#are judging him for not getting how much lwj likes him

[phoenixkaptain]

My favourite part of MDZS is how cool Wei Wuxian is.

Like, we don’t talk enough about how cool he is. He performs Empathy three times. His ability to use a flute is so powerful, the song doesn’t even have to sound good for it to work. He brought a dead guy back to life (kinda sorta).

But especially, I love how Wei Wuxian treats ghosts and corpses! Wei Wuxian just hangs out with corpses, for FUN!! He scares away low-level corpses just by existing! He hears the voices of the dead to the point that he can’t enter a place too full of resentment without getting a headache from the constant chatter.

I also really like the Extra where Wei Wuxian is just like “Well, the ghost will go away when he’s done screaming. I’m not worried about it.” And he just leaves a screaming ghost at some guy’s house so the ghost can move on peacefully (as peacefully as is possible when one moves on by screaming).

I love all of this so much because Wei Wuxian is constantly saying that people have too high of expectations of him. Xue Yang telling him to put Xiao Xingchen’s soul back together is just one example of this. Someone will tell Wei Wuxian to do something and he’ll be like “How powerful do you think I am?!” And it’s like… Wei Wuxian, you spent six hours hanging onto a cursed sword in the Xuanwu’s mouth, you survived three months in the Burial Mounds and then returned to make it into a semi-livable place, you killed at least a thousand people that one time, and you came back from the dead, just to name a few.

Wei Wuxian is so strong. He’s so cool. He is terrifying. He is unstoppable and unflappable if only because he gets over his embarrassment in about fifteen seconds! He just rolls with it! He rolls with anything that happens! He remains Shocked and Apalled by Lan Zhan’s behaviour for all of five minutes before basically going “lol okay”! He told Lan Zhan that he wanted to sleep with him in front of Lan Xichen, Jin Ling, a handful of Jin disciples, and the literal bad guy of the novel!!!

(I’ll never get over that scene. It is so funny.

WWX: “I need to say something, it can’t wait.”

JGY: “Then just say it right now as you are.” (Referring to the fact that Wei Wuxian has a wire wrapped around his throat that can kill him in seconds)

WWX: “Good point! Lan Zhan, we should’ve fucked.”

This scene is so fucking funny, I will absolutely never get over it)

I love powerful protagonists and honestly, Wei Wuxian is at the top of the list when it comes to overpowered protagonists. The only thing that phases him is dogs, and even then, he himself admits that he can get used to their presence as long as they aren’t barking.

TLDR: Wei Wuxian is so powerful and I totally get why Lan Zhan fell for him.

[ifellintothestyx]

The funny thing about JC defenders is that they always try to argue that JC refusing to cover the Wens and side with WWX was the correct political move. In the short term, perhaps, but in the long term, that was proven wrong in the books themselves.

(It's even funnier thinking that correct political moves exist in a bullshit political system that blatantly serves only the gentry, is held together by hearsay and rumors, and has no actual system of laws that can serve as a basis to accuse, judge, or punish someone.)

So how was JC's refusal to side with WWX and the Wens considered the "correct political move"? Reasons include that the Jiang sect was still recovering from the war, that going against the Jins would result in another war that would end in major losses on the Jiang sect's side, and that the Wens weren't and shouldn't have been a priority for JC at all.

Let's clear a few things up. The Jiang clan was not the only clan recovering, so were the Nies and the Lans. In the aftermath of the war, it's not explicitly stated how well the other sects were doing, so we couldn't really tell if the Jiangs were worse off than the other three. It could be noted, however, that the Jins retained much of their wealth and influence, so much so that Jin Guangyao was able to take the position of Chief Cultivator with little to no opposition. The main point, though, is that at that moment in the aftermath of the war, we could not easily assume the Jiangs were the worst off, as the other three sects also lost many disciples in the war, and we didn't really know how much the other sects recovered.

For the second reason, if a major war somehow did happen again, this time Jiangs vs everyone else, everyone else would lose. WWX's presence single-handedly helped them win the war against the Wens. A war between the Jiangs and the jianghu would be based on numbers, which reflects the war between the Wens and the jianghu. The Wens had more disciples, and no matter how many LWJs or NMJs you got up your sleeve, numbers make a big difference in war. That's why WWX's skills were a critical part in winning: he is a one-man army of thousands. He could easily make up for the gap in numbers. That's why the Jins kept trying to get rid of him—they were nervous about so much power belonging to only one faction: the Jiangs. JGS couldn't exactly claim his desired role as Chief Cultivator if a younger, smarter, and more powerful individual was still around to keep him in check.

Finally, we get to the part of why I'm making this long-ass post on a caffeine-driven rage. See, the point of trying to stop a powerful faction from committing atrocities is to stop them from thinking they can do it whenever they like. The Jins were given a pass to do whatever the hell they wanted to a small, outcasted faction (the Wens), and they proceeded to take that pass as a pass for everything else. Nobody stopped them from torturing the Wens, so what's stopping them from allowing a mass murderer like XY to run wild in an attempt to create their own WWX? Definitely not NMJ, hahaha, because, y'know, the hypocrites in the gentry have already decided that whatever the Jins do is alright so long as it's not their problem. An exterminated clan isn't their priority. So, what was stopping XY from going out and doing it again to SL's sect? Absolutely nothing! Because the Jins could cover it up and no one could say a word despite how suspicious it was, because hey, remember what happened to the last guy that spoke up against the Jins?

Calling out the Jins on their crimes against the Wens, who were elderly and children save for WQ and WN (who JC owed his damn life and core to), would have created a precedent of not allowing massive crimes to slide under the radar. But because the opposite happened, because nobody fucking realized that apathy and selfishness don't fucking help in the long run, two sects were exterminated because JGS and JGY were basically given an "okay, fine, just keep that bullshit away from us". That's not actual justice. That's not "morally grey". Allowing people in power to trample over others just because it doesn't affect you personally is not sustainable, because what happens when it's you they've decided to trample over? Are you going to complain? Are you going to look to others for help, when you personally couldn't be bothered to offer your hand to those who suffered? When the reason the people trampling over you gained that power is because you allowed it?

The unopposed killing of WWX and the Wens led to the political climate that allowed the massacres of two sects because the Jins were trying to protect and satisfy their pet project. It led to the murder of NMJ because JGS/JGY wanted to keep people from checking their power. If JC couldn't find it in his heart to be sympathetic to the Wens, fine, but at the very least, he should have considered the potential harm in rolling over and giving a political faction too much power.

[symphonyofsilence]

Honestly, it looks like at least after the Guanyin Temple, WWX is actively resisting understanding that JC still cares about him. JC takes a Stab to the chest for him, asks him why he didn't keep his promise & stay by his side, has a full breakdown over his sacrifice, gives him back Chenqing that he's kept for all these years, gets angry at JGY on his behalf, JGY spells out for WWX that JC is angry because he feels WWX was wronged, and that JC must have come to rescue not only JL, but WWX too, & targets WWX in the middle of the fight, fully trusting that JC would rush to his rescue, and he does. JC even thanks LWJ and holds a fallen WN. & I think one reason that WWX might be subconsciously fighting against getting all these clear signs and still avoiding JC might be that as much as he thinks he can’t handle JC’s wrath and blame and wants him to forgive him, he actually can’t afford JC’s forgiveness and unconditional love. Because he still blames himself for JZX’s and JYL’s deaths and even the massacre of Lotus Pier. & JC is the only one who has the right to be angry at him for all of these. He and JL. JC’s the only one who knew JYL & genuinely cared about her. WWX doesn’t think he deserves JC’s forgiveness. In fact, he looks terrified of it. Just look how quickly he turns from JC after thanking him for giving Chenqing back to him (Chenqing that after all these years still sounded like he had first used it. A very telling sign of JC's affection in itself.) Even though even JL who was watching from afar could say that JC had something to say to WWX:

JC is an outward force blaming him and being angry at him. WWX can tell him that he doesn’t know what to say to him when asked for an explanation, he can tell him that it’s all in the past. Let it go. he can beat the shit out of him. He can apologize to him and be judged by him. He can avoid him. Pretending that by ignoring him he doesn’t have to face the past. JC blames WWX and is harsh to him so WWX doesn’t have to fight himself and blame himself all the time. post-resurrection WWX keeps misinterpreting everything JC says and is unwilling to listen to him and get the hints JC keeps giving him about how he just wants WWX to come back home & interprets everything JC even doesn’t say in the worst ways he can bc it’s not so much about JC than it’s about WWX projecting onto JC. Because he thinks JC MUST be thinking that way. BC WWX thinks he deserves JC’s hatred. And judging by how he keeps misinterpreting JC even pre-time-skip, and in true WWX fashion fully believes himself to be right & doesn't second guess himself and or makes any effort to understand JC, & JYL is always the JC translator for him, from the moment she says to him that despite his tantrum JC is happy to finally have a playmate, to the moment she says that JC was the one who offered WWX name JL, and without JYL there to take their hands and pull them to meet each other in the middle the brothers can't communicate, Jiang Cheng has never been so much his own person in Wei Wuxian's mind as WWX's interpretation of him. WWX's shidi. An open book to WWX in WWX's mind. When he was not WWX's fragile shidi who needed protection (which @cerusee has written a great meta about here.), then he was WWX's betrayed, angry shidi who blamed him & resented him. If JC forgives him and continues to be his loving brother then it’s clear that the only one who can’t forgive WWX is WWX. and what is he gonna do about that?

[misscellophane-ao3]

Story title: Judge Wei (AO3 link)

Fandom: MDZS/CQL

Pairing: background WangXian

Words: 780

Warnings: None

Tags: Judge WWX, Bailiff LWJ, Lawyer NHS, Lawyer JZN (Zixun), Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, sort of inspired by a mix between judge Judy and the original nightcourt, POV LWJ, Fluff, Attempt at Humor, Modern with Cultivation, I actually haven't seen a single episode of either, but I have seen occasional clips

STORY -

"All Rise for the Honorable Judge Wei."

