absurdly long tag list, frequent update schedule that consistently forced anyone scrolling any of its tags to see it at the top of their page, and escalating poor, racist, and trolling authorial behavior that ultimately culminated in the author virtual1979 being suspended from ao3 for a month because she posting an author's note saying she hoped that all her haters would contract covid and die. She deleted the fic from ao3 a little while after this happened, ig bc she wasn't getting enough attention anymore, but allegedly the thing's still up on dreamwidth under strict friendslock. The fan lore article goes pretty in depth about it:

The best summary for why it pissed people off so much is really just showing you these screenshots of what the fic looked like towards the end of its life on desktop and mobile (be warned opening the full image):

From my personal experience:

from 2019 up until around 2021 the fic really was just a normal-ish, if very strangely written and kinky, wangxian porn fic about them basically just fucking around post canon and enjoying day to day life. It updated pretty frequently and had a fair amount of tags because the author was literally just tagging anything that she wrote. But like the first few hundred, maybe even a thousand tags were pretty accurate to what the fic was because of that, and were relatively manageable for the first few years that it didn't pick up any attention really.

At some point in 2021 when cql was really starting to blow up online and the tag count was starting to pile up to the point of annoyance, the fic started receiving some comments that were just like "hey can you try to cut down on tags, I don't think it's necessary to be so specific as to tag 'Korean food' or 'eggs' or whatnot". The author did not share this idea, evidently, and instead built a grudge against commenters who would tell her to delete tags, subsequently adding more and more as time went on.

As the tag count and updates increased, the content of the fic did too-- it got a lot, lot weirder. I'm sure someone's saved it all somewhere but for reference it spun out into what I can only describe as like if Rick and Morty's plot was cut to be just the parts of the show with underage/incest plotlines with All Tomorrows level sex dystopian world building exclusively to elicit the most visceral audience reaction possible. Around this time is when more people started to notice the fic and its escalating tag issues, leading them to leaving more comments complaining about it, leading to the attention seeking author spitefully adding more tags. Around this time is when she also started adding fake tags that didn't apply to the story whatsoever (sorry to disappoint, "talking vagina" was one of those. I did check) just to boost the count, take up more space on people's screens, and bait people into commenting hate for attention.

By this time, it had become a fandom-wide annoyance as she had begun to tag entirely unrelated ships, therefore putting the near-daily updating titanic of a fic at the top of any mdzs-related tag. People were outraged about this, and calls came for ao3 to step in. Ao3 waffled around for a bit as there was no official rule at the time that imposed a tag limit, so there wasn't established ground to ban virtual1979 (who btw many people suspected of being 40 whole years old due to the username and allegedly some other internet sleuthing on Facebook or something). Meanwhile, she began to tag other fandoms-- tgcf, svsss, BTS, basically anything that would get a lot of attention and draw hate with the advent of The Monstrosity suddenly drowning out all other recently updated fics of the targeted fandoms.

People had been trying to retaliate without ao3 action, though, by coding their own themes/skins that would allow someone to block a user or work and other fic writers made their own parody, the "bland times with wangxian" collection, which were minimally tagged sfw shortfics typically featuring wangxian just doing laundry or things like that. A good amount of them were actually like just fics where wwx would explain to lwj how to install custom ao3 themes and block fics that were taking up too much space on his screen. Imo it was pretty funny, but these also sparked some controversy as people disagreed with fighting annoyance with more annoyance to people trying to find content.

Either shortly before or after ao3 staff said they'd step in due to an insane amount of reports and backlash, I forgot which atp, virtual1979 began perhaps the worst tagging spree of the fic's life by changing the title, many of the tags, and the summary to a slew of racial slurs, sexually explicit imagery, and other generally offensive statements. I'm pretty sure this came after the fic was temporarily hidden once, as this update gained considerably less attention than the rest of the tagging saga, but people were still rightfully pissed about it. Ultimately, like I mentioned before, the author was then suspended for a month for wishing covid and death on her haters, and attention seemed to die down during this time to the point where she didn't really fight much more when her suspension ended and deleted her account and the work shortly after. Again she seems to have moved to dreamwidth, but most have forgotten her and I'm not sure if her presence is public at all on there. But that's the story of the worst mdzs fic ever written

[shenyuankinnie]

Usually I post the summary of the fics after I finish reading them, but here I'm currently posting this without completing it. Trust me I'll complete the fic and post how it went for me, the fic is : you're the pink in my cheeks (and I'm scared 'cause that means I'm a little bit soft)

I'm here crying because WTH?! How can someone make a Jiuyuan fic with the trope of Wangxian from the MDZS so perfectly?!

I'm crying tears right now while listening to the End of the Beginning song while reading chapter 14 right now😭😭😭😭. Literally. Chapter 16 (according to me) can be read while listening to the song Before you go(dunno why I'm giving advice to make myself cry more too)

This fic affected me so much. Gonna read the next chapter right now. Also the relation between the Shen brothers( Shen Liang and Shen Yuan 🥺😭)

Note: don't let me stop u from reading it. It's a pretty good read with plots, shortcomings,and foreshadowing. And also cumplane friendship!(Lv the dumbxdumb besties). It has a good ending(I think? I'm still reading it, will update in a few)

Edit: OMG!!!!!!!!! THERE'S A HAPPY ENDING 🥳🥳🥳🥳

Now guys I won't spoil the fun for u, but u may REALLY want to check this out!!

[youhideastar]

Rule of Law: Deleted Endings

A couple of folks have indicated that they'd be interested in seeing the many, many failed attempts I had at drafting an ending to Rule of Law. 😂 Truly, the ending persecuted me for days. It's like that Edison quote about learning 200 ways not to make a lightbulb. Anyway, if you are interested, read on!

There's a piece of writing advice that, if you can't write anything good to follow a particular line/paragraph, you should delete the line/paragraph. It crossed my mind many times that this advice was maybe correct and I should therefore delete the lines:

“Mn.” Lan Wangji rises to his feet, and Lan Jingyi joins him. “This person would also need a strong sense of justice. A strong work ethic. And a sense of humor.” He studies the young man before him, who was once a small, loud boy with a habit of interrupting Lan Wangji’s lessons to ask impertinent questions. “Lan Jingyi. I am proud of you.”

Because I was having a devil of a time following them. But my gut told me that I absolutely should not do that. That those lines were very, very important to the emotional core of the fic. And now that I have figured out how to end it, I'm so glad I kept them. The fic needs them.

But yeah... what comes next? The problem is that those lines have the feel of an ending to them already--but they're not quite enough to wrap up the fic, to tie a bow on it. I got the idea to have Jingyi say he was proud of Lan Wangji in return quite early, but discarded it since it would be such a violation of the norms of their society. I eventually decided to go with it anyway, but only after approximately a dozen alternatives:

#1:

For a moment, they pause on the porch, looking out over the mass of cultivators who have come for the conference: rogue cultivators in homespun and rich young masters in fine brocade; juniors looking around with awe and elders conversing in somber tones. Across the yard, Luo Qingyang is deep in discussion with Meishan Yu’s head disciple, holding Little Mianmian’s hand. Nie Huaisang is fluttering his fan; Wen Ning is crouched amid a gaggle of children, letting them trace their fingers over the black veins on his neck.

“I can take those for copying,” Lan Jingyi says, holding out his hands for the stack of papers. He smiles again. “I think you have someone to meet.”

“Mn.”

Lan Wangji entrusts the papers to Lan Jingyi and turns his steps toward the back hill.

Wrong - takes the focus off of LJY and LWJ, but the very last line would make it into the final version.

#2:

As they depart the office, Lan Jingyi asks, “What’s going to happen tomorrow?”

“I do not know,” Lan Wangji replies.

Lan Jingyi smiles. “Yeah. I guess that’s the point.”

Who decides?

“Indeed.”

The proposals have been gathered. Their fate is no longer in his hands.

Lan Wangji entrusts the stack of papers to Lan Jingyi, and turns his steps toward the back hill.

He thinks he hears the sound of a flute.

The early parts of this are actually fine, but they're still not an ending, and the transition to the bit about the back hill was brutally abrupt and would not smooth out no matter what I did.

#3:

“Who knows if the rule will even make it into the book.”

“We cannot know,” Lan Wangji agrees. Now, he smiles. “But I will vote for it.”

“Thank you, Hanguang-jun.” He laughs. The sound is slightly watery. “And thank you for—doing all this just based on my wild idea.”

This material is all fine but is not getting us closer to an ending.

#4:

He coughs. “Anyway, let me take those for copying. You have a meeting with a rogue cultivator to get to.”

Lan Wangji raises an eyebrow, but hands over the stack of paper. “I was unaware,” he says.

“As your assistant, I know these things,” Lan Jingyi says, grinning. “He’s on the back hill. With his donkey.”

“Ah.”

The beginning of the phase where I thought I needed to go out on an explicitly Wangxian note. There are going to be a lot of these and they're all wrong, because the ending needs to be about Lan Jingyi. He's the heart. Of the fic, and of the reason I wrote the fic.

#5:

He coughs. “Anyway. Let me take those for copying; you have… somebody to meet, don’t you?”

Lan Wangji does not ask how Lan Jingyi knows: it is the job of a good assistant to know these things. “Mn.” He hands the stack of papers over. It feels heavier than the mere weight of the paper.

Substantially similar to the last one and wrong for the same reason.

