#but the push-pull is more fun to me if wwx was not actually in love until well after lwj was

[whetstonefires]

counterpoint remember when they went to the archery thing in qishan and he didn't recognize lwj right away because he was wearing a different outfit, and had not in fact thought much about him since leaving gusu.

like you can put the latter under unreliable narrator if you prefer, but the total failure to place him in the qishan hunt costume and how devastating a blow this was to lwj (who had definitely been thinking of wwx in the past year) is super, super funny to me and deserves its place in the AU ecosystem.

drives me crazy when the mdzs fandom still doesn’t understand wwx is just as obsessed with lwj as lwj was with him. dare i say moreso. how am i STILL coming across fics/meta where wwx is dating people after having met lwj. any attempted relationship would end after 2 hours cause he’s incapable of going 15 minutes without talking or thinking about lwj. even if he actually tried going on a date it would be like. he’d sit down sigh and his date would ask what he was thinking about and he’d say i invited lan zhan here last week but he rejected me :(((((( and i was so sincere :((((( and then they order food he’d start smiling to himself and they’d be like what’s up and he’d be like “ahahaha i’m imagining trying to get lan zhan to eat this dish!!” they walk around outside and he grabs a cute little trinket from a market stall and the date is like oh :)) and wwx would be like this is so silly and cute i’m gonna hide it in lan zhan’s bag and see his reaction. pre meeting lwj maybe there is a slim chance but after he sees that :| face it’s over for anyone else

[alice-in-wonderart]

your scenarios are so cute!! could you please do one of jiang cheng having a crush on someone he thinks likes wwx (but they don’t, he’s just dense)? 💞

Shiiiiii- I absolutely LOVE this idea! It was so much fun to write and I had a blast trolling AngryPurpleMan™️. Honestly, JC living a lowkey comedy sitcom lifestyle is the quality content we all need. I present you, the most dense-tastic man on Earth learning how to emotion properly for the first time. 🙌

P.S. I hope he isn't too OOC

The Art of Jealousy

He knew better than to let his emotions get the best of him. Yet for some reason you had him in the palm of your hand. Not just him, but his heart. He had never before felt something as strong as every heartbeat around you. He would hear it in his head, feel it down his spine.

How utterly unfair life could be.

Jiang Cheng was a difficult person to deal with. It didn't take a genius to realise it. Hell, even he knew it. And he never really minded, that is until he met you. Kind and compassionate, strong and level-headed, intelligent eyes, quick wits, and frankly - a billion more qualities he had grown to...fancy, as he'd call it reluctantly. It took a war and some serious trauma on his side to realise, that maybe love wasn't a COMPLETE waste of time, and that maybe he would be allowed to experience it...not.

Jiang Cheng was a difficult person and he knew it. He also knew, that his brother Wei Wuxian was charming and funny, good-looking and of course - a ginormous flirt. He also knew people enjoyed jokes and flirting. And he was well-aware those weren't his strongest suit. But as he stayed from a distance, watching you laugh cheerfully at one of Wei Wuxian's trillions of ingenious jokes, his arm wrapped around your shoulders, he so wished he could be like that.

Of course, that you'd fall for that idiot. Who wouldn't? Although in his opinion, that would be abysmal, who was he to judge? That's right. Who was he to have a say in this? Yet he kept on wishing you'd turn to him instead, laugh with him instead, hug him instead, look for HIS company, HIS opinions. And with each longing stare your way, he'd get increasingly angry - at himself, at you and above all, at Wei Wuxian.

What he failed to notice during his bouts of rage were the longing stares you threw right back at him, and the knowing looks Wei Wuxian would give you. You'd told him a while back about your growing fondness of the Jiang sect leader and, as the great best friend he was, he'd vowed to help you win over his burning heart. In actuality, Wei Wuxian already suspected, that his brother had also harboured a certain attraction towards you, all he needed was a little bit of solid proof.

And god, you try everything. Cooking him something? He found the two of you before it was ready and got angry he wasn't invited. (though he denied that reasoning) Buying him something? He was in an exceptionally bad mood all day. (totally not because you went to the market with Wei Wuxian.) Drinking tea with him and just talking? Duty called and he had to go to work. Accompanying a night hunt? Jiang Cheng had to monitor Jin Ling and just as you were about to be attacked, Wei Wuxian (ofc) came to help. (JC just has 0 luck.) Clearly, it wasn't working out.

Currently you were in the middle of your plan to make him confess 'notice you'. Or rather, Wei Wuxian's plan. You weren't all that aware of it. And as Jiang Cheng angrily scowled at the two of you, he knew he was succeeding.

The younger brother couldn't stand it anymore. That shameful display of digusting affection made him want to carve his heart out and throw it right at you. Instead of throwing a scene, however, he decided for once to be the bigger person and *totally not in a demonstrative manner* walk away - an action both WWX and you noticed immediately.

Returning to his private study, he plopped on his chair, trying his darn hardest to stop himself from destroying his surroundings. Futile. In a sudden wave of anger, he pushed all of his scrolls and documents off his desk, letting them scatter around the room. His mind was screaming at him, but his heart was louder. He was done with wasting time on these foolish emotions. Who needed love anyways? It only makes you weaker. He wasn't about to embarrass himself with such stupid feelings.

His thoughts were interrupted, when there was a small knock on the door. "Who is it?", he asked sternly. He wanted to be alone. "It's me, Y/N." And just like that his tough act crumbled. "What do you want?"

"May I come in?"

"Yes."

Stepping inside, you were met with a clearly fuming Jiang Cheng, sitting amongst a few dozen scattered scrolls and sheets of paper. He averted his gaze away from you, as he crossed his arms.

"So? What do you want?" the harshness in his voice made your own anger rise, but no - you had it all under control.

"I think we need to talk about something important. But A-Cheng, what happened here?" you gestured to the scrolls.

"If it's that important, why don't you go ask Wei Wuxian for help? Or just go bother anybody else, but me." There it was - that childish jealousy Jiang Cheng has always had. He didn't want to sound as mean as he did, but his anger got the best of him. And deep down he knew, that he was going to regret it. But he was going to think about it later.

"Because it has nothing to do with him." You felt your voice tremble. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. "You know, nevermind, forget what I said.."

Jiang Cheng's heart was drowning in pain and guilt. Yet the more he felt it, the more defensive he became.

"Yeah. Now leave. I have work to do and I'm pretty sure your lover is looking for you."

What? You moved closer, standing right in front of him. "My what? Jiang Wanyin, what are you even talking about? What lover???" But then it dawned upon you. Was....was he jealous? Was he acting like that, because of jealousy?

His cheeks reddened as he finally looked at you. "As if it isn't obvious. You and Wei Wuxian spend every second together. It's so obvious it hurts, damn it. So don't play s-"

He was interrupted by you pulling him in by the robes and leaving a sweet kiss on his thin lips. You were right - he was jealous. And currently, he was so stunned he almost forgot how to breathe. Once you pulled away he nearly fell back. His face was now beat red, eyes wandering over your face, lost in the disarray that was his mind.

"A-Xian and I aren't lovers. We're friends. He was helping me try to confess...to you. You're the one I fell in love with." Suddenly you felt very small under his gaze, as you muttered the last of your confession.

And in that very moment, Jiang Cheng's entire world came crashing down like a tsunami. It was...him? Actually him? Not Wei Wuxian, not anybody else - but him? All this time?

"Wha-" He didn't know how to respond. He had yelled at you, nearly sent you away all for nothing. And suddenly realization hit him. You had just kissed him. He gathered himself as much much as possible, nerves practically wrecking him on the inside.

"If that is true, then...You idiot-" Instead of finishing his sentence, he just sighed, before pulling you in for another kiss. Wrapping an arm around your waist and burying the other in your hair, he whispered against your lips.

"Be mine."

