#he is a necromancer.... Wen Ruohan is a necromancer....... I'm just saying!!

[maedre13]

The Untamed - writing prompt

Lan Wangji pushes against the hands that hold him but instead of breaking the hold, it only tightens. His spiritual energy burns low, a flicker where there is usually the cool rush of a stream, of a wide river.

His distraction means that he misses the last words Wen Ruohan has spoken. "But this insult, this... campaign," he hears him spit. "It deserves a punishment."

Struggling against his suddenly rising fury, Lan Wangji keeps his head straight. He does not look back, does not look at the field of massacred brothers and allies behind him. Their desperate attempt to fight Wen Ruohan's mad grasp for power has provided pain and bloodshed enough. What more can he take?

He hears a scoff, right behind him. He is not the only one. Wen Ruohan's gaze snaps past him, and his eyes narrowing. His voice, when he speaks, is lighter than before, but the shadows that are surrounding him start to dance.

"The Jiang Heir, is that right?" he says. "What great material for a proper demonstration. He is the only man carrying the name of the Jiang family now, is he not?"

"Don't you dare touch him," Wei Ying shouts, his hands bound behind his back, his clothes as bloody as Lan Wangji's own.

Wen Ruohan ignores the call, thank the gods, and taps his chin. "Indeed, if I take away his life I would destroy his sect completely. A sect for an act of rebellion. What a proper response for your foolish try."

Lan Wangji can't help but throw a glance at Jiang Wanyin. He is pale, and he spots the tiniest shaking of his hands, but his head is raised high and his eyes are full of pride. He faces his death sentence with more dignity than most men would.

"No!" The despair in Wei Ying's voice makes his stomach clench. He can hear the sounds of a struggle, then a dull thud, and a pained noise. Lan Wangji does not look back.

"Wen Chao." Wen Ruohan gestures, and his meanest son steps forward eagerly, his hand on his sword.

"You can kill me," Wei Ying shouts, and Lan Wangji freezes. "Kill me, but leave him be."

Wen Ruohan slowly turns his head. "And who would you be?"

Wei Ying straightens, a doomed attempt at showing strength. "I am the First Disciple of the Jiang sect," he says loudly. "Killing me would be a statement just the same."

Wen Ruohan chuckles, his shadows flickering back and forth. "You are not qualified for my son's sword, boy."

Lan Wangji does not turn away as Wen Chao steps past him, as he draws his sword in a grand gesture and points it at Jiang Wanyin. He owes the man as much as this. Behind him, he can hear Wei Ying struggling, and cursing.

Wen Chao stops in front of Jiang Wanyin and raises his sword.

The Jiang Heir, no, Sect Leader looks past him at Wen Ruohan, calmly. "It does not matter that you stopped today's campaign against you," he says. "Another will rise, stronger than this one. You cannot rule the cultivation world with nothing but your wicked tricks alone."

"Indeed I believe I can," the Wen Sect Leader answers, and nods at his son.

Then, several things happen all at once.

Wen Chao slices down, his sword arching towards Jiang Wanyin's head.

In his ears, there is a yell, full of despair and fury, the voice as familiar as his own.

And the wall of shadows that is surrounding Wen Ruohan falls down, splashes forward, and draws a protective barriere above Jiang Wanyin's head.

The sword glances off the barriere, the man beneath unharmed, and Wen Chao stumbles back, throwing a wide-eyed glance at his father.

The mad Sect Leader stares back, shock openly displayed on his once regal face. Then his eyes snap towards the source of the scream, towards where the shadows are flickering before they dissolve, and land on Wei Wuxian.

Everyone is staring at him now, and Wei Ying looks more confused than all of them.

A hasty gesture, and the pair of Wen soldiers holding Wei Ying push him up, and up the stairs.

He turns his head, just as he passes Lan Wangji by. His hair is in disarray and his eyes are wide with fear. Wen Ruohan has him by his throat before he can bring his face back under control, and Lan Wangji stops caring that he cannot fight back against the Wen force on his own. He starts struggling, his wounded leg burning, the ropes shaving against his hands. Fed up with his resistance, one of the Wen soldiers holding him cuffs him on the head, and Lan Wangji's world grows bright and dizzy.

