#jc basically never asks anything of wwx

[labyrynth]

so um anyway jiang cheng canonically does not consider wei wuxian a servant—let alone “just a servant”—and does not treat him like one. idk where this idea came from but it is factually untrue.

in fact, jc repeatedly indicates that he thinks wwx’s station is on par with other gentry, that he likes the idea of being part of a pair with wwx, and even jokes with wwx, mocking the notion that wwx could be a servant.

after wwx was taken in, they were functionally raised as equals, and there is nothing in their interactions as youths that indicates or even hints that their relationship was master/servant instead of simply childhood friends.

and obviously wwx is not sect leader, so yeah, he is expected to defer to jc after the war, (and that’s not an inherently bad thing, that’s how leadership works) but jc lets him get away with SO much shit that Would Not Fly if wwx were a servant (or treated like one). if jc only regarded wwx as a servant, there is literally no reason to be as lenient as jc was with wwx’s loose canon tendencies.

i’m sorry, but there is simply no valid reading of their relationship where the dynamic of their relationship is master/servant. their relationship simply is not built on obligation, as much as they both try to act like it. this assumption undercuts a huge amount of context and motivation, leaving nonsensical character decisions and gaping plot holes. there is no mdzs unless they care about each other as individuals.

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

Aug 26th

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1. hi, this is for itmf! pls rec me trans wangxian fics :3c no modern au tho pls, thank you!!

In Reflection, Truth by Shadaras (T, 55k, WangXian, WWX is summoned into a woman’s body, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Gore, this is a story about being transgender, Dysphoria, Misogynistic Slurs, Ableist Language, it’s not slow burn if it’s going to be faster than canon, Trans Male Character, Trans wish fulfillment, Canon Divergence - Yunmeng Brothers Have A Real Conversation) has wwx reincarnated as a women and trans!lwj if i remember correctly

You might be able to find a few in our Trans Wangxian Compilation

The waters and the wild by SecretStorm (T, 62k, WIP, WangXian, Alternate Universe, Fairy Tale Elements, Pied Piper WWX, Trans LWJ, Many juniors, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid Fic, Sexual Tension) It's a wip that hasn't been updated in a few years, but really good! Trans LWJ in a canon-adjacent setting.

try author 🔒withbroombefore; they write a bunch of canon-era trans lan zhan and it's all *really good*

🔒 Water Sweeter by deliciousblizzardshark (E, 8k, WangXian, Historical, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Some kind of fairy or spirit or something LWJ, Intersex LWJ, Intersex Character, Fluff and Humor, Crack Treated Seriously, Thirst Trap WWX, Topping from the Bottom, WWX’s Canonical Cottage-core Fantasy, First Time, Domestic Fluff, Vaginal Sex)

hold her where you want her by damnslippyplanet (E, 6k, WangXian, Gender Changes, Trans Female LWJ, Female WWX, Burial Mounds Settlement Days)

scarcely trust my candid heart by Deastar (E, 6k, WangXian, A/B/O, Non-Traditional A/B/O Dynamics, Beta/Beta, Demisexual LWJ, Trans WWX, Fluff and Smut, Female WangXian, Partial Cisswap, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, poor LQR is just trying to be a supportive ace elder and doing a great job actually, too bad it goes right over his niece's head)

you can always find me here by ScarlettStorm (E, 15k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Getting Together, Genderswap, Cisswap, yes it's BOTH, trans woman LWJ, cis woman WWX, they're lesbians harold, the excuciating beauty of night hunting with your bestie, who you're very much in love with, and hoping they love you back, (spoiler: they do), First Time, Vaginal Fingering, Oral Sex, gratuitous descriptions of summer weather)

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2. Hi! This is for ITMF. I want a semi-serious (?) And slice-of-life fic. I dont know how to explain it. Just an example like WWX in his yiling laozu ers tells people in yiling that that person who sells talisman from yiling laozu is a fraud. And then it snowballed to people ask his service to banish monster or something and WWX reputation gets better. But the story focus on WWX everyday life like he make new inventation or trying to describe his cultivation. An example maybe something like Just as the Snow Melts by draechaeli or if a modern fic it is something like I Don't Want to Debut! By countingcr0ws or Anything For Wei Ying by panda_desu. Thanks! @idontknowwhattowriteforusername

Grave dirt by esama (T, 92k, WangXian, canon divergence, yiling wei sect au, demonic cultivation, farming, found family, pre-slash, politics, fix-it of sorts) is one that focuses on basically the life in burial mounds

🔒 the thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break by RoseThorne (E, 93k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Soulmates, Self-Esteem Issues, Fix-It, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, PTSD, Handfasting, Panic Attacks, Getting Together, First Time, Aftercare, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, /Referenced Torture, Scars, Chronic Pain, Golden Core Reveal, First Time, Switching, sex-related injury, LWJ Stays at the Burial Mounds, LSZ is a Wèi, Good Sibling JC, Dissociation, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Disability, Scheming NHS, Disabled Character)

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3. Hii!! for the next itmf can I please request some dark lwj?? sugar daddy vibes or just possessive lwj? i read a few mafia fics and I'm craving this trope a bit more now .thank you!!!

🔒 At heart by apathyinreverie (M, 36k, WangXian, WIP, Dark LWJ(Ish), Amnesia, WWX gets to be Not Okay after the BM, Hurt WWX, Recovery, Caring, Protective LWJ, Possessive LWJ, some definite manipulation, but not everything is as it seems, not nearly as dark as the tags make it sound, Canon Divergence, Golden Core Revea, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, kind of, Domestic WangXian, Fluff, WWX Goes to Gusu, Possessive WWX, WWX happily atticwifing away, Sunshot Campaign, BAMF WWX, BAMF LWJ)

🔒 As good as by apathyinreverie (T, 6k, WangXian, LQR & WWX, Fix-It, Canon Divergence, not a good uncle LQR story, but also not not?, Golden Core Reveal, Kind Of, Golden Core Fix-It, Also kind of, Addiction, Manipulation, not between wangxian, just...War politics, Sunshot Campaign, Not As Dark As The Tags Make It Sound, Possessive LWJ, Protective LWJ, Tired WWX, Genius WWX, Dual Cultivation, LQR is too old for teenage drama, Developing Relationship)

golden when the day met the night by glitteringmoonlight (Not rated, 95k, slow burn, sugar daddy LWJ, light, angst, fluff, developing relationship, eventual smut, WIP)

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4. Hi! For any future I'm In The Mood For, i'm looking for Wangxian fics that are cozy, like being wrapped up in a warm hug. @emrinalex

crystalized by gusuvibes (M, 25k, WangXian, Modern, Bakery, Pining, Getting Together, Baker LWJ, Nurse WWX, OYZZ in a STARRING ROLE, Bunnies With Bad Names, Elaborate Descriptions of Delicious Baked Goods, Frottage, Eventual Smut, Sexy, Baking, Time) is all cafe, cakes and kisses

🔒 and in the spring i shed my skin by wvlfqveen (T, 11k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, Professors, Shapeshifter LWJ, Not Quite Necromancer WWX, Mutual Pining, WWX being an oblivious idiot, Fluff, Love Confessions, yunmeng trio, Family Feels, get JC therapy 2020, Kissing)

i’ll have you and you’ll have me by sundiscus (T, 5k, WangXian, Modern, Established Relationship, Marriage Proposal, fluff with a sprinkling of angst (for flavor), Podfic Available)

Love Cats by so_shhy series (T, 14k, WangXian, Modern, Meet-Cute, Fluff, WWX is wet and adorable in a tree, With a Cat, LWJ had no chance, Don't Try This At Home, First Dates, LWJ likes ducks, WWX does not like dogs, They just have a nice date, picnic dates, Falling In Love, LWJ is briefly less than graceful, there is a spider, but like barely there and totally harmless, LWJ Loves Rabbits, Office Party, LXC is a Good Big Brother, WWX is an excellent boyfriend, POV Outsider, they are in love the world is full of joy, Everything is Beautiful except for baby coots)

The Late Great Custody Debate by stiltonbasket (G, 9k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, LXC/NMJ, JC & WWX & JYL, modern, Domestic Fluff, baby a-yuan, Single Parent WWX, LWJ is a confused rabbit owner, nielan are married, nhs is: xoxo gossip girl, Custody Arrangements, engagement, Confused WWX, WWX voice: if i’m the one with the kid why are you suing ME for child support?, LWJ kills his own love life in the worst way, Happy Ending)

Pigtail Pulling by protos_metazu_ison (G, 3k, WangXian, Fluff and Humor, Crack Treated Seriously, Cloud Recesses Shenanigans)

Just Say Yes Series by edenwolfie (T/M, 338k, WangXian, Matchmaking, Pining, Getting Together, Canon Divergence, POV Alternating, Fluff, First Kiss, Declarations Of Love, Humor, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Good Uncle LQR, Engagement, Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It)

🔒 yearned for by spookykingdomstarlight (G, 3k, WangXian, LXC & LWJ, Future Fic, Pining, Rabbits, Fluff, Kissing, Family)

If your heart is in your dream (No request is too extreme) by Spodumene (G, 1k, WangXIan, LWJ's Birthday, Fluff, Modern Setting)

Oh, your love is sunlight by feyburner (M, 9k, WangXian, Drabble Collection, Tags specified in each chapter, But it's all pretty soft and goofy)

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5. I love your blog so much! It helps me find fics i sometimes unknowingly overlook, so...thank you so much! Itmf fics in Lan Wangji's POV, any AU works but if its canonverse, may I request it be novel or donghua canon please? Also have another request for wangxian recs...jealous Lan Wangji because Lan Xichen flirted with/dated/fucked Wei Wuxian in the past (could be a rumour but I'd prefer him to have heard/seen it happen and decide he wants Wei Wuxian for himself)...any AU!

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

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6. hii this is for itmf!! modern au or not but just anything where wwx gets pregnant with lwj's child and runs away for whatever reason without lwj knowing that they have a child together and then years after they will have a reunion and the big reveal. I just love tropes like this and idk what tags i have to place to get these results (so if anyone can kindly guide me on what tags are the best to look for these fics, i will be so grateful!!) Thank you!!!

The Winner Takes It All by YilingSani (M, 46k, WangXian, Modern AU, Single Parent WWX, Old Friends, One Night Stands, No Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Forgiveness, Second Chances, Inspired by Mamma Mia! (Movies) Teen Pregnancy, Mpreg, mention of miscarriage, Birth Trauma, amniotic fluid embolism) Both feature Wei Ying leaving because he's led to believe that Lan Zhan wants nothing to do with him.

All The Years Lost by UseMyMuse (T, 26k, WangXian, Teen Pregnancy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Single Parent AU, Forced misunderstandings, Forced miscommunication, Mpreg) Both feature Wei Ying leaving because he's led to believe that Lan Zhan wants nothing to do with him.

Family Pictures (Or: “Mark Rothko is very, very dead, Wei Ying.”) by belleweather (M, 37k, WangXian, Kid Fic, Post Mpreg, Modern AU, Cindarella Story, Mistaken Identity, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship, art conservator lwj, idiot WWX, (he gets better slowly), shockingly little actual sex omg what happened to me, fake/mistaken cheating, no actual infidelity)

Nothing but your heart by airinshaw (E, 21k, WangXian, Modern AU, A/B/O Dynamics, Implied Mpreg, First Time, Getting Together, Angst and Drama, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anal Sex, Whump, Breeding Kink)

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7. Hello, for itmf id like ask for work in modern premises where lxc and others accidentally or semi intentionally killed wwx and conspired to never talk about it. Lwj is relentless in searching for wwx. Canon period is ok if there is no canon conflict as the reason @best-before-end

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8. Hi! For the ITMF, I wanted to ask if there are any fics where WWX died at the end of the war? I don't know if it's hc or canon but I keep having the thought that he didn't expect to survive the war without a core. I was wondering how it would have been if WWX over did it or something and died. I'm looking specifically for him dying at the end when the sun shot campaign isn't hindered by it, I suppose. Thanks to everyone in advance! @hikato-chan

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9. heyo! can you rec me a canon compliant/canon divergence wangxian fic that

A) has one of them explore his sexuality, identity, all that good stuff

B) has both of them explore the above together

basically i just want fics where wangxian explores and accepts their own queerness and sexualities and it's a verh lovely time, hehe

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10. Itmf fics that highlight how sweet wen ning is, and his friendship with wwx. (Also any sweet-yet-badass wen ning stories, esp if wen ning gets the recognition he deserves, with a good title/respect etc.)

