#also this is my first time drawing Wen Ning!

[illuminchim]

MDZS Kingsman AU.

Is Wen Ning third wheeling? Yes, of course… someone save him

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

At your side [End of Season 2]

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[lgbtlunaverse]

Fandom is so nice to Jiang Cheng's inferiority complex because in reality every single thing he gets accused of is something Wei Wuxian is better at than him.

Jiang Cheng killed Wei Wuxian? Nope. Didn't even get close. Wei Wuxian's own spirits tore him apart before jc could even get there. wwx:1 jc:0

Jiang Cheng tortures people? We get two and a half rumours and a mention from jin ling that jc has 'captured' demonic cultivators before, but who is also apparently confident that just letting wwx run off will kill the issue even though those earlier rumours said ~no one who sandu shengshou captured was ever seen again~

The word jiang cheng uses when he tries to talk big game about 'beating the truth' out of Wei Wuxian's is a word that carries the context of pestering someone to do their homework. Doesn't exactly strike fear into my heart.

Wei Wuxian? Excellent at torture. A prodigy. Did you fucking see what he did to Wen Chao? Dude didn't have fingers anymore because wei wuxian made him eat them. He ripped out his hair, burned his skin off, and then stalked him for several days just to prolong the pain. He forced Wang Lingjiao to bite Wen Chao's dick off and then made her shove a stool leg down her own throat! 10/10, no notes. Absolutely horrifying.

Meanwhile Jiang Cheng's idea of torture is getting a dog to bark at Wei Wuxian for a few seconds. Weak, unoriginal, I bet fairy was literally wagging her tail the whole time. 2-0

Jiang Cheng made the entire cultivation world believe Wei Wuxian was up to no good on the burial mounds and ultimately orchestrated his downfall? lol. lmao, even

It's a big thing in certain corners of the fandom to really zoom in one one particular phrase at the end of chapter 73, where after wwx and jc have their staged duel to make the world believe they hate each other jiang cheng tells everyone wwx has defected and become "a public enemy'' or "an enemy to the cultivation world" or whatever the translation you're familiar with decided upon.

(As an aside, something I really like about this line is that the last half of it is almost exactly the same, like verbatim, as what wwx told him to say. like, the chapter is really hammering home just how much jc is speaking from a script here. wwx tells jc to say "今后魏无羡无论做出什么事，都与云梦江氏无关." and jc says "今后无论此人有何动作，一概与云梦江氏无关" the only meaningful difference is that he says 'this person' instead of wwx's name)

I've seen it said that this bit, the use of 'enemy' was said without wei wuxian's approval, that jc deviated from the script just to hurt his ex-shixiong for leaving him. And that this is what caused all the other clans to turn against wei wuxian. Regardless of if this is what jc and wwx discussed, or if jc had malicious motivations for it (considering my conclusions above, you can guess where i fall) it doesn't really matter, because the novel tells us when the clans completely freak out and become convinced wei wuxian is out to get them (though of course they've been wringing their hands about it since the literal day wwx ran off with the wen, months before jiang cheng visited) very neatly in chapter 75!

It's when they find out about Wen Ning.

And how do they find out about Wen Ning?

Because Wei Wuxian took him on nighthunts! And they kicked ass!

...Wei Wuxian, my man, why are you on nighthunts??? Why are you showing off your incredibly cool sentient fierce corpse buddy, who is way better and stronger than all the other fierce corpses, in front of the whole cultivation world??

Whatever his motivations (extra money, maybe?? they were strapped for crash) I can only draw the conclusion wwx had already given up on appearing calm or non-threatening and didn't care if the clans thought he was a threat, because they'd believe whatever they wanted anyway. Which he seems to clearly be aware of the whole time.

Regardless, we know that this is what created the myth of the Yiling patriarch. It's literally when the title first shows up!

Even if you really believe jc was secretly plotting against wwx in chapter 73, he's clearly doing a shit job of it because nothing he said made anywhere near as big an impact as this. Flopped!

The other point people use to argue Jiang Cheng caused wei wuxian's downfall is Jin Guangyao's speech in Guanyin temple about how jiang cheng could have saved wei wuxian if only he stood by him. Setting aside that jin guangyao is trying to get into jiang cheng's head here, and isn't necessarily saying what he really believes (though it very well might be! who knows with a character like jgy. assuming he's always lying is just as misleading as assuming he's always saying the truth) the fact is, if you read the speech closely, what he's talking about is not the 'public enemy' line, he's talking about the bond between them. The fact that people wanted wei wuxian out of yunmeng jiang, because the two were too powerful together.

He's talking about that one time Jiang Cheng very publically kicked wei wuxian out of the sect!

Which, unbeknownst to Jin Guangyao, was in fact Wei Wuxian's idea the whole time.

final score: 3 for you wei wuxian, you go wei wuxian! And nothing for Jiang Cheng bye.

[littlesmartart]

The Man From Y.I.L.I.N.G.

Chapter 1: First Impressions Are Tough

by @eleanorfenyxwrites (with help from @little-smartass)

Mature, Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Lan Huan | Lan Xichen/Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao/Nie Mingjue, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Jiang Yanli/Jin Zixuan, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin & Jiang Yanli & Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao, Lan Huan | Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Jiang Yanli, Lan Qiren, Mo Xuanyu, Jin Guangshan, Wen Ruohan, Wen Ning, Wēn Qíng, Luo "Mian Mian" Qingyang, Jin Zixuan, Qín Sù

The Man From U.N.C.L.E AU, Spies & Secret Agents, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, but make it mid-1960's cold war China, but handwavey, listen sometimes historical accuracy matters and other times it doesn't, we're just here for a good time, Jin Guangshan's A+ Parenting, The homoeroticism of falling in love with your mark, and also your unwanted mission partner who irritates the shit out of you, please please please don't factcheck anything I say about nuclear technology, we're here for vibes and a good time before anything else

Lan Wangji - well-respected nuclear technology researcher and engineer - has disappeared without a trace and with all of his research in tow. Now, a year after his disappearance, he's been spotted in the company of the mysterious Yiling Laozu, a dark horse in the tenuous field of nuclear weaponry and a name to be feared as the world is at the height of Cold War tensions. As part of an unlikely alliance between their employers, rival special agents Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue must work together to find and rescue Lan Wangji (with his research) and hunt down the Yiling Laozu to put a stop to his work at all costs - but is that really all there is to the story? [A 1960's spy action thriller based on Guy Ritchie's 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.']

you guys I am SO excited to introduce you to the AU that started the friendship between myself and AJ! I was watching TMFU for about the billionth time in january 2023 and as usual my brain was in Make It About Your Blorbos mode, so I wrote up a bullet point summary of how a 3zun AU for the film's narrative could work. I knew I didn't have the historical research chops to pull off what the story deserved, but then I remembered there was someone in the fandom who not only was very comfortable writing long-form fic, but also was excellent at writing fic with a really vivid sense of the time period it's set in - so I sent the AU plot outline to AJ with a message that was more or less, to use The Old Tongue, "free plot bunny to good home". if I remember rightly I think AJ actually went and watched the film that very evening and enthusiastically accepted custody of the AU - since then, they've done the writing, and I've been delightedly cheerleading and drawing art for it. I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as we've enjoyed working on it!

[mdzs-fanon-exposed]

MDZS Fanon VS Canon: 10/?

Wei Wuxian was called the Yiling Patriarch during the Sunshot Campaign

Rating: FANON – CONFLICTING

There is, understandably, a bit of confusion about when Wei Wuxian started to be known as the Yiling Patriarch. For convenience's sake, he's often called by this title throughout many fanwork depictions of the Sunshot Campaign, and/or the period in which he was coreless. This makes sense from an aesthetics perspective, as during this point in his life he was already adopting the persona associated with the Patriarch brand, but in canon, the title was only given to him after he liberated the Wen prisoners.

Put simply, it's not possible for Wei Wuxian to have been called the Yiling Patriarch during the Sunshot Campaign, because by definition the title must have been given to him once he was based out of Yiling – after he liberated the labor camps and set the Wen settlement up in the Burial Mounds. Although Wei Wuxian had been thrown into the Burial Mounds by Wen Chao, ostensibly drawing that connection before the Sunshot Campaign, nobody else (besides some of the Wens) knew at the time.

However, the title was not given to Wei Wuxian immediately after settling in the Burial Mounds. We can actually pinpoint the exact turning point when Wei Wuxian "became" the Yiling Patriarch:

After Wei Wuxian defected from the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng and became the Yiling Patriarch, he’d been in significant conflict with the Lan Clan of Gusu, especially in the months prior to his death. (Seven Seas Ch. 4)

Wei Wuxian was only known as the Yiling Patriarch after his split with Jiang Cheng and the Yumeng Jiang Sect. This means there was a period of time in between the formation of the Wen Settlement and Wei Wuxian's defection, in which Wei Wuxian was living in the Burial Mounds but was NOT yet publicly known as the "big bad evil cultivator" Yiling Patriarch.

We also know the first time the words "Yiling Patriarch" are mentioned chronologically:

None of the fierce corpses Wei Wuxian had ordered to patrol the foot of the mountain actively attacked anyone—the most they did was hurl them away with teeth bared in a snarl. No one was ever hurt. And so, more and more people crowded at the foot of the Burial Mounds. Wei Wuxian once saw a long pennant in the distance, emblazoned with the title “The Supreme Evil Yiling Patriarch,” and spat out an entire mouthful of fruit wine at the sight. (Seven Seas Ch. 17)

This implies that the title of "Yiling Patriarch" was formulated not by anyone in the cultivation world who saw Wei Wuxian as a threat, but by the common people who idolized him. The title could have then spread to members of cultivation sects, who adopted the common name.

