#buyetian

[cinnamonandpancakes]

I wrote a thing for the women of mdzs flash exchange

The insufficiency of goodbyes

Wen Qing & Wen Popo

Three goodbyes

( I also recieved this lovely little fic of Wen Qing in cql-verse Buyetian)

[rosethornewrites]

12/10-12/24 T & G reading

The usual

Finished

Teen:

you are my chosen family, by jinyinhua

“Wait!” Lan Jingyi blurts out. “If me and Sizhui were cursed by her and we can’t remember you, does that really mean—does that really mean you’re our parents?”

Lan Sizhui winces at Lan Jingyi’s bluntness but he doesn’t correct him.

(or: 5 times sizhui and jingyi accidentally call wei wuxian and lan wangji dad, and the 1 time they do it on purpose.)

Rescue, by snowberryrose

In which Jiang Cheng finds Wen Qing in the Unclean Realm

Or: Wen Qing heals

Walking Back To You, by vesna (mrsronweasley) (reread)

They bring him in just before dawn. Wei Wuxian does not remember it, not really. He remembers nothing but pain.

Glitz & Glam, by edenguard (2 chapters)

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan are invited to the annual Jin Appropriated-Christmas Party, which happens to be a masquerade. General shenanigans and fluff follow.

and all the air a solemn stillness holds, by stiltonbasket

On the day Lan Wangji bid goodbye to Wei Ying in the woods beneath Dusk Creek Mountain, he never dreamed that it would be the last time they saw one another alive.

But when Luo Qingyang is kidnapped from the Jinlintai on her wedding day, Lan Wangji finds himself in pursuit of a demon who might be no demon at all.

Wherein all roads lead to Yiling, and death is no obstacle or object to the bereaved Light-bearing Lord.

Cursed Sword, by Nika_Raven_Celeste (4th in a series)

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are not the only one who collects something on hunt to discover the mystery behind chopped up fierce corpse.

Nie Huaisang hides more than scheming mind behind his fan.

These two facts, are related.

Rumor Has It, by Ulan

"They say,” says the woman from the other table, her voice low, “that Hanguang-jun and Wei Wuxian are already cultivation partners.”

Wei Wuxian chokes on his tea.

Making Different Choices (For A More Hopeful Future), by Preludian_Staves (10 chapters, locked to ao3 accounts only)

Through a bout of unexpected time traveling, they decide to usurp Fate's plans and do their best to make different choices to create a more hopeful future.

The Path Less Traveled, by Moonanstars

Wei Wuxian hadn’t been back to Lotus Pier since…well since a lot of things…

Even though there was this tentative peace between himself and Jiang Cheng neither one of them was good at reaching out to try to fix things so both sides had somehow managed to avoid anything other than the most business-like of meetings if they happened to cross paths.

That might be why on the way to Lotus Pier for a meeting and he saw the tiny, overgrown path full of brambles and the merest hint of a worn path in the grass heading into the vegetation, Wei Wuxian paused and looked at it thoughtfully.

Or - in order to distract himself and be late for a meeting Wei Wuxian goes off the beaten path and finds mystery.

General:

Talking to Strangers, by thetrickisnotminding (7 chapters)

It's just a little curse...

Well, actually, he's still big for his age.

Cabbages, by dreaming of your qin (sherleigh) (9 chapters)

In which Lan Qiren gains a son-in-law.

a second set of footsteps, on the lonely road, by stiltonbasket

Wei Ying looks up as he enters the courtyard. To his dismay, Lan Wangji can see that he has dark bruises under his eyes, as he did in the three days he lay unconscious after the battle at Buyetian.

“Lan Zhan!” he calls, rising from the battered stool he was sitting on. “Lan Zhan, what are you doing here? Did you come back to see our A-Yuan?”

“I came to see you,” Lan Wangji tells him. “I want to bring you with me as a guest to Maiden Jiang's wedding.”

Or, the one where Wei Wuxian attends his sister's wedding in disguise, and that makes all the difference.

don't the stars look very different today?, by enbysaurus_rex

Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan are both musicians! Their next piece-- an arrangement of a piece that leaves Lan Zhan emotional and Wei Wuxian a little confused

Post Hunting Thought, by Preludian_Staves (locked to ao3 accounts only)

Lan Wangji thinks about where his contentment used to lay and where it laid now.

A place to rest, by Leahelisabeth (fortheloveofcamelot)

Lan Wangji needs a break and Wei Wuxian helps him take one.

The Warm Paths We Follow, by Preludian_Staves (locked to ao3 accounts only)

His path diverges with the blessing of the one who loves him and knows when to let go.

rfb: Where Are They Now, by sami (16th in a series)

Life goes on, even after a brush with immortals who like to get involved.

Unfinished

Teen:

Muted, by Akabara_13

Jiang FengMian thought the boy would talk again once the storm passed, but Madam Yu praised his silence. The boy would not talk to anyone, but his brother and sister.

Talking is Better than Silence, by KuroiWrites (blackcatkuroi)

"This path harms the body. Harms the nature of one's heart even more." Lan WangJi spoke those words upon first seeing Wei Wuxian alive after the Burial Mounds, unknowing of the truth.

Wei Wuxian, though, didn't need to be told, and he accepted that he'd lost whatever he might have once had with Lan WangJi. Several nights later, in a moment of drunken weakness under the melancholic light of a full moon, he tells Lan WangJi the Truth. He'd never needed Lan WangJi to spell out his fate for him - he'd known since he walked out of the Burial Mounds alive.

But one small bit of honesty can go a long way, and Talking is far better than Silence.

Instead, by apathyinreverie

Wei Ying is found by someone other than Wen Chao after the Core transfer.

Or, the one where Wei Ying is never thrown into the Burial Mounds, never invents demonic cultivation. He still manages to become the lynchpin of the Sunshot Campaign anyway.

In Walls of Glass, by Comfect

Lán Qǐrén thinks about different Lan rules when Wei Wuxian brings up resentful cultivation in class.

Everything goes better from there.

Seriously, everything.

Bright Voice Roughly Rendered Softly Silent, by Preludian_Staves (locked to ao3 accounts only)

The fight between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian after the Fall of Lotus Pier goes differently, changing the course of events that should follow, but now don't.

