#lan wangji being the only person in the entire world to call jiang cheng by his courtesy name is a masterful touch

[blessyouhawkeye]

my favourite mdzs/cql character dynamic will always always be jiang cheng and lan wangji. born to be mortal enemies forced to be in laws is the funniest relationship of all time. that brief establishing shot in cql episode 2 of them sitting in a tea house at different tables, facing away from each other, not talking is like a sister to me. wei wuxian's death turned a mutual disdain into outright hatred and now sixteen years of boiling rage down the drain because wei wuxian had to get RESURRECTED like an IDIOT and now they have to MAKE NICE and try their utmost not to THROW THINGS at each other at FAMILY DINNERS. which they have now because LIFE SUCKS. such an unparalleled dynamic that i'll be thinking about until i die.

[lyrisnightblood]

For all the way antis are obsessed with comparing Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling's relationship with modern parent-child dynamics and calling him "abusive" for hitting Jin Ling (which Jin Ling himself attests to that he doesn't do it and actually WEI WUXIAN was the first adult in his life to have dared hit him), they are completely sleeping on how Jiang Cheng treats the women he had encountered as a person.

Let me repeat that sentence again.

Jiang Cheng treats women as a person.

Let me also remind y'all that this is something many men from our modern 21st century fail to do, let alone a man raised in ancient china in a patriarchal and misogynistic mindset.

But Jiang Cheng wasn't the man okay??!!

Sure, Wei Wuxian loved Jiang Yanli, but did he respect her wishes to marry Jin Zixuan? Maybe in the end, yes, when he was ready to put aside his hatred for Jin Zixuan in favour of his martial sister's wishes. But initially? Not at all.

Jiang Cheng is a different case altogether. Not only did he approve of Jin Zixuan (even begrudgingly so) just because his sister loved him, but he forged an alliance of marriage with the Jins (who were the richest and the most powerful Sect then). Now this may not seem impressive ("he just arranged a marriage nbd 🙄") but do remember that Yunmeng Jiang was burnt to the ground, with only 3 survivors, and even after recruiting cultivators and disciples, was still a weak sect with no political swat or financial power. To have a member of his sect marry into the Jin Sect would mean that there was a very good chance of Yunmeng Jiang being absorbed by Lanling Jin. But not only did Jiang Cheng prevent that from happening, he had also succeeded in arranging his sister's marriage to the man she loved. Which brings me to my next point.

Living in the 21st century with all our progressive thinking, I personally have seen people I know facing backlash from their families because they married the person they loved. And of course, the families show zero support in any way. Hells, honour killing is still a thing! Arranged marriages are still a thing! And god forbid if a woman refuses her family's wishes and expresses her own! Misogyny is still a huge issue despite feminism ideals emerging all across the world. Men are still clutching onto patriarchy and refusing women autonomy over their lives because "he's not good for you" "i want only the best" "you aren't mature enough to know".

And Jiang Cheng offered Jiang Yanli the autonomy, the choice to choose her husband, and when she still chose Jin Zixuan, accepted it without a question. Scour through the entire text of Mdzs and you won't find any other character who would do that for a woman. I dare you.

He was also polite and decent with women. In contrast:- Jin Zixuan was polite enough yes, but was also pompous; Lan Wangji was frosty and (in some cases) jealous of the women he met because of WWX; Wei Wuxian was flirting with every woman he met (come at me with your pitchforks IDC but that was sleazy and had wwx come at me that strong I'd have punched him or reported him); Jin Guangyao almost had my respect but then he deceived his wife/sister💀. Wen Chao made me puke; Jin Guangshan made me want to destroy every last man; Jiang Fengmian made my resolve to never marry a man stronger; I can't remember reading anything from the texts but Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang are respectful enough (though I wouldn't call them the golden standard). The only other person who I could remember was genuinely a gentleman was Lan Xichen.

I don't think many people appreciate how unbiased and open-minded Jiang Cheng was when he listened to Bicao. Any other man would have sent her off just because she was a prostitute. They wouldn't have even entertained the thought of listening to her. But Jiang Cheng had not only entertained that thought, he had also made the jianghu sit back and listen to Bicao's testimony without a complaint. Man literally went "this woman has something to say and y'all are listening to it with your goddamn mouths shut or so help me". Let me again remind you that many men, even in the 21st century, wouldn't give this to a woman.

And despite it all y'all are calling this man a misogynist 🤦

Jiang Cheng antis are genuinely some of the most brain dead, booktok coded people I've met in my life.

"JC is a misogynist! 🤬🤬"

Meanwhile, all canon interactions he has with women are of him either being submissive, protective and doting around them (his mother and his sister) or acting like a polite and normal human being (the random prostitute that came to testify about JGY).

I will say that if anything, WWX disrespected women more than JC ever did if we're going to go there. He didn't respect JYL's autonomy and her own decision on whom she wished to marry. How he had WLJ unalived with the table leg in her mouth was somewhat eyebrow raisy considering what she was known for. And then there were the ghost girls he had fawning over him during his cringey YLLZ days.

But sure. Keep making shit up about JC to justify your weird hate fetish ig lmao. And no, him being unmarried and blacklisted isn't proof of being a misogynist, actually. Because one, this was made as a joke by MXTX and was never even in the book and two, people are blacklisted for all sorts of reasons and JC shows no interest in women romantically nor does he show a desire to get married. Doing so does not mean that you hate women, especially when his whole life was, in a sense, centred around women. He adores and thinks the world of his mother and sister. He started a siege in his sister's name, like hello???

In short, you have no proof of this stupid claim and therefore, it has no place in the Canon Jiang Cheng tag. It is entirely a fanon interpretation founded upon non canon text. Good day. 👋

[winepresswrath]

baby boy jin ling

How I feel about this character

Unabashed adoration. He’s the best. I love a brat with a heart of gold, and I find his whole deal both hilarious and tragic, which is the exact right way to get me over invested. The only fic I’ve ever actually completed and posted in this fandom is about him. There’s this very fun and sad bait and switch the show pulls with him- he was such a loved and privileged baby. He was supposed to have everything. His parents, his uncles, even his shitty grandfather are just so over the moon about his existence. I could cry for days about how smug Jiang Cheng and Yanli are in the wedding clothes scene when they start talking about him, or how delighted and grateful Wei Wuxian is when believes he’s been granted the grace of getting the chance to be a part of Jin Ling’s life. The entire cultivation world basically comes together to throw parties celebrating his existence and gossip about how the Jin and the Jiang are pulling out all the stops for this kid who, at the age of one month is already “showing such promise” as a swordsman. There’s such hope associated with his birth. And then the adults fuck it up horribly for him and he grows up being co-parented by a sociopath who has complicated feelings about other people’s privilege and legitimacy and a traumatized teenager who, as a maternal uncle, probably had to fight pretty hard to be involved. And they are terrible at cooperating with each other and are also busy running different countries. I have endless feelings about how he’s always dressed in Jin colours but yelling for Jiang Cheng.

Jin Ling has clearly been fucked up by the experience of being Jin Ling but he’s also doing fine. He’s spent a lot of time being slapped down by life but there’s this optimism and vivacity to the way he throws himself into new situations that I find wildly endearing. I will forever love that he gets to break the cycle of vengeance and decide that he’s not going to hate anyone and also his uncle should stop being a pain and go talk to his brother. It’s great. He’s great. What a good kid.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I don’t really ship him with anyone! I’m not opposed to Jin Ling dating but I’m also not very interested in it.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng. It is absolutely horribly unfair that Jin Ling is stuck translating from Jiang Cheng to reasonable human being, but he’s very good at it and I am moved by that echo of Yanli and the way she always knew what he meant even if he couldn’t say it out loud. I find the idea of Jiang Cheng as a single parent both tragic and hilarious, which, again, is my jam. I’m glad Jin Ling has a person he trusts to love him unconditionally and protect him and put him first, even if that person is an emotionally constipated angry grape whose parenting report card has needs improvement scribbled on it at various key intervals. I am also just generally in my feels about how whatever else you can say about Jin Ling, he is very clearly Jiang Cheng’s baby. “You’re the one who loves him most,” indeed.  Hug your amazing nephew, Jiang Cheng! He deserves everything >:(

My unpopular opinion about this character

I do not blame him even a little bit for stabbing Wei Wuxian. He is a tragic orphan whose whole life is defined by being a tragic orphan. He lives in an honour culture where you are supposed to avenge your murdered family, and he thinks the monster who killed his parents tricked him into believing he was his friend for shits and giggles and consequently made him betray their memory. Not even Wei Wuxian, canonically very good at noticing when something about his culture is fucked up and bad, avoids the vengeance trap. I legit think Jin Ling is astoundingly forgiving and open minded. Wei Wuxian didn’t deserve to be stabbed (again) and I have many feelings about how it’s very tragic and awful for him that Jin Ling believes this horrible thing, but it’s not Jin Ling’s fault. Blame Jiggy. Or possibly honour cultures. Though honestly Jin Ling calling the cops on Wei Wuxian and tearfully explaining that his parents’ murderer has been stalking him in disguise because he’s a sick fuck who likes tormenting his victims and making them trust him before he strikes might actually be worse for him, emotionally, than a little light stabbing.

I guess I also think that while Jiang Cheng is not winning any parenting awards he has clearly surpassed his own shitty parents by a considerable degree. His parents were impressively shitty tho so i’m not telling anyone they should be impressed.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

A-Qing should have lived and he should have taken her back to Lanling Jin and made her his personal advisor so they could invent heelies and glowsticks together. They would have been such great friends. Zizhen could visit and pine dramatically for her.

[yillinglaozu]

honorary titles in cql/mdzs by how feral they make me go

Hanguang-Jun (Light Bearing Lord): I am content. I am at Peace. I am possibly maybe starstruck. Mr Lan Wangji out here being called the Actual Bringer of Light and it is Absolutely True. Every junior of every sect calls him like he has personally made the sun shine and they're right, Wei Wuxian and I concur. I'm not feeling even remotely feral. I am as serene as Hanguang-Jun himself.

Chifeng-Zun (Red Blade Master) and Sandu Shengshou (Skilled Wielder of Sandu/Thrice Bane Master): Logical. Sensible. Send a clear message. You know what to expect and that is that Nie Mingjue and Jiang Cheng Have Swords and they're Pissed Off Enough to Use Them. Be scared for your life and please, please Do Not annoy them. I'm not going feral but they sure are. Good for them.

Lianfang-Zun (Lord of Hiding Fragrance/Subtle Fragrance): Makes sense in context but too on the nose. We get it. Jin Guangyao's an Evil Mastermind who stumped even the smartest of cultivators. He's Hiding Fragrances. I have no idea why he agreed to this but I can appreciate the twisted sense of poetry in this. Doesn't really make me go feral, only because I'm confused why Literally No One suspected him of his crimes considering he pretty much spelled it out.

Gui Jiangjun (Ghost General): Homeboy was selling turnips and chilling with his fam in burial mounds while the cultivation world was naming him entirely out of his volition. It's a cool title, very goth and sexy, and Wen Ning will only be called that if he reclaims it. We support Wen Ning's rights in this house and He Is Not A Thing. I'm not quite feral yet but if anyone disagrees, it's On Sight for them.

Huadan Shou (Core Melting Hand): Wen Zhuliu, my dude, if you weren't partly responsible for the painful golden core situation, I would've been way more pleased with this. Again, sends a Clear Message and tells you that You Must Not Fuck With Him. I'm beginning to go feral and I don't know if it's because of my rage at the consequences of his actions or because this is actually a pretty powerful name to be called. Damn it.

Headshaker: Nie Huaisang 1000% planned this and I'm not even mad. My boy knew what he was doing and he Did It Right. The exact opposite energy of Jin Guangyao's title as in he literally pointed to the other guy saying idk man ask him about it. Very iconic. Very gay. Very Funny when you explore the possibilities of 10 years of head shaking as a sect leader. I am feeling quite feral in a fun kind of way but not nearly as feral as Nie Huaisang himself is.

Yiling Laozu (Yiling Patriarch): OKAY. Sexy. Hot. Chaotic but Righteous. I may be biased but Wei Wuxian being called Yiling Laozu is quite possibly my favourite title because hell yeah he's a protector of his people and he Will Fight anyone who fucks with them. And he will look Very Hot doing that with his goth outfits and sexy black smoke and haunting tunes. Ugh. I'm going Very Feral in the best, most 'I'm in love with a necromancer' way. Lan Wangji really stood no chance, did he.

Zewu-Jun (Brilliance Overgrowth Lord/Lord of Munificent Waters): I am In Pain. I am Screaming. I have not known a single moment of Peace since I found this out. Why. Why is Lan Xichen called that. He's a Good Person. You could've called him Anything and THAT'S what you came up with?!?!! Literal translation Lord of Damp Overgrown Weeds??!!!??!!!!! I Don't Care if it sounds better with context, I am FILLED with sheer murderous RAGE and I WILL lose my MIND. How did he NOT go on a rampage after this. How is the entire plot just not his villain origin story motivated by his fucking name. I am FULLY FERAL and NOTHING can stop me now. Lan Qiren I Am Coming For You.

[plan-d-to-i]

This fandom's belief that jc will be ok having connection with any of the twin jades is funny to me bc he doesnt want to do anything with them even before meeting them due to the talks abt how good they are & he doesnt want to be compared to that. Those two, esp lwj, are skilled in cultivation like wwx & are on the same social class as jc. He already hates being compared to a son of a servant, what more to ppl of the same social standing?

Totally agree. This is what's interesting about the way jc's mind works. He can't empathize with anyone outside of himself. He's always measuring himself up against others.

Wei WuXian felt his collar tighten, and he was lifted into the air. He turned around to see Lan WangJi holding the back of his collar with one hand. Although Lan WangJi merely looked into another direction with an indifferent look, he and his sword carried the weight of three people, and fought with the mysterious force of the lake at the same time. Moreover, their position was still rising at a steady pace. Jiang Cheng was rather shocked, If I went down to pull Wei WuXian before him, using Sandu, I probably couldn’t have ascended so quickly and steadily. Lan WangJi is only around my age…”

WWX was in peril w the waterborne abyss and jc is having a moment about how powerful LWJ is compared to him. When WWX wants to invite LWJ to Lotus Pier jc doesn't want him there so he doesn't make him look bad and because he seems to resent WWX forming any bond with others. WWX on the other hand doesn't care. He's happy to find someone on this level. Someone who challenges him.

“Jiang Cheng had on a stern expression, “Let’s make this clear. I don’t want him to come, anyhow. Don’t invite him.”

Wei WuXian, “I never knew you hated him so much?”

Jiang Cheng, “I’ve got nothing against Lan WangJi, but if he really came, my mom might have something to say, comparing me against someone else’s kid, and you wouldn’t have it nice either.”

Wei WuXian, “Don’t worry. There’s nothing to be scared of even if he comes. If he does come, you can tell Uncle Jiang to have him sleep with me.”

jc is the type of person who would rather dull the shine of those around him that strive to be better, or accept that outshining them is just not in the cards for him. He's again like his mother who's still comparing herself to Cangse Sanren. Carrying a grudge against a dead woman and hurting her orphaned son.

“Who could change the fact that your mom is worse than another’s? Worse it is, then.”

get help luv. jc is only ok with Wei Wuxian because WWX is locked in a position socially beneath his. This mindset of jc's is obvious in the way he speaks about Jin Guangyao:

“Wei WuXian, “Isn’t Jin GuangYao here now? Jin GuangYao seems so much better than him.”

Jiang Cheng finished wiping his sword. After he scrutinized it for a while, he finally put Sandu back into its sheath, “So what, if he’s better? No matter how much better he is, no matter how clever, he could only be a servant who greets the guests. That’s all there is to his life. He can’t compare with Jin ZiXuan.”

When WWX breaks away and to protect the Wens in the Burial Mounds jc turns viciously against him, throws his mother's words back in WWX's face. Stabs him in the gut to a degree where WWX has to stuff “his intestines back into himself” and declares him the enemy of the entire cultivation world. jc is not interested in a relationship based on equality. He also shares none of the world views the Lans believe in. Like not abusing power, or helping those who are weaker. The idea that LWJ or LXC would bother with him is just as laughable as all the other flights of fancy his stans call "meta".

[siera-knightwalker]

I don't know where I said his actions were due to anything but his convictions? Lan Wangji is a kind of person who doesn't care about judgements or opinions of the people. His actions are taken solely because of his judgement of what he thinks is right or wrong.

For example, he spoke up for WQ & WN when they gave themselves up. This was literally after Jin Zixuan died, after the entire cultivation world blamed Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian for Jin Zixuan's death. I think something like that takes an unimaginable level of guts or an utter disregard for the opinions of others.

I think, that Lan Wangji's actions were based very much on his own righteousness. But, I also think that while he did not have a high opinion on the cultivation world's righteousness, you are also not being kind enough to them.

