#but also just look at him with Jin Ling and tell me wouldn't have loved being a father in any other circumstances

[symphonyofsilence]

Jin Ling & his Xiao Shushu appreciation, 'cause I don't see enough of it.

Remember that Jin Ling avoided LWJ like plague 'cause he was scared of him shitless, to the point that when WWX fake called Hanguang-Jun he ran without even looking back literally seconds after WWX pulled the same trick on him with JC 'cause he didn't want to risk looking back just in case it was actually HGJ, but he stood against Hanguang-Jun AND sect leader Lan when he thought they were invading his Xiao Shushu's room? Only Jiggy's own intervention made him back down.

& IDK maybe the reason Jin Ling was there at that time was that it was the family section. But since Fairy wasn't with him, maybe he was visiting his uncle. & I find it hard to imagine, like, say, WWX visiting Jiang Fengmian or Lan Sizhui visiting Zewu-Jun or the Lan brothers visiting Lan Qiren in the middle of the night in their private chambers unless something very important has happened. I think according to the standards of their time, they must have been very close for this visit to happen.

Running to Xiao Shushu 'cause JiuJiu is angry with him & adorably hiding behind him 'cause Xiao Shushu spoils him.

Defending Xiao Shushu and having a firm belief that whatever he says is for Jin Ling's own good even in the face of his cool uncle after the rush of winning a fight against a group of his all-time bullies.

Still using the affectionate term "Xiao Shushu"even when confronting him about why would he kill his father, begging him to "say something". Give him anything to make it a little bit less painful.

Jiggy wanting to comfort Jin Ling even when he's crying because he just realized that Jiggy has killed his father.

Jin Ling looking so hurt when Jiggy says that JGS didn't let him hold Jin Ling as though he can't imagine a world in which his uncle is not allowed to hold him. Not being allowed to hold JL being a notable part of JGY's villain origin story.

Jiggy pushing Jin Ling out of danger.

Jin Ling screaming for Jiggy to run even after Jiggy took him hostage. And all the other shit.

(It's worth mentioning that in the books, Jiggy doesn't push JL out of danger and JL still screams for him to run, and he still calls him uncle instead of Sect Leader as he does in the show. It's also worth mentioning that the show made some stunning choices in the Guaniyn temple scene regardimg JGY & JL. As half of the things I'm saying about that scene here only happened in the show.)

Jiggy looking so worried as Wen Ning goes towards JL even though he himself has lost an arm and is bleeding to death. And only looking relieved when Wen Ning holds the blade.

Jin Ling being scarred for life here. Oh my poor, poor baby.

With much difficulty, he coughed up some blood. Everyone present heard a crack that was abnormally clear and brutal.

A whimper of a last breath left Jin GuangYao's throat.

Jin Ling's shoulders shivered. He shut his eyes and covered his ears, too afraid to keep watching and listening.

And my favorite scene that emotionally crushed me: Jin Ling remembering when his uncle gave him little Fairy & mourning his uncle & becoming the hero of the nation who finally told Sect Leader Yao to kindly go fuck himself. 'Cause he told him that his uncle was not worth his tears. Jin Ling thinking that they wouldn't dare to tell him such bullshits if his uncle were still alive. Baby Jin Ling feeling so comfortable around the sect leader and the Chief Cultivator that he could break things beside his feet and scream at him, and his uncle just understanding that he needs to leave him alone at that moment, his Xiao Shushu being the only one who could comfort him and make him happy at that point, his Xiao Shushu giving him his spiritual dog & one of his rare actual, geniune smiles that was so warm & kind that Jin Ling remembers to that day, this happy memory being the one that Jin Ling remembers Jiggy with after all the things he learnt in the span of two days. Him acknowledging that Jiggy's love for him was geniune and real & still choosing to continiue to love his uncle despite everything. Him learning that he can't really resent JGY, WWX or WN 'cause though they gave him reasons for that, they also gave him reasons against that. They gave him reasons to love them. And why choose hate when you can...not choose that. Him breaking a cycle of hate that few of the adults of the story did not drown in. And it must mostly be Jiang Yanli's legacy, but it also proves that Jiang Cheng & Jin Guangyao, despite their own numerous issues did something right raising such a child. He feels so secure in their love. And he's right in that feeling.

[whumpbby]

It's a nice evening to send random asks. Please tell me what modern Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling would be like? (what they would wear, where they would be working, some modern interest they might have, etc.) :>

Sorry for the wait, I'm travelling so everything online takes a while;)

I have so many different ideas for all kinds of different modern scenarios XD

Personally, I'm not a great fan of modernAU, because I find them most of the time quite uninventive. I like when the characters from a fantastic world are still fantastic in the modern world - love me some urban fantasy AU:)

In that case, I'd see JC in a scenario similar to the OG story - a last heir of once powerful clan, forced to navigate the political scene of powerful people and protect his people and territory.

He'd work as someone who can leave at a moments notice to deal with the problem. I read one fic where cultivators were still apart of the modern world and worked to control spirits and so on - and I support that idea.

If he absolutely needed to have a job and wasn't a cultivator, it would be some leadership position that required a lot of time investment from him - a director of a family business that almost went under, that he saved from ruin. Something regional and long-standing. Fisheries. Local restaurant/hotel chain. Funeral home.

Oh god, I love the idea of a funeral home xD

He'd have a hard time raising his nephew single-handedly, Jin Ling would spend a lot of time in JC's office/workplace as a little kid, waiting for his uncle to finish work/solve the issue, so he wouldn't have the best contact with hia peers. And if JC's job was something creepy (like a funeral director) the kids at school would be creeped out and bully him. He would have a problem finding friends and grow up to be a standoffish teen. He'd spend time hanging out at the funeral home and in the local park with his dog, play computer games and read books. A general 'lonely teen' stuff.

Now, if that's the world where magic exists to a degree - maybe the Lan are a spirit-whisperers that deal with ghosts and that's why JL finds friends with Sizhui and Jingyi, who are not really creeped out by his family's business.

Say, if there happens to be a Case happening in the area and Lan Wangji appears with the juniors to follow a trail and the trail leads to the body JC has in his funeral house - and he's all "Fuck off, you specifically Huanguang-Jun, I'm done with this life after it took my family away! None of that on my turf! And don't you dare to drag my nephew into this shit!" And Lan Xichen has to step in to convince him to help them while the boys bond...

But I digress.

Jiang Cheng dresses sharply always - as is required of a serious funeral director. He has little patience for the living, but also has a very sympathetic character, and people find him comforting in their hardest moments, even though on the daily he's quite brusque. He'd just externally so well put together! They trust him!

Jin Ling also dresses well - because he was raised by a neurotic mess of a man that was desperate to present his nephew perfectly so that the services wouldn't take him away and give the parenting rights to the Jin. JL likes bright colours and hates getting dirty, and likes to look good (people find him less of a weirdo this way) and will make sure to get the brands together to match. His uncle has a thriving business so the money isn't a problem in his teen years.

They usually eat dinners together - even if JL has to bring a takeout to the funeral house when his uncle works late. They both know how to cook, being single men and all. JC makes sure to take regulat holidays with his nephew, taking him skiing or diving, and so on, because life is short.

In general, they are living a slow, quiet life of a little family that loves each other very much:)

[satonthelotuspier]

Suddenly consumed by the fic idea of chengxian who met studying for their medical degrees.

They were going to do their degrees and residencies and, when they had finished all their training and other requirements, take their skills to the people who needed it most, joining an aid agency who assisted in disaster and war zones.

The time is almost there, they have all the applications completed, and interviews set, only, things change for JIang Cheng. His sister's husband is killed in an accident and she has a young baby to look after. He genuinely can't leave her alone without any family around to support her at the current time, even though she wouldn't want to stop him. But his decision is made, and he tells Wei Wuxian he can't go through with their plan because of what happened, and instead he'll have to get a job at a local hospital instead.

These things happen, and Wei Wuxian understands, but is also determined to follow his plans through; he can do a lot for the people who genuinely need it still.

Jiang Cheng understands.

They're both so sad about it, but also agree that they don't think long distance is something that will work for them; they'll both be extremely distracted by the demands of their careers going forward, and won't be able to devote the time needed to make a LDR work for them.

They'd rather stay friendly than come to hate or resent each other due to a failed relationship.

Sometimes a relationship really is just right people, wrong time.

So they end it. Time passes, they both work hard, do well, save lives.

Jiang Cheng is heavily involved in his nephew, Jin Ling's life, and Jiang Yanli, while extremely capable in her own right, is glad he's there so Jin Ling has more positive role models around him as he grows up. Jiang Cheng might have a temper and a sharp tongue but he's so, so incredibly soft on the inside, so full of love for his family.

And then Wei Wuxian comes home...