"Aren't you full of surprises?" he hears the Wen Sect Leader say, wonder in his voice. "Tell me, boy. Do you have any idea of the gift you have?"

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

In an universe where Jiang Cheng never loses his golden core, in which Wei Wuxian is never thrown into the Burial Mounds, the Sunshot Campaign fails.

Helplessly, Lan Wangji watches as Wei Wuxian is taken away by Wen Ruohan, in his hands the whispers of a power he does not know.

Four years later, Wen Ruohan calls the sects to present his heir. He calls upon shadows as easily as he breathes and his eyes are void of light, void of mercy. He wears the face of the man that Lan Wangji loves.

[cqlfic]

Hi, hope you're having a good day! I read cicer's "love, in fire and blood" completely bc of your tags, and it was everything you promised, so thank you so much for that! In gratitude, might I offer you 2 fics you along the same lines- Married to the Demon by westiec, and hot necromancer singles seeking dom daddies in your area by Mikkeneko. Thanks again!

this is beautiful THANK YOU i'm glad my tags convinced you to read it, it's so *chef's kiss* i'm so happy you enjoyed it!! [love, in fire and blood, my post here]

and aaaAAAAAH i love recs thank you!!! so exciting i can’t wait to read these!!!

Married to the Demon by westiec (@iamwestiec) (E, 9832 words)

hot necromancer singles seeking dom daddies in your area by Mikkeneko (@mikkeneko) (M, 19288 words)

more details for these listed under the cut!

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Married to the Demon

link to AO3 AUTHOR: westiec (@iamwestiec) E, 9832 words, 1/1

RELATIONSHIPS: Lan Wangji / Wei Wuxian

SUMMARY:

"You looked the most like you wanted to kill us all,” she says, deadly serious.

Lan Wangji blinks. “Not a quality usually sought in a bride.”

The Demon of Qishan laughs, and it is utterly unfair for a monster to have such an appealing laugh. Like a bubbling spring or the notes of a dance, wholly at odds with a creature of such darkness. “Oh, you’re funny,” she says, seemingly delighted.

War Prize Wangxian, but make it lesbians, with a twist

alternate universe - canon divergence, alternate universe - gender changes, qishan wen sect (modao zushi), arranged marriage, war prize, pining, resentful energy, lan zhan | lan wangji has a yiling laozu kink, bondage, dom/sub play, big switch energy, lesbian sex, cuffs & collar, lan wangji’s other kink is saying “wife”, additional warnings in author’s note

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hot necromancer singles seeking dom daddies in your area

link to AO3 AUTHOR: Mikkeneko (@mikkeneko) M, 19288 words, 2/2

RELATIONSHIPS: Lan Wangji / Wei Wuxian

SUMMARY:

Wei Wuxian continued, stepping forward across the floor until he was right up in Lan Wangji's space. He grinned. "You're the great and righteous slayer of demons, and I'm just a weak little resentful cultivator who has to resort to crafty tricks. What can I hope to do to stop you?" he said in a singsong tone. "If you want me to repent for my crimes, why don't you make me?"

--

Without the aid of the Yiling Wei sect and its patron, the Yiling Patriarch, the Sunshot Alliance surely would have lost the war against the tyrant Wen Ruohan. Now the Yiling Patriarch is demanding repayment in the form of a tribute bride -- and he only wants Lan Wangji. What could a dark sorcerer possibly want out of a union with the strongest and most righteous spiritual cultivator? Whatever Lan Wangji was expecting out of this marriage, it wasn't this...

yiling laozu wei ying | wei wuxian, alternate universe - yiling wei sect, hhhh yiling laozu sexy, but also, top lan zhan | lan wangji/bottom wei ying | wei wuxian, BDSM scene, lan sect has an established kink community for no adequately explained reason, lan wangji had to learn it somewhere, arranged marriage, wei wuxian is subby as hell, dom/sub play, alternate universe - canon divergence, also minor sibling relationships, lan wangji & lan xichen, wei wuxian & jiang yanli - freeform, but all background, wen remnants live (modao zushi), wen qing & wen ning - freeform, rope bondage, caning, racy in the first half and tender in the second, wei wuxian’s self destructive impulses, aftercare, wei ying | wei wuxian is a brat

