#i really really do not know how to keep wwx alive at that point. he's not making it easy and neither is anyone else

[veliseraptor]

Fic idea: Jiang Cheng experiencing Ground Hog Day from the CQL nightless city episode, and having to relive it until yanli and Wei wuxian both live and then also finally waking up the Next day with the trauma of watching his siblings die hundreds of time.

Just him having A Time of it.

I have had this on my "things I wanna write at some point" brainstorming doc for literal years, anon (though I know well there's at least one other fic with at least the time loop part of this premise). the only problem is that said brainstorming doc is about five pages long.

however the part of this that is really fun for me is definitely the part about where everybody is afterwards! cause it's not like Wei Wuxian is probably doing so hot either (depend'ing on where our time cutoff is, may still be at least 60% suicidal and definitely 100% homicidal), and Jiang Yanli is still grieving her husband, and here Jiang Cheng is like "as far as these two know I should be more functional than anybody else but turns out" and trying fairly unsuccessfully to do a Wei Wuxian "everything is fine and if I insist as much it will definitely become so."

Just three massively traumatized peas in a blanket! Love it, love them, hope they all break down crying on each other.

[runespoor7]

I mean obviously I’m am going to ask you about chengxian, for the ask meme

What made you ship it?

It was the most interesting relationship in the book. I'm a sucker for childhood friends with broken promises, for grief, for misunderstandings over loyalty and love, and for relationships whose resolution in canon is bittersweet.

It still took some time and effort before I started really shipping it. I was theoretically open to shipping it but I hadn't yet read fics that really sold me on it (this was in 2019, I think). Then as an experiment I put a WWX-inspired character in the setting I was GMing for the JC and JYL NPC stand-ins to have him to play off of. Turned out I did ship them.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

😬

*wide, helpless, expansive gesture*

It's never simple with them. It's always fraught. They love one another but they also resent one another. Hunting demonic cultivators is about WWX still maybe being alive. Maybe JC can bring himself to kill WWX this time, or maybe he can find a way to bring WWX back home and forgive him. WWX promises to be with JC but he ends up promising that he won't stay ("like my father served your father") but he didn't mean it with an end. the mess that is the fraughtness of WWX's liminal space when it comes to his social rank.

love hurts, what hurts is love.

the fact that the one 'leading' is WWX, not JC, going against the accepted social order. (tbh, if that wasn't the case, I probably wouldn't be into the ship.) it paints such a picture of WWX being so charismatic, and JC being so taken with him, that JC falls into being WWX's sidekick. no wonder YZY was awful about it.

JC keeping Chenqing like a mad dog and keeping Lotus Pier WWX-safe. I. god. JC rating WWX's attention >>>>>>>>>>>>> JC's self-respect every time, in every way. Amazing.

it's incredible to me how WWX asks JYL about love in a scene framed in a manner to make it subtextually point in the direction of LWJ (it's mdzs; the canon pair in mdzs is wgxn; there are no - explicit - love triangles in mdzs; and yet even WWX's original crush on LWJ is, uh. informed by JC and how WWX is with JC and the fact that LWJ is New and Not The Son of WWX's Benefactor. this is normal.), where it's apparent that WWX is scared of being in love because it changes how you act, it's a limit, it's a cage, you're limiting yourself for someone else - and then WWX does something for JC that is everything he was scared of.

and it does ruin him! it's terrible! so his romance with LWJ is everything his feelings for JC weren't. He's not the one doing the protecting. LWJ doesn't question him. There are no expectations of anything, no discussions of the future, no thoughts of society. LWJ is just such a comfort, just a good thing WWX gets because he wants it. Also LWJ isn't emotionally taxing af (this is a big one). (WWX kinda ends up YZY-ing himself at the end of the book but I'm not thinking about that.)

WWX's utter toxicity toward JC. not a iota of respect for either JC or JC's boundaries to be found, except when convenient for WWX.

they both really, really believe that WWX is better than JC in every way. it's very cool

look. i'm a simple person. arrogant genius jerk/grumpy dutiful tsundere otp.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I love the joke that chengxian isn't incest but both of them wish it were, but I think the only time one of them wished they were brothers was JC when he decided to sacrifice himself for WWX and he was lying in bed making morbid jokes. At least sacrificing yourself for your brother who is the better cultivator and can lead the sect would be simple. Forgivable. Good.

I also think they might grow to think of one another as brothers at some point post-canon, that's a sort of reconciliation that might happen, but to me it's key that during canon they don't know what they are to one another, they just know they're scarily, terrifyingly important, and there's no word for what they are to one another.

JC refused shixiong-shidi (in a shocking reversal of their normal dynamic, I think he forgot he did that and spent roughly two decades feeling insecure and weird that WWX doesn't call him shidi) and they can be nothing else, socially speaking. The love that dare not speak its name, if you would. And at that same time post-canon they could also decide that what they're to each other is that WWX used to be in love with JC, and maybe JC still is, and they're not brothers. Or maybe both! The point is, the definition of their relationship is uncharted waters and they never thought of each other as 'brothers' (much less called each other that).

2) WWX is incredibly bitter and resentful of giving his core to JC and that colors everything he thinks and says about JC afterwards, including after he's returned to life. Basically, he gave, and gave, and gave, and felt there was no gratitude, and he's unable to live the life he wanted, unable to reap the promises life made him, and JC isn't any more agreeable or tractable than before (less so, in fact!). It's not fair.

[weirdocat83]

*kicks your door down* YOU. I need to write a silly oneshot so I can fall back into writing because Losing Hope is dramaful and I can't comprehend the words I am writing. I need something goofy. Something silly. Issue? I can't think of any silly plot ideas. SOOOO, I come to you, the au/headcanon master, as a mere writer hoping to find motivation. Do you have any silly ideas that you'd be willing to let me sculpt into a quick oneshot?

Whenever I think silly ideas I default to cumplane because they’re ridiculous and them quoting memes wwhile nobody knows what they mean will never not be funny to me. I mean, imagine explaining a meme without the internet! Bonus points if some of them start picking up on how to use the memes without knowing the context.

A friend of mine told me about a svsss au they don’t intend to write where Shen Jiu is a strict teacher and Shen yuan is the TA that grades his students papers so LBH and SY end up communicating through notes and doodles :)

*takes a Quick Look at old posts because I had ideas then and I don’t have any rn*

Not really that fluffy but Any Hualian time travel or truth serum. There’s like, one truth serum fic in the TGCF fandom that’s good and Xie Lian has both so many secrets and also the sassiest thoughts. Also Xie Lian and Hua Cheng meeting while still alive (and possibly ascending together??).

I would also like to direct you to this post and this post because some aforementioned things are there but also various other ideas that could work. It was an idea day and today isn’t (unfortunately)

Any scenario in which anyone gets drunk. Literally pick a character and choose how they embarrass themselves and regret their decisions in the morning. Xie Lian could harp on about the dirty things he keeps to himself as well as insulting *so* many people, Hua Cheng could be very soft and emotional but also really kind and ends up giving so many compliments even to Feng Xin and mu qing (much to their shock and amusement) speaking of mu Qing, get him wasted. My man has so many emotions and unnecessary thoughts. Cuddle the man and make him laugh. I think he’d be a little more insecure openly but also happier. We’ve seen LWJ drunk but imagine wwx drunk. Idk if that’d be angsty or not but up to you. I think he’d be soft and VERY cuddly. Half of what he says is completely nonsensical but the other half is very sweet. Binghe would be clingy and Shen Yuan would probably be singing some modern pop song with airplane (who is equally wasted).

Outing myself here but non-explicit abo is probably one of my fav types of fluff. Idk something about people being intensely cuddly while surrounded by soft things and being incredibly vulnerable always gets me. Like, ‘nope, you’re mine to cuddle for the rest of the week. Live with it.’

Chatfics are my preferred crackfics because hell hath no chaos like a bunch of people smushed together in a gc with naming privileges and being unable to leave. Bonus points if it’s in high school so there’s extra drama and humor. Imagine Hua Cheng and Xie Lian haven’t confessed but everyone else knows? Hilarious. Mu Qing and Feng Xin fighting in the halls (again) over something stupid and getting suspended? Hilarious. SQX being girlfriends with HX and going on dates (they had a rough start with their relationship because Shi Wudu pulled some shit that was NOT run past SQX which led to a lot of difficulties but eventually they did become friends again and eventually lovers.)