<I haven't quite decided what the angsty hook they need to overcome is going to be yet. Considered one or both are in a new relationship, JC in an abusive relationship, some form of medical issue. Maybe others will occur to me too.>

[veliseraptor]

(Still got bees?) You live a canine appreciation life. Tell me what kind of dog Jiang Cheng most deserves to love and protect him? Which breed best matches his Sandu Shengshou aesthetic? Any particular thoughts on Jiang Cheng's feelings about Fairy, either canon or post-canon??

I do live a canine appreciation life and, living in an apartment with a cat who most likely would not want to share, truly I can appreciate Jiang Cheng's burden of never getting to have a dog of his very own. Nobody understands him like I do about this very specific thing.

(I am not serious.)

So first I was thinking about dogs that Jiang Cheng might plausibly own (i.e. dogs that would be around in nebulous-timeline pre-globalization China). Then I had to think about whether he should have a big dog or a small dog, trying to rule out my own preference for bigger, working dogs. Some possibilities I came up with:

Pekingese: The small dog I feel like felt best for Jiang Cheng, mostly because of the descriptions of their temperament as "loyal, affectionate, and regal in manner" and the fact that, while they're small, they're also apparently protective and fairly high energy.

Chonqing Dog: I didn't know about these fellas but I'm glad I do now! Historically used for hunting and guarding, so they're a working dog (as opposed to the Pekingese). The website chonqingdog.org describes them thus: "Calm, confident, dignified, direct, courageous, alert, intelligent. The Chinese Chongqing dog is somewhat aloof with strangers, but is affectionate with his family, trustworthy with children."

Tibetan Mastiff: Big, and like other mastiffs bred to protect. Also the fact that they are apparently very independent minded and the fact that they Need a Job, are wary of strangers but highly affectionate toward their people, feels suited to Jiang Cheng. I feel like Jiang Cheng could use being compressed by 150 pounds of dog but maybe that's just me.

anyway I think I'm personally partial to one of the second two but, again, I have a bigger and working dog bias, so. I am not averse to Jiang Cheng having a breed like a Pekingese or Shih Tzu, because that would also be adorable.

but I feel like the part of this that I really have strong feelings about is about Fairy, because I have a lot of feelings about Fairy in general (of course I do. they're a dog). I'm going to go with she pronouns for the sake of this post because (a) fictional dog doesn't care (real dog also wouldn't care) and (b) I feel like it, though I feel like I still have not heard any definite canonical ruling on whether Fairy is (badum tsh) a bitch or not.

So I wrote at some point a whiiiile back (the only reason I found this post without taking 84 years is because it's been going around a little again) about Jiang Cheng's complicated dog feelings and how they're all tied up in his even more complicated Wei Wuxian feelings, and how he I think likes the idea of having a dog, and certainly likes dogs, but actually getting himself one (or accepting one from anybody else) feels...he just can't do it. A lot of times I think he justifies this to himself by telling himself he just hasn't found the right dog (just like he hasn't found the right wife, asexual Jiang Cheng headcanon my beloved).

So then Jin Guangyao gets Jin Ling Fairy, which is an amazing gift to a lonely boy and I love so much that it is Jin Guangyao who gives her to him, and I think Jiang Cheng is torn between:

gratitude for the thoughtful gesture and what it indicates about how Jin Ling's other surviving (legitimate) uncle cares about him, because it is very important to Jiang Cheng that people are good to Jin Ling

resentment that Jin Guangyao thought of it and did it first, and not him.

But he definitely doesn't hold that against Fairy. Fairy herself I think he's just very glad she's there to look after and help Jin Ling, and keep him company. A good spiritual dog and it's reassuring to know that his most beloved nephew has her with him. And I would bet that he likes having her around, too; when she's in Lotus Pier I bet she gets very spoiled and a lot of attention. Even if simultaneously Jiang Cheng feels weird about it because no dogs at Lotus Pier but why not dogs at Lotus Pier, ridiculous, all to the good anyway for keeping Wei Wuxian out when he INEVITABLY shows up again. >:(

[llycaons]

ep47 (1/2): and so the end begins...

the way wwx talks about wn in this scene is SO bizarre like he's trying to find a good home for his pet slash find him a wife companion to look after him

lingering touch...

SEE??!?

AND THEN HE TELLS HIM TO GO BACK INSIDE BC HE SHOULDN'T BE SEEN IN PUBLIC 😭

LOOK HOW DEJECTED HE LOOKS 😭😭😭 wen ning sister dead extended family dead single friend ditching him constantly to hang out with his boy bestie shunned from public life unable to find a single companion with no hope of a family of his own...GOD

he says minutes before 'we can't stand out' and then he says THIS

yeah at this point jc and wwx are at personal odds but wwx knows they're at least on the same side in this

this is about jin ling...'little ancestor' = descendent?? I googled

little ancestor (term that a parent uses to blame or complain about his/her naughty child)

oh! oh that's really funny

omg wwx ear moles closeup

THERE HE IS!!!

jgy going "hello, ah-ling' (creepy) vs. wwx yelling this. lmao

jl asking jgy not to kill fairy was so sad

his threats are so good this is extremely ominous

yayy eyebrow twitch to signal lwj

wwx almost in tears during this scene...

and his soft little plead for lwj to save himself...

omg lwj and wwx's faces when su she shows up 'and then there's THIS asshole' energies. they don't even want to engage but then he insults lwj and wwx can't stand for it

to be fair lwj's reticence, judgemental energy, and perfectionism kind of point that way but also he's just kind of a quiet dude who wants to do what he does well and has the misfortune of having a very mean neutral face

and also he said 'you are not qualified to speak to me' to su she which I find hilarious but which doesn't really help wwx's point. something I've always found very funny

this was also funny. j; being judgemental and scolding wwx feels very familial and even friendly in ways that it wouldn't sound with jc

wei 'I thought I was such hot shit when I was young would have DIED' wuxian I love you. and you were right you were hot shit and still are

AWWW YEAH JC MAKING AN ENTRANCE. easily his best one. the lightning. the rain. the BLOODY UMBRELLA. the slomo. ugh. excellent scene

[whumpbby]

I am also thinking that the first scene is hilarious because of the double-standard if WWX telling JL to "say you love your uncle and want to keep him safe". A double-standard Jin Ling is aware of.

It's quite weird how different JC and WWX are in showing emotions, but not in the way that one does it and the other doesn't. Just in the way they chose which emotions to show and which they don't feel like they can express genuinely.

Like, you'd think that WWX is the more protective of the two, the kinder one, the more understanding, wouldn't you? He's the protagonist, he's perfect! He had a son in Burial Mounds (they say)! The juniors flock to him! He feels guilty for Yanli's death and is so caring!

Nope, he has little idea what to do with kids. He likes them, and he will protect them when needed, and he may be a good fun company... But he's not really kind in his affection and doesn't know how to console someone properly.

Not that Jiang Cheng is stellar at the consoling part - but he does it. When JL starts crying on that boat, only one of them reacts accordingly (what happened, who upset you?), the other one doesn't know what to do and so does nothing.

It's not to say that WWX is a bad person, just that some stan's obsession with making him this perfect father figure is baffling. Like, he wasn't raising Wen Yuan, he was the fun uncle that was there. Wen Yuan was raised by the Wen and then by the Lan Sect. He has no idea how to treat Jin Ling and makes no allowances for the kid's character, dispensing all the good advice he patently doesn't follow... like a sort of a scruffy big brother, not a father figure.

And, JC doesn't mince words, but he's there and he reacts accordingly when needed. He is overprotective and Jin Ling knows it and learned to live with it, and fight against it when he feels he needs to.

I think that JC took the bones of his parenting style from his mother, because that's the one parent he had absolute certainty cared for him. And, want it or not, the way she raised him did end up making him a good, successfull leader - which was absolutely crucial in the times he had to live through (channeling JFM'S style didn't get him far in the beginning, after all). He's not abusive towards Jin Ling and never was. Madame Yu's abuse also wasn't born out of senseless evil - it started as a need to make him formidable in front of a father that didn't care for him and a world that knew his shixiong was better. So that someone didn't get a great idea that they can walk all over him...

...Which now made me wonder how different JFM and MMY actually were to what we're told they were.

Like, JFM praised WWX for being forward and fearless and taking action - but he was himself a man who didn't take action unless absolutely forced to. Attempting impossible apparently didn't mean attempting to have a good family life once he decided him and his wife were incompatible. He just checked out.

And JC is apparently 'like Madame Yu' because he's emotional and looks at the bigger picture before deciding to act - but she'd the one that actually acts in this marriage. She goes on night-hunts, she raises the sect heir, she arranged Yanli's marriage, she wants the rumours of Wwx's parentage cleared, she flies off the handle when the Wen overstep... Her emotional expression was shit in the opposite direction to JFM's, but she was active in her role.

