#qinghen-jun

[wangxianficrecs]

Throwback Rec

Original rec by Mojo. Bookmarked in July 11, 2020.

Kay's comments: 💙 This series is one of my absolute favourites! Takes place in a world where some people are shapeshifters and Wei Wuxian is one of them. Not just that, he's a wolf shifter; an especially strong shift that's considered divine. Featuring a wonderful canon-divergence story with Wangxian getting together during the Cloud Recesses Study Arc and following them onwards through the war. Part two delivers on some heart-breaking Nielan backstory featuring asshole Lan Qiren, breaking up and making up and coming of age.

~*~

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

❤️ The Beast of Gusu

by Netrixie

M, 212k, wangxian, nielan, series complete

Summary:  A world where I went, “What if Wei Ying was a wolf?” and then ran with it. We’ve got wangxian, nielan, fluff and angst, soft!boys and A-Yuan. You’ll want to get comfortable, because part 1 is 150k words :)

Enjoy!

My comments:  Ahhh, what an entertaining and satisfying story. You’d think that after 200k words I’d be satiated, but really, I could wallow in this one for a couple more days. Wei Wuxian is a wolf (werewolf is off the mark, especially as someone coming from the Teen Wolf fandom – wwx is a shifter whose other form is a wolf, so forget all the western lore associated with werewolves). He’s also just as irrepressible and bubbly as a student as he ever was, and fascinated by lwj and nearly drunk off his smell. (As a matter of fact, he avoids going into the Jingshi for quite a while, afraid that he’ll be overcome. Which he kind of is. Bless.) His persistence pays off, and it’s not long before lwj returns his interest. Lan Xichen (who ships it hard) finds him in his wolf form, and the secret is out, so he goes ahead and tells lwj (whom I expected to be revealed as an ice dragon or something for half the story but he’s simply a very physically and spiritually strong human) which leads to much cuddling and making out. So there’s a satisfying amount of sexual tension as the story progresses.

There is plot, of course, involving whatever the hell happened to lzc in the past, why lqr hates wwx so much, and the wens placing known spies in cloud recesses. The war approaches, and there’s a poison being used that is inducing shifters to shift, both revealing them and rendering them unwilling slaves to Wen Rouhan. Wwx is feral for a while, which is tragic and lonely: but Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen show up to keep him company while he searches for… something he can’t remember.

I love all the imagery in describing the coordinated fighting styles of wwx as a wolf in the shadows and lwj glowing with power in his Lan whites. Actually, author describes Clan powers (particularly Lan and Wen) almost as an entity in itself, to the wolf’s senses, which is awesome. I also love how much of a water baby the wolf is: he just walks up to rivers and ponds and flops over into them to hang out for a while. Wwx spends a lot of time in bathtubs when he’s human, too, actually.

The bulk of the series is the first story, from wwx’s POV. Second story presents a few alternate POV of specific scenes. Third is The Thing That Happened To Lan Xichen, alternating POV with Nie Mingjue. And final story is an epilogue wrapping up a few loose ends from the tale as a whole.

shapeshifter au, shifter au, wolf wei wuxian, werewolf wei wuxian (not really tho), slow burn, students at cloud recesses, ust, nielan, fix-it, lan xichen ships it, the jiangs have healthy family relationships, jiang siblings, lan qiren is a dick, so is qinghen jun, angst, found family, wei ying is lan xichen’s anger translator, soft, fluff, family feels, wwx is an irrepressible puppy, crushes, getting together, first kiss, coming out, courting rituals, poisoned wei wuxian, hurt/comfort, weddings, kissing, making out, domestic, battle, feral wei wuxian, ferity, forced shifting, politics, powerful wei wuxian, powerful lan wangji, human lan wangji, happy ending, favorite, @netrixie​

(You may wish to REBLOG as a signal boost for this author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Reminder that there is no "Lan Love Curse" when we only get two supposed tragic stories (Qinghen-Jun and Lan Wangji where both are through Lan Xichen's point of view on a relationship he knows nothing of) and are only told that despite being very monk like, they seem to be a very romantic sect underneath the stoicism, and Wei Wuxian finds that charming between all it's thousand of rules

[acequinz]

Me lying in my bed smiling to myself knowing that Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen truly got along well with their mutual respect and trust.