"I already am"

"Good."

You decided, that for the time being you wouldn't mention his jealousy. After all, who'd ruin such a wonderful moment?

"You were jealous, weren't you?"

*Pterodactyl screeching in denial*

Or maybe not.

Thank you for reading~

[eldritch-elrics]

For the ask: MXY

How I feel about this character

i love him so much. mo xuanyu is one of my absolute favorite character archetypes - the vessel. not important as an individual, only important for how his body can be used to store another soul. it’s just a special level of tragedy and....... wow.

plus! just! there’s so much more interesting stuff about him! his demonic cultivation - the fact he was able to actually pull off a sacrifice summon! his hunger for revenge! the way his narrative is twisted by everyone around him! how he fits into the theme of untold stories! and more..

hey also fun fact! the character for the “xuan” in his name, 玄, is used in the first chapter of the daode jing to talk about...... god i don’t know if i can explain it but it’s like the origin/merging of the concept of namelessness/unity (dao) + the concept of naming/deconstruction and there’s this line about crossing the threshold of that blackness and getting beyond dualisms and that kind of reminds me of mxy’s disappearance from the narrative and WELL ACTUALLY this is just gonna become me ranting incoherently about daoism if i get into that so i will not. 玄 is probably a common character used in all sorts of contexts and i’m just making a big deal out of it because i’ve read the daode jing too many god damn times

All the people I ship romantically with this character

there are, unfortunately, no healthy relationship prospects for mo xuanyu. i do think he gets a couple unrequited (or semi-requited) crushes - most notably on xue yang and nie huaisang. those are super interesting ships to explore (i’m planning to write a mxy/xy fic!) with lots of depth and lots of fucked-up-ness. another headcanon i have is that he fantasizes about wei wuxian lmao (but doesn’t really feel anything about him)

My non-romantic OTP for this character

mxy & nhs as caring-but-secretly-manipulative platonic/mentor-student relationship is my jam. there’s sooo much potential oh man

jgy!!! i think mxy cared so much about jgy. and then of course it’s all shattered. in an ideal world mxy would be closer with all his siblings - i also wonder what his relationship with qin su might’ve been if they’d been allowed to be proper siblings!

super interested in aus where mxy somehow survives/comes back and is able to meet wwx. like maybe an au where mxy’s spirit lives on in wwx’s brain? LOVE that shit. body sharing is one of my favorite tropes

i’m also interested in the concept of him meeting wn while wn’s still locked in the jin dungeon...

i had an au concept where he meets xxc too but that one was kind of weird and complicated

My unpopular opinion about this character

so we all know that mo xuanyu is extremely traumatized. i think he was also very neurodivergent even before he was traumatized, though, which 1. contributed to his reputation of “insanity,” 2. made it easier for people to pin blame on him for things he didn’t do, and 3. made him very easy to misinterpret/misunderstand. so, something like him harassing qin su? he wasn’t trying to harass her, but it came off that way because i think he has issues with boundaries (which i’ve talked about before) and communication. then of course someone like jgy took advantage of that and used it to kick out mxy. knowing that no one would believe him if he told the truth: see “bad at communication.”

...which is basically to say that i don’t think his breakdown after getting kicked out of jinlintai was the start of his issues; i think he was always neurodivergent in some sense and everyone around him was just horrible at dealing with that

also, i don’t think the way he responded to his trauma was pretty! even though he is the ultimate victim i can definitely imagine him lashing out and hurting people even before the sacrifice summon. he really needs some therapy

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

i wish he’d been remembered more. i wish wwx had tried to get to the bottom of who mxy really was. i wish he hadn’t just been pushed aside and forgotten. i want him to have friends! i want him to be loved! i want people to try and understand him rather than use him for their own gains!

on the other hand, his narrative absence is so powerful

THIS GOT REALLY LONG! thank you!!

[watch-grok-brainrot]

I feel like WangXian 42 is necessary and inevitable. Could I request that?

42: Distracting kisses from someone that are meant to stop the other person from finishing their work, and give them kisses instead.

Thanks for the ask! I had a ton of fun with this! :D And thanks @phoenixrisesoncemore for the brainstorming help. Hope you like it! (unbeta-ed. we die like WWX)

CWs: Food, kissing, shamelessness? Mostly food. 

Wei Wuxian was bored. Lan Zhan was busy in the kitchens and all Wei Wuxian wanted to do was to interrupt and kiss him until he had to stop whatever he was doing. Usually, Wei Wuxian would not hesitate but Lan Zhan had given him a very stern look and told him he wasn’t allowed to interrupt before disappearing into the building.

If only Lan Zhan were sorting through documents in the Library Pavilion! Wei Wuxian would stride to Lan Zhan’s station and drape himself over Lan Zhan’s lap. He would grab Lan Zhan’s hand and force him to put down the pesky brush. He would then kiss the hand, kiss along Lan Zhan’s arm, and use that as an excuse to pull Lan Zhan into kissing him. The best way to get Lan Zhan’s full attention would be to kiss him and kissing Lan Zhan is Wei Wuxian’s speciality.

If only Lan Zhan were lecturing juniors! It would also be easy! He’s always allowed to help with the juniors. He would enter the lecture hall, throw some questions out, help guide the juniors through their coursework, and then pull Lan Zhan into a long involved kiss until the juniors retreated. Wei Wuxian had full confidence that his pedagogical methodology increased student retention of course material by engaging them in discourse. So what if their class ended early that day? Extra fresh air and leisure can only be good for their mental health. 

If only Lan Zhan were performing his chief cultivator duties! That was Wei Wuxian’s favorite activity to interrupt. The look on Sect Leader Yao’s face whenever Wei Wuxian walked into the grand hall never failed to make Wei Wuxian feel smug. Usually by the time Wei Wuxian chose to interrupt, Lan Zhan would be developing a headache. Wei Wuxian’s shameless public display of affection never failed to dismiss the gathered sect leaders. So what if he was shameless? Lan Zhan likes him shameless. 

But here he was, waiting for Lan Zhan to be done. What on earth could his husband be doing?  Wei Wuxian paced outside for a while, trying to think of an excuse to go in. He heard chopping noises but didn’t smell anything interesting. After half a shichen, he got bored, decided to respect his husband, and left in a huff. If Lan Zhan didn’t want him to see, maybe he should go find something else to do. 

Wei Wuxian wandered to the Library Pavilion, gathered some books, and returned to Jingshi. Setting up an area for work, he quickly found himself immersed in his task. He wanted to cross reference fifteen volumes on yao and guai and the theories on benevolent versions of such creatures. He also wondered if a yao could become a guai if its spirit were imbued into something no longer alive. He was startled to find very few passages on benevolent spirits and almost nothing on phase shifts or transitions between types of demonic creatures. It’s a pity that no one ever wondered about such things. Would it be something he could experiment on? Could a benevolent yao or guai be able to tell him? How does one even seek out such a creature? And how does one seek out a creature like that without seeming hostile? 

Lost in thought, Wei Wuxian didn’t hear the door open or Lan Wangji walk in carrying a tray of food. It wasn’t until Lan Wangji wrapped his arms around Wei Wuxian that Wei Wuxian noticed his husband’s presence. 

“Ah! Lan Zhan! You startled me!” Wei Wuxian yelped as he shrugged his shoulders to try to get Lan Wangji to let go. He wanted to continue down his train of thought and take more notes.

“Wei Ying is hard at work, I see. What are you working on?” Lan Wangji sat down next to Wei Wuxian and started reading. 

“You were busy and I was bored so I’m trying to do some research into yao and guai. I’m only eight tenths the way through these volumes. There’s so little here of interest. It’s so frustrating. Why is your family full of conservative fuddy duddies? Actually, I don’t think these were written by Lans. Why is the cultivation world lacking in innovators?” Wei Ying half mumbled as he continued to splatter a page with his messy brushstrokes. 