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11. For the next imtf, can you recommend me some of your favorite non English FFs on Ao3

I’m sorry, Good bye by NHaraki (M, 35k, WWX/WRH, WIP, Jiang Family Bashing, Time Travel Fix-It, YZY Bashing) I translated it via Google Chrome and it was fine. It's an WWX/WRH fic where WWX returns to his childhood after the Siege. Stuff happens, YZY throws him into the burial mounts and WRH finds him. It's a lot of healing and hiding WWX. Found family. WC is raised better. It's adorable

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12. I recently finished reading a wangxian fic told from Jingyi's POV and in that post-canon fic, everyone loves and lusts for wei wuxian to the point many believe its not even possible for his original body to have been better in terms of attractiveness. So itmf of wangxian fics with like...sorta similar premise in the way everyone loves/lusts for/is awed by wei wuxian to the point of hero-worshipping/using him as a standard for future spouse, etc. Lots of wei wuxian swooning and sighing about not finding someone better than him and so on please!

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13. any truth spell/potion fics for itmf? as long as it’s not a sad ending i’m game for anything involving the truth being revealed in some manner like this!

🔒 in the shadow of moonlit flowers by Reverie (cl410) (T, 56k, wangxian, LXC/NMJ, Cloud Recesses, LWJ & NHS Friendship, Developing Relationship, POV LWJ, Minor Injuries, Autistic LWJ, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, aka the Madam Yu warning, Genius WWX, Light Angst And Hurt/Comfort, WWX Protection Squad, Gusu Lan Sect, Slow Burn, Protective LWJ, LWJ-centric) is not quite the ask but its about lwj who can tell lie apart from truth because of a spell his mother gave him

the breaking of your soul (upon my lips) by sunsandships (M, 40k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Mutual Pining, Golden Core Reveal, Happy Ending) Not sure if these fit for 13, but Wei Wing develops a talisman to trace curses back to their caster

The Fire Lapping Up the Creek by notevenyou (E, 66k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, Canon-Typical Violence, Injury, Injury Recovery, Blood, Respiratory Illness, Major Illness, Fever, Grief/Mourning, Burial Mounds, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Hunger and food scarcity, Surgery, Fix-It of Sorts) Not sure if these fit for 13, but Wei Wing develops a talisman to trace curses back to their caster

when you’re doing all the leaving (then it’s never your love lost) by tardigradeschool (T, 26k, wangxian, canon divergence, hurt/comfort, canon-typical violence, sharing clothes, sharing a bed, fix-it, golden core transfer) Not sure if these fit for 13, but Wei Wing develops a talisman to trace curses back to their caster

All Things Belong by kuroi_atropos (M, 65k, WRH & WWX, wangxian, WN & WWX, Wen WWX, abuse, whipping, manipulations, smart WWX, possessive behavior, implied/Referenced rape/non-con, past rape/non-con, WIP) Wei Ying develops a way to show blood relations/family members

And Time Is But a Paper Moon by sami (M, 138k, WangXian, XiChengQing, Time Travel, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Healing, Mental Health Issues, PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, BAMF JYL, Getting Together) Wei Ying develops a way to show blood relations/family members

Debts of a Child Part 2 by Hauntcats (M, 111k, WangXian, YZY Bashing, Not Jiang Family Friendly, Angst and Feels, lots of anger, JC Bashing, not Jiang friendly, Angst with a Happy Ending, Content warning for icky spiders in later chapters., hurt no comfort for Jiang siblings.) Wei Ying develops a way to show blood relations/family members

🔒 this body yet survives by RoseThorne (T, 57k, WangXian, WIP, No War AU, Recovery, Trauma, Dissociation, Courtship, Courting Rituals, Near Death Experiences, Attempted Murder, Eventual Happy Ending, Panic Attacks, Vomiting, Siblings, Protective Siblings, Soup, Triggers, Protective LWJ, Protective LQR, Yúnmèng Siblings Dynamics, Bad Parent YZY, POV Third Person, POV LWJ, reference to poisoning, reference to assassination, Reference to chronic illness, reference to infanticide, Depression, Minor Injuries, Painting, Gift Giving, WWX Has a Fear of Dogs, Good Sibling JC, Good Sibling JYL, BAMF WWX,, Jealous SS, WWX Protection Squad) Wei Ying develops a way to show blood relations/family members

~*~

14. Looking for a fic where it’s like “we just did something super duper gay what happened”

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15. I always see fics about people falling for lan wangji’s cold beauty but for the next itmf, do you have any fics for people are crushing on wei wuxian for his looks or charms? it can be existing characters or ocs, idm!

Endgame wangxian though, please!

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16. Hello! ITMF Jin Guangshan surviving until Wei Wuxian comes back to life, so that Wei Wuxian can take revenge/get justice from Jin Guangshan himself. Thank you!

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17. Based on one of Kay's commentaries on a fic rec, I was wondering if anyone had any fics that put Wei Wuxian through an "emotional blender" lmao.

Silenced by Tasharene (M, 63k, WangXian, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, Temporary Blindness, Aversion to touch, Fear of crowds, Panic Attacks, Post-Canon, WWX Whump, Hurt WWX, Whump, Angst with a Happy Ending, world-class troll LXC, see the archive Warnings BEFORE you accuse me of not tagging things!!!) warning- ALOT of angst like alot lot but its a happy ending

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

[greeniegaes]

I’ve been thinking about omegaverse WangXian AU and I’m so not normal about it

Basically, WWX was always known as a beta by people around him, constantly hiding his scent and on such heavy suppressors he’d practically never have a heat. When the Wens take all of the young cultivators/clan heirs or whatever he no longer has access to that kind of stuff and it’s only so long before the medication’s effect goes away.

In the big carnivorous turtle cave he can feel his omega-ness slowly come back so he’s desperate to get out away from all the young alphas and betas he’s surrounded by. Things go as cannon and only him and LWJ are left in the cave and LWJ??? Well he’s not doing too well, neither of them are with their fevers, being stuck in a cave alone and pheromones- oh yea LWJ is in rut too lol

So they do their do in the cave, escaping out and then WWX runs off after making the other man swear he’s not gonna tell anyone that WWX is an omega.

During the attack on Lotus Pier WQ pulls WWX aside asking if he knows about the kit in his womb. WWX, freaking out about it swears her to secrecy. He’s been… kinda aware about it over the month or two that’s past, but just used his high level of cultivation to just keep it in a dormant state.

When he gives JC his core such a thing isn’t an option. He doesn’t want his child to live during a time of war so he promises himself to end the war against the Wens before his birth.

He levels up his demotic cultivation at way faster of a pace, easily out numbering any bad Wen troops, cutting off the supply lines, anything to get an advantage. His tactics are often called brutal, disgusting but most of the Sunshot doesn’t care because whoever is doing it is on their side.

Keeps following cannon but now LWJ has just a totally weird feeling in his gut all the time. He swears he can feel WWX’s emotions, the stress, the fear, the agony all of it. When he finally lays eyes on who he knows is WWX as the man takes down WC and he can’t help but feel relief. Relief that after nine months (WWX froze his pregnancy for like two months so he’s about eight and half along) he’s finally able to see the man he’s fallen in love with, that he spent a rut with while the man was in heat.

WWX doesn’t acknowledge him.

He doesn’t even really acknowledge JC, his little shidi who’s so excited to see him again. WWX remains quiet, a large cloak wrapped over his whole body

Instead of properly interacting with his friends he instead asks when their plan to attack the nightless city is (he has less then two months, and by god he wants peace of mind that his child won’t be born in a war). He lets them take him to the war camp, discussing with the leaders like LXC and NMJ to move the battle forward, saying that he can balance out the sides.

They agree and that’s that.

At the final battle WWX holds up the tiger sigil, controlling more undead then he ever has. He watches as the rest of the tyrannical Wens get torn apart, their army in ruins before NMJ takes their leader’s head. Some of them still fight, and in a blaze of glory WWX destroys the tiger sigil, creating a bright light that takes out more of the Wen’s army, any of the roaming undead and himself.

LWJ feels his blood go cold. He can’t feel WWX suddenly. He canthecanthecant.

Where did his omega go?

Back in Yiling WWX falls to the ground, any last remains of his power, spiritual or demonic finally shredded into pieces. WQ helps him recuperate, Wen Yuan at his bed side as he looks up.

It’s then and there WWX smiles as he promises himself a normal life, patting A-Yuan’s head and scenting him like he’s his own kit.

Two years later.

LWJ feels lost, constantly wandering around for something, any sign of WWX. He’s looking at hair ribbons in a market outside of Yiling, a beautiful red ribbon with lotuses embroidered in it. He jolts as he feels a hold on his leg, looking down curiously.

“Baba?” The little kid asks, no more then two years old. A six year old huffs as he goes over, bowing his head in apology to LWJ.

“Sorry Mister, my brother gets confused.” Wei Yuan huffs, pulling his younger brother away. LWJ sucks a breath in as he looks at the young toddler, tan skin, enchanting yellow eyes, perfectly straight hair except with the tips granted a slight curl.

There’s no denying this is a Lan child, just from looks alone, but the scent surrounding both of the children? That’s something LWJ had smelt once, trapped in the cave in the throes of passion with his mate.

Wei Wuxian. Wei Ying is alive.

A young looking man pulls the children away before LWJ can say anything. The man picks up the two year old and gently holds him in his arms, the six year old grabbing onto the man’s leg, still glaring at the alpha.

“Sorry about that, sir.” A soft voice rumbles with a chuckle, freezing as he looks up at LWJ for the first time.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Hello! Do you know that scene in mdzs where jyl comes to yiling with jc to show wwx her wedding dress?

What is your interpretation of wwx's attitude towards jc here?

I always thought he sounded pissed at him almost the entire time, telling him to shut up, saying it's none of his business when asked a question and getting annoyed at jc provoking him by toasting to the "yiling patriarch"

I've seen some comments where other people's reactions were something along the lines of "glad they're still friends" or laughing at the "banter" in this scene and I have a completely different view on this so i got curious and wanted to ask what do you think? And if you know how is it written in Chinese, what the tone of this scene is?

Maybe I got the wrong idea but it's almost uncomfortable for me how cold wwx is to jc in that scene, and justifiably so considering how jc fucked him over last time they met

Hello there anon!

For the scene in question (Seven Seas Edition)

The hanzi of it:

My translation:

Hearing this title, Wei Wuxian thought again of that domineering long flag fluttering in the wind, and his mind was filled with eight bright golden characters reading "Supreme Evil Lord Yiling Patriarch", and said, "Shut up!"

After taking a sip, Jiang Cheng asked, "How is your injury from last time?"

Wei Wuxian said, “It’s already healed."

Jiang Cheng hummed, "Ahh," After a pause, he added, "How many days did it take?"

Wei Wuxian replied, "It's been less than seven days. I told you, with Wen Qing, there's no need to worry. But, you were really fucking violent."

Jiang Cheng ate a piece of lotus root, "You asked him to break my hand first. You were sitting for seven days, and my arm was hung up for more than a month. "

Wei Wuxian hesitantly laughed and said, "How could I have not been cruel? It was your left hand anyway so it didn't prevent you from writing. A hundred days of broken muscles and bones to heal, three months of waiting isn't long."

