#the lan qiren big naturals are for another world....

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

No homo, but let's synchronize our instruments together.

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[raidens-bitch]

A-Yuan remembers everything AU

Ok so, I have this little angsty head cannon that LZ didn't talk to Sizhui about his childhood because he didn't want him to seek for revenge and hate both Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen (and the rest of the cultivation world) for WWX death. One because LQ and LXN were his "inmidiate" family and the other because he didn't want him to be a pariah like his Wei Ying.

So, how about a fanfic where A-Yuan remembers everything and has kind of a big, titanic trauma about the day of the siege, how he saw men dressed in gold, purple, white and tons of other colours kill his family without mercy, without caring if they were guilty or not. How his Xian-gege dies after destroying the stygian tyger seal, and all that A-Yuan can think of is 'why is everyone so mean? Why are they hurting us? WHAT DID WE DO? Why isn't everyone waking up?' Of course he can't understand anything while he has the possesions of the clan with himself in a qiankun bag. Then LWJ finds him and A-Yuan is scared because he saw people dressed like Rich-gege kills unlce fourth so there is a huge probability that he will hurt him too, he doesen't, somehow he triess to get his little hands in Chenquing before Jiang Cheng (wich includes more trauma because he is seeing what is remaining of his Xian-gege) but he didn't succeeded because he is five and Jiang Cheng is stronger. But it's ok, A-Yuan will regain the flute sooner or later because it was his Mommy's flute so it was his now.

Then LWJ takes him to Gusu and A-Yuan absolutely hates the place. To many rules, the food is abundant but didn't taste like Popo's food that was cooked with love, he hates every colour that isn't red or black except the opaque white of his old Wen robes (he tried to convince LWJ to wear black and red but LQ didn't let him, the only red in his outfit is the red ribbon of his Xian gege), the place is nice, but to quiet, he can't hear laughs of anything that isn't random thing that he doesen't care. He hates the whole clan and sect and he doesen't have any friends except Jingyi (because Jingyi is like Xian-gege, so A-Yuan keeps him close). Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren tried to talk to him but A-Yuan knows they hurt his family and in consequence him, so he doesen't talk unless is necesary wich is only to Lan Qiren and only when he is questioned something in class. He is naturally a cold, introvert kid when he is young, and his hate towards the sects gets worse as he grows up and undesrtands ehat happened more and more, and LWJ doesen't know what to do. He becomes fifteen and he mets his "cousin" for the first time Jin Ling is spoiled, has a bad humour and talks shit of his Xian-gege so much that Sizhui wants to use his strength to rip the twelve year old's head like a watermelon, but he is young and easily driven by the adults around him, so he stays calm. That same day, Suibian amd the demonic cultivation notes dissapear, but no one knows what happened. A week later, Lan Wangji discovers the sword and notes in the back hill so he talks with Sizhui just to tell him he will take care of WWX things. Suibian remains sealed, under the tabloons of the Jingshi besides the Emperor's smile jars, and the notes are preserved in nice box besides it.

Another year passes and during the discussion conference in Yunmeng, Chenquing dissapears. The only trace is a peace of a red ribbon, but no one knows who is the owner because Sizhui is nowhere to be found, the cultivation world just blames the Yiling patriarch, again.

Of course Nie Huaisang knows this and decides to help.

And I don't know how to continue, but if you want it, you can write a fanfic. Just give me the credits of the main idea.

[shanastoryteller]

on one hand i’ve been wanting to talk about this for a while, and on the other hand i’ve been avoiding it for the massive potential it has to go from us having a conversation to devolving into the most annoying discourse possible

but i got another comment that just broke the camel’s back so i’m going to talk about it anyway

a lot of things i see people are saying are “wrong” in untamed fanfic are actually just translation preferences and just because someone chooses to translate something differently than you doesn’t make it wrong 

first, before we get into what i’m talking about, we have to talk about what translations are and the motivation behind them

translations are taking something from one language and making it understandable and consumable in a different language 

this can be as big as the differences between chinese and english or as small as the differences between british english and american english, which are considered different enough that books published in both places will have words and phrases translated to make them more digestible to the population it’s being marketed towards 

there are few different ways someone can translate something

there’s a direct translation, which is just finding the closest applicable word and plopping it in there like a smarter google translate 