Because even post time-skip Lan Wangji very obviously estranged from the clan yet sticking around enough and approaching Lan Xichen with doubts regarding JGY's actions without any hesitation and Lan Xichen despite his distrust of Wei Wuxian giving them a chance cause he wouldn't completely shut down his brother and gives him a chance to prove their point.

And before anyone comes at me with the whole LWJ was still punished, of course he was punished even the sect leader is not above the sect laws in Lan sect. That's why Qinghen-jun was under seclusion as well, it was why their mother had to be in seclusion and in the end Lan Xichen also punished himself with seclusion at least.

[fiftysevenacademics]

The four main clans each have a distinct style of romantic attachment that somewhat contradicts the way they formally present themselves.

Lan Clan of Gusu: Ethically rigid, morally pure, righteous rule-followers who partner up with morally grey or even bad, slightly unhinged people.

Qinghen-jun: Had two kids with the woman who murdered his teacher, then devoted the rest of his life to keeping her a prisoner in Cloud Recesses. She might have had a serious mental illness.

Lan Xichen: Was doing OK with Nie Mingjue until Jin Guangyao swept him off his feet, and he just HAD to turn it into a messy polycule that gave Jin Guangyao many ways to manipulate him.

Lan Wangji: Alters his entire life trajectory and betrays numerous Lan principles for a chaotic demonic cultivator.

Jin Clan of Lanling: The richest, most prestigious clan has the messiest, most embarrassing and venal romantic liaisons.

Jin Guangshan: Famously can't keep it in his pants.

Jin Zixuan: Has an off-and-on again relationship with Jiang Yanli, breaking her heart before making her happy in the end. He's the least messed up in his family, though.

Jin Guangyao: Even though he genuinely loves Lan Xichen, he uses him to exact revenge on his ex, Nie Mingjue. May have agreed to a three-way relationship just for that purpose. Fell in love with and married his half-sister and had a baby with her even after he knew.

Mo Xuanyu: Expelled from Jin disciple school for sexually harassing men. Real reason was possibly an intimate relationship with Jin Guangyao that went south when he started poking around in the treasure room.

Nie Clan of Qinghe: The ultimate jocks and macho men, Nie men think they're power bottoms when in reality they're being used and bossed around by someone far more devious than they can imagine.

Nie Mingjue: Thinks he can replicate the healthy thing he has going on with Lan Xichen in his relationship with Jin Guangyao but boy, was he ever wrong about that. Nonetheless, he allows himself to be pushed into a polycule that brings him quickly to his doom.

Nie Huaisang: OK, I gotta hand it to Nie Huaisang. He's a power bottom, just like it says on the label. We never see him in any romantic relationships but he knows how to cry, faint, and complain in a way that makes everyone fall neatly in line with his plans.

Jiang Clan of Yunmeng: Like their motto, "attempt the impossible," the Jiangs fall for people who are unattainable or out of their league.

Jiang Fengmian: His one true love, Cangse Sanren, was a more powerful cultivator who chose a servant over him and left. Married a woman from a richer, higher status family and has a rocky marriage as a result.

Jiang Yanli: A sweet, simple girl in love with a vain, proud man who doesn't think she's beautiful or talented enough for him. Somehow it works out in her favor, though.

Wei Wuxian: Literally attempts the impossible, can't follow a single rule, but falls head over heels for the jianghu's gold medalist in rule-following, Lan Wangji. This ends tragically and is only redeemed when he's resurrected with a little more humility and respect for the social order (just a little, though).

Jiang Cheng: In MDZS canon, Jiang Cheng has no romantic entanglements or even friendships outside of his family. He might be aromantic or maybe his parents' toxic relationship has made him want to never partner up. In Untamed canon, he follows the family pattern and crushes on a member of the very clan that murdered his parents.