Anyhow that’s all I can think of. I also had some fluffy-ish ideas for losing hope if you want those ;3

[admirableadmiranda]

I'm sorry if you've already answered this question. I was just wondering how ridiculous it is for both Jiang Cheng and JC stand to continuously blame WWX for the fall of Lotus Pier. It's been a minute since I've read the book, but if I recall it correctly, it was a few weeks (at least) after WWX and LWJ were rescued from the Xuanwu cave before Wang Liangjiao came to LP to demand 'punishment'. And there's also the fact that the Wens moved on BOTH Fish and Qinghe before LP. Gusu had done nothing to incur their the Wens wrath, yet they were attacked first. And yet I've seen a few posts going around saying JC is justified in his treatment of WWX because he caused the downfall of the Jiang Sect.

I've answered variations on it before, but I don't mind doing it again.

And Jiang Cheng himself knows that Wei Wuxian isn't responsible. But his mother put the idea in his head that he is blameable in some way and he tends to follow her lead. And you are correct that not only were there a few attacks already on Great Clans, but also the Wen had been trampling over and absorbing minor clans for a while! They all know that the Wen are acting this way, just think back to the Waterborne Abyss when all Lan Xichen has to do is point to the sky and they all - including Jiang Cheng - know exactly what he means.

Jiang Cheng never actually forgets this either, he just wants to turn the anger lasting in his heart onto someone living so he doesn't have to figure out how to live without it. He takes the blame off of Jin Zixuan for provoking the Wen when Jiang Yanli is engaged to him again, he stops blaming Wei Wuxian at the end of the book, but keeps his anger at Wen Ning alive. He's just spent so much of his life being angry at people for things that are long past that he doesn't even know what to do without it.

Which is kind of really sad when you think about it. To just be so mired in your own anger at things long gone that you just have to keep blaming new people for things that you know they didn't do so it has an outlet. He knows that Wei Wuxian isn't responsible for the Wen attacking, he knows that Wen Ning has saved his life and his honor multiple times, he knows that Lan Wangji has done nothing to him other than reasonably dislike him for his own personal reasons, but he just can't let that go.

Which is a shame, because if he were able to learn how to do that and move on, he'd probably become a person that people could like. And he could even still put in the work himself and improve. His relationship with Wei Wuxian is dead and gone, but he still has his nephew in his life and he's pretty young and has a strong golden core; he could start to turn his life around if he were willing to work on the bitterness and grudges.

But Jiang Cheng stans really don't like hearing that.

[mxtxfanatic]

Alright, finished Yu Wu, so now we have our character breakdowns!

Our Main Cast:

Murong Lian: I am so serious when I say that a sad (not even tragic, just fucking “sucks I guess, dude” sad!) backstory and working with the MCs towards a mutually beneficial goal IS NOT A REDEMPTION ARC.

Yue Chenqing: a lesson in why ignorance is NOT bliss and you should NOT blindly follow whatever your elders say. (Especially if your “respectable elder” is a known rapist with children he don’t even know about under his own roof falling in love with each other 😬). I expected that he’d experience some traumatic bullshit, but holy shit?

Jiang Yexue: I knew there was something off about him, but holy shit????? Hope he rots in hell, but also, he was obviously tainted by that dark cultivation he took in to save his brother’s life, so maybe the real villain who needs to rot in hell is their rapist daddy 💁🏽‍♀️

Murong Chuyi: I knew he liked Yue Chenqing deep down and that something must have happened to make him turn on Jiang Yexue, but holy shit???? Anyways, hope he gets to beat that fool’s AND his rapist daddy’s asses in the afterlife before reincarnating into the most peaceful next life. (On another note, wtf is up with meatbun and jumping into blood pools????)

The emperor: I CALLED IT! A MOTHERFUCKING SNAKE AND A COWARD 🗣🗣🗣 IF YOU TRUSTED HIM AT ANY POINT, DON’T TALK TO ME 🗣🗣🗣

Guoshi of Liao/Hua Po’an: everyone is afraid of this super ultra powerful, seemingly invincible guoshi and ain’t none of y’all stopped to think, “wow, this is suspicious; wonder if that one villain IN ALL OUR STORIES maybe didn’t die, especially since we keep seeing hints that the one who “killed” him and died with him is ALSO not dead!” What foolishness… Anyways, man had plans on plans and still couldn’t predict human kindness, what a tool lmao

Princess Mengze: everyone was playing 3D chess with politics but bitch was on 4D; I was shook 😳

Gu Mang: MY BOY! Wwx if he was written into a trauma porn novel. Stuck. To. His. Convictions!!! Every reveal of his was a whammy on top of a whammy 😭😭😭 Thought he was out here being Naruto-level foolish without the protagonist halo, but he was really out here playing 4D chess on human morality with the best of them! GIVE HIM HIS FLOWERS 💐 💐💐

Mo Xi: love how he loves Gu Mang. Hate how goddamn naive he is. At some points, instead of feeling emotionally overwhelmed, I was just getting secondhand embarrassment. Would obviously NOT survive a political intrigue novel.

Honorable mentions:

Lu Zhanxing: his death fucking suuuuuucked, but he was a real one.

Li Wei: standing up to the emperor’s men to protect your lord, LET’S GOOOOOOOOOO

Lan’er (Changfeng-jun’s daughter): they didn’t have to do her like that… (also, is she still alive???? We just kinda drop her and never check back in????)

Madam Jiang/Su Yurou: wish I could be this unbothered in the face of conflict, while having the balls to defy the most terrifying not-quite-human in the known world 😭 glad she survived 💙

Jiang Fuli: fuck, I’m glad HE survived! He deserves it!

Hong Shao: she walked into death bravely and heartbrokenly, and I wish she didn’t have to. I hope she and Li Qingqian reincarnate into a better life where they grow to be the old man and hag together, like she dreamed…

Li Qingqian: the way he found out that in attempting to save Hong Shao, he had actually killed his love AND that her murderer “was” the man who saved him? I’m glad Su Yurou got to tell him the truth, and I hope he was able to reunite with Hong Shao in the afterlife

[dustyf0x]

Ok so this is a universe where alpha women and omega men exist but they’re largely considered to be infertile and sort of a biological mistake haha (bro you fools it’s for population control you absolute idiots) ok so wwx is an omega and basically somehow during their time in cloud recesses stuff gets tweaked just a bit and he and lwj end up having sex oops and wwx ends up getting pregnant

We don’t see this scene at first, it’s mostly implied but we should work in a flashback at some point and show it in detail (especially if it’s late enough that we’re really craving a sex scene but not so late that wwx and lwj’s relationship has developed enough for them to have sex (again)

Anyway, we jump in as wwx is leaving the cloud recesses and disappearing into the night bc having premarital sex is like the greatest shame he could bring upon his own sect and also lwj so he becomes a peasant once more 

We see flashes as he travels around

Might fudge with the timeline a little idk

Anyway, we see flashes as he travels around. As he gets further along in his pregnancy more and more people start assuming he’s a woman bc he’s so pretty and obviously there’s no such thing as a pregnant male omega and if he was seen as a mpreg obviously that would get a lot of attention so he starts dressing in the feminine style of robes and such 

Obviously you shouldn’t night hunt while pregnant- no one wants a haunted baby- but wwx can’t be stopped so he keeps doing it anyway against his better judgment and he sort of gets famous/ rumors start going around about that incredibly skilled and charming pregnant cultivator.

He ends up giving birth on the road, totally alone cue whump 

Shot where he’s curled up leaning against a tree fast asleep cradling his newborn in his arms

Oh maybe when A-Yuan is first born he’s not breathing and wwx has to spark life into him

It feels weird writing wwx out of the cave scene and such but I can’t really justify him showing up until the jiang clan gets decimated 

Maybe a scene where wwx almost bumps into lwj on a night hunt haha

Maybe ch2 is sort of shenanigans where wwx is traveling around and still night hunting even with a baby on his hip

So I guess continuing his fame as a crazy cultivator/ disguised as female

Also almost bumping into jiang cheng or actually bumping into nie huisang could be fun

He hears about what happened at the wen archery thing

Or that- yeah that just gets cut out

But he does hear about theeeeeee idk what it’s called but where all of the babies were held hostage 

I think we don’t see that on screen though I think we jump right into jiang cheng’s perspective post lotus pier burning running into wwx and somehow it’s alluded to

Like wwx heard that lotus pier burned and rushed to check it out (omg he would be so certain that he would find jiang cheng and jiang Yanli’s bodies and like he didn’t want to see them but also asldfjcsdbhj like unable to stop himself or desperately needed to or like there was this sick need in him pulling him there as if he was possessed 

Anyway

So like off hand comment as that’s being explained like “He definitely wasn’t in yunmeng in the first place bc he had heard the rumors about what had happened @ the wen archery thing”

Anyway it’ll be super fun bc the readers will be like “What the fuck happened to A-yuan” but it will be from jiang cheng’s perspective who doesn’t even know A-Yuan exists and doesn’t know anything is wrong

Wwx gets Jiang Cheng out of there and like there should be some amount of like,,, jiang cheng is pissed bc wwx has just been gone for like 3 years now and Jiang Cheng just didn’t know where he was or if he was even alive and he’s missed him so dearly and also been so worried and is pissed that wwx has been alive this whole time and just chose not to be there and also is super pissed that he finally has his brother back but it has cost him the lives of his parents and his entire sect.