#6:

As they walk onto the porch, he says cheerfully, “Even if no one votes for it tomorrow, I’ll always have that.”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji agrees. At the next bend in the path that leads to the Jingshi, a figure is leaning against a lantern stand. Dangling from his hands, Lan Wangji can make out two jars of Emperor’s Smile. “Good night, Lan Jingyi.”

“Good night, Hanguang-jun.”

I really wanted the fic to be canon-compliant, which would mean WWX would meet LWJ in the back hill, but by this point I was desperate and was willing to sacrifice canon-compliance if it could get me an ending that didn't suck. Spoiler alert: it couldn't.

#7:

As they walk onto the porch, papers in hand, Lan Jingyi says, “Let me take those for copying – it looks like you’ve got a meeting.”

Lan Wangji follows his gaze. There, in the bend of the path, is a figure in black – facing away, and holding two dangling jars of Emperor’s Smile.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Wrong, wrong, wrong-ola.

#8:

As they walk onto the porch, Lan Wangji asks, “Are the preparations for tomorrow complete?”

Lan Jingyi smiles. “Almost. Just waiting on one last guest.” Putting on an air of innocence, he offers, “Should I go to the back hill to meet him?”

“No need,” says Lan Wangji, with a small smile of his own. “I know where to find him.”

Cute! But no. WWX shows up exactly the right amount in this fic. Any more is too much.

#9:

In silence, they carry the stack of papers out of Lan Wangji’s office, through the paths of Cloud Recesses—crowded, now, with guests for tomorrow’s conference—to the scribes’ hall.

At the door, the chief scribe greets them with a polite smile and bow. “Hanguang-jun. Lan-shao-gongzi. Is the compilation complete?”

Lan Wangji nods, and hands her the file. Her eyes widen when she takes it from him.

“It’s heavy,” she says.

It is. Lan Wangji had noticed that himself. There is more than paper and ink carried in those pages.

New direction: we're going to actually take the rules for copying, and therefore go out focusing on the rules rather than LJY and LWJ. Not a bad idea thematically! But it just didn't work.

#10:

At the closed door, they pause.

“Hanguang-jun,” Lan Jingyi whispers, “Do you ever wish we just—picked the best rules ourselves and got rid of the rest?”

Who decides?

“No.”

Then, unexpectedly, Lan Jingyi smiles. “Yeah,” he says. “Me neither.”

Together, they knock on the door.

This one would borrow the first few lines of the last one - carrying the papers to the scribes again. This one is, hopefully, redundant. If you get this far in the fic and still don't understand that LWJ shouldn't pick the rules, I've failed.

#11:

As they walk out onto the porch, Lan Jingyi blurts, “Hanguang-jun knows this junior has a history of disregarding proper etiquette and seniority, so this junior hopes Hanguang-jun will forgive him for saying he’s—he’s proud of you, too.”

Lan Wangji pauses, and turns to face his assistant, who blushes.

“Everyone knows you didn’t really want this job,” Lan Jingyi mumbles. “Hanguang-jun worked hard and gave up a lot. So. This junior is proud.”

After having tried what felt like literally everything else, I decided to try having LJY say he was proud of LWJ in return, to see if it would write. It would!! Not like this, though--too clunky--so one more iteration was required.

#12 (final version):

Lan Jingyi blinks hard for a moment, then looks away. “Thank you, Hanguang-jun.”

As they step onto the porch, Lan Jingyi clutches the file of proposals to his chest and blurts out, “This junior is proud of you, too, Hanguang-jun.”

It is, of course, a breach of etiquette and seniority for a junior to speak to Lan Wangji in such a way.

But if Lan Wangji placed a higher value on etiquette and seniority than on sincerity, he would have selected a different assistant.

“Mn,” says Lan Wangji, with a rare smile. Then he turns away and sets out for the path that will lead him to the back hill.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

[lgbtlunaverse]

3zun data analysis

I was wondering how much the different 2-out-of-3zun ship fics were actually focused specifically on them, rather than having them feature as side pairings, so I did a little mini-experiment. Beginning by searching for otp:true in each tag

(This doesn't give you the real number of fics were the pairing is the main focus, for the record. The other tagged ships might've been a side pairing, and the one we're filtering for the main one, and otp:true also filters out platonic relationships. So, for example, a nielan fic that has the nie brothers tagged as a platonic bond will also be filtered out. But since it does that for all ships you can still get a good idea how likely each one of them is to be the center in their fics)

My hypothesis was that Nielan would be the least likely, as they're frequently tagged as a side pairing in wangxian focused fics, with xiyao and nieyao having comparable results.

Nielan, as I type this, have 2154 works, of which only 627 have only nielan tagged. That is 29% of all nielan fics.

Next up is xiyao, who have 4534 works, of which 2195 only have xiyao tagged, a significanly higher 48%

And lastly nieyao, who have the least works in total with 1749, but have 683 works only tagged nieyao, more than nielan despite having less fics overall. Ending up at 39% of all nieyao fics

So I was right about nielan being lower, but turned out to be wrong in my hypothesis that nieyao and xiyao would end up with comparable results!

One possible factor is that nieyao, being a smaller ship, is more affected by those big collection-type fics that have a dozen pairings tagged for every chapter, as well as 3zun fics that have the individual pairings tagged. (Which we'll get to later!!)

Also, Huaisang - typical of him - butts into nieyao more. 5% of nieyao fics have the Nie brothers tagged platonically, and almost exactly the same number are tagged sangyao. Compare that to lan xichen's much more reserved little brother who really doesn't want to be a part of this, as only 3% of xiyao fics are tagged with the twin jades, and zhanyao... isn't much of a thing.

I'd anticipated both of these, but I'd also expected that xiyao, being a bigger ship, would be a less controversial background pairing for wangxian, who - let's be real - are the main players within the mdzs fic space so they massively impact the numbers. I know xiyao are certainly not without controversy (god no) and the go-to side pairings are xicheng and xuanli instead but like... compared to nieyao, surely they're the normie pick? And, well, 25% of xiyao fics are tagged wangxian compared to only 20% of nieyao fics so that is somewhat true, but not as much as I'd thought. (For comparison, 43% of nielan fics are tagged wangxian)

Now let's look at 3zun overall. Of the 1127 3zun fics, 277 are exclusively tagged 3zun. That's only 25%

But that doesn't feel right. After all, a lot of 3zun fics also tag the individual pairings. And excluding them like we did with the 2-out-of-3zun ships feels wrong. You'd categorize a fic tagged with both nieyao and 3zun as a 3zun fic, wouldn't you?

So I manually excluded each non 2-out-of-3zun pair. This took a bit, but you end up with 538 3zun fics which are either not tagged with any side pairing, or only tagged with a ship already contained in 3zun. That is 48% of all 3zun fics, similar to xiyao.

So there you have it! Xiyao is the most independent of the subfandoms, having almost half of its works centered solely around xiyao (and even more primarily focused on xiyao. As I said, otp:true also filters out works that still focus on xiyao but have other background relationships) with the overall 3zun fandom having a similar focus, followed by nieyao, and then nielan.

edit: this has a part 2 now

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

Promise

We will pretend it hasn't been 3 weeks since I made this post asking for writing ideas.

Anyway, @wangxian-stan here's the idea you suggested, I hope you like it and sorry for the delay!

Here's the prompt:

It is so quiet in the jingshi that, if Lan Wangji tried, he would even be able to hear the sizzle of wax melting under the gentle flames of the candle wicks. The silence rings in his ears – and not even the sounds of the night outside are doing much to fill it.

It’s unnerving. Such undisturbed silence reminds him of times he would rather forget. Of loneliness, pain and the discordant notes of songs ending in tears, the bitter taste of alcohol and regret.

The dull sting of his wounds being cleaned adds on to that – especially since the claw marks on his back cross over the faded scars of the discipline whip. It feels almost uncanny, some kind of déjà vu – except it is not a healer or his brother that is helping clean and bandage his wounds, but his husband.

However, for all the teasing and talking Wei Wuxian does, the energy and the liveliness that Lan Wangji loves him for – he is being unsettlingly quiet as well. He has been this way ever since Lan Wangji returned from his night hunt with the back of his robes torn into, red painting the edges. The injuries do look worse than they feel and Lan Wangji made sure to tell his husband this much from the start – but Wei Wuxian seemed a bit too shaken by the sight to really listen, his expression darkening and his voice waning until he decided not to speak anymore at all.

And so, he is now tending to Lan Wangji’s wounds, with the gentleness and care of someone that has known far too much pain, his fingertips trembling on the washcloth as he cleans the injured skin. The beast had hurt him not out of an oversight, but rather, as a choice – he had not thought much about it, intercepting the hit in place of Lan Jingyi more out of instinct than anything else. Whilst a hit like that would do little more than inconvenience him, someone as young as Jingyi could have been incapacitated by it for a long time – so it was a small price to pay, in hindsight.

But it does make Lan Wangji’s heart squeeze to see his beloved be so affected.

The ointment Wei Wuxian uses on him next smells of herbs and the faint scent of disinfectant – again, much too familiar. A very effective cure, developed by the Lan healers long ago, though unkind to the touch. It stings terribly being placed on an open wound, Lan Wangji knows it better than anyone.

Which is why he’s tried to keep his reaction contained, not wanting to worry his husband any more – yet  a faint hiss does still leave his lips as Wei Wuxian applies some of the medicine to his wounds. His fingertips lift off the sensitive skin, and a gentle current of cool air blows over the sting to soothe it. The knowledge Wei Wuxian is so gentle moves Lan Wangji to finally speak.

“Wei Ying…”

The other makes a questioning noise, continuing to gently blow over the wound and alleviate the sting.