[marshmallowwitharubberband]

It's interesting to think that, from what little we know about Madam Lan, she was put in a situation where se had to take a life, and was punished with her freedom being taken away for the rest of hers, forced into a marriage where she didn't even get to see her husband (which could be a good or bad thing, depending on how she felt about Qinghen Jun, but it would svck either way), bore him two kids anyway, but then was barely allowed to see them. And still, she managed to be a good mother, and leave a loving impression on her sons. She had all the reason to be bitter and angry at the world, but she chose to make the best of her circumstances in front of her children, for their sake.

Meanwhile, Madam Yu was chucked into a loveless arranged marriage, yes, but she got to keep her power and her weapon, climbed up in status, was free to command (and mistreat) the entire clan as she saw fit. She was freer than the other clan leaders' wives, for sure. And yeah, even though she also bore her husband two children and he didn't seem to care, she had them by her side, but she chose to emotionally neglect them in favor of constantly trying to get her husband's attention. Instead of taking all the power and freedom she had and use them to make the best of her circumstances, she chose to use it to make everyone else's life worse.

I think it's a very interesting contrast and I wish we got to see more of both Madams if only to understand their actions better.

[thebansacredbanned]

Writing patterns

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern! Tagged by @yletylyf!!! <3

The covers lift up, letting in the cold air and stirring Xiao Chong from where he was about to drift off to sleep. [And there was only one bed (fraternal edition), The Blood of Youth, Xiao Chong & Xiao Se]

The demon from his past standing in the doorway is all it takes to ruin the Reunion Dinner. [housekeeper, The Disguiser, ah-Cheng]

It had been a restless night for all three of them, but, well, Huli had never needed much sleep anyway. [Hormones and other horrors, Oh My General, Hu Qing/Ye Zhao/Zhao Yujin]

Jingyan emerges from the tunnel to shouting. [Things we need, Nirvana in Fire, Mei Changsu/Xiao Jingyan/Lin Chen(ish)]

Of all the elders and members and disciples, it is Xichen who runs to his fuqin’s house. [the walls around my father's house, The Untamed, Lan Xichen & Qinghen-jun]

There’s a change coming to Beili. [Know we'll sing your name (when you come home), The Blood of Youth, Tang Lian & the Tang clan]

“Now that we are all sworn brothers… I was wondering…” [As the saying goes..., The Untamed, 3zun]

It doesn't take long for Mingjue learn to that if he can’t find a-Sang, the way he should be looking is up. [I'll always catch you, The Untamed, Nie Mingjue & Nie Huaisang]

When Madam Jin had finally conceded that she was never going to bear her husband a son, Jin Zixuan was old to know that she was not the child either of her parents wanted. [such stuff as dreams are made, The Untamed/MDZS, Jiang Yanli/Jin Zixuan/Luo Qingyang (pre-relationship)]

Nie Mingjue is a dead man walking. [Dead Man Walking, The Untamed, Nie Mingjue & Wen Ning]

Me, starting this: oh I don't think there'll be a pattern

Me, 10 minutes later: ... huh

Like obviously there is some variation in there but wow yeah there are more similarities than I expected, especially between the most recent ones! I don't tend to necessarily think about first sentences other than getting them out on the page, so seeing them side by side is a lot of fun actually

Tagging: @nemainofthewater @wishthefish @circumference-pie @dcderringer @sinni-ok-sessi and yeah anyone else who's curious!

[ao3feed-xicheng]

My Hidden Consort

by Neha2233 Lan Qinghen-jun and Lan Yi have two twin children, alpha Lan Xichen and alpha Lan Wangji. Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu have three children, alpha Jiang Yanli, omega Jiang Weiying and his twin brother omega Jiang Cheng. Lan alpha twin jades' marriage with Jiang twin omega lotus' is fixed in childhood as an arranged marriage but Lan twins brothers are very obedient but on the other hand Jiang twins omega are very much against this marriage decision.   ~~~>>>Special Warning

[robininthelabyrinth]

Rise of the Guardians and or Stardust AU?

