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elpiething · 2 years ago

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Inter-Sect Politics for the Absolute Beginner

Rated : M, for subject matter. Pairing : Wangxian Summary: Today, with a formal missive from Koi Tower in hand and Zonghui staring at him with open concern, Nie Mingjue throws his head back and laughs and knows that no request will ever bring him such joy: Sect Leader Jin Guangshan has been brutally assaulted and, due to a conflict of interest, the Jin sect begs the assistance of the Honorable Sect Leader Nie Mingjue in the search for justice. - Wei Ying was raised in a brothel in Yunping, and Sect Leader Jin is having a very bad day.

Read it on Ao3 here.

This is, undeniably, the best day of Nie Mingjue’s life.

One might reasonably contend that a better candidate would be the day he first formed his golden core, when his father threw a feast for the entire clan and poured wine for him with a proud smile on his face, or the day a tiny Nie Huaisang declared Mingjue his favorite.

Or perhaps the day Lan Xichen first shared one of his small, private smiles with him.

These would all be more reasonable candidates.

But today, with a formal missive from Koi Tower in hand and Zonghui staring at him with open concern, he throws his head back and laughs and knows that no request will ever bring him such joy:

Sect Leader Jin Guangshan has been brutally assaulted and, due to a conflict of interest, the Jin sect begs the assistance of the Honorable Sect Leader Nie Mingjue in the search for justice.

The letter is penned in the flourishing calligraphy of Yun Heiwa, Madam Jin, as her husband cannot presently sit down to write.

His crops are watered, his line is secure, and he’s going to kiss whoever did this on the lips.

Wei Ying is not by nature a violent young man—he is far too lovely to have ever needed to resort to violence. In fact, half of the regular patrons at the Blue Pearl are in the habit of greeting him as Ying’er : Little Baby.

It does not bother him as it might bother others: he was raised here, and so he is, in theory, a baby to many of those who have worked at and frequented the place for years.

When Meng Shi brought him to the madam nearly a decade ago, savaged and starving after another unfortunate encounter with a street cur, the woman’s steady heart had wavered, and, A-Yao assures him, dimples in full force, he has made it everyone’s problem ever since.

He is almost old enough, now, to undergo his Petal Ceremony and become a proper courtesan, but for now he brings alcohol, plays his dizi, and hazes Uncle Bo, who comes often just to avoid being home.

But he is pretty all the same, and has his fair share of offers from men who are new enough to view him as a sexual object and not a lanky goblin who may or may not be hiding fireworks in his robes.

Most days, rude guests have more to fear from him than he does from them.

But he is still Ying’er, so when a group of gold-robed Jin storm in, Auntie Sisi pulls him aside and urges him to fetch more alcohol, more peanuts, anything to get him out of the room for whatever nonsense is soon to come.

“Did you hear?” Chie whispers to him as he passes her in the hall, “Sect Leader Jin is here with them!”

Tao’er, blissfully new and still starry-eyed about the idea of a noble patron, joins them with a sweet smile. “They should be on their best behavior, then!”

“Ufff, Tao’er. We should pray for anything but. I would sooner host a howling monkey than that lecher!”

“Is the sect leader truly so ill-behaved?”

“Keep away from him. He’ll lie to you or leave you injured, and you can’t afford either. He’s fathered countless bastards, and not all of them are so loved as our A-Yao.”

And that’s about when Wei Ying remembers that Meng Shi is working lead today.

Meng Shi, the woman who cradled him against her body as she chased the dogs away. The woman who tucked him in beside her own son, full and warm and unafraid for the first time in months, and said, until your mother comes for you, okay?

And then never took it back.

Meng Shi who called him little baby and meant my baby, and urged A-Yao to hold his hand and show him the best shortcuts to duck in and out of, and exactly how to coax the cook into fattening them both up.

Meng Shi, who is even now forced to flatter a man who thinks her good enough to bed, but never to acknowledge.

Wei Ying often causes little problems on purpose. He is sure he can invent one that Meng Shi is urgently needed to fix.

And things may well have progressed that way, had Jin Guangshan not been a complete waste of sperm and gold thread.

Sect Leader Jin is known for his taste in ladies—sweet, demure, round-faced, and delicate. Which is not Wei Ying at all, but evidently, he is drunk enough for Wei Ying’s figure to blur in his eye.

Wei Ying kneels by their table, waiting for Meng Shi’s attention, gaze lowered as he calls, “Jiejie—” For in the presence of guests, no one is ‘Aunty,’ “I’m so sorry to interrupt.”

Meng Shi lifts her sleeve, speaking to him from behind a veil of mystery, but he can see the way her throat works, the way her eyes fill with concern. “Of course, Ying’er, what do you need?”

“The Madam needs to speak with you. She says you’re needed urgently.”

Hua Rong will forgive him, all things considered. She can be harsh, but she’s always had a soft spot for him, in equal turns charming, silly, and undeniably helpful. Wei Ying has always been strong.

Meng Shi’s shoulders soften, and he can feel her smiling at him, but the expression dies when Sect Leader Jin slams his cup down on the table.

“Who’s the little beauty, then?” He smiles, beckoning with his bony, ring-laden fingers. “Come closer, let us look at you.”

Meng Shi hurries to intervene. “Ah, Sect Leader, Ying’er has not had his Petal Ceremony. He is not yet available to entertain a guest of your caliber.”

This is a fair statement.

It is the absolute truth.

It still manages to displease the conceited piece of shit enough to bring those ugly rings to bear on the gentle courtesan’s face. He stumbles to his feet to shout down at her. “Who are you to tell me who’s ‘available’, ha? I didn’t ask to bed the little slut!”

Which is around when Wei Ying decides that he does not at all mind the idea of a short life if it means throwing this man out the nearest window.

And so he, too, rises rabbit-quick and lunges to grab the offending hand. Keep it still. Maybe snap it off.

One less man—one less terrible man trying to touch his mother.

Sweet, kind Meng Shi who’s never done a thing wrong but give this sentient pile of filth the time of day. And, perhaps, care too much about her idiot fosterling. “Baobei, no.” She cries, and Wei Ying stills at the ugly smile that oozes onto her assailant’s face.

The room around them has grown very quiet.

“‘Baobei,’” He drawls. “Meng Shi, is this your son? You told me about him once, didn’t you? It’s always hard to keep track of the cattle.”

Wei Ying refuses to falter as leering eyes rove over him like so much meat.

“He doesn’t look like me.”

Wei Ying’s lip curls, ugly, and another drunken Jin calls, “No, no, it must be that one! He has the sect leader’s eyes!”

He is pointing, of course, to Meng Yao, who freezes mid-stride on his path to placate the rowdy patrons. “Sir…” He says, bowing his head to hide his gaze, undoubtedly reading and rereading the words on the bottle of liquor cradled in his palm.

“What about it, boy?” The sect leader coos, breaking from Wei Ying’s hold to approach the only other person he could not possibly fail any further. Those same offending fingers curl under Meng Yao’s chin, tilting his head up to subject him to that unbearable, shit-eating grin, and the only thing besides the roaring in Wei Ying’s ears is a sudden

Quiet

Pop.

Sect Leader Jin is too busy holding himself to lay a hand on anyone else.

The thing is that Wei Ying knows his parents were cultivators, but no member of the gentry had ever bothered to examine him. What use was there to know if one of the innumerable brats darting in and out of perfumed halls happened to harbor a golden core?

But it is relevant now, because when he struck the sect leader hard enough to rupture his balls, Wei Ying had channeled that energy in a moment of raw and primal fury.

He hasn’t bared his teeth like that since he was small and starving and cold.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that he’s done it again.

It’s just that no one expected him to glow.

But it’s enough to label him a rogue cultivator, which means that he must face justice, or whatever ridiculous pageant parades as justice, as a cultivator before others.

He must be tried before the gentry, and because he has performed this assault upon the person of none other than Sect Leader Jin, the scandal alone merits inter-sect justice.

“Ying’er is popular.” Die’er whispers as she joins him in his holding cell, ready to dress him in robes pretty enough for a very unique sort of war. Her eyes are wet, but she is smiling. “You tell them, Ying’er. You tell them in your words.”

Jin Guangshan is not at all prepared for a boy who once bit a dog three times his size for the sake of a burnt meat bun.

So Wei Ying smiles and steadies Die’er’s hands and says, “Die’er, I’m off the floor. I’m going to tell him to his face what an asshole he is.”

Whether they kill him or not?

That’s their problem.

Wei Ying is introduced to the Gentry in a grand procession of silk and perfumed oil, surrounded by elegant, painted women who are all leveling Sect Leader Jin with looks of pure, unmasked derision.

The man has been forced to forgo his throne in the Glamour Hall for a gold-painted settee that will allow him to obey his physician’s instructions. Namely, to put absolutely no pressure on the remaining reproductive organs he has.

If this were not ridiculous enough, the unprecedented number of shit-talking prostitutes within the blessed halls titters amongst themselves as several harried servants drag in a large enough chair to accommodate a man built like he juggles bears in his free time.

Wei Ying is given to understand that this is Sect Leader Nie, who shoots him what can only be described as a wolfish grin before he goes to take his seat.

He might decide to execute Wei Ying today, but that doesn’t make him any less attractive.

Meng Yao’s fingers press against his wrist, trapped within a core-suppressant cuff, and Wei Ying straightens up—shoulders back, give them nothing—before his foster brother guides all the family they have ever known to their seats, apart from the upright nobles.

Sect Leader Nie leans his weight on one armrest, face blank and eyes burning with something Wei Ying cannot name. “So,” He says. “Let’s hear from Sect Leader Jin first.”

But his gaze does not leave Wei Ying.

“He assaulted me!” Jin Guangshan cries. “I was traveling with several of our most reliable disciples to allay the concerns of our people, and a powerful thirst came upon me. It was Jin Yun’s idea to stop at the pleasure house—only to wet our throats before we continued on—and before we could resume our journey, that boy perpetrated an unprovoked assault upon my person.”

Right, Mingjue thinks. Unprovoked. You slipped, fell into a brothel, and did nothing at all to piss off the workers.

The boy in question looks very much like Huaisang when he is holding back a bit of gossip that he knows will only get him in trouble, and while Mingjue is eager to hear from him, he worries that he will only hang himself before their biased audience.

The Jins have money enough to buy seemingly endless esteem, and no little bit of unearned forgiveness.

He takes a deep breath, and inclines his head to the accused. “And from—”

But Jin Guangshan is not quite finished. The gilded parakeet hisses at the young man who stands before them all. “Do you know who I am?”

This he should not have said.

Without missing a beat, the young man laden in silks and ornaments and the almost tangible love of every courtesan in the room laden upon him like so much armor looks Sect Leader Jin dead in the eye and says, “A shitty lover, an angry drunk, but most of all an asshole.”

Personally, Mingjue could not have asked for more. Except, perhaps, to borrow one of Huaisang’s fans to hide his face.

“Young master,” Lan Xichen speaks up, ever the voice of gentle reason. “This is perhaps not the best defense…”

For a moment, the youth stills, blinking at the elder jade, surprised by the sound of genuine concern. But then he takes a deep breath and plants his hands on his hips, clearly not having any of it. “It’s the truth.” He levels his gaze, once more, upon the gilded pervert. “You’ve got twenty kids at least, including A-Yao, so I know you know how a brothel works. You’re not new. If you’re coming into our houses to be a rotten bastard, you should just leave.”

The only other man among the courtesans glaring death upon Jin Guangshan, has the spine to call, “Ying’er.”

But Nie Mingjue suspects very little has ever deterred this man, least of all being called little baby.

“This is slander.” The Sect Leader rebukes. “My intentions have always been beyond reproach. I came only for a respite before—”

“Getting another poor bastard on some girl. After you beat my Aunty and terrorized your own kid.”

“I did no such thing!”

“Shit!” The man barks out a harsh laugh, one decadent sleeve flourishing as he points to one of the courtesans watching him with desperate concern, an unmistakable purple-yellow stain mottling her otherwise beautiful face. “I guess you spilled your water too hard!”

Nie Mingjue can’t help but snort, and those silver eyes turn on him, hell-bent and nearly glowing. “I’m not saying I didn’t hit him, Sect Leader Nie. I’m saying he deserved it. I’m saying it was a service.”

The thing is that Jin Guangshan was expecting to go up against someone with a modicum of shame or fear or humility.

Not for one single solitary second had he prepared himself for a baby courtesan with something to prove.

“So you admit your crime.” Jin Guangshan says, with the sort of self-satisfaction unique to rat bastards. “You take responsibility for your actions.”

And the accused bares his teeth in a sharp, disrespectful smile. “Take responsibility for your kids.”

Mingjue can’t help but let the smile take over his face.

He takes pleasure in the way the young man’s shoulders loosen.

“He’s not claiming innocence, Sect Leader Jin. He’s suggesting that it wasn’t a crime.”

“Which is ridiculous, because he assaulted a sect leader.” Jin Guangshan insists. “This nameless commoner—”

“Wei Ying!” The bruised woman calls. “His name is Wei Ying!”

And this time, it’s Jiang Fengmian who speaks up.

A man in purple who looks suddenly deeply troubled rises from among the gathered gentry, but he turns to face Wei Ying instead of the Sect Leader Nie or Jin.

Wei Ying does not know how to feel about the change of plans, especially when the man offers him an odd, trembling smile. “Wei Ying, do you know where you come from?”

“I didn’t come from anywhere. My parents were cultivators, sure, but they didn’t have a sect.”

“Their names—do you recall them?”

“My father’s name was Wei Changze, and my mother was—”

“Cangse Sanren.” The man finishes for him, but it sounds a lot like crying. “They were friends of mine.”

Sect Leader Jin’s face is lemon-sour as he snaps, “You can’t be serious!”

“Your father asked me, once, if I would look after you, if ever—”

“Mister. Uncle. Whichever Sect Leader you are—I hope you’ll forgive me, because you seem comparatively pretty okay—” He motions with his sleeve as if to encompass this entire farcical proceeding, “I’d love to hear all about my parents, I really would. But considering at least one person here wants me dead…”

“I would assume many people have shared the sentiment.” Jin Guangshan grumbles. “Regardless of any history you might have with the boy, Sect Leader Jiang, he attacked me. He admits his actions. No matter why I stopped in his particular rat hole, he had no right to touch his superior in this way.”

Several courtesans begin hissing, and Nie Mingjue wonders if Jin Guangshan has comprehended that he’ll be drinking more spit than wine for the foreseeable future.

“No one here is going to kill you.” He says, firmly. “Jin Guangshan is an esteemed Sect Leader, and so a simple punch should have caused no true, lasting harm. It’s only a matter of deciding on an appropriate form of discipline.”

Jin Guangshan, for his part, squawks with indignation.