Oh he’s definitely like crying pissed about how if Wwx had just been there he could have stopped all this from happening

Anyway, great news, Yanli is still alive and they can and should meet up with her asap

Bad news, Wwx needs to make a pit stop to grab A-Yuan from wherever he’s hidden him but Jiang Cheng doesn’t know that so he’s absolutely livid (What could possibly be more important than meeting up with Yanli right now of all times) but Wwx will not be budged and is just like “Hey, you’re welcome to go on without me” and Jiang Cheng is like “Fuck you, as if I would let you leave my sight again.”

Ok so I’m thinking that wwx paid a prostitute to look over his kid bc hey, brothels always have kids around, and looking after one more for a little extra cash is no hard sell

Anyway so the result is Jiang Cheng is like “YOU TOOK A DETOUR FROM MEETING UP WITH A-LI TO VISIT A BROTHEL???” and wwx is like “Ahhh, Jiang Cheng, you’re so loud. It’s fine it’s fine” and then goes in and comes out WITH A BABY??

And Jiang Cheng is like ???? what the fuck

Whose baby is that

“I found him growing in a patch of turnips and he was so cute I just had to scoop him up for myself! Isn’t that right A-Yuan?” A-Yuan nods eagerly

Wwx introduces Jiang Cheng to A-Yuan “This is your Shushu. Can you say ‘Hi?’”

“Hi Shushu!”

Jiang Cheng is still acting pissed but secretly his heart is melting lmao. Absolutely in love with his new nephew even though he doesn’t realize it actually is his nephew.

[llycaons]

ep32 (2/3): sect leader yao: how dare you! murdering innocent people is wrong! wwx: are you FUCKING kidding me-

wwx continuiing to defend himself - HE was the one to get ambushed!

such a cool line his is so hot

the laughing-crying is another EXCELLENT part of this scene. 1. wwx as a character is strongly associated with mirth, but this is a miserable and twisted laughter that conveys and brings no joy, just expresses how far he's been pushed and how close he is to his breaking point. 2. villainous laughter is a part of so many cliches and fairy tales - how many disney movies have you seen with a darkly chuckling villain or cackling megalomaniac? it fits the perception people have of him as an uncaring and malicious demon

this is such a good point! I think for wwx especially, who's had a long life of sacrifice, or unfair punishment, and of serving others, this rankles him particularly. I don't blame him for being sick of it

this is so galling omg sect leader yao being like 'all those people who you killed were innocent! how can you be so callous!" and wwx responding like 'AND THE FARMERS WHOSE LIVES I WAS TRYING TO SAVE WEREN'T???'

and this is so fucking cruel, to wwx who cares SO much and who has such a strong moral compass. this is what myu attacks him with, what jc throws in his face. diminishing and disrespecting his values and his actions. he's not out to be a hero, he's literally just trying to do the right thing and stick to his principles and all he's getting is shit from every single person around him and that INCLUDES lwj he FAILED esp in this episode and he knows it

ASKING TO PROVE A NEGATIVE!! LOGICAL FALLACY YOU BITCH

this is kind of funny. who is this irrelevant bitch. it does open up wwx for one of his greatest lines tho

I wrote a whole post about this because I didn't want it to be hidden but I love this line and I think it demonstrates important things abt wwx's character and outlook that make his relationship with lwj extremely stable

also 'you're so insignificant why would I ever care what side you're on?' lmao

this is was badass I love this so much. IS he keeping himself alive with resentful energy at this point? fuck, who knows?

HELL YEAH THEY'RE BREAKING OUT THE FIREBIRD SUITE. I think. fuck

honestly I find this action scene extremely drawn-out and boring but oh god this hurt me so bad

this was kind of a funny shot where nmj was spinning around then the camera moved behind a post and then it just stopped for a second then went to a completely different shot. thanks for showing us the back of this post I guess

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!!! wow the aesthetics here rule. the contrast. wwx is like barely holding on look at how red his eyes are

I wonder if lxc thinks that wwx is so far gone he'd hurt lwj

oof. obviously they don't want to but I don't think wwx in his paranoia and isolation sees another way out

I've complained before about it not making sense that postres wwx avoided lwj (because they were friends in the flahback!), but if I'm being fair, lwj did in fact attack wwx. with his sword. and I can see wwx waking up and being really leery about what lengths lwj would go to subdue him again.

I'm sure he knew lwj didn't want to kill him - after all, they have such a history and lwj did save him, at the very end. but there's a huge difference between wanting him dead and wanting to support and protect and hide him, and wwx wasn't expecting lwj to offer him that. because he hasn't, historically, look, he;s trying to fight him right here. and he's made it clear in the past that his feelings are secondary to his sect and the path of orthodoxy. so wwx is entirely justified in all his reactions, in fact

ALSO it's kind of hard to tell in screenshots but lwj looks extremely distressed in context I promise

JUST SAY A-YUAN IS ALIVE. JUST SAY IT. THREE WORDS. SPIT IT OUT. god. useless boyfriend

[theuntamedcollages]

The Untamed, ep48, scene 2:55-10:45: Hate

JC: Never what?! Wei Wuxian, how selfless, how great you are. You've always been going good deeds and being wronged, but only keep it to yourself. How touching. Should I get down on my knees and thank you with tears rolling down?

JL: Uncle, stop it.

WWX: I never wanted you to thank me.

JC: That's right. Doing good deeds and never asking for repayment. Just for your noble personality. Surely different from me. No wonder when Father was alive, he kept saying that you were the one who really understood the Jiang Clan's motto and demeanor.

WWX: Enough.

JC: Enough what?! It's enough when you say it's enough? You know best. You're better than me at everything. Talent. Cultivation. Intelligence. Temperament. You all know. I am not that noble. Then what am I?!

JL: Uncle, your injuries!

LWJ: Clan Leader Jiang, be careful not to go too far.

LXC: Clan Leader Jiang, you have to calm down. I am afraid the more you talk, the worse your wound will get.

JC: Why, Wei Wuxian? Tell me why!

WWX: Why what?

JC: The Jiang Clan gave you so much. I was his own son. I was the successor of the Jiang Clan! But for all those years, you always got more than me in everything! Care growing up, and even their lives. My dad's. My mom's. My sister's. And even Jin Zixuan's. Because of you, Jin Ling grew up without parents. Wei Wuxian, who broke the oath first and betrayed the Jiang Clan? You said I would be the Clan leader in the future, and you would be my right-hand man. You'd assist me for your lifetime. So what if there are the Twin Jades of Gusu? We were the Twin Prides of Yunmeng. And you'd never betray the Jiang Clan. Who said that? Tell me who said that? You swallowed all your words, and what did you do instead? You went to protect some outsiders, and from the Wen clan! How much did you owe them that you defected with no hesitation? What did you take the Jiang Clan for? You've done every good thing, and it was forced every time you did something bad, right? What hardship on earth were you burdened with that you could never tell? You didn't tell me anything. Treated me as a little fool.

JL: Uncle.

JC: Wei Wuxian. How much do you owe the Jiang Clan? Shouldn't I hate you? Can't I hate you?! Why? Why do I seem supposed to feel sorry for you now? Why should I keep feeling all these years that I am like a clown? What am I then? I deserve to stay in the shadow of your glory? Shouldn't I hate you?

JL: Hanguang-Jun. My uncle is wounded.

JC: Let him come! Am I afraid of the Second Lan?

JC: Why? Why? Wei Wuxian, why didn't you tell me?

WWX: Because I didn't want to see you being like this.

JC: You said I would be the Clan leader in the future, and you would be my right-hand man. You'd assist me for your lifetime. You'd never betray the Jiang Clan. You said it yourself.

WWX: I'm sorry. I broke my promise.

JC: We've reached this point. I don't need your "sorry" now. I'm not that delicate.

JC: Sorry.

WWX: Don't apologise to me. My "sorry" is what I pay back to the Jiang Clan. As for this matter, please don't keep it in your heart. Forget it. Though I know according to your character you'll always remember it. But I have to say, I really think that all is past. All those things are like from my previous life now. Let them go, please. We both should stop lingering on them.