Wen Ning's stuttering reply could be heard faintly outside the door. After a moment of silence, Jiang Cheng said, "Is this what you're going to do from now on? Do you have any plans?"

Wei Wuxian said, “Not sure. Those people don’t dare to go up the mountain, and no one dares to mess with me when I go down the mountain. As long as I don’t take the initiative to cause trouble, it's fine."

"Not taking the initiative?" Jiang Cheng sneered, "Wei Wuxian, believe it or not, even if you don't cause trouble, trouble will still find you. There is often nothing you can do to save someone, but there are more than a thousand ways to harm someone."

Wei Wuxian lowered his head, "One force with enough effort can defeat many, no matter the method. So, I will kill whoever comes. "

Jiang Cheng calmly said, "You never listen to any of what I tell you. One day you will know that what I say is right."

He drank the rest of the soup in one breath, stood up, and said: "Awesome. Amazing. As expected of the Yiling Laozu."

Wei Wuxian spat out a piece of bone, "Are you done yet?"

Before leaving, Jiang Cheng said, "Don't see us off. We don't want to be spotted."

Wei Wuxian nodded. He understood that this was not an easy journey for the Jiang family siblings. If others saw this, all the drama they put on for others would be in vain.

He said, "We'll go first."

So, as to my take for this, it's less of anyone is truly angry, as it is waiting for something to happen. The situation is played as a simple meeting when it no longer is, can't be, and will never be. There is a lack of this foreboding that overshadows the scene in the seven seas translation. Something I am not fond of as it uses more banter than Wei Wuxian exhibits in the scene. (Where snickers and the weird tone comes from with Wei Wuxian being surprised he was stabbed basically just brings more ire than I want that doesn't pertain to this question)

I think it's less that Wei Wuxian is angry at anything more than understanding what point they are at and him fully expressing he doesn't want anything further endangering him or the Wens after the defection was over and done with. If they keep low as he intends to, all could move on. Jiang Cheng of course doubts this as he thinks Wei Wuxian can't do anything else but cause trouble in his efforts to help. Two opposing sides of leave well enough alone, or, step in once again against cruelty despite the hurt.

[tbgkaru-woh]

Heyyyy I read through your chengxuan comic "Pride of Jin" and I loved it!! Just wondering if you have any thoughts as to what happens after chapter 10 when wwx is resurrected?

hey, glad you liked it! I always have thoughts, many thoughts! I actually wanted to do an epilogue comics but didn't find the time/energy for that specific thing. Whether it's fair, good or bad, the endings for all characters got changed majorly: JGY gets to leave with his mom's ashes and SMS (Su Minshan) accompanies him on his travels to somewhere where JGY won't be recognized and can start a new life LXC learned about NMJ and JGY in a less stressful situation, in a situation where JGY was no longer in the picture to twist the knife that true stabbed in him, but instead of brooding solitute, he reverts to less healthy coping mechanism - feeling so guilty for not trusting NMJ regarding JGY, he wishes for nothing more than to be able to fix this mistake. goal that aligns with NHS's, who shares that WWX "owes him" bringing NMJ back. WWX doesn't want anything to do with that life again, but NHS finds a big appeal in it and WWX basically teaches NHS ways around demonic cultivation, just so NHS can get his brother back. NMJ gets "brought back" but isn't as controllable as he should be, NHS keeps NMJ in chains but keeps him close, dressed up with his hair styled again, always by his side as he leads the Nie clan in a way where it's less him being part of any events and more in the "don't fuck with Nies, we literally have feral fierce corpses". WWX, JC and LXC are the only ones allowed inside the walls, LXC visits often to play soothing music to NMJ and talks to him, trying to bring the "human" part of him back. WWX and LWJ still get together but it doesn't leave LXC alone, jgy dead and yi city boys destroyed so i call that a win. didn't have many thoughts on their endgame though. and Yi City, i couldn't decide if i'd give xue yang the ability to have both song lan and xiao xingchen by his side as fierce corpses, OR if i'd still have him try and bring XXC back as SL is loyaly by his side as a fierce corpse without wangxian ever interrupting, OR if i'd have Song Lan never find XY and XXC and they'd continue living in their bliss (and i don't want to think of the tragedy i'd throw Song Lan's way to make that be the case :') ) JC and JZX still each have their sect but they have a publicly acknowledged bond/allyship where they may as well work as a unit. JZX finally rules the proud Jins in a respectable way and the Jiangs are stronger than ever under JC's leadership, to the point where Yunmeng becomes the prefered location for new disciples to enlist. JC gets the validation he deserves without being in WWX's shadow and JZX finally turns anew leaf on Jin's-not-so-great track record. And the Juniors, i'd love to explore their together times during studies, not unlike the main characters in their Gusu days, until eventually, i will do a timeskip with them all grown up, causing both mayhem but also being the heroes no one asked for but we all deserve, this DND adventuring group

[admirableadmiranda]

Hii, there is some thing I wanted to ask your opinion about

About that time Jiang Cheng sacrificed himself to save Wei Wuxian from Wen cultivators, I say it in the most non-bashing way possible but do you think there's a chance his sacrifice was pointless?

What happens is: JC distracted the Wens from unsuspecting WWX, causing them to chase and then capture him, which results in him getting whipped and more importantly him losing his golden core. When WWX can't find him where he left him he makes haste and finds him the same day, runs and gets help from Wen Ning. I hope I got all that correct.

Now, is it possible that if JC never saw anything and WWX was captured instead... he would scare Wen Chao again and be thrown in the Burial Mounds? Because sadly WWX does get captured by the Wens in the end anyway and it was after the core removal, which was a surgery he experienced awake for 2 days, and he was basically helpless and unable to protect himself and yet he tricked them into leaving him alive. Obviously, experiencing hell on earth for 3 months isn't the nicest but still, he survived.

So, if he got captured with a golden core could something similar happen? Even being thrown into BM would be better with a golden core and he could have escaped earlier.

At the same time, while he had his GC he could fight back and make things worse for himself but I don't know if after everything we've seen of him I believe in that. It's established he's a genius, a quick thinker and will manipulate his opponents if he has to so I believe he would survive.

Could it be possible or are there flaws in my reasoning? I'm very interested in your opinion, I think it's fun speculating about what ifs and such but if it's something you have no interest in don't worry about replying too! No pressure!

Hi! It was interesting to read your thoughts, I think I understand what you’re asking, but I think there’s a different way to phrase it, which is that if Jiang Cheng isn’t captured by the Wen, none of the novel shakes up the same way because none of the tangles of the plot can shake out the same way and I’d say you’d actually get a much worse ending for everyone involved.

Because Jiang Cheng gets captured, Wei Wuxian runs back to find him and runs into Wen Ning. What with the two of them attempting to avoid Wen detection, the odds of Wen Ning being able to find them, let alone talk to them long enough to re-earn Wei Wuxian’s trust drop to almost nothing. They are too wounded, reasonably distrustful and in some sort of shape to actually stop and listen at the time and it was only because Wei Wuxian truly had no more options that he slowed down even then.

If Jiang Cheng doesn’t get captured, then they don’t go to Yiling with Wen Ning, the odds there are either that they go to Meishan to find Jiang Yanli or one of the other great clans for some sort of aid since it’s just the two of them. Wen Chao therefore can’t run into Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian isn’t in worse enough shape to be captured and he never gets thrown in the burial mounds.

And in all honesty… they probably lose the war. Jiang Cheng wouldn’t degrade as far because he didn’t hit the full breaking point of having his core crushed in the end and that sort of debt with Wei Wuxian in his head never comes to exist and their relationship would be a little better, but the odds without Wei Wuxian’s guidao are very bad, what with the Lan having been attacked and not in as good shape and the Jiang having been all but wiped out, leaving only the Jin at full fighting strength since the Nie have been skirmishing them for a while. And given how Wei Wuxian was being the front line of the Jiang border for a while, without the power of him being a whole army by himself, at best it ends in a war where everyone’s pretty much lost in the end and none of the clans are in a state to do anything, or the Wen under Wen Ruohan win and everyone we’ve grown to love gets executed for fighting against them.

So in the end, as awful as it sounds, Jiang Cheng’s actions do lead to the war being won because without Wei Wuxian’s guidao, they weren’t going to win, but they do doom Wei Wuxian in the process. Which really just goes to show how well MXTX thought out the whole process that as harmful as JC’s sacrifice is, it is very, very hard to change things in such a way as to where it does not happen and they still win the war.

As for your question, I think in the unlikely odds that he does still end up in the burial mounds, it’s possible that Wei Wuxian could invent his guidao to get out and have the golden core to supplement, but the problem there is that having a golden core doesn’t change Wei Wuxian’s fate in the novel. People are scared of him for having the power that he has, even if Jiang Cheng doesn’t have the serious grudge of losing his core, his relationship with Wei Wuxian isn’t strong enough to withstand people poking at his sore spots, so I guess in a sense it’s pointless because there’s too many elements by the time lotus pier falls to change that.

I don’t know, mdzs is a very hard novel to change without losing the good elements and even small actions have seemingly wide spread consequences. Just look at how many things are impacted by Su She’s desire to be seen as cool and impressive both in past and present. It’s very difficult to determine which things are pointless or could be changed to improve things in the past because it’s just so tightly layered.

[stoopid-turtle]

BTS in Order Addendum 2

Second and final addendum for rn! This covers the translated bts clips for June that I found. Sadly, the playlist did not have July or Aug, so I can't go over those. If I ever do find July and Aug, I'll try to add it on.

As before, the timeline posts are already updated. I'm just highlighting some things here for those who don't want to hunt for the updates. Also, I tried to clean up some of the formatting but y'all, the formatting on Tumblr is just weird. I can't figure it out and I'm not gonna invest the time to do so, so I've done my best!

I can see where the WZC/GG pairing came from. GG and WZC seem quite close, often playful, and similarly physically affectionate to ggdd. Their dynamic is different, but I can def see how people could pull together a compilation of their bts clips for CPFs. (Not saying they were a real couple, like ggdd.)

Madam Jin did not seem to realize she was cast in a bl adaption.

There's much mentioned of dd's afterglow on 6.19 after the Dragon Boat Festival date, but I've never seen anyone mention that GG is also in a really great mood the next day. His first scene is in the forest with JC and JL, and he's all smiles and says, "I'm so happy this early morning. I really love my team."

JC says "Happy? What nonsense!" For some reason, this sets gg off on the giggles.

Needless to say, GG had his own afterglow.

Also on 6.19, there's this cute exchange between gg and the older lady producer (?), who is also from Chongqing:

Crewmember: So many beauties come from Chongqing. GG: I'm beautiful. Producer lady: More beautiful than me? GG: How can that be? Can't compare!

And then, a couple days later on 6.23, when dd is still gone, gg is in a hellishly rotten mood. He's visibly moody and unresponsive to xl and JC, both of whom try to cheer him up. At one point, he asks someone (his assistant?) if he has any crying scenes that day. And later he says, "Remember this feeling. After a month, when filming, definitely will..." I think he says something more to XL here, but I guess it was too quiet for the translator to hear. The implication to me is that he's gonna try to bring up the experience of his feelings in later scenes when WWX is having similar feelings.

Not everything with regards to the boys has to be about ggdd, so it's possible that gg's bad mood is bc of something else going on in his life. Family, friends, something with his company, politics, a stranger being a jerk, whatever. DD's one possibility among many. I did check out what dd was doing on 6.23 and 6.22, and he's on Produce 101, where he looks as DD (with a mullet) as ever. But there aren't any bts or unscripted clips of him where he might reveal a similar mood, so it's hard to say anything.

So basically, make of gg's bad mood what you will. It could be literally anything.