“Oh, well done,” Yu Ziyuan said approvingly. “Very well done, Wei Wuxian! Good boy! Look at that, he got them all well and good and he didn’t forget about the aesthetic.”

“I suppose that really was always the one thing on which you and A-Xian always agreed,” her husband said, long-suffering. A little pleased, as he always was when she and Wei Wuxian would share looks of despair at their most distinctly uninterested family members – none of them had ever really appreciated the joys of a proper look. Even Jiang Cheng, who was exceedingly stylish in his own way, had his own thing going on, more good taste than a real commitment to a style.

It wasn’t really an aesthetic if you weren’t willing to stick with it for good and for bad.

Especially for bad.

“Well, yes,” she agreed. “At least someone understood the importance of making sure your actions fit the right aesthetic – and I think it’s clear that this, at least, is very aesthetic.”

“I’m not sure I agree,” Madame Lan put in with a slight frown. “Lots of corpses, yes, but what’s the aesthetic in that?”

“The ravens, obviously. Look at that, he’s more or less created a bird tornado.”

“Bird tornado,” the former Sect Leader Nie coughed into his hand, looking vastly amused. He always did have a good sense of humor, that little extra bit of ruthless edge that most Nie sect leaders lacked in their earnestness giving him the remove necessary to laugh at terrible things – his too-early death really had been a pity. “What aesthetic does that match, exactly? Is he going to be the bird patriarch?”

“Ravens are obviously aligned with demonic cultivation,” Yu Ziyuan argued, affronted on behalf of gaudy over-the-top taste everywhere. “Red eyes, ravens, corpses – it’s a death theme.”

“Then why isn’t he wearing white?”

“…a darkness theme, then. Not everyone can go with the funeral attire all the time - if you want that, why don’t you go look at what’s-his-name, the new star that fell down east? Xiao Xingchen or whatever he’s called himself?”

“Maybe he just doesn’t want to look like a Lan,” her husband suggested, getting back on track to stop the tide of rolling eyes.

“There’s nothing wrong with looking like a Lan,” Qingheng-jun murmured, his eyes drifting over to his wife. They were still working out their issues, which seemed to Yu Ziyuan to be in a bit of bad taste; they were all dead, after all.

Still, she wouldn’t comment. Maybe they were going for absurdist.

“Better look like a Lan than something like A-Han’s style,” Sect Leader Nie agreed cheerfully. “White and garish red – awful. Like blood on snow.”

“See, this is why everyone thought you were fucking before he killed you,” Yu Ziyuan told him, rolling her eyes. “Who the fuck calls Wen Ruohan by a diminutive?”

“Me,” Sect Leader Nie said. Still cheerful.

Sometimes she wanted to kill him, and he was already dead.

“I’m not sure why you think having killed him was an indication they weren’t fucking,” Madame Lan said, and nudged her husband pointedly with her elbow. She was a lot less subtle than he was, but then again, she wasn’t a Lan. Qingheng-jun had that vaguely constipated look that suggested he was both happy and regretful about her attention – Lans!

Yu Ziyuan really wondered about Wei Wuxian’s taste sometimes. All that wonderfully dark aesthetic he had going on, and he had to fall for a coffin-face?

Hmm. On second thought, maybe it did match. Now that was commitment to a theme…

“No comment on the fucking,” Sect Leader Nie said, the way he always did. “Anyway, looks like Wen Chao’s going to be joining us soon enough, once your Wei Wuxian is done playing with him.”

“Deserved, every inch of it.” Yu Ziyuan announced, and for once Jiang Fengmian held his tongue about her being unduly vicious. In fairness, the man had led the attack that killed them both; they were entitled to some bitterness. “I may hate his guts, but one really has to have some sympathy – I really have no idea how someone as fiendishly intelligent as Wen Ruohan turned out such an awful stupid child.”

