#did i see a bad jiang cheng take again

[unforth]

Y'all (general) really really need to exercise the block buttons more.

An opinion you don't agree with? Someone makes you uncomfortable? Something you don't like? Even just a person whose way of presenting information makes you uncomfortable (even if you agree with them)?

Block.

BLOCK.

B.L.O.C.K.

Look, I get it. I used to think seeing opinions I didn't agree with was important, that exposing myself was a way of staying informed. But finally, I hit a breaking point - I already knew the viewpoints I disagreed with, and seeing them every day was making me miserable.

I've blocked liberally since then.

And the most remarkable thing happened: I routinely see posts where lots of people are disagreeing with the same person...and I already have that person blocked.

Because the most insidious thing about letting myself see the negativity and things that made me unhappy all the time is that leaving it all there gave me the impression that there were a LOT of vocally awful people saying things that hurt me.

But there aren't.

There's actually a surprisingly small number of people who get off on trolling or are so marinated in hate that they have to spew it all around them, and when you block those people, the world gets much more peaceful.

You're not growing as a person by exposing yourself to rhetoric that hurts you. You're just hurting, which is exactly how those people want you to feel: they want you to be in as much agony as they are.

Don't give them the satisfaction.

BLOCK THEM.

(tbh I've hit the point that I think people who willfully, deliberately, loudly, intentionally don't block are engaging in a form of self-harm. seriously, you're not taking a noble stand, no one cares if you don't block except the people hurting you.)

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Wasn’t Jiang Cheng so bad at relationships that he was blacklisted by matchmakers, even though he is one of the most powerful and richest men in the setting?

That he was.

Three failed dates confirmed during Mo Dao Zu Shi's second anniversary (10 strange facts about Mo Dao Zu Shi) on MXTX's weibo

Transcribed:

5. 江澄相亲过三次。由于各种原因，上了女修相亲黑名单。

他的要求是：素颜美女，温柔听话，勤俭持家，家世清白，修为不能太高性格不能太强话不能太多嗓门不能太大花钱不能太狠。对金凌好。

English:

Jiang Cheng has been on three blind dates. Due to various reasons, he has been blacklisted by all female cultivators.

His requirements are: a natural beauty, gentle and obedient, thrifty, with a pristine family background, not too high in cultivation, not too strong in personality, not too talkative, not too loud, and doesn't spend ruthlessly. Be nice to Jin Ling.

This is expanded on as a short in the CN Audio Drama where his Aunt Yu tries to set him up with a lady cultivator and she leaves in anger not even a minute within 5 minutes of speaking with him.

Other noteworthy mentions of his stellar personality from the 2016 broadcast interview:

女主持：对，公屏上有一段刷过去了，就是江澄作为江氏的族长，他为什么这么多年都没有结婚呢？

Yes, there is some public discussions, as to why Jiang Cheng, as the head of the Jiang family, hasn't married even after so many years?

墨香铜臭：就性格比较差劲吧，谈了几个，吹了。

He just has a (n) 差劲 chà jìn (average/lame/disappointing, let down) temperament, he dated several times but they were all failures...

The third date is also spotlighted in a season 3 extra of the CN Audio Drama: Blind Date. ( You can find this on MissEvan as a purchase )

???: Incredible!

Jiang Cheng: You are?

Rong Yan: Anping Rong sect’s Rong Yan. Ah, it was Bomu Yu who brought me here. She had told me to come her to wait for her.

Jiang Cheng: Ah, so Jiumu is who brought you...

Rong Yan: Mn.

Jiang Cheng: Then please have a seat.

Rong Yan: Alright. Jiang-zongzhu , just now, the weapon you were wielding was Zidian? You were amazing! I’ve never seen anyone with such a magnificently and elegant mastery of a whip before!

Jiang Cheng: Ha, I’m alright with it.

Rong Yan:Jiang-zongzhu is being humble.

Jiang Cheng: The purple dress you are wearing is rather nice.

Rong Yan: Oh, really?

Jiang Cheng: It’s a shame however... If your skin was a bit paler, it would look even better.

Rong Yan: Eh…? I didn’t realize Jiang-zongzhu was so knowledgeable about fashion.

Jiang Cheng: Oh, I’m just making a casual observation. Mn? What’s that smell? Do you smell it?

Rong Yan: Ah, what?

Jiang Cheng: It smells like a mix of flower pollens. It’s like a poisonous gas. Eh? It seems like it’s coming from your direction--

Rong Yan: Ah, my clothes are often perfumed. You don't seem to be used to the scent, Jiang-zongzhu.

Jiang Cheng: Oh, so that’s why. You’re right, I’m not used to it.

Rong Yan: Uh…

Jiang Cheng: Eh?

Rong Yan: J-Jiang-Zongzhu, why are you looking at me like that?

Jiang Cheng: Are you feeling unwell?

Rong Yan: …Ah?

Jiang Cheng: Your face is white and red in splotches . Are you sick?

Rong Yan: I… This…! (In feigned patience) Thank you for your concern, Jiang-zongzhu. I’m fine.

Aunt Yu: Eh? I see that you two have already started conversing. Aiya, I seemed to have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Ah, have you two been properly introduced yet? Aiya, Jiang Cheng you haven't even offered Miss Rong some tea yet?!

Rong Yan: Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Bomu. But I won't be taking any tea. I’m not feeling too well. I’ll be taking my leave now. Good bye.

Aunt Yu: Eh? E-EH?! Miss Rong! Sigh Aiya… JIANG CHENG!!!!

JC: Jiumu.

Aunt Yu: Did you stick your foot in your mouth again?!

Jiang Cheng: Of course I didn’t. I spoke properly the whole time and gave her some suggestions. She didn't listen, not understanding what's good for her and left. Hmph, not even a thanks.

Aunt Yu: This is already the third time! Don’t you know there’s no one left who wants to matchmake for you?! Finally, there came a Miss Rong who was interested in you. She put on such make-up! She took this so seriously! I had such high hopes for this meeting! And in the end?! You angered and drove her away! Aiya, you’ll be the death of me! If you want to be like this, then just stay single forever!

Jiang Cheng: Hmph, as if I care!

[mxtxfanatic]

The Lan juniors don't call Hanguang-jun for help because they forgot their emergency flares. Jin Ling doesn't call anyone for help despite having flares because he'd rather endanger himself and the Jiang disciples tasked with protecting him than call for his uncle's aid. These events:

Jiang Cheng’s next words were wrapped in thorns. “Why are you still standing there? Are you waiting for prey to rush toward you and stick themselves on your sword? If you can’t capture whatever’s living in Dafan Mountain, don’t ever come see me again!”

—Chapt. 8: Pride III, fanyiyi

Lan Sizhui shouted, “Jin-gongzi! Fire your signal!” Jin Ling played deaf, determined to take down this freakish creature. His expression was calm and collected. This time, he nocked three arrows. The soul eating maiden didn’t look angry, though she had been struck in the head twice. She continued to smile just as she had smiled before as she advanced on Jin Ling. Even though she danced while walking, her speed was terrifying, and barely a moment passed before she was already halfway to him. In a flash, several cultivators appeared beside him and attacked the statue, hindering her steps. Jin Ling shot arrow after arrow, refusing to stop, as though possessed by an iron will to shoot every last arrow in his quiver before engaging in close combat. His hand was indeed quite steady, and his aim was true— only it was too bad no cultivation weapon was of any use! Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji were both sitting at Fojiao Village, waiting for news, and it was completely unclear when they would realize something was wrong and rush over. ... Already three or four of the cultivators fighting the soul eating maiden had lost their souls, but Jin Ling unsheathed his sword. Standing only meters away from the maiden, his heart thumping madly, hot blood rushing to his head, he shouted, “If my sword doesn’t cut off her head, I’ll die here—but if I die, I die!”

—Chapt. 9: Pride IV, fanyiyi

...are not unconnected.

Upon seeing that Jin Ling was fine, Jiang Cheng’s heart crashed back to earth like a boulder. Immediately furious, he said, “Didn’t you bring a signal? Don’t you know to fire it if you encounter something like this? Don’t try to show off! Come here!” Since Jin Ling hadn’t caught the soul eating maiden, he was also angry. “Wasn’t it you who told me I had to take the thing down no matter what?! You told me if I didn’t get it, I should never come see you again!” Jiang Cheng wanted to slap the stinking brat so hard he’d fly back up his mother’s birth canal—but he did actually say those words.

—Chapt. 10: Pride V, fanyiyi

[waitineedaname]

Very specific but I'd love Jiang Cheng being Jin Ling's favorite uncle in aro4aro chengqing au and Wei Wuxian being mortally offended

People seemed to think that Jiang Yanli was completely blind to her brothers’ faults. This was not true. She just generally did not think those faults were nearly as bad as people made them out to be. Most of what other people found bothersome about her brothers, she was charmed by because she was nothing if not a doting sister.