[veliseraptor]

So this is in NO WAY PRESSURING, get to this whenever you're bored and have nothing better to do, but I (have still not watched The Untamed) would love to hear any disorganized rambles around your fic 'Punitive Measures', like your thoughts while writing it, how you view Xue Yang's fight/flight/freeze instinct, and/or where you would take the plot if you ever came back to it (again, not pressuring, I'm not asking for a sequel, I'm asking for director's commentary. Also I know the mysterious flute was implying Wei Wuxian, I know that much and not much more.) It's a really fun, quick fic that I enjoy reading through while I keep circling around your longer, more intimidating stories. I aspire to write like you.

oh boy, well, I don't know that I ever have nothing to do but here I am answering this ask anyway, because I like talking about my fic even if I get self-conscious about it.

this entire fic falls solidly into the genre of fic I write that is legitimately just “I’m gonna fuck up this character I love because it’ll be fun and I love to do that” and then just kinda...went for it. actually harder than I was initially planning! my vague sense of what I was going to do with this fic didn’t have Xue Yang down an eye at the end of it.

but when inspiration strikes, what’s a girl to do, etc.

I actually thought recently about writing a sequel to this fic (or, well, continuing into the AU it started, more like) because the concept of Wei Wuxian and Xue Yang being bloodthirsty vengeance brethren is a very good one for me, personally, and at the point their paths would be intersecting in this AU a more plausible one than it would be at pretty much any other time (I would argue, at least in CQLverse). And that’s where I think this would be going. Because Xue Yang would see Wei Wuxian, in his bloodiest frame of mind, powered up with a gorgeous flute of bad vibes and go “fuck yes” even if he wasn’t in a place where he really needed the help.

The question I had was whether Wei Wuxian would be interested in accepting company, and I feel like Xue Yang on that front could be convincing. And the way that the latter would both enable and egg on all the former’s darkest fantasies and impulses...I’m just saying, Wen Chao and everyone he has ever known is in for a very bad time, possibly even worse than they already were.

I invite you to picture in this AU the part where Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji find not just darker and edgier Wei Wuxian at the end of their scavenger hunt but darker and edgier Wei Wuxian with a friend. A familiar friend! Now down an eye and practically picking his teeth with Wen Chao’s finger bones. :D

since you asked for disorganized rambling I went back to reread and I’ll give you some director’s commentary on a few things

And he’d kind of hoped Wen Ruohan would be too busy figuring out how to deal with his brewing war to dedicate much attention to looking for one absent retainer. And even if he did, Xue Yang had sort of figured that finding him would fall to Wen Chao, who’d probably struggle to find his own ass with two hands.

kicking off this director’s commentary with Xue Yang’s brutal assessment of the competency of Wen Chao.

tbh one of my favorite things about CQL’s involving Xue Yang in the whole Sunshot storyline, despite the merry hell it plays with timeline stuff later, is how obviously little regard Xue Yang has for the Wens, even when they’re at the height of their power. He shows Wen Ruohan himself very little respect, and I can’t imagine anyone else getting more (except maybe Wen Qing, because Wen Qing is competent and if nothing else Xue Yang can respect competency).

and he just like. ditches them. walks out! promises to deliver very powerful magical artifact, and then gets what he wants and is like “smell ya later, peace” and they never catch him.

that’s just a kind of gutsiness and casual disregard for very powerful people that I really both love and respect about Xue Yang. and also that he has in common with Xiao Xingchen, tbh. and Song Lan (though him I think to a slightly lesser degree, partly because he has a little more tact and sense of societal norms as something relevant to be thinking about)! they can all vibe on that.

They took Jiangzai. Well. One of the Wen disciples took Jiangzai in the stomach and Xue Yang didn’t get it back.

this isn’t an important line or anything. I just like it a lot.

Wen Chao gestured again and he went down in a hail of fists and feet. Xue Yang tucked his chin down to protect his throat, curled his hands into his chest, and drew up his knees to guard his stomach.