Previous scene (episode) - Next scene

[truly-morgan]

[Post-canon, internal struggle, suicide ideation]

Wei Wuxian | Mo Dao Zu Shi cw: suicidal ideation, mention of past suicide attempt 29-06-2021

[#weiwuxian, internal struggle, post-canon, maybe slightly ooc?] (tw: thoughts of staying dead, mention of past suic. attempt, mention of past death)

What if, somewhere after Guanyin temple (maybe a couple of years) shits settles down a bit, but of course, tension is still here. one night hunt, where an area has had many problematic spirits, both ymj and gsl disciples are here, including jl who joined to give a hand (and to meet his friend after so long).

Things are still tense between shuangjie (and don't even mention hgj), but they talk a bit through the years and can now stay in the same area (even room!) without being at each other's throats.

But at some point, an argument started (wwx should probably have kept his mouth shut when jc brought up jzx). the argument escalates to a point where wwx gets on the defensive and says things he might not think, only making jl more upset than he already was, making everything worst.

Jl in sick of hearing wwx badmouth his dad (though he /did/ see a change in recent years), and only remembering the thing he heard about wwx past relationship with his dad and what he did and years of frustration have build-up and he just blows up, he needs to get it all out.

"How can you tell he wouldn't be great today? *you* are the reason my father is *dead*, and don't even mention how my mother would think, you weren't with her when she married him, how would you know what their relationship was like? You couldn't know today either because you are also the reason she *died*, if it wasn't for you and your stupid choice both my parent would be alive. The one who should be dead is /you/, not her! You should just have stayed dead!"

after this jl is a bit out of breath, years of resentment out and after jc scolds him for his last statement.

(when he cools down he does wince at the implication of his word. in the past he might have wanted wwx dead, but today it wasn't really to that point. he was by no means close to him, but still).

but for now, jl looks back towards wwx as he's about to argue against what jc said.

but he stops in his attempt. Something seems wrong, wwx body language seems off, lwj looking carefully at his husband while lsz looks uneasy at his own words.

Something is wrong and he can't put his finger on it.

"You're right" wwx finally says, a smile that seems a bit too stiff on his lips, "I caused that didn't I? I truly have no say in this, my apologies sl jin".

and this seems even more off, even jc frowns at it because something seems wrong with his shixiong.

then wwx tries to laugh off being scolded like this by his shijie's son "Don't look like this lz, jl is right" and instead grabs his arm, trying to pull him away as he says they'll just go see in another part of the forest if they could be needed.

jl stops lzs before he could go, trying to ask what was wrong, only to see more uneasiness on his friend's face, "I don't think it would be appropriate to talk about this here" he says looking around, eyes also avoiding jc staring, "But you don't need to worry, senior wei is... alright".

jl isn't convinced, but he doesn't want to force his friend to tell him. On the other side, a queasy feeling settles in jc, because this doesn't feel right, even less if it something that shouldn't talk about anywhere that is private.

Something happened for sure.

for the rest of the night, wwx acts a bit weird, but he does settle closer to what he usually is like. yet, anytime someone crosses their path, hgj is uneasily keeping his eyes on him, scanning his every move and expression.

some even find it odd how hgj actually seems to not let wwx approach anything that could actually be dangerous. Isn't senior wei a good cultivator? Can't he deal with these rather small fries himself? why stop him from doing so?

=======

Everything goes alright until everything is over and wwx is left alone with himself and his thoughts (lwj forced to go to paperwork and wwx saying he needs some alone time).

and the spiral back into guilt and self-loathing comes back. wwx had managed to push them far to the back of his mind, but jl words had triggered it.

Why was he here? He should be dead. He was good dead and apparently, everyone was doing better when he was dead, so why was he still here? Causing problems for everyone around him?

being a reminder of what people had lost because of /him/? Being the worse shixiong ever? Reminding jl of why and how exactly his parent died? being the creator of something that was now eating at many young cultivators who were trying to follow his old path?

He should have stayed dead and everyone seemed to agree with him.

He did try to find a way to bring back mxy, in the hope his soul hadn't completely shattered. He knows how it would have affected lwj, but this time he could have given a proper goodbye to the man. he felt really lucky that he could actually be happy when the sole purpose to his revival was to /kill people/. another thing to the list, apparently he was only good to kill people...

He had been happy like he should not be allowed, he could have said goodbye to lz and given mxy a chance to have a better life, maybe lwj would have accepted his last wish of making sure mxy would be alright.

But his research was fruitless and it seemed rather impossible for him to bring back mxy (this is also probably what ticked lwj suspicion.) but if he couldn't at least give mxy a second chance, he could give everyone else what they wanted and simply die. His reason to be alive was only to serve a purpose in the first place and it had already been done years ago, so truly he had no reason to be here.

So he tried to die again, which failed by very little because lwj found him before he could succeed in that.

With that, he had disappeared from "the public eyes", kept under close watch as to not have him tried something like this again. They tried working through the issue They have sessions where lwj plays him song of clarity when his suicidal thoughts come back stronger. It took months before he was able get back on his feet, although he is still under close watch from lsz and lwj after all these years.

this was the first time in a very long time since wwx had such a violent surge of these thoughts, even if he tried to hide it (they had already helped him so much, he cannot depend on them forever, right?).

he was surprised when lsz came to him to play soc, it did help him calm down from his sudden attack and it took a very long time for both lan to bring him back to a more stable state of mind, lwj joining as quickly as he could (paperwork were not as well done, as usual, that is for sure). They didn't sleep that night, but making sure that wwx wouldn't do something to harm himself and make him understand that no, he didn't just do bad things in his life, even in this second one he has helped many people.

It did take a while for wwx to do better again (lwj and lsz never leaving his side).

====

lsz would probably eventually tell jc if the man were to come back to him about it. there was still tension between the two, but clearly, slj couldn't just drop all his worries for wwx even after everything (talking through some stuff also did help). Maybe jl would also be told.

The number of people knowing about wwx attempt is very low, kept to the bare minimum. Of course, he and lwj know, and so do lqr and lxc since they are lwj family. The healers who saved wwx know (although they do not have the full situation about wwx mental state at the time).

the only "outsider" who know is ljy, since lsz did need someone to talk about it that wasn't as affected by it as lwj was.

so adding two people that were related to jc in a way wouldn't be bad either.

lsz really felt like jc could know (which could be helpful if anything were to happen in the future and only jc was around, at least he would know about wwx struggles).

He would probably be a bit hesitant to tell jl at the same time, despite not wanting to hide it from it either lsz wouldn't want his friend to possibly think what happened was entirely his fault (wwx had some low time over the years after all), he could see where the frustration come from and he hadn't watched his words (but it could help in the future.

I do wonder how they would react

====

(sorry for the much more angst and dark thread, I got a low earlier and had angst idea)

Original

[randomleafoflove]

Aftermath of Wuxian letting the three sect heirs escape, and preparing for the sack of Lotus Pier.

-

One lash of the discipline whip for letting the important hostages escape wasn’t bad, but Wuxian would really rather never mess up enough for a second encounter. A month of enforced rest and recuperation was worse, even if it gave him the time to work on, well, everything.

From Shao-shijie he heard that the eleven remaining other sects’ disciples had been sent to the dungeons, but Zhuliu-shixiong had been so impressed with the Jin disciple Luo Qingyang he’d been fighting with, he’d requested she be sent to the isolation ward for shijie. While shijie was away, Shao-shijie was in charge of the isolation ward, and the breaking and remaking of the prisoners there. Nie Huaisang had recently been started on breaking his loyalty to his brother and his sect.

But Wuxian and Zhuliu-shixiong had been sent to shijie’s side out on the field with zongzhu’s newest orders.

And the orders weren’t making shijie happy.

The Baling supervisory office was quiet, save for the crackling fire to keep the encroaching fall chill at bay.

Shijie got up and walked to the detailed map of Jiangling, staring at the spot labeled with a purple nine petaled lotus.

“Wēn-zongzhu has ordered that we capture Lotus Pier, eradicate the Jiang and set up a supervisory office under the jurisdiction of Wēn Lixing. Wén Wuxian is to rectify his mistake and be the one to kill Jiang Wanyin.*”

Wuxian looked up, startled. He’d never killed a human before. Or, more accurately, he’d never killed someone whose name he knew beforehand.

He kowtowed. “And what does shijie want this Wuxian to do?” Shijie’s orders were more important that zongzhu’s.

Shijie thought about it, her fore finger tapping absently on her arm. “Captured alive at first if at all possible. Yu Ziyuan has Zidian, which is bloodline-bound.” She whirled on Wuxian, pointing at him. “But only if capture is possible without injuring you, do you hear me, A-Ying? He still has a sister, bloodlines can be continued in a myriad of ways.”

Warmth flooded Wuxian. “Yes shijie, of course shijie.”

With a sigh, shijie sat back down. “How’s your back?”