In fact, the next time we see a reference to the title is when the Jiang siblings secretly meet with Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning, and Jiang Cheng uses it to tease Wei Wuxian:

“Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were still standing inside the courtyard. Jiang Cheng raised his bowl. “To the Yiling Patriarch.” “Hearing the title reminded Wei Wuxian of that long pennant fluttering shamelessly in the wind, and his mind was filled with its huge dazzling words: “The Supreme Evil Yiling Patriarch.” “Shut up!” he said.” ... He finished the rest of his soup in a single mouthful and stood. “Impressive. Amazing. As expected of the Yiling Patriarch.” Wei Wuxian spat out a piece of bone. “Are you done?” (Seven Seas Ch. 17)

Meaning while the title spread incredibly fast, it was not taken seriously (by Wei Wuxian, at least) for at least a short period of time while the rumors surrounding Wei Wuxian were building up. Notably, Wei Wuxian does not associate himself with the title.

My interpretation of why this happened is that during the period that Wei Wuxian was still part of the Jiang Clan, his actions were seen as representative of – or at least the responsibility of – the Jiangs. Regardless of whether the cultivation world knew he was working alone, as it were, he was still beholden to a sect who had power over him. Wei Wuxian would not have been seen as a "patriarch" in his own right.

After the defection, however, Wei Wuxian was an unknown in terms of affiliation, and thus a potential threat. With the rumors about him already beginning to paint him as evil and unstable, combined with the fact that he was going on public night hunts with Wen Ning, he quickly became notorious:

After stealing the show at several Night Hunts, quite a few people came knocking, drawn by admiration of his reputation and in hopes of joining the “Grandmaster” to become disciples under his banner. (Seven Seas Ch. 17)

Thus, the title of "Yiling Patriarch" would have only been popularized once it was assumed that Wei Wuxian wanted to start his own sect. This would have only exacerbated the hypothetical threat that Wei Wuxian was to the cultivation world as well, and contributed to his mythologizing as a quintessential sort of boogieman. This is actually an excellent example of a major theme in MDZS, of how quickly rumors can cause severe harm.

In the end, regardless of how or by whom the title was created, Wei Wuxian was only (unwillingly) given the title of Yiling Patriarch after he defected from the Jiangs.

[eleanorfenyxwrites]

WIP Wednesday

I don’t think I’m ever going to do anything with this as far as putting it on AO3 goes, but I also don’t want to just keep sitting on it forever. So, in honor of Tears of the Kingdom’s release and the fact that it now thoroughly owns my ass, here are character descriptions I wrote for all the main characters of my Breath of the Wild AU fic (I tried to make them sound like the way characters and missions etc are described in the game, and I so wish I could draw fun portraits to go along with each one 😅 ah well, have the descriptions at least! They’re done in order of appearance within the fic.)

—//—

THE OLD MAN - A mysterious man dressed in white. He seems to know you, though his tale is light on personal details.

LAN QIREN - [The Old Man] The former leader of the Gusu Lan. Now stationed at the Yiling Burial Mounds to oversee the Hero’s recovery, his task has been to maintain the wards around the mountain and in doing so protect both the Hero and his people from the dangers of the lingering ghosts. Uncle to the Twin Jades Zewu-Jun and Hanguang-Jun, and Grand-Uncle to the current Gusu Lan Sect Leader.

WEN NING - The Ghost General. A young, soft spoken man dressed in black, with veins of resentful energy climbing his neck. His nervous mannerisms don’t quite hide the sense of power and inhuman strength that is characteristic of many Wen cultivators. The Ghost General has a habit of appearing unexpectedly and in utter silence, though usually with some sort of helpful hint to share. Brother to Wen Qing.

WEN QING - The Ghost Doctor. A quick and fiercely intelligent young woman who wields her doctors’ instruments like daggers. Though not as physically imposing as her brother Wen Ning, her sharp tongue more than makes up the difference. Once Wen Ruohan’s primary physician, there are no higher authorities on the effects of resentful energy poisoning. Sister to Wen Ning.

LAN JINGYI - Gusu Lan’s first disciple. Lan Jingyi is known and loved for his boisterous good humor and unfailing, lifelong commitment to minor acts of mischief. A member of the self-proclaimed Young Immortals, he earned immortality as a young man during a fight against the wakening Yiling Laozu less than two decades after the Scourge.

LAN SIZHUI - The current Gusu Lan Sect Leader is known by cultivators and civilians alike for his gentle demeanor and clear sense of justice without cruelty. A member of the self-proclaimed Young Immortals, he cultivated immortality as a young man under his father’s and uncle’s tutelage. He took up the mantle of Sect Leader following Zewu-Jun’s retreat into seclusion to pilot the Lan Divine Beast, Shuoyue.

LAN XICHEN - Also known as Zewu-Jun, Lan Xichen is Gusu Lan’s former Sect Leader and the current pilot of Divine Beast Shuoyue. His power and control are unmatched in the cultivation world by any except his brother, the famed Hanguang-Jun. As the de facto leader of the four Champions, Zewu-Jun arranged the sworn brotherhood between himself, Jin Guangyao, and Nie Mingjue, and suggested Jiang Wanyin for the fourth Champion. He cultivated immortality upon creating a spiritual bond with the other Champions and sharing their qi to begin piloting their Divine Beasts full-time some seventy years ago.

OUYANG ZIZHEN - A spirited, handsome youth who travels the world to find inspiration for his paintings and interesting news to share with his mentor. Prone to fits of romantic fantasy, he also has a habit of spinning wild tales that help him sell his work wherever he goes. A member of the self-proclaimed Young Immortals, he cultivated immortality under Nie Huaisang’s tutelage, though neither of them will reveal how it was accomplished.

NIE HUAISANG - Current leader of the Qinghe Nie. He’s enthusiastically friendly, as many Nie are, though unlike the rest of his Sect Nie Huaisang is physically unassuming. Though notorious for not engaging with Sect matters any more than necessary, his care for his people and ability to respond perfectly to any crisis has endeared him such that no one has once challenged his position as leader of the most war-ready Sect. He is the youngest of the Sunshot Immortals, though it remains unclear when or how he cultivated his immortality.

NIE MINGJUE - Also known as Chifeng-Zun, Nie Mingjue is the former leader of the Qinghe Nie and the current pilot of Divine Beast Baxia. His deep sense of justice and prowess in battle is well known by cultivators and civilians alike. Despite being the eldest of the sworn brotherhood, he has never questioned Lan Xichen’s right to lead the Champions in the fight against Yiling Laozu. He is a powerhouse of qi for the other three, though his connection with resentful energy is a hidden weak point that threatens all four Champions should he become overwhelmed by the fierce saber spirit Baxia.

JIN LING - The heir to Lanling Jin and the current temporary leader of Yunmeng Jiang. Jin Ling takes his position as his uncle’s steward on the Lotus Throne very seriously, very rarely allowing outsiders to interfere in Sect matters. He’s a proud young man who does not accept help easily, though he will bend, on occasion, for his friends. The youngest member of the self-proclaimed Young Immortals, Jin Ling cultivated immortality with the help of his uncle before taking up the mantle of Acting Sect Leader of Yunmeng Jiang.

JIANG WANYIN - Also known as Sandu Shengshou, Jiang Wanyin is the leader of Yunmeng Jiang and pilot of Divine Beast Sandu. Though younger than the rest of the Champions, he has a fearsome reputation perfectly matched by his lightning-quick temper and brutal intolerance for wickedness. Under his rule, the wild and free spirited Jiang have also become fiercely independent, (nearly to their detriment).

JIN GUANGSHAN - As Chief Cultivator, his Excellency has ruled the cultivation world since the aftermath of the Sunshot Campaign. Though the other leaders of the Great Sects elected to create their Divine Beasts and become Champions, Jin Guangshan abstained and elected his son for the honor instead - a move which many in the cultivation world criticized, but his position has remained too secure for their grumbling to change much.

XUE YANG - A young man once devoted to revenge who was turned into a fierce corpse in a poor imitation of the original work of the Yiling Laozu in reanimating Wen Ning. He was set loose in the dungeons beneath Jinlintai as a means to torment Jin Guangyao, his resentments and never ending thirst for revenge driving him to seek out his once-savior wherever he may be hiding.

JIN GUANGYAO - Also known as Lianfang-Zun, Jin Guangyao is Jin Guangshan’s right hand - and the only illegitimate child the Lanling Jin Sect Leader is willing to formally acknowledge. Of the four Champions, his core is the weakest, but what he lacks in formal training he makes up for with cunning and ruthless efficiency. Despite his father’s attempts to drive him to madness, Jin Guangyao has not only kept (enough of) his sanity to remain in control of his Divine Beast Hensheng, but also remains the best strategist of the cultivation world. Jin Guangyao cultivated immortality alongside his fellow Champions upon pooling their qi to pilot their Beasts seventy years ago.

MO XUANYU - A young boy who was whisked away from the uncertain care of his mother’s family to live and train in Jinlintai. His fascination with Demonic Cultivation saved him from expulsion when he showed little talent for traditional methods, but it was also ultimately his downfall. Mo Xuanyu sacrificed his life to give his core and the energy of his body to the Hero of Time to aid in his resurrection. What remains of him is now the Demon corrupting Divine Beast Hensheng and tormenting the Jin Champion, Jin Guangyao.

LAN WANGJI - Also known as Hanguang-Jun, Lan Wangji was the first of the Champions to retreat into seclusion when it became clear that the Tiger Amulet would only grow stronger with time. He has kept Yiling Laozu’s creation carefully suppressed as much as possible without destroying it, though only he knows that its continued existence has been a conscious choice. In the years since the beginning of his seclusion, he has become something of a deity to the local people protected by his sacrifice; each city, town, and village contains at least one shrine dedicated to Hanguang-Jun which the civilians pray to for strength.

[shiftysheep]

what the heck, i'll give it a shot! i like arguing for the sake of arguing sometimes

ok! so, let's do this chronologically:

the first big one that I remember is the aftermath of the invasion of lotus pier when jc strangled wwx.

+ wwx could be seen as equally responsible for that incident because he didn't fight back at all, just lied there and took it

+ for one of the most promising cultivators of his generation, wwx could've made jc stop if he wanted to, even if he was already injured and under a lot of mental stress and anguish

+ jc was also under a lot of mental strain! and he was literally a minor so..........

2. the second major incident is the golden core debacle

+ simple enough. jc saw that wwx was in danger and decided to draw attention away from where wwx was and onto himself instead.