“Wei Ying, it’s dinnertime. Are you not hungry?”

“I’m busy! Let me finish!” Wei Wuxian was surprised at his residual ire from earlier. 

Lan Wangji grabbed Wei Wuxian’s writing hand and pulled it so Wei Wuxian ended up facing him. “Do you not want to give your husband a kiss?”

“You didn’t want to give me a kiss earlier. Forbidding me from entering the kitchen. Are you upset that you don’t get attention now that you want it? What about when I wanted it?”

“Mn. What if I was trying to surprise you? The Mo Manor incident happened exactly three years ago,” Lan Wangji leaned in and kissed Wei Wuxian. 

Wei Wuxian pushed Lan Wangji away. “What? How do you remember? I don’t even know that date! You’re not making that up, are you?”

“Lying is forbidden in Cloud Recesses. It’s an important date for me, for us,” Lan Wangji wrestled the brush from Wei Wuxian, and set it aside. He then kissed Wei Wuxian again, using his tongue to force Wei Wuxian’s mouth open. 

Wei Wuxian felt a slight tingle and a semi-familiar fragrance on Lan Wangji’s breath. His eyes opened wide, all ire forgotten. “You taste like chili oil!”

“New recipe I learned when we went to Sichuan last month. I got it from the innkeeper since you liked it so much.” Lan Wangji’s eyes sparkled as he motioned towards the tray.

Wei Wuxian flung his arms around Lan Wangji’s neck and kissed his husband again. He greedily stuck his tongue in Lan Wangji’s mouth, trying to get another taste of the chili oil. “I can’t believe you did that for me! Is that what you’ve been doing all day? Making me chili oil?”

“Mn. There was a lot of toasting and chopping. I have gained newfound admiration for chili oil makers. I found the addition of black sesame made the end product extremely fragrant. I may even eat it on occasion. Also, I made you sichuan peppercorn oil since you seemed to have enjoyed that too.”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened. “What’s for dinner then?”

Lan Wangji stood up, pulled Wei Wuxian up into another kiss, and guided him to the tray. “Fish fragrance eggplant 鱼香茄子, meicai steamed upside down pork belly 梅菜扣肉, chili fried chicken 辣子鸡, mapo tofu 麻婆豆腐, sichuan style chilled long beans 凉拌豇豆. Jingyi helped me with some of the preparation since he seems to have adopted your appreciation for spices.”

“Ha! I knew he would fall in love with my rice porridge!” Wei Wuxian said as Lan Wangji sat him down. He looked at his husband and then at the food, a slight frown on his face. 

“What’s wrong, Wei Ying?”

“You put a lot of work into today for me. I don’t have anything to give you back.”

“You know we don’t keep score,” Lan Wangji said, putting his hands on Wei Wuxian’s shoulders and squeezing Wei Wuxian’s shoulders gently.

Wei Wuxian nodded and pulled out an empty talisman. He scribbled a temperature maintenance spell, and threw it onto the tray of food. “We don’t keep score, but there’s no reason I can’t thank my Lan-er-gege for his efforts before we eat. That talisman should keep the food the right temperature until we’re done.”

He turned around, pulled himself up by Lan Wangji’s arms, and dragged them to bed, kissing Lan Wangji each step of the way.

End notes: all the dishes are actual Sichuan dishes.  凉拌豇豆 doesn’t specify sichuan in the name, but it is when I make it! So i call it that when I cook it. i’m also very tempted to write about them on a night hunting adventure in sichuan... we’ll see if i do that as a ficlet a different time. hehehe. wei wuxian would love sichun. omg. anyway, if you’ve gotten this far, i commend you. let me know what you thought! and if you want to send me a prompt for a mdzs ficlet, feel free! :)

[devianta]

MDZS/Persona 5 xover that literally no one asked for

I just feel like there’s so much potential for this. Think about it, both of these works have themes surrounding the damage gossip can cause, getting punished for doing the right thing (no good deed goes unpunished), what constitutes justice, and the consequences of shitty parenting, amongst other things. 

Mostly I just want to run wwx’s palace. He has a palace, there’s no doubt about that, and I want to run it. I’d kill 500 men for the opportunity. Also, pretty sure his treasure would be his lost golden core. Meaning, that if you successfully steal that shit you get to give to it him and then he’d have a new one without 1) him having to die and be brought back in a new body or 2) having to fuck anyone else up. (Phantom Thievery ftw!) You’d just have to successfully complete the palace. That’s all. 

Can you imagine wwx as a boss? Like, can you imagine that boss fight? He’d have at least 12 health bars. I mean, this is the guy who got shot by an arrow, pulled it out, and threw it back, instantly killing the bitch who shot him. This is the fucker who got disemboweled by his brother, stuffed his intestines back in, and then went and bought potatoes. This guy got a super experimental operation done on him, got stabbed with his own sword by wen chao (at least in the donghua, can’t remember if this happened in the other adaptations), and was then thrown into burial mounds. Like after all that, he was literally thrown off a cliff and he was still able to move around. Wwx is not unlike a termite: there’s really not much that can kill him. During the Sunshot Campaign he managed whole battlefields on his own. He played the flute days and nights on end without rest. 

His boss fight would be near impossible but I would be so willing to try. BTW, I’m imagining this taking place after he’s moved into Burial Mounds with the Wen Remnants but before jzx gets dead. You know, before everything gets irreversibly fucked. So the Stygian Tiger Seal will definitely feature in the boss fight. Most likely it’ll be something you need to steal it during the fight. I’m imagining that he uses to summon endless waves of corpses that prevent you from getting any hits in so you have to distract him in order to steal the seal off him and finally be able to deal actual damage to him. That’ll be stage one of the fight. Stage two will be fighting wwx and shadow wen ning. You have to defeat wen ning before you move on to stage three. Wen ning exclusively uses physical attacks. Wwx never uses physical attacks. He mostly commands wen ning but throws out curse and almighty attacks every one or two turns. Stage three is just wwx and he starts hitting you with a crap ton of curse damage with some almighty mixed in to spice things up. He repels most physical attacks and all curse moves. He’s weak to bless skills but has a 50% dodge rate for them. Beating wwx earns you no money (b/c he’s poor af) but he drops 2x Shijie’s soup (restores full sp to all party members), 5x wen qing’s needles (cures any status condition), 5x curse talismans (does 50 dmg), and one (1) golden core. 

What does wwx’s palace look like? Where is it? I want to say Lotus Pier and the distortion (what he thinks of it as) is a graveyard/mausoleum/something along those lines. But an argument could be made for burial mounds. I’m not sure what the distortion would be though in that case. I feel like wwx sees burial mounds pretty clearly. No, I think wwx’s distortion revolves around Lotus Pier and his family there. Mini bosses? Jiang Cheng definitely. Maybe Madame Yu? Shijie would show up (his palace wouldn’t be complete without her) but she wouldn’t be a shadow you’d fight. She’d offer guidance or healing items. Lwj’s shadow would definitely be there but I’m not sure what his role would be. At that point in the story, wwx’s unknowingly in love with lwj and sees him as a nice guy who asks wwx questions he can’t answer. He believes that he and lwj will inevitably end up on opposite sides of the battle field but ultimately wwx does not want to fight him. He feels that a death at lwj’s hands would be a good death. So he might be a shadow you have to impress or prove yourself to before receiving help. I feel like wwx’s palace would be a bit like Futaba’s in that he wouldn’t have full control over it because he no longer has complete control over himself or his demonic cultivation. Which is why I think there would be shadows in wwx’s palace that act counter to his purpose of pushing others away (not unlike in Futaba’s palace). If anything, I feel like his palace would be like a weird mix of Futaba’s and Nijima’s palaces. Because wwx has that distinct self-blaming loneliness that so permeated Futaba’s pyramid but he also has that single-minded determination and overbearing hubris that featured so strongly is Nijima’s casino. I don’t know. Nijima, in her boss battle, repeatedly yelled “I must win! I must win at any cost!” and I can kinda hear wwx saying something similar but it would be more along the lines of “I must protect them! I must protect them no matter what!” “Them” of course being his family and the Wen Remnants. 