Wei WuXian, “I hit you so that you can think about your uncle. He’s not someone who likes to poke his nose into other people’s business. For your sake, he went around flaunting his strength in front of all those other sects, receiving so many jabbing remarks. And now you’re saying his surname isn’t Jin. If he heard this, wouldn’t he feel disappointed?”

Jin Ling paused in surprise before he fumed, “That’s not what I meant! I…”

Wei WuXian asked instead, “Then what did you mean?”

Jin Ling, “I! I…”

The first ‘I’ was full of confidence, while the second ‘I’ began to lose air. Wei WuXian, “I, I, I—I’ll say it for you. This is what you mean. Even though Jiang Cheng is your uncle, after all, he’s still an outsider to the LanlingJin Sect. In the past, he’s already helped you a couple of times, but if he messed about too much with someone else’s domain, it’d be hard for him not to be a target of attack in the future, for you not to bring him any trouble, am I right?”

Jin Ling raged, “What do you think?! So you understand, don’t you?! Then why did you hit me?!”

Wei WuXian landed another slap, “That was exactly what I meant to do! Can’t you say anything properly? Such wholesome words, and out of your mouth they sound especially gross!”

So this is the part in the extra people are talking about, and its honestly hilarious that antis love to use this as Evidence that jin ling is cutting ties with mean nasty abusive jiujiu because he sucks in favor of Perfectly Loving da-jiujiu wwx. This is also often used for extra evidence that wwx hates jc and is done with him because when /I/ hate a guy I always advocate for our shared nephew to rely on him more. Don't we all do this.

I feel like Jin Ling could state "I love my jiujiu so much and am so grateful to have him in my life!" and people would be like HE'S ONLY SAYING IT BECAUSE JC MADE HIM! 😡

meanwhile, WWX could show up to Lotus Pier to clearly and openly communicate that he wants to still have a relationship with JC and clear the air between them to start fresh, and people would lament how tragic it was that poor uwu baby Wei Ying had soooo little self-esteem that he would voluntarily go be abused, or something.

(But for real, WWX, stop hitting the tween. Unless your end goal is to frustrate JL so much that JC to kick your ass, you are undercutting your own point.)

[stupid-lemon-eater]

Okay, I can’t take it any more, I give in. Please explain Guardian to me. I’ve tried looking at the Wikipedia page but it provided no answers. All I can tell is that there are these two guys, and one is a police officer and the other a university professor but they’re both also magical immortals or something? And maybe one of them is the eponymous guardian of the other? If that’s the case, I totally can’t tell which is which. Please help, every day I see gifsets and each one leaves me more confused than the last. I thought The Untamed was bad, but this…

ehehehehe :D

so

we're gonna need a readmore for this lol

guardian was based on a bl book and was obviously censored - i'll provide an explanation of the show rather than the book, but pls know the most significant censoring (other than the obvious) was the change of everything from ghosts, demons, etc to aliens

you get this big animated infodump at the beginning with no warning and it's glorious

for backstory, there's three races on haixing - the haixingians (effectively humans), the yashou (alien race #1, can transform into plants or animals depending on type [main animals are snakes and crows, with one noticeable exception in my beloved catboy da qing]), and the dixingren (alien race #2, can have basically any powers that you want for plot related purposes, have to remain underground due to a treaty that was written 10,000 years ago)

zhao yunlan (the one with the facial hair) is the chief of the special investigations division (sid), which is kinda like torchwood but less and also more competent? depends on how you look at it. he's the titular guardian, because he's in charge of keeping haixing safe by catching the dixing criminals who come to the surface (in the book he also gets a cool whip which is called the guardian order - at one point he mentions that when he was given it he thought he was gonna be the first male sailor moon, bless him). smart and smartass. likes being one step ahead of you without you knowing. permanently exasperated with existence. in absolute love with shen wei.

shen wei (the one with the eyes, you know the one) is hei pao shi, or the black cloaked envoy - he's the dixingian envoy also tasked with ensuring all dixingren who unlawfully cross into haixing are punished back in dixing. university professor who teaches biology. worst liar in the entire world. wears sleeve garters and an ass chain to kill me personally. absolutely devoted to zhao yunlan.

they will send you absolutely insane and you will thank them for it. they're on levels of eye contact never before seen. together they Are the gaslight/gatekeep/girlboss mansplain/manipulate/malewife couple of your dreams/nightmares.

shen wei has been around for the aforementioned 10,000 years - zhao yunlan is his own special case ;)

there are 7 members of the sid and they will all send you various levels of feral

da qing - aforementioned beloved cat boy. zhao yunlan's cat but also brother but also father but also son. best dynamic. they ran out of budget to be able to have him transform into his cat form like 5 episodes in (their budget got majorly cut partway through), so instead it's just a guy in overalls acting like a cat. i lvoe him.

zhu hong - a snake yashou. my absolute wife. has amazing fashion.

lin jing - resident scientist. stresses himself out a lot. makes me laugh. still stumble over saying jin ling when referring to him

wang zheng - ghost lady! she's very sweet. her backstory is wack lol

sang zan - ghost lady's ghost husband. part of the wack backstory. sid's illiterate librarian <3

xiao guo - baby boy. baby. the babiest of boys you will ever see. precious little beanpole. genuinely the sweetest character you'll ever see in your life. levels of earnestness you wouldn't expect someone to pull off, but he absolutely does.

chu shuzhi - dixingren. has magical strings and a magical puppet. you can pinpoint the moment he falls in love with xiao guo down to the millisecond, and i screamed when i watched it.

throughout the plot they're tasked with collecting the four hallows, holy tools that have a lot of power, because the resident Big Bad (and their minions) want them to take over the world and so on and so forth (they're fun and dumb)

this show will tear your heart out and you will thank it, and then you will rewatch it while sobbing the whole way through because gahhh!

if you want to watch it, the show has unfortunately been taken off youtube, however you can watch it here or download it with subs here :D pls note that the theme song is an absolute banger and you will scream-sing along to it for most of the show

if anyone who reads this thinks i've missed anything important without spoilers, pls add it on!

tldr: "guardian is about making u insane in the best way" - mirf

[liathebookwyrm]

"Is it weird to call my teacher dad?"

.... and the unforeseen consequences of informally adopting every child you come across.

Wei Wuxian, facing the twice-mothly assembled mob of cultivators at his doorstop: "Can I help you?" -distant explosion and screaming- Enter Mo Xuanyu with much shorter hair than he had this morning: "Daaaaad, I mean Senior Wei look at what Xue Yang did to my hair!!!!" Xue Yang -still clutching the smoldering remains of whatever talisman they were fooling with-: "You promised you wouldn't tell!"

Mob of cultivators: confused pikachu.jpg

Meanwhile Lan Wangji is in the background, meditating as if nothing's happening. A-Yuan is quietly sitting next to him, chewing on his forehead ribbon. A Lan elder complains that only parents, spouses and children are allowed to touch the ribbon, and Lan Wangji calmly says A-Yuan is his son.

Now imagine, after that bombshell has died down a little, someone from the Jin side making a comment about how much Mo Xuanyu looks like the Jin main family and Mo Xuanyu stops trying to put Xue Yang in a headlock long enough to yell back that he wouldn't know seeing as his father literally abandoned him and his mother to die.

Xue Yang, feral cat that he is, starts describing in vivid detail what he will do to said father should he ever come forward…

The gossip spreads, because of course it does, and funnily enough Jin Guangshanis found dead at the bottom of Koi Tower's steps a few days later. Xue Yang is the most obvious suspect but it's rather suspicious how well Jin Guangyao and Madam Jin are getting along these days…

The fact that Xue Yang canonicaly shows affection by stabbing those who are mean to his loved ones is an untapped source of endless comedy in my opinion.

Imagine Xue Yang trying to justify himself to a disapproving Lan Wangji and he's all "I don't know, I just stab anyone who's pissed off me or someone I like, or if they try to take someone I like away from me."

Cue Lan Wangji remembering his bitey child days, when several of his teachers ended up with teeth marks on their arms, and that very memorable occasion when he tried to bite Nie Mingjue after deciding he was spending too much time with Lan Xichen.

Or better yet, teenage!Xue Yang at his most obstinate mood, glaring up at Lan Wangji and only saying: "He was rude to Senior Wei!" about his latest stab victim. Lan Wangji cannot find it in himself to disapprove of this thought process. Which unfortunately means that Wei Wuxian has (to his eternal despair, and he would like to point out that he absolutely did NOT sign up for this) to be the one enforcing discipline.