“At least we finally got rid of Wen Xu,” Sect Leader Nie said, and showed his teeth – his son had been the one to execute that waste of space in the world of the living, and Sect Leader Nie had been the one to do something or other to get rid of him in the world of ghosts.

Yu Ziyuan half suspected that he’d eaten him.

Let it never be said that the Nie sect didn’t know how to bear a grudge.

“Well, aesthetic or no aesthetic, I’m concerned for the poor boy,” Madame Lan said. “People won’t respond well to demonic cultivation after the war is won, and it’s not as if he has other choices given – all that happened.”

Yu Ziyuan made a face, but nodded, agreeing – she’d always resented her husband’s obvious preference to Wei Wuxian, but she’d generally trusted the boy to take care of Jiang Cheng, and he’d lived up to that in full. In full and beyond, no less.

Poor child, she really had misjudged him. She’d have to tell him as much when he eventually died.

Sadly, Madame Lan was right that it probably wasn’t that far away now.

She hoped Jiang Cheng would be all right without him. If there was one person who wasn’t going to be allowed to join their little crowd of commentators, it was him!

[reallygrossmdzsthoughts2]

madam lan was raped by qingheng-jun's teacher; she killed him in self-defense. qinheng-jun found her struggling to take the corpse off her, trying to cover herself. so pretty and vulnerable and yet fierce that he fell in love at first sight. he made sure she was well immobilised before fucking all of her holes till dawn, then married and locked her up in the gentian house. her first child, however, wasn't his. the teacher was first

No wonder Madam Lan and Lan Xichen didn’t seem to be close.

[randomleafoflove]

Lan Wangji’s point of view of Wén Wuxian and the year during lectures.

-

Unlike what Wén Wuxian thought, Wangji was not a repeat student of shufu’s lectures.

It was sect policy that main family disciples do not attend the lectures early (or late), but with their age group. That is, the lectures that have more prominent disciples from other sect during the two years they are eligible between the ages fifteen and seventeen. This policy allowed Nie Huaisang a repeat year without damaging his reputation (too much). In polite society, his failure the first year was ascribed to being too young for the lectures.

But while Wangji had not sat in on shufu’s lectures, he had read the material covered during the lectures.

Honestly speaking, Wangji had not paid Wén Wuxian any more mind than any other guest disciple (even if he was a Wēn) until he’d argued with shufu about the proper method of dealing with resentful ghosts and been punished for it.

And then the irreverence he showed when talking about the rules he copied under Wangji’s watchful eye. Like the rules weren’t there for a reason!

It seemed like Wén Wuxian was just like his disrespectful Wēn sect compatriots.

Then he painted Wangji a picture, a portrait of Wangji himself. For some reason, receiving it made his heart beat fast. And instead of leaving it crumbled in the wastepaper basket to be burned, he smuggled it to Jingshi, smoothed it out, dated and wrote down who’d painted it, and put it in the same flat box as the small paintings his a-niang had sometimes slipped him. When he was a child, Wangji hadn’t known to date his mother’s paintings, but when he was ten, he’d written his mother’s name in the back. They were a small reminder that his mother had existed outside the anonymity of Madam Lan, wife of Qinghen-jun, mother of Lan Huan, Xichen, and Lan Zhan, Wangji.

Wangji didn’t think further on it, even if he found himself watching Wén Wuxian much more often, offering aid to a young widow in Caiyi, across their shared table in the library, when he was so lost in thought he forgot where he was.

It was getting harder to ignore Wén Wuxian and walk away when he called Lan Zhan! in that excited way of his. But he was a Wēn, and xiongzhang had said that Wēn Ruohan had been acting aggressively lately, taking over the smaller sects around Qishan. Xiongzhang had said Wén Wuxian was likely a spy. The servant who cleaned the guest disciple dorms had found a weird talisman outside Wén Wuxian’s door. She’d copied it, and the copy had been give to the talisman master of the Lan sect to analyze. He couldn’t give a definite answer as to what it did, other than spout out a number.