Mingjue glances over to find Lan Xichen’s eyes glowing with suppressed laughter. His friend nods, encouraging, and he continues.

“Our most pressing matter here is to ensure that your spiritual energy is cultivated properly to avoid any further…accidents.”

Jin Guangshan looks as if he may well have an accident. His face is an unfortunate shade of plum. How is he losing face here?

Wei Ying blinks at him before his brows furrow in confusion. “Wait.”

“Your parents aren’t here to train you, and the resources you would be able to access on your own—”

“They’re shit.”

Mingjue grins.

“That. So it seems like you’ve got a choice here, Ying’er. Sect Leader Jiang seems pretty fond of you, and I’m sure he would try to do right by you.”

No matter how batshit it drove his wife.

“How is this—?!”

Nie Mingjue holds a broad palm up to fend off Jin Guangshan’s indignation. “Of course, it would then be up to Sect Leader Jiang to negotiate the appropriate discipline for a member of his clan.”

Wei Ying glances at the man, who looks at him still as if he is seeing a miserable ghost, and shifts with no little discomfort. “Or?”

“Or you and Meng Yao could come to Qinghe to study in the Unclean Realm.”

There’s a great deal of sudden, excited tittering from the painted crowd.

“And you’d discipline me?” Wei Ying snorts, halfway teasing, before he catches himself with, “Ah, Sect Leader Nie. Sir.”

“You’ll need to consider your options carefully. I can’t speak for Sect Leader Jiang, but in Qinghe, you would be able to start fresh. In exchange for your hard work and dedication, no laying around serving wine and nutshotting officials.”

To the side, he can hear Sect Leader Jin hissing, What is happening?!

But he’s a bit preoccupied with the fighty little asshole that has already shown so much promise.

Whatever the punishment, Nie Mingjue thinks, whatever it is—

Little Baby can handle it.

Seated amongst a whispering mass of very excited aunties and sisters, Meng Yao sits shock still as Wei Ying glances back at him and grins.

“I don’t know, A-Yao. Who do you think should spank me?”

And honestly, the thing that should surprise them most is that Wei Ying has lived this long.

The thing about Qinghe is that, for being located geographically pretty close to a shitload of lava, the place manages to be colder than a witch’s tit in the winter months.

And yet, the Cloud Recesses are colder than that.

Wei Ying—Wuxian, as Sect Leader Jiang had so gently informed him, his parents chose Wuxian for his courtesy name, which is a thing he has—complains the entire way up the steps.

Privately, Mingjue uses the cadence of his whining to keep time. Between he and Huaisang, it’s rather like listening to a game of bitchy shuttlecock.

Periodically, Meng Yao will snap at both of them, rustle his very nice new robes, and Mingjue will feel that this is the ideal balance of things.

So he’s in a surprisingly good mood when they reach the top of the stairs, where the famed Jades of Lan wait to greet them.

Mingjue is eager to introduce Wangji to his two new disciples.

They have much to learn from each other.

…

In his defense, he hadn’t meant it that way.

So Sect Leader Nie sits like a chastised schoolboy in Lan Qiren’s office, just off to the side, as two thoroughly disheveled teenagers try not to look exceedingly pleased with themselves while their elder decides what sort of asswhupping to administer.

He absolutely does not smile when Wei Ying catches his gaze out of the corner of his eye and grins.

Ying’er will accept this superior’s punishment.

Later that evening, in the guest rooms provided to them, Nie Mingjue aggressively tousles Wei Ying’s hair until he shouts for mercy.

“The elders are debating whether they should marry the two of you, or perform an exorcism. You just had to deflower the Second Jade, you little monster.”

Wei Ying looks up at his Sect Leader, his da-ge, with every ounce of chaotic energy he holds in his skinny little body. “Sect Leader,” He says. “Who says I did the deflowering?”

And he sits there, content as the cat who got the canary.

The shame of the Jin sect, the pride of the Nie:

Wei Ying, Noted Vasectomizer.

#wangxian #writing #my fic #the untamed #mdzs #mo dao zu shi

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pumpkinpaix · 5 years ago

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Hi! Loving your meta on suibian :)) Just wondering what were your frustrations with cql, especially considered you've watched this in multiple mediums? (I've only watched cql)

Hi anon! thank you so much!

Oh boy, you’ve unlocked a boatload of hidden dialogue, are you ready?? :D (buckle up it’s oof. Extremely Long)

@hunxi-guilai please consider this my official pitch for why I think the novel is worth reading, if only so you can enjoy the audio drama more fully. ;)

a few things before I get into it:

I don’t want to make this a 100% negative post because I really do love CQL so much! So I’m going to make it two parts: the changes that frustrated me the most and the changes I loved the most re: CQL vs novel. (again, don’t really know anything about donghua or manhua sorry!!) Sound good? :D

this will contain spoilers for the entirety of CQL and the novel. just like. All of it.

talking about the value of changes in CQL is difficult because I personally don’t know what changes were made for creative reasons and what changes were made for censorship reasons. I don’t think it’s entirely fair to evaluate the narrative worth of certain changes when I don’t know what their limitations were. It’s not just a matter of “gay content was censored”; China also has certain censorship restrictions on the portrayal of the undead, among other things. I, unfortunately, am not familiar enough with the ins and outs of Chinese censorship to be able to tell anyone with certainty what was and wasn’t changed for what reason. So I guess just, take whatever my opinions are with a grain of salt! I will largely avoid addressing issues related to how explicitly romantic wangxian is, for obvious reasons.

OKAY. In order to impose some kind of control on how much time I spend on this, I’m going to limit myself to four explicated points in each category, best/worst. Please remember that I change my opinions constantly, so these are just like. the top contenders at this specific point in my life. Starting with the worst so we can end on a positive note!

Henceforth, the novel is MDZS, CQL is CQL.

CQL’s worst crimes, according to cyan:

1. Polarizing Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao on the moral spectrum

I’ve heard rumors that this was a censorship issue, but I have never been able to confirm or deny it, so. Again, grain of salt.

The way that CQL reframed Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao’s character arcs drives me up the wall because I think it does a huge disservice to both of them and the overarching themes of the story. Jin Guangyao is shown to be responsible for pretty much all the tragedy post-Sunshot, which absolves Wei Wuxian of all possible wrongdoing and flattens Jin Guangyao into a much less interesting villain.

What I find so interesting about MDZS is how much it emphasizes the role of external forces and situations in determining a person’s fate: that being “good” or “righteous” at heart is simply not enough. You can do everything with all the best intentions and still do harm, still fail, still lose everything. Even “right” choices can have terrible consequences. Everyone starts out innocent. “In this world, everyone starts without grievances, but there is always someone who takes the first blow.”

It matters that Wei Wuxian is the one who loses control and kills Jin Zixuan, that his choices (no matter how impossible and terrible the situation) had consequences because the whole point is that even good people can be forced into corners where they do terrible things. Being good isn’t enough. You can do everything right, make every impossible choice, and fail. You can do the right thing and be punished for it. Maybe you did the right thing, but others suffer for your actions. Is that still the right thing? Is it your fault? Is it? By absolving Wei Wuxian of any conceivable blame, it really changes the narrative conclusion. In MDZS, even the best people can do incomprehensible harm when backed into corners, and the audience is asked to evaluate those actions with nuance. Is a criminal fully culpable for the harm they do when their external circumstances forced them into situations where they felt like they had no good choices left?

Personally, I feel like the novel asks you to forgive Wei Wuxian his wrongs, and, in paralleling him with Jin Guangyao, shows how easily they could have been one another. Both of them are extraordinarily talented sons of commoners; the difference lies in what opportunities they were given as they were growing up and how they choose to react to grievances. Wei Wuxian is adopted early on into the head family of a prominent sect and treated (more or less—not going to get into it) like a son. Jin Guangyao begs, borrows, steals, kills for every scrap of prestige and honor he gets and understands that his position in life is, at all points, extraordinarily unstable. Wei Wuxian doesn’t take his grievances to heart, but Jin Guangyao does.

To be clear, I don’t think the novel places a moral value on holding grudges, if that makes sense. I think MDZS only indicates that acts of vengeance always lead to more bloodshed—that the only escape is to lay down your arms, no matter how bitter the taste. Wei Wuxian was horribly wronged in many ways, and I don’t think I would fault him for wanting revenge or holding onto his anger—but I do think it’s clear that if he did, it would destroy him. It destroys Jin Guangyao, after all.

(It also destroys Xue Yang, and I think the parallel actually also extends to him. Yi City, to me, is a very interesting microcosm of a lot of broader themes in MDZS, and I have a lot of Thoughts on Xue Yang and equivalent justice, etc. etc. but. Thoughts for another time.)

Wei Wuxian is granted a happy ending not because he is Good, but because public opinion has changed, because there’s a new scapegoat, because he is protected by someone in power, because he lets go of the past, and because the children see him for who he is. I really do think that the reason MDZS and CQL have a hopeful ending as opposed to a bleak one hinges on the juniors. We are shown very clearly throughout the story how easily and quickly the tide of public opinion turns. The reason we don’t fear that it’s going to happen to Wei Wuxian again (or any other surviving character we love) is, I think, because the juniors, who don’t lose their childhoods to war, have the capacity to see past their parents’ prejudices and evaluate the actions of the people in front of them without having their opinions clouded by intense trauma and fear. They are forged out of love, not fire.

In CQL however, it emphasizes that Wei Wuxian is Fundamentally Good and did No Wrong Ever, so he deserves his happy ending, while Jin Guangyao is Fundamentally Bad and Responsible For Everything, so he got what was coming to him (even if we feel bad for him maybe). That’s not nearly as interesting or meaningful.  

(One specific change to Jin Guangyao’s timeline of evil that I find particularly vexing, not including the one I will discuss in point 2, is changing when Jin Rusong was conceived. In the novel, Qin Su is supposedly already pregnant by the time they get married, and that matters a WHOLE LOT when evaluating Jin Guangyao’s actions, I think.)

2. Wen POWs used as target obstacles at Baifeng Mountain

I know the first point was “here’s an overarching plot change that I think deeply impacts the narrative themes” and this second one is “I despise this one specific scene detail so much”, but HEAR ME OUT. It’s related to the first point! (tbh, most things are related to the first point)

Personally, I think this one detail character assassinates like. almost everyone in attendance, but most egregiously in no particular order: Jin Guangyao, Jin Zixuan (and by extension, Jiang Yanli), Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen.

First, I think it’s a cheap plot device that’s obviously meant to enhance Jin Guangyao’s ~villainy while emphasizing Wei Wuxian’s growing righteous anger, but it fails so spectacularly, god, I literally hate this detail so much lmao. I’ll go by character.

Jin Guangyao: I get that CQL is invested in him being a ~bad person~ or whatever, but this is such a transparently like, cartoon villain move that lacks subtlety and elegance. Jin Guangyao is very dedicated to being highly diplomatic, appeasing, and non-threatening in his bid for power. He manipulates behind the scenes, does his father’s dirty work, etc. but he always shows a gentle, smiling face. This display tips his hand pretty obviously, and even if it were at the behest of his father, there’s literally no reason for him to be so “ohohoho I’m so evil~” about it—if anything, this would only serve to drive his sympathizers away. It’s a stupid move for him politically, and really undercuts his supposed intelligence and cleverness, in my personal opinion.

Jin Zixuan: yes, he is arrogant and vain and likes to show off! But putting his ego above the safety of innocent people? Like, not necessarily OOC, but it sure makes him much less sympathetic in my eyes. I find it hard to believe that Jiang Yanli would find this laudable or acceptable, but she’s given a few shots where she smiles with some kind of pride and it’s like. No! Do not do my queen dirty like this. She wouldn’t!

Wei Wuxian: where do I start! WHERE DO I START. Wei Wuxian is shown to be “righteously angry” about this, but steps down mutinously when Jiang Cheng motions him back. He looks shocked and outraged at Jin Zixuan for showing off with no concern for the safety of the Wen POWs, only to like, two seconds later, do the exact same thing, but worse! And at the provocation of Jin Zixun, no less! *screams into hands* The tonal shift is bizarre! We’re in this really tense ~moral quandary~, but then he flirts with Lan Wangji for a second (tense music still kinda playing?? it’s awful. I hate it), and then does his trickshot. You know! Putting all these people he’s supposedly so concerned about at risk! To one-up Jin Zixuan! It’s nonsensical. It’s such a conflict of priorities. This is supposed to make him seem honorable and cool, I guess? But it mostly just makes him look like a performative hypocrite. :///

Lan Wangji: I cannot believe that Lan Wangji saw this and did not immediately walk out in protest.

Lan Xichen: this is just one part of a larger problem with Lan Xichen’s arc in CQL vs MDZS, where his character development was an unwitting casualty of both wangxian censorship and CQL’s quest to demonize Jin Guangyao. One of the prevailing criticisms I see of Lan Xichen’s character is that he is a “centrist”, that he “allows bad things to happen through his inaction and desire to avoid conflict”, and that he is “stupid and willfully blind to Jin Guangyao’s faults”, when I don’t think any of this is supported by evidence in the novel whatsoever. Jin Guangyao is a subtle villain! He is a talented manipulator and liar! Even Wei Wuxian says it in the novel!

(forgive my rough translations /o\)

Chapter 49, as Wei Wuxian (through Empathy with Nie Mingjue’s head) listens to Lan Xichen defend Meng Yao immediately following Wen Ruohan’s assassination:

魏无羡心中摇头：“泽芜君这个人还是……太纯善了。”可再一想，他是因为已知金光瑶的种种嫌疑才能如此防备，可在蓝曦臣面前的孟瑶，却是一个忍辱负重，身不由己，孤身犯险的卧底，二人视角不同，感受又如何能相提并论？

Wei Wuxian shook his head to himself: “This Zewu-jun is still…… too pure and kind.” But then he thought again—he could only be so guarded because he already knew of all of Jin Guangyao’s suspicious behavior, but the Meng Yao before Lan Xichen was someone who had had no choice but to suffer in silence for his mission, who placed himself in grave danger, alone, undercover. The two of them had different perspectives, so how could their feelings be compared?

Chapter 63, after Wei Wuxian wakes up in the Cloud Recesses, having been brought there by Lan Wangji:

他不是不能理解蓝曦臣。他从聂明玦的视角看金光瑶，将其奸诈狡猾与野心勃勃尽收眼底，然而，如果金光瑶多年来在蓝曦臣面前一直以伪装相示，没理由要他不去相信自己的结义兄弟，却去相信一个臭名昭著腥风血雨之人。

It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand Lan Xichen. He had seen Jin Guangyao from Nie Mingjue’s perspective, and so had seen all of his treacherous and cunning obsession with ambition. However, if Jin Guangyao had for all these years only shown Lan Xichen a disguise, there was no reason for [Lan Xichen] to believe a famously violent person [Wei Wuxian] over his own sworn brother.

