#for betraying wwx after the fact

[mxtxfanatic]

Jc stans are getting more insufferable day by day I just saw a post that said that Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian were crazy for core transfer cuz it was unethical medical practice and jc didn't consent and other such shit and it had nearly 200 notes like people in this fandom totally missed the point.

Also his stans also say jc antis media illiterate, like who is actually lacking reading comprehension here?! It's so unnerving and also funny that jc stans be calling everyone names while supporting the most terrible loser and calling him king lol.

Sorry for the rant but can you debunk the whole core transfer discourse cuz I don't think my English and essay skills are good enough to word it out myself.

Thank you💗

I know you were probably looking for a personal response, but @jiangwanyinscatmom just reblogged this and it pretty much sums up my thoughts. The only things I would add are 1) the golden core transfer is not a matter of medicine or medical ethics so this discourse is irrelevant, 2) if it was, Wei Wuxian would be entitled to anonymity seeing as he is the donor, meaning Jiang Cheng would still not be entitled to know where his new golden core came from, 3) Jiang Cheng, himself, stopped asking questions because he wanted a golden core regardless of how he got it, and 4) there’s no way to spin this ultimate act of selflessness where the recipient only benefited and continues to benefit with no wish to reject or return the sacrifice as one of selfishness because the recipient is mad about who his donor was. Jiang Cheng and his stans, both, are terrible people, perfectly matched.

[whetstonefires]

Underrated element of where Jiang Cheng is re: wwx after everything is that they always had a sort of dual relationship. Two different relationship premises, superimposed on one another.

There's the one where they grew up together, as close as brothers, beating each other up and complaining and being one another's closest companions, sharing a bedroom as kids and eating at the same family dinner table, actively encouraged by Jiang Fengmian to interact as equals.

And then there's the one where Wei Wuxian was in service to Jiang Cheng's family. Not as a servant--Jiang Fengmian absolutely refused to do that, even if he couldn't adopt him. But as a disciple of Jiang Cheng's father and recipient of his charity, as Jiang Cheng's future right hand and most trusted subordinate.

It's a vertical relationship, intimate in its own way but with very strict expectations about what obligations flow in what directions; they are not identical and reciprocal as between friends and equals.

(It's my opinion that Jiang Fengmian's core deal was a deep-seated discontent with the hierarchies he was at the top of, without access to any way to actually deconstruct them or even coherently articulate his opposition. Wei Changze was his dear friend, and no one thinks that's a good enough reason for him to treat Wei Changze's son like his own, because Wei Changze was also his servant, and you can't make that circle square. That's not a way you're allowed to love.)

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were like brothers; Wei Wuxian served Jiang Cheng.

The personal relationship was always the most important one. To them, in their hearts. But it was the other one that was real, that had weight in the world.

And it's important to understand that neither can be held up as more factual than the other, even though they conflict. Both relationships existed, and had power.

So then when Jiang Cheng chose to hate Wei Wuxian and articulate his grudge against him, he chose to do it in the language of fealty. Because as far as he knew, his case there was secure, watertight, and it wouldn't expose him emotionally or politically.

And those are the terms in which he's been condemning him all this time: for abandoning the Sect, for ingratitude, for lack of loyalty.

For fuckups, too, and poor judgment, but some of that now turns out to have been justified and some of it was mostly the fault of enemies behaving badly, or even Jiang Cheng himself allowing himself to be pushed into making unworthy choices.

And it was all for his sake.

The thing, the thing in my opinion, about what Wei Wuxian did, about the core transfer and his silent self-destruction around keeping it secret, is that that is a hideous thing to have done between two people who love each other, as an act of love. Beautiful, but awful. As the man who was like a brother to him, Jiang Cheng has a great deal of standing to object to it.

But as an act of vassalage, it's basically perfect.

If Wei Wuxian were only what he formally was to Jiang Cheng, if he is interpreted through a lens of fealty and obligation, he did exactly what he should have done, and went beyond what duty actually required. And went to his death silently, allowing himself to be judged, taking all the burden on himself rather than let harm come to his lord.

Like, obviously Jiang Cheng was harmed by the part where Jin Zixuan got manslaughtered and Jiang Yanli walked into the line of fire in situations where Wei Wuxian was resorting to violence and probably shouldn't have, but those are one step removed from the core issue. In terms of Wei Wuxian's intentional choices around Jiang Cheng himself, at the times he was feeling betrayed and abandoned Wei Wuxian was in fact being impossibly, poetically loyal, an absolute cliche about it.

But only in terms of the hierarchical form of their relationship.

Which means that even though Jiang Cheng has a lot of reasons to still be mad at Wei Wuxian, his actual complaints that he's centered for thirteen years are basically wiped out by the revelation of Wei Wuxian's sacrifice.

Wei Wuxian was in fact doing the tragic hero loyal vassal thing, which very much includes being misunderstood and slandered by the world. (Chenqing as a name choice absolutely references this expectation, and the idea that Jiang Cheng specifically will never understand that Wei Wuxian was trying to help him first and foremost all along; he is not subtle.)

The debts Jiang Cheng has been spitefully calling in and considering defaulted were already long paid.

So if at this point Jiang Cheng keeps pursuing that same line of rhetorical attack, now that he knows, he'll be putting himself morally in the wrong, and he knows it. But if he pivots to something else, he'll both be signalling the shape of that secret to the entire world and looking like a prize idiot.

Which is already how he feels.

To actually address the remaining grievances between them, which are considerable, would require releasing those safe, open grudges to Wei Wuxian's face and then reclaiming him as a loved one. Which is, one could fairly say, more than anyone could expect.

Which is why Wei Wuxian told him he didn't have to.

Which leaves Jiang Cheng at something of an impasse.

[symphonyofsilence]

Honestly, it looks like at least after the Guanyin Temple, WWX is actively resisting understanding that JC still cares about him. JC takes a Stab to the chest for him, asks him why he didn't keep his promise & stay by his side, has a full breakdown over his sacrifice, gives him back Chenqing that he's kept for all these years, gets angry at JGY on his behalf, JGY spells out for WWX that JC is angry because he feels WWX was wronged, and that JC must have come to rescue not only JL, but WWX too, & targets WWX in the middle of the fight, fully trusting that JC would rush to his rescue, and he does. JC even thanks LWJ and holds a fallen WN. & I think one reason that WWX might be subconsciously fighting against getting all these clear signs and still avoiding JC might be that as much as he thinks he can’t handle JC’s wrath and blame and wants him to forgive him, he actually can’t afford JC’s forgiveness and unconditional love. Because he still blames himself for JZX’s and JYL’s deaths and even the massacre of Lotus Pier. & JC is the only one who has the right to be angry at him for all of these. He and JL. JC’s the only one who knew JYL & genuinely cared about her. WWX doesn’t think he deserves JC’s forgiveness. In fact, he looks terrified of it. Just look how quickly he turns from JC after thanking him for giving Chenqing back to him (Chenqing that after all these years still sounded like he had first used it. A very telling sign of JC's affection in itself.) Even though even JL who was watching from afar could say that JC had something to say to WWX:

JC is an outward force blaming him and being angry at him. WWX can tell him that he doesn’t know what to say to him when asked for an explanation, he can tell him that it’s all in the past. Let it go. he can beat the shit out of him. He can apologize to him and be judged by him. He can avoid him. Pretending that by ignoring him he doesn’t have to face the past. JC blames WWX and is harsh to him so WWX doesn’t have to fight himself and blame himself all the time. post-resurrection WWX keeps misinterpreting everything JC says and is unwilling to listen to him and get the hints JC keeps giving him about how he just wants WWX to come back home & interprets everything JC even doesn’t say in the worst ways he can bc it’s not so much about JC than it’s about WWX projecting onto JC. Because he thinks JC MUST be thinking that way. BC WWX thinks he deserves JC’s hatred. And judging by how he keeps misinterpreting JC even pre-time-skip, and in true WWX fashion fully believes himself to be right & doesn't second guess himself and or makes any effort to understand JC, & JYL is always the JC translator for him, from the moment she says to him that despite his tantrum JC is happy to finally have a playmate, to the moment she says that JC was the one who offered WWX name JL, and without JYL there to take their hands and pull them to meet each other in the middle the brothers can't communicate, Jiang Cheng has never been so much his own person in Wei Wuxian's mind as WWX's interpretation of him. WWX's shidi. An open book to WWX in WWX's mind. When he was not WWX's fragile shidi who needed protection (which @cerusee has written a great meta about here.), then he was WWX's betrayed, angry shidi who blamed him & resented him. If JC forgives him and continues to be his loving brother then it’s clear that the only one who can’t forgive WWX is WWX. and what is he gonna do about that?

[asksythe]

Does chinese fandom also have the headcannon of wen yuan being wen ruohans secret 3rd son conceived after wen xu & wen chaos death's 😅? Western fans made this headcanon because they thought having the wen remnants wwx takes in be this separate branch that are healers muddled the themes? And to spite the great clans who attempted to exterminate the wens root and branch having the only post canon survivor of the wen being qishan wen but also directly related to wen ruohan is very satisfying to them I guess

What I'm trying to ask is does chinese cultural reading of the text allow for such headcanon or does it go against text

Wen Yuan being Wen Ruohan's secret child... well... I personally have never seen that in the Chinese fandom.

That said, a fandom is a big space, especially the Chinese side. So, I don't think anybody can conclusively claim any one thing. There's a lot of wacky stuff out there. And a lot of it genuinely makes sense or is convincing in its own way. I've seen ethnic minority authors (Xin Jiang, etc..) coming in with their own cosmology and folklore completely distinct from the base cosmology of MDZS and writing some of the most creative and beautiful stories I have ever read (like the idea that Lan mama might be a member of the Northern tribes worshipping the phoenix, which explains her being powerful enough to kill Lan papa's master while also being an unknown to the clans, and that her 'death's is actually part of the phoenix saintess's ability to reborn herself in a new body).

Wen Yuan being Wen Ruohan's secret love child doesn't really have much if any support from the book, the donghua, or the show. If anything, the first time A Yuan appeared in the book, he was described as a child not more than 2 years old atop Wen grangran's back in the prison camp. The time makes it really awkward for A Yuan to be Wen Ruohan's albeit it's not completely out of the realm of possibilities. In the same chapter, the book also said that A Yuan's father is Wen Qing's cousin and Wen grangran's son.

But if you are in pursuit of exploring certain themes or ideas, then I don't see why not. Headcanon is... well... headcanon. The nature of fandom being a space for exploration and appreciation is a beautiful thing I think.

Funnily enough, I have seen a fair number of Chinese fics operating on the premise that Wei Ying himself is mainline Wen via either his mother or his father. The theme they pursue is a member of the Wen ending itself in the fire of purification. The Wen founder, by all accounts, seemed a real stand-up guy. The teachings he left behind to his children were genuine pieces of wisdom and calling for a commitment to justice and fairness. The Wens in the book had a lot of signs that they had many good and right ideas (pursuing standardized laws among cultivators, the observation tower system that ended up being stolen by Jin Guangyao, etc...) but they went down the wrong direction due to corruption and a betrayal of the founding precepts laid down by their own founders. And so it took a (secret) Wen descendant to cut away the rot and to punish themselves, leaving behind only one or two genuinely innocent Wens.

The sun rises, the sun sets, the sun rises again. Anew and cleansed from rot. The mark of the Wen sun burned into Wei Ying's chest holds more symbolic power than it first appears, and the fact that Wei Ying cited the Wen founder's precepts back to a Wen descendant who had betrayed those very precepts. Like that. That kind of theme.

I remember there being several really big-name Chinese fan authors who wrote the same premise in different ways. It was really fun to read. Oh man, stories in which Wen Ruohan gets to redo things, or the Wen are all resurrected in a heaven-gambit type plot are in abundance, funnily enough. Hah! They tend to be a lot of fun to read too. There's also that one really great story in which the previous generations of the clan (Lan mama, papa, Wen Ruohan in his prime before children, Nie papa and his second wife, Jiang husband and wife freshly married, Wei papa and Cangse Sanren, etc...) get to see bits and pieces of the future via text without knowing their names and they have to deduce who is whose kids and how are they going to save their kids now??!!! In that story, Wen Ruohan kept thinking Wei Ying (called the destined of heaven in this story) is his child because there's no way he would spawn such bumbling, corrupted incompetents ... hahahahahahaha.... oh man... Well, that particular Wen Ruohan would then vow to be a better and stricter father to his kids to prevent them from becoming such rotten shitbags.

Oh yeah, there's also the idea that the Wen, being such a big and histories clan, actually had fall-back plan preparing for such scenarios where their entire clan is wiped out. They have secret seeds placed in far off territory. In one Chinese fic I read, this Wen descendant spent decades studying the major clans, rebuild the Wen in secret, and almost enacted bloody vengeance on all the major clans, but then stayed his hand when he found out the existence of Wen Yuan. That one was a good read too. Very convincing.

Ahem, the short answer to your question is that the canon text doesn't really support that headcanon... but it's not strictly speaking an impossibility either. It just boils down to how convincing can you write it?

[rosethornewrites]

T & G reading since 8/13

Finished

Teen:

no time for crying, by Narci (6 chapters)

Jingyi’s made a lot of silly mistakes on night hunts before. Everyone has, even Sizhui.

But this may be the worst.

(Jingyi stares harder in hopes that the two children will suddenly regrow to their previous sizes. They do not. Jingyi keeps trying.

He whispers, “have you ever just like realized that you’re about to be literally murdered?”

“Can’t say I’ve had that particular realization, no,” Zizhen replies with the air of a born badass. Jin Ling sighs.