Being doting and fond, however, did not mean she was unaware of how annoying her brothers were. In fact, due to regular exposure to the two of them, she was extremely aware of just how annoying they could be.

Case in point: their tendency to make everything into a competition, including the affection of her own son.

“I’m just saying, if anyone is going to be the fun uncle, it’s obviously me,” Wei Wuxian said, shaking a rattle over Jin Ling’s head.

“He’s two,” Jiang Cheng snapped, bouncing Jin Ling on his knee. “Anything that moves and makes noise is fun to him.”

“Well, I move and make the most noise, so.” Wei Wuxian leaned in and started making faces at his nephew. “Right, A-Ling? Right?”

Jin Ling gurgled happily and clapped his hands.

Jiang Yanli sighed and leaned against her husband. She appreciated her brothers taking her son off her hands for a while, but really, they were enough of a handful themselves. “Don’t fight, boys,” she said, shaking her head fondly. “A-Ling loves you both.”

“Yeah, but he loves me most, right shijie?” Wei Wuxian shot her a grin. Jiang Cheng huffed and smacked the back of his head, making Jin Ling shriek happy peals of laughter. She could practically feel Zixuan roll his eyes behind her.

“Please don’t give my son ideas,” he said in the long-suffering tone he tended to adopt when he had to be patient with his brothers-in-law. Yanli appreciated the fragile civility they attempted these days. “A-Ling, no hitting, okay?”

“Unless it’s your da-jiu,” Jiang Cheng added in a loud whisper, “Then you should hit him as hard as you can.” 

“Nooo, A-Ling would never hit me, he’s such a good boy, isn’t he?” Wei Wuxian cooed, tickling Jin Ling’s belly. Jin Ling shrieked with laughter again and one of his flailing fists collided directly with Wei Wuxian’s eye. 

Yanli only barely managed to hide her laugh behind her hand. Jiang Cheng snickered, and Zixuan let out a quiet huff of laughter.

“Ah, it was just an accident!” Wei Wuxian insisted. “He’s going to be a very strong cultivator with quick reflexes someday, I can tell!” And then, because he never learned to leave well enough alone, he said, “We should just ask him. Just because he’s little, that doesn’t mean he can’t answer questions!” He poked Jin Ling in the belly again to get his attention, “A-Ling, who’s your favorite? Da-jiu or jiujiu?”

Technically, Jiang Cheng should be er-jiu, but he got priority as the one who met Jin Ling first and saw him the most often. It couldn’t really be helped; Wei Wuxian was still unofficially banned from Carp Tower due to his inability to stay out of trouble, which meant Jiang Cheng got to visit his nephew on diplomatic visits, but Wei Wuxian only got to see him during their frequent trips to Lotus Pier. That meant Jiang Yanli was fairly certain she knew the answer, even before Jin Ling said it.

“Jiujiu!” he happily cried, reaching up to grab Jiang Cheng’s cheeks. The betrayal on Wei Wuxian’s face was comical, especially compared to the way Jiang Cheng’s face lit up. Yanli felt a little bad for Wei Wuxian’s feelings, but it was worth it to see her typically dour baby brother beam under his nephew’s uncomplicated affection.

“Ah, come here A-Xian,” Yanli said, sitting up so she wasn’t leaning against Zixuan and could instead summon her pouting brother to her side. “Don’t take it to heart, okay? He’s a baby, he doesn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

“I know, I know, shijie,” Wei Wuxian sighed, but leaned in so she could pet his hair anyway. “You don’t think I would be resentful of a baby, do you?”

The noise Jin Zixuan made behind her made it very clear that he wouldn’t put it past Wei Wuxian to be resentful of a baby. Yanli reached back and pinched his thigh, but otherwise focused on Wei Wuxian. “The next baby we have, I’ll deliver here in Lotus Pier, how about that? Qing-mei can be my midwife, and you can get first dibs on holding the baby. Aside from me and A-Xuan, of course.”

“Promise?” he said, giving her the pleading eyes that always earned him an extra portion of soup. 

“I promise.” She kissed his forehead, and this seemed to improve his mood, though his eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion in Jin Zixuan’s direction. 

“You’re not already having another baby, are you?” he asked. Zixuan coughed awkwardly, and Yanli pinched Wei Wuxian’s cheek this time.

“A-Xian, be nice,” she said, lightly scolding. “We’ll tell you when we know, okay?”

“Okay, shijie,” Wei Wuxian grumbled, still shooting Jin Zixuan judgmental looks. He turned back to Jin Ling, who was being gently tossed in the air by Jiang Cheng. “A-Ling! Do you wanna go down the river and visit A-Yuan?”

“Yuan-ge, Yuan-ge!” Jin Ling happily exclaimed, clapping his hands. His uncles scooped him up and grabbed the bag of diapers and snacks Yanli had brought, bundling him out onto the pier with promises not to drown their beloved nephew in the lake. 

Zixuan let out a tired sigh as soon as they left the room, taking his turn to lean against his wife’s side. “Why are they always this exhausting?” 

Yanli laughed and petted his hair. “Maybe another baby would give them something else to focus on,” she suggested lightly. Zixuan immediately flushed red and hid his face in her shoulder, making her laugh again. 

Yes, her brothers’ antics could be annoying, but they were good uncles. She was very grateful to be able to trust her son in their hands for a few hours.

[angelheony]

'Won't you let me take care of you?'

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶ Synopsis ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

When the famed Sandu Shengshou comes back to Lotus pier after a difficult night hunt heavily injured, its up to his beloved to care for him.

Gender neutral reader

Warnings- might be ooc, vague mentions of injuries and bad grammar.

More writers notes at the bottom, Enjoy your reading!!!

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The moon seemingly at its peak, shines down on the home of the Jiang clan's sect leader, lotus pier. But the purple clad cultivator cannot be seen in its halls, only his restless lover sitting near the windowsill waiting for him to come home. Unable to find sleep due to the constant worrying, they could only look outside to wait for his arrival.

'Its so late now, where are you Jiang Cheng.... '

The sitting figure thought in their head, Closing their stinging eyes for a bit.

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶ ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

"Is there not a comfortable and fully functioning bed in this room, that you decide to find sleep on the window sill, of all places?"

A stern voice disturbs your quick eye resting, eyes widening as you quickly shake your head to remove all the tiredness from your mind

"I was not sleeping, merely closing my eyes for a moment"

But your hoarse voice says otherwise, 'did I actually fall a sleep?' you ask yourself in your mind.

An answer you have received from the sharp look the purple clad man gave you

".. past that, what took you so long? are you well?"

Quickly standing up to greet the man, you look at his disheveled form with a worried smile

"....Mere cuts, nothing serious"

Jiang Cheng coughs out, not so slick of him. You give him a stern glace closing on the distance to observe closer. Only humming and giving him a small peck on the cheek as a greeting, which he gladly accepted though masking it with nonchalance.

"Somehow I find it hard to believe that,"

"Are you calling me weak-?"

A sharp intake of breath cuts him off, As you feel his form for any injuries. Which there clearly are.

"No, Your quite strong, Just not invincible,"

",So strong that you even lie to me now. How can you sleep at night, crowding my mind with worries..." You mutter out in distraught

"I am well on my own, who asked you to worry about me anyways..? Sleep, I can handle it on my own"

He turns away not meeting his lover's gaze. Mind also plagued with worries and self loathing. He pulls away from your hold, wanting to distance himself.

"Yes I worry for you in my own behalf, and seeing you hurt pains me as well. That is because I love you, Now please, won't you let me take care of you?"

You take his hand with a loving expression, not swayed by his stern words. Only wishing to melt his cold exterior, and give him all the comfort he deserves.

His form stiffens at your words, finding it hard to believe. He wants to fight against this warmth, wanting to protect and strengthen the facade he puts up to protect his heart from being torn apart again. But the fatigue catches up to him, only giving in to your words

He lets you drag him towards the bed to sit down, as you move around to get some medical supplies

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶ ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

"this will sting a bit, just tell me to stop okay?"

You caress his cheek softly, reassuring him that your here to take good care of his entirety. He just stays quiet, letting you do as you please

You cleaned and bandaged the rest of his wound for the rest of the time, quickly finishing as he didn't utter one bit of sound, even if the pain stung a bit too hard. Only choosing to gaze on your gentle handling, filling his soul with warmth, contrasting the cold temperature of the night.

"all is done. How are you feeling?"

"better.." He sighed out, stretching out his limbs from the long sitting. Though careful enough to not undo the bandages.

You stand up to clean the place, of the used towels and bottles. To keeping the things on their rightful place. Jiang Cheng was quick to aid you, but you quickly stop him.

