#jiang family drama

[storge]

Lu Guang & Cheng Xiaoshi Link Click (2024)

[biennatodd]

i cant stop thinking about what if pregnancy was really hard for YZY.

what if her labor was so difficult that her doctors encouraged her to not even try again (the impossible be damned) despite having a daughter for a firstborn.

what if she pushed (and JFM was amenable, as he often was then) for her daughter to be made heir, only for JYL to struggle with foundation building so much that they worried she'd never reach core formation.

unsuitable.

it goes from improbable to nigh impossible for yanli to be sect leader.

so YZY decides to try again, its been years since the first time. surely she's recovered more than enough. if she can not make her body do even this then. then.

she will do this.

imagine her suffering another dangerous child birth, only to have another daughter.

and never once does her love for her children waver but she could cry, honestly cry because why could nothing ever be easy for her.

and then she has a thought.

it would be so easy. she could force the midwives to take an oath of secrecy. she would have to be more hands on in the raising of her child than most others in her position, but it wouldn't hurt to be seen as doting...

no one would ever know.

That year, the jianghu celebrated the birth of Jiang Fengmian's son and heir, Jiang Cheng.

[wangxian-the-zhijis]

I watched a portion of Lu Jianmin’s (Jiang Fengmian’s actor) interview and he said, “We (he and wyb) worked together in CQL. I was Xiao Zhan’s (Wei Wuxian’s actor) father…”

I imagine the Jiang family reaction be like…

Wei Wuxian: “Jiang-shushu said I was his son 🥹”

Jiang Yanli: “that’s right. Our Xianxian is part of the family after all 🥰”

Jiang Cheng: “you’re Wei Wuxian’s father? That’s it??? AND ME?!”

Madame Yu: “What in the name of f*ck, Jiang Fengmia—“

Link to the interview

[llycaons]

kills me to see homophobic lqr in fics. his favorite nephew ran off with a heretic and got married to him and came back MONTHS later like 'we're in love 😊 we still live here btw' and he was like. alright 😔 come to the banquet as husbands then. not enthusiastic bc he doesn't like wwx but not homophobic!!!

[wangxianficrecs]

Casual Happenstance by Belzime

Casual Happenstance

by Belzime

T, WIP, 9k, Background Wangxian

Summary: After breaking up with ex-fiance Meng Yao, Nie Mingjue moves into a new apartment and gets pulled into friendship with the toddler down the hall and his single mother, Jiang Yanli. - “Are you going to stand here and argue with me or are you going to move out of the way so I can set this down?” Her face brooks no room for challenge. “Good, now step aside.” She sweeps past him and finds a space on his countertop for it. “There.” She turns around, hand brushing over Baxia’s head as the dog circles her knees. “Do you have any food allergies? Anything you can’t eat? You’re not vegetarian? Are you alright with spices?” ‘A little odd to ask after you’ve already bullied me into taking it,’ he thinks and says instead, “I eat just about anything.” He watches her relax and realizes she'd been worried, “Oh good.” She says, “I tried to make it a little more mild than usual; last time I made this soup I found out my brother-in-law was vegetarian and has terrible acid reflux. My A-Xian wouldn’t stop laughing, knew the whole time no shame or sympathy for not telling me!” Kay's comments: A very cute and fluffy modern AU with a friendship that I haven't seen explored in fanfic often: Nie Mingjue and Jiang Yanli! Nie Mingjue has recently broken up with Meng Yao and Jiang Yanli is Jin Ling's single mother in this. Jin Zixuan is alive, but there is drama, which I love, because yeah, I want to have Xuanli explored as a broken relationship too!) So, Nie Mingjue and Jiang Yanli! They strike up an unlikely friendship and Nie Mingjue helps out with Jin Ling and there's also some background Wangxian. Very adorable story! Excerpt: He knows her ex is a horribly awkward person, he assumes he knows where they live though Yanli has said he’s never been there. He isn’t going to do anything. It’s not his place to intrude. He’s going to see Xichen, doesn’t want to be late when the man shows up chronically twenty minutes early. But he can’t help brushing a little too close past the man on the way to the elevator. The man startles, turning towards Mingjue and revealing himself. “Mingjue-ge.” The man says and he’s never been easy to read, but the slightly rushed way in which his name came out and complete lack of change in facial expression screams to a specific horror Mingjue has spent most of his life trying to decipher from a different face. “Wangji?!” He chokes out, betrayal punching deep below Mingjue’s diaphragm. Wangji is VERY gay and certainly cannot be capable of having a child only to abandon him? He’s adopting, for Gods’ sake! “Mingjue-da-ge!” another voice shouts as a body drapes itself around Wangji’s shoulders and back. “What are you doing here?” The new man beams. He drops something into Wangji’s hand and Mingjue watches as his best friend’s baby brother’s ears turn bright red when their fingers brush, face unmoving. “Wei Ying.” He greets and motions down the hall, “I live here.”

modern setting, jiang yanli, nie mingjue, modern no powers, pov nie mingjue, dog baxia, single parent jiang yanli, family drama, background character death, hospitalization, domestic fluff, fluff, past nieyao, past xuanli, child jin ling, trauma, neighbors, friendship, misunderstandings

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(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[fanatic-freakshow]

Jiang Shaopeng's family

Come home! You can always look for another job. Don't be so hard on yourself.

But won't he seem too fragile if he comes home because he faces some hardships? You are right. Then, you should bully them back before you come back.

Yang Zixiang's family

The whole family pays a lot of attention to your performance in Taiwan. You are not allowed to fail!

If you fail, don't bother coming back.

SEE YOUR LOVE

[coffeebookslovegt]

Naciste con una sonrisa en tu rostro. Nunca te importaron las penas de la vida. Incluso si el problema es grave siempre estas sonriendo.

[micamicster]

I find the sibling dynamics in the untamed genuinely fascinating because like jiang cheng has all the flaws of a youngest sibling but he ALSO has to fulfill the roles and responsibilities of an oldest sibling (his family’s heir and leader of his clan) which results in a man who sucks so bad and fails so much 🥰 i love him

[queseraphita]

When i think about Jiang Sect and their main family like a business, I get this very vivid "treat each other like family" or "you're part of the family" relationship with Wei Wuxian has to the main family. I truly understand how precarious his status becomes in the Jiang sect becomes. Like an indentured servitude contract that continues gaining debt interest solely to keep you there indefinitely

[fortune-maiden]

No see 4th Sister’s tragedy of impulsiveness would have worked so well if this show bothered to develop the Jiang family and its various branches and dynamics

We see the main family and Ji Shuran’s relationship with her daughter (though sadly Ruoyao and her father barely interact). We don’t really see much of the second branch but Jingrui is a major supporting character and his parents appear just enough to show that they’re a pretty happy trio

And then there’s the third branch. We’re told 3rd Jiang is a concubine’s son and Old Madam doesn’t really care much for him and 4th Miss has appeared enough times to establish herself as Ruoyao’s lackey and pining for her fiance… but sure would have been nice to actually see the third branch family between their introductions and now and how they all fit in with the Jiang family mess

[titom-1]

Também postado no Wattpad: Tellue_M, espero que vocês gostem de ler, e não deixem de dar seu feedback! Espero vocês lá beijos! Ah o próximo capítulo vai ser postado sexta-feira agora à noite.