 Other palaces to conquer in the MDZS universe? (It might be easier to list the people who wouldn’t have palaces.) 

Jiang Cheng definitely has a palace. A very purple palace. Lotus Pier, the Revenge. But what does he see his home as? An empty house? Jyl did say in the Untamed that three of them must remain together forever. And what happened? Wwx ran off with the last of the Wens and Jyl got married and left. If anything, jc is lonely. All he wants is his family back. So his palace would either reflect the state of his existence: alone in an empty home with no one to call his own, or it would reflect his deepest desires: his whole family returned to him. What sort of palace ruler would he be? He has that inferiority complex and brother and mother and father issues. (So. Many. ISSUES.) I can see his wwx shadow being completely obedient, because that’s sort of what he wants. He wants his brother home again and fulfilling his promise, to be the other half of the twin heroes of Yunmeng. It might be fun to fight shadow!jc and shadow!wwx at the same time. The Phantom Thieves vs the Twin Heroes of Yunmeng, loser gets sent to the Shadow Realm! (Just kidding. Unless...?) The other possibility is that wwx is completely absent from the palace but his absence is blatantly obvious to anyone that gazes upon the palace, like walking into a bedroom with no bed. There should be a bed there. Everyone knows a bed belongs here but there is no bed. Jc’s palace should have a wwx but wwx is not here. But he should be.

What would jc’s treasure be? His original golden core? Probably not. As far as he’s concerned (at this juncture) the golden core in his body is his original, restored by baoshan sanren. So it’s not that. The puppies that he lost as a boy, that he was forced to trade for an errant brother? A possibility. That was seemingly the start of jc’s problems. First he lost his beloved dogs, then he lost the love of his parents. Jfm focused on wwx to the detriment of jc and madame yu wouldn’t shut the fuck up about how jc couldn’t compare to wwx. If wwx hadn’t come to lotus pier, jc’s parents might’ve been satisfied with him. But I sincerely doubt that. There were clearly problems between J-fucking-M and Mad-Yu’s (can you tell that I think nothing of these two assholes god what I wouldn’t give to kick their asses in the metaverse I’d tear their fucking hearts out to quote ryugi) marriage prior to wwx’s arrival. Wwx’s presence there only brought those problems to the surface. Whether jc is capable of recognizing that truth is another matter. (Sorry, jc but your parents are shit and their marriage was doomed to failure before they even made their bows.) 

Or would wwx himself be the treasure? Jc’s parents are dead; they can’t be returned to life and therefore are unattainable. Jyl didn’t necessarily abandon jc and I doubt he sees her leaving as a betrayal. Jyl’s marriage was more or less inevitable. She’s able to easily visit. There’s no real conflict there. Wwx, on the hand, defected from Jiang sect. Jc has to pretend to loathe him, to not want him back when the opposite is in fact the case. Most of jc’s problems, wishes, and desires center around this one person. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that wwx is the locus of jc’s world, the axis upon which all turns: the triumphs and failures, tragedies and victories. When wwx is missing, jc looks for him. When wwx drops his sword, jc picks it up and returns it to him. Whatever happens to one brother affects the other. Even if/when wwx isn’t obviously present in jc’s life, he’s still there, even if you don’t see one brother next to the other. Even though jc doesn’t know it at that point in the story, wwx is the core of jc’s body and, therefore, it would make thematic sense for him to the be the core of jc’s palace.

Other palaces? Well, Jin Guangshan and Jin Guangyao obviously. Su She is debatable. I feel like he’d be a Mementos run. Besides, he’s not important enough to warrant a palace. Likewise, Jin Zixun would be a Mementos case. Wen Ruohan would have a palace but we don’t get to really know him as a character so I can’t say what his palace would like look except that it would encompass the whole of Ancient China. Wen Chao would likely have a palace even though he doesn’t deserve the attention ripping his palace apart would require. Most likely it would be a cross between Kamoshida’s and Kanoshiro’s. Jgs’ palace would probably look like Kamoshida’s and Jgy’s would probably be like Shido’s. 

Am I missing anyone? What do you think the characters’ palaces would look like? Whose palace would you most like to run? Let me know! 

[butterflydm]

The Untamed Rewatch (ep 9)

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NHS is really cute in this episode, you guys. It’s also a really good episode for the building of the partnership between Wangxian.

I like the tense vibe that we pick up with, having the shadow-bird fly across the moon and only very briefly showing the puppet-people. That's a good editing choice.

Nie Huaisang does come across as relatively sheltered in these scenes with LWJ and WWX. Even though they're all roughly the same age, he comes across as younger. Or more in need of protection, anyway, which is a vibe that he uses to his benefit much later. He's not a fighter. He never becomes one — even when he's at his most desperate, we don't really see him directly using violence against others, instead tricking other people to use violence on his behalf. I don't think it's a moral issue one way or the other; I don't think indirect violence is more morally wrong because it's sneaky or whatnot. It's just an interesting character note. I also think it's interesting that when NHS is panicked, he calls out both WWX and LWJ using the more intimate nickname form — he says Wei-xiong and Lan-xiong. He doesn't usually use that with LWJ, I think? But he does in this scene.

I like the little fire & ice vibe we get with the… are they called 'spells' in cultivation? LWJ pushes them back and it looks cold, then WWX pens them in and the form he makes looks more like fire. LWJ and WWX are all for charging out and poor NHS is just so panicked over the idea. Oh, honey.

So, this next bit is a really big thing that CQL changed from the novel! Wen Qing uses a flute to control the puppets and make them leave (or, wait, since she's blowing in the end, is it a xiao? But it's so much smaller than the one we saw LXC use, so maybe it's another woodwind of some kind? help, I don’t know musical instruments). As I understand it, in the novel, WWX literally invented all of this stuff, while in the drama, he doesn't invent it but does refine it beyond what it has been before. I'll probably have more feelings about that, one way or the other, once I've read the novel. When I was watching through the series the first time, all this felt like it flowed pretty naturally from the plotline that the drama had set up with the Yin Metal. It is one of the things, though, that makes CQL kind of an alternate universe version of MDZS rather than a straight (ha!) adaptation. None of the other practitioners of demonic cultivation in the drama, though, show the same kind of… ah, elemental mastery that we see WWX show. He becomes almost a force of nature in himself, feels almost like an avatar of death, when he's embracing the power. And we don't get that vibe with any of the other characters we see who try to master demonic cultivation. Other people may have dabbled with demonic cultivation in the past, was the vibe the drama gave me, but only WWX mastered it in the end.

The girl doing windmills with her hands while holding the basket kinda cracks me up. Maybe it's partly because her clothes are so bright?

Jiang Cheng comes in to add some levity to the atmosphere. He's actually quite sweet, almost but not quite confessing how worried he was about his brother. He does have a very hard time being emotionally vulnerable, though that's a trial for a lot of characters in the story, but Jiang Cheng covers it up with anger rather than a smile like WWX does. Different coping methods for different personalities. Jiang Cheng gets very indignant when WWX immediately moves to deflect any blame away from LWJ and onto WWX instead.

I really like the scene with WWX, LWJ, Jiang Cheng, NHS, and Wen Qing, because there are several different agendas and levels of knowledge at play, all butting up against each other. WWX and LWJ work very well as a team here, supporting each other's moves while they try to figure out the best plan of action. We know from the previous episode that WWX is already considering himself and LWJ as partners on this trip, and they really do get to act like it here. They're the only two people who are on the same page; everyone else has their individual agendas but WWX and LWJ are working together and with the same knowledge set.