Lan Wangji goes looking for the boy that captured his heart. (Also known as Wei Wuxian goes to the Gusu Lan earlier than in canon)

Deleted Scenes, Outtakes and Castoffs, by Sami

Sometimes you realise that something doesn't really fit anywhere or that the way you just wrote it isn't actually quite right, but maybe it's still entertaining.

Additional sections to be added on an irregular schedule.

A drop in the ocean, by ibuttermybagel

“How can you still stand on your legs after all you’ve done?” the voice had his head whip up. Eyes interlocking with those of the man he called his younger brother not too long ago. Angry eyes meeting those filled with nothing but sorry. “How can you still ask to be excused after bringing pain to so many?”

(Or: The ambush on Wei Wuxian is stopped by Jin Zixuan and instead he takes all Wens and WWX back home. Wen Ning has enough and lets everyone know what he learned in drunken talks with Wei Wuxian.)

To Repeat, Repay, and Repair, by adrian_kres (locked to ao3 accounts only)

Wei Wuxian has died again and his family grieves. Lan Sizhui, now married and with children of his own, grieves the loss of both fathers, as Lan Wangji has entered seclusion. But somehow, he unknowingly sends himself back to the time he spent in the Burial Mounds at three years old. Will his family take his confused, nonsensical warnings seriously? Are they doomed to repeat the same fate?

Told from alternating points of view.

Serendipity, by midnight_soul (locked to ao3 accounts only)

Lan Wangji is tired of his family’s passive-aggressive persistence in his love life. He will not go on another blind date; the first two times were disastrous enough.

Wei Wuxian has had enough of his family telling him no one would want to stick with him, no one decent at least.

One trying to live his life peacefully and another wanting to prove his family wrong, how can their plan fail? They’re practically meant for each other.

Grand Master of Rogue Cultivation, by waterphoenix21

A Wei Wuxian raises A-Yuan fic!

After Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli die a mysterious death, Wen Qing and the rest of the Wen Clan are found guilty and Wei Wuxian speaks in their defense. This naturally leads to a rift between him and Jiang Cheng.

Then one night, the last surviving member of the Wen Clan is found asleep on top of Jiang Yanli's grave. Nobody knows how or why. But feeling as if he no longer belongs to any clan, Wei Wuxian decides to raise little Wen Yuan on his own, as he sets on a path to becoming a rogue cultivator, following in his mother's footsteps and seeking to find the mystical mountain of the legendary immortal, Baoshan Sanren.

General:

Pulled Against the Grain, by youleeyeah

“We found him walking injured just outside the Jingshi. He said-” Sizhui paused for a moment and then lowered his voice before continuing, “he said it was Young Master Jin who did this.” The boy couldn't look into Lan Wangji’s eyes as he spoke and turned his head to the side.

“You know,” Wei Wuxian started again after the pain subsided a tiny amount, “if I had my old body, I could've had intestines falling out of my gut and I’d still be able to fight for a few more hours.”

Lan Wangji furrowed his brows.

He has heard this before.

-----

Wei Wuxian wakes up in Gusu with a fresh stab wound he claimed was caused by Jin Ling. Lan Wangji is confused because the last time that happened was three years ago. Something is wrong with Wei Wuxian.

Lies and Truth, by parodismal

What happen if Lan Wangji decided to actually check Qiongqi Path after Wei Wuxian leave?

....

It leads to a domino effect towards a new Chief Cultivator

Is it a better?

Or worse?

The Trouble With Politics: a Treatise on Jiang Sect Deputies Gone Rogue by Sect Leader Wei Wuxian, by stiltonbasket

Jin Zixuan dies. A siege is called at the Nightless City. A bodyguard flees from the Jinlintai, and journeys to the Burial Mounds to fulfill a life debt to the Ghost General.

Lan Wangji just wants to woo Wei Wuxian in peace, and figure out if Jiang-zongzhu's ex-deputy will ever stop trying to chaperone them.

(Or, the one where Yu Zhenhong stands by his da-shixiong, and becomes the head disciple of the rising Yiling Wei sect.)

[admirableadmiranda]

Just to offer some perspective on the bad memory thing; I think it’s likely that Wei Wuxian is comparing his type of memory to people who hold onto every little thing that bothers them, people like JGY who memorize literally everything like an encyclopedia and people who have certain types of recall that aren’t as trauma splotched as his.

He definitely has a much better memory than he gives himself credit for, but it also does not function like the types of memories that people around him have. He’s completely blocked out A-Yuan for most of the book, it’s not just the song, but it sounds like most of the Xuanwu encounter since he doesn’t remember how he carried Lan Wangji until they’re escaping Jinlintai and there are just chunks of time that have either smudged together into impressions of pain and terror and hardship (his days on the street) or been lost altogether, like a whole week after the events at Buyetian. When he’s comparing his memory to Lan Wangji’s, it likely does feel pretty poor compared to Lan Wangji’s strong recollection and ability to vocalize those memories clearly.

But that’s because he doesn’t have an ordinary memory, he’s got a style much more in line with trauma and adhd. The things he recalls are minute details in his lines of interest; perfect recall on songs but doesn’t remember a thing about people he doesn’t care about. It’s a rat‘s nest memory, the strangest things stick and trigger other memories to come forth. It’s a memory that tries to hold onto the good and erase the bad, it’s a memory that simply doesn’t function like Jiang Cheng’s, or Jin Guangyao’s, or even Lan Wangji’s.

And that isn’t a bad thing in the slightest! But it can feel off when the people around you are remembering things in different ways than you do, and especially if they expect you to remember that way. It can feel like you can’t remember anything or you have a bad memory and even accept that when you can answer flawlessly to rules that you read once twenty years ago, but can’t remember if you ate breakfast that morning.

I’m not going to say that he specifically has one or the other, but the way his memory works reminds me very much of mine, which was cooked in a crockpot of trauma, inherited trauma and undiagnosed adhd, and as such functions oddly compared to those around me. I can’t recall so many simple things even hours after they happen, but I can in fact recite lines of MDZS from memory, or tell you exactly which chapter to find your special details in. A video game I hyper focused on for a summer when I was 11, I can still find all the ways through, but if you asked me to explain it without the proper triggers, my brain would simply shut down.

I think some of it might be people not understanding him all that well. But I think a lot more of it really does come down to Wei Wuxian has a good memory… but it functions in a very different way from those around him and that can make it seem not as good or even outright bad depending on who asks and what the reason is.