"A-cheng I can handle this fine on my own, you should just res-"

I try to take the stuff from his hand but he quickly cuts me off,

"And leave you here to clamor about? Its best that I help you get this done so 'we both' can finally rest"

Jiang Cheng replies firmly , which leads for no room to debate .

A sigh just resounds from your lips, nodding in defeat.

After all of the cleaning was done you both found yourselves on the comforts of your bed, limbs in a tangle.

"Next time if I come home late, just sleep without me okay? Don't exhaust yourself to stupid things."

Jiang cheng mutters out, pulling you in his embrace tighter.

"You know I can't sleep without you...Hey, How about i'll just come with you on your next night hunt? So we can watch each others backs" You suggested whilst leaning onto his touch

"No, it's best if you stay here inste-"

"You know I can handle myself fine on my own A-cheng"

"I'm not saying you couldn't, but it scares me okay? I cant keep an eye on you at all times. And we cant be certain what's out there..."

You raise your eyebrows at the words the man before you has said,

"For my peace of mind, just wait for me here... I already have Jin Ling to worry about whilst outside." He sighs out. Tone laced with hidden care, he really does care for his nephew even if its not shown much.

"Damn, did a fierce corpse hit you in the head or something? ....No are you possessed?"

You try to stifle your laughter at the flustered Jiang Cheng, him just glaring at you.

"This is what I get for being sincere for one time? okay suit yourse- ack."

You cut him off by hitting him on the head with a pillow

"Aish, your so adorable I wanna keep you on my pocket at all times."

You shower him with hits, filled with affection.

"-Hey stop, your so childish! Don't make me hit you back I swear-"

He rants out under the cuteness aggression of his lover

"Shut up you love me, admit it"

You stop with a laugh as he pulls you back on his side taking the pillow away.

"You-... ugh just shut up and sleep!"

He exclaims out, frustrated and even more flustered now.

" 'kay fine...."

✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶ ✶⋆.˚꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

AHHH this is my first writing ever pls don't flame me too hard. I just finished reading most of the fics about jc, wasnt enough so I decided to take matters in my own hands. I take reqs if anyone wants to ask T.T

[bafvkun]

I’ll never shut up about how much I respect MXDX as a writer, she’s just THAT amazing and writes beautifully. She’s so good at writing different kind of character developments depending on the age and it’s particularly flagrant in MDZS.

Im just so found of how in the present of the story all the adults, the ones that were old enough during the whole Wei Wuxian ascension, Burial Mounds etc etc, have such deep rooted opinions. They lived through what WWX did and will never forget, they’ll teach the younger generations how dangerous and bad him and his cultivation were and that if he ever came back around the world needs to reunite to beat him again.

But ! Some juniors (and I’m mainly talking about Sizhui, Jingyi and Jin Ling since they’re the main ones) have been in direct contact with Wei Wuxian for a fairly good amount of time. They didn’t know it was him, either not suspecting it could be him at all or just not believing it could be WWX in Mo Xuanyu’s body.

They’re still so very young, just about 15, and they are still capable to build their own opinions and views on things. Despite their educations young people tend to trust what they see since they don’t have experience, what they’re seeing right now is what will be considered and experience and proof when they grow up. As for the adults they only believe what they saw in the past, what was their own experiences when they were young themselves.

Sizhui never doubted Wei Wuxian. When they all got kidnapped and WWX, Lan Zhan and Wen Ning came to save them he knew deep in his heart that Wei Wuxian would have never done it. He saw with his own eyes how he took care of them, how he saved them time and time again, how he put himself in danger for them. He’s still young and not yet entirely influenced by the elders, he still has a mind of his own and now that he witnessed the good, caring and mischievous side of WWX he has his own strong opinion (seeing Lan Zhan trust him so utterly must have helped a lot too).

Jin Ling is in a very dire position compared to the Lan Juniors. His parents are dead because of Wei Wuxian and his uncle hates him more than anyone. He grew up seeing the hatred that Jiang Cheng has for WWX, he was educated to brandish his sword to him if he ever came across him. But just like Sizhui and Jingyi he saw Wei Wuxian with his own two eyes, he saw him tease him and take care of him, he witnessed how despite what terrible thing he did in the past he still has a good heart deep within him and that guilt and grief are still driving him.

He is torn between what he was taught to believe, what his family taught him about someone that he should consider as the devil himself and what his heart itself learned and believes, that in the end he is the one that saved him and took care of him when his own uncle would have threatened to beat the shit out of him.

Wei Wuxian is a good mentor, as mischievous as he can be he also knows how to teach (surprisingly). He makes experiences into lessons in a very endearing way for the juniors, he teaches them through life itself and not through oh so boring lessons.

The juniors, no matter how much they mock him and insult him, appreciate him. He’s a good person, he’s social and nice to have around, he makes everything more bearable for everyone. They were able through their own experiences with him to build their own judgment. Either it will align with their mentor/family or it will not, but no matter what they’ll never fully hate Wei Wuxian the way the elders do.

[rayan12sworld]

💠💙From the Future for the Past

By:friedchickenlord

Summary:

Silent flaps of butterfly wings.

Given the chance, he will gladly change the past—or making new branch on the road, Lan Wangji isn’t picky. But looking at his awkward fifteen-year-old self trying to come to terms with his feeling is kind of fun. He… might understand a little why his husband is so fond of teasing him.

~~未来から過去に

Bonus Chapter, Wei Wuxian's side:

Please give back Wei Wuxian’s husband. He is three years old and he wants kisses.

Chapter:3/3

Words:27,193

Status:completed

One moment, Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen are instructing the junior disciple on Lan Sect sword form with Hanguang-jun watching from afar. The next second, there is a bright light and a man dressed in black appearing in the middle of field, brandishing a pitch black dizi with red tassel like a weapon. “GIVE ME BACK MY HUSBAND!” he shouts as he blindly tries to kick Lan Qiren. There is chaos—Jiang Cheng shouting ‘what the fuck, what the fuck’, Nie Huaisang screeching in horror, Lan Qiren trying to outshout everyone, and Lan Xichen trying to bring order—which is broken by a huff and a sound of laughter from Hanguang-jun. The unknown man, hair tied in half high ponytail with red ribbon, whips his head to the source of laughter. When he sees Hanguang-jun, everyone can see the rapid change of his emotion from anger to astonishment to a besotted one. “Er-gege!” the man cheers, leaving the chaos he has made to run to Hanguang-jun who has already opened his arms. “Er-gege! You laugh! Your poor husband has missed you so!” “Husband,” Hanguang-jun answers, catching the man who has thrown himself at the older Lan Wangji’s embrace without any shame. “I miss you too.” “!!! Lan Zhan! I told you to give me warning before speaking like that! Your husband’s heart can’t take it!”

~~

Lan Qiren coughs out blood as he points at the shameless couple with a shaky finger. “Y-you! The pig that touches my nephew! What did you said your name again?” he shouts in anger, wiping the blood that drops on his chin with his other hand. The man in black stops kissing Hanguang-jun just to laugh again. But, after he seemingly understands that he needs to explain and can’t keep playing around, he detaches himself from the older Lan Wangji—who quickly wraps an arm around the other man’s waist—and bows low to Lan Qiren’s direction. “This humble one is your worst student, Wei Ying!” he greets cheerfully. “Courtesy name Wei Wuxian, of Gusu Lan Sect… I have a forehead ribbon and all! Do you want to see, Uncle?” the man begins rummaging the lapel of his robes before pulling a Cloud Patterned forehead ribbon with triumph. “You are not Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Cheng snaps, pulling his shixiong to stand behind him. “The fuck, you look nothing like him! What kind of joke is it?!” “The joke is I died once and got offered a body—aw, Lan Zhan, don’t look like that!” Wei Wuxian—the older one—smiles gently at the stunned and pale-faced younger Lan Wangji who loses all the color on his face at the word ‘I died’. “I am alright.”

~~

.“STOP TRYING TO MOLEST EACH OTHER IN THE OPEN!” Uncle Qiren roars, pointing his disciplinary ruler at Hanguang-jun who has his husband pinned on the magnolia tree, lips red and swollen and forehead ribbon crooked. During the last few days of the stay for Hanguang-jun and Wei Wuxian (in Mo Xuanyu’s body)—to build an array to go back to their time, to kill Wen Rouhan when they are on it—Lan Qiren and the rest of Cloud Recesses have to endure the public display of affection from the loving married couples. They have been separated for too many weeks. They are so shameless that even Wei Wuxian can’t look at any of them at their eyes—even if one of them is still him. Wei Wuxian can’t imagine him and Lan Zhan being that shameless. Especially Lan Zhan. Oh, he really is a bad influence on Lan Wangji. “Er-gege!” he cries, throwing himself on his Lan Wangji when he realizes that he truly is a pig who has stolen Lan Qiren’s prized cabbage. “Please don’t throw me away because I am a bad influence!”