+ if wwx paid more attention to his surroundings and was a little more vigilant then this whole thing wouldn't have happened

+ wwx and wen ning rescuing jc was just making things even and in no way adds any debts to jc

+ in fact, wen ning and wen qing only got involved in the first place because of wwx and the bond he formed with wen ning

+ i would argue that any and all debts due to the wen siblings are squarely on wwx's shoulders as he was the one that they were really trying to help. jc was just the method they used to aid him

+ also, jc was either knocked out or in a depressive state during this whole thing so he didn't really remember them doing anything

+ everyone knows that if you don't witness someone help you, then you can just reap the benefits of that help and don't have to acknowledge them or their role in acquiring it

3. wartime? like the start of wwx's decline in reputation

+ wwx is responsible for his own actions and its not jc's fault that people talk shit about him

+ the guy was being creepy and challenging the social hierarchy

+ maybe try getting born as a higher class citizen next time if you don't want people to turn on you

+ perfect example: jc! what a guy! role model to us all. i heard he even killed the dreaded yiling patriarch!! what a hero

4. being unsupportive after the war but prior to the hunt

+ wwx didn't tell him that he didn't have a golden core! how could jc have known that there was a reason wwx was refusing to pick up his sword and do his dang job

+this is really on wwx. my guy should've practiced healthy communication skills and told his beloved sect leader what was up

5. phoenix mountain hunt suicide joke when wwx said he wanted to ask lwj for his ribbon

+ yeah that wasn't cool we'll take the L

+ but!! a man is the product of his upbringing (according to some schools of thought) Therefore! this shitty attempt at humor isn't really jc's fault, but that of his parents and teachers

+ shame on them for making such a bright young man say such a bad thing

(i feel like i'm forgetting things but shhh no i'm not)

6. confrontation and subsequent denouncement at the burial mounds

+ wwx agreed to leave the jiang at his own accord! he practically volunteered for it

+that would hurt anyone's feelings

+ wwx also agreed to the duel, itself

+ as a combat veteran, he should've known that sometimes things get out of hand in the heat of battle. so, really, getting stabbed in the gut was his own fault.

+ he knew the risks!

+ jc did say that wwx called himself the enemy of the cultivation world when wwx did not actually say that

+ however! this whole charade was created to help save face for the jiang! which could only be accomplished if they were righteous for kicking him out of their sect

+ if wwx didn't want to be villainized he should've made that clearer to jc before agreeing to put this plan in motion

7. wedding and one month celebration invitations

+ if wwx wanted to go so bad, maybe he shouldn't have stuck his neck out for a group of people he barely even knew

+ the man claims to love his shijie but wouldn't even make the tiny sacrifice of 50 strangers (probably evil!! strangers) to attend her wedding or meet her son

+ not very loving behavior, if you ask me

8. siege of the burial mounds

+ this ones easy. wwx brought it on himself

+ he literally killed jc's sister and her husband

+ what was he supposed to do? forgive and forget? yeah right. who do you think he is? jiang fengmian?

+ eye for an eye, baybeee

9. post death hunting, torturing, and killing of "demonic" cultivators

+ grief does strange things to a man, what do you want from me

+ if wwx never died then jc never would've hunted down, tortured, and killed all those people

+ so this is really just wwx's fault when you think about it

10. post resurrection whipping, threatening with dogs, etc

+ if wwx just told the truth about who he was then maybe jc wouldn't have whipped him

+ but wwx decided to lie to jc's face and now we'll never know

+ wwx should've gotten over his fear of dogs. he's not a kid anymore and should face his fears.

+ jc is just trying to help him get desensitized. not his fault if the readers can't see his actions for what they are

+ burial mounds siege part two: electric bugaloo

+ jc's nephew was literally kidnapped. completely understandable behavior

+ being a little harsh during wwx's visit to lotus pier

+ wwx decided to come to lotus pier all on his own. he could've waited outside and had lwj tell him the deets after the meeting was over but nooooo he just had to come in and wander around

+ he was judging jc's improvements to the town and damaging trees and entering buildings like some kind of tourist. how disrespectful! jc was right to call him out

11. i can't think of anything else :P

+ i don't have any passages right now because i don't own the books and can't access the internet archive (sad). but rest assured! when i regain access! i will find correlating passages to support my arguments!! and they will definitely not be ambiguous at best!!

(just to be clear, i don't actually stand by the words i've said, i was just trying to create an argument for jc stans. please don't be mean to me lol this is one hill i don't want to die on)

Now see, I am interested as to what flaws made Wei Wuxian as "at fault" to Jiang Cheng as to what Jiang Cheng did to him.

I am very open to anyone of you in this tag to provide these passages to me that frame it as such.

Take 2.0 for this request

[lansplaining]

Why did JGY make trouble for Jim Zixuan on the night Wen Ning killed him by accident? I didn’t understand that part of the novel/cql.

i've talked about this before, but a) I can't find it because tumblr and b) I'm always really excited to talk about it again, because clarifying this moment really made such a huge difference in my understanding of JGY's character. also as soon as i started really digging in, it, uh, became a huge post. sorry.

so my initial instinct was to draw a really sharp delineation between CQL and MDZS, because the second flautist completely changes the tenor of the event. and to a certain extent, it does! CQL JGY had a reasonable expectation that JZX would show up and get killed, because he knew the second flautist could take control of Wen Ning, or at the very least cause things to totally go to hell, hopefully in a way that also resulted in Wei Wuxian being killed. but when it comes to the question of motivation, the two are actually way more aligned than I realized-- it’s simply a case of CQL JGY directing his feelings in a more active (”villainous”) way. 

so, CQL first. when Lan Xichen asks if he “singlehandedly” arranged for Jin Zixuan to die, he says (from the Netflix subs), “It’s true I didn’t run into him by accident.” WWX demands details, and we get a flashback to JGY manipulating Zixuan into going after Jin Zixun. I guess we can assume he had a backup plan for getting him there if this very light-touch tactic didn’t work, but it does seem worth noting that he doesn’t even begin to explicitly suggest that Jin Zixuan should follow-- it’s really an amazing display of how JGY has gotten to know and understand Zixuan a million times better than Zixuan (who literally suggests that JGY should have tried to stop Zixun...... Zixuan please have you observed your family dynamics at all) has bothered to get to know JGY. Then we cut to Su Mishan playing the flute as JGY plays the guqin (remote control evil music??) and the implication seems to be that ‘kill Zixuan’ was directly part of the musical instruction Wen Ning received. 

okay, so, as Jin Ling immediately asks (and can we give props to the mix of anger and sadness and disbelief and betrayal of the very obvious love and trust he has in JGY in his performance!!!)-- why? 

JGY (after tearfully reaching for Jin Ling’s face and then recoiling!!! this scene makes me crazy!!!!) replies: “Why? A-Ling. Could you please tell me why? Tell me. Why do I put a smile on my face for everyone, yet I won’t necessarily receive the lowest form of respect in return while your father, who was arrogant and self-important, was sought after by people? Can you tell me why, even though we shared the same father, your dad could spend the day at home at leisure, with the love of his life and playing with his child, while I had to be deployed by my father by blood to do all the dirty work without even getting the slightest appreciation? Why is it that even though we were born on the same day, Jin Guangshan could host a grand banquet for one son and meanwhile, watch with his own eyes how his subordinate kicked his other son down the Carp Tower? He asked his man to kick me down the Carp Tower from the top of the stairs to the very end. A-Ling, now you tell me, why did all these things happen to me?

I believe this is our first time learning this story from JGY’s own mouth, and the first time we see the flashback of him actually being kicked down the stairs while JGS looks on. 

He concludes: “It is not that I do not want to be a good man. To this father of mine, I once had hopes as well. In the past, as long as it was his command, no matter if it was to set Wei Wuxian up or to protect Xue Yang, no matter how foolish it was, how much hatred I would get, I would obey without hesitation. A-Ling, do you know what it was that made me lose hope completely? It wasn’t that in his eyes I was less than nothing to him when compared to Jin Zixuan, or that he took back Mo Xuanyu, or that he wouldn’t even let me hold you, or that he tried every possible way to make me a mere figurehead.” 

by this point, he’s totally forgotten about JZX and we’re basically back onto why he killed JGS.

as for MDZS! from the ExR translation because that's uh the screencap I have saved from last time lol

then, WWX asks why, if that’s the case, he had to kill JZX, and JGY gives a sassy reply that basically dodges the question. 

so, in typical JGY fashion in this scene, he starts out with the pettiest and most uncharitable interpretation of his own actions, the one he seems to expect people will most readily accept and jump to. but as he goes on, it gets a little more complex. 

the thing that he barely touches in either version but is very distinctly present-- and that totally poleaxed me the first time I noticed it-- is that Jin Guangshan had ordered him to kill Wei Wuxian. and his very reasonable response to this is, 'okay, but literally how???' 

the CQL version hammers home way more than MDZS, because of where and how it reveals information, that JGY is undoubtedly fueled by envy and resentment of JZX and the fact that he has the life JGY feels like he deserved. like MDZS, this bleeds into thinking about his dad, and MDZS ultimately lays it out for us (if we believe that line of narration) that it was really about hating JGS and not Zixuan at all. i think CQL’s arrangement of information nudges things back a little more to the envy argument, but it does so in a way where we’re given new, sympathetic information about JGY all in a rush, and shown it in flashback so that it can really actively hit. and I think the reactions we get from the characters who hear this are kind of sympathetic! they’re clearly extremely conflicted about this whole situation, but no one is reacting with outright disbelief or disgust. i think this works well in the world with a second flautist (my feelings about that plot device are for a different time, but you can guess, I’m sure)-- more active resentment of Zixuan specifically leads to him deciding more actively to murder Zixuan, not just try and make life hard for him in a way that will likely lead to violence, but not inevitably death. 

so this is how I interpret JGY's thought process in the moment he sent Zixuan to follow Wei Wuxian: he has been ordered to kill WWX, and presumably told to use his journey to or time at Koi Tower for the 100 Days Ceremony to do it. JGY recognizes that this is probably impossible, and definitely impossible without causing massive collateral damage. his resentment of Jin Zixuan hits a boiling point at this-- on top of everything else, their father is happy to basically send JGY to his death to attempt this assassination while JZX gets to happily plan a party for his baby and not think about these things at all. he thinks, “wouldn't it be nice if JZX had to deal with these problems for once,” and decides “fuck it, let's see what happens” (or, in CQL, “fuck it, let’s get rid of him”). in MDZS, he has no way of knowing that JZX or indeed anyone else would be killed, though I think he's not so naive as to think that violence isn't a likely outcome-- though one has to say that the form of violence that did take place was pretty unexpected to everyone involved! Zixuan’s a strong cultivator, he could have survived most normal fights, probably even against a normal Wen Ning. but as an active fratricide attempt, it's way too contingent and uncontrolled. 

in MDZS, at the end of the day, I think that JGY was just really angry, wanted some petty revenge, and decided to see what would happen if JZX was in his place for once. the tenor in CQL is only slightly different: he actively chooses to try and get Zixuan killed, but the emotional push is the same, and I do think is likewisesomething that just comes together in the moment from a combination of the immediate problem (I’m meant to kill WWX before he gets here) and immediate circumstances (fuck JZX and his nice little baby shower while I have to assassinate the most powerful cultivator in the world). 

