#father of year wen ruohan au

[kotoryba]

@batbusiness-schooldropout , a little New Year gift for you, my crazy muse☺️. Thanks for inspiration from both parts of my brain😁.

Sorry, I honestly tried to finish another 5+ parts for that first scene about the best father-of-MDZS-AU, Wen Ruohan, but... not this year 😁.

[stiltonbasket]

absolutely love the wrh raises wwx au! is there a reason that the sunshot campaign is happening so many years later than canon in this au? did wwx play any role in delaying the start of the war?

Yes! It's my personal headcanon that novel!Wen Ruohan only started the war because he realized that his own sons were nowhere near as talented as Wei Wuxian, Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji, etc; but in this verse, Wen Ruohan postponed the start of the war because he had Wei Wuxian.

As in canon, Wen Ruohan destabilized the Nie sect several years before Wangxian met by murdering Nie Mingjue's father, and Lan Xichen never stood out as a threat because he dropped out of the competitive cultivation circuit to raise Jingyi when he was only 23. Lan Wangji stopped attending tournaments the same year LXC did, so Wen Ruohan paid very little attention to the Lan sect until he stumbled across Jingyi night-hunting with Jin Ling about fifteen years later.

At that point, Wen Ruohan was reasonably confident that Wen Xu would be a decent successor; but Wen Xu and his wife had three daughters and refused to keep trying for a son, and Wen Chao had been unable to father any children despite having a wife and several mistresses. What was worse (to WRH) was that Wei Wuxian was unmarried—under Wen Ruohan's own orders—and had no heirs other than Sizhui, who was categorically incapable of fighting anything but fierce corpses/yaoguai because he was terrified of injuring or killing another person. As a result, Wen Ruohan finally attacked the Cloud Recesses when Sizhui was about 17.

[sunderwight]

thinking about reverse SVSSS AU where the demon characters are human and the human characters are demons (LBH is still both), but cultivation society operates more like MDZS so that the demon characters can preserve their ruthless clan politics and inheritance systems, and but demon society (which the formerly human characters are now part of) operates more like the ghosts in TGCF, where it's mostly a free-for-all of powerful demons establishing whatever kind of system they please in whatever space they can carve out. I think that'd preserve the meritocracy elements and "twelve different sects in a trench coat" qualities that cang qiong has as an organization.

so the peaks are instead these sort of liminal space cities which are ruled by the most powerful/influential demons, who choose their successors (at least ostensibly) based purely on talent and ability. instead of the sprawling alternate dimension demonic realms of PIDW, they're more like pocket dimensions which can only be accessed if you know the secret ways, existing in the shadows of otherwise seemingly normal towns, mountains, cities, forests, etc. humans sometimes wander into them by mistake, although whether they can get back out again or not depends a lot on which demon lord's domain they were unlucky enough to stumble upon.

Mobei Jun and Sha Hualing are still the heirs of their respective sects/clans, which are among the most powerful sects around. The CQMS peak lords are the rulers of twelve allied demon settlements. Tianlang Jun was the heir of the strongest sect, sort of like Wen Ruohan if Wen Ruohan's biggest motivation was to have his Hot Girl Summer rather than conquering everything, but after his and Zhuzhi Lang's disappearances their sect lost a lot of clout. Su Xiyan hailed from a wealthy demon phantom palace, known for its exceptional hostility towards humans (this version of HHP definitely literally eats people).

The demons-turned-humans are still exactly as cutthroat and dubious as in PIDW. Sha Hualing still wants to kill her father to take his position, Mobei Jun's uncle still tries to assassinate him, the cultivation world has an underground business in trafficking demon body parts (officially decried, but unofficially often consumed to help boost cultivation or create certain tools), the sects often go to war with one another and tend to wreak havoc on the secular human governments and societies whenever they do. All that sort of stuff.

On the humans-turned-demons end, demons in this setting are sometimes born the same way as humans -- two parents of compatible genital orientation get it on and some months later etc etc, which is how siblings like Liu Qingge and Liu Mingyan happen. But sometimes demons also just sort of manifest out of concentrated pockets of demonic energy. Some demons come from humans (SJ and YQY were both born from the unquiet ghosts of slave children), some come from animals (SQH was a pet hamster who was tormented enough to become a demon hamster, and then cultivated enough to take on a human shape), some come from collisions of powerful elemental forces such as volcanoes or floods (Su Xiyan).

So demons have a lot of apprenticeship and teacher-and-student style familial relationships, and demons looking to build families often will risk venturing out into the human realms and trying to find other isolated demons to bring into their fold. Demons alone in the human world are highly vulnerable to being hunted, killed, or enslaved. This is also why there's such a high percentage of "orphans", and contributes even more to a demon like SJ (no parents) resenting a demon like Luo Binghe (found and adopted by a kindly older demon almost right away).

So in the original PIDW, Luo Binghe is a kid who thinks he's a demon and grows up under the cruel and resentful talons of the Lord of Qing Jing, Shen Qingqiu. Every twenty or so years the demon settlements manifest much more strongly in the human realms, during which time they are a lot more vulnerable to attacks from humans. To help deal with this this, the demon rulers traditionally host big, dramatic, scary events that bring everyone within a certain geographic range together, the better to put any righteous sects off the idea of trying to single them out and attack. Most of the smaller settlements clear out entirely in preparation, leaving "ghost towns" where the buildings appear but the demons and anything too valuable to risk leaving behind are all gone.

This Demonic Alliance Conference is a time for contests, trials, matchmaking, partying, festive hunts, trading, and big displays of power. What could be a massive weakness instead becomes a big celebration, and a time for mingling and making new connections.

In PIDW, after suffering years of abuse at the hands of his cruel master, Luo Binghe attends the DAC in hopes of securing some better place for himself in demonic society. But when the righteous sects launch an unprecedented attack on the event, his human heritage is revealed, and Shen Qingqiu tosses him into the twilight space between realms in disgust. Binghe is forced to navigate the hollow and desolate place, locked into his newly-revealed and very weak human form, until he bonds with the legendary Xin Mo blade and effects his escape. Then he sets about bringing the righteous sects to heel (his bloodline means he's heir to one of the biggest sects around, even if they've fallen on hard times the past 20 or so years) and of course conquering the demon realms, and taking revenge on Shen Qingqiu, all while accumulating a record number of wives.

Shen Yuan transmigrates into Demon Lord Shen Qingqiu, ruler of Qing Jin settlement, a haunted bamboo forest in the most cursed mountain range ever.

Downsides -- he's of course destined to be dismembered and/or shoved into a pickle pot by the protagonist.

Upsides -- he's a demon with amazingly awesome demon traits! He has talons! Fangs! WINGS! Also, Binghe is a little demon bun and he is so cute, like a puppy with his fluffy wolf ears and baby claws and darling bright red eyes. Who could ever persecute such an adorable monster boy?! His tail literally wags when he's excited!

Plus Shen Yuan gets to spend as much time investigating cool beasts and other demons as he likes. He's in heaven. Well, not literally of course, but for his standards. Pretty close. Almost worth the price of admission!

[wangxianficrecs]

Rewind 2024 - Proud Author Spotlights

WangxianFicRecs - Rewind 2024

Here are some recommendations from 2024 sent in by our fandom's authors themselves. Make sure to give them much love. PS: Authors, don't be shy! Submit more Proud Author Spotlights!

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I published the latest extra off my dynasty fic in March 2024, and it might be my favourite so far! Feat a lot of politics in the Wen Sect, wwx being his badass self, some ocs and a lot of Yiling siblings feels.

💙 Hope is a discipline (Something you choose)

by One_eyed_God (@oneeyedoctogod)

T, 15k, Wangxian | Kay's Rec

Summary: Under the harsh and merciless sun of Nightless City, Wen Ruohan falls. But even with its leader is dead, the Wen Sect must live on, to avoid the dreaded future Wei Wuxian has already lived once. And though he never expected to be the one to lead them, he will carry this duty without fail. Or: The aftermath of Wen Ruohan's death.

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Hello! ☺️ First of all, thank you for running this wonderful blog!!

This is for Rewind 2024 Proud Author Spotlight. It is a 29k story I recently finished translating (I'm also the author of the original version) and I'm really glad to have been able to do this within less than a year.

It will not please everyone as it is mostly CQL-based (CQL post-canon) but it is first person Wei Ying POV and I haven't read a lot of that in this fandom, so I hope maybe some people would enjoy it!

Thank you again for everything!

Léli.

The Unsung

by Leilwen (@leilwe)

E, 29k, Wangxian

Summary: Lan Zhan... would you come over the mountain with me one day? … … I would have liked for him to give me a real answer and I cursed the Lans' nocturnal almost-hibernation. … … … When Yunshen Buzhichu no longer needs me, you will be my only horizon. When I returned and lay down beside him, the crescent moon no longer looked so sickly pale.