The thought also occurs that between Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Wen Ning, Wen Qing and the murder gremlins, if anyone looks at A-Yuan wrong will never be found dead or alive or in one piece…. A-Yuan grows up blissfully unaware that he has an entire army of parents/aunts/uncles/siblings behind him. He just thinks nothing bad ever happens. And let's not even forget the ghost aunties. Or that (tragically underused) ghost lady that Wei Wuxian summons once and literally never again (unfair!)? She's always tailing behind A-Yuan and he's so used to the presence of ghosts that he doesn't even notice her looming over his shoulder. Juniors from other sects are less….comforted by her presence. She's his self-appointed chaperone

It doesn't take long for her (and the other ghost aunties) to decide they actually have four baby nephews to look after - and no amount of bitching from Jin Ling is going to get rid of them. It's either Ghost-jie or Mo Xuanyu to supervise them. And where Mo Xuanyu is, Xue Yang is not far behind so…

No nighthunting would get done with these two around. They are too fond of shenanigans.

As always co-authored with/enabled by @sswangxian

[angstymdzsthoughts]

Corporate Spy AU: Wei Wuxian marries Wen Qing after the scandal/divorce/prison, only so they have the legal right to stay together (plus Wen Ning, obviously). Nie Huaisang is an occasional visitor, but rarely talks about what they call WWX's "past life" after he notices it causes them distress. And then one day he arrives and says "I brought a visitor", and there's A-Yuan, right there, fury and determination written all over his face, no longer a child but not quite a teenager yet.

So A-Yuan looks up at WWX, WQ, and WN, and he says "I believed you. I believed you but it didn't matter, because they wanted me to testify in court but wouldn't listen to any thoughts of my own. I'm tired of this life, I just want to go to school like a normal kid, draw in the evenings with my Baba, find who my birth family was because no one else will tell me." And he starts to cry because, "How do I do it? How do I make things right for you and save myself? How?"

And WWX takes a deep breath, and looks at the child that he hasn't seen in years, and gives him a big hug, and whispers, "I don't know. Maybe I've never known. But your Xian-gege is here now, it'll be okay." And slowly, it starts to be. A-Yuan (and Jingyi and Jin Ling and Zizhen) made friends with A-Qing, WWX's niece (through Xiao Xingchen), so they use that as a cover story to visit. No one at WWX's "old life" knows, until the scandal breaks wide open, and A-Yuan, now 18, is missing in the aftermath.

That's not the only thing though, everything WWX ever worked on for the company is missing. And he did a lot, little errands and fixing problems and generally making everything easier, and that plus the scandal means that Gusu Lan just lost so much work. Then they discover a neat stack of files in WWX's old office, legal notices that means they can't actually do anything to get the work back, because it wasn't theirs.

At first they think WWX did it, but NHS just waves his fan, smiles with the edge of a blade because his revenge isn't complete, not yet, and says, "Oh it wasn't him, he's been with his wife the past few months. He hasn't been back in Gusu for decades." And no one knows what to do with that.

A year later, a nonprofit organization opens in Yiling, providing millions of dollars worth of help to anyone. It's led by Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen, with Wen Qing as their resident doctor/medical expert, Wen Ning as their lawyer (he wrote the legal notices), and Wei Wuxian doing what he loves, leading the teams that provide services. And then there's A-Yuan, who's not sure what he's going to do now that he isn't part of Gusu Lan anymore, but who helps take care of the people who come for help.

When Lan Wangji tries to contact Wei Wuxian, he discovers that after he was released from prison, WWX filed a restraining order (not quite that, but similar) against almost everyone from his "past life". No one can reach him anymore, and he's happy that way.

Bonus plot twist if Wen Rouhan is that Asshole Uncle who's undeniably an asshole but also surprisingly useful, and he helped A-Yuan take back all of WWX's work. The Wen family (minus Wen Chao who is just,,,, no) also help fund the nonprofit :D

.

[freewilllife]

Lol imagine nitpicking the author's words to only see what you want to see. She literally adds the words 'wouldn't be too much dispute between them.' It possibly could not be that maybe Lwj excels in virtue or WWX in character, or that both of them have highly idealistic traits to have, no? Just because she tells us to be like Lwj in virtue does not mean WWX lacks virtue, that's your own incorrect assumption.

Look if an author makes a certain distinction, you can bet that she or he thought something about it, because a good author, like MXTX, knows how to use words. It is that easy. And if she merely pointed to Lang Wangji regarding his virtue and not Wei Wuxian, you can bet that there was reason behind it.

Run, where exactly? Literally where could he have run where he would be safe, and live in hiding for the rest of his life? Like a coward?What would running away have solved? The Wens would still be killed, with the added knowledge that WWX abandoned them to their fate. Nothing would have changed for the better. WWX did everything he could to peacefully protect the Wens and himself, that's the point, peace was no longer an option. There was nothing else he could do.

So you think murdering people and dying was the better alternative? Wei Wuxian was lucky that somebody wanted to use him and brought him back. Or else he would have stayed dead. Wei Wuxian could have lived and found out more about the situation. Living is always better than giving up.

When he came back, he literally hid from the world until he could no longer deny who he was. It is not that Wei Wuxian is beyond such measures. I mean he is the person who had fun pretending to be crazy.

Wei Wuxian most likely did not think very deeply about his situation then and reacted before he knew it. And so he killed a great bunch of people.

I can assure you that he would have rather killed himself than hurting his sister, a person he deeply loved.

No, WWX did not destroy the seal because he felt he was wrong. He destroyed it because he realised that it was too dangerous a thing for those bloodthirsty sects to have, too much power for one person, and it was mostly likely to fall in their hands after his death, which would certainly be a disaster. As evidenced by how half of it ended up in XY's hands and the Jin clan was all too eager to pardon his numerous crimes so that he could fully restore it for them to use.

Wei Wuxian certainly felt he was wrong in the moment his sister died because of his reaction. You do not make sense...if it was right for him to use it, why was it too much power for one person?

Please show me the scene where Wei Wuxian proclaims he felt he did nothing wrong here. I am quite excited to read it.

True, Jiang Yanli dies but how is that his fault? He did not deliberately kill her, first it was her choice to run out to an open battlefield without any support, and then sacrifice her life for him. Her death was a tragic accident. Also I couldn't help noticing that she sees the thousands of these cultivators attacking a single man, and asks that man to stop defending himself. Smh.

It is astonishing that you proclaim that Wei Wuxian did nothing wrong, even here. Yes, she wanted to protect him, but if he had not started it, she would be still alive. That from the person to tells his nephew that "thank you" and " I am sorry" are very important. One of his journeys goals was to come to terms with his later deeds. Sure Wei Wuxian was treated unfairly by others, but he himself also is not without fault. He himself also killed people. Even in some cases where he did not intend to kill them, it doesn´t matter, because the person is still dead. Jing Ling has unfortunately nothing from an explanation like this.

So you really do think that killing people senselessly like Wei Wuxian did here, is justice?

He did not take revenge, as the real culprits were still alive and stayed unharmed.

It was also not a develish plan of him, but rather a reaction from a person that was already at a very dark place.

'He merely escalated the situation-' even if that's true he still played a major role in the kingdom's downfall. It was entirely his fault, not XL's. He even goes out of his way to hinder XL's efforts to provide relief for his people, multiple times in increasingly drastic ways.

You do not make sense here. If he merely escalated the situation, then the situation was already bad to begin with and might have also come to a certain point without his intervention. There were occurences, where Jun Wu did not need to intervene.

Xie Lian could do nothing against the drought as a martial god. The people of Yong´an would have come either way. They were refugees that needed help, but the king of Xianle did not know, how to solve this issue, though there would have been some measures.

There was still much corruption in this country that hindered actual help for the people of Yong´an.

The people of Xianle would have still considered the people of Yong´an beneath them.

Jian Lan would have been still kidnapped and raped by one man of Yong´an without Jun Wu. Jian Lan lead protests against the people of Yong´an for them to be exiled.

All Jun Wu did in the beginning was using three puppets for the last spark that turned the already bad situation in an open revolt against the royalty of Xianle.

Lan Ying , whose son died, would have also existed, that would later acquire the "aura of a king".

The other countries that helped the rebels would have been also around.

The rebels were problematic for Xie Lian, as he understood them, that is the reason he did not kill Lan Ying, when he should have done it. The "aura of a king" prevented even a god, to harm Lang Ying later. The uncertainty was already in Xie Lian back then, all Jun Wu had to do, was taking care that Xie Lian was driven mad.

So the human face disease came along and Jun Wu used people that already existed for this...when I remember Xie Lian discovered that Lang Ying intervened here as well. There was probably a curse put on the corpse of his son. Jun Wu tested Xie Lian if he rescued his own people and committed a great sin for this: the genocide of the people of Yong´an. He did not and Xianle fell.