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

Nov 28th

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1. Hi, thank you for all that you do!! I'm itmf wangxian fics where LWJ is going through qi deviation and WWX is angsting about how to save him. Any timeline, AU, whatever. @thegertie

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2. itmf some meddling juniors! wangxian main couple please, rather getting together but will read established, modern au or canon era, all good :)

🔒 The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (T, 19k, WangXian, In-Universe RPF, Romance Novel, LJY’s sense of justice, OYZZ’s sense of romance, Featuring a surprise appearance by WWX’s oft-absent sense of shame, Look the ducklings just want their sort-of dads to be happy okay?, And it’s not like WWX or LWJ are doing a good job of ensuring their own happiness, LJY rejects canon reality and substitutes his own, highly relatable actually, Post-Canon Fix-It, primarily drama-canon with cameos from novel-canon, The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli [Podfic] by Rhea314 (Rhea))

A Dramatic Reading by pupeez4eva (Not Rated, 5k, WangXian, Humor, Post-Canon, Public Confessions, oblivious wangxian, The Juniors accidentally write Wangxian fanfiction on a cursed scroll, Everyone suffers the consquences, Getting Together)

not unspectacular things by taizi (T, 14k, WangXian, The Parent Trap Fusion, Unconventional Families, Adopted Children, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Getting Back Together, Happy Ending, the kids are alright, Families of Choice, Modern AU, Meddling Kids, Unreliable Narrator, Good Sibling JC, Protective NHS, One Big Happy Family, POV Third Person Limited)

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3. hello! recently read a couple fics where wwx turns into a kid (specifically around the time he was on the streets) and others have to look after him for a while, would anyone have more recommendations? i read be the first to see the spring and one other i can’t remember but i’d love any recs

❤️ grow by cafecliche (T, 14k, WangXian, Age Regression/De-Aging, Character Study, Post-Canon, [Podfic] Grow by jellyfishfire)

home is where we are by halfdemonvash (T, 17k, wangxian, JC & WWX, Twin Prides of Yúnmèng are Bad at Communicating, JC & WWX Reconciliation, but only somewhat because these these things take time, Age Regression/De-Aging, Angst and Feels, Hijinks & Shenanigans, accidental baby acquisition but it’s actually your older brother, references to wwx’s past being homeless, and also his past food insecurity, rated T for jiang cheng’s language, and light sexual content in the beginning, Post-Canon, Yúnmèng Siblings Feels, Junior Trio Shenanigans)

found your writing on my wall by howodd5ever (T, 25k, WangXian, Accidental Baby Acquisition, De-aged WWX, Post-Canon, Getting Together, jl makes an appearance, lsz best boy, Referenced Child Neglect, discussion of parental loss, child food insecurity, Case Fic, Kind Of, Nightmares)

Rewritten by yamadori (Katsumi27) (G, 6k, WangXian, Age Regression/De-Aging, Emotional Hurt/Comfort)

sugar stains by lanjingyeet (T, 18k, WangXian, Kid Fic, (kind of), General Shenanigans, Spirits, questionable parenting, junior trio on babysitting duty, Age Regression/De-Aging, Child WWX)

Glimpses Of The Past by A_simple_Cookie, GoschateWabn (G, 52k, WangXian, WIP, Age Regression/De-Aging, Good Sibling JC, YLLZ WWX, Young WWX, Childhood Memories, Fluff and Angst, Twin Prides of Yunmeng Feels, Twin Prides of Yunmeng Dynamics, LWJ Has a Yiling Laozu Kink, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Humor, Family Bonding, Post-Canon, WWX Needs a Hug, Gremlin WWX, Hijinks & Shenanigans, beware WWX shenanigans inside) WWX regresses to all different ages in turn, so childhood, Cloud Recesses, Sunshot, YLLZ etc

💖🔒Silver & Gold by beeswaxing (E, 162k, wangxian, post-canon, fix-it, fluff & angst, hurt/comfort, de-aging, established relationship, non-sexual intimacy, cuddling & snuggling, BAMF WWX, horny teenagers, underage kissing)

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4. Hi! Thank you for all that you do. For ITMF I would like to know if someone has recommendations for fics with Nie Mingjue discovering his brother intelligence or more people realizing how smart Huaisang or his part in the whole plan against JGY. Thank you again. @anime-trash-parody

while covered in mud by merthurlin (T, 12k, NHS & WWX, NHS & NMJ, NHS & Wen remnants, mentioned wangxian, canon divergence, fix-it, NHS goes farming and Hates It)

This Time Around by KouriArashi (T, 83k, JGY & NHS, NHS & WWX, JGY & WWX, Time Travel Fix-It, Kid Fic, Families of Choice, Angst, Grief/Mourning, Politics, Class Issues, Past Child Abuse, Moral Ambiguity, Everybody Lives, Eventual Happy Ending)

A Future Family In A Broken Past by Hauntcats (T, 121k, wangxian, WWX & Wen Remnants, Jiang Family & WWX, WQ/MM, JYL/NHS, LXC/NMJ, Not Jiāng Family Friendly, Not Cultivation World Friendly, WWX Needs a Hug, Family Dynamics, What is a good family?, Fear of emotions does not excuse abuse, Not Jiang Clan Friendly, Angst with a Happy Ending, Time Travel fix-it, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon Divergence, LXC needs a hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Not YZY Friendly)

🔒 the thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break by RoseThorne (E, 102k, 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, Somnophilia) doesn’t involve the plot against jgy

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5. Itmf more like Ready for Blood On The Ground by mondengel. Just Lan Wanji not having the patience for everyone’s shit after his Wei Ying’s death and either saying or doing something about it. Please please please @queenkittykat336

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6. itmf a fic where wwx only remembers lwj as the dorky shy kid but when they meet again after awhile he realises lwj grew up hot

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7. A) are there any fics where wwx is a mafia boss and lwj is his trophy wife (or partner whatever) and doesn't take shit from anyone? I also don't mind if it's the other way around (like lwj is the mafia boss)

B) fics with loads loads loads of angst I wanna cry

7A)

You & Me Baby, We’ll Eclipse The Sun Series by 2501987 (M/E, 130k, WangXian, XiCheng, MIND THE TAGS, Modern AU, Mafia, Murder husbands, Torture, Possessive Behavior, Blood and Violence, Older JC, Younger WWX, Hurt/Comfort, Dark) The mafia boss is LWJ, not WWX, but the ask did say that was okay, so....

Take Some Advice Paesano by FeelsForBreakfast (M, 8k, WangXian, Mob, Mafia AU - Clown Version, Humor, Mistaken Identity, Modern, Getting Together, op listened to mambo italiano 30 times while writing this, precious moments for the oral fixation girlies, Podfic Available) A delightful fic in lwj's pov where musician!lwj gets kidnapped as a birthday present for mob boss!wwx. Technically lwj isn't a trophy wife yet but he plans to remedy that asap

7B)

voicemail mementos by waywardwriter (T, 3k, WangXian, Major Character Death, Modern, Getting Together, Angst, Grief/Mourning, Closure) I'm someone who takes a LOT to make cry and I was sobbing by the end of this

to the act of making noise by words-writ-in-starlight (WordsWritInStarlight) (G, 19k, LSZ & LWJ, LSZ & WWX, WangXian, Grief/Mourning, Father-Son Relationship, inquiry, LSZ is the best of boys and I will not hear debate, Music, Angst, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, [Podfic] to the act of making noise by Ceewelsh, flamingwell, kisahawklin, Rionaa) and for extra tissue warning, check out the podfic version with music

this storm that should not be by TheDameJudiWench (G, 6k, WangXian, Hurt/Comfort, Drowning, Family Dynamics) which is short but packs a punch

总有一天; a place to hide (can’t find one near) by yiqie (E, 76k, WangXian, Modern AU, Pianist, Getting Together, Mental Health Issues, Suicide Attempt, Suicidal Thoughts, Depression, Hospitals, Overdosing, Eventual Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Additional Warnings In Author’s Note) but please mind the tags on this one.