A loud noise of shifting chairs and shoes tapping the ground sounded throughout the room as everyone stood up. Lan Wangji kept his gaze firmly on the man standing at the defendant's side of the courtroom, even as he heard the swish of robes and the creak of a chair.

"You may now sit."

This was not the time to get distracted, he was a bailiff, he needed to be ready to take care of any problems and not get distracted by how handsome Wei Wuxian looked in his court attire.

Which would have been easier if the Judge wasn't hissing his name and waving him over not even two seconds after sitting down.

He kept his face passive as he walked over, ignoring the whispers and stares of everyone else in the room, hoping his hair covered the pink curling over his ears as Wei Wuxian leaned close to whisper "Whose the defendant's lawyer over there? I don't recognize him.".

How Wei Wuxian was appointed as the youngest cultivator to be appointed a judge, ("I swear I only applied as a joke, Lan Zhan. I don't know what happened." Wei Wuxian exclaimed as he set his sword down on the stand behind his new desk, "This is so weird, you know, even A-yuan was speechless when he heard and he's six. He shouldn't even know what a judge is.") and he would probably never know.

Cultivation Court wasn't much different from the regular style of court besides the fact that it consisted of cultivators and thus cultivator style lawsuits, meaning more magical/supernatural issues, which is why the judges needed to be strong cultivators with proper understanding of the cultivation world and it's rules, not just the law. Only 3 people have been appointed this year, making it a total of only 25 judges currently in the entire cultivation world, it was indeed a very difficult job to get.

Yet, despite what his mischievous and flirty personality would imply, he was harsh yet fair when it came down to it, he never let anyone get away with bullshit in his courtroom. It was impressive to watch. The innocent loved him and the guilty despised him.

("Watching him in court reminds me of Judge Judy sometimes." He remembers Huaisang commenting once, "Though he's much hotter when angry." He immediately ignored the suggestive eyes the Nie then gave him over his fan. He would never admit that he later looked up this Judge Judy and could admit Wei Wuxian did remind him of her in some ways. Lan Wangji thought Wei Wuxian would always be the better judge though and it had nothing to do with his massive crush on the man. Mostly.)

Lan Wangji bit back an instinctive look of exasperation as he replied quietly, "That's Jin Zixun, Jin Zixuan's cousin."

After a pause at the blank look on Wei Wuxian's face he added a touch reluctant, "The Peacock."

Now, Lan Wangji disliked Jin Zixun just as much as practically anyone who ever met him, but even he found it funny how Wei Wuxian could completely wipe a person from his memory despite seeing them almost every other week. Especially since Jin Zixun has got it into his head that Wei Wuxian actively had it out for him.

Lan Wangji knew for a fact that Wei Wuxian immediately forgot he even existed once out of his line of sight, and merely found the man mildly annoying when reminded of who he even was.

"Oh. The Peacock. No wonder he has an ugly face." Wei Wuxian nodded like that was a completely normal thing for a judge to say about a lawyer they were meant to be impartial to while in court.

In Wei Wuxian's case, it unfortunately was.

"Judge Wei, If we can start court now." The prosecutor, Nie Huaisang, cut in, hiding his face behind an unnecessary yet beautiful ornamental fan. Lan Wangji was sure he used such pretty fans to hide his sharp wit and the snarky looks he shoots at people during court but Lan Wangji was not one for gossip, nor did he actually care, so he'll never outright ask the Nie.

"Right yes," Wei Wuxian cleared his throat and sat up straight, Lan Wangji stayed close by but at a more reasonable distance now, bichen a steady weight across his back as he watched the Jins carefully.

"The Case of Hua Su Estate VS Cultivator Jin Hong will now begin."

The gavel hit the wooden base loud and ominous.

This courtroom was about to be a blood filled circus, it always was when it came to the Jins.

[chirpycloudyrobin]

Previous || Masterlist || START || Next

it's in the dead of night when wei wuxian meets hua cheng and xie lian again right in the middle of the jingshi

to wwx, hua cheng was. hm. how shld wwx describe him ?

",,, dad ,,,?"

"... do i LOOK—"

okay but in all seriousness wwx never wouldve fully pieced his soul together back in the burial mounds in the amount of time he did without hua cheng and xie lians help. so hua cheng is kind of like wwx's ghost dad ? maybe ? and xie lian's his ghost/god mom who gently coaxed his soul pieces back together while hua cheng glared at him for stressing his husband out

anyways

wwx gets scolded pretty badly for immediately jumping into shenanigans not even a day after his emergence from the kiln. hell, his injuries from the decade-long brawl probably havent even healed yet and does he even have a decent grasp on his new devastation ghost abilities yet ?

the scene in the jingshi truly looked like two parents scolding their unruly child for scampering off at the first opportunity despite being barely an adult in age

wwx is not three this time around, thank u very much !!

they talk abt the demonic left arm from mo village and how it has garnered the attention of the heavenly capital because apparently it belonged to someone who was supposed to ascend to the upper courts but their soul was chopped up before they could get their heavenly calamity.

huh, wwx thinks. what the fuck happened while i was in mt tonglu

hua cheng warns wwx to be careful bc the heavenly capital is sending two local deities to investigate the demonic left arm on the non-mortal side of things and he doenst want xie lian to be worried for wwx

(hua cheng is absolutely worried for him too, wwx is very sure)

"pls dont get urself punted into jail ur gnna stress out gege and if u stress out gege ill-" "ill be fine ! ive got thee hanguang-jun w me lol !" hua cheng raises an eyebrow at the thought of a mortal cultivator guarding a ghost king. one of the best of his generation, sure, but still a mortal. wwx pouts at him, "u cant judge me ur protecting a whole thrice-ascended god"

after all the serious talk was done (and insane inspection of wwx's [surprisingly perfect] human disguise), hua cheng hangs around to watch wwx make a fool of himself.

his pseudo-dad is enjoying his torment apparently. he'll tattle on him to xie lian later for sure.

but for now wwx focuses on getting out of there !! and mxy too !! he wonders if the kid is doing okay in the guest quarters. he hopes hes not bored

wwx's attempts to get himself and mxy kicked out of the cloud recesses by scandalizing the shit out of lwj fails spectacularly (what the fuck lwj is EVEN MORE RIPPED than the last time he saw him what the-) and he spends the night in a body-bind spell on lwj's body and he ??? cannot make sense of the entire thing

he can still hear hua cheng's cackles into the next morning

but thats fine because a while later the mingshi is going crazy with resentful energy and wwx's ghost instincts are like "FINALLY SOME GOOD FUCKING FOOD (literal) (hes been craving to eat resentful energy)" and he barges into the room, plops his ass down, and does an impromptu duet w lwj

the arm is subdued. wwx was able to feed without drawing anyone's suspicions. the mystery is getting uncovered bit by bit because the hand is pointing to their next destination

wwx leaves mxy in the care of the lan sect while he and lwj go out and solve this murder mystery

absolutely nothing is going to go wrong ! :D

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

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1. ITMF a fic where the Lans or the neis or the cultivation world in general find out about the abuse wwx takes at jiang sect and the other sects trying to help him @zerokogane

~*~

2. Have you all seen maze runner? Yeah. I want a wangxian maze runner version/fusion/setting/same plot or something!!

~*~

3. A) ITMF fics where, in a wedding Wei Ying catches the flowers/bouquet brides throw?

Itmf fics where B) wwx is like a mystery unsolved to anyone and everyone

C) wwx is a magician. Like those cool tricky people uk. Could be real / fake magic. @constellationdks

3B)

Old Foreshadows by protos_metazu_ison (M, 15k, WangXian, YLLZ WWX, BAMF WWX, War, Universe Alteration, Sunshot Campaign) not sure i'm understanding the request, but maybe one of these?

🔒 never been away so long by sundiscus (G, <1k, wangxian, Modern, Pre-Relationship, First Meetings, Ambiguous/Open Ending, (but a happy ending in the endnotes!), Ghosts)

~*~

4. Hello, thank you, my favorite fic comes from your recs. Any fic recs for lan xichen x jiang yanli. No modern era please @dramaqueenrolf

~*~

5. hii, for the next imtf can I ask for a fic where lwj and wwx break up and r mopey about it? a modern au maybe, like there's no promised goodbye here

thank you!! @mercurygirlwt28

~*~

6. Hello! I have a read fics where the characters cultivate to immortality and the story picks up with their lives in modern era. I like the combo of traditional clothes, cultures, and canon personalities in the modern setting. Are there more fics like this? (I cannot remember the names of the two I have read in the past. In one I think WWX loses his memory and regains it upon backpacking to modern Cloud Recesses? In the other WWX time travels to modern and meets LWJ who has lived all those years.)

ridiculous future bullshit by sami (M, 61k, wangxian, WQ/JC/LXC, LSZ & WWX, LSZ/Other(s), LSZ & his family, JYL/OMC, Future Fic, movies, the rewriting of history if the past was different the future is different, But still ridiculous, Humor, the evolution of fashion, immortals through history, LWJ visits other cultures and judges them, Modern, best boy LSZ, Pride Parades, Cats, the legend of WQ, Academia, Border Crossings, biosecurity, oz quarantine is SERIOUS BUSINESS, Kinda cultivated to immortality, Paperwork, Family, Parents and Children, Uncles and nephews, the mortifying ordeal of your family seeing how you really live, Social Media, Chaos Gremlin WWX, Slight Hostage Situations, University, outsider pov, WWX vs Local Culture, actions have consequences, Pets, Movie Stars, Fluff) though it’s a sequel to And Time Is But A Paper Moon so some people are immortal in RFB who died in canon.