Xie Lian´s self-confidence was damaged severly.

Even if Jun Wu had not intervened, the problems would have still persisted. Desperate people take desperate measures. It is funny, if the author literally let some people spill that out in another account, when the ill people suffering from human-face disease burned the faces of the disease from their body parts.

Another instance that desperate people take desperate measures and a revolt would have happnened eventually:

A revolt might have still happened and then Xie Lian would have been forced to beat down people that were actually just desperate. Xie Lian would have also not wished to extinguish them and then the rage hidden inside of the people of Yong´an would have still lasted as even now the gods are against their wellbeing. Another revolt would have been just occured after some time.

Xie Lian learnt during this time enormously, how much he did not know about people and his own country. The former Crownprince and now god had actually made assumptions that did not hold true at all, later. And that would have been still the case even without Jun Wu.

"It began with a natural disaster, but was deteriorated by human actions."

The family was merely a catalyst...not the only cause of the revolt.

The matters they had to think about was a lil bit more complicated than Xie Lian had previously thought.

What use was that help? It was that XL's intentions matter here, not his actions. Take a look at this passage

Good intentions are nice, but idealism alone doesn´t save anybody. People need bread, water or help as long as they live. As they are people of flesh and blood.

In fact as the state preceptor states here...good intentions can even be harmful.

Because it was a failure...Even if we count in Jun Wu´s intervention in the matters of Xianle, Xie Lian did not understand much about the worldly affairs and did help both sides, even though it was clear that they would have never shaken hands afterwards.

At least he should have exterminated Yong´an´s people if he wanted to save Xianle or let the natural decline of Xianle occur. Gods aren´t almighty beings and neither is Xie Lian.

I think one can even make the argument, that the state preceptor, even though he soon guessed that Jun Wu was "his prince", was correct here. Xie Lian caught Jun Wu´´s attention due to his actions and words...and it provoked the evil part of him to bring Xie Lian down. Surely it was unintentional by Xie Lian, but nevertheless the outcome is the same.

That is why the tale with the "second cup"...third option...is a fairy tale...a part of this fiction that demonstrates how utterly naive Xie Lian was in the past. Good intentions are not enough.

Xie Lian realized again and again...that gods cannot give " a second cup"...a third option...they are not almighty.

He realized it, when he cut the food of that man that once gave him an umbrella in order to save him...

Here it is even directly in the texte. Xie Lian has no other option, even though he is a god.

Xie Lian realized it when he could no longer kill Lang Ying...he had hesistated too long.

Yes, it's true that FX and MQ are highly incompatible but again it doesn't fall to Xie Lian to make them get along. He still tries though, because he's good at it. He's able to calm FX down before he jumps to accusing MQ of something and ask him to first listen to what MQ has to say when he will not speak up, as well as remind MQ that FX is not capable of scheming against him as he will just silently brood in his head about him conspiring against him. They would truly not be friends without XL.

I disagree, he is very well responsible as he chose them as his servants, so he was also responsible for make it work. You literally complained of them arguing, so you are aware that it did not work out.

In fact Feng Xin always declined everything Mu Qing suggested, sometimes really diminshed him. Even if Mu Qing meant well, like he often did in the past - in contrast his later god form. Xie Lian had no better concept than distracting them, but he had no longer the strength to do so after the fall of Xianle.

'Did not want to eat the food offered to him-' ah I see you're the type of person who takes the characters words at face value and ignores their actions and what the narrative is saying. What does this passage say? That Xie Lian had only been in a mortal body again after a long time and forgotten that he needed to eat to sustain it? And not that he was being picky about food, or going on a starving spree to throw a tantrum about poor food? But we see how MQ here assumes the worst of XL as he often does all throughout the novel, because of his own resentment towards XL? There are many such examples in the book.

I´d wish you would actually look at the texte and understand the meaning.

He is still picky about food, if even his mother told us so, but I at least give you this, that he might be not used to the experience.

Xie Lian finally understood being picky about food after months of having barely food, was not a good thing. That realisation came to him directly before he tried to rob people. That means he must have been picky before, or that passage here would be senseless.

No, Mu Qing just had most likely less patient with Xie Lian as they lived literally a miserable life and he was the one caring for everybody else, doing chores and work with the other two on top of it. He had more workload than anybody else and nobody considered to help him.

It is not that hard to imagine that Mu Qing is overworked having double the amount of work as the other two.

He is losing it, when they lose their money, after the other two joined in a fight due to people making fun of the statue of Xie Lian.

They turned everything of his suggestions down to make their precarious situation better, he had double the work than anybody else and it just got worse and worse. Honestly, they should have ignored these people and just forget Xie Lian´s pride that was still far too important. I understand that a Crownprince still needed to adapt, but it happened unfortunately far too late.

After the fight, Mu Qing must have felt so at the end of his wits, that he just saw one possibility: to leave...I am not sure, if he had really intended to go back, but I do understand, why he left. It is important here, that Mu Qing left directly after they lost money again and Xie Lian said nothing and Feng Xin didn´t want to face the truth.

I also do think his reasons to leave were reasonable: He had cared for his mother since he was a child and he could see no other way.

Even the way Mu Qing left is a great example of the servant-master relationship between Mu Qing and Xie Lian.

Xie Lian commands "enough"..Mu Qing bowed deeply and walked away.

Sadly, Xie Lian could not imagine, that maybe they could have made his life a lil easier by sharing Mu Qing´s responsibilities or maybe showing him that they all worked to get better...But by refusing to actually address their problematic situation, nothing would be solved.

The crux is that neither Mu Qing, nor Feng Xin were his friends. They were his servants. So Xie Lian is departing reality here and bad living conditions are even a reason for couples to break up. I mean Xie Lian is refering to fairy tales here.

Here is another instant that makes it painfully clear, that Xie Lian is only fooling himself about the truth of their relationship: Feng Xin and Mu Qing were his servants, not his friends. The former master and Crownprince wonders, what Feng Xin thought about his treatment.

Xie Lian was afraid the last of his remaining servants would leave him too.

Unfortunately Feng Xin was completely unaware of Xie Lian´s feelings and expressed what he thought.

Xie Lian is then "paying" Feng Xin in order for him to stay...It is an expression of their master-servant relationship, but also of Xie Lian´s fear to be left behind.

Don´t misunderstand me: Xie Lian is a kind person, but he certainly had too much pride after the fall of Xianle and did make mistakes, like everybody else. And he was also idealistic and kind..that´s a difficult thing to be, if you are poor.

Bit by bit, the realisation how dire their situation was, came slowly. After months they finally basked, like Mu Qing suggested. If they had done so months before, there would have been likely three people and not just two.

Really tired of constantly seeing posts declaring that everyone in MXTX novels is complicated and 'morally grey' and that's what makes her works wonderfully written, and that everyone else who doesn't see that is stupid, or is 'demonising' characters and bashing them for rightfully criticising their shitty, very much unjustified actions.

And ironically it seems so simplistic to just declare that, because yes her stories are wonderfully written and complex, but not for that reason. You're clearly not reading her works and only spouting what you think her stories say. There are many morally grey characters in morally complex stories out there, but MDZS IS NOT ONE OF THEM.

NONE OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS (i.e protagonists and their male leads except for LBH maybe) ARE MORALLY GREY OR MORALLY COMPLEX.

THEY ARE ALL MORALLY RIGHTEOUS.

Just take a closer look at their actions compared to the actions of literally everyone else around them, it's not that hard to see.

Not to mention that MXTX herself literally says that WWX and LWJ are both morally ideal and that ahe hopes her readers can be like them, but people seem to have no respect for the word of authors in the name of their self projection onto the characters being contradicted nowadays 😒

(also saw someone dismissively say that HC may think that the world revolves around XL or whatever, but others don't and they're right??

First of all, did you even read the novel? HC made his judgement based on how others treated him versus how XL did when he was a CHILD. And how XL continues to treat others to this day. He is well within his rights to think the world of XL, especially since XL suffered more than every other person and still doesn't succumb to evil, despite having every right to do so, miles more than others. He all but regards XL as his moral compass, because he's proof that truly good people do exist in this world, and not ONE other person in the novel is shown to be as good as him.)

One of the reasons why I really don't like the Xianle Trio is this; neither FX nor MQ seem to regard XL as his own person with his own agency, who is capable of making his own decisions initially as HC does, and only near the end of the novel do they let up a bit when their asses had to be saved by XL multiple times. (especially considering what fools they made of themselves in that spiderweb cave lmao)

Both of them try to enforce XL ALL THE TIME ("Your Highness don't do this or don't do that or don't say this or don't go there or don't talk to him"), as if XL has not survived perfectly well on his own without them FOR 800 YEARS.