There were many pieces of information that most of the cultivation world were not aware of, that made them dance to the Jin's tune. To be perfectly honest, the one person who had the most amount of information and the ability to turn the tides was Jiang Cheng, and his disregard for Wei Wuxian became pivotal in the Jin's plan to destroy him.

The Lan Sect honestly isn't that bad.

Firstly, when Wei Wuxian stormed in during the Jin banquet, he only asked for Wen Ning. And everyone was quite aware of the fact that the people who were broken out of the camps did not contain any elderly or young people. They only knew that WWX had done a jailbreak, stealing away all the Wen cultivators from the camp and going to the burial mound, which gave WWX the strongest source of power. Power he needed for... what?

Cultivation world is stupid and did not realize that WWX needed the power to defend himself from them. They thought he needed the power to build a stronger army or something, they didn't know, but if the Jins, who were the most informed in the situation said so, it must be so, right??

Second, the meeting was called so an explanation for Wei Wuxian's actions could be provided. What did JC do here? He said "WWX has always been like this, we'll promise reparations". Did he ever say if WWX was right or wrong? When Lan Xichen said that WQ had been innocent and never killed people, NMJ asked why exactly did she need to be treated differently from the other Wen cultivators? Did she expect special treatment just because they didn't know if she had killed or not? She was still on the enemy side. Had she done something for them, that she needed to be treated differently?

Here, JC stayed quiet.

No one knew that the Wens were anything other than young healthy cultivators. They knew about WN, WQ and cultivators taken from the prison. JC went and told WWX "no one could defend you during the meeting" when it was only he who had not defended WWX. LWJ, LXC, LQY had.

By nightless city, what exactly did the cultivating clans know? They knew that WN & WWX had killed JZX. They knew that WN & WQ had arrived at their doorstep, and that LWJ had stepped up to speak for them. That when WN went berserk, THE LANS died trying to stop his rampage. Someone needed to take responsibility.

The Nightless City seemed more like a show of support for the Jins than an actual promise of assistance against WWX, but they all had their reasons for being there. They did genuinely consider WWX as evil. No one defended him, no one told them that he wasn't evil and nor was any evidence given to the contrary.

Then the Nightless City massacre happened.

Honestly, unlike us, who have the omniscient viewpoint, people only got to know things due to people's gossips or talking about incidents. With so many people injured or dead, what could they do?

See, here you missed that though LXC was already quite influenced by JGY, he also wasn't a bad guy. The Lans, probably cause of LWJ, were the ones who actually took a lot of damage due to "WWX". And still, during the first siege, the Nie and Lan forces were so small that they might as well not have been there.

I feel like the impression the Sect gave to WWX, who actually did break all the rules all the time, made people think really badly of the Sect itself.

Honestly, most of the problems in WWX's first life happened because of JC and the Jins. JC was the one who was exempted from being attacked by the hundreds of corpses outside BM, who "took advantage of WWX's weakness to lead the attack". The weakness could have been that the 50 Wens were old and weak people, could have been his very presence which meant the corpses wouldn't attack him, would allow him to pass by unharmed and start killing the Wens and destroying WWX's inventions. Or it could have meant he knew that WWX was busy doing something like destroying his Stygian Tiger Seal and he would be weakened during this period.

So, no, I resent being told that the Lans were as bad as the rest of the cultivation world, who were also not as bad as your saying, but still pretty much the dirt under our boots, just not upgraded to complete shit until the Siege. The Lans were that bad because of LXC's unconditional support for JGY, and they were anything close to good at any point of time due to LWJ.

Why Lan Wangji Endures

I breifly touched on this topic before in this post, but I wanted to go more in-depth with it in combination with this post. When Lan Wangji says this:

"...When I went to see him, I told him, ‘Young Master Wei was already in the wrong, why add onto the wrong committed?’ And he said....... He can’t affirm whether what you did was right or wrong. But no matter what, he was willing to shoulder all of the responsibility together with you...."

—Chapt. 99: A Hatred for Life Part 2, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

...he is not making a statement on the morality of either his or Wei Wuxian's actions. In fact, his opinions about the moral righteousness of their actions are separate from his opinions on his clan's (and the greater cultivation world's) meted-out punishments. Why? Because the rules and laws of the cultivation world are now wholly separate from what is moral, and so Lan Wangji has matched Wei Wuxian in cleaving his sense of morality from what is considered acceptable by the status quo. Lan Wangji cannot confirm to Lan Xichen (or the Lan Clan, or the cultivation world as a whole) whether Wei Wuxian was right or wrong because they are not operating under the same understanding of "right and wrong." At the same time, Lan Wangji's (summarized via Lan Xichen's) speech above is not in conversation with his brother but actually in conversation with Wei Wuxian's speech back in Yiling:

There was no such road. No solution existed. Wei WuXian spoke slowly, “Thank you for keeping me company today. Thank you for telling me the news about my shijie’s marriage too. But, let the self judge the right and the wrong, let others decide to praise or to blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on. I, too, know what I should and shouldn’t do. I believe that I’ll be able to control it as well.” As if he’d anticipated such an attitude since a long time ago, Lan WangJi nodded slightly and closed his eyes. And that marked their farewell.

—Chapt. 75: Distance, exr

Wei Wuxian was put into a dead-end situation where any act of self-defense or defense of innocents was an automatic crime. In the end, he experienced the ultimate consequence of death because his act of self-defense led to the death of an important individual, a death that was seen as "unforgivable" in the eyes of the cultivation world, unlike the deaths of Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants. Likewise, Lan Wangji's actions in protecting Wei Wuxian against his clan were met with punishment, because even though he had good cause in rescuing the Wen remnants' only protector, going against his clan is "unforgivable" in the eyes of a society ruled by tradition and orthodoxy over morality. This is why Wei Wuxian says that the self must judge the self, and why Lan Wangji is following that creed by enduring the Lan Clan punishment while maintaining an unshakeable belief in Wei Wuxian's righteousness.

It was never about Lan Wangji doubting his or Wei Wuxian's morals. It was never about Lan Wangji putting love above righteousness. It was always about how Lan Wangji so much believed in Wei Wuxian's morality and the righteousness of his actions that he was willing to protect the man when the entire world said he was in the wrong, when his own family stood opposite him. And just like Wei Wuxian eventually accepted the consequences of his actions and used his last moments to attempt to destroy the Stygian Tiger Seal, Lan Wangji, too, endured being whipped 33 times by the discipline whip, then went on to rescue Wen Yuan and raise him and the other Lan disciples with morals so strong that they could transcend the mob mentality that their parents never learned to unsubscribe from. Lan Wangji's steadfastness in the face of the incredible hypocrisy and corruption baked into the system he lived in is why Wei Wuxian is able to resurrect into a world where the new generation can look up to him as a hero and a mentor rather than a scourge and a terror.

This endurance is Lan Wangji's ultimate act of love.

[drwcn]

ok but for fem!wwx au does lan zhan believe the rumours? and if so what does that mean for the whole 'i birthed him with my own body!' cause lan zhan did the maths and was like 'no it was just the once and this child is too old' but if he thinks he was just one in a line does he go back to bm after nightless city to rescue a kid he thinks is wei ying's but with another man? does he spend the three years in seclusion cursing every jin whose name he remembers as cowards only to step out, take one look at sizhui, and have an 'oh. i know why wei ying was so determined to save wen qionglin' moment???

Answer:  Haha, nah, Lan Wangji was fairly sure Sizhui wasn’t Wei Ying’s, for several reasons. One, Wen Yuan was born before the wen remnants even went to the Burial Mount. Lan Wangji saw the small child amongst the escape party that rainy night at the  concentration camp. Also, Wen Ning was several years younger than them, which would make it kind of weird if he were the dad. Before Wen Ning became the Ghost General, everyone just knew him as Wen Qing’s kid brother.  Lan Wangji, however, absolutely believed Jiang Yan to be Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian’s child even before Wei Wuxian was resurrected... 

《the midnight sun》 — 

[original], snippets [x] [x] [x] [x], other posts found under #lanyan or #midnight sun

midnight sun [snippet 7]

When Yan’er turned ten, Jiang Cheng decided it was time for her to accompany him to Cultivation Conferences. Most sect heirs began their training this way; Jiang Cheng still remembered his first time, trailing nervously in Jiang Fengmian’s wake. 

Heiresses, in comparison, were few and far between. Even head disciples were rarely girls. Jiang Wanyin had no children. His head disciple was his heiress, and his heiress was Jiang Yueqian (江月千). 

长烟一空 - when the smoke clears; 皓月千里 - the moon casts a thousand miles of light 浮光跃金 - which dances upon the water, golden 静影沉壁 - the shadow of the moon itself like jade underwater*

A jade underwater indeed.

“Shifu.”

Speaking of the devil, here she comes, walking measuredly down the long stairs of Jinlintai towards Jiang Cheng, the epitome of an obedient, filial disciple. It had only been a day and Jiang Yan already had the world fooled. Only Jiang Cheng knew how impossibly obstinate and utterly uncontrollable she was when her mind was fixed.

"Ah, Jiang-zongzhu, this is..." Spotting her, Lan Xichen glanced beyond his shoulder, the question dangling in the sentence he did not deem necessary to finish.

Unbeknownst to Lan Xichen, the child that made her way over was his niece by blood. Jiang Cheng was acutely aware that Yan'er actually resembled Lan Wangji a great deal, and despite having weighed the risks and gains against each other repeatedly before deciding to bring Jiang Yan along, now he was no longer so certain in his calculations. Lan Xichen was not a simple peasant; what if he detected a trace or a hint of her heritage between the furrow of her brows or the curve of her eyes? What if...

Jiang Cheng turned, raising an arm towards Jiang Yan, an introduction ready, but whatever words he had prepared in advance died on on his tongue when he laid eyes on the girl. Suddenly, he was no longer worried that others would suspect her to be Lan Wangji's child.

There was a red ribbon in her hair.

Yan'er stopped at a polite distance from the two older men and bowed in perfect form.

Jiang Cheng's heart stuttered violently in his chest at the sight of that red ribbon falling sideway over her small shoulder. If souls could travel, his would have left him in an instant. He stood in disincorporated panic, wrestling with the nauseating sensation of being ripped from his reality and tossed so far into the distant past that he felt whole again.

"Shifu, Lan-zongzhu." Yan'er greeted.

Shifu. Lan-zongzhu. In another world, another life, she would not need to be so formal. She could easily bound up to them, carefree, cooing jiujiu and bobo and ask to be bailed out from whatever trouble she caused.

Instead, he was only her shifu, and Lan Xichen, a stranger in her life. It would be laughable, if fate had not dealt them each such a wretched hand.

Jiang Cheng stepped towards her. “Where did you get this?” 

Jiang Yan looked up in surprise, her hand reaching up and making an aborted motion to touch the red ribbon in her hair.

“Qin-shenshen gave it to me. Is it not nice?” 

Qin Su. Jiang swallowed down a sigh of relief. Earlier, the Jin servants had sent word that Jin-fu'ren had baked treats for Jin Ling, and the boy had wasted no time dragging his favourite person - his Yan'er jiejie - to his aunt's place with him. Clearly, Qin Su had seized the opportunity to dote on the girl in place of the daughter she never had. Qin Su meant well. She couldn't have known. She's never even met Wei Wuxian.

In this state, Jiang Cheng could barely bring himself to look at his disciple, but he forced himself nonetheless to kneel and tuck an errant strand of baby hair behind her ear. “Very pretty.” 

Yan'er smiled.

Jiang Cheng could cry.

They'd been lucky thus far. Yunmeng's Jiang-xiao-guniang was born a taciturn girl who did not like to smile or laugh, not even when she was expected to for polite society. Whether she was happy or sad, one would be hard pressed to tell. Only in front of her master Jiang Cheng or her Jin Ling-didi did she elect to reveal the full expanse of her emotions. Yet, whenever Jiang Cheng bore witness to that smile as warm and incandescent as sunlight, he could not help but shudder somewhere deep. Recalling the radiant days of years gone by, he could still see - every time he closed his eyes - his er-shijie smiling at him in the very same fashion.

Aiyo, Jiang Cheng ~

So...they'd been very lucky thus far, that Yan'er was not so like her mother in that way, not so free and generous with her smiles. Or else this devastating secret —Wei Wuxian's only wish — would not be able to withstand the test of time.

"Very pretty, Yan'er." He reaffirmed. "Did you thank Jin-furen?"

"I did."

Jiang Cheng stood and turned back to face Lan Xichen, and realized they were being joined by two others: Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji. The latter of two stared directly down at Jiang Yan, visibly stricken and unblinking, as though he'd just seen a ghost. After all, he had often been on the receiving end of that signature smile once upon a time. It was probably not a smile he'd ever expected to see again in this life.

In hindsight, perhaps Jiang Cheng should have made Yan'er wear her uniform like all the other disciples instead of her favourite indigo robes.

“Ah, Wangji, shufu -” Lan Xichen was quick to react, sensing animosity brewing in the disquiet that stretched taut between his younger brother and his fellow sect master. "Jiang-zongzhu, perhaps you would introduce us?"

The First Jade smiled kindly down at Yan'er. She returned his kindness with a polite nod.

Lan Wangji finally dragged his gaze up to meet Jiang Cheng's, a rarity since their violent parting at Nevernight. The venerated Hanguang-jun had developed a habit of pretending that Jiang Wanyin of Lotus Pier did not exist at all. He probably preferred, dreamed of it even, if Jiang Cheng had been one to fall of the cliff that day. He probably hated himself for not shoving him into the molten abyss when he could to avenge the love of his life.

Love. What did Lan Wangji know of love? Jiang Cheng sneered inwardly. One did not compromise one's love and abandon her, ill and with child, to bleed out alone in a cave tainted by demonic spirits.

One did not watch idly as one's love and her people are reduced to ashes for the power and greed of men either....

Jiang Cheng buried the offending thought, too familiar with Wen Qing's ghost that still haunted him in his moments of weakness. Without breaking gaze, he laid a hand on the crown of Jiang Yan's head and said, "This is my first disciple, Jiang Yan, Jiang Yueqian."

"Yueqian greets Zewu-jun, Lan-lao-xiansheng, Hanguang-jun."

Jiang Cheng watched as the icy fire within Lan Wangji's eyes flicker, fizzle, and extinguish entirely. Jiang Cheng's vague silence had allowed him the space to make his assumptions, and he had assumed the most insane explanation.

Is it so difficult for you, wondered Jiang Cheng. To believe that she could be yours? So impossible, that you would choose to doubt Wei Wuxian instead?

Fine.

Hanguang-jun. The venerated Second Jade of Gusu. That's all you'll ever be. Yan'er will never call you Father.

Jiang Cheng decided he had spent enough time today making nice. "Zewu-jun, it's getting late. If nothing else, I will be taking my leave. The conference continues tomorrow. I will see you then. Yan'er, come."

Yan'er bowed again to the senior cultivators, perfectly well-mannered. A dash of surprise crossed those bright eyes, however, when Jiang Cheng took her hand to lead her away. She followed wordlessly, trusting him, and did not look back once at the Lans she left behind.

Now that Yan'er was out in society, there would surely be rumours. No matter. Rumours were nothing Jiang Wanyin could not withstand. How ironic, indeed, that this was to be his lot in life.

For the first time, Jiang Cheng felt he could understand his father.

Note:

The poem is from the Song dynasty, by poet 范仲淹 from his work 《岳阳楼记》

Jiang Cheng of course is also working off a lot of assumptions about Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's relationship. He has his reasons for hating and blaming Lan Wangji, but not all the blame is deserved.

[goodlucktai]

out past the shallow breakers

the untamed pairing: jiang cheng & wei ying, jiang cheng & lan sizhui word count: 3148 read on ao3

x

“He died!”

The words ring loud, sharp—in the pavilion where they’re taking their evening meal, surrounded on all sides by untroubled water, the words seem to carry for miles.

It’s unlike Lan Sizhui to raise his voice at all, much less to raise it toward a senior. His hands, resting politely on his knees under the table, have curled into fists.

“Everyone goes on and on as though baba has so much to atone for,” Lan Sizhui says, each word lurching from his throat like a line of fierce corpses shambling through brush. “What more is there for him to give? What more do you want? He died.”

Jin Ling is staring at his friend as though he’s never seen him fully before. On Lan Sizhui’s other side, Wei Wuxian’s expression is shifting rapidly from alarm to comprehension. His gray eyes are full of a painful understanding.

“Sizhui ah,” Wei Wuxian says, touching the boy’s shoulder. “Come take a walk with me.”

Jerking his head in a nod, Lan Sizhui pushes to his feet and then pauses there. His Gusu Lan whites, those extra lines and layers that denote him a member of the main family, ghost elegantly around him when he lowers himself in a bow that is every inch deep that it needs to be and not one inch deeper.