“It is alright. I feel fine.”

“It’s important to make sure you heal properly. Do you know how easy it is to get an infection from something like this? Open wounds must be treated seriously even if they’re not bad.”

Lan Wangji feels like those words are not Wei Wuxian’s own, rather repeating what he himself has heard a long time ago, a lifetime ago, from somebody that had been too good at her craft to die the way that she had.

“You need to be more careful.” Wei Wuxian adds, the tone of his voice softer, worried and loving all the same.

“I am.” Lan Wangji replies, and he’s being truthful in this simple, confident reply. He is careful, calculated and precise – but not when it comes to protecting the people he cares about. There is no time for him to weigh his options when danger befalls somebody he considers part of his family, and he knows Wei Wuxian cannot blame him for it – because he does the same.

Wei Wuxian carefully covers the wounds in bandages, his touch light. “You know what I mean. You got off easy now, but what if it won’t be like this next time?”

Lan Wangji sighs, fondly, warmth blooming in his chest at his husband’s worry. “Wei Ying…”

“I know, you’re the great, peerless, undefeated Hanguang-Jun…” he smiles as he says it, “…but you’re not immortal.”

“Not yet.”

That pulls a light chuckle out of Wei Wuxian, and it is the first time that night that the heaviness in the jingshi lifts. “Well, since you promised me forever, that means you have to make sure you get there in one piece.”

A smile tugs at the corners of Lan Wangji’s lips. “I will. I promise.”

He feels a soft pair of lips at the nape of his neck, Wei Wuxian’s lips whispering into his skin. “I’ll hold you to that.”

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

Dec 13th

~*~

1. Hiiiiiii✨🤗

Sorry if this has already been asked but for the next itmf id like some Wei Wuxian fell first fics (bonus points if it’s canon era but im okay with whatever except for modern AUs)

Thxx<3

Scars of Lightning by The_peregrine_falcon (T, 6k, YZY & WWX, WWX & WRH, WangXian, YZY’s A+ Parenting, Canon Divergence, Not Canon Compliant, Wen WWX, zidian, YZY is a bitch, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Injury, Major Character Injury, Heavy Angst, Lotus Pier, Nightless City, Young WWX, Muteness, Hurt kind of comfort)

How You Would Let Me Have You by longleggedgit (E, 15k, WangXian, XiQing, Arranged Marriage, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, First Time, The LXC/WQ is a “mutual beards” situation just FTR)

Honesty is the Best Policy (Except if You’re an Asshole)by piecrust (E, 22k, WangXian, Porn with Feelings, College/University)

~*~

2. Itmf fics where wwx inspires awe, loyalty and respect from the person who actually get to know him and interact with him. I don't want it to be superficial as in the fic just ' mentioning ' wei ying doing and later writing out how this inspired such such emotions in people BUT RATHER It being shown as a gradual thing starting with little things Wei Ying does for people around him and going on with how the people around him changed for this. For example: dispersing clouds (?) (Kinda)

Please make it longer than 50k and NOT VERY comedic tone (as in making everything, even serious things funny) and I'm ok with anything EXCEPT modern au. Thankyou. @constellation-dks

Sunset, Sunrise by Ariana Deralte (ArianaDeralte) (T, 59k, WWX & WRH, WangXian, WIP, Time Travel Fix-It, Crack, Temporary Character Death, sorry I killed a-Yuan for a few paragraphs before the time travel, WWX is a Wen, Genius WWX, WRH gets to rewatch the series as a treat, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, in this house we acknowledge that all the sects have flaws, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, WWX Has ADHD, Bad Parents JFM & YZY, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Autistic LWJ)

golden when the day met the night by glitteringmoonlight (Not Rated, 95k, WangXian, WIP, Slow-ish burn, Sugar Daddy LWJ, which is an anachronistic term for this fic but it fits, Light Angst, Fluff, Developing Relationship, WWX gets all the appreciation he deserves, even if he’s a bit confused about it at first, warprize au with a twist, in that everyone thinks WWX is a warprize, but LWJ has only platonic and honourable intentions, at first, Eventual Smut)

Practical Considerations by teawater, the_anthropologist (E, 97k, WangXian, JC & WWX, LXC & WWX, LQR & WWX, Arranged Marriage, Canon Divergence, Found Family, Spouses to Lovers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Politics, Scheming, Lán Elders are assholes, BAMF WWX, BAMF LWJ, eventually BAMF LXC, learning to make decisions, Learning Self-worth, Self-Esteem Issues, Sweet Wangxian, Domestic Fluff, Fix-It, JC is a big asshole, he improves somewhat but it’s open-ended, WWX learns to stand up for himself, Quote: Come Back to Gusu With Me, POV wwx, POV LWJ, POV JC, Golden Core Reveal, Teacher wwx, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Alcohol as a Coping Mechanism, Past Suicidal Thoughts, Post-Sunshot Campaign, WWX Protection Squad, Feelings Realization, WWX protector of the twin jades, Protective LWJ, Protective WWX, Protective LQR, Demonic Cultivator WWX, WWX is Loved, Married WangXian, Genius WWX, Everybody Lives)

~*~

3. Hi! Itmf any fics where wwx managed to off Wen Chao in the xuanwu cave, doesn’t need a specific or any pairing. Wip or abandoned also fine. Thanks! @insanitywhat

Trials of Time by Muggle_Diary (E, 32k, WangXian, Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage Sex, Not Jiang Family Friendly, YZY Bashing, JC Bashing, Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Artistic Liberties, Butterfly Effect, WWX is free of debts, WangXian in love, Fluff, Established Relationship, Period-Typical Homophobia) Wen Chao's death occurs in chapter 9

💖 The Echoes of that News Ring Loud by Scarlet_Gryphon (T, 111k, NHS & NMJ, 3Zun, NHS/WN, WangXian, Major Character Death, Time Travel Fix-It, NMJ Lives, WWX Raised by a Different Sect, Universal Da-ge NMJ, JGY deserved better, Cinnamon Roll WN, Temporary character death (but they get better), Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Behavior, Everyone Lives, Good Guy XY, Let's give NHS Battle Fans club member, Gray-Ace power trio 3Zun, Canon Divergence, discussions of JGS's canon-levels of dickery, brief and non-graphic discussion of past rape/non-con due to QS's origins, Mentions of Nightmares, NHS is a Little Shit, Minor Character Death, Happy Ending) Wen Chao's death occurs in chapter 6, although Wei Ying didn't seem to be trying to intentionally kill him in this one

~*~

4. Hi! I'm itmf fanfics in which adult lwj time travels to the cr era, it can be either to his teen body or as an adult and I want wwx to love him a lot, although I'm searching for plot ff some pwp is also fine ty😊💗

❤️ For Both Of Us (And Time Is But A Paper Moon) by sami (E, 65k, WangXian, Time Travel, Some People Live/Not Everyone Dies, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, Healing, Yunmeng Shuangjie, Canon Divergence, Asexual JC, First Time, Getting Together, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, [Podfic] Cold read of For Both Of Us (And Time Is But A Paper Moon) by kisahawklin, Для нас обоих (И время лишь бумажная луна) (Russian translation) by nomuad) this involves LWJ time traveling to his birth, but the Cloud Recesses lectures are included

Back up and dream again by The Silverfish (ZephyrAndTheSilverfish) (T, 3k, WangXian, Fix-It, Time Travel, Fluff, Flirting, Cute, Embarrassed WWX)

I Have Arranged to Tie You to Me by xxxMiaHikarixxx (G, 47k, WIP, WangXian, Lan protective team, Time Travel, Past, LWJ oriented, Arranged Marriage, Boys In Love, Soulmates, Fix-It, Jiang siblings, not jiang parents friendly, JC is slowly becoming a good sibling, Soft LWJ, Protective LWJ, Genius WWX)

🔒 The Second Hand Unwinds by trulywicked (E, 75k, WangXian, JYL/JZX, WIP, Time Travel Fix-It, Not JC Friendly, Not Yunmeng Jiang Sect Friendly, Not Jiāng Family Friendly, Not YZY Friendly, Time Travelling LWJ, Protective LWJ, Fluff, Minor Angst, Minor Character Death, JGS is his own warning, Wooing, LWJ is romantic af, Inventor WWX, Genius WWX, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Protective Gusu Lan Sect, Supportive LXC, Good Uncle LQR, WWX Protection Squad)

The Wild Geese’s Tomb by The Feels Whale (miscellea) (T, 66k, WangXian, Time Travel AU, fixit, Temporary Character Death, all women live no women die, LWJ’s canonically intense feelings about everything all the time, WWX’s clinical depression gets treated and blamed on resentful energy, navigating gay marriage in ancient china by utiliizing class snobbery for your own ends, if you’re not sure whose fault anything going on in here is then blaming NHS is probably a good bet, WWX plays ‘summon LWJ’ it’s super effective!, the ‘unexploded cow’ approach to dealing with your enemies)

~*~

5. ITMF!!!! A) I once saw people talking about fics where WWX was adopted by the Jin and now I simply have to know if there are any fics like that :D B) I'm also looking for possible whump fics for Wei Wuxian but with a happy ending. Thank you for everything you do, we really appreciate you <3

5A)

🔒 Candy & Conspiracies by Reverie (cl410) (T, 16k, WangXian, XuanLi, MianQing, Jīn Sect WWX, Chaos Gremlin WWX, Fluff and Crack, Humor, Cloud Recesses, Found Family, pure idiocy, And some light murder, good madam jin, No Angst, Canon Divergence)