there’s translating to preserve the intention and cultural significance behind a word/phrase as closely as can be replicated in the foreign language

there’s translating to convey the vibe/feeling as closely as can be replicated in the foreign language

there’s not translating at all, which doesn’t technically count, by definition, but is brought up often enough that we’ll talk about it

there’s an infinite number of ways this applies, but for simplicity’s sake, and because it’s the one people keep bringing up to me, we’re going to go with jiujiu / maternal uncle 

because i don’t speak chinese, my first job is to gain some level of understanding about what this word really means in the original language and the way it’s used. only once you understand that can you make a semi-educated choice on how to translate something (since most of us aren’t fluent in the language or culture, semi educated is about as good as it gets, but for smaller words like these i think it’s easy enough to get most of the needed context). so we need to start off with: maternal uncle, respectful, people don’t use names to differentiate between uncles like we do in english, using first names and/or birth names is either intimate or disrespectful depending on circumstance 

now, the simplest way to translate this is just as uncle. in english, referring to someone just as uncle is a little unusual, but common enough that this works as a good translation all around. if one wants to translate the maternal aspect of it, then “uncle lastname” works pretty well. the issue with that is that naming convention only ever happens in english maybe with grand uncles or “uncles” that fall more under shushu than jiujiu, so if i was translating it then that’s something i would avoid, because i wouldn’t want the readers to think that the characters have a less close relationship because o this, but it’s something that’s easy enough to do without distorting the original meaning so i think it also works 

if the character only has one uncle 

but we are, specifically, talking about jin ling here 

so if he’s talking about both jiang cheng and wei wuxian in the same scene, and referring to them both as uncle, how do we differentiate them? 

uncle wei and uncle jiang work here, because they’re both maternal uncles but they have different last names, which is really just us getting lucky in this situation. but it presents the problem we have earlier. 

to an english ear, that creates distance between jin ling and jc/wwx. if i want to show them as being close to an english speaking audience, that’s not a translation i personally want to use 

the most obvious solution is to then have jin ling refer to them way most english speaking people would refer to their uncles (that’s not just straight up having him call them by the their names, which is what i actually think is most common. i only refer to my uncle as uncle when i’m talking ABOUT him to someone else) which is “uncle first name”

however first names also present a problem in untamed because of courtesy names and because courtesy names are used ahistorically and inconsistently in canon 

wei wuxian uses jiang cheng’s birth name but jc doesn’t use wwx’s. wwx is basically the same age and lower in rank than jc, so it would make sense for jc to call him wei ying in turn, but he just ... doesn’t. same for jiang yanli. she’s arguably the one wwx is closest to and has the most positive relationship with through out the show and she’s older than him. it would make a lot of sense for her to call him wei ying, or even a-ying to mirror the way she calls jc a-cheng rather than calling wwx a-xian. lan xichen calls lan wangji by his courtesy name rather than birth name, and i’m pretty sure lan qiren does the same to both his nephews, which doesn’t really make sense to me in world

i think the real purpose here was to give wwx and lwj names that they only call each other for special intimacy reasons rather than to create a consistent more in the untamed universe

however, going with that and jin ling obviously being so much younger and wanting to retain at least some of the respectfulness that would be inherent in the original language, i do think that uncle wuxian and uncle wanyin are good translations 

u n l e s s 

see the thing is that jin ling refers to wwx as “wei ying” before he knows him as a way to be disrespectful to him because he believes that he killed his parents. i personally like the symmetry in him shifting to calling him that in a positive manner to make up for him calling him that in a negative manner, which isn’t something that can really work in chinese, but can work in english 

as for jiang cheng, probably because the story is told from wwx’s pov even in the show, we’re used to seeing his birth name rather than his courtesy name, and honestly no one uses his courtesy name unless he’s being a bitch. because of this, the use of wanyin creates a cognitive sense of distance that the often used wuxian just doesn’t. so if someone uses his birth name for that reason, i think that makes sense too. so i think uncle ying and uncle cheng can also work 

there is, of course, just using jiujiu and trusting context to take care of the rest, but that’s less a translation choice than it is just choosing not to translate 