Thanks for giving me an excuse to dig up one of my favorite tropes from my bookmarks!! The Future is Ours to Keep series by makebelieveanything & nerdzeword (T, 25k, wangxian, JC & WWX, JC & YZY, JYL/LQY/WQ, post-canon, modern, immortality, reincarnation, healthy family relationships, epistolary, groupchats, fluff) Some beloved cast is immortal in modern times, some reincarnated

Ever Thine, Ever Mine, Ever Ours. by JaenysBloodcourt (T, 3k, WangXian, Immortal LWJ and WWX, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Well it could be a Bittersweet Ending, Love Confessions) Wangxian are immortal, but have pined for a thousand years, and (spoiler!!!) they do get together but mind the bittersweet ending!!!!!!

dark and glimmering by Sanguis (T, 5k, wangxian, post-canon, modern, technology malfunction, established relationship, married couple, immortality) Beautiful and wangxian-centric, not so much about the modern world. But the world is around

Wandering Souls, Wild Ghosts by belleweather (E, 49k, wangxian, post-canon, victorian au, case fic, rentboys, smut, married wangxian, immortality, canon-typical violence, period-typical sexism & racism & homophobia, voyeurism, families of choice) Victorian England with immortal!wangxian’s adventures!

Traditions Series by Witch_Nova221 (G, 7k, WangXian, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, Christmas Presents, Modern with Magic, modern day cultivators, Cloud Recesses, Established Relationship, Married Couple, Married Life, family traditions, wangxian family feels, Romance, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, immortal cultivators)

A Tale of Two Immortals by esk95 (M, 31k, WIP, WangXian, XiCheng, XuanLi, Post-Canon, Like waaaaay Post-Canon Modern AU, but cultivation still exists, Immortality, Reincarnation, Pretty much everyone is a reincarnation except Wangxian, Secret Identities, Modern with Magic, Immortal!Wangxian) A beloved wip: Immortal wangxian try to solve a mystery, poor Sizhui just wants to be a cultivator and have support of his parents who don’t know anything about cultivation (lol), a lot of reincarnated folk around

MDZS: The Golden Engine by iffervescent (E, 82k, WangXian, XiCheng, Explicit Sexual Content, Immortals) The summary says it all: “In the modern era, immortals Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian return to Gusu. New evil and old friends + new friends and old evils.”

All Old Things are New Again Series by The Feels Whale (miscellea) (M, 59k, WIP, WangXian, XuanLi, ChengQing, Reincarnation, Modern AU, canon still happened, extreme post canon, Sugar Daddy, Kink Negotiation, gentle dom!LWJ, canonical levels of consent play, Modern Cultivators, Epilogues, yunmeng bros reconciliation, rabbit acquisition) has some immortal lwj and lxc with reincarnation wwx,and it's amazing.

~*~

7. ITMF fics which have wwx's ghosts. Remember ghost brides? And that ghoul child? They don't have to have a major part or something, just the fuc having wwx talking and being friends with ghosts.

It can also have the ghosts taking care of wwx. Loving him and all uk

when the sun goes out by travelingneuritis (E, 176k, WangXian, Modern Cultivation, tech cultivation, Necromancy, Angst with a Happy Ending, insecurity around adoption, Dad!WWX, dad!lwj, Grief/Mourning, Mistaken Identity, Mood Whiplash, Body Swap, sex tears!, Falling In Love, Consensual Somnophilia, apocalypse (localized), Smut, unrealistic sexual stamina, Flashbacks, Time Skips, Illustrations) if you're okay with OC ghosts I highly recommend When the Sun Goes Out by travelingneuritis, it's one of my favorite fics and wwx's relationship with his ghost army (Kaichuang in particular) is one of the reasons why

Ad Oblivione by Baph, HikariNoHimeWriter (M, 70k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, POV Multiple, Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Identity Reveal, Golden Core Reveal, Cultivation World Critical, Not JC Friendly, Abusive YZY, Angst with a Happy Ending) WWX has a ghost companion who helps him & acts as a mother figure towards him

let the sun go down on your anger; let it burn you to sleep by enbysaurus_rex (Not rated, 86k, wangxian, WQ & WWX, graphic depictions of violence, chronic illness, narcolepsy, chronic pain, YLLZ WWX, oblivious WWX, sleeping beauty elements, body horror, WIP) has pretty much every one of Wei Wuxian's ghosts playing a part and teaming up with his family to help take care of him in their own way

~*~

8. hii, for the itmf

are there any fics w the trope "someone who believes they're hard to love and someone who loves then like it's breathing?

I hope ure having a nice day!!

~*~

9. Any fics where yu ziyuan treats wwx like a son or nephew??

And Time Is But a Paper Moon by sami (M, 139k, WangXian, XiChengQing, Time Travel, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Healing, Mental Health Issues, PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, BAMF JYL, Getting Together)

Sail Away Sweet Sister by sami (M, 73k, WangXian, YZY/CSSR/MDM Lan, MingLi, Time Travel, EXTREME Canon Divergence, Wide Focus Narrative, Some People Live/Not Everyone Dies, Most Named/Canon Characters Live, Childhood Friends to Lovers, Families of Choice, Parenthood, this work contains a major tonal shift, Fluff, Angst, Underage Sex, not particularly explicit, but not at all ambiguous, PTSD, Only a tiny bit, Unforeseeable consequences, The butterfly effect, Slightly Dark JYL, Asexual Characters, but that’s not really the focus, Canon-Typical Violence) Also most of sami's time travel fics. this one for sure, probably a few others in the Same Moon series

Across the street to another life by danegen (M, 99k, WangXian, Modern AU, unleashed au, Family Fluff, Set in America, Hurt/Comfort, Past Child Abuse, Addiction, Crime, Amnesia, Ableist Language, another fridged mother, POV Alternating, past wwx/ofc, past wwx/omc, Medium parent YZY, A-Yuan is wwx’s biological son, Musicians, Happy Ending) it's mostly late in the fic but "across the street to another life" REALLY earns that "medium parent yu ziyuan" tag. Far from perfect but really steps up when it matters.

Hope series by RoseThorne (T, 57k, wangxian, WWX & YZY, WWX & JFM, WWX & JYL, YZY/JFM, JC & WWX, LQR & WWX, LXC & JYL, Madam Jin & YZY, LQR & JFM, LXC & LWJ, Transmigration, Time Travel Fix-It, Illnesses, Family, Scars, Memory Loss, Angst, Crying, Music, Nosebleed, Fear, Recovery, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed, Flirting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Good Parent YZY, Referenced Sexual Slavery, Blood and Gore, Monsters, Sexual Tension, betrothal, Arranged Marriage, Grief, Adoption, POV Third Person, POV Alternating, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Good Parent LQR, Clairvoyance, Butterfly Effect, Kid Fic, Epistolary, Food, Secrets, Resentful Energy, Cultivation Sect Politics, Character Death)

The Best Gift by Lan_Wangjoe (E, 45k, WangXian, Modern AU, Mistaken Identity, Miscommunication Fluff, Romantic Fluff, Family Fluff, Family Dynamics, Falling In Love, Idiots in Love, Dorks in Love, Nice LQR, Meet the Family, Nerdiness, Science Boyfriends, Science Experiments, Fake Science, Science Husbands, Geeks, Work Contains Fan(s) or Fandom(s), Fandom Allusions & Cliches & References, Fans & Fandom AU, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Adopted Children, Marriage of Convenience, Secret Marriage, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Stupidity, Himbo LXC, Lan Himbos, Lán Family Feels, Everyone Is Alive, Everyone Thinks They're Together, Good Parents JFM and YZY, Genius WWX, Geniuses)

~*~

10. Does anybody have anything where it’s just Immortal(one of them could be reincarnated and recultivated immortality) Wangxian being happy through the ages or in modern society? (Preferably modern Cultivation society) @omgnectarina

The Future is Ours to Keep series by makebelieveanything & nerdzeword (T, 25k, wangxian, JC & WWX, JC & YZY, JYL/LQY/WQ, post-canon, modern, immortality, reincarnation, healthy family relationships, epistolary, groupchats, fluff) (link in #6) Some beloved cast is immortal in modern times, some reincarnated

Ever Thine, Ever Mine, Ever Ours. by JaenysBloodcourt (T, 3k, WangXian, Immortal LWJ and WWX, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Well it could be a Bittersweet Ending, Love Confessions) (link in #6) Wangxian are immortal, but have pined for a thousand years, and (spoiler!!!) they do get together but mind the bittersweet ending!!!!!!

dark and glimmering by Sanguis (T, 5k, wangxian, post-canon, modern, technology malfunction, established relationship, married couple, immortality) (link in #6) Beautiful and wangxian-centric, not so much about the modern world. But the world is around

Wandering Souls, Wild Ghosts by belleweather (E, 49k, wangxian, post-canon, victorian au, case fic, rentboys, smut, married wangxian, immortality, canon-typical violence, period-typical sexism & racism & homophobia, voyeurism, families of choice) (link in #6) Victorian England with immortal!wangxian’s adventures!

Traditions Series by Witch_Nova221 (G, 7k, WangXian, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Tree, Christmas Presents, Modern with Magic, modern day cultivators, Cloud Recesses, Established Relationship, Married Couple, Married Life, family traditions, wangxian family feels, Romance, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, immortal cultivators) (link in #6)

A Tale of Two Immortals by esk95 (M, 31k, WIP, WangXian, XiCheng, XuanLi, Post-Canon, Like waaaaay Post-Canon Modern AU, but cultivation still exists, Immortality, Reincarnation, Pretty much everyone is a reincarnation except Wangxian, Secret Identities, Modern with Magic, Immortal!Wangxian) (link in #6) A beloved wip: Immortal wangxian try to solve a mystery, poor Sizhui just wants to be a cultivator and have support of his parents who don’t know anything about cultivation (lol), a lot of reincarnated folk around

MDZS: The Golden Engine by iffervescent (E, 82k, WangXian, XiCheng, Explicit Sexual Content, Immortals) (link in #6) The summary says it all: “In the modern era, immortals Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian return to Gusu. New evil and old friends + new friends and old evils.”

~*~

11. Itmf pregnant wwx doesn’t realize he is pregnant at first. Broody, hormonal, instinctive, etc., can be foxxian but doesn’t have to be. Bonus points if LWJ has it figured out. Any era is fine.

