#mdzs rambles

[deathbyoctopi]

“Righteous, powerful and dignified cultivator, accomplished beyond his peers, who dresses always in white is <---> paired with a black-clad, wise-cracking demonic cultivator who may have commited a few massacres, but is pretty much a child at heart and capable of reigning in his worse impulses for the sake of a nice snuggle.”

...

...and you say xuexiao isn’t a foil to wangxian?

[marshmallowwitharubberband]

The Guanyin temple confession is maybe my favorite scene of any piece of media I've ever consumed because it's so unpredictable.

You got the villain just halting his evil plot, full stop, in the middle of his gloating speech, no less, because "What do you MEAN you guys aren't even together?! What?! No, no, no, there won't be any romantic misunderstanding in my hostage situation! Honey, tell him!"

And then the calmest, most polite character alive procceeds to go his version of apeshit on this punk like "my brother like-likes you, you fucking pinecone! You useless twink! We all thought you were a hoe but you are just an imbecile!" (Which is a nice parallel to the Jiang brothers' hatred for the peacock, but I digress)

And THEN, when it's the perfect moment for a climatic love confession, homeboy goes and screams for everyone to hear that he... really wanted that dick, Hanguang-jun! Where's love? Who cares? WWX wants to ride you like a carnival ride: sticky and filthy and multiple times.

It's a wonder that Xichen didn't yank that string from Jing GuangYao to strangle WWX himself.

This has been my favorite addition, I cackled like a seal irl lol

[unreliable-narratoe]

Something about Liu Qingge and Jiang Cheng both carrying around physical objects of their loved ones so they can return it, but the Receiving never quite has the same impact as the Returning. LQG carrying around Shen Qingqiu's fans until he can take it back, except SQQ's already forgotten about it/gotten a new one and no longer has the same use for it. JC carrying suiban around on his back until he finds Wei Wuxian, except WWX can no longer use it. There is no real relevance for the object on the receiving end. Not anymore, at least. And it's very. Hmm.

[almonddirge]

You are the upright young master of a very conservative clan. Against their wishes, and your own, you have fallen for a rowdy boy your age who causes nothing but trouble. Regardless of your feelings on your own homosexuality, you seethe to yourself over why it had to be him in particular.

One day, he brings you rabbits to keep as pets. They start fucking in front of you. To your horror, that they are both male. Your name is Lan Wangji, and you might be beginning to think the gods are out to get you.

[imreallyonthishellsite]

mxtx main characters as drivers

wwx: would be a good driver if he didn't get distracted every 5 minutes and constantly forget where he's supposed to be going (jc swears he does the latter on purpose but doesn't have any proof yet). when he's not distracted hes usually going 5 above the speed limit. has a random playlist for all driving occasions ("why do you have a 'just brunt down walmart and now I'm on the run' playlist?" "why shouldn't i?")

lwj: the example of the perfect driver. will drive the exact speed limit and will refuse to go a single mile over ("lan zhan please we dont have to drive so slow" "its a school zone.the speed limit is 15" "lan zhan the school has been closed for 10 years pls go faster im begging" "no."). mostly plays classical music, podcasts or the rare romance song while driving

xl: decent driver when he gets the opportunity to drive. goes hard on the brakes bc he scared of hitting someone. will let people cut in front of him bc "they might have somewhere important to be". mostly listens to random radio stations for variety

hc: speed demon unless he's with xl. even then he's still a pretty safe driver. carries sticky notes to rate other drivers skills and put them on their car with notes (no one has gotten over a 7). extremely picky about music while driving, if he hates the song you play your banned from ever playing music in his car again. will always listen to music selections from xl

sy/sqq: hates driving with every fiber of being but still got his license. has extreme road rage and has pulled up next to someone to rage abt their driving to their face (spolier he made them cry). will only drive if he actually needs too, this man is a passenger princess. not too picky abt music surprisingly but doesn't like the volume to be too loud

lbh: very good driver. if you piss him off while driving he will either ride way too close to your bumper and follow you for a short time to freak you out or start driving purposefully slow and refuse to let you pass. Music depends on his mood or the events he has going in that day. date nights will be romance and happy songs, dropping sqq off to hangout out with lqg will be heartbreak/when will my love return songs, returning from a business meeting is loud ass rage music

[travalerray]

honestly I did mention it in the tags before but I cannot help but think of Jin Guangyao who struggled monetarily for most of his life showering his nephew in gifts and Jiang "never knowing what to say to his father" Cheng being the one the nephew always knowing to run to whenever there is a problem

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Get Souped!

[ghostlycollectorchaos]

i think there's something to be said for how in almost every piece of queer media you'll have a scene where character A asks character B to run away with them. i'm talking alpha century, i'm talking sailing to fucking china, i'm talking jonathan sims considering gouging out his eyes with martin blackwood and just walking away, i'm talking peter nureyev and juno steel in season 1, i'm TALKING about LAN WANGJI and "come back to Cloud Recesses with me".

there's just something so inherently bittersweet about the idea of running away with your loved one that's deeply ingrained in the queer experience and i think that's lovely.

