#i was working on jin ling and guangshan too

[tbgkaru-woh]

Jin GuangYao and Jin ZiXuan of Lanling Jin

[thepurplewombat]

The Sin List

okay, so as we all know, it is vitally important that any character we stan must be morally pure and a good example to emulate in real life.

So I have decided to create a list of MDZS characters and their sins, which everyone can easily refer to in order to make sure that they are not following some horrible criminal or murderer!

This was a lot of work, but I'm very proud of it. Just doing my bit to ensure the moral purity of the fandom!

Wei Wuxian - Necromancy, disrespecting his elders, disrespecting the dead, killed Jin Zixuan, punched Jin Zixuan in the face one time, cannibalism, mind control, deviant sexual fantasies, trespassing, oath-breaking, urged Wen Qing to perform untested and possibly fatal operation on Jiang Cheng without his consent.

Lan Wangji - Defied his elders, broke the Lan Clan rules, sexually assaulted Wei Wuxian, deviant sexual fantasies, GBH (JGY)

Jin Guangyao - betrayed and killed Wen Ruohan, betrayed and killed Jin Guangshan, murder (NMJ), murdered assorted people, disrespecting the dead, assorted Spy Things for Wen Ruohan.

Nie Mingjue - Killed a lot of people during the war, verbally abused Nie Huaisang, burned Nie Huaisang's stuff, attempted murder (JGY), attempted murder (JGY), attempted murder (JGY), murder (JGY), killed the Mo family (well, his arm did anyway). In favor of the genocide of the Wen Remnants

Jin Guanshan: Sexual assault, rape, murder, ordering human experimentation with resentful energy to be done by his sect, played both sides during the war, didn't take responsibility for his children, ultimately responsible for getting WWX killed because he wanted the YTT so bad

Wen Ruohan: Attempted world domination, murder etc

Lan Qiren: has a stick up his ass

Su Minshan: Refused to die for the Lan, supported JGY in his efforts to prevent undead Da-ge from killing him. Also cursed Jin Zixun.

Sect Leader Yao: Weathervane politician

Jiang Wanyin: strangled Wei Wuxian that one time, keeps trying to talk to him but is way too tsundere about it, killed many during the war, didn't immediately forgive WWX for getting JYL killed, threatens to break Jin Ling's legs weekly.

Jin Ling: rude. rude rude rude. Also stabbed WWx one time

Lan Jingyi: not respecting his elders, rude rude rude. Also loud

JFM: shit dad, throw him in a volcano

Madame Yu: Angry mom, beat Wei Wuxian for things that weren't his fault, yelled at JC a lot, didn't appreciate JYL, very mean.

Lan Xichen: killed people during the war. Randomly starts doing flute solos in conversation

Meng Shi: was a prostitute. Told Meng Yao his dad was amazing and he should totally look him up later.

Madam Jin: awful person, she can go into the volcano with JFM. physical and verbal abuse (JGY)

Nie Huaisang: killed cats, nearly killed the juniors, let his sect fall into ruin, traded obscene materials, disrespecting his sect's traditions, lied to Lan Xichen to make him kill JGY

Wen Qing: went along with WRH's plans, performed surgery on JC without his consent

Wen Ning: Was part of the burning of LP

Mo Xuanyu: Summoned Satan to murder his relatives, harassed his brother

Jin Zixun: asshole, rude, broke the Geneva Convention on the ethical treatment of prisoners several times. Useless person

FOR THE SAKE OF SAFETY AND YOUR MORALS YOU ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO STAN THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS

Jiang Yanli

Qin Su

Lan Shizui

[ibijau]

Sins of the fathers pt6 / On AO3

Jin Guangshan took a second to look up from the papers on his desk when the door opened, but smiled warmly when he saw that Jin Ling was there. 

“Come in, my boy,” Jin Guangshan said. ”And close the door behind you, won't you?”

Jin Ling quickly obeyed and walked up to the desk, trying not to gawk at the unfamiliar room. It was rare for his grandfather to use his office, and rarer still for him to allow anyone inside. Jin Guangyao was a frequent visitor, Jin Ling had noticed, but aside from that, the only people ever called to the sect leader's office were disciples who had gotten themselves in trouble. 

“You have asked to see me, zongzhu?” Jin Ling asked with a polite bow. 

“Zongzhu? Since when are you so distant, Rulan?” Jin Guangshan protested, looking so sincerely wounded Jin ling almost believed it.

“I only meant to be respectful, grandfather,” Jin Ling said with another bow. “You always say youngsters should be more respectful of their elders.”

“It is only the two of us, there's no need for that,” Jin Guangshan assured him, his tone too warm to be trusted. “Sit down, my boy, and let's take a moment to talk. It has been a long while since we've had a chat, hasn't it?”

Jin Ling nodded as he sat. It had been a while since he'd spent time alone with his grandfather, that much was true. They used to have a good enough relationship, but being forced to marry a stranger had helped Jin Ling see what sort of a man his grandfather was, and now his company was repulsive. Of course if Jin Guangshan had demanded that they spend time together since that falling out, Jin Ling could not have easily refused in spite of his disgust. However his grandfather had shown little interest in him since the wedding. 

Until that morning. 

“Is there anything in particular you want to talk about, grandfather?” Jin Ling asked, as if he couldn't guess why he was there. 

“With so much going on in your life these days, I wouldn't know where to start,” Jin Guangshan replied with a huff, sounding so much like the man he was in Jin Ling's better memories. “Your marital life, perhaps? But maybe that is not the right topic. We've had some disagreement regarding that, haven't we?”

He chuckled, as if Jin Ling’s rage and despair had been some amusing little incident, something they could now all laugh about. Maybe he even sincerely believed that. Or at least, as much as he was capable of any sincerity.

“I understand that grandfather had his reasons for doing the things he did,” Jin Ling flatly said, clenching his fists over his knees, where the desk would hide them. “It was not my place to judge your decision.”

“No, it was not,” his grandfather sharply agreed, before quickly softening again. “But I think my decision was not so unpleasant to you in the end. You get along well with that wife of yours, don't you?” 

“We are making the best of things,” Jin Ling said. 

An understatement, really. 

Wen Yuan’s lessons were going tolerably well. It was a surprise, as Jin Ling had half expected his husband would complain to his mother about his temper after the first lesson, and that would have been the end of that experiment. Instead, Wen Yuan had apparently expressed gratitude to his mother-in-law for organising this, and promised her to work hard to be worthy of the praises he’d received from Jin Ling.

The following lessons had still been tense, but by the middle of the second week they’d found a balance and things were… not bad. Wen Yuan knew to ignore Jin Ling’s outbursts most of the time. And Jin Ling was starting to accept that his husband was genuine when he thanked him or complimented something he did. They weren’t friends or anything, and maybe they’d never be, but at least they could get along, and that was more than Jin Ling had dared to hope since the moment his engagement was revealed to him.

“It must not be easy for you,” Jin Guangshan lamented. “Considering his father’s reputation, and that cold temper he's shown so far… I do hope your wife has not used his knowledge of his father’s methods to make you feel uneasy inside your own home?”

So that was the reason for this meeting, Jin Ling realised. He was grateful for his mother’s warnings, which had given him time to prepare something to say.

“Wen Yuan never mentions his old life,” Jin Ling replied. “He is very dedicated to learning the ways of the Jin sect and making them his, like a good wife should.”

That remark earned him a frustrated glare from his grandfather. Jin Ling knew it was a source of tension in his grandparents’ marriage that his grandmother still preferred to use the cultivation path that she’d learned from her parents, even after a lifetime in Lanling. Everyone knew that. It ought to make it harder for Jin Guangshan to openly complain that Wen Yuan wasn’t using demonic cultivation.

“It is a wife's duty to mould herself to the new family’s expectations,” Jin Guangshan agreed. “But a good husband should also show interest in his wife. If that Wei boy doesn't talk about his family, it might be because you do not inspire enough trust in him yet. If so, it is regrettable. I would have thought you had taken after your father.”

Jin Ling lowered his gaze, his eyes burning with rageful tears he couldn't afford to spill. 

He really wished people would stop only comparing him to his father when they wished to insult his temper. When his father did it, it was usually because he found Jin Ling too quick to anger, or too unsociable. When his grandfather said it, he meant that Jin Ling was weak for not realising rules and morality only applied to lesser people. Jin Zixuan was a well loved man, why couldn't anyone ever see his qualities in his eldest son?

“I'm doing my best, grandfather,” he said between clenched teeth. 

“Then maybe your best needs to be better, boy. Do you understand what I mean?” 

Jin Ling understood too well, but shook his head. 

“Grandfather will have to be more clear. I only want to please you, of course. But I can only do that if I know what you want from me. Does grandfather have certain expectations regarding my marriage to Wen Yuan, maybe? Grandfather should have said so from the start, then, instead of expecting me to guess things.”

As soon as he said that, Jin Ling regretted it. His grandfather tolerated few things, and insolence least of all.

“You know, it is up to me to choose my heir,” Jin Guangshan casually remarked. “Tradition would prefer it be my son, or my eldest grandson, but I could pick someone else. I have other grandsons after all, and a nephew who has a child of his own. If these options appear better for the future of my sect, I will not hesitate to make tough decisions.”

Jin Ling clenched his fists. He didn't care about being sect leader, it was a stupid job, full of dealing with stupid people. But that didn't mean he didn't recognise a threat directed at him, at his family, and that pissed him off. 

If it had been anyone else talking to him like that, Jin Ling would have let his anger explode. Or else he'd have laughed in their face, because in what world were Jin Zixun and Jin Chan better options than him to someday lead the sect? They were just stupid bullies and… 

And so was Jin Guangshan. So maybe they were better candidates, from his point of view. They were all pawns to him anyway. Jin Ling knew it too well, after going from favourite grandchild to someone who could be sacrificed to an unpleasant match. Nobody in this family mattered when compared to his grandfather and his ambitions. And still Jin Ling had been lucky, because Wen Yuan was a good person. If he hadn't been, would Jin Guangshan have cared to protect his grandson from a demonic cultivator? Or would he have allowed his new spouse to torment him, as long as he could get his hands on someone who could help him in that war against the Nie he wanted?