i’ve done different things in different works with different contexts. in rotten work specifically, i had jin ling refer to jc as just “uncle” because i imagine that’s what he’s been doing for 16 years with no other maternal uncle, and because he’s the uncle he’s closest too among all of them, and i wanted to reflect that. i have jl refer to wwx as “uncle ying” a little bit because of the reasons above, but also a way to stake a claim on him to everyone and to demonstrate that they have a close relationship before the really have one as a way to partially shield wwx and to goad those around him (plus a bonus plot reason that doesn’t get revealed until the final chapter)

my point here is that there’s a lot reasons why someone could choose to translate something one way versus another. i used this one thing as an example, but this same thought process applies to lots of things 

you do not have to agree with everyone’s translation choices, or like them, or think them appropriate. but translation is by its very nature imperfect and there’s a lot of different potential reasoning behind people’s choices and i really don’t think there’s one perfect way to translate something and that all other ways are wrong 

[plan-d-to-i]

I've read a fic recently and it reminded me of the way other people (or maybe only LWJ, I can't remember) in the cultivation world saying that there will be a steep price for using modao bc it's so dangerously powerful. It got me thinking about the so called righteous/sword path. From what I know, WWX did mentioned that traveling by sword wasn't actually a thing back in the day, so I assumed that spiritual cultivation itself was also something someone invented among normal people/non-cultivators.

I originally see modao as the yin to the jiandao's yang, and perhaps have some side effects on the user, but this is disproven by post-resurrection WWX's behaviour . So it's safe to assume that both modao and jiandao are not dangerous to the user if used correctly.

Anyway, the point is that my big brain decided that 'hey, the so called orthodox path was probably in the same position as modao in the past'. So, what are your thoughts on spiritual cultivation when it was first invented in mdzs? Do you think back then people also said that spiritual cultivators have to pay a steep price for using this power?

I really love the stuff you post btw ❤️

That's very kind, thank you (◕‿◕)♡

So this is the passage that you're referring to I believe:

Changing the topic, he said, “If only there was something like fishing bait that could draw the water ghosts in. Or, something that could point in the direction they’re hiding, like a compass, that sort of thing.”

“Lower your head and watch the water,” Jiang Cheng said. “You’re letting your fantasies run wild again. Concentrate on looking for water ghosts like you’re supposed to.”

“Hey, mounting swords and flying was also only a fantasy once!” Wei Wuxian said.

But that just means that people who cultivated didn't think of using their spiritual energy to fly on their weapons from day one. Someone had to invent that particular use for it and technique. Not that it was taboo at one time. Naturally there are risks w cultivating w spiritual energy as well- depending on mistakes made as someone is advancing, or particular techniques used to cultivate (like the Nie Clan). Or how Sizhui picked up another sword technique from the other juniors and had to be corrected because it was not safe:

Lan WangJi listened for a moment, “Excessive.”

Wei WuXian understood what he meant. From the sounds of the sword and the footsteps, he could tell that Lan SiZhui’s swordplay was swift and fierce, lacking in firmness. It wasn’t that it was inadequate, but rather that it wasn’t consistent with the GusuLan Sect’s sword way. If his vigor wasn’t in harmony or if he used many different methods, he might reach a dead end once he cultivated to a higher level.

Unlike spirit cultivation, resentful energy is viewed as going against the natural order of things:

Everyone inside the elegant room stared at them in shock. The old man suddenly shot up. “The purpose of subduing demons and exterminating ghosts is to alleviate suffering! Not only have you forgotten this, you want to incite further resentment! You are inverting the means and the ends, without a care for humanity!”

“If some people’s suffering can’t be relieved, why not make it useful?” Wei Wuxian replied. “When Yu the Great tamed the floods, redirection was the superior strategy, and obstruction the inferior. Suppression is like obstruction, it can only be worse—”

Lan Qiren flung a book at Wei Wuxian, who quickly ducked out of the way. The color of his face unchanged, he continued to run his mouth. “Spiritual energy is energy, but resentful energy is also energy. Stored inside cores, spiritual energy is able to cleave mountains and drain seas, and is available for human use. Why can’t humans use resentful energy too?”

Another book flew toward him. Lan Qiren roared, “How can you promise that it will obey you and never bring others to harm?”

