#me and lan wanji are on the same boat

[lavender-phoenix-flames]

Wei wuxian: the protagonist of all time

One of the many things I love about wei wuxian is that how great of a protagonist he is (quite a long post) :

Wei wuxian is introduced as a villian that gets resurrected but as the story progresses we see that he is actually a naturally heroic person, who did his best to do the right thing and survive the unfair, unjust and classist system.

He is very self aware, confident, charming, charismatic, handsome and competent. He has a very healthy self esteem, high emotional intelligence and he is a renowned genius, a prodigy. He is also amazingly observant, perceptive, a logic driven person, a quick thinker. He is so calculated in everything he does and reasonable too. He isn't impulsive or reckless rather he thinks all his actions through, considers the consequences and then takes action. He isn't oblivious either (anyone who thinks otherwise go read the book again).

Above mentioned traits are something you don't usually find in protagonists that often and it's refreshing to see a character so greatly skilled and intelligent in all ways yet so humble, sweet, kind, free spirited, full of life and selfless (selfless not self sacrificing). Usually any other character with his level of greatness would have been arrogant about it, but wwx is different. He has not only attempted the impossible but successfully achieved it, not once but multiple times, yet he knew his limits and shortcomings well, even when he was the strongest he never thought himself invincible/omnipotent, he never thought anyone above or below him.

He is so misunderstood both by the world he lives in and the fandom. Being orphaned at a young age, surviving living on the streets, being raised in a abusive household, scapegoated, backed into the farthest corner, having being into worst of situations, where his beliefs, his own life and life of his loved ones are threatened, having limited options where it is either forsake yourself or other innocent ones, he chooses the former. It isn't self sacrificial if he didn't have any other option, cuz other option is just betrayal of his self and morals.

And at the end he is just as human as any of us if not more. He has his flaws, his trauma, his sufferings, his dark days and moments where he wasn't himself but he never let it hold him back, dictate his life. He seeked revenge on those who wronged him, even in his darkest days he knew the limits of violence he can commit. Never regretted any of his actions, if he did he moved on quickly.

At the end there really isn't anyone like him, he isn't perfect but he is ideal, he is someone who we should learn from and strive to be. For me this is how an ideal protagonists should be, not only is he lovable, admirable, and deserving of immense respect, he is someone we can all be, it isn't impossible.

[wujipianover]

grief, the price of love

for jiang yanli’s birthday! happy birthday shijie! @mdzsnet

summary: She talks. It’s not entirely appropriate but it’s for Wei Ying so both don’t mind. She tells him about their childhood, stories of Wei Wuxian getting in trouble. She talks about when he first came to Lotus Pier, so tiny. How he ran away at night and she carried him on her back after he fell from a tree. Talked about how he used to lie on boats for hours at a stretch on the rivers of Yunmeng. How he was loved by every single vendor there. Lan Wangji takes in every detail hungrily. Her heart aches for him. There was always something between them that the world never understood, never bothered to understand. He can’t mourn openly. So she talks and hopes her memories would be able to fill the cracks.

(jiang yanli survives nightless city. she learns she isn't the only one left that cares for her wei ying)

grief is the price you pay for love

tags: jiang yanli lives, grief/mourning, cooking as therapy, jyl teaches lwj how to make soup

read on ao3 if you want!

When she wakes up, it’s to the sound of her little brother singing a lullaby that their mother used to sing, long long back ago with a sleeping A-Ling in his arms. She smiles, warmly. And then there is pain, unbearable pain all over her body and Jiang Cheng is getting up and fretting.

“A-jie! You’re up! Thank God!”

The relief that washes over him is palpable.

Then everything comes back to her. She was stabbed. Her hand ghosts over her abdomen that is covered with bandages. Dark, heavy grief settles over her. He’s gone. Otherwise he would be here, she knows him enough to know that.

“A-Ying?,” she trails off. A lone tear escapes unknowingly.

The Zidian around Jiang Cheng’s arm crackles menacingly. He’s grinding his teeth, a habit he’s had since he was 6. But now his eyes are dark and anger rolls off of him. He clutches A-Ling tighter.

“He’s dead. Had been dead to me long before.”

And that’s the end of the conversation.

Jiang Yanli’s heart shatters. She knew that. She knew everything that her Wei Ying had done. She looks over to her son and feels some of the weight lessen. But she still loves Wei Ying. Loved Wei Ying, something ugly reminds her.