Jin Ling smiled.

“Of course, Jin zongzhu should be free to decide the future of his sect,” he said, imitating the placid tone Jin Guangyao used on very unpleasant people. “It makes sense. What does this have to do with our conversation, though?”

“Nothing at all,” Jin Guangshan pleasantly agreed. “It was just a thought that crossed my mind. Well, boy, I fear I'm already running out of time to talk to you. I have other business to attend, so you may go. But do think about what I've said, regarding your wife and gaining his trust. Otherwise he might find someone else to confide in, and we wouldn't want that, would we?”

Again, Jin Ling just smiled, the only safe answer against that man he'd grown to hate. He then bowed politely and left the room as quickly as politeness allowed. Once outside, he slowly walked away, willing himself to look calm under the watchful gaze of his grandfather's disciples, knowing any of them could betray him if he didn't hide how much that meeting upset him. 

More than once, he'd heard his uncle Jiang call the Jin sect a nest of vipers. Jin Ling disagreed. He didn't believe even animals would turn so viciously on their own kind.

It felt like an eternity before Jin Ling finally reached his home, the only place where nobody could spy on him. As soon as he closed the door behind him, Jin Ling let out a frustrated cry, and kicked the wall. 

“Is something wrong?” Wen Yuan asked, running to the door. 

On top of being angry, Jin Ling was immediately overcome with shame. He hadn't thought his husband would be home, since Wen Yuan usually spent mornings with his in-laws. It was one thing for Jin Ling to let his anger explode like that, and quite another to let anyone see it. Jin Ling opened his mouth to apologise, only to realise there was something more urgent to discuss. 

“Wen Yuan, has anyone approached you to befriend you since you’ve arrived in Carp Tower?” Jin Ling asked

The odd question puzzled his husband, but Wen Yuan soon shook his head. 

“No, no one except your siblings. Others find me… unsettling, I think.”

“Good, perfect even!” Jin Ling exclaimed at this confirmation his grandfather hadn't already started other schemes against his husband. “The less friends you make here, the better.”

Wen Yuan threw him a wounded look, but Jin Ling was too distracted to see it.

“Is that an order, husband?” Wen Yuan stiffly asked.

“You know, it just might be,” Jin Ling pondered. “It’s better for everyone that way.”

After all, there was nobody trustworthy in the entire sect. Which wasn’t to say there wasn’t anyone nice. Lanling Jin was a large sect, and not everyone in it was as awful as Jin Chan. In fact, most disciples were probably pleasant to chat with, charming even. But it didn’t matter how nice they were, because this was a sect where bullies were in charge, and they knew how to make nice people do awful things.

“Are you worried that I’ll betray you if I get close to others, husband?” Wen Yuan asked, his tone so icy that at last Jin Ling had to notice it.

“It’s not like that!” Jin Ling exclaimed. “I don’t care if you sleep with someone!” he winced, realising that probably sounded worse. “No, I do care! I just… don’t care who you… what you… I just care…”

He bit his lip to silence himself, expecting his husband to get angrier, but Wen Yuan only looked at him curiously.

“Are you trying to say you’re not ordering this out of jealousy?” he helpfully suggested.

“Yes, that’s what I meant!” Jin Ling agreed, relieved that his husband was getting used to his manners. “If it were just about making friends, you could be friendly with anyone, it’d be fine.”

“I see. Then why is it you don’t want me to have friends?”

“Only within our sect!” Jin Ling protested. “You shouldn’t have friends within our sect. Or within sects that are too closely linked to ours either, I guess,” he added after a moment of reflection. “If you happen to meet Jiang disciples and you hit it off, it’s fine. Or Lans, I guess, even though I can’t imagine why anyone would be friends with them.”

Of course the closest thing that Jin Ling had to a friend his own age was a Lan, Lan Jingyi, but that acquaintance only proved that the Lans were annoying. Lan Jingyi and him argued every time they met, and only sometimes hung out together because nobody else would put up with them.

“Any other sects I’m allowed to be friendly with?” Wen Yuan asked, smiling.

Jin Ling considered it, and shrugged.

“Just about anyone who doesn't lick my grandfather's boots. Well, maybe avoid the Nie, we’re not on good terms with them. But I doubt any Nie disciple would want to talk to you. They’re… they’re not very happy that you’ve entered our sect. For obvious reasons.”

Wen Yuan frowned at first, as if this remark too had hurt him, but his expression quickly shifted into something that was nearly a smile.

“You mean Wei zonghzu,” Wen Yuan said, sounding almost amused by the effort needed to decipher what Jin Ling meant.

“Him, yes. And he’s also why you need to be careful around Jin disciples. I probably shouldn’t tell you…”

Jin Ling bit his lip, but one look at Wen Yuan's handsome, honest face was enough to convince him. Wen Yuan not only deserved to know what was going on, but he also needed to. Anyway, hadn't his grandfather told him there should be trust in a married couple? 

“The thing is, Jin zongzhu is very interested in demonic cultivation,” Jin Ling explained. “He thinks it’d be the best way to protect ourselves from our enemies. And he also thinks that you can use demonic cultivation, but you’re withholding it from us.”

“But I’m not,” Wen Yuan protested, offended. “I’ve never learned!’

“I know,” Jin Ling replied. “I'm pretty sure it would have left marks on you, on your qi. I’d probably have noticed it from the moment we had our first lessons. But my grandfather is… when he’s decided that something is a certain way, nobody can convince him otherwise. And he thinks that you’re refusing to share your knowledge with us.”

“I'm not,” Wen Yuan insisted. “You can tell him that, I really have nothing to share on that topic.”

Strangely enough, it was a relief to hear that. Jin Ling couldn't deny that he'd been worried concerning the possibility of demonic cultivation. It was easy to say he would have noticed it immediately, but in truth considering Wei Wuxian's skill, he may well have come up with ways to hide the effect of his heretical paths on the body and mind. Of course there was the possibility that Wen Yuan was just lying, but Jin Ling didn't think that was the case. His husband hid many things, but so far none of the few words he'd said had ever been lies.

“Whether you know your father's craft or not, I'd encourage you to keep it secret,” Jin Ling advised. “Don't tell anyone, not even me, or my siblings, or even my mother. We've all lied to my grandfather before, but it's easier for everyone if we don't have to.”

Wen Yuan shot him a curious look, and shook his head. 

“I appreciate that, husband. But I am not lying. I really don't know anything at all. Wei zongzhu was always very firm on that, he’d scold me terribly if I showed too much interest in his methods. He knows too well how dangerous it is. He... he didn't want that for me.”

“Don't let anyone know that either,” Jin Ling said after a moment of reflection. “If my grandfather knows you can never fulfil the purpose he has in mind for you, he might try to get rid of you. It's better to keep an air of mystery about this.”

Wen Yuan tilted his head to the side. 

“I thought… Don't you also want to be rid of me?”

The question took Jin Ling by surprise. Not so long ago, he would have agreed that this marriage was the very worst thing that had ever happened to him. He wasn't so sure about that anymore. Wen Yuan was not unpleasant to have around, and their daily lessons were... nice. There was nothing particularly romantic about their marriage, but there was nothing awful either.

“You're not the worst spouse grandfather could have found for me,” Jin Ling replied. “If you were gone, I might just end up with someone worse, if my grandfather thinks it's his interest. He might try to marry me to Nie Huaisang for all I know! Do you know how annoying he can be when he's unhappy? Or… Or to one of Yao zongzhu's kids, and they're all duller than dirt, I've never heard them say something that wasn't boring. Or he'd find me someone ugly, which is just as bad as being boring. Anyway, I'm used to you now. It'd be a bother, having to deal with someone new, especially when they wouldn't be as good as you. And… And I wouldn't enjoy regaining my freedom, if it meant you had to suffer for it! Which you would. Grandfather is… not a kind man.”

Jin Ling blushed, all too aware that he was saying things in the worst possible way, once again. And yet Wen Yuan didn't take offence. If anything, he looked a little pleased by his husband's rambles. Truly, Jin Ling did not understand his husband in the least.

“I am grateful that my husband feels this way,” Wen Yuan said, fighting a smile. “I will try hard to be worthy of the praise.”

Without thinking, Jin Ling nodded.

He couldn't say it, because it would sound wrong and mean again if he tried to express it, but at that moment he actually felt very happy with the husband fate had chosen for him, that odd boy who had just enough patience to unravel the mess of words that often spilled out of his mouth.

[rayan12sworld]

💠💙By Any Other Name

by:ShanaStoryteller

Summary:

Wei Wuxian wakes up in Mo Xuanyu's body and heads straight for Lotus Pier. Wu Yingtai is the newest member of the Jiang Clan and rumored to be the future wife of Jiang Wanyin.

Lan Wangji is not in love with her.

Chapter:4/4

Words:31,828

Status:completed (crossdress wei ying)

“He likes her,” he says helplessly. Wangji enjoys the company of so few people that even that would be remarkable, but this is something he hadn’t thought he’d ever see again, something he hasn’t seen even a hint of in the past thirteen years.

But it’s there again, like Wangji is fifteen years old again and just discovering what want is. It’s desire and protectiveness and affection too overwhelming to be anything but painful.

Sizhui likes her too. It’s almost perfect.

Uncle’s lips press together. “She is not his to like.”

Lan Xichen has no response to that, because of course Uncle is right. Wu Yingtai is obviously if not publicly engaged to Jiang Wanyin. There’s nothing to be done about it.

