#lan xichen is there too but like

[jin-zixun]

OK I need to just appreciate the boost in confidence my boy has post-timeskip like. The little smirk at the Lans while just straight up calling them out. Not even responding to WWX's inane shit talking here, just running interference like a very good boy.

Like I...

Just immediately spinning the situation against WWX, it's great. How much of this is planned? I don't know. He walks into frame like he's the hero of the day right after JGY's "et tu Er-Ge" moment on the stairs.

As he should! He is the hero of the day! And the hero of every day! If you're JGY I guess, from now on at least.

[benevolenterrancy]

finally in the process of reading the Guanyin Temple scene and holy shit if WWX isn't the protagonist of all time. We're in the Big Final Confrontation and so far my man has done fuck all except cuddle in LWJ's lap while everyone else is losing their shit and when he DOES finally do something he summons an army of naked, writhing, moaning sex corpses that even his allies just desperately wish Were Not There. stupendous, no notes

[little-smartass]

it drives me nuts when people talk about LXC like he was just willfully ignoring all the evidence that JGY was a "bad guy" and he was just so blinded by manipulation and affection that he couldn't see the "truth"

LXC had nearly twenty years of evidence of JGY's character - personal, first-hand, consistent, compounded evidence of a man who was abused and treated like less than dirt by everyone around him for years, who nevertheless worked the hardest out of everyone and rose to a position of power, which he then used to elevate the common people and do good public works - not even mentioning that it was JGY's personal support that meant Cloud Recesses was even rebuilt - in the face of that, LXC is entirely logical to conclude that JGY is a good person.

"refusing to stop defending his man despite huge amounts of evidence of many horrifying atrocities he has committed"? you're thinking of the wrong brother. that's Lan Wangji's thing.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Custody Battle: START

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[khattikeri]

it's amazing to me that lan xichen isn't gay according to word of god, because what older brother (especially in homophobic xianxia universe china) instantly realizes his little brother is gay and in love just bc he's high strung and irritable lately thanks to a mischievous new boy in his class. it's one thing to tease or jokingly ask if there's a crush involved. it's another to Know.

and because what guy insists on a sworn brotherhood with two other men whose relationship with each other is publicly fraught, unless he really likes them both and is compromising because he knows he can't have them any other way? because a sworn siblinghood relationship is treated similarly (though not exactly) like a family via marriage?

lan xichen you are not slick no sir i know what you are

[labyrynth]

like i don’t understand xi//cheng to begin with but conceptually i think it’s even funnier when ppl are like “and jingyi is their son!! 🥹” as if jingyi is not canonically ragging on jc at every single opportunity presented to him (and then some)

like this is their dynamic

[qiu-yan]

as a jc stan it's now time for my shot at the obligatory shipping poll

[boarloved-art]

british/gameshow au but its the wens and their token wei..!!! ft wwx's HMV Cashier era pre-chase

bonus lil sketch under cut!

[dearmyloveleys]

as much as I enjoy reading discourse on why this person and that person did that in mdzs, sometimes I feel like we think too much on them and it really is just… the characters are just… human… (referencing people in the main cast) They do things whatever they think is right and wrong, because of their own histories, upbringing and personalities. It’s inevitable that they clash with others, which escalates emotions and events. Their very superficial society doesn’t help at all. With everything coming together in a shitshow, this makes all their stories so damn painful and tragic.

This doesn’t mean that I excuse characters who inflict more harm on others. I acknowledge and don't want to take away whatever any character experienced. Being human doesn't excuse shitty behaviour. But still, I feel for them that they had to resort to/end up in their respective ways to make it through their loveless world. I want to focus on the greyness of humanity behind everything that happens in the story. One of the many thematic concerns that resonate with me is how much of us as humans are black and white (as such, we debate on the characters’ place on this spectrum, because of their actions). 不说黑白, Never black or white. Even if it nears the blackened end, it still never goes pitch black.

I say 人就是人，人就是这样 — People are people, people are simply like this. We all can be kind, we all curse out. We are all insecure about something. We laugh, we cry. We write love songs as much as easily as we write hateful messages. One day our loved ones and friends are around, and the next day, they aren’t anymore. There are times in our past that we can never return to and we can do nothing but move on with our own ways of coping, for what we think will be a better life for us. For better or worse.

Amidst all the viciousness and pettiness of the jianghu, mdzs touches on our tragedies and fallacies as people just trying to make sense of an unfeeling world, with unjust consequences and impartiality. Many of the mdzs characters try, and they fail. Isn’t this how our own reality is? How many of us have the privilege of a denouement to our own stories?

We can all have our personal opinions on the characters and their actions, but do not deny them their humanity or whatever shred of it is left.

[factsilike]

I don't know why so many people are coming to LXC's defence recently, like he never did anything wrong or never had a choice or that he was only manipulated, because 'JGY was just that good of a manipulator.'

Like no, the novel makes it clear that at several points that he was being willfully blind and ignorant of JGY's and the cultivation world's faults. The fact that LWJ and WWX found out about JGY killing NMJ after only a little bit of digging because they thought to suspect him, which Lan Xichen somehow didn't think to do despite spending close to twenty years working with him. That's a very long time, and that says more about his tendency to turn a blind eye, to not look deeper, to look away from the uncomfortable truth, than any good about JGY's manipulation abilities.