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Hi ! This is for the remind 2024, I don't know if authors can boosted their own work. But I wrote this fic for my very first RBB, and even if it ins't perfect I am very proud of it.

Convergence

by Czeriahx (@czeriah) & Sirendipity (@lwjsbedtime)

M, 77k, Wangxian

Part of Yuyu Respectarium's Reverse Big Bang!

Summary: In a world governed by the Wen Empire, the Wei Coven's Oracle prophesize the coming of a new sun. Together with its moon counterpart, they are to bring back balance to the world. That is, until the Wen Emperor send assassins to take care of the threat against their rule. [Art by Siren, Embedded in the fic !!]

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My submission to the TopXian RBB event that was boosted here a few months ago. I got a wonderful prompt and art piece to write for. Links in my fic!

An AU Canon Divergence where after the betrothal with JZX is broken off, JYL becomes betrothed to WWX. The plotline is retold with this twist, leading to events both familiar and not. JYL is the pov character, navigating her new life after devastation and war, with WWX at her side. But let no one forget LWJ - WWX and JYL certainly can't, though for very different reasons.

Come along for character study fix-it fic, with a happy ending for all the main characters!

Not Unwilling

by somevariationofgay (@somevariationofgay)

E, 48k, Wangxian & Xianli

Part of the TopXian RBB

Summary: The young mistress of Yunmeng Jiang clan, raised to marry out for the benefit of her family, dutifully waits for her parents to arrange another match after her troth with the young master of Lanling Jin clan is broken. When her father decides the new betrothal will be to their sect's head disciple, she finds herself not unwilling. But the ambitions of Qishan Wen clan surge and a bloody flood overtakes Lotus Pier, changing the course of her life forever.

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(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for these hard-working authors if you like – or think others might like – these stories.)

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

Apr 4th

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1. Hello! ITMF multiple WWX's? Like he clones himself or if maybe time travel causes there to be multiple WWX's running around. Can be chaste or naughty, but bonus points for LWJ getting flustered having some many WWX's around! Thank you!

Wei Wuxian’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good First Meeting With His Future by Enigmatree (T, 3k, wangxian, Time Travel, Cloud Recesses, YLLZ WWX, POV Outsider)

How to Deal with the Conundrum of Your Past Self: A Case Study by anatheme (E, 16k, wangxian, A/B/O, YLLZ WWX, Established Relationship, Pining, Sexual Tension, alpha YLLZ WWX/alpha LWJ/omega MXY!WWX: the fic, ft. soft married wangxian, Threesome - M/M/M, yes LWJ gets the knot after xx years, Bottom LWJ, Switch WangXian, Knotting, time travel of sorts, a thesis on making peace with and loving yourself, Happy Ending, welcome to my LWJ has 2 hands for 2 WWX agenda)

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2. itmf fics where ljy is lxc's son! whether bio or not is fine, just looking for some scenes where lxc is like a father to ljy. tyvm!

🔒how to make your dad fall in love with your high school teacher in five steps; the complete and bulletproof guide by ravenditefairylights (T, 90k, WangXian, Modern AU, Coffee shop AU, NB LSZ, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Angst, Genderfluid WWX, Nonbinary LSZ, Trauma, Past Abuse, Past Domestic Violence, Healing, Hurt WWX, Found Family, Hospitalization, Therapy, Single Parent WWX, Mutual Pining, Teacher LWJ, Unreliable Narrator, Teenager LSZ, Yúnmèng Siblings Dynamics, Chronic Pain, Autistic LWJ) although their relationship is not the focus of the story

3zun Raise Jingyi AU series by Deriliarch (T, 94k, 3Zun, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Established Relationship, Fluff, Angst, Happy Ending, Kid fic, Hurt/Comfort)

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3. Do you have idol aus? I want idol Wei Ying. A) Specifically, the idol life, can be before/during/after debut. B) Idol survival show participant wwx

3A)

Bodyguard king by 74243 (E, 8k, wangxian, F/F WangXian, Modern, Idol WWX, Bodyguard LWJ, Female NHS, Platonic D/s, Loss of Virginity, Not NOT inspired by KUWTK s05e04, When u do what u love u never work a day in ur life)

shooting straight into your heart by tangerinechar (T, 13k, wangxian, JC & WWX, Modern, Multimedia, Humor, idol WWX, cameraman LWJ, and a very Done(tm) manager JC)

Amidst the Crowd by GusuBunnie (G, 5k, wangxian, Romance, Friends to Lovers, Idol WWX, Supportive LXC, JC Needs a Hug, Background Xicheng, Angst, Fluff, Light Angst with a Happy Ending, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Drama & Romance, LXC being the best brother, Modern, Idol/Fan AU, LWJ is Bad at Communicating)

3B)

🧡 I Don’t Want to Debut! by countingcr0ws (G, 56k, wangxian, Modern, Reality Show, Idols, Celebrity, Social Media, Epistolary, Romance, Fluff, Footnotes, Kissing, Poetry, Podfic Available)

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4. Hi , idk how to ask about fanfics properly. I am very new to Tumblr . But can you please recommend some fics on Wangxian's parent's generation. Like lan Qiren, Wei Changze, Cangse Sanren, Jiang Fengmian, etc, being teenagers @kwalitymxtxpow7

Cursed Couple by shorimochi (M, 121k, LQR/WRH, CSSR/WCZ, Time Travel, Canon Divergence, Out of Character)

The Other Mountain by nirejseki (T, 287k, LQR/WRH, Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, Mentions of Suicide, Hurt/Comfort, Trauma, Domestic Violence, Torture, Sadism, Asexual Character, sex-positive asexual, Past Relationship(s), An Exercise in Gender Roles, Non-Egalitarian Views on Marriage, World Domination, Pedagogical Theory, Ethics, comedy of manners, Implied Harm to Children, Mental Health Issues, Undernegotiated Kink, Canon-Typical Violence, Close POV Narrator, Donghua Imagery) i recommend "the other mountain" by nirejseki, and all her other lan qirenx wen ruohan works

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5. thank you for your hardwork admins! itmf for rich lwj who is head over heels for wwx? and i mean like he is a massive simp for wwx, worship the ground he walks on kind of way ^^

LWJ’s Big Dick Agenda Series by raitala (E, 146k, WangXian, Modern AU, College AU, Porn with Feelings, Light Dom/sub, Under-negotiated Kink, Public Blow Jobs, Anal Sex, Cock Warming, Angst, Feels, Domestic fluff, Misgendering, Slut Shaming, Crossdressing, Rimming, Roleplay) try LWJ's big dick agenda!

CEO Billionaire Lan Zhan by detention_notes (T, 2k, WangXian, Modern AU, Parody, Pining Bunnies, Wealth, Crack)

For Safekeeping Purposes by ChilianXianzi (M, 3k, wangxian, Modern, Gangsters, Crime Boss LWJ, Sugar Daddy LWJ, WWX Has Self-Esteem Issues, And LWJ's going to take care of that, thoroughly, Domestic fluff but everyone's in a crime syndicate, Found Family, Age Difference, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Canon-typical Abusive Jiangs)

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6. For INTMF could you rec some pretty heavy angst with happy and/or hopeful ending? Like Working Title: Everyone Lives (With Knives) series. @dragonfairies

Love Song In Reverse by timetoboldlygo (T, 237k, WangXian, Amnesia, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Falling In Love, Slow Burn, agressively mixing and matching novel and cql canon, No Homophobia, Mentions of Starvation, Parental WWX) maybe? do they want canon era stories? I have heavy angst /whump stories but they're not in the canon era

Shameless self rec because angst with happy ending is like my signature at this point.

New Perspective Series by mrcformoso (T, 35k, WangXian, Angst, Hopeful Ending, Fatherhood, Regrets, Flashbacks, POV LWJ, LWJ-centric, Canonical Character Death - WWX, Pining LWJ, LWJ Has Feelings Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī Needs a Hug, Character Development, Dead WWX, Introspection, LWJ is Bad at Feelings, Character Study, Regretful, LWJ Breaking Toxic Cycles, Canon Compliant, LWJ in Seclusion, Post-LWJ in Seclusion, Child LSZ)

Window of the Waking Mind by mrcformoso (M, 8k, wangxian, LSZ & WWX, JC & WWX, Graphic depictions of violence, Major Character Death, Heavy Angst with a Happy Ending, Sad with a Happy Ending, Post-Canon, Torture, Golden Core Transfer, WWX Has Self-Esteem Issues, Hurt WWX, WWX Needs a Hug, WWX Needs a Break, Flashbacks, Curses, Night Hunts, Suicide, Starvation, Canonical Child Abuse, Canonical Character Death, Cannibalism, Although it was forced by the situation to survive, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, lots of comfort, Soft LQR, Learning To Communicate, Zidian Spiritual Tool, JC Tries, Reaction)

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

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7. hi, itmf wangxian in a hunger games setting that is not "The Hanging Tree" series by chatonnerie (just read that, it's so good and has me hungering for more!). thx so much!

our lives, never ours by glitteringmoonlight (T, 7k, WangXian, Hunger Games Setting, Angst, Minor Violence, Blood, hunger games typical references to violence, implied happy ending, but it's a bit ambiguous, this exists mostly for angst purposes tbh)

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8. hey admins! itmf longer post canon fics like 'wind rose in the clouds'? thank you ❤️

For 8, what about that fic did the requester like? What specifically are they looking for other than length and post-canon setting? Or are those the only criteria?