[admirableadmiranda]

I feel like the view on lwj that he was lacking before he met wwx or fell in love is somewhat unfair and dismissive of his complexity as a character

I completely agree, anon. There has been a sad trend lately where people are now blaming Lan Wangji for not being perfect enough for Wei Wuxian, claiming that it's only on him that things didn't happen sooner and that he should have done more.

Lan Wangji is the deutoroganist of the story. The one who has the most focus and growth outside of the protagonist. He is astoundingly well-rounded and from those very first days in the Cloud Recesses, fascinating enough to draw and keep Wei Wuxian's attention on him even without meaning to. And that's at fifteen. When he's still a young sprout just beginning to really come into himself.

Meeting Wei Wuxian definitely changed him in many ways, that's undeniable, but it wasn't like he was a blank canvas before that, just a sheltered boy who is so very good beneath the mask he puts up. He goes out and does things just because he can, setting out with plenty of time to walk to a lotus pond to try them with stems on because Wei Wuxian said they were good and ends up being too late because he keeps stopping to help people. He is titled by the common people for being so good that he keeps going out of his way to help them in the middle of a war. Even without Wei Wuxian he would have done this.

What Wei Wuxian really does for him is help him see that anyone is capable of being that righteous, of being that good. They are equals, they are both morally upright, they are both kind, they are both forgiving and able to see people as more than their worst decisions consistently. He is optimistic and chooses to believe that people will be better when given the chance.

He lacked the full world experience to see exactly what was happening in Wei Wuxian's first life until it was too late, but he didn't let that crush that optimism in him. He never turned his back on the world or his family despite their actions because he is not that person. It is a difficult thing to do, yet he walks that line gracefully and lives a life that anyone would not be ashamed to have lived by the end. He teaches a group of bright, open children who will make the future better by also believing in the world. None of these were things that he wouldn't have been able to do had he never met Wei Wuxian.

This is going to sound so odd based off of some of my older metas and arguments and I hope I can convey what I mean well enough to explain the difference, but I think there are sections of the fanbase that have leaned too far in the wrong direction again with Wei Wuxian. Sure he's no longer being written as a stupid chaos gremlin who can't do anything and actively makes things worse, but now he's starting to lose his personality traits that make him more interesting than most heroes like his kindness and desire to tease, giving him other people's strong morals and claiming that he cannot stand anyone who is not as morally pure as he is. Which is just wrong, he is not some avenging angel of justice. He is a man, a man who has made mistakes and has regrets and would choose things differently, who doesn't blame people for being human.

People are starting to knock down Lan Wangji to throw Wei Wuxian on a pedestal of godhood that he doesn't deserve and wouldn't want. They transform the people around him into either devoted peons who have also never committed a single transgression in their lives or repentant sinners who he magnaminously forgives their mistakes and allows them to stand in his shadow. It is a disservice to the people he chooses to surround him - Wen Ning commits treason and even betrays Wei Wuxian by spilling one of his secrets to his former sect leader, Wen Qing is just as smothering a big sister as Jiang Yanli or Lan Xichen ever were, yet those traits are ignored because they are seen as the perfect innocent victims, the Wens being cultivators is erased in favor of making them sad poor farmers who were unjustly persecuted and never held a weapon, weakening the strength of Wei Wuxian's decision to protect them because no one should be condemned for their name or their family. People bash Lan Xichen, Jiang Yanli, now Lan Wangji too for apparently being not supportive enough, not perfect enough for him to care about them, but that has never ever been Wei Wuxian's thought process on the people he chooses in his life.

I don't like it, anon. I don't like that people erase Wei Wuxian himself because his actual choices don't match with their illusion of his godhood. I don't like that people put down Lan Wangji for not being perfect enough when that was never the point. I don't like that people act like he somehow deserves to be ascended based off of prestige when it literally goes against things he directly says in the text.

You are right. It is unfair and dismisses Lan Wangji's character. And unfortunately the people pushing Wei Wuxian to overshadow everyone are the ones responsible because in the process of making him brilliant, they blot him out entirely.

When I joined, it was people feeling bad that Wei Wuxian didn't see Lan Wangji's brilliance. Now it is people complaining that Lan Wangji isn't good enough for Wei Wuxian. After a whole novel about how that doesn't actually matter because they never judged or blamed each other for any of the things that came between them and would never want someone to lift them up at the expense of the other. Wangxian adore each other so much.

And when I see it on either side, it just makes me so mad.

Thank you for the ask!

[liziocit]

"Ning-shushu, have I done it right?" Lan Sizhui asked, sceptical.

He was drawing and labelling the human body. Ning-shushu said that knowing the anatomy of the body was one of the foundations of healing.

It wasn't perfect but it was better than it looked before, when he had just told Wen Ning he wanted to learn the methods of the healing Wen.

At the time, Wen Ning had been stunned to silence while his eyes were open without any blinking for some time. He wasn't so well versed with his uncle's tells at the time but right now he knew that Wen Ning had felt like crying.

From that time onwards, Lan Sizhui would sneak off to Wen Ning's residence and learn about healing.

"It looks good, you remind me of my jie actually,"

"Really? How come?"

Wen Ning smiled slightly and said,"She used to draw her bones the same way you do, curved slightly but very precise,"

Lan Sizhui blushed, it was high praise when you're compared to the best doctor of a generation.

Wen Ning took out a diagram he had done specifically for the day, it was the ribcage drawn by Senior Wei. Senior Wei was the one who encouraged these lessons in the first place too, Hanguang-Jun as well. He gave resources from the Lan library and Senior Wei made some of their lesson materials like the diagrams and practical structures.

He could see why they did.

Overall, these lessons were both educational and personal to him. He was reconnecting with his heritage as a Wen and also spending more quality time with his uncle.

Lan Sizhui was glad.

[corduroyserpent]

Rules: pick any ten of your fics, scroll to the midpoint, pick a line (or three) and share it. Then tag ten people.

I was tagged by @monroeknoxwrites 💖💖💖 and i will also be doing a little more than 3 lines because i can’t help myself asdfghjkl

where sighing lovers dream [Hua Cheng/Xie Lian | 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 / Tiān Guān Cì Fú | E rated | 16.2k]

“I have dreamt of kissing you countless times,” Hua Cheng whispered. The crackle of flames nearly overpowered his voice. “But not once did I ever imagine your lips were this soft.” He swallowed, eye trained on Xie Lian’s mouth. “And so skilled.”

“I’ve had lots of practice,” Xie Lian laughed, his cheeks dusted pink. Seeing his beloved’s eye go dark, Xie Lian hastily added – “With you! I have only ever kissed San Lang. Which I know must be confusing to hear but just trust me.”

in pursuit of warmth [Tianlang-jun & Zhuzhi-lang | 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 / The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System | M rated | 7.4k]

Zhuzhi-lang knows what it is to be angry. And to be helpless, unable to do anything about the feelings that twist his stomach into knots.

But he is no longer a wretched thing, slithering in the dark. A creature trapped in Bailu Forest, desperately taking sips from a hidden lake that burns with celestial light.

He and Junshang are free.

i’ll remember this time [Jiang Cheng/Nie Huaisang | 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 / Módào Zǔshī | M rated | 10.1k]

Nie Huaisang had fallen asleep during the monotonous recitation of the rules, sometime between ‘sitting improperly is prohibited’ and ‘do not indulge in debauchery’ by Jiang Cheng’s best guess. His head laid on the desk, dark hair spilled down his cheeks and pooled over his book of notes. It was more of a series of intimate drawings than anything learned from the daily lectures but Jiang Cheng saw at least one notation from yesterday’s class between a sketch of two men kissing passionately, so he decided to be generous.

catch the fickle wind [Wen Ning/Zhuzhi-lang | 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 / The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System & 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 / Módào Zǔshī | T rated | 5.4k]

“All right, all right. Such a filial nephew to bring this many gifts back for me. I wonder what you’ll pull out of your sleeves next, a secret friend or lover perhaps?”

An image of Wen Ning bowing, of dark veins and dead skin and an uneven smile, comes unbidden to Zhuzhi-lang’s mind. He shakes his thoughts free with no small amount of effort.

as below, so above [Hua Cheng/Xie Lian | 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 / Tiān Guān Cì Fú | E rated | 11.1k]

Hua Cheng falls back into his oft sung prayer, tilting his head towards an unforgiving sky: wait for me, wait for me, wait for me.

And then he issues a challenge to thirty-five gods. Those pathetic excuses for divinity whose faces Hua Cheng has made sure to sear into the corner of his mind that holds wretched things. He’s painted them too. Over and over.

They have since been scraped from the walls of his cave to become blank faces sitting atop the formless idea of bodies. He cannot let them stay. The only disgusting visage that belongs there is himself.

When I Was Older [Hua Cheng/Xie Lian | 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 / Tiān Guān Cì Fú | E rated | 67.5k]

“Don’t run off.” Feng Xin clenched his jaw, eyes trained seriously on Xie Lian. “We can do this together but Your Highness, I’m begging you, don’t fuck off to fight him alone. I can’t live through that again.”