[rosethornewrites]

NR, E, & M reading since 10/30

Finished

Not Rated:

The Untamed: With Nature's Help, by YenGirl (2 chapters)

A fun filled afternoon turns into something more meaningful thanks to some grilled trout, a thunderstorm and a cave.

What is 'white', what is 'black', by KarenF (3rd in a series, 7 chapters)

Lan QiRen learns that there is no clear divisible lines between black and white. The most important thing is the heart.

And, Wei WuXian’s Fourth Path does work splendidly in emergencies!

Explicit:

We can fix that, by Spindoctor (12 chapters)

Lan Wangji has an arranged marriage with Nie Mingjue. The marriage goes well. Then they see how starved Wei Ying is in the burial mounds. That's unacceptable. They take him home and fix it. Thoroughly.

2am on a saturday, by detectorist

“He’s so beautiful,” Lan Zhan says, tongue loosened by the weed. Besides, Mianmian’s room is his safe space. He can say what he likes here, so he does. “I want to know what his mouth tastes like. I want him to put his mouth on my—”

“No, no, no, no,” Jin Zixuan says, making an X with his arms. “For the love of Christ, keep it PG-13, please.”

—

In which Lan Zhan gets high, slides into Wei Ying's DMs, and somehow ends up having the harmonica played to him at 2am in the morning.

Wishing on Runway Lights, by inflight_gremlin (🔒, 7 chapters)

With the Chrismas holidays fast approaching, so does the storm of the century. Through it all, issue after issue, no one expected the little wishes made on runway lights to bring two strangers together like never before.

Or

Amidst flight delays and cancellations, Wei Ying finds himself taking care of a young boy left stranded at the airport. The initially unfortunate circumstances of their meeting would lead Wei Ying to meeting Lan Wangji, the child’s father. From then on, it’s a quick one way trip to falling in love.

Mature:

familiar motions, by moonxlight

Lan Wangji makes origami bunnies to cope with his emotions, in which he has many.

(Most of which are related to Wei Ying)

You Done Fucked Up, by enbysaurus_rex (5 chapters)

Jiang Cheng almost kills Wei Wuxian (again), but this time, he fucks up and it's on Lan territory. A very, very long come-to-Jesus moment, enforced by the Lan brothers and the Lan juniors.

the soft animal of your body, by howodd5ever

The problem was that he didn’t remember anymore why he’d left. Sure, something about finding himself or discovering his place in the world, or whatever other bullshit he’d talked himself into to end up in the middle of nowhere. Alone.

He missed Lan Zhan.

Wei Wuxian sets off alone after the events at Guanyin Temple and finds himself in pretty serious trouble.

clouds in the whites of our eyes, by butchgoth (GremlinGirl)

“About-about earlier, I…”

“I misunderstood. My fault.”

“What? You didn’t misunderstand. I don’t think.” He smiled, rubbing at his arm. The snap in the air was as crisp as biting into ice chips, and goosebumps were rising on his skin. “Uh, okay, um, this is really weird for me. I...don’t remember you.”

Lan Wangji slowly glanced over at him, his lips twitching into a frown. “What?”

“Yeah…” He tipped his head back, looking up at the stars. He’d always been able to see more when he’d lived out on the lake in Yunmeng, but the city wasn’t half-bad. “This is uh…”

“The doctors said you were fine.”

His head twisted, and Wei Wuxian stopped walking. Lan Wangji did as well, as if on instinct, and they stared at each other. “Yeah, well...I wasn’t. I don’t remember much of the hospital, but...I know what jiejie told me. After the accident...I woke up, everything was fine for about a week. I was going in and out of consciousness, but I seemed to be improving. But, then I had a seizure. And then another one. And another one. They took me for an MRI, and my brain was swelling.” He twisted up his lips, and Lan Wangji reached out for him, only to pull his hand back at the last second.

used to want you dead (now i only want you gone), by Ariaste

“It is not a coup,” Meng Yao says, which he has said at every weekly covert cheeseburger assignation since they began doing them. “A coup is, quote: a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government. Unquote.”

“The HOA counts as a governing body. Trying to take it over is a coup.”

***

Two gremlins, eating cheeseburgers in the car in a parking lot at 1am, five feet apart because they're not friends.

Unfinished

Not Rated:

The Cultivation World Needs a Reset, by FangirlingIsLife

Do not succumb to anger.

It was one of the founding rules of the Lan Clan and yet Lan Zhan could feel nothing other than a cold fury filling his veins.

He watched as his husband in all but ceremony let himself fall to Jiang Cheng’s blade.

Even at his death, his soul mate would never raise a hand to defend himself against their tyranny.

Well fuck that.

i want to live a real life, by stvrrylost

In the wake of his first death, Wei Wuxian, the only child of Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze, had left his husband, Lan Zhan, a letter and a son, a small four year old boy, nearly five year old, to look after.

In the wake of his second, Wei Wuxian had left him a child again, only this time, the child was himself, nearly thirty years ago.

Explicit:

Now that I am awake, by jalpari

As long as the sea is bound to wash up on the sand…

and the stars are shining above…

we will meet again....

Or; the post-canon LWJ/WWX getting together and JC & WWX reconciliation fic I began writing long before any of my other wangxian stories.

The Threads of Fate, by WaitForTheSnitch

“What would you do if you could have him back?” Nie Huaisang asked him, a bit too seriously as he leaned forward.

“There is no way for a dead cultivator to return,” Jiang Cheng scoffed, not even willing to entertain the thought.

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Nie Huaisang shrugged, “Even if he came back, that wouldn’t do much to help, would it? Your sister is still gone. His reputation still damaged.”

“Stop speaking in riddles,” Jiang Wanyin growled, “What did you come here for, Nie Huaisang?”

“I asked you what you would do for your brother back,” Nie Huaisang started, “I would do anything to have mine back, Jiang Wanyin. And I’m here to offer you that same choice. Because our brothers’ deaths never should have happened. They happened because of schemes and plots. They happened because of lies and deception. Your brother was made to be a villain and was led to his death because he was too powerful. Mine was murdered because he stood in the way of Jin Guangshan.”

There's nothing Jiang Cheng wouldn't do to have his siblings back. And when Nie Huaisang comes to him with a proposal to save them by changing everything, he doesn't even hesitate to agree.

Mature:

You and Me (We Have History), by TheImpossibility

This was so typical of Wei Wuxian. He had an uncanny knack for being absent when he was needed, and present when he was not. Jiang Cheng wanted him to be gone, needed him to be dead —no he didn’t— but there he was, aimlessly wandering around Yunmeng without a trace of his memory.

It was maddeningly typical of him.

Jiang Cheng felt an overwhelming urge to scream.

我心中的恐怖；forever haunting me, by bonesbythesea

“Blood splatter across a snowy mountain was what greeted Wei Wuxian. Lan Zhan unmoving in Wen Ning’s arms, truly the jade statue he was described to be.”

Lan Zhan's punishment, but what if it happened way before the siege?

[mdzs-fics]

The Return by LtLJ

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence (CQL) Series - 5 works 63k Words

The Return tells a different series of events to canon. It begins, unfortunately, with the death of Mo Xuanyu as part of a summoning array. But then …

The pacing of this series is great, and each story flows well into the next. I found the series highly entertaining.

[Must have an account with Archive of Our Own in order to read. An invitation is readily provided on the website.]

Brotherhood 1 chapter 10k words

Wei Wuxian didn't answer. Jiang Cheng turned to see his stricken expression. Jiang Cheng suppressed a groan. "Wei Wuxian! What else did you do?"

Jin Guangyao said, "The Yiling Patriarch has no golden core."

Wei Wuxian fixed his dark gaze on Jin Guangyao and snarled, "You're going to regret this. I swear it."

Jiang Cheng thought this was a distraction, he just had no idea why it was distracting. "What? Because he's dead?"

"No, no. It was gone before he died." Jin Guangyao seemed to be enjoying this more and more. "But in my attempts to find his spirit, I realized the Yiling Patriarch's golden core was still in this world, even though he no longer was." He added deliberately, "The Yiling Patriarch's golden core is in your chest."

Five years after the death of Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng is called to Carp Tower by the Chief Cultivator in a thinly veiled bid to get rid of the Jiang sect and enslave the Yiling Patriarch.

Invited into the treasure room, things do not go well, as Jin Guangyao shows his hand a bit too early. Revelations abound, and Jiang Cheng can do little about them except attempt an escape with a newly resurrected Wei Wuxian.

Alliance 1 chapter 15k words

"You should tell him to call you 'A-Die,'" Wei Wuxian suggested.

It was a good idea and Jiang Cheng was mad he hadn't thought of it. He crouched down eye-level with Jin Ling. "Can you call jiujiu 'A-Die' until we get to Lotus Pier?" At Jin Ling's mulish expression, he added, "It's practice for cultivating, like when we pretend to be on a night hunt."