Multiple people in the story, including wei wuxian, himself: wow, your memory is so bad

The things said people are expecting wwx to remember: song when he was feverish and near death, being saved while he was emotionally shelled out and near comatose, names and faces of people he met that he’s now expected to recall in high-stress situations, things he did very casually over 10 years ago and proceeded to not think about cause why?

[ouyangzizhensdad]

So since I am reading mdzs (several translations), I am now curious about the killed 3000 people bit. When I orginally saw cql, wwx mentions something along the line of "killed 3000? You either think too much of me or too little of them" meaning the strong cultivators of various clans. After getting into fandom and seeing all the, wwx is actually morally grey in the book, he did kill 3000 people takes (it's the one that's most used as an example). I thought perhaps the line was just cql (1/2)

(2/2) I thought it was cql again downplaying it. But it turns out it's actually in the novel. In fact, fro m the text, it doesn't feel like wwx actually thinks of it as something thing bad he did? Everthing else he agonizes over. But this one he says I will not take responsibility for things I didn't do. So Or it's true but the number exaggerated? At least the number I think is meant to be seen as fishy (first rumour we hear, the numbers keep changing). So I am really confused over it.

The number is clearly exaggerated, although WWX did kill a lot of people that night. When the narration talks about WWX’s deeds at Buyetian, it is under the terms of “legend” or “rumour”, which is our first clue that things might not appear as they are presented. 

On Buyetian, legends had it that the Yiling Laozu alone used his singular strength and massacred every single one of the three thousand cultivators present at the pledge conference in a frightful, bloody battle. There were also legends which claimed that it was five thousand cultivators. Regardless of whether it was three or five thousand, the fact remained that, on that night, Wei Wuxian had turned the ruins of Nightless City into a bloodstained hell. 

WWX killed people at Buyetian, but as we come to be told by WWX, he did not kill 3000 cultivators. That claim is outrageous because people, many of them who were there on that night, are basically saying “You slaughtered everyone who was there, you monster! And I, amongst all the powerful leaders in our society, lived to tell the tale!” 

Yi Weichun, the middle-aged cultivator claimed to have lost a leg to Wei Wuxian and had to install a wooden prosthetic, bellowed, “The debts of blood you owe for the life of these three thousand victims will never be repaid, even if you die a thousand times!”

Wei Wuxian interrupted, “Three thousand? There were indeed over three thousand cultivators present that night, but they also included the leaders of the great sects, as well as famed and exceptional cultivators from various sects. Could I have possibly been able to kill off all three thousand of them? Are you thinking too highly of me, or are you looking down on them?”

Wei Wuxian’s intention was to only state a fact, but the cultivator felt ridiculed and raged. “What do you think I am talking to you about? How could there be bargaining to debts of blood?”

“I am not looking to bargain about such a matter; I merely do not want charges added on to my count by someone’s offhand comment. I won’t shoulder what I didn’t do.”

A voice then came from the crowd, “What you didn’t do? Is there anything that was not done by you?”

As shown by this exchange, I think WWX recognizes what he did; if only for the fact that he didn’t let his fierce corpses attack the cultivators who laid siege upon him once the Wens had been slaughtered, it also shows that he was not okay with having killed so many people even if they had vowed death on him and the people he sook to protect. Only, WWX refuses to be made to carry ‘sins’ he did not commit. We’re not supposed to come out of it as thinking “WWX did nothing wrong, he always was a cinnamon roll” (which is a little bit what CQL ends up doing with their flattened morality tale), but more something of the line of: once you are made a villain in the mind of the people, you will be made to bear responsibility both for the acts you committed and acts you never did. Once you are made into a villain, even your good deeds will come to haunt you as people will twist your intent, and even doing nothing will not save you as people will find crimes to pin on you. 

[annulareye]

scale versus stain

dearest @shoujosparklingwater, annulareye has finally begun their descent into nieyao hell... Here! He brings him close enough to read eyes as Mingjue lets his own go middle distance. Just out of reach. See, not to touch, not to smell. Look! Displays his face, turns it to one side then the other, he’s still pretty, seems fed, unpunished. Just one bruise, the kind he might have even (he had, many times, Mingjue wouldn’t) asked for.  Baby. Wen Ruohan strokes Meng Yao’s neck, massages all the places that might be sore under the hanging hair, sore neck, knotted jaw, all those little inevitables; squeezes and shakes his shoulders out while his arms dangle and swing, manipulates the work out of him, chews him soft with his claws.  Brings him back down on his knees facing Mingjue and the room, where everyone can see better, the good cushions having magically reappeared for them both. Sinks down behind Meng Yao like he’s the whole entire throne himself and pushes the little body down. Adjusts the elbows and angles into place, still talking at Nie Mingjue bound and kneeling before them.  Even he, the prisoner, is on a very nice cushion (but not as nice as Meng Yao’s). His knees hurt differently on it. Wen Ruohan keeps talking.  There’s a light coming into his face that reminds Mingjue of court ladies, the kind he wouldn’t stand to have at Bujingshi. He’s wearing lip paint, but it’s more the way the mouth twists. His voice is still gentle but his hands are not. He pauses for a moment; regards the body before him; makes Meng Yao look up again and face Mingjue, asking if the face he’s making looks familiar; puts his knobbled fingers in Meng Yao’s mouth; sneers; makes a small motion at his belt, flips Meng Yao’s robe and commands him, all intimacy gone, to back up and move. Slowly. https://archiveofourown.org/works/28954848

[cin2min]

#wangxiao @buyetian 🏔 bts️

[tonyglowheart]

*reads a post about someone reacting to a post they saw that was about how could lwj forgive his uncle/brother for his punishment after nightless city, and they say that what they say tracks across all mdzs canons, and then just goes to explain mdzs canon and like.. the problem is it’s NOT cql canon so yeah, you can see why someone who only has cql as a framework might be led to think the way that post you saw said, but also like... it’s still NOT cql canon, which is one of cql’s problems, but like... it being mdzs canon doesn’t.. make it cql canon. esp bc they don’t even hang the punishment off the cql beats anymore, they gave him... what was it, 300 hits with that iron rod? (and somehow his scars look more whip-like than rod-like lmao.. okay. and also the whole series of events in cql leading up to the punishment, and then afterwards, are all weakened TERRIBLY in cql by how they “handled” the first siege, which imo made cql’s more about oh this is for cavorting with evil, instead of like... injuring the 33 elders in public defiance against the cultivation world...but okay*

[melatovnik]

i’ve also decided to go nuts and call the wen clan’s place both nightless city AND nevernight

[hleonaa]

No but you gotta imagine what went through my brain when I read that they filmed Cloud Recesses scenes during the days and Nightless City scenes (you know when WWX went feral and jumped off a cliff) at night DURING THOSE SAME DAYS and that was when I decided to stan Xiao Zhan forever

“How did you change into this look? - Really? Have I changed?”