New Perspective series by mrcformoso (T, 35k, WangXian, LSZ & LWJ, WN & WWX, LSZ & WWX, LJY/LSZ, Major Character Death, Angst, Hopeful Ending, Fatherhood, Regrets, Flashbacks, POV LWJ, LWJ-centric, Canonical Character Death - WWX, Pining LWJ, LWJ Has Feelings, LWJ Needs a Hug, Character Development, Dead WWX, LWJ deals with the death of his love, And learns to be a father along the way, Introspection, Feelings, LWJ is Bad at Feelings, Character Study, Regretful LWJ, Breaking Toxic Cycles, Canon Compliant, LWJ in Seclusion, Post-LWJ in Seclusion, Child LSZ, Canon Divergence, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, LWJ regaining WWX's Trust, Golden Core Reveal, Good Kid LSZ, Post-Time Skip, Love Confessions, Requited Love, Trust Issues, WWX Has a Fear of Dogs, WWX Has No Golden Core, Light Jealousy, Fierce Corpse WN, Protective LWJ, Post-Canon WWX Has Chronic Pain, WWX Has Issues, WWX has Phantom Pain, WWX was Malnourished, Sad LWJ, POV WWX., WWX is always cold, Migraines, Suicidal WWX, Suicidal Thoughts, Implied/Referenced Suicide, mirror therapy, Good Friend NHS, Crying, WWX's body is normal but he still feels as if it isnt, Made up Nie Clan lore, POV LSZ, Found Family, Toxic Elders, Growing Up, The Lan Juniors, LSZ's parents suffered, And so he starts a revolution, Bringing about change, LWJ Adopts LSZ, WWX is LSZ's Parent, LSZ is a polite menace, Hanguang-jun raised an army of Lan rebels and we're here for it, Good Uncle WN)

Window of the Waking Mind by mrcformoso (M, 8k, wangxian, LSZ & WWX, JC & WWX, Graphic depictions of violence, Major Character Death, Heavy Angst with a Happy Ending, Sad with a Happy Ending, Post-Canon, Torture, Golden Core Transfer, WWX Has Self-Esteem Issues, Hurt WWX, WWX Needs a Hug, WWX Needs a Break, Flashbacks, Curses, Night Hunts, Suicide, Starvation, Canonical Child Abuse, Canonical Character Death, Cannibalism, Although it was forced by the situation to survive, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, lots of comfort, Soft LQR, Learning To Communicate, Zidian Spiritual Tool, JC Tries, Reaction)

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, WWX confesses early on, But canon still happens, LWJ starts confessing after, but the tables have turned, Angst with a Happy Ending, LWJ rejects WWX, Then gets rejected by WWX after, “Get Lost”, Перевод на русский | Translation in Russian)

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8. Speaking of zombie apocalypse that ive seem from the last ficfinder, do you know any apocalyptic setting fanfic where wwx dies because he's bitten?

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9. Hi, for Itmf are there any story where wwx brags about being really experienced in relationships only for being totally outmatched by lwj?

Wei Laoshi, Poonslayer by FeelsForBreakfast (E, 6k, WangXian, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, POV LWJ, straight boy wwx, Loss of Virginity, Getting Together)

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10. Itmf fics where the juniors find out how WWX looked before he died. Thanks so much!

Is Your Old Body Considered a Halloween Costume? by The_peregrine_falcon (G, 3k, WangXian, WWX's original body, Junior quartet makes an appearance, LQR's blood pressure is going up, LWJ is chief cultivator, Fluff, Canon Compliant, Post-Canon)

little a-ying by byeollie (Not Rated, 16k, WangXian, Curses, Age Regression/De-Aging, Fluff, Babysitting, everyone has to look after a mischievous wwx, lqr has a heart, Established Relationship, Junior Trio Dynamics, Unreliable Narrator, Family Feels, Found Family, Kinda, yunmeng bros reconciliation, Post-Canon, Mild Hurt/Comfort)

Transcend by covalentbonds (not rated, 7k, WIP, WangXian, Post-Canon, Fluff and Humor, Smut, YLLZ WWX is prettiest fight me)

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11. Hello! Thank you for the last itmf. A) This time I'm in the mood for preferably longer fics (50k and above) that focus on either one of these characters: Nie Mingjue, Nie Huaisang, Jiang Cheng, Lan Xichen.

I would like to see if there are any fics that focus on their character development and/or their romantic lives. It can be them with another character from mdzs or even an OC character. Just no Reader and Y/N please.

B) And fics that have Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan as the main couple.

Thank you so much for all your recommendations and have a nice day! @broodyelii

11A)

you made a rebel of a careful man by bluecottontail (VOlympianlove), VOlympianlove (T, 64k, NieLan, WangXian, past XiYao, Grocery Store, Meet-Cute, Romance, fast burn, Single Parents, Dating, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, Self Confidence Issues, Love at First Sight, Modern AU, Marriage Proposal)

Flourish by cicisears (M, 130k, Xuansang, WangXian, QingLi,XiYao, NieLan, YaoSu, NSFW, ish, dicks are mentioned, as in dick sucking, Friends to Lovers, Secret Relationship, Closeted Character, closeted guy didn't know he was closeted, Angst and Fluff!, Found Family, Homophobia, Casual bed sharing, until it's not casual, Sexy times implied, Parent Death, Super Minor Character Death, College Life, Pining)

Thin Ice by Nie_Miso (E, 66k, WIP, WangXian, College/University, Football | Soccer Captain NMJ, Dual POV, Cheerleading Captain LXC, Wangxian progression, Rivals to Lovers, Slow Burn, Locker Room, bisexual awakening, Light Dom/sub, light question mark, Background WangXian)

only love can hurt like this by bluecottontail (VOlympianlove), VOlympianlove (T, 53k, NieLan, WangXian, XuanLi, XiYao, Crazy Rich Asians Fusion, Inspired by Crazy Rich Asians, Modern AU, Singapore, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Cheating, negative xiyao relationship)

🔒The Gold Lotus by The Bathhouse (Cleoptrix) (E, 61k, ChengSang, XiYao, ChengYao, JueNing, Wedding Planner, Modern AU, Fluff and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Mutual Pining, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Bickering, Misunderstandings, miscommunications, POV Alternating, Chengyao is not endgame, Nonbinary NHS, Asexual NMJ, Morally Grey NHS, Morally-Grey LXC, speaking of, Cheating, but not really, JC Has Anxiety, JC Has a Panic Attack, JC has a Therapist, JC Gets a Hug, Slut Shaming, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Guilt, Platonic Sex, Spanking, Under-negotiated Kink, Massage, Affirmation as Punishment, Everyone is verse except for JC, bottom JC, Power Play, Light Dom/sub, Overstimulation, Edgeplay, Biting, Kink Discovery, Foot Fetish, Body Worship, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Face-Fucking, Cock Warming)