“I’m fine! Shijie doesn’t have to worry!”

Discipline whips were meant to permanently scar the recipient, but there were levels at which they were used. Wuxian knew he got the lightest possible touch, because the whip didn’t inhibit his cultivation from healing the wound. It just forced the healing to leave a scar. It may have been because they were on the brink of war and for all his faults, Wuxian was the strongest cultivator under the age of twenty in the whole Wēn sect, or that the disciplinarians hadn’t wanted to anger shijie by hurting him too much, but the fact was, a normal hit from a discipline whip should have taken him out for the count for at least three months and the wound should have hindered his back muscles from ever healing properly. (Wēn Chao, of course, suffered no such thing, even though the whole night hunt was his idea. But at least he didn’t get the credit for killing the goddess statue either.)

“I had the time to work on stuff!” he added enthusiastically, reaching for his qiankun sleeve. He pulled out a scroll and a pair of small copper mirrors. “You know the seal in the isolation rooms? The one that carries sound? Well, I finally figured out how to do it for long distances! It’s like a qiankun space…”

-

*Wēn Ruohan did not demand this, just the supervisory office and eradication of the Jiang, Xiachen just thought it’d be a good way to bloody WWX without dirtying her own image too much in WWX’s point of view. After WWX left the room, the letter was burned to erase the evidence.

[youhideastar]

I want to thank @queenofattolia for bringing this back to my dash, because I have actually been thinking about this nonstop since I saw the original post and I have concluded that, in fact, revealing to WWX that LSZ is A-Yuan would break the whole post-flashback arc and probably irretrievably fuck up the story.

This is because a "WWX bonds with Sizhui" plotline (which would have to follow from an earlier reveal, right?) would either duplicate or (more likely) replace two other really important plot lines.

First, there's already a "WWX bonds with a junior" plotline--with Jin Ling. If WWX is also bonding with Sizhui, that would either be duplicative of the Jin Ling plotline, robbing both of their emotional force, or it would replace it, which would leave Jin Ling with very little to do, story-wise. Moreover, Jiang Cheng's role would also be severely curtailed, because at least 50% of his appearances in the post-flashback arc come about because he's chasing after Jin Ling, who is interacting with WWX. If Jiang Cheng were instead seeking out WWX directly... he would be an entirely different character and they'd have an entirely different relationship. 😂

Second, there's already a very touching "suspecting and then hoping and then knowing that A-Yuan is alive and bonding with this new grown-up version of him" plotline: it belongs to Wen Ning. Duplicating it with WWX would make both less powerful. And you can't just take that plotline away from Wen Ning to give it to WWX, because without it, Wen Ning has basically nothing to do in the post-flashback arc, emotionally, except go off on Jiang Cheng that one time.

Obviously, the writers of the drama or MXTX could have just reworked the post-flashback arc to have a different structure that could survive a timely A-Yuan reveal. (Maybe LSZ could be kidnapped, with Wen Ning, immediately after the reveal, so that he can't get to know WWX but can hang out with Wen Ning??) But with the current structure, that secret absolutely has to be kept until quite late in the game or the whole thing breaks down. (My analysis has nothing to do with the fact that the "Jin Ling bonds with WWX" and "Wen Ning bonds with LSZ" arcs are my two favorite plotlines in that post-flashback section, shhhhhh... 🤫😂)

None of this obviates the points about how it's silly for LWJ to keep the secret! I just think it's interesting.

it's always really bothered me that lan zhan waits until episode fuckign fifty to say something about yuan but the longer i think about it the more it makes sense to me that this chronically uncommunicative repressed closeted gay man could not entertain voicing these thoughts bc WHAT would he even say???? how to even explain - remember wen yuan that child you told me was your son? yeah well

after you died i discovered him all alone on the brink of starvation in the burial mounds and thereon disguised his identity to keep him safe

adopted him into my sect, gave him the courtesy name lan "to recollect and long for" sizhui

and in your absence raised him as my own

please…………..…..……………….….........................................................................….................................…don't read into any of that…….

[flyndragon]

Theres been a lot of chatting about how people don’t *get* xicheng. And that’s perfectly fine, everyone’s opinion is valid! But if your intrigued by the ship and want a crash course on why one loser likes them getting together post-canon, I thought I could provide a bit of an entry point!

So here’s 10 reasons I think they’re great:

1.  There’s a great dynamic where Jiang Cheng whispers ‘aren’t you tired of being nice, don’t you wanna go apeshit?’ And that’s something Xichen should give some thought to! He might decide that he does not, in fact, want to go apeshit, but he should at least know he has the option! And he can also look right back at Jiang Cheng and say ‘aren’t you tired of going apeshit, don’t you want to be soft?’

They both can only express like two emotions, but they're different ones so together they make maybe one emotionally functional person. Xichen needs an anger translator, and someone who will stick up for him when now he doesn't know if he can stick up for himself. Jiang Cheng needs someone with the emotional intelligence to differentiate grumpy affection and genuine anger, and Lan Xichen’s best friend was Nie Mingjue, who expressed affection similarly

 Also Jiang Cheng just needs anyone, give the man a break MXTX.

2. Both of them hate and have been hurt by lies. Lan Xichen knows that Jiang Cheng is like the opposite of jgy, he has never manipulated in his life, he just pulls out zidan. Jiang Cheng may not have as strong of feelings about the matter but he did just get golden core revealed and therefore appreciates lxc hatred of lies.

3. They are just unconnected from each others trauma enough. They both know the other is hurting but they haven't done anything to each other specifically. They can take a step back and reassure the other that what went through is fucked. Xichen probably appreciates that Jiang Cheng was not especially manipulated or hurt by jgy, so he feels he isn't responsible for any of Jiang Cheng's pain and he might be able to express his grief better like that? Jiang Cheng appreciates that Lan Xichen is completely unrelated to both his brother and his family issues. Seeing Lan Xichen isnt a constant painful reminder about anything.

4. But even though their trauma is disconnected, both had a brother kill someone or someone's they loved and then they killed their brother and everyone's expecting them to be happy about it but their not, their not. Also they both understand the weight of societal expectations from being heir, can understand the for the most part the sect comes first

5. Due to all of the above, Jiang Cheng is probably one of the only people alive post Canon who could actually get Lan Xichen to admit to his grief and sadness and the fact that he's not ok. Which Lan Xichen needs to heal! He needs to be poked and prodded in order not to fall back into his eldest sister syndrome pacifying, which got him (emotionally) into this mess to begin with!

6. In a similar vein, jiang cheng needs a soft place to fall. And he needs someone who won't invalidate him or dismiss his accomplishment (his parents), leave him (wwx), or die on him (fucking everyone he's ever loved). Xichen is extremely loyal when he gets attached. He won't jump to conclusions based on rumors. He will, in fact, assume the best of his loved ones until REALLY proven otherwise. He will defend the actions of his loved ones to others and keep loving them even if they might fuck up sometimes. Plus, he seems remarkably death resistant.

7. Outside of the internal emotion of the pair, their outwards strengths can also help each other! They both know what its like to lead a great sect and be a good sect leader. They can help each other out, even with mundane tasks.

8. Uncle-daddy solidarity (who do you think raised a-yuan when Wangji was in seclusion for three years and was also recovering from a near-fatal whipping?)

Related, they both care a lot about Jin Ling and want to see him succeed as sect leader jin (extrapolation for lxc)

9.Hnggggggg boy hot

10. It would probably piss lwj off so much can you imagine his fucking face. Hilarious!

 I also know that this list is based on post-canon but I think a lot of it applies to any point in the timeline if you put your mind to it!

I’m a firm multishipper so really this is just one facet of my extreme shipping ability. Don’t come at me if you don’t like xicheng, or prefer someone else, or a JC anti, please.

Anyone who ships them, please feel free to add on!

[littlesmartart]

Who would you say is the biggest sucker in the family? The Twin Prides of Yunmeng? Total suckers. JGY always knows, but he likes to be the indulgent uncle. LXC is too restrained, but LWJ can sometimes be persuaded.

Yanli: naturally inclined towards being incredibly indulgent (see: how she raised WWX and JC) but when you've got six kids that's just... not really a sustainable parenting attitude, so she becomes an expert in Kind But Firm.

Zixuan: starts out being an absolute sucker because he's generally not great at handling conflict so would rather just give kids what they want, but as all parents do, he learns on the job, and he gets better at being firm. his confidence as a person increases in leaps and bounds once his dad's out of the picture, and that does show in his parenting.

the rest under the cut as it got long

Mingjue: feels very strongly about being firm and disciplined and not letting kids get away with bad behaviour, but... he probably won't follow through too strictly, and well... Huaisang still winds up getting pretty much everything he wants, so secretly Mingjue really is kind of a sucker (but don't tell anyone)

Xichen: surprisingly not a sucker - like Yanli his natural impulse is to be indulgent, but he is still a Lan, so he does have strong feelings about the importance of rules and discipline, and expects a certain standard of behaviour from kids in his care. though he does also feel very strongly about being more compassionate and understanding with the next generation, so he is more likely to use rewards and praise to get good behaviour than punishment.