And there's also something to be said for the fact the answer is almost always "no"

[blooming-periwxnkle]

The way Nie Huaisang and He Xuan were both characters who weren't inclined towards martial arts or cultivation but were interested in art and knowledge. They were both interested in more sophisticated things, things that help in building a civilization and its culture instead of weapons that were used by many throughout history to destroy.

Thinking about how both of them meticulously planned their revenge for decades( or centuries, in the case of He Xuan) so that they could destroy their enemies.

Also, thinking about how their desire to take revenge was born out of their love for their families. How they were both people who were loved by their families..

Something like, "Do you know the gentleness it took to become this violent?" ...

[chirpycloudyrobin]

do i wanna sit here and think long and hard abt wen qing, wen ning, and wei wuxian's dynamics and how amazing the three of them could have been together if they only had more time and they weren't doomed by the narrative

[myblurryreality]

I saw someone mention that they don't like that so many Fics make Wei Wuxian the poor one who's saved from his circumstances, in modern Fics, by Lan Wangji. They said they think it's rooted in heteronormative ideas of the 'woman/receiving' being below the 'man/giving' and puts Wei Wuxian in the typical woman role that many het romances do. When in reality, in the modern world Wei Wuxian would only be down on his luck temporarily. He's a genius, something Lan Wangji is not in my opinion, and would probably create his own company if he had to. If you do have him being down and out, at least make it make sense. Like he got kicked out, or sabotaged, or black balled, but not his grades aren't good enough for a scholarship 👀 (genius) or he just up and decided no school and he'll do shady shit 👀 (moral ideal). Wei Wuxian is so smart and charming, and I feel like some people don't utilize that enough in their modern fics.

Ignore me though. I'm just ranting into the void.

P.S. About that Lan Wangji not being a genius comment. I think Lan Wangji is a cultivation prodigy who is highly intelligent and well read but I don't think he's a genius. Wei Wuxian is also a prodigy in cultivation but his mind is on another plane, he is in fact a genius. He's innovative and voraciously curious. His mind is fast and makes leaps which propel him into action before others, which to them reads as reckless but they just didn't have enough time to compute what he did. I think a meta I read talking about how Lan Wangji is more likely to make a "reckless" decision because he steps into the danger to stop others from being harmed, as opposed to Wei Wuxian who is able to find the smartest solution in the same amount of time is a prime example of their mental differences. Lan Wangji's mind is quicker than most but Wei Wuxian's is even faster. Hence, genius.

[niobefurens]

Shixiong.

In MDZS shīxiōng (elder shì brother) is used exclusively for Wèi Wúxiàn (21 times); once, Wèi Wúxiàn is called called Dà-shīxiōng (first elder shì brother).

Wèi Wúxiàn is born on October 31st and Jiāng Chéng on November 5th; making Wèi Wúxiàn five days older.

Age alone, however, would not make Wei Wúxiàn automatically Jiāng Chéng’s shīxiōng.

Normally, in cultivation sects, the one who joined first, would be considered the eldest disciple.

In MDZS, instead of cultivation sects, we have cultivation families; the bloodlines.

Jiāng Chéng, being a Jiāng by blood, should, by rights, be considered member of his shì by default; and Wèi Wúxiàn would anyways be his shīdì.

In MDZS, Wèi Wúxiàn is usually called shīxiōng only by younger Jiāng-shīdì (who are younger than Jiāng Chéng as well, and thus would also refer to him as shīxiōng).

Jiāng Chéng never calls him shīxiōng.

Unless MXTX is using the word only as an age marker, this should mean the junior shīdì joined the Jiàng-shì after Wèi Wúxiàn did.

Which is possible.

In the scene when Wèi Wuxian runs away, Jiāng Yànlí says her brother is always home playing by himself; she blames that on his bad temper; but we see no juniors at all until the boys are fifteen; nor does Jiāng Yànlí have any shījiě or shīmèi that we know of.

We can think that, up until Wèi Wuxian's arrival, Lotus Pier didn't have any junior disciples.

After that, since he already had two to train, Jiāng Fēngmián accepted more of them.

By the time of the Indoctrination Conference, we know there are at least twenty juniors, since that is the number that go to Qishan.

The only other person to use this term for Wèi Wúxiàn is Jīn Guāngyáo.

This happens at the Guanyin Temple showdown, when Jīn Guāngyáo is talking visciously to Jiāng Chéng to annoy and distract him.

"Ever since we started, your eyes have been so shifty, almost like you’re scared of looking that way. Is anything over there ... Nothing is over there except for your shixiong."

Jin GuangYao, “Fine. Mr. Wei, you see? Your shidi didn’t come looking for you. He doesn’t even want to spare you a single glance.” Wei WuXian smiled, “Now those are strange words. It’s not the first day Sect Leader Jiang treats me like this. Do I need you to keep on reminding me?” Hearing this, Jiang Cheng’s lips twisted slightly. Veins popped from the back of the hand with which he held Zidian. Jin GuangYao turned to him again, sighing, “Sect Leader Jiang, look—it’s just so difficult being your shixiong, isn’t it?”