“Sect Leader Jiang, this disciple apologizes,” he says. The cheerful ‘shushu’ of earlier that morning might as well be a memory of another life. “My behavior was unworthy.”

He doesn’t grit it out, the way Jin Ling would probably have had to. It doesn’t even seem to cost him any pride.

For one, single, impossible moment, it’s as though Jiang Yanli is standing there, making her apologies to their mother for her brothers’ sake, to spare them any pain she could. It didn’t matter that the blame wasn’t hers. It didn’t cost her any pride, either.

But Jiang Yanli didn’t have a chance to be a part of her nephew’s life, as much as she would have wanted to be. This likeness isn’t hers, not truly. Wei Wuxian was always more like his sister than he or Jiang Cheng were ready to admit.

“Forget it,” Jiang Cheng says. His voice is hoarse, but in the stillness of the water and the silence of the pavilion, it carries, too. “Go on.”

Wei Wuxian shepherds his son from the table. He glances back at Jiang Cheng once, a grimace of apology on his face, but then Lan Sizhui’s hand finds the trailing black hem of Wei Wuxian’s sleeve and clutches to it, and that steals all of Wei Wuxian’s attention as easily as a slap or a shout might have.

The moment they’re gone, Jin Ling lets out a breath he must have been holding, and rounds on his other uncle with wide eyes.

“What did you say?” Jin Ling blurts. “I wasn’t really paying attention, but it didn’t sound like—I mean, it sounded normal.”

Jiang Cheng is still staring at the place Lan Sizhui had stood.

The last living remnant of a persecuted clan, so much an amalgamation of his two fathers that it didn’t make sense that one of them had been dead for most of his young life—holding a grudge and bowing his head at the same time. Lan Wangji, in Jiang Cheng’s experience, has never once let something go that he could nurse icy resentment for instead. Wei Wuxian has always choked down hurt like it was second nature, no matter that it must feel like swallowing nails every time.

It was a normal conversation, but perhaps that’s exactly why Lan Sizhui couldn’t bear another second of it.

“He died,” Lan Sizhui had said, as raw as a fresh wound, or one that kept getting torn open again before it could heal. “What more do you want?”  

#

“Ah, Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian says the next morning, meeting him in the courtyard. “Did you sleep well?”

He’s smiling with a certain nervous energy that Jiang Cheng can only pick out because he spent the formative years of his life raising and being raised by his siblings. To an outsider, there probably wouldn’t be a single visible chink in that cheerful armor.

Jiang Cheng, for all his failings, isn’t an outsider. Not quite. The door between them is closed—has been closed for years, almost decades—but Wei Wuxian isn’t the one who closed it. There almost certainly isn’t a lock or talisman keeping Jiang Cheng from forcing it open again.

It won’t come open again easily. There is so much stacked in the way. Hurt and betrayal and grief throw their weight into keeping it shut, weighing it down on either side.

But—

“What more do you want?” Lan Sizhui had asked.

“Fine,” Jiang Cheng forces out. Wei Wuxian blinks, as if he didn’t expect a forthright answer, or any answer at all. Something about his open surprise at the barest scrap of civility makes Jiang Cheng add, “If you’re awake this early, you didn’t sleep at all.”

His brother takes the opening for what it is, and bends into character. “Oh! You know me so well!”

Mo Xuanyu’s body is smaller, slighter, than the body that Wei Wuxian was born into, and his face is not quite the same, but Wei Wuxian’s mannerisms shine through so clearly that it’s easy to look past everything else. Even the way he stands still is entirely his own, his whole body vibrating with the necessary focus it takes to keep from bursting into movement again.

He is so familiar. The most familiar thing in Jiang Cheng’s entire, almost-empty life.

“I’m sorry about last night,” Wei Wuxian says. The words spill from his mouth like river pebbles, scattering around their feet. There’s that echo of their jiejie again, smiling around I’m sorry. “Don’t hold it against him, please. He’s so young, and he’s struggling to make sense of some things. He was happy that you invited him to Lotus Pier.”

The past-tense makes Jiang Cheng want to flinch, but he doesn’t. He just stands there in the peach pink morning and absorbs the beginning of a goodbye.

“So you’re leaving, then?” he mutters.

“I think we’ve definitely worn out our welcome this time,” Wei Wuxian says, easily shouldering the blame for everyone else’s bad behavior. They might as well be twelve years old again, kneeling here in the courtyard under Madam Yu’s furious eyes. “But it’s alright! Wen Ning sent word that he’s waiting for us outside of Yunmeng and Sizhui is eager to see him. We’ll go find some trouble to get into before we head back home.”

He won’t say a word about this change of plans to his husband, but Lan Wangji will still find out—whether Lan Sizhui tells him, or Wen Ning, or he just picks up something from Wei Wuxian through osmosis—and the next cultivator conference will be excruciating. And if the Jiang clan gets anything out of it, it won’t be anything good. And Jiang Cheng will feel slighted and angry for months, until the next time Wei Wuxian swings by for a visit. And having his brother nearby will soothe an ache in the pit of Jiang Cheng’s chest that he’s able to ignore all the rest of the time. And then, inevitably, Wei Wuxian will look wistfully at the water, or linger for too long by the flowers their sister liked best, or bring some other manner of ghost to the dinner table, and Jiang Cheng will lash out because it’s the only way he knows how to handle hurt. And then Wei Wuxian will extract himself and go home to Cloud Recesses early, and Lan Wangji will rightly guess why. And it just never fucking ends, does it?

The grief he carries around with him—he’s not wrong to carry it. It’s his. He was hurt, time and again, by a person he used to count on not to hurt him. He’s two times an orphan; once when his parents died, and again when his siblings did. He had to rebuild his home from the ground up, by himself, with his own two hands. Everything he has is what he was able to dig out of the dirt and ashes.

It isn’t Wei Wuxian’s fault that Lotus Pier fell. It isn’t his fault that the Wens were persecuted, that they had nowhere else to turn for protection. And it isn’t—

This one hurts; this one comes away bleeding. Jiang Cheng forces himself through it anyway.

It isn’t Wei Wuxian’s fault that Yanli died.

She died for him, but he didn’t ask her to.

Jiang Cheng feels his brother’s golden core thrumming inside his chest, hyper-aware of it now in a way he rarely was before—how it feels the way the sun looks in the morning, warm and brilliant and spilling color across the dull gray of dawn.

He didn’t ask Wei Wuxian to cut himself open for Jiang Cheng’s sake. He can’t be blamed for his brother’s choices. And if that’s true (and it has to be true or Jiang Cheng will go insane) then Wei Wuxian can’t be blamed for their sister’s choice, either. Yanli died for Wei Wuxian because she loved him, and Wei Wuxian gave Jiang Cheng his golden core because he loved him, and Jiang Cheng never moved on and never let go because he loved them, too.

They weren’t raised to love softly or quietly. Love between the three of them was always fierce, like a wild animal baring its teeth. Clinging to each other in a world that wanted to rip them apart. Even Yanli, who smiled and spoke with such sweetness, went to war because her brothers were there.

“What more do you want?” Lan Sizhui had asked.

Jiang Cheng lifts his head. Wei Wuxian is already looking at him, poised, as ever, to leave the moment Jiang Cheng gives him any indication that he should, like a bird ready to fling itself into flight. His brother, dead for thirteen years and back again, and only sometimes-welcome in the place he used to call home. Only sometimes-wanted by the person who used to be his family.

In a world full of people missing people they’ll never see again, Wei Wuxian is a miracle that Jiang Cheng is entirely unworthy of.

He’s right to carry his grief, because it’s his. But he wouldn’t be wrong—it wouldn’t be a betrayal—if he chose to set it down.

“You find trouble as easy as breathing,” he says, speaking through his heart, where it’s lodged in his throat, “so that shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Maligned!” Wei Wuxian cries with an air of great sorrow. “Blatantly maligned, by my own flesh and blood!”

Jiang Cheng can’t say what he wants to say. He can’t find the words. There’s only so much of himself he can dig up and expose like raw nerves before the pain of it becomes overwhelming, and he reacts to the hurt the way he always does, and shoves Wei Wuxian away.

“Don’t forget to say goodbye to Jin Ling, or he’ll never forgive you,” Jiang Cheng settles for. “And I’ll be the one stuck hearing about it.”

“I would never forget my favorite nephew,” Wei Wuxian says easily.

“And if you fuck up, and get yourself into a stupid mess,” Jiang Cheng adds, before he loses his nerve, “don’t let me hear about it from someone else.”

For a moment, Wei Wuxian doesn’t seem to know what to say.

“What if it’s very stupid?” he finally asks, his voice at once both faint and painfully fond.

“What else is new?” Jiang Cheng snaps. “Just send for me, and I’ll come.”

Above them, the pink and orange of fresh dawn make way for vivid blue. As Jiang Cheng stands in his childhood home with his only brother, while the market comes to life outside the walls and the breeze sweeps the smell of lotus flowers and scallion pancakes through the courtyard, the years seem to fall away. For a brief, uninterrupted moment, they’re both back where they belong.

“Aiyah, shidi,” Wei Wuxian says. “Of course you will.”

#

The next time Jiang Cheng sees Lan Sizhui is at the cultivation conference in Gusu, two months later.

The boy smiles politely but greets him as ‘Sect Leader Jiang’ again, and next to him, Jiang Cheng can feel Jin Ling wince. Lan Sizhui’s counterpart, the wildly opinionated and deeply un-Lan-like Lan Jingyi is giving him a frank, up-and-down appraisal.

“I mean, I’ll give it to you,” he says baldly. “You’re brave. Like, if Hanguang-jun hated me as much as he hated you, I just wouldn’t show up. You couldn’t pay me to show up.”

“Jingyi,” Lan Sizhui says at length.

“No, I know. I’m just saying. Young Mistress,” he adds, sweeping into a deep, performative bow in front of Jin Ling, “if you’ll come with me, your presence is earnestly awaited by Young Master Ouyang in the library pavilion.”

“Shut up, Jingyi, I swear,” Jin Ling snaps, but he lets himself be herded away with only a single worried glance back at his uncle.

Lan Sizhui is gazing up at Jiang Cheng with a complicated expression. Even though the explosive anger of that disastrous dinner doesn’t seem likely to make a reappearance, there is still something troubled in his eyes.

“I wanted to apologize, shushu,” the boy says slowly. “Properly, that is. For the way I spoke to you last time.”

Ah. So the stiffness isn’t born of lingering irritation, but worry. These Lans, Jiang Cheng thinks, with significantly less venom than he’s used to thinking of the Lan sect with.

He has a well of patience for his nephews that has never run dry. Jin Ling has stretched it nearly to the limit, more than once, but it will take Lan Sizhui more than one emotional outburst to come even close. Given that they’ve only been family (for given value of the word) for a short while, it makes sense that Lan Sizhui wouldn’t know that.

“It wasn’t you that I was angry with, not really,” Lan Sizhui says, explaining when Jiang Cheng has already largely guessed. “I know that you care about baba in your own way, even if a-die doesn’t think so. But—there are—”

His young face folds in frustration, less remarkably than Jin Ling’s does when he’s having a snit, but just a creased forehead speaks volumes in this repressed sect.

“There are other people. Who say similar things. And they don’t mean it the way you mean it.”

Jiang Cheng knows that. He attended those meetings, too.

“And let me guess,” he says, “my idiot brother doesn’t want you speaking up for him.”

Lan Sizhui’s mouth twists. “He says that he did horrible things, and those people are well within their rights to feel about him however they want to feel about him. But—he did good, too. He protected my clan, even though he had to do it alone. I don’t remember very much,” he goes on, slightly quieter, “but I know that he made the Burial Mounds a warm and safe place for me. I know that I never felt scared or cold or hungry when I was there with him. And I don’t think most people could have done that.”

Jiang Cheng boxes up the involuntary pain that swells into place at the poking of this half-healed wound, and gives himself a moment to organize a reply. Talking to the mind-healer his chief physician recommended to him has helped a lot, not that he’ll give that smug witch the satisfaction of admitting it.

“Wei Wuxian hurt a lot of people, but so did everyone else,” he says when he’s certain he can say it without losing his composure. “We were at war. None of us are blameless. He was just the most convenient scapegoat. He still is.”

Lan Sizhui’s eyes are bright with vindication. He was born a Wen and raised a Lan, but there’s a streak of Jiang in there, too, Jiang Cheng thinks with pride. It’s that love that Jiang Cheng recognizes, the same kind of love that he and jiejie and Wei Wuxian had cultivated between them since they were children—the vicious, untamed kind of love that marches to war and claws its way up from hell and clings too hard to things it rightly should let go of.

“It isn’t fair,” Lan Sizhui says.

“No,” Jiang Cheng allows. “It isn’t.”

#

Wei Wuxian waves animatedly at Jiang Cheng from across the room, even though it makes Lan Qiren scowl at him. It’s reminiscent of every single stuffy banquet they had to sit through as kids, making faces at one another when Madam Yu’s eyes were turned away.

Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes in return, and Wei Wuxian lights up like he’s been handed a pile of gold. Lan Wangji gazes at him with a tenderness that would be absolutely absurd if Wei Wuxian didn’t actually deserve every scant inch of it that got sent his way, and even though the entire cultivation world is waiting, he spares a moment to tuck a stray piece of hair behind Wei Wuxian’s ear.

Sect Leader Yao scoffs, a bit too loudly. “Shameless upstart.”

Lan Wangji’s eyes turn so sharp so fast that it promises violence.

Before he can say anything that starts another war, Jiang Cheng turns fully around in his seat.

“Problem?” he asks shortly.

Baffled, Sect Leader Yao’s gaze skates around the room for a moment before landing back on Jiang Cheng.

“If you have something to say about my brother,” Jiang Cheng says, his voice a snarl, zidian sparking on his arm, “say it so that I can hear you.”

“Ah, this meeting is off to such a lively start,” Wei Wuxian says into the ominous stillness of the room. “Shidi, you’re so energetic, why don’t you kick things off?”

It would be the first time in his career that he’s the first to speak at a conference. Openly disbelieving, Jiang Cheng looks from his brother to Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji’s eyes are narrowed, but not as though he’s sizing Jiang Cheng up for a coffin, which is how he usually sizes him up. All he does is tip his head incrementally, conceding the floor to him.

Gods. It’s that simple.

“You are really not a difficult person, are you?” Jiang Cheng says aloud.

“No,” Lan Wangji agrees, this force of nature who turned the world upside down and challenged every single person in it, who would do so again and again and again, just to be able to sit there and hold Wei Wuxian’s hand.

And then, in the closest the two of them have ever come to an understanding, Lan Wangji adds, “Neither are you.”

[robininthelabyrinth]

lwj never really forgives his family's involvement in the siege, how does this manifest during the thirteen years?

If it had only been the pain in his back, the agony of punishment and icy chill of his family’s disappointment, Lan Wangji might have put it aside; he was accustomed to matters of discipline, and had known what he was likely bringing down on his own head when he had done what he did.

He knew his family loved him and only wanted the best for him, even if –

Even if.

But when Lan Wangji ran away from the jingshi to look for himself, finding only a small child, feverish but still capable of a little bit of babbling, still able to tell the story of what had happened – when he found the traces of blood on the ground, Wei Wuxian’s from when his power had backlashed on him – when he saw the bodies in the blood pool, already rotting –

They had kept this from him.

They had kept this from him on purpose.

They had all known.

For the first time in his life, Lan Wangji didn’t want to go home.

He knew he didn’t have a choice, of course. He had nowhere else to go, and the boy’s fever needed to be treated – but he didn’t want to go home.

“Is he all right?” a voice asked from behind him.

Lan Wangji turned, surprised: it was Jiang Cheng, who might very well rank at the top of people he didn’t want to see right now. He had led the siege against Wei Wuxian –

He looked awful.

Eyes full of broken blood vessels, with deep circles beneath them; skin sallow, even grey, as if he’d been stabbed and allowed to bleed out dry. He looked as though he was very nearly a corpse himself.

Jiang Cheng scowled when Lan Wangji didn’t respond.

“Is the boy all right, Hanguang-jun?” he asked, his voice raspy and harsh. “Is he – is he…”

His voice cracked.

“He lives, but he has a fever,” Lan Wangji said, ignoring the steadily increasing pain on his back. He had not been well when he’d escaped from the jingshi, not well at all; the doctors had estimated at least a year to recover, if he didn’t do anything to strain himself – after this outing, it would likely be three. The discipline whip was not kind. “Why do you care? Didn’t you execute the others?”

Jiang Cheng laughed, voice suddenly spiking into something high and horrible, and Lan Wangji abruptly became aware that Jiang Cheng was also, politely speaking, not well. No discipline whip for him, no, but something had gone wrong in the man’s brain – Lan Wangji might almost suspect a qi deviation, if only he hadn’t lived through a war.

If he hadn’t seen what grief could do to a man. How it could hollow them out while they still lived.