JGY: will be as indulgent as he reasonably can for as long as he possibly can until that conflicts with something Important, like the child's safety or health. he grew up in poverty so now he's rich af he takes every opportunity to utterly spoil all of the kids around him - partly because gift-giving is very much a love-language for him, partly because the uncomplicated affection of little kids is so important to him. not really so much of a sucker though as he is good at putting his foot down when he needs to, and all kids know not to mess with him when he gives a warning.

Wangji: WAY more of a sucker than anyone expects, but pretty much exclusively with his kid - mostly because little A-Yuan is so quiet and well-behaved (and traumatised) that Wangji really just wants to give him everything he could ever want. he is surprisingly chill with other kids though, as after WWX died Wangji likes to keep his memory alive by letting the kids he likes break inconsequential rules - but if the kids are bratty and unpleasant and he doesn't like them, he has no mercy.

JC: absolute sucker. pretends to be cranky and grumpy about it but that's just how he shows he cares. in the happy AU he's even more of a sucker than in canon because he's purely an uncle, rather than a primary caregiver, so if the kids wind up annoying and ridiculously spoiled, well, that's someone else's problem.

WWX: naturally inclined to be a sucker, but when he comes back he is perturbed to realise that Lan Zhan is the indulgent parent, and refuses to budge from that position so... does that mean HE has the be the STRICT parent??? what the hell, Lan Zhan??? (he's not very good at it, and delights in being indulgent to most kids in a way that irritates other parents)

Huaisang: sucker and proud! giving kids whatever they want is fun, unless it's something that he doesn't want to do, or it's, like, gross. at which point he'll just hand the kid back to their parents.

Qin Su: generally a healthy balance of firm and indulgent, leaning more on the indulgent side - they way her parents were with her. she'd probably be more strict if she had her own kids, but with her niblings she does enjoy being a Cool Aunt. easily bribed with cuddles and kisses!

Xuanyu: I don't feel like it counts as being a sucker if he's pretty much the same age as the kids. when he gets older, his approach is to be Down With The Kids in order to persuade them to do what he wants. the day kids start referring to him as an adult, or old, is the day he has a major crisis.

[drwcn]

Hi,

how do you feel about that whole scene where it was revealed jc had wwx's core. Because reading it in the manhua now (I've read in the translated novel and watched cql) I really hate wwx and lwj during that scene. I think they were in the wrong (wwx had himself expelled from the sect and lwj is an outsider that has no business being in there) and I was curious how you see that whole thing.

Hope you have a nice day.

Hi friend!

My personal opinion is that the only person in the wrong in that scene is Wen Ning.

I'm referring to more or less the cql plot line.

I don't feel either Jiang Cheng or Lan Wangji or Wei Wuxian are in the wrong based on the stance that they take and the information they know.

If you take Jiang Cheng's stance: you don't know jack shit. Nobody tells you anything. You still don't really know why after your shixiong went missing, he became a sith lord. You tried approaching him about it when he was alive the first time around but he just pushed you away. I mean at that time you were barely more than a kid yourself, trying to keep it together for your new found sect, trying to play at being an adult and incidentally being played by every other adult who was way better at the politcs game than you were. And then your shixiong chose to protect the Wen Remnants, which in and of itself was not a bad thing and you knew it. But you couldn't help. You wanted to, at least for Wen Qing, but you couldn't. You knew you couldn't because you're a Jiang and the Wens killed your family- slaughtered your parents - and maybe not these specific Wens, but that didn't matter and that was just how things were in the world you lived in (if you're not cn and you don't get it, just trust me on this trope, take my word for it). That was why you went to find Wei Wuxian and tried to talk to him about it but instead of explaining shit to you, Wei Wuxian decided to "defect" and then you had to fake fight about it. And then you had to pretend to hate him in front of other people. And you know...you were faking it until you made it and you thought everything would be fine. Things were kinda quiet for a while. You invited Wei Wuxian to your nephew's celebration and then HE KILLED JIN ZIXUAN. WHAT?? And then before you knew it the Wen Remnants were giving themselves up and everyone was storming Nevernight and Wei Wuxian was Sith Lord on Meth and giving Anankin Skywalker a run for his money.

And then your sister died and you just lost it. Yeah you tried stabbing Wei Wuxian, but who didn't those days am I right? Besides, he let go of Lan Wangji's hand himself...

The point is, it's been 16 years and you still don't know anything. You don't know why Wei Wuxian is doing ANY of this bullshit and you just wish you know something for once for fuck sake. The running theory is that Wei Wuxian = Evil, and you know that's not true. Wei Wuxian = Jackass, yeah, that might be true. You just don't understand why Wei Wuxian doesn't give a shit about being a Yunmeng Jiang, why he would stand with literally anyone else - the Wen Remnants, Lan Wangji, Wen Ning - but not with you.

And you're SO angry, you just want to fight him. Like the ways boys do, one fight to settle the score. Maybe you can punch the truth out of him. How did he get resurrected in the first place huh? What the fuck is that all about?

And then you know. Because Wen Ning tells you in the cruellest way possible. You know now why he couldn't stay because Wei Wuxian had given you everything he could give, and that there was nothing else left he could offer.

The truth is worse than you ever imagined, and knowing the truth doesn't fix you. You're still alone, still broken.

If you take Wei Wuxian's stance: sure you might have "defected" but you never really defected, not in your heart. You'll always be a Yunmeng Jiang. Lotus Pier is your home. You swore to Madam Yu you'd protect Jiang Cheng and you did that. Look at him, he's a sect leader now, a goddamn strong one at that. That's a success right? Then why doesn't it feel like one. Why are you still miserable, still cast out, when all you want is to come home.

Oh, yeah you know why. Because shijie is dead. She died more or less because of you, at least it feels that way. That peacock Jin Zixuan too. You still don't understand how it all went so wrong. But you're tangled up in the thick of it, and you can't extract yourself. You are responsible, at least in some sense. Responsible for being stubborn, for thinking you had everything under control. Responsible for your pride and arrogance.

You know why you can't come home. Because you still carry that one giant secret you swore you'd carry to you grave and never let anyone know. And you did technically carry that shit to the grave, but now you're alive again, and honestly who the fuck prepares for this kind of scenario? This is not the kind of truth that should ever see the light of day. You don't ever regret a single goddamn thing you ever did on that hill in Yiling, but jesus christ you miss home and you just want to come home. So now that you're here, in the ancestral hall, how can you not pay your respects?

And of course Jiang Cheng is angry, you know why he's angry. YOu never told him jack shit. But you're too tired to fight him. It's been so many years and you just want to move on. Let Jiang Cheng hate you if he wants to; you've made peace with that.

If you take Lan Wangji's stance: this fucking Jiang family drama is worse than soup drama. You're not really sure what the ever loving fuck went down between Jiang Wanyin and Wei Ying but at this point, it's too late to go through all that history. The love of your life was dead and came back to life!! Who else gets that kind of second chance?! You have your priorities, and that's to keep Wei Ying safe. There is a conspiracy going on and everybody has bigger problems now, problems like Jin Guangyao and what he did to all those people all those years ago, and the things he's still doing. That's what the focus should be.

And besides, you look at Wei Ying and you know that he never stopped loving this place - Lotus Pier. That this place is his Cloud Recesses, and no matter how far he goes, even as far as death, he will never stop seeing this place as home. So of course you follow him into the ancestral hall to pay your respects. This man is the man you want to spend the rest of your life with; his family is your family. It's only right. Of course Jiang Wanyin is angry about it, but that guy clearly has problems and you're above starting a fight with him as long as Wei Ying wants to keep it civil.

Wen Ning - fuck this guy. I don't like him and I don't care to explain it.

:)

[plan-d-to-i]

I've seen the idea shared a lot that "jiang cheng was holding on to Chenqing bc uwu he miSsed WWX 🥺" so to clarify, in the same way JGY is holding on to Suibian, jc was holding on to Chenqing as a war trophy and in his case more importantly as bait because he was convinced that if WWX were to return he would not go for the sword he stopped using but he'd definitely seek out his flute:

"Xue Yang: Give him the sword in exchange for the flute. It’s long since Wei WuXian stopped using his sword, while Suibian sealed itself and nobody can pull it out. What’s the use of keeping a fucking piece of decoration?”