“Murder is wrong,” the child in black interjects wisely.

Even at age six, Senior Wei is lecturing us, Jingyi thinks hysterically.)

The blame game, by apathyinreverie (🔒)

Wei Ying doesn’t know what to make of it when, after he so publicly confronts the Jins, his staunchest supporter turns out to be… Zewu-jun?

(Or, Lan Xichen time travels, immediately goes about fixing things, and promptly confuses the fuck out of everyone along the way.)

Finding a Home, by Duochanfan

Madam Yu has arranged a marriage for Wei Wuxian to the Cloud Recesses Second Jade, Lan Wangji. But will Wei Wuxian have that happy ending?

built by the fires of volcanoes, by isabilightwood

The end of the world was not Wei Wuxian’s fault. In fact, he’d slept through the event that doomed them.

After the Sunshot Campaign, 3zun threw the Yin Iron into the volcano at Nightless City. This was a bad idea. Twenty years later, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji travel back in time to prevent a hybrid volcanic eruption-zombie apocalypse. But their plan is going well, so there's plenty of time to relive their youths, convince the Dafan Wen to let them adopt their son, and matchmake friends and sisters.

Mud, by snowberryrose

In which Jiang Cheng attempts to show up Jin ZiXuan

General:

it's your soul, by syriala

Wei Wuxian never said it out loud before, the fact that Lan Zhan just loved him for his body, and he’s surprised at how much it truly hurts him. The only thing Wei Wuxian always wanted was for Lan Zhan to love him, him, and not his body, just like he loves everything about Lan Zhan.

And now he doesn't even have his own body anymore.

Through Brush Strokes and Ink Lines, by cerbykerby

There is a painting of Wei Wuxian in the Cloud Recesses.

Wei Wuxian has no idea how it got there, and even less idea of why it is, specifically, in Lan Wangji's room.

----------

After waking up in Mo Xuanyu's body and being unceremoniously dragged to the Cloud Recesses, Wei Wuxian makes a discovery.

(or: wwx and his cloud recesses shenanigans)

No, Wei Wuxian, You Cannot Divorce A Man You Haven't Married Yet!, by stiltonbasket (9 chapters)

"Have you heard? The second young mistress of Yunmeng Jiang broke her troth with Hanguang-jun and ran off to the Burial Mounds with Wen Qionglin!"

"Ah, poor Lan-er-gongzi. Breaking her sister's engagement wasn't enough for Wei-guniang, she had to betray her own intended!"

In which Wei Wuxian ditches the cultivation world, Lan Wangji goes grocery shopping, Lan Sizhui narrates his parents' love story, and Nie Huaisang is the only one who knows what's really going on. Prompt fic!

Unfinished

Teen:

so i cut the shackles and changed my name, by MichelleFeather

“A-Ying, should anything happen, should you be separated from us or find yourself in need of help, find Lan Qiren in Cloud Recesses. No matter what’s happened, he will keep you safe. He has sworn to me his home will always be open to you, no matter what.”

Following the advice of his late mother, Wei Ying runs away from Lotus Pier, knowing that if he were to stay, he would likely die at the hands of Madam Yu.

And, he finds, the Lan Clan is the place where he was always supposed to be.

Fall again, by apathyinreverie (🔒)

The one with the time travel.

this is our vow, by orro (🔒)

Waking up in Gusu isn’t a surprise but waking up as a teenager is enough to make Wei Wuxian scream, disrupting the precious silence of the Cloud Recesses.

Wei Wuxian had been given a second chance when he was brought back to life. But this time, he can truly fix everything, and if he can’t find a way back then at least he can make some things right that he could never atone enough for.

General:

Blooming You a Garden Inside Me, by xxxMiaHikarixxx

After Wei Ying's encounter with the Waterborne Abyss, he sees the Twin Jades of Lan taking a walk. Curiously, he follows them and hears Lan Zhan's distaste for him. The first flower petal lands on his palm. Does Wei Ying have the hanahaki curse? Or is it something even more complicated?

This story started as an one-shot for a challenge and has been an ongoing multi-pov monster that fixes everything through angst, romance and lore.

The Sun is back, by Shanashe

Wen Ruohan's soul is attached to Wei Wuxian after his death. He lingers and witnesses all the canon events that follows.

Post Canon, he gets sent back to the past.

[reileinaxiu]

MDZS Fanon Peeve: WWX and JWY Reconciliation (🤢🤮)

Warnings: Opinionated and probably biased JC bashing. Some cursing. Read at your discretion.

As much as I despise JWY he was a perfectly written character. As perfect as you can write an unhinged insecure megalomaniac underneath the facade of a political leader with their flaws(a lot of flaws).

But lets talk about the ending where people think JWY has changed for the better. Enough change that despite the unlikelihood there is a possibility for reconciliation which is to say none on my part. Which also infuriates me when browsing for fics.

One encounter can definitely change someone's perspective but that doesn't change every aspect of their world view. Especially someone late in their life and as set in their ways is as JWY.

Sure the Golden Core reveal and encounter with JGY might have JWY rethinking of his treatment of WWX during his first life.

But what about his anger about the burning of Lotus Pier, his sister's death, his distaste for LWJ and WWX's relationship? Don't tell me his entire world view just flipped just because he recognized WWX leaving the sect was as his fault? Don't tell me he learned to be a better uncle to JRL because he realized he was a terrible guardian and role model? No one shall dare tell me that JWY stopped being homophobic after the book. Would he actually be a better person just because he learned that the origin of the core he received was falsified?

That encounter had no repentance to the 13 years of hunting "demonic cultivators".

That scene had no realizations about how badly he messed up JRL. In fact he even uses JRL as an excuse to further attack WWX stating the JRL was parentless because of him. JWY literally pushes and shouts at JRL everytime he tries to help.

If this is being a good uncle, then JGY was a f***ing saint to JRL.

What we got out of it was him still feeling that WWX was the cause of the Massacre and the catalyst for his sister's death and how he betrayed him for the Wens. And how shitty he treated his own nephew who was just worried about his health. Oh and his inferiority complex the size of the Pacific.

He spits all that gasoline to set fire to already charred wood.

WWX: Take it as my repayment to the Jiang Family

JWY: Repayment, to my father, my mother, my sister?

WWX: Forget it it's all in the past, let's not mention it again.

He still had the f***ing gall to ask more from WWX as if those people were still alive and that his Golden Core and sufferings weren't enough. As if WWX needs to do more to recompense for the abysmal treatment he received in Lotus Pier. At least WWX has enough emotional maturity for the entirety of the story.

Boohoo. Spare me the tears. That was probably the most unsympathetic and pathetic waterworks I have seen to date.

All he learned was to leave WWX alone. Because nothing good comes out of trying to take what was never owed. a debt that was already paid.

So yeah. There's no changing angry toxic grapes so late in life. We get sh**** wine from fermenting wrongly from the start.