[wrrinkl]

Wen ZhuLiu’s sabotage

Remember this scene when Jiang WanYin and Lan WangJi are chasing after Wen Chao?

[Jiang WanYin saying “Why did Wen Chao go to YunMeng instead of going back to QiShan?”]  YEA, NO? This added info changes the entire way Wen ZhuLiu is written as a character, because:

[Wen Chao asking Wen Zhuliu when they will be in QiShan and Wen ZhuLiu answering that they might be there in two days.]

Wen Chao believes that they are on their way to QiShan and Wen RuoHan ordered him to return to BuYeTian immediately.  With that added scene though we know now that they are evidently on their way to FUGGIN YUNMENG. You know, the LAST PLACE Wen Chao should be when he is haunted by someone from Yunmeng. 

Wen ZhuLiu’s betrayal is subtle but THERE. 

If you rewatch the series, pay attention to how often Wen ZhuLiu omits information or even lies to Wen Chao. Like not telling him the wine is poisoned, or that Wei WuXian has no golden core anymore, or like here:

[Wen ZhuLiu saying “It’s just the sound of the wind.” when there is clearly a flute playing in the background] I think he knows he will die protecting Wen Chao and thereby repaying his debt to Wen RuoHan, but it is very clear that he has his own moral standpoint about what the Wen clan does and he sabotages them in his own way, without breaking his promise.

[yuziyuanapologist]

want the world to believe [yiling laozu!lan wangji - part 4 - nie huaisang]

[gifset] [part 1] [part 2.1] [part 2.2] [part 3.1] [part 3.2] [interlude 1] part 4 is all in this section, no 4.2 this time, 2.9k words total! and no warnings for anything that’s not canon in the sunshot arc. shoutout to the lovely anon that reminded me about this fic. enjoy!

Nie Huaisang

I hope you will forgive the anonymity, and the strangeness of this situation. Please know that I seek only for the Wens to be deposed, and to help the effort of the four clans in any way I can. 

Enclosed you will find maps of the terrain surrounding Qishan Wen and Buyetian. There are certain paths through the mountains that will make your movements easier. 

Regards. 

For what feels like perhaps the hundredth time, Nie Huaisang stares at the documents on the table that is usually so pleasantly decorated with fans and paintings and poetry. This room has been his only peace from the war raging outside, and yet - 

Now war has been brought inside, too, by the hands of a messenger who told him he had a letter. A letter to tell him that he had a friend, somewhere, who wanted to help. Then, there was more correspondence. More and more “help.” More and more war.

Well, they weren’t helping him. Getting him involved with all of this.

His first instinct was to pass it on to Dage, and have done with it - it would have been the easy solution, and the best one without thought. Only, he had been stupid enough to give it thought, and realised that handing them over to Dage would have done no good but to destroy them for the suspicion of it all. Though, it’s not as though Nie Huaisang isn’t suspicious himself.

But, on the other hand, what if these are real? What if there really is someone who wishes to give them their help, and they are showing them the way to win? How can he verify these as true without alerting his brother to his partaking in something dangerous?

He doesn’t know whose advice to seek. Jiang Cheng is far too caught up in fury that he, too, would destroy them. Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun are useless - fine in a battle, passable in a strategy room but anything further - no, he wouldn’t trust them. Zewu Jun would, in fact, be the first person that Nie Huaisang would go to if it wasn’t for the state in which he arrived at the Unclean Realm. The state in which he returned with his brother. Zewu Jun surely has enough on his mind, and the same goes for Lan Wangji - besides, Nie Huaisang hasn’t heard a word from him since he returned from - wherever he had been.

And Wei Wuxian, well, he tried that, didn’t he? Asked Jiang Yanli to speak with him, to send him to Nie Huaisang, but to no avail. Likely he is far too caught up with Lan Wangji now, ever since they seemed to reconcile, they have barely parted. All hushed whispers and secretive meetings between them. It’s - 

There’s a knock at his door. Hastily, Nie Huaisang scatters the papers, stashing some below his table, some beneath a half painted fan that he pulls from a shelf. He can only hope that whoever has come for him won’t be looking too hard. If it’s Dage, he needs only grab his saber and follow - in fact, he should pick that up first.

Instead, when he opens the door, it’s -

“Wei-xiong!” he exclaims. 

“Nie-xiong,” Wei Wuxian leans against the doorframe and attempts to give his signature bright smile, but some part of it is duller than usual.

Nie Huaisang laughs his bemusement away, having just disregarded the idea of Wei Wuxian ever turning up. “Aren’t you usually with Lan Wangji recently? How come you’re -”

“Yeah, well,” Wei Wuxian replies. “He got sick of me.” The laugh that accompanies his words is bright and joyful and as fake as anything Nie Huaisang has ever seen, and, through all of his practice fainting in front of a mirror, he’s seen a few things that could compete.

“Oh! Well - come in, I suppose,” Nie Huaisang isn’t certain how to say all of this now - is Wei Wuxian here to help, or just to escape whatever snag he had hit with Lan Wangji?

Wei Wuxian glances around the room with a half smirk, taking in all the chaos that Nie Huaisang has caused in recent days. He probably feels at home here - thinking back to their Cloud Recesses days, Nie Huaisang remembers the state of Wei Wuxian’s room with a shudder. 

“It’s not usually this messy,” Nie Huaisang hastens to point out - not with any trace of guilt, but because he doesn’t want Wei Wuxian thinking that this is who he is. “But - anyway, did your sister tell you, I -”

“That you wanted some help? Yeah,” Wei Wuxian is holding down a teasing laugh, looking at the saber in Nie Huaisang’s hand. “What was it, you finally decided to learn how to fight?”