The difference between them and HC is clearly spelled out when FC asks HC about why he is not stopping XL, and HC replies that while he may not agree with some of XL's decisions, he would never force him to do what he thinks is correct, something both MQ and FX are CONSTANTLY shown to try to do.

Like please. Xianle Trio who? More like suffering XL and his pair of nuisances who think themselves to be his babysitters. And most of the time he's the one babysitting them.

Another thing that irks me is that their frequent arguments are often played off for laughs, but XL is truly a saint, because if my friends were constantly bickering over petty things all throughout our dangerous journey and giving me nothing but headaches, especially in survival situations, I'd given them the boot a long time ago.

[plan-d-to-i]

So.. I just got done reading the novel and I have some questions. For one how come WWX himself never publicly outed JC for his lies, really. It would have saved him the trouble is it because there is some sort barrier due to his low status. Two, After I read the novel my faith in people really decreased not to sound like a Debbie downer but the fact that everyone easily believed in the lies told from the sects got me so heated like WHAT?! In fact, the lack of acknowledgement to WWX when he played a huge part in the war and then condemned him for Demonic Cultivation even though he saved them was really telling of their character. I actually wouldn't have minded the mc going the villain route but obviously that not the theme or moral of the story. Lol, Really loved the ending was realistic when JC and WWX parted ways.

To me JC was a really good character. He wasn't the big bad but he played the childhood friend antagonist quite well. He did so much damage to the people around him that I genuinely laughed when he was blacklisted from marriage prospects.

However, he sucked so much as a person that I inwardly cringed sometimes from the shitty things he said. I hoped that his ending would be brutal 😔 but, I liked how it turned out. His mother and him were such petty bitches lol 😂, I can't. They keep spouting the same tragic backstory as if they're lives were from soap opera. I really wished though other than LWJ and WWX for someone to actually look this man in the eye and tell it how it is that he is nothing without our main protag coddles him.

Also, the sects got to much power. There isn't really a structural government. Idk shit about politics but damn I guess you can do whatever the fuck you want if you are blessed with the riches. I automatically hated Rich people after I read the novel 🤣

Ah congrats on finishing the novel! ✺◟( • ω • )◞✺

Haha your takeaways are very similar to mine. When ppl complain about WWX at the Nightless City Pledge Conference for ex, I'm just like: WWX should've ended more careers ･:*:･ﾟ’☆. If you can't stand the heat then stay out of the kitchen pledge conference where you're pregaming and hyping each other up before going to attack a really really powerful guy to kill him and the people he's protecting. Or maybe don't shoot an arrow into his chest while he's actually still talking trying to explain himself. That average archer dude and his brother w the shitty sword skills really just came to fuck everything up for everyone involved.

It does feel like we were ROBBED of the catharsis of seeing jc forcefully ejected from the world of the living... It makes sense that he didn't. I get why it happened logically. I get that ppl born w a silver spoon up their @33 rarely get what they deserve but STILL 😪. WWX and Wen Ning are too flipping good. This is also why I still enjoy JGY as a character. jiang cheng decided to mouth off to him in the Guanyin temple and JGY was like: you picked the wrong place, the wrong time and the wrong bitch, and dropped every truth bomb on him at once. bliss. To say nothing of how Wen Ning- kind, timid, Wen Ning delivered this absolute banger in chapter 89:

Sect Leader Jiang----you, you’re such a headstrong person, forever comparing with others, but know that you could never compare to Young Master Wei!” [🖕]

Now, I was thinking about your initial question "why didn't WWX publicly out jc for his lies" and it made me realize jc lied quite a bit didn't he? He lied to WWX about how they could stage the defection and then called him the enemy of the entire cultivation world behind his back. He lied to the cultivation world about WWX declaring himself its enemy. He clearly told some lies to Jin Ling, since Jin Ling believes WWX ordered Wen Ning to kill his father and mother: Jin Ling: "And what else I’ll never forget is that he ordered Wen Ning to kill my father and mother!”. jiang cheng reiterates that in front of Jin Ling in the Guanyin temple :

"But all those years, I was never enough next to you. Their love, their dedication, even their life! The lives of my father, mother, older sister, and even Jin ZiXuan! Because of you, all that’s left now is an orphaned Jin Ling!”

With a terrible shudder, Jin Ling’s shoulders slumped. His expression waned as well. (Chapter 102)

jc clearly just dragging Jin Ling into his argument as another weapon to use against WWX giving zero fucks about how it's affecting Jin Ling. So anyway , I think for WWX to try to clarify any of it earlier no one would have believed him so it would have been pointless. By the end the truth does come out. Of his core and the Wens from the blood pool helping everyone. Wen Ning is now running around with the Lan Juniors night hunting. Jin Ling likes WWX and defends him against jc repeatedly and realizes jc is the problem. So yeah... it all comes in due time. Lastly. I thought it's so funny that you bring this up:

I automatically hated Rich people after I read the novel 🤣

I had this scene bookmarked for how hilarious it was. WWX Relatable king:

This young master had a vermillion mark between his eyebrows. His features were delicate and pretty, yet also harsh and unkind, and he was very young, around Lan Sizhui’s age. He was still half a child, but held a longbow in his hand and wore a quiver of arrows on his back, as well as a long sword which shined with golden light and glittered with gemstones. The embroidery on his clothes was as exquisite as any, uniting into a white peony over his chest, the golden threads slim glimmers in the night.

Wei Wuxian sighed and muttered, “Rich people…”

The boy was surely some young master from the Lanling Jin Clan. That clan alone used the white peony as its emblem, suggesting that their own beauty was comparable to the flower’s. The white peony was also the king of flowers, and thus through it, the Lanling Jin Clan also subtly advertised that it, too, was the king of cultivators. The vermillion mark on their foreheads represented “enlightenment and ideals illuminating the world.”

The young master had originally nocked an arrow on his bow, itching to shoot, but upon seeing that the spirit-binding nets contained only people, he was sorely disappointed. He whipped around suddenly, irritation written across his face. “Every single time it’s you idiots. There are over 400 spirit-binding nets hanging around this mountain and none of them have caught anything, but already you people have ruined nearly twenty of them!”

Wei Wuxian’s thoughts continued to be, “Rich people!” (Chapter 7)

[qilingxiong]

Speak to me of Chengsu?

Ooooh, room to ramble about my ships, thank you! Although, please be warned: it is almost 11pm on a Friday night where I am, I have consumed three energy drinks today, and I'm running on... maybe five hours of sleep at best. But you ask for me to speak of why I think Jiang Cheng and Qin Su are a galaxy-brained pairing, and so ye shall receive.

First off, I'm going to direct you to @elysean's excellent gifset. These two may share a total of one (1) extremely brief interaction in all of the Untamed, but look at Jiang Cheng. The bob of his throat. The way he looks down. The 'yes I know I'm a queen' nod of acknowledgement from Qin Su. This man is looking with the Utmost Respect and she is entirely aware of it. There is a lot of backstory in these three seconds of footage to unpack.

Moving on. I like this ship because honestly? It makes sense. We talk so much about Jin Guangyao and Jiang Cheng's bitchy co-parenting but Qin Su was there too! With Jin Ling growing up in Koi Tower, she would have been one of the closest maternal figures in his life, and don't tell me Qin Su wouldn't have treated him like he was her own son. Especially after Rusong's death. Treating Jin Ling nicely is a Big Thing in Jiang Cheng's eyes, and I think he would have made a large effort to get along with her based on that fact alone. But Qin Su is also nice to be around in general, so I like to imagine that even whether or not it's romantic, they would have had a relaxed, fun dynamic. (She's probably the only one of Jiang Cheng's in-laws he actually likes.)

Being a good aunt also brings me to the fact that if you look at Jiang Cheng's list of requirements in a future partner, Qin Su seems to fit all of them. Or, at least at first. We don't know too much about her, but canonically, Qin Su was the one to pursue a romance with Jin Guangyao. Whatever she was like, she was captivating enough for him to marry her for genuine love. As we have witnessed from Jiang Cheng's interactions with Wen Qing, he's more than okay with someone with a stronger personality, so Qin Su is a good fit for him both on the surface and below it!

Aaaand if you know me at all, I love to torture Jiang Cheng. There's not as much stigma for him in interacting with Qin Su as there would have been with Wen Qing, but still. Falling for your sister-in-law (I think that's the correct term here?) who's already married? Who you can speak to and see whenever you want, but never have? The yearning is unbelievable, and as we have established from the aforementioned gifs, Jiang Cheng is very palpably gone for her.