Just because they've agreed to forget doesn't mean they will ever forgive. What JWY became and what his part in the demise of the Wen Remnants is unforgivable to WWX. And to JWY, WWX's 'betrayal'(I laugh at JC stans in my head) is unforgivable to him.

Don't ever mention any possibilities of a WWX and JWY reconciliation to me. That tag should burn.

[runespoor7]

chengqing

What made you ship it?

Back then we were thinking about people to ship JC with, and WQ existed. Since then, Untamed gave our little crackship food. And since then I also started OTPing Chengxian and the core transfer has been a object of easy fixation. It would be inaccurate to say that I started shipping Chengqing because I started shipping Chengxian. But I certainly ship Chengqing through a certain amount of WWX feelings - not only Chengxian, in fact.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

sometimes a mad scientist performs a secret, impossible experiment on someone who doesn't know what's going on and they get together afterwards, and suddenly there's this huge, grotesque thing between them.

I think they should kink on it, but I also think JC would deal very badly indeed with WQ's involvement in the gc transfer. (in my mind she doesn't tell him until she has no choice/it comes out.) I can't overstate how much I adore the kink (in a wide sense) potential between them.

they get one another, about duty and family and keeping the people you care for close and safe and not trusting easily.

also - this is notably less my thing - but I think they'd be good at taking of one another when they're not tearing each other apart for the heavy topics (they agree on duty, but that doesn't mean it would never come up in a bad argument, and the core transfer reframes everything there - suddenly wq has very little room to argue about her dutifulness! you were rearming a direct enemy of your sect babe! you were 100% betraying your sect!)(unless: and I think this is juicy: unless WQ explains that she expected JC to die after the core transfer. no JC with a core, no betrayal.)

and yes also chengqingxian, or at least wq and wwx being besties.

also very into the age-gap between them. she's older! she's already respected and established and a wordly grown-up! it's not relevant to post-canon chengqing except as a contrast to how things were back then, which is still very interesting, but in a canon divergence where the Wen siblings go to Lotus Pier, or sth like that, I really like the idea/image of WQ's crush on JC. it's funny and it's cute and look I think JC should get a win. The win in this case is WQ horny-clamping her jaw and respecting him. his brains. while looking disrespectfully.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

...this is very dependent of "what-ifs" but: I don't think JC would be totally okay with WQ and WWX's relationship.

He's deeply insecure when it comes to people loving him, and WWX betrayed his trust and convinced WQ to go along with it. (in Untamed it's made worse by the fact that JC and WQ already knew one another.) For me, WWX and WQ get one another to a level that other characters don't, I'm only 10% kidding when I call them soulmates, and imo JC would not be able to deal with that very well unless it's solved in Chengqingxian. (which I think he'd shoulder better because they're both here; if WWX is with LWJ it's... it's not exactly YZY while JFM is thinking of WCZ and CSS, but something like that. to me. I do think he'd be jealous.)

less unpopular than it seemed at one time, but bears repeating that it's fine for WQ to neither peg nor dom JC. I mean I'm failing to write that but I think WQ needs and wants to be pampered from time to time. Otoh I also think she's a lot more likely than WWX to tell JC what she needs, since her self-image isn't all twisted up in being better-than-jc at all times.

I clearly didn't try hard enough to keep WWX out of this answer.😔

[itsybitsylemonsqueezy]

hi ... can you tell me about your mdzs ship. if u want. lxc x nhs .... I am intrigued and need to study it under a microscope. in incredible detail. I am trying to sleep but my brain cannot look away. I need to see the vision

Oh, it is very microscope-worthy, my friend. You are right to say that. Very kind and brave of you to ask anyway!

Okay, so, we're all aware that LXC is doing Not Great after the events of canon and won't be for like... while. I like to imagine 2 things about this:

NHS is aware and maybe even feels a little guilt that LXC is now broken. It wasn't his intention to break him, but it was an unavoidable piece of what had to happen.

LXC isn't just doing Not Great, he may never recover, not without a lot of active effort being poured into him. His whole sense of reality is shattered and I think this could lead to seeing some really dark shit come out of LXC.

Yes, LXC has his brother and his brother's husband, but LWJ has to run like the whole world of cultivation and as much as LWJ and WWX care about LXC, I think they'd have their hands so full with other shit that they can't responsibly devote themselves to caring for LXC 24/7. In his more lucid moments, regrettably, I think LXC is also aware of this and so is reluctant to ask for help despite the fact that he's coming apart at the seams.

Under these conditions, I think it's possible that we might see some serious malcoping from LXC, some real bad and even dangerous choices as he tries to reconcile what he knew and trusted and loved with what happened. I think it could get to the point that LWJ and WWX have to make him the priority, if only to stop the byproducts and side effects of his descent into madness. It's wrenching and scary to see such a good man in such a state.

WWX and LWJ would of course start looking for solutions and at this point, I think NHS would pop back up, in that uncanny way of his. For, after all, who knows the treatment of madness better than the Unclean Realm? I think he might even make it sound like LWJ and WWX would be doing him a favor to let him take LXC and care for him there. I think it would take some convincing, after all, LWJ and WWX know now and NHS knows there's nothing he can do to make them unknow. But, on the other hand, what ulterior motive would it serve to offer to help here? Why would he betray them, and in such an obvious move, when they already have cause to be wary of him? No, for someone who thinks in spiraling patterns like NHS, this is not the move he would make if he was trying to hurt LXC, it's far too transparent. He only moves when there is perfect cover. So, this offer must be sincere.

Even though WWX and LWJ might trust NHS to really be trying to help, that doesn't mean though that LXC gets it or appreciates it. He'd be skeptical, not just of NHS' intentions, but of his own ability to even be helped. Why bother with him? The best thing he can do for anyone is just die quietly. Why would NMJ's little brother want anything to do with him now? NHS always titters and cocks his head when he asks that, like he doesn't understand the question. Of course, he wants to help. He's very incompetent and doesn't know much about healing, but he has access to all his family's meditation practices and if there is something there that can be of use, well, surely he'd like to offer it!

NHS sticks close to LXC while he stays as his guest. Mostly LXC is listless, waiting for death to finally release him. NHS is bright and bubbly and flits about, like he used to do when LXC would make regular journeys here to visit NMJ. It stirs a nostalgia in LXC that he thought long since dead. The memories are too painful; he shuts them out. But then NHS will take his hand, or draw his attention to a tapestry, or just stare at him with the widest, keenest look, like that of a puppy, with that desperate desire to help even though he clearly could never understand what is wrong and... the pain somehow abates. It slowly becomes easier to come out of the pain again. And yet, LXC has to wonder why NHS is helping, really helping. Why will he never answer when LXC asks him.