She’s trying to not sob, all the heartache forming a lump in her throat when she falls asleep again.

*

She wakes up again to quiet. A moment later a nurse walks in and checks on her.

She wants to see her son again. She has to talk to A-Cheng again. Above all, she needs to see her Xianxian again. 

She wasn’t done mourning for her husband. His loss, she feels in her heart, something she carries everyday. Jin Zixuan was not always kind to her. But later, there was love, so much love. It had washed over her and cleansed her off everything bad they had to endure. Wei Wuxian’s absence at the wedding was felt by all. But she had smiled and that hadn’t felt like a lie. But she never blamed the loss on Wei Wuxian. She knows him. Knew him.

Jiang Cheng walks into the room a while later. The nurse had told her that she had been asleep for two days. Seeing A-Cheng’s face erupt into a smile settles some of the sorrow stirring in her. She has him.

He kneels beside her bed.

“A-jie, I am so glad you’re up! We will be travelling to Lanling tomorrow and I wish I could stay with you there. I could if Wei Wuxian had kept his promise,” he stops himself. Clenching his jaw he says, “Well then, none of this would have happened.” His voice is softer, melancholic.

 Her heart gives out. “You know none of this is his fault,” she tries gently.

“How can you still believe that?” He looks from where his face was buried in his hands. There are dark bruises under his eyes. He’s not been sleeping well. Too young, he’s too young and he has experienced more grief for a lifetime. He’s a sect leader now and the weight of responsibilities are visible in the tense line of his shoulders. “After all this?” HIs voice is choked.

Jian Cheng, she realizes needs reassurance because deep down, the parts covered by formalities and duties, he feels the same as him.

“Because you knew him”

“I don’t think I did.” There is finality in his words. He gets up suddenly and steels his expressions. The face of a sect leader.

“The Jiang sect has cut all ties with Wei Wuxian. His death will not change this fact.”

He salutes her. This is too formal. She wants to go back to a moment before.

“I will ask a nurse to bring A-Ling to you. Shijie needs to rest for her journey tomorrow.”

He turns on his heels and leaves before she can get a word out.

*

Life goes on. It takes a month to learn to walk again. A month more till she can hold her son again. It’s painful. There is an ugly scar on her belly but it acts as a reminder that someone, someone was there for Wei Wuxian. So it’s beautiful. 

She wrestles her way into sect leader business much to the dismay of Jin Guangshan. Too long, she had gone on living in the shadows. There’s not a lot she can do, what with not being able to travel to other sects. But she attends meetings at Lanling and no one has dared to question her presence. She survived a knife to her belly. She has seen too much loss. She is strong and capable.

Jiang Cheng refuses to acknowledge Wei Wuxian. Rumours fly around that he gave the final blow that killed him. Her Xianxian ceases to exist, replaced by stories and myths of the Yiling Patriarch. It’s as if he was never a person before. As if he was never a boy. Just a boy.

So she flings herself into complaints from the villagers in Lanling. They are young, honest, ordinary people. They have problems that don’t take cultivation to solve. So she devotes herself to their needs, and then to the needs of the people who come to her from far away. Wei Wuxian did the same thing with the Wens. He was right. She wishes she had told him that, or tried to convince others of that.

She nurses his memory too, he will be alive in them. She remembers him smiling. He was born with a smile that could compete with the sun. It’s lonely though, being the only one alive who cares about him.

And then she gets a letter. And is reminded that she is not alone in loving Wei Ying.

Respected Young Lady Jiang,

I hope this Second Young Master Lan doesn’t offend Young Lady Jiang by sending this. Sect Leader Jiang informed me of your recovery. It comes as good news.

I am not aware of how much Lady Jiang has been informed on the matters of Wei Ying. This young master feels the need to inform that they still haven’t found a body. I continue to play Inquiry every night in hopes to find Wei Ying’s spirit. If there are any developments, Young Lady Jiang would be the first one to know.

This humble brother apologizes for any breach of privacy.

Wei Ying’s Lan Zhan.

She reads the letter again. How foolish for her to think that she was all alone in thinking about Wei Wuxian as he was. For the first time in a long time, his memory brings a smile to her face.