~~

He’d killed his brother once. He’d killed Wei Wuxian after A-jie had died to save him, dishonoring her sacrifice. What sin could be worse than that? Whose life could be more precious than that of his brother who their sister had died for? What wouldn’t he be willing to do in order to ensure one of his worst mistakes remains undone? Very little.

~~

He’d been prepared to die and join Wei Ying and instead he’d woken up in Wu Yingtai’s arms

~

She sways and both Wangji and Sizhui reach out to steady her, but Jin Ling wraps an arm around her waist and glares at them. “Come on, Aunt Ying.” Does that glare seem worse than before? More possessive? Does Jin Ling know that Wangji is in love with his uncle’s fiancé? Lan Xichen can’t tell.

~

If only she weren’t engaged to Jiang Wanyin. ~

“I AM NOT ENGAGED TO A-YING!” Jiang Cheng roars, facing rapidly going from grey to red. “THERE WILL BE NO MARITAL DUTIES!” He reaches for his sword, seemingly barely restraining himself from unsheathing it. The rest of the hall has gone quiet, everyone’s attention on them.

~~😂😂

“You knew I was Jin Guangshan’s daughter and you married me anyway?” Lan Xichen’s eyes widen. Jiang Cheng frowns and pinches the skin of his wrist. If he’s in the middle of a dream right now, that would explain several things. The doors burst open. A scarred woman stumbles into the banquet hall and announces, “I was there the night Sect Leader Jin killed his father!” “Darling, please,” Jin Guangyao starts, but is cut off by a dark figure bursting in through the window and heading straight for Qin Su. It’s, somehow, impossibly, Wen Ning. “Oh, I see,” Jiang Cheng says, reaching for Sandu. “This is a nightmare.”

~😂😂 now this is a nightmare that nie Huaisang have made,nie "i cause problems not solutions" huaisang

It’s impossible. It’s impossible. It’s the only thing that makes sense. “Wei Ying,” he breathes, soft enough that no one else can hear him. She flinches. He tugs her forward, so she’s pressed against him like that day she ran into him, and curls his other arm around her waist. He lowers his head so he can speak directly into her ear. “Wei Ying.” She breathes out, shuddering in his arms, then mutters, “Lan Zhan. Not here.” He turns his face to bury it in Wei Ying’s hair, attempting to hide his smile from everyone else. Explanations can come later. For now, Wei Ying is alive, and in his arms, and that’s enough

~~

Jin Guangyao has his sword pressed against Wu Yintai’s throat, enough that it’s broken skin, if only barely. Additionally, in the ten minutes since he’s left his brother’s side, it appears that he’s proposed, if his ribbon in Wu Yingtai’s hair is any indication. Jin Guangyao is holding a sword to throat of the woman Wangji loves. He barely survived losing Wei Wuxian, and now there’s no child to give his brother a will to live. He doesn’t know what losing Wu Yingtai would to do Wangji. He doesn’t want to find out.

[veliseraptor]

potential (and very self indulgent) au: jiang yanli and jiang cheng join wei wuxian in becoming demonic cultivators

oooh, fun. I have kind of a hard time making this one work in my head (especially for jiang cheng, actually), but let's see here, I've been Challenged so I'm going to make it work

first off, Jiang Cheng - I think the initial requirement here is that the Jiang Sect is never reconstructed. whether that's because it's just too wrecked to rebuild or for whatever reason Jiang Cheng can't hold it (the sect) together (unfair to Jiang Cheng imo, but handwave), but if Jiang Cheng has a sect to protect that he will never see decimated like it was before again, I don't think he would ever turn to demonic cultivation and the risks it entails (politically, socially, etc.). even though in the immediate aftermath of Sunshot Wei Wuxian's skills aren't considered with quite the same hostility they are later, they still are pretty quickly increasingly suspect by society at large.

the other possibility here would be the core transplant not working out, somehow - either temporarily succeeding and then there's some kind of rejection, or it just never succeeds and both Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian end up coreless. Jiang Cheng seizes on the one means he now has to get revenge for the death of his family, and maybe believing that he couldn't lead a sect without his cultivation (I don't think it would necessarily be impossible, but he didn't ask me) he doesn't try to rebuild Jiang Sect at all.

the hard one here I think is Jiang Yanli, who doesn't seem to have significant cultivation ambitions in general, and certainly her brothers would both heavily push back against her practicing something as dangerous as demonic cultivation, particularly considering she seems to have a delicate constitution.

(I'm personally partial when it comes to demonic cultivator Jiang Yanli to it happening after Wei Wuxian's death, with also a dead Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan, driven by a need to protect and fear for Jin Ling, but that doesn't suit this particular AU. in this maybe she's just driven/motivated by the need to protect her brothers, who are both walking a dangerous path now.

this would have the side effect of probably nixing her marriage to Jin Zixuan entirely, since she's not going to be looking terribly eligible under the circumstances - and wouldn't be bringing a sect alliance with her. Jin Guangshan isn't going to go for that one, love match or not.

all three of them in this scenario no longer have the protection of a sect behind them, though, which puts them in an even more precarious position - pressure to join one, certainly, but also putting them on the fringes of things, which is not a good place to be in the cultivation world.

the trouble here is going to still come with the Wen remnants, though - Wei Wuxian still feels obligated to protect them, and Jiang Cheng perhaps even more emphatically in this AU (particularly if he's coreless) does not. without the need to protect the sect Jiang Cheng might land in a different place than he does in canon, but it definitely would put a strain on their relationship, and the last thing that they need at that point would be to be divided as society gets increasingly hostile.

I have a hard time envisioning this AU going anywhere good, tbh; I feel like it ends in a blaze of glory with all three siblings dead in a siege on the Burial Mounds. but maybe that's my pessimism talking. maybe their powers combined could hold off the force of the cultivation world's hostility pressing down on them. but it doesn't look great for our heroes.

[ultfreakme]

Danmei ask, what are your top 5 (or top 7) favorite moments from MDZS? Also, can I ask why you love those 3 (JC, WWX , XXC)?

(Riki, I'm so glad when found out you also love Jiang Cheng. You must know how many haters on his character in tumblr and twitter. Like, I was blocked 4 times by MDZS lover blog, when they knew I love Jiang Cheng.)

I love reading your MDZS/ SVSSS crossover, they're so in character.....And yes, SQQ must love Sukuna and Jogo if he ever read JJK...

Thanks for the ask Anon!!

Top 7 moments:

When we find out the Jiang Cheng sacrificed himself to the Wens to save Wei Wuxian. It was dropped so casually and I had to backtrack and go "wait, wait, WAIT! DISCUSS IT PLEASE!!"

The juniors in the Yi City arc, they were so adorable, I loved reading them putting on a brave face and investigating.

Wei Wuxian murdering the crap out of Wen Chao with his sexy undead ladies. Him and Jiang Cheng together torturing him while Lan Wangji was sent out and it's like, LWJ is confused, shocked, and horrified.

The scene where Wei Wuxian's roasting Jin Guangshan at the conference post-war and everyone's scandalized. I love it when Wei Wuxian gets bitchy.

Jiang Cheng's intro scene in the donghua where he emerges from the shadows of that tree, pushing aside the leaves. That's so hot of him.

Wei Wuxian covered in blood in the second siege of Burial Mounds and Lan Wangji is defending him. That scene's so cool and romantic in all its iterations. The donghua went above and beyond and made it seem like a wedding.

Jiang Cheng giving Zidian to Jin Ling ;_; It hurts me. It's so much worse knowing that MXTX was planning on killing Jin Ling soon after to really hurt Jiang Cheng.

Reasons I like:

Jiang Cheng-

He's so complicated! You can't immediately look at him and say he's the good guy or the bad guy. I personally think he leans more towards the good guy category.

He's the perfect opposite of Wei Wuxian, he's not a genius cultivator like wwx, he had to work for every bit of progress he made. He started off simply wanting to keep his family together and at peace, but the war happened and his priorities shifted. He's duty-bound, he's always fighting and scraping to be recognized but no one ever does. He wanted so bad to help wwx, but duty made it so that he was forced to pick between his sect and wwx. Forever chained, closed off.

He's jealous and vicious and so, so angry. I get it, I understand the worst parts of him and relate to it.

Wei Wuxian-

Again, super complicated as a person. Wronged at every turn. He wanted to do good and protect people, and for that he kept sacrificing himself over and over again with little value given to himself as a person. He's got his sharp edges and cruelty too, and I feel like people often forget that Wei Wuxian's traumas and his lack of self-appreciation and value on himself show in ugly and vicious ways.

His story obviously shows a key message of MDZS, which is that when people sacrifice themselves thinking that they're protecting their loved one, they only hurt them in another way. I understood his desire to do good, protect people, but there's no one to stand at his side. The loneliness and fear that comes with fucking up so bad that no one even tries to hear you out, no one's listening no matter how loud you shout.

Xiao Xingchen:

He's like Wei Wuxian but 100% times worse and more self-sacrificial. Too trusting, too good, and everyone kept taking advantage of that without bothering to guide him or be honest with him. Like legit, no one told him what they were truly thinking.

I love that xxc wants to be a good person, i hate that he was ruined for it. God I really wanted him to have a happy ending because he's just, he's so NICE. In a world filled with betrayal and deceit, xxc wanted to spread goodness. And yet.

AAHHHHHH

I think these characters made me see the point of MDZS in a very clear way, or in a way that impacted me most. So they're my faves.

Being a Jiang Cheng liker is a struggle! I was getting into MDZS even before the donghua started airing, like around 2018 and back then Jiang Cheng hate was so bad. I kept waiting year after year for the hate to go down but it just got worse the more popular MDZS got. The misunderstandings built up too. I got black and got into a million arguments too ;_; We have to stick together!!!

i have so many thoughts about Jiang Cheng specifically because, okay I read and watched everything about 3 years ago, so I don't remember much other than my fav, so I'm always thinking about everything he did.

nbsdhfb SQQ's monster-loving ass would go gaga for Sukuna. Four armed man wrecking people??? Yes sir! (side note; big tall powerful man who is called king who is only nice to his close servant and confidante???? SQH come get your boy!)