“I didn’t,” Jiang Cheng choked. “I didn’t – I told my people to gather them up, to take them back, we were going to interrogate them…at the time it happened, I was – not there.”

“Not there?”

“A coma, apparently,” Jiang Cheng admitted. “Not especially heroic, but then they do leave it out of all the stories: the great Jiang Wanyin, who took up arms against his own shixiong, then swooned like a blushing bride at the sight of – at the sight of –”

“The body.”

Jiang Cheng covered his eyes, shoulder shaking. “There wasn’t one left.”

Lan Wangji shuddered.

“Nothing to put in the memorial hall at home,” Jiang Cheng said. “Even his personal items, they fought over them like dogs, like they were trophies – someone stole Suibian, you know? I only managed to keep Chenqing because I fell on it. It rolled over to me. It was still –” He wavered, then laughed again, very nearly crossing the line between merely hysterical and actually insane. “I had to clean it.”

Lan Wangji had wished he had been there, at the siege, thinking that if he couldn’t save Wei Ying, he could at least die by his side, in his defense. He thought now, for the first time, that perhaps he was glad he wasn’t.

“Did you mean to kill him?” he asked, and Jiang Cheng shook his head mutely. “You led the armies so that you would have first rights to the spoils. To the prisoners.”

To one prisoner in particular.

“Nie Mingjue would have backed me,” Jiang Cheng admitted. “He obeys the rules of war – the largest faction leads, the leader claims the first prize. He didn’t want to be there, but I needed someone to support my claim to be the leader, I threw all those dead Nie cultivators at the Burial Mounds at him until he agreed…he cursed Sect Leader Jin to his face when he found out what they’d done with the rest of the Wens. I wish I’d done the same.”

“Your sect –”

“I wish I had done the same,” Jiang Cheng said, and there were tears dripping down his face. He didn’t notice them, didn’t bother to wipe them away; he had clearly become accustomed to the feeling. “At least then Wei Wuxian would be less burdened. He’s dead, you know.”

Lan Wangji knew.

“I think he must have died a long time ago, and I just never noticed,” Jiang Cheng said. “I was too blinded by my anger, by wanting to kill the Wens. I ignored it all. My shixiong died long ago, and in his place there was another person, the one who did all those things – I never understood why he did it, any of it. He once swore to me that he’d stay by my side, help me rebuild the sect, and then he turned his face away from me and never told me why, acted as if we were strangers, as if I meant nothing to him…and yet, when we were alone, he still talked as if he were the Wei Wuxian I knew.”

He shuddered, shaking hands reaching out to clutch at his sides as if he were suddenly cold.

“It never made any sense,” he mumbled, and maybe he really had lost his mind. “He said he’d stay by my side, but he didn’t; he said he wanted to do the right thing, but he – he killed all those people. So many people. He killed jiejie. He widowed her, then killed her, and – I don’t see how that’s doing the right thing. That couldn’t have been him, could it? Could Wei Wuxian, my Wei Wuxian, really have done all that?”

Lan Wangji didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to help – there was nothing he could do to help.

The only person who could help Jiang Cheng was already dead.

Thinking that, Lan Wangji decided to take his leave, but the barest hint of movement sent an abrupt spike of agony though his back, making him stagger; he had been standing too long, and movement was now a problem. He had promised himself he would only come for a moment, just long enough to see with his own eyes what had happened, and then he’d return – and then he’d found little A-Yuan, he’d known his time to stay was running out, he’d meant to leave, but then there was Jiang Cheng –

“Hanguang-jun? Hanguang-jun! Lan Wangji!”

The world went black before his eyes.

When he opened them again, he saw – some incredibly ugly drawings, etched into a wooden bed frame as if with a blunted dagger. He had never before seen anything quite so immediately repulsive to every aesthetic sense he possessed and yet somehow still oddly charming.

“You’re awake, then?”

Lan Wangji turned his head.

Jiang Cheng did not look noticeably better, though he had at least changed clothing; he was drinking a cup of tea with calming herbs, the uncontrollable tremor in his hand sloshing the liquid inside.

They were at the Lotus Pier.

“You brought me back?” Lan Wangji asked.

“The boy wasn’t the only one with a fever,” Jiang Cheng said. “Thirty three lashes with the discipline whip, and you went into a place as rotten as the Burial Mounds – you were almost asking to get sick.”

Lan Wangji could feel that his back had been well-bandaged, well-cared for – Jiang Cheng must have called a doctor. People would know, then, what he had done and what had been done to him in return - his reputation would be ruined, his family’s attempt to save face by claiming that he’d retreated into seclusion would be exposed for the lie it was.

He wished he was petty enough to be bitterly pleased by the thought, but all he felt was sick.

“No one will know if you don’t want them to,” Jiang Cheng said, almost as if he could hear Lan Wangji’s internal debate – he couldn’t, of course. Jiang Cheng was no Lan Xichen: he couldn’t read Lan Wangji’s expressions at all. “My Jiang sect’s Doctor Qin might as well be mute, for all he talks; he’s never said anything to anyone about anything other than medicine in the entire time I’ve known him. But he did say you shouldn’t be moved. For – a while. A long while.”

Lan Wangji wasn’t surprised; that was about what he’d resigned himself to expect. “When will my family come to pick me up?”

Jiang Cheng snorted. “The doctor didn’t say anything about you being deaf. Didn’t you hear me? You can’t be moved. You’re not going anywhere.”

Lan Wangji stared.

“No one uses this room, anyway,” Jiang Cheng continued, purposefully ignoring Lan Wangji’s incredulous gaze. “It’s off-limits to everyone, for good – sealed off. Might as well put you here, where I can keep an eye on you and make sure you’re not getting into trouble; I’m just across the hall.”

Across the hall –

The ugly drawings, the style suddenly breathlessly and painfully familiar.

This had been Wei Wuxian’s room.

Jiang Cheng wanted him to stay here, at the Lotus Pier, in Wei Wuxian’s room.

He shouldn’t, of course. His duty was clear: he should return home.

Lan Wangji thought about returning home – to the cold and empty jingshi, where there was nothing left that reminded him of his mother but his memories; to his uncle who loved him but did not trust him, who had helped kill the one he loved; to his brother who had all but lied directly to his face about it.

He thought about not having to return.

His fingers relaxed. He hadn’t even realized they were tense.

“How is the boy?” he asked, and some of the tension in Jiang Cheng’s shoulders released; he had been afraid that he would refuse and insist on leaving at once, Lan Wangji surmised. For some reason, Jiang Cheng wanted him to stay.

Lan Wangji thought he might know why. They had spent all those months searching together, side-by-side, those months when Wei Wuxian had disappeared – thrown into the Burial Mounds, though they didn’t know it at the time. Being side-by-side with Jiang Cheng again felt almost like being back then.

When they still had hope of finding him.

“He’s fine,” Jiang Cheng said, then frowned. “Depending on your definition of fine, anyway. He’d had a very high fever for a long time – by the time I got you both back here, he’d fallen unconscious; the doctor says he’s lost his memory.”

Lan Wangji thought about the things the boy had babbled about, the stories he’d told of the last moments of his family, the things he’d seen…“Good,” he said. “Better that way.”

“Never use two words when one will do, do you?” Jiang Cheng grumbled in a tone that had faint ambitions of sounding disgusted. “I guess I’ll just have to adjust to that…I’ve told my people that he’s yours, you know.”

Lan Wangji blinked. “Mine?”

“I couldn’t tell them he was surnamed Wen, could I? So it’s Lan Yuan, at least for now. Up to you if you’d prefer to keep your reputation intact by saying he’s a cousin, but it’d be easier if you claimed him as your own – that way no one could separate you. You visited Yunmeng during the war, I could say the mother was someone here. It wouldn’t be hard.”

Lan Wangji’s first instinct was to protest – A-Yuan was Wei Ying’s son, if anybody’s, not his own – but…no. The boy could not live at the Lotus Pier with the surname Wei.

Lan Yuan. It wasn’t a bad name.

He nodded his assent, and Jiang Cheng finished his tea in a single grim-faced swallow, standing up.

“I don’t suppose you told your family where you were going, did you?” he asked, and looked bitterly amused when Lan Wangji shook his head. “I figured as much. No one saw me bring you in, and no one ever comes here; the only ones allowed in the family quarters are my people, through and through. Unless anyone asks, I’m not answering. Let your family worry for a while; it’ll do them some good. You’re the best they have – they shouldn’t take you for granted.”

Lan Wangji wasn’t the sort of person who knew how to be pleased at other people’s misery, the type to be warmed inside by the spite of you hurt me now I’ll hurt you.

It was fine, though. Jiang Cheng would do it for him.

“Thank you,” Lan Wangji said, and didn’t say anything about telling his family where he’d gone. Jiang Cheng’s lips twitched in a smirk for a second. “Can you pass me the pouch I had with me?”

Jiang Cheng huffed and passed it to him. “You can’t play that thing all day and night,” he warned when Lan Wangji pulled out his guqin. “I’m just across the hall, remember?”

Lan Wangji nodded.

“And…”

“I will wait until you have returned before playing Inquiry.”

“Like I even want to talk to him,” Jiang Cheng muttered under his breath, but he didn’t deny that that had been what he had been on the verge of requesting. “It’s just a nice tune, that’s all. Catchy.”

No one had ever described Inquiry as ‘catchy’ before, and Lan Wangji suspected no one ever would again.

“The boy’s still sleeping, but I’ll bring him here when he wakes,” Jiang Cheng said, changing the subject. “I’m hoping to bring Jin Ling here, once in a while – I think Sect Leader Jin will agree if I hint strongly enough that I’ll consider leaving my sect to him if he lets me. I don’t really know how to deal with babies, though.”

“We will figure it out,” Lan Wangji said, and allowed his (totally unjustified) confidence to sooth Jiang Cheng’s ruffled feathers. It wouldn’t be that easy, of course – Jiang Cheng was still walking the tightrope on the verge of insanity, Lan Wangji was nearly crippled, and his family would be frantic once they realized he wasn’t coming home. Staying here was a stupid idea. Stupid, and spiteful.

It felt good.

[lecinea]

Okay, I am going to butt in here, even if I don't really agree with the initial post (but remember, this is just a little meme, not a completely serious analysis). It seems to me that multiple groups of people in the fandom are currently completely talking past each other. I realize that I might've also made a couple of snarky vagueposts (so this is in no way me trying to have a 'holier-than-thou' attitude) because, I'll be honest, people insulting my intelligence and calling me an abuse apologist just because I like a certain fictional character does get on my nerves. But you seem open to having a discussion and I also disagree with a couple of things in your response, so let's talk.

But before I jump into your points, I do want to respond to the whole 'anti' thing. The whole drama with the canon Jiang Cheng tag started because it wasn't a tag that was created just to discuss 'his canon behavior from the source material'. As you put it, if that was the case, then the people who used it should've also been open to kinder takes about Jiang Cheng that were based on the source material. It was a tag that people primarily used to shit on the character and the people that dared to like him, and this has been going on for years now. I don't know you, but personally, I don't consider you an anti if you only made critical posts about Jiang Cheng, you are allowed your opinion. However, if you think that you hold the one truth about this fictional character and everyone else is either illiterate or evil, I would actually consider you an anti. I would think that is rather fair, no?

Now for your actual points, I do actually agree that Lan Wangji did speak out, but was ignored, but maybe you skip any mention of Jiang Cheng, because so did he. Before all the other sect leaders, he acknowledged that Wen Ning and Wen Qing helped him and Wei Wuxian out during the war, only to have Nie Mingjue shut him down immediately by shoving the annihilation of his entire sect in his face.

When it comes to the question of debt, I do think you forget that Jiang Cheng also lacked quite a bit of context and has no idea how large the debt is that Wei Wuxian owes to Wen Ning and Wen Qing. And I do realize you are talking about a different debt, but is Jiang Cheng really indebted to them? I think the problem lies in that context, we read everything that happened and therefore view the Wen remnants and the Wen that committed the massacre at Lotus Pier as separate entities. Jiang Cheng (and most of the cultivation world) do not. Remember that Jiang Cheng was unconscious for the vast majority of his rescue out of Lotus Pier and stay at the Yiling supervision office. He was only awake long enough to be sad about losing his core and panic because he thought that Wei Wuxian had fallen into a Wen trap before he was knocked out again by Wen Qing. He woke up three days later, when Wei Wuxian had already taken him away from the supervision office, and it isn't mentioned again in the text. So what does he actually actively know about their debt? He doesn't know that Wen Ning did not kill any Jiangs, he wasn't there when Wen Ning told Wei Wuxian this. Wen Qing had already knocked him out when she spoke about how she was hiding them from Wen Chao. What he knows is that the Wen murdered his sect, destroyed his golden core and then he and Wei Wuxian were in the yiling supervision office for a little bit. He might've even seen Wen Ning in Lotus Pier while he was being tortured (no textual evidence for that though, I admit, but to me, not unlikely given his reaction when Wen Ning walks into the room). Is it a debt when a group of people kill practically everyone you know, but not you and your martial brother? Doesn't the debt then already kinda cancel itself out? Wei Wuxian on the other hand has all of that information, so he does know the specific risks that the Wens took to hide them, and then assist him in the Golden Core transfer, so that is a major debt that he is very aware of. But nowhere in the novel it is mentioned how much exactly Jiang Cheng knows. Given everything that happens after the golden core transfer, it is very likely that they didn't discuss it in great detail.

The Jiang's position after the war is, in my view, mostly subtext. The entire sect was murdered, the only survivors that the book mentioned are the yunmeng trio. So the idea that Yunmeng Jiang's position was weak and unstable comes from the fact that it takes time to rebuilt, even with a large amount of new members. Newbies need to be taught, and there aren't many people around that can do that. The other reason is how the other sect leaders talk to Jiang Cheng. They call him the 'little sect leader Jiang' and they clearly don't respect his opinion. You don't do that to a secure leader (after the timeskip, in contrast, pretty much all of the sect leaders do treat him with respect). The lack of support can be traced back to the sworn brotherhood. Because no matter the reasons, if you have four great sects and two of the sect leaders of those sects swear a brotherhood with a member of the third, as the fourth sect leader, i would feel left out and very much unsupported.

But in the end whether or not Yunmeng Jiang was really weak and without support does not really matter. Because you are right, Jin Guanshan absolutely did use Jiang Cheng's insecurities against him. But is it really so ridiculous that the guy whose entire sect was murdered because they did something the most powerful sect around didn't like, is afraid of his entire sect being murdered because they did something the newest most powerful sect around didn't like? Because that is Jiang Cheng's reason for his whole public fight and disavowment of Wei Wuxian. It's what he tells Wei Wuxian, who agrees. And so do I. I think it's a logical line of reasoning and that Jiang Cheng's fears are incredibly valid. While their execution of Wei Wuxian publicly distancing himself from Yunmeng Jiang was, in my humble opinion, kinda stupid. They did think of that plan together. The way I read the novel, Jiang Cheng didn't abandon Wei Wuxian until Jiang Yanli died. 

I don't know if this will change your mind in any way, it's okay if it doesn't. This is just my point of view. But it are opinions that were developed while reading the novel. To write this reply I referenced the novel multiple times, to make sure that I got the context right. This is also canon Jiang Cheng. And our difference in opinion shouldn't matter, live and let live.

"why didn't lan wangji help wei wuxian during wei wuxian's first life? why didn't lan wangji use his own righteous reputation to help clear wei wuxian's name? why didn't lan wangji try to tell the world that wei wuxian wasn't raising a wen army?"

well.....

[featherfur]

I’m going to try and make sense with this so bear with me: I think a lot of untapped angst potential in fic is the reality of Jiang Cheng being the older one now and visibly more mature because Wei Wuxian died at 20? 19? And he wasn’t exactly maturing in the ghost realm during that considering he doesn’t remember it. Now he’s definitely matured via trauma but that’s not the same thing. And now they’re 16x on the wrong wave length.

Under the read more because uh, I go into detail

Now put Jiang Cheng in the same room as Wei Wuxian and they’re both 12, atleast in the beginning. But Jiang Cheng had his previously homicidal insane brother show up right next to his nephew after insulting his mom (who’s death he inadvertently led too) so JC (for me atleast) can be forgiven a bit for not being happy and wanting to kick his ass and thinking he may still be insane because an Okay Wei Wuxian Would Not Insult Shijie or His Nephew. Especially since JC not only didn’t tell the entire world that his brother was back, left him with Jin Ling, only yelled at him a bit and scared him via dog and— (I’m going to shut up here because that isn’t my point but man I could go on). JC had a lot of issues and he yells at Wei Wuxian to the point one wants to offer him a cough drop.

But post Temple JC? Who watched him walk away sadly and knows that Wei Wuxian is no longer unstable and thinks he doesn’t want to be his brother anymore? That’s so much wonderful angst because that means Wei Wuxian will not be greeted by Jiang Cheng his Shidi anymore.