Nie Huaisang huffs in annoyance, and sets the saber in the stand where it spends the majority of its time. “Of course not. I know how to fight.” He does. He just… doesn’t care to use the knowledge. Or have any particular… talent at it. 

Wei Wuxian nods, failing all too blatantly at keeping the smile from his face. “You wanna train with me then? Practice round?”

“I’d love to, I’d love to,” Nie Huaisang says, giving into the teasing back and forth that Wei Wuxian is inviting him to. He’s missed that ease. “Unfortunately, my schedule is just so full, it’s completely impossible.”

“Oh, of course,” Wei Wuxian laughs, then sobers. “So what did you need, then?” He chooses this moment to make himself at home, flopping down into one of the seats by the table, and quickly notices the documents under the fan. 

Falling silent and suspicious, he lifts the fan away (not carefully enough - Nie Huaisang has to snatch it from his hands to place it carefully back on the shelf) and twisting the papers towards him so that he can read them.

“Nie-xiong,” he says slowly. “What’s this?”

“That’s the problem,” Nie Huaisang sighs, sitting down beside Wei Wuxian. “I’ve been getting these letters, see, and I - have no idea why - or if they’re genuine, or a trap, or what. I need your help.”

“Huh,” Wei Wuxian says thoughtfully, focussing now on the words he’s reading. “Why not show Nie-zongzhu?” 

“Why do you think?” Nie Huaisang replies, rolling his eyes. “Anonymous letters from behind enemy lines about a war that they have the upper hand in. Is it me or does that sound like “firewood” to you?”

 Wei Wuxian shrugs. “Why not burn them, then?”

“But what if they’re real?”

“What if they are?”

“Wei-xiong, I don’t know much, but I do know we’re not winning this war. We need all the help we can get.”

Wei Wuxian tilts his head, acknowledging it, his fingers curling around the top edge of a page, readying to flip it. “Any idea who they’re from?”

Never has Nie Huaisang wanted to roll his eyes more. “Anonymous, Wei-xiong.”

“No, but - they clearly know you. Don’t you have any idea? Any - hints that they left, or -?”

Nie Huaisang has considered it, truth be told. But -

“The only Wens I’ve met and not immediately hated are Wen Qing and Wen Ning,” he says. “But I didn’t particularly -”

“It’s not Wen Qing,” Wei Wuxian interrupts. “Unless - when did you receive the last letter?”

“Six days ago,” Nie Huaisang replies. “It had - maps and all sorts, stuff as if - well, if it wasn’t a trick - as if someone had been let into the strategy room.”

Wei Wuxian hums. “Yeah, it’s not Wen Qing. And - Wen Ning is - his writing isn’t like this. I don’t think he would be - yeah, no - I don’t think it’s him.”

He shuffles through more of the papers, his attention landing on one furthest down, one that Nie Huaisang has the least chance of understanding, with only a vague grasp of the substance of which it speaks. 

“Yin Iron,” Wei Wuxian murmurs the words out loud slowly. “The control of puppets with the use of - oh,” and he sort of deflates. “Lan Zhan would know if this was real.” 

“Can you ask him?” Nie Huaisang asks, knowing it comes out more eager than he actually is. More so, he simply wants to know what had happened between the two - in recent days they have been close to inseparable - though before that if they were in the same room it was a miracle. And before that, last Nie Huaisang had heard they had been trapped in a cave together after the indoctrination, and before that, there was the journey that the three of them had taken together, and the two had certainly been close then. 

He allows himself a moment to reflect on how the last few years have changed them. It certainly is a strange world.

Wei Wuxian brings him back to the present with a sigh. “Can’t you?”

“Why?” Nie Huaisang asks. “Did you two fight?”

“Fight?” Wei Wuxian seems taken aback by this, and laughs. “No, why would we - what are you talking about?”

“Why don’t you want to talk to him, then?”

“He’s busy. Ask him later, then.”

Narrowing his eyes, Nie Huaisang drops the subject. 

“Well, is there any part of this that you do know about? You talked to Xue Yang when we caught him, did he tell you anything about the Yin Iron then?”

Wei Wuxian fixes Nie Huaisang with a withering look. “Yeah, we chatted about it over tea. He told me everything.”

Nie Huaisang uses his folded fan to hit Wei Wuxian in the arm, and Wei Wuxian laughs.

“Look, I know as much as you. I’ve only ever been as far into Wen territory as you have, and I don’t know the mountains in the slightest. What more do you want?”

Nie Huaisang slumps. “I don’t know.”

To do something useful? To actually prove he has worth here? Though, of course, without getting dragged all the way in. Ugh, no - too desperate, even for him. Too close to being given an actual part in this war.

“Are you sure there’s no one else that these letters could be from?” Wei Wuxian asks again. “No clues, or anything - like, I don’t know, a name hidden somewhere, in some - weird phrasing or something? Some reference to something only you and the sender would know?”

“I don’t know,” Nie Huaisang repeats. “Nothing that I’ve noticed. Can’t you just go and ask Lan Wangji if he’ll help?”

“I already said, I-”

There’s yet another knock at the door. No one really comes here beyond servants and messengers, and occasionally Dage, so, after hurriedly scrambling away all of the evidence once again, Nie Huaisang is surprised to open the door to find none of those people.

“Jiang-guniang,” he grins, and she bows. “Were you looking for Wei-xiong?” He stands aside to reveal him, and Jiang Yanli visibly relaxes.

“Thank you, I was,” she replies at the same time as Wei Wuxian greets her with “Shijie!”

“A-Xian,” she smiles, her voice even softer than normal. “I looked for you in Lan-er-gongzi’s rooms -”

It seems as though she wants to continue the sentence, but won’t - whether because of Nie Huaisang’s presence or some other reason is unclear.

Wei Wuxian's smile wavers, then returns brighter than ever. “Shijie,” he whines. “I don't have to be there all the time.”

He has been, though. Neither Nie Huaisang or Jiang Yanli reply to that, though Nie Huaisang does sense a sort of kinship with the sigh and shake of her head that she gives.

“Well,” she continues, when it seems no one is going to speak to the discomfort in the air now. “A-Xian, Lan-er-gongzi worried that you -”

Wei Wuxian leaps out of his seat to shut her up - though it seems he's trying very hard to make it seem like that's not what he's doing.