Lan Xichen, throughout the story, is being actively lied to and manipulated by Jin Guangyao. His only “mistake” was being kind and trying to give Meng Yao, someone who came from a place of great disadvantage, the benefit of the doubt instead of immediately dismissing him as worthless due to his birth or his station in life. Lan Xichen sees Meng Yao as someone who was forced to make impossible choices in impossible situations—you know, the way that we, the audience, are led to perceive Wei Wuxian. The only difference is that the story that we’re given about Wei Wuxian is true, while the story that Lan Xichen is given about Meng Yao is… not. But how would have have known?

The instant he is presented with a shred of evidence to the contrary, he revokes Jin Guangyao’s access to the Cloud Recesses, pursues that evidence to the last, and is horrified to discover that his trust was misplaced.

Lan Xichen’s willingness to consider different points of view is integral to Wei Wuxian’s survival and eventual happiness. Without Lan Xichen’s kindness, there is no way that Wei Wuxian would have ever been able to clear his name. Everyone else was calling for his blood, but Lan Wangji took him home, and Lan Xichen not only allowed it, he listened to and helped them. To the characters of the book who are not granted omniscient knowledge of Wei Wuxian’s actions and circumstances, there is literally no difference between Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao. Lan Xichen is being incredibly fair when he asks in chapter 63:

蓝曦臣笑了，道：“忘机，你又是如何判定，一个人究竟可信不可信？”

他看着魏无羡，道：“你相信魏公子，可我，相信金光瑶。大哥的头在他手上，这件事我们都没有亲眼目睹，都是凭着我们自己对另一个人的了解，相信那个人的说辞。

“你认为自己了解魏无羡，所以信任他；而我也认为自己了解金光瑶，所以我也信任他。你相信自己的判断，那么难道我就不能相信自己的判断吗？”

Lan Xichen laughed and said, “Wangji, how can you determine exactly who should and should not be believed?”

He looked at Wei Wuxian and said, “You believe Wei-gongzi, but I believe Jin Guangyao. Neither of us saw with our own eyes whether Da-ge’s head was in his possession. We base our opinions on our own understandings of someone else, our belief in their testimony.

“You think you understand Wei Wuxian, and so you trust him; I also think I understand Jin Guangyao, so I trust him. You trust your own judgment, so can’t I trust my own judgment as well?”

But he hears them out, examines the proof, and acts immediately.

I really do feel like this aspect of Lan Xichen kind of… became collateral damage in CQL. Because Jin Guangyao is so much more publicly malicious, Lan Xichen’s alleged “lack of action” feels much less understandable or acceptable.

It is wild to me that in this scene, Lan Xichen reacts with discomfort to the proceedings, but has nothing to say to Jin Guangyao about it afterwards and also applauds Wei Wuxian’s archery. (I could talk about Nie Mingjue here as well, but I would say Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen have very different perspectives on morality, so this moment isn’t necessarily OOC for NMJ, but I do think is very OOC for LXC.) This scene (among a few others that have Jin Guangyao being more openly “evil”) makes Lan Xichen look like a willfully blind bystander by the end of the story, but having him react with any action would have been inconvenient for the plot. Thus, he behaves exactly as he did in the book, but under very different circumstances. It reads inconsistently with the rest of his character (since a lot of the beats in the novel still happen in the show), and weakens the narrative surrounding his person.

None of these overt displays of cruelty or immorality happen in the book, so it makes perfect sense that he doesn’t do or suspect anything! Jin Guangyao is, as stated, perfectly disguised towards Lan Xichen. You can’t blame him for “failing to act” when someone was purposefully keeping him in the dark and, from his perspective, there was nothing to act upon.

This scene specifically is almost purely lighthearted in the novel! If you take out the Wen POWs, this just becomes a fun scene where Wei Wuxian shows off, flirts with Lan Wangji, gets into a pissing match with Jin Zixuan, and is overall kind of a brat! It’s great! I love this scene! The blindfolded shot is ridiculous and over-the-top and very cute!

I know this is a lot of extrapolation, but the whole scene is soured for me due to you know. *gestures upwards* Which is really a shame because it’s one of my favorite silly scenes in the book! Alas! @ CQL why! ;A;

3. Lan Xichen already being an adult and sect leader at the start of the show

This is rapidly becoming a, “Lan Xichen was Wronged and I Have the Receipts” essay (oh no), but you know what, that’s fine I guess! I never said I was impartial!

CQL makes Lan Xichen seem much older and more experienced than he is in the novel, though we’re not given his specific age. In the novel, he is not sect leader yet when Wei Wuxian and co. arrive at the Cloud Recesses for lectures. His father, Qingheng-jun, is in seclusion, and his uncle is the de facto leader of the sect. Lan Xichen does not become sect leader until his father dies at the burning of the Cloud Recesses. Moreover, my understanding of the text is that he is at most 19 years old when this happens. Wen Ruohan remarks that Lan Xichen is still a junior at the beginning of the Sunshot Campaign in chapter 61. (If someone has a different interpretation of the term 小辈, please correct me.) In any case! Lan Xichen is young.

Lan Xichen ascends to power under horrific circumstances: he is not an adult, his father has just been murdered, his uncle seriously injured, his brother kidnapped, and his home burnt to the ground. He is on the run, alone! Carrying the sacred texts of his family and trying to stay alive so his sect is not completely wiped out on the eve of war! He is terrified, inexperienced, and unprepared!

You know, just like Jiang Cheng, a few months later!

I see a lot of people lambasting Lan Xichen for not stepping up to protect the Wen remnants post-Sunshot, but I’m always flummoxed by the accusations because I don’t see criticisms of Jiang Cheng with remotely the same vitriol, even though their political positions are nearly identical:

they are both extraordinarily young sect leaders who came to power before they expected to through incredible violence done to their families

because of this, they are in very weak political positions: they have very little experience to offer as evidence of their competence and right to respect. if they are considered adults, they have only very recently come of age.

Jin Guangshan, who is rapidly and greedily taking the place of the Wen clan in the vacuum of power, is shown to be more than willing to mow people down to get what he wants—and he has the power to do so.

both Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan were crippled by the Wen clan prior to Sunshot. And they just fought a war that lasted two and a half years. they are hugely weakened and in desperate need of time to rebuild, mourn, etc. both Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen are responsible for the well-being of all of these people who are now relying upon them.

I think it’s very obvious that Jiang Cheng is in an impossible situation because he wears his fears and insecurities on his face and people in power (cough Jin Guangshan) prey upon that, while we, as the audience, have a front row seat for that whole tragedy. We understand his choices, even if they hurt us.

Why shouldn’t Lan Xichen be afforded the same consideration?

I really do think that because he’s presented as someone who’s much more composed and confident in his own abilities than Jiang Cheng is, we tend to forget exactly what pressures he was facing at the same time. We just assume, oh yes, of course Lan Xichen has the power to do something! He’s Lan Xichen! The First Jade! Isn’t he supposed to be Perfectly Good? Why isn’t he doing The Right Thing?

I think this is exacerbated by CQL’s decision to make him an established sect leader at the start of the show with several years of experience under his belt. We don’t know his age, but he is assumed to be an Adult. This gives him more power and stability, and so it seems more unacceptable that he does not make moves to protect the Wen remnants, even if in essence, he and Jiang Cheng’s political positions are still quite similar. He doesn’t really have any more power to save the Wen remnants without placing his whole clan in danger of being wiped out again, but CQL implies that he does, even if it isn’t the intention of the change.

It does make me really sad that this change also drives a further thematic divide between Lan Xichen and the rest of his generation. Almost everyone in that generation came of age through a war, which I think informs the way their tragedies play out, and how those tragedies exist in contrast to the juniors’ behavior and futures. Making Lan Xichen an experienced adult aligns him with the generation prior to him, which, as we’re shown consistently, is the generation whose adherence to absolutism and fear ruined the lives of their children. But Lan Xichen is just as much a victim of this as his peers.

(the exception being maybe Nie Mingjue, but it’s complicated. I think Nie Mingjue occupies a very interesting position in the narrative, but like. That’s. For another time! this is. already so far out of hand. oh my god this is point three out of eight oh nO)

(yet another aside because I can’t help myself: can you believe we were robbed of paralleling scenes of Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen’s coronations? the visual drama of that. the poetic cinema. it’s not in the book, but can you IMAGINE. thank u @paledreamsblackmoths for putting this image into my head so that I can suffer forever knowing that I’ll never get it.)

I said I wasn’t going to talk at length about any changes surrounding Wangxian’s explicit romance for obvious reasons, but I will at least lament here that because a large percentage of Lan Xichen’s actions and character beats are directly in relation to Lan Wangji’s love for Wei Wuxian, he loses a lot of both minor and major moments to the censors as well. Many of the instances when he encourages Lan Wangji to talk to Wei Wuxian, when he indulges in their relationship etc. are understandably gone. But the most significant moment that was cut for censorship reasons I think is when he loses his temper with Wei Wuxian at the Guanyin temple and lays into him with all the fury and terror he felt for his brother’s broken heart for the last thirteen years.

Lan Xichen is only shown to express true anger twice in the whole story, both times at the Guanyin temple: first against Wei Wuxian for what he perceives as gross disregard for his little brother’s convictions, and second against Jin Guangyao for his massive betrayal of trust. And you know, murdering his best friend. Among other things.

I’m genuinely so sad that we don’t get to see Lan Xichen tear Wei Wuxian to shreds for what he did to Lan Wangji because I think one of the most important aspects to Lan Xichen’s character is how much he loves, cares for and fears for his little brother. The reveal about Lan Wangji’s punishment in episode 43 is a sad and sober conversation, but it’s not nearly as impactful, especially because Wei Wuxian asks about it of his own volition. I understand that this isn’t CQL’s fault! But. I can still mourn it right? ahahaha. :’)

I’ll stop before I descend further into nothing but Lan Xichen meta because that’s. Dangerous. (I have a lot of Feelings about how there are three characters who are held up as paragons of virtue in MDZS, how they all suffered in spite of their goodness, and how that all ties directly into the whole, “it is not enough to be good, but kindness is never wrong” theme. Anyways, they’re Xiao Xingchen, Jiang Yanli, and Lan Xichen, but NOT NOW. NOT TODAY.)

So yes, I’m a Lan Xichen apologist on main, and yes, I understand my feelings are incredibly personally motivated and influenced by my subjective emotions, but no I do not take concrit on this point, thank you very much.

4. all of the Wen remnants turning themselves in alongside Wen Qing and Wen Ning

Okay, back to plot changes. This change I would be willing to bet money was at least partially due to censorship, but it hurts me so deeply hahaha. It makes literally no sense for any of the characters and it completely janks the timeline of events post Qiongqi Dao 2.0 through Wei Wuxian’s death.

It’s not ALL bad—this change makes it easier for the Peak Wangxian moment at the Bloodbath at Nightless City (You know. Hands. Cliff. etc.) to happen, which I did very much enjoy. It’s pretty on-brand for CQL to sacrifice plot for character beats that they want to emphasize, so like. I get it! This moment is a huge gift! I Understand This. CQL collapses the Bloodbath at Nightless City and the First Siege of the Mass Graves into one event for I think a few reasons. One, Wangxian moment without being explicitly Wangxian, which is excellent. Two, it circumvents the Blood Corpse scene, which I do not think would have made it past censorship.

I’ll get to the Blood Corpse scene in a minute, but despite being able to understand why so much might have been sacrificed for the impact of the cliff scene, I still wish it had been done differently (and I feel like it could have been!), if only for my peace of mind because the plot holes it creates are pretty gaping.

The entire point of Wen Qing and Wen Ning turning themselves in is specifically to save their family members and Wei Wuxian from coming to further harm. That’s explicit, even in the show. Jin Guangshan demands that the Wen brother and sister stand for their crimes and claims that the blood debt will be paid. The Wen remnants understand that Wei Wuxian has given up so much for their sakes, that he has lost his family, his home, his respectability, his health, all in the name of sheltering them. To throw all of that away would be the greatest disrespect to his sacrifices. Wen Qing and Wen Ning decide that if their lives can pay for the safety of their loved ones and ensure that Wei Wuxian’s sacrifices matter, they are willing to go together and give themselves up.

So. Why did they. All go?? For… moral support???? D: Wen Qing says that Wei Wuxian will wake up in three days and that she’s given Fourth Uncle and the others instructions for his care–but then Fourth Uncle and the others all go with them!! To die!! There’s also very clearly a shot of Granny Wen taking A’Yuan with them, which like. Obviously didn’t really happen.

Wen Qing, who loves her family more than anything in the world, agrees that they should all go to Lanling and sacrifice themselves to…. protect Wei Wuxian? Wen Qing, pragmatic queen of my heart, agrees to this absurdly bad exchange?? Leaves Wei Wuxian to wake up, alone, with the knowledge that he had not only killed his brother-in-law but also effectively gotten everyone he had left killed also??

I can’t imagine Wen Qing doing that to Wei Wuxian. Save his life? For what? This takes away everything he has left to live for. You think Wen Qing doesn’t intimately understand how cruel that would be?

(Yes, I’m complaining about all of this, but I’m still about to cry because I rewatched the scene to make sure I didn’t say anything untrue, and g o d it manages to hit hard despite all of that, so who’s the real clown here!!)

Anyways. So that’s all just like. Frustratingly incoherent. It’s one of several wrongs I think CQL committed against Wen Qing’s character, but my feelings about Wen Qing in CQL are pretty complicated (I love her so much, and I love that we got more Wen Qing content, but that content sure is a mixed bag of stuff I really enjoyed and stuff I desperately wish didn’t exist) and I decided I wasn’t going to get into it in this post. (is anyone even still reading god)

This change also muddles Lan Wangji’s choices and punishment in ways that I think diminishes the severity of the situation to the detriment of both his characterization and his family’s characterization. The punishment scene is extremely moving and you should read this post about the language used in it but. sldfjsljslkf.

okay well, several things. In the context of CQL, which really pushes the “righteousness” angle of Wei Wuxian (see point 1), I think this scene makes a lot of sense in isolation: both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are painted as martyrs for doing the right thing. “Who’s right and who’s wrong?” The audience is asked to see the punishment as “unjust”. That’s perfectly fine and coherent in the context of CQL, but I don’t think it’s nearly as interesting as what happens in MDZS.