I don't have too much to say about this next bit, but I do love it. I think it looks quite nice, they look very pretty in the fog, and I love seeing WWX and LWJ back to back and there's a bit of cute banter. And both WWX and LWJ get to contribute to the goal.

Oh, is that A-Yuan? The timeline is pretty short in the drama, then!

NHS continues to find WWX's brashness charming while poor Jiang Cheng is just so over it all. Even in the midst of the silliness of the three bros, WWX is thinking of his mission and partnership with LWJ, as he does pretty clearly take advantage of the chicken hunt to give LWJ and himself a chance to question Wen Qing.

Partners! Partnership is one of my favorite ship dynamics — Fraser/RayK (due South), Clois (Superman) — complicated, dynamic partnerships with affection and bantering is one of my great weaknesses in fictional relationships (and for a man who talks as little as LWJ does, he holds his own against WWX). And they have a moment of silent communication at the end of the scene, because they've come to know each other that well already.

The question of how much loyalty you owe to the people who adopted you gets brought up here with Wen Qing and Wen Rouhan, and of course the question always applies to Wei Wuxian in these cases as well. Like WWX, Wen Qing possesses great talents that mean Wen Rouhan give her more latitude than perhaps he would otherwise (in her case, she's an extremely talented doctor) and that the younger of the blood siblings shows jealousy of because of that latitude. Both Wen Qing and WWX act impulsively to do the right thing, even when it goes against the interests of their own adopted family. 

They part ways with Wen Qing (and possibly NHS, though we don't see a goodbye scene with him. Maybe he's still chasing that chicken), with another of the layering of the bittersweet almost-romance between Wen Qing and Jiang Cheng.

And it's been a bit of travel, because WWX has changed clothes between scenes. LWJ and Jiang Cheng still look the same, but WWX was definitely in dark blue in the previous scene and now is definitely in black. There's some interesting non-verbal interplay here between LWJ and WWX that poor Jiang Cheng must helplessly watch — WWX drinks some wine, but immediately stops when LWJ walks away from him, grabs LWJ's shoulder ribbon, drops it when LWJ looks at him, then grabs his arm, and then drops that when LWJ looks at him again. Just major push-pull vibes.

Oh, there's Nie Huiasang! He's meeting up with Meng Yao here! We don't get any Meng Yao in this episode but I really do kinda miss him and his dimples.

I love WWX's technique here so much: "Hey, any weird deaths happen around here recently? We are such big fans of strange death!" I mean, it works, so more power to him, tbh.

The scene here with Lan Zhan feeling the effects of the Yin Metal (and, hey, they told Jiang Cheng about it! He's not surprised! So that's nice) and Wei Ying trying to calm him through it is a neat reversal of the dynamic we'll see more often in the future, with Lan Zhan trying to get through to Wei Ying. I like that; parallels and reversals are fun.

The scene of the three of them walking into the Chang home is very eerie and has a good, strong tragic vibe. So, we're getting Xue Yang in this next bit, and Xue Yang dresses in black. It makes me wonder if that's part of the reason they had WWX change clothes — in the previous episode, they wanted us to associate him with the Jiangs, and Jiang Fengmian in particular, but now they want us to be thinking of Xue Yang, maybe?

Hmm.

Next episode: Xue Yang! Xiao Xingchen! Song Lan!

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[lwjstiletto]

wangxian au where lwj is a popular hand model and wwx is an independent jewellery maker [Part 2]

[Part 1]

their monthly sibling catch-up jenga ruins wwx’s plans to mope for the foreseeable future.

jc is concentrating very hard on wiggling a piece out and wwx would usually make fun of him but he can only conjure enough energy to pull out the easy looking pieces today so he has no high ground.

“name 3 good things that happened to you.” jc frowns as he reads the wooden cuboid, “like ever? or in the last month?”

jyl doesn’t quite give him a look, but a slight downturn of her lip still gets the point across.

jc sighs, “an old student of mine opened a gallery, xichen and i went for brunch and wei wuxian hasn’t bothered me in a while. what’s up with that by the way?”

“my turn.” wwx says unenthusiastically and pulls a loose jenga piece. ‘how is your love life?’ it reads. can jenga be rigged? it has to be rigged.

“you know we’re allowed to ask questions outside the jenga right?” jc snaps.

wwx knows. wwx also knows that the jenga questions were only introduced by jyl to stimulate conversation between an angry jc and a stubborn wwx when he’d come back two years ago from his apprenticeship abroad.

but wwx also doesn’t want to talk about his humiliating interaction with the man who his brother had called ‘wangji’. he even has a nice name. why is wwx’s life so hard?

“a-xian,” jyl starts, “are you alright?”

wwx looks at her with a pout, “how can i be when we’ve not seen each other for weeks? i missed you.”

jyl smiles indulgently, “i missed you too. next time you should come with me, lotus pier seems empty without you two.”

jc looks like he wants to prod wwx more but then he looks over at wwx’s jenga piece and starts to laugh. wwx hates it here.

—•—

lwj wears gloves when he’s not working to shield his hands from things like tanning, small scratches, drying out etc. any normal person would overlook these as minuscule imperfections but it could put him out of his job for weeks

he has custom made moisturising cotton gloves that he wears during the night; and thicker cotton or leather gloves for the day, depending on the weather

at first, he had found this incredibly bothersome. a month or so into it he stopped noticing them and suffered through various incidents where he tried to eat with gloves on or, on a particularly horrifying occasion, wash his hands with them.

but now, he has begun to indulge. he buys gloves in materials which are impractical, which he can only wear when he has nowhere to go and nothing to do.

there are the pastel lace gloves that draw patterns from his fingers up to his elbows, the white satin ones with frills, and finally the fingerless black gloves made of supple, soft leather.

(for ref)

they make him feel a certain type of way that he is too embarrassed to put in words, so he doesn’t.

he puts them away in a drawer on the furthest corner in his wardrobe that he only opens when he needs a confidence boost or after a particularly tiring shoot

today happens to be the latter, except it has been multiple tiring shoots and while his muscles aren’t aching anymore, he still feels like he deserves something nice.

he retrieves a new pair of leather gloves that have an adjustable belt at the wrist. he tightens the strap to the point that he can’t move his hand too much without it hurting. he hums, a pleased sound escaping his lips, and finally lets himself go

—•—

wwx has spent the last hour answering nhs’ questions about his business, future plans and why he wants to work with lan wangji (who is apparently a hand model? and a super successful one at that???)

wwx answers to the best of his abilities as his head spins from the turn of events and the recent information that has come to light. it’s- a lot.

finally nhs nods and picks up his phone to call someone.

“not presentable... what does that- it doesn’t matter, i’m not calling you here for a shoot. just come here and i will explain.” with that nhs hangs up the phone as if someone would have jumped through it otherwise

wwx, who has finally managed to absorb everything, asks, “was that lan wangji?”

nhs just smiles cryptically. wwx’s question is answered soon enough though, as lwj walks into the office twenty minutes later. he blinks at wwx but does not show any other outword reaction as he takes a seat

nhs begins to speak, “i have spoken to wei-xiong and come to the conclusion that he is not stalking you.”

lwj looks at wwx and then back at nhs, not quite an eyebrow-raise but as close to it as it gets.

“wei-xiong wants you to model for him. i will let you two speak for a while. there is no pressure, just a light discussion.” nhs says and then skips out before any of them can stop him

the air in the room gets significantly more tense. lwj’s expression is blank and when wwx can’t look at it anymore, he decides to look at his crossed arms instead

“holy shit dude, are you ok?” wwx shouts, alarmed at the bruised red marks lining lwj’s wrist where it pokes out of his long sleeved sweater

lwj looks down at it, seemingly horrified, and pulls his sleeves down before wwx can get a better look.