Jin GuangYao, “You really ask me to do the impossible, Young Master Xue. Do you think I haven’t tried? How could anything be that simple. That Jiang WanYin has already gone mad. He still thinks Wei WuXian hasn’t died. If Wei WuXian returned, he might not search for his sword, but he’d definitely come for Chenqing. And so, he would definitely not give up Chenqing. A few more words of mine, and he might blow up." (Villainous Friends Extra)

jc wants to lure WWX and kill him as he's been hunting him for THIRTEEN YEARS. So in the temple at the end it's not surprising jc has Chenqing on him. Considering how obsessed he has been with tracking down WWX and as Chenqing was his strongest lure why would he have let it out of his sight all these years esp when cultivator's sleeves are magical storage space (it's free storage space!). & because I've also seen this wayyy to often -No it's not like a horcrux- it's not draining him of energy or joy to have it on his person lmfao. He only gives it back to WWX as a last resort, because they're all in mortal peril battling NMJ's corpse and NOTHING else is working. jc has always been happy to use WWX as a weapon. He's not returning it out of the goodness of his heart or because he's a changed man, or as a love letter to WWX lmfao.

In the Guanyin Temple the situation with NMJ's corpse is already immensely precarious. NMJ is attracted to JGY's blood and by extension Jin blood meaning -Jin Ling's.

"Now that Nie MingJue had become a fierce corpse, his resentful energy was of course highest when directed at his enemy, Jin GuangYao. However, fierce corpses didn’t tell people apart through their eyes!

Jin GuangYao was quite close to Jin Ling in terms of bloodline. To creatures of darkness, the blood and breath of both these two humans seemed somewhat familiar, and those in a state of disorientation would find it even more difficult to tell the two apart. Right now, blood poured from Jin GuangYao’s lost arm. With weak breaths, and he was almost half dead, while Jin Ling was still alive and jumping. Nie MingJue’s dead, thoughtless brain naturally held greater interest in him." (107)

Even with everyone pooling their strength to control NMJ's corpse it's not successful:

Lan WangJi commanded Bichen forth to attack straight at Nie MingJue’s chest. As expected, the blade stopped as soon as it landed. As Nie MingJue looked down and saw the glittering sword, he roared and reached for it. Lan WangJi immediately summoned back Bichen, which flew into its sheath with a loud clang. Nie MingJue ended up empty-handed. Right after, with a turn of his left hand, he flipped out the Wangji guqin and placed it on his palm. Without any hesitation, he strummed a stream of notes. Lan XiChen returned Liebing to his lips again as well. With a wave of his hand, Wei WuXian sent out over fifty talismans flying towards Nie MingJue, but before they even got close, they were ignited by his resentful energy and burned to ashes in the air!

Lan Wangji is using Wangji, Lan XiChen is using Liebing, Wei Wuxian's flute is broken so he's either whistling or throwing talismans and Wen Ning still has to intervene and stop NMJ's punch that would've killed jiang cheng (and then probably Jin Ling) w his body.

Finally WWX manages to wrestle it under control after it puts a hole in Wen Ning, when it's once more distracted by NHS and JGY. And if difficult as it's been to control so far if it kills JGY it will be even worse:

After he killed Jin GuangYao, his killing intent would definitely become stronger, and he’d be more difficult to subdue!

So NMJ has already "smashed three of the cultivators into a scarlet puddle of flesh", punched his way through Wen Ning to get to Jin Ling, he's just punched his way through SuShe and is about to go after JGY once more. Once he Rocky Balboas him we know that he'll be even more powerful, and one of his next targets will most likely be Jin so MXY or Jin Ling. Or most likely one and then the other. Meanwhile nothing is having any effect on NMJ's corpse anymore... when FINALLY jc decides to throw WWX his flute.

Nie MingJue turned around after he pulled his fist back and stared hungrily in his direction.

The harsh, stern expression on his rigid face held a sense of judgement that was no different from before he died. Even his tears had been scared away as Jin GuangYao turned to Lan XiChen for help, his voice trembling, “Brother…”

Lan XiChen turned the direction in which his blade pointed, while Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi sped up their melodies as well. But the effects of the whistle had already been overcome. It would be much harder than before for it to take effect again.

At this point, somebody on the side suddenly called, “Wei WuXian!”

jc NOW returns the flute when he has no other choice and finally NMJ can be subdued.

Lan WangJi nodded. No more words had to be exchanged as the notes of the guqin and the flute sounded in unison. The former was like a frozen river and the latter like flying birds; one suppressed while the other lured. Under the duet, Nie MingJue’s body wavered before it was finally half-forced to move its steps away from Jin GuangYao. (Chapter 108)

Like this is not jc just casually letting go of all his resentments and returning Chenqing to WWX as an act of trust and goodwill. This is jc doing what he's always been comfortable doing- using WWX as a weapon. Naturally, he's not going to ask for it back at the end, when it's already been revealed in front of the others that he has WWX's core and WWX just saved them all. WWX asks as a passing courtesy and then he's gone bc as he's said in the temple jc is in his past.

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.

jc gets it. The end.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Prompt: Wei Wuxian has achieved time travel! He's gonna fix so many broken things. Unfortunately, WWX has miscalculated a teensy tiny variable and instead of arriving in his original 15yo body in Lotus Pier, he's crash landed in MXY's tiny 7~8yo body at Mo Manor. But no problem, he can fix this if he can just find his real body. (Meanwhile, Yunmeng Jiang's head disciple is acting the wrong kind of childish, aka, Mo Xuanyu is having the weirdest day of his young life.)

Switcheroo - ao3

Mo Xuanyu thought that this Wei Wuxian person whose body he’d stolen must have been a really interesting person, mostly because he’d been here for three days so far and nobody’d noticed the switch yet.

Possibly it had to do with the fact that Mo Xuanyu still wasn’t exactly sure how he’d stolen the body – he’d just gone to sleep in the shed, same as always, and then he’d woken up in the softest bed he’d ever encountered in his life…no, softer than even his dreams! He’d thought it over and concluded that he must have died from cold out in the shed, turned into a fierce ghost out of resentment, grown powerful (somehow), then stolen some rich young master’s body when they weren’t paying close enough attention and, once he’d possessed the body, promptly lost all his memory of being a ghost.

It seemed like the only logical course of events.

He was very sorry about it, though. Wei Wuxian seemed like a nice, if very unusual person.

The first day, Mo Xuanyu had barely even noticed the body-switch, being quite so enamored of the soft bed he was in – he’d refused to get out of bed at all, declaring that he was going to lie in and sleep for a century or more, and the people who’d come to the door to get him didn’t beat him or anything over it, but rather just laughed or rolled their eyes and then left him to it. Luckily, at the time, he’d just assumed he was dead or something and proceeded to ignore everything in favor of napping.

He only acknowledged that he was alive later in the afternoon, when his stomach started growling – it seemed like a very unlikely thing for a dead man’s stomach to do.

Mo Xuanyu had by that point figured out that he wasn’t himself anymore, which was fine since he didn’t much like himself; he’d also figured out, through looking himself over, that he was old now. At least fifteen or sixteen, which was twice the age he last remembered himself being. That was fine, too, though: being older meant that he was stronger and faster and would be better able to handle it when people wanted to beat him or something. Most importantly, though, it meant he was old enough to enter the kitchen on his own!

Mo Xuanyu already knew that he wasn’t allowed to eat at the main table, being only the bastard son of the younger daughter, and the cook back at home was a fierce woman who didn’t allow anyone under the age of ten into her kitchen; as a result, he had to wait for his mother to bring him back some food, and it was always cold and not quite enough. Now, though, since he was older, he figured he might as well try to go to the kitchen and fill his belly that way.

Luckily, while his current body’s house was much bigger than the Mo house, all houses were generally built along the same lines, so it wasn’t hard to find the kitchen. Everyone there laughed when he showed up, even though he’d tried to be very quiet and sneak in and then screwed it up by tripping over his own feet – it seemed like everyone thought he was doing it on purpose to be funny – and then the cooks gave him a meal of his own that was hot and fresh and wonderful.

He'd wolfed it down.

“Honestly, Wei Wuxian, you eat like a hungry ghost, you’d think the Jiang clan starves you,” one of them scolded him, but with a smile, and from that Mo Xuanyu learned that the rich young master was called Wei Wuxian and that he lived with the Jiang clan. The different surnames confused him a little, but he didn’t dare ask any questions about it, so he just stuffed his mouth and pretended that was the reason he couldn’t answer.

No one questioned it.

No one questioned it when he went wandering all around instead of doing whatever chores or duties he’d been assigned, either. Someone had actually seen him hovering by a door and asked him to bring back a pheasant when he returned, so out of lack of better options he’d headed outside to try to go find one.