“Wait, did you make soup?” he grins. “Shijie, can I have some?”

He's out of the room before either of them can stop him, even with Nie Huaisang's “Wait - but Wei-xiong -”

Jiang Yanli watches after his retreating form, her gaze filled with unspoken worry. She turns, and speaks with the tail of a sigh, voice soft with resignation.

“Do you need me to fetch him back?”

He considers it for a moment. “No, I suppose not. Thank you for sending him to me.”

“I'm sorry it took him so long to come,” she replies. “I-”

She gets no further, because Nie Huaisang doesn't concentrate long enough to listen to her. “Hey - did you get to see Zewu Jun? You wanted to see him, didn't you, the other day?”

The ghost of a smile makes it into her expression now. “I did, thank you,” she replies. “I was able to come to an agreement with him.”

Nie Huaisang doesn't know what to say to this, just nods, and hopes that she'll explain herself further. Of course - she doesn't, only bows once again, and follows quietly after Wei Wuxian.

*

The next day, Lan Wangji appears at Nie Huaisang’s room. Not because Wei Wuxian had returned and relented, and agreed to speak with him, but because Nie Huaisang had a disciple go and fetch him. Wei Wuxian hadn’t returned yesterday, and hadn’t explained a thing about what had happened, and Nie Huaisang had given up. He invites Lan Wangji inside with a smile and an invitation at conversation, which Lan Wangji declines by simply staying silent.

Instead of forcing it like he knows well enough not to do, Nie Huaisang passes over the papers. While Lan Wangji examines them, Nie Huaisang examines him, fascinated by his demeanour now, his new look. The somehow greyish tinge to his skin, and the black guqin case at his back. Dark robes and no forehead ribbon, and - something else. Something dangerous, that it seems Lan Wangji is aware of too. He holds the pages in front of him delicately, as if he could destroy them by pressing too hard. Of course, the Lan arm strength is renowned, but this is just a little too careful. A little as though he feels he’ll leave imprints over everything he touches. He moves carefully too - he always has done, but somehow this is more than habit. Truly, it’s strange. 

“This letter,” he speaks haltingly and yet as eloquent as ever. “It’s all correct. Whoever sent it has a bystander’s understanding. They’ve never used it themselves.”

“So it’s not from Wen Ruohan, then?” Nie Huaisang tries to joke. It falls, as he knew it would from the second he opened his mouth, quite flat.

“I can’t help with any other part,” Lan Wangji ignores Nie Huaisang’s words. “I’ve been no farther into Qishan than Wei Ying has.”

“No,” Nie Huaisang sighs. “I suppose you haven’t. Well, it must be time to show Dage, then.”

It might be such a waste, but - if it can’t be trusted, then it’s of no use to anybody.

“But -” Lan Wangji starts, and there’s something new in his eyes that puts Nie Huaisang on guard. “I could find out.”

Nie Huaisang narrows his eyes. “How?”

Lan Wangji is silent. Wei Wuxian would know what that means and - even without him, Nie Huaisang dreads to think that he might know, too.

“I am of no use here,” Lan Wangji says. “Nor will I be, unless and until there is a battle deadly enough to need my help.”

“O-kay?” Nie Huaisang, slipping further and further into dread that Lan Wangji might be telling him he’s going to -

“I will go to Nightless City,” Lan Wangji says, and yeah. There it is. “Alone. I can move around unnoticed that way.”

“In what way could you move around unnoticed?” Nie Huaisang replies, his voice high pitched with fear and disbelief. “Every Wen in the world knows what you look like - there’s no way they don’t have portraits of every single one of our faces pasted all around Qishan. You’d never get in alive, let alone out again.”

“I - could,” Lan Wangji falters, but there is a certainty to his words. “You do not understand.”

“Yeah, I don’t understand why you’d risk your life for it,” Nie Huaisang replies. “That’s a bad idea. I’ll give the letters to Dage-” 

He tries to snatch away the papers, but Lan Wangji pulls back, holding them tighter. It reminds Nie Huaisang, strangely, of early childhood. When their brothers would spend time together, and leave their younger brothers to fight over toys and fake swords and inks and books. Lan Wangji was always stronger, even back then. Always snatching things away from Nie Huaisang.

“Lan-xiong!” he protests. “This - this is -”

Stupid, ridiculous, wrong. What’s he supposed to say?

“I’ll work out who sent the letters,” he tries instead. “You don’t need to go, I’ll -”

Still, Lan Wangji doesn’t speak, just holds the papers, his eyes scanning over every single one, flicking through each map, finding the map of Buyetian. 

After a moment, he taps the papers against the table to return them to a neatened order. Then - stands, and bows.

“I will leave you, Nie Huaisang.”

“No, but - “

Leave where? How can he - he can’t be thinking to go immediately - this is -

He’s out of the room before Nie Huaisang can even stand.  

When reason and logic have finally returned to Nie Huaisang, replacing the shock and terror - he does the only thing he can think to do - find Wei Wuxian. They may have fallen out, somehow, but Nie Huaisang has no doubts that Lan Wangji will still listen to him, if he can only convince him to try. 

What else can he do?

His eyes fall on a stray splatter of ink on the last letter he had received - what he thought must have been an accident - and oh. 

But it couldn't be - could it?

[hleonaa]

My brain being mean with me time here we go again, whenever I see this I remember someone said this scene has the exact same moves from their very first sword fight (when Wei Wuxian climbed over the wall into Cloud Recesses) and how back in that fight Wei Wuxian was able to counter every attack and didn’t even need to unsheathe his sword to tie with Lan Wangji, while fast forward to this scene we have Lan Wangji completely having the upper hand. He used the exact same moves from last time and was able to tell something was wrong with Wei Wuxian because he was significantly weaker now. But he couldn’t tell what it is that went wrong. And because Wei Wuxian didn’t want to tell, Lan Wangji wouldn’t press either.

Lan Zhan, not seen for several months, you’ve made progress again

[crossdressingdeath]

i think jyl is an interesting character when u consider how much her surface level face is being considered mediocre by the wider narrative bc of her avg appearance/low cultivation but having emotional power as wwx’s cherished shijie & later on by marrying jin zixuan and having the heir to now the most powerful sect. theres this common fandom perception that she is the mediator in the dynamic of the jiangs bc she de escalated the situation at buyetian before her death, but if i remember correctly theres no actual scene where she mediates between jc and wwx? if anything wwx plays more of the role of the mediator by downplaying himself to appease jc/yzy’s egoes.