Giving him bunnies (his favorite animal) because he hadn’t expressed his opinion on animals had been a coincidence. Giving him black and white cutsleeve bunnies could not be a coincidence. (The Lan guest disciple uniform may have been white, but Wén Wuxian always wore a long, black, sleeveless robe over them.) It made him wonder if maybe Wén Wuxian actually meant it when he called Wangji beautiful and pretty and cute and handsome. It was nothing he’d never heard before, even if Wén Wuxian was the first to say it to his face.

Wén Wuxian, for better or for worse (probably worse, said shufu’s disapproving voice in his head), was his… something. Had he been anyone but a Wēn, he’d have at least allowed himself admit his fascination with the other boy, and probably had xiongzhang’s approval, but Wén Wuxian was a Wēn. Wangji was resigned to rooting out his feelings for him (after the lectures, please let him enjoy the strange warmth he felt whenever Wén Wuxian smiled at him until the end of lectures, he’ll go back to only feeling filial love and filial piety for his family, he promises). Xiongzhang didn’t approve of Wén Wuxian, shufu even less so. But they hadn’t seen Wén Wuxian playing with bunnies or argue passionately for women’s right for self-governance.

Wangji remembered reading the law books Wén Wuxian had collected for their references for the essay shufu assigned for while he was away. He remembered connecting the dots with the laws and his a-niang.

Sometimes he wondered if his a-niang had come back as a ghost and the elders had just exterminated her spirit, to keep anyone from figuring out what had actually happened.

Because Wén Wuxian had him questioning the narrative he’d been told time and again as a child: a-niang was a bad woman because she’d murdered one of their senior teachers.

Even if it all had culminated in a-niang killing one of the Lan sect’s senior teachers, what were the circumstances leading to it? The woman he remembered wouldn’t have killed anyone without reason.

There was a disconnect between the laws of the land and the morality Wangji had been taught. For example, rape, while morally reprehensible, was only punishable if the victim was of a higher social standing, while those of “equal” and lower standing got maybe a slap on the wrist or suffered no consequences. But women were never equal to men in the eyes of the law. And if there were reparations made, they were made to the woman’s familial guardian to make up for the woman’s lower value on the marriage market. The only exception was the rape of a Buddhist nun, which always lead to execution, at least on paper. Wangji was learning nothing was as simple as the books and sect rules made it seem.

During their bunny filled afternoons, Wén Wuxian would pose Wangji moral dilemmas and then they’d debate about the proper answer. The first one had been a hypothetical about a poor man with a sick child stealing medicine from a wealthy apothecary. The following one had been about ladies of the night. Then preemptive punishment.

Wén Wuxian had thoughtful answers for each of his own questions, and eventually explained that they were questions his shijie had asked him over the years of his studies.

Wēn Xiachen was a frequent character in Wén Wuxian’s stories, filling the role of mother, sister and teacher all at once, and if he was to be believed, was an incarnation of Guanyin.

Shufu and xiongzhang’s opinion on Wēn Xiachen couldn’t have been more different, describing her as ruthless and cold, deadly with a sword and accurate in her archery. Polite, yes, but frostily so. Which was better than her brothers Wēn Xu and Wēn Chao, who were barely within the parameters of good manners, but less amiable than Wēn Qing, Wēn Ruohan’s medical genius niece and an all around pleasant if reserved individual.

And after all this, Wén Wuxian had the nerve to earnestly make a promise to stand with justice and live without regrets, all the while looking like Wangji’s spring dreams come to life. And then turn around and ask Wangji to spend the evening alone with him on a picnic watching the lanterns journey up and away. How was Wangji supposed to say no?

Shufu saw them and decided to assign Wangji more work. Not punishment, just involving him more in the running of the sect.

Wangji saw Wén Wuxian mainly at the lectures and the occasional free afternoon. His free time was eaten away even more by his self-assigned punishment for his lustful thoughts and frequent spring dreams featuring the other boy.

Winter brought new challenges, like Wén Wuxian’s pink nose and red cheeks.