“are you... hurt?” wwx asks gently.

lwj shakes his head. “i’m fine.”

he sounds like he’s telling the truth. this immediately short circuits wwx’s brain because.. why else are there bruises on his wrists... what else could possibly... oh my god he likes to be tied up, wwx’s brain supplies

thankfully he manages to keep the thought to himself this time. lwj still looks at him like he heard it all the same.

“you are not stalking me.” lwj states.

“not really? i mean not for the reasons you think.” wwx cringes at himself. but lwj hasn’t walked away yet which means he must be willing to hear him out this time.

“to be honest i’ve been in a bit of a slump these past few months. i saw you at the university and wanted to work with you, i had no idea you were a hand model. i didn’t even know that was a thing.” wwx says.

lwj scrutinises him for a few seconds then nods. “thank you for explaining.”

lwj clearly sees this as the end of the conversation but wwx doesn’t want him to leave again so he starts to talk about the hand chains he has been working on the past few weeks, pulling out his phone to show lwj pictures of a few.

wwx is with his jewellery how new parents are with their babies. he has been gushing about the complicated silver work that he plans to refine over the next few days when he looks up to see lwj’s face inches from his.

lwj is looking at his phone, seemingly absorbing his words, because when wwx pauses lwj looks at him as if to ask him to continue. wwx gulps. being on the receiving end of such undivided attention, no less from such a beautiful man, is almost intimidating.

then lwj blinks again and the spell is broken.

wwx straightens up, “ah sorry for rambling.”

“if we were to work together,” lwj starts, “what would it entail?”

the implication that lwj is seriously considering working with him, a small business beneath his usual collaborations, is both flattering and slightly unreal.

“i would need you to come in to take measurements, maybe a couple of photographs so i can have refrence to your skin tone and bone structure when designing.” wwx says, voice professional.

“my... are you making these specifically for me?” lwj tilts his head, a gesture so adorably confused that wwx wants to coo.

wwx rubs his nose, “more like i’m using you as a reference? having a clear picture in my head helps kickstart my creations. once i have cohesion within my designs it’s easy to expand my range from there if that makes sense.”

lwj nods, looking contemplative. “won’t you need me to try them?”

wwx nods, seeing them on someone is usually important. after all, jewellery is made to be worn. “you’ll need to come to my workshop for that though, so i can make minor adjustments on the spot. my thoughts tend to run away from me sometimes and i forget half my observations as i work. it won’t be often though, i’ll only call you in when necessary. and if you’re too busy then we can always reschedule.” wwx says.

“you are too accommodating.” lwj says, “in this industry, you shouldn’t be.”

wwx feels a little stricken by the statement. he laughs nervously, “it’s not like i can have you sit there for hours while i work.”

“if it makes it easier for you, then you should. i’m used to holding still.” lwj says, serious.

“is that an offer?” wwx raises an eyebrow. because this whole discussion certainly sounds like they’re making a deal.

lwj turns his head to the side and the loose strands of his hair swish with the movement. it’s such a graceful motion that wwx thinks he has surely practiced this before.

when he turns back, wwx notices he’s holding a business card out towards wwx. “you can contact my agent about my scheduling. my number is only for emergency appointments in case you need them.”

wwx is speechless. he cannot believe he actually pulled this off what the fu—

he’s still feeling thunderstruck when he gets home. with numb fingers, he has managed to program lwj’s number into his phone because he knows he’ll lose the card sometime soon. his contact name is just ‘💅🏻’

it’s both because wwx thinks lan wangji is too formal, and because he has an undeniable urge to see his nails painted.

it’s just so he can know what colours and gemstones would suit him of course. the thought that probably everything would suit lwj is firmly shut down and pushed at the back of wwx’s head.

—•—

lwj gets a call at 6am the next morning. he doesn’t know why but he immediately thinks of wwx. it turns out to be nmj

“wangji, have you been well?” nmj asks.

“yes.” lwj says, unsure of why nmj is calling him so early in the morning. isn’t he supposed to be at the gym at this hour?

“that is good to hear. are you busy?”

“no. i have five hours until my shoot.” lwj says, still confused. a feeling of dread settles in his stomach.

“let’s go for coffee then. i want to treat you.” nmj says.

lwj is silent for a few seconds then, “why?”

“i need to discuss an urgent matter with you.” nmj says.

if lwj wasn’t alarmed before, he definitely is now. he agrees to meet nmj in a cafe he visits regularly.

when he gets there, nmj is waiting for him at the door, attracting every passerby’s attention with his muscles bulging out of his grey t-shirt.

when lwj comes to a stop before him, nmj gives him a small smile and opens the door for him, gesturing him to go in.

people look as they walk over to a table in the back and keep looking as they take a seat. lwj makes nmj sit with his back to the cafe so he hides lwj completely from their eyes.

“wangji,” nmj starts seriously, then pauses, pushing a glass of water towards him.

lwj doesn’t touch it.

nmj sighs, “i was at huaisang’s office the other day and bumped into a man. he came there looking for you so i asked who he was. luckily huaisang had told me about him before, su she?”

lwj takes the glass of water and chugs it. nmj looks at him with concern.

“i turned him away but i’m worried about you wangji.” nmj says, pushing his own glass of water towards lwj.

lwj doesn’t frown but it’s a close call. “i do not know what he wants.”

nmj’s face hardens. “clearly nothing good. huaisang stopped me from punching him but if you ever need me to, feel free to call me.”

lwj shakes his head, “it’ll be okay. possibly.”

this makes nmj frown even more. “i’m serious, call me if he dares follow you. we cannot press charges until he portrays to be an actual threat but i will protect you.”

“i do not need protection.” lwj’s grip tightens on his glass.

“i know that.” nmj says, “but i will offer my protection either way. it’s good to know someone has your back.”

lwj wants to fight him on this, they barely know each other outside work and lwj does /not/ need someone to do his dirty work. he doesn’t though, because he is tired of carrying the fear of being recognised/followed all by himself. it’s not like he can burden nhs or lxc.

and nmj is neither judging, nor underestimating him. he is just offering to have his back should he ever need it, and it’s not... a bad thing. it’s almost like having a friend in the industry, and maybe he needs some of those.

so he nods. even nmj seems surprised by this but gives him a smile and orders him a coffee, true to his word.

nhs emails lwj a document containing his schedule for the next month and wwx is nestled comfortably in the only free hours he gets on fridays. he’s not as upset about it as he thought he would be

at 4pm friday, lwj drives to wwx’s ‘workshop’ which is simply an extension of his untidy living space. lwj doesn’t know how someone so meticulous with their handiwork could be so in a borderline hazardous workspace.

wwx conjures up a beanbag and gestures for lwj to sit down. lwj looks at the purple monstrosity and then at wwx, dubious.

“aiyah i’m just trying to make your comfortable!” wwx says, “graphing out your measurements will take a while.”

lwj doesn’t remember the last time someone cared for his comfort when he was at work. he has to stand for hours when only his upper body is in frame, and bend his fingers in unnatural ways as per the director’s requirements. discomfort is his status quo

he has never complained. it’s part of his job to hold still and not draw anyone’s focus to the less important parts of him, i.e. his face, by voicing his discomfort. it hardly bothers him anymore.

“are you sure you wouldn’t rather have me sit upright?” lwj asks, because while wwx seems like a considerate person lwj does not want to compromise the quality of his work.