He knew how this worked. Sure, it’d been a while since someone had beat him like this, but the lessons stuck. It was almost boring, really. If Wen Chao was going to play torture games then he could at least do Xue Yang the favor of trying to be creative.

He checked out the part of his brain that registered pain as anything other than a thing that was happening and focused instead on opportunities. Weaknesses in his assailants. Escape routes. Getting away would be the first thing. Nice if he could take a piece of Wen Chao with him on the way out - arm, or maybe even a head - but the priority was freedom and survival.

okay, this I feel like cuts into some of what you were talking about regarding Xue Yang’s fight/flight instinct, and also a lot of what if, I was feeling pretentious, I feel like this fic is digging into on a level under “what if I just tortured Xue Yang a whole bunch,” which is something about the relationship Xue Yang has to (a) pain and (b) his own body. Specifically, the relative indifference he has toward both. Or...not indifference, exactly, because it’s not like he’s enjoying himself, it still hurts. It’s just...expected.

unremarkable.

which is a lot of what I was trying to convey with Xue Yang’s narration during the whole torture sequence, with the commentary on methodology and how things are mundane or boring, because the suffering itself is mundane! as far as Xue Yang is concerned that’s exactly what suffering is! other peoples’, for sure, which is part of why it doesn’t matter, but also his own.

the world hurts and that’s just how it is and you learn how to cope with that. pain as...a thing that [is] happening.

I also, since you mentioned the fight/flight instinct, think a lot about how Xue Yang is, while he’s very proud and very stubborn, absolutely not someone to pick fights (in general) that he knows he can’t win. Xue Yang will almost always be on the side of “run and come back another day” over “stand and fight when all is lost.” survival, first and foremost.

which feeds into the weird paradox that I kind of hint toward at the end of this fic about Xue Yang as someone who has a definite death drive, who is profoundly obsessed with his own death in a lot of ways, and simultaneously is attached to staying alive above pretty much all else.

“Snap and snarl all you want,” he said. “You’re not going anywhere. And the only part of you I need intact is your tongue, so you can tell me where you hid the Yin Metal you promised. Everything else is optional.”

A prickle of fear rolled down Xue Yang’s spine and he flicked it away, baring his teeth.

I actually do think that, even before they get around to hand-specific trauma, permanent mutilation is one of those things that still scares Xue Yang. which is a short list! there isn’t much that actually either gets to or scares him, but I think the prospect of (further) mutilation does, because I think Xue Yang is very...acutely aware of the fact that his physical capability is a major factor in what has kept him alive and what, in all likelihood, is going to keep him alive moving forward. anything that threatens that capability, that limits him in terms of strength or mobility or otherwise has a disabling effect, is consequently going to be a short road to death, and Xue Yang would much rather die painfully fighting than die as a consequence of not being able to take care of himself.

for Xue Yang, the idea of a return to the kind of helplessness that is tied to his trauma is one of the worst possible prospects to contemplate. in my head this is exacerbated further by the fact that I figure Xue Yang didn’t get much if any medical care post hand incident, meaning that the recovery period was absolutely nightmarish and a whole stretch of time beyond the event itself where Xue Yang was struggling to survive because he’d been damaged.

in some ways I think that period of time probably did more to shape Xue Yang than the moment itself.

Wen Chao grabbed one of the branding irons from a disciple’s belt and pressed it to his stomach. That hurt. More. He clamped his back teeth together so he didn’t make any sound, absorbed the burn, owned it. His. You only hurt if you were alive. And anything you survived made you stronger.

Not that this was actually going to make him stronger. It was probably just going to make him dead. But then again, the worse this went the more resentment he’d have built up. He could use that. Would.