🔒 Twin Treasures by crossdressingdeath (T, 81k, WIP, JZX & WWX, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Can’t quite tag this as ‘everyone lives’ but I promise everyone who dies will DESERVE IT, mostly novel-verse with a bit of CQL here and there, currently being edited)

🔒Mischief & Mayhem by Reverie (cl410) (T, 15k, WIP, Madam Jin/SiSi, Crack, Fluff and Humor, Jīn Sect WWX, Chaos Gremlin WWX, the chaotic jin trio we could have had, Genius WWX, BAMF LQY, Found Family)

Silver eyes meet gold by EuphoricSuds (Not Rated, 3k, WangXian, JZX & WWX, XuanLi, Minor Character Death, Canonical Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, BAMF WWX, Hurt WWX, Genius WWX, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Family Fluff, WWX Gets a Hug, WWX is Loved, WWX is LSZ's Parent, WWX is a Jīn, WWX Isn't Adopted by the Jiāngs, Canon Rewrite, Out of Character WWX, Out of Character, Comfort No Hurt, Cute WWX)

5B)

use the wood brought in by the tide by Lirazel (M, 27k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Hurt/Comfort, Warning for Physical Abuse, Falling In Love With Your Husband, pining for your husband, Sibling solidarity, dealing with your in-laws, lwj’s typical inner maelstrom of emotions, WWX Whump, Protective!LWJ, lwj&jyl friendship, intimate hair brushing, Skinny Dipping, Growing Up, Establishing boundaries)

I have died everyday waiting for you by jalpari (M, 7k, WangXian, Canon-typical violence and angst, WWX Whump, LWJ Whump, Ghost WWX, Sentient Burial Mounds, Five Stages of Grief, Getting Together, Angst with a Happy Ending)

Silenced by Tasharene (M, 63k, WangXian, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, Temporary Blindness, Aversion to touch, Fear of crowds, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, WWX Whump, Hurt WWX, Angst with a Happy Ending, world-class troll lxc)

❤️ whipstitch by curiositykilled (M, 131k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Dysfunctional Family, Torture, WWX Lives, but basically no one else, Case Fic, Cultivation Sect Politics, Past Abuse, WWX Whump, YLLZ WWX, JL Needs a Hug, JL Tries, Yunmeng Bro Reconciliation, Past Character Death, Body Horror, Non-Consensual Body Modification, POV Alternating, Flashbacks, Eventual Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Suicide Attempt, PTSD, Depression, Not A Fix-It, Mouth Sewn Shut) should be noted as "mostly happy ending, slightly bittersweet"

to take his place by Eicas (T, 9k, JC & JYL & WWX, Hurt/Comfort, Canon Divergence: JC does not get caught by the Wens, (Wei Wuxian does.), Torture, Aftermath of Torture, (neither particularly graphic), WWX whump, but also wwx care & reassurance that they still want him so there's that!, Post-Fall of Lotus Pier, Yungmeng Siblings) should be noted as "mostly happy ending, slightly bittersweet"

to hell and back for you by blumeraki (G, 5k, WangXian, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Universe, Protective WWX, Protective LWJ, Everything Hurts, Implied/Referenced Torture, Hurt WWX, Hurt LWJ, Branding Iron, Whipping, discipline whip, jc saves the day, Canon Divergence)

🔒💖 the universe would turn to a mighty stranger by RavenclawLoki (T, 11k, wangxian, Angst, Eventual Fluff, Some mentions of blood, it looks like someone is dead but!!, it is okay, everything is going to be okay i promise, First Kiss, Canon Divergence, Wwx and lwj know they’re in love, They just don’t know the other loves them back, Everyone Lives AU, Hurt WWX, Hurt LWJ)

build me no shrines by occultings (microcomets) (M, 54k, WangXian, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, First Time, Getting Together, Confessions, Sharing a Bed, Hair Washing, Sentient Burial Mounds, Case Fic, Post-Canon, CQL Compliant, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Light Angst, Flashbacks, mild body horror, foot washing, Happy Ending, Non-Sexual Intimacy..., then sexual intimacy, playing fast and loose with mdzs lore, WWX learning to accept intimacy without deflection, occasional LWJ humor agenda, 🔒 [Podfic] build me no shrines by flamingwell)

in your skin by darkredloveknot (enheduane) (E, 10k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Getting Together, Horror, Body Horror, Blood and Gore, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, Non-Consensual Body Modification, kinda??, Reflections over death and self-worth, mentions of canon suicide, Near Death Experiences,🔒[Podfic] in your skin by flamingwell)

The Edge of Night by Hobbsy3 (M, 277k, WangXian, XuanLi, Modern AU, Zombie Apocalypse, Yúnmèng Siblings Dynamics, Accidental Baby Acquisition During a Zombie Apocalypse, Junior Quartet, (except they’re all babies), Angst with a Happy Ending, Minor Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Gore, Ensemble Cast, Worst Zombie Fighting Team Ever, Found Family)

Game Night by Hobbsy3 (T, 46k, WangXian, XuanLi, NieLan, Kidnapping, Implied/Referenced Torture, Witness Protection, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Dark Comedy, Modern AU, Protective LWJ, Protective JYL, Protective JC, Fusion with the movie 'Game Night', Mentioned Junior Quartet, TGCF cameos if you squint)

💖 nothing you confess by PorcupineGirl (T, 31k, WangXian, Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, POV Alternating, Golden Core Reveal, Depressed WWX, WWX Has PTSD, JC & LWJ Friendship, friendship may be too strong a word more like allies who are gonna love the shit outta post-burial-mounds WWX whether he likes it or not, Hurt/Comfort, Recovery)

To lurk, to lie in wait by trippednfell (M, 124k, WangXian, Modern AU, strangers to co-parents to lovers, Strangers to Lovers, Kid Fic, teenage juniors, background NieLan, Angst with a Happy Ending, Case Fic, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Not Really Character Death, If there is main character death it's very temporary, Fox Spirit WWX, Dragon LWJ, Blood and Injury, Additional Warnings In Author's Note)

Birthday Party by waffles_4_breakfast (E, 102k, WangXian, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Fix-It, Canon Divergence, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Misunderstandings, Sharing a Bed, Angst with a Happy Ending, Happy Ending, Getting Together, Mutual Pining, Canon-Typical Violence, Pining, Slow Burn, Poison, Torture, Requited Unrequited Love, First Time, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Rough Sex, Oral Sex, Come as Lube, Bondage, Dom/sub Undertones, Spit As Lube, Rimming, Consensual Non-Consent, Safe Sane and Consensual, Additional Warnings In Author’s Note)

Stars bring us apart (Stars pull us together) by Sixlayerhouse (sixlayerhouse) (E, 124k, WangXian, Hurt/Comfort, (Vaguely) Star Trek AU, Canon-Typical Violence, Psychological Trauma, PTSD, Body modifications, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Recovery, married!wangxian)

🔒Whumptober: Torture and In The Hands of the Enemy by treemaidengeek (T, 4k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Torture, but not explicitly shown; see author's note for details, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Protective LWJ, Hostage Situations)

🔒ransom by alessandriana (G, 3k, JC & WWX, hurt/comfort, dizziness, fainting)

a buried and burning flame by otherhippo (hippopotamus) (T, 17k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kinda dark?, Angst with a Happy Ending, does it count as bedsharing if theres…no bed, Imprisonment, Hurt/Comfort)

❤️ the best of you by sysrae (E, 41k, WangXian, XuanLi, Modern AU, College/University, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, slightly undernegotiated kink, but in a very soft and consensual way, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, JFM and YZY's A+ parenting, Dysfunctional Family, Mental Health Issues, Reference to animal attacks/animal cruelty, descriptions of past violence)

~*~

6. ITMF a fic where LSZ either uses demonic cultivation or become a demonic cultivator like his dad @silas-octapisseron

Give Me A Reason by useless_slytherclaw (M, 251k, ZhuiYi, Angst with a Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Friends to Lovers, Post-Canon, Canon Compliant, Mutual Pining, Minor WangXian, Minor LingZhen, Aged-Up Character(s), Grief/Mourning, Travel, Death, PTSD, Dreams and Nightmares, Hurt/Comfort, Rogue Cultivator LJY, Family Feels, Demisexual LJY, Canon-Typical Violence, Injury Recovery, Love Confessions) has LSZ using demonic cultivation in desperation and suffering the consequences.

Your Love Keeps Me Alive by locketofyourhair (T, 11k, Pre-Poly Junior Quartet, established wangxian, The Burial Mounds Linger, 5+1 Things, Canon-Typical Violence, Wholesome Necromancy, POV Multiple, Demonic Cultivator LSZ, Badass Juniors, Blood and Injury, Implied past one-sided WN/WWX, Near Death Experiences)

Gathered Herbs & Sweet Grasses by hansbekhart (Not Rated, 19k, LSZ & LWJ, WangXian, dad wangji, LWJ’s Questionable Parenting Skills, Grief/Mourning, Recovery, Injury Recovery, Hopeful Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Gathered Herbs & Sweet Grasses [podfic] by someplacelikebolivia) Lan Sizhui uses demonic cultivation near the end of Gathered Herbs & Sweet Grasses

~*~

7. Hello!! Thanks for all the hard work! 🩷🩷

I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I recently discovered that XiCheng was a ship and have become curious. But I can’t seem to find any fics I enjoy with this pairing!