I didn't know I was pregnant! by Haunted_Cheese (G, 1k, WangXian, A/B/O Dynamics, Modern AU, Mpreg, Unplanned Pregnancy, Childbirth, Omega WWX, Alpha LWJ, Pregnant WWX)

🔒Little fall of rain by luckymoonly (M, 10k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, WWX didn't know he was pregnant, Mpreg, Mention of Birth, Family Feels, Nielan himbo rights, soft LQR, Misunderstandings, jealous lwj, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Smut, Breastfeeding, Thirsty Granny Wen, JGS being his usual self)

🔒Surprise Baby! by trulywicked (M, 10k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, Modern Cultivation, Mpreg, Unplanned Pregnancy, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Didn't know he was pregnant, birthing scene, Little bit of blood, A/B/O Dynamics, Inspired by Twitter, Established Relationship, Fluff)

Blood, Google, and Love by Prairie_Grass (E, 4k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, they were roommates, A/B/O Dynamics, Getting Together, Mpreg, semi graphic giving birth, Alpha LWJ, Omega wwx, Intersex Omegas, (or you could head-canon WWX as trans if you wanted), Fluff and Angst, the run-on sentences are on-purpose because WWX and LWJ are both:, neurodiverse characters, slightly traumatic birth)

Impermanence, Transience, Permanence by Best Bepsy (BepsyGray) (E, 39k, wangxian, canon divergence, unplanned pregnancy, mpreg, gore, sunshot campaign, assumed miscarriage, medical procedures, childbirth, golden core reveal) And the case of 'didn't know I was STILL pregnant'

Does Wei Ying have Covid? by Webawee (G, 2k, WangXian, Modern AU, A/B/O Dynamics, Mpreg, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Established Relationship, Pregnancy, Morning Sickness) there's a hillarious fic called does wei ying have covid? its exactly as it sounds our oblivious baby wwx thinks he has covid when lwj thinks wwx is scared to be pregnant/ anxious and wq is wq its great

~*~

12. (Previous part added to FF)

if you could also recommend fics where lwj rejects wwx at first then feels so guilty about it after seeing/hearing about wwx suffering due to his rejection (just any au with this trope)?? i am a sucker for angst with a happy ending.

we are blessed in this community for all the work that you do, thank you so much! 🙇🏻‍♀️ @emkaii

When the Words Stop Coming by mrcformoso (T, 7k, WangXian, Canon Compliant, POV WWX, POV LWJ, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Pre-Sunshot Campaign, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Canonical Character Death, Love Confessions, Rejection, LWJ is a Panicked Gay, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Trauma, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Sad with a Happy Ending) Basically where WWX confesses, lwj keeps rejecting him, and canon still happens.

~*~

13. Itmf NMJ is everyone’s big brother (also the best brother nmj).

~*~

14. Hey, hope you're well. ITMF Wèi WuXian appreciation fics. (ex- stunted, starving, juvenility, hua xianle) @tinyfoxpeach

~*~

15. Hello! I wonder if there are works, where Wei Ying died from strangulation in the field by the hands of Jiang Cheng? Thank you!

Lay my body down by tawaen (M, 48k, WWX & WQ, WWX & WN, wangxian, WWX & JYL, canon divergence, time travel, rogue cultivator WWX, no golden core transfer, not cultivation world friendly, not JC friendly, OCs) Might not be what the requester wants? WWX dies in the siege of the Burial Mounds & part of his spirit gets flung through time & latches onto the moment where he is strangled & his heart stopped & goes 'it's free real estate', resulting in a time travel AU where WWX choses to nope the fuck out of the cultivation world. He does die in that moment, but if the requester wants an angsty MCD fic, this ain't it / has Wei Ying die of strangulation but a fragment of his soul returns to that moment and he lives again.

False Catharsis by mondengel (Not Rated, 792, Horror, Angst) WWX dies. It's only 700 words but it hits hard.

~*~

16. Hello~! ITMF hanahaki disease fics, preferably canon setting? In hanahaki trope someone who has unrequited love will grow flowers in their chest until the roots and branches kill them. Basically a curse to wither away in sadness and die unless your love is requited.

Regret Blossoms by piecrust (G, 7k, wangxian, Hanahaki Disease)

This Lantern Shines For You by apollonie (M, 10k, wangxian, Hanahaki Disease, Angst with a Happy Ending, Post-Canon, Pining WWX, WWX Needs a Hug, LWJ is a Disaster Gay)

~*~

17. Idk if you'll answer this but do u know any fics where lwj travels back in time to his younger selfs body and gets to change how he was like with wwx? (Bonus points if it was just a dream) thanks!!! 💗

A Narrow Bridge by FrameofMind, Jo Lasalle (Jo_Lasalle) (E, 700k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Canon Divergence, Slow Burn, Getting Together, First Time, Pining while fucking, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Angst with a Happy Ending, CQL Verse, almost everybody lives/almost nobody dies, epistolary-ish, canon-ish side pairings, radishes) LWJ goes back & changes his decision at Qiongqi Path

🔒 The Second Hand Unwinds by trulywicked (E, 25k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, Time Travel Fix-It, not JC friendly, not Yúnmèng Jiāng Sect friendly, not Jiāng Family friendly, not YZY friendly, Time Travelling LWJ, Protective LWJ, Fluff, Minor Angst, Minor Character Death, JGS is his own warning, Wooing, LWJ is romantic af, Inventor WWX, Genius WWX, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Protective Gūsū Lán Sect, Supportive LXC, Good Uncle LQR, WIP) LWJ goes back to CRSA

A Matter of Time series by mrcformoso (E, 70 k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, POV LWJ, POV JC, Dark LWJ, Manipulation, Grooming, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Consensual Underage Sex, Except problematic please read warning in first chapter, Blood and Violence, Insane LWJ, Manic LWJ, Conditioning, WWX is a Lán, Minor Character Death, Confused JC, Golden Core Reveal, Good Friend NHS, WWX Isn’t Adopted by the Jiāngs, Abusive Jiāng Family, Jiāng Family Bashing, Jiāng Family Critical, POV NHS, Dark NHS, Anal Sex, Marathon Sex, Dual Cultivation, Qīnghéng-jūn Lives, LWJ Has a Big Dick, WWX Self-Lubricates, Plot Twists, Porn With Plot, Scheming NHS, Manipulative NHS, BAMF LWJ, BAMF WWX) Features dark!LWJ. Mind the tags

~*~

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

[joys-of-everyday]

On the fifty shades of morally grey

So quick thoughts on how MXTX writes morally grey.

Sorry, I mean, excessively long meta post on how MXTX writes morally grey. Light spoilers for all three books.

A gazillion caveats to begin with. Firstly, I don’t want to argue about whether character x is morally good, bad, grey, pink or whatever. In my books, arguing about whether someone is or is not morally grey is like arguing whether a colour is green, blue, teal, or turquoise – we’re arguing definitions. To add to that, I’m not saying that concepts like ‘this person is overall good’ doesn’t exist, but I would posit that a morally unquestionable person does not exist. Secondly, I also don’t want to pass moral judgements on any of the characters. That’s for a different post. I strictly want to focus on the storytelling techniques that make the reader think ‘hang on a second, are they good or bad?’. Thirdly, this whole post is mainly based on How Arcane Writes MORAL AMBIGUITY (9 Methods, 4 Rules) - YouTube. Great video, great channel (no knowledge of Arcane required). Would recommend if you are interested in story writing techniques!

1) The information gap and the poor narrator

Best example is Shen Jiu from SVSSS. We barely know anything about Shen Jiu. Almost everything we know is from SQQ’s notoriously unreliable perspective, so we’re left to fill in the gaps ourselves. Depending on exactly how those gaps are filled, you can get two completely different people. E.g. Did he have designs of NYY, or was he just ridiculously misunderstood? Who knows! We’re never told. Even if we were told, we should doubt it because it’s SQQ telling us.

2) 4D characterisation

Schnee’s video goes into this in more details, but this is where you build two narratives on top of one another. Best example is Jin Guangyao from MDZS. Is he an underdog who did what he could out of his situation and tried his best to be a better person working for the good of the common people? Or is he a selfish, manipulative, ambitious snake who at every stage pretends to be good in order to win the favour of those around him? The point is that both narratives make sense in the story. There are moments that lean more one way or another, but you can never quite pin him down completely.

3) Moments of weakness

Best example is Xie Lian from TGCF. On the whole, XL is a wonderful human being who you 100% want to root for. Except… there was that one time he made a mistake. He let his hurt and pain overcome him; he became hurtful himself. The point here is to add in just a few ‘moments’ which fundamentally impacts how the rest of the world perceives them from that point forwards. They are forever trying to redeem themselves, forever weighed down by what is a tiny proportion of their life. The underlying question is ‘is a moment of weakness a moral failure?’

Another good example is Qi Rong from TGCF. On the whole, he’s a piece of s***. But then there are moments when he’s a genuinely good father to Guzi, and that’s confusing.

4) Well-intentioned idiot

Trying to do the right thing and absolutely failing. Best example is Wei Wuxian from MDZS. His intentions are always good. There are extremely few moments where he is selfish or overly cruel. He is always fighting for justice, always self-sacrificing, always kind. And yet the outcome of his actions is pretty bad. The underlying question is ‘should you judge a person based on their intent, or on the consequences of their actions?’

(btw the name of the method is from schnee’s video. No shade on WWX. He is very smart… well, unless it comes to LWJ’s feelings.)

5) Excuses

Yes, they’re bad. But we feel sorry for them! Almost everyone fits into this boat, because doesn’t MXTX love trauma dumping? As one example, let’s look at Jiang Cheng from MDZS. JC’s behaviour towards WWX is pretty bad on its own. But given the context of his childhood being compared to him, of having his self-esteem brutally crushed by both parents? Knowing how much he’s done and sacrificed for him, how much he truly cared for him as family? It hits different.

A small point: ‘excuses aren’t enough’ we say a lot (and I agree, to an extent). But compare, for example, Jin Guangshan vs Xue Yang. JGS seems to be a power-hungry asshole for absolutely no reason. On the other hand, put XY in different circumstances and we feel like he might have been a better person. Just as food for thought, there was a Japanese monk Honen (1133-1212) who said: ‘The good person can reach the Pure Land, so of course the evil person can as well’. The point being that the people who struggle with anger and hate because of their circumstances are most in need of salvation.