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9. IITMF ask; Give me your favorite ‘Wei Wuxian in Wei Wuxian’s body or keeps his body or doesn’t actually die’ fics. I’m in the mood to read more of our favorite boy as his og self. (He doesn’t have to start in his body, but I want my boy looking like himself by the end)

Saw My Life in a Stranger's Face by timetoboldlygo (T, 27k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Married Life, Domestic Fluff, Light Angst, wwx's face changes post-canon to look like his original face, Slight Panic Attack, because lwj doesn't recognize his husband, the mortifying ordeal of not knowing your own body, the terrifying inevitability of change, taller!wwx theory)

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10. fics in which wwx comes back (from the dead/from the burial mounds/from hiding, whatever really) specifically for lwj!! (can be modern too if there r any)

🧡 Ghosts Shouldn’t by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 15k, WangXian, Grief/Mourning, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending)

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11. itmf fics where wangxian time travel to modern times - not reincarnation, but straight time travel. Preferably (mostly) canon typical before the time travel, but the point in canon when it happens does not matter

🧡 The Shade of Old Trees by Kryal (T, 266k, WIP, WangXian, Ridiculously Long Notes, History, Canon Divergence, Modern AU, Slow Burn, Worldbuilding, Slow Life, Action/Adventure, Magic Returns, BAMF WWX) could technically count if you don't mind it being just wwx who ends up in the future?

take me back to a time by DizziDreams (T, 143k, WangXian, Modern AU, College/University, Modern with Magic, Time Travel, Sharing a Bed, Angst with a Happy Ending, Student!WWX, Time-Traveling Wizard!LWJ, Slow Burn, Character Death, Angst, reference to abuse, Canonical Character Death, Canonical Abuse, Canon!LWJ, Canon-Typical Violence, Mutual Pining, Chronic Illness, Not A Fix-It, Case Fic, implied 3zun, Transmigration, America, [Podfic of] take me back to a time by dreamhazer) not sure if this can work

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12. ITMF for fics where wwx is abused sexually by the jiangs (JFM/JC) or an adult male figure he trusts. (Like the "between a rock and a hard place" series by Mydla but the truth is revealed and it's properly dealt with/ he gets his justice) @linossock

🔒 a choice to call our own by renhui (E, 93k, wangxian, JFM/WWX, WIP, Rape/Non-Con, Underage, Angst with a Happy Ending, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, Forced Bonding, Homelessness, Dubious Consent, Self-Esteem Issues, Soulmates, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining while fucking, Misunderstandings, Miscommunication, Breaking Up & Making Up, Hurt/Comfort, Recovery, Good Uncle LQR, No Sunshot Campaign, Asexuality Spectrum) mostly fits the bill, although the requester should be warned that it's a WIP that ends before JFM gets his comeuppance, although it ends with the beginnings of a setup for that, so it's clearly on the way.

clean from the war (your heart fits like a key) by sysrae (E, 28k, WangXian, Modern AU Reunions, past xy/wwx, xy is fucked up but not evil because it's a modern AU and I said so, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, past wwx/jfm, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Abuse, Rape Recovery, transphobic violence, Victim Blaming, Past wei Wuxian/others, allusions to past self-harm) I think this might fit- note the tags

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13. thank you for this blog!! for the next itmf - any stories that take off like RoseThorne's wonderful ' a grain of millet drifting' - untamed canon-ish where WY is left on his own after the temple scene. angst appreciated - thank you !

tell some storm by qurbat (G, 31k, wangxian, JC & WWX, LSZ & WWX, NHS & WWX, Post-Canon, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, liberal amounts of outsider POV, the legend of wangxian, how to create a romance epic for dummies)

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14. Hey can plz anyone tell if there is a fic where wei ying is an omega and wangji is an alpha and we ying is an op omega but no one knows about it like everyone thinks that he is an alpha or something.

backfire by spookykingdomstarlight (E, 115k, wangxian, LWJ/MXY, One-Sided MXY/WWX, MXY/NMJ, Modern, BDSM AU, Biologically Determined Dom/sub Roles, BDSM, Bad BDSM Etiquette, Sadism, Masochism, Past Sexual Abuse, Sexual Slavery, Self-Harm, BDSM as a Form of Self-Harm, Minor Character Death(s), Arson, Shades of Black Widow WWX, Extremely Dubious Consent, Rape/Non-con Elements, Normalized Homosexuality and Bisexuality, Normalized Polyamory, nonsexual bdsm, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Pining WWX, jealous WWX, Touch-Starved WWX, Professional Dominant WWX, Sex Worker WWX, gentle dom LWJ, Mean Dom LWJ, oblivious LWJ, Past WC/WWX, Minor JGY/WWX, Mentioned WWX/Others, Emotional Infidelity, Angst with a Happy Ending, endgame wangxian, MXY Also Gets a Happy Ending, the tags are scary but i promise there's some lightheartedness too, wangxian love one another so much, WWX is healed by the power of nonsexual bdsm and friendship, and then gets bdsm'd quite sexually and happily by the love of his life, Additional Warnings In Author's Note)

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15. helloooo do you know of any fics that are canon events (mdzsverse preferred but cql still fine) narrated from lwj's pov where he's just horrifically pining for wwx? looking for peak canon-compliant lwj pining <3 @nutellacats

🔒 The Price of Old Wishes by SoManyJacks (E, 67k, WangXian, Minor canon divergence, Angst, POV LWJ, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, semi-verbal!LWJ, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide) Novel events from LWJ's pov

The Choice is His to Believe in Me by mrcformoso (T, 11k, WangXian, POV LWJ, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Canon Divergence, but only the ending, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, LWJ regaining WWX's Trust, Golden Core Reveal, Good Kid LSZ, Snippets, Post-Time Skip, Love Confessions, Requited Love, Trust Issues, WWX Has a Fear of Dogs, WWX Has No Golden Core, Light Jealousy, Fierce Corpse WN, Protective LWJ) CQL compliant but with some novel elements, and with a canon divergence ending. Might want to read New Perspective (link in #6) first for context

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16. Hello! For the next itmf, fics that place heavy emphasis on how what wwx practices is guidao (ghost cultivation) as opposed to modao (demonic cultivation)? Ideally canon dynamics, but no smut is also definitely ok! @lovelyiknow

The Young, the Horny, the Jaded and the Jade: Partners in Time by Admiranda (T, 55k, wangxian, established couple, Crossover, road trip with your older selves, teasing your younger selves about their obvious crushes, yin iron does yin iron things, mdzs/cql crossover, adult wangxian, Teenage Wangxian, genius WWX, LWJ adores his husband, we’re all in this disaster together, xue yang causes problems, WIP)

Ad Oblivione by Baph, HikariNoHimeWriter (M, 70k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, POV Multiple, Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Identity Reveal, Golden Core Reveal, Cultivation World Critical, Not JC Friendly, Abusive YZY, Angst with a Happy Ending) Been a while since I last read this one but I recall WWX working & interacting with ghosts & corpses & explaining to other characters how that works

🔒 the thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break by RoseThorne (E, 91k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Soulmates, Self-Esteem Issues, Fix-It, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, PTSD, Handfasting, Panic Attacks, Getting Together, First Time, Aftercare, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, /Referenced Torture, Scars, Chronic Pain, Golden Core Reveal, First Time, Switching, sex-related injury, LWJ Stays at the Burial Mounds, LSZ is a Wèi, Good Sibling JC, Dissociation, Burial Mounds Settlement Days) in later chapters

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17. For itmf, what are you guys’ favorite fics that are novel or audio drama canon only fics? No CQL compliant fics please!

two guys r in love thats literally it by victortor (M, 11k, wangxian, Time Travel, the fluffiest thing ive ever written)

🧡 a stone to break your soul, a song to save it by rikke ( M, 180k, WangXian, Arranged marriage, Canon Divergence, Hurt/comfort, Light angst, Canon typical violence)

SanRen by Kyogre (T, 87k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Different First Meeting, Romantic Fluff, Action & Romance, Eventual Happy Ending)

the field meets the wood by astronicht (T, 7k, WangXian, BAMF WWX, slight whump, Ritualistic Self Harm, Canon Era, Tang Dynasty style, Blood Loss, Blood and Injury, salt economics, Post-Canon)

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

[chirpycloudyrobin]

okay so im subjecting yall to my wen twins AU

it's pretty much normalised within the wen clan for siblings to fight over the title of clan and sect leader. wen leaders have normalised having multiple wives to prevent having zero heirs at the end bc everyone slaughtered everyone else. wen ruohan's father wasn't even his own father's eldest son, he just happened to be the most ruthless. cue wen sr. sr.'s primary wife giving birth to fraternal male-female twins.