Xie Lian’s blood ran cold.

Of course Feng Xin would worry about that. Xie Lian had been missing for two months after all.

In Shadow of the Sun [Gongyi Xiao/Zhuzhi-lang | 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 / The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System | T rated | 4.7k]

“I got second place,” Gongyi Xiao frowns. “That’s never happened before… but I feel it’s wrong to complain since the person who came in first has since perished. I’ll get over it, it’s not a big deal.” His mouth purses in a way that clearly indicates the opposite. He then rushes to add, “My issues, I mean, not his death!”

Zhuzhi-lang refrains from commenting, mostly because his tongue can’t form human speech. And only partly because he’s distracted by the radiance Gongyi Xiao exudes even in the shade, even bogged down by sorrow. This young man is somehow bright. His intangible glow is vibrant, impossible to ignore and yet…it causes no pain.

you kiss your snake with that mouth? [Shen Qingqiu/Zhuzhi-lang | 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 / The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System | E rated | 3.1k]

“Ah” —Zhuzhi-lang grasps Shen Qingqiu’s waist— “Master Shen, you…”

“Are you sensitive here too?”

“Mn.” Zhuzhi-lang’s pupils have dilated, expanding from thin black slits into a near roundness. His grip tightens. Shen Qingqiu can feel the bite of sharp nails through the fabric. “Is…is Master Shen also sensitive?” One of his hands slides beneath to splay against Shen Qingqiu’s stomach; it’s warmer than expected. “Can this one touch?”

i shine only with the light you gave me [Tianlang-jun & Zhuzhi-lang | 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 / The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System | T rated | currently 26.6k]

Tianlang-jun doesn’t realize he’s awake at first.

Awareness of his body sets in slowly—the feel of his spine against the bed frame, the familiar ever-present ache of his healing meridians, a crick in his neck from the improper way he had fallen asleep.

Then Su Xiyan. Her voice, almost forgotten. The deep black of her hair and her favorite set of robes and her eyes. How she smiles like she knows she shouldn’t give in to the temptation. How her hand has a little scar along the palm where she cut herself the first time she picked up a blade. He wants to see her again; he wants to feel the calluses on her fingers and listen to her talk. He wants, he wants, he wants.

resilient flower; ascending flame (and other things that can survive burning) [Hua Cheng/Xie Lian | 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 / Tiān Guān Cì Fú | T rated | currently 19.9k]

“How can I not worry? What if your wound gets infected or—”

“I’m already dead.” It’s a simple fact and San Lang says it as such. Like he’s commenting on the weather. But those words throw Xie Lian back into another time, another place where something similar was said. He swallows, not quite sure where he is for a very brief moment. Ruoye nudges its way down his arm to curl around his thumb. Xie Lian rubs the soft edge of his weapon with the pad of his index finger.

“Being dead,” he says quietly, “doesn’t mean you can’t be in pain.”

and i’ll tag @livingmeatloaf and @luukeskywalker ALSO ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO DO IT SORRY I’M BEING LAZY ABOUT TAGGING BUT THIS POST IS LONG ASDFGHJK

[robininthelabyrinth]

CQL-Verse: Wen Ning did a whole lot of risky stuff saving JC and the bodies at Lotus Pier. What if NMJ hears and gets talked into helping protect him and the Wen remnants by the Jiang bros, because even if he's a wen, he still 1. whole ass poisoned wen chao 2. straight up commited treason and was punished for it to protect sect heirs and 3. is extremely baby brotherable. you can fit so much h/c into this bad boy

ao3

Untamed

1

Wen Qing was angry about the trials, but Wen Ning thought they made a reasonable amount of sense.

After all, how was the rest of the cultivation world supposed to know what they did in the war without a proper trial? It was only reasonable for them to make certain assumptions about them based on their surname, the same way everyone assumed that those surnamed Jin were rich, those surnamed Lan were beautiful, those surnamed Jiang were bold to the point of arrogance…

The Nie were supposedly known for their tempers, but Wen Ning hadn’t seen much evidence of that so far.

In fairness, his only experiences with a Nie were, firstly, with Nie Huaisang at the Cloud Recesses, which he was fairly sure didn’t count, and now, during the trial, with Nie Mingjue.

Nie Mingjue laughed the entire trial.

“You poisoned the wine,” he sniggered. “At their own celebratory feast…! And then you just went straight to Yiling, where your sister was in charge. And it still took him how long to find you?”

“Weeks,” Wen Ning meekly admitted.  

“Can we go back to the bit where you saved Wei-xiong from the giant dog beast using stolen needles?” Nie Huaisang asked.

“No, we cannot,” Nie Mingjue’s deputy – a somewhat long-suffering looking man that they all called Meng Yao – said. “He’s already gone over it four times, Huaisang.”

“But –”

“No.”

“Spoilsport! Look at how much fun da-ge’s having; it’s not fair.”

“He’s the sect leader. If he wants to hoot like a shrieking monkey, he’s entitled to it.”

“I’m not hooting,” Nie Mingjue protested. “I am recognizing talent.”

“Talent.”

“Exactly. Talent.”

“At…what, exactly?”

“Causing trouble,” Nie Huaisang volunteered. “I recognize it from Wei-xiong, I could spot it anywhere.”

“Could we possibly proceed with the trial?” Meng Yao asked, obviously deciding not to continue with that discussion. “We have six more to finish today. Can I assume that given the evidence of Wen-gongzi’s subversive activities and his subsequent imprisonment throughout much of the Sunshot Campaign, he is absolved of all crimes and allowed to go free?”

“You spoilsport,” Nie Mingjue said, rolling his eyes at him. “Yes, I think so. Wen Qionglin, you are free to go your own way – though if you wish to stay here in Qinghe as a guest cultivator, we would be glad to have you for however long you wish.”

Wen Ning thought that sounded all right.

2

The Nie sect were known for their tempers, and justly so, but Wen Ning quickly figured out that he didn’t need to be afraid of Nie Mingjue’s occasional outbursts (quickly roused, quickly doused) or Nie Huaisang’s temper tantrums (petty) and occasional grudge-holding (rarer but much more dangerous).

No, Wen Ning figured out very quickly in his first weeks that the one to be afraid of was clearly Meng Yao.

Wen Ning had been weak and sickly his whole life in a sect that valued strength above all; he had survived hiding behind his sister, but she couldn’t always be there for him, no matter how she tried. He’d soon learned that surviving on his own meant being quiet and obedient, never making trouble or drawing attention to himself, and it also meant being extremely attuned to the minute expressions that might signal the difference between Wen Chao being angry enough to throwing a teacup at his head and being angry enough to order him to be taken outside and beaten until unconscious.

The same skills helped him in the Nie sect, where people were very often angry. Wen Ning could tell the difference between Nie Mingjue raging to let out steam (moderately common and generally innocuous, easily ignored) and being actually upset (typically only dangerous to the furniture, which was a nice change, but more worrisome in the sense that he might go and do something stupid afterwards), and he could tell that Nie Huaisang’s true anger, so rarely triggered, tended more towards the cold and hidden (definitely a sign he was going to do something, but unfortunately for everyone involved it’d invariably be far more malicious - enough to make you long for stupid).

He could tell that Meng Yao was, despite all his smiles, very often angry.

Like Nie Mingjue, Meng Yao’s temper was easily roused to the point of fury; like Nie Huaisang, his anger lasted a long time and usually called for some malicious action before it could be properly assuaged.

“Senior Meng,” Wen Ning tentatively said one day when his curiosity got to be too much for him. “Could I ask a rude question?”

Meng Yao’s temper, hidden deep in his eyes, flared at once, preemptively, and Wen Ning shivered and looked down at the ground. He had known what he was risking, but he hoped that asking permission in advance might allow him to get the question out with minimal reprisals – cold meals for a few days, perhaps, or being assigned to the training yard only when the most sadistic training-master was supervising, but only for a week or so.

“Of course, Wen-gongzi,” Meng Yao said, and he sounded nice and pleasant and like no question could possibly be rude enough to cause him any disturbance. It was a little frightening how good he was at that. “I can’t imagine what you would want to know that would be rude.”

“Are you related?” Wen Ning blurted out. “To Sect Leader Nie, I mean – his family –”

Meng Yao stared at him. His mouth was slightly hanging open.

“…it’s a stupid question,” Wen Ning concluded, feeling ashamed. Of course Meng Yao had been promoted entirely on merit; it was only his imagination getting away from him. “I’m sorry. I’ll go –”

“No, wait,” Meng Yao croaked. “Related – to the Nie sect – forgive me. How did you reach that conclusion?”

“I mean, you’re obviously treated as part of the main family,” Wen Ning pointed out. There were plenty of Nie cousins that weren’t treated anywhere near as well; both Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang were not only protective but almost possessive over Meng Yao’s time and dignity - surely by now everyone knew that the surest way to get them each angry in their own ways was to slight Meng Yao. “You wear Nie braids like them – you wear clothing like them – you have a temper like them –”

Meng Yao started laughing.

“…did I miss something?”

3

“I’m surprised you didn’t go to the Lotus Pier after you’d been absolved,” Nie Huaisang said, tapping the weiqi piece on the board a few times before making a move. “Given your fondness for Wei-xiong and all that.”

“Wei-gongzi’s very nice,” Wen Ning said vaguely, staring down at the board. He’d played a lot of weiqi in his life – including against Wen Ruohan when the man had still been remotely sane, mostly because he’d been the only one stuck back at the palace with him more often than not – but playing against Nie Huaisang required all of his attention. The first time he looked away, he’d get lured into a trap. “Very kind.”

“And yet you stay here,” Nie Huaisang prompted. “In Qinghe, with us, when even your sister picked the Lotus Pier.”

Wen Ning had never been without his sister this long before. He knew that she still expected him to come to the Lotus Pier. She hadn’t expected him to last the week without her; she’d said as much when she first went, huffing at him for being ridiculous – a Wen as a guest cultivator in the Nie sect, of all places? – and telling him, in between reminders to take his medicine on time, that she’d prepare a place for him there so that he would be comfortable when he arrived.