6) World building and presenting hard questions

What is acceptable sacrifice in war?

Is it okay to make a super dangerous weapon for the sake of deterrence?

How much personal responsibility does someone hold for a lifetime of circumstances pushing them towards a morally questionable path?

What are the responsibilities of a leader – to do what is right, or to do what is best for their people?

The world of MDZS is imperfect. It’s full of horrors and disasters, as well as a mob of outsiders all trying to impart their opinions despite knowing little about the situation. An imperfect world presents unanswerable questions. We see the characters struggle with these questions, come to decisions, and make mistakes, all naturally arising within the complex world that’s been presented. 

TGCF does this most explicitly. We literally have Kemo and Pei Xiu arguing about the ethics of war and XL concluding that it’s a Hard Question. In fact, every backstory of every Heavenly Official presents a new Hard Question. I don’t know if I like this method over the more subtle style of MDZS, but I have Thoughts about the storytelling styles of both (long story short, I love them both for different reasons).

7) Worlds are colliding

A slightly complicated method that takes a huge amount of set up. To summarise, set up two arcs that we the reader both feel invested in. Then set up a point where the ‘good’ outcome of one is the ‘bad’ outcome of another. For MDZS, we have 1) JC and WWX’s brotherhood arc. 2) WWX standing up for justice arc. They’re both merrily developing all the way through the conflict with the Wens… right until the moment WWX has to make a choice: stand up for justice and leave JC behind, or to fulfil his promises to JC and turn a blind eye to the injustices against the Wens. The decision is a lose-lose scenario because of the way these arcs have been set up.

8) Spectrums, Spectrums, we love Spectrums

Gongyi Xiao is a cinnamon roll. As is Wen Ning and Quan Yizhen. Meanwhile, the Old Palace Master? Literally no redeeming qualities. Wen Chao? Absolute scum. Then there’s everyone lying somewhere in between. We like Lan Wangji more than JC (I think that seems to be the case for most people?) but we certainly like JC more than JGS. Having a spectrum of morality is important because it gives us reference points to contrast and compare. It also emphasises the moral greyness of everything, because sure, Mu Qing isn’t a noodle like Shi Qingxuan, but is he worse than White No Face?

9) Spectrums aren’t enough – adding depth

Almost all of WWX’s moral ambiguity comes from the fact he has hard decisions to make. And for each of these decisions, the outcome is murky. He developed a new technique to fight against the Wens, but at what cost later down the line? He defended the Wens and gave them a few years of life, but was it worth it?

Compare with JGY. JGY does a lot of good. He also does a lot of bad. The magnitude of both lists is ridiculous. Sure, you wouldn’t usually find someone who’s killed most of their family members in any way likable, but how often do you come across someone who literally ended a war?

So one way of creating moral ambiguity is to make each decision difficult, but another way to go about it is to just… make them do loads of things. Like loads of things. Good things, bad things, all the in between things. Judging each thing is not that hard, but then trying to judge the overall person based on it is extremely difficult.

10) Pulling from the real world

Often, moral questions in fiction is hard because (surprise, surprise) moral questions are just hard full stop. Idk enough Chinese history and culture to accurately pin down all of MXTX’s references, but things like stupid misunderstands leading to conflict, poverty and inequality, less than ideal family situations, the horrors of war… these are all things that happen irl. No matter how fantastical the setting, grounding moral conflicts in reality makes us feel more emotional and invested.

Anyway, I hope that was an enjoyable rundown! This is an imperfect list, so comments, criticisms, suggestions greatly appreciated!

[pakhnokh]

I keep coming back to this specific panel and thinking about how vulnerable Wei Wuxian looks in the last frame. Thinking about it and assuming everything that happened before the start of HoG was canon, this is probably the first time ever Wei Wuxian was allowed to be human without everyone judging him for it or demanding that he explain why he fucked up again.

Lan Wangji just says Wei Wuxian doesn't need to explain, doesn't owe him that, he's not *entitled* to Wei Wuxian or his thoughts and feelings. Irony of finally owning himself while also feeling trapped aside, I can't imagine how raw that must have made Wei Wuxian feel.

(this late analysis brought to you by me being bored at work 😂)

Awwww thank you so much for being bored at work because I loved this analysis a lot! 🥺

If there's one thing that guides this story is LWJ understanding WWX's harsh position and trying to respect him as a man, as a former part of the proper cultivation world of their society, as a boy who was happy and enthusiastic once, and as a person who always stood up for what is right, even if it brought destruction upon himself and others.

In several parts of this arc I saw many people comment stuff like "hug him, lan wangji!" "kiss him!" etc, and I know it was people getting really emotional hahaha I would've commented the same.

But LWJ won't do that unless he earned WWX'S trust and love. He wants to show him support not by words of love, but by words of understanding, of taking action, of making him know that he has someone to rely on. LWJ knows what it's like to be a cultivator, how much hard work it takes, and what it means to be a part of their society. He knows that WWX position and honor as a cultivator in their world was harmed and he knows how hard it is, so if he offers any comfort, it's standing by his side as an ally in this political world and trying to find a solution to redeem his reputation. Offering romantic love is something that he'd really want to do, but doing it to a person who's been through all that hardship feels like mocking him and belittling from his status, or at least, the status WWX once had. So he's being patient and wants to help WWX the best he can. To be honest, he doesn't even rely on the possibility of his feelings being returned. He just wants to save his Wei Ying from those who wish to harm him, and to make things better for him.

In this part you shared, LWJ knows how it must feel like for WWX. Even without knowing about his trauma of being pushed from the sword, LWJ suspects that WWX might not have his core anymore (see arc 1) and plus, he feels guilty for all that WWX had to deal with on this day he planned to take him out. So even if WWX says that it's just cause he's tired, LWJ believes it too, since it's a huge emotional toll to have to sneak out hiding your identity, then the fear of being discovered, being the cause of mass panic and hate, hearing insults and accusations, realizing he's hated by all, and on top of it all - staying hungry 😭

He doesn't need WWX to explain nothing. He just wants him to rest and be safe, so that he could figure out how to help him 🥺🥺🥺🥺

Thank you again for your message ❤❤❤❤❤ hope it got better at work lol

[runespoor7]

Jiang Cheng brings back WWX to LP after his resurrection because LWJ wasn't around

Five Fun Facts About The Fic I Might Write About It, This Is A Slowburn(?) Version, For Other Versions Ask Again:

WWX insists that he's not himself far past the point of it being sensible. The thing is, it's not the first time JC decided some random demonic cultivator was WWX and dragged him home to demande apologies and play house? Last time was over half a decade ago, so not everyone in the sect knows, but those who remember are pretty wary about it, especially because of what it means about JC's mental state. Is Sect Leader getting worse again? They're also very wary of WWX, some of them openly contemptuous - WWX has the feeling that if it weren't for JC's protection he would be dead - and some of them almost pitying. I think he overhears them talk and that's how he pieces together the backstory, and also learns that the demonic cultivator whom JC is convinced are WWX and that he treats as such don't... end well. Sect Leader takes the "betrayal" badly.

WWX realizes that YMJ doesn't have a second in command. the sect has a person who performs the tasks associated with the job, but JC doesn't have a "second-in-command", never did. it just stuck that way. it sure doesn't mean anything. probably. how weird of JC though.

the Ghost General intrudes on Lotus Pier. There's a fight, JC tries to take down WN, WWX orders WN away from JC, JC freaks out. WWX keeps swearing up and down he's not WWX, honest!!! but... on the other hand... the Ghost General recognizes him as its his master... this is what breaks JC's hopes, finally, and also WWX's heart. You get JC crying as he asks WWX "are you really not him?" and WWX doing the equivalent of Cyrano's "No, my sweet love, I never loved you!" but for who he is, with less clear-cut emotional consequences than in the play (this is because WWX is not dying and thus more invested in keeping the lie up and JC is way less certain that WWX cares about him than Roxane did about Cyrano). They sort of compromise on the understanding that "MXY" is kinda-sorta WWX, but without most of WWX's memories. (WWX is telling himself that's not what he wanted but in fact he's much more comfortable/confident with himself and being in YMJ afterwards!) this is probably when WWX realizes that while his room may not exist anymore, his things are in JC's room.

JC struggles with this WWX being an innocent lamb who has no memory of doing anything wrong in his life ever. He should've expected it. How convenient. But, y'know, a WWX is a WWX, and this also extremely conveniently lets JC off the hook of this pesky "remember how he orphaned your nephew?" thing! It's mostly JC's own guilt now. Mostly. He's not going to do anything against WWX even if it wasn't anyway. Also it's. terrifying. Because WWX has no memory of him, but WWX is around, and also there isn't anyone to judge JC for wanting-- ANYWAY.

They end up having to leave Lotus Pier and catch up with the main plot when WWX gets a spider sense that WN is in trouble. There are no words to explain how little JC likes 1)that the Ghost General is still a thing, 2)that the Ghost General is still a thing when it comes to WWX, 3)that WWX is planning on leaving LP to help WN, so he comes with. WWX tries to convince him not to, but surprises himself by accepting JC's help when JC insists in a clipped tone. The trouble that WN got in also involves JL being in danger. This is my fic so it would turn out that WN tried to protect JL before WWX and JC caught up. Possibly JL and WN have been getting in plot-relevant shenanigans offscreen for a while now, and there's definitely a fic there, what with WN thinking A-Yuan is dead and projecting on JL and JL getting conflicted feelings about the person/thing that killed his father, but that's not the focus in this story. At some point - because by now he's pretty certain JC will not either kill him or reject him - WWX "admits" that his memory has been returning. Not all of it, but enough. If we're all very very lucky JL has been in sufficient danger that JC can lose his head a little and kiss WWX for saving JL's life, or something along these lines. If we're not lucky that part happens beyond the scope of these five things.