Wēn Míng 温明, the elder female twin. Wēn Yáng 温暘, the younger male twin.

this is no story of soft fluffy siblings and overcoming frankly insane family traditions with the power of twin sibling love. the two are pitted against each other from the very beginning. in fact, they know they were going to end up fighting each other to the death in the future. they're not particularly bothered about it. it's normal for them, so why would they ?

the twins do have some form of sibling fondness and affection for each other in the sense that they see the other as their only equal. theyre the only ones who cld kill each other. which was why wen yang absolutely went batshit when a rival internal faction decided it was a good idea to get rid of wen ming when the twins were just 12.

when wen yang finally got the position of head disciple and heir, he decided to start culling the ranks and keeping only those who have utmost loyalty to him. his father rlly didnt give that much of a fuck, hes just happy that his heir is Just Like Him. even gave wen yang, now wen ruohan, a proud pat on the back when his son assassinated him personally. it never did take long for wen ruohan to figure out that his old man had orchestrated his sister's death personally

didnt give him any closure tho so he grew up bitter and resentful in the inside. undisputed sect heir at age 14 but at what cost

until he went to the cloud recesses for the disciple exchange

turns out his amnesiac sister was picked up by baoshan sanren after the assassination attempt and has been under the immortal's tutelage as xiao yiyang. shes pretty much at the cusp of immortality, as was wen ruohan. it was only recently that she regained her memories lmao but at that point wen ming, now xiao yiyang, valued her freedom too much to go back to nightless city

wen ruohan tried to drag her back. xiao yiyang beat his ass artfully for it. she's still just a smidgen better than him after all these years.

he does demand that his sister visit him at the nightless city as much as possible. or send letters. she better not disappear under his nose again !

to outsiders, their dynamic is um. concerning. the twins regularly threaten physical violence or death upon each other. every time they meet each other they just have to fight. cangse sanren teases him by calling him yang'er. wen ruohan pisses her off right back by calling her wen ming. they might just end up killing each other straight up one day

wen ruohan smiles more often now. it's fucking scary.

its even scarier when courting proposals and suitors start cropping up for cangse sanren. a disciple of baoshan sanren, at the cusp of immortality, one of the best talents of her generation, the literal blood-related sister of wen ruohan. she's pretty much the best catch.

sect heirs, head disciples, highly influential people vie for her hand. she does not give a shit abt any of them and she sics wen ruohan on them more often than not. granted she now owes him a couple of spars and a rare weapon but thats just business.

wen ruohan is very happy about her indifference. that just means no snot-nosed brat will be intruding on their twin sibling time.

until wei changze that is.

wen ruohan hates wei changze. it's not even because the man is unskilled or unmotivated or anything. the only thing the man lacks is influence but wen ruohan knows cangse sanren doesnt give a shit abt that.

wen ruohan just fucking hates that wei changze is taking up too much of cangse sanren's time. thats his twin sister. wei changze is just a friend. what the hell ?!

"ur acting like such a typical spoiled didi lol" "say that again and ill beat ur ass" "youve never been able to beat me not even once"

"why do u like him ew" "he compels me" "the fuck"

wen ruohan is forced to make friendly with wei changze because he ends up his brother-in-law just a couple of years later. wen ruohan quite enjoyed the sour looks of that jiang kid and the yu woman who keeps on slandering cangse sanren so he supposes thats a plus.

he meets baoshan sanren on his sister's wedding day. it's the woman who kept his sister away from him for the longest time. but shes also one of the few immortals of the jianghu, her age lost to time. shes the one who taught cangse and never let his sister lose her potential. he can respect that. in fact, he respects that a lot.

he does not fight baoshan sanren. in fact, baoshan sanren ends up being one of two people who can get wen ruohan to listen to them. many tragedies of the main timeline are prevented from the mere fact that wen ruohan respected baoshan sanren in this timeline and the immortal cared enough to descend her mountain and whack wen ruohan upside the head if he gets too power hungry

he gets married down the line too and has two sons. one is a perfect heir. one is just an absolute idiot. his wives dont really compel him, like the way cangse says wei changze compels her. whatever, wen ruohan doesnt have the time for that. he has a sect to run.

wen ruohan is one of the first to get to see cangse sanren and wei changze's child, baby wei ying. the first words out of his mouth are "that dumpling's ugly as hell".

cangse sanren calmly passes her baby to the waiting arms of wei changze.

then she proceeds to remind wen ruohan why shes the superior twin.

wen ruohan one ups her when his wen spies that he sent to monitor her family ended up saving her and wei changze's life. wei ying isnt rendered an orphan ! cssr's pissed tho bc now wrh has something to blackmail her with and thats not slay

wei ying grows up the pampered nephew of the wen sect leader but he kinda dgaf abt the extravagant gifts honestly. hes too busy revolutionising the talisman and array knowledge of the cultivation world and being baoshan sanren's favourite grandchild. many sects invite him to join them but hes like "nah im good i like wandering around with a-niang and a-die :3"

wen ruohan doesnt know what else to give to his nephew that would compel the kid to join the wen sect.

then he sees how wei ying looks at the stone-faced lan kid at one of the discussion conferences. more importantly, he sees how the lan kid looks back

bingo

[robininthelabyrinth]

I messed up my prompt, I left some out so I’m going to awkwardly regroup it.

Au where Wen Zhuiliu is Meng yao’s dad instead of JG. Meng Yao is raised in the wen sect, as his son also the idea of the golden-core-snatcher thing being hereditary or not would be fun to explore. It’s be the ultimate dagger-up-the-sleeve move. Meng Yao joins Wen Qing and Ning to study at the Lans sect.

ao3

"Question," Lao Nie said, and Wen Ruohan tried not to groan - the other man had a tone that suggested trouble. "Do you remember that time in Yunping when that Jin bastard was so drunk that he couldn't find the brothel stairs?"

"Why do you care?" Wen Ruohan grumbled. He just wanted to sleep - Lao Nie was one of those irritating people that got more energy after sex rather than falling asleep like any normal man. Freak. A freak who wouldn’t stop poking him, and not with anything fun, either. "Fine, fine, yes, I remember. What about it?"

"Didn't you order that new retainer of yours to go upstairs and fuck that prostitute for him? Saying something like 'it's a waste not to get the value even if he can't'?" 

That sounded suspiciously like the sort of spiteful mean-hearted joke Wen Ruohan might make while drunk, yes. 

"What about it?" he asked.

"She got pregnant."

Wen Ruohan blinked.

"Now, she's saying it's Guangshan's, of course,” Lao Nie said. “They all do when they don’t realize how much of a miser he really is under all that gold. But if there's a chance...it was that Zhao Zhuliu fellow, wasn't it? The one with the core-melting hand?"

"Wen Zhuliu," Wen Ruohan corrected. "And yes. I think he was too new to realize I wasn’t actually serious...hm. You think the child may have inherited his talent?"

"Why not? Especially if you start teaching him early..."

What an interesting proposition.

"So���” Lao Nie scooted closer. Somehow. There was not enough room on this bed. “Can I have this one?"

"What? Absolutely not."

"But you already have the father!"

"And that means the son is mine as well. Get lost!"

"But -"

"Keep your grubby hands to yourself,” Wen Ruohan scowled. “All good things belong to me, least of all talents that I've put in time and effort to raise."

"Spoilsport,” Lao Nie said, though he didn’t look especially put out by the refusal. “Anyway, what if I were to put my 'grubby hands' here..."

“Get lost!”

-

"Sect Leader."

"Get lost," Wen Ruohan growled, not even bothering to turn to look at whoever it was that had entered. When he didn't hear the pitter-patter of fleeing feet, he added: "Or else I'm going to kill you."

It wasn’t a threat. It was a statement of fact, and a sincerely meant warning.

Wen Ruohan might have a temper and be inclined towards sadism, but he valued talent. Anyone with access to his study was a talent he had cultivated with great effort, and it would be such a pain to undo all of that by murdering them himself. 

Which was not to say he wouldn't, if his mood were bad enough, just that he'd make the effort to warn them away first. If they still didn't listen, that was their problem, and presumably a sign that they didn't really have as much talent or brains as he'd initially thought.