Dead didn’t have to mean finished.

obviously this is pulled almost direct from what Wei Wuxian himself says to Wen Chao. deliberate echoes based on character parallels! we love those.

and yeah, again here about Xue Yang and his relationship to pain, but in a less mundane way this time where it’s about pain as a tool, pain as something he can use. which is another thing about coping, I think - when pain and suffering are a regular part of your life, one way to deal with that can be to convert it into having some kind of purpose or benefit.

which in this case it definitely can. Xue Yang is definitely someone who, I think, has thought a lot about trying to arrange it so he becomes a ghost after he dies. or at least has thought a lot about what he’d do after dying to the person who killed him. 

and when you’re a necromancer by trade death really isn’t the end of the line anymore, just the start of a something new. Xue Yang’s relationship to life itself: about as jacked up as his relationships in general.

He felt the snap of bone in his teeth. Pain shooting up the side of his hand, all the way to his wrist, and Xue Yang couldn’t keep himself still enough not to try to wrench himself away. He swallowed his scream and turned it into a laugh. It was funny, wasn’t it? Funny, that he was back here, again. It wasn’t as bad, though. He knew how to take pain, how to breathe it in, make it part of himself, later turn it outwards magnified tenfold. They were old friends. Practically lovers. 

two things here:

1. the thread throughout this fic of Xue Yang making things funny so he can deal with them, here brought to you by reliving trauma! because it’s funny! right? laugh about it! just fucking hilarious.

I have a thing about characters basically deciding for themselves to make very unfunny situations funny because it makes them less awful.

2. and look, now he can deal with it better this time! he’s Learned. :) :) :)

Everything splintered. Splintered like bones under a wheel, and first thing he tried to struggle to get away but that just hurt worse and then old old old instincts kicked in and he went still, limp, dead.

“Did he faint?”

Someone nudged him with their foot. One part of him roared to grab that foot and rip it off along with the leg it was attached to. Immediately the same thing that’d made him play dead told him to wait.

at an end point where fighting is impossible and running is also impossible, the only thing left to do is play dead and wait it out. this is very much, in my head, a reversion to a tactic Xue Yang hasn’t used in a very long time and does not want to be using now, because it is absolutely the recourse of the extraordinarily helpless with no way out.

which he has been! and is now, but he really really really doesn’t want to be. Xue Yang has built his life around not being that, ever again.

but here it’s not a move he makes planning to turn it around the way he does, not at first. he gets there, but when he first does it I think it is literally just instinct that goes enough is enough and shuts down.

Wen Chao, Wen Chao, Xue Yang thought. My body’s going to give out before I do.

someone should remind me at some point maybe (or not) to write something coherent about my Xue Yang vs. his own body thoughts. specifically the way that, while Xue Yang is very physical and very grounded, I think he has a somewhat antagonistic relationship with his own body, actually. not completely! he definitely respects what it can do for him! but I think he also treats it a little as a slightly separate entity that’s capable of betraying him rather than as a fully integrated part of himself.

not always! but it’s a little bit there. this idea that sometimes his body, and its capacity to be hurt or damaged, is a weakness that he’d like to be able to forgo entirely, if only it wouldn’t mean losing all the good things about having a body. and that’s present here in this line, for me, where he thinks about himself and his body as slightly separate, and his body as something weaker than its Xue Yang core.

[marley-manson]

Mzds for the ask! And maybe also jiang cheng for the specific character 🤔

Thanks for asking!

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character:

Wei Wuxan! I tried to get into it before The Untamed even came out because I'd heard he was a powerful, fairly dark and ruthless, but also funny and lighthearted, sub bottom necromancer lol. Unfortunately I couldn't read the book translation without the prior emotional investment the show gave me, and the manhua was only at like 20 chapters or something at that point. But he was always destined to be a fave.

Least Favorite character:

This is tough because I love almost every character lol. I think I wanna say Song Lan actually? He's just so boring and people pit him against Xue Yang all the time as the wholesome boyfriend which makes him even more boring.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

wangxian, xuexiao, xiyao, su she/jin guangyao (idk their ship name), aaaaand 3zun but only in a total disaster way.

Character I find most attractive:

Wei Wuxian

Character I would marry:

Jiang Yanli. I would respect her soup.

Character I would be best friends with:

I could see myself getting along with Wen Qing.

a random thought:

This isn't random so much as the thing that haunts me in this fandom lol, but demonic cultivation is fine, actually, not particularly harmful, most of the hints pointing that way were actually red herrings to lead to the reveal that wwx is missing his golden core, and nmj's righteous hatred of it is meant to be hypocritical as hell considering the nie cultivation style.