Because CQL collapses both the First Siege and the Bloodbath into one event, Lan Wangji’s crimes are sort of unclearly defined. In episode 43, when Lan Xichen is explaining the situation, we see a flashback to when Su She says something along the lines of, “We could set aside the fact that you defended Wei Ying at Nightless City, but now you won’t even let us search his den?” (of course, this gives us the really excellent “you are not qualified to talk to me” line which. delicious. extremely vindicating and satisfying. petty king lan wangji.) Lan Xichen goes on to say something like, “Wangji alone caused several disturbances at the Mass Graves. Uncle was greatly angered, and [decreed his punishment]”. (Sorry, I’m too lazy to type out the full lines with translations, just. trust me on this one.)

Lan Wangji’s actions are shown to be motivated by a righteous love. Wei Wuxian is portrayed as someone innocent who stood up for the right thing against popular opinion and was scapegoated and destroyed for it, having done no wrong. (See, point 1 again.)

In MDZS, Lan Wangji’s crimes are very specific. It isn’t just that he caused some “disturbances” (this is just Lan XIchen’s vague phrasing in CQL—we don’t really know what he did). He steals Wei Wuxian away from the Bloodbath at Nightless City, after Wei Wuxian killed thousands of people, and hides him away in a cave, feeding him spiritual energy to save his life. When Lan Wangji’s family comes to find him, demand that he hand over Wei Wuxian (who is, remember, a mass murderer at this point! we can argue about how culpable he is for those actions all day—that’s the whole point, but the people are still dead), Lan Wangji not only refuses, but raises his hands against his family. He seriously injures thirty-three Lan elders to protect Wei Wuxian.

I don’t know how to emphasize how serious that crime is? Culturally, this is like. Unthinkable. To raise your hand against members of your own family, your elders who loved and raised you, in defense of an outsider, a man who, by all accounts, is horrifically evil and just murdered thousands of people, including other members of your own family, is like. That’s a serious betrayal. Oh my god. Lan Wangji, what have you done?

Lan Xichen explains in chapter 99:

我去看他的时候对他说，魏公子已铸成大错，你何苦错上加错了。他却说……他无法断言你所作所为对错如何，但无论对错，他愿意与你一起承担所有后果。

When I went to see him, I said, “Wei-gongzi’s great wrongs are already set in stone, why take the pains to add wrongs upon wrongs?” But he said…… he had no way to ascertain the rights and wrongs of your actions, but regardless of right or wrong, he was willing to bear all the consequences with you.

I think this is very different than what’s going on in CQL, though the differences appear subtle on the surface. In CQL, Lan Wangji demands of his uncle, “Dare I ask Uncle, who is righteous and who is wicked, who is wrong and who is right?” but the very act of asking in this way implies that Lan Wangji has an opinion on the matter (though perhaps not a simple one).

Lan Wangji in MDZS specifically says that he doesn’t know how to evaluate the morality of Wei Wuxian’s actions, but that regardless, he is willing to bear the consequences of his choices and his actions. He understands that his actions while sheltering Wei Wuxian are not clearly morally defensible. He did it anyways because he loved Wei Wuxian, because he thought that Wei Wuxian was worth saving, that there was still something good in him, despite the things he had done under mitigating circumstances. Lan Wangji did not save Wei Wuxian because he thought it was the right thing to do. He saved him because he loved him.

He is given thirty-three lashes with the discipline whip, one for each elder he maimed, and this leaves him bedridden for three years. Is this punishment horrifyingly severe? Yes! But is it unjustly given? I think that’s a much harder question to answer in the context of the story.

Personally, I think that question underscores the broader questions of morality contained within MDZS. I think it’s a much more interesting take on Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji as individuals. This asks, what can be pardoned? The righteous martyr angle is uncomplicated because moral certainty is easy. I think the situation in MDZS is far more uncomfortable if you examine its implications. And personally, I think that’s more meaningful!

(Not even going to touch on the whole, 300 strokes with a giant rod, but he has whip scars? And they were also sentenced to 300 strokes as kids for drinking alcohol…? CQL is not. consistent. on that front. ahaha.)

God, every point so far in this meta is just like “here’s one change that has cascading effects upon the rest of the show” dear god, okay, I’m getting to the Blood Corpse scene.

So in MDZS, the Wen remnants (besides Wen Ning and Wen Qing) do not go to Lanling. After the Bloodbath at Nightless City, Lan Wangji returns Wei Wuxian to the Mass Graves. Wei Wuxian lives with the Wen remnants for another three months before the First Siege, where he dies and the rest of the Wens are killed (except A’Yuan).

(Sidenote that I won’t get into: I love the dead spaces of time that MDZS creates. There’s very clear gaps in the narrative that we just never get the details on, most notably: Wei Wuxian’s three months in the Mass Graves post core transfer, and Wei Wuxian’s three months in the Mass Graves post Jiang Yanli’s death. They’re both extremely terrible times, but the audence is asked to imagine it instead of ever learning what really happened, what it was like. There’s something really cool about that narratively, I think.)

The Wen remnants are not cremated along with the rest of the dead. Their bodies are thrown into the blood pool.

At the Second Siege, when Wei Wuxian draws a Yin Summoning Flag on his clothes to turn himself into bait for the corpses in order to allow everyone else to escape to safety while he and Lan Wangji fight them off, there’s a moment when it gets really, truly dangerous—even with the help of the juniors and a few of the adults, they probably would have been killed. But then a wave of blood-soaked corpses come crawling out of the blood pool of their own accord and tear their attackers apart.

At the end of it, the blood corpses, the Wen remnants, gather before Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning. Wei Wuxian thanks them, they exchange bows, and the blood corpses collapse into dust. Wen Ning scrambles to gather their ashes, but runs out of space in his clothing. Several juniors, seeing this, offer up their bags to him and try to help.

It’s just. This scene is so important to me. Obviously, it couldn’t be included in CQL because of the whole undead thing, but it’s such a shame because I maintain that the Blood Corpse scene is one of the most powerful scenes in the whole goddamn book. It ties together so many things that I care about! It’s the moment when the narrative says, “kindness is not a waste”. Wei Wuxian failed to save them, but that doesn’t mean that his actions were done in vain. What he did matters. The year of life he bought them matters. The time they spent together matters.

This is also the moment when the juniors finally see Wen Ning for who he is—not the terrifying Ghost General, but a gentle man who has just lost his family for a second time. This is the moment when they reach out with kindness to the monster that their parents told them about at night. It matters that the juniors are able to do that! That they see this man suffering and are moved to compassion instead of righteous satisfaction.

(Except Jin Ling, for very understandable reasons, but Jin Ling’s moment comes later.)

It’s also the moment that we’re starkly reminded that many of the adults in attendance were present at the First Siege and directly responsible for the murders of the Wen remnants, including Ouyang Zizhen’s father. We’re reminded that he’s not just a comically annoying man with bad takes—he also participated in the murder of innocent people and then disrespected their corpses. But what retribution should be taken against him and the others? What retribution could be taken that wouldn’t lead to more tragedy?

There’s someone in the crowd in this scene named Fang Mengchen who refuses to be swayed by Wei Wuxian’s actions. “He killed my parents,” he says. “What about them? How can I let that go?”

“What more do you want from me?” Wei Wuxian asks. “I have already died once. You do not have to forgive me, but what more should I do?”

That is the ultimate question, isn’t it? What is the only way out of tragedy? You don’t have to forgive, but you cannot continue to take your retribution. It is not fair, but it’s all you have.

okay. so. those were my four Big Points of Contention with CQL, as I am currently experiencing them.

Honorable mentions go to: Wen Qing’s arc (both excellent and awful in different ways), making 13/16 years of Inquiry canon (I think this is untrue to Lan Wangji’s character, though I can understand why it was done), Mianmian’s departure from the Lanling Jin sect being shortened and having the sexism cut out (there’s something really visceral about the accusations against Mianmian being explicitly about her womanhood that I desperately wish had been retained in the show), cutting the scene where Jin Ling cries in mourning for Jin Guangyao and is scolded for it by Sect Leader Yao (my heart for that scene because it also matters so much)

but now!! onto the fun part, where I talk effusively about how much I love CQL!! this will probably be shorter (*prays*) because a lot of my frustrations with CQL are related to spiraling thematic consequences while the things I love are like. Simpler to pinpoint? If that makes sense? we’ll see.

CQL’s greatest virtues, also according to cyan:

1. this:

[ID: Wei Wuxian, trembling in fear, screaming “shijie!” as Jiang Cheng threatens him with Fairy in episode 34 of The Untamed drama. /end ID]

I understand that this is like, a very minor, specific detail change, but oh my GOD, it is like. Unparalleled. Every time I think about this change, I get so emotional and disappointed that it’s not in the novel, because I think it strengthens this scene tenfold. In the novel, Wei Wuxian calls out for Lan Zhan, which like, I get it. The story at this point is focused on the development of his romantic feelings for Lan Wangji, so the point of the scene is that the first person he thinks of in a moment of extreme fear is Lan Zhan, which surprises him. That’s fine. Like, it’s fine! But I think it doesn’t have nearly the same weight as Wei Wuxian calling for his sister to save him from his brother.

Having Wei Wuxian call out for his sister drives home the loss that the two of them have suffered, and highlights the relationship they all once had. Jiang Yanli is much more relevant to shuangjie’s narrative than Lan Wangji ever was, and this highlights exactly how deeply the fracturing of their familial relationship cuts. Wangxian gets so much time and focus throughout the rest of the novel. I love that this moment in the show is just about the Yunmeng siblings because that relationship is no less important, you know?

Calling out for Jiang Yanli in the show draws a much cleaner line through the dialogue. “You dare bring her up before me?” to “Don’t you remember what you said to Jin Ling?” It unifies the scene and twists the knife. It also gives us more insight into how fiercely Wei Wuxian was once beloved and protected by his siblings. Jiang Cheng promised to chase all the dogs away from Wei Wuxian when they were children. It’s clear that Jiang Yanli did as well.

Once upon a time, Wei Wuxian’s siblings defended him from his fears, and now one of them is dead and the other is using that fear to hurt him where he’s weakest. The reversal is so painfully juxtaposed, and it’s done with just that one flashback of Wei Wuxian as a child leaping into Jiang Yanli’s arms and calling out her name. Extremely good, economical storytelling. The conversation between shuangjie is much more focused on their own stories independent from Lan Wangji, which I very much appreciate. Wangxian, you’re wonderful, but this ain’t about you, and I don’t think it should be.

2. Extended Jiang Yanli content (and by extension, Jin Zixuan and Mianmian content)

Speaking of absolute goddess Jiang Yanli, I really loved what CQL did with her (unlike my more mixed feelings about Wen Qing). Having her in so many more scenes makes her importance to Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian a lot clearer, and we get to experience her as a person rather than an ideal.

On a purely aesthetic level, Jiang Yanli’s styling and character design is so stellar in CQL. The more prevalent design for her is kind of childish in the styling, which I don’t love (I think it’s the donghua influence?). And even I, someone who’s audio drama on main 24/7, personally prefer her CQL voice actor. There’s only a few characters in CQL that I look at and go “ah yes, that’s [character] 100%” and Jiang Yanli is one of them. I was blessed. I would lay down my life for her.

I’m really glad that CQL showed her illness more explicitly and gave her a sword, even if she never uses it! Her weak constitution is only mentioned once in the novel in chapter 69 in like two lines that I blew past initially because I was reading at breakneck speed and was only reminded of when my therapist who I conned into reading mdzs after 8 months of never shutting up oof brought it to my attention like two weeks ago. /o\

We never read about Jiang Yanli carrying a sword in the novel, though we are told that her cultivation is “mediocre”, so we know that she at least does cultivate, even if not very well. Highlighting her poor health in CQL makes her situation more clear, I think, and explains a little more about the way she’s perceived throughout the cultivation world as someone “not worthy of Jin Zixuan”. The novel tells us that Jiang Yanli is not an extraordinary beauty, not very good at cultivation, sort of bland in her expressions, and, very briefly, that she’s in poor health. I really love that description of Jiang Yanli, because it emphasizes that her worth has nothing at all to do with her talents, her health, her cultivation, her physical strength, or her beauty. She is the best person in the whole world, her brothers adore her, and the audience loves and respects her for reasons wholly unrelated to those value judgments. We love her because she is kind, because she is loyal, because she loves so deeply. Tbh, her only imperfection is falling for someone so tragically undeserving of her. (JK, I love you Jin Zixuan, and you do deserve her because you are an excellent boy who grows and changes and learns!! I can’t even be mean to characters as a joke god.)

Anyways, I just think the detail about her health is compelling and informs her character’s position in the world in a very specific way. I’m happy that CQL brought it to the forefront when it was kind of an easily-missed throwaway in the novel. It does mean something to me that Jiang Yanli, despite her poor physical health, is never once seen or treated as a burden by her brothers.

Something partially related that really hit hard was this:

[ID: two gifs. Jiang Yanli peeling lotus pods, looking up uncomfortably as her mother loses her temper about the Wen indoctrination at the table from episode 11 of The Untamed drama. /end ID]

D8 AAAAHHH this was VISCERAL. The novel is quite sparse in a lot of its descriptions and lets the audience fill in the missing details, so Jiang Yanli’s expression and reactions are not described when, after Jiang Cheng quickly volunteers to go to Qishan, Madam Yu accuses her of continuing to “happily peel lotus seeds” in such a dire situation.

“Of course you’ll go,” she snaps to Jiang Cheng. “Or else do you think we should let your sister go?”

This scene triggered me so bad lmfao, so I guess it’s kind of weird that I love it so much, but I felt Seen. Something about the way her nail slips in the second gif as she breaks open the pod is like. Oh, that’s a sense memory! Of me, as a child, witnessing uncomfortable conflict between people I cared about. I know this is an extremely personal bias, but hey, so is this whole meta. Because Jiang Yanli is often silent and quiet, it’s more her behavior and expressions that convey her character. It’s why the moment she lets loose on Jin Zixun is so powerful. We don’t get to see a lot of it in the novel, but because CQL is a visual medium, her character is a lot easier to pin down as a human as opposed to an abstract concept.

Anyways, in this moment, which I also think is a tangential reference to her weak constitution (it doesn’t feel like, “your sister can’t go because she’s a girl”; it feels like, “your sister can’t go because she couldn’t handle it”), we get to see Jiang Yanli’s own reaction to her perceived inadequacy. We see it in other places too—like how upset she is when Jin Zixuan dismisses her in several scenes, but this is the one that hits me the hardest because it’s about how her weakness is going to put her little brother in grave danger.

Last Yunmeng siblings with focus on Jiang Yanli scene that isn’t in the novel that I’m just absolutely wrecked over: the dream sequence in episode 28, when Jiang Yanli dreams about Wei Wuxian sailing away from her, but no matter how she shouts, or how she begs Jiang Cheng to help her, she can’t bring him back home.

I’m not going to gif it because I literally just like, fast-forwarded through it and started sobbing uncontrollably in front of my laptop, dear god.