[thisisallthehattersfault]

Thoughts on the Sect Leader Wen Sizhui AU

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wen Qing opens an all-sect medical school.

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

[baka-bun]

Wangjue Bunny Cafe AU

Alrighty I'm giving y'all the privilege to see some random points I came up with for a Bunny Cafe Au with some help from @peerlesscucumber

I kept it hidden because I wanted to introduce it via sketches/doodles, but right now I am too busy with wips for AH fanart lol

So enjoy this for now, drawings to follow at some point on my art account @lilkikayart

This idea came up on night and with inspo from a yaoi manga I read long ago called Harapeko Usagi to Koisuru Ookami.

I haven't reread it, so I was just going based off of my memory. The main thing is a business dude who looks intimidating wants to pet a bunny and the other ML helps (?) That is legit all I remember. Anyway onto my points that are relevant to different characters!

Wangjue Bunny Cafe AU

NMJ business man/office worker (?) 

 looks intimidating, but likes bunnies and wants to interact with them, he was advised/suggest them to help calm him down (not qi deviation, but bro is getting stressed/overworked)

Previously tried going to a dog cafe (Jiang Cheng’s), but often gets barked at or peed on e.g. JGY doggie defecates on his shoes

Ends up going to Gusu Bunny Cafe LWJ runs

LWJ son from a rich family/conglomerate, doesn’t take typical family route and opens a bunny cafe 

Owns a bunny WWX, it’s protective of LWJ, gives NMJ a hard time at first

Wen Ning bunny is protective of WWX bunny, but normally docile/ shy otherwise

Jingy and Shizui work at the cafe

Cafe is built right across from Dog cafe so Jingy often glares at the other competitor’s employee (Jin Ling)

Serves tea and mooncakes/ other pastries

Bunnies often gather around LWJ vs NMJ who doesn’t attract any (it takes many visits and calming for them to get accustomed to him)

LXC brother of LWJ, office worker who’s taken on role as heir 

Supports his brother’s business

Friend’s with NMJ and suggests this cafe

Frequents Jiang Cheng’s doggie cafe too, took NMJ there first

JGY doggie (chihuahua) loves LXC, only really nice to him 

JC owns dog cafe

Nephew Jin Ling works there

Jin Guangshan  always humping patrons, needs to be in kennel 

Often complains about the competition being built directly across from his business

[mqfx]

id love to hear your thoughts on jyl! freudian or otherwise, with however many mentions of soup that you prefer 🥺🤲

just saw this :0 well i wouldn't say that i have many intelligent thoughts about jyl anymore especially since i don't really get the chance to talk about mdzs / cql much so i'm afraid i'll have to disappoint you on this count (which makes me a hypocrite i know)

but i did go insane below this line so watch out!

but i will say again what i said a few weeks back about us (fandom, society--you choose) missing out on a broader richer storytelling experience (?) when we continue to look over women's stories to get to the "more interesting" men because "well the author made more content about them so there's more to work with". not gonna belabor this point bc many have already pointed out that people will come up with all sorts of elaborate headcanons to talk about mr. blorbo who showed up in the back for ten seconds but nary a word to spare for the women who did quite a lot of narrative heavy lifting. did you know that i literally found a fic where wen chao becomes a ghost and gets together with qi rong in the underworld? do you see the same effort given to women with a similar level of narrative importance or prominence?

in this case part of it IS the fault of mxtx; more named men have died in mdzs than there are named women characters in it altogether (and even then, most of those women died too!). let's count:

women: wen qing, granny wen, jiang yanli, yu ziyuan, luo qingyang (mianmian), baoshan sanren, cangse sanren, a-qing, madam jin, jinzhu and yinzhu, meng shi (jgy's mom), qin su (jgy's wife). i bolded the ones who are dead by the end of the series (total: 13 women, 11 of whom are dead)

"important" men who died: wei changze, jiang fengmian, jin guangshan, jin zixuan, jin zixun, jin guangyao, jin rusong (child), su she, wen chao, wen zhuliu, wen ruohan, wen xu, wen ning (came back), song lan, xiao xingchen, xue yang, nie mingjue, wei wuxian (came back), mo xuanyu (total dead: 19, or 17 if you don't count the resurrected, 16 if you don't count the child)

13 total women characters vs let's say 16 dead men. and i'm sure i missed a few (<- nearly forgot xue yang) but who cares right now. what does this say about mxtx's priorities as a writer, or at the very least how women figure in her imagination?

''but charlie! they had a great impact on the narrative!" this is true. without meng shi's suffering there would be no raison d'etre for jin guangyao. without baoshan sanren's teachings there would be no xiao xingchen and song lan's tragedy, and no a-qing means we wouldn't even have known. no cangse sanren means no wei wuxian means no story at all. no wen qing = no core transfer. no jiang yanli = no jin ling, no yunmeng brothers, no heart to tether them from falling off the edge of morality (both have committed heinous acts in war regardless but jiang yanli represents for them why they had to do it. she's their home and their family that they fought to protect--and for what!) i could go on with each one, but my point is that if you take even one of these women out of the story, it all falls apart, right?

so why don't i hear anything about them?

and because you asked and i love you, let's focus on jiang yanli here: WHY is she more often than not excluded or otherwise glossed over in all the myriad discussions about how tragic the yunmeng brothers are? was she not also their sibling, their family? did she not also suffer the war and the near-total wipeout of her sect? the death of her husband? she DID but no one seems to give a shit about her unless it's to fucking call her SOUP as if that's the only thing she did!

no paragaph-long popular elegiac posts on her experiences and the incredible fortitude it might have taken not only to withstand all that but to do so with nothing but forgiveness? (speaking of forgiveness: that she forgive jin zixuan at all? out of unwavering love????) because it's not easy to stay kind in regular real-life conditions let alone what she had to face, on top of which was the daily terror that she might lose the last three people in her family she depended on as a non-powerful woman in a misogynistic society. how much of this was because mxtx couldn't be assed to develop her character, and how much of it is actually because despite what mxtx might have written, most people would not even notice because she's a woman?

the thing with interpreting fictional works or talking about characters is that you can't accurately pinpoint how much of the character was authorial intent, how much is your projection, and how much was a happy accident. what makes the curtains blue? i could just as easily say that "jiang yanli was the strongest character in mdzs because unlike the men who used their pain to justify their descents into crimes, heinous acts, and corruption, she (who had suffered equally or worse) managed to remain steadfast to her principles" as i could "jiang yanli remained static as a character because mxtx couldn't think of a way to develop her, or otherwise didn't give a shit about her role aside from sacrificial lamb for wei wuxian's and jiang cheng's pain".

but we can't even get to those goddamn discussions when people refuse to take her as seriously as they take their fucking war criminal beeboos so i'd be wasting everyone's FUCKING TIME

[mostlikelytofangirl]

I took forever to do this, but I'm sorta back to my groove, so sorry for taking this long orz.

Anyways, I was tagged by @wishthefish to find paragraphs in my WIPs with the words pathetic, wet and ink. And by @little-meowyao with the words song, hand and glass

Ok I had to cheat a bit bc none of my WIPs had three of these words, so I included paragraphs from works I've already posted, but I guess that unless some of these are pretty damn obvious, you won't know which is which so there's that lol

Pathetic

“Only you could have seen my downfall when everybody else saw my glory, including myself. You, who had seen how easily someone can fall from grace. You were always so clever, Yao��er. So surprising; so, so… extraordinary.” It took a moment for Wen Ruohan to notice that the choked sounds were not coming from the body on the floor. A crazed chuckle escaped him as his voice broke. In contrast to his previous outburst, now his words were mellow; his thumbs stroking the wounds he had inflicted on the boy’s face with gentleness. “I would have given you what you desired… I would have given you Jin Guangshan for you to do as you pleased, like I gave you Nie Mingjue. I would have given you Lanling after I conquered it. I-I would… you would have been my heir… I…” There was no mistaking that last pathetic whimper as no one’s other than his own, when his throat contracted too much for words to be enunciated. 

Wet

It was a mess, it was uncoordinated and wet and hot and desperate, and was most definitely leaving them both dizzy with how intoxicating this other person could be.

Ink

Meng Yao dropped the brush, it didn’t even register in his mind the big ink stain in his report. He stared at his superior in disbelief, tuning to Zewu-jun only to find the man with a placid smile. He looked back at Chifeng-zun, and the man was fixing him with an intense look. He meant it, of course he did. He was offering Meng Yao the chance of a lifetime! There would be no way his father would deny him if he had backing from someone like Sect Leader Nie!

Song

Which was unfortunate, to say the least, since he had just altered the accursed song!

Hand

Meng Yao hadn’t dared to raise from his bowing position, but a big hand on his head startled him and had him gazing up. He could finally get a good look at that man, and he had to agree with his mother: the golden fabric and threads of his rich attire shimmered to the light and gave him an almost ethereal glow, brightening his handsome features and long hair, shining with aromatic oils. He had a gentle smile on his lips, a vermillion dot on his forehead, and every piece of jewelry was pure gold. He was tall, elegant and powerful. He was magnificent.

Glass

They entered the apartment complex, and were welcomed by a wide lobby, all in white and glass with a big crystal chandelier. It was sparkly enough to make Jin Ling follow it with his eyes and open his mouth wide. There went the pacifier.

I tag @unfortunatelycake, @jgydidnothingwrong, @thatswhatsushesaid and @thebiscuiteternal or anyone who wishes to do this with the words shadow, pet and dance.

[sophia-sol]

The difference between:

a character who may be terrible but you love anyway

a character you love to hate

a character you hate

a character you feel quite energetically about how little you care about them

a character you just can't muster up the energy to care about at all

is so interesting to me. what causes these differences in response?