"Sect Leader, I have some news for you."

Wen Ruohan restrained the urge to throw something - did he seem like he was in the mood to receive news, either positive or negative? - but only because the longer speech had revealed the identity of the servant that had intruded: it was little A-Yao, Wen Zhuliu's boy.

He was being uncharacteristically stupid in stubbornly insisting on approaching Wen Ruohan now, which was most unlike his usually gentle and cautious character, but he was also ten years old - some stupidity was to be expected. Didn't adolescence start around then or something....? Or whatever it was that rotted teenage boys’ brains the way it obviously had his sons’? 

Wen Ruohan pinched his brow and exhaled hard, struggling to manage his temper. He had not yet descended to the level of squabbling with children.

"What," he forced out through gritted teeth, "is it?"

"Nie-gongzi wrote that he'd like to come visit," Wen Yao said, which was both exactly the type of "news" a child might be expected to think was earth-shatteringly important and which made Wen Ruohan nearly see red at how stupidly inane it was - and all the more because it included that accursed surname Nie. "He says his father is being intolerable."

Well, Wen Ruohan could scarcely argue with that.

After all, wasn't that why he himself was so angry at this precise moment? Lao Nie's cavalier behavior, his indifference, his disdain...

Wen Ruohan frowned, suddenly distracted from his anger. 

"Did you say Nie Mingjue was complaining?" he asked. "Nie-gongzi, not Nie-er-gongzi? Not Nie Huaisang, the littler one?"

Nie Huaisang complained about everything, being six, but loud with it. But Nie Mingjue?

Nie Mingjue was fourteen and fundamentally a good boy, with none of the typical self-absorption and moodiness of adolescence. For him to complain about another person, least of all his father, and to someone in another sect, no less, even if that someone was just a friend he'd made during his father's visits to the Nightless City or Wen Ruohan’s own to the Unclean Realm...that was out of character.

That was practically a cry for help, really. It suggested something might be genuinely wrong.

Something wrong with the Nie sect leader –

Wen Ruohan’s anger, entirely caused by the particularly aggravating behavior of Lao Nie, abruptly cooled so fast that it felt as though his entire body had fallen into an icy river.

After all, who didn't know about the Nie sect's famous inclination towards qi deviations...?

"Yes, sect leader," Wen Yao said, blinking up at him. "The older Nie-gongzi. He seemed very distressed. Should I write him back and ask about particulars?"

"No need," Wen Ruohan said, making a snap decision. "I'm going to go pay a personal visit to the Unclean Realm right now. I'll settle the details myself when I get there."

He swept out the door, tossing a "Get someone to clean this mess up, will you?" over his shoulder as he did.

-

It turned out the letter from Nie Mingjue was a fabrication, but after patching things up with Lao Nie, Wen Ruohan was in a good enough mood to forgive Wen Yao for his little schemes.

-

"How attached are you to Wen Yao?"

Wen Ruohan blinked, then stared incredulously at Lan Qiren, who was probably the last person he'd expect to try to poach talent away from him. It was Lan Qiren, after all, boring old-before-his-time teacher that he was.

Lan Qiren grimaced at him, which was an unusual posture with which to start such negotiations. Normally someone trying to steal someone away, much less someone actually surnamed Wen, servant or not, would put on a flattering expression and try to butter him up first. Lan Qiren’s disgruntled expression was completely out of place. After all, people didn't try to steal other people's servants involuntarily...

Unless.

"Wait, you're saying Mingjue's little scheme worked?" he blurted out, and Lan Qiren’s scowl worsened. "It did? Absurd. I don't believe it."

Nie Mingjue had only been talking for the last two or three years about how he had to introduce his two good friends, Wen Yao and Lan Xichen, and how well he was sure they would get along. Up until now, Wen Yao had been politely putting him off, mostly because of some ridiculous self-image issues - so what if he was a servant's son or born of a prostitute, he had the Wen surname, and that alone made him nobler by far than any of the smaller sect's true-born children, perfectly capable of speaking on equal terms with the heir of a different Great Sect, and really, Wen Ruohan needed to encourage the boy to pick up more of the arrogance that was now his right - but with Wen Ruohan sending him, Wen Chao and Wen Ning to the Cloud Recesses for lessons with Lan Qiren as a favor to Lao Nie, he presumably wouldn't have been able to avoid meeting Lan Xichen any longer.

Apparently, it had gone even better than Nie Mingjue had predicted, if Lan Qiren was already here to feel Wen Ruohan out about a potential marriage agreement.

Unless that had been what Nie Mingjue meant all along - Wen Ruohan wouldn't put it past Lao Nie's son.

He wouldn’t put anything past that family of rascals.

"Believe it or not, as you wish, but that doesn't change the reality of it," Lan Qiren said, sounding grumpy, and for the first time Wen Ruohan realized that the other man - who he normally avoided out of residual dislike of teachers, and perhaps some jealousy of Lao Nie having friends other than him - was completely unafraid of him. How interesting. "I assume you'll want to extract everything you can over this and naturally you have me over a barrel, so I thought it better to finish it quickly so that you wouldn't have time to think of any more outrageous demands."

How delightfully blunt. Had Wen Ruohan missed something here, seeing Lan Qiren only in his role as acting sect leader? He'd assumed that the overly-cautious pedant was all there was to the man, Lao Nie's unfathomable appreciation for him aside, but perhaps Lan Qiren was one of those rare people who was genuinely different in a different milieu. 

Perhaps Lao Nie might even be right about him, which, knowing that man's proclivities, would mean that this seemingly innocuous man was actually dangerous in some fashion. 

Interesting indeed.

"What's the rush?" Wen Ruohan asked, and suppressed a grin at Lan Qiren’s audible huff of exasperation. "This is their life we're talking about, after all. We should treat it seriously."

It was said that Lan loved only once in a lifetime, and irrevocably - if that were true, Wen Ruohan really did Lan Qiren over a barrel, as the other man had so forthrightly admitted. Given Lan Qiren’s obvious adoration of his nephews and Lan Xichen's role as sect heir, even sect leader presumptive given his father's seclusion, Wen Ruohan was in a position to make considerable demands.

Studying the man in front of him with curiosity, he wondered idly if he could even go so far as to obtain a person of the previous generation. A teacher renowned throughout the cultivation world had to have considerable talent, and, well, Wen Ruohan had always appreciated talent...

[youhideastar]

WIP Wednesday: General Wei and the Crown Prince

I have a new fic almost ready to go! No, not the alpha/alpha entry for Wangxian A/B/O Bingo - that one's still with my beta reader. But I hope you'll enjoy a palace intrigue AU in the meantime! Here's the opening of the fic to whet your appetite. (If you have a very good memory, you may remember this from the WIP title ask game in January of last year, but hopefully that's long enough ago that you won't mind seeing it again... 😉)

When the long, grueling years of the Sunshot Campaign come to an end with the defeat of Wen Ruohan, it is the culmination of all that Lan Wangji has wanted for his entire life: a just peace, for all of his people. A chance to feed the wealth of the nation into bridges and schools, palaces and roads, instead of the imperial war machine.

But there is a part of him, unworthily, that regrets the end of the war; a selfish part, that thinks, I will have no cause to see General Wei again. General Wei is the field commander of the Jiang forces; the common-born foster son of the Duke of Jiang. His is the decisive victory against Wen Ruohan; his are the innovative tactics that brought the imperial forces through Yiling and Qishan with a swiftness no one, not even his own allies, could have predicted.

His are the words and gestures that needled Lan Wangji, the arguments that prodded him to greater creativity in the deployment of his forces, greater innovation in logistical support. General Wei was always just barely on the proper side of the line between appropriate and inappropriate conduct; his use of Lan Wangji’s title was scrupulous, but the way he would meet Lan Wangji’s eyes directly, so bold—

Lan Wangji had never met anyone who looked at him that way, talked to him that way. It was infuriating. It was perplexing. It was intoxicating.

But with the end of the war must come the end of their acquaintance. Lan Wangji must return to the imperial court, and there remain… and General Wei has no peacetime reason to come to court. There are few places for a commoner to fit at court, even a war hero, except among the bureaucrats and advisors who have risen through the examination system – and by virtue of his martial training and occupation, General Wei will not have moved through that system. So the door is closed.

It is for the best, Lan Wangji tells himself.

But he is wrong.

There is one niche for a commoner without examination credentials to fit at court. And when the Jiang offer General Wei—just Wei Wuxian, now—as an imperial concubine for the crown prince, Lan Wangji dares to hope that the attraction he felt on the battlefield was not only one-sided.