I don’t know where the CQL writers found the backdoor directly into my brain’s nightmare center, but?? they sure did! IDK, I can see how this might be kind of heavy-handed, but it just. The sensation of being in a dream where something is going terribly wrong, but you’re the only one who seems to see it happening? But there’s nothing you can do? I feel like it’s a very fitting nightmare to give Jiang Yanli, who is acutely aware and constantly reminded of how little power she has in the world: not good enough for the boy she likes, not healthy enough to cultivate well, not strong enough to keep her family together.

The whole, elder siblings trying and failing to protect their younger siblings pattern is A Lot in the story, but there’s something particularly painful about seeing it happen to Jiang Yanli because of that awareness. All the other elder siblings are exceptionally talented or powerful in obvious ways. All Jiang Yanli has is the force of her will and the force of her love, and she knows it isn’t enough.

I care a lot about the Yunmeng siblings, okay! And I think CQL did right by them!

I’m only going to spend two seconds talking about Jin Zixuan and Mianmian, but I DO want to mention them.

Anyways, because we get more Jiang Yanli content, we ALSO get more soft xuanli, which is Very Good. Literally my kingdom for disaster het Jin Zixuan treating my girl right!! CQL said het rights, and I’m not even mad about it! I’m really happy that we get to see a little more of how their relationship plays out, and how hard Jin Zixuan works to change his behavior and apologize to her for his mistakes. The novel is from Wei Wuxian’s POV, so we miss the details, alas. Jin Zixuan covered in mud, planting lotuses? Blessed.

I think part of making Mianmian a larger speaking role is for convenience’s sake, but oh boy do I love that choice. Especially the Jin Zixuan & Mianmian relationship. Like, they’re so clearly platonic, and Mianmian is never once portrayed as a threat to Jiang Yanli. They just care about and respect each other a lot? Jin Zixuan’s distress when she defects from the Jin sect gets me in the heart, because it’s just like. God. I think there’s a lot of interesting potential there for her own thoughts re: Wei Wuxian. After all, she leaves her sect in defense of him, but he later kills a friend that she respects and loves. The moments shared between her and Jin Zixuan are minor, but they hint at a deeper relationship that I’m really glad was in the show.

3. To curb the strong, defend the weak: lantern scene (gusu) + rain scene (qiongqi dao 1.0)

I think I basically already explained why I love this so much in this post (just consider that post and this point to be the same haha), but just. Okay. A short addendum.

As much as I love novel wangxian, I really think that including this scene early on emphasizes why Lan Wangji loves Wei Wuxian so deeply. Of course he thinks Wei Wuxian is attractive, but this is the moment when he realizes, oh, this is who I love. Having that moment to reflect upon throughout Wei Wuxian’s descent is so excellent. I have enumerated all of my issues with the “perfectly righteous Wei Wuxian” arc that CQL crafted, but having this narrative throughline in conjunction with the novel arc would be like. My favored supercanon ahaha. (It would need some tweaking, but I think it would work.) It shows us exactly who it is that Lan Wangji sees and is trying to save, who he thinks is still there, underneath all the carnage and despair and violence and grief. This is the Wei Wuxian Lan Wangji loves and is unwilling to let go. This is the Wei Wuxian that Lan Wangji would kill for, that Lan Wangji would stand beside, that Lan Wangji would live for.

4. Meeting Songxiao

As much as I love the unnameable ache of Wei Wuxian never meeting Xiao Xingchen and learning only about his story through secondhand sources in the novel (and the really cool parallel to that where Xiao Xingchen tells A’Qing the story of Baoshan-sanren’s ill-fated disciples: both Xiao Xingchen and Wei Wuxian learn of each other only through the eyes of others, and that is Very Neat), I think the reversal that this meeting in episode 10 sets up wins out just slightly.

I said once in the tags on one of my posts that “songxiao is the tragic parallel of wangxian” and like. Yeah. Basically! If we take songxiao as romantic, the arc of their relationship happens inversely to wangxian, and that parallel is so much clearer and stronger when we have wangxian meeting songxiao in their youth.

The scene of their meeting really does have that Mood™ of uncertain youth seeing happy and secure adults living out the dreams that they’re afraid to name. Wei Wuxian’s eager little, “oh! just like me and Lan Zhan!! Right, Lan Zhan??” when songxiao talk about cultivating together through shared ideals and not blood is. Well, it’s Something.

When they meet again at Yi City, there’s a greater heaviness to it. So this is what happened to the people you once dreamed of becoming! Wangxian have already come to a point where they have an unspoken understanding of their relationship, but Songxiao have lost everything they once had. When Song Lan looks at wangxian, it’s like looking at a mirror of his past, and everyone in attendance knows it.

To me, that unspoken parallel is really emotionally and thematically valuable. All that good, and here is the tragedy that came of it.

okay, look! I managed to keep it shorter!! here are my honorable mentions: that scene where Jin Guangyao tries to hold Jin Ling and Jin Guangshan refuses to let him (it’s hating Jin Guangshan hours all day every day in this household), the grass butterfly leitmotif for Sizhui (im literally crying right now about it shut up), the Jiang Cheng/Wen Qing sideplot (look I know it’s wild that I actually liked that given that I headcanon JC as aspec, but I actually really like how it played out, specifically because Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian are NOT romantic—it sets up an unexpected and interesting comparison)

um. Anyways. I uh. really care about this story. And have a lot of thoughts, which I’m sure will continue to evolve. Maybe in 8 months I’ll return to this and go well, literally none of this applies anymore, but who knows! It’s how I feel right now. I cried literally three times while writing this because MDZS/CQL reached into my chest and yanked my heart right out of my body, but I had fun! *finger guns*

and like, I know I had a LOT to say about what frustrated me about CQL, but I really really hope it’s clear that I adore the show despite all of that. I talk a lot because I care a lot, and my brain only has one setting.

anon, this was like 1000% more than you bargained for, I’m SURE, (and I’m still exercising some restraint, if you can. believe that.) but I hope that you or someone out there got something out of it! if you made it all the way to the end of this meta, wow!! consider me surprised and grateful!!

time to crawl back into my hovel so I can write Lan Xichen fic and cry

(ko-fi? ;A;)

#the untamed #the untamed meta #mdzs #mdzs meme #mo dao zu shi #mine #mymeta #asks and replies #Anonymous #HOOOOOO BOY GUYS #we are just shy of 10k on this #*buries face in hands*#cyan writes #cyan gets too deep in the weeds #i will be shocked if more than like ten people read this #by the end it was just like well i guess this is just for me now lmfao #anyways. i will now. leave the internet for a while. thanks

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drwcn · 4 years ago

Text

《Without Envy》- concubine/sleeper agent!wwx & prince!lwj

[story board 1] [story board 2] [story board 3] [story board 4] [story board 5] [story board 6]

snippets (non-chrono): [1]

snippet #2 →

Wei Wuxian was absolutely rubbish at being a servant, anyone could tell you that. Without mentioning that he was the antithesis of subservient, just the manner in which he was raised did not prepare him for the bullshit of becoming Lan Wangji’s personal attendant.

Wen Ruohan fed him, clothed him, taught him and trained him, but no skills that was imbued into his young mind had anything to do with waiting at another’s hand and foot. Wen Ruohan had high expectations and accepted nothing short of perfection which Wei Wuxian delivered on all fronts, but at the end of the day, there were servants tending to Wei Wuxian at Nevernight. His maids tidied his room, his footmen delivered his messages, and Nevernight’s cooks were charmed and bribed into preparing his favourite dishes.

Even at Jiang-fu, after he cheated and lied and manipulated his way past their defenses, he was quickly embraced by the inner family. Well... okay, Madam Yu was still a little frosty, but she gave him a red-pouch filled with silver coins at New Year, so he’d say he had made significant progress.

Long story short: Wei Wuxian may not be a prince, but he certainly was no street rat.

So, this getting up at the ass crack of dawn business was definitely going to be a problem

Though, never let it be said that he, Wei Ying, Wei Wuxian, shirked from a challenge. Since he entered Hanguang-fu, he had been planning to make an impression on Lan Wangji, and what an impression it would be if he could meet Lan Wangji’s every need on the very first day.

Thus, Wei Wuxian planned, he plotted, he delineated a plan that was foolproof. He had whipped up a modified time tracker that made use of the normal sand mechanism and added an additional function which would trickle a bell when the sand ran out.

Lan Wangji liked to take a morning bath, according to the servants. Wei Wuxian aimed to rise early enough to heat the bath, prep Lan Wangji’s court robes and have his breakfast waiting on the table by the time the man was cleaned and dressed. Yes... all of this would work out swimmingly.

Except of course, Wei Wuxian did not anticipate that Lan Wangji was a complete freak of nature.

In the courtyard outside of his bedchamber, half hidden in the silent greyness of the moments before dawn, Lan Wangji wielded his bichen through a series of formations.

Wei Wuxian stumbled at the round archway, freezing in surprise at seeing his mark already awake. He didn’t like being caught off guard; it didn’t make for a very long lifespan as a spy.

Lan Wangji was dressed down in only a course white linen robe and grey trousers. Wei Wuxian watched him carefully, observing his movements as he swept across the courtyard, rapid and fluid, like torrents over rocky river beds.

Perfectly balanced. Impressive. Silent and still, he stood on the sideline, analyzing the prince’s footwork, taking apart his idiosyncrasies, and memorizing his signature. Unlike so many of their contemporaries whose swordsmanship was more flashy than functional, Wei Wuxian could tell that Gusu’s Hanguang-wang trained to win, to disarm, to kill.

Lan Wangji...what an opponent you will be. He hid a smirk. Suibian was tucked away in a compartment beneath his floorboard, and a wild part of him itched to take it out and try it on his mark. Lan Wangji would not be an easy foe to defeat, but Wei Wuxian did not care about that; his heart picked up speed just imagining it.

It helped that Lan Wangji was also undeniably beautiful.

One day, your Bichen will have to contend with my Suibian -

OW!

A sudden smack up the back of his head broke Wei Wuxian out of his ruminations. The sudden assault triggered the defensive part of his psyche, which at its core was that of an assassin, and he whipped around in a split second, without taking care to guard his expression.

Yue-gongong, Lan Wangji’s eunuch and the second superintendent of the prince’s court jolted in surprise, taken aback by the hardness in this servant boy’s face and the heat in his eyes.

Realizing his slip up, Wei Wuxian immediately slapped on a sheepish smile. “Ah, Yue-gongong, you scared me, haha! I - I -”

“You lazy ox!’ Easily fooled, the eunuch immediately went back to berating him angrily. “Waking up so late and leaving dianxia without anyone to aid him! Heaven knows why dianxia would favour you to be his attendant!”

He smacked Wei Wuxian twice with handle-end of the horsetail whisk that high-ranking eunuchs carried.

When the time comes, I’m gutting you first. Thought Wei Wuxian as he shrank back pitifully in accordance with his continued pretense of being a helpless twink.

“Yue-gongong.” Lan Wangji’s smooth baritone voice cut through the eunuch’s banshi-esque screech. “That’s enough. It’s Wei Ying’s first day. Do not blame him.”

Yue-gonggong shot Wei Wuxian one last glare and backed off. “Yes dianxia.”

“You’re dismissed for now.” “Yes dianxia.” The eunuch bowed and retreated back to his duties elsehwere.

Wei Wuxian quickly got on his knees and thanked Lan Wangji, “Dianxia, A-Xian - uhm, Wei Ying - Wei Ying apologizes for being tardy. I will go boil water for your bath right away!”

“No need,” replied Lan Wangji. “I take my morning baths cold.”

Cold....bath??? Is this another weird Lan practice?

Growing up under Wen Ruohan’s guidance, Wei Wuxian was raised to think that Gusu Lans were a sentimental bunch, too emotional to be fit for ruling because they could not put the needs of the country before their own. Wei Wuxian knew of the reputation of Gusu’a previous emperor, Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji’s father, who still lived yet had shirked from his responsibility to the throne. He was not the only emperor in history to have lost a dear love, but the the death of his empress had caused him to lose all motivation for ruling, the duty of which he had pushed onto his oldest son.

Perhaps if Wei Wuxian had been raised by Jiang Fengmian, he would appreciate the depth of taishang-huang’s love for his empress, but the current Wei Wuxian, trained and molded by Wen Ruohan, could not muster up any respect this sentimental fool. A part of him had hoped that Lan Xichen would be different, that he could show Wen Ruohan he was a worthy equal, that Wen Ruohan’s ambition could be culled if only Gusu’s Emperor was just as strong...

...but Lan Xichen was just as weak; refusing to provide heirs for the crown after Nie Mingjue passed.

“Come, stand.” A shadow appeared over him. Wei Wuxian slowly raised his head to see Lan Wangji standing before him with an outstretched hand. “Rise, Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian stared at that outstretched hand, calloused along the palm and along the finger tips: the hand of a musician and a warrior. How strange indeed. Yet, when he dared reach out to it with one of his own and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, he found that Lan Wangji’s grip was warm and gentle.

Sentimentality is the death of power.

He swallowed despite himself.

“Thank you, dianxia.”

“Mn.”

Wei Wuxian didn’t particularly enjoy being a spy, but Wen Ruohan was like a father to him, and he believed in him and in the better future that Wen Ruohan could provide to Gusu if he were to rule.

Wei Wuxian didn’t know it then, but slowly, he would be proven wrong.

#the untamed #cql #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #without envy #corie fics #cql ficlet

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neverdoingmuch · 4 years ago

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hello! I just wanted to ask, which do you think in the mdzs novel has the most questionable morality? like they have done more bad things but they still had kindness in them somehow (?)

oh!! this is a hard one for me anon! i’m always bad at ranking characters but i’ll do my best! i’m not sure if you were hoping for like a quick answer or a long one but i’m gonna go with a long one bc that’s always fun and i’ll do a tldr if you don’t want to read through all that? yeah that seems like it’ll work because holy shit i didnt mean for it to get so long (and kind of away from the point of your ask too so sorry about that!)

okay! So, the three main contenders for morally dubious characters are, as far as I’ve seen, Xue Yang, Jin Guangyao, and Wei Wuxian. Not a big surprise, I’m sure. While they’re the more obvious options, they do have a lot of parallels and exhibit a lot of the themes and ideas that MXTX was getting at. I mean, I love looking at Jin Guangyao and Wei Wuxian as foils, and even other combinations of the three, so my answer will probably be heavy on the comparisons. I do think it’s worth touching on Jiang Cheng as well though. Also, I’ll try to stay as unbiased as I can because there’s a few characters on this list that I just don’t like … like at all.