Somehow, despite everyone's misgivings and doubts, LXC starts to improve. He sleeps regularly, he even eats and begins to put on weight again. Despite himself, he's starting to look and feel better as he helps NHS with his matters of state and combing through the archives and family history for useful information. He finds that work, projects, take his mind off of everything that happened and every time he finishes a task, NHS seems to always have another problem ready and urgently requiring his assistance. At first, he'd assumed it was just NHS' natural incompetence at leadership, but eventually he begins to notice how effortlessly and unfailingly NHS has something for him to do and it cannot be mere coincidence. He's... he's not sure how he feels; can't decide if it is frightening to be so understood or comforting.

Still, the question plagues him: why is NHS bothering? Why didn't he let him die, all those long months ago with his brother and their lover? Why has he worked so hard to prevent his death? Every time LXC turns his mind towards the answer, he balks. He cannot even say why it frightens him, only that... there is something inside NHS, something in him that LXC cannot quite look at yet and the very idea of it shudders him to his core. It is only worse that, outwardly, NHS is all sweetness and affection. He dotes on LXC, gets him anything he wants, even before he knows he wants it. He spends uncountable hours out of his day with LXC alone, so many hours that LXC can't understand how the Unclean Realm continues to run with its leader so adrift in personal occupations. Every soft touch, every tender word, begins to grate on LXC with razor sharpness. It is too much to be borne.

One day, LXC finally snaps and begins screaming at NHS. He calls him every name under the sun, accuses him of terrible things. He cannot bear the idea that the man taking such good care of him is the same man who killed JGY in cold blood, who made his death happen, who knew all and saw all and wrought his judgment. He throws priceless heirlooms without thought. NHS sits amongst the chaos, a placid look on his face, saying nothing to LXC's accusations and bile. Eventually, LXC wears himself down into sobs, collapsing in a corner. As calmly as you would approach a frightened animal, NHS approaches him with his personal handkerchief and embraces LXC, pulling him into his lap and stroking his hair until the sobbing subsides. He coos and shushes and never says a word about LXC's accusations. What is there to say?

The next day, LXC awakes, groggy, but... clear-headed. Clear-headed for the first time in months. And when he comes to breakfast with NHS, the room he destroyed now clean and beautiful as if it had never seen violence, and NHS just as bubbly and cheerful as ever, he finds he can reciprocate. Instead of reluctantly accepting, NHS' overbearing energy, he can meet with it and actually smile and take part in his joy. NHS' eyebrows raise ever so slightly, but he then returns to his delighted thrills, talking at an ever more rapid pace in his enthusiasm and LXC can laugh at what he has to say.

What happened between them, LXC would struggle to put into words. All he can say, even to himself, is that he understands now. Or, he at least understands enough. There is something dark and endless in NHS, but so there is in him, and so there was in JGY and, if he’s being honest, NMJ. Everyone he’s ever loved had some terrible truth inside them. And what made him afraid of NHS was just as much his fear of himself and what he has become, maybe what he always was. But there is also gentleness and kindness and love. And while that doesn’t cancel out what happened, he thinks he begins to see why NHS has made the choices he has, why he’s working so hard to help, and it isn’t merely guilt. He’s come to understand that many things can be true at once. He may never again be the bastion of purity and good intention that he was. But that doesn’t mean he is naught but a burden to all and better off dead. Maybe there is still good he can do. Maybe he can start here.

I think that's a lot to work with there, anon. The struggle of any LXC ship post-canon is just keeping him alive. He so badly wants to stop existing because he can't handle all of it being true at once, he can't reconcile what he knows and what he knows. For my money, anyone would struggle trying to talk him down from just slipping into the dirt with his beloveds, but NHS might stand a better chance than most because he has never been pure, he has never had the luxury of innocence. He has always been a calculating and reserved creature and because of that, he has more kindness than anyone for people who are struggling with their nature. After knowing LXC so well for so many years, after knowing him as NMJ's dearest companion until JGY, I think NHS has always seen the best in LXC and would have unshakeable faith that he can come out of this if he lets himself. He would really believe that LXC can be just as good and kind and gentle as ever, knowing the blood of JGY is on his hands. Because NHS is already a monster, he has an infinite capacity for seeing and loving the monstrousness in others and understanding that being a monster does not mean you cannot do good. Very few people I think would be able to convince LXC of the same.

I also just love the psychological horror of LXC being restored to life only to fall into bed with NHS. I just think that's really, really funny.

[sentienceisoverrated]

Thank you for that MDZS post! It was a breath of fresh air!

MDZS tumblr has its own sects dedicated to different characters. They all have each other blocked but they also can't stop making snide comments about each other... and I'm here like... I wanted to discuss MDZS and read impassioned meta,not RP inter-sect conflicts??

You're so right about the fact that these characters are put in impossible situations,on purpose. That is the joy of the story! The Jiang Cheng & Wei Wuxian relationship can't be fixed and it's meant to be that way and to hurt. On some days I relate to Jiang Cheng,who did his duty and rebuilt his clan,but betrayed his life debt to the Wens and WWX(he should not have done that!!). And on other days I relate to Wei Wuxian,who followed his principles and protected the Wen remnants at the cost of everything else,but also who tricked and lied to his brother by giving him a core he never asked for(he should not have done that!!). I can get angry on behalf of each of them. But I can also resent each of them. Which other story will fill me up so well with so many various conflicting emotions? Is that not why we're reading or consuming media? To feel?

Instead this place is like a sports competition now. Team JC or Team WWX or Team JGY. There is no fun in that.

Thank you anon!

I joined this fandom a few months ago after watching The Untamed and honestly I thought I was missing something with all those posts. After watching the animation and reading the books, I was even more confused.

People tend to pick favourites and defend them at all costs, and with a story like mdzs, I guess that also means hating on the characters that hurt them (which is literally every character). It bothered me, because when people hate others they often look past the things they can’t control, and after seeing so many of those posts, I just felt the need to raise a neutral stance.

You’re right, Tumblr does seem to have its own sects, but I’m glad someone out there agrees with me. ^.^

[rendnotmyheart]

Bullshit that JC did not consent to getting the golden core - he made it clear that he wanted the one WWX was offering any damn way it came (and didn't give a fuck that WWX would lose that favor from Baoshan Sanren). He would not have refused, or cared, had he known - he never cared that WWX 'played hero' if benefited him and his sect. And at the end the only reason he's angry is because it makes him look weaker and hurts his own self-image, he never says a word about what it did to WWX.

Y’all. Come on. We’ve been over this. In every. single. adaptation. the reason JC loses his golden core is because he’s protecting WWX. And yet, WWX doesn’t even stop to consider whether JC would want WWX to give up his core for him. And obviously JC wouldn’t. Because, again, protecting WWX is the reason he lost his core to being with. And JC definitely wouldn’t want WWX’s core as some sort of payment for saving his life, so don’t even bring that up. JC obviously doesn’t care about thanks or gratitude or some sort of payment from WWX for this because even after the golden core reveal, he never tells WWX that the reason he got caught was because he was protecting him. So, why in the world do JC antis keep insisting he would want WWX to give him his golden core? Is it because JC rants about how life is meaningless after he loses his core? Because he had just gone through something traumatic as hell, obviously he’s going to think life is meaningless. That doesn’t mean, however, that he will always feel that way or that he wants WWX to throw away his core for him. That just means that he’ll probably need time to process the shit he just went through and figure out how to live after the fact.