Now WWX is trying to rile LQR up here but he makes an interesting argument. And LQR doesn't seem to have a rebuttal for it and instead asks, how he can make sure it won't harm others?". Perhaps WWX is uniquely equipped to handle resentful energy because he himself doesn't hold on to resentments and he doesn't crave and cling to power (we know with something like the Yinhufu that people like JGS craved, WWX became weary of its reach and influence and decided to destroy it). But it's also an ironic question because it's not like someone like Wen Ruohan wasn't using spiritual energy to do fucked up things to people. So not unlike most things it's harmful in excess and dependent on who wields it. Resentful energy involved tampering w the dead. But within this particular story this is not framed as criminally immoral. A careful contrast is drawn between WWX's practice and the way someone like Xue Yang works:

Standing before the collapsed He Su, Xue Yang tossed something bloody in his hand, snapping at two of the walking corpses beside him, “Shut him in the cage.”

Jin GuangYao, “You shut them in alive?”

Xue Yang turned around, curling his lips, “Wei WuXian never used live humans, but I wanna try.”

Under his command, the two corpses dragged the legs of He Su who was still screaming and threw them inside the steel cage in the middle of the corpse training ground.

This obviously condemns tampering with the living over tampering with those who are already dead. And again this is in the context of this particular fantasy story. Which maybe shouldn't be surprising when the book is called the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation whose mc and moral ideal is WWX the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation... If the author had wanted to condemn WWX's practice and castigate him for using it, WWX's could easily have come back in his second life as a changed man who would never touch this path again! Regretting! Repenting! blah blah blah... However we see him quickly mobilize the Mos to help save the innocent, overwhelmed Juniors! We also see his techniques being used all over... the compass of evil! the flags being set up by the Lan Juniors themselves! The reader is guided to be in awe of the Summoning of Painted Eyes, just like the juniors observing it.

The disciples inside the room were shocked speechless.

They had only seen and heard the descriptions of improper cultivation methods from books and their own seniors. At the time, they couldn’t understand it, If they were improper methods, then why would so many people still want to learn them? Why would the YiLing Patriarch still have so many imitators? And, now, after they had seen it with their own eyes, they finally realized the fascination around these sorts of practices. Moreover, this was only the tip of the iceberg—the “Summoning of Painted Eyes”. Thus, after the boys got over the initial shock, there were no signs of repulsion on their faces, but instead excitement that couldn’t be concealed. They felt that it enriched their experiences, allowing for more conversations between their juniors and them.

We're especially shown clearly how cultivation society didn't actually get hung up on WWX's use resentful energy and fierce corpses when it served them:

A sect leader spoke, “Sect Leader Nie, I don’t think you’ve heard yet. Yunmeng’s Sect Leader Jiang is quite powerful in the area.”

Another person added, “How can he not be? Wei WuXian alone can face millions, so who’d he be scared of? He can just sit there controlling his area, unlike how we’re always running for our lives. With such luck…”

...

Someone spoke, “From my opinion, HanGuang-Jun really doesn’t have to do this. Even the living are close to being dead, so why should we care about those corpses?”

Another person agreed, “Yes, we’re in harsh times, right? Sect Leader Jiang is right. In terms of evil or not, who’s more evil than the Wen-dogs? He’s on our side anyways. I say it’s fine as long as he’s killing the Wen-dogs.”

Wei WuXian thought, Well, that wasn’t what you guys said when you brought the siege on me.

and it's even used for humor:

Lan WangJi looked behind him. There were rows of black pits, the piles of dirt beside them tall and neat. Wen Ning maintained his ‘smile’ as he added, “I do this kind of thing a lot. I’m experienced. And fast.”

On the topic of who it was that often made him ‘do this kind of thing’, no explanation was needed.

After some silence, Lan WangJi finally spoke, “There is no need. You can help…”

Before he could finish, he suddenly realized that Wei WuXian didn’t move at all. He had been squatting on the side, watching them. When he left the farm, he casually took with him a melon, and now he seemed to be trying to figure out how to open it.

Meeting Lan WangJi’s gaze, he protested, “HanGuang-Jun, don’t look at me like that. I have nothing in my hands and my spiritual powers are low, am I right? For every field there are professionals, it’s true. Digging graves, he’s the fastest. Why don’t we talk about how to eat the melon? Bichen had gone into the dirt and we won’t be able to use it as of now. Does anyone have anymore knives or swords or those kinds of things on them?”

Wen Ning shook his head, “Sorry, I didn’t bring any.”

Wei WuXian, “HanGuang-Jun, uh, is Suibian with you?”