Jiang Cheng tends to get brushed over a lot when it comes to some of the horrible things he’s done. From promising to protect Wei Wuxian from dogs only to immediately use them as a threat whenever he wants to to leading a siege on a group of people he knows are completely innocent of any crimes to torturing and killing people for thirteen years, he’s definitely not a good person. His concerns lie first and foremost with himself and his. That doesn’t seem like a horrible thing at first – he should owe his loyalty to himself, his family, and his sect – but it does mean that when the Xuanwu’s cave situation happened, his response was to get mad that Wei Wuxian helped Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji. (And that’s why Jiang Fengmian got mad at him!). Later on, when pressure comes from the sects regarding Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng chooses not to stand with him, which, while understandable, isn’t exactly a kind move to someone who called Jiang Cheng his family and was trying to repay the debt the two of them owed Wen Qing. There’s no denying that he does care about Wei Wuxian, but when forced to make hard choices, he picks what’s easiest for himself. In general, I’d say that his sense of morality is selfish and somewhat flighty, but not necessarily questionable, so I’ll move on!

For the usual suspects, I’ll start with Xue Yang because I’m just going to immediately eliminate him from the running. I’ve seen people interpret his character sympathetically or try to justify some of his actions or the way he turned out, but I honestly just can’t. While you could feel sympathetic towards him because of his childhood, we have Wei Wuxian as a direct contrast to Xue Yang, as well as, to a certain degree, Jin Guangyao. Both Xue Yang and Wei Wuxian were street kids who had a horrible time in their youth, but Wei Wuxian was able to leave that behind him. That’s a lot easier to do when you’ve been adopted into a major sect and afforded comforts above your station (and also have terrible coping mechanisms), but even Jin Guangyao’s revenge isn’t quite as wide-spread and malicious. I know it may seem a bit obvious, anon, but some people really do try and treat Xue Yang like he’s morally dubious which confuses me a lot because how?? Even if we do say that he has suitable cause, one of the messages of the novel is that your past experiences don’t justify your future actions, so even within the context of the novel – a novel which is concerned with highlighting the grey areas of morality – Xue Yang isn’t afforded any sympathy. So, there’s really no way to construe him in a positive light. His only moments of kindness come with his time spent in Yi City with Xiao Xingchen, where Xue Yang doesn’t change much – he may have cared for Xiao Xingchen, but Xue Yang still tortured him as he did so. I never quite read that arc as Xue Yang learning to care or being allowed to be kind again so I’d just say that he lacks both morals and kindness. On that basis we can boot him from this competition.

Jin Guangyao may have been one of the antagonists of the novel, but he wasn't a completely bad person or like The Worst. His main crimes involved getting revenge for slights against him or his mother – being from Nie Mingjue, Jin Guangshan, or any number of other cultivators. I think that, to an extent, his actions are justifiable. While you can contrast this to the way Wei Wuxian gets called a servant's son, they do differ in the fact that Wei Wuxian is afforded a higher level of protection due to him being favoured by Jiang Fengmian. Additionally, when Wei Wuxian does have his birth used against him, he's usually the person who acted out first anyway. Jin Guangyao was insulted for doing little more than exist and was never the person to act out first, yet still faced a near constant onslaught of insults. I'm not saying his actions were justified by any means, but the reasoning behind his actions is sound. The one thing I will note is that he doesn't let go of his grudges – even when everything is all done and dusted and he has everything that he could possibly want from life, he still holds onto that hatred. I remember seeing a post where someone mentioned that characters who were able to move on and change for the better were able to get their happy ending in MDZS, which isn't relevant here but definitely applies to Jin Guangyao when thinking about why he got the ending he did. I don't agree with the degree to which he enacted his revenge against certain characters and I loathe the whole Qin Su situation. I don't care how much he cries about it, he could've at least told her, but I mainly just pretend that part didn't exist. So, he has suitable cause for at least some of his actions, and his other victims can just be classified as necessary collateral rather than being intentional innocent targets, if that makes sense, but he's definitely vindictive and spiteful.

On the other hand, he did a lot of good, too. He's a side character for the most part so Jin Guangyao didn't get the most screen-time, but we do hear of some of the good things he's done. The main example would probably be the watchtowers. One of the interesting things about Jin Guangyao and Wei Wuxian is that while both of them are capable of kindness, the breadth and scope of Jin Guangyao's is much broader – the watchtowers are an idea that not only showcase how Jin Guangyao's upbringing allows him to see flaws in the cultivation world that the other privileged cultivators can't, but also show how he does care about the people. I've seen a few people try and play it as a spying technique but I don’t really believe that in the slightest. I mean, the point of the towers is to cover the areas where the sects aren't, so I have no idea what Jin Guangyao's people would even be spying on. Anyway, setting up those watchtowers really didn't benefit him any specific way – unless you consider him endearing himself to Lan Xichen and garnering a good reputation with the common folk something that outweighs the absolute nightmare it would have been to make the sects participate in the project to begin with. In a more specific case, Jin Ling's dog was given to him by Jin Guangyao. It's interesting that, despite Jin Ling spending the novel being trailed by Jiang Cheng, the gift that he obviously cares for deeply is from Jin Guangyao. In the Guanyin Temple scene I definitely got the sense that Jin Ling had loved and trusted Jin Guangyao before the truth came out so I'm firmly convinced that he would've been a wonderful and conscientious uncle to him and just generally good to the people who worked for him and/or the commoners.

Okay, now Wei Wuxian!! As far as I've seen, people are relatively good at staying true to his questionable sense of morality. Like with Jin Guangyao, we know that he can be vindictive and pretty excessive when it comes to getting his revenge, but I'm not going to deny that I was definitely rooting for him when he went after Wen Chao and his little gang. The main issue with Wei Wuxian is probably the demonic cultivation – the stigma against it tends to get reduced to it being bad for the user and their temperament etc. etc., but there's more to it than that. I'm no expert on Daoism by any means, but from my understanding desecration of corpses and disturbing the dead is a significant cultural taboo. This isn't just Wei Wuxian doing something no one else can do (though it certainly is true), it's also him doing something no one else should do. I've seen the massacre at Nightless City being added as another tally to his list of crimes, but I honestly think that that isn’t a crime worth adding – he needed to defend himself so he did, simple as that.

As I mentioned above, Wei Wuxian's kindness is a bit more specific – where Jin Guangyao cares for the people, Wei Wuxian cares for individuals. We see his kindness more clearly, be it because he's the main character or be it because actions are clearer and stronger when it's for a single person or a small group. It's a bit easier, in my opinion, to care about people when you don't have to live with them and face them every day, but Wei Wuxian does. Even though Wei Wuxian led a lot more comfortable life than Jin Guangyao, we never really see Jin Guangyao get his hands dirty in the same way Wei Wuxian does. When a sacrifice needs to be made, Wei Wuxian’s the one who makes it. He doesn't relegate, he does it himself. We know that he would do absolutely anything for those he cares about and that's why he's able to commit a lot of the atrocities he does.

When it comes to deciding between Jin Guangyao and Wei Wuxian for most questionable morality, I think we need to look at the reasons behind their actions. Wei Wuxian’s sense of morality is definitely nowhere near that of the Lans but he has always been driven by his sense of justice and his love for those around him. In that sense, I've always read him as having a flexible sense of morality rather than a questionable one. I'm not sure how much of it ties in with his sense of duty, but it's definitely a lot. Wei Wuxian is, and always will, fill the role that is required of him – be it the childish and sweet younger brother, the talented but flippant older brother, the monster that wins the war, or the fierce protector that gives his all, Wei Wuxian will twist himself into whatever position he's needed in at that moment. Obviously, he went after Wen Chao for his own benefit, and the corrupting influence of the resentful energy does need to be factored into this, but at his core, Wei Wuxian will always value his duty (to his sect, family, friends, and innocents) and doing what is right over anything else. He may have stumbled along the way, but he did manage to form his own path to uphold all the values that he wanted to. Jin Guangyao, on the other hand, is similar to Jiang Cheng in how he's driven by his own motivations for betterment and revenge, albeit with more grace and intelligence. Jin Guangyao may masquerade as being motivated by any number of causes but he will never do anything at his own risk, and he will always be his top priority. So, while it's a close call between Wei Wuxian and Jin Guangyao, I'm going to have to go with Jin Guangyao on this one!

tldr; the fandom favourites for questionable morality are xy, jgy, and wwx so i mainly looked at them. I included jc as well but neither xy or jc demonstrate the dichotomy needed so they got eliminated from the running. Jgy and wwx both commit and are willing to commit horrible crimes as well as being capable of caring for others and being kind. but, where wwx is driven by his sense of justice and love for others, jgy is driven by his own motivations for betterment and revenge, making for a more questionable morality (as compared to wwx's more flexible morality).

#mdzs #mdzs text #mdzs meta #dfgrgt i was like hm but what if this post isnt good enough to tag as meta #modao zushi #wei wuxian #jin guangyao #xue yang #jiang cheng #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #asks #legal talks #i figured that since i wasnt giving a very interesting answer i might as well throw in some discussion too #i hope this answers your question anon!!#thanks for asking me i had a lot of fun answering this #in case you couldnt tell from the uhh 2k i wrote #Anonymous #but if you want to send any more asks please do!! i love discussing things like this

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spockandawe · 4 years ago

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I could legit ask you all of the MDZS asks but let's go with 5, 23, 28, 30, 35, 49 (don't let the fact that it's me asking this influence you, I'm genuinely curious on your thoughts there), and 61?

Let’s see! :D (it’s a fantastic set of questions, right??)

5. Biggest WTF moment

The really flippant answer is that it’s when I turned on the show for the first time, and got hit RIGHT in the face with the whole yin iron nonsense and the show’s fight scene special effects ;u; More generally, the yin iron plot is something I’ve got no real patience with, but especially since I read the book first, that scene was NOT what I was expecting XD

But from the overall plot... I think it was definitely the whole reveal about how Jin Guangyao had his father fucked to death :V When I hit that plot point for the first time, I think... I read the book over about three days, and that might have been where I was like ‘okay, oh god, i need a break’ at the end of the second day. I was still reeling from the burial mounds, and everything that happened in there, and Lan Wangji taking care of Wei Wuxian on the books, and then suddenly, ALL THIS. It was so much, and I was able to roll with it, but it just t-boned me out of nowhere.

23. The Thing You Liked Most In The Series

Hmmmmm. HM. From the show, probably the quality of the acting. I was going to single out Wang Yibo, but everyone honestly knocked it out of the park, and it just elevated things to a whole nother level. But in general, Wei Wuxian as a protagonist really does it for me. The whole character design he has going on, where all of his main positive traits are also character flaws, it’s really elegant, but also all of his positive traits and his flaws are some of my most favorite things. And I love the trip we get to take with him through youth and innocence and exhaustion and despair and recovery and love, just everything about him is exactly what I adore. The story is really confusing and nonlinear in any given format, and if I didn’t love him so much as a protagonist, I might have given up really early, haha

28. Most Underrated Character

Oh noo, you’re expecting me to know people’s opinions about anything XD I follow some people with really quality, thoughtful takes on characters who I know either gets lots of flanderization or hate, so this is hard to tell. Like, I think Lan Xichen is a really intelligent, really thoughtful, really kind person who is shouldering the weight of a heavy social position and trying his hardest to do the right thing and not protect the people he loves, not a himbo, but I’m also following people who talk about his character and motivations with lots of thought, not the himbo folks, so it’s hard to tell. It... might have to be Nie Mingjue. I do see people digging into him in very thoughtful ways, but I also see a lot of people stopping at the ‘he was an abusive asshole’ point, and not giving full consideration to his sympathetic and/or tragic sides the way a lot of other characters get.

Oh, or maybe Jin Zixuan? I’ve seen an uptick in recent months of people who are like ‘look at this socially awkward dumbass’ instead of ‘look at this asshole who learned to be less of an asshole’, which is I think is a major improvement. I think this is partly limited by him being one of the few cast members in a relationship with another major character (and also dying) but I really, really wish there were more stories like the ones people toss around, like where he was like ‘i’m gay’ until he had a bi awakening with jiang yanli, or had other ill-advised crushes at summer school, or things like that. It would be nice to see him get more attention!

30. A Ship You Like But People Have A Lot Of Opinions About

.............3zun, probably. I’ve got a lot of feelings about how even platonically, the people in this relationship were trying really, really hard to do right by each other, and it was just doomed to end tragically. I don’t think I’ve seen any takes about how Lan Xichen was terrible, thank god, but I have seen all kinds of spicy takes on ‘haha what if on some level nie mingjue always knew that jin guangyao wasn’t acting in bad faith’ or that ‘nie mingjue was just the asshole boyfriend that jin guangyao had to get past before finding someone who would treat him right. They try! Really hard! To make things work! It breaks each of their hearts when the other person isn’t able to see things from their perspective! It’s heartbreaking because they both really, truly tried, and it’s heartbreaking because Jin Guangyao decided that it wasn’t possible to feel Safe while Nie Mingjue was still alive. This relationship is such a tragedy that it genuinely upsets me when people try to iron it out into one person being the Bad Guy. This whole story is so resistant to that concept, and even calls out that concept when people start talking about ‘how could we expect anything better from someone of that background’ at the end of canon, but people still try to apply it to this one particular relationship, and it ticks me off.

(xuexiao is a close second, but my thoughts there are more just like UGHHHHHHHHH and a general defense of villainfucking, while 3zun is a more nuanced argument)

35. Who Is The Biggest Disaster

Hm. HM. Xue Yang is a contender, because he fucks up his own life hard, but I think... I’m going to have to go with Jiang Cheng. He just. He breaks my heart, I swear to god. Watching him wander around getting angry and taking additional damage, and trying really fucking hard, and just. Everything hurts ;u; I don’t even think I can coherently pull together all my thoughts, he just breaks my heart in like ten million different directions, and he ends the series so miserable, and so resigned to being miserable, and I feel Jin Ling when he tries to prod his uncle into going and talking to Wei Wuxian so they can all just be a proper family again ;-;

49. Is Nie Huaisang More Of A Goody Or A Baddy?

So... I love Jin Guangyao. I love him a lot and am super sympathetic to him and all his motivations. I very, very much want to see him feeling happy and secure and successful.

But.

I am also extremely sympathetic to Nie Huaisang and all his revenge plans. I support him fully in his goals. I might wish those goals didn’t target another character I loved dearly, but like............

61. Best Weapon

Ohhhhh. I... Hm. I love the concept of the weaponized musical instruments. But I also really, really, really love Hensheng. The soft sword concept is good, and the meaning ‘to detest/resent life’ is BEYOND good. I... Chenqing is also such a good weapon. But I feel like I won’t ever have a NEED for a necromancy flute. It’s not like I’ll ever have a need for Hensheng either, but at least it will be super easy to carry around with me :V

#spock replies #long post/#ask memes/#the untamed #solluxisms

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chenqingssuibian · 4 years ago

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Lan xichen for the ask thing!