So I’d appreciate some good recs for Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng, preferably based in canon era (but I don’t mind modern au’s), if it includes time travel, even the better!!! @jinxedjaz

🔒 A Small Measure of Peace by Sandstone112 (M, 123k, XiCheng, WangXian, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, Kind Of, Canon-Typical Violence, Miscommunication, XiCheng endgame, Found Family, Family) for supportive childrearing

My Wingman, Lan Wangji by JiangChengLotus (T, 3k, XiCheng, WangXian, 5+1 Things, Humor, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, Crack, Chaos, Soft XiCheng, Declarations Of Love, Embarrassed JC) for humor

Talent Hunt Crew Finds Angry Guy Shouting On College Campus, Recruits Him For Vocal Projection Abilities by oh_fudgecakes (T, 206k, XiCheng, WangXian, Modern AU, Reality TV, Slow Burn, Romance, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, BAMF JYL) for a modern AU

Two Sides of the Same Coin by JiangChengLotus (T, 4k, XiCheng, WangXian, Bodyswap, Humor, Fluff, Bonding, Chaos, Developing Friendships, Misunderstandings)

I'm Your What? by JiangChengLotus (T, 6k, JC/LXC, WangXian, JC & WWX, Fluff, Time Travel, Humor, Soft JC, Protective LWJ, Family Feels, Kid Fic, Love Confessions, Let LQR Rest)

Disregarding Public Interest (or How Everyone Except Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng Knew They Were Together) by monoquist (T, 37k, JC/LXC, WangXian, JL/LSZ, Fluff, Crack, Established Relationship, Canon Compliant, Post-Canon)

The Trials and Tribulations of a Modern Father by Bgtea (T, 24k, JC/LXC, JFM/YZY, WangXian, JYL/JZX, JC & JFM, JC & YZY & JFM & JYL & WWX, Modern, Everyone Lives, Crack, JFM POV, JFM attempts at being a father, JC/LXC-centric, JC-centric)

🔒 Emergency Help Wanted by Piyo13 (T, 76k, JC/LXC, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Lawyer JC, LXC is an idiot, JC is the best jiujiu ever, Everyone Lives, Modern, POV Third Person, Fluff, Homophobia as a concept doesn't exist in this verse, Happy Ending, Slow Burn)

How to Escape Your Problems and Live Your Life in Denial – the Jiang Cheng Edition by Bgtea (E, 160k, LXC/JC, WangXian, Modern, Cat Cafés, How to be an adult and fail at it, Slow Burn, Fluff and Humor, JFM's A+ parenting, sex in chapter 23, Anal Sex, Frottage, JC-centric, JC/LXC-centric)

~*~

8. would u happen to know of a completed crossover fic over 50k words?

like with all three of the main mxtx bottoms? @chaosconchick

~*~

9. Hi! Thank you for all you do! I’m in the mood for a fic like “Stunted, Starving, Juvenility” by TomatenMark. I want it to have a heavy focus on Wangxian and their developing relationship. I want it to have a fluffy feel but as long as it isn’t dark or super hurt/comfort I’m ok with it. Ideally it would be multi chapter and take place at least partly when they are teens in Gusu. I just really want a sweet fic with WWX and LWJ being whipped for each other. Thank you so much! @kjwaikiki

These might have a tad more angst than they were looking for for 9 but otherwise fit the request

🧡 Company by WithBroomBefore (T, 29k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Pre-Relationship, Getting Together, POV LWJ, Fix-It, Pre-Canon, at least to start, WWX goes to Cloud Recesses, But Not In The Usual Way, fear of character death, Everybody Lives, Hurt/Comfort, Happy Ending, Light Angst, good teacher LQR, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, brief discussion of past minor character suicide, Kitten, Not YZY Friendly)

❤️ Gentians in bloom by teawater (M, 251k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, AU after cold spring, Political Marriage, Dysfunctional Family, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, LQR bashing (not really), POV Multiple, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Eventual Happy Ending, BAMF WWX, JC is actually a lot better than canon, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, YZY bashing (again not completely))

🔒 in the shadow of moonlit flowers by Reverie (cl410) (T, 56k, wangxian, LXC/NMJ, Cloud Recesses, LWJ & NHS Friendship, Developing Relationship, POV LWJ, Minor Injuries, Autistic LWJ, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, aka the Madam Yu warning, Genius WWX, Light Angst And Hurt/Comfort, WWX Protection Squad, Gusu Lan Sect, Slow Burn, Protective LWJ, LWJ-centric) the element of Dispersing Clouds featuring supportive Lans (and bad Jiangs)

🧡 To have and to hold by Moominmammashandbag (M, 78k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Major character injury, CQL verse, Happy Ending)

~*~

10. Hi so I've been watching a lot of anime and you know the main character being like a reincarnated villainous and so I just thought to myself what if wwx got reincarnated into a game that he played through and he is the villain and he like tries to survive everything and he's like he's usual self cheerful and all that and of course lwj is in there too like a main character kind of male or whatever and I kind of want several male leads in there as well I don't know but I just think it would be really cute and I watched too many anime about it and I really want to read about this so if you can find some fic that has some kind of story lineup that is kind of like a villainous setup that got reincarnated that would be great

~*~

11. hello hello this is for itmf

A) are there any fics like this basically, mxy!wwx and yllz!wwx switching places

B) anything and everything with bad ass wei wuxian, or possessive wwx, I'll take anything, open to everything just pls let it be a complete TT

11B)

A Life Without Regrets by naqaashi (M, 163k, WangXian, JFM & WWX, JC & WWX, WRH & WWX, LXC & LWJ, LQR & LWJ, LWJ & NHS, Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Crack Treated Seriously, musical cultivation, Slow Burn, Pining, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Murder Husbands, PTSD, BAMF WWX, Demonic Cultivation, POV WWX, Cultivation Sect Politics, Worldbuilding, No Yīn Iron, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, Artist WWX, Musician WWX, Night Hunts, Fate & Destiny, Bad Parent JFM & YZY, Golden Core, Cultivation Theory, Sentient Burial Mounds, Father-Son Relationship, Dysfunctional Family, Grief/Mourning, Parent-Child Relationship, Angry WWX, Pining WWX, WWX is Not Okay, No Golden Core Transfer, BAMF LWJ, Pining LWJ, POV LWJ, Angry LWJ, One-Braincell Wangxian, Love Confessions, Idiots in Love)

❤️ And Time Is But a Paper Moon by sami (M, 138k, WangXian, XiChengQing, Time Travel, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Healing, Mental Health Issues, PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, BAMF JYL, Getting Together, And Time is But a Paper Moon [PODFIC] by sami, Winterstar1412, [Podfic] Cold read of And Time Is But A Paper Moon by kisahawklin)

🧡 The Shade of Old Trees by Kryal (T, 363k, WangXian, Ridiculously Long Notes, History, Canon Divergence, Modern AU, Slow Burn, Worldbuilding, Slow Life, Action/Adventure, Magic Returns, BAMF WWX)

We'll Build A Dynasty (one the heavens can't shake) by One_eyed_God (T, 66k, WangXian, canon typical Jiang family dynamics, BAMF WWX, Canon JC Characteristics, POV Outsider, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, WWX is a Wen, Sect Leader WWX, Genius WWX, The Casual Intimacy of Hand-Holding, Minor XuanLi, Not JC Friendly, Time Travel Fix-It)

🔒 Whatever you do by apathyinreverie (T, 8k, WangXian, LXC & LWJ, somewhat darker cultivation world, BAMF WWX, BAMF LWJ, BAMF LXC, don't mess with the twin jades, not Jiang friendly, YZY Bashing, WWX is appreciated, genius WWX, everyone is a little darker in this, except for WWX, who is still sunshine personified, Fluff, Possessive LWJ, Gusu Lan would like to send Yunmeng a fruits basket, as thanks for their idiocy, Fix-It)

~*~

12. Hello!! Would it be possible to get a rec list of long, plotty wangxian fics (40k+ preferred) with happy endings that don’t have any wwx/other or lwj/other? (No former lovers, partners, etc.) thank you!! @bookkbaby

Twelve Moons and a Fortnight by stiltonbasket (M, 290k, WangXian, Humor, Slow Burn, Post-Canon Fix-It, Long-Distance Relationship, Epistolary, Love Letters, Family Feels, a-qing lives, teenage romance, Adoption, Romantic Comedy, Happy Ending, Weddings, Case Fic, Parenthood, Politics) is a great fic and part of a series. It is very much a slow burn though.

🧡 Stunted, Starving Juvenility by TomatenMark (E, 887k, WangXian, WIP, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Getting Together, Supportive LQR, Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It of Sorts, Supportive LXC, Canon Divergence, Inventor WWX, Possessive LWJ, Cultivation Sect Politics, Pre-Sunshot Campaign, Fluff and Smut, Burning of the Cloud Recesses, Fall of Lotus Pier, Angst, Sunshot Campaign, Not JFM Friendly, split into parts, Part 1 complete, Part 2 complete, Original Character(s)) it is not completed though the author is updating about every month-ish and is split in parts within the fic itself.

The Beast of Gusu series by Netrixie (T&M, 212k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Eventual Happy Ending, Unreliable Narrator, Slow Burn, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Angst, Wolf-shifter WWX, Resolved Sexual Tension, Resolved Romantic Tension, Fix-It, Werewolf, Shapeshifters, Sunshot Campaign, Canonical Lan arm strength, Supportive LXC, Good Parent JFM, POV Alternating, Time Skips, LQR is a bad parent and so is QHJ, LQR Being an Asshole, Found Family, WWX is LXC's anger translator, Super Soft, Зверь из Гусу by Den_Allen) which has some supernatural elements as WWX is a wolf shifter but it is a fantastic story.