And, at the end of the day, JC is angry because WWX lied to him, that he gave JC his core, not thinking about whether JC would want him to give to him or not, and then pushed him away because of it.

In the novel,

Jiang Cheng was crying. Tears poured from his eyes as he forced through his teeth, “… Why… Why didn’t you tell me?!”

In the donghua,

“What gives...what gives you the right not to tell me all of those things? You said you would be my subordinate when I became the clan leader. You said you would support me for your entire life. You said you would never betray me. You said you would never betray the Jiang Clan. You said so yourself...”

In The Untamed,

“Why? Why, Wei Wuxian? Why didn’t you tell me? You said I would be the clan leader in the future and you would be my subordinate. You would assist me for life. You would never betray the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng. You said it yourself.”

After all of JC’s yelling, at the end of the day, he’s not upset because of his self image. At the end of the day, he’s upset because of all the things WWX kept from him. He’s upset because he thought that WWX would someone he could lean and rely on, that WWX said he would be at his side and support him, but instead WWX lied to him and pushed him away to hide the core transplant, a core transplant JC wouldn’t have wanted if he’d known the details. It’s not about his image. It’s about how all the messiness and hurt between them might have been prevented or at least minimized had WWX just told JC instead of pushing him away. It’s about the fact that WWX had no right to lie to JC about secrets that were tearing them apart. It’s about how the core transplant started everything, and that maybe if WWX had stopped to talk to JC instead of assuming he knew best, things would have been better.

And about the favor. There’s a difference between being okay using the favor from Baoshan Sanren and being okay with crippling WWX. Like using the favor helps JC with something WWX has but not at the expense of WWX’s well being; it’s like someone offering you a cane they have laying around that they don’t use. However, taking WWX’s core hurts WWX in order to help JC; it’s like someone offering to cut off one of their legs so you can have it. Like those are completely different things to be okay with.

And finally, the consent thing. How many times do I have to say that someone lying to you to get you to agree to a surgery is not consent? When talking consent, it does not matter whether JC would have hypothetically agreed or not had he known the truth. You cannot hypothetically give consent. You either know the what is going on and agree to it without coercion or manipulation, or you don’t. And JC didn’t. WWX and WQ lied to him about the details of the surgery, so, under the circumstances, he could not consent. Point blank period. The hypotheticals do not change that fact. At that time, there was no way he could consent to the surgery because he didn’t even know what the surgery actually was. So, sure, you can argue about whether hypothetically he would have consented if he knew the details, but when talking about what actually happened, please stop saying he consented when he literally could not under the circumstances.

[plan-d-to-i]

As much as I have mixed feelings about JYL at Nightless City, I’ll never forgive JC taking away the fact it was her choice to be there and her wanting WWX to live just so he could have an excuse to hate WWX more. It’s disgusting how he lies about her death and why and how she died just so he can justify the siege, his hatred, and drag JL into hating WWX even more also.

And I hate how JC stans agree with him and act like it’s all WWX’s fault JYL sacrifices herself for him and totally ignore JC spitting in the face of her final moments by leading the siege.

People want to try talk saying JC deserved his family respected during the ancestor hall scene? Well what about him respecting his sisters final wishes and NOT consistently trying to kill the person she wanted to live?

Agreed. This illustrates it perfectly :

Jiang Cheng replied, “How much has my family given for you? I’m his son. I’m the heir of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect. But all those years, I was never enough next to you. Their love, their dedication, even their life! The lives of my father, mother, older sister, and even Jin ZiXuan! Because of you, all that’s left now is an orphaned Jin Ling!”

With a terrible shudder, Jin Ling’s shoulders slumped. His expression waned as well. Wei WuXian’s lips moved but, ultimately, he couldn’t say a word. Lan WangJi turned to him and held his hand. Jiang Cheng, however, was still not finished. He scathed without holding back, “Wei WuXian, who’s the one who went back on his words? Who’s the one who betrayed our Jiang Sect? Who’s the one that told me that when I became the sect leader, you’d be my subordinate, you’d support me forever, that if the Gusu Lan Sect has Two Jades then the Yunmeng Jiang Sect would have Two Prides, that you wouldn’t ever betray the Jiang Sect?! You tell me—who said those words?! I’m asking you, who said those words?! Did you fucking swallow them all?! (102)

jc is all about jc. He lied to Jin Ling all these years. He doesn't give a fuck how his words affect him. He claimed to care so much about YanLi but he never considered how his mother would have raised him w warmth and affection and instead treated him like crap. Drove him to put himself in mortal danger. He has the gall to talk about what WWX owes HIM after he fucking led a siege that killed him. Dude has no shame or empathy. It's always the jc sob story. His stans relate bc they're the kind of ppl who think if you just bamboozle others into thinking you're a victim you can behave however you want and take zero responsibility for your bs. Then they get mad no one wants to fw them. 🌝

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

I got into mdzs through the donghua and at first I was like "the baby grape's life is so sad 🥺" but then I see him do nothing but yell and scream and keep getting in wwx's way and I got really annoyed. Like dude if you loathe conflict so much then why don't you take a page out of your sister's book and cook soup instead of berating the guy who is actually doing something. He and yzy don't want to make any efforts but scream like a banshee when things don't go the way they want. Whenever I see his stans say "oh but he was manipulated/didn't had a choice!" I feel like eye rolling my eyes out of the eye socket. Is he some damsel in distress that couldn't do anything? Hell even mianmian who once was a damsel in distress, had the guts to stand up for someone who helped her and when those trash sect leaders talked shit about her, she left like a self respecting person unlike jc who keeps licking their feet. SoCIAl hE1rArcHy? more like cowardice lol

Late replies~ (I'm sorry so sorry lol it has been very very busy in life)!

But I agree with a lot of what you write here, a lot of MXTX villains hold the same theme of very much having the free will (despite varying degrees of harshness within life) to do better, kinder, choose love over resentment/power/jealousy etc, yet at every turn not taking that choice. They choose to relish within that hate.

In MDZS when it comes to the likes of Madam Yu, Jiang Cheng, Jin Guangyao, and Xue Yang, they each have in common using their lack of happiness in their life to act like they never really had a choice when they chose their extremes. They place the blame on others,

Madam Yu places her lack of finding love not on herself because she is cruel and abrasive, but on Jiang Fengmian for not liking her as she is, he needs to change himself. Jiang Cheng uses the guilt he thinks Wei Wuxian should feel for saving others that were not the Jiangs as a vice grip promise that Wei Wuxian has chosen his loyalty wrong and betrayed him constantly, Wei Wuxian can not do right by the standards of Jiang Cheng much like what his mother used to do to him. Jin Guangyao uses the fact that his low status meant he had no choice but to choose cruelty to protect himself, even long after his own father was gone and dug his hole of violence even deeper than it was ever needed. Xue Yang blames the world for what he is and refuses to say he himself had any part of the cruelty he set on others for despising the way people judged him however rightly.