An unpopular opinion:

Su She deserved better.

My Canon OTP:

wangxian

My Non-canon OTP:

xuexiao

Most Badass Character:

Wei Wuxian. Love me a one man army.

Most Epic Villain:

Wen Ruohan is probably the most "epic," every other villain was kind of pathetic lol.

Pairing I am not a fan of:

xicheng. it's the most "...them?" ship ever to me, and I've found that it's a good canary in the coal mine side ship, like if it's a secondary ship to wangxian I'm probably not going to vibe with the author's taste or interpretation of the canon.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

I think The Untamed screwed up Jin Guangyao in various ways to cut down on the moral greys. For instance by implying he slept with his wife even after learning she was his sister, by making Mo Xuanyu want revenge against him, obviously with the whole second flute bullshit lol, etc etc.

Favourite Friendship:

Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing. mad scientist besties!

Character I most identify with:

lol idk I almost never identify with characters. Mian Mian's normie husband.

Character I wish I could be:

Baoshan Sanren. Immortal, super powerful, chilling on a mountain, totally uninvolved with any drama.

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you:

How I feel about this character:

I honestly don't care much about him either way lol. I don't love or hate him.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character:

Jin Guangyao has funny divorce energy with him, I've read a few p good Nie Huaisang/Jiang Cheng fics, occasional fucked up Jiang Cheng/Lan Wangji hate sex has some potential, and there's an appeal to fucked up one-sided chengxian with ambiguous incest vibes.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character:

Lan Wangji. I love their sort of friends to pure enmity that they can't fully express bc they live in a society. I can't get into most reconciliation fics because they always downplay their mutual hatred imo, and that's the best part. Like I fully belive lwj would murder jc if he could get away with it, and jc knows it.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

Probably the fact that I don't have any strong feelings towards him lol. It seems like everybody either loves or hates him and I'm just like, whatever. He's fine. He's kind of interesting but not the most interesting.

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

Nothing really. I think his canon story was pretty good and complete. I didn't want a reconciliation with wwx personally. Ooh actually I know - he demonstrates that he's moved on from obsessing over wwx finally by getting a dog.

Favorite friendship for this character:

I guess Wei Wuxian because it's complicated and interesting and I dig the sort of pointed and thematically relevant confusion over their familial or not relationship.

My crossover ship:

I don't really do crossovers tbh, I got nothing.

ask meme

[wangxianficrecs]

Hello! I'm only sending you this ask because you answered a previous anon saying that you would be willing to signal boost wangxian fic :) Would you be willing to reblog my first wangxian-focused fic? (Same name on AO3.) I don't have a lot of MDZS followers yet, so I could use the boost. The concept is the 'YLLZ demands LWJ as a tribute bride' trope and the execution is... well, the fic's title is "hot necromancer singles seeking dom daddies in your area" so I feel that says it all.

Good morning, lovey, and yes, I am always happy to boost someone’s work!  (I am an author as well, and absolutely understand being proud of what you’ve written and wanting to share.) And this one looks fantastic, it’s definitely going on my list.  The title alone is sufficient bait 😉

~*~

hot necromancer singles seeking dom daddies in your area

by Mikkeneko

M, 19k, wangxian

Summary:  Wei Wuxian continued, stepping forward across the floor until he was right up in Lan Wangji's space. He grinned. "You're the great and righteous slayer of demons, and I'm just a weak little resentful cultivator who has to resort to crafty tricks. What can I hope to do to stop you?" he said in a singsong tone. "If you want me to repent for my crimes, why don't you make me?"

--

Without the aid of the Yiling Wei sect and its patron, the Yiling Patriarch, the Sunshot Alliance surely would have lost the war against the tyrant Wen Ruohan. Now the Yiling Patriarch is demanding repayment in the form of a tribute bride -- and he only wants Lan Wangji. What could a dark sorcerer possibly want out of a union with the strongest and most righteous spiritual cultivator? Whatever Lan Wangji was expecting out of this marriage, it wasn't this...