[robininthelabyrinth]

So, I've been staring at the wall for a while, then I had a bit of thoughts:

1- Did LQR, at any point (maybe even currently) dislike talking to people/socializing? This idea really stuck with me right now because I've been silently reviewing his childhood in mind (unconsciously, so now I think I need help) and I realized that he didn't really interact much with people as a kid. The most he did was with his teachers (which is, obviously, not much), or kids his age who I don't think really liked him much. In that case, socializing came to him as a change. I bet he really struggled with it. What age was he when he was forced out of his comfort zone and into the world of socializing? Was it just a while before his brother's seclusion, after he started doing his work; or was it even before? Or maybe when he took over the position?

2- Crazy how LQR had VITAL factors to be a troublemaker as child, namely the fact that he most likely (tell me if I'm wrong?) was running around the sect the way LWJ and LXC has been doing lately and the lack of attention which children typically seek so much. TERRIBLE lack of attention – the kind which leads kids to misbehaving just so they could get some. Yet went in the complete different direction. (And, love him as he is, I still can't help but feel that the Lans deserve to deal with a little hellion just so they can realize how trash their raising of a child is.)

3- I have this blurry memory of remembering something about baby LQR hiding somewhere near the ladies doing the laundry in the cloud recesses, and I thought: could this have something to do with his socializing? Was he curious about it and wanted to listen to the ladies as they conversed? Or did he just appreciate being close to people without being addressed/entering their field of attention?

4- Then I thought back to LQR's tendency to overwork, and wait – does it also have something to do with his childhood? Exerting himself and doing too much as a kid to earn a word of praise from his father? Til the point that it became a routine?

5- There's how LQR keeps on pointing out how similar he and LWJ are, it's hard to not forget that little LWJ and little LQR don't really have similar personalities. I feel like the reason why they seem (and are) so alike is the fact that they both are on the spectrum, and it's how the more unusual things that LQR does LWJ also does, so everyone would draw the connection pretty quickly. But – little LWJ is so confident, not very verbal most likely because he doesn't see the point, and has terribly solid foundations. Little LQR, on the other hand... I might even say insecure for obvious reasons, very shy and conservative and that's why he probably wasn't very talkative, and DEFINITELY had no one to give him that foundation.

6- LQR not liking to be the centre of attention might have also stemmed partly from the fact that it's a CHANGE. Nobody paid him any heed as a kid, so why should they now? Especially since when they DID pay some attention, they probably only judged his tendencies and demanded he cuts them off (moving a certain way, for example)?

7- AND Last but not least, moment of realization that LQR would most probably start considering Nightless city as his home after a while BECAUSE he did so DECADES ago as a child in an unhealthy environment mostly by his own!!

(Also, forgot to add this in the last comment. But LQR hurrying after WRH without even properly saluting the Wen wives is just so hilarious. Like, the man was so embarrassed he even forgot his manners.)

I love character analysis like this XDDD do send me any future staring at the wall thoughts! This is also what I randomly ponder :D

answers and more random LQR headcanons below the cut to save people's dashes:

1 – I certainly headcanon that LQR definitely does not like socializing. When you’re the Weird Kid (in LQR’s case, due to a mix of status, family isolation, and being non-neurotypical) and you don’t understand people very well, it’s really hard to connect with people, and socializing is a completely mystery. Why are they talking about what they talk about? Why do they not like what you’re talking about? Why are there unwritten rules for conversations you constantly seem to be messing up but no one will explain to you how or how to avoid doing it in the future? On the other hand, he was lonely and *wanted* to connect with others, but he felt like he was bad at it, so he was really self-conscious and reserved and had an unsteady temper that he couldn’t fully control. And despite all of that, because of the family he was born into, he was forced to be a politician – a job that requires and in part hinges on socializing. Not ideal!

Personally, my read on it is that he started getting pushed into doing more in his teens, when his teachers essentially gave up on him ever developing social skills naturally and started going “this guy is going to represent our sect whether he likes it or not, we need to start putting him into leadership positions”. Some of which were actually really good for LQR – for instance, I see him becoming an assistant teacher around age 15-16, responsible for modeling good behavior to his peers, mentoring those in need of help, and teaching junior class (a bit like I imagine LWJ to have been doing for LQR). He is actually a good leader, even though he’s not much for socializing, and having a formal position gave him comfort and confidence, so that helped a lot. From there, he started also doing more support work for sect leadership (again, a bit like what LXC would have been doing with LQR: talking about what the sect is doing with elders, hearing reports about visits to other sects, making suggestions and listening to guidance, making decisions in their absence, etc.), though in LQR’s case, the slow creep of increasing duties suddenly started to ramp up more rapidly than would have been normal because of the combination of his father stepping away from sect leadership and then, a little later, his brother getting distracted by HKX. He’s supposed to be the back-up sect leader, and for one reason or another he’s suddenly doing a lot more of that, getting overworked and stressed – and then suddenly he’s acting sect leader for real, and the workload goes even more insane.

It's a lot better than what NMJ had to go through, since LQR was an adult and had some experience doing sect leader things already (and, you know, was not at war with another sect or dealing with internal succession rivalries), but it was still came as a terrible shock.

2 – LQR absolutely had the lack of supervision necessary to be a troublemaker, and unfortunately for him, was probably sometimes seen as *being* a troublemaker in the way non-neurotypical kids often are. He was even more socially tone-deaf as a child: he’d start talking about one of his interests and not stop, he’d follow people around, he wouldn’t understand hints, he’d sometimes get overwhelmed and have meltdowns (often misread as temper tantrums)…luckily his main hyperfixation was with the Lan sect rules, which made his behavior more acceptable than it might have been otherwise, but it also gave him a reputation for being fussy. Like a little kid that yells “keep both hands on the wheel while driving” every single time you so much as scratch your nose – cute, but also annoying.

3 – LQR is totally one of those cats that likes to chill in the vicinity of people. No, don’t pet him or talk to him or pick him up, he just wants to sit and be *near* you.

4 – Hard work was probably one of the only ways LQR could get attention, so yeah, he definitely has some drive to work himself too hard that comes from childhood.

5 – yes, this!!! LWJ and LQR have similar mannerisms (including autistic traits), but their personalities are in fact completely different! LWJ is Precious Baby™, doted upon and allowed to get away with just about anything (right up until he commits actual literal crimes, and even then my headcanon is that his punishment was meant to keep him safe from *worse*). He had a lot more freedom to explore who he is and how he wants to behave, rather than LQR who is always trying to meet a particular standard, not always successfully, and who has a much more unsteady temper as a result.

6 – I do think that LQR had more of a steady shift to being more in the center of attention over time, but he’s used to prioritizing the sect over himself so it’s still weird for people to pay attention to him for *his* sake, rather than because of sect reasons.

7 – :D

[stiricidewrites]

The Damage You Do: ch 23, pt 1

Happy start of the week (for those sensible people who begin their days on Sunday)! Also, start of a new chapter~

Previously

~

wwx bounced nervously in front of lwj’s door. It was early—so fucking early. Even with A-Yuan’s ungodly sleep schedule, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been out of the house this early for anything other than an emergency supply run. Lingering in front of his dom’s door at 6:34 in the morning was definitely not an emergency supply run. Sex was not an emergency supply—although, he was sure nhs could probably have come up with some way of arguing that, actually, it was.

He sighed, glancing behind him as the elevator door dinged shut, lhr and their sons disappearing back into the parking garage. His son had surprised him the night before, when he had mentioned that lhr had offered to have him over for a play date. He had been excited. He had then insisted that he did not need his baba’s company for this play date! Apparently, baba was now embarrassing! His baba was not needed for anything but food and an allowance now! wwx had not been expecting this turn of event until his adorable child was a teenager! Where had the years gone!

Please Note: A-Yuan simply said he liked lhr and wanted to meet his son, to thank him for giving him his soupy medicine. He said his baba could come, but he liked lhr, and if baba trusted him to take care of A-Yuan, A-Yuan would trust his baba and lhr. A-Yuan, at no point, said his baba was an embarrassment, nor that he no longer needed his baba.

wwx had, of course, assured his son that he could call him at any time, giving his son his old phone—his son quickly showing him that yes, he knew how to use it because he wasn’t stupid and had been watching all the adults in his life use their phones since he was born—just in case. A-Yuan had been a little more nervous that morning, but the moment lhr’s son, Lan Jingyi, popped out of the car, bouncing with way too much energy for so early in the morning, A-Yuan had been nothing but in love with the little boy.

wwx and lhr had joked about a spring wedding on the ride to lwj’s apartment. In two years time—next spring would be much too soon. The boys needed to get to know each other first! A-Yuan had been thoroughly confused, and while ljy hadn’t exactly understood what they were talking about, wwx was left with the sense that the little boy knew he was being made of fun of and was judging them for it.

It was very cute.

They had ridden up to lwj’s apartment with him, lhr assuring him that lwj would be awake, and that regardless of whatever mischievous vibes he was giving off—because lhr was giving off nothing but “It’s going to be a good day, because it’s starting with fucking with my cousin” vibes—the lwj would appreciate seeing wwx that morning.

Then A-Yuan had asked who lwj was, and wwx had awkwardly babbled about how he was now working as lwj’s personal assistant. ljy looked unconvinced, which was slightly concerning given how young the boy was, although wwx was sure that at that age he had already known his parents were involved with the mob as well. Hopefully, all ljy thought was he was doing something mob related, not that he was lwj’s new sex toy. A-Yuan had asked if he could meet “Baba’s Boss,” and wwx had had to promise he would ask if they could have a play date another day, lest his son demand to meet him right then and there.

He might be willing to surprise his dom with… whatever this was at 6:34—6:35—in the morning, but he wasn’t willing to spring a surprise meeting with his son of him. Not now, not ever. The last thing he needed was for lwj to be weird around his son. He didn’t think his dom would purposefully be weird, and while he had obviously met ljy before—and the boy seemed to like him, given he had started regaling A-Yuan with stories of his older cousin—wwx didn’t want to risk… something. He didn’t even know what. He just knew that A-Yuan and lwj meeting felt like it should be planned.

Should be special.

