#jc: KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL

[demonicfarmer69]

wen wanyin au commission for @lunadiane based off of this wonderful threadfic! wen ruohan loves his new family~

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Heartfelt Reunion.

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[strialternatives]

bonus:

somehow their different cross-media designs give off different vibes/ship dynamics to me, i just thought it'd be fun to draw it out lol

(also i love their mobile designs they're so pretty ;v;)

[lavender-phoenix-flames]

If all Wens were actually evil, Jiang Cheng would have been dead.

[barawrah]

brother

[featherfur]

You ever just get off of work and think about Jiang Cheng and about how random civilians yap on and on about how he’s mean and cruel. Yet for all their rumors and hissed words, Jiang Cheng has a thriving sect that cares deeply for him and is trusted greatly?

Like he was what, 16? When his parents died and he was left alone and traumatized from the Wen’s torture and his brother was missing and his sister was hidden away for her safety. And he marched across the land and was so charismatic, so capable, so full of confidence (fake or otherwise) that cultivators who had no reason to trust or give a damn about him, where willing to follow him through war.

There’s so many rumors flying around about him being this nasty cruel man, yet his sect is filled with people who go rushing after him. Who have faith in him when he says not to say anything about his claim of Mo Xuanyu being WWX. Who are trusted by Jin Ling, who adores his uncle so much, to watch Zidian and return it to him. Who willingly skip around after Jin Ling in fake Jin robes to watch for him.

That’s not a sect that’s under a cruel and harsh leader. That’s not a sect that fears their leader. Jiang Cheng couldn’t have gotten where he is, if he was half of what the rumors say he is. He can be ruthless, yes, but when he loves he loves so fucking deeply. And by the fact of the sheer number of people who joined his sect and raised their kids under his protection, it’s so clear that that love extended to his new sect.

Anyways the secret to Jiang Cheng is that he loves and loves and loves and loves.

And loves.

[whumpbby]

Why do people keep insisting that Jiang Cheng killed Wei Wuxian???

[mxtxfanatic]

"Jin Ling wasn't abused! Jiang Cheng was the perfect uncle to him, and Jin Ling would never doubt that—"

Hey, quick question: how come Jin Ling hesitates to go to Jiang Cheng during the second siege despite all the other boys immediately and unhesitatingly running to embrace their relatives when the adults arrive?

These cultivators, including Jiang Cheng, all bathed in blood, their faces tired. All of the boys rushed outside the cave, shouting, “Dad!” “Mom!” “Brother!” They were embraced into the crowd. Jin Ling looked left and right, as though he still hadn’t decided yet. Jiang Cheng’s voice was harsh, “Jin Ling, why are you so slow? What are you taking your time for? Do you want to die?!”

—Chapt. 68: Tenderness, exr

[poorlittleyaoyao]

he is the BEST BOY and he is SO CONCERNED about his uncles who are both straight-up not having a good time right now 😭

[demonicfarmer69]

chu! two kisses for jiujiu!

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Advanced Interrogation Technique: Dog

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[qiu-yan]

MDZS and asshole victims: thoughts on the second siege of the burial mounds scene

this post is not about morality judgments. this post is about reader sympathies only.

one rather clever rhetorical trick MDZS employs is putting all the more background "surviving victims of wei wuxian's actions" into one big angry mob at the second siege of the burial mounds, instead of letting them crop up anywhere else in the story. it's easy for a first-time reader to write off the guy who lost a leg at nightless city, or the guy whose parents died at nightless city, because both of those guys are being dicks. they're part of an angry mob baying for wei wuxian's blood--unfairly baying for wei wuxian's blood, because this time he didn't even do the thing they're saying he did. by putting these two victims into a mob of not just fellow victims but also unaffected individuals (ie. sect leader yao, who just showed up for kicks), the story can effectively equate these victims' grievances (ie. "you killed my parents") with unreasonable mob rule--even if these two things might not actually be equivalent.

the effect of this rhetorical trick, then, is that the reader can at once perceive the themes about mob mentality MXTX wishes to convey, and also effectively write off the victims' complaints. "yes, i did that to you, but i literally died already, what more do you want me to do? shall i walk on my knees repenting?" becomes easier for the reader to accept. and more importantly--wei wuxian's likability as a moral and just protagonist is not impacted.

ngl tho. it would be a bit more difficult for the reader to write off these victims' complaints if, instead of meeting said victims in an angry mob, the reader instead met these victims almost anywhere else. imagine if, instead of meeting mr. "you killed my parents" at the second siege of the burial mounds, we instead met him getting smashed at the local bar and crying about how his parents are dead. imagine if, instead of meeting mr. "you chopped off my leg" as a member of an angry mob, we instead met him begging for alms on the side of the road because his disability rendered him unable to work in a wuxia-esque setting. or imagine--if either of these background characters, overcome with survivor's guilt and trauma from nightless city, hung himself in his bedroom, and the next day his body was discovered by his 15-year-old daughter.

all of these scenarios are entirely plausible. you could easily include any of them into the story without changing the main plot at all. but suddenly shit just got a lot more depressing.

however, no such scene would ever be included in MDZS. the reason is that, as a work of fiction, MDZS's single most ardent goal is for us the readers to conclude not just that "we like wei wuxian as a character," but also that "wei wuxian is ultimately a morally righteous person." when the narrative focus shifts onto the people who were actually helped by wei wuxian's actions (mianmian and her family, lan sizhui, the few months of dignity the wen remnants were afforded) this becomes much easier for us to conclude; wei wuxian does indeed look like a hero. but the more narrative focus is given to the negative impacts of wei wuxian's actions--the more the "victims of wei wuxian" (whether actual victims or not) are given a face, instead of abstracted away by broad summaries--the more the reader might side-eye wei wuxian instead. every new victim given a name, given narrative attention that isn't just focused on making them look like an asshole, arouses the reader's sympathies in the opposite direction--and thus increases the risk that the reader might ultimately disagree with the novel's conclusion of "wei wuxian is a righteous person."

tbh, this does not seem like a risk MXTX particularly wants to take. instead, she's mastered the art of writing Asshole Victims.

which is an entirely valid writing decision, because imo basically every work of genre fiction out there does this to some extent.

[winepresswrath]

oooh OK i went back to check something for that last ask and was struck again by how much Lan Wangji, Zixuan, and Jiang Cheng trust and respect Mingjue that is their general accept no substitutes. The only good authority figure (Xichen exempted if you're Wangji). And then he does what he believes is right and turns down the big chair, leaving a power vacuum open for Jin Guangshan to exploit.

[bishy437]

🐶

[kimio7]

unfinished brocedes leyendecker study