*

It gets easier. Time heals. A-Ling is a joy, raising him is second nature. The cultivation world becomes messy and she draws away from it. They have fallen into dramas that are not worthy for sect leaders to get into.

She spends her time talking to the common man and making sure Wei Ying’s Jin Rulan is worthy of his name.

She doesn’t hear from Hanguan-jun. There are whispers, nasty talk of discipline whips and seclusion and a young child. She doesn’t pay heed to any of it. A part of her wishes for another letter. She desperately wants to talk about him. Seems like that’s the only way to keep him alive now.

It’s almost noon and she is in her room going over written grievances to her when there is a knock at the door. It’s Hanguang-jun at the door looking pained and awkward.

They salute each other. “Young master Lan hopes that he doesn’t intrude the privacy of Young Lady Jiang.”

She beckons him to enter in response. He walks inside slowly, regal and elegant but stiff.

“Not at all Hanguang-jun, The letter was appreciated.”

Lan Wangji relaxes at that.

There is a pause, Jiang Yanli guesses he’s wondering what to say.

“Lan Wangji was in seclusion and therefore was not able to play Inquiry all this time. He apologizes”

It confirms what she knew all along, there was no answer.

“It was very kind for Hanguang-jun to try.”

“I wanted to.” It comes out so earnest, Jiang Yanli melts. Lan Wangji’s ears are pinker.

“Will Hanguang-jun want to learn to make A-Ying’s favourite food?”

It’s an indulgence, Lan Wangji would not want to waste his time on such frivolity. She remembers the food of CLoud Recesses and how plain it was. A-Ying’s favourite would not suit Lan Wangji’s palate. It’s more for her sake, making this for his brother’s Lan Zhan would mean more. She goes to apologize when Lan Wangji says softly, “I would like that very much.”

And so they make their way to the kitchen. She makes everyone leave, their mouth agape.

Lan Wanji is silent beside her as she talks him through the recipe. It’s simple soup with lotus and meat. Hanguang-jun is a fast learner and he listens to her attentively, humming his assent occasionally. 

The process is therapeutic. Chopping and stirring and tasting. She can do this in her sleep. The rhythmic movements ease her. The fact that Hanguang-jun’s brows wrinkle like he is trying to memorize every flick of Jiang Yanli’s wrist.

She talks. It’s not entirely appropriate but it’s for Wei Ying so both don’t mind. She tells him about their childhood, stories of Wei Wuxian getting in trouble. She talks about when he first came to Lotus Pier, so tiny. How he ran away at night and she carried him on her back after he fell from a tree. Talked about how he used to lie on boats for hours at a stretch on the rivers of Yunmeng. How he was loved by every single vendor there. Lan Wangji takes in every detail hungrily. Her heart aches for him. There was always something between them that the world never understood, never bothered to understand. He can’t mourn openly. So she talks and hopes her memories would be able to fill the cracks.

“He was born with a smiling face, you know.”

“I know,” he gives the smallest smile.

The soup is ready and she pours them in two bowls. They sit and eat in silence. Lan Wangji’s eyes water and she doesn’t know if it’s from the spice alone.

He leaves without a word after the meal. Jiang Yanli has never felt this content in three years.

*

Sixteen years later a message talisman stirs her from her sleep.

He’s back.

Wei Ying’s Lan Zhan

She comes alive again.

[randomness-is-my-order]

my biggest bone to pick with the fandom is always gonna be about how wei wuxian is depicted to have low self-esteem when that is the farthest thing from the truth because the ONLY one standing up for himself in almost the entirety of the story is his own self. it’s his voice that tells us that he doesn’t think he’s some vicious spirit at the start, he’s the one who questions the cultivation world killing him but using his inventions, he’s the one constantly talking about his innocence and correcting misconceptions about his supposed crimes. don’t forget that this is the person who stood up against the cultivators collected for the second siege and SPOKE SENSE INTO THEM!! literally shut them all up. wei wuxian’s got a good view of himself and his morals (that he very firmly believes in) and would NOT wallow in self hatred and self pity in his internal monologue all the damn time. 😭😭

Wei wuxian: the protagonists of all time

One of the many things I love about wei wuxian is that how great of a protagonist he is (quite a long post) :

Wei wuxian is introduced as a villian that gets resurrected but as the story progresses we see that he is actually a naturally heroic person, who did his best to do the right thing and survive the unfair, unjust and classist system.