💖🔒 love, in fire and blood by cicer (E, 360k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, YLLZ WWX, Arranged Marriage, political scheming, Gratuitous Domesticity, Mutual Pining, EXTREME SLOWBURN, the inherent eroticism of the forehead ribbon, The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known, neither wwx nor lwj want to be Perceived, but sorry kids! it’s gonna happen!, rated E but the the NSFW stuff doesn’t begin until chapter 19!, bottom LWJ in chapter 20 and 27, Mojo’s post)

~*~

13. For ITMF!

Are there any fics in where lwj or wwx are trans, or for example mxy is trans and the other (or on this case both lwj and wwx) didn't know. and they get their period and freak out real bad.

I'm okay with everything, abo or whatever.

What the Water Leaves Behind by John_lzhc (T, 11k, WangXian, LJY & LSZ, WIP, Trans Male Character, Trans WWX, Menstruation, grief and morning, Hurt/Comfort, Marriage Negotiations, moderate shenanigans, asexual LJY, LJY third generation gremlin, soft italicised 'oh' moment) Not exactly what they asked for but close. Wwx is tranamasc, lwj knows but also goes full panic at wwx+blood

~*~

14. In the mood for fic, where Lan Zhan is the one getting thrown into Burial mounds and becoming demonic cultivator. I wonder if there is such fic like that anywhere. Or even better, if there is Nie Huaisang getting thrown into there as well. Because the idea of demonic cultivator Nie Huaisang scares me more than any other character and I would love to read it.

Gold Blood Eyes by Loveable_Psychopath (T, 72k, WangXian, XuanLi, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon Divergence, Everybody Lives, Except the bad people, Dark LWJ, i guess?, He gets cursed and becomes a demonic cultivator, Established WangXian, Secret Relationship, Sentient Burial Mounds, Demonic Cultivation, Golden Core Reveal, Found Family, Character Study, Character Bashing, Implied/Referenced Child AbuseImplied/Referenced Torture, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Mental Health Issues, Communication, but also miscommunication, Twin Prides of Yunmeng Feels, YZY Bashing, JFM Bashing) I don't think Lan Zhan gets thrown into the Burial Mounds in either of these but he does become a Demonic Cultivator in Gold Blood Eyes and Until The World Embraces Me Home

Until The World Embraces Me Home by azri (T, 5k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, YLLZ LWJ, LWJ Has No Golden Core, Role Reversal, Not LXC Friendly, Not JC Friendly, Not cultivation world friendly overall tbh, Sunshot Campaign, Friends to Lovers, Temporary Character Death, WangXian Get a Happy Ending)

~*~

15. INMF fics like a song in the shadows by alyakthedarklord, aka wwx gives birth to lsz but they get disconnected/think the other is dead when lsz is little only to be reunited when he’s a bit older

I'll Take Such Great Care of You by CheekyBrunette (G, 50k, WangXian, LWJ & LSZ & WWX, Modern, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Fluff, Family Feels, Domestic Fluff, Angst, LWJ Adopts LSZ, LSZ-centric, LSZ Needs a Hug, i think it's a canon-typical tragic backstory, so i will say there will be mentions of dangerous and uncomfortable situations from the past, but probably nothing worse than the source material, Panic Attacks, Claustrophobia, Nightmares, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Organ Harvesting)

All The Years Lost by UseMyMuse (T, 26k, WangXian, Teen Pregnancy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Single Parent AU, Forced misunderstandings, Forced miscommunication, Mpreg) All The Years Lost and The Winner Takes It All. Wei Ying and Lan Zhan's separations were forced by Yu Ziyuan in both stories.

The Winner Takes It All by YilingSani (M, 46k, WangXian, Modern AU, Single Parent WWX, Old Friends, One Night Stands, No Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Forgiveness, Second Chances, Inspired by Mamma Mia! (Movies) Teen Pregnancy, Mpreg, mention of miscarriage, Birth Trauma, amniotic fluid embolism)

Until The End by abCEE (M, 365k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, war changes people, resulting to OOC, no pinning, Established Relationship, Mpreg, Good Uncle LQR, a little grey LWJ, a bit of JC bashing from LWJ, BAMF JYL, 16 years of yearning, mainly CQL verse but has scenes from the novel as well, LSZ is WangXian’s Child, WWX Has a New Golden Core, Canon Rewrite, Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts)

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16. Hi I’m looking for any fics where Wangxian basically have Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan’s story. Like, Wangxian are the ones arranged to be married but they hurt / misunderstand each other etc. I remember seeing a fic like this one time but I never ended up reading it…

forever is home (with you) by moonsteps (T, 23k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Canon Divergence, Intimacy, Sharing a Bed, Strangers to Lovers, the inherent romance of the forehead ribbon)

🔒 In Agreement by kuro (T, 9k, WangXian, LXC & LWJ, Arranged Marriage, Canon Divergence, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Domestic Fluff, Developing Relationship)

the river and the sea by sasamelons (T, 7k, WangXian, Soulmates, Arranged Marriage, Misunderstandings, Angst with a Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Falling In Love, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Mutual Pining)

🔒 Only with Time by adrian_kres (E, 66k, WangXian, WIP, Arranged Marriage, Modern with Magic, fast then slow burn, Mutual Pining, they each sort of think it's unrequited love, it's complicated, possible dubcon depending on your interpretation of events, please see the author's note for chapter 3, Hurt No Comfort, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, but it does eventually get better! promise!, WangXian Endgame, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, it is from the past only, no one is actively self-harming in this fic, unless you count the characters being really hard on themselves from time to time, often with good reason, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse)

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17. Itmf ur fav diverging aus!

🧡 Dispersing Clouds by dreamingofcake (E, 283k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, Not Jiang Family Friendly, Abusive YZY, Canonical Child Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, Eventual Sex, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm (Background Character), Background Character Deaths, child deaths, Canon JC, Good Uncle LQR, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Cultivation Sect Politics, Homophobia, Heteronormativity, Feelings Realization, WWX is Not Oblivious) I swear I'm not a paid sponsor for Dispersing Clouds despite recommending it frequently. It's just that great of a divergent AU!

We Meet at the Thousandth Step by Admiranda, Rynne (T, 316k, WangXian, CSSR/WCZ, Canon Divergence, No Sunshot Campaign, CSSR & WCZ Live, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Different First Meeting, Night Hunts, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, Plot, Romance, Drama, Fluff, Strangers to married, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Everyone Lives, Developing Relationship, Minor Violence, Case Fic, Mystery, Flirting, WWX’s Canon-Typical Flower Flirting, Arson, There Was Only One Bed, Getting Together, First Kiss, Meeting the Parents, Resolved Sexual Tension, Resolved Romantic Tension, WWX Is a Good Big Brother, New Relationship Bliss, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Blood and Injury, Yiling siblings, Married WangXian, Honeymoon, Wangxian’s Baby Fever)

Lay my body down by tawaen (M, 48k, WWX & WQ, WWX & WN, wangxian, WWX & JYL, Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Eventual WangXian, No Golden Core Transfer, Not Cultivation World Friendly, Canon-Typical Violence, Not JC Friendly, What if WWX saw the first siege of the burial mounds and said Nope to the war, OCs, OC point-of-view for one chapter for plot reasons)

💖 Ghosts Shouldn't by ShanaStoryteller (Not rated, 15k, wangxian, canon divergence, grief/mourning, angst w happy ending)

Weep You No More, Sad Fountains by athena_crikey (T, 59k, WangXian, LXC & LWJ, LXC & JGY, Canon Divergence, Fix-it fic, Whump, Curses, Fever, Delirium, Stabbing, Loneliness, Confessions, LWJ’s emotional repression, WWX giving everything as always, LXC realising sympathy is not support, LQR Being an Asshole)

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If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

[wangxianficrecs]

💙 Preparing the Soil by Rynne

💙 Preparing the Soil

by Rynne (@rynne)

T, 26k, Wangxian

Part of the LWJ Birthday Serenade - Mini Bang

Summary: When Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian return to spend the first winter after their marriage in the Cloud Recesses, Wangji is forced to grapple with his uncle's resistance to accepting his new husband fully into the clan. At the heart of this conflict is Lan Qiren's rule forbidding talking to Wei Wuxian. How can Wangji make the Cloud Recesses a more welcoming place for his husband when what he fights now is his uncle's stubbornness? Kay's comments: As much as I love the ending of the novel with Wangxian having their happy ending, I always struggle a bit with picturing them living their best lives in Gusu, especially with Lan Qiren still around and Lan Xichen being in seclusion for some time. This story takes a good look at the "Talking to Wei Wuxian is Forbidden" rule of the Gusu Lan Sect and Lan Qiren's relationship with both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. He improving, but it's an uphill battle. Luckily, Lan Xichen is supportive. Really love this story, it feels true to the characters and optimistic in a realistic way. Excerpt: Stunned, Wangji could only stare at his uncle for a long moment. He had thought his uncle was resigned to Wei Ying's presence, especially after everything that was revealed during Jin Guangyao's downfall. He had not realized Lan Qiren was still angry at Wei Ying. A wave of reciprocal anger washed through Wangji, and he clenched his hands briefly on his thighs before he abruptly stood. "Then I will not trouble Shufu further," he said, hearing the tightness in his own voice. He bowed, as shortly as he could make himself, before he turned on his heel and left, feeling his uncle's stare against his back. He did not break the rule about running in the Cloud Recesses, but his stride was swift and his demeanor hard enough to cause more than one disciple to duck out of his way. His hands kept clenching until he forced his fingers loose and open. Out of habit, his feet turned towards the rabbit meadow. Before he took more than a few steps, though, he recalled that he had another option to help him let go of his anger. By the time he reached the Jingshi, his temper dissipated a little. He stopped in front of the door, taking several deep breaths to calm down further. He did not want to bring anger into the home he shared with Wei Ying.

pov lan wangji, post-canon, established relationship, family feels, lan family feels, gusu lan sect rules, uncle-nephew relationship, chinese holidays, birthdays, good kid lan sizhui, married lan wangji/wei wuxian, soft lan wangji/wei wuxian, good sibling lan xichen, lan qiren tries, not jiang cheng friendly, music

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(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[bloopitynoot]

Reading SVSSS: Bonus- Chapter 32

For those who don't know, I am reading SVSSS for the first time and sharing my thoughts!