Her letters, in the weeks and now months since that time, had never overtly asked when he was going to finally get around to moving there, and had recently developed an almost quizzical tone, as if she’d finally realized that he wasn’t.

“I like it here,” Wen Ning said, and moved his piece.

Nie Huaisang moved his own almost immediately in response, which meant that Wen Ning had made a horrible mistake that played straight into Nie Huaisang’s hands. Not an uncommon occurrence. 

“I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “We like having you here, too.”

Surprised, Wen Ning looked up.

Nie Huaisang was smiling at him – he smiled nearly as often as Meng Yao, but unlike Meng Yao, he never smiled if he didn’t want to, so his smiles were actually sincerely meant each and every time. He had a wide range of smiles: nervous smiles, cheerful smiles, devious smiles…

Wen Ning was good at reading expressions, but he had to admit he’d never had to work as hard at it as he did with Nie Huaisang.

“We’re a very nice sect, really,” Nie Huaisang said, and even seemed to believe it. “We’re always open to people who are like us. The only thing we can’t tolerate is injustice and betrayal; as long as you stick with us and put us first, you’re ours, and we’re yours.”

That sounded nice, Wen Ning thought, and moved a piece blindly. “You think I’m like you? My sister doesn’t think so.”

“I think you fit in very nicely,” Nie Huaisang said, and his smile had teeth to it. He moved quickly, again. “You’re angry and resentful, but you don’t let it get in the way of what you want - just like us. Your sister probably doesn’t think that about you, either, but then again, that’s why she’s in the Jiang sect, with their heads in the air, dreaming of the impossible. I bet she never even noticed that you had a temper.”

She hadn’t. Wen Ning had been her baby brother and nothing else for a long time; he never had to defend himself as long as she was around. 

He’d never had the chance to defend himself.

(He didn’t resent her for that. He didn’t. She was his big sister, his favorite person, and he loved her so much that he didn’t mind the way that all her fussing sometimes made the world feel cramped and small, as if he were being forced into a place that he’d long since outgrown.)

“Do I have a temper?” he asked, and moved another piece.

“Oh, yes,” Nie Huaisang said. “You’re like me – slow to boil – and like Meng Yao, hiding it behind your eyes. You’re even a bit like da-ge: you don’t need to be the one get the frustration out as long as something deals with it, but if nothing does, it nags at you and wears at you, like a thorn stuck in your flesh, until you can’t be silent any longer. Until you have to do something, or else you’ll explode.”

That sounded about right, Wen Ning thought. He’d never really had a chance to explode in the Wen sect, out of fear of what they’d do to his sister if he did, and he’d been sick with it – he’d limited himself to little rebellions, nameless pranks, right up until he met Wei Wuxian, who was kind to him, and couldn’t stop himself from helping him. He sometimes thought, in the days he’d spent in the dungeons, that if he died he’d come back as a fierce corpse, soul-calming rituals or no, and he’d might even enjoy it if only for the opportunity to finally vent his feelings – to finally pay back every single injustice that he’d ever seen, each one marked down in his heart in an indelible list of regrets.

Maybe Nie Huaisang was right. 

Maybe that was why he stayed here, in the Nie sect, the sect of do not tolerate evil instead of the Lan sect’s chivalry and righteousness or the Jiang sect’s attempt the impossible.

Maybe he wanted to fight back for once. To have a temper, to have rage, to be something more than Wen Qing’s shy, stuttering shadow.

“I like it here,” he said again, but if his words were the same then the flavor was different: he meant it this time.  

He understood, this time, what he meant by it.

Nie Huaisang smiled at him and moved another piece. Winning the game, Wen Ning noticed.

“Good,” he said. “Now move over – sit in front of the mirror. I’ll show you how to do your hair right.”

“Really?”

“Really. Also, Da-ge’s been practically champing at the bit to teach you saber, and Meng Yao has been making grandiose plans about redoing the way we recruit and train doctors with you leading the charge, so if you’re not up for either of those, now’s the time to say something.”

Wen Ning settled down in front of the mirror.

“No,” he said. “Those sound good to me.”

[plan-d-to-i]

"Who knew the truth about wen remnants." by karmiya, certain truths have been brought to light.

link: Who Knew the Truth About the Wen Remnants?

My qualm was :

"I did still leave out the debt he owes to Wen Qing and Wen Ning, because I felt like that was definitely veering too far into 'let's analyse everything wrong with Jiang Cheng as a person' territory."

I get where they're coming from but the point is jiang cheng's debt towards the Wens is critical in judging his failure to speak up for them, and his failure to speak up for them is pivotal in ensuring their miserable ending/ the events that led to the siege. It's even discussed w WWX in the cave. I've written before that the idea the Wens were a danger was a red herring to incite the mob and justify the Jins invading the Burial Monunds (so many things used to incite mob frenzy usually are) so JGS could get his hands on the Tiger Seal. So what WWX needed wasn't someone to publicize the identities of the Wens but the support of a person in power. Everyone catches some blame for letting it happen but it's impossible to blame everyone equally. The Jins instigated it, and jc was in a unique position to prevent it as the closest person to WWX, the one who owed the Wens a life debt and also a Clan Leader who by the time this happened had, with the help of WWX, rebuilt his sect, and had more than enough power alone, and virtually limitless power w the Yiling Patriarch on his side. Lastly:

"Lan XiChen knew that because of what happened to his father, Nie MingJue abhorred Wen-dogs more than anything, especially with how intolerable he was toward evil. Lan XiChen didn’t say anything else. (Chapter 73, Exiled Rebels translation)

Lan Xichen may well be one of the least prejudiced in his attitudes here, and he still drops the topic like a hot potato because he doesn’t care enough to risk upsetting Nie Mingjue or making a fuss. Quite frankly, the subtext here is that he just doesn’t care enough to pursue it. "Nevertheless a great read, beautifully supported by quotes. Thank you for sharing it with me.

Again here I get what op wants to say, but this was easily solved by jc divulging he owed WQ & WN a life debt. The fact that LXC spoke up at all is a huge deal considering the Cloud Recesses were actually burned down by the Wens and his father died as a result of it. Harboring jc as they had, healing him, returning Zidian and the bodies of his parents opened WQ & WN to the risk of death (and immense torture) from Wen Ruohan. This would have been a big deal, and would definitely have given LXC a reason to "care" to stand up to NMJ who himself would not have been as hellbent against them had he heard this.

-

Jiang Cheng mocked, “Those sect leaders thought you gathered some leftover forces and crowned yourself king of the hill. So it’s only the old, the weak, the women, and the children.”

(Chapter 73, Exiled Rebels translation)

Jiang Cheng: “Wei Wuxian has betrayed the sect, and publicly regards all cultivation sects as enemy! Yunmeng Jiang Sect hereby expels him, breaking all ties with him and drawing a clear line between us. Henceforth, no matter what this person does, it will have nothing to do with Yunmeng Jiang Sect!”

(Modao Zushi Radio Drama, Season 3 Episode 5, Suibian Subs)

*edit* Since reading this the first time I saw a great point brought up by grewlikefancylowers about it. I think that does illustrate a very significant weakness I initially overlooked in that particular post. Great read: link.

[veliseraptor]

no flower can bloom for a hundred days | The Untamed

876 words, no relevant warnings other than “it’s sad”

since @flamingwell​ asked a question that got my brain going and I missed writing and actually finishing short things and also Making Jiang Cheng Very Miserable, have a late night Friday sad fic about highly symbolic lotuses

---

By the time Jiang Cheng reached the Burial Mounds, the few remaining Wens were dead and the looting was already mostly done.

That didn’t take long, he thought, but like most of the thoughts he’d had since...since, it felt far away, almost like someone else’s. Not something that really belonged to him. Most of the world felt like that, actually, like he was watching it go by but not really living in it anymore.

He’d say numb only numb would’ve meant not feeling anything and that wasn’t it, it was more like there was so much that it’d just taken him over, like he was nothing but the weight of his grief.

And it was a weight. So heavy it was hard to breathe.

“Jiang-zongzhu,” someone said; he barely registered who. “You’re here–”

Jiang Cheng ignored them, eyes fixing on the cave mouth yawning across the courtyard. For a moment it was like his vision doubled: the here and now, and the last time he’d stood here, people in ragged clothes hacking at the ground, a child clinging to his leg–

A child. He opened his mouth to ask if there had been one here, then closed it, because if there had been and wasn’t now he didn’t want to know. What would he do if the boy was still alive, anyway? Take him home with him to Lotus Pier?

Think of Jin Ling. An orphan, now. As alone as you are.

“--do you think?” finished the person talking to him, and Jiang Cheng belatedly glanced at him. The leader of a minor sect allied to the Jin; he couldn’t remember his name right now and was finding it hard to care. He also hadn’t heard the question.

“Do as you please,” he said curtly, and walked toward the Yiling Laozu’s lair, the cave Wei Wuxian had made his home.

There were sheets of paper scattered on the floor, torn and trampled on; he picked one up and found a grotesque drawing of a hideously ugly face with its tongue sticking out and eyes crossed. He let it fall, drifting further in. He lingered by the red pool that smelled of blood; the corner where Wen Ning’s body had been lying, papered with talismans. Wen Ning, Jin Zixuan’s murderer.

In contrast to the mess it’d been when he’d been here, now the cave had been stripped bare of everything that hadn’t been broken.

They’d probably take his bones if they could get them, Jiang Cheng thought, distant, gauzy, a face through a veil.

If they knew what he had–

He had nothing. A bloodstained dizi. Poor exchange for a sister.

For a sister, and…

How had it all gone wrong so fast? He’d said, hadn’t he, he’d always said he could control it, that it would be fine, that everything would be all right, and Jiang Cheng had believed him, stupid, if he had just - and a-jie paid the price. For Wei Wuxian’s mistake, his monstrous arrogance.

For his.

He left the cave. Out of the corner of his eye he could see two Nie cultivators murmuring to each other and casting glances in his direction. He could guess what about. He’d killed the Yiling Laozu, after all.

Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian smiling faintly up at him, closing his eyes, like he was giving him permission, or forgiveness, as if he was the one who needed to forgive–

The funeral rites for his sister weren’t even done and already at least three people had congratulated him on his victory.

He turned his back on the gossiping cultivators and walked in the other direction.

Jiang Cheng didn’t recognize it at first. It was more mud than water, most of the plants torn up by their roots, the rest trampled on like the drawings inside. His eye caught on the familiar shape of an intact leaf, though, and he felt like he’d missed a step going downstairs, stopping dead in his tracks.

He reached out and picked up one of the uprooted stalks. It hadn’t flowered; the wrong season, and maybe it never would have, in this place where it shouldn’t be at all. Or maybe it would have, because it shouldn’t be here at all and it still was.

A lotus. A pond of lotuses, or it probably had been; the stalk Jiang Cheng was holding felt sturdy and healthy.

His stomach started to burn along with his nose.

It shouldn’t be here.

Someone would have had to plant it. Someone would have to have wanted it here, to have wanted badly enough to put in the work to nurture it, coax it to grow from poisoned soil.

There was a pond like this in Jinlintai, Jiang Cheng thought. Splendid, well-kept. A-jie had loved it. It’s not home, she’d said, but it’s a piece of it. When I miss it too badly, I can sit looking at the lotuses and think of you, and a-Xian, and feel closer to you both.

Damn you, Jiang Cheng thought angrily, miserably. Damn you, Wei Wuxian.

He opened his hand and let the lotus drop to the ground. Looked at the smear of gritty mud on his palm.

He turned his back and walked away, one step at a time.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

I’ve been wondering this from reading your posts and adaptations of this and I want to know why jc hates lz so much? Is it just purely because of wy?

This is a bit of a yes and no to "because it is Wei Wuxian".

Early on from the Cloud Recess days he was not exactly favorable to the idea of these two bonding as friends. In the least he used the accusation that Lan Wangji hated Wei Wuxian. Which given his attitude would be understandable if it was relegated to wanting to keep Wei Wuxian from facing hate. However, Jiang Cheng himself constantly calls Wei Wuxian annoying out of his own issues with Wei Wuxian drawing people in which Wei Wuxian is used to ignoring. If it was relegated to only this there would be no reason for Jiang Cheng's aggressive reaction and forbidding the idea of Lan Wangji in Lotus Pier,

I just thought of someone.”

Jiang Cheng, “Who?”

Wei WuXian, “Lan Zhan.”

Jiang Cheng, “Why would you think of him for no reason? Reminiscing what it felt like to copy sect rules?”

Wei WuXian spat out a seed, “It’s fun to think of him. You don’t even know—he’s just too amusing. I told him, ‘Your sect’s food is disgusting. I’d rather eat stir-fried watermelon peel than eat your food. If you have time, come have fun with us at Lotus Pier…'”

Before he even finished, Jiang Cheng slapped his watermelon off, “Are you mad? Inviting him to Lotus Pier—are you trying to torture yourself?”

Wei WuXian, “Why are you so upset? My watermelon almost flew away! I was just being polite. Of course he wouldn’t come. Have you ever heard of him go anywhere by himself to have fun?”

Jiang Cheng had on a stern expression, “Let’s make this clear. I don’t want him to come, anyhow. Don’t invite him.”

Wei WuXian, “I never knew you hated him so much?”

In the case of this, Jiang Cheng is assuming a hate that resounds through the novel. Lan Wangji in particular seems to be used as a proxy of sorts for more of Jiang Cheng's distaste of Wei Wuxian who is constantly surprised and angered when he observes their interactions in their youth.

This also devolved into hating Lan Wangji himself after the fall of Lotus Pier. For Jiang Cheng, he sees Wei Wuxian choosing to stay behind with a hurt Lan Wangji back in the Xuanwu cave as choosing someone over himself and the safety of his parents. He hinges the fate of them on the idea that if Lan Wangji died instead, Lotus Pier would not have fallen despite 2 of the other clans having been attacked and ruined in some capacity.

Wei WuXian was pushed into the bushes. Jiang Cheng threw himself over. He grabbed Wei WuXian’s collar and shook, “Why?! Why?! Just why?! Are you happy?! Are you satisfied?!”

He clenched Wei WuXian’s neck, eyes bloodshot, “Why did you save Lan WangJi?!”

Under the grief and the fury, Jiang Cheng had lost his mind. He couldn’t control the strength that he used at all. Wei WuXian pulled at his wrist, “Jiang Cheng…”

Holding him on the ground, Jiang Cheng continued to roar, “Why did you save Lan WangJi?! Why did you have to speak up?! How many times have I told you not to stir up trouble! Not to strike! Do you really want to play the hero so much?! Have you seen what happened when you played the hero?! Huh?! Are you happy now?!"

“Lan WangJi and Jin ZiXuan and those people can just die! Just let them die! What’s their deaths got to do with us?! To do with our sect?! Why did this have to happen?! Why?!

“Go die, go die, go die! Everyone!!!”

He equates Wei Wuxian having saved or helping several people as the reason for his own losses. He forever blames Lan Wangji as one of the people who took his parents from him as well as the Wens. He says so himself, what do those people have to do with us, why did you care to help and protect Lan Wangji, when it is always supposed to be me first and foremost that you are to keep happy and safe over anyone else. Being well-meaning does not occur to Jiang Cheng and due to this he forever shows disdain that Lan Wangji continues to help those in need. Lan Wangji in his eyes is a reminder of Wei Wuxian choosing strangers and someone else that was not for Jiang Cheng's betterment.

Wei Wuxian makes this observation even over 13 years later,

Jiang Cheng mocked, “Look how forgetful you are. What does “unwelcome people” mean? Then let me remind you. It was because you played the hero and saved Second Young Master Lan, who’s standing beside you right now, that the entirety of Lotus Pier and my parents went down with you. And that wasn’t enough. After the first time, soon comes the second. You even had to save Wen-dogs and drag my sister down with you. What a person you are! What’s more, you’re even so generous as to take the both to Lotus Pier. The Wen-dog’s strolling in front of my sect’s gates; Second Young Master Lan came here to burn incense. You’re here on purpose to remind me, to remind them.” He continued, “Wei WuXian, who do you think you are? Who gave you the face to take whomever you want into our sect’s ancestral hall?”

Wei WuXian knew that Jiang Cheng had to settle this with him no matter what.

For Lotus Pier’s destruction, Jiang Cheng thought not only that Wei WuXian was responsible, but also that Wen Ning and Lan WangJi were responsible too. He wouldn’t give a friendly look to any of the three, let alone when they were walking right in front of his face at the same time inside Lotus Pier. He was probably infuriated.

He holds the fall of Lotus Pier on these three forever, despite the irrationality that with or without Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian protecting others and themselves from the Wens, Lotus Pier inevitably would have always fallen just as the others due to Wen Ruohan trying to eradicate and make the other clans submissive due to heavy losses. Wen Ning bring a Wen, has always been at fault for Jiang Cheng's losses despite having hidden and protected him as well as retrieving the sect leader's bodies despite the danger of death facing him for being a traitor to his sect. Jiang Cheng's overpowering hate and his own accusations against these three for ruining his life is more important than acknowledging they too are victims of tragedy that would never have a good outcome.

[heymeowmao]

some translations from the 5/24 Heroes cast live-stream, not too detailed.

- doing character introductions - mzy requesting bgm with an air of ~mystery~ lyn: !! I didn't know I was in charge of it! I'm sorry!! I was unprepared. /plays a rock song/ mzy: ????? that’s not what I wanted.

- baron just chilling and eating watermelon, about to make a toast with a jar of hot sauce (which he later changed to arizona iced tea XD)

- lyn is now in charge of all sound effects for the stream

- during self introduction lyn: if I said I was in charge of visuals, you wouldn't laugh at me, right? baron: /claps/ lyn: why are you laughing though??? zsx: you started laughing yourself, first!

- made a group name for themselves, zsx: reading the group name off the script (it includes each of their names, idk) mzy: you’re looking at the script WAY too obviously lyn: I know you’re looking at the script, and I understand, I do- but... mzy: yes! make it less obvious  lyn: be more natural. you’re an actor, don’t forget. zsx: no~ I don’t have anything around me~ you’ve misunderstood me!! - lyn tries to get someone else (baron, mzy) to come up with a different name mzy: I think this one is good, because that’s what’s written in my script, too lyn: y’all are too lazy. no fun. you can’t TRY to think of another?

--

- listening test: they’re given a line from the script, and need to see if they can remember the lines that come before/after lyn: we can’t remember. it’s been more than a year since we shot this drama, how could we remember??

- in the drama there’s a part where Wen Rou meets a storyteller and asks them to include her two friends into her story; this sort of actually happened in real life, as ycy went to an amusement park and found a sugar-writer. she asked them if they could also write out the names of her two colleagues (zsx & lyn), and they asked her, “who are they?” XD but she was able to get them written, in the end. lyn: I just wanted to ask, though. are we really just only “colleagues” to you? ycy: /fist bumps/ my bros~ lyn: thank you, chaoyue. next time you can remember to include baron and mzy. 