OH THE BOY? THE B O Y?

How I feel about this character: He’s the love of my life. I say this often about many characters and I mean it every time. Lan Xichen is actually in my top 3 faves, behind Nie Huaisang (first) and Song Lan (second.) He’s beautiful. He’s brilliant. He’s strong. He makes so many bad fucking choices. God fucking bless him.

Romantic Ships: ... I don’t ship XiYao except in its saddest, most wretched form. I’m sorry. I don’t. I find Jin Guangyao most compelling when he is at his most evil and Lan Xichen brings out the best in him. Instead: XiSang, XiCheng, LanLan (i’m making a comic for this one, so be on the lookout,) NieLan and 3zun, and, when I feel like thinking of ways to hurt Lan Wangji in specific, XiXian. That’s right. Wei Wuxian/Lan Xichen. tfw the love of ur life marries ur brother

Non-Romantic Ships: Uhh. Obviously, the Twin Jade dynamic is top-tier. A literal brOTP. Other than that... hmm. I can’t think of any friends for Lan Xichen except for Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue, and both of them are dead. Qin Su, when she was alive, is clearly a contender for Best Bro - who wouldn’t want to be Qin Su’s friend? Perhaps them. (This just adds another dead friend to the list, though...)

Unpopular Opinion: Other than the XiYao thing, I don’t think I have any? Perhaps... hmm, nope, nothing. He’s pretty great. It’s the worst thing about him, honestly. Where are your flaws (in ANY VERSION OF CANON) sir?

One thing I wish had happened/would happen in canon: Intensive therapy and eventual happiness. Lots of bunnies/other cute animals. Good things in general, he could use some good things.

from this post!

#anon #ask game #lan xichen

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gusu-emilu · 4 years ago

Text

Cantatio: Chapter Two

Ship: Lan Zhan / Wei Ying (POV Lan Zhan)

Summary: Introducing the Wens, a squabble over dorm rooms, and Lan Xichen being my favorite wingman.

Wei Wuxian rubbed his nose and raised his eyebrows at Lan Wangji. His grey eyes sparkled with contentment and only a hint of mischief.

Lan Wangji afforded him a twitch of a smile.

Perhaps Wei Wuxian had a chance of winning his favor.

If he tried harder.

Cloud Recesses Academy AU, Rated T - read on AO3

< Ch. 1 | Ch. 3 > | chapter list

“What?”

“Wens?”

“Is this for real?”

Everyone turned to face the forest path entrance to the central courtyard, where there stood three teenagers in crimson robes. One was a tall, burly young man. In the middle was a much shorter mouse-faced girl, and clutching her robes was a timid boy who looked a few years too young to be attending the academy.

“What are the Wen-dogs doing here?” Jiang Cheng said under his breath.

Nie Mingjue’s deep voiced boomed from the steps of the Main Hall.

“How perplexing. I thought that Wen Ruohan said he would not deign to send his disciples to the inferior Cloud Recesses Academy,” he said with a snarl.

The older boy looked like he was about to retort, until Nie Mingjue marched forward to stand right in front of him. Nie Mingjue towered over the Wen disciples, even the brawny boy, who must have been six feet tall himself.

Nie Mingjue had many reasons to believe that his father was killed by Wen Ruohan’s underhanded techniques. Someone had tampered with his father’s saber before a night hunt, leaving him defenseless at a critical moment in the fight against a monster. He died a slow, agonizing death that left Nie Mingjue fatherless and forced him into the position of clan leader at only twenty years old. His younger brother had been equally shaken by the tragedy.

The Wens were already despised by the cultivation world because of Wen Ruohan’s hunger for power. Since that day, Nie Mingjue had hated them more than anyone else.

The taller Wen boy stammered silently for a few seconds in Nie Mingjue’s shadow, then furrowed his brow, straightened his back, and squared his shoulders in a failed attempt to match his contender’s height. When he spoke, his voice was crass and whiny, the sound of someone who was used to being worshipped by people who feigned blindness to the arrogant mask that shielded his incompetence.

“Our master Clan Leader Wen believes that there are a few things to learn from the other sects.”

“We have nothing that All-Mighty Clan Leader Wen does not know already. I suggest you start early on your way back to the Nightless City.” He spat out each word with disgust, as if he thought that if he said them too politely, they'd crawl back down his throat and poison him.

The boy opened his mouth. Nie Mingjue scared it closed with a single step forward.

To Lan Wangji’s surprise, this time the girl bowed and replied. Her tone was level and respectful, but her eyes could have cut through steel.

“Clan Leader Nie. It is both our duty and an honor to receive instruction from the clan leaders. We request to stay.”

“You must have heard that the commandments of the Cloud Recesses are extremely strict. Malevolent intentions are not welcome.”

“We have heard. Clan Leader Nie, please excuse my presumption, but I have also heard that one such rule states the following: ‘It is prohibited to deny education to promising and willing students without just cause.’ Do you mean to say that we Wens are neither promising nor willing, or that there is just cause for expelling us?”

Murmurs rushed throughout the crowd.

“That Wen Chao is the clan leader’s son, but he looks like a frightened child compared to this girl!"

“I bet she’s the doctor’s apprentice, Wen Qing. I heard that she’ll stick a needle in you if you give her nonsense!"

“Yikes! What nerves, to stand up to Clan Leader Nie, of all people.”

“I’m even scared to do that, and he’s my brother,” Nie Huaisang said.

Lan Wangji sifted through his memory until he landed upon Rule #562. Wen Qing had recited it word-for-word. If she had memorized the entirety of the Gusu Lan Clan rules before arriving at the Cloud Recesses, then surely she was a worthy student, regardless of her surname.

Lan Xichen approached Nie Mingjue and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Lady Wen is right. There is no need to challenge them. Couriers informed the leaders yesterday that the Wen Clan had decided to send disciples.”

“And why was I not informed?”

“Mingjue, the Wen disciples have already made the long journey here. Let what is done, be done.”

Nie Mingjue balled his fists and glowered at the Wen disciples. “It would be wise of you to watch your moves. Or I will be watching them for you.”

He turned around in a huff and stomped into the Main Hall where the rest of the clan leaders were gathered. A distant, muted version of his thick voice could be heard after he entered the building, presumably due to him snapping at the other clan leaders for purposely keeping him in the dark about the Wens’ attendance.

Soon the courtyard was silent. The air of the Cloud Recesses smelled like spring water, flowers, and tea leaves, as it always did, but now it was tainted by a pungent tension. No one dared approach to greet the Wen disciples. The Wen disciples did not advance either. In between the two hostile groups stood Lan Xichen like a leftover droplet of storm water.

A swish of dark grey robes shifted in the crowd of disciples as Wei Wuxian took the smallest step forward, but Jiang Cheng seized his arm to hold him back.

Another long moment of silence followed.

Finally, after Lan Xichen had surveyed the entire courtyard with his gentle gaze, he faced the Wen disciples and bowed. “Welcome to the Cloud Recesses.”

Lan Wangji glided forward to stand next to his brother and mirrored his second bow. This time, Lan Wangji spoke the greeting, but he directed his voice specifically to the young woman.

“Welcome.”

* * *

The tension in the air gradually released. The disciples chatted and milled around once more, although they kept their distance from the Wens after sparing them a reluctant greeting.

Everyone was eager for Lan Qiren to arrive back from his business at the perimeter of the Cloud Recesses. Not because they were hopeful for the strict discipline he would impose on the disciples—only Lan Wangji felt that way—but because he was the last clan leader left to arrive. Once all the clan leaders were present, the welcoming ceremony could begin, and then the disciples would be free to visit their dormitories and explore the grounds.

Lan Wangji and the Wen disciples were the only ones who stood quietly at the fringe of the crowd. Once in a while, Wen Qing would murmur something to the nervous boy at her side, but she never even acknowledged Wen Chao.

When Lan Qiren finally arrived, everyone froze and bowed. He said a gruff hello to a few disciples, scolded a much greater number of them, and then hurried into the Main Hall to meet with the clan leaders. A few moments later, Lan Xichen was called inside. Then he reemerged to summon Wen Chao and Wen Qing. They steeled their expressions and followed the tail of his sapphire shadow into the Main Hall.

The Wen boy was left alone.

He folded his hands and scrunched his shoulders, as if he wished to shrink to the size of one of the pebbles under his disproportionately large feet. His magnetic dark eyes darted around at the disciples, never lingering on one person for more than a few seconds before retreating to the ground.

Two disciples in golden robes and a Nie Clan disciple approached him.

“Aren’t you too little to be here?” one said.

“Yeah, how old are you?” said the Nie disciple in a mocking tone.

“H-H-Hello…I’m Wen Ning, courtesy name Qionglin…I’m fourteen, but I'll be f-f-fifteen soon.” Wen Ning toyed with his fingers as he stuttered.

The two Jin Clan disciples exchanged glances and ruffled their robes, the color of rotten egg yolks billowing at their shins. The one whose anvil-shaped head seemed like it was too heavy for his body was Jin Zixun, cousin of Jin Zixuan.

“Told you he was too little.”

“Shut up, Zixun.”

The three disciples stepped closer to Wen Ning, who shrank his frame even smaller.

“Who does Wen Ruohan think he is, sending a kid to train with us?” said Jin Zixun.

“Yeah, is this some kind of insult? What are you doing here, pipsqueak?”

“I’m just…I’m just here to study with my sister…”

“Oh, that feisty one is his sister.”

“Pah, who's worried about her? These Wens are good-for-nothings.”

Wen Ning was now backing away from the three disciples, but they continued to edge toward him with footsteps that became more and more menacing. Lan Wangji dug his fingernails into his palms as he watched. The balls of his feet itched with the tension of a spring. If they got any closer to the boy, he was ready to shoot between them.

“This mouse isn’t gonna be in sparring class with us, is he?”

“He’s gonna regret it if he is.”

In a flash, Lan Wangji blocked them from closing in on the boy. Before he could speak, he heard a familiar voice at his side, but it sounded much different than before. It was bitter and calculating, rigid with cold, steady anger like the blade of a dagger.

“Back up.”

Wei Wuxian was glaring at Jin Zixun, an eerie darkness spread across his brow. His fists were tight and his shoulders were drawn back. The playful smile that had once seemed plastered on his face was nowhere to be found, replaced by an icy severity that threatened to give its recipient frost burn.

Every pair of eyes in the courtyard was fixed on them.

“We’re just having a chat with the pipsqueak.”

“Now.”

"..."

“Ack, whatever,” Jin Zixun grumbled as the three bullies finally dispersed.

Lan Wangji exhaled in silent relief. He glanced over at Wei Wuxian, who did not smile or make a childish face at him like he expected. He only tightened the corners of his mouth and gave a curt nod, like a soldier who had finished his duty.

Lan Wangji raised his eyebrows and nodded in reply. This was nothing like the imp from earlier. It was like a different person stood before him.

One whom he...respected.

They turned around to face Wen Ning, who seemed to have relaxed, although his shoulders were still scrunched.

“Hey, big guy. Chin up,” said Wei Wuxian.

Wen Ning gazed up in wonder with round, dark eyes so deep they looked like they wanted to pull the two saviors into a tight hug. Then he jerked into a bow. “Thank you, Young Masters.”

Wei Wuxian flashed a cheeky grin. “No thanks needed! Everyone already knows I’m the coolest person in the Cloud Recesses Academy!”

He poked Lan Wangji in the arm several times. “Don’t you think so, Lan Zhan?”

“Mn.”

And just like that, the imp had returned.

“Disciples! Lower your voices! Please organize yourselves! We are starting the opening ceremony. Excuse me, why is your sword in your hand? I don’t care if it’s sheathed, put it away! You there, close that fan!” Lan Qiren barked. He stood on the walkway outside the Main Hall and was flanked on both sides by the other clan leaders.

Everyone filed into the Main Hall and took a seat. Despite the dark brown that dominated the walls and furniture, the room was bright with a sky-blue light that bounced off every hard wooden edge and fed the disciples' energy. The cobalt panels and thriving green potted penjing trees stood out as a tasteful accent. The floor was polished enough that it reflected fuzzy outlines of the five rows of desks and the disciples who were perched on floor cushions behind them. The room buzzed with excitement radiating from the young cultivators. Not even Lan Qiren could quell the lively hum of their chattering until the ceremony began officially.

Lan Wangji sat with perfect posture and attentive ears for the entirety of the ceremony as each clan leader took their turn to speak about tradition, honor, and education. He opened his mind and absorbed the eloquent words of the clan leaders. Lan Wangji’s seat was at the front of the hall, but that didn’t prevent him from noticing when disciples behind him lolled their heads, or whispered to their neighbors, or—in Wei Wuxian’s case—threw paper airplanes. Lan Wangji only squared his jaw and sat a little straighter, striving to set an example and compensate for their disrespect to the professors.

By custom, professors at the Cloud Recesses Academy had always been clan leaders, former clan leaders, or their spouses. This year, Lan Qiren was teaching Ancient Texts, Jiang Fengmian and Nie Mingjue were teaching Swordsmanship & Weaponry (known by the disciples as 'sparring'), Yu Ziyuan was teaching Alchemy & Medicine, Madam Jin was teaching Diplomacy, and Jin Guangshan was teaching History.

However, one of the professors did not introduce himself as a clan leader, and in fact Lan Wangji had never seen or heard of him before. He was a tall man with chiseled features and black robes. His reserved voice hung in the air like icicles. His name was Song Lan, and he would be teaching Beings & Creatures.

Lan Wangji made a mental note to ask his brother about Song Lan later.

Once the opening ceremony concluded, the sun was much lower in the sky. Everyone was led to the dormitories by the senior disciples. They followed a winding path of square grey stones past temples, classrooms, and chambers. The path continued through a patch of woods until it reached a fork. Senior Disciple Jiang Yanli led the girls to the left. The boys turned right to follow Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue, who led them to the boys’ dormitory.

Although Nie Mingjue was a clan leader, he was still completing his graduate studies at the Cloud Recesses Academy. He insisted on fulfilling all the standard duties of a senior disciple in addition to his clan leader responsibilities, even if that meant living next to the boys’ dormitory with Lan Xichen to supervise the rowdy disciples.

As they followed the path, Jin Guangyao moved up to the front of the line until he was behind the two senior disciples. He eagerly started a conversation with Lan Xichen. On his shoulders, he hauled the expensive embroidered luggage of Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun, as well as his own plain cloth bag.

Lan Xichen laughed brightly at whatever Jin Guangyao had told him.

“Hmph. Little suck-up,” Jin Zixun muttered.

“Ah, let him be. The happier he is, the more careful he is with our stuff,” Jin Zixuan said with a pompous wave of his hand.