"Jiujiu is jiujiu." Jin Ling pouted. "And I don't want to train. Xiaoshu said I didn't have to!"

Of course he did, Jiang Cheng thought with an under the breath growl. Why bother to train you when he was planning to murder you? Busy braiding Wen Ning's hair, Wei Wuxian said, "Bribe him, Jiang Cheng."

"I know!" Jiang Cheng told him, annoyed. He turned back to Jin Ling. "If you do it, jiujiu will get you a present."

"A puppy!" Jin Ling clapped his hands in delight.

"Augh!" Wei Wuxian shuddered.

Jiang Cheng snorted as he pushed to his feet. "Serves you right."

Now that they have escaped out of Carp Tower with Jin Ling, Jiang Cheng and company make for Lotus Pier. After arrival, there are some uncomfortable discussions, letters are sent, and a group of Lan juniors encounter a rogue cultivator in a silver mask who save them from a yao on Dafan Mountain. After battling with the yao alongside Lan Wangji, an arm flies through the group and knocks Wei Wuxian unconscious.

Upon waking, Wei Wuxian finds himself in Cloud Recesses, with Lan Wangji willing to help him. There is a meeting of Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji at the gates and a plan to meet in Caiyi is made.

Conspiracy 1 chapter 13k words

Wei Ying's whisper was furious, "So I saved his life after he nearly drowned Wen Ning, and then he betrayed you and your uncle and all the other Lan, and then tried to feed Mianmian to the Xuanwu? Why didn't I hate him before now?"

Because you forgive too easily, Lan Wangji thought. "I do not know," he said.

Wei Ying started down the slope again. "At least now we know why he's involved with Jin Guangyao's plots. There's never been a bad situation he didn't manage to make worse."

Lan Wangji could only agree. Su Minshan had been prideful and overconfident, but so were most young disciples. It was his habit of never taking any lesson from his mistakes and then blaming others for every misfortune that had led to the degeneration of his character.

After meeting in Caiyi, our group follows the demonic arm that Jiang Cheng managed to capture and end up on Xinglu ridge. After an unwise journey into one of the tombs, Wei Wuxian transfers a curse mark from one of the young Jiang disciples to himself. As the Nie arrive, he gets rid of the curse - mostly. A discussion with Nie Huaisang ensues.

There are a number of discussions and plans are made for a confrontation. More is exposed as Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng finally piece together the words of Su Minshan and Jin Guangyao in the treasure room while speaking of their sister.

Confrontation 4 chapters 22k words

When dawn broke, Wei Wuxian stood on the roof of the Sword Hall. Towards the far end of the town's harbor, the boats that would carry the sect leaders to Lotus Pier made ready to embark. In the courtyard below, the Jiang disciples checked their supplies and weapons with quick efficiency. It was almost time, and they were as prepared as they could be.

Wei Wuxian had put away the blue robes Jiang Cheng had given him and wore the red-trimmed black cotton he had come back to life in, cleaned of blood and smoke but still tinged with the sulfur of Nightless City. No more pretending.

The piece of Yin Iron that they had taken from Xue Yang in Jinlintai set in his sleeve, a familiar burn against his skin and the surface of his mind.

Beside him, Wen Ning stood like a statue, his face lifted to the golden glow of the afternoon sun on the lake. Like the disciples in the courtyard, it was time for Wen Ning to take his place for the battle to come. Wei Wuxian said, "Do you want revenge, Wen Ning?"

Wen Ning's eyes opened, his pupils lost in solid black. He said, "Yes, gongzi. Yes, I do."

Wei Wuxian nodded. "Today you shall have it."

The Sects come Lotus Pier. In a scene dimly reminiscent of the Second Siege of the Burial Mounds, traitors and murderers are exposed. Some meet their end immediately, others …

Wei Wuxian suffers, meets a much younger Lan Sizhui, and is invited to Gusu once more.

Reunion 1 chapter 4k words

An epilogue which wraps up the series well. No more to be said.

[veliseraptor]

So that latest Zelkam art of the core transfer has been sucking my brain out of my head all night. And now I can't stop thinking of how much JC's inherited that he never wanted or knew: Zidian (mother), the core (brother), Jin Ling (sister), Suibian (brother x2). I'd include the Jiang name and clan if I wanted to include his father. And it hurts me. He's left with so many remnants of his loved ones and yet how hollow does he feel? How unloved? Answers surely depend on post/canon timeline but idk. I'm just wrecked. *dies quietly*

I have a lot of Feelings about the ways in which Jiang Cheng really does just keep getting handed inheritances he doesn't want to have. People keep giving him things (in a material and metaphorical sense), but it doesn't seem like the give him things as an uncomplicated gift but as this enormous, weighty thing that comes with an immense price. "Here, take my life," people keep saying to Jiang Cheng, "take this and my death with it." And the hideous irony of the core transfer is that that's true even when Jiang Cheng himself tries to give his own life for the people he loves, only with the result that Wei Wuxian turns right around and gives up his own to "fix" it.

But yeah! His mother bequeaths him Zidian in the process of sending him away while she dies. Wei Wuxian dies and leaves him with a flute and a sword he doesn't want. Jin Ling...it's not that he doesn't want Jin Ling, he always would have wanted to be in his life, but not like this. oh I know I'm going to do the thing I do and quote my own fic

You, me, and a-Cheng, said a-jie’s voice in his ear. We must stay together, and never separate.

He’d never learned how to let go, but he’d been the one left behind anyway.

for someone who is in a lot of ways defined by the way that he holds on to the past, for better or worse (and I don't think it's all bad! his success rebuilding Jiang Sect is I think owed in part to his drive to never let what happened to it before to happen again), he does keep end up being the one left, and left holding mementos and reminders that are just a constant chafing reminder of what he lost.

it really adds something fun and spicy too to the bit during the second siege of the Burial Mounds, both in the novel and in CQL:

Jin Ling had never seen so many fierce corpses before, much less at such a close distance. He could feel his scalp tingle, and clenched Suihua's hilt. Yet, suddenly, his fist was peeled open, and a cold object was stuffed inside. He looked down in surprise. "Jiujiu?"

Jiang Cheng propped himself up with Sandu, which had lost its spiritual energy. His figure wavered slightly. "Try losing Zidian, just see what happens!"

[...] When Jin Ling saw that all of the people his age had rushed over, he couldn't hold himself back either. When Jiang Cheng was distracted, he stuffed Zidian back into his hand and sprinted toward the front... (Chapter 80, trans. Exiled Rebels)

The way it's acted here in particular it feels very much like Jin Ling at least has a sense of how loaded this gesture is, whatever Jiang Cheng says about giving it back. Here he is! Continuing the chain of just passing down things as a legacy that in no way substitute for the person they stand for.

just to set those screenshots alongside this:

there's something I think to Jiang Cheng that's not just incredibly painful in all the obvious ways about the core transfer, but specifically in the way that it's related to a sacrifice he very deliberately made - and now he finds out that not only was that sacrifice ultimately utterly pointless, or worse than pointless, the person he originally made it for made it so. It's this "oh, you can sacrifice yourself for me but I can't do the same for you?" that's so bitter to feel, both because I do think there's some amount of "why do you always, always get to come out of things the hero" but more than that, "why did you do this when I made my decisions specifically to protect you; does my desire to protect you not matter? doesn't it mean anything?"

Jiang Cheng standing with his hands full of memorials going "I don't want these," because what he actually wanted was his family, but the world kept taking them away, and apparently in at least one case his family actively didn't get the memo.

[jiangchengneedstherapy]

So, looks like I've been blocked for saying Jiang Cheng's people were scared of him to ask him for help on the post about his 'good leadership' skill in Canon Jiang Cheng tag, I'm sorry I assumed that was up for discussion and I really was genuinely meaning for a discussion, and also @labyrynth I did get your notification of asking for source. The two main sources are "Arrogance (5)" and "Longing (3)" In Arrogance, we get Jiang Cheng's thought process highlighting that yes, he's captured people before even if zidian told him they were not body snatchers, the main crime he was capturing them under. A moment ago, Jiang Cheng was certain that this person was Wei WuXian, and all of the blood in his body started to boil. Yet, now, Zidian was clearly telling him that he wasn't. Zidian definitely wouldn't deceive him or make a mistake, so he quickly calmed himself and thought, this doesn't mean anything. I should first find an excuse to take him back and use every possible method to get information out of him. It's impossible for him to not confess anything or give himself away. I've done things like this in the past anyways. After thinking it through, he made a gesture. The disciples understood his intention and came over.