He will be met with Sect Leader Jiang who clawed his way up from nothing but a baby in his right, a stack of spreadsheets on his left and the most feral disciples around that he has to protect. This Sect Leader who doesn’t have time to go around hunting Wei Wuxian down to harass him. Sect Leader Jiang who barely even greets Wei Wuxian when he visits because he has shit to do. He has audits and taxes and those damn merchants are complaining, he has to up the wages of the seamstresses that make the robes of his sect with so many protection talismans and find a way to convince Sect Leader Ouyang to stop fine-ing the caravans that deliver the goods. He has to organize the celebrations and make sure everyone’s safe during flooding season. That’s not even counting how he has to train and monitor his disciples and night hunts and the political hellscape!

But Wei Wuxian!! He doesn’t know that. He doesn’t know everything that Jiang Cheng has been taking care of or that he’s just seriously that busy. He thinks he’s being ignored and pushed away and mocked when Jiang Cheng walks by with a quick “Master Wei” and runs off! Because how could Jiang Cheng treat him like that when Wei Wuxian is clearly trying to reconnect. Every offer of night hunting his declined unless it was planned then already and when they do get together Jiang Cheng ignores him! Why is Wei Wuxian even trying!? What’s the point of Jiang Cheng can’t stand him but why can’t he stop trying either??

Meanwhile during those hunts Jiang Cheng is trying to keep an eye on his brother, his twelve disciples, Jin Ling and his entourage, Wei Wuxian’s Lan ducklings, that random Ouyang kid who apparently imprinted on Jin Ling, figure out what they’re hunting, mentally running the math for the cost of the inns for all of them, going through each of the attending Jiang disciples’ personal likes and deciding on whether to buy their favorite snacks or something else as a ‘thank you for not dying’ as has become accidental custom, trying to figure out if it’s weird to get Jin Ling and his friends something nice (CLEARLY he has to get the Ouyang kid something, he apparently has no other friends considering how often he’s just hanging around Lotus pier whenever Jin Ling swings by), and trying to think of he has any other disciples night hunting within a 50 mile radius he should fly out to check on before he sleeps!

Clearly Wei Wuxian just doesn’t care about the Jiang sect and wants to just be annoying but Jiang Cheng is busy! Cant he see that Jiang Cheng is only available on Mondays and Tuesdays during the odd months and Wednesday through Saturday on the even? It’s very clear when Jiang Cheng has time! Why can’t his brother just respect that not everyone has the free time to do whatever the hell they want? Is he flaunting it?!? How dare he!

It’s a giant mess and it only gets worse because Jiang Cheng is diplomatic, he knows how to bow his head when he’s overpowered (though he rarely is nowadays) or when the outcome isn’t worth it. So he doesn’t want to start a fight with Lan Wangji and from there the entire Lan Sect! He’s been holding his tongue for years he can keep doing it, especially if his brother’s happiness is on the line. He can ignore Lan Wangji being rude, he can ignore the dark looks, hell if he thinks Wei Wuxian’s position is threatened at the LAN’s he’ll even play real fucking nice so that Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen won’t do anything to his brother. He did it for Yanli he’ll do it now. (Also added bonus of now Sizhui has started to warm up to him and so he has to be extra polite so his new nephew doesn’t hate him and his free nephew [Jingyi] doesn’t light a building on fire in revenge for someone looking at Hanguang-Jun wrong). He might have snapped at Hanguang-Jun when shit was going down but now Lan Xichen is in seclusion and Jiang Cheng can’t piss odd Lan Wangji no matter how much he wants to chuck a beehive at his head

But Wei Wuxian doesn’t it take it that way! He just sees his brother suddenly calling him Master Wei and won’t interact with him during meetings or before or after and he’s acting so cold towards Lan Zhan! He’s staring right through his brother in law and keeps acting like he doesn’t exist and the only time in the last month Jiang Cheng sought him out was!! To ask!! If he!! COULD HIRE WEI WUXIAN?!? NOT EVEN TO SAY HI OR CHECK ON HIM OR FINALLY ANSWER HIS LETTERS BUT TO ASK HIM TO CREATE TALISMANS FOR THEIR CLOTHES! (Of course he said yes though because hey money and it’s actually fun chatting with the seamstresses) but that’s all his shidi cares about?? What Wei Wuxian can do for him? He doesn’t care about Wei Wuxian at all! Why does Jiang Cheng keep hating him, he thought they were atleast neutral but he keeps going further and further away!!! Wei Wuxian is hurting and his little brother wants nothing to do with him!

Neither of them are IN the wrong but they’re both wrong.

It takes until someone, probably Lan Xichen or Nie Huiasang, points out that “Wei Wuxian… He’s not your shidi anymore, he’s your Sect Leader well a Sect Leader… he’s a Sect Leader to one of the biggest Sects, he’s busy it’s tax season. I wouldn’t want to interact with anyone either.”

Meanwhile Jin Ling or a random slightly more insane then the rest Jiang disciple interrupts Jiang Cheng’s lunch to go “Okay you’re making this worse on literally everyone, Wei Wuxian is clearly trying to make this work why are you being mean? He’s trying!” (Or much more polite for the disciple)

They have to meet up and actually talk things through and honestly *that* only works because Lan Xichen grabs them both by their metaphorical ears and sits them down because “I would like my brother in law, both of them, to stop crying to me because they can’t talk. So now we’re going to learn to communicate and if either of you makes this weird I WILL just start fluting my way out of it and you’ll feel bad.” (Actually he just sits them down together while and he and Jiang Cheng have to go over payments for the next batch of trades and Wei Wuxian passes out on Jiang Cheng halfway through and when he wakes up he swears to never bother him on a work day because that was the worst moment of his life and they end up repairing enough to start the trek to being brothers again

[skyflyinginaction]

MDSZ Name Meaning Explanations

Wow MDSZ has intricate naming: there are a lot of interesting meanings that fit very well with the characters!

One thing I realized when I researched names is that Chinese names, like Japanese names, are filled with a lot of nuances that have to do with the characters themselves and their role in the story. The character’s names subtly explain their roles and personality in the story.

These are the characters I noticed are the ones that don’t have a lot of posts about their names. I decided I am going to do a post on the characters whose name meanings are not much talked about in the fandom.

This post is heavily inspired by thisworldgodonlyknows who made a post explaining the meaning of the names from one of MXTX  works and what it has to do with corresponding with the characters.

MXTX’s names for her characters in her works seem to be chosen intuitively. This makes sense because the names she chooses have a lot to do with both the characters and their arc in the story.

I won’t be doing any explanations on Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli

because they already had more than enough metas on them. I’m not a Chinese speaker, so although I will explain my research to the best of my ability in this post, take it with a grain of salt.

Mo Xuanyu (莫玄羽)

Mo Xuanyu’s entire name is a subtle reference to his background in the story.

His surname Mò/莫 means "do not, is not, can not" or "there is none who -“

The character in his surname is used to refer to saying something that is puzzling, baffling or impossible to explain in the Chinese language.

This would make sense when talking about Mo Xuanyu since all we know about him is that he's one of Jin Guangshan’s many illegitimate children. Once a disciple of the Jin Clan until his expulsion due to his homosexuality and harassment of the Jin sect leader Jin Guangyao, his expulsion resulted in more abuse at the hands of his family. The abuse he suffered caused his mind to mentally deteriorate, producing a vengeful side of his personality which led him to take up demonic cultivation leading him to perform the body offering ritual to bring Wei Wuxian back to get revenge on his family for the abuse he suffered from.

We don’t know an awful lot about him or his personality other than his background so this makes him come off as very mysterious.

The character in his given name is Xuán/玄 means "black/mysterious”

The character Xuán/玄 is another character to refer to the color black in a specific context in Chinese but when this character is used it also has negative connotations. The symbolism that black is associated within Chinese culture is destruction, evil, disasters, sadness, and suffering; it is considered an unfortunate color. The symbolism for the color black goes very well with Xuanyu as a Character in his role. The bad fortune aspect could reference how he was expelled from the Jin sect, his suffering under the abuse of the Mo family, and wishing for revenge on them for the abuse he suffered under wishing destruction on them. Black the color of evil this can refer to his interest in demonic cultivation and his connection to Wei Wuxian who practiced demonic cultivation donned black clothes and was called evil by the cultivation world.

Black is another way to refer to yin because yin has the color black. Wei Wuxian’s birth name Wei Ying comes from yin as in yin and yang the character Ying (嬰) from Wei Wuxian birth name comes from Ying ling or infant spirit in Chinese used to refer to the spirits of dead fetuses Which is a possible nod to his demonic cultivation. Ying means infant it can also come from yin as in ghost, death, and evil a subtle reference to he brings Wei Wuxian back through the body offering ritual.

The second character in his given name yǔ/羽 means “feather" (羽) is the character is used for “immortal" or "ascending" this can be considered to be an irony to him similar to how someone who didn’t ascend in cultivation is equivalent to someone who cannot fly. Mo Xuanyu is someone who didn’t ascend in cultivation hence his weak cultivation. (羽) when the language is used in a negative connection meaning “ascend" or "passed away” in Chinese this is given insight into how he died mysteriously with the body offering ritual. His entire given name can refer to how he vanished without a trace, mysteriously and without a sound, like a feather.

Qin Su (秦愫)

Her surname doesn’t mean anything in Chinese; it is just a surname  Her given name Sù/愫 means “guileless and sincere” in Chinese this can refer to what was described in the novel as appearance and personality-wise someone innocent and naive.

If you look closely her entire name is a homophone to Qingsu (情愫 qíng sù sentiment feeling) a phrase that is used to describe feelings in Chinese.

Qin Su is an emotional character, guided by her own emotions. This makes her different from other characters who are corrupt and squash their sentimentality for ambition or revenge since the emotional aspect makes her name sound like a sentiment feeling.

Qin Su is guided by her emotions which give her strength An example of this is noted in her backstory. Is when JGY saved her during the sunshot campaign gave her the will to pursue him. The most prominent scene of an emotional outburst where she openly lambasts her husband/brother for his deception and murder of her son her feelings of rage and betrayal gave her the strength to actively resist JGY as he attempts to coax her into giving out the name of who gave her the letter.

An innocent emotional character compared to the corrupt cultivators who died horribly who was too innocent to survive in the corrupt world of cultivators and could not handle knowing the dark truths.

Yu Ziyuan (虞紫鸢)

The character in her surname Yú/虞 means "be anxious or worry." If you dive deeper into her character it speaks to one of her major concerns to how her husband perceives herself and their son in comparison to Wei Ying. Her surname references her major insecurities.

Zǐ/紫 means “purple" her signature color and yuān/鸢 means "kite (bird)” the kite is a type of bird of prey this speaks to her aggressive and fierce personality and strong cultivation.

Zǐyuān (紫鸢) is also another way to refer to the Chinese wall iris; purple is the color of the iris, so this again references to her signature color. Iris has noble connotations that speak to her noble status and a fact that she is a graceful and elegant woman even with her bad temper. Purple flowers are tied to royalty represent dignity and pride both speak to her tremendous pride and noble status.

Luo Qingyang (罗青羊)

Next is Mian Mian

Luō/罗 means “silk” in Chinese; this can invoke the trope "silk hiding under steel.” Underneath her delicate appearance is a tough backbone; she is not afraid to stand up to her own beliefs and the people she cares for.

The character in her given name Qīng/青 means “green" but when used in classical Chinese Qīng is another way to refer to “black”.

yáng/羊 means “sheep.” Sheep are considered innocent in Chinese; the sheep symbolism could emphasize her initial appearance as a frail damsel in distress who needs to be saved. A woman who is considered weak and dumb as a sheep by the sexist men of society.

Also, in ancient Chinese symbolism, sheep represent justice, which goes hand in hand with her tough backbone who is not afraid to stand up to her own beliefs for what’s right and wrong.

So, her given name together means “black sheep.” She would be considered the black sheep in the world of cultivator being born a servant and a woman and easily dismissed.

The black sheep part can refer to how someone who chooses to outcast herself from mainstream cultivation society in favor of pouring her own life as a rough cultivator on its outskirts with her family.

Her nickname MianMian comes from Chinese sheep wool which is called mian yang (绵羊).

Jin Rusong (金如松)

The character of his first name Rú/如 has the same character and meaning as Jin Ling birth name Rúlán/如兰

This refers to how he is the same generation as Jin Ling.

The second character sōng/松 means "pine tree.”

If you put the characters of his given name together means "to be like a pine tree” this Sounds like the phrase "to make like a tree and leave” This can note his one-time appearance in the story. Pine trees symbolize longevity and long life; this is ironic for him because his fate of dying young.

Jinzhu and Yinzhu (金珠 &. 银珠)

Another two minorish characters are Jīnzhū/金珠 and Yínzhū/银珠 their names mean “silver pearl and gold pearl” this doesn't mean much on the surface since the meaning of their names is obvious.

In Chinese pearls, gold and silver are connected to wealth, money, and status. They are meant to say something about Madam Yu’s status as a noble and to emphasize their relationship between master and servant.Gold and silver are valuable and prized this empathizes them being Madam Yu’s prized servants, but this can also indicate something about them as people: they are both known for being extremely skilled cultivators. Their fancy names highlight how prized they are personally to Madam Yu as her right/left-hand women.

Jin Zixuan (金子轩)

Zi/子 means (child), Zi/子 is a generational character that is used in the Jin clan by Guangshan to name his children this can Zixuan is the only legitimate child of the sect leader of his father.

The second character xuān/轩 means "a tall pavilion.” The character  xuān/轩 is used to mean “dignified as a king.” His entire name can refer to his position as the inheritor of the Jin clan with all their wealth and estate prestige as well as his lofty attitude.

Jin Ling (金凌)

There was already a meta on Jin Ling birth name Jin Rulan,

His courtesy name Líng/凌 means "rise above.” The e name it goes with the statement "I’ll rise above others;” he wants people to think differently about him due to their prejudice for having no parents and rise above the people’s perceptions of him.

This can mean  his character development  that he’ll rise above the adults of society and escape the prejudice they eat up through his growing acceptance of Wei Wuxian and maturity at the end when he takes over as a sect leader.

Wen Ning (温 宁)

Wen Ning’s given name Níng/宁 means “peace"

His name notes his kind nature in contrast to his cruel, power-hungry relatives and his peaceful nature even when turned into fierce corpses.

His courtesy name Qiónglín/琼林 means “beautiful forest;” this notes his timid personality who hides behind others who is seen hiding behind his sister when first introduced and his low confidence in himself. Forests are used to hide outlaws. This can refer to how he had to hide from society since it deemed him dangerous since he was restructured by Wei Wuxian.

Wen Qing (温情)

Wen Qing’s entire name (Wēn Qíng,温情) when put together means “tenderness” it shares the same character(情) as Qin Su’s name.

She does have a kind-sounding name. At first glance she seems harsh and aggressive but she’s shown to be very kind as shown by her willingness to continuously save WWX and her care for her relatives especially Wen Yuan, and her tenderness and love feelings for her younger brother.

She is also the one who tells WWX “thank you” and “I’m sorry” important arc words that exemplify humility and empathy which WWX then passes onto Jin Ling.

Lan Qiren (蓝启仁)

I found Lan Qiren’s name ironic because the character in his name rén /仁 means “benevolence,” the same one used for kindness and humanity.

I find this ironic in the way he treats his nephews prizing them on the surface as gentlemen but not as individual people.

I find the Qǐ/启  “open" part ironic as well because he doesn’t hold an open mind with Wei Wuxian’s antics considering him a “corrupting influence” on his nephew and disapproved of his use of demonic cultivation. Reluctance to accept him and Lan Wangji’s marriage, scolding Lan Xichen for showing grief over his best friend’s death despite his feelings and life in danger. On the surface, it doesn’t seem like he actually holds any kindness but when examined the character rén /仁 it fits his personality well.

The character rén /仁 came from Confucianism. Ren is the fundamental virtue in Confucian that represents the moral qualities that govern man and his relationship with others. It’s considered the perfect virtue or can be categorized as the ren of virtue and ren of affection. Ren of affection is considered compassion and empathy for others as well as altruism for another human being. Ren of virtue symbolizes the perfect virtue of moral perfection and human excellence, to become a morally perfect individual to nurture morally upright individuals that are grounded in moral values.

When I looked deeper into rén /仁 it says a lot about him as a character which is that he cares about the rules of the Lan sect and gets angry at any perceived misconduct. Though he lacks the kindness and humility of ren he has the rules of ren Qiren have more of the ren or virtue is seen how he treats his nephews characterized them as perfect moral gentlemen first than people the second build on his high standards to his nephews, to be honest, righteous and immaculate raise them to be model students.