He does not hope for a deeper attachment: that would be naive. The most likely thing is that Wei Wuxian wished, as the reward for his exemplary service, a retirement into comfort and safety, or an opportunity to acquire greater peacetime political influence, or both. And Lan Wangji does not begrudge him that. But there is something, perhaps, to his choice of the mechanism by which he has chosen to pursue those goals. Both comfort and power are things he could have acquired just as easily in his foster-father’s court. His choice to pursue them here, at the imperial court, in Lan Wangji’s orbit, perhaps means something.

Or so Lan Wangji hopes.

[thebiscuiteternal]

Oh do share more about this reverse nies AU with Wen Ruohan if you so wish 👀💕

Okay, so. As usual with my assorted takes on Wen Ruohan's relationship to the Nies: It's complicated.

Wen Ruohan was already an adult and advanced enough in his cultivation to stop showing his age at the time he met the brothers' father.

His perception of time was also starting to become slightly warped by that point too.

This is the reason his temper is so unpredictable; he genuinely doesn't always remember that he's known someone for x days or x years most of the time and so he might see someone as a friend or a mere acquaintance or an enemy all within the span of a couple of days. For reasons no one's really been able to decipher, because mere affection doesn't seem to be a defining factor, the only people who have been able to break through that difficulty are:

His sons (and they have trouble sometimes, especially since Wen Ruohan has forgotten their mother completely)

Wen Qing and Wen Ning's parents (his closest friends within his own family) and to a much lesser degree Wen Qing herself

Nie Haoran (my Papa Nie)

Lan Qiren

And much to everyone's surprise, little Huaisang

He sees the potential for a brilliant political manipulator in this shy, sickly, frequently overlooked child and decides to make nurturing that into his little hobby. If you were to ask him why he finds this so interesting, he probably couldn't give you a reason, he just does.

He encourages Huaisang in scholarly efforts, encourages the friendship with his own firstborn son, always has a gift for him, always makes sure to be someone safe for the boy. He even entertains the thought of, and jokes with Haoran about, stealing Huaisang away to flourish in the Wen sect (in what role? Well, he doesn't really have an answer for that either. Besides, it's just kidding around.... right?)

And then just a month or so after Huaisang's thirteenth birthday, something goes horribly wrong with Wen Ruohan's latest cultivation breakthrough. He starts having even more trouble properly perceiving time, his mood swings start becoming more violent and unpredictable, and he starts growing more paranoid that everyone is conspiring against him, even his oldest living friends like Nie Haoran.

With his deteriorating sanity, perhaps the incident with Nie Haoran's saber was an inevitability. In his fully lucid moments, he regrets the impulsive murder. He didn't mean for things to get so out of hand! And now one of his oldest friends is gone, and now the boy he invested so much time and affection in fears and hates him, as does the rest of the sect that now pretends to follow the boy.

Perhaps things wouldn't have fallen apart into outright war if there had been anyone capable of reining him in. But his sons and many others in his sect are perfectly happy to go along with his ambitious delusions for their own power-hungry reasons, those like his cousins and Wen Qing don't particularly care whom outside the sect get hurt as long as they're safe, the majority of the rank and file in the sect are terrified of him, and none of the other sect leaders have the power to stand up to him.

Least of all the boy leader constantly being undermined by his own supposed disciples and ignored when he tries to warn everyone else of the danger they're in.

Poor thing. He'll just have to remove all the liars, the conspirators, the traitors, the ungrateful- and once all of the other sects have been brought to heel, the jianghu will be safe for bright little neglected sparks.

[allthelittlecreepycrawlies]

Okay, so, trying to get into this less refined thing.

As I said before, I actually have an outline for how the Butterfly Effect AU is supposed to go past the point I couldn't keep writing. If y'all don't mind spoilers, I'd be interested in your thoughts.

(But I'm putting it behind a cut for those who don't want spoilers.)

By the time his parents and brother and cousin get close enough to get Huaisang's attention, both Papa Nie and Mingjue are suffering pretty horrible nosebleeds, maybe even bleeding from the eyes too, and Linsong and Zonghui are not doing much better.

Understandably, since this is the day Mingjue died in the old timeline, the blood only makes Huaisang panic more, which makes the shockwaves worse.

Mingjue has no idea how to reassure him, just holding on to him in the hopes that will help somehow.

Suddenly he feels the cold shock of ghostly hands reaching into his body, something that had never happened before since Huaisang had always been partially solid.

While he's still stunned, he can feel something like layers and layers of grime being burned off his core as Huaisang clutches it. As the shockwaves die down, he finds himself feeling... better. A lot better. Even though he was nowhere near the qi deviation he'd experienced in the old timeline, the resentment was still starting to accumulate, and now it's just gone.

Huaisang seems to be just as surprised that whatever he did worked, at least as a temporary fix.

He starts to reach for their dad to do the same to him, but then he... flickers a little bit, like a struggling candle flame.

Oh. Shit. Papa Nie immediately realizes that they are now very short on time and orders everyone else to go get Huaisang's mama, the other siblings/extended family members, and every healer and strong cultivator they have, because they can't hold out hope that Huaisang will hang on long enough for Lan Qiren and Wen Ruohan to arrive. They have to execute the saber preservation plan now and pray it doesn't destroy him for good.

It takes the entire rest of the day and almost all the way through the night to finish the ritual, and by the time it's done, Huaisang is more like a smoke wisp than a glow. Pretty much all of his family is in tears, but he's... smiling.

It worked. Generations of Nies will be able to use the pear tree as a place to cleanse their sabers when they start getting too demanding, and the pears to cleanse themselves.

His brother's alive. His parents are alive. His cousins are alive. He has a sister now. The war never started. He has no more regrets.

Realizing that they really are going to lose him now, Mingjue makes him promise he'll come back somehow, so that they can eventually reincarnate as brothers again.

And then he's gone.

Three months later, Mingjue turns thirty and takes on the sect leader role, his father being the first Nie leader ever to be able to peacefully retire.

Six years after that, a circus caravan is passing through, and is invited to perform for the locals in the courtyard of the Unclean Realms. Nie Xunyao is the first to notice something strange, and immediately goes to get Mingjue.

There's a small boy among the performers, caring for the trained bird flock with surprising ease. He's happy and healthy and greets Nie-zongzhu with a huge grin and an offer to hold one of the colorful parrotlets.

He has bright green eyes and a very familiar face.

[mdzs-fics]

Time travel talisman VS clumsy young man = Chaos by BurningBlueDiamond

a series of shorter stories

AU - Time-Travel and … 7 parts, complete

A series based on a common theme is a reality across the Módào Zǔshī fandom. Characters and situations that move from one story to the next can be a fun read.

For their series Time travel talisman VS clumsy young man = Chaos, Author Burning BlueDiamond begins with a one-chapter tale titled A Room Full of Dead People and continues with three more stories. A few years later, they wrote three more stories that included the multi-chapter The Consequences of Accidental Time Travel.

The final story in the series serves as an epilogue of sorts that describes the changes that occur in a new timeline.

A Room Full of Dead People

“Ehm, Sizhui” his voice was hesitant but smooth and easily audible even at the very back of the room. His companion made a non verbal sound that Jiang Cheng was sure he heard somewhere else. The one who spoke continued:

“We aren't dead, are we?” at the words the one named Sizhui took his wrist and touched his own neck, probably searching for a heartbeat or spiritual energy. (Which was pretty useless in Jiang Cheng's future opinion, formulated that night as he rethought of this very event).

“No, we are very much alive, Jingyi” Sizhui answered, his voice had a musical tone to it, like he grew up listening to music, which, Jiang Cheng thought, was most likely the case since he was from the only music orientated sect. After hearing them speak most people had unconsciously relaxed a little, even the warriors like Nie Mingjue: it was clear that whoever they were they were as confused as they felt. But then Jingyi continued.

“Then why are we staring at a room full of dead people?” that caused said room full of dead people to freeze in their seats.

In which two Good Lan Boys accidentally travel back in time and, when two Fathers arrive to rescue them, the Sects get an earful from Future Wei Wuxian.

If at first you don't successed (hope that your son and his best friend aren't in the middle of a war)

The rigor payed off. Few hours after the horrifying discovery that their son and his best friend used a highly dangerous and untested talisman, Wei Ying draw the last line on their stack of equally dangerous and still untested talismans.

In which the search for two Wayward Lan Boys commences.

The Day Wen Ruohan Became a Psychic

In which a Sect Leader who ditched the latest Discussion Conference has a very bad day. And nightmares.

How Nie Huaisang Learned to Never Skip a Conference

Skipping an afternoon of the Discussion Conference means someone doesn't get all of the dirt first-hand. And boy is he ticked off.

The Consequences of Accidental Time Travel

And then it rained fire. Jiang Cheng was caught so off guard that the thought to yell profanities at Wei Wuxian, which was exactly the reason he was even there in first place, didn't cross his mind until he went to sleep that night.