Unique in All the World by The_Storybooker (M, 58k, ChengSang, background XiYao, Modern AU, Aromantic NHS, Asexual JC, Consent, Relationship Negotiation, Compatibility, Friends to Lovers)

Flowers Over Boys by morichrome (T, 55k, XiCheng, Background WangXian, Background XuanLi)

🔒Audience of One by WinterDreams (T, 181k, XiCheng, WangXian, Implied MingYao, Modern AU, Celebrities, Inspired by 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Singer LXC, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Needs A Hug, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Swearing, Slow Burn, Family Feels, Family Bonding, childhood crushes, past emotional abuse, Post-Betrayal, Venerated Triad Feels, Yunmeng Duo Feels, Nightmares, Fluff and Angst, hand holding, Babysitter Ā-Qìng, Domestic Fluff, SongXiao mentioned relationship, Soft XiCheng, Eventual Happy Ending)

The Needle and the Nail by littledust (E, 119k, ChengQing, WQ Lives, Canon Divergence, Slow Burn, Memory Loss, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Angst with a Happy Ending, Golden Core Reveal, First Time, Explicit Rating Earned 14 Chapters In Because Slow Burn)

11B)

Cloud 9 by Chokolateaddictz (E, 4k, XuanLi, Modern AU, Office Romance, Fluff, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Till it resolves, Other MDZS characters make appearances, Original Characters, The intricate politics of Old Family Money, Best boy JGY)

Aftermath by KouriArashi (T, 57k, XuanLi, WangXian, XiYao, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Everybody Lives, Romance, Developing Relationship, Family, Sibling Bonding, Light Angst, Politics, Attempted Sexual Assault, some murder on occasion)

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12. Hi! This is for ITMF. I want to read a "WWX falls first" Fic. To be honest, i dont know if i want to read "WWX falls first" Or " Mean LWJ" Fic. But considering the " Mean LWJ" Fic that i read mostly a "WWX falls first" Fic, i think i want a combination of that? Thanks! @idontknowwhattowriteforusername

Honesty is the Best Policy (Except if You’re an Asshole)by piecrust (E, 22k, WangXian, Porn with Feelings, College/University)

🔒As It Should Be by kuro (M, 36k, WangXian, Slow Burn, Arranged Marriage, Fluff and Angst, Miscommunication, Dubious Consent, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Siblings, Running Away, from your problems, as adults do, Eventual Fluff, Background Relationships)

How You Would Let Me Have You by longleggedgit (E, 15k, WangXian, XiQing, Arranged Marriage, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Divergence, First Time, The LXC/WQ is a "mutual beards" situation just FTR)

the river and the sea by sasamelons (T, 7k, WangXian, Soulmates, Arranged Marriage, Misunderstandings, Angst with a Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Falling In Love, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Mutual Pining)

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, WWX confesses early on, But canon still happens, LWJ starts confessing after, but the tables have turned, Angst with a Happy Ending, LWJ rejects WWX, Then gets rejected by WWX after, “Get Lost”, Перевод на русский | Translation in Russian) link in #7B

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13. Hello

Any fics that have Wen Ruohan and Wei Wuxian interacting. Preferably antagonistically/wrh underestimating wwx becuase of his status.

🔒Pendulum by ShippersList (M, 69k, wangxian, graphic depicitions of violence, rape/non-con, underage, A/B/O, Canon Divergence, Non-Traditional A/B/O Dynamics, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Misunderstandings, Canon-Typical Violence, Spies & Secret Agents, Fake Character Death, Slow Burn, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, BAMF WWX, Attempted Sexual Assault, Canonical Character Death, Mutual Pining, Good JGY, Introspection, Self-Sacrificing WWX, Love Confessions, Protective LWJ, past child sexual abuse)

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14. A) Itmf: please rec me books set in end of the world/ apocalypse/ zombie (or infection) au. I read one zombie au recently and it was so damn good. Left me hungry for more. Anything above 60k is good.

B) Are there any longer than 50k fics where yzy isn't abusive/bad and is a normal parent without being ooc? I don't want it to be the focus, but a part of the fic? @constellation-dks

14A)

❤️ A Corpse Called By Name by jaemyun (Not rated, 64k, WangXian, Zombie Apocalypse, Angst, Horror, Zombie WWX, Eventual Happy Ending, yunmeng trio, Eventual WangXian, WWX is dad material even in death, Humor, YLLZ but make him dead, A Corpse Called By Name by jaemyun [Podfic] by Miss Appellation (Lizeth)) Amazing story with Zombie Wei Ying, one of my favorites! Around 64k

Apocalypse AU Series by Anonymous (Not rated, 211k, WangXian, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Zombie Apocalypse, Mpreg, Heavy Angst, Dialogue Heavy, Childbirth, Background Relationships, Canon character deaths, Minor Character Death, Canon Compliant, Family Drama, Post-Apocalypse, Gun Violence, POV WWX, Minor HuaLian, Suicide Attempt, Suicidal Thoughts, Established WangXian, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Past Sexual Assault, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Parenthood, Married HuaLian, Everyone Has Issues, PTSD, Near Death Experiences, Memory Loss, Natural Disasters, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Protective LWJ, Suicide, Violence, Rebuilding, Recovery, Family Fluff, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Baby LSZ, Engagement) zombie apocalypse, rather dark and explicit themes, angst especially for Wei Ying. Includes Xie Lian and Hua Cheng for company, people being at their worst and a bit of scheming Guangyao. Beware of warnings, but really interesting

When the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation takes a week off by galaxy_in_your_eyes (T, 20k, WangXian, Modern Cultivation, Canon Divergence, Everyone Lives, only those that deserve it, kind of fix-it, Zombie Apocalypse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Attempt at Humor, POV Alternating, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Gore, Mentions of Suicidal Thoughts, Brief Mentions of Cannibalism, Zombies, We don’t see the Zombie Apocalypse, It happens behind closed doors, WWX in quarantine, Wangxian being Wangxian, Mentions of Smut, Established Relationship, Courtesy Names, local necromancer gets sick with the flu) Not REALLY the full on end-of-the-world Zombie apocalypse + shorter than the requester asked, but an amazing read with Wei Ying being sick and appreciated for veing the smartest person in the room

Android!LWJ by Winglesss (E, 22k, WangXian, Android LWJ, mechanic WWX, Burial Mounds, Temporary Mute Character, Mute LWJ, temporary disabled character, Disabled LWJ, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt LWJ, Mutual Pining, Falling In Love, Modern, Science Fiction, Robot/Human Relationships, Robots & Androids, Post-Apocalypse, Post-War, Scientist WWX, PWP, Porn with Feelings, Explicit Sexual Content, Anal Fingering, Multiple Orgasms, Forced Orgasm, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs) Another pretty cute but also shorter Android Lan Zhan au in a post-apocalypse setting, with smutty stuff in the second part

🔒 Long Road Home by ValiantBarnes (Cimila) (M, 58k, LSZ & WWX, SL & LSZ, SL/WWX, Zombie Apocalypse, Blood and Gore, Demonic Cultivation, Found Family, Falling In Love, Sign Language, Minor Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Developing Relationship, Modern Cultivation, Body Horror, Trauma, Healing, Road Trips) note, this is WWX raising A-Yuan during the zombie outbreak and then WWX/Song Lan, no characters appear