“it’s gonna take an hour,” wwx says scandalised, “i’m not cruel. besides, i already received the photographs i needed for reference so you can just chill out till i do my work.”

lwj doesn’t mention how an hour is nothing compared to the time he had stood with his hands outstretched for seven hours. with an internal sigh, he gingerly sinks down on the beanbag. he hates to admit it, but it is actually comfortable.

wwx smirks at him like he knows, then gathers his measuring tools and approaches lwj. lwj removes his cotton gloves and places them on his knees.

once wwx is close enough, he takes lwj’s proffered wrist and winds a measuring tape around it. lwj doesn’t want to stare straight at wwx’s.. ehm yeah so he looks up.

this is just as bad of an idea, because where lwj has noticed wwx is attractive, seeing him from this angle is just... too much. he can’t close his eyes either, because that will make it look like he’s— enjoying this or something.

he decides to look to the side instead, spotting a framed picture of wwx and a toddler.

“is he your son?” he asks, because he feels the need to fill the silence for the first time in his life.

wwx looks at the picture, then laughs, “no, that’s my nephew, jin ling. he’s three and already spoiled rotten by my family.”

“do you have a big family?” lwj asks. asking personal questions is both unlike him and probably very unprofessional.

wwx, however, smiles indulgently. “it’s just my shijie, her husband jin zixuan, jin ling and my brother jiang cheng. well those are the nearest and dearest ones.”

“jiang cheng?” lwj asks.

wwx frowns, “yeah. do you know him?”

“he and my brother are close friends.” lwj says.

“wait, xichen is your brother?” wwx asks, then cringes at his informality, “i guess that’s lan xichen huh? i never knew his family name.”

“and what about wen qing? how do you know her?” wwx asks as he starts to try different sizes of measurement rings to see what fits lwj’s fingers.

it takes lwj a few seconds to answer. “wen qing drew studies of human anatomy for her final project.”

“let me guess,” wwx grins, placing a ring on his middle finger, “were you the hand section of her anatomy?”

lwj feels his ears burn for some reason. “yes. it’s how i got discovered.”

“discovered? like you got scouted for hand modelling based on a painting?” wwx pauses in his movements.

“nie huaisang was present at the final display at the university’s gallery, he’s fond of art.” lwj says.

wwx looks impressed, “just like that?”

“it is common for hand models.” lwj says.

“okay, so in your professional opinion, could i sell-“ wwx pauses, “could i be a hand model?”

he wiggles his fingers in front of lwj’s face.

“no.” lwj says.

“oh wow, blunt but effective.” wwx pouts

“you have callouses.” lwj explains, taking a closer look at wwx’s hands, “and dents from using your tools. things like cuticles, tanning and nails are fixable, but the others will remain permanent if you plan on still making jewellery and doing other strenuous work.”

when he looks up, wwx’s face is unreadable. thinking that he has offended the man, he draws back. “i apologise.”

that seems to snap wwx out of it, “don’t! you don’t need to apologise. it’s just– i don’t think anyone has ever answered a silly question of mine so sincerely. i’m still absorbing it.”

“i’m just being honest,” lwj says, “you have a good bone structure. you could have considered this line of work were it not for your existing business.”

wwx drops lwj’s hand and places both of his own on his cheeks, “i’m pretty sure that you’re messing with me but i can’t prove it so i’m gonna let it go.”

lwj suppresses a smile. maybe he doesn’t need the free hours on fridays.

[Part 3]

[keysmash]

MDZS Wen!WWX AU

Fffff yeah! We have Lan!WWX AU and Nie!WWX AU. Why not a Wen!WWX AU? Send love to the wonderful showerthoughts Anon who shared this wholesome idea <3

Also to personally answer this: I hope I don't annoy you with my frequent messages, I mean, I don't even know if you like the au

I LIKE IIIIITTT AND I’VE JUST FINISHED READING THE WHOLE THING! Idk if I like the Nie!WWX or the Wen!WWX better now. So many possibilities! I’M SO SORRY IF MY LACK OF RESPONSE HAVE OFFENDED YOU T_T Oh no! I’ve been a little quiet lately because a lot things happen in real life and since I’m mostly on Tumblr Mobile (and Tumblr is no longer on iOS App Store T_T), the old app I still have installed is very sad. Crashes and error messages all around. I’m so happy to be able to read and respond to your messages (laptop, yay!) today~

ONWARDS TO THE WHOLESOME WEN!WWX EVERYONE:

WN and WQ visited Yiling with some other young disciples when they were young. WN got bullied while WQ was shopping and WWX came to the rescue but he lost the fight. As they were treated to some basic first aid by WQ, WN pleaded with his sister to take WWX with them. WQ agreed so the backbone her brother just grew does not get crushed immediately. 

WWX often trains with WN and they go night hunting and searching for rare herbs together. They are also the ones that run into a battlefield/night hunt to pick up the wounded and carry them away to be treated. WN is still very timid but not with WWX. The archery contest comes and WN manages to enter with WWX, who gets first place. WWX talks with the other disciples who keep him away because oft the sect he is part of. The Lan sect does not get burned down because the Wen were not embarrassed.

But the Wen sect still demands that all sects send some disciples to them. WQ manages to establish that the Wen sect always takes some first helpers with them when they go night hunting so WWX is there when they hunt down the Xuanwu. He sees that LWJ has a broken leg and somehow got the bedside manner of WQ (be a man and take your medicine!). 

Because of the treatment LWJ manages to evade the bite but WWX still got shot (of course his heart is too big to flee with the others). He gets the grudging respect of some disciples when he helps them escape but still gets shot by an arrow (but not by mistake this time).WWX is part of the Wen sect so he still has his sword and doesn’t use the future stygian tiger seal. 

Together with LWJ he beats the Xuanwu. Of course they have their alone time again and LWJ falls in love again. This time LXC and WN come to save them. The Wen sect turns the story around and says the disciples \abonded one of their sect and they push even more strict rules on the other sects. They have enough and the Sunshot campaign starts. This time WWX (the bleeding heart who does not have grudge against anyone) runs around the battlefield to protect the wounded and get them to safety.

He also helps disciples from other sects. (they first curse him then they are silent) WWX always asks them to keep it a secret and because it is embarrassing to be save by a Wen they agree. It still spreads in the alliance that WQ part of the Wen sect does not seem so bad. Cue LWJ fighting always where he knows WWX is. He also saves him a few times. (‘Lan-er-gege you can let me down now, WN can carry me now.’)

The alliance manages to win because the Lan sect was not burned down and the Jiang sect was still whole. The Wen sect gets punished but the WQ part of the sect only gets banished to the burial mountains. There WWX makes many new inventions to keep everyone save from the corpses and all that. Word spreads and they actually get a few disciples (mostly poor people that do not think they would have a chance if they went to the other sect).

So they manage to make their own small sect (can’t think of a name, they wouldn’t call it Wen sect). They get permission to night hunt in Yiling and their sect slowly becomes famous for their medicine, their expertise of fighting corpses and ghosts, their resistance to dark energy and surprisingly their humility (because they can’t tell everyone that they are rich from selling all the medicine (the emperor came!!) they know envy brings disaster)

WWX can’t leave Yiling so LWJ must come to Yiling and coincidentally they often meet. Sometime they are invited to a discussion conference and slowly the sect is allowed to leave Yiling. The burial mountains got pretty inhabitable now that everyone removes some walking corpses every time they go shopping or visiting a friend. WWX and LWJ go night hunting together (and LWJ stares holes into WN if he comes with them)

.This goes on until one day WQ pulls LWJ into heir room and tells him that he should hurry up and make WXX his or she will be forced to show WWX all the marriage proposals she keeps getting for him. Her soft persuasion (she held him at needle point and threatened to make it so a certain part of his body will never get up again) worked. 

p.s/ I just realized that LWJ leg cannot be broken if the cloud recesses were not burnt down DX. Let's just say that fate decided it still had to hurt. And the exit of the cave with the Xuanwu was closed by Chao so they couldn't fly out on WWX sword...

The shower solved my plot hole for the Wen!AU: Even though the Wen sect won the competition, WC is angry because he was made a fool of and like the manchild he is he has to let his anger out on others. He can’t do anything against WWX so he goes after LWJ who got second place. He and all his buddies start a surprise attack on him and manage to break his leg. 