[whetstonefires]

10 and 29 for the ask game?

10. Is there a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

I try not to have expectations, so I'm sure it's happened a lot and I didn't remark upon it enough to remember.

I do recall that All the Roofs of Uncertainty was originally a one-shot that was much better-liked than I expected, so I wrote into the what-happens-next and changed the original open ending into a whole plotline, that consisted almost entirely of Jason Todd talking to people in a hospital.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic. (If you don’t have either, just share a random fic idea you have that you don’t plan on getting to.)

Oh gosh I have so many fics that lie unfinished because the work necessary to complete them exceeded my interest in the premise. I could do this for weeks and not run out. Let's see.

Okay, the funniest fic that I will never ever finish is the one that was me trying to draw up a plausible background scenario for an AU (which I couldn't decide if it ought to be modern or not) where Su She was dating Wei Wuxian.

(This in turn was inspired by the fact that I kept reading modern AUs where various canon villains were cast as wwx's shitty boyfriend or ex and it was never Su She, aka the bargain bin version of Lan Wangji, who seemed to me to be the least improbable option on offer. Like if you feel the need to lampshade repeatedly within your fic that it's incomprehensible that Wei Wuxian would ever voluntarily date Jin Zixun, maybe that's a sign you should change that bit.)

The plot of the story that Su-She-uses-his-words-and-pulls-wwx embedded itself in would have revolved around Lan Wangji subsequently agreeing to a date with ten-years-younger Mo Xuanyu, presumably in an attempt to move on, and Su She picking up on his hopeless pining when both couples happened to be in the same room, as dates to the same function or something, and then following a characteristically self-destructive course where he got so wrapped up in rubbing it in Lan Wangji's face that he finally had something the Lan scion wanted and couldn't get that he wound up entirely destroying his own relationship.

Wei Wuxian is a very good judge of people who also attracts strong personal loyalty once people get attached to him in the first place, and notably something that simply never happens to him is someone betraying him who he trusted not to do that. (Jiang Cheng does not count; Wei Wuxian maneuvered him into most of it, he wasn't taken by surprise.) So it could be really neat to finesse the character work of him understanding Su She's basic character flaws, but not expecting them to manifest or affect him quite the way they end up doing.

In the same way he mostly gets Lan Wangji as a person from the start but, lacking insight into certain things he's hiding, is unable to reliably reconstruct his perspective. To an increasingly noticeable degree, as lwj acts on that aspect of his motivations more openly.

I am never going to write that though, because I just don't care enough about that kind of story, although concept free to a good home.

I did write out a little of the backstory to how Su She could have wound up in a position of wanting to date Wei Wuxian on his own merits, which was a fun bit of character study because Su She is basically Jin Guangyao's Wen Ning, you know? Evil Wen Ning.

His understanding of Jin Guangyao as someone who respects and values him earned an insane amount of personal loyalty from a basically very selfish guy--like sure, it's clear he got a steady stream of favors out of the bargain, but he also puts himself on the line way in excess of the practical value Jin Guangyao has provided and is likely to provide; the real inducement was the validation.

So, if Wei Wuxian had happened to be carelessly kind and supportive to Su She the way he was to Wen Ning, having met him in a weak moment before Su She had had a chance to make an impression as a petty asshole rather than just a bit of a dumbass (not that he actually in canon managed to make any personal impression even by shooting him in the arm) you could probably arrange for him to glom onto Wei Wuxian instead, as someone like him, who didn't get the respect he deserved because of his birth station.

And Wei Wuxian would be perfectly willing to reciprocate that friendship, even though (as with Wen Ning) if Su She didn't reach out promptly he'd have totally forgotten he existed until prompted lmao. Su She would never forgive that insult.

You can see in the passage here where I still kind of wanted it to be a modern AU so they're texting, but the setup I'd written previously worked as a clean canon divergence because that's my usual preference, and I really wasn't interested enough in a plot that's entirely about romantic relationships to figure that out and write the rest.

But I did enjoy doing this study of how Su She could have gotten stuck on Wei Wuxian, only to later go on to fuck himself over with his Lan Wangji complex.

It was nice to have someone to complain to who got it. When Su Minshan talked about having no family to turn to, about owing everything to the Sect that had raised him when, to the Lan, everything came down to the clan and he would never have a chance to truly distinguish himself— Sometimes I think about just leaving, Su Minshan wrote, because Wei Wuxian wouldn’t scold him for being ungrateful. You can, if you want, Wei Wuxian wrote, as if it was that easy. Only if you came too, Su Minshan had written back, shaken by his own daring. Of course, Wei Wuxian refused. Jiang Cheng would never forgive me if I ran off. Because he’s counting on you to run his Sect for him. He absolutely is not. Jiang Cheng will work himself into the ground before he lets me do his job for him. He didn’t admit that of course the Sect Heir was counting on him, but he didn’t disagree, which was basically the same thing. Wei Wuxian worked very hard and was rewarded for it, but Su Minshan knew that even in Jiang the equal opportunity only went so far—he was the Sect Leader’s pet for personal reasons, not just on merit, and even so he could never rise to be the equal of the blood heir. It was infuriating sometimes how that didn’t bother him. Have more ambition! You’re so lucky, Su Minshan wrote, because he was jealous, he was so so jealous. I am! <3 But let’s see, outside the main family how important can a person get in Lan Sect? You can make a plan. Weeks of effort did not produce any particularly good plans. The most realistic one took forty years to show results. Maybe I should just kill Lan Wangji and use a spell to disguise myself and take his place, Su Minshan joked. Haha! Minshan-xiong, I’m sorry, you couldn’t pull off being Lan Zhan. That hurt, an unexpected cold dagger to the ribs. Wei Wuxian was his friend! Why not! he typed angrily. Was his playing too weak, his swordsmanship, his deportment? Would even Wei Wuxian tell him he was just not good enough? Because you could never resist saying something bitchy when you had the chance, and he keeps all the bitching inside his head. Su Minshan put his head down and laughed until he thought he might cry.

I have the sneaking suspicion I already shared this one for one of these games, because it really is by far the funniest thing I'm definitely never going to finish, so I'll reblog this post later with another offering.

[brooklynishere]

I feel like the reason Lan Jingyi idolises Hanguang Jun so much is because he's probably about the only Lan adult who just... accepts him the way he is?

I mean, he probably provides gentle guidance and encouragement to be proper the same way Sizhui does, but at the same time he doesn't judge him for being a sassy bitch?

Because a) he is also a sassy bitch he's just more subtle about it

And b) it *definitely* reminds him of wwx and how can he punish somebody for reminding him of wwx?

Imagine tiny Jingyi who's always getting in trouble for being a smartass suddenly being faced with the intimidating perfection of Hanguang Jun and trying SO HARD to be good and then he slips up and he makes a sassy comment and LWJ ACTUALLY LISTENS and yea okay he corrects him but he does it with a surprising amount of gentleness and then he doesn't get in trouble for it???

(This time, anyway)

And Sizhui is like I told you my dad was awesome and Jingyi is just YEA HE IS and he loves him forever

Thank you for coming to my TED talk

[llycaons]

ep13: oh, the misogyny

wwx is finding a way to DISCREETLY get the formation to rest for lwj, who is walking on a broken leg, and still jc is like 'what the fuck did you do now' like damn jc he can't do anything right. makes that post about jc hero-worshipping wwx and copying what he does and idolizing him even funnier

wwx and jc gossiping about wlj is so mean. of course she can't carry a sword, she never learned how! she was a maid. they're clearly judging her for sleeping her way into a position of power, but I see you wen chao I know it's more on you than on her

wwx falling down/out of/off things. first of many!

this is a really pretty shot ngl the water is lovely

wlj being positioned as the jealous, spiteful mistress using her power to harm a Good Woman is so shitty. they both were treated (in this arc) as one-dimensional tools to support the arcs of the men around the. wlj I know the writing did you dirty but you will always be a legend to ME for miss 'ghosts don't exist'

interesting moment - it's actually lwj who steps in to defend mm with jzx. wwx looks like he wants to, but jc shakes his head and wwx ultimately stays put. it's cool to see lwj and wwx trade off scenes that establish them as willing to defy authority and risk attack for the sake of protecting the vulnerable. it makes their ideals and goals feel truly mutual and balanced rather than wwx coming in and inspiring lwj to have a moral code (as is sometimes interpreted by fans)

this fight scene is genuinely REALLY fun and well-crafted. jzx and lwj have some sick moves, as do jc and wwx

WEI WUXIAN ICONIC MOMENTS. god I love it when he points out the hypocrisy of the great sects and the cultivation world. why is this scene never talked about! it's literally one of the best from him in this arc

again a TRAGEDY that this significant moment between them chalks up to an angsty subplot for wwx and lwj later on. it's a fucking good aspect of their relationship and it does compel me like lwj drunk-branding himself is INSANE and I'll never get over it but the misogyny 😭

wwx shot three arrows at once and took out wlj and mm's two guards without hitting mm herself LEGEND

she is literally the only wen with an understanding of how politics work

FAMOUS LAST WORDS. my dude you just locked the teenager who's going to torture you to death in a cave with the weapon he's going to use to do it

this is literally such a fucking funny joke. slept on. also wwx does take serious situations seriously but he also sometimes does this. I don't even blame jc for being like 'are you serious right now'

YOU ARE BOTH SO USELESS. SCREAM

of COURSE mm is the one to slip and cut her hand and release blood to awaken the monster. of course it had to be her

I'd say that she deserved better but honestly after this her arc really rules and she's one of the few characters to get a happy ending so I can't be too mad

this scene is wild. lwj jumps in and THROWS wwx behind him like 20 ft

jc yelling at wwx to be careful and promising to come back. aw man

also WHY ARE THEY ALL LEAVING. wouldn't it be much easier to kill the false xuanwu if they stay and work together? I don't think wwx even expected lwj to stay with him. he was really ready to stay there and fight it off alone and maybe die in the process. he's unwell!

okay this has always bothered me. WHERE DOES HE FIND THE STICKS THEY ARE UNDERGROUND

that underrobe is so beautiful purely on an aesthetic level ugh he has such good taste. also I like that you can see his bare skin under it like HOW hot was that branding iron jfc

EVIDENCE!!!! EVIDENCE for my 'wwx is intimidated by lwj's earnestness and his fears around commitment/the strength of his own feelings cause him to avoid his feelings because getting too attached/too serious is scary for him even tho deep down he craves it'

wwx casually asserting getting scars/being injured as a...sexy and impressive sort of triumph of masculinity (?) as a young teenager vs. his devastated expression seeing lwj's scars as an adult. he has so much to learn

this translation is so weird. just say inedia?