Darkness Before the Dawn by Selenay (E, 64k, wangxian, Zombie Apocalypse, Modern With Magic, Necromancer WWX, Reunions, toddler A-Yuan, There Was Only One Bed, There are zombies but not graphically horrific zombies, Angst with a Happy Ending, Find a home in the middle of an apocalpyse) Wangxian zombie outbreak story with full cast of characters

The Edge of Night by Hobbsy3 (M, 277k, WangXian, XuanLi, Modern AU, Zombie Apocalypse, Yúnmèng Siblings Dynamics, Accidental Baby Acquisition During a Zombie Apocalypse, Junior Quartet, (except they’re all babies), Angst with a Happy Ending, Minor Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Gore, Ensemble Cast, Worst Zombie Fighting Team Ever, Found Family)

🔒 when the sun goes out by travelingneuritis (E, 176k, WangXian, Modern Cultivation, tech cultivation, Necromancy, Angst with a Happy Ending, insecurity around adoption, Dad!WWX, dad!lwj, Grief/Mourning, Mistaken Identity, Mood Whiplash, Body Swap, sex tears!, Falling In Love, Consensual Somnophilia, apocalypse (localized), Smut, unrealistic sexual stamina, Flashbacks, Time Skips, Illustrations)

14B)

❤️ 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)

So Dear A Loss by Comfect (T, 89k, FengYuan, WangXian, Good Parent JFN, Good Parent YZY, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, No Fall of Lotus Pier, No Golden Core Transfer, Communication, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Fluff, Everyone Lives/Nobody dies)

🔒the thing with feathers by RoseThorne (G, 43k, WangXian, Time Travel, Hurt/Comfort, Memory loss, Arranged marriage, Good Parent YZY, Good uncle LQR, Angst, Butterfly effect) I'd also recommend the thing with feathers although it falls slightly short of 50k at 43,231 words.

~*~

15. Please gimme more fics like dispersing clouds!!!

🔒 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) the element of Dispersing Clouds featuring supportive Lans (and bad Jiangs)

🧡 Stunted, Starving Juvenility by TomatenMark (E, 887k, WangXian, WIP, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Getting Together, Supportive LQR, Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It of Sorts, Supportive LXC, Canon Divergence, Inventor WWX, Possessive LWJ, Cultivation Sect Politics, Pre-Sunshot Campaign, Fluff and Smut, Burning of the Cloud Recesses, Fall of Lotus Pier, Angst, Sunshot Campaign, Not JFM Friendly, split into parts, Part 1 complete, Part 2 complete, Original Character(s)) the element of Dispersing Clouds featuring supportive Lans (and bad Jiangs)

We Meet at the Thousandth Step by Admiranda, Rynne (T, 316k, WangXian, CSSR/WCZ, Canon Divergence, No Sunshot Campaign, CSSR & WCZ Live, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Different First Meeting, Night Hunts, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, Plot, Romance, Drama, Fluff, Strangers to married, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Everyone Lives, Developing Relationship, Minor Violence, Case Fic, Mystery, Flirting, WWX’s Canon-Typical Flower Flirting, Arson, There Was Only One Bed, Getting Together, First Kiss, Meeting the Parents, Resolved Sexual Tension, Resolved Romantic Tension, WWX Is a Good Big Brother, New Relationship Bliss, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Blood and Injury, Yiling siblings, Married WangXian, Honeymoon, Wangxian’s Baby Fever) The element of Wei Ying & Lan Zhan going on adventures to help others. I too would love to find more fics that have the magical combination of elements that make Dispersing Clouds such a uniquely excellent story but these are the closest examples that come to mind.

~*~

16. Looking for genderfluid wwx or just wwx whose not afraid to wear a skirt/free every now and again

🔒 how to make your dad fall in love with your high school teacher in five steps; the complete and bulletproof guide by ravenditefairylights (T, 90k, wangxian, modern, coffee shop au, nonbinary LSZ, hurt/comfort, trauma, past abuse, past domestic violence, healing, hurt WWX, found family, hospitalization, therapy, single parent WWX, pining, teacher LWJ, unreliable narrator, chronic pain, queer platonic relationship, genderfluid WWX, autistic LWJ, fluff & angst)

emergent properties by luckymarrow (E, 8k, WangXian, Modern AU, Family Fluff, Trans Male Character, Trans LWJ, Queer Families, Queer Youth, Adoption, Baby LSZ, Teen MXY, Crossdressing, but not as a kink, gender expression, Dilf4Dilf Wangxian, Penis In Vagina Sex, Blow Jobs, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Smut, gender euphoria, Cunnilingus)

Cute Femboy Gets ~HUGE SURPRISE!!!~ by ScarlettStorm (E, 32k, WangXian, Modern, onlyfans au, Porn, like in the writing and as a plot point, sex worker WWX, Adhd WWX, autistic LWJ, Fashionista LWJ, Nonbinary NHS, genderfluid WWX, Feminization, (absolutely not forced and in fact very desired feminization), Date Night, Fluff and Smut, Established Relationship, Gender Exploration, they're just disgustingly in love, and they gotta fuck about it)

The Other Woman by baxia (G, 4k, MM & WWX, MM/WQ, WangXian, Modern, College/University, Misunderstandings, MM thinks LWJ is cheating, Not Cheating, Genderfluid WWX, MM & WWX friendship, POV MM)

Concrete Spaces by manaika (G, 34k, JC & WWX & JYL, WangXian, JYL/JZX, JC & JL, JC & LSZ, Family Dynamics, Family Bonding, JC's avuncular powers, WWX is LSZ's Parent, LWJ is LSZ’s Parent, Everyone Is Gay, No Straights Within The Premises Of This Fic, Genderfluid WWX, ace/aro JC, trans JZX, self-expression, identity and presentation, LGBTQ Themes, JC Is Judging You)

i’ll be your girl by plonk (E, 30k, WangXian, Modern AU, Modern with Magic, PWP, Idiots to Lovers)

dark and delicate by darkredloveknot (enheduane) (E, 6k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, Witch WWX, Witch Curses, Love Potion/Spell, (not performed by wwx), Masturbation, Getting Together, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Knots But Not The Kind You Think, Knot Lore, Come Swallowing, Blood Magic, This is actually very soft, Horny LWJ, First Kiss)

~*~

17. Hello, I'm in a mood for fics that explore the relationship between a-Yuan and the Wens ^^

keeping score by hauntedotamatone (T, 6k, LSZ & WWX, Background WangXian, the opposite of reconciliation, Protective WWX, Duelling, Grief/Mourning, not for jc fans, Swordfighting, Resentment, LSZ centric, No JC & WWX Reconciliation)

❤️ nevermore, nevermore by agloeian (T, 120k, LSZ & everyone, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, Not Everyone Dies, Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Eventual Happy Ending, Angst, Suicide Attempt, Implied Sexual Content, Canon-Typical Violence, discussions of mental health, Spanish Translation, Перевод на русский | Translation in Russian)

🔒 The Moon Reflected Upon Two Springs by Rubberduckieassassin (M, 2k, Post-Canon, Fierce Corpse WN, WN-centric, Farmer WN, WN Needs a Hug, Gusu Lan Juniors Dynamics, Good Kid LSZ, Good Kid LJY, Wen Remnants Mentioned, Burial Mounds Settlement Days Mentioned, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Five Stages of Grief, Melancholy, Building A Home, Family Feels, WN is learning how to 'live’ again)

body and soul by TooSel (E, 41k, wangxian, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Marriage Proposal, Everyone Lives AU, Cultivation Sect Politics, Yílíng Wèi Sect AU, Adoption, Smut, Friends to Lovers, Angst with a Happy Ending)

~*~

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!***

[talea456]

Thoughts on The Double rewatch

tl/dr: The FML & SML romantic contrasts sum up like this:

Shen Yurong: Hello my darling, self-sacrificing trophy-wife. Your hands shouldn't touch weapons. They should only do dainty female things.