Looking more at Qin Su's end, I think Koi Tower can be lonely. Lanling runs on rumors and superficial reputations, and even with Jin Guangyao to turn to for comfort, throughout their marriage he'd be distancing himself from her because *reasons*. Even if she wouldn't cross the line into infidelity (and I believe she's loyal enough to Jin Guangyao still that she wouldn't), Jiang Cheng is there, and he likes her, and maybe she's allowed to let herself bask in the warmth of being wanted, y'know? Just a little bit. Nothing can truly happen between them, but the acknowledgement of something, of potential, can be enough sometimes.

Okay, I think that's all I've got, but I'm going to throw in some fic recs. @lanzhanshands has this wonderful oneshot that converted me to Chengsu in the first place, and @goldencorecrunches also has this very nice scene. And if you're curious about how a Modern AU might go, I have some ideas here.

Thanks for the ask!

[heavymetalchemist]

Hi....., if you don't mind me asking, can I ask your top 5 favorite characters from MDZS? And why? And your top 5 (or top 3) favorite moments from the novel or drama? Sorry if you've answered this before....Thanks

I forgot about this ask >_< sorry!

Okay so top five characters... I'm going to mention some of my favorite moments in here!

1) Jiang Cheng, I can't get over this dude. The reveal at the end slammed into me like a freight train and I was lost. Suddenly everything had this whole different context, and I think that's why I can't stop thinking about him. His fucked up family relationships, his inferiority complex, his arrogance hiding his insecurity, how deeply he loves his family and his people, how seriously he takes his duty, the fact that he rebuilt an entire sect from the ashes to still be one of the great sects, he was literally some teenager and he became a war hero, how he's so protective of Jin Ling and how he's basically a surrogate father even though as a maternal relative he wouldn't necessarily need to be involved at all, I just love him! But especially when he gives wwx the octopus hug, and when he yells, tears in his eyes, if you protect them then I can't protect you! oh my poor purple boy.

2) Nie Mingjue! I personally relate to him a lot as someone who is also tall and intimidating and, like, I've worked on my anger issues but I can still be scary if I don't control it, and so his whole qi deviation thing resonates with me. Also I like that he's in this dual role of both upholding the status quo (he's the one who brings up filial piety to JC when JC tries to defend WQ and WN) but also wanting to evaluate people based on merit (gives MY/JGY a high position because he recognizes his competence, despite his background). He's destroyed both by his insistence on doing the right thing and by extending his trust to someone that others would say he was foolish to trust, and I just have a lot of thoughts about it!

3) Nie Huaisang, mister fan man, the man behind the mask. I especially like Ji Li's portrayal in cql because nothing will ever beat that *look* he gives to JGY when LXC stabs him. I love Fatal Journey for giving us more Nie Bros in general (bc as I said I also love NMJ) but also for letting us see NHS being competent and clever and how much he loves his brother. He played the long game and he won against the man that had cleverly killed everyone who crossed him so far. And he's so funny! "you solved that problem, but more problems appeared!"

4) Wen Zhuliu. What did WRH do for you, dude??? WHAT WAS IT???? what was such a big favor that you'll put up with Wen Chao????? I want to know! Also how and why does someone develop a technique like core crushing, and then just let someone else dictate how he uses it? He is a mystery and I think it's interesting.

5) Lan Qiren. I do not understand how people don't like him, he's tried so hard, he's a good teacher, he cares about his nephews, is he a perfect dude? No, obviously not, but no one is in this story. He wants the best for his nephews and I can't help but wonder how he really feels post-canon, with LWJ somehow against all odds happy again! But with that chucklefuck WWX? and then poor LXC... he must be having flashbacks to his brother and how his brother threw everything away for love (I don't really ship xiyao but platonic love is still love y'know). Favorite scene hands down is when WWX is like "oh shit I better play my flute badly so No One Knows It's Me" and LQR wakes up just to tell him his flute playing sucks. Iconic. Masterful. How can you read that scene and not love LQR??

[captain-apostrophe]

congrats on your fic-iversary! may I ask for 10 (the good place) for the junior quartet, please? 💞

I hope you enjoy the fic, Nana! Thanks for all your support and, as always, for reading <3

(also available on ao3, if you prefer to read there)

[gen; Juniors Quartet; Good Place AU]

- DON'T PANIC -

DON'T PANIC, the writing on the wall told him. Jingyi, who wasn't yet sure where he was or how he'd gotten there, hadn't even thought about panicking just yet. He was considering it, though, when a door opened and a man with a jaunty, red-ribboned ponytail stuck his head out.

"Lan Jingyi, right?" he said. "Hey, come on in!"

Jingyi followed him into what turned out to be a quite unremarkable office. Nothing to panic about so far.

"So," the man said, once he'd settled in the chair opposite his desk. "Good news bad news - unfortunately, you're dead."

Ah, well, there was the reason to panic.

"But don't worry - you came to the good place."

The man, who introduced himself as Wei Wuxian and who was, as far as Jingyi could tell, apparently some kind of afterlife secretary, explained that Jingyi's life of selfless philanthropy had more than secured his eternal reward. Wei Wuxian played him footage of these philanthropic acts, which was a trip - as if 'his' eyes had been cameras recording the whole time.

"Congratulations," Wei Wuxian said. "You're an amazing person; we're so glad to have you."

Wei Wuxian took him for a tour, then. To his house, which had been tailor-made to his particular passions - it looked like a haunted manor, complete with a resident ghost who tapped her cane spookily along the corridors when he wasn't looking. For a bed he had an elaborate coffin.

"Fun, isn't it?" Wei Wuxian said, grinning ear to ear with pride.

Through gritted teeth, Jingyi agreed that it was.

"And don't worry," he added. "There's no horrible spices or overly-flavorful ingredients in the kitchen. But there is a lukewarm broth dispenser! Just the way you like it."

Jingyi began to think that he might panic after all.

The neighbours came to welcome him - he could see their home through the cracked, dusty windows: a lavish mansion, shining in the sun as if it was gold-plated, with peacocks roaming its lawns.

"Jin Ling," Wei Wuxian said, introducing him to the first neighbour, a young man dressed as dramatically as his home was appointed. "Who spent his life on fundraisers for more charities than I can count! And his soulmate, Zizhen, a celebrated Daoist monk who is so dedicated to his path that he wishes to continue with his meditations here, too. You probably won't see much of him as he needs absolute seclusion to really... center his qi."

Wei Wuxian clapped Jin Ling on the shoulder, not seeming to notice his wince.

"Luckily for these two, Jin Ling prefers his own company. It would be such an inconvenience to have someone clinging to you all the time, wouldn't it? Trying to lavish you with love and attention and validation. Who needs it!"

"Who needs it," Jin Ling repeated.

"You mentioned soulmates?" Jingyi said, hopefully.

Wei Wuxian's grin broadened.

"That's right. C'mon, there's someone I want you to meet."

Sizhui was serene and composed and looked like he'd never doubted himself before in his life. He was cute, too, which was a shame - he seemed like he would have been a good soulmate. Whoever this saintly Lan Jingyi was had clearly led a truly good life, to deserve someone like that by his side in paradise.

"We'll leave you two to get acquainted," Wei Wuxian said, with a lascivious wink. "Get settled in, get to know each other. Just don't miss the Welcome Party this evening!"

He ushered the neighbours out with him, and Jingyi took a deep breath.

"Okay," he said, as the door closed and they were alone together. "As my soulmate you've got my back, right?"

"Of course."

"You promise to, like. To help me? Keep all my secrets?"

Sizhui smiled, gently. Kindly.

"I promise."

Jingyi sighed, relieved.

"Okay," he said. "Thank god. Because I'm not the person they think I am - I'm not supposed to be here."

[crossdressingdeath]

Ch 43: Jin Ling continued, “My uncle grew up with him, my grandfather saw him as his own child, my grandmother wasn’t horrible to him either, but what did he do? He made Lotus Pier the lair of the Wen Sect, he wrecked the entire YunmengJiang Sect, he caused the deaths of both my parents and grandparents, and now my uncle is the only one left! He brought about his own death through the havoc he created and ended up leaving not even a whole corpse behind him! Just which part of the entire situation do you not understand? Just what excuses are you still making for him?!”

Holy shit?! The lies shoved down this poor kids throat? YZY was abusive to WWX but apparently thats not horrible? He apparently led the Wen to LP but that ignores the fact that they were attacking everyone. The Jiang is the only still exists because of WWX but thats apparently wrecking it. To fair on the last point if WWX didn't give JC his core then JC wouldn't have been sect leader and the Jiang mightve been led by JYL who is infinitely better at everything than JC.

Rereading this hits me like a truck because JC ensured that JL would unequivocally hate WWX even though many of it wasn't actually WWX's fault. How threatened was JC after WWX's death to lie even more to JL? Its as if he knew that JL would like WWX over him so he tried to ensure that JL didn't. The other thing is that JC is really spitting on the deaths of everyone mentioned and ignoring the sacrifices some of them made to ensure that JC and WWX lived.