Then it was over. Spring festival over and done with, closing ceremony had been held, the guest disciples were packed and departing in droves.

Wén Wuxian was one of the early departures because of the length of his journey. He had given Wangji one last painting and a wistful smile and flown off.

Wangji announced his desire to enter secluded meditation.

It was time to root out his feeling for Wén Wuxian.

Dedicating his life for his sect was enough for shufu. Surely it’d be enough for him too?

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Also, question! Does original text support that JC raised JL? Or is it just because he has the clarity bell that makes people think JC gave birth and breastfeed him?

Hello there anon, it is said that he was raised "by two families".

Jin Ling had been raised by two families, staying at the tower of Jinlintai of the Jin Clan of Lanling half the time and at the Lotus Pier of the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng the other half. Thus, he should have things from both families on him.

(And a big thank you to @rynne and @ladypfenix for pointing me to the chapter this is in!)

But I say this with stipulation, that this does not mean the adults of sect leader standing were heavily involved in the everyday rearing and care of him. Such as what we are shown first with Madam Yu and how it's stated she was rarely there within the sect seat of Yunmeng, and, how Qinghen-Jun also did not have a hand at all with raising his sons which was left to Lan Qiren instead. Similarly, I imagine it was Jin Guangyao who was the one heavily involved with personally taking the time to visit with Jin Ling as the designated "parental" role due to social etiquette.

It is also the expectation for children of families to be raised within the patriarchal line. They are of their fathers heirs. It would naturally default to Jin Guangyao, in all expectation, to be Jin Ling's official guardian and next of kin to raise him more as a Jin. He wears the robes of Lanling and is the next sect heir of Jin Guangyao he is more Jin in social standing and society expectation than of Jiang. Jin Ling himself is also very invested in his family name as Jin Zixuan's son more than that of anything of Yunmeng Jiang. He tells "Mo Xuanyu" to not make a mess of the name of Jin.

Even as he questions why Wei Wuxian knows so many of the Lan principles, he stops himself given that earlier in that scene, Wei Wuxian has declared his intentions of being a part of Lan Wangji's family name as the wife. The wife of course, is supposed to turn to the family rules of the husband in Chinese marriages and become one of that family, the ties of the "milk name family" are secondary and a bit more to the foreground.

[acequinz]

I know both LWJ and LXC have some real good parallels with Qinghen-jun.

But something about LWJ and Qinghen-jun at least being able to marry their love and protect them.

While LXC and Lan Qiren take the mantle for sect leader and staying single is also very tasty.

Which brings me to the main point.

Lan Qiren and his probably similarly devastating first love who married someone else or died and Lan Qiren continuing to stay single and take care of his nephews.

So I am just thinking Lan Qiren trying to coax Lan Xichen out of seclusion after a year or two because he knows it hurts and shares the story of his own lost flame.

That would make a tasty story right?

[angstymdzsthoughts]

Madame Lan is not dead. She is a celestial maiden whose heavenly robes were stolen by the Lan elder who wanted to make her his wife. When he tried to force himself upon her, she killed him in self defense. To prevent her execution, QingHen-jun offered to marry her. (1/2)

It was LQR who discovered the truth when she was sick. He confronted his brother and returned her heavenly robes, not before making her promise she is not going to take revenge or come back to take the children. When she put her robes, she inmediately return to Heaven. (2/2)

-

"It's the strangest thing," the doctor says. "She keeps begging for us to return her robes. I've personally checked her wardrobe and shes not missing any of the sect robes we gave her but when we showed her that all her robes are there she gets angry and accuses us of helping sect leader hide them. I fear that her illness is starting to effect her mind. It may be for the best to have the children stop visiting her, to spare them the distress of seeing their mother so unhinged."

Lan Qiren nods and agrees, but can't get the old stories his mother use to tell he and his brother out of his mind. Legends about celestial maidens who were bound to the mortal world after their heavenly robes were stolen. In adulthood he had written it off as a simple allegory but the stories refused to leave his mind. Days later, he finds himself shamefully sneaking into his brothers home and snooping through his possessions until he finds a chest with light shining through the cracks of the lid.