(CH. 101)

Is Jīn Guāngyáo here suggesting that somehow Wèi Wúxiàn joined the shì before Jiāng Chéng did?

In that case, he would be implying that Wèi Wúxiàn is really Jiāng Fēngmián’s son.

As far as I understand, in ancient China there is no concept of illegittimate children; only that of unrecognised ones (like Jīn Guāngyáo himself had been ).

As the eldest son of Jiāng Fēngmián, Wèi Wúxiàn should also have been Zōngzhǔ after him.

Imagine how annoying this bit of gossip cropping up again can be to Jiāng Chéng (and to Wèi Wúxiàn).

[unforth]

So I'm with my kids at the doctor yesterday and go to make a follow-up appointment and the receptionist has a copy of The Husky and His White Cat Shizun vol 5 sitting next to her and I'm !!! because I've never seen a stranger reading danmei before so I go "hey, same hat!" and she looks confused so I gesture at the book then hold up what I was reading while waiting for my kids - MDZS vol. 5 - and go "I'm gonna be reading that one next, or well, rereading, I read the fantranslation..." and I expect her to be all excited and instead the color just drains from her face and I feel bad but also it's hilarious yup I know EXACTLY what you were reading at work but also you probably know EXACTLY what I was reading in the waiting room we're in the same boat here don't be scared. 🤣🤣🤣

I am going to think about this interaction for the next 87 years.

[unreliable-narratoe]

Headcanon that MDZS (from his sister's BL rack) was one of the BLs Shen Yuan read for Plot reasons and Genre Diversification (sure, buddy) . Around volume 2 he even thinks it isnt BL, and meimei must have surely gotten her genres mixed up. He only realises when wangxian have sex and at that point it's too late to go back - he needs to know what's going down with wen ning.

He reads all the extras (including incense burner) for the Plot ("I need to know what happens to wei wuxian!!"), is an ardent wen ning fan (he can't escape strong puppy coded characters) and gets that one specific YLLZ figurine.

Binghe comes to know of this and promptly figures out necromancy.

[randomness-is-my-order]

thinking about the “single-plank bridge” and how wei wuxian’s circumstance becomes all the more heartbreaking when we contexualise the kind of person he is. wei wuxian is never shown to be an isolated entity from the very start of his story. even when he lived on the streets, he had a way of connecting with those around him and wheedling shopkeepers into maintaining his daily sustenance. quickly after he came to lotus pier, he formed bonds with jc and yanli. wei wuxian was genuinely interested in people and forging friendships with those he liked. his junior disciples loved him. he was canonically one of the most popular young guys in the cultivation society. he frequently interacted with the common folk in yunmeng or anywhere else he happened to visit. at the guest lectures in the lan sect, wei wuxian was able to inspire multiple disciples (not just nie huaisang) into following his shenanigans. he is also able to befriend some of the wens, prime among them are ofc wen qing and wen ning. for a story as heavy in interpersonal conflicts as mdzs is, it is a given that people and their relationships will be centre stage and wei wuxian isn’t in the least lacking in these relationships. we see this even after his reincarnation that wei wuxian, even when he tries to stay disconnected, forms new bonds with ease. the juniors that are first wary of him soon come to deeply admire him and wei wuxian in turn becomes protective over them.

in short, wei wuxian is defined by his relationships as much as he is by his actions and convictions and thoughts. never once are we made to believe that wei wuxian’s ideal choice would be the “single plank bridge”, that he would be completely at ease with his isolation, that he would ever want to pick that option as a preference. in fact, the single plank bridge ideology has never been one that wei wuxian is shown to inherently gravitate towards or recommend/preach to other people. but that ideology is a last resort.

it is a choice made when his hand is forced, when no other comfortable option is allowed to him, when every door is shut in his face and isolating himself from the people he has known is the only avenue left with him. the single plank bridge is about sticking to his beliefs and not giving up, about doing the right thing no matter what because someone needs to take that stand and wei wuxian has never not been that someone.

i think that it is so crucial that the single plank bridge wasn’t so much a choice that wei wuxian made than a choice that was made for him simply because he refused to give up on the wens.

he was denied alternatives. he was denied help. sometimes, the anti-culture discourse overcorrects itself into painting every heroic act that happens to be sacrificial as a default ‘hero complex’ and self-sacrifical tendencies, ignoring the build-up of those difficult decisions and how, in this story, in mdzs, wei wuxian wasn’t foregoing the crowded broad road but that the crowd on the broad road had foregone him.

[twenty-orange-balloons]

Wei Wuxian: Hey, Lan Zhan! Let's play Two truths, One Lie! I'll start. I love you, I want you to fuck me, I hate spicy food. Haha, I bet you'll never guess!

Lan Wangji: *lwj.exe has stopped working*