JYL doesn’t even deescalate the situation at Nightless City! It gets considerably worse after she shows up! Not her fault, but it’s part of the running theme of her “mediation” actually just making things so much worse for WWX. And yeah, she doesn’t mediate between JC and WWX; she just demands WWX never hold JC accountable for his terrible behaviour. She insists that JC needs to be coddled and WWX can handle whatever JC does to him. That’s not mediating, that’s picking sides. And yes re WWX being the actual mediator in the Jiang family. He’s the one always putting himself into the conflict to comfort and coddle and often straight up draw fire off the rest of the family! JYL or JFM are generally called the peacekeepers of the family, but they just enable YZY and JC’s shitty behaviour because a lot of the time it’s aimed at WWX and not them so it’s easier to let YZY and JC do as they like and not rock the boat. Like... the clearest example is immediately prior to the indoctrination camp, where WWX offers to walk into a hostage situation that he should have been able to avoid to get the adults to stop fighting. And of course there’s WWX dragging himself out of his sickbed because JC’s throwing a temper tantrum over not being the centre of attention, leading to WWX assuring JC that of course JFM likes him best... even though neither WWX nor JFM actually played a part in the whole affair beyond JFM telling JC off for trying to leave his allies to die and WWX being the weapon YZY used to pick a fight. JYL enables JC’s abuse, JFM enables YZY and JC’s abuse, and it’s WWX who’s left scrambling to keep the peace, often at serious cost to his own health (both physical and mental).

[ouyangzizhensdad]

sometimes i remember that jc led the second siege and effectively killed and/or participated in the killing of the wen remnants while he knew they were not a danger to the sects, having seen with his own eyes they were elderly people and children and non-cultivators doing their best to survive....

[jelenedra]

Additional notes and ephemera for Restoration. Read with caution! There are spoilers at the end of this post.

Fun fact: the fic as posted to AO3 is 84,709. The amount of fic I actually wrote is 122,284. That means there’s 37,575 words of material on the cutting room floor. Oof.

Pinyin place names:

Fumodong : Demon Slaughtering Cave

Luanzang Gang : the Burial Mounds

Bujing Shi : the Unclean Realm

Yunshen Buzhichu : Cloud Recesses

Lianhua Wu : Lotus Pier/Lotus Cove

Buyetian Cheng : Nightless City/Nevernight

Jinlin Tai : Carp Tower/Koi Tower

Pinyin titles:

Huadan Shou : Core-Melting Hand/Core Crusher

Zi Zhizhu : Violet Spider

I believe all the other pinyin terms used are commonly used in fandom or are sufficiently contextualised to be understood, but let me know if there are any that need clarification!

Spoilers ahead! Gonna list the minor/background pairings.

Some of these are fairly textual, but with the exception of occasional flirtation/references in characters’ inner monologues, almost all actual romance occurs completely off-screen. 

Meng Yao/Nie Mingjue (nieyao)

Jiang Yanli/Nie Huaisang (sangli)

(implied) Lan Xichen/Xue Yang (xiyang)

(implied) Jin Zixuan/Wen Ning (ningxuan)

Wang Lingjiao/Wen Qing (lingqing)

I did not intend for there to be Song Lan/Su She/Xiao Xingchen (songsuxiao), but I’m told some people saw it in there, so. Have at.

Here are some notes about names of people, for those who don’t get names in canon. I was ably assisted by merakily and invitan in choosing these and am told they’re not wildly inappropriate! There are some spoilers in the details given.

Starting off with the nicknames for the babies, so if you’re not sure if you want to spoil yourself further you have two paragraphs to back out or continue.  

Xiaodou (小豆, Adzuki) or Xiaodou Yeye (小豆爷爷, Grandpa Adzuki) is a nickname given to baby Mo Xuanyu. Adzuki are a type of bean, also called red mung beans, and they’re commonly boiled with sugar to make an extremely delicious paste called anko. In Chinese cuisine it’s commonly used as filling for pastry dishes like mooncakes and tangyuan. The story of how he got that nickname is in chapter 12; in short, he was red and wrinkly, as many babies are, and the nickname stuck. The more common term for adzuki seems to be hongdou (红豆) but xiaodou, chidou (赤豆), chixiaodou, hongxiaodou, etc. are used fairly interchangably as far as I can tell, and I think the version that approximates to “little bean” is the cutest version to refer to a baby with.

Luobo Zhongzi is a nickname given to baby Wen Yuan. I used the characters for the words translated as “radish seeds” in chapter 74. In that chapter, Wen Qing scolds Wei Wuxian because she told him to go buy radish seeds and instead he fought Jiang Cheng. In my head, this is how that nickname came to be:

“Wei Ying,” Meng Yao says, with the fragile calm of someone an inch away from completely losing his shit, “I thought I told you to buy radish seeds.”

“Are you blind, Meng-shidi? Look at this handsome radish seed I have right here!” Wei Ying bounces the baby on his hip. “We’ll plant him and he’ll sprout right up, you’ll see.”

Meanwhile, Xue Yang sidles up to Wen Zhuliu and gives him his biggest, toothiest smile. “Gege, teach me how to punch someone in the soul?”

Some birth and courtesy names:

Fu Xiang (富 祥); the fu here is still a relatively common character used as a Chinese surname today, and can also mean ���wealthy” or “abundant” - a good name for a mercantile sect, especially one that wants to curry favour with Lanling Jin. The xiang means “auspicious” - also a fairly common name, in this case given by parents who hoped their daughter would tie them to one of the larger sects one day.

Mo Xing (莫惺). The character 惺 is commonly understood as “tranquil”, although it has an older literary meaning of “wise” or “intelligent”, as Mo Lang tells Mo Yu. However, Mo Yu is not particularly literate at the time she chooses it, and doesn’t realise that Mo Lang is rather unkindly choosing a name that’s homophonous with 猩, which means “ape”, and 腥, which means “fishy smell”.