[hedgewyse]

1 & 7 for the ask game 💚

Thank you for the ask @mybabybright! 💕 1 - favourite main couple

Once again we have to tackle the 'is The Untamed a BL' argument. Because at 50 episodes there is plenty of time to do some real character growth, and it's the ultimate Good Boy who lives by the rule book falls for the Bad Guy doing evil things and spurned by the society Good Boy has spent his life revering… and I just think Lan Wanji and Wei Wuxian are an unbeatable couple for that. They have layers.

If not Untamed, then my choice is Kang Seo Joon and Han Ji Woo from To My Star. Again, it helps that they have two series so we get growth, and I tend to like more adult plots/problems. I just love the way they learn to live with one another, navigate the awkwardness of life and relationship pain, and adjust to each other. I have a lot of time for 'your flaws don't seem like flaws to me'.

I'm guessing this is a little surprising given my reblogs, but a lot of other mains have a trope that I drool over but I find one of them annoying. These two are one of the few couples where I genuinely love them both.

Others I considered: FighterTutor, PatPran, WeiLan

-------------------------------------------------------------

7 - top 5 bl

The Untamed (if we're counting it!)

Layers, layers, layers. Everything from the names and how they change (or don't), the dynamics around spiritual weapons and who can touch them, the incredible angst around the golden core (which completely passed me by the first watch because I didn't KNOW. I DIDN'T KNOW! I guess I thought yeah he's given up his magic its sad. NO, MY FRIEND! He's given up his EVERYTHING. His status in society which was already strained given he's an orphan. His place as head disciple. His magic. His IMMORTALITY. And thus His Future With LWJ *weeping, I am weeping!* no wonder he didn't want to tell him!). It just has so much hidden depth, and slowly peeling it apart has been like peeling off layers of angst around my poor heart.

Utsukushi Kare/My Beautiful Man

This has such hidden depths. There's a big element of misunderstanding and missed signals between the leads which leads to a really interesting reversal of the uke/seme dynamic. They're both so wonderfully awkward, and eventually realising and beginning to learn to navigate each other is very sweet.

To My Star/To My Star2

For reasons mentioned above already. Also I like that they are working adult jobs and adult lives and trying to make sense of their feelings amongst all that. It's so bloody relateable, honestly.

Love in the Air

Not even gonna pretend. The incredible acting in the high heat scenes is my interest in this (plus a bit of motorbikes I guess). They took one look at how high KP raised the bar, then gave it a Red Bull. There are a bunch of other good things about it, but the heat was it for me.

Semantic Error

This is such a perfect little all-rounder. It's really well paced, there's very relaxed bi rep, the friends feel real, the respect for touching consent is good, the little thrills of experimentation that our very serious SanWoo allows himself, the way JaeYoung is such a good chaotic foil for SanWoos seriousness, how very natural they seem together in the end. It's so Feel Good, I love it. Also it gave us Song JiOh *heart eyes*

Others I considered: Bad Buddy, We Best Love, Kinnporsche, History3: Make our days count

Things I'd like to have included: The Devil Judge (if it was BL), Choco Milk Shake (if it was truly poly), Love is Science (almost poly, almost a BL, not quite either)

[lancabbage]

I agree with all of this bar your comment on LXC thinking LWJ made a dire mistake helping WWX.

There are two points to this, firstly when LXC is saying his infamous speech in the temple he is talking about society and how they would and have looked upon the situation, it is not LXCs direct opinion on the whole thing.

Secondly the word "mistake" can also be translated as "transgression" which fits more closely with the rest of his conversation. LXC is not judging LWJ for those actions, he is stating how society would, this is his main concern.

LWJ was punished for fighting and hurting his own sect, that is why it is precisely 33 whips, one for each cultivator he hurt. He comes back to receive his punishment because LWJ knows that particular act was "wrong" - even though he was defending an innocent man who had been vilified and pushed into a corner with no way out but to fight, he still harmed his own and he recognises that. LXC knows this punishment was harsh, but it was the lesser of two evils. His brother could have been killed or locked up like his mother. This way LWJ managed to keep his reputation intact, his freedom and his life.

So personally, as much as I'm sure it pained him to see his brother in such a state, he views the whip marks as a necessary event. LWJ would have punished himself anyway, because he broke a major rule and is the type to punish himself anyway (as seen in the novel).

LXC holds no real animosity towards WWX, he was still encouraging his brother to speak with him after the war. He tried to defend WWX's actions with regards to the Wen remnants by talking about WQ and her faction not having much to do with the war. Then when he finds out MXY is actually WWX he listens to him, takes care of him and even hides him from his own sworn brother.

Yes he had a big brother rant, because who wouldn't at that point when he thought WWX was just playing with his baby brother's feelings and was getting a little frustrated and angry lol. But overall, what he says is with regards to what society thinks and feels.

I would really recommend reading this meta in the subject because it really explains that particular scene and it's wording very well.

Overall, fantastic meta and very true points. LXC and LWJ are a brilliant example of how a sibling dynamic could and should be in the novel. Even incorporating the above, it shows just how deeply they understand and trust each other.

The Twin Jades

dude sometimes I just come across such bad meta. it's even worse if it starts off good and turns bad.

Good Meta Points:

• The Lans really love younger child Wangji (no pets allowed, but wangji can have them. Wangji wants lotus pod seeds and gets them etc.)

• Instead of giving agency to his actions and thoughts, they think he's being influenced or corrupted by others to act in such ways (especially Lan Qiren.)

Bad Meta Points

• Lan Wangji is spoilt, similar to Nie Huaisang or Jin Zixuan.

• Gets the lowest punishment at all times (pfft.)

• "I get it you waited 13 years but you fucked off into the sunset with your husband leaving your emotionally unstable brother and duties"

• "Good to see people talking about Lan Wangji's flaws" - mentions him being spoilt and demanding instead of his actual flaws.

Like... you cannot seriously point out how he gets to have rabbits as a point of him being spoilt. Lan Wangji has made like one error in his life in his studies. He's assigned himself punishment for stuff that wasn't even done by will (coughs, wwx). He's made his decisions and lived with the consequences.

Despite what you say, Lan Xichen isn't a terrible brother to Wangji. Neither is Lan Wangji a selfish brother.

Sibling relationships are complex, and between two individuals with their own set of values. Lan Wangji is totally righteous, even more than Nie Mingjue. He can't stand exaggerated, political loopholes and unrighteous acts. He does what he can do, working on the ground level.

Lan Xichen isn't Lan Wangji. He knows the world is filled with corrupted people, and challenging each and every one of them would lead to your own devastation (read: Wei Wuxian's biography). Thus, he tries extending his sympathy to all, and draws conclusions that allow the least possible damage. He does think Lan Wangji made a dire mistake with Wei Wuxian, because if not, he will have to face the fact that the world punished his brother for his righteousness and it would shatter his whole foundation (like it does).

But despite that, both of them share similarities. They both want the better of the world. Lan Wangji is brave enough to challenge the whole foundation of the cultivation world. Lan Xichen is brave enough to lay down peace even when it's so painfully obvious there's no option of it.

Lan Wangji trusts his brother enough to bring Wei Wuxian back to Cloud Recesses after getting stabbed at Jin Tower. Lan Xichen lives up to this trust and helps them investigate the matter. Lan Wangji even assures Wei Wuxian that his brother would not stand for Jin Guangyao if his crimes were true.

See, you don't have to completely have the same sort of sets of beliefs to be siblings. Sibling relationships are complex. Both these brothers know each other, their strengths and their weaknesses well. They may be exasperated at each other's insistence, yet they are well aware that they both have to walk their own paths.

Lan Xichen could never take away Lan Wangji's pain or fix him. Neither can Lan Wangji fix Lan Xichen.

But both of them will always have each other's backs. They are each other's families. Each other's brothers for life.

But at the same time, they have each their own paths to walk. People need to understand that it's not about a lack of sense of responsibility on Lan Wangji's side, but the realization that if he went back home, he may lose Wei Wuxian again. His uncle wants to take him back, lecture him and lock him into seclusion. His uncle wouldn't accept his proposal to be married to Wei Wuxian.

He doesn't give his uncle the chance to "accept" or not.

And he literally returns three months later.

I can't help but feel that those who say he was selfish do not have siblings. Or have bad sibling relationships. I'd say Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen have a perfectly good relationship if despite their differences, their terrible parentage, their opposing personalities, the roles they both played in each other's life (with Lan Xichen being sworn brothers to Jin Guangyao who played a major role in Wei Wuxian's fall, and Lan Wangji being Wei Wuxian's husband, who in turn, set the case back onto Jin Guangyao, thus hurting Lan Xichen), the things they couldn't help each other out of, but yet, they do trust each other and love each other.

And I trust that Lan Xichen will one day figure stuff out. There's a lyric in this MDZS song called unfettered. It is like:

The past is akin to dew in the morning. Even if it can be comprehended, it lays under layers and layers of fog.

In the end, hatred, love, resentment, debts and regrets all come to pass.

Just like how Lan Wangji is not his father, Lan Xichen will also not be his father. I don't think both of them had hurtful intentions towards the other at any point.

It's not like "Yunmeng bros" where JC intentionally wishes to cause pain to Wei Wuxian. It's not like the Nie bros, where NMJ has to be super over-protective of Huaisang.

It's just two siblings with their own lives choosing to be with each other, in happiness and in grief (mostly in grief uhm) in a terrible world where the road to hell is paved with good intentions.