This can reference his status as a teacher in how he teaches both his nephew and students to be upright and moral citizens of society. the meaning in his given name "Open benevolence” can be on how he preaches the rules to others in short openly preaches the ren in Confucianism the character rén /仁 suits someone who cares about the rules not the compassion of ren.

Lan Jingyi (蓝景仪)

Jǐng/景 means “scenery"

Jingyi’s second character yí/仪 contains the meaning "courtesy, etiquette, manners" and comes from Yi which is something that is used in etiquette and ceremonial.

His name can be a reference to him being in the Lan sect and his and Qiren’s names are made to represent the Lan sect principles.

When you look at Lan Jingyi he doesn’t seem to fit the traditional standards of a Lan sect disciple with being both brash and outspoken, but he is the Laniest of the Lan sect disciples there is. He does care about the Lan sect rules and gets angry at anyone who breaks them this is shown with the way he gets annoyed at Wei Wuxian in Cloud Recess for breaking the rules and how he embodies the Lan sect motto is when he speaks up for Wei Wuxian against the cultivators during the second segue of the burial mounds. He shows to be different in the way he follows the rules and discipline, not in a quiet, stiff way but a very loud outspoken way.

Jin Guangyao (金光瑶)

His name is a cruel irony to his character and symbolic of his relationship with him and his father.

His birth name is Meng Yao. Meng/孟 means " eldest amongst brothers” this can mean being the only son of his mother.  Yáo/瑶 means "jade, precious stone” this can infer how he is beloved by his mother.

But his name Yáo can likely be a reference to the pearl button Jin Guangshan gave Meng Shi. The pearl button is symbolic of his relationship to Meng Shi and Guangyao.

Another is seen in his courtesy name Guangyao is that he lacked the generational name Zi like the rest of his father’s children. There’s a reason for that.Him not sharing the generational character means that Jin Guangyao is acknowledged as part of the family but not as a son. This showed that Guangshan accepted him due to his accomplishment only to further his ambitions for the Jin clan and insulted him by saying he was not in the same status as his sons denying him from an equal standing among them. He was never acknowledged as having equal standing with them because of his status as the prostitute’s son.

His courtesy name Guang/光 carries the same characters in Guangshan’s name this can apply his desperation to get his fathers love and approval to how he does anything to gain it.

Only to realize that he never thought much of him and was like the prostitutes in the brothel he uses then discards when he’s done with them just like how his father did with his mother. he doesn’t actually think much of Guangyao and Meng Shi only being valued Meng Shi for giving him personal amusement and pleasure but not value as a person and GuangYao for his accomplishments for his political goals, not the person himself he’s someone of little value to his father as the pearl button had.

Nie Mingjue (聂明玦)

Second, of the Venerated Triad Nie Mingjue. If you split the name character apart Míng/明 means “clear, bright” and jué玦 means "a penannular jade.” His name is read as "bright penannular jade"

Jué玦 comes from Yujue/ 玉玦 which is a jade pendant that is often used as a symbol of separation or resolution for homophony reasons reference as someone who has their mind made up and won’t change it; this notes his relationship with Guangyao and NMJ’s personality.  The separation and resolution note his tragic broken bond with Jin Guang Yao whose rigid view of morality and sense of justice and Guangyao’s desperation for approval worsened their relationship over time.

His name goes well with his rigid views of justice and black and white mortality he displays. He is someone who never listens to the views and opinions of others and never empathizes with them; he is someone who is deadset and rigid in their views who won’t listen to someone’s opinions regarding his own rigid black and white morality and harsh pursuit of justice.

Lan Xichen(蓝曦臣)

Lan Xichen name xīchén/曦臣 means “Chancellor of the morning sun”, the chen/臣 part of his given name notes his warm, friendly temperament in contrast to his younger brothers frosty cold exterior the morning sun next to his brother’s stoic face. Chancellor refers to his high position in the cultivation society of the venerate triad members of the Lan clan.

His birth name huàn/ 涣 means to “dissolve” which could mean the dissolution of his innocence as he grows more aware of the corruption that lies around him even those he trusts the most at the end of the story he’s left in turmoil he has to deal with the fact that he factored into the deaths of his two friends. His doubts towards Nie Hanshang could imply that he would go back to the optimistic naive man he once was.

Nie Huaisang  (聂怀桑)

Last but not least the character whose meaning I am going to talk about is Nie Huaishang  His entire name Huáisāng/怀桑  means “to hold mulberry leaves”.

In China, mulberry trees are planted because they are a staple food of silkworms to make silk

growing mulberries suggest wealth and security.  This meaning suits Huaisang perfectly. He's someone who enjoys simple luxuries like keeping fans and hates to work hard love to live a comfortable life.

But there another aspect of his personality that of being a chess master who watches his plans go into fruition all the while watching comfortably at the side he manipulates and plans the events that take place in the story his process is like he’s spinning silk from behind the scenes. someone who sits comfortably in the background but spins the silk to manipulate the events in place.

This is only my interpretation of what the name means for the characters if you feel that this isn’t the case feel free to add or change. I am not an expert Chinese speaker so I apologize if I translated something wrong. I want to give a huge shout out to thisworldgodonlyknows who helped me create this post a huge thank you for helping me elaborate on the character’s names.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 20, part three(!)

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff) (Previous Post)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

This episode has so much crucially important stuff in it I had to write 3 posts about it! Part one is here, part two is here. 

Don't Start None, Won't Be None

Lan Wangji has never had a real fight with Wei Wuxian before--remember, in their rooftop fight Wei Wuxian never even drew his sword. And since this is going to be a verbal fight, Lan Wangji is going to lose, badly. He's an elegant and articulate speaker, but he's not quick with words, and he speaks directly and sincerely. Weaponized speech is not his area at all, so he's pretty much bringing a knife to a gunfight. A guqin to a flute fight. Whatever. He tries to turn it into a physical confrontation, twice, but Jiang Cheng holds him back.

This throwdown is 100% about religion and orthodoxy; something that is fundamental to both of these young men's lives. Lan Wangji has made it his mission to be as orthodox as possible, doing shit like volunteering to be beaten for drinking when he didn't choose to drink. He's constantly overwhelmed by emotion, and the Lan rules are a source of regulation and safety for him. His emotions around Wei Wuxian are among the most overwhelming he's got, possibly only second to his feelings about his mom.

Right now his feelings are extra overwhelming. 

It's complicated because his relationship with Wei Wuxian literally started off with him punishing Wei Wuxian for heterodoxy. All that time they spent together in the library? Was because Wei Wuxian talked--JUST talked--about using resentful energy for cultivation. Which is precisely the ability he's just shown them, along with a style of killing enemies that's borderline evil and definitely, DEFINITELY unsportsmanlike.

So this is not, Lan Wangji is lovingly worried about Wei Wuxian and Wei Wuxian is pushing him away to avoid an uncomfortable conversation. This is Lan Wangji freaking out because his entire system of belief is being challenged and he's in love with the person who's challenging it.  

Wei Wuxian has shown up to the party wearing an International Mr. Leather tee shirt with a enamel pin stuck to it that says "I get my kicks on route 666" and Lan Wangji just. cannot. deal.  

Never Start a Fight But Always Finish One

Wei Wuxian has a couple of options here. One is to accept, kindly, that he and his friend can't be friends any more because of religion. In this option, in order to preserve his friend's comfortable sense of being right, he would have to tacitly accept that he himself is bad in some way, and allow his friend to keep having his value system, while walking away from him.  

The other choice is to hit so hard that he makes his friend feel really, really bad, and potentially rocks him off of his comfortable foundation. In the short term, the friendship breaks, but if it forces him to actually question his value system, it might lay the groundwork for a new, more accepting friendship.  Anyone who is queer with an anti-queer-religious best friend is probably familiar with this dilemma.

Wei Wuxian chooses the second option, and goes all in from the first moment, calling Lan Wangji "Lan Er Gongzi" and then upgrading to "Hanguang Jun" and even bowing. If it's possible to bow sarcastically, that's what Wei Wuxian is doing. Then he meets his eyes and sticks his chin out, essentially saying "how do you like them apples?"

(more after the cut!)

Lan Wangji's feelings are probably hurt, but he's too busy being mad to show it, and he goes straight to grilling Wei Wuxian, asking him about the killing, the talismans, and giving up the sword, all while Jiang Cheng stands by and wonders what the fuck is happening. 

Lan Wangji is making a fundamental error here, which is he's speaking as if he's an authority instead of as a peer. Wei Wuxian has only ever accepted one authority in his entire life, and that was Jiang Fengmian. Jiang Cheng is the one who, for a change, is approaching as a worried friend, while Lan Wangji approaches as if he has the right to call Wei Wuxian to account.  

Wei Wuxian won't answer his questions and is getting in his face, provoking him in a very quiet and controlled way, and Lan Wangji responds by just being really aggressive. It's interesting to see Wei Wuxian completely mastering his emotions while Lan Wangji is completely....not.  Wei Wuxian pushes harder, saying he's being rude, saying he's being a bad friend.  Which doesn't make any difference to Lan Wanji, who keeps pressing for an answer while Jiang Cheng wonders what the fuck is happening.

Come to Gusu

Wei Wuxian says he already explained, that it's complicated, it will take time to explain, so then Lan Wangji makes the utterly dumbassed demand that Wei Wuxian return to Gusu with him to explain it. What, exactly, is his plan? Bring Wei Wuxian to Gusu and have Lan Xichen (at the very least) and probably also Lan Qiren help him to convince Wei Wuxian that resentful cultivation is bad? How is that likely to work out? Let's have our own flashback, to that classroom interaction that led to the punishment in the library.

Lan Qiren: How will you make sure the resentful energy will only listen to you and not harm others? [Note: he's not wrong, Wei Wuxian] Wei Wuxian: I haven't figured that out yet ["details," as OP's dad used to say] Lan Qiren: If you did, the cultivation world would not allow your existence [i.e. we, the Lan Clan of Gusu, will kill your ass]

Lan Wangji probably doesn't think he's threatening Wei Wuxian with death by inviting him to Gusu, but he kinda is, if Lan Qiren was serious back then.  Lan Wangji is so upset and fearful that he's not really thinking clearly at this point. He loves Wei Wuxian and he's certain that cultivating with resentful energy will destroy him. [Note: he's not wrong, Wei Wuxian]  But Wei Wuxian is beyond fear. He's already been destroyed once.

Wei Wuxian rips on Gusu and then says, in a super-provocative way, that he prefers Yunmeng, which prompts Lan Wangji to say "don't joke around" as angrily as possible. 

This part of the interaction always confuses me because...shouldn't he prefer Yunmeng? He's actually from there and lives there and belongs there and stuff? He's just saying "I think I'll go with my brother" yet WWX and LWJ both act like he said he'd rather go to Demon City.

Lan Wangji takes a big step forward and Jiang Cheng blocks him while Wei Wuxian continues to act unperturbed and puzzled while holding his demon flute out in between them. 

Finally, FINALLY, Wei Wuxian calls him Lan Zhan, and asks him a serious question: What do you really want. Lan Wangji calms down for a second--although he keeps leaning into Jiang Cheng's sword block--and gets to the point, which is that the unorthodox path is dangerous, and harmful to his temperament.  

Kill one turtle together and you think you're the boss of me

So, these dudes are talking about 2 different levels of unacceptable cultivation, in this episode and the next few. Netflix translates these as "wicked tricks" and "crafty tricks," which both sound absolutely ludicrous in English, so I'm going to use my own preferred terms, going forward.  

I think what they are calling "Wicked Tricks," which includes spirit snatching and feeding people to the murder turtle on purpose in order to harvest their resentment could be translated as Heresy--adhering to a forbidden belief or practice; standing in opposition to Orthodoxy.  

Edit: After rewatching Episode 35, in which Nie Huaisang explains why their whole blade thing doesn’t count as “wicked tricks,” I’ve changed my mind about what to call this. NHS says that “wicked tricks” specifically involve the use of humans & human spirits (killing, sacrificing, etc.). Which means Necromancy is probably the better term for this particular type of cultivation, although it is still (also) Heresy. 

"Crafty Tricks," which is using resentful energy to raise and control already-dead people (ghosts and zombies) as well as just generally using resentment for basic stuff like beating Jin Zixuan's ass, could be translated as Heterodoxy--deviating from the accepted belief or practice, but not to the point of complete opposition.

Wei Wuxian laughs while Lan Wangji tries to be convincing, but since Lan Wangji is just repeating what he's been taught, he's not making much headway. Instead of saying "there's no exception throughout history" he could have, instead, gone with his own actual observations, such as "you are acting like a sadistic prick" or "you seem amazingly miserable" or "you aren't hugging your brother, what the fuck is that about?" But no.

Wei Wuxian responds to the charge of heresy by saying nuh-uh, and explains his methods, sort of, while going back to calling him Lan Er Gongzi. Lan Er Gongzi responds by actually literally yelling at him, and saying he's not allowed to decide for himself about what he's doing, as if the words "allowed to" have ever meant a goddamn thing to Wei Wuxian.

Temperament

At this point Wei Wuxian is done. He goes and gets right up in Lan Wangji's face and sticks a metaphorical knife right in his heart, smiling as he does it. "How do others know my temperament?" he asks; "and why should it be their concern?" i.e. you are not in my heart. 

This makes Lan Wangji so mad he calls Wei Wuxian "Wei Wuxian" for possibly the only time in the show, and he also flashes a whole bunch of angry teeth. (Gifset here). In a callback to the JFM-YZY fight back in Lotus Pier before the war, Wei Wuxian just calmly says "Lan Wangji" back at him, and then tells him to go fuck himself.

Jiang Cheng still doesn't understand what the fuck is happening, but this is a sentiment he understands, so he also tells Lan Wangji to go fuck himself, reminding him that Wei Wuxian is Jiang clan property and it's not the Lans' place to discipline him. Adding "and I'm not going to discipline him any way, look how good he is at killing people!"

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji continue to stare into each others' eyes from a distance so close that it really should lead to making out, but they are both much too angry for that. 

Wei Wuxian is as cold as we ever see him, smiling as he silently confirms: I do not belong to you. Lan Wangji glares back, his anger maybe finally giving way, a little bit, to being hurt.

Finish Him!

Wen Chao picks this moment to wake up and crawl over to the trio, begging Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng to save his life, since he presumably knows it's pointless to beg Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian turns around and gives him the EXACT SAME dead-eyed smile he just gave Lan Wangji, and kicks him.

Then he tells Lan Wangji to please leave so he and his brother can finish torturing this dude to death, and caps it with an official Jiang Clan eye roll.  

Lan Wangji, poor bb, just throws in the towel, and turns and leaves, the anger finally starting to leave his face and be replaced with something else...chagrin, maybe? Or maybe just softer anger, for the moment. 

After he's out of sight Wei Wuxian turns and looks after him sadly, all of the cruelty and hardness gone from his expression, while Wen Chao says "forgive me,"  possibly voicing what Wei Wuxian is thinking.

Lan Wangji walks out the front gate, troubled, and hears Wen Chao scream. He stops and replays the most pointed part of the fight in his head - the part where Wei Wuxian asked him, "who do you think you are?" Lan Wangji went into the fight believing he was completely right and was entitled to judge Wei Wuxian, but he's come out of it with his certainty shaken. 

Family Time

The Yunmeng brothers go to the ancestral shrine in Lotus Pier even though the whole "reclaiming Lotus Pier" scene doesn't happen until Episode 24. So apparently they just kind of sneak into the the shrine, and then sneak back out. Or, you know, continuity error.  Anyway Wei Wuxian is nothing if not adept at sneaking around death-related places.

Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng bow and offer incense. It's nice that the Wens didn't fuck up everybody's name plaques when they were in control of the place...or the tassels, candles, etc. 

Wei Wuxian quietly tells Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian that he did what they asked--taking care of Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli--and they can rest now. Nosy parker Jiang Cheng wants to know what he's saying, but Wei Wuxian just changes the subject. 

They talk about going to Qinghe for the final combat of the Sunshot Campaign. Wei Wuxian says that's why he returned, which...dude, you can't even pretend you came back to be with your loved ones? Ouch. Jiang Cheng doesn't really react to that, but he's happy when Wei Wuxian says he wants to see Jiang Yanli. Wei Wuxian wants to know if she's ok and if she's mad at him, and Jiang Cheng says wait and see, because direct answers are not the Jiang Clan way.

Jiang Yanli is helping tend to the wounded, and we see her telling a particularly fussy wounded dude to suck it up and stop complaining. 

When Wei Wuxian shows up she totally stops paying attention to the wounded dude so that she can smile at Wei Wuxian. 

He looks back at her tearfully, briefly managing to smile but then just trying to hold it together. He has been to hell and back, and doing his very best to hide it, but when he sees the person who loves him most--the person who will NOT spend 20 minutes yelling at him as soon as they see him--he starts to crack open.