(blathering about my own answers beneath the cut)

some examples for me of each type:

Methos (Highlander), Prince Yu (Nirvana in Fire), Ling Wen (TGCF), Zhu Chongba (The Radiant Emperor duology)

Jun Wu (TGCF), Philip Ashley (My Cousin Rachel), the gentleman with the thistledown hair (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell), Captain Prope (The League of Peoples series)

Monsieur Thénardier (Les Misérables), Aunt Irene (Jane of Lantern Hill), Jin Guangshan (MDZS/CQL), Xue Yang (MDZS/CQL)

Pierre Bezukhov (War & Peace, The Great Comet), Kylo Ren (Star Wars), Jervis Pendleton (Daddy-Long-Legs)

anyone who would belong in this category can't be listed because I've erased them from my memory

Actually, doing this exercise of listing out the examples has allowed me to figure out some guidelines for myself on how this tends to work.

Category 1 characters are people who manage to be both charming and terrible, and the kinds of terrible things they do are ones that aren't, like, automatic squicks.

Category 2 characters are ones who are appealing and interesting in some way while still being terrible, but do their terrible things directly to a character I love. (category 2 characters can sometimes become category 1 by being charming ENOUGH to make up for who they're being terrible to.)

Category 3 characters are ones who do terrible things while also being personally unpleasant, or do the kinds of things that viscerally upset me too much for me to be able to engage with them in an enjoyable way.

Category 4 characters are ones for whom the narrative framework doesn't actually fully understand the ways in which they are terrible, and treats them like I as the reader/viewer should be finding their terrible actions relatable and excusable or even charming. OR, they are characters who would otherwise be category 5 for me, but fandom looooooves them and over time I get irritated with the degree of attention they get over characters I personally find more appealing.

Category 5 characters are ones I just find endlessly uninteresting on any level. Occasionally these are category 4 characters who belong to a fandom I no longer care about to the least degree.

[ssuminshan-official]

Payback~~

Zixuan: *fanning himself*

Yao: *relaxing while Su she groomed his tail*

Jintang: Huangdi.....ehem, two Huangdis. Your tea.

Zixuan: thank you very much.

Yao: thanks.

Yao: Shanshan, you're so amazing. You're doing a good job.

Su she: *bhlush* thank you, Yaoyao.

Xue yang: *chewing on some candy* Jiggybuns.

Yao: yangyang.

Zixuan: excuse me? You have your people calling you by nicknames? And not by Huangdi?

Xue yang: I can call Jiggy however I want!! Peacock!!

Yao: because they're my besties, Zish.

Other than my team dimple, I'm down to earth with everyone.

I think that your attendants should give you a nickname too.

Zixuan: ohh. How does Dearest Huangdi sound?

Yao: *laughs and nods*

Xue yang: Jiggybun what about you and that peacock...... I mean zIxUaN Huangdi's loser good-for-nothing, deadbeat, womanizer dad?

Mo xuanyu: Jin guangshan!

Yao and Zixuan: *bursting out in laughter*

Zixuan: he's renting Jinlintai from us.

Yao: we inherited it, so we thought of letting him rent it out from us.

Extra revenue for our empire.

Mo xuanyu: lol you did what?!!

Yao: remember your extra allowance? That was from guangshan's rent.

Zixuan: oh come on. He gave us childhood trauma. And mistreated our moms, plus other unknown women.

Mo xuanyu: you're so amazing! I'm so blessed to have brothers like you!

Xue yang: ahahaahahhaah. So guangshit is renting from you two!!! Oh gosh!

I wonder how he reacted.

Zixuan: he cursed.

Yao: then cried because he's going to lose money.

But his tears were only soiling up our rugs.

Zixuan: so sadly we had to get it replaced.

Yao: even his clothes belongs to us.

Mo xuanyu: what about madam Jin?

Yao: we did nothing to her.

Su she: and what about Jinling?

Zixuan: He's living with me. And now is Ru Lan Wang zi. He also stays with Jiang cheng. 

Xue yang: like you saved everyone from guangshan.

Zixuan: exactly.

Yao: isn't our gorgeous peacock emperor amazing?

Zixuan: isn't our splendid fox emperor amazing?

Xue yang: you two are divas.

*clapping* but heroes too!

Su she: where's stinky Zixun?

Zixuan: *laughs* he's my gardener.

Yao: what?! That's hilarious.

Zixuan: also he sweeps the steps of Jinlintai on weekends.

Mo xuanyu: oh my.

Yao: lovely.

Zixuan: he bullied my little bro.

I must do something about it right?

Yao: aww.

Yao: anyways, speaking of which. Aren't we supposed to collect money?

Zixuan: *sips tea* ask someone to do it, yaoyao.

Yao: let's visit him in person. *smile* and you know. Make ourselves comfortable.

Zixuan: ooo. Yaoyao. So devious.

Yao: thank you, Zish.

Xue yang: so is guangshit an emperor?

Zixuan: *spits out tea*

Jintang: *wipes mouth*

Yao: he doesn't have an imperial bone in his body, yangyang.

My A-niang was once a hulijing empress, but she was denounced as a prostitute.

Zixuan: and mine, a.k.a. Madam Jin was the peacock spirit empress, but she denounced it when she got married.

Sadly in Lanling, women weren't allowed to work or show strength.

However that has been changed, and now there are more female cultivators.

Poor Mianmian had to struggle though, but unfortunately left.

Xue yang: kind of strange how it happened twice. Lol.

Yao: Yea. Now he's just a clan leader. Well. Was.

Zixuan: when A-ling comes of age, he'll become the Jin sect leader, and I'll gift him a tiny empire of his own.

Mo xuanyu: so is there anything special?! These beings  love to find significance in everything.

Yao: oh yes. The imperial expression.

He's  golden + lineage + qualities.

Zixuan: and he's  dimples + qualities + lineage too.

Xue yang: not the dimples again. Lol.

Yao: *laughs*

Zixuan: I didn't like how he treated my siblings so I planned to protect them, as well as use my potential to build my own empire.

Yao: same!

Zixuan: right. And A-Su lives with me. She's A-li's bestie.

But she has her own mansion.

Yao: that's so good to hear.

Yao: ah, I think we should go now.

We're getting late.

Zixuan: right. Let's go.

Yao: Hou, please arrange a caravan.

Hou: yes Huangdi.

Yao: team dimple, you comin'?

Su she: of course!

Xue yang: I want to see how badass Jiggy is!!!!!

Mo xuanyu: definitely!

Yao: great. Make that two~~

Xue yang: Jiggy, Jiggy, Jiggy. We're not princesses. Not even divas like you two. We'll pull up on our swords!

Yao: hahaha. Fine.

Zixuan: when am I a diva?!

Xue yang: when aren't you a diva.

Zixuan: hmpf!

~~~~

Hulijings: *surrounding the place*

Peacocks: *biting cultivators who try to stop them*

Yao and Zixuan:  *sit on the Jin throne*

Zixuan: why are you shocked? Aren't you going to greet us? Ill mannered! *opens fan furiously*

Yao: should I use my golden strings to punish them?!

Zixuan: that may be the last resort!

Jin sect members: greetings.

Yao: where's guangshan.

*silence*

Yao: xue yang, darling. Can you drag him out?!

Xue yang: yea.

Guangshan:*runs in* landlords, landlords. I'm here!

Ugh bastard child we meet again.

Zixuan, hold on I got your money.

Yao: who are you calling bastard child.

Certainly not your landlord. Who give you a roof over your head.

Zixuan: you must pay both of us, remember. Have you forgotten?

Xue yang: his poor old brain. It slipped him!

Jgs: how dare you let your nasty hulijings run all over my place!!!

Yao: our place.

Ours as in mine and Zixuan's

Jgs: nothing belongs to you! Yao!!

Yao: *saunters, and rests his fan under jgss chin* Huangdi.

Jgs: *deliberately sneezes on Yao*

Yao: agh!!! Ew!! *walks away furiously*

Su she: *wipes him up.* relax, Huangdi, relax.

Zixuan: so much trouble to pay us? So bad.

Jgs: I'm fed up of paying you and that bastard! I can't even remember his name for a second!

Yao: *smiles ominously.*

*pins him on the floor with guqin strings*

Jgs: hey! Untie me!!!

Yao: *sits and opens fan*

Su she: *massaging his arm*

I'll help calm you.

He doesn't know your rage.

Xue yang: *unsheaths sword*

Zixuan: someone, get me some tea.

Jintang: sure Huangdi.

Yao: former sect leader. Do you like perfume?

Jgs: cut the small talk and get out!! I'll push you down the stairs again!

Mo xuanyu: the audacity.

Yao: answer the question.

Xue yang: *glaring mischievously while caressing his Jiangzai*

Jgs: yea. I do like perfume.

Yao: good.

My hulijings.

Hulijing bunch *in their fox form: *gathering up, and waiting anxiously for their leader's instruction*

Yao: fart in his face, and give him some perfume.

With pleasure, Huangdi.

Yao: lovely.

Jgs: what?!!

Yao: you said that you love perfume. So you got perfume.

Jgs: you little lowlife! I knew I shouldn't have let you into the Jin sect. But I just wanted to use you!! I have never accepted you!

Yao: *tightens strings* I realized that I didn't need to be accepted by you!

Jgs: bastard!

Yao: *strings starting to let out steam while his eyes turned a shiny gold* call me that again, and I'll cook you with my strings right in front of everyone!!

Jgs: that's what you are!

Yao: *stops heating up his guqin strings* you can't improve, can you?

I have only stopped because my beloved hulijings may get burnt.

Jgs: you only care about them?

Yao: yes. Have you ever cared about me? Or Xuanyu? Or A-Su

Mo xuanyu: ah, Yao gege. The love of my life.

Jgs: why should I care about outside children!

Zixuan: you better pay us double the amount of money.

Jgs: why?!!

Zixuan: you can't ask an emperor why.

Jgs: *cries* fineeeee. But what if I go bankrupt!

Zixuan: you won't. Because the sect is still running.

Jgs: I'm not thinking of  those pests! I'm thinking about me and my expenses.

Zixuan: how selfish.

Yao: then you'll become a tea leaf farmer. That's all. *smile*

Jgs: what power do you two have?!!

Zixuan: we can fire you.

Yao: we even own your clothes, lol.

Jgs: *crying* oh gosh! I'm done for!

I should have kept it in my pants.

Jgs: and who told me to go around with multiple women! But, but I love women so much......*sobs*

Zixuan: what do you like about them?

Jgs: their shape. And beauty. Nothing elseeeee.

They got to be a little dumb too.

Yao: disgusting!

Xue yang: I won't spare him for nothing.

Zixuan: I'm surprised once again.

Yao: *sighs* well. I'm going to my old room to take a bath. Minshan, come with me.

Su she: sure.

And yes, we have packed extra clothes, just incase you guys spend the night.

Yao: lovely.

Jgs: so you're just going to leave me tied  here?!!!

Yao: yea. Why not?

Yao: maybe. If you say, my marvelous Yao Huangdi, then maybe I'll untie you.

Jgs: never!!!

Yao: well stay tied, eat some floor.

Xue yang: and smell some farts!!!