In which we get five chapters of reactions from those involved in A Room Full of Dead People, both Future and Past. The last chapter is titled "The actual chaotic conference in which Things are Discussed and Shit Hits the Fan in a rather spectacular way, mostly off-screen" … and it aims to please.

A Room Full of Dead People - Nie Huaisang Edition (an AU of an AU?)

“That is a big bold lie, Lan Sizhui. You resent way more people that both you and others think”

“Oh, really, who?” the question was posed in challenge, like he was daring Jingyi to actually answer. The other levelled him with a look that screamed defiance and did just that:

“The entire Jin Clan, save for Jin Ling, even if I'm not entirely sure you've 100% forgiven him for stabbing Xian-gege; Xue Yang, the Wen Main Clan and their followers, Yu Ziyuan. Oh, and Nie Huaisang” he quickly listed off a, quite frankly, long number of people for one who was supposed to not resent at all. Wait… Nie Huaisang?!

In which Nie Huaisang does not miss the afternoon session previously described.

All in All, Life is Good

In which … spoilers. The title is actually a line in this story, which author BurningBlueDiamond describes as "a glorified point list". All-in-all a satisfying end for a time-travel AU series.

[mintartem]

New Sect Leader Jin Ling x Captured Wen Yuan

An AU in which Jin Ling is the 2nd legitimate son of Jin Guangshan & Madam Jin while A-Yuan is Wen Ruohan’s son and Wen Chao & Xu’s younger half brother.

Jin Ling/Rulan:

Younger than Jin Zixuan by 2 years

Friends with Jiang Cheng (bff), Wei Wuxian, and Nie Huaisang

Loves his brother but doesn’t like the fact that he was rude towards Yanli

Greater in archery than his brother

Tied with Lan Xichen in archery competition

During Sunshot Campaign, he fought alongside Jin Zixuan

One of the few people who is genuinely nice towards Jin Guangyao and treats him like a big brother, not minding his origins at all

Defends Guangyao from everyone especially to his mother and father

Tries to connect to Mo Xuanyu and Qin Su

Hated the Wens and later Wei Wuxian & Wen Ning after killing his brother

Started hating his own father and planned to kill him with Guangyao’s help (he was successful and he made Guangyao his advisor Madam Jin has no clue of this but is alive).

One of the cultivators that lead the Siege of the Burial Mounds

Kept Wen Yuan (for unknown reasons) as a war prize and to carry the sins of Wens

Wen Yuan/Sizhui:

Older than Wen Ning by few months

Closer towards Wen Ning and Qing than his own brothers

Wen Ruohan’s 2nd favorite child (1st being Wen Xu)

Sucks at archery even more than Wen Chao

He encouraged Wen Ning to join the Archery competition and even argued with Wen Chao in letting him join (he won and Wen Ning gained 5th place)

Scared of Wen Zhuliu and doesn’t understand why Wen Chao likes him

During sunshot campaign, he stayed in Nightless City

Has suspicions towards Meng Yao when he joined the Wen Clan

Was captured by the Jins along with Wen Ning

Wasn’t able to stop Wen Ning (and some others) from getting killed during their capture and meets Wei Wuxian for the first time

Is happy with his life in the Burial Mounds and is usually the one who goes down the mountain along with WN & WWX

The only survivor of the Siege of the Burial Mounds. He wasn’t killed since (1) he is the youngest and (2) Jiang Cheng kind of saw himself in him when Lotus Pier was attacked.

Kept like a prize and suffers to “carry his family’s sins”

He and Jin Ling met in the archery competition and did not get along (but in a playful sort of way)

This is inspired by this fic right here. I've been working with this piece for a while but finally, I can post it!!

[stiltonbasket]

for whenever you feel like: wrh raises wwx au continuation?❤️ i already love it!!

"You cannot send your son to war."

It is the first time Lan Wangji has spoken in days. He retreated from the Wei-fu's main compound nearly a fortnight previously, filled with mingled dread and fury when he heard that Wei Ying's son would be riding to battle—and in all that time, Wei Ying did not once attempt to have the conscription order rescinded.

Perhaps he knew the effort would be fruitless. Wen Ruohan valued Wei Ying above his own sons, before he was wounded—for otherwise, he would have never carved those wretched compulsion sigils into Wei Ying's skin—but Wen Yuan was worth nothing more to him than the guest cultivators who were sent out to perish by the hundreds during the second year of the war, because he did not share Wei Ying's blood.

His father's training went only so far, Xiao Liuzi had said, when Lan Wangji first came to the Wei-fu as a concubine. Young Master Yuan has no rival for talent among the other boys of his age, and Lady Wen says that he is the very picture of Xinhua-jiangjun as a youth—but there is something about the lord's cultivation that came from his mother, the one who came down from Baoshan Sanren's mountain, and the little master does not have it. That is the power Wen Ruohan most desires in a right-hand, and so the little master is useless to him.

Wei Ying was as useful as a flesh-and-blood right hand to Wen Ruohan, even injured, but not useful enough to be kept truly happy. He had been showered in riches for the past two decades, denied no treasure that could be obtained by gold or human toil; but he had few dear ones that Wen Ruohan could not touch, let alone any assurance that his family in the Nightless City would be kept safe if he were to fail his master—and if the sigils on his back had not prevented him from doing so, he would have taken his own life in misery long before he came of age, hoping that his death would permit the infant Wen Yuan to pass out of Wen Ruohan's notice for ever.

I wish he had not told me that, Lan Wangji thinks painfully, recalling the night his beloved drank himself sick on spoiled wine and confessed the truth of his long years of service to the tyrant who lived in the Sun Palace. I can do nothing for him, and now there is nothing left but empty hope for the both of us.

For his part, Lan Wangji suffers no delusions about Wen Sizhui's ability in war. While night-hunting, he could rival Xichen at his strongest, in the years before he commenced work on the great warding seals that protect Gusu and the Unclean Realm; but A-Yuan cannot bear to stand helpless in the face of pain, whether his disciple siblings' or the pain of some little creature that crossed his path on his travels, and bearing witness to the unending agony of war will dull A-Yuan's wits and strength to the point where they might well abandon him entirely.

"You cannot send him," Lan Wangji repeats now, folding one hand over Wei Ying's shoulder. "Let him ride out with the others, if you must. But surely he can leave his regiment under cover of night and escape, long before he reaches Qinghe. He is your son—he could easily find a way to depart without being noticed, and then—"

"Where would he go, Lan Zhan?" Wei Ying asks, turning around to face him. "If he deserts his regiment, the way home will be barred to him forever. If he ever dared to come back, he would be executed as a traitor after Wen Ruohan came to hear of it, and perhaps tortured for days before that. If I must lose him, I would rather he meet a quick end in battle than a terrible one in the torturing chambers."

Lan Wangji says nothing.

"You came out of the xingtang yourself," Wei Ying says dully. "You know Yuan'er would never survive it."

His gaze flickers down towards Lan Wangji's legs, as if he could look right through the thick silk of his trousers and down upon the knotted scars beneath them; and then he turns his face up to the ceiling and stands without moving for a long, long while.

"How dear is he to you?" he says at last. "A-Yuan, I mean."

"Dearer than life."

The confession falls from his lips easily. When Lan Wangji first entered the Wei-fu, he was prepared to kill his way out of it with the stone splinter he tore from the dungeon walls, if necessary—but on the wedding night, A-Yuan stole into the bridal chamber while Wei Ying slept, carrying ointment and bandages for Lan Wangji's shattered legs, and treated his injuries as skillfully as his aunt Wen Qing might have done.

"I doubt Wen Ruohan will be pleased to hear of this," Lan Wangji had rasped, stunned almost speechless by the small, deft hands flying over the deep gouges in his ankles. "Go back to bed, xiao-gongzi. Wen Ruohan ordered me here to humiliate your father, not to serve as a companion to him. What do you think he will do if he finds that someone from Xinhua-jiangjun's household dressed my wounds?"

"You're here to serve as a reminder to my Uncle Yu, actually," A-Yuan muttered. "He's Fuqin's favorite concubine, and Wen-zongzhu sent you here to punish him. He thinks Yu-shushu should have died in battle before he allowed any harm to come to my A-Die."

With that, A-Yuan finished tying off the bandages and departed; and brief though the treatment had been, it permitted Lan Wangji to ignore the fire in his bones for long enough to have a full night's rest.

The wounds are nothing more than scars now, and the full function of Lan Wangji's legs has long since been restored. He could take A-Yuan and flee from the Nightless City this very night, if he tried—but Wei Ying would be forced to stop them, no matter how desperately he wished to let them go, and then...

"Forgive me," Lan Wangji murmurs. "Good night, Wei Ying."

He spends the night tossing and turning in his bed, his thoughts lingering over the bed in the next room where Wei Ying is asleep with A-Yuan in his arms; and then, almost before he knows it, the hour of Wen Yuan's departure is upon them.