I need to talk about JC's fake butt

So the clip on 6.25, with JZX, Mianmian, dd, XL, and gg all chatting starts with them talking about JC wearing a "fake butt". I'm guessing butt padding? Some highlights:

DD is confused because he's "not even wearing jeans", to which gg asks if it makes sense to wear a fake butt in jeans.

The "reason" why JC wears this is apparently only known to XL and GG. XL refuses to explain.

GG says if she doesn't explain, dd will just walk up to JC and ask him, "JC, you wear a fake butt?"

Poor WZC did seem a bit put-upon on the set.

Also, unrelated, dd thinks sweat is sexy.

Also, the nasal spray that got passed around: looked sus, but not actually that sus. It's a Thai herbal nasal inhaler, which apparently looks a lot like people doing some uppers. (So much so that gg chastises the cameraman for filming it and XL turns her back to do it)

Also also, gg's rotten mood is gone. The clip on 6.23 of him being in a bad mood is only about 5 min long, and there's only a 45sec clip for 6.24. So basically, we have no idea what might have cheered him up and there are almost a full 2 days of stuff we know nothing about.

[truly-morgan]

[Sex knowledge (nsfw-ish)]

Junior Quartet | Mo Dao Zu Shi 29-03-2021

[#mdzsjuniors - nsfw-ish]  

Somehow got this from another thread yesterday: oyz is the most "knowledgeable" about sex and romance. Then it made me wanna rank them:

1- OYZ: a romantic who reads a lot of romance novels, which some do get rather graphic and are even illustrated. He theoretically knows more than the basics, despite having never done anything himself. He would totally be the one his bf turns to they want to know what to do so they do it correctly.  

2- LSZ: this sweet and seemingly innocent bean always surprise them when he knows about such things. None of his bf are sure /where/ he learned all this (probably asked wwx, lwj or with some books), he simply tells them he wanted to make sure that he would never hurt his partner in the future because he didn't know how to do it well.  

3- LJY: knows some things out of just being told how babies are made (for real, no metaphor!) And by very unfortunately stumbling onto interesting documents wwx had left all messed up with his other documents. There are things he also wishes he had never heard or noticed.  

4- JL: never really had the time nor the interest to learn more than just how baby a really made. Jgy was often too busy to ever even think of having such a talk, where jc had his own problems and had never thought to talk about such thing with him, probably assuming jgy did. He tries to hide his lack of knowledge until he realises none of his bf will mock him for not knowing, they will learn with him as it goes.

Original

[runespoor7]

Per the ask game, chengyao?

tl;dr version: it's one of my notps. (welcome to the salt mines -_-)

Don't Ship It

Why don't you ship it?

tl;dr: i am uncomfortable when jc isn't about wwx, and jgy's taste is better than jc

I never read the situation with JL as co-parenting, so that's one basis of the ship right out, and l can't see why JGY would burden himself with JC or what would attract him to JC. Like... JGY likes people who trust him and people who are good people and who think he's a good person and people who aren't the emotional equivalent of a landmine field on fire. JGY can have either LXC or SMS and I'm pretty sure he's been over the "I can change him" stage ever since NMJ. There is absolutely nothing about JC that I think JGY would be remotely interested in. (I also think JGY post incest-reveal is so deeply traumatized that the entire range of romantic and sexual emotions becomes a no-go for him, with no exceptions.)

I also don't see JC as willing or able to extend feelings for people outside his sect post-WWX's death. People betray you and then they die. Outsiders to the sect will demand the most horrific sacrifices. I also think he didn't like JGY giving JL Fairy at all (I think it's completely possible to think he was grateful for it, I just like my JC entirely unable to let go of WWX), because that put him in a position where he must break a resolution or take his nephew's dog away. (I also find it hard to believe that JC doesn't know about the bullying at Jinlintai and hmmm. don't think it makes him think favorably on JGY. Rusong's death can also result in no positive appreciation of JC for the care JGY takes with JL's safety.)

So basically I'm not into JC having positive relationships with people that aren't WWX, I don't see them catching feelings, and I think both of them are wayyyyy too conscious of the power of gossip to consider sex together (if I thought there was an attraction, which I don't. I don't think JGY finds JC's volatilenesse attractive).

Also I'm a huge wimp and I want JC to only get manipulated and fucked over by WWX. (🥺) Together they're not unpleasant in ways I find fun.

What would have made you like it?

I could get behind the version of the ship where JGY gets a hate-crush on JC because 1)he's projecting his negative NMJ feelings after NMJ's death and JC is conveniently irascible and inconvenient, and/or 2)he's convinced that WWX was JC's half-brother and that colors all of his vision of what JC did or didn't do.

Does he think JC was being incestuous about WWX? (and then he wasn't punished for it. how unfair that he got off unscathed when JGY must carry the weight forever!!!)

Does he share LWJ's opinion that JC used WWX and then got rid of him when WWX became more an impediment than a help? (something that JGY when he's honest with himself - rarely - does know he did, but that he tries to pretend he didn't and can easily dislike JC for. this is why he's besties with LXC. LXC thinks he's Good. JGY likes being Good. JC is all kinds of a repulsive mirror.)

A version where it's requited isn't about WWX enough for me on JC's part, though.

Oh, in a version of canon where JGS wasn't Like That and JGY is thus severely less messed-up (and the WWX+Wens situation isn't as dire as in canon) might have had them carry on a casual-ish discreet relationship while JYL is visiting JZX. Or maybe it's a version where JGY never ended up torturing for WRH. Something that would make him a bit softer at that stage, and have JC a bit less single-focused on WWX. It might escalate and the relationship might deepen if something something JGS causes worse problems, against JGY, etc.

Alternatively, this is less straight-up shipping, but I love the idea that JC and JGY had an UnderstandingTM about JL not having accidents in Jinlintai so long as JC didn't do anything stupid, such as marrying, and that JC honestly did think JGY was going to wait until JL was closer to twenty before JGY started making active moves against JL. And it hurt JC's feelings when Guanyin Temple happened.

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it?

Extremely fucked up people and I'm happy that fans of the two characters seem to be having fun with it!

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

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1. Hello! I’m hoping to find a specific fic, which is narrated from the POV of a mail delivery person from a small sect. They observed how Lan Wangji came to mail a letter every year to Wei Ying after his death, and came to see the melancholy and longing that Wangji had. They were not able to deliver the letters but they kept it. Eventually they didn’t see Wangji come to mail his letter on a particular year, but out of duty, the mail delivery person went to Cloud Recess to deliver the letters he kept. And there, he met Wangji and Wei Ying.

It’s a beautifully written fic that I read years ago, but for the life of me I can’t remember the name. I did a lot of searching on my bookmarks but can’t find it. I would really appreciate it if someone can point me to the right direction!

Thanks so much. @tacitanovember

FOUND! you’ve got to find a way, say what you want to say by Quixiote (T, 12k, wangxian, outsider pov, 13 years of WWX’s death, letters)

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2. hello, i am very sorry to send this ask but i've been trying to find this fic. (Please don't feel bad! This is what our blog is here for! ^^ - Mod C) i don't remember anything about it other than this scene in which LWJ is holding LSZ while they're on a boat because he's getting seasick and he takes care of him while he sleeps. if i remember correctly it was Sizhui-centric. thank you so much in advance!

FOUND? Gathered Herbs & Sweet Grasses by hansbekhart (Not Rated, 19k, WangXian, dad wangji, LWJ's Questionable Parenting Skills, Grief/Mourning, Recovery, Injury Recovery, Hopeful Ending, Canon-Typical Violence)

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3. hiii, I'm looking for a fic in which Jiang cheng suddenly starts hearing other people's thoughts and ends up hearing lwj thinking about wwx (inappropriately) @mercurygirlwt28

FOUND! Losing My Mind by pupeez4eva (T, 6k, wangxian, JC & WWX, Humor, Protective JC, JC drinks a potion that lets him hear people's lustful thoughts, Teenage LWJ has a lot of feelings, Canon Divergence, Cloud Recesses study arc)

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4. heyy there! i was wondering if you could help me find a fic from a while ago. basically wwx nearly dies when he fell from nightless city, but was however saved by baoshan sanren. in the the end to save wwx, she had to give her golden core to him so she was no longer immortal (i think). thanks in advance! @aquiver-heart

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

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5. sorry to bother you but I've been trying to find a fic for some time and I can't. is a multi-part series. in the first part wei ying is left to take care of some young disciples and lan qiren forgets to send someone to replace him. the next parts are about how they don't have enough teachers and how wei ying would fit the role. sorry for my writing. i used google translate to write. @mazilu06122001

FOUND? ❤️ Joy In the Midst of These Things Series by Glitterbombshell (T/G, 53k, WangXian, Angst with Happy Ending, Post-Canon, Teacher WWX, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff)

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6. Hey there, I’m looking for a onshot fic where WWX repeatedly say “I love you” to LWJ who never says it back until after WWX is resurrected and then he is the one repeatedly say “I love you” to wwx. I’m pretty sure I found it on your blog but I haven’t found it since. @gwencaer

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

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7. Good day! There's this fic that I've read before and I forgot what tag/s I used to bookmark it. I only remember bits of details. So, the scene that I remember is during the sects were trapped in the burial mounds—that chapter when the juniors were kidnapped—yiling patriarch wwx was sleeping (or dead?) at the blood pool(?). Then the present wwx came to dead/yp!wwx to wake him up (something like that) so they can save the others from the puppets. It is before they go to Lotus Pier. I think there's also a scene where they tried to save him (yp!wwx) that they cant leave him alone at the burial mounds or smth. Im sorry, that all I can recall but I really want to find it again. Thank you!

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8. I’m looking for the fic where little WWX is in Cloud Recesses and little LWJ is like “gonna marry him” and when he’s told “no” he finds different ways to tie his ribbon to little WWX until the adults give in?

are you sure it's Cloud Recesses? bc if you are not sure, this sounds like the Sami fic where Jiang Yanli travels back in time, but that part of the fic takes place at Lotus Pier

FOUND! Sail Away Sweet Sister by sami (M, 73k, WangXian, YZY/CSSR/MDM Lan, MingLi, Time Travel, EXTREME Canon Divergence, Wide Focus Narrative, Some People Live/Not Everyone Dies, Most Named/Canon Characters Live, Childhood Friends to Lovers, Families of Choice, Parenthood, this work contains a major tonal shift, Fluff, Angst, Underage Sex, not particularly explicit, but not at all ambiguous, PTSD, Only a tiny bit, Unforeseeable consequences, The butterfly effect, Slightly Dark JYL, Asexual Characters, but that's not really the focus, Canon-Typical Violence)

not FOUND 💖 Let the Heavens be the judge by A_Mirror_of_memories (T, 4k, WangXian, Time Travel, Fix-It, Not JC friendly, YZY Bashing, minor character death offscreen, JC is the worst, Angst with a Happy Ending, offscreen child character death, Fluff and Angst, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, CSSR and WCZ Live, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies)

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9. ficfinder request! modern college au where Wei ying is a student that arrived late to a class that lab qiren should be teaching but instead lan zhan is, and Wei ying is sassy/rude to Lan zhan. I think it's rated E but I can't remember anything else. TIA! @the-marathon-continues-nip

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10. Hello, I am looking for a fic that focused on lsz feeling worried that wwx will feel disappointed that he grew up lan. The fic references what he told lsz the first time lwg left the wen settlement. This fic has been stuck in my head but I can't find it, I would rlly appreciate some help! 😭 @fox1023

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11. A) There's this fic where WWX moves into a house and ghost LWJ lives in the attic or something like that, it's an Eldritch horror kind of fic I think? Iirc Lwj doesn't have a face and he drips water but I could be mixing up different things.