~~~ Hours after.

Yao: *entering with Su she* I'm back.

Zixuan: finally, yaoyao. I was getting bored.

Yao: oh no.

Jgs: do you think that if you untie me, I'll give you two your rent money.

Zixuan: pardon him for not respecting you.

Yao: alright then. *releases strings*

Zixuan: *sighs* cultivators. They're so hard sometimes.

Jintang: *massaging Zixuan's arm*

Jgs: here you go. Half a million taels each.

Yao: thank you.

Zixuan: would you give any to A-Yu?

Yao: I think you should pay him too.

Jgs: no way.

Zixuan: don't let us throw you out.

Jgs: fine. Half a million for that child too.

Yao: excellent. Tata.

Zixuan: see you next month.

@verycatbluebird

[allmydokkuns]

Gonna add real quick too, I agree with all of your points here about both of their perspectives, but I'd like to add also that as little choice WWX and Jiang Cheng have, Jiang Yanli has even less. As an orphaned daughter from a massacred clan, the only non-Jiang support she has is from her mother's sworn sister Madame Jin (and maybe Meishan Yu, depending) re: her past failed betrothal with Jin Zixuan, and I wouldn't put it past Jin Guangshan to immediately nix their eventual marriage if

1) they didn't love each other and Zixuan (and his mother!) wouldn't stand for it,

2) she failed to successfully birth Jin Ling, or

3) the apparent lack of marriageable women in the remaining Great Four main families.

Jiang Cheng has to project the image of compliance and keep his head down not only to keep his sect safe, but both of the two remaining family he has left! And as much shit as WWX may have caused, he loves his shijie and even he would have to know that a temporary (staged) separation is the best way to protect Jiang Yanli, no matter what trauma he might be struggling with re: Jiang Cheng and the golden core incident.

Given Jiang Cheng's political savvy (subtle, but still more effective than Wei "never met a situation that couldn't be escalated" Wuxian), I assume he also thought of this fight as a facade (since he didn't know WWX couldn't recover as fast as he should), and was planning on Jin Zixuan's help re: Lanling Jin to help bring back WWX in the future, which is why Jiang Cheng snuck their sister out in her wedding finery for WWX, because they both! still! considered! him! family!! And it worked since WWX was welcomed to Jin Ling's (100-day) party, at least until Zixuan, uh, you know, got got.

Haha sorry I'm not sure how old this post is, but I just have a lot of feelings on Jiang Cheng always being stuck between a rock and a hard place. He can't protect one sibling without abandoning the other in this situation, and neither can WWX or JYL. Also even if Zixuan didn't die, they would have to somehow convince the rest of the great sects that WWX and the power he controls is no longer a threat to the rest of the jianghu! But that's a post for another time when I'm not rambling on someone else's post (lol).

does jiang cheng have a choice?

antis hate Jiang Cheng for ‘abandoning’ Wei Wuxian, but did he realistically have any other options available? 

for my money, the non-negotiable goals for Jiang Cheng in this situation are

keep Wei Wuxian alive and not in the custody of another clan

ease the pressure from the other clans to take responsibility for/act against Wei Wuxian 

maintain the Jiang clan’s autonomy and standing amongst the clans

and the non-negotiable goals for Wei Wuxian in this situation are

keep Jiang Cheng and the Jiang clan safe, alive, and out of the direct control of other clans (especially the Jin) 

undermine Jiang Cheng’s authority as clan leader as little as possible 

keep the Wen safe, alive, and free (ish– at least as free as they are now) 

continue trying to save Wen Ning/keep him ‘alive’ once he’s revived 

do not reveal to anyone that he has lost his golden core 

do not give anyone the Yin Tiger Tally 

Wei Wuxian returning to the Jiang is off the table because he won’t leave the Wen. Wei Wuxian AND the Wen somehow coming into the custody of the Jiang isn’t possible because Jiang Cheng doesn’t have that much clout, and it’s hard to believe that Wei Wuxian would accept a situation that would necessarily have to look a lot like imprisonment for the Wen if the other clans were going to accept it. so already, the only way for Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian to both achieve some of their key goals is for Wei Wuxian to stay in the Burial Mounds with the Wen somehow– which means the only goals remaining to both of them are ensuring that the Jiang clan doesn’t get punished for that, or placed in a situation where they’re forced to act violently against Wei Wuxian/the Burial Mounds/the Wen (and yes, obviously it comes to that eventually anyway, but a lot changes first). and canon is explicitly clear that the other clans are absolutely not about to let the Jiang off the hook for what Wei Wuxian is doing. they want and need him to turn on Wei Wuxian, and if he won’t, they don’t really care about dragging this decimated, teenager-led clan down with Wei Wuxian. 

the Jiang clan has nothing at this point, barely even a home. even if the other clans were open to reaching a compromise in terms of the Wei Wuxian situation, who on earth is going to believe him if he says, I’ve got the Wei Wuxian situation handled, I’m going to leave him in the Burial Mounds and keep an eye on him, he’s my problem not yours? 

and that’s the final, essential element– Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian are not in a fair fight. the other clans are actively pushing them towards conflict, and won’t accept any outcome besides a complete break, or a complete capitulation by Wei Wuxian. 

maybe I’m just not feeling creative today, but I genuinely can’t come up with a single other solution beyond the one that the two of them find and implement in canon– a fake schism and staged fight. 

[veliseraptor]

soft/hard hcs for xy/jc

did a couple of these for my boy xy so let's do this one for my boy jc (jiang cheng, not julius caesar or jesus christ)

hard headcanon: I feel like most of my hard headcanons for Jiang Cheng are all too often of the "he would not say that (cranky)" variety, and I don't know that I just want to use this meme to rehash the same arguments you've probably all seen a hundred times. so let's see what else I've got here.

okay okay. this isn't the hardest headcanon but I'm going to go with: there was a part of Jiang Cheng that actually thought, on some level, that Wei Wuxian could pull it off, pretty much right up until he died. he knew it wasn't actually possible, that people were falling into line with Jin Guangshan to turn on him (and Wei Wuxian was making it easy - not to blame him, just that hiding in a cursed place with a reputation for necromancy isn't exactly going to make you look good), and after Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun died it was even worse. and yet.

on some level, Wei Wuxian just...manages things nobody else can. he sets the precedent. he achieves the impossible. trapped in a cave with no sword and a monster? he'll figure it out. Wen Ning dies? he'll bring him back to life. it's what he does, and it's also I think part of Jiang Cheng's "that's my sort of not really older brother somewhere between sect sibling and blood sibling but not really either and he can do anything" younger sibling brain is still there, especially when things are bad.

he knows there's no fixing this. but at the same time it seems like there should be a way, and maybe he can't see it but Wei Wuxian will.

it's that, too, that makes him so certain for over a decade that Wei Wuxian will be back.

(the real hard headcanon buried under all of this is that a Jiang Cheng who never loved and trusted Wei Wuxian is incoherent and unrecognizable to me.)

soft headcanon: I feel like I see a fair amount of "Jiang Cheng is good with kids" and I think it's meant to be a sort of "so he's not a bad person" thing, but I actually don't think he's particularly good with kids. I think he's not actively hostile necessarily, but he is awkward and a little uncomfortable and doesn't feel like he knows exactly what to do with them, and I don't think he enjoys just spending time around young children in general. (Jin Ling is different, obviously.)

this makes it especially fun that he ends up with a lot more responsibility for a baby than he expected and truly feels like he has no idea what he's doing, he's totally going to fuck this up and irreparably damage his sister's kid (the only remaining member of his family), but also he can't disengage from him and just leave all of his care to somebody else without being involved at all. so he's gotta learn.

which makes the strength of his relationship with Jin Ling even better for me! because it's something that took work to figure out and involved a lot of fear and the fact that somehow he managed to end up with a nephew who comes to him when he's in trouble or needs help is I think one of the things Jiang Cheng feels uncomplicatedly proud of.

it's just. for all Jiang Cheng says to Jin Ling, it's very clear that Jin Ling knows he's loved. (which, you know. is not something Jiang Cheng necessarily takes for granted.)

[sheadre]

Lady of Darkness (WWX x Reader) Part Three

Summary: One evening, when Yiling already went to rest for the night, one Wei Wuxian is restlessly staring out the window of the inn when he spots a woman walk down the empty street. That woman sings beautifully, her form enveloped in darkness as she walks. But who could that woman be? What does she want here?