If you have not read it, there will be spoilers! Consider this a warning.

Also- if you want to follow along, I am aiming to post updates daily. You can find all the posts in the tag bloopitynoot reads SVSSS. You can also check out the intro post for context on my read.

Yes it is 8 am and yes I am eating chicken gnocchi soup for breakfast. I stand that soup is and always will be a breakfast food.

No hot drinks today! This wedding required a feast :'3

I can't believe this is it! The series finale if you will.

I have been waiting 32 chapters for this moment. at last!!!

This man (SQQ) has been sleeping with this other man for what- months(?) years(?) at this point and he is STILL over here totally bewildered at the fact that LBH does not want to marry a woman. p355

This is kind of sweet though. I'm so glad Cang Qiong Mountain sect has embraced these two absolute weirdos. I love that they can visit now! It warms my romantic heart that they can travel for a while and then come "home" for a time. p355

omg these two are so embarrassing. The way in which LBH is asking him to marry him is so awkward. p359

oh no, now I feel like an asshole because LBH was SO NERVOUS the days leading up to him asking. (granted totally fair with how SQQ acts towards him/about their relationship- I too would not know if he wanted to actually marry me or not in this situation). I just want to pinch LBH's cheeks though, why is he so cute. p360

aaaaaah- this is so cute. SQQ being actually happy about him asking instead of trying to gaslight himself and side step his feelings or "reluctantly" agreeing to marry LBH pp360-361

my heaaaaaaaart LBH's confession pp362-363

The fact that LBH had wedding outfits ready. I need to know two things; 1. where/how did he get them and 2. how long has he had them and had this planned. p363

I truly don't know if MXTX has written a tender sex scene. Why does it always have to be a little traumatic? Granted I have only read SVSSS and MDZS BUT both of these series have either uncomfortable (SVSSS) or just have freak4freak energy (MDZS-but I will take this over crying and bleeding) there's never something soft and lubed. I hope that TGCH has something (no spoilers pls) but my bar is so low. (okay but wangxian was fine for the most part- they just were also dry and mutually unhinged). pp366-367

NO LOL the wife-ing of SQQ. p370

Okay okay- the ending was so sweet. The little shy embarrassed SQQ calling Binghe husband and him pretending not to hear. My headcanon is that eventually over time SQQ feels less and less embarrassed, works through his internalized homophobia, and learns to say what he actually feels more often. Even without my hopes and dreams, I still think this ending was such good character growth for SQQ.

Holy shit we did it!

Thank you to everyone who joined me on this reading journey. It has been so fun getting to read the books along with you and talk about the experience.

I am a little bit sad that it is over :'3

I do however, now have a pile of fanfic to start working through and am so stoked to continue this journey via fan works. Thank you, thank you to everyone who sent me fics to read!!

In terms of what is next- I will likely spend some time reading SVSSS fanfic- if I get to a point where like Wangxian, I have hundreds of fics in my collection, I may start recing Bingqiu!

BUT in terms of danmei, I am hoping to read TGCF next and round out my MXTX collection (likely end of December start)!

This has been such an amazing experience that I will continue to live blog future danmei series :)

Thank you thank you again!

[celestialbruise]

Hello! For fanfic club, may I request canonverse no war AU where Wei wuxian doesn't get kicked out of the lectures? Please give me humour, everyone else face palming at oblivious wangxian, fluff, them being adorable and I love and figuring what they wanna be months before the lectures end. Most likely with implied future ending (like it could be lwj planning to propose 2 years later and making mental notes, etc). Thank you!

this is so late!! I am the worst!! hopefully, I did your wonderful prompt justice, enough to make up for my tardiness :') I had such fun writing this, so thank you sm for that<3 I love to be back on the let wangxian be happy agenda

(side note: I read that according to old customs, couples sometimes exchanged their jade pendants at their engagement ceremony, which is why nhs tells wwx to buy it at caiyi town) 

-

So, it’s not weird. It’s very casual, y’know, nothing to write home about. It’s just that Wei Wuxian has found himself going back to the Library Pavilion. Every day. And that’s! Normal!

“But,” Nie Huaisang’s brows scrunched in confusion. “Your punishment ended a week ago…right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“....No reason….” Nie Huaisang flipped open his fan, his tone all-too-casual all he followed his cryptic musings up with an offer, “Wei-xiong, on a completely unrelated note, I’d be happy to lend you some more of my books, if you want any.”

-

“I’ve noticed that Wei-gongzi seems to be visiting the Library Pavillion often these days,” Lan Xichen hedged, sounding far-too curious for his own good. Lan Wangji’s spine felt somehow stiffer as he walked alongside his brother and although he was confident nothing about his expression gave him away, he could feel his traitorous ears burning. 

“He is an avid reader,” Lan Wangji said, straight-faced, like a liar. He was sure Wei Wuxian was well-read so it wasn’t technically a lie, since they were in the Cloud Recesses, where that was strictly forbidden.

It’s only that when Wei Wuxian visited, he didn’t exactly sit quietly and pick up scrolls. He’d pester Lan Wangji, sprawling over his desk, tugging on his sleeve, drawing him frivolous (pretty) things that Lan Wangji would pretend not to look at, and recently, he’d even begun to bring in little violets he picked from the back mountain which - who knows how he’d found his way there.

It was a simple omission of the truth. Nothing more. 

“Well, whatever the case,” Lan Xichen smiled, lashes dipping. “It’s good to see you have a friend.”

“He is not a friend,” Lan Wangji informed his brother curtly, but Lan Xichen’s smile did not waver even a fraction.

“Then it’s good you have a companion.”

Lan Wangji didn’t dignify that with a response, mostly because he didn’t have one. He feared his second denial would fall flatter than the first. 

Because he kept coming back, is the thing. Wei Wuxian always came back. His punishment had ended long ago - he had no reasn to visit the Library Pavilion as frequently, as faithfully as he did. He only came, after all, to find Lan Wangji. And despite Lan Wangji’s attempts to ice him out, Wei Wuxian was a warmth that burned through all of his many layers of frost, settling pleasantly in his chest. It was a warmth Lan Wangji had come to crave. 

If not a companion, then what was Wei Wuxian, to Lan Wangji?

-

“Do you think Lan Zhan would like the purple one or the green one better? Or, should I just stick with blue?”

“Lan Zhan?” Nie Huaisang raised an inquisitive brow. Wei Wuxian blinked, wide grey eyes innocent and sparkling like the river that ran behind them.

“Yes…?”

“You call him by his birth name?”

“I think I just did?”

“To his face?”

“What other body part of his would I be talking to?”

Oh, this was too much fun. Nie Huaisang bit his tongue against all the innuendos poised atop the tip. “And he hasn’t murdered you yet?”

Wei Wuxian huffed, throwing his hands out, all dramatics. “I don’t know, Nie-xiong, are you talking to a ghost right now?”

“....To be determined,” Nie Huaisang decided, nodding towards the money purses clutched in Wei Wuxian’s hands. “If you want my advice, don’t give him that. You should get him a jade pendant.”

This recent entertainment Nie Huaisang had found in watching Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji dance around each other was a double-edged blade, one he could actually wield. For one, it was endlessly amusing that Wei Wuxian thought all that he wanted from Lan Wangji was his friendship. Nie Huaisang wasn’t fluent in spring books and romance novels for nothing - he was practically an expert on these kinds of affairs, and he’d eat his own fan if it really turned out Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian were only ‘friends.’ And then, as if that wasn’t enough, on a day free of classes Wei Wuxian had all but dragged Nie Huaisang along with him to Caiyi Town to go shopping, for a ‘friendship gift’ for ‘his Lan Zhan.’ Yes, Wei Wuxian had used those exact words. 

“Why a jade pendant?” Wei Wuxian frowned, but obediently put down the money purse to hold the jade pendant above his head, studying the way it sparkled when the light hit it just right. 

“You want him to know you’re interested in him, don’t you?”

“In his friendship? Duh. I like Lan Zhan. He’s a funny guy.”

“Uh-huh,” Nie Huaisang smiled a fox’s smile behind his fan. “Well, this will make your intentions crystal clear, Wei-xiong, trust me.”

In his defense, Nie Huaisang hadn’t specified the exact intention the jade pendant would bring light to. 

-

“Lan Zhan!”

Lan Wangji freezes in his tracks, tongue caught in between his teeth. It’s enough time for Wei Wuxian to catch up to him, all radiant light and buoyant smiles and laughter that rings out like bells.

“You were walking so fast, er-gege, I had to run to catch up! Where are you off to in such a rush, hm?”

Lan Wangji feels terribly tongue-tied, feels as if he cannot possibly say he is going to feed the bunnies Wei Wuxian gifted him. It feels far too vulnerable to state in the warm light of day. Too much like a confession for something Lan Wangji had only recently put into words. 