That is not to say Lan Xichen isn't a good person. He is. The problem is that he's not willing to put in the work to be good. He's unwilling to stand up to anyone. When WWX rightfully calls out JGS for trying to be the next Wen Rouhan, (about which JGY was like 'I mean, you're right, but you're not supposed to say it...."), he convenienly ignores that, opting to irrelevantly comment about how 'his heart had changed'. (Which made no sense?? LXC barely knew anything about WWX at that point!)

He's content to stay in his comfort zone, to go with the easy solution of letting others decide. If there's a problem, he'll go with the flow, and if there's a deeper ugly truth to it? He doesn't want to know about it. The situation of his parents is a perfect example. He says it himself: he doesn't want to know, and thus doesn't want to understand what happened with them.

Also for someone whose whole thing is being nice, he can be unbelievably tactless. Look at the ending events of the Guanyin Temple, where JGY is missing a limb and LXC, without thinking, asks Nie Huaisang of all people to give him medicine to heal. You know, the same Nie Huaisang who, at least to LXC's knowledge, has just learned that this same man is responsible for the death and dismemberment of his brother's body, as well as many others. And he now wants his help. To heal his brother's killer. Yikes. It's a wonder that NHS didn't immediately plan to kill LXC right then and there. And even if LXC was physically and mentally exhausted, it was still an incredibly thoughtless move.

Look at the way he laughs about NMJ (a member of the gentry) taking a third of the prey on Phoenix Mountain- "Oh typical Dage, that's just like him!"- while ignoring accusations against WWX (a son of a servant) doing the same, because he's subconsciously agreeing that it was a problem when WWX did it. He's being blatantly hypocritical and it's frustrating that he doesn't even realise it, or acknowledges it.

One of his redeeming factors can be his love for LWJ, but he's frustratingly careless about that too. For all his teasing (in which we never see LWJ indulging, he just unhappily and sulkily endures that. Teasing is not supposed to be fun or amusing if it's only one sided. Compare that to how he responds with snarky remarks to WWX's teasing, meaning he enjoys their banter) and pushing and advocating for LWJ's happiness, he never seems to deeply consider what actually makes him happy.

Everything he does for LWJ turns out to be the very opposite of what Lwj actually wants; inviting WWX and the others for the Caiyi hunt? Not what Lwj wanted, LXC merely convinced himself of that. His pushing LWJ to go talk to WWX at any chance? Doesn't ask or seem interested in why exactly LWJ would want to talk to WWX, nor help him in not letting their conversations constantly devolve into arguments. Shutting LWJ's protests at how WWX was right at the banquet with the 'his heart had changed'? Convenient for him to say, both hurting (even if it was unintended) his brother and changing the subject. And somehow everyone forgets that it was LXC who led the thirty three Lan elders to the cave after the Nightless City for Lan Wangji to fight against, for 'his own good.' And of course his whole angry, projection and deflection fuelled rant at the Guanyin Temple, where he tries to make WWX feel guilty about his brother's confession (which, you know WWX didn't remember because of the trauma clouding his memories), and make him think that he owed LWJ a relationship, which was exactly what LWJ was most afraid of.

His failings hit harder for me than any other character, because unlike JGY or XY or JGS who have no qualms about their immorality, he's supposed to be one of the good guys, a righteous clan leader who abides by honour and dignity. And yet he fails to do anything of sustenance all throughout the novel, and is a painful reminder of how easy it is to go with the wrong crowd, and that how so many 'nice' people like him exist irl, people whose willful ignorance comes at other's expense, people who want to be good but are too afraid of conflict, too set in their comfort zone to speak up against injustice, people who are all too willing to turn a blind eye and do nothing if the injustice or tragedy to others doesn't affect them.

[undercover-stories]

Love Jiang Cheng all you want, but don't fall for the false narrative that he was a good person cause he wasn't. He might have been arguably a good sect leader or a good uncle. But you can't claim to be a good person when you actively and directly push someone to choose to let innocent people die for your own selfish reasons.

You can tell by how Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan both reacted to Wei Ying asking for help. Jiang Cheng responded by giving him an ultimatum, him or them. Lan Zhan just stayed silent. He also desperately wanted to protect and help Wei Ying but there was no answer he could give that wouldn't end up hurting the remnants. He was still unwilling to sacrifice certain things to offer the help wei ying needed but he didn't make his own flaw Wei Yings problem.

[pastelshroomsbasement]

the gym au i didnt know i needed but now want.

say thank you icky by kard

[acequinz]

Pretty sure Nie Mingjue would whimper and submit if Meng Yao was a little mean to him.

Not mean like disrespectful mean but mean like snarky and sarcastic.

That's a big man who would totally submit to a strong personality.... It's why Lan Xichen manages to pull him into the sworn brotherhood.

Just keep your voice steady and lay down the facts, do not portray fear, he feeds on fear but dislikes the taste and it only agitated him further.

Stand strong and show him you are the boss, he will calm and listen.

He's still not forgiving Meng Yao for that kill but now at least he's gonna be twice as horny about it which whole solves Nothing is way more funnier.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

We could have had it all...

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[lilapplesheadcannons]

I have a headcanon that Lan Xichen was a proper menace, a practical joker, an instigator of first order with an angelic face and a mouth that was incapable of melting butter on a summer afternoon. Like, when Wangji asked him for advice to get Wei Wuxian's attention, he straight-faced told the poor boy, who had complete faith in his xiongzhang's wisdom, to put Wei Wuxian in detention.