The disciples are long used to it, that's further highlighted in "Malice (1)"

The owner was getting ready to close the shop for the night. Suddenly, seeing that a fancy-clothed, dark-faced young man kicked open the door and walked inside with someone in his hand, appearing as if he was going to disembowel the victim right here, the owner was so frightened that he couldn't speak. A disciple went up and whispered a few things in his ear. With some silver pushedinto his hands, he quickly fled to the back of the hall and never came out again. Without any further instructions, the Jiang Sect's disciples instantly spread out from the inside to the outside, making it so that nothing could enter or escape the place.

Of course the rumors will spread, the people are scared but no one interferes, how can they? The disciples are even used to giving money and making sure no one else can enter/no one can escape, even when they know zidian confirmed that he's not possessed. And then in "Longing" The owner, "That I'm not so sure about. Anyways, the temple's quite popular. In Yunping City, no matter what someone runs into, we'd all go there and pray for the Guanyin's protection. I sometimes go there and light a few sticks of incense too."

Wei WuXian asked, "Then why don't you go find the cultivational sect that's in charge of this region?" He only remembered after he asked. Wasn't the cultivational sect in charge of this region precisely the YunmengJiang Sect.

Yet, the owner curled her lips, "Go find them? How dare we?"

Wei WuXian, "Oh? Why not?"

The owner, "Young Masters, you're not from Yunping City so you don't know. The Jiang Sect is responsible for all of us along the Yunmeng area. The Sect Leader's got quite a bad temper. It's almost frightening. His subordinate's said so a long time ago. Only one sect is in charge of such a large area. Each day, there are almost a hundred cases of small ghosts or other creatures pulling pranks on the living and all that. If every single small thing had to be dealt with immediately, would there be enough time and energy? Those that don't kill anyone aren't malign spirits, and we're not supposed to disturb them with trivial matters that aren't malign spirits." She complained, "What is this supposed to mean? Wouldn't it be too late if we waited until somebody's died to find them?!"

In truth, to refuse to act unless it was a malign spirit was a silently agreed rule that all of the larger sects followed. Although 'to be wherever the chaos is' was praised by many, the only person who really followed this was Lan WangJi, the one beside him right now.

The owner continued, "On top of that, Lotus Pier is truly a scary place. How would anyone dare go there again?"

Wei WuXian moved his gaze from Lan WangJi's calm face with a short pause of surprise, "Lotus Pier is scary? How could Lotus Pier be scary? You've been there?"

The owner, "I haven't been there myself, but I know someone who went because his house was being badly haunted. But it was all bad luck. That Sect Leader Jiang was cracking a glowing whip right on the training field. The victim's flesh and blood flew as high as his screams! A servant secretly informed him that the sect leader caught the wrong person again, that he hadn't been in a great mood, and that he definitely shouldn't be irritated in any way. He was so scared that he dropped off the gifts he brought and fled at once.

He never dared visit again."

Here Jiang Cheng is highlighted as no different than other sects who don't help until someones dead, its common in their society to have little care for the locals but add his torturing habits on top, who would risk asking for help when they could be the next ‘wwx come back from the dead'? So what if zidian confirms they’re not? Sect Leader Jiang will do as he pleases.

I’ve seen this get dismissed as rumors a lot, but its not just rumors, if his thought process confirms it, if his disciples are long used to taking action around it, when his people walked in on it happening, and when they're long used to praying in the Guanyin temple for help than to approach him afraid of his temper.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Could you do Accidental sworn brothers NHS, JC, WWX?

ao3

“So,” Jiang Cheng said.

It was a very ominous sort of ‘so’.

“Hi, Jiang-xiong,” Nie Huaisang said. “Have you eaten? I trust you been well. I’ve been all right, myself. Things are pretty quiet. The weather’s been pretty nice, though I don’t think it’s ever as nice in Qinghe as it is in Yunmeng. Has it been raining much?”

Jiang Cheng was giving him a death glare.

“…lots of rain, huh?”

“I don’t care about the vast majority of what you did to get revenge on Jin Guangyao,” Jiang Cheng said flatly. “But you put Jin Ling in danger.”

“Not…much danger.” At Jiang Cheng’s incredulous look, Nie Huaisang shrugged. “He kept him alive this long, didn’t he? I figured Jin Ling was pretty safe, as these things went. It was only at the very last moment that he actually threatened him directly – and Jin Ling wasn’t even supposed to be there.”

Judging from Jiang Cheng’s expression, he wasn’t buying Nie Huaisang’s argument.

“All right, fine,” Nie Huaisang said. “Still, you came to visit me, which means that you’re not just here to yell and tell me that our friendship is over, you could do that by letter. You want something from me?”

Jiang Cheng struggled for a moment, then grimaced. “Yeah, I want something.”

He was so predictable sometimes.

“Tell me what you need me to do to get your friendship back, and I’ll do it.” Nie Huaisang thought about it for a moment. “Within reason.”

“I want you to help me fix my relationship with Wei Wuxian.”

“…I said within reason, Jiang-xiong,” Nie Huaisang said, horrified. “Do you want me to bring the moon down and give it to you while I’m at it?”

“It’s not that bad!” Jiang Cheng protested, except, no, really, it was exactly that bad. Years and years of deception and betrayal and bad feelings on both sides, an incredibly knotty tangle of emotions with no one completely right and no one completely wrong and debts and anger and – it was bad, okay? “Anyway, you managed to fix Jin Guangyao, didn’t you, even though he was Chief Cultivator and you had basically no evidence? Fix this, too.”

“It’s in no way comparable!”

“Listen, you said you wanted to know what you needed to do to get us to be all right with each other again, right? This is it. Do it.”

Nie Huaisang opened his mouth in protest.

“I won’t accept anything else,” Jiang Cheng said, and crossed his arms in a way that suggested finality. “You’re the mastermind, aren’t you? So mastermind!”

-

Nie Huaisang really didn’t want to lose Jiang Cheng’s friendship, now that he knew there was a possibility of keeping it, but he also had no idea how to even start going about fixing the unfixable. He flattered himself to think that he knew Jiang Cheng pretty well after all these years, but based on everything that had happened, he didn’t understand Wei Wuxian well enough to know where to start.

Clearly, he needed help. No, more than help – he needed expertise.

Currently, Nie Huaisang was sitting in one of the rooms in the Cloud Recesses the Lan sect used to host guests waiting to see the sect leader on business. Of course, with Lan Xichen in seclusion at the moment, the actual person taking petitions was the person Nie Huaisang come to see: Lan Wangji.

He didn’t expect to be seen to quickly, the way he might have when he’d been on familiar terms with Lan Xichen – he was a Great Sect leader, yes, and an allied one, and so ought to be accorded first priority, but Lan Wangji was also a petty little brat sometimes. Lan Qiren had come by in an unofficial capacity, looking long-suffering, and they’d had an unexpectedly enjoyable conversation on the subject of the rules relating to filial piety and revenge, which Nie Huaisang interpreted as possibly the first time Lan Qiren had ever voluntarily given him a good grade on anything.

(He was weirdly moved by it, but mostly still traumatized. He’d hated school.)

After the old teacher left, Nie Huaisang sat around waiting and drinking tea, amusing himself by thinking of all the ways this forthcoming conversation could go wrong, and just when he’d gotten to the end of the fourth scenario, Wei Wuxian himself came strolling in.

“Oh, hi, Wei-xiong!” Nie Huaisang said brightly, not allowing considerations like shame to apply. “How’ve you been?”

“I’m good, I’m good,” Wei Wuxian said. “And you?”

“Well, I’m –”

“It works out quite well that you’re here, actually,” Wei Wuxian said, barreling onwards without waiting for the answer. “There was something I was hoping you might help me with.”

Nie Huaisang hid his face behind a fan. “Who, me…? I mean, I’m always glad to help, if it’s within my power – and, I mean, I’m glad you asked! And here I was worried that Wei-xiong didn’t like me anymore.”

Wei Wuxian waved a dismissive hand and sat down.

“I’m sure it’s something you can help with,” he said, smiling in a way Nie Huaisang didn’t like. “After all, you led the entire cultivation world around by the nose to catch Jin Guangyao, didn’t you?”

“I wouldn’t say that…”

“Well, I would. This should be no problem in comparison!”

Which meant, of course, that it was going to be a problem, because anything was easy in comparison.

“Oh, Wei-xiong, I really don’t know…”

“Don’t give me that! At least listen to it, okay?”

Nie Huaisang was always willing to listen. He nodded.

“I need you to use your mastermind skills to help me fix my relationship with Jiang Cheng.”

Nie Huaisang blinked once, long and slow. “With…Jiang Cheng?”

“That’s right!”

“But…why me…”

“Everything is just a complete mess between us,” Wei Wuxian said plainly. “It’s probably mostly my fault, and I’ve probably wronged him in ways I don’t even remember, but – I’d like to fix it. I’ve tried to fix it. I even tried leaving it alone to see if that would help, and it definitely didn’t. Everything I’ve done only makes it worse! So I need someone else to manage it.”