I'm glad that at the end JL yells at JC and seems to stay far away from him. It must be so hard for JL to come to terms not only with the fact that JGY (the good uncle) actually orchestrated his fathers death. But also that his other uncle (JC) was also lying. That the one uncle that mightve fucked up but has since made up for it by protecting and teaching jim was the man that was supposed to be the world's greatest villain, WWX.

...Shit. I haven’t reread the novel in a while, so I’d mostly forgotten this bit, and... Shit.

JC has clearly been lying his ass off every time the topic of WWX came up, saying whatever was necessary to convince JL that WWX was pure evil. YZY whipped WWX over nothing, but JC taught JL that she wasn’t horrible to him. JFM cheerily sent WWX off to play bodyguard even if it meant he’d probably die, but he “saw him as his own child”. He “made Lotus Pier the lair of the Wen sect”, but the Wens did that without his aid and with him fighting against them having already taken over one great sect without even pretending to have an excuse, not to mention WLJ pretty much outright says that they were there to make Lotus Pier a supervisory office with punishing WWX as a lovely bonus. He brought about his own death, but it was the sects who backed him into a corner and gave him no other way out.

This passage on its own blows every argument that JC totally did love and mourn for WWX, because... well, look at it. WWX was dead, and that wasn’t enough for JC; no, he had to lie, to ensure that JL would never look on his uncle’s memory with anything but loathing. If he really did mourn for WWX and wish things had gone differently, he would’ve told JL about WWX’s courage and compassion, how he always fought to do the right thing, how he loved his family so much and always tried to help despite the way they treated him. But no; all JL knows about him is lies, almost certainly told to him directly by JC, given the way it’s phrased; at the absolute minimum JC clearly never told him the truth, and a lie by omission is still a lie. This is quite possibly one of the worst things JC does to WWX, because it is the complete desecration of WWX’s memory, a character assassination done to make sure a child wouldn’t hold a single positive thought towards his own uncle.

I wonder, now, how much of JL’s complete lack of any mention of JC in the extras comes from the realization of just how much of what JC taught him was lies. Did JC tell JL anything true about WWX? Because that passage suggests not. Can you imagine the betrayal JL must feel with every new discovery, every new investigation into WWX and JC’s past that ends with the realization that it’s just one more thing JC lied to him about? The one uncle he has left of the two he grew up with, and now he’s learning that JC betrayed him, kept the truth of everything related to WWX and his mother from him so that... what, he wouldn’t have to compete for “favourite maternal uncle”? So he could feel justified in his hate? He poisoned his nephew’s mind against a good man for the sake of his own hatred and now JL, still reeling from learning what JGY did, is having to come to terms with that. No wonder the poor kid doesn’t want to talk about him in the extras. 

And now I want fics that acknowledge that JC lied to JL about everything to do with WWX, and include JL’s rightful sense of betrayal over it. Preferably without any attempts from the narrative or not-JC characters to justify it, because you cannot justify lying to a child for years so that he’d hate your brother as much as you do.

[inessencedevided]

The Untamed, episode 40 - watching notes

For some reason, my last liveblog post got more attention than any of the ones I did before and quite a few people followed me because of it. Welcome everyone! 👋😊 I hope you enjoy this quarantine-endused obsession of mine 😅

The Juniors are still semi-fighting about their judgement of wei Wuxian and his actions. I find this interesting mainly because it's a good example of how gossips and rumours can evolve into facts if passed on enough times. To Jin Ling, who was a baby when thys all happened and who only ever heard this tale from very biased sources, wwx's wickedness is a fact so irrefutable, the mere thought that someone might disagree is ridiculous

I've forgotten his name, but he's too precious :D

I'm howling! The way the Juniors scatter when lwj enters is too cute 😂

Also, thanks to @allhailthedramallama I now know that some of their actors are older than Wang Yibo and I can't not think about that now!

Everyone internally: liquor ... Hanguang Jun is ordering ... liquor

Lwj: don't you dare make a comment!

Did jl just literally stab his foot with his chopsticks? 😂

Lsz being shook by his Hanguang Jun buying Alcohol is right up there with my favourite moments of this show :D Poor baby. That must've rocked his world

Protect them at all costs! 😭😭😭

I got a new brotp and it's Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi 😍

Protect HIM at all cost!!! 😭😭😭

(Nevermind, he's already dead)

😏

He can't believe that lwj would bring him liquor 😭

Also, I'm pretty sure lwj is very worried of what might happen if more people find out wwx is alive, considering there's someone out there trying to frame him

How much of a stab in the heart do you recon it is for lwj every time wwx doesnt remember the song he wrote for him? 🥺

Okay, so Lan Xichen guves them a chance to proof that it isn't wex who's behind everything. But honestly, why do they think it's a good idea for him to just wander into the Jin sect's home with only a mask to disguise him?

I really liked the visuals of wwx and lwj walking after lan Xichen like that. Just aesthetically. 🤷‍♀️

I feel like the carved image of their sworn brothers ceremony is a very deliberate reminder. One of them is already dead ... I hope it's not foreshadowing for another dying or something similar :/

Lwj gently encouraging an obviously nervous wwx ... my heart :')

There is NOTHING that gets me quite as much as the "stoic one" never cracking a smile, always serious letting their guard down in front of the one they love. And that's just lwj in a nutshell. I wanna hug him!!! 😭 (expect he wouldn't like that and I respect his boundaries :P)

That encounter with Jiang Cheng was SO uncomfortable 🙈

This gesture if catching him mid-bow STILL makes me weep 😭😭😭 ... they're equals, still!!!

So Jin Ling just hit from Jiang Cheng at his other uncle's place? 😂

If Jin Guangyao didn't recognize wwx on the spot, I'll eat his ridiculous hat

What is this world we've stumbled into??? Wwx is afraid of embarrassing lwj who's just says "Suit yourself"??? What is this, the upside down? 😱

Is Quin Su Jin Guangyao's wive?

And she knows Mo Xuanyu judging from that look

I should mention at this point, that I read the first view chapters of the novel (up to where the flashback starts on the show). That's why I know that Mo Xuanyu has a connection to the Jin clsn. Otherwise I'd be hopelessly confused by the fact that everyone there seems to know him

But what I missed, if it's been mentioned before is that somehow, Jin Guangyao is sect leader now?? His father died I guess?

Okay what? Did Mo Xuanyu and Quin Su got something going in the past or why does she look so supremely uncomfortable in his presence?

Nie Huaisang, still drama queen no1. Godda love him

"The thing has been solved, but new problems have appeared 😭😭😭"

☝️I feel you man ... i feel you. Adulthood sucks

Let's all be 16 again and go back to Gusu ...

How often does this happen? 😂

Again, I feel you Huaisang. I, too, would like to hug Lan Xichen and get him to solve all my problems *sighs*

Jin ling actually protecting mo Xuanyu wwx ...

Oh so that's why Quin su is uncomfortable around him :/

Jin Ling is soooo much like Jiang Cheng! All "only I can bully my brotheruncle! Don't you dare tough him! Fight me!" :D

I'm so here for Jin Ling and wwx bonding! 😭

He never got to be the uncle he could have been but bow he does!! 😭

Giving terrible advice has never been so touching :D

Another paper man like he created at Guzu!

This is the cutest shit I've ever seen!!! 😭😭😭

Tge little kiss! The touching the forehead ribbon!

I mean ...

Look at it! 🥺

Also, very sneaky wwx :D

What's that music?? Sounds like the little paper man is on his way downtown on his longboard 😂😂😂

So, I'm guessing that wwx somehow transfered his cognition to the paper man?

Oh no ... what happened to Quin Su?

I hate it when obviously something scandalous happened, but they keep dancing around it like "is it true, what this letter says?" JUST to keep up the suspense for the audience. I wanna know!!!

What did JGY do?? 😥

Wait wait wait ... who is this A-Song and should I know them?

Oh, it's their son ... was their son

This scene is killing me! Just tell me what he (allegedly) did!

What the hell kinda secret would he have killed his son for??

Holy shit, what did he just du this wife?

That is a weirdly pretty torture dungeon

Also ... kudos once more to the actor

That performance was chilling

Aaargh wwx, don't be so careless 😳

I'm not one for suspense today 🙈

Ighh

That's the hat!!! So ... jin Guangyao took it. But why?? Seriously that's the thing I've been asking myself with him since he first started to act suspiciously. Why? He's already sect leader. What more could he want?

So wex is now performing empathy while he's already somehow transfered his cognition? 😳

That's a mean cliffhanger! 😭

@sweetlittlevampire @fandom-glazed @elenirlachlagos @allhailthedramallama @luckymoony @kyrrahbird @i-love-him-on-purpose (just 10 episodes left 😭)