B) I'm also looking for a fic that's kinda the opposite? Where it's WWX who lives in the house and LWJ pretends he doesn't see him

11A)

FOUND! ghost stories for lost souls by queenklu (M, 17k, WangXian, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Body Horror, (of the ghostly variety - hey number of limbs are hard), child death (not explicitly described), Ghost Hunting, Spirit Box, Juice Box, Reincarnation)

11B)

FOUND! one good thing by Yuu_chi (T, 26k, WangXian, Modern AU, Ghost WWX, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, I swear there really is a happy ending, And an alarming amount of rabbits, [Podfic] One Good Thing by jellyfishfire)

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12. Hello, I saw someone from Twitter asking about a fic where Jiang Cheng wished Wei Wuxian never existed after their battle in Nightless City (I'm guessing this is when WWX battled with the other cultivation sects and JYL died). They recalled it has some elements of poppy flowers dying and WWX's soul being connected with it will totally dissipate too.

Can you help? @tiredlaoshi

FOUND? Remember by Amona (T, 59k, JC & WWX, wangxian, Canon Divergence, self-sacrifice, erasing oneself from history, colored souls, sword spirits, major angst w happy ending, implied/referenced rape/non-con, minor character death, WIP)

FOUND? The Way It Wasn’t by KouriArashi (T, 72k, WangXian, XiYao, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, (eventually haha), Slow Build, Family Feels, Moral Ambiguity, Eventual Happy Ending)

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13. Hey so the fic lm looking for is a Jiang Cheng centric fic but it does have Wangxian in it but it's a time travel fic with JC fixing thing he gets NHS to help him travel back it's OK if you can't find it tho

FOUND? Lynchpin by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 103k, WangXian, JC & WWX, Time Travel, Fix-It)

FOUND? heaven is for me too high by stiltonbasket (M, 11k, JC & WWX & JYL, wangxian, JC/WQ, JYL/JZX, LXC/NMJ, LWJ & JC, Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, aka the one where JC goes back to the past, and absolutely does not want to be there, Politics, Angst, POV JC, the jc and lwj alliance nobody expected, Bad Matchmaking, Team as Family, Happy Ending, WIP)

FOUND? Moments of Revelation by meyari (T, 134k, JC/NHS, wangxian, LXC/JGY, major character death, POV JC, Canon Divergence, Temporary Character Death, Character Death, Time Travel Fix-It, Self-Sacrifice, Torture, Chronic Pain, Chronic anxiety, magical healing and how it fails, Grief/Mourning, PTSD, Chronic Mental Health Issues, learning to communicate for stubborn people, premeditated murder as a method of problem solving, Assassination, renamed meng yao, Because of Reasons, Warning: JGS, Warning: WRH, Families of Choice, no elders are perfect not one of them, Unreliable Narrator(s), Demonic Possession)

FOUND? For Both Of Us (And Time Is But A Paper Moon) by sami (E, 65k, wangxian, JC & WWX; JC & LWJ, LWJ & LXC, Canonical Character Death, Mentions of Rape, not explicit but definitely referenced, Time Travel, Not Everyone Dies au, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, Hurt/Comfort, WWX/babie tendencies, WQ is a queen in any reality, Healing, Yunmeng Shuangjie, Canon Divergence, Asexual JC, First Time, Getting Together, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, WWX finds new ways to be oblivious, seriously it surprised even us)

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14. Hi!!! I am looking for a fic where wei wuxian travels back in time but tries to kill himself to avoid all the tragedy that happened to his loved ones. Please help me find this one!!!

FOUND? (Un)Hidden truth by Sarah_R (M, 198k, wangxian, major character death, graphic depictions of violence, characters watching their show, characters watching the future, watching the future, Time Travel Fix-It, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Suicide Attempt, On the first chapter, Suicidal Thoughts, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, Nightmares, Self-Harm, dark, fluff, Angst, LWJ best husband, WWX needs all the love and hugs in the world, and he gets it, WWX Protection Squad, The juniors are literally the light of the show, WQ best sister, YZY and JFM will realize what an absolute shit they’ve been, Character Development, Sentient Burial Mounds, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Except the people who deserve to, WIP)

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15. Fic I'm looking for: a royalty au, LWJ POV, LWJ is the prince, it's a one shot, WWX and LWJ are friends or at least have a close relationship throughout. I don't remember what status WWX is but I know for sure he's not a servant cuz there is pass in the fic where LWJ says WWX helps the palace staff even though he doesn't have to. WWX basically acts as a waiter for a little bit during this royal ball and that's where the confession happens in front of everyone. Not Desiderium. Thank you so much

FOUND? How to propose to the love of your life in one simple step by CloudyInk (G, 6k, WangXian, Royalty, LXC is King, Prince LWJ, General WWX)

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16. Hello, this is the first time I do not know if this info will be enough. I read a modern au short fic before in which wwx have a terrible eye sight and memory. Every time he goes to Lan house he will go somewhere different from what he is looking for. Like he is supposed to go to a restroom but ended up in a kitchen. Lan Qiren then said to LWJ that his boyfriend might be a thief because he is always found somewhere he did not say he will go. Then when lqr visited lwj and wwx's house, he found out that wwx got lost even to his own house. Like he cannot even find the mug and lwj has to say where it is. Lwj then said to lqr that it is because wwx got into an accident when he was a child, the same day he lost his parents. That is the reason for his terrible memory and eye sight. After that, lqr became soft to wwx. And every time Wangxian visited the Lan house. He will help wwx find what he is looking for.

Thank youuu @yunshenlianhua

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17. Hii mods , can you help me find this fics

A) it's time travel but here WWX gave up on cultivation world while whole cultivation world needs his help to defeat wen ruohan....?? I guess everyone is back from past ?? Now sure

B) I don't know where I read this fic ...and don't knew if fic like this exists where after Wuxian's death he is in ghost city but in child form with having same mind as child he later get adopted by hualian they raise him once again he remember nothing till the day in his (new )16 year old body he sees the newly ascended God lwj

C) I don't remember much but I guess it mpreg and has twin lsz n Jingyi but they have lwj because he is busy ? Or just not there with them..I am confused

Sry to ask this many at once but help me ..this half reads are living rent free in my mind @selflovingmedj

C)

17A)

FOUND? The Line Between Good and Evil by Dandelion_sama (G, 34k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, What-If, Rebirth, Time Travel, kind of Mass Reborn, reverse uno, Canon-Typical Violence, WIP)

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18. Hey! Do you remember a fic where a-yuan gets sick and WWX brings him to the cloud recesses for treatment? There was a heart wrenching scene where wwx asked the lan sect to take a-yuan in and raise him. I can't seem to find it. Thanks in advance!

FOUND! the kite string and the anchor rope by fleurdeliser (M, 38k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, set after the yiling date, Sick Child, the illness never gets worse than it is in the first 1000 words)

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19. hi! I'm looking for a case/curse fic, post-canon/getting together - which features wangxian & the gusu lan/juniors solving a case in a cursed town. iirc, the curse is related to a wish granting ritual at a yearly festival, and i believe lwj had visited this festival before in the previous year and wished for wwx's return. thank you! @patchworkpotatoes

FOUND! 爱不释手; never let me go by yiqie (E, 68k, WangXian, Case Fic, Blood and Injury, Demons, Body Horror)

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20. Hi! I'm here for fic finder request. I'm sure I bookmark the story but couldn't find it. It was set in the Cloud Recesses study arc where Wei Ying grow up with the Lan. Wangxian is engaged with each other. I remember that Jin Zixuan was jealous when Jiang Yanli and Wei Ying start to get close while they were in cloud recesses. Nie Huaisang told Jin Zixuan and Jiang Cheng that WX are engaged and they were shocked because they thought wangxian are cousins. Sorry if my explanation is a mess and I hope you can help me find it. Thank you! @mayuchi96

FOUND! what a strange life by dass22 (dass15) (T, 26k, wangxian, JYL/JZX, Canon Divergence, Fluff, Friendship, POV Alternating, mostly from JC pov tho)

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[k1201a]

I have seen many reasons why people stan JC and many say because he's relatable, especially because he was "pressured by his parents" just like them.

Now, I kinda feel sorry whatever their situation is, but I as a person pressured by her parents as well, I simply cannot see anything I can "relate" to him, I won't go into personal because is not the point. The point is: I feel like the only pressure JC feels is because of his pride and ego, his father never wanted him to be the best, but to be a wise man as far I understood. Maybe YZY but that woman sweated pressure with her own presence to everyone around her, but JFM was gentle and rational, not even stern or overbearingly strict, yet he preferred hiding in his "boo hoo he hates me, so I won't listen to him and think better about my future responsibilities", and he never expressed being against the idea of becoming leader. Thinking of if, let's remember JC was a future sect leader and later a sect leader in the canon present, not a simple boy with the tiger parents who had his parents' breath on the neck everytime and for any trivial wasn't mistake was whipped or yelled (*cough cough* WWX *cough cough*). People one day had to depend on him for their lives and safety, Yunmeng citizens and disciples alike, and he was supposed to be more responsible and wise, not a brute leader he became. I don't know what kind of situation stans live to say they relate, but I don't think is JC's one. They are not young noble-like people who one day, I repeat, would have great responsibilities, in his case he should've used the pressure to think about himself and the good of YunmengJiang and to pass down their ideals, and how to be a good leader, but I feel he only liked the idea of being the boss and to have power, given the way he acted around everyone.

In short: JC is not relatable even for the pressure thing, but I see self projection does miracles. Hope I didn't annoy you with this ask or to have interpreted things wrongly, and hope you have a lovely day, you do great <3

I get what you're saying, my mom is a tiger mom, and I don't relate to JC at all, I also don't understand the appeal of reading similar experience in fiction. JFM was just teaching JC basic decency and good attitude, he wasn't comparing JC to every future clan heir to make JC feel bad. That's not pressure, that's a father giving his son guidance.

What JC stans find relatable isn't pressure from parents, it's JC's reaction to people who don't massage his fragile ego. They relate to his inability to control his emotions, his defensiveness and victimization when he can't deal with his own fuck up, and his tendency to shift the blame to other people, that's how a lot of people deal with life, it's relatable, I can understand. But the pressure from parents thing? It's not that notable in his situation, his father was not demanding, he didn't have high expectation. His mother liked to compare him to wwx to provoke JFM, but wwx was never in his social rank, his competition was people like wen chao and jzx

[fincalinde]

@thatswhatsushesaid Yeah you timed that ask really well, because I was already in NMJ mode! No promises that any other asks get a 2k word response within 24 hours though.

As for the rest of your tags, it’s so funny you’d raise the topic of WWX because I absolutely knew he had to be in there as an example of NMJ’s hypocrisy. I hunted HIGH AND LOW for direct textual evidence of NMJ disapproving of WWX’s demonic cultivation and I could not find it. If you have anything I will be seriously grateful, because I could have sworn there was at least one line that referenced NMJ’s disapproval in specific. It doesn’t really matter if there’s a direct quote or not since we can easily infer his opinion, but I did feel like the person searching for the glasses that are already on their face.

During my ‘wait, we can infer NMJ disapproves of demonic cultivation but the direct quote seems to have slipped down the back of the sofa’ journey it honestly slipped my mind to dig deeper into the hypocrisy of sabre cultivation vs. demonic cultivation. It is absolutely hypocritical that he disapproves despite doing literally the same thing but with animals, but I think my personal ranking does place his willingness to be on the same side as WWX (while not trying to randomly murder him for bad behaviour—I guess JC’s authority over WWX is more important than the authority JGS has over JGY, despite the fact that JC has so little control over WWX they have to engineer a fake breakup) as higher on the hypocrisy scale than his attitude to demonic cultivation generally.

Firstly, I do see a distinction in principle between cultivating the resentful energy of beasts rather than human beings. It’s not a nice thing to do either way, but if we’re splitting hairs I think we can agree there’s a difference between animals and people. I know it’s much more sad if Mittens has her resentment about never being fed ever in her life cultivated, compared to corpse puppeting Sociopath-gongzi who beats his wife and starves his children. But as a general rule, we do treat animals differently to people and I don’t want to stray into false equivalence. NMJ is a hypocrite about it but there’s still some nuance involved.