Jiang Cheng does not hate conflict, he actively creates it several times when it comes to Wei Wuxian, he simply uses that as the excuse that Wei Wuxian makes problems for him as the inverse of what Madam Yu tried to stir up with herself, Jiang Fengmian, and Cangse Sanren. The rumors of them conveniently mirror Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji later in life. And Jiang Cheng actively fueled the rumors against Wei Wuxian when he simply could have stood with Mianmian and Lan Wangji before everything spiraled. He chose his own jealousy first out of spite even when the tools not to were in front of him.

[no--envies]

For most of his life, JC considered himself a victim. He thought his father disliked him and preferred WWX; he blamed WWX for everything bad in his life, from the fall of Lotus Pier to his sister’s death, and took WWX’s defection from the Jiang Sect as a personal betrayal. For thirteen years, JC felt entitled to hate WWX and kept venting his own anger and hatred on every demonic cultivator he met. After WWX came back, he still tried to use him as a scapegoat to avoid reflecting on his own faults.

It took something as extreme as the golden core reveal to make him realize how much he had wronged WWX: not only had WWX long since repaid his debt to the Jiang Sect, but the fact that he made such a huge sacrifice without telling anyone was the ultimate, irrefutable proof of WWX’s greatness.

After realizing this, JC couldn’t hate WWX anymore, but he still didn’t want to let go of his hatred, because otherwise everything he had done until that moment would make him look like a clown at best and a horrible person at worst. This is why his rant in the Guanyin Temple was so full of venom. JC wasn’t ready to reflect on his own mistakes and flaws, so he took all of his frustration out on WWX, who didn’t deserve any of his harsh words. In his rant, JC brought up everything he couldn’t stand about the situation: how WWX was such a great person and had always been better than him at everything, even though JC was supposed to be the heir; how he had brought ruin to the Jiang Sect and everyone from JC’s family, leaving only an orphaned JL; how he had broken his promise to be his right-hand man and had defected to protect outsiders, people whom in JC’s opinion WWX didn’t owe as much as he owed to the Jiang Sect.

After this outburst full of bitterness and resentment, we see JC have his first real moment of self-reflection in the whole novel:

Jiang Cheng cried soundlessly, but tears had already streaked across his face. To cry in such an unsightly way in front of others was almost impossible for him in the past. But every single moment that passed from now on, as long as the golden core remained in his body, as long as it could still revolve, he’d forever remember this feeling.

He choked, “… You said I’d be the sect leader and you’d be my subordinate, you said you’d help me your whole life, you said you’d never betray the YunmengJiang Sect… You said so yourself.”

“…” After a moment of silence, Wei WuXian replied, “I’m sorry. I broke my promise.”

Jiang Cheng shook his head, burying his face deep into his palms. A second later, he suddenly burst out with a laugh. His muffled voice mocked, “It’s such a time already, and I still need you to say sorry to me. What a fragile person I am.”

(Chapter 102)

Sect Leader Jiang’s words were eternally tainted with mockery. But this time, whom he mocked was no one but himself.

Suddenly, he said, “I’m sorry.”

Wei WuXian hesitated, “… You don’t need to say sorry.”

At this point, it was impossible to figure out who should apologize to whom.

Wei WuXian continued, “Take it as my repayment to the Jiang Sect.”

Jiang Cheng looked up. He looked at him with teary, bloodshot eyes, and a hoarse voice, “… Repayment to my father, my mother, my sister?”

Wei WuXian pressed his temples, “Forget it. It’s all in the past now. Let’s not mention it again.”

(Chapter 103)

This is the first and only time we see JC apologize to someone. He even admits that his need to hear WWX say sorry to him after so long makes him a fragile person. JC doesn’t want to feel guilty, he’s too proud to fully admit his faults. This is why he keeps bringing up old debts and promises: it’s the only way for him to keep holding onto the illusion of being a victim. JC knows deep down that the golden core transfer was an immense sacrifice and that now he can no longer hold WWX responsible for everything he has always accused him of, but he struggles to accept it. In this moment, it’s easier for JC to see WWX’s sacrifice as a repayment or as a form of redemption. WWX knows JC very well and doesn’t want him to keep ruminating on this for the rest of his life, because that would only make him more unhappy and bitter. Making JC feel guilty is not the reason WWX gave him his golden core in the first place. He made such a huge sacrifice as an act of true selflessness: to save JC’s life and repay his debt to the Jiang Sect, without expecting anything in return.

Wei WuXian, “Uh, I think it’s best if you… also stop keeping it on your mind. I know you’ll definitely always keep it on your mind, but, how should I say it…” He clenched Lan WangJi’s hand, saying to Jiang Cheng, “Right now, I do really think… it’s all in the past. It’s been too long. There’s no need to struggle with it any longer.”

Jiang Cheng wiped his face roughly, drying his tears. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.

(Chapter 103)

At the end of the whole confrontation in the Guanyin Temple, JC finally stops using WWX as a scapegoat. He understands that he can’t hold WWX to old debts anymore, that WWX has a new life now and owes nothing to JC. This is why he gives him back Chenqing and doesn’t follow him outside the Guanyin Temple: after an entire lifetime of holding onto his grudges, JC finally starts letting go of some of them and recognizes that he and WWX should leave the past in the past and move on, “each to their own sect”.

Wei WuXian took the flute. Remembering that Jiang Cheng was the one who brought it, he turned over there and commented casually, “Thanks.” He waved Chenqing, “I’ll… be keeping this?”

Jiang Cheng glanced at him, “It was yours in the first place.”

After a moment of hesitation, his lips moved slightly, as though he wanted to say something else. However, Wei WuXian had already turned to Lan WangJi. Seeing this, Jiang Cheng remained silent.

[...]

Jin Ling exclaimed, “You let them go just like that?”

Jiang Cheng mocked, “Or else? Have them stay for dinner? Say thank you and sorry after the meal?”

Jin Ling began to simmer, pointing at him, “No wonder he wanted to go. It’s all because of that attitude of yours! Why are you so annoying, Uncle?!”

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng raised his hand with glaring eyes, scolding, “Is this how you talk to someone older than you? You asking to be beaten up?!”

Jin Ling shrunk back. Fairy tucked in its tail as well. Yet Jiang Cheng’s slap never landed at the back of his head. Instead, it was retracted powerlessly.

He spoke, irritated, “Shut up. Jin Ling. Shut up. We’re going back. Each to their own sect.”