He had a pretty good time walking around the forest, then remembered what he’d been asked and chased the pheasants for a while, without success . Fortunately, he then got lucky and stumbled over an old snare that had three pheasants caught inside, so he’d picked up the whole box and carted it back home.

“Three,” one of the boys in purple-blue marveled as he saw Mo Xuanyu walking towards the kitchen. “You know, people say that the birds around the Lotus Pier have gotten too smart to be caught easily, but look at our da-shixiong; he makes it look easy!”

From this, Mo Xuanyu could figure out that Wei Wuxian was (apparently!) part of a cultivator clan, apparently located at a place called the Lotus Pier, and that he was the oldest or at least head disciple, to boot. He knew all about cultivator clans from his mother, since apparently his father had been a sect leader, and that meant he knew enough to call the other boy ‘shidi’ as he passed, making the other boy beam happily.

It also meant that when he chanced a guess and called the young woman in a pretty pink dress who waved at him ‘shijie’, she smiled and nodded, which meant to him that he’d done the right thing.

“I heard you slept even more of the morning away than usual,” she told him, but didn’t seem too upset about it. “I bet that means you’ll be skipping dinner and staying up all night, hmm?”

Mo Xuanyu had no intention of skipping dinner if it was anything like what the kitchens had given him earlier, actually, but while he was still trying to figure out a way to say that, she said, leaning in close to whisper, “It’s probably a good idea, anyway – Mother and Father are fighting again. Just go to the kitchens to grab something…I promise I’ll make it up to you with some soup tomorrow, pork ribs and lotus roots, your favorite. All right?”

“Shijie, you’re the best,” Mo Xuanyu said effusively, willing to die for her at once, and she laughed and tousled his hair.

“I am,” she said, looking happy. “And if my little A-Xian stays good and obedient, I may even feed him.”

She did, too, the next day when he finally tore himself out of the beautiful wonderful soft bed and went to go find her. She’d made him soup, just as he’d promised, and laughed and laughed for some reason: apparently, she interpreted him being quiet and not talking too much as his efforts to be ‘good and obedient’, which was apparently so out of the ordinary as to be a deliberate joke.

From this, Mo Xuanyu concluded that the young master he’d possessed, Wei Wuxian, was a jackass.

Well, perhaps that was a bit harsh. Arrogant and self-centered, talented and brave and probably brilliant, definitely charming and maybe even kind, but also spoiled and inclined to step on other people to get where he wanted to go, if Mo Xuanyu had to guess – why else would everyone constantly react as if him not being obnoxious was the world’s biggest stunt?

No one seemed to expect anything of him at all: he didn’t do any chores, and no one batted an eyelid; he didn’t go where he was told, and everyone just sighed…at one point the sect leader himself came and patted him on the head, scolding him in a joking tone that he hadn’t seen him leading any of the training the way he was supposed to – but when Mo Xuanyu quailed, he’d burst out laughing, telling ‘Wei Wuxian’ to stop pretending to be a scared little rabbit, that it was fine if he’d gotten distracted by some clever new invention or whatever, that someone else would handle it, that he should take as long as he needed.

Mo Xuanyu had pasted a great big smile on his face through force of effort and agreed cheerfully.

The sect leader had accepted it.

Probably a jackass, but clearly a beloved one, Mo Xuanyu thought to himself as he packed up clothing and a few small treasures that no one would miss, a little wistful. The scare of the whole encounter had put things in perspective – he wasn’t going to be able to keep up this sort of façade for long. In fact, he was shocked he’d managed it so long already; surely, no matter how many pranks this Wei Wuxian played, no matter how childishly he behaved, surely someone should’ve noticed that he was actually an eight-year-old masquerading as a sixteen-year-old?

Mo Xuanyu couldn’t decide whether it was sad that no one paid too much attention or something that this Wei Wuxian fellow had brought down on his own head by being so consistently annoying.

Either way, there was nothing for it – he was going to have to leave.

Now that part was really sad: he’d never in his life had such good food, or such a soft bed, or even so many people that just seemed plain old happy to see him as since he’d arrived in this place. But he wasn’t the one all those things were for; he was just a sad ghost possessing a person, and if he stayed, the cultivators would eventually figure out something was wrong and exorcise him.

Probably violently.

Mo Xuanyu probably deserved it, too, but despite that he wasn’t willing.

So he packed up what he could and headed out.

He got all the way to the gate before a new purple-clad disciple – about his age, if he had to guess, and holding a pack like he’d just come back from a trip, with a scowl on his face – called out for Wei Wuxian.

Mo Xuanyu waved a little, hoping that that would be enough.

For the first time, it wasn’t.

The boy’s face settled into an even deeper scowl.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” he demanded. “Wei Wuxian! You’re acting all weird – hey! Where are you going?”

Mo Xuanyu was running away, obviously. He wasn’t about to get tied up and exorcised, no thank you.

He didn’t think he’d make it, but it was still worth trying.

Sure enough, the purple-clad boy who was probably called Jiang Cheng, based on what everyone was calling out as they ran by, got tired of running and jumped on his sword, and there was no way Mo Xuanyu would be able to outrun a sword, not even if he tried as fast as he –

Someone picked him up.

It wasn’t Jiang Cheng.

Mo Xuanyu turned his head and stared.

It must be some sort of yao, he thought. Humans were definitely not that pretty.

“Lan Wangji!” Jiang Cheng howled. “What are you even doing in the Lotus Pier?! Put my shixiong down!”

The rescuer, Lan Wangji, frowned a little at Mo Xuanyu.

Mo Xuanyu didn’t know exactly what expression he ought to be making in return, and was a bit too dazed to even dare to guess. He’d just noticed that they were flying – flying! on a sword! – and he was clutching onto this Lan Wangji’s shoulders for dear life.

“You are not Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said. His voice sounded very definitive.

“Uh,” Mo Xuanyu said. “Sorry? Please don’t drop me.”

“I will not. What is your name?”

“Mo Xuanyu,” Mo Xuanyu admitted, and Lan Wangji’s eyes widened as if that meant something to him – except it couldn’t, of course, because Mo Xuanyu was sure he’d never met anyone even remotely like this Lan Wangji fellow in his life. “I don’t remember taking his body. I’m sorry. Can you not exorcise me? I don’t want to die.”

Lan Wangji was silent for a long moment.

He was still flying very fast, and Jiang Cheng was still following, shouting out curses and demands that he stop, not that Lan Wangji was listening.

“There will be no exorcism,” he finally said, and Mo Xuanyu exhaled in relief. “We will, however, fix this.”

“…we?”

“Wei Ying and myself.”

Mo Xuanyu nodded. That sounded more likely than anyone relying on his participation.

“Where are we going?” he asked. Jiang Cheng was falling further and further behind.

“Mo Village.”

Mo Xuanyu tensed up at once.

“You will not be left there,” Lan Wangji clarified, and – how did he know that Mo Xuanyu didn’t want to be left there? “But we must collect Wei Ying, who I suspect is currently in your body.”

“In my…I’m still alive?”

Lan Wangji was quiet again, and then said, “Yes. And you will remain so.”

That was reassuring, mostly.

“Okay,” Mo Xuanyu said, and found that he mostly felt relieved. He’d be very happy to have his normal body back again, if possible, especially if he didn’t have to stay in Mo Village…“Wait, if I don’t have to stay there, where will I go? I don’t have anywhere else to go, unless my father comes back for me. He's a sect leader –”

“He will not, and even if he did, you should not go with him. Once Wei Ying returns to his body, you will be able to stay at the Lotus Pier. If you do not wish to stay there, I will bring you back to the Cloud Recesses – that is my home – instead.”

“Oh,” Mo Xuanyu said, feeling bewildered. That was an awfully nice offer, even if Lan Wangji was feeling guilty about Wei Wuxian stealing his body by accident – which seemed like what had happened here rather than Mo Xuanyu being the one who did the stealing. Maybe he should go with Lan Wangji instead, he seemed much more responsible than Wei Wuxian was, rushing over to rescue him and explain things instead of throwing him into a body and leaving him all alone in a strange place. But on the other hand… “Is the Cloud Recesses…I mean…no offense, but…does it have…”

“Yes?”

“Does it have soft beds, too? And – and hot food?”

Mo Xuanyu didn’t need much, not really. He looked eagerly at Lan Wangji, who had an odd expression on his face briefly before wiping it back to neutral and nodding in confirmation.

“Okay,” Mo Xuanyu said, and curled up in Lan Wangji’s arms. “Then I’ll stay with you. You can take care of me.”

“I will,” Lan Wangji said, sounding strangely serious. “In return for the gift you last gave me – I will.”