Mo Lang (莫 角); in modern usage, lang means “jade-like stone”, “clean and white”, or “the tinkling of pendants” but it also has an archaic meaning as “white jade” i.e. the most valuable jade.

Mo Yu (莫玉); yu also means “jade”, but in this case, just regular jade, not fancy white jade.

Mo Lihua (莫 莉花). Li, “jasmine”, and hua, “flower”. The character used for her surname is the same as all other members of the Mo family, meaning “no one” or “do not”, but sometimes Mo Lihua likes to troll people by writing her name as 茉莉花, which is the full name for a jasmine flower (the literal translation would be “jasmine jasmine flower”.) Mo Lihua is a reference to the popular folk song Mo Li Hua, which definitely post-dates the CQL timeframe, but I already disclaimed my ahistoricity so we are all just going to deal with that. It’s very popular - Celine Dion and Song Zuying performed it at the Beijing Olympics - and I thought it was particularly appropriate because of a translation singeli showed me:

Oh beautiful jasmine flower / Oh beautiful jasmine flower / Sweet-smelling, beautiful, stems full of buds / Fragrant and white, everyone praises / Let me pluck you down to give to someone else / Jasmine flower, jasmine flower  

LET ME PLUCK YOU DOWN TO GIVE TO SOMEONE ELSE

ahem

Meng Jingqiu (孟经秋); the jing comes from the Shijing, the Book of Songs, which really does use the same character as Meng Shi’s birth name (诗). The qiu comes from the Chunqiu, the Spring and Autumn Annals. These are two of the Five Classics of Confucianism.

Meng Fuqiu (孟府秋); the fu comes from yuefu (乐府), which is a genre of classical poetry intended to mimic folk songs (class issues, anyone...?), and also means governance - something Meng Yao excels at. The qiu, again, comes from Chunqiu and links his courtesy name with Meng Jingqiu. I thought it was nicer than linking him to Jin Guangshitbag.

Wen Guijiao (温 圭角); this is a little complex. A gui was a long jade tablet or scepter, often shaped like a sword (here’s a plain one) (here’s one with poetry on it) (and one with animal masks) (and a very fancy one with dragons) held by imperial rulers for certain ceremonies. The pointed tip is called the guijiao (literally “corner of the jade tablet” but more usefully “tip of the scepter”, I believe). So literally the guijiao is the most delicate piece of an incredibly delicate and ornate piece of jade, but figuratively it means “talents displayed”, as in the chengyu bulu-guijiao (不露圭角) which is literally “do not reveal the tip of the scepter” and means to remain inconspicuous by hiding your talents. And I thought that was nice, for Our Lady of Hidden Badassery.

(here are some more examples of cool gui) 

Update: can’t believe I forgot the comically long list of Wen sect heirs in chapter 11!

Wen Qing = as per canon, “tenderness”

Wen Xu = as per canon, my best guess is approximately “warmth of the rising sun”

Wen Chao = as per canon, approximately “warmth of the dawn”

Wen Liang (温良) = “warm and kind”

Wen Budun (温布顿) = Wimbledon, as in the tennis event

Wen Rou (温柔) = “gentle and soft”

Wen Nuan (温暖) = “warm” (as in, temperature)

Wen Hepai (温和派) = unusual variant of the word for “dove” but more commonly “moderate faction”

Wen Shu (温 淑) = “a gentle and kind woman”

Wen Gehua (温哥华) = Vancouver, as in the Canadian city

Wen Cun (温存) = “tender affection” or “to be attentive” in the romantic sense

Wen Huo (温和) = “lukewarm”

Wen Chadian (温差电) = “thermoelectricity”

Wen Hexing (温和性) = “tenderness”/“gentle character”

[theaveragepenguin]

a short metaphorical analysis of caves in mdzs

you know how the inside of a cave is imaged to be cold, dark, and isolated from the rest of the world? i just think a lot about how mxtx placed two important transitional mdzs events in caves. (note: i refer to transitional here as something leading up to cataclysmic events and violent changes in the protagonist's character, namely, the events that transpired in the xuanwu cave and the cave where lwj hid wwx following the buyetian/nightless city massacre.)

i just find it really interesting that a cave is essentially where yiling laozu began and ended. it is something like a liminal space. think of it as wwx's character changing in the duration between entering and leaving the caves. firstly, following the novel-verse and not cql or the donghua, the xuanwu cave is where wwx first interacts with resentful energy. it is where he discovered the sword which he would later forge into the yin hufu/yin tiger seal. i would argue that it is this moment, and not when he had been thrown down to the burial mounds, that marked the start of his transformation. this is the transitional space/time leading up to the “birth” of the yiling laozu.

secondly, a cave is also where wwx was brought to after he committed the worst crime of his existence as the yiling patriarch—the cold massacre of 3000 (?) people. it is the last place he was known to be in prior to his death, which was caused by the backlash of him destroying the yin hufu/tiger seal—his rejection of resentful energy. wwx, at his worst point, took responsibility for the consequences of demonic cultivation and sacrificed himself. this is the transitional space/time leading to the “death” of the yiling laozu.

on a related note, i also think that the questionable quality of wwx's memories of both caves also serves to emphasize the loss of identity/sense of self and the transformation of him as wwx to yiling laozu and yiling laozu to wwx.

another point of interest: the cave, that environment which i previously mentioned was cold, dark, and isolated, in my opinion, is the perfect image marker of wwx's status in society. he is trapped in a position where he is alone, cut off from those whom he loves. this imagery is also further strengthened by the fact that he had lived in a cave in burial mounds—the demon-slaughtering cave. it even has an evil-sounding name with a blood pool. how negatively perceived and cut off by society can wwx be? a lot, apparently. living in a cave also highlights wwx's poverty and primitiveness, further distancing him from the gentry population that he had been raised in.

so okay, now that the whole sad and lonely experience of being in a cave is established, i just also want to point out that lwj has been to every cave that wwx has explicitly been mentioned to be in. he was there through it all—had even physically held wwx in each one?? wwx fevered on his lap, catching wwx when forced him to cough up blood, physically bringing wwx to safety?? even when wwx thought that he was alone in whatever the cave symbolized, lwj was there. but he didn’t know that. bc his memories of the caves are questionable and damaged, right?

so yeah, tldr: caves are cold and lonely places, and they were great image markers that reinforced wwx’s status as an outcast from society bc of the demonic path.