(Chapter 110)

[admirableadmiranda]

Hi lovely person! I hope all is well ❤️ Im back again sliding into your DMs lol 😆 I have another question for you: do you believe LXC had been ignorant of “MXY” true identity this whole time before the incident at JGY chamber and Suibian was unsealed? Do you believe he had any suspicions that it was WWX? I mean, it was kinda hinted right simply based on how close his brother was to this man he probably had never seen before? Even Jin Ling had his suspicions from the jump (but that could be bc he knew the real MXY I guess? idk). Thank you in advance! 🙏🏽 ☺️

Thank you kind anon! Unfortunately I am currently dealing with a broken wrist, but I am making things work as I can.

I do actually think that Lan Xichen was caught off guard by the reveal. Wei Wuxian may not be the most subtle about hiding his actual personality, but Lan Xichen and the rest of the cultivation world had pretty much forgotten what Wei Wuxian's personality actually was. That and the way he came back was an old ritual that no one knew Mo Xuanyu had access to until Wei Wuxian found it in Jinlintai.

I think what he was hoping for was that his brother was moving on to someone new and had chalked up similarities to his brother having a type. Lan Xichen definitely tends to have blind spots and while he will address them when they smack him in the face, he won't look for them before then. That being said I think he does understand why they wouldn't have told him beforehand and he seems to have decided in the wake of knowing that Wei Wuxian is alive to take the chance to reevaluate what he knows and what he has heard.

As for Jin Ling's suspicions, they likely come from Wei Wuxian having directly summoned Wen Ning in front of him. Even if Lan Xichen heard of it, it would be unlikely without him having seen it for himself to take those words on fact. He didn't seem to know Mo Xuanyu well beforehand and is upset and betrayed when he does turn out to be Wei Wuxian. It probably is for the best that while he has these suspicions he doesn't find out for certain for a while, because he gets to know who Wei Wuxian is underneath the rumors and lies and changes his mind on what he's heard all his life.

One of the things that may not be that apparent on a light reading, because the two people that Wei Wuxian interacts with the most are Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji who both know that it's him from the beginning, is that a lot of people have forgotten who Wei Wuxian actually is. They built him up as a bogeyman fear in their minds, turned him into the demon of the cultivation world and as a result meeting the actual person doesn't make them think of Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Laozu who supposedly killed five thousand Wens and three thousand innocent cultivators, because no one could actually be that person.

I know that CQL somewhat confused things because Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji come off as much closer during his past life, but people really didn't think they were close. Even for those who knew either of them individually, they wouldn't have made the connection and they don't. While those rumors hurt them in the past, it protects him in the present. Even after his name is revealed to the cultivators, most people don't connect the charming man traveling with Hanguang-jun to the fearsome monster in stories.

And why would they? The person who became the monster in the eyes of the cultivation world was the one who pointed out just who they were becoming. The Yiling Laozu of rumor is the reflection of who the jianghu is in the dark. And as much as they'd like to, they can't forget that.

Thank you for your question, kind anon. I hope the world is kind and your days are wonderful.

[vrishchikawrites]

So you know how the fandom bash Wei Wuxian because of their precious abuser grape. I have now discovered another side of the fandom where people bash Lan Wangji because of Lan Xichen. For some reason I have found fics where they say that Lan Wangji betrayed gusu for Wei Wuxian and hurt the elders and that it’s good that Lan Xichen is such a forgiving brother (I mean it’s not like Lan Xichen slaughtered innocents). Also they bash the couple in many fics having them have intercourse in the open in gusu and having Lan Xichen leave seclusion to berate and giving them ultimatums???!!!! Or him leaving gusu to go to the abuser grape because he can’t stand them anymore. Like if you don’t like the couple then stop reading!!! I barely like Lan Xichen as it is and with these stories I end up disliking him even more!!!

Sorry for the rant, what do you think???

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji did not wrong. I stand by that, lmao. But honestly tho, the first punishment, tho extreme, does have a solid basis. LWJ did betray his sect and harmed his leaders for WWX.

But post canon, they are absolutely the only adults in the right. Anyone that bashes LWJ needs to go back and read the novel. He has the best character development and is on par with WWX by the end of it. Some people in this fandom just can't deal with the fact that after suffering so much at the hands of the society and loved ones, Wangxian won. Fate rewarded them with a long, happy married life with a gaggle of admiring juniors.

LWJ is out there living his best life, being the best cultivator, adored by the future generation, with a righteous reputation that no one can beat, and with the love of the most righteous and charismatic person in the Jianghu. Their favs could never, lmao.

LWJ won. He got the happiest of happy endings.

[runespoor7]

What first made you ship chengqingxian?

several factors! Mostly the fact that I love when all of JC's important relationships except JL are because of/thanks to WWX, and the friendship between WWX and WQ is my favorite (she's his intellectual equal! she's the one person he respects! she's the one who said the thank you and I'm sorry line, which he remembers and respects in his second life! do you know how rare that is! they bonded over mad immoral impossible science! to be fair the WN scene of boasting for his sister's achievements did a lot to get me to realize the extent to which she and WWX are similar.). @demoiselledefortune and I had also spoken about WQ/JC as a good possible crackship for JC - that was before Untamed came out.

I like the idea of the three of them together because they all have things they'd prioritize over the other two (not necessarily easily!) and they're all the sort of gremlin who goes "hm, yes in a minute" when being persuaded to go to bed (JC: busy with sect stuff; WQ/WWX: busy with research, or in WQ's case work) and then proceed to work for six more hours. They're cool because whenever there's a disagreement the sides are up in the air, depending on the issue.

Also if I'm going to sexualize the GC transfer I should extend the same logic to WQ's participation. Yes, she wasn't JC's beloved shixiong whom he trusted with everything, but she had them laying down. She's the one who performed the "operation". She impersonated Baoshan Sanren. She lied to JC so she could do what she wanted with him (it was what her brother asked her, and it stroked her ego - to be able to test her theory!) and she betrayed her sect in one fell swoop and it landed her and hers in the BM with a dead brother. Hybris, etc.

Anyway I think her and WWX's dehumanizing of JC for the purpose of the transfer is really fascinating and hot. WQ coming to know JC beyond his being her experimental subject is interesting - especially since when WQ isn't busy committing treason for the sake of ego/science/her brother asked, they have similar priorities! JC coming to know the woman who saved him (on WWX asking!) and whose voice he may still hear in his dreams as Baoshan Sanren's is fascinating! WWX should have a smart friend at home that he can rope into mad science, preferably on one of their loved ones, for their own good! WWX and WQ both can look at JC like this is theirs. They did that. WQ rebuilt him up and WWX is so deeply embedded in JC's identity that if you take it out what's left wouldn't be JC anymore. It's a ship that's easier to implement with a canon divergence starting sometime before JZX bites it, which is a bit inconvenient, or you need to write about WQ surviving if you want to set it after WWX's resurrection, so there are practical downsides. Which probably explains why I haven't written much of them.

they could be happy and there's potential for horrendously fraught and fucked-up crimes against JC's personal agency, so I'm all for it.