Word count: 2290

Warnings: mentions of blood, mentions of violence, angst

A/N: Yes, I came back, I'm alive! But not for long, haha ^^' I still have to finish my thesis so I'm gonna go back MIA for a while! However, I will def continue once I handed in every paper to my uni and you will be bombarded with a tone of ideas I had while I wasn't active here! Lots of love! <3

Part One - Part Two

Wen Xuan stood by the lotus pods on Burial Mounds as she watched Wei Wuxian pluck the seeds out of one of the plants. It has been a few months since she first met him. Life here was tranquil for a while, however, ever since Wei Wuxian went to the banquet in Lan Ling, it was like everything was going downhill.

She kept warning him that living a life like this could lead to his demise sooner than later. It seemed that all her words meant nothing to him and were thrown out the window the second they left her lips. They no longer played around with challenges and spent their time arguing. Wen Xuan missed those times to be honest but she knew that if she didn’t try her best to warn him and keep him safe, then she would be a bad friend.

A friend…

Nowadays, she wished that she could be just a simple woman, living an ordinary life, getting engaged and married eventually, finding love and fulfillment in simpler things. A-Yuan noticed how she no longer was singing unconsciously while doing her duties, making her realize that maybe she had more problems than she thought she had. Looking at Wei Wuxian, she felt a strange longing in her heart, a fondness and warmth. A smile always gracing her lips whenever she spotted him, but now… now she was biting her lip in worry, her heart pounding against her ribcage heavily.

The elders were resting, only Wen Qing was around, cutting herbs when she stepped outside the cave. Wen Xuan’s worry only grew each day as she knew that most people wanted Wei Wuxian dead. She saw the good he was trying to do against the injustice, but sometimes, it was just not the right time to be playing the hero. Her heart melted the ice around itself ever since she met him. Somehow this one person was capable of making her see how the world is so vast, filled with many different colors and possibilities.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Wei Wuxian looked up with a confused expression at her. Her gaze however, stayed on his form unwavering.

“I’m worried about you, Wei Ying.”

His name fell from her lips with exasperation, a tiredness that filled her soul. She tried to be as nonchalant as possible, knowing that taking things too seriously or letting Wei Wuxian know that she was indeed serious about a topic would only make him skittish.

Wei Ying stood to his feet, his eyes narrowing at her.

“You don’t want me to go to my nephew’s birthday.” he huffed, irritated. They had a fight over the topic already, Wen Qing joining in as well. Cornering her friend however, did not work out the way she thought it would. Wei Ying felt a million miles away from her ever since the arguments started and Wen Xuan was growing desperate in trying to reach him.

“I have a reason. Do you think they will not try to harm you? Jin Guangshan cannot wait to take that damned Stygian Tiger seal from you! It became everyone’s obsession!” she reasoned which rather sounded like pleading.

“I am completely safe! I can protect myself!” he yelled at her, fed up with how many times the two girls tried to stop him. His eyes flickered in red but Wen Xuan was not someone to back down against any man.

“Against the whole cultivation world?!” she cried out angrily, eyes blazing with fire. “You, the Great Yiling Laozu against the world! No one can hurt you, right? You’re such a powerful, strong individual!”

Out of anger, she kept insulting him with that cold tone. Getting under others’ skin was after all an easy thing for her to do.

“What is wrong with you?! Why are you acting like that?!” he fumed. Wen Xuan shook her head in disbelief. Was it not easy to guess? Was it not obvious? She couldn’t bear to look at him anymore and fled the scene, leaving Wei Ying to dwell on things on his own.

By the time she emerged from the cave, Wei Wuxian had already left with Wen Ning. Her anger somewhat dimmed but she still couldn’t watch the whole thing playing down. Wen Xuan already witnessed many horrible things and losing a person who was one of the most important to her felt like someone punched a hole through her chest, grabbed her heart and ripped it right out of her body.

It was night time when she reached the next city. The people seemed restless and some cultivators were heading the way she came from. Fortunately, she managed to hide from their eyes and find a spot in an inn. Wen Xuan sat quietly in a dark corner, sipping on her tea when her ears picked up the conversation of a group of men two tables further down from her.

“Why are there so many cultivators running towards Lanling? Did they invite the whole world for another banquet? It wouldn’t be new, they like to flaunt their fortune! Zui!” a burly man said in disgust, clearly not fond of the Jin sect.

“Haven’t you heard?! Man! You’re living a way too secluded life after all!” another slapped his knee. “Let me tell you then, the Yiling Patriarch was invited to the sect heir’s son’s birthday celebration but the foul man that Yiling Patriarch is, he killed Jin ZiXuan! They got into a fight over something but the sect heir died and now everyone wants to hunt down Wei Wuxian!”

Wen Xuan accidentally let go of her cup, drawing attention to herself with the sharp clinking of the porcelain. She quickly fumbled with her tea, wiping up the spilled liquid avoiding the stares. Fortunately, people turned their attention away and continued their conversations. With trembling hands, she placed back everything and paid quickly. She needed to get to him. She needed to save him.

When Wen Xuan reached Lanling it was already on fire, the sounds of swords clashing filled the night. She made her way inside to see cultivators going at each others’ throats while they tried to get rid of the animated corpses roaming around and attacking them. It was all a blur as she looked around. Wen Xuan couldn’t make out which limb belonged to which person.

She quickly spotted her friend. Wei Wuxian was glowing with anger as he played Chenqing, the melodies filling her ears. Suddenly, a different melody hit her ears, her eyes skimming over the crowd but she couldn’t tell where the different notes came from. Furrowing her eyebrows she jumped into action, her voice following the melody Wei Wuxian was playing, strengthening his control over the corpses. But it wasn’t enough.

Things escalated so fast that she barely had time to process what was happening. Jiang Yanli’s desperate voice came from her side. Walking over, Wen Xuan made sure that no one could get close to the other woman. She knew that Jiang Yanli was important for her friend and so she made sure to keep her out of harm's way. Jiang Cheng made his way to her in time but when he noticed Wen Xuan, he pointed his sword at her throat threateningly. She stared at him coldly but did not make any threatening move.

“Who are you?!”

Jiang Wanyin looked mostly frightened as his eyes looked at her with distrust. She stepped back a little from his sword before she replied.

“Wei Wuxian’s friend. Keep an eye on your sister, she shouldn’t be here.”

“Don’t-”

“Where is A-Xian?”

Jiang Yanli’s voice came from behind Jiang Wanyin, she held onto her brother but her eyes looked at Wen Xuan with hope.

“You should get out of here. It is dangerous for you to be here at the moment.” Wen Xuan shook her head.

Jiang Cheng knew she was right and so he turned to his sister, ushering her back to the Jiang clan’s disciples. Suddenly the corpses started acting wild, attacking her and even if she tried her hardest she couldn’t keep them back. Looking around frightened, she saw Wei Wuxian kneeling on the ground. Her heart thumped hard in her chest as she watched him crying out desperately.

“Wei Ying!”

Wen Xuan’s voice seemed to have reached his ears and soon, he looked up to see her approaching form.

“What are you doing here?! Go away!” he yelled at her but his handsome face was not angry so much as scared. Scared for her life. Wen Xuan smiled at him gently and pulled him to his feet but he quickly shook her hand off of himself and jumped into the air. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as she watched him.

Wei Wuxian took out the Stygian Tiger Seal and it seemed like time stopped. Everyone’s attention was drawn to his form.

“Since you all want to obtain it so badly, then each of you use your own abilities to snatch it.”

Wei Ying threw the Seal into the crowd, the dark energy quickly surrounding it and breaking it into small pieces.

“Wei Ying!” she cried out but he no longer listened. She felt his tears land on her cheek from above making her heart break at his pain. This shouldn’t have happened if she could be quicker, if she didn’t leave Burial Mounds in her anger. Regret filled her veins as she watched him jump to the side, landing on the edge of the cliff. Her eyes widened in horror and quickly followed him, her mind filled with panic.

“Wei Ying! Come back!” Wen Xuan cried out, standing there with her feet rooted to the ground. It was already too late as Wei Wuxian stepped back and let his body fall. Wen Xuan jumped after him to grab his hand, her body piercing through the air like an arrow.

Her heart filled with hope when she finally felt his slender fingers in her palm and she clutched onto him tightly. She landed on the ground as she held onto his hand, her waist painfully impaled by the stone under her. Wei Wuxian was quite heavy compared to her which made both of them slowly inch downward. She couldn’t keep him up much longer but she knew she had to try. She couldn’t let go.

“Wen Xuan…” he breathed as he looked up at her. “Wen Xuan, let go.”

Suddenly, hands grabbed her waist, pulling her back slightly and another hand grabbed Wei Wuxian over her small hand. She looked over her shoulder to see Lan Wangji, blood dripping down his arm from a cut he received previously. Wen Xuan smiled in gratitude but that soon turned into panic.

Jiang Wanyin walked up behind the two of them, his sword drawn out of its sheath, his features contorted by anger.

“Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Wanyin cried out, his voice filled with hatred, disappointment and anger but mostly.

“No!”

“Go and die!”

The sword embedded into the stone under her and Wei Ying quickly pulled his hand out of her grasp. Wen Xuan’s heart stopped beating for a few minutes as she watched him fall to his death, tears rolling down her eyes.

Thirteen years later ~

Some things never change. Wei Wuxian still disliked the way everything was so restricting in the Gusu Lan clan. Lan Wangji brought him to Gusu after defeating Jin Guangyao and the world seemed to settle into peace.

“Lan Zhan! Wait for me!” Wei Ying hurried after his friend who seemed to be eager to show him something.

Wei Wuxian couldn’t seem to shake the memories of Wen Xuan out of his head. She knew things would turn bad, she tried to warn him but he only driven her away… but then she came back, almost losing her life while trying to protect him. He remembered the desperate cry he heard when he fell off that cliff, his eyes trained on her pained features, her agony showing on her beautiful face.

He knew that she must be somewhere far away or maybe she died and now she got her peace. His heart strangely skipped a beat at the thought of her being dead. After all the time they spent together he grew fond of her. Before meeting her, none of the girls grabbed his attention, he couldn’t really tell why exactly but their meak personalities never appealed to him somehow. Wen Xuan was different, she never backed out of an argument, never feared opposing him.