Xiao Heng: What's up, my fierce wild-cat? OMG your brain is sooooo freakin' sexy, btw. What? You need help learning how to kill someone? Hell yeah, Queen! *grabs her hand and head straight to the armory*

Like, seriously. Every time Shen Yurong has visions and/or flashbacks to his wife, it's basically Xue Fangfei giving c-drama tradwife vibes every time. She's either playing music, doing some calligraphy, or helping him out by selling her things and/or giving him advice constantly.

BUT every time Xiao Heng is seen thirsting over Jiang Li/XFF, it's when she's doing 5-D chess with politicians and talking herself and her family members out of trouble.

Just LOOK at him absolutely LOVING her fucking up the Li family plans. Man is totally turned on by how fucking SMART and CAPABLE she is.

Like, one thing about this scene in episode 16 is that I thought the ML was going to come running to protect/help out the FL here. I've watched enough c-dramas to expect that, ya know?

But not our man Duke Su! He's like: She's totally got this...And I should probably stay seated to manage my giant boner rn anyways.

And how green flag is that "advice" he gives her about not compromising herself & become a different person for someone else in ep 31???? It's pretty dang green, guys.

Point is: Shen Yurong only saw her as a trophy/trad-wife. Xiao Heng sees, and loves, ALL of her.

[silviakundera]

How's duke Su different in the books from the show?

Short answer: perhaps we can consider novel!ML as the person drama!ML has liked to imagine he is

Long answer:

original flavor novel Duke Su is not gonna be caught crying a single perfect poignant tear for NOBODY

the man is cold as a chinese celebrity's career who hasn't paid taxes in 10 years

infamously gave a lukewarm review on novel FL's original self, the city's Most Beautiful (3 1/2 stars: attractive enough but no X factor)

(note: novel!FL was a calamitous beauty in Life 1, not the Most Talented. She was super talented but was conforming to convention and hiding her brilliance to fit the role of a proper official's wife)

(this bland review is not actually a point of resentment for FL, whose POV is, 'yeah fair enough, you could call me overrated')

(the Jiang Li's body is not Shockingly Most Beautiful like in Life 1; she doesn't miss being outrageously hot, as it was mostly a nuisance)

Duke Su is still dramatic af and lives for theatre

Still loves fans & gorgeous clothes (the man wears butterflies on his cloak) (he loves beauty so much he only staffs exceptionally attractive servants and has elite gardeners to ensure THE MOST GLORIOUS FLOWERS IN THE DUKE SU MANSION ONLY THE BEST FOR THIS LORD)

(like I really must emphasize how little chill novel!ML has: at one point FL notes that a new resident rented down the street from the Ye family, with hot ass servants and blaring opera non-stop, it's clearly Duke Su for some godforsaken reason)(and she's right)

Still suspecting FL's identity and amused at her bravado

But has zero inclination to ease her pains or preserve her life

Before FL gets to the mines subplot to come rescue her dad, he has been just sipping tea and enjoying the show (despite her fucking up a couple of his plans - he loves a good public play and tbh he is confident enough not to be pressed about some minor deviations)

he doesn't reach out to lend a hand until she FORCES him to act

By loudly exposing to a group of assassins that Duke Su has obviously been plotting a long game in the shadows for years to destabilize and split the court, raising Wang Chang, the Princess, Li family, Jiang family et al to gain power & fight each other and trouble the throne - so Duke Su becomes the 1 most powerful & trusted councilor to the emperor.

(Yes we have a Story of Kunning Palace situation here, where the drama adaption tweaks the ML's motives and aims so he's going in the same direction but is pro-emperor instead of scheming & manipulating for his own personal interests)

Duke Su was ready to literally watch FL be horribly violated & murdered, but then she spilled the tea and he had to drop bodies to destroy the evidence

He's gonna kill her too but like in a quick & polite manner, he's a gentleman

But she was super understanding about the whole situation and so he ended up hearing her out: how about just let me get my revenge first? Very convenient to you, here's a suicide voucher, could we come back to this at a later date? 2 to 3 good plays included. xoxo

Now he's got a voucher for 1 (one) strange teenage girl

Who doesn't appear to be a teenage girl.

She's also completely won over his sidekicks.

This is gonna take a lot of fans.

[wangxianficrecs]

💙 Hunting Birds in the Palace Gardens by Ilona22

💙 Hunting Birds in the Palace Gardens

by Ilona22

M, 13k, Wangxian

Summary: Instead of visiting the imperial palace as the successful military commander he is, Wei Wuxian finds himself turned into a wild cat and gifted as a pet. Meanwhile, Prince Lan Wangji is in charge of security for the first complete assembly of the nobility after the defeat of the Wen rebellion. There is danger afoot and intrigue to be found in the gardens of the palace.

Kay's comments: Oh, I'm so delighted to see this story completed - I've been sitting on the edge of my seat, patiently waiting for the last chapter. It really had me hooked, such an interesting premise! Here we have Madam Yu turning Wei Wuxian into wid cat and gifting him to the Emperor's brother, Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian is quite accepting of his fate and soon taken with Lan Wangji, who grows fond of his new pet as well. Now, if only Wei Wuxian could get rid of that pesky collar that's keeping him trapped in cat form! And also, if only the Jiangs and Jins weren't scheming in the background to overthrow the Emperor!

Excerpt: The prince certainly worked hard. Wei Ying had been woken at an absolutely appalling hour in the night, it was not morning until sunrise, by a servant carrying in fresh washing water and tea. Which had been accepted by a prince already awake and in morning robes. Outside military expeditions, who was that coordinated that early? Hanguang-Wang, apparently. Who also redeemed himself by ordering some excellent fish for Wei Ying, together with several water bowls spread around the princes courtyard. He had let him pet him for that. Also, that felt really nice. The prince had excellent hands. While the prince was aided into his state robes, Wei Ying busied himself getting his fur into order and stretching some. This body was really flexible. And good at jumping, he could get onto a wardrobe reaching higher than a man in one leap. Nice! If this body wasn’t forced on him, he would rather like the experience. Maybe he could fix the array into something more voluntary after he had gotten himself out of the collar? Something to think about. It was certainly a well made enhancement, to fit a human mind so smoothly within an animal body. Madam Yu had definitely not made it herself. When the prince emerged fully robed, he had to stare a bit. He was a very good looking man! And those seven layers of robes suited him very well indeed. For lack of a better plan, he followed Hanguang-Wang when he left through the inner receiving room and into the public part of the prince’s palace.

pov wei wuxian, pov lan wangji, royalty, canon-divergence, post-sunshot campaign, yu ziyuan being yu ziyuan, jiang family dynamics, dysfunctional jiang family, animal transformation, cat wei wuxian, palace drama, intrigue, politics, cultivation sect politics, emperor lan xichen, prince lan wangji, general wei wuxian, getting to know each other, strangers to lovers, getting together, slow burn

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[welcometothejianghu]

Welcome to another round of W2 Tells You What You Should See, where W2 (me) tries to sell you (you) on something you should be watching. Today's choice: 某某 / Mou Mou / The On1y One

The On1y One is a 2024 Taiwanese coming-of-age drama about two high school students who fall in love, but more importantly, become friends -- and oh, they're also living in the same house now, because their parents have decided to get married.