LWJ still manages to beat them up pretty bad (and WC can’t say anything because it would be the ultimate humiliation for him to admit that he was beat up by one person while he attacked with his whole group.)

EXTRA 1:

Small side story for the WenAU: The new sect has a weekly contest of who has seen the most gruesome corpse/ghost. WWX wins most often because he searches for them and makes normal corpses even more gruesome through his experiments, but everyone has great fun with it. So during one discussion conference WQ (as the new sect leader) gets low key harassed by some people (either they have a grudge against the Wens or it is JGS and it is sexual harassment).

So WWX starts the contest then and there and the other disciples catch on quickly and tell in excruciating detail of their finds and how they got rid of it. WWX does it while staring into the eyes of the bully. Soon no one can stand looking at their food and the sect isn’t troubled by anyone anymore. 

EXTRA 2:

Side fact to Wen AU: WWX is not really teacher material but he often spirits the young disciples away from their lessons to take them out hunting and teaches them practical skills. I think he is the type of person that would also use games to teach others. Like the kite shooting game, all the disciples would only see it as a fun game to pass the time until they take part in an archery contest and see how good they got.

WWX would often catch a ghost and let them look at it (like in Ying city) so they learn how to deal with them in a controlled environment. After the first few times the real teachers ran to WQ to complain about the kidnapping of their students, she goes to look what he does and then tells them to let him be Of course he is also the go-to person pertaining sword skills and such. 

[grandmasterofwangxiancultivation]

MDZS ch.106

okay wow

Lan XiChen, “What letter?”

Jin GuangYao, “A letter of threat. The letter said… those things would be publicized for the world to see in seven days. They wanted me to either turn myself in and apologize, or… wait for the day of my death.”

(it’s pulling-the-strings-from-behind-the-scene’s guy merit, right? RIGHT? the letter was from them, i know. who is it? COME OUT AND LET ME HUG YOU

though really... if it’s not lxc, then who? a jin sect’s member? or nhs? i don’t think mxtx would put him in the scene with nothing to do for fun. he has to have a purpose. and it would make sense, since jgy murdered nmj...)

Unfortunately, it was all wrecked by Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi.

(yeah, a true pity... but not a coincidence, maybe? their investigation started with nmj’s arm, after all, and everything is linked to jgy. TOO CASUAL TO BE CASUAL. OMG. O M G. DON’T FREAKING TELL ME-)

EDIT: lxc and jgy’s scene is one of the reason i love this novel. the characterization is so good, it feels right for lxc to be unable to totally let go of his affection for him and wanting to know his reasons. i love this and i hate jgy a bit less than i did, but since the beginning i knew that i wouldn’t be able to totally hate him. he lives for reputation (his mother’s life taught him that) and he doesn’t want his to be stained.

mdzs is about love and family as well as about forgiveness (or lack of it). it makes so much sense for lxc and jgy to be like this, at this point.

I AM IN PAIN

EDIT 2:

With a sigh, Lan XiChen continued, “Third, do not try to avoid it and answer me—did you plan the death of Jin ZiXuan on purpose?!”

Hearing his father’s name, Jin Ling, who’d been holding Jiang Cheng, widened his eyes.

[...] Jin GuangYao knew he wouldn’t be believed if he denied it no matter what. He clenched his teeth, “… I indeed didn’t run into Jin ZiXuan by accident.”

Jin Ling immediately clenched his fists.

my son is hurting. My SoN iS hUrTiNg. *tries to breath deeply* I KNEW IT, BY NOW, BUT I READING IT MAKES ME WANNA CRAWL IN THERE AND HUG JIN LING TO MY CHEST AND SEND MY BEST DEATH-GLARE AT JGY

EDIT 3: yeah, keep hitting me! one moment he insults wwx and jl, the other jgy seems like the victim, STOP TOYING WITH MY HEART, WOULD YOU ALL?

EDIT 4:

Pain flashed before Lan XiChen’s face, “Even if your father… you…” He still couldn’t find an appropriate comment and gave up, sighing instead, “What is the use of saying all this now?”

Jin GuangYao shrugged as he smiled, “I can’t help it. To seek pity even after doing all the bad things—that’s the kind of person I am.”

At the word ‘pity’, he suddenly flipped his wrist. A red guqin string wrapped around Jin Ling’s neck.

Tears still hung at the corners of Jin GuangYao’s eyes as he spoke, voice low, “Don’t move!”

i am crying for jgy but IF I SEE EVEN JUST A DROP OF BLOOD ON JIN LING-

EDIT 5: what a freaking liar, i can’t believe i felt pity toward him -i still do!!!- while he holds my baby hostage and tricks lxc again. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS JGY, UST FUCKING SURRENDER-

EDIT 6:

Just as Jin GuangYao was about to speak, a thunder of unprecedented volume roared. It was far in the distance, but sounded almost as if it was right next to one’s ear. He couldn’t help but shiver and swallow what he was about to say. Immediately after, three strange thumps bellowed outside the temple’s doors.

SOMEONE IS HERE

EDIT 7: WEN NING CAME

The figure didn’t fly in his direction, but instead in Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi’s. Calmly, the two parted for an instant before naturally standing side-by-side again. Turning around, Wei WuXian called, “Wen Ning?”

Wen Ning crashed into the Guanyin statue within the temple. With his feet above his head, he hung for a while before he plopped down and answered, “… Young Master.”

HE IS SO CUTE, HE CRASHED ON THE STATUE UPSIDE-DOWN, AAAAAAH I LOVE HIM

EDIT 8:

Seeing him, both Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling grew darkish in their faces. On the other hand, Nie HuaiSang cried, “Brother!!!”

AND HE FREAKING BROUGHT NIE MINGJUE?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?! ALKEFOJWEHGOIWHJROGIIOR I AM SCREAMING

EDIT 9:

Lan XiChen, “… Brother.”

Jin GuangYao also murmured, “… Brother.”

THIS IS ACTUALLY HEARTBREAKING BYE I WANNA DIE

EDIT 10: LWJ CHOPPED OFF JGY’S HAND AND SAVED JIN LING! THAT’S WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!

EDIT 11:

Lan WangJi peeled open the fingers of the severed palm. The guqin string loosened, and Jin Ling was finally out of danger. Just as Jiang Cheng was about to rush over to see if he was hurt or not, Wei WuXian moved faster than him and grabbed Jin Ling’s shoulders, examining carefully. After he’d determined that the skin on his neck was unscathed, without a single scratch, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

wwx caring for jin ling is what gives me life and wakes me up in the morning and wishes me goodnight when i go to sleep -something i should have definitely been doing by now, it’s 2 a.m. lol

EDIT 12:

Wei WuXian, however, pulled him into a tight hug, “Stand farther away from dangerous people next time, you brat, why did you go so close?!”

If the only son of Jiang YanLi and Jin ZiXuan died in front of his eyes, Wei WuXian would truly be at a loss as to what to do.

Jin Ling wasn’t used to being hugged by someone like this. Blood immediately flushed to his pale face as he pushed away from Wei WuXian’s chest. Grabbing him, Wei WuXian hugged a couple more times, with more force, slapping his shoulder hard before he shoved him towards Jiang Cheng, “Go! Don’t run around anymore. Go to your uncle!”

Jiang Cheng caught Jin Ling, who still felt a bit dizzy. Looking across at Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi standing together, he hesitated for a moment before he turned to Lan WangJi, lowering his voice, “Thank you.” Although his voice was low, there was no vagueness.

wwx being best uncle and jin ling blushing at being hugged by him and jc saying thank you THE WORLD IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL PLACE O M G I AM ALIVE AND THIS? THIS IS SO PRECIOUS. THIS IS ALL I NEED. THIS IS ALL I WANT FROM NOW ON.