“Where are we going? Why aren’t you telling me anything?” he kept on nagging Lan Wangji but the tall man refused to say anything. Then his eyes widened when he recognized the place. The cold pond where Lan Zhan healed his wounds after getting punished with Wei Wuxian still looked the same. What shocked him was to see a figure standing by the shore.

“You brought an old friend, I see.”

That voice.

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened in shock, his feet leading him to the figure wearing all white. The hood covering her head was reaching down to her nose, hiding her gaze as long as it was pulled over her head. Her dark hair was pulled into a long braid that reached her hips. He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to see her beautiful face, however, now her left cheek had a long scar running from her temple to her chin. However, to Wei Wuxian, Wen Xuan was still as beautiful as before no matter what. Her lips pulled into a gentle smile when she took him in.

“Wei Ying, hao qiu bu jian.”

End ~

[robininthelabyrinth]

I'm pretty sure this is prompt four. Jiang Cheng/Qin Su - Jin Rusong as heir to Lotus Pier

ao3

Jiang Cheng heard the news in pieces, scraps of wild rumor and gossip repeated a hundred times over, but he still refused to believe it until he actually saw the official announcement.

Jin Guangyao had divorced his wife and sent her back to her father’s house, along with their son.

“Is he insane?” Jiang Cheng asked his second in command, who only shrugged helplessly. “Putting aside the fact that I’m certain that he loves her madly, putting everything else aside, Sect Leader Qin is influential and powerful, and a strong supporter of his father – no matter what happened between them, surely someone as pleasant and compromising as Jin Guangyao could find a way to work it out?”

Jiang Cheng had only met Qin Su a few times, always at Jin Guangyao’s side. He’d heard about how she’d fallen for the dashing young man that turned out to be Jin Guangyao and sworn to marry him, no matter the obstacles; he’d heard how they’d managed to overcome every storm, fight the wind and rain, and eventually made it to their marriage bed.

They’d even had a son together, little Jin Rusong; he was Jin Ling’s best playmate.

And Jin Guangyao was kicking him out? Kicking her out?

Absurd!

Who did he think he was?

And yet, contrary to Jiang Cheng’s expectations, Sect Leader Qin did not immediately explode, or, rather, within a few days, he did, but not in the way anyone had expected. Everyone had joked that he would find Jin Guangyao and strangle him, and he really did physically attack someone – but not Jin Guangyao.

He attacked Jin Guangshan instead.

It was as if he’d gone mad, red-eyed like Nie Mingjue in the throes of his qi deviation; he’d charged at Jin Guangshan, his old friend of thirty years or more, right in the middle of Jinlin Tower, and swiped at him viciously with his sword, cutting a gash in his chest as the surprised Jin sect leader darted back too slowly to wholly dodge.

What could be done? The Lanling Jin sect guards could not stand silently by with such provocation – they counter-attacked at once, and Sect Leader Qin did not survive. A little later, and it was discovered that he had never intended on it: his sword was laced with poison.

Sect Leader Qin died, but he took Jin Guangshan down with him the underworld.

The rumor mill exploded.

Everyone was talking about Sect Leader Qin’s motivations – the suspicious timing of the divorce – Jin Guangyao’s now inevitable ascension to the seat of Sect Leader Jin –

Only Jiang Cheng thought about Qin Su, who should have been ascending right beside him. It had been her father that had died, after all.

Laoling Qin was far enough away from Lanling Jin that they were still mostly independent, and they were close enough to the Qinghe Nie that Jiang Cheng could pretend that he’d only made a short detour on a visit directed towards Nie Huaisang, that notorious purveyor of gossip; luckily enough, Nie Huaisang remembered their old friendship and was more than happy to help cover his tracks.

When Jiang Cheng arrived, the house was already decked out in mourning. Qin Su greeted him, eyes red and swollen from tears.

“I’m sorry,” Jiang Cheng said awkwardly, then flinched when he realized he probably should have said something in greeting first – they really didn’t know each other well enough to skip over all that.

Nevertheless, Qin Su nodded, forgiving him the slip-up before he could even retract it. She was gracious and gentle, kind and quiet, economical and thoughtful – a consummate hostess. The wife of Jin Guangyao could not afford to be anything less.

Former wife.

Jiang Cheng’s gaze danced around the room, searching for something to say, and then abruptly he noticed – “There are two deaths in your household?”

“My mother took her own life,” Qin Su said, her voice dull. She tried to suppress it, but tears gathered in her eyes again. “Shortly before…”

Whatever it was that Jin Guangshan had done that had driven Sect Leader Qin mad, it had involved his wife, Jiang Cheng thought, and then abruptly he turned pale as he put two and two together. He’d never doubted that Jin Guangyao had adored Qin Su, so why would he divorce her?

Unless…

Jin Guangshan had a reputation.

Qin Su laughed a little, a bitter sound. “Everyone will know, soon enough,” she said wisely, seeing that Jiang Cheng had figured it out. “I don’t blame my former husband at all; he acted as he ought to in every respect. It’s only my poor A-Song…I can’t imagine what his life will be like from now on.”

Jiang Cheng looked helplessly at her. To lose not only your parents, one right after the other, but your husband, your reputation, and next even your son…

“Marry me,” he said suddenly, and Qin Su stared at him. “If Sect Leader Jin’s assault were recent rather than ancient, it would have provoked the same result. The only reason anyone might suspect the truth is because of the timing of your divorce – if there’s a reason given for that, people won’t think twice about it.”

His words had come out all in a rush, smashing together like stones tossed around by a waterfall; he hadn’t thought of the idea until right this moment.

“Are you suggesting I admit to adultery?” she asked. Her eyes were as round as the full moon.

Jiang Cheng shrugged, a little helpless. “Your reputation is gone,” he pointed out, wishing he knew how to be kind or tactful. “Adultery or incest – it’s the same either way for you. But for A-Song…”

To be the son of an adulterous woman was disgraceful, but such things happened and people generally looked the other way, as long as the real father was powerful enough.

It was better than being a child of incest.

“But what of your reputation?” she asked. “Sect Leader Jiang, you can’t. I won’t let you injure yourself for my sake.”

“Not for you,” he said, though maybe it was, just a little bit. The loss of your parents, the loss of your whole life, everything you’d ever believed – who could understand that better than him? “For A-Song. He’s Jin Ling’s best friend.”

Qin Su had always been kind to Jin Ling, he thought. She didn’t need to be, could just tolerate him the way most people in Jinlin Tower did, but she really seemed to like him…

It occurred to him suddenly that Qin Su met all of his requirements for a bride: a beauty from a good family, obedient, economical, with a mild personality who wasn’t too loud and wasn’t too talkative, who was good to Jin Ling…

“How’s your cultivation?” he asked abruptly. “Do you know how to cook?”

“Mediocre,” she said, blinking at him. “And I’m better at baking, I think. I like making sweets.”

“Good,” Jiang Cheng said, relieved. “That’s – good. I’m glad. Will you marry me?”

Qin Su bit her lip. “Let me think about it?”

Thoughtful, he added to the list. Cautious, not reckless.

“Take all the time you need,” he said.

She came back to him two shichen later. “What happens to A-Song?” she asked.

“I’ll adopt him as my own,” Jiang Cheng said. “Or he can keep the surname Jin, if you prefer. And if Lianfeng-zun agrees, which I think he will – it’s his birthright, after all.” Too many times over. “Jin Ling lives with me sometimes; they can grow up as cousins, the way they should.”

Qin Su nodded, lips trembling a little. “You won’t regret this?”

“I might,” Jiang Cheng admitted. “But I’m probably not going to marry anyone else, and I’m willing. Are you?”

“I am,” she said, and smiled at him. Her eyes were still red, and the smile shaky, but it was something. “Thank you. I…no, never mind.”

“If we’re going to be married, you’re going to need to learn to ask things of me,” he reminded her.

Qin Su wiped her eyes. “Yes, but there’s asking reasonable things, and then there’s asking to alert my former husband before we announce our engagement.”

“Oh, no, that’s a great idea,” Jiang Cheng said, immediately relieved. “If there’s one thing Lianfeng-zun knows, it’s how to manage an announcement of that sort of magnitude. We should definitely tell him.”

Qin Su’s smile this time was stronger.

Nie Huaisang pulled a few strings and got Jin Guangyao to come over to the Unclean Realm, and when he walked in and saw Qin Su, he flinched. Jiang Cheng could see on his face that he still loved her, and he felt bad for him – not enough to stop, but still.

“I see,” Jin Guangyao said, hearing the plan. His expression was surprisingly neutral – thoughtful, but not as upset as Jiang Cheng would have expected. “It’s not a bad idea. And you don’t even need to admit to adultery, either.”

“We don’t?” Jiang Cheng asked, surprised.

“We can say that my marriage with A-Su broke down after my father’s actions - painting them as recent, rather than ancient,” Jin Guangyao explained. “I didn’t feel I could oppose him, she had no choice but to do so – it was an irrevocable breach. You came to comfort her, having met her during your visits with Jin Ling, and her sect is in need of support…you can say it developed naturally from there. It might not work to quell the rumors, of course, but it would at least provide a way to save face in public…Leave it to me.”

“Thank you, A-Yao,” Qin Su said quietly, and he smiled at her, pained.

“Just be happy,” he said to her, then looked at Jiang Cheng. “Treat her well.”

“I will,” Jiang Cheng promised, and took her by the hand. “I swear.”

-

It was a few years later. Nie Huaisang sat beside Jiang Cheng.

“I think he killed my brother,” he said, playing with his fan. “I’m going to destroy him.”

Jiang Cheng stared at the newest memorial tablet in the Lotus Pier, his hands clenched into fists with knuckles turned white.

“Good,” he said, voice savage. “I’ll help.”