[wangxianficrecs]

Follower Recs

There are nearly FORTY THOUSAND AO3 stories in the MDZS universe, and I am just a single person with limited time, so....  Here’s a bit of y’all doing my work for me!

~*~

Mojo, I know it'd probably be recced before, but I have to recommend stiltonbasket's Twelve Moons and a Fortnight. It has made me squee of cuteness, hold my breath with suspense, marvel over the worldbuilding and character interactions, and just awed me at how well every original piece of lore and HC ties back to canon. I cried over it, only to cry laughing the next chapter. it kept me going through an entire year of lockdown and is finally coming to an end, and the resolution was magnificent.

*[I’m subscribed to this and keep waiting for Part One to be completed, but instead later parts keep getting posted:  is it completed but not marked?  I am confused.  And eager to read!]*

Twelve Moons and a Fortnight

by stiltonbasket (G, 267k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  "Let me get this straight. You really want me to stand in for you while you help Jin Ling settle in at Koi Tower?"

"Who else do I have?" Jiang Cheng snaps, ears turning scarlet as Jin Ling tries to pretend he isn't listening. "Father trained you to serve as my deputy, didn't he? And don't say you don't remember, or I'll break your legs."

"Well, yes," Wei Wuxian manages. "Uh. I'll just let Lan Zhan know I'll be at Lotus Pier until you're back at home, then."

Or, the one where Wei Wuxian spends the year before his wedding as Yunmeng Jiang's acting sect leader, and the cultivation world's greatest love story finds its happy ending with the help of three juniors, a teenage romance, and one very involved (and exasperated) younger brother.

~*~

May I recommend fielty by milkpunch a sort of AU where lwj in order to save his sect from being destroyed by nine after wen rouhans assasination goes to work as a guard to Jin zixuan where he meets wwx the right hand of Jin guanguao... ~ @pastashouldbeeatenwithafork

Fealty

by milkpunch (E, 84k, wangxian)

Summary:  Before, there had been two reigning kingdoms. Both claimed to be blessed by the sun, but with vastly differing views. One, under the name of Wen, was washed red with blood and violence, its soldiers fierce and stoked with a fiery blaze. The other, under the name of Jin, was bathed in golden light and glory, its soldiers proud and heavy with coin and prestige. The two kingdoms went to war for the true honour of having the sun’s blessing, fighting for many long years with many lives lost.

Jin Guangshan, emperor of the Golden Sun Palace, found that the sun favoured him more.

To prevent his kingdom from being crushed, Lan Zhan, second heir to the Lan kingdom, exchanges his freedom for that of servitude to the Jin kingdom. He is appointed as Jin Zixuan's personal guard, but there's more on his plate than just keeping the Jin heir safe. The Golden Sun Palace is not all that it seems, and the dazzling lives of the royals are less perfect than they appear.

~*~

Hey, I was wondering if I could rec a fic to you. My bestie wrote it for the Lunar New Year Wangxian gift exchange and it definitely did not receive the attention it deserves. It's a really fun mermaid/arranged marriage au! ~ @leahlisabeth

More Than This Provincial Wife

by ApprenticedMagician (T, 6k, wangxian)

Summary:  The negotiations surrounding the Lan & Jiang alliance through marriage encountered a few snags in the beginning.

~*~

I love your blog! I saw a recent post where you listed some rec's from other people? [Thank you!  And yes, I always appreciate and am happy to share your recs!]  I just read the WIP A Corpse Called By Name jaemyun and LOVED it! It's a zombie apocolypse AU, where Wei Ying gets bitten by a zombie.... and I don't want to spoil anything from there, but it is amazing! No pressure to put it in your blog, but wanted to send a note just in case. Thanks for all you do!

A Corpse Called By Name

by jaemyun (not rated, 37k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  A continuation of zombie drabble!

She loses her brother in a hoard of the undead.

She finds a corpse wearing his face in a convenience store.

The corpse calls her name.

~*~

Hi! I was wondering if I could rec this short fic that I recently found and really liked! The narrative is an inner monologue and I think it captures lwj really well :)

binding me in spells (till my heart's devoured)

by gaysgaysgays (G, <1k, wangxian)

Summary:  His scars are a reminder of his hurt, a reminder that he had healed.

(or a study of lan zhan's scars)

~*~

I found a fic I had recently asked you about, so I thought I'd share it with you: Seasons of Falling Flowers by merakily (http://archiveofourown.org/works/28522326). I rediscovered it completely by accident after listening to spinifex's excellent podfic adaptation. This is the fic where Lan Qiren despises Wei Wuxian until Wei Wuxian catches a cold and Lan Qiren find out about his golden core. That part is about 3/4 of the way through. The fic is wonderful and shows a rigid but surprisingly introspective Lan Qiren. ~ @clmoryel [Oh!  I just read this one yesterday!  Here’s my bookmark.]

Seasons of Falling Flowers

by merakily (G, 40k, wangxian, lan qiren & wei wuxian, podfic)

Summary:  Like a parasite, Wei Wuxian has this way of growing on people when you least expect it.

Over the seasons, Lan Qiren slowly pieces back together his relationship with Wangji and learns to like Wei Wuxian in the process.

(“Will you rejoin your sect?” As soon as the words leave his mouth, Lan Qiren regrets his wording.

He is not surprised when Wangji’s eyes narrow, flashing with offence. “There is no need to rejoin what one has never left. I did not turn my back on my sect. My sect turned their backs on me.”)

~*~

Hi! Can I rec a fic? "bring you home" by Alasse_Irena on AO3 is a modern AU and is one of the most beautiful and atmospheric fics I have read. Thanks for you work running this blog! I have new Wangxian fics to read <3

bring you home

by Alasse_Irena (T, 28k, wangxian)

Summary:  Wei Ying rents a run-down cottage in a small town by the sea, looking for a quiet place to hide after the war.

Lan Zhan has always dreamed of the ocean. He returns to the town where he was born, and where his parents died, to find out why.

Instead, they find each other.

~*~

Good morning lady mojo, I hope you’re having a good day! I wanted to rec a fic, Breathing Firestorm by ladyshadowdrake. It’s 111k and great but barely has any love, which is unfair. You mentioned it in the last ‘in a mood for’ post but I think it should have more of a shoutout because it’s a lot of fun and I liked it a lot. Have a great day ♥️  [Oh!  I was subscribed to this one and saw it had been recently finished.  It’s def. on my list!]

Breathing Firestorm

by ladyshadowdrake (M, 111k, wangxian)

Summary:  After years of a mad quest, Wen Ruohan is finally given proof of a powerful creature living among mortals. He is delighted to find that it truly believes itself to be only a boy named “Wei Wuxian.”

While Wen Ruohan tries to unlock Wei Wuxian’s secret, the sects unite against him. If he can achieve his goal before they arrive, even the combined might of the cultivation world would not be enough to humble him. Meanwhile, Lan Wangji dreams of Wei Wuxian in the Cold Pond Cave, and works tirelessly to rescue him from Wen Ruohan’s clutches. No one is prepared for what awaits the allied sects in Nightless City at the conclusion of the war, and it very well might mean the end of the world as they know it.

~*~

Hi Mojo, firstly thank you for all the hard work you put into running this blog, I’ve found so many fics that I probably would have never come across if it wasn’t for your fic finders posts and your personal review posts.  [Aw, thank you!]

I don’t know if you’ve read this fic before or if it’s been mentioned before on your blog (I’ve done a quick search of your blog and couldn’t see it, so if I’ve missed it I apologise!) but if you’ve got a fic rec post coming up, I would suggest “The shapes a bright container can contain” by litbynosun.

It’s a case fic about 16k words long and set after canon. Whilst it’s not the main focus of the story it does delve slightly into chronic illness of wwx (the ailments of mxy’s body) and lwj (his continuous treatment of his scars) which might cover a few requests in the IITMF posts in future.

Thanks again for all the hard work you do! ~ @dulachodladh

the shapes a bright container can contain

by litbynosun

M, 17k, wangxian

Summary:  "Lan Zhan, look at this," Wei Wuxian calls. "They don't have organs, but they're all… fuzzy."

He gently strokes the corpse's arm -- it's covered in soft, pigmentless downy hair, like a rabbit. Lan Wangji crouches next to him and nods. "Lanugo," he says. Wei Wuxian raises one eyebrow. "They were malnourished for quite a while before death," Lan Wangji elaborates. Wei Wuxian scans the bodies again. Indeed, they both have sunken cheeks, and their abdomens are empty of both organs and fat padding. “That’s a question,” he says. “Did they starve to death, and have their bodies desecrated after they were already deceased? Or were they murdered, and simply starving at the same time?” "We should stay," Lan Wangji tells him. This is not an answer to his question. It is an offer to search for answers.

Or: Wei Wuxian and his family solve a ghost haunting. Wei Wuxain's old enemy, societal injustice, rears its head again.

[veliseraptor]

CQL Characters Rated by Their Stress Levels

On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being “Lan Wangji smiling at Wei Wuxian” and 10 being “Lan Xichen at Guanyin Temple.”

Lan Wangji: Varies wildly over the course of the series; see @howpeacefulislwj for detailed rundown. The roundup post averages his peacefulness at 4.2/10. Generally speaking, stress levels middling, between 3/10 and 5/10 with some extreme highs, pretty much all Wei Wuxian related.

Wei Wuxian: One of those people where you’re like “god I hate him, everything’s so easy for him and he can do everything better than me, it’s the worst, how the fuck does he do it” and then years later you find out that he had an epic burnout and dropped off the face of the earth for sixteen years because actually it wasn’t that easy he just made it look that way. 

I mean, he starts the series at about a 5/10 general state (he’s managing a lot but handling it okay) and basically escalates to a relatively consistent 9 or 10/10 for most of the stretch from the Burial Mounds through to his dying. Someone should make a @howpeacefuliswwx chart, I’d be curious to see his average.

Jiang Cheng: Has been existing in a constant low-level state of stress since late childhood and only grows over time. The calmest I think we ever see him is when he’s holding a bunny and other than that it’s mostly downhill. I worry about him getting ulcers sometimes. 8/10.

Jiang Yanli: Jiang Yanli is so used to being stressed that she barely even registers it any more. What do you mean, most people don’t raise two other children when they are also a child? What do you mean, most people take breaks from supporting others to help themselves? Weird. If she was thinking about it she’d be at a 8 or 9/10 but since she’s so accustomed to this way of life that it just feels totally normal she’s more like a 4 or a 5. 

Jiang Fengmian: Avoids being more stressed by generally avoiding his problems, which is one way to deal with it but doesn’t really end up working out most of the time. 3/10.

Yu Ziyuan: Resides somewhere in the vicinity of 5/10 stress levels, 11/10 rage levels, and when the stress levels get above 5 then everyone else’s stress levels better be hitting the roof.

Lan Xichen: Lan Xichen would probably be relatively unstressed if life didn’t consistently come crashing through his relatively chill vibes. Lan Xichen on a good day is, like, 3/10, handling pretty well, but when things start going wrong around him then he pretty quickly hits critical stress levels and will do drastic things to resolve that, such as convincing Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao to set aside their near-murder differences and swear brotherhood, which will definitely work out absolutely fine. Ends up averaging closer to 8/10 because things keep going wrong around him.

Lan Qiren: He’d be fine if his entire family didn’t insist on causing him problems, constantly. Handling it surprisingly well, all things considered. Still 6/10 though.

Nie Mingjue: I mean, does spend a large chunk of time steadily inching toward a qi deviation? That on its own is pretty stressful and also he just seems like generally a high blood pressure sort of person. But the qi deviation inducing saber is definitely not, like, helping. Putting him at a roughly 6 or 7/10 with a median level that just keeps inching slowly upward.

Nie Huaisang: Actually less stressed than you’d expect given how flighty he seems to be! Even when plotting revenge is less “stressed” than “determined.” Pretty good at keeping himself calm most of the time. Generally sits at a stress level of 4/10 or so with a few significant exceptions.

Jin Guangyao: Very stressed all of the time. He has a lot to be stressed about! Between the various complexes and the tendency toward paranoia, Jin Guangyao is definitely among the most stressed in a room at any given time, while doing his best to convey otherwise. But seriously, look at this smile. Does that look like the smile of a serene man to you? 10/10.

Jin Zixuan: You know those high-strung racehorses that sometimes get spooked by, like, a shadow on the ground? That’s Jin Zixuan. Mostly manages to mask his constant low-level “AHHHHH” with a layer of arrogance and/or social awkwardness that looks like arrogance, but it’s there, in the background. 7/10.

Jin Zixun: Shielded from the general Jin neuroses by being an asshole. It’s not fair, but there you are. 3/10 because he does seem to have some inferiority complex issues going on, but that’s not the same thing as stress.

Jin Guangshan: Deserves to be a lot more stressed than he is. Alas, is confident enough to not be terribly stressed. 2/10.

Mianmian: So you know how cheetahs are very panicky animals and so they often in zoos get paired with dogs who will help them figure out that this situation is safe and they don’t need to panic? I feel like Mianmian is Jin Zixuan’s stress meter in their friendship. She will let him know when to be stressed! Because she is not going to spook at her own shadow. Has a sense of reasonable responses to stressors and knows how to remove herself from a bad situation when necessary. Generally a 5/10 because the inherent stress of existing in the Jin Sect is a real thing. 

Wen Qing: It’s hard to be the most competent person in the room most of the time who spends most of her time in very politically precarious positions and with her or her brother’s life at least sort of in danger! Pretty up there for “most stressed” candidates. She’s really having a time of it. Generally hovers around an 8/10.

Wen Ning: Generally not stressed, at least not in the traditional way. Is distressed a lot, but not so much stressed. Ends up at roughly 4/10.

Wen Chao: Like Jin Zixun, gets somewhat shielded from stress by being an unrepentant asshole, though his end of life 11/10 stress via Wei Wuxian kind of makes up for the rest. Averages more of a 2/10 most of the time, though? I don’t think we can let that relatively brief period skew the scale too much.

Wen Ruohan: Does “magic induced losing your mind” count as stress? I mean, he has a pretty stressful job even before that, but he doesn’t project “stress” so much as “incipient madness” during the period where we actually see him doing things. Not sure what rating to give here. It seems like he’s kind of on a different scale.

Wang Lingjao: For the most part seems to manage to get by relatively stress-free, up until things start going completely to shit and she gets haunted to death. Generally closer to a 2 or 3/10, because life as a servant ascended to mistress in a strictly hierarchical society is inherently a wee bit stressful.

Wen Zhuliu: Too sick of this shit and not getting paid enough to really stress out about it. 1/10.

Lan Sizhui: One of those people who manages to appear serene and calm all the time but mostly has just gotten used to functioning at a higher level of stress and therefore can pass for calm even when he is having an Experience of it, which makes his stress levels kind of hard to gauge. But I’d put him at a relatively consistent 6/10.

Lan Jingyi: Wouldn’t call him stressed exactly but he’s definitely very high energy. Kind of gives off the vibes of a very energetic dog who would be stressed if you didn’t keep him busy, but mostly (because I feel like Gusu Lan Sect is pretty good at keeping him busy) hovers around a 2 or 3/10. 

Jin Ling: I feel like Jin Ling isn’t stressed most of the time up until the actual events of CQL itself, where he is both very stressed and very confused almost constantly from the time he first runs into Wei Xuanyu, and it only goes downhill from there. So covering the events of the show I’m going to put him at a 7/10, because he does manage to deal with some wild things with some equanamity and makes it all the way to episode forty-five without breaking down sobbing.

Ouyang Zizhen: Seems like a sensitive soul but doesn’t give off the impression of carrying around a lot of stress, at least not from what we see of him. Probably the chillest of the junior quartet, tbh. Gonna give him a 2/10.

Xiao Xingchen: For most of his life Xiao Xingchen manages his stress very well! He’s actually surprisingly chill. Gets significantly more stressed, understandably, after Xue Yang engineers his no good very bad breakup (the first one) with Song Lan. But in general not that stressed! It is actually part of why he doesn’t handle the stress when it comes very well. He’s not used to it and he only had one pair of eyes to sacrifice. In general a 3/10.

Song Lan: Makes up for Xiao Xingchen’s relatively low stress levels by picking up on the stress for both of them. Still chiller than a lot of people on this list, though, but there’s a lot of very stressed people in this show, so. 5/10.

Xue Yang: Manages his stress by making everyone else very stressed, on purpose. If he’s having a bad day he’ll go and make someone else have a worse day and it helps. At least until there’s a dead Xiao Xingchen and then nothing helps! But as a rule exists at a general 2/10 and honestly he deserves it.

A-Qing: Her life is inherently stressful because she is a street kid trying to make it in a world that is not very friendly to people with no structure supporting them, but she manages to bear it pretty well on the whole. Still, it’s hard being a-Qing. She just makes it look easy. Probably a 4 or 5/10.