Let's get this part out of the way: Yes, they're (almost) stepbrothers. No, that is not a kink thing at all, especially since they meet and start having complicated emotions about one another before they know their parents are together. Look, I had a childhood acquaintance promoted to stepsibling when I was in high school too, and I can tell you that your feelings about someone do not immediately jump to close family status just because your mom likes their dad. This is a show about how becoming a family; it is not a show about fucking your family.

Here are five reasons I think you should absolutely watch this twelve-episode drama -- and they're going to be as spoiler-free as I can make them, largely because...

1. Holy shit, it's ... actually good?

Believe me, no one could be as shocked as I was to find out this was a thing of actual quality. I first found out about this as 'hey, the handsome doctor from House Haunters is in a Taiwanese BL about high-schoolers' -- which of course sold me on it immediately, as I thought Liu Dongqin was the absolute highlight of the beautiful disaster that is Psych-Hunter, but which also, you must admit, sounds more like a novelty than a real thing of objective value.

Thus, I was prepared for trash! More accurately, I was prepared to enjoy trash. I am clearly on record as a trash-enjoyer. I was going to tuck in and gleefully laugh my way through awkward antics just to see that handsome boy kiss another boy.

Which means I was not prepared to be knocked off my feet by how thoughtful, intense, well-acted, and damn beautiful this series is. It's good. It's actually good. It is, like Beyond Evil, a thing you could put in front of Your Average American Television Enjoyer Who Can Handle Subtitles (And Boys Kissing) without having to apologize every five seconds about the jank. It's stunningly lit. It's chunked into episodes that have reasons to be episodes. It's well-written in a way that even comes through the translation.

Here's a clue to its quality: It's directed by Liu Kuang-Hui, known for Your Name Engraved Herein, an explictly gay film released in 2020 that won, like, all the awards -- which it fucking deserved to. (You don't need to have seen Your Name to watch this, but I think if you have, it adds an extra layer of meaning.) This is a BL made by someone who understands how being a teen boy in love with another teen boy is like being expected to walk around with a knife in your stomach while you pretend everything's fine.

But this is not a show about misery! It is a show about building connections, learning to trust, getting over yourself, and finding joy in taking care of other people. Maybe that sounds a little grandiose for a tiny Taiwanese BL, but it's not an exaggeration. When this drama bills itself as a coming-of-age narrative, it means it's going headfirst into the beautiful hell of being seventeen.

Keep those tissues on hand. You'll need them.

2. What if you fell in love with someone you also liked?

This is a true cat4cat relationship -- but different cat personalities! Finally, diverse cat representation!

Jiang Tian is a feral kitty who has spent so long telling everyone he hates them that he has no idea how to convey that he likes someone, and thus spends the first several episodes basically dropping dead birds at Sheng Wang's feet. Don't let his stoic nature fool you -- he's exactly as into this as (and much sooner than) the much more demonstrative Sheng Wang. Episodes end with little scenes you saw earlier, but recontextualized from Jiang Tian's perspective. So don't ever worry that Jiang Tian's being taken advantage of or coerced in any way. The boy has agency, and he uses it.

Meanwhile Sheng Wang is like a pampered little housecat who only eats wet food and sulks about everything -- but he's earned at least some of it, as he's clearly dealing with some major life upheavals. New city! New school! New friends! New house! New stepmom! New stepbrother! New and horrible things his teenage body is doing to him! So it's not surprising that he's clinging to what familiar comforts he has, even if it means being a total bitch about it.

And they become friends. That's the great part. This is a love story, but it's a love story where the love is friend-shaped. If anything, the friendship is the more important (and visible) aspect of the dynamic. It's not saying that one is more righteous or correct than the other -- it's saying that friendship is part of romantic love! Maybe it's even the best part of it! Maybe the only thing better than falling in love is making your crush your best friend and then falling in love with them.

It gets to the point where they spend most of their time not thinking about being in love with one another because they're such good friends. This is just what having a best friend is like, right?

(Jiang Tian knows it is not just what having a best friend is like. Jiang Tian is constantly chewing glass because he's sure friendship is the best he's going to get out of this, and also it's the best friendship he's ever had, and if that's all he gets -- and it will be, he's sure of it -- it'll be enough. It'll have to be.)

My favorite parts of their relationship are when Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian get to just enjoy spending time with one another as complete goobers. They're such teen boys! I mean, they're teen boys from very particular circumstances that have made them have to grow up fast, so it's great when they just get to regress around one another and act their age. The whole scene at the carnival is by itself worth the price of admission.

Look, here's some more shots of them being cute at one another. Don't let Jiang Tian's stoic face in the other pictures fool you. He's capable of making expressions, and it's so good when he does.

See?

3. This, too, is yuri

I mean, shit, you make a gay teacher and I'm already there. You make two gay teachers and I'm going to love you forever. Then you make them both gay teachers and gay owners of a little gay cafe? I don't know if my little trope-loving heart can take it!

Enter Zhao Xi and Lin Tingbei ("Benny").

From the moment you meet these two, it is obvious to you, the viewer, that they are a married couple. Except they're not. They're not married. They're not even a couple. It took me like nine episodes to realize that the reason they're acting so weird is not that they're trying to hide their relationship from other people, but that they're not in a relationship. They are mutually pining for one another and have no idea that the other one is having similar feelings.

Sorry, I have to go feral about these two sapphic-coded gay men for a moment: You two had an incredible meet-cute, went abroad at the same time, came back together, opened a cafe together, call one another "partner," have rainbow motifs on various visible objects in your life, AND YOU STILL ARE UNAWARE THAT YOU'RE BOTH IN LOVE WITH ONE ANOTHER

I can't stress this enough: When you meet them, your first thought is, oh, you two are married. MARRIED. Not just dating, but comfortably wedded. I kept expecting one of them to have a gentle After-School Special moment he tells the children, no, we're life partners as well as business partners. But they didn't! And do you know why? It's because THEY DON'T EVEN SEEM TO KNOW THAT THE OTHER ONE IS ALSO GAY

The only thing that makes sense is that they're both male lesbians. This is some Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko! shit right here. How do you unknowingly wind up in what is basically a marriage with man you've never even kissed? I don't know, but they've somehow managed to do it. It's insane. It's incredible.

I don't even feel like I'm spoiling you for anything here! Like, I wish I'd known from the start they weren't actually together, because I was baffled by their side plot for fully three-quarters of the series. Why are they behaving like this? Why are you being weirdly jealous about the hot lady teacher? Oh, it's because YOU DON'T KNOW YOU'RE HUSBANDS, THAT'S WHAT MAKES YOU HUSBANDS

WE GOT DOUBLE MUTUAL PINING HERE, FOLKS, DOUBLE MUTUAL PINING, TWO SUCCESSIVE GENERATIONS OF GAY DIPSHITS WHO ARE AS BAD AS YOU CAN BE ABOUT FEELINGS WITHOUT IMMEDIATELY DYING OF IT

Sorry about the caps lock, just ... I'll be over here screaming into a pillow about it, okay? Okay, thanks.