“And you picked…me?”

“Don’t put yourself down, Nie-xiong. You’ll manage!”

“I haven’t even agreed yet!”

“You need something from Lan Zhan, don’t you?” Wei Wuxian said, grinning at him. “You’ll agree.”

“Of course I’ll agree,” Nie Huaisang said with a huff, tossing his head. “You’re a dear friend, Wei-xiong! Why wouldn’t I agree?”

Anyway, he had to do the work for Jiang Cheng anyway. Might as well score some points flattering Wei Wuxian while he was at it.

“You’re so kind,” Wei Wuxian said, rolling his eyes at him. “Thanks, Nie-xiong. I look forward to hearing what our next move is. Have fun having tea with Lan Zhan!”

-

“You did this to yourself,” Lan Wangji said solemnly.

“I know,” Nie Huaisang said. He was lying on the floor, arms and legs splayed to the sides as he stared up at the roof in an effort to express the depths of his desolation. “I’m well aware.”

“Mm.”

“I’m having a crisis over it, even.”

“Mm. Could you have the crisis elsewhere?”

“Don’t be mean, Lan Zhan. Of course not. I need your help!”

“Denied,” Lan Wangji said, as if Nie Huaisang really were just one of the random petitioners he had to deal with these days.

“If you don’t help me, I’ll fix up their relationship so good that you’ll have to deal with Jiang Cheng all the time,” Nie Huaisang said threateningly, and noted with amusement the way Lan Wangji’s brow twitched at the thought of having to share either space, time, or Wei Wuxian with Jiang Cheng. “Listen, no matter what the others think, I’m not really a schemer or a mastermind! I just ran with the course of events and tried to change them when they looked like they weren’t going my way, that’s all.”

“I wish you luck,” Lan Wangji said, immoveable as an iceberg.

“If I try to solve this, I’m only going to make it worse,” Nie Huaisang said. “That’s not even a threat. It’s just a fact.”

“I look forward to seeing the end results,” Lan Wangji said.

Cruel, indifferent man.

“I don’t even have a good model on how to solve this,” Nie Huaisang complained. “I mean, I don’t think I know of any relationships that splintered and then were actually repaired? The only thing that comes even close is what er-ge was up to with da-ge and san-ge all that time ago, when he was trying to get them to like each other again – of course, san-ge ruined that by committing murder, but I think we can probably avoid that here! I mean, I think we can. And it’s not workable, anyway, because…”

He frowned. Nothing was coming to mind.

Nothing at all.

Well then.

“Actually…”

Lan Wangji actually put down his brush. He looked mildly alarmed. “Nie Huaisang,” he said. “What are you thinking of doing?”

“Nothing, nothing…nothing at all…”

-

“How did this happen?” Jiang Cheng wondered.

“No idea,” Wei Wuxian said. “But at least we’re friends again, right?”

“Not just friends,” Jiang Cheng said. “Isn’t that right, da-ge?”

Wei Wuxian puffed himself up like a peacock. “You bet, er-di!”

“The sacrifices I make for my friends amaze even me,” Nie Huaisang said to a stunned-looking Lan Wangji. “I’m really all heart, aren’t I?”

“Nie Huaisang,” Lan Wangji said solemnly. “I am going to kill you.”

Nie Huaisang cackled. “No, you’re not,” he said cheerfully. “Or else my da-ge and er-ge might have something to say about how you’re treating their san-di…and I, at least, promise not to kill either of them!”

[winepresswrath]

Its the jiao jiao anon again .

You keep giving me great pairings. Tell me everything how su she (Shang Qinghua) transmigrate and how will fuck jiang cheng. Is he still an author ? What was his intention with this kinda book?

I think he is still a writer but not the actual author of mdzs. He's a relatively casual fan who admires the vision and winces in sympathy every time drama gets kicked off. This is why you don't try, mdzs author! You give the people what they want and take their money. He's originally planning on keeping his head down and learning just enough cultivation from the Lan to make his life easier than it otherwise would be, then getting an urgent letter from his sick mother right before the Wen are scheduled to attack, but alas, his wandering not-cultivator dumpling sabbatical puts him directly in Jiang Cheng's path while he's frantically running for help after leaving Wei Wuxian in the Xuanwu cave. And the thing is he's still kind of reflexively haughty when he needs something? So pathetic and vulnerable. So cute. What could possibly be the harm in giving him a ride? The Wen aren't scheduled to attack Lotus Pier for ages. He can be on a ship to Dongyin by that time!

Anyway no good deed goes unpunished because Jiang Fengmian does as a general rule believe in giving credit and naming names. He should have fucking known. Now Wen Chao has a grudge against him and he's running around under a fake name wracking up credit for things he did (while trying to run away) and things he did not do (sometimes even when you have a massive army and the most powerful cultivator in the world on your side, things go wrong! He's not responsible for every problem with Wen supply lines. He's responsible for exactly one cart blowing up, and he was just trying for a distraction so he could sneak onto a ship. It didn't work and the harbour is kind of a no-go zone for him now). He comes up with a new plan: find Huaisang and use his shitty unwanted heroic reputation and talent for creative pornography to worm his way into the young master's guard, where he can get some writing done far from the front lines. Unfortunately, he once again stumbles across Jiang Cheng, who is tragically trying to rebuild his sect and searching for a missing shixiong. Shang Qinghua is still a logistics guy, because he was doing grunt work for the Lan and also I feel like that's the shape any transmigration setting is going to bend into around him. Jiang Cheng is so grateful to see a familiar face. He knows the value of a good spreadsheet. His eyes are so pretty when he's trying not to cry. The Jiang aren't in a great place during the war, but Shang Qinghua knows the sect makes it through and he doesn't remember any Jiang disciples being asked to heroically sacrifice themselves after Lotus Pier falls. Plus the food is better and there's plenty of room at the top! A veritable power vacuum. To say nothing of all the empty space in Jiang Cheng's personal life when almost everyone he loves dies and leaves him alone! Anyway this is the story of how Shang Qinghua accidentally paints a series of targets on his back, unnecessarily involves himself in the plot, and overcomplicates his life because being a sucker for a pretty face and a bad personality is even more integral to his character than underappreciated grunt work. Probably he manages to save Yanli, at least. He's not interested in being a stepfather! That's a lot of work. Wei Wuxian barely notices he exists until either he saves everyone or the second life roles around, depending on how ambitious and/or motivated Shang Qinghua is feeling. Then he hates him passionately, but it's too late. They probably eventually reach some kind of begrudging peace.

[mxtxfanatic]

You know, I don’t think I’ve ever written a meta on Madam Yu/Yu Ziyuan before? 🤔 Let’s change that!

Yu Ziyuan is a petty ass spiteful bitch who never loved Jiang Fengmian, showed no care for her only daughter Jiang Yanli, and cared for her only son Jiang Cheng only insomuch as he was a reflection of herself. There is not a singular nice thing she has to say to or about Jiang Yanli in the text, not even on the eve of her death. Towards Jiang Cheng, her “defenses” of him are all backhanded comments on how he isn’t better than the son of the woman she, herself, is jealous of, that he is unlikeable because he is her son, and that even his own father doesn’t want him. Jiang Cheng already feels unloved by his father from Yu Ziyuan’s perpetual harping before Wei Wuxian is brought back from Yiling, so this insecurity cannot be laid at his feet. On top of that example, people also like to claim that Jiang Fengmian was a “bad father” to Jiang Cheng because Jiang Cheng only remembers (which is already suspect because jc usually only conveniently remembers things that make him a victim) his father holding him a handful of times, but as for his mother? The only time he remembers her hugging (and kissing) him is when she knows she was about to die. He is 17 and has never been hugged by his mother in living memory. But she loves him (allegedly).

As for her (alleged) love and pining for Jiang Fengmian:

Of course, she was Jiang FengMian’s wife, and used to cultivate with him as well. Naturally, she should be called Madam Jiang. But, for some reason, everyone had always called her Madam Yu. Some people guessed that it was because she didn’t want to take on her husband’s surname due to her assertive personality.

…

Madam Yu came from the prominent Even after she married Jiang FengMian, she had always been out on night-hunts, not overly fond of staying at the Jiang Sect’s Lotus Pier. On top of that, where she lived at Lotus Pier was different from where Jiang FengMian did. She had her own area, where only she and a few of the family members she’d brought from the Yu Sect lived.

—Chapt. 51: Courage, exr

She refuses to be known as the Madam of the Jiang Clan. She refuses to integrate her people into her husband’s home. She refuses to stay in the same place as her husband in their home. She refuses to even be in their home except to prepare for nighthunts. And when she’s home, she only picks fights, claims that she’s the only one who sees what’s “really” happening but nobody listens because they don’t like her or what she has to say, then leaves again. This is not a woman that cares about the clan she married in to. This isn’t even a woman that cares about her immediate family. So why is she even here?