Sect Leader Yao: He’s not stressed, but he’s very good at making everyone around him stressed every time he opens his mouth. His presence is a +2 to stress for everyone in his vicinity with the exception of Sect Leader Ouyang, who is for some reason immune. 0/10.

[ibijau]

How to Woo a Lan pt1 / On AO3

Jin Ling is determined to court Lan Sizhui, but can't seem to say two words to him without insulting him. He decides that what he needs is the help of someone who has already successfully seduced a Lan, and he knows something about Nie Huaisang that others don't.

It had been, to put it mildly, a bit of a wild year. Jin Ling had gone from being treated as a child by everyone who met him and being barely mature enough to be trusted alone on a Night Hunt, to having to behave like a full grown adult because he suddenly was the leader of a cut-throat sect that was half falling apart after the early death of its corrupt former leader.

Fifteen was never an easy age, but Jin Ling was pretty sure he had it a little rougher than most people.

Of course, it could have been worse. For one thing, he could have been dead. In fact, he had come pretty close to it a few times, most memorably when he was kidnapped and trapped in the Burial Mounds with other juniors, and when his beloved uncle Jin Guangyao had used him as a hostage and threatened to cut his throat open with a guqin string if he wasn’t allowed to run away after it was revealed he had murdered a number of people, like Jin Ling’s grandfather, and indirectly caused the death of others, like Jin Ling’s father. And then after that there had been a handful of other attempts on Jin Ling’s life once he had become sect leader, because he had older relatives who thought they’d be better at the job, or who other people thought would be easier to corrupt… but really, those attempts just hadn’t been very impressive.

Jin Ling had been raised by Jin Guangyao, so he knew a thing or two about avoiding poison. And he’d been raised by Jiang Cheng as well, so even at his age, there weren’t that many adults who could pose a threat to his life, should they directly attack him.

All in all, the murder attempts hadn’t been so bad. The paperwork and meetings, on the other hand, were the worst thing ever. There were so, so many letters to read, and to analyse, and to answer. And then there were Night Hunt reports. Tracking the progress of junior disciples. Bills. An astonishing number of bills, oftentime for things Jin Ling didn’t even understand, so he had to ask during meetings what the sect was spending money on this time. There was a forty percent chance that it was something frivolous he could cut off, and a fifty percent chance that it was just barely concealed corruption, but since there was the ten percent possibility of that bill being something actually useful, Jin Ling still had to investigate every single one, just in case.

With all this going on, Jin Ling was lucky when he could find an hour here and there to meditate, or work on his cultivation, or train Fairy. He had considered skipping sleep from time to time, but Jiang Cheng had heard about it, somehow, and rushed to Jinlin Tai to scream at him about being irresponsible with his health, as if he were any better. Everyone knew Sandu Shengshou ran on two hours of sleep, medical pills, and rage… but apparently Jin Ling wasn’t alone to do the same. Unfair.

Equally unfair was the fact that in the six months between Jin Guangyao’s death and Jin Ling’s fifteenth’s birthday, he had only gone on two night hunts.

The first was… not so bad. Jin Ling had been forced to have some other Jin disciples come along, which was boring, but then they’d all met up with some Lan and with Ouyang Zizhen, which had been pretty nice. Not quite as nice as it could have been if a certain person had been there, but not quite bad either, because Jin Ling had been able to chat with Ouyang Zizhen who was smarter than he looked, and to argue with Lan Jingyi who was fun to have a shouting match with.

And then, there had been that second Night Hunt. Jin Ling, still dealing with the aftermath of a slightly more efficient assassination attempt after which part of Jinlin Tai had really thought him dead for a good shichen and a half, had stumbled upon a man who had come to beg for the help of his sect and decided he’d help with that. He needed a break from his murderous cousins anyway.

So instead, he called the worst asshole he knew to help him deal with this, for fun.

And Lan Jingyi, for some reason known only to him, decided to let Wei Wuxian come as well.

That was the first problem, Jin Ling later decided. If Wei Wuxian hadn’t been there, things would have gone better. But he just didn’t really know where he stood with the man who had, technically, caused both of his parents to die and whom Jin Ling had, technically, tried to murder in return. The man who had also saved his life several times, without any hesitation.

Lan Jingyi knew that Jin Ling had mixed feelings about Wei Wuxian, who he hadn’t seen since the death of Jin Guangyao. So he had to have asked him to come along on purpose, because Lan Jingyi was a damn asshole and Jin Ling hated his guts, for all that he was probably his best friend at this point.

It wasn’t hard to be the best of something when you were almost the only one.

Anyway, Jin Ling should have guessed that Wei Wuxian would get involved in this, so it wasn’t such a surprise.

But then…

Then, when he arrived at the agreed meeting point, Jin Ling saw Lan Sizhui.

It had been six months, almost. In all that time, Jin Ling hadn’t once gotten any news from the older boy. He’d asked Lan Jingyi during that one Night Hunt, and then again when Lan Jingyi had needed to crash in Jinlin Tai some weeks later, in vain. All Lan Jingyi knew was that Lan Sizhui had gone away with Lan Wangji’s blessing, and that nobody could tell when he’d be back… or if he’d come back at all for that matter, which Jin Ling had found rather ominous. Sure, Lan Sizhui’s father figure had officially married another man, and not the best of men at that, but was it reason enough to run away? Did Lan Sizhui hate Wei Wuxian in particular, or did he have a problem with all cut sleeves? In the first case, it was understandable. In the second case, Jin Ling’s heart would be crushed forever and he would never know happiness again.

But Lan Sizhui was there, and standing next to Wei Wuxian when Jin Ling arrived, chatting with a peaceful yet happy expression and looking quite animated, at least by Lan standards. Jin Ling had the sensation that the two of them hadn’t met in a while, which Lan Sizhui personally confirmed later when Jin Ling had a talk to him as well.

Six months wasn’t such a long time, and yet it had felt an eternity. Lan Sizhui hadn’t grown during that time away, not exactly, but he had a new air of maturity to himself, a certain spark in his eyes that said he had seen more than most others his age. He was a little less willowy as well, his clothes fitting differently on him compared to before, hinting at more strength than he used to have. His smile, though, remained as gentle as ever.

Jin Ling almost cursed upon seeing him.

It seemed he hadn’t gotten over his stupid crush at all.

Thankfully, for most of this, Jin Ling was too busy with the actual Night Hunt to make too much of a fool of himself. It was a pretty weird situation, with a haunted room in which a thief had died, which then led to a story about a man who had killed multiple women in a very gruesome manner. Jin Ling thought they’d handled that pretty well, really. He even got to be a little cool when he volunteered to stay the night in that haunted room to check if the ghost had really been taken care of. 

Of course it hadn’t, and that was absolutely terrifying, but Jin Ling kept his cool and got to show off to all those Lan disciples in the morning when he recounted what had happened to him. He thought Lan Sizhui looked a little impressed, but that might just have been because he’d been so sure he’d solved the situation with Lan Jingyi the day before. And Jin Ling was also the one to realise the ghost they were dealing with must have been looking for a certain missing body part, which they needed to retrieve if they were to solve the case.

All things considered, Jin Ling thought he had done really great during this whole Night Hunt, and properly demonstrated to everyone, but especially a certain Lan in particular, what a great mature person he had become.

Of course Jin Ling had to ruin that.

It was just the sort of luck he had.

Jin Ling’s only defence was that he’d been exhausted at that point. They’d just spent five entire days looking for a tongue that had been cut off decades earlier, and although it would have been wise to get some sleep before all heading back to their respective sects… but they were young, they were victorious, and the only adult around to supervise them was Wei Wuxian who firmly believed that Lan juniors should be encouraged to misbehave. So of course they had all gathered at an inn, ordered plenty of food, more drink than reasonable (but that was because Wei Wuxian had to be bribed into silence) and had a bit of a party to celebrate their success.

Because Lan Sizhui had been the one to find the ghost’s tongue, everyone wanted to sit with him, it was only natural. Jin Ling had to glare and bare his teeth and elbow a few people so he could sit next to his friend, while Lan Jingyi easily found his place on the other side of Lan Sizhui by virtue of having known him basically since birth. A most unfair advantage, and one more reason to dislike Lan Jingyi, who was luckier than he had any right to be.

Lan Sizhui didn’t appear to notice how much attention was on him. Or if he did, he pretended it didn’t affect him. He just seemed happy to be spending time with everyone, and to no longer be searching around for that damn tongue. Lan Sizhui laughed at other’s jokes, blushed at their praise, made sure that everyone had enough to eat, and just generally behaved like the most perfect person the world had ever known, which he was. Jin Ling was so delighted to have him back around, and happy to see him so admired by everyone else, so of course he had to let it be known in the worst possible way.

“Of course it’s Lan Yuan who gets all the glory,” Jin Ling said at one point, while pouring himself some wine. “Isn’t it always like this? I’m sure some people must have been glad you disappeared for so long, leaving the rest of us a chance to do something. But now that you’re back, I expect it’ll all be about you, right?”

“What do you mean?” Lan Sizhui asked, his beautiful smile falling down.

Jin Ling frowned at the question. What he meant was that Lan Sizhui was, and by far, the best cultivator of their generation, so it was only natural for people to admire him. Sure some others might envy his great skill, but that was their problem, and now that Lan Sizhui was back in the Cloud Recesses, of course he’d gotten back his rightful place in the spotlight.

What else could he have meant?

“I’ve said what I said,” Jin Ling replied. “Don’t pretend you don’t know.”

Sure Gusu Lan valued modesty, but someone as great as Lan Sizhui had to know how good he was at everything, so there was no need to be so humble.

“Shut up or I’ll punch you,” Lan Jingyi threatened, his tone vicious enough to catch the attention of Wei Wuxian who’d been mostly ignoring the juniors in favour of his own jars of wine. 

Even Jin Ling was startled. It was common enough for Lan Jingyi and him to argue. In fact, that was their main bonding activity, they were always bickering, but there was rarely any actual anger to it. If anything, Lan Jingyi usually seemed to enjoy that he had someone he could snap at who wouldn’t scold him for breaking sect rules. But that night, he suddenly looked earnestly furious, and it puzzled Jin Ling.

Must have been the wine, he figured. Those Lan just couldn’t handle alcohol.

“Don’t drink if you can’t deal with it,” Jin Ling said. “And don’t get angry at people just because they’re right.”

Lan Jingyi jumped to his feet, but before he could say anything more, Lan Sizhui grabbed him by the wrist and forced him to sit down away. He had to have put some strength into it, because Lan Jingyi immediately obeyed.

“Jingyi, that’s enough,” Lan Sizhui said, rather more dryly than Jin Ling was used to from him. “If that’s how Jin zongzhu feels, then that’s how it is. I hadn’t meant to be taking the spotlight in an undue manner, and I am sorry if I gave the impression I seek attention. In the future, when working with Jin zongzhu, I’ll be sure to keep my distance to avoid bothering him so much. I thought we’d work as a good team, but…”

Lan Sizhui stood up, fists clenched tight on either side of his body.

“If Jin zongzhu really hates working with me, then of course I’ll respect his choice. Now if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go to bed now. I’ve had a pretty long day.”

He turned away and left the room, leaving behind him a suddenly heavy atmosphere. None of the juniors spoke for a good while, most of them staring at the door through which Lan Sizhui had left. Jin Ling in particular was flabbergasted, scrambling to understand what exactly had just happened there.

At his end of the table, Wei Wuxian snickered as he poured himself more wine.

“You really get your people’s skills from your uncle,” he said, not quite looking at Jin Ling, but quite obviously directed at him nonetheless. “And not the right one for that, might I add. That’s something for you to work on, I’d think.”

“I’m not hearing that from you!” Jin Ling complained. “You’re a weirdo who makes everyone uncomfortable!”

“And yet I caught myself a husband,” Wei Wuxian retorted, wiggling his eyebrows in a manner that should have been illegal around impressionable young people. “Clearly I can’t be so bad at dealing with people. I can give you some lessons, if you’d like? Could teach out to flirt even. Hanguang-Jun thinks I’m very good at it.”

All the juniors shivered in fear at the idea of flirting lessons from Wei Wuxian. Even Lan Jingyi threw Jin Ling a sympathetic glance, before remembering he had randomly decided to be furious at his friend and glaring at him.

“Who… who’d want lessons from you about anything?” Jin Ling exclaimed. Then, because he tried to be fair, he added: “Unless it’s about Night Hunting. You’re good at that, when you stop acting all goofy. But for everything else, you’re too weird! If Hanguang-Jun didn’t have such weird tastes to begin with…”

The Lan juniors exploded at the implication their personal hero Lan Wangji was anything less than perfect in all aspects.

“Watch it, Jin zongzhu!”

“Hanguang-Jun’s tastes are excellent for almost everything!”

“It wasn’t enough to be mean to Sizhui, now you have to also go after Hanguang-Jun?”

That last one puzzled Jin Ling, who blinked numbly, trying to understand at what point, exactly, he’d been mean to Lan Sizhui. Before he could ask about that, Wei Wuxian started cackling and thanked all the juniors present for approving of his marriage. This backfired when it turned out that the boys were, in fact, very supportive of the union, and had drunk just enough to not feel ashamed about it. Wei Wuxian, always so quick to tease others with great declarations of affection at a bad moment, completely collapsed under that unexpected wave of affection, which pushed the Lan juniors to be even more demonstrative, until everyone’s attention was on Wei Wuxian.

Jin Ling took his chance and left the table without being noticed, suddenly needing some fresh air. He couldn’t go very far, in case others started to worry, but he still left the inn and started walking up and down the street where it stood, trying to put some order in his thoughts.

He didn’t think that he had been rude to Lan Sizhui, of course. Or at least, he had certainly not intended to be. But between intentions and results there could be a world of difference, and it was true that Jin Ling was sometimes… he tried hard, he really did. He wanted to be as smooth as Jin Guangyao had been (though with less secrets), and he wanted to be as respected as Jiang Cheng was (though preferably without needing to resort on inspiring fear quite as much). But he had a tendency to sometimes say the wrong thing. 

More than sometimes. 

Things would be quite clear in his mind, and then he opened his mouth and said something that pissed off everyone. It didn’t usually matter too much, because he was Lanling Jin’s sect leader, meaning he had enough money and power that people wouldn’t dare get angry at him too openly. But it had always been more of a problem when it came to his personal life. He’d gotten in many fights with his various cousins over the years because they deemed him rude and proud. 

With juniors of other sects, he didn’t really get along all that well either, for the same reason, not until everything that happened in Yi city the year before… and even that had more to do with the people he’d met than with any personal improvement. Ouyang Zizhen was just the sort of person who got along with everyone, even with spoiled brats like Jin Ling. Lan Jingyi was an awful little pest, but he hadn’t been scared by Jin Ling’s status in the least, so they’d quickly found a way to co-exist, even if most people didn’t realise they’d become good friends. And as for Lan Sizhui… well, he was the most perfect person in the world, patient in spite of Jin Ling’s temper, kind to everyone, always striving to bring peace around him, always willing to see the best in others.

Jin Ling stumbled, and nearly fell face first into the dirt of the street.

Lan Sizhui had really looked upset when he’d left, so Jin Ling really must have said something wrong. The most perfect, most patient person in the world, and Jin Ling had managed to make him angry. That really wasn’t a good way to start courting someone.

And he wanted to court Lan Sizhui. Seeing him again after a few months had only made it clear to Jin Ling that this wasn’t just a crush, it was love. He was in love with Lan Sizhui, and determined to make him fall in love back… somehow.

What he needed was… what he needed…

Somewhere behind him, the inn’s door cracked open, just enough for Wei Wuxian to peek outside.

“Jin Ling, it’s getting late!” he shouted, uncaring that he might wake up the whole street. “Everyone’s going to bed and you should as well.”

“I’m not tired.”

“Don’t make me come get you,” Wei Wuxian warned. “Come, you’ll feel better in the morning. Just apologise to Sizhui at breakfast and he won’t hold it against you, he’s a good boy like that.”

Mortified at the idea that Wei Wuxian might try to drag him to bed like a petulant child, Jin Ling made his way back to the inn. He was annoyed though. He’d been on the verge of a great idea when Wei Wuxian had called for him, and now he’d lost it. Hopefully, he’d remember later.

Right then, he just went to sleep as ordered.

In the morning Jin Ling apologised to Lan Sizhui, though he still wasn’t sure what he’d said wrong, and Lan Sizhui apologised back for reacting so strongly to a little bit of criticism. Jin Ling hadn’t dared to say he hadn’t meant to criticise, because then he’d have had to explain he was trying to compliment Lan Sizhui, and everyone was there watching them, and it would have been too embarrassing.

The Lan then left to head back to Gusu, while Jin Ling had to return to Lanling to write a report on this situation they had solved.

The whole time he flew towards home, he couldn’t help but wondered if he hadn’t somehow managed to ruin his entire love life at the ripe age of fifteen, just because his mouth and his brain couldn’t get along.