The robes inside are so beautiful that they take his breath away. He felt unworthy of touching them but he still folds them as perfectly as he is capable of and smuggled them out of his brothers home.

His sister in laws beauty has always been exceptional. People have said that she was blessed by the gods, too beautiful to be human. He had always thought the same, but never knew how close to the truth it was. Even sick and dying she is beautiful.

She weeps when he shows her the robes. She reaches for them and tries to get out of her bed but cannot find the strength to do so. Her illness has been draining the life out of her for months and she’s been refusing food for days. Her frustration with herself made her cry harder.

"I will return what is yours," Lan Qiren soothes her. "We have wronged you. All I ask is that you leave in peace and not retaliate."

"I swear it," she says easily.

"And you leave the children with their fathers family."

She makes a pained noise and clenches her heart, curling in on herself before letting out a heartbroken wail. She shakes and cries for a long while before swearing that her sons will live their natural lives on earth.

He places the robes at the foot of her bed within easy reach and leaves.

He meets his brother while he is returning home. The man looks mad- a crazed look in his eyes and only wearing his under robes while running through the woods with no shoes on. "What have you done?!" He screams. He grabs Qiren and shook him. "Where are they?!"

"They have been returned to their rightful owner." With a furious, heartbroken scream his brother pushes past him and runs to his wife's cottage. She would be gone before he arrived.

Lan Qiren couldn't find it in himself to feel remorseful or even pity for his brothers distress and heartbreak. He had to think of how he would tell his nephews they would not be seeing their mother anymore.

[vrishchikawrites]

How do you think things could to have gone for Madame Lan and her sons if Qinghen-jun had died when LWJ was six years old instead of her?

I don't know. I feel like QHJ was the only protection she had, as flimsy as it was. Without him, Idk how things would've gone for her. LWJ and LXC would certainly have a more involved parent if Lans were willing to maintain status quo. But beyond that, I don't think much would change. LWJ may be a little less rigid and a little more willing to question things. But beyond that? They would still be raised by LQR and have the same environment and expectations so idk.

[crossdressingdeath]

Fun thought: JFM was probably the number one eligible bachelor in his generation. WRH was powerful but a maniac, Papa Nie presumably had a temper similar to his eldest son's thanks to their cultivation, LQR was probably grumpy even as a teenager and I can't imagine Qinghen-Jun was super popular if he was apparentely smitten with Mama Lan at first sight and either didn't take no for an answer or ignored everyone else's advances. Just an interesting idea, considering YZY's need to have/be the best

Mm... I doubt it. WRH clearly knew how to handle people (hence how he got so far along in his domination of the country before anyone made a move) and so may well have been quite well-liked and respected before going all take-over-the-world, even assuming the previous Sect Leader Nie did have a similar temper to NMJ (which as far as I remember is... never actually confirmed, and we know you don’t need to be like NMJ to go into qi deviation because WWX does) the “domineering but genuinely loving” thing is popular enough amongs the sects that NMJ was seventh on the list of eligible young masters, and LQR and QHJ are Lans and so instantly desirable due to being Sexy As Hell (remember that both the top slots on the eligible young masters list are taken up by Lans with everyone who actively dislikes them preeeeeeetty obviously being jealous more than anything else, and it’s not a personality thing because LXC and LWJ are pretty much direct opposites) and even assuming QHJ met Madam Lan before YZY got married (which again is never confirmed) being smitten with someone or otherwise unavailable doesn’t mean you’re not a popular young master right up until you’re actually married (even taking into account the fact that LWJ’s love for WWX was a closely-guarded secret, JZX was engaged and still got third place on the list) and LQR has a similar temperament to LWJ who is second on the list in his generation and only beaten out by his equally gorgeous but more approachable and higher rank brother. Basically... yeah, I don’t think JFM was the number one eligible bachelor of his generation. I think YZY just figured he’d be the easiest to bully into compliance, and... well, she was right about that.