4. Actual Teen Feelings

So nobody in this production is an actual teenager; both leads were just on the underside of thirty when it filmed, and all the other "kids" are at least in their mid-twenties.

And honestly, I like the aged-up casting better, since ... look, I'm over forty, and I just don't find the youths as attractive as I did when I was much closer to that age. Seeing actual 16- and 17-year-olds do this would have given me the ick. So I feel kind of like, this is a teen story told for adults, and the way it does that is by giving you actors that embody how cool you thought your peers looked when you were that age, and not how gangly and awkward everyone actually looked.

I've described the behavior of the teen characters as "rationally irrational" -- like, you know that the decisions they're making are bad, and they kind of know it too, but you also get that they don't have the regulatory mechaisms to compensate for when their hormones tell them it's time to sulk, or or talk back, or lie, or do something reckless. They're stupid teens, but they're not stupid because the writing is stupid. They're stupid because the writing is good and knows exactly how stupid teens are.

And of course this is most visible with our boys, who are complete dipshits in some very rationally irrational ways.

I alluded earlier to the fact that I have stepsiblings, and that I acquired them during my teen years, so yeah, a lot of the complicated stepfamily dynamics hit hard for me. Sheng Wang's mother is dead, and he's being a sulky baby about it because he (kind of correctly!) feels like his dad both is trying to replace her and has started paying attention more to his new partner than to his son. Sure, an adult with more coping mechanisms would be able to handle it without being a dick to everyone around them. But he's not an adult -- but also he's not not an adult? He's in that awful place of adolescence where you feel all grown up, but people still keep making huge life decisions for you. I remember it; it sucks.

Meanwhile Jiang Tian's father is still alive, but that's complicated too and has led to Jiang Tian's being kind of estranged from both his divorced parents. His then becomes a story less about how to get along with your new stepfather, and more how to reconcile with a mother who wasn't always in a place to make the best decisions for you she could, as you are yourself approaching the age she was when she made those decisions.

It's just so many feelings! Just a giant fucked-up Sargasso Sea of feelings! Every nerve is raw and every emotion is like staring straight at the sun! So many characters are completely at the mercy of their worst instincts, to the point where you can't even be mad because, yeah, if I had no ability to tell my most visceral intrusive thoughts to go away, I'd be ruining my own life left and right too.

Also, you are not prepared for the parts with boners. I say no more.

bonus: LUCKY CAT!!!

When was the last time you saw a fat character in a piece of Asian media -- or a piece of any media -- who was just allowed to be fat in peace? Whose fatness was not the constant butt of jokes? Who was not depicted always (comedically) eating? Who wasn't thrown into the mix just so their sexual/romantic interest in some skinny person could be turned into gross-out moments?

Lucky Cat is the best. Her students call her Lucky Cat because she's always cheerful and she does a precious little paw thing. The name is meant to be endearing! They like her, and she's portrayed consistently as a good educator and generally nice person to be around. She's fashionable, too! She has the cutest little outfits!

And she's fat! It's just a thing about her not worth commenting upon! Shit, I wish the show's lack of commentary weren't worth my commenting upon, except, ugh, you know it is. It's even more so worth saying because I've seen her in something else where she was exactly what she isn't here, and it was vile. The contrast is incredible.

Love you, girl, one fat, overcaffeinated educator to another.

5. Delicious(ly timed) pining

I want to talk about the structure of the show for a moment, and I'm going to try and do it as spoiler-free as I can. Even so, this gets into territory that you might be better off going into blind, especially if you like the tension of not knowing where a love story is going. If you're convinced already that you need to watch this show, skip this section -- scroll right down to the picture of a pitcher and glass of lemon water on a kitchen counter.

Go on, now, get.

However, if you're still on the fence about watching it, though (or if you've seen it already and just like reading my thoughts on it!), here's a very slightly spoilery selling point for you:

Normally, BL shows are all about waiting for the moment those boys finally realize what's up and kiss one another. The On1y One makes what I think is a brilliant decision to frontload the kissing. These boys smooch twice all the way up in episode 2 -- but under circumstances that are, respectively, a dare and a faux-casual demonstration that the dare didn't mean anything.

And that's it. They don't kiss again.

I think this is such a good choice because it makes those boys spend the entire rest of the show with three thoughts in their heads: we have already kissed; it didn't mean anything to him; I think it might mean something to me. Their entire friendship is colored by the knowledge that, yeah, that happened. If anything, it makes the BL-style waiting even more glorious, because now it's not about wondering if I kissed him, what would he do? but about wondering if I kissed him again, would it still be a joke to him?

There's also some very good asymmetry in there, in how Jiang Tian is clearly already the world's greatest expert at stuffing his gay desires into a little box and not making them anyone else's problem, while Sheng Wang is having a sexual awakening in real time.

You figure out very near the end why Jiang Tian has a complicated relationship to his own gay longings, and boy, is it a hell of a reason. I know we joke about characters who are both gay and homophobic, and I don't want to call him homophobic, because that's not it. But you definitely get to see why, of all his locked-down feelings, he's locked the gay ones down hardest of all.

Meanwhile Sheng Wang is popular, has friends, has surely been on a number of cute and chaste little dates, has probably even kissed a couple very nice girls -- and has clearly never had a horny thought in his entire life before now. He is both falling in love and figuring out what makes him hard at the same time, and oh boy, that is some rough shit to hit at seventeen. You get to see him recontextualize those kisses several times, slowly putting names to the emotions he didn't know he was having. And when he does finally understand the extent of what he's feeling, he makes a stupid decision about it, because of course he does. He's seventeen. Stupid decisions come with the territory.

Anyway, once they finally get to fucking, Sheng Wang is going to be the lord high king of the bratty bottoms. Just an absolute menace. He's got Jiang Tian's number so hard, and Jiang Tian is going to love suffering through every minute of it.

~

Okay, did you scroll down? Here's a little more spoiler buffer! Hi! How are you doing today? I'm having fun writing this. I hope you'll like watching it. There, that should be enough.

caveat: This is not an ending.

I need to stress how much this is clearly made to be a part one of more, and also how a second season has not been announced and thus is not guaranteed. I am being optimistic based on a) how good it is, b) how much clout the director has, and c) the fact that it's so new, it makes sense that further installments might not be announced yet. But if an unfinished (and possibly never-finished) series bothers you, maybe put this one in your pocket for later.

But oh, this show needs a second season. I am burning incense to the television gods in hope that it gets a second season.

Want to tuck in for some actual good television?

This one is wonderfully easy to find. We watched it on GagaOOLala, but you can also find it on AppleTV, WeTV, Viki, and iQiyi.

Back to the Your Name Engraved Herein connection: The On1y One reads to me in many ways like a celebration of how far Taiwanese culture has come about gay people. Like, things still absolutely aren't perfect in 2012, when this show is set, but at the same time, it's no longer 1987 -- which was the homophobic, hopeless world Liu Kuang-Hui grew up in. If Your Name tells the story of what actually happened, this series tells the story of what the person that all happened to imagines things could be like today. It's so hopeful it makes me choke up a little thinking about it.

Bah, just go watch it. Do it! Go! There's links right up there!

Gay thoughts say peek-a-boo.