(As an aside, the problem of ever-increasing numbers of enraged bloodthirsty entombed sabres is a big one, but I’ve always found it a funny image. Anyway it’s of course hypocritical to have the dangerous byproducts of your cultivation stashed away like that, but it’s also a straightforward example of the consequences of dabbling in resentful energy from any source, so it’s hardly unique on a thematic level. It doesn’t say anything new about NMJ’s hypocrisy; just ties in neatly with my points about the fact that he never for a moment wonders whether he’s doing the right thing. The point is not that he should conclude yes, on balance he’s doing the right thing, or no, on balance he’s doing the wrong thing. The point is just that it never occurs to him to ask the question at all. Speaks volumes.)

Secondly, in light of the above, that’s why I focused on his willingness to work with WWX. This hypocrisy has layers! The first layer is disapproving of demonic cultivation when he engages in similar practices, but the second, deeper layer is being willing to tolerate it when it serves his own ends. As long as he doesn’t have to get his own hands dirty and can pretend he’s therefore not complicit, that is. And that is an attitude he shares with basically the entire jianghu, to be fair—but to be fairer, NMJ positions himself as better than the rest of the jianghu, as a moral authority, so there’s the hypocrisy again.

And the third layer, the heart of this particular onion, is the fact that NMJ is perfectly willing to join the rest of the Jianghu in condemning WWX. It’s hypocritical to turn on someone who’s been such an asset, to be sure, although at this point WWX is the victim of propaganda and his own foolish arrogance. But the real point is this: NMJ doesn’t question himself and his own conduct during the war in light of WWX’s supposed evil and dangerous behaviour. If everything about WWX is true, why isn’t NMJ pondering whether he himself is complicit because he allied with WWX during the war? (The answer is situational ethics, a thing NMJ claims not to believe in.)

This sort of thing is why I give short shrift to NMJ’s moments of empathy (ha). They’re essential to his character and vital to include when writing him, but they’re moments. He momentarily feels bad for JGY, momentarily remembers what he owes JGY. But it never sticks—he always returns to judgement and violence. There’s no self-reflection at all, and therefore no hope of identifying his own hypocrisy, never mind addressing it.

you’ve mentioned a few times in your meta that you view nmj as being hypocritical, and i’m inclined to agree with you! would you share some specific quotes from the text that you feel especially support this reading of his character? 👀

It is one of my favourite words to apply to him, isn’t it! I think that’s because a) it’s true, and b) NMJ’s reputation for righteousness (and his belief in his own righteousness) grant an in-universe illusion of consistency that often bleeds through to external readings of him. So I press the point, because it’s fundamental to his character and I usually see it elided or reduced to all-bark-and-no-bite-grumpy-bear-with-a-heart-of-gold fanon NMJ.

And oh yes, there’s an absolute wealth of quotes supporting this. As always, I use the EXR fan translation because I’m old school.

Christ, this got long. Click for more.

It’s all relative, man

First we need to establish what NMJ’s principles supposedly are.

[Nie Huaisang’s] brother, Nie Mingjue, was extremely resolute when carrying out orders, quite renowned in the cultivation world. […] Nie Mingjue had always taught his younger brother with extreme harshness, particularly caring for his studies. (Chapter 13)

[…] he took over the Nie Sect before he even reached twenty, doing everything in a direct, forceful fashion. (Chapter 21)

When he lived, Nie Mingjue was often exasperated by the fact that his brother didn’t meet expectations, so he disciplined him strictly. (Chapter 21)

In spite of Nie Mingjue being a junior to Jin Guangshan, he conducted himself in a strict manner and refused to tolerate Xue Yang no matter what. (Chapter 30)

Without any hesitation, Nie Mingjue scolded, “Drinking the water he brought you while speaking such spiteful words! Did you join my forces not to kill the Wen-dogs but to make idle talk?!” (Chapter 48)

“A proper man should carry himself with proud righteousness. There’s no need to care for the talk of those idlers.” (Chapter 48)

As we can see, NMJ is all about righteousness, but we don’t get too many details confirming what that righteousness entails. We’re expected to make assumptions based on context: that his values are in line with the ideal values of his society, and that he’s living his life according to those principles (and enforcing said principles on others).

This is worth keeping in mind. We know NMJ is ‘righteous’. We know, in a general sense, what societal standards for morality are in this setting and we see the tension between society’s theoretical standards, its actual standards, and the moral frameworks of characters such as WWX and LXC. And there’s tension between those standards and NMJ’s moral framework, too. But though WWX attempts (and fails) to opt out and LXC attempts (and fails) to find a better way through open conversation and consideration of context, their failures are not due to hypocrisy but instead larger forces at play. In other words, they go up against society and society wins.

NMJ has a problem with society too, but for him the problem is not with its rules and assumptions—it’s with the individuals who make it up. He has no problem with the system. To NMJ, the system is a good thing. If only the people in it would rigidly conform to the rules, everything would be fine. And an outlook like that can only ever lead to hypocrisy, not just because human beings and their actions don’t fit into rigid categories, but because by not attempting to navigate the system (LXC, JGY, JC) or even attempting to opt out (WWX, LWJ, XY), NMJ positions himself above society, as a moral arbiter.

This is why he feels entitled to upbraid JGS, who is a generation above him. It’s why he feels entitled to harass and attempt to murder JGY for not being loyal to NMJ over and above his filial duty to his father. These actions are after he’s reached the point of no return with the sabre spirit, yes, but they didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s just the nadir of a path he’s been on presumably his entire life.

All the information is on the task

NMJ is very good at bending his supposedly rigid principles when it’s convenient for him, while not offering any grace or understanding to others who do the same. And ‘others’, let’s be real, usually equates to JGY. The horror vortex of NMJ’s obsession with controlling JGY really cannot be escaped.

Let’s start with the biggie. JGY is naturally the one who calls NMJ out, because he’s the only one who can see the emperor has no clothes, and by clothes I mean leg to stand on.

“But, Brother, I have always wanted to ask you something—the lives under your hands are in any regard more than those under mine, so why is it that I only killed a few cultivators out of desperation and you keep on bringing it up, even until now?” (Chapter 48)

“Are you saying that all of the people you killed deserved their deaths? […] Then, may I ask, just how do you decide if someone deserves death? Are your standards absolutely correct? If I kill one but save hundreds, would the good outweigh the bad, or would I still deserve death? To do great things, sacrifices must happen.” (Chapter 48)

Chifeng-zun, my man, he has nailed you. The point is not to start drawing equivalences in quite the way JGY is doing—I would certainly argue that if you’re killing undeserving people for the greater good you’d better have one hell of a greater good to be aiming for, even in the crapsack world of MDZS. JGY’s argument is partly a numbers game, but I want to set that aside, because it’s a distraction from his core point, to which numbers are irrelevant: can NMJ truly justify every single murder he has ever committed? Because if he can’t, he’s condemned by his own supposed standards. Note JGY’s use of the word ‘absolute’. NMJ is a moral absolutist! Is he absolutely sure? And if he is sure, does it matter that he’s sure? Why is his certainty more important than anyone else’s?

NMJ never once grapples with these questions. If he did, he might be able to pull the teeth of his own hypocrisy by acknowledging it and engaging with it. But of course he’s not capable of that, certainly not by the time of this scene.

And speaking of NMJ’s hypocrisy re: who does and doesn’t deserve to die…

“Very well! I’ll kill myself after I kill you!” (Chapter 49)

But Roquen, you cry! NMJ says such an utterly mad thing because he’s battered and beaten and not thinking clearly, not to mention past the point of no return with the sabre spirit as he’s been cultivating with resentful energy intensely throughout the war! That’s why he walks it back after LXC intervenes!

To which I say: it is almost as though context matters!

And yes, I’m aware of the context. I’m aware that just before this bit of dialogue the narrative claims JGY pointing out ‘if I hadn’t killed them you’d be dead’ is a subtle way of saying ‘you can’t kill me because you owe me your life’ as though that’s purely manipulative rather than being, you know, true. ‘Even if you refuse to accept I acted for the best, please don’t kill me and I’m going to subtly remind you that you owe me to maximise my chances of getting you to not kill me (after I just risked my life to save yours when it would have been 100x better for me personally if you died)’ is hardly an outrageous position.

It’s interesting, though, isn’t it, that NMJ never again mentions taking his own life as a matter of principle, despite the fact that he subsequently attempts to murder JGY again for the apparently unforgivable crime of … not being able to overrule his abusive father about XY, and then having the temerity to complain to LXC about NMJ’s attempt to murder him.

Obviously the Jin are a huge threat after the war, but these are all pretty feeble reasons for piling on JGY. Sure, maybe JGY would also have tried to protect XY if JGS weren’t around, but the fact is that JGS is around and he’s calling the shots. Besides, once JGS is out of the picture JGY has no issue disposing of XY (with Dr Evil levels of ineptness, apparently), so that’s a fairly decent indicator he’s not ride or die. As for the fact that JGY is making nice to NMJ’s face but complaining behind his back, well. Regardless of any genuine desire to vent to his only friend, I have no doubt he was indeed trying to drive a wedge between NMJ and LXC as a strategic move. But is it wrong of him to do so, considering NMJ is a genuine and present threat to his life and LXC is just not getting it? And does any of the above, including his struggle to maintain his position and all the other work he does for his father mean he deserves death—immediate, extrajudicial and violent death?

Let me put it this way. NMJ is making JGY responsible for his father’s actions and his father’s orders—the question of whether JGY is on board with his father’s instructions is academic, because he has no choice in the matter. JGY cannot opt out of his situation. The only opt out is death, and that is not a meaningful choice because no one else is getting vilified for having the audacity to fight for their place in their world rather than lie down and die. And even if JGY really were a cackling supervillain 100% on board with his father’s diabolical plans, NMJ’s focus on him to the exclusion of JGS is driven by emotion and not by a rational evaluation of the morality and logistics of the situation.

And when he’s insisting that JGY deserves death (and trying to mete it out to him) NMJ never again considers for a moment whether, if JGY really deserves to die, then maybe he does too.

As a third example, to make it a hat trick, we have this:

However, Jin Guangyao wasn’t his subordinate anymore. Only after they became sworn brothers would he have the status and the position to urge Jin Guangyao, like how he disciplined his younger brother, Nie Huaisang. (Chapter 49)

“Brother, it really was my father’s orders. I couldn’t refuse. Now. if you want me to take care of Xue Yang, what would I say to him?” (Chapter 49)

NMJ is perfectly aware that according to the rules of their society and the moral framework he himself subscribes to, JGY’s highest authority is his father. But NMJ can’t accept that. He thinks he should be the ultimate authority over JGY, and though he couches it in moral terms about wanting JGY to follow the correct path, what he really means is what he himself considers to be the correct path. As always, he doesn’t listen to JGY’s perfectly valid points about how it’s not possible for him to do the ‘right’ thing as he just doesn’t have that kind of authority and will only end up making his own life worse. I don’t have a quote demonstrating this, but considering everything we know about NMJ, I think we can infer he would not take kindly to JGY ordering NHS to do something futile and self-destructive in the name of the correct path, purely on the grounds that JGY is now his elder brother.

I’ll acknowledge again that JGY is absolutely an accomplice in his father’s schemes, and the originator of a fair few of them since he’s politically gifted. But it’s just not possible to untangle JGY’s complicity from his need (and his right!) to survive. NMJ is correct to be concerned about JGY as a risk, because he’s a huge asset to JGS. But once again, making JGY a target is not the moral or even the sensible thing to do. We know JGY enjoys aspects of what his father asks him to do. We also know that once his father is out of the picture he gets rid of XY, purges the Jin of corruption and pushes through the watchtower project. When he has agency as a clan leader he doesn’t follow his father’s political agenda to the letter, to say the least! So there is certainly a large dollop of truth in his claims that he has no choice and he’s unhappy and vulnerable.