This culminates into the “petty ass bitch” part:

The entirety of the cultivation world knew that third lady Yu had cultivated together with Jiang FengMian when they were young. Jiang FengMian’s character was gentle, yet Yu ZiYuan’s personality was harsh. The two didn’t share too many interactions. Thus, although their backgrounds matched, nobody associated the two as a pair. Later, ZangSe SanRen came from the mountains, passed by Yunmeng, and happened to become friends with Jiang FengMian. They had even night-hunted together on multiple occasions. Both thought highly of each other. People supposed that it was very likely for ZangSe SanRen to become the next mistress of Lotus Pier.

However, soon afterward, the MeishanYu Sect proposed an alliance through marriage to the YunmengJiang Sect.

—Chapt. 56: Poisons, exr

Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan knew each since they were young and had many interactions, but they were incompatible because of Yu Ziyuan’s volatile personality. Nobody considered them a pair despite being a perfect match on paper. Neither of them wanted marriage; neither clan proposed or pushed it. However, the moment another woman appears that is universally loved and is suspected to be made into the new Madam Jiang, suddenly MeishanYu wants to pressure Jiang Fengmian into this ill-fated marriage? The story makes it clear that the proposal only came into existence after Cangse Sanren became a rumored option—not during any of the other times Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan had met and parted without a care, not when Cangse Sanren first descended—while only Jiang Fengmian opposed the marriage. And who does Yu Ziyuan have a massive inferiority complex to, so much so that she’s willing to abuse the orphaned son of the woman to make him indebted to her family? Cangse Sanren.

Yu Ziyuan wanted to marry Jiang Fengmian not out of care or love but out of a petty desire to “prove” that the position of Madam Jiang was hers, only. Even if it meant consigning herself and another person to a loveless, violent marriage. From beginning to end, Yu Ziyuan was a person obsessed with her reputation and what she felt was “owed” to her as the daughter of cultivation clan leaders, and this led to the destruction of herself and her family.

Anyways, that’s all, folks!

[thebiscuiteternal]

For the nonnie who asked last month, some WWX and JGY fluff.

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

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Wei Wuxian said as he leaned over the back of the padded bench Meng Yao had collapsed sat down on once the chaos had been turned over to the police.

Meng Yao shot him a sidelong glare with his good eye, then winced and pressed the ice bag harder to his face. "No, you're not."

"Well, partially. I'm not sorry your old man might finally have to deal with some consequences for once in his life... but I'm sorry I got you and the peacock caught in the middle of it," Wei Wuxian replied, resting his chin on his folded arms. "How's the eye?"

"It looks worse than it is," Meng Yao admitted. "I think Huaisang knows that, but he insisted on the ice bag anyway."

Wei Wuxian grinned. "Aww, should I start planning a wedding?"

Meng Yao remembered very well what kind of plans Wei Wuxian had proposed for his own wedding the previous year, most of which had been politely shot down by Jiang Yanli or less politely shot down by Jiang Cheng for being in incredibly bad taste. "Hell, no."

Wei Wuxian snickered at his flat refusal, before turning serious again. "Really, though... I knew he was going to react badly, but I thought it was just going to be the usual bullshit. Some drunken ranting to post to douyin type stuff. I didn't know-"

"You weren't supposed to know," Meng Yao mumbled, feeling embarrassment creep up the back of his neck at the turn their conversation had taken. "I haven't even brought it up with Huaisang yet."

"Oooh, I don't wanna be a fly on the wall for that one. Especially not after Mianmian had to trip him and sit on him to keep him from getting his hands on your dad. Honestly, though," Wei Wuxian added as he scratched under his chin, "I think she only did it to keep him from getting an assault charge of his own rather than any kind of employee obligation."

Meng Yao actually turned his head that time, despite the pain it caused to flicker through his jaw. "She did not. He did not," he said incredulously.

The grin came back. "Oh, he absolutely did, and so did she. Never would have thought he had it in him, but Yanli-jie has video proof. You'll have to wait until the cops are done with it, though."

The grin got bigger. "Consider it my wedding present to you."

Meng Yao snorted, but a faint smile touched his swollen mouth nonetheless as he turned his head back to continue watching the gala crowd gossip over what had just transpired.

It had only been three months since he and Huaisang had started dating. Though he had never admitted it, there had been a small part of him that wondered if Huaisang was really taking them seriously...

And now there was tangible, recorded evidence that Huaisang -soft, sweet, cheerful Huaisang- had immediately been ready to go in swinging -publicly- on seeing him hurt and humiliated.

"I suppose it'll be good enough," he said airily, earning a laugh.

[sillygoofyqueer]

Finished reading the latest chapter of losing hope and if you’ll excuse me, I just have to…. *distant squeals of happiness*

I’m SO happy you took some of my suggestions!!! When I was reading I kept being like “OMG!! THEY DID THE THING!!! THE THING I MENTIONED!! AND THEY DID IT PERFECTLY!!!!” Like, the LWJ and JC rivalry?? Immaculate. Perfection. Could not be done better. (Though I am a little curious as to why LWJ scares JL) also Wwx in his natural habitat of teaching the small children? Adorable. I Want To Hug Him So Bad.

Also seeing Nie Huaisang get properly introduced??? I’m in love??? Huaisang is my fav character aside from Wwx so I’m happy to see him being a scheming little shit who is Scary while still retaining his whimsy as an artist who still enjoys his hobbies. Him planning the Jin clan’s downfall with his favorite advisor as he watches the Jin clan’s propaganda? Iconic. I do love the little tidbit of NHS planning to break WWX out tho. Very sweet and makes me smile. (Slightly unrelated but it’d be funny if he’s in the middle of painting when shit starts going down because I SWEAR TO GOD that people ALWAYS need me for SOMETHING whenever I start painting so it’d be cool to see a character share the struggle)

Can’t wait for Jiang cheng to realize that all his struggles are still from his shixiong. (Why do I feel like he’d going to have an aneurism when he finds out?) in the meantime I hope Jin Ling is ok and that his uncle (JC. Not JGY) helps him through it. Especially as he can relate with wwx leaving for Reasons and Not Really Saying Anything. It is nice to see Jiang Cheng parenting JL tho. Even if every time Wwx is mentioned in his pov it is Heartbreaking. Also… *sniff sniff* is that XiCheng I smell??? Maybe I’m just crazy bur that seemed sus…

As always LWJ getting *concerned* is both heartbreaking (pain over Wwx getting hurt) and a little funny (the mental crisis of your crush being alive after 13 years).

As always, thank you for writing Four and please remember to take breaks and overall take care of yourself. I wish I could give more kudos <3333

Hi, hello, I'm dead again, you've killed me, you have to now wait three business days for me to be raised from the dead. I'm so glad you think I pulled off your suggestions well!! I was biting at Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji rivalry and I could not rest before I dropped it in, and I'm so going to make it a running thing - it's going to be soo funny because you have the idea of Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian like "you?? Oh god no" and then Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji like "I come armed with spice!""Oh yeah? I have this flour that I'm going to drop all around the castle!" Madly in love with the fact that you like Nie Huaisang, because I love him sooo much, he's so iconic. He gets dragged into everything when he just wants to affect the plot from the sidelines like any normal schemer! On the topic of the Jin Clan propaganda play that Nie Huaisang was watching I (and I'm not afraid to admit this) was listening to "Shia LaBeouf" by Rob Cantor and was like...well, now I have to have a little nod to this. It's my life. Soooo, Jin Clan propaganda. It was so funky, and I need you to understand how stupid the play is in that regard - it was why Nie Mingjue liked it so much. There was no hidden messages (apart from the propaganda). Also, keep an eye on Nie Ziyi...he's going to be fun to play around with. I can't wait to write Jiang Cheng's reaction to Wei Wuxian, but that's for later on teehee. He's going to have SO many emotions, and we all know how he reacts when he's feeling emotional. There's going to be so many tears. SO many. He and Jin Ling are both going to be infuriated at Wei Wuxian, and Wei Wuxian's just like "man, I can't catch a fucking break, can I?" after trying to hide from them for a long time. Wei Wuxian, mentioned in Jiang Cheng's pov? Nahhhhh, I don't know what you're talking about, it's just an unnamed shixiong I swear (/j of course). Also Xicheng? In my fanfiction?.................................ANYWAY Lan Wangji is really going through it, alright? He is both concerned but also HIS BBG IS BACK AFTER THIRTEEN YEARS?? HOW IS HE SUPPOSED TO REACT? I like the idea of the juniors watching Lan Wangji trip over himself when Wei Wuxian laughs or something and just going "Ohhhh, he's down bad, I see..." Once again, I'm vibrating intensely with the love you show my fanfiction and I'm dead. On the floor. Sobbing screaming etcetera. You motivate me and it makes me lose it.