Unfortunately, Wei Wuxian eyes aren’t just arresting, crystalline clear and sparkling grey, but keen as well. They dart to the carrots Lan Wangji holds in his hands - and, well, even if Wei Wuxian wasn’t a genius, anyone would be able to put two and two together. 

A steady, burning flush spreads from the tips of his ears down to his throat. Lan Wangji thinks, with no small amount of mortification, that it may have bled to his cheeks as well. 

“Oh! You’re off to feed our children, huh?” Wei Wuxian grins, and before Lan Wangji’s can grow any more flustered, Wei Wuxian asks, “Mind if I tag along?”

Wei Wuxian doesn’t wait for Lan Wangji’s answer - maybe because he fears Lan Wangji will reject his advances yet again - whatever the case, he simply winds his arm around the crook of Lan Wangji’s elbow and begins leading them down the gravel path as if he knows the way. Which, to be fair, he probably does. Lan Wangji doesn’t rebuff Wei Wuxian nor does he try to shake him off, so he supposes that is enough of an answer on its own. 

“I knew you were fond of those bunnies Lan Zhan,” Lan Wangji can hear the grin in Wei Wuxian’s tone, can imagine it curved across his face, his eyes twin crescent-moons of mirth. He keeps his eyes on the path before him. This simple point of contact between them, after all, already feels fit to send him into qi deviation. Lan Wangji doesn’t know how much more his painfully thin face can take. He can barely manage to hum in acknowledgement. 

“Mn.” 

“I’m glad I didn’t roast them then, hahaha! Aiyah, don’t look at me like that - you can call me a lot of things, but I’m not a bunny killer, really Lan Zhan. They’re too fluffy to eat!” Wei Wuxian chattered along, his voice like the babbling of an excitable brook. Lan Wangji found it incomparably soothing, as he always did. “I always kind of wanted a pet, y’know? But not, like, a dog.” Wei Wuxian shuddered and Lan Wangji felt the aftershocks shiver into his arm, melting into his bones. It may have been a bit dramatic, but Lan Wangji thought Wei Wuxian’s eyes grew a bit too wide for him to be exaggerating. “Rabbits are tiny and fluffy and sweet. Dogs are just the worst, don’t you agree Lan Zhan?”

Lan Wangji had never had much of an opinion on dogs before, but in that instant, he unequivocally decided they were intolerable. “Dogs are forbidden in the Cloud Recesses,” Lan Wangji said - and he realized only after he had said it that yes, he had said it to comfort Wei Wuxian. He wanted to soothe the tightness with which that arm suddenly squeezed around his own. 

“Really?” Wei Wuxian asked, easing up. “How did I miss that rule? That would have been my favorite one!”

“My uncle does not like them,” Lan Wangji responded, which was, technically, not a lie. Of course, his uncle would not like the rabbits Lan Wangji was keeping either - but the bunnies were small, and far out of the way, as much as they possibly could be.

Lan Wangji figured that he could allow himself this small act of rebellion.

For Wei Wuxian, he could. 

He made a mental note to suggest to his uncle that they should specify no dogs were allowed in the Cloud Recesses. 

“Oh!” Lan Wangji’s eyes darted over at Wei Wuxian’s exclamation. “Before I forget, I have a gift for you.”

A gift?

“There is no need,” Lan Wangji said, stilted, mostly because he was confused over why he would be receiving a gift, and because this was breaking yet another rule. Do not overindulge. 

“Of course, there’s a need,” Wei Wuxian laughed, pulling something out of his sleeve. “Everyone likes gifts. Here - you have to take it, I bought it, just for you. Don’t reject me so harshly, okay? It’ll hurt my feelings.”

Lan Wangji bit his tongue, but relented with a small nod. It was also against the rules to be unnecessarily cruel, after all. 

Blood pounded in his ears, almost deafening Wei Wuxian’s explanation of his gift - but even if the wave of sound resounding in his head had somehow swept away Wei Wuxian’s words, Lan Wangji would have known what the gift meant, anyway. Lan Wangji felt useless, he could only stare at the exquisitely carved jade pendant as it soaked up golden sunlight, carefully cradled in Wei Wuxian’s palm. 

The implications sent his mind reeling, and his heart into disarray. Wei Wuxian couldn’t possibly mean-

Lan Wangji couldn’t remember a time his face had felt so hot, besides any other moment he had shared with Wei Wuxian - Wei Ying. Yes, Wei Wuxian had given Lan Wangji permission to call him by his birth name, hadn’t he? He had, and Lan Wangji had long ago forgotten when he’d stopped minding the sound of his own on Wei Wuxian’s tongue. It felt like it belonged there. As if it were meant for Wei Wuxian’s lips and Wei Wuxian’s alone.

“Don’t tease,” Lan Wangji said, his voice coming out somewhat sharper than he meant it. Quieter, too. Because if this was a joke, like he had suspected so many of Wei Wuxian’s flirtations to be-

“I’m not!” Wei Wuxian protested, his free hand thumping atop his heart as he bounced beside Lan Wangji. “Lan Zhan, you wound me. I present you this gift with only the sincerest intentions. Won’t you believe me? I’ll hold onto the tail-end of your forehead ribbon and swear on my parents’ graves if that’ll give it more weight.”

“No need,” Lan Wangji managed through the sudden lump that had appeared in his throat, unswallowable. So, they shared a kinship in this? Unconsciously, he found himself softening. “I believe you.”

“Good,” Wei Wuxian’s tongue teased the sharp tip of his canine. Lan Wangji’s eyes couldn’t help but track the movement. “You have to believe me. Lying is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses, don’t you know?”

Something strange happened, then. A foreign feeling welled up inside of his chest, not unlike a flurry of excited butterflies. Lan Wangji didn’t think he had felt it since he had last seen his mother, ten long years ago.

It was the urge - to smile. To laugh. 

“I do know,” Lan Wangji shot Wei Wuxian a side-long look. “Do you?”

“When it comes to the important stuff, of course,” Wei Wuxian sounded so solemn, and heart-wrenchingly sincere. And under the warm summer sunlight, caught in a fragrant, gentle breeze-

How couldn’t Lan Wangji believe him?

They continued down the path together, arms entwined. 

-

From a bridge not too far away, two figures watched the two dressed in white disappear into the forest, their white, swirling robes lost in the thick swathes of swaying green.

“Romance is in the air, wouldn’t you say, Jin-xiong?” Nie Huaisang sighed, a dreamy smile curving his lips as he idly fanned himself. Jin Zixuan had joined him in watching Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian blush and make eyes at each other - mostly to make disgusted, retching noises, but it hadn’t gone unnoticed by Nie Huaisang, how round his eyes had gotten when Wei Wuxian had presented Lan Wangji with his gift. Clearly, he was taking notes. 

“How is it romantic? It’s hopeless, is what it is,” Jin Zixuan groaned, though Nie Huaisang noticed he hadn’t torn his eyes away, his gaze still settled on where Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian’s afterimages lingered. “And my cousins tease me for being oblivious.”

“You are,” Nie Huaisang says, because he was present for the mess Jin Zixuan made of himself in front of Jiang Yanli at the last Jiang Clan banquet. 

Jin Zixuan shot Nie Huaisang a horrible glare, but there was really nothing he could say in his defense. 

-

Later, away from the prying eyes of others - how could Lan Wangji, with his sharp senses, be somehow unaware they were being watched? - as Lan Wangji watched Wei Wuxian tumble around in the grass around the rabbits, laughing and calling out the names he had given them, these children of theirs he had claimed them to be, a thought solidified in his mind, sunlight shining through amber, revealing the treasure inside.

I want to spend forever with him.

Lan Wangji had thought he’d think himself in circles trying to come up with the perfect gift to give Wei Wuxian in return. He wasn’t good at expressing himself, the breadth of his emotions - but Lan Wangji had come to realize, as the sun started to slink past the horizon, and the world was enveloped in rosy tones and shades of blue, that maybe it was only he wasn’t the best with words.

Maybe something like this didn’t need words, in the end. 

As they turned to leave, and Wei Wuxian looked at him with those silver, sparkling eyes, pure happiness in his voice as he asked Lan Wangji if they could visit their rabbits every day, Lan Wangji could no longer resist. He took Wei Wuxian around the waist, into his arms, and only shook a little as he pressed their lips together. 

Wei Wuxian tasted like spring. Lush against Lan Wangji’s lips, incomparably soft and impossibly sweet. Lan Wangji pulled away, only because air was a necessity and it was quickly running from his lungs, in the face of what he had just done. 

“Ah?” Wei Wuxian’s fingers trembled as they traced his lips, his cheeks dusting an intoxicating pink. “What was that for?”

Lan Wangji swallowed, and though the kiss had been chaste, his voice came out hoarse. “Your gift.”

“My gift,” Wei Wuxian murmured, lashes fluttering, and before Lan Wangji could worry he’d somehow misread the situation, Wei Wuxian was clinging to his arms, crying out. “Lan Zhan! Now mine looks inadequate! I’m going to have to buy you a thousand more jade pendants! A million! Even that won’t be enough!”

A shadow of a smile tucked itself into the corner of his lips. 

“Or,” Lan Wangji cleared his throat, preserving valiantly through the waves of his own shamelessness. “You could kiss me again.”

Wei Wuxian quieted, a dangerous, beautiful gleam alighting in his star-bright eyes. 

“I could do that,” Wei Wuxian agreed, pulling Lan Wangji down once more.