And then a bonus, something not linked to JGY to demonstrate that NMJ’s hypocrisy extends beyond his personal vendetta.

Nie Mingjue spoke coldly. “If she responded with only silence and not opposition when the Wen Sect was causing mayhem, it’s the same as indifference. She shouldn’t have been so disillusioned as to hope that she could be treated with respect when the Wen Sect was doing evil and be unwilling to suffer the consequences and pay the price when the Wen Sect was wiped out.” (Chapter 73)

Charming. Funny how NMJ says this after spending the war fighting on the same side as the guy who invented demonic cultivation and controls an army of desecrated corpses, violating every possible social and cultural principle they have. But the Sunshot Campaign would have failed without WWX’s contributions, so I suppose NMJ thought that compromise was acceptable. It’s all right for him to stay silent and not oppose WWX, since WWX has been useful to his own agenda. What’s not acceptable is staying silent when the consequence is your own violent death and literally no good whatsoever being achieved thereby.

Aside from being a hypocrite, NMJ is also pathologically incapable of self-reflection.

Finish him!

At the end of the day, NMJ’s principles are inherently contradictory because he’s living in morally relative world where the narrative expects us to take context into account and root for a protagonist who brutally tortures his enemies to death and a romantic lead who find+replaces his ethical framework with ‘Wei Ying’.

It is simply not possible for NMJ to be both righteous and rigid, so when he chooses to be rigid he foregoes being righteous. Even in his moments of flexibility, he continues to apply harsh standards to others that he refuses to apply to himself. That’s what makes him a hypocrite. He isn’t a bastion of absolute morality in a sea of corruption. He’s in denial about the nuanced reality he’s living in, and placing himself on high as a moral authority with no actual mandate. Hypocrisy inevitably results, and the consequences are hugely damaging to everyone around him.

[poorlittleyaoyao]

Oh my god I NEVER noticed this? I did remember that JC seemed to basically think well of JGY here, but wow! But also lolsob at JC being the only one going "uh, can't you let him rest for a day or at least give him a first aid kit on his way out the door". AU where JC ran into JGY shortly after this and got him some medicine?

I didn't notice it either until now! I just remembered him being the one to go "wow! MY's so smart and eloquent! :D :D :D" in the scene where MY talks NMJ out of killing XY. It's such a CHOICE, because JC hasn't directly interacted with MY onscreen at this point beyond exchanging greeting. If anyone were going to say something, you'd think it'd be WWX, since he's had a one-on-one interaction with MY and is known for speaking his mind with abandon. But no! It's JC! JC, the model sect heir who deeply cares about conducting himself properly, is confronting a Great Sect leader about his decision!

(NHS also questions NMJ's decision--albeit without mentioning the injury--but that's much less unexpected. NHS and MY seem to be quite close in CQL, and NHS is distraught when MY says goodbye to him--of course he's gonna ask his brother wtf happened there!)

But JC's actions aren't actually not all THAT random, come to think of it, because two episodes before this, JC is the only one in the group to acknowledge the danger that WQ has potentially placed herself in by helping them at Dafan Mountain. WWX and LWJ both badger her for more information about WRH's intentions and become frustrated when she refuses to reveal anything else. As she starts to leave, JC jogs after her and expreses concern that WRH will punish her for helping them. (WQ assures him that her medical knowledge is valuable enough to guarantee her safety.) He's the only one to consider her safety at that point, and certainly the only one to check in with her about it.

So JC respectfully getting in NMJ's face about MY tracks with what we've seen JC do during this little roadtrip arc, and it's painful knowing that JC will eventually fling himself recklessly into harm's way out of his concern for WWX, and will ultimately be forced to quash all his individual ethical qualms in favor of protecting his sect. BUT ON A LIGHTER NOTE, it's the groundwork for some DELIGHTFUL canon divergence, because CQL firmly establishes that the quickest way to MY's heart is to defend him in public.

[agendratum]

ok so

as usual after finishing an arc of mdzs my head is full, many thoughts. so let’s talk about the guanyin temple confrontation.

first thing that i kept paying attention to were actually the changes made in order to turn it into live-action. so in cql they had to make the gray-gray characters, the “there are no good or bad guys, just people and their circumstances” characters (unless you’re jgs, than yeah you’re a bad guy and everyone agrees on that actually) into slightly more black and white characters. by the end of cql we are lured into this fake sense of security, “haha, we know who the bad guy is!” (then a year passes and here you are, now a jgy apologist), by the end of mdzs, you just know that, well, decisions were made, unfortunate decisions, by many different people. 

cql had to make wwx into a bit nicer version of himself. the good protagonist couldn’t lose control and accidentally kill a bunch of people, and then kill another bunch of people fully willingly, cause his sister just died and that was the last connection he had to the idea that something still matters in this world. no, out protagonist should be... like a little bit nicer than that. so they lifted some of that responsibility for atrocities off him, but they couldn’t just evaporate it, could they? they had to put it somewhere. they put it on jgy. after all he’s the big bad in the end of the story, well, the only surviving person from all people that could be considered big bads, he’s the one that “did every terrible deed imaginable”. he could take that responsibility, they had to make his grayness into a slightly darker shade anyway.

i am actually kinda surprised by how different my reaction to jgy was in mdzs. obviously, there is a year difference between me watching cql and me reading this part of mdzs, and over that year i changed my opinion on jgy 5 thousand times and joined the camp “actually meng yao deserves all the best things in the world”, but anyway. when i was watching cql i was like, oh my god, can someone just kill him already, before he does something bad again, before more bullcrap comes out of his mouth, and also stop yelling at this kid about all the “valid” reasons to why you killed his dad. in mdzs my reaction to jgy’s confessions was like, “huh. he has a point”.

now don’t get me wrong there, some shitty things were done, but the thing is, the things he did really made sense from his point of view, from this position and life experience he really had no other way to go. i especially was convinced by his reasoning to why he couldn’t cancel his engagement with qin su. not only he would suffer from this story, because he already went through so much to make this marriage possible, but also qin su’s parents and herself would most likely suffer, their public image would be destroyed, only jgs wouldn’t lose anything. and you could feel the hatred and bitterness he felt towards his father talking about this, and everyone in the temple could agree with that, because he “just forgot he made another child”, he didn’t even notice.

another interesting detail for me was lxc saying, “it’s not that i didn’t know that you did some of these things, it’s that i thought you had a good reason for doing them”. so yeah, a reminder, lxc isn’t blind and he isn’t an idiot. he trusted a person he thought he knew better than anyone else, and he believed in this person. the problem, i think, is that “a good reason” is different for lxc and for jgy. lxc would understand a righteous reason, doing something for the greater good. working for wen ruohan? that was explainable. they all were fighting in a war, fighting for the better, brighter future, and meng yao’s contribution to that future was immeasurable. what if he killed some people there? he had a good reason in lxc’s eyes. but meng yao had other good reasons in his life, some of these reasons lxc never had to deal with in his life. survival, for example, is one of them. meng yao’s early years were very different from lxc’s. not to say that lxc’s life was easy, but it was never truly unstable. meng yao had to learn how to survive in a world where no one wanted him. he lived with one dream, promised to him by his mother, a future where he wouldn’t have to suffer anymore, where he wouldn’t have to smile at people he hated, please every one of their desires so they wouldn’t harm him. and then he entered this life promised to him and he still had to survive, but now in a luxurious man-eats-man world of lanling jin.

meng yao’s life really was this unstoppable ball of snow rolling down the mountain, and every decision he made just made the ball bigger and it would just roll faster. there is even a moment where jgy accuses lxc of being naive. lxc isn’t really naive, of course, it was said in the heat of the moment, but it is a fact that lxc was never kicked down a staircase, never had to crawl back up, and the thing is, at the bottom of the staircase, there are other good reasons to do things.

and in a way lxc understood that jgy in his position really didn’t have any other choices, he just couldn’t find peace in this mindset. he kept repeated through that part, “and yet, and yet, you shouldn’t have done that, you should have...” and he never said what exactly jgy should have done. because lxc doesn’t know. jgy doesn’t know. no one knows. what choices were better? how could he fix all that and still survive? in a way, lxc saying that reminded me of wangxian farewell in the burial mounds. when lwj asks, “you really indent to keep going like this?” and wwx, who wished, who longed for another solution, for some way out, asked him, “what else can i do? what method can i choose to resolve this, not use this technique and still protect people i want to protect?” and lwj didn’t have an answer. lxc didn’t have an answer either.

another amazing thing about guanyin temple confrontation, is that it’s very heavily wwx’s pov. most on the novel is his pov of course, but there were a loot of his thoughts in this arc. and he was rather understanding towards jgy. not in a way “i agree with every reasoning behind every decision you made” but in a way “i understand that you had your reasons, but all of them will become irrelevant really soon, they already are, because the crowd will only remember you as a son of a whore who did every terrible deed imaginable, and all the good deeds will be forgotten” 

now his thoughts on nhs, or who he suspected nhs to be, were way less nice. especially compared to live action, nhs didn’t make such an impression on me as he made through wwx’s thought process in the end of guanyin temple arc. of course, wwx is no sect leader yao, he is not the one to jump to conclusions, he just noticed that if you put some facts together, they actually start making a lot of sense, and formed a full picture. but he didn’t have any proof, so he kept it mostly to himself. yet he still thought for a moment about nhs as someone who didn’t care about collateral damage that much, who was ready to sacrifice lives of juniors, sect leaders, anyone, if it would add to jgy’s kill count and make his fall and destruction even more disastrous. not that those are not the things that happened in live action, but you know, when wwx put it all together like that in one paragraph, i really felt it. like, oof, dude it’s ROUGH. and not even jgy’s death was enough, as nhs basically admitted to stealing meng shi’s body and planning to repay jgy for what he did to nmj’s body. yikes

i mean i still support nhs in everything he does, but yikes

also side note, glad that the dead cats situation finally became clear for me. this whole year i was so confused about who left all these dead cats for juniors to find. i thought maybe xue yang did?? to lure wwx?? so apparently it was also nhs. good to know.

another detail, probably the last one my brain can generate for now, that pained me a great deal was my poor child jin ling. i already cried about some things related to him and this arc, but there was another little one in the very end here, after jgy died. jin ling realised, that there were now three people, wwx, wn and jgy, his little uncle, that were responsible for his parents’ death. people he had every right and reason to hate. all three of them. and yet he couldn’t hate any of them. he couldn’t avenge his parents, that died so long ago he couldn’t remember them, because all three people responsible for what happened, had something, some reasons, some circumstances, that made them really not the bad guys in jin ling’s life. and they all cared about him, protected him. how could he hate them? how could he not? and in this way this poor child repeats, unfortunately, his uncle’s curse. to have someone he wants to hate so much but just simply can’t. it warms my heart at least that jin ling has a much better support system than jc had when he had to live through that experience. so there is hope.

[truly-morgan]

[Youtube AU, shuangjie extra]

General | Mo Dao Zu Shi Modern AU 12-08-2021

[#mdzs youtuber AU] 

Just a silly AU imagining some of my favs as YouTubers if YouTube wasn’t banned in China (please let me know if there’s actually an equivalent to it).

[#jiangcheng] Sandu 

Jc created his account soon after wwx was kicked out of the house officially and then basically disappeared. He needed somewhere to vent and he doubted his family would ever find his account (they never).

He started by simply filming himself with his phone with barely any editing outside of cutting parts out. He was mostly talking about his day and his anxiety when it was starting to build up too much.

Then he started having a following, answering comments through videos when people wanted updates about certain events he mentioned. He slowly started doing Story time, even including one sent to him by subscribers.

When he got into college, he would even do the occasional vlog. He started to be known for being a grumpy sarcastic college student (even tho everyone can see in his interaction with people in his vlog that he seems really nice and polite).