When they looked at the front of the line again, Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue were each holding half of Jin Guangyao’s luggage.

“Or the less of it he carries, I guess."

The boys’ dormitories were a series of long, squat buildings with brown walls of dried bamboo. A slightly crooked fence of spaciously crisscrossed bamboo stalks enclosed the buildings on all sides. The fence was only interrupted by a gate with a wide, green roof, which like a friendly embrace covered the stone path that led into the dormitory courtyard. On either side of the path stood two twin lanterns. Outside each building were four seats and a dense square table decorated with cloudlike patterns, all carved from the same matte white stone that formed the arch Lan Wangji had walked under just a few hours ago to enter the Cloud Recesses. On the right side of the courtyard grew a knobby tree whose bright green shoots hung over the dormitory roofs, mingling with branches from other trees that grew outside the fence.

The disciples chattered with approval.

“Wow, this is pretty," Wei Wuxian said.

“Duh, dumbass. It’s the Cloud Recesses, what did you expect?” Jiang Cheng shot back. His angry, crinkled brow did not match the obvious admiration in his eyes for the sight before him, but it did suit his apparent displeasure when the same admiration was expressed by his brother.

Lan Xichen stood at the foot of one of the dorms and faced the disciples with a dignified enthusiasm. Next to him was Nie Mingjue, arms folded and face as tense as ever.

“Alright, now that we’re here, it’s time to determine the rooming arrangements,” Lan Xichen said.

The sound of flapping robes filled the enclosure as the young men shifted spots in a hurry, sidling up next to friends or locking arms with a neighbor. Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang, and Ouyang-xiong* formed a group immediately. Lan Wangji stood in place. (*Ouyang Zizhen’s father, whose name we don’t know, sadly)

“There is a small issue that we have to settle before you choose roommates,” Lan Xichen said. “As the clan leaders were not expecting the Wen disciples to be joining us until yesterday, we are short of two rooms. There is a duplex a few paces away that can house the two extra disciples, but I’m sorry to say that it has not been used for several decades and has fallen into a state of neglect.”

This was surprising. Every building in the Cloud Recesses was maintained in pristine condition. Why had this one been left to deteriorate?

“Would anyone like to volunteer to stay in the duplex? The rest of you will be sorted into quads,” Lan Xichen said.

Somehow the disciples looked around at everyone and no one at the same time.

“Anybody?”

Silence.

“Put the little Wen in there,” Nie Mingjue said with a bated mixture of satisfaction and disgust.

Wen Ning, who had been spacing out at the edge of the group, jerked his head up. “…D-D-Does Clan Leader Nie mean me?”

Nie Mingjue scoffed.

Lan Xichen wrung his hands. “Young Master Wen, is that okay with you? I must emphasize that there is no pressure for you to accept.”

“Y-Y-Yes.”

After a slight hesitation, Lan Xichen said, “Alright, we need one more. …the Young Heir Wen Chao?”

“Ha! If you try to put me in your worst room, you’ll be hearing from my father tomorrow!

“Insolent br—”

“Mingjue. Let’s see if there’s someone more willing.”

Nie Mingjue flared his nose and crossed his arms into each other even more deeply, like he was digging a trench in which to bury every Wen of the cultivation world.

Wen Ning did not have good prospects for a friendly roommate. If someone volunteered, it would likely be because they wanted a roommate who wouldn’t get in the way and guessed that Wen Ning would be easy to order around and intimidate. If someone were selected by the senior disciples, they would be unhappy about living in the decrepit duplex and even more unhappy about rooming with a Wen instead of their friends.

The majority of the disciples were not shy about their hatred for the Wen Clan. Three had already demonstrated that they had no qualms about bullying the boy.

What would happen to him?

The disciples whispered among themselves. Wei Wuxian and his roommates were having an especially animated conversation. Lan Wangji thought that if anyone was the best choice to live with Wen Ning, it was Wei Wuxian or Nie Huaisang, but neither of them spoke up. In fact, they seemed intent on staying with their quad.

Wen Ning needed a roommate who would keep him safe.

“I am willing,” Lan Wangji said.

Lan Xichen sighed with relief. “Thank you, Wangji.”

“And I’ll take Young Master Wen’s place!”

Wei Wuxian marched forward. He broadened his shoulders and placed his hands on his hips, beaming up at Lan Xichen. He winked at Lan Wangji.

Lan Wangji bit the inside of his mouth. That plan backfired.

Wei Wuxian sauntered over and leaned onto Lan Wangji, using his shoulder as an armrest for the second time today. “Hi roomie!”

Lan Wangji’s entire body tensed.

With a nod of his head, Wei Wuxian pointed toward Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang, and Ouyang-xiong. Nie Huaisang held a cream-colored fan over the bottom half of his face with one hand and waved with the other. His eyes slimmed into crescents in a bashful smile that was hidden behind the fan. Ouyang-xiong waved slowly. Jiang Cheng was clearly not enthusiastic, but he tried to appear welcoming.

“Wen Qionglin, you’re with them.”

“T-T-Thank you, Young Master Wei! Please, call me Wen Ning.” Then with a timid grin he scurried away toward his new roommates.

Lan Wangji watched him for a few seconds, then turned to Wei Wuxian, who was still leaning on his shoulder like a lazy cat.

“I volunteered in order for Young Master Wen to avoid a roommate who may mistreat him. Now you have put him with three disciples.”

“Aiya, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, I put him with three friends. Do you think I would volunteer to switch places with Wen Ning without making those buffoons swear to be nice to him? Now the little Wen will have even more buddies to look out for him. And they actually liked the idea a lot! Jiang Cheng was thrilled to get rid of me. Sorry, now you’re the one who has to deal with me, Lan Er-Gege.”

Wei Wuxian rubbed his nose and raised his eyebrows at Lan Wangji. His grey eyes sparkled with contentment and only a hint of mischief.

Lan Wangji afforded him a twitch of a smile.

Perhaps Wei Wuxian had a chance of winning his favor.

If he tried harder.

* * *

“Listen up, everyone. You all follow Lan Xichen to your dorms. These groups come with me,” Nie Mingjue said as he made choppy gestures at the disciples. “You two, wait a moment.”

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian waited next to the stone path in the courtyard and watched as the disciples were herded into dormitories in groups of four. Amazingly, their voices amplified tenfold once they were behind the bamboo walls.

“Wow, this is pretty big! There’s even artwork in here.”

“I call this bed!”

“Hey, no fair, you can’t call one yet! I wasn’t ready!”

Lan Xichen filed the last disciple into a dormitory at the end of the courtyard, then glided over to Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. There was a momentary glint of pleasure in his eyes.

“I’ll lead you two to your duplex. Mingjue, if any of the disciples want to go exploring, make sure they know the boundaries they should stay in.”

The two roommates followed Lan Xichen past the fence surrounding the dormitories. When they left the stone path, the sound of their footsteps shifted from soft clinks to the swish of dirt and grass. It took less than a minute to arrive at a building that was the same style as the dormitories, but smaller and more worn down.

“Here we are,” Lan Xichen said as he slid open the door.

Objectively, the interior was not in disrepair at all, never mind as dire as Lan Xichen had made it sound earlier. But by the standards of the Cloud Recesses, the state of this dormitory was unacceptable. The wood of the low tea table in the center of the room was soft, the dark green china on top of it was mismatched, the turquoise curtains beside it had frayed ends in some places. The tan floor mats showed a hint of discoloration. However, the beds still appeared to be in pristine condition.

“It used to be a duplex for senior disciples, like the one that Mingjue and I will be living in. It was cleaned earlier today, but little attention has been paid to this building for many years. My apologies for its current state,” Lan Xichen said.

Wei Wuxian stepped inside and spread his arms out comfortably at his sides, spinning in a circle as he admired the interior. “I think it’s great! It has character. And look at this, we don’t just get shelves, we get closets too! This is no downgrade, we hit the jackpot! It looks like there are perks to being secondhand senior disciples, Lan Zhan!”

Lan Xichen entered after them, but at the sound of his younger brother’s birth name, he paused in the doorway and raised his eyebrows.

“Yes, there are some extra features that senior disciples have the privilege of enjoying in their rooms,” he said. “By the way, that reminds me. It seems that you two have gotten to know each other. Wangji, have you decided how Young Master Wei will be reprimanded for breaking the rules?”

Wei Wuxian immediately started whining. “Aiya, Lan Zhan, let’s just forget about all of that. I just got here, and now we’re such good roommates. Don’t ruin that already! Do you want a cranky roommate?”

Wei Wuxian was one of the most expressive people Lan Wangji had ever met. In the span of a few hours, his handsome tan face had worn a look of mischief, concentration, triumph, anger, gentleness, and now the most unbearable one yet—pouting.

But Lan Wangji would not spare a troublemaker this easily.

“I have decided.”

“That you’ll let me off the hook? Please say yes?”

“Copy the Gusu Lan Clan rules one hundred times.”

“Nooooo! That’s so boringgggg! Lan Zhan, how could you do this to meeee?” He tugged at Lan Wangji’s robes and wailed.

Lan Wangji did not enjoy this immature reaction or unwelcome physical contact. He locked his gaze with Lan Xichen and conveyed as much stony displeasure in his expression as possible.

Lan Xichen smirked.

“Alright then. Young Master Wei, after classes are finished tomorrow, you will head straight to the library and begin copying. Wangji will supervise you.”

Supervise?

“Dinner is in an hour. If you want to go out wandering, stay within the boundaries, and remember that curfew is nine o’clock,” Lan Xichen said on his way out.

The person whom these instructions were meant for was clearly not listening. Wei Wuxian still clutched at Lan Wangji’s robes, whining for a different sentence.

“Lan ZHAN, can’t you give me a different punishment? Like just hit me or something?”

Lan Wangji remained rigid in place with his lips slightly parted, staring at the chuckling ghost his brother had left in the doorway, feeling very betrayed.

He had to supervise him, too? Wasn’t being his roommate enough of a burden?

They unpacked their belongings onto the shelves of their respective sides of the room. Wei Wuxian had insisted that Lan Wangji let him choose the side he wanted, since Lan Wangji was being such a mean roommate. Lan Wangji did not care which bed was his and would have let Wei Wuxian choose anyway—a mindset which he thought made him, in fact, a great roommate.

“Wow, this closet is so big I could fit inside it! No more folding spare robes for us!” Wei Wuxian said after opening his closet.

Lan Wangji set down his jar of tea leaves in its proper place on the shelf and rose to examine his own closet. He gave the door a slight tug, but it did not open.

Strange. He tugged a bit harder, but to no avail.

Was it jammed?

He tried a third time with enough strength that any door should have flown open. It did not budge.

“Lan Zhan, why so noisy? Is there something wrong with your door?”

“Locked.”

Wei Wuxian furrowed his brow. “How could it be locked? There’s nowhere to put a key. There’s not even a lock mechanism.”

He bounded over and inspected the closet door himself. After a few tugs and some huffing and puffing, he gave up. “That’s really weird. A door like this is built to open easily. Mine works just fine. Hahaha, maybe it just doesn’t like you, Lan Zhan! It knows you’re a big meanie, haha!”

“Boring.”

“Don’t worry, you can just share my closet if you want. There’s way too much room for me to use it all.”

“That is not necessary.”

Wei Wuxian tugged at his arm. “Really, I mean it! We have these nice closets, might as well take advantage of them! Are you telling me you want to fold your robes instead of hanging them up? Come on, just use my closet!”

When Lan Wangji did not answer, Wei Wuxian crouched down, grabbed Lan Wangji’s robes from his luggage, and carried them over to his side of the room.

Lan Wangji watched Wei Wuxian hang his robes in the closet. His motions were fluid and precise. Wei Wuxian’s figure was actually quite pleasing to look at.

That is, if Wei Wuxian was the first thing one saw after staring at a slug for a year. Even that thought was too generous.

They had not walked together to the central square of the Cloud Recesses for dinner, but somehow they ended up sitting together. Wei Wuxian entertained his peers by teasing Lan Wangji about the way he had organized his belongings in the room—“By size, color, and category, like an old man who has nothing better to do than create silly problems for himself to solve! You should’ve seen how concentrated he was. His lips were all pursed like this, and his eyebrows were all angled like this”—narrating the saga with wild, exaggerated body language that aggravated Lan Wangji so much, he stood up and circled all the way to the senior disciples’ end of the seating arrangement to plop down next to Jiang Yanli.

“Don’t pay any mind to Xianxian, he only teases people he likes,” she said with a soft smile.

“What a pity,” Lan Wangji said.

Lan Xichen grazed him over once with laughing eyes, then took an indulgent sip of tea and turned to Nie Mingjue.

That night, Lan Wangji sat in his dorm reading ahead in his history book about obscure martial heroes who lived within a certain two-hundred year period. Lan Wangji did not expect Jin Guangshan to be a good history teacher—he had reached a ripe point in his self-absorbed middle age that made him inclined to narrate his own exaggerated autobiography instead—and therefore Lan Wangji had to ensure he taught himself whatever the clan leader might fail to mention.

Wei Wuxian had not returned to the dorm since after dinner. Nie Huaisang, Jiang Cheng, and Wen Ning had stepped inside for a moment to look around, then exclaimed something about fireflies and ran outside with Wei Wuxian at their heels.

By now it was nearly nine o’clock. For Lan Wangji’s own sake, he hoped that Wei Wuxian would return by curfew. Otherwise he would be forced to increase the number of times that Wei Wuxian had to copy the three thousand Gusu Lan Clan rules, and Lan Wangji did not want to spend any more time with the hyperactive troublemaker than he needed to.

Lan Wangji turned a page in the book, then paused to listen to the crickets singing joyfully outside. The evening had developed a slight chill, but inside the dorm, the air he breathed was warm, sweet, and a bit musky, like a bowl of comforting broth after a long day outside. His heart hummed in tune with the peaceful crickets.

A bloodcurdling scream pierced the night.

Lan Wangji leapt to his feet.

It had come from behind him!

He whipped around, but there was nothing there except his own furniture. He grabbed his sword Bichen and sprinted out the door to scour the area surrounding his dorm, but there was no one in sight there, either.

A shiver trembled through Lan Wangji's limbs as he slowly paced back inside and faced his side of the room.

It wasn’t possible for the sound to come from where his instincts told him it had.

But could it be?

The scream came from inside his closet?

* * *

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this chapter, you can be a supportive sibling like Jiang Yanli by liking, reblogging, and visiting me on AO3! New chapters posted every Monday on AO3 and Tuesday on Tumblr.

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#mdzs fanfic #mdzs fanfiction #mdzs fic #the untamed fanfiction #wangxian fanfiction #the untamed fanfic #wangxian #mdzs #cql #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lan zhan #wei ying #cantatio #emilu talks

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