The day dawns much like any other, in a riotous storm of red and gold that falls over the Wei-fu like a blanket. Wei Ying rises early and sends the servants away, insisting that no one aside from himself should serve A-Yuan on his leaving-day; and when Lan Wangji sees the boy next, he is riding at the head of Wei Ying's old regiment, three paces behind the general who replaced his father after Lan Wangji was taken captive.

Lan Wangji reaches out and takes Wei Ying's hand.

"He will return," he vows. "Your brothers in arms love him as their own. With them close by, A-Yuan will come to no harm."

But Wei Ying's fingers do not squeeze Lan Wangji's hands in turn; and when he meets his husband's empty eyes, he knows that some part of Wei Ying's spirit has given up all hope of seeing Wen Yuan again.

[thisisallthehattersfault]

Thoughts on the Sect Leader Wen Sizhui AU

The Sunshot campaign fails. Meng Yao and Wen Qing together manage to convince Wen Ruohan not to kill the various sect leaders and instead to subjugate them. Some are allowed to keep leading their sects as vassal sects to the Wen. Others are completely absorbed into the Wen. All are forced to share any secret knowledge or techniques they may have.

Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan marry, but are kept in Qishan to be used as hostages to ensure to good behavior of Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian, and Jin Guangshan.

(Jin Guangshan thinks he has Wen Ruohan’s good graces because he barely took part in the war and immediately surrendered, but actually Wen Ruohan is fond of Meng Yao and, as a result, thinks Jin Guangshan is trash.)

Nie Huiasang is kept to ensure the good behavior of Nie Mingjue. Lan Wangji is kept to ensure the good behavior of Lan Xichen.

With both Wen Chao and Wen Xu dead, Wen Ruohan has only one living heir: His grandson, Wen Xu’s only child, Wen Yuan.

Once again Meng Yao and Wen Qing manage to convince Wen Ruohan that the hostages could be valuable as teachers -- they’re all members of the gentry who are either skilled cultivators or (in Jiang Yangli’s case) talented administrators, and all of them have knowledge that will be useful for the heir of... basically the entire world.

They’re all always being watched by Wen disciples, but nonetheless a-Yuan becomes close to his various teachers. As he grows older, he starts to notice their fear and the way they’re all treated, and decides he doesn’t like that.

It takes years of careful maneuvering, but eventually basically all of the guards around Wen Yuan and the sect leaders are the ones who follow Wen Ning and Wen Qing, which allows everybody to have a little bit more freedom of movement.

When Wen Yuan gets a little bit older, Wen Ruohan demands all of the sect heirs his age be sent to Qishan to be raised as his personal attendants.

Junior Quartet are the main squad obviously but there are other kids too.

Sizhui is still named Sizhui but this time it’s in honor of his father and uncle, since I stan Family Man Wen Ruohan

Sizhui does not want to kill his grandfather! Wen Ruohan is good to him! But.

Wen Sizhui, his teachers, his servants, and the Wen disciples under Wen Ning, all ultimately collaborate to stage a coup. In the process, Wangxian get together, Yunmeng siblings reconcile, Jin brothers become besties, and the Junior Quartet go full poly.

Sizhui works to help the other sects re-establish themselves, but by now there’s so much weirdness that a lot of them just... kind of merge. Lan Wangji is the second young master of the Lan Sect but he’s also an honored teacher and the defacto father figure of the Wen Sect Leader so his Lan robes have little gold fire decals alongside the silver clouds. Wei Wuxian is Jiang but he’s also kind of Wen. The Jin and Ouyang remain vassal sects to the Wen so that Jin Ling and Zizhen can marry Sizhui. Lan Xichen ends up having his own kid (3zun endgame?) so Jingyi isn’t the heir anymore and he can also live with his husbands.

Wen Qing opens an all-sect medical school.

Wen Ning marries Qin Su and they have half a dozen little doe-eyed babies that have their Wei-Shushu and their Lan-Shushu wrapped around their little fingers.

[fistfuloflightning]

If you don't mind, would you talk a bit more about RuoQing? I've been thinking about it since I saw your post but they're so rare. :'(

Ooooh I love me some info dumping :D

Watch out ahead: wonky timelines and headcanons galore!

Note: I’ve always headcanoned Wen Qing as older than the main cast, about five years or so. A few years younger than Wen Xu but much older than Wen Chao. So she’d be about 22-24 during the Gusu lectures and thus about 30 by the end of the war (which for this au lasts 5years)

I mentioned in an earlier post that they likely knew each other when she was younger, since he was close to her family and her father. Several years of separation after her father dies and the Dafan Wen remain in mourning until she comes to Nightless City in her late teens. Her sharp intellect and talent catch Wen Ruohan’s attention and he starts bringing her to conferences and discussions. Somewhere along the way they grow closer, an almost friendship, with Wen Qing accompanying him to banquets and spearheading his research into medicine and golden cores (how Wen Qing is able to back her medical experience later, and to apply it in emergencies coughweiwuxiancough)

This is book verse, so no Yin Iron to hunt down during the Gusu lectures. (…pretty sure, idk my memories of the book are hazy) There’s about 2 years between the lectures and the beginning of the war, and they finally get together during that timeframe.

Wen Qing asks not to be acknowledged as Madam Wen due to her preference of anonymity, only doubly so when she finds herself pregnant two years into the war. The less people who know about her status and Wen Ruohan’s child the better. While he doesn’t fear assassination or back-stabbing, she does. He’s lost two sons already, and his third they keep hidden away. It’s a small little paradise for them in the middle of all the blood and death. But when their son is three, the war ends with his father’s death and the remaining main branch Wens are wiped out. The side branch Wens are herded into the Jin labor camps. It’s at that point that Wen Qing spreads the story that Wen Ruohan’s last son is dead, and she gives the toddler a new name, a new identity, and places him in the care of her old nurse. He is now Wen Yuan and he’s the son of a distant cousin. Ironically true, but there can’t be any tie connecting him to her, no matter how delicate. It’s the only way she can ensure that he survives this hell. Because if anyone knew he was Wen Ruohan’s son the other sects would tear him to pieces before her eyes.

The peaceful days in Yiling aren’t meant to last and driven by the desperation to keep the Wen remnant and her son safe, Wen Qing leaves Wen Yuan in Wei Wuxian’s keeping and sacrifices herself. It is only almost twenty years later that Wen Ning finally divulges the full story to his nephew.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

[frankencanon]

Another Wen Kexing-centric Crossover AU set in the CQL universe that blatantly takes advantage of the fact that his name is Wen Kexing:

In this version, Wen Yan, courtesy name Kexing, is the oldest sibling of Wens Qing and Ning.

When he's very young, Wen Yan tags along on a routine trip with his parents (him being the only sibling old enough to be allowed to come along) only to never return...

His parents wind up getting murdered on the trip — courtesy of Wen Ruohan — and it is at this point that things start to really diverge from canon...

The following events can go two different ways:

In one version, it's the Ghosts that kill his parents and so he winds up being raised in the Ghost Valley (much like in canon) only to eventually return many years later to get his revenge on Wen Ruohan...

In the other version, it's Wen Ruohan himself who takes Wen Yan in and raises him (much like he canonically does with Wens Qing and Ning) until he, once again, eventually gets his revenge on Wen Ruohan.

(Perhaps Wen Ruohan takes in Wen Qing and Wen Ning as well in this version, but distracted as he is by Wen Kexing he doesn't pay them much mind and so they mostly get left alone...)

Either way, Wen Kexing spends the majority of his life pretty unknown to most of the cultivation world, right up until he is finally strong enough to get his revenge on (i.e. kill) parent-murderer Wen Ruohan.

Nie Mingjue: I'll never trust a Wen! Wen Ruohan killed my father!

Wen Kexing: Oh, same hat.

Nie Mingjue: ...what.

It is at this point that Wen Kexing —

— who has since also killed Wen Xu, Wen Chao, and possibly also Wen Zhuliu (maybe Wen Zhuliu was the one who killed their parents on Wen Ruohan's orders?) —

— is made the new leader of the Wen sect.

I also think it would just be really funny if this all happened during the indoctrination.

Think about it! Suddenly everything gets really suspiciously quiet for a few days and they're all mostly left alone, right up until one morning when they're all summoned and they're waiting for a while and Wen Chao isn't showing —

— and then finally some dude with a fan struts down the steps and introduces himself as the new Wen sect leader, tells them that Wen Ruohan and his sons are all dead and also, by the way, you're all free to go home now, so sorry about the whole indoctrination thing... 😬 Does anyone need medical care? We'd hate for you to succumb to your injuries on the way home... 🥺

Like. Can you imagine?

(Having this happen during the indoctrination would also conveniently mean that most everyone is still alive — except for the old Lan sect head, but we don't really care about him...)