- continuing & concluding the game host: it felt like da-ge was coasting? lyn: no! de-ge was very serious. host: he was listening closely? baron: /nods/

--

-re-enacting some scenes

scene 1: where ycy & mzy’s characters compliment each other; re-enacted with the three bros - zsx: liu-gege~  lyn: be more normal!! zsx: liu-dage! your singing sounds so nice! amazing, like the birdsong from the mountains~~ -  lyn: su mengzhen-dage, you’re the most overbearing person I’ve met in the jianghu. I want to be you, but one day, I will replace you. baron: ~don’t say that~ - baron: and I have to compliment one of the guys? lyn: you can compliment the girls, too! if you do that, then people can’t blame me for what happens in the drama next.  baron: what do you mean? lyn: they’ll understand what kind of person you are. that you care more about the girls and treat me with a little less care. -  - lyn wants to make the two girls compliment the guys, baron flips it: what type of animal would you describe us as? ycy: zsx looks like... baron: a zebra. (bc of zsx’s shirt, lol) ycy: like a doggy... your eyes are very big, so maybe a chihuahua? mzy: don’t you think his eyes are big and droopy, and kind of makes you want to hurt him? ycy: I don’t want to hurt him at all! lyn: that’s what you get for having big eyes. zsx: I want to be a wolf! ycy: you have to draw an upwards curving eyeliner to make yourself look more like a wolf. zsx: ok! I’ll draw it for you next time! ycy: you want to look like a wolf, is that it? then, I think you look like a husky! zsx: /head in hands/ host: she just refuses to say you look like a wolf.  lyn: looks like a wolf, but on the inside is a dummy. just like a husky. that’s already being plenty generous. what about me- what do you think I am? ycy: I think ning-ge looks a little more like a wolf! lyn: :D! zsx: !! D: he looks like a giraffe, come on! ycy: da-ge, I think... he looks like a panther! baron: ^o^V - lyn asks mzy what she thinks mzy: does it have to be an animal? lyn: anything’s fine- you can liken us to cars if you want. mzy: I feel like da-ge’s a chameleon! because he seems really amazing! lyn: what’s so amazing about a chameleon? mzy: if people want to hurt them, they can’t. they just seem really cool. zsx: if people want to hurt me they can, but they can’t kill him?? lyn: you’re just an 2ha, face it. mzy: ning-ge is like.... like an eagle... because I’ve watched some of his streams and he likes to stay up at night. mzy: zeng-ge is like a doggy. zsx: I can’t stream any longer! lyn: how can you be an actor with such a weak heart?  mzy: zeng-ge just seems like a very gentle animal lyn: yes, because he will give people the impression that he is very gentle and kind; interacting with him, you’ll feel the same ycy: how about a deer, then? lyn: isn’t a deer you?  ycy: ! I’m an ostrich!

scene 2: su mengzhen’s scene, from the house of falling drizzle, or w/e it’s called - they take turns re-enacting with different dialects baron: gives mzy 99 points for her performance, where he gave lyn 10 points lyn: why does she get 99 points when I got 10?! there’s something going on between you two!!

--

plays a game: what can you find in the OOO? (they just have to name things commonly seen/found in the location, following the rhythm of the game) - ycy lagged out and had to re-enter the stream, but that put her last in the lineup lyn: you’re now last in line, do you have any thoughts about that? if you’re unhappy, tell us so we can all go out then come back in (to rearrange the order of the windows). ycy: no, I don’t care about the rankings lyn: /asks the host if he could leave and rejoin the stream, so ycy isn’t last/ - moves on bc it’s too hard to keep the beat with six different people streaming in

-- 

- picked some comments out of those who commented on the episodes yesterday, so they can share and comment (seems like two comments for each character? -ish) lyn: are they disses? or are they the kind comments? host: interesting ones, there are no critical ones here. lyn: but /I’ve/ prepared some. let’s have a taste of sweetness from the host first and then I’ll provide the slaps in the face for later.

lyn: if you had to compare ycy to a fruit, she’d be a watermelon? ycy: why am I a watermelon?? oh wait- hold on. I remember he told me he hates eating watermelon. but you said /I/ was a watermelon. zsx: I don’t eat it. mzy: yes, he never eats it. ycy: you don’t eat watermelon, but you think I’m a watermelon?? D:

zsx: a lot of people who watch traditional wuxia dramas are looking for the element where the male lead goes on a journey and matures/improves along the way. but this story isn’t really like that, wang xiaoshi is more of on a journey of emotional maturity (rather than physical/in terms of skills). I hope people can see that he isn’t that naive, and that he actually has his own opinions of the world. I hope the viewers can give him a little more time and be patient- use the first 8 episodes to understand the world and you’ll be able to see where the beauty of our drama lies. host: please continue to watch the drama, this is just the beginning. lyn: the later episodes, I swear- mzy: don’t just look at the first few episodes and think everyone gets along in a nice world, the later episodes are going to be REALLY... not good.

- ycy lagged out and was last in line again, lyn exited and re-entered the stream without saying anything, so he put himself last :’)

- the next comment was abt wen rou setting off the fireworks lyn: that scene really moved me, you know? the part where she said, “you guys can hold on in there, I’ll watch the fireworks outside for you.” She lifted her head and cried with a smile on her face. I was really touched. I thought, “wow, wen rou is the best.” Also, I was singing the bgm. everyone: LOL lyn: it was me AND zsx. XD

- next comment abt the scene where lei chun’s scarf was blown away in the wind and bai choufei caught it lyn: she was standing, waiting for her boat and the wind blew her scarf away. I happened to catch it but then the wind blew it away again. how strong do you think that wind must have been?? mzy: it wasn’t blown away by the wind, wasn’t it a fishing line?  lyn: ...yes, of course. during the filming process there was a fishing line to pull the scarf away. host: it was described really beautifully but meng-jie just pulled us back into reality XD zsx: liu  yuning- there are some things you can’t hold on to no matter how much you try. you need to learn how to let things go.

- next comment abt bcf and his blades lyn: I feel like I’m opening packages. - mzy lagged out and was last, ning-ge exits and re-enters the stream again so he’s last

- comment abt su mengzhen drinking his medicine, it looked like it was hot baron: it was quite hot, yes. in the later episodes- yuning knows- my sickness got a lot more “realistic”, the thing was I really had shang huo. lyn: later on he had to take medicine before we started to shoot. he wasn’t faking his sickness, he really was sick. host: only you would have the guts to say that. lyn: of course, or else why would I be here? I didn’t come to me a celebrity, I came to reveal their secrets.

- comment: if su mengzhen had insurance the company would go bankrupt (bc he gets hurt a lot) baron: next time I won’t buy insurance, then. save you the trouble. lyn: no, you still have to. mzy: he’s sick so he had to spit a lot of blood. baron: I think I had to spit the most. It was sweet (the taste). zsx/lyn: yeah, our crew really pulled out all the stops with the fake blood. lyn: we didn’t have to eat lunch because we would be swallowing about three cups worth of fake blood each take

- comment abt lei chun falling for wen rou’s charms mzy: the actress is ycy! who can resist?? - comment abt lei chun killing a man mzy: it was after I had tricked the three of them to sleep- lyn: you didn’t trick us, you drugged us mzy: of course I tricked you- tricked you BY drugging you. Do you think I was smiling at you because I wanted to??? lyn: omg, she’s scary. - lyn’s trying to hype up mzy’s character, but mzy is like: but this was in the script, though? shouldn’t you have known about it already?; lyn: >.<;;

--

- plays a game with their surname; overlapping the surname (in this case: zeng, chen, yang, meng, liu // wang, su, wen, lei, bai) to the last character of a proverb/saying

lyn: /to baron/ if you really want to eat cake, I’ll buy you a piece!! you’ve been chewing on that fork all night!! baron: I was eating watermelon. 

- it’s difficult for zsx’s “zeng” - host comes up with “与日俱增“ - ycy laughed herself out of frame and lyn was trying hard to keep it together - bc this is this is a homophone to “宇日俱曾” < xiao yuliang and zeng shunxi’s cp name

-- 

- moves on to a drawing game: draw out the hero in your heart.

- about zsx’s - (lyn) there were five people, whose identities are not important >.> ; they get hit by lightning and then only one is left

- about ycy’s - (mzy) this must be the Sixth Half Hall and the Hall of Drizzling Rain, right?

- about lyn’s - drew the three bros? ?? baron: the one with the longest hair is you, and then according to your own logic, the other two people don’t matter so you just randomly drew them. zsx: why do I only have two hairs?? lyn: actually, I didn’t draw the two of you at all. mzy: they’re all himself!

- about mzy’s: ycy: is that a ufo? mzy: I drew “阳光洒满大地” (sun shining upon the earth) ycy: is it me? mzy: of course, babe~ ycy: /shy/ mzy: I hope that for the people that were living in that era, or the people of the past or the people who are living in the present- that all results are for the best. In my heart every person is a hero and I hope that wherever they are there will be sun shining on them.

- about baron’s: a drawing of pikachu... with the word “HERO” written out next to it... the pikachu is holding a knife. - host asks lyn what he thinks lyn: I think that in da-ge’s heart we are all his 数码宝贝 (that’s Digimon, bro..). we are all his baby. lyn: da-ge, what does it mean? you have to tell us otherwise the viewers won’t be able to sleep at night. baron: I don’t know either, it’s just the first thing that came to mind. maybe it reminds me of wang xiao shi? zsx: da-ge, I’m a wolf! host: lol, he’s still thinking about being a wolf. baron: isn’t pikachu better than a wolf? zsx: maybe he’s a little too cute? lyn: the eyes are the same (pikachu’s and zsx’s)

--

- ending comments - ycy: I hope you all can watch our drama. I know there are some parts we still need to mature but I hope you will give us your support. thank you. - lyn: thank you to everyone who is watching Heroes and thanks to Tencent. and the thing I want to say next is to my co-stars: after this drama finishes airing and with all these friends’ support, we’re sure to be popular. I just want to remind you to be a good person and not to overindulge yourself and get slack. - baron: thank you for all your support for Heroes. I think that- other than the five of us that you can see- the director and crew and the other actors that you aren’t seeing right now have really put their all into this drama, and I hope you can see that. I think this drama was made with sincerity. I think you’ll all be able to see a different side of all of us through this drama. The Director really used his own methods to take care of everyone. I hope you can stay tuned. - mzy: I hope you can all give Heroes lots of support. Throughout the filming process I could see all the effort everyone put into this drama and I working with them made me happy. I really learned a lot. Also, I hope people can patiently watch the drama- each character is really detailed and you can really see the growth of each character from beginning until the end.  - zsx: I just wanted to say- some people may be wondering why we’ve been working so hard to promote this drama; we really started pushing for this drama a long time ago. We spent every penny of the budget on its production, on its creation. The director, production, and actors all feel strongly for this drama and we’re all trying our best to get more and more people to see it. I hope that all the viewers can spend a little more time to just really look at all the details that went into this- it won’t disappoint you. I hope everyone can continue to give us your support. Thank you.