He is very self aware, confident, charming, charismatic, handsome and competent. He has a very healthy self esteem, high emotional intelligence and he is a renowned genius, a prodigy. He is also amazingly observant, perceptive, a logic driven person, a quick thinker. He is so calculated in everything he does and reasonable too. He isn't impulsive or reckless rather he thinks all his actions through, considers the consequences and then takes action. He isn't oblivious either (anyone who thinks otherwise go read the book again).

Above mentioned traits are something you don't usually find in protagonists that often and it's refreshing to see a character so greatly skilled and intelligent in all ways yet so humble, sweet, kind, free spirited, full of life and selfless (selfless not self sacrificing). Usually any other character with his level of greatness would have been arrogant about it, but wwx is different. He has not only attempted the impossible but successfully achieved it, not once but multiple times, yet he knew his limits and shortcomings well, even when he was the strongest he never thought himself invincible/omnipotent, he never thought anyone above or below him.

He is so misunderstood both by the world he lives in and the fandom. Being orphaned at a young age, surviving living on the streets, being raised in a abusive household, scapegoated, backed into the farthest corner, having being into worst of situations, where his beliefs, his own life and life of his loved ones are threatened, having limited options where it is either forsake yourself or other innocent ones, he chooses the former. It isn't self sacrificial if he didn't have any other option, cuz other option is just betrayal of his self and morals.

And at the end he is just as human as any of us if not more. He has his flaws, his trauma, his sufferings, his dark days and moments where he wasn't himself but he never let it hold him back, dictate his life. He seeked revenge on those who wronged him, even in his darkest days he knew the limits of violence he can commit. Never regretted any of his actions, if he did he moved on quickly.

At the end there really isn't anyone like him, he isn't perfect but he is ideal, he is someone who we should learn from and strive to be. For me this is how an ideal protagonists should be, not only is he lovable, admirable, and deserving of immense respect, he is someone we can all be, it isn't impossible.

[starrie-amethyst]

Prefect analysis of who Wei Wuxian is. Good read.

Wei wuxian: the protagonists of all time

One of the many things I love about wei wuxian is that how great of a protagonist he is (quite a long post) :

Wei wuxian is introduced as a villian that gets resurrected but as the story progresses we see that he is actually a naturally heroic person, who did his best to do the right thing and survive the unfair, unjust and classist system.

He is very self aware, confident, charming, charismatic, handsome and competent. He has a very healthy self esteem, high emotional intelligence and he is a renowned genius, a prodigy. He is also amazingly observant, perceptive, a logic driven person, a quick thinker. He is so calculated in everything he does and reasonable too. He isn't impulsive or reckless rather he thinks all his actions through, considers the consequences and then takes action. He isn't oblivious either (anyone who thinks otherwise go read the book again).

Above mentioned traits are something you don't usually find in protagonists that often and it's refreshing to see a character so greatly skilled and intelligent in all ways yet so humble, sweet, kind, free spirited, full of life and selfless (selfless not self sacrificing). Usually any other character with his level of greatness would have been arrogant about it, but wwx is different. He has not only attempted the impossible but successfully achieved it, not once but multiple times, yet he knew his limits and shortcomings well, even when he was the strongest he never thought himself invincible/omnipotent, he never thought anyone above or below him.

He is so misunderstood both by the world he lives in and the fandom. Being orphaned at a young age, surviving living on the streets, being raised in a abusive household, scapegoated, backed into the farthest corner, having being into worst of situations, where his beliefs, his own life and life of his loved ones are threatened, having limited options where it is either forsake yourself or other innocent ones, he chooses the former. It isn't self sacrificial if he didn't have any other option, cuz other option is just betrayal of his self and morals.

And at the end he is just as human as any of us if not more. He has his flaws, his trauma, his sufferings, his dark days and moments where he wasn't himself but he never let it hold him back, dictate his life. He seeked revenge on those who wronged him, even in his darkest days he knew the limits of violence he can commit. Never regretted any of his actions, if he did he moved on quickly.

At the end there really isn't anyone like him, he isn't perfect but he is ideal, he is someone who we should learn from and strive to be. For me this is how an ideal protagonists should be, not only is he lovable, admirable, and deserving of immense respect, he is someone we can all be, it isn't impossible.