#also I got to draw Shiyong <3

[stellarish]

Jinping's most notorious wastrel (and his new half-puppet) have arrived at the Latent Cultivation Temple!

Closeups under the cut :D

[stiltonbasket]

Hiya Stilton! TMAAF has so many amazing new ideas! What inspired you to write it?

Mostly, I was inspired by the way CQL ended and a couple of canonical plot points that I wanted to see explored further. Click below for a somewhat-comprehensive list:

1. Lan Xichen’s life cultivation and its association with qi deviation - this was directly adopted from Yue Qingyuan in SVSSS, who loses some of his life force every time he draws his sword.

2. Nie Shiyong - inspired by several fanworks that depicted Wei Wuxian as a fox spirit/huli jing, and by the legend of Bai Suzhen/Lady White Snake.

3. Wei Wuxian’s illness - CQL!WWX looks the same during the past and present arcs, but novel!WWX was revived in Mo Xuanyu’s body. I thought it would be interesting to weave in an explanation re: Wei Wuxian’s appearance remaining  unchanged in-verse.

4. Cultural differences between sects - these were invented as I went, with a little cursory research. Yunmeng Jiang’s background and lore was mostly used to illustrate the lifestyle/traditions of the present-day Jiang clan.

5. The existence of heavenly officials was inspired by TGCF, since TMAAF is a stealth crossover with the world of Heaven Official’s Blessing. TMAAF exists within the same universe because I wanted Lan Xichen to reunite with Nie Mingjue before his death, but after his time on the mortal plane was over.

6. The land-eater was directly inspired by the concept of Wei Wuxian dying from the backlash of destroying the Stygian Tiger Amulet.

It was also inspired by the Yi City arc, for obvious reasons.

7. Wei Wuxian’s interest in medical cultivation and social reform - this felt like a natural path for TMAAF WWX, given his personality.

8. Jiang Cheng’s character arc - most JC & WWX reconciliation fics are not for me, since they tend to focus on Jiang Cheng “forgiving” Wei Wuxian, and not on Jiang Cheng working through his baggage and moving forward by himself. Both brothers are living their own independent lives in TMAAF, and neither of them have unresolved hang-ups about their relationship with each other.

9. Wei Wuxian moving to Lotus Pier - this concept was inspired by Jin Ling’s new status at the end of MDZS. Jin Ling was nowhere near ready to govern a sect on his own, so it made sense for Jiang Cheng to move to Lanling to be with him. In TMAAF, this provided an ideal reason for Wei Wuxian to return to Yunmeng.

10. Wangxian’s relationship dynamic - I didn’t read much uncertainty from them during CQL, so I wanted to write a get-together fic where Wei Wuxian was happy and secure in his friendship with Lan Wangji for an extended period of time before they married/got together.