He has different biweekly series on his channel. Storytimes for either when something interesting happened or from subscribers; reading stories he either finds online or is sent by subscribers (usually scary and supernatural ones); and the occasional vlog.

[#jiangyanli] cooking with a-li 

Jyl started her videos after starting to study cuisine (the idea totally didn’t come from jc barely being able to cook anything more than eggs and pasta).

She does recipe videos, mostly aimed towards those who want to start cooking but might feel overwhelmed. She sometimes makes more complicated dishes.  She focuses on cooking but also experiments more with baking, which is a series of her getting better at that skill.

She has another series called “Cooking/baking with Didi” where she and jc follow a receipt together when jc is free to make one with her.

[#weiwuxian] Yiling Laozu 

Wwx has a channel about art and experiment, sometimes mixing both together.

His art video often consists of him rambling about whatever comes to mind while the camera is showing what he’s painting or drawing. He couldn’t say whether people are here for his art or his rambling, either way, he enjoys making these videos. 

His other videos nearly all have a “Do not do this at home” warning at the start of it. It consists of him building weird contraptions that have no real use, sometimes little robots, other times his contraption /are/ useful but look rather unsafe. He sometimes also messes with science.

The voice of reason in these videos is his faceless and shy roommate who tries to make sure he doesn’t burn anything or hurt himself. 

This channel is actually how jc and jyl found him back and knew he was alive and safe.

[#lanwangji] Hanguan-Jun 

Lwj channel is basically him doing music, some include old videos of recital of his (recorded by lqr) followed by him redoing the same melody to see the difference in practice. The music he composes himself usually only have instrumental, but he will sometimes sing when he does covers. 

He doesn’t interact often with fans, but anyone who did interact with him said he is rather nice. He will often be seen replying in comments when people ask for tips about music. 

He stays faceless in his videos, although he doesn’t necessarily hide himself if he ever appears on his brother’s channel.

[#lanxichen] Zewu-Jun 

Much like his brother, lxc channel is one around music. Although he makes his own covers and composition public, what Zewu-Jun is most known for is his music tutorial on various traditional Chinese instruments, going from debutant to more knowledgeable level depending on the video. 

He is more than happy to give tips and help people learn, he has even given private classes to some who were living in gusu (which did make him consider becoming a teacher).

Lwj will sometimes appear in his videos when he either makes little challenges suggested by his subscribers or needs help with other videos. He even has some Q&A with lwj, which is where fans can find most info about the quiet lwj.

[#niehuaisang] Juan Shan 

Nhs channel is all about art and fashion. He does everything from art videos, and some tutorials on how he does things in his art, to giving suggestions about outfits and even doing a weekly series about outfits and put together (he also loves collabing with people to create a nice outfit for them). One of his most recent series turns around makeup as he slowly gets to learn about it to make his outfits even better. 

He also 100% manages to convince 3zun to be his model.

[#niemingjue] Chifeng-Zun 

Nmj has a fitness channel. He has a couple of playlists, all turning somehow around training. He will do vlogs about his own training regime and diet, sometimes following a goal to do [x] thing or being able to participate in [y] event.

He also does exercise tutorials, going from debutant to more advanced exercise, although he is very beginner-focused as he wants more people to find ways to slowly get to exercise. He also has a series about Storytime from the gym (some events sent by followers).

[#jinzixuan] Bai Mudan 

Jzx has this channel where there's a big contrast between his first upload that is still up on his channel and what he creates now. 

He started young, posting dumb things he did and showing off the wealth of his family, trying to play a character that “he should be”. He was pleased and satisfied with the attention he got, which was what he was looking for, but then got tired to be “the rich kid who shows off”.

As he grew older, he slowly got more into movies and film, gaining interest in storytelling and filmmaking. His content nearly suddenly changed to a film review, even adding facts about how it was done.

Fans who stayed since he started posting as a dumb young teen can see how much more passionate and happier he is about his content now. 

Once his relationship with jyl got better she started staring at his video, even having a series of “wife first time watching...”.

[#xueyang] Chengmei 

Xy basically has a gaming channel, known to be an annoying brat when playing online or for his horror game Let's Play. Although he is mostly known for his streaming of varied games, ranging from online fps to simulator gaming passing by horror and even romance games when he wants to laugh a bit. 

Despite his content basically being the same in the past years of his being active, his fans have all seen a shift in him, especially after the sudden change in the room he films and streams in. “Isn’t this new room great? Bigger than my last apartment” he comments when someone pointed it out.

He is still a chaotic and annoying gremlin, but people have seen the dark circle under his eyes diminish over the last months and is that water he’s drinking?! 

Sometimes his other roommate will appear in videos.

Aq will join him in some of his games, appreciated by the chat because of her attitude and the clash between the two. She often whines that xy should split the money with him when she streams with him.

Xxc seems to also be loved by the chat. The man isn’t great at video games and everyone finds it rather funny how xy suddenly becomes a bit less of a gremlin (although quite the flirt) while he teaches him how to play the game (some even suspect he let xxc wins sometimes).

Xxc is also well known for being the mom's friend, as he will sometimes pop only to bring something to eat, some water or just remind xy not to forget to sleep (“Can gege be my new dad TToTT!!!!” often fills the chat when he appears).

Sl rarely appears, usually when it’s already late in the night and he reminds xy that he should go to sleep. It usually ends in xu betting that if he wins against him (sl) he can stay awake all night, but that he’ll end the stream (which usually has even gone on for hours already) if he wins. Xy still doesn’t understand where sl gets his skill in video games.

====

(should I be working on my 3D model? Yes. Is my head killing me and my motivation non-existent right now? Also yes, so let me have silly AU where I don't even know where am going with it since my brain feels stuck)

Original

[whumpbby]

Hehe, immense potential for angst and reconciliation!

Wei Wuxian of the "dead JC" world is a bit unhinged and a lot more open about his feelings and the moment he has JC in his grasp he needs to know!!

Why did you leave?! Why didn't you wait for me?! What did I do that you didn't... Were you angry at me?! Did you blame me for bringing them to us?! Why did you go back there, Jiang Cheng?!

And Jiang Cheng has no strength for that conversation. He doesn't want to make it worse. So he tries to speak to this Wei Wuxian using the words of his own. It's in the past, please stop thinking about it.

"We never had much to begin with, please leave me in the past."

Which shows how absolutely awful his own WWX is with emotions, because this one looks at him as if JC lost his mind.

"What are you talking about?! We have been brothers in anything but name! I loved you more than anything!"

And Jiang Cheng didn't...didn't know how much he needed to hear these words. It's not his Wei Wuxian, not his, but... But maybe...

"I had to cut your body down from the gates! They strung you up like a piece of meat between your parents!" Wei Wuxian's voice breaks at that. "Please tell me... Why would you make me do it? What did I do that you made me do it...?"

JC knows that. Knows what that kind of doubt does to a person. And that's the only reason (not the tears flowing down Wei Wuxian's face, no) he finally breaks and tells him.

I'm also thinking that - because this WWX didn't lose his core, they are both basically carrying the same golden core and it starts to cause problems. The cores start to act up. And when WWX finally pins JC down and takes his pulse he's like "What's this?! Why is your core...?!" And so JC tells him why.

JC didn't know what he expected from this version of his shixiong, but it wasn't a dark smile and "At least he wasn't completely useless." What. "At least he gave you this. You will carry a piece of him with you, a small piece of us to keep you warm." He didn't...think of it that way before.

But oh no, they have to do something for the cores to settle and WWX is "Well, dual cultivation it is! I will be gentle, shidi!"

JC has to come to terms with a lot of feelings very fast! (I think in that verse there's no Yanli and, instead of Wen Ning, WWX has a fierce corpse Wen Qing to do his bidding;)

I think now that the thing is a bit of a chase - whenever Wei Wuxian enters a world, JC is kicked out of it - and that will keep happening until they both solve their feelings towards each other and come to the same conclusion. Only then they can meet.

So, like, when WWX enters the AllAlone! WWX's world, JC gets kicked onwards to another one.

As for the verse where JC is not in Lotus Pier...he'd be horrified. Absolutely horrified and humiliated and angry and guilty... He brought it on himself, after all. That his own Wei Wuxian managed to gift him his golden core seemed like a curse - until he came here and saw what could happen instead.

The him form this verse is small. Sickly. Pale and exhausted. The wounds form the disciple whip didn't scar on him - they don't seem to be healing at all. He's a sect leader in name only, never seen, kept under lock and key in his own home. Cared for by the brother that doesn't want to let him go. He's not even...angry anymore. Just exhausted.

But he keeps going, because if he gives up, then his Wei Wuxian will break and he can't stand that thought. So he goes through day after day in his golden cage, and pretends it's not killing both of them slowly....

When he's sent to the omegaverse it's a relief (Not only because that Wei Wuxian started to look at him with considering eyes, and started to ask a lot of questions about the core transfer...) Until he discovers that the three kids running around came from between his counterpart's legs. Gasp. Horror.

...at least in this world it was Lan Xichen who took him to bed, not Wei Wuxian.

Hehe, I am thinking that JC got tangled in some shenanigans that keep following Wei Wuxian, and in effect got sent to some other dimension where everything is the same but isn't.

And now WWX has to go and retrieve him - and for that ends up going through quite a few realities in a "Where isy my shidi?" adventure that places him face to face with a variety of Jiang Chengs and his own feelings of shame, guilt, love and anger towards his shidi.

He sees a Jiang Cheng who have lost their core and a one that didn't, ones that reclaimed his sect and one that was enslaved by Wen Zhuliu as some sick standin for his mom. One that saved Yanli and sacrificed his sect and one that never forgave Wei Wuxian (ohz so that's how his actual hate feels) and one that got over WWX's death and forgot (and that's how indifference feels, Wei Wuxian hates it!). There is a reality where JC didn't get a replacement core and Wei Wuxian was the Jiang Sect Leader who kept him under lock and key (and that Jiang Cheng was miserable, but didn't want to run away, as long as his Wei Wuxian loved him still...).

There is one where Jiang Cheng is married to Lan Xichen and they have kids??? (Wei Wuxian hates it! Hates it! Hates it!!! ....just can't explain why... His shidi would never...right? And what does it mean Jiang Cheng gave birth to the kids?? Oh gods, he never wants to have Lan Xichen sit him down for a sex talk ever again>_<!!! The alpha/omega sex sure is something!) That world unsettled him the most. How is it that Jiang Cheng is happily married here? How is it that Lan Xichen chose him to marry??? Doesn't he mind the awful personality and constant anger? His shidi is very pretty and great, and strong, but he is just like his mom and... Lan Xichen almost slaps him in the head in that universe. Which is scary, because Lan Xichen never gets angry to Wei Wuxian's memory. And on account of a joke? Wei Wuxian doesn't get it.

"If you stopped looking at him and trying to see his mother instead of the boy you grew up with." The big alpha tells him. "Then you'd understand."

And uh, yeah, that one kinda....stung a bit. Maybe that reality wasn't that bad - for Jiang chengttonhave someone who cared for him and understood him. For his shidi to have family again, one that loved him as he should be loved even if it didn't include Wei Wuxian. Even if his shidi had to birth babies and take that monstrous Lan pillar...(he hated it, hated it, heated it!!!)

It's still better, however, than the one reality Wei Wuxian stepped into that just... Didn't have Jiang Cheng of its own. One where he died at the hands of Wen Chao, where the Sunshot Campaign never even got off the ground, because their Wei Wuxian burned the Wen to the ground and salted the ashes. There's no Lan Sizhui there, no Wen Ning. Wen Quing died under his hands like all the others. There's no Yunmeng Jiang. Just Wei Wuxian full of rage and the world that lives in fear of him. What a miserable existence.

He left that world as fast as he could, sick to his stomach.

On the quest to reclaim his precious shidi.