Lan WangJi, “…”

Eventually, he took Suibian out of his qiankun sleeve. Melon in one hand and sword in the other, he showed off a sword routine and cut the little watermelon into eight pieces. After he finished, he squatted on the ground, watching them dig graves diligently as he ate melon.

On the other hand, within half an hour, Wen Ning had dug an entire row of pits exactly the same in size. He lay the corpses that he had broken up inside as he rambled on, “Everyone, I’m really sorry. I can’t tell anymore which of your corpses belonged to whom. If I buried anyone’s wrong, please excuse me…”

Having finished the melon and buried the rest of the corpses, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi set off again.

So love and light but people who are like: "ghost path cultivation is evil. WWX is wrong/the worst for using it. You have to undErstand why everyone turned against WWX and condemned him bc what he was doing is so wrong >:-/" -they are really not reading it as it's portrayed in the story & are missing the message- that it only became a problem when WWX spoke up against those in power and against the mob. jiang cheng is a sheep, so he's a good insight into their mentality. When WWX was practicing DC to procure him his revenge he happily told LWJ off and didn't give a damn about "morality" or how it might be affecting WWX's health and wellbeing etc. When WWX wanted to use it to save ppl, he turned his back on him and called him the enemy of the entire cultivation world... :

Wei WuXian! Don’t you understand? When you’re standing on their side, you’re the bizarre genius, the miraculous hero, the force of the rebellion, the flower that blooms alone. But the second your voice differs from theirs, you’ve lost your mind, you’ve ignored morality, you’ve walked the crooked path.

The novel repeatedly highlights this concept- that a moral person cannot base their morality on the multitude. What's right and wrong has to come from within you and be unswayed by public opinion, by those in power, or by the baying mob, not reliant on their censure or adulation because that shifts with their interests.

"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."

[robininthelabyrinth]

How does the cultivation world find out about the Nie tiger qi deviation?

Tigers

Lan Qiren was six, and he was tired.

He’d been running after the grown-ups for what felt like ages, trying to keep up, trying to justify having been brought to the Unclean Realm to accompany their father on a night-hunt even though he knew the real reason was because there was trouble back at the Cloud Recesses that, for whatever reason, required him not to be there. Something to do with his mother, maybe, or possibly his father’s reaction to his mother’s death – he really wasn’t sure.

They’d left him behind, though.

Possibly on purpose.

Either way, he’d tried to catch up, and he was pretty sure he was now lost. He didn’t even know where he was anymore – it didn’t even look like forest, being all twisted and turned around, with round tombs with no apparent entrances…except there was an entrance, because the old sect leader Nie was being helped into one. He didn’t look too good, with his eyes gone all red and a little bit of foam at his mouth, and Lan Qiren hid himself away, instinctively certain that he shouldn’t be seeing this, not least of all because the people escorting him looked like they were conducting a funeral. They’d only just changed sect leaders in the Nie sect recently, with Lao Nie stepping up to become sect leader, and no one had actually said what happened to the old sect leader, but they’d all exchanged significant looks…

They’d left it too long, whatever it was. The old sect leader shoved all his helpers away, throwing back his head and howling in rage and pain and –

And about halfway through, it turned into more of a roar, instead.

After a bit, it wasn’t even that.

Lan Qiren stared, wide-eyed, at the tiger swishing its tail where the old sect leader Nie had been standing.

He didn’t move as the Nie sect disciples conferred with each other, then shrugged and headed into the tombs, carrying the old sect leader’s saber like they were going to proceed with the funeral – like they’d always planned on burying the saber instead of the man.

Maybe they had.

In the meantime, the tiger yawned and stretched, then trotted away – straight towards Lan Qiren, actually. Not accidentally, either: it stopped right in front of the copse of trees Lan Qiren was hiding in and gave a pointed sniff.

“Uh, hi,” Lan Qiren said. Then, out of lack of anything better to say, added, “You’re a very pretty kitty now, Sect Leader Nie. Uh. Former Sect Leader Nie?”

The tiger preened.

“Still a bit covered in gore, though.” It had been a pretty big explosion. “Do you wanna take a bath or something, maybe? I read in a book that cats like to be clean…”

The tiger nodded. Vigorously. Then it turned to go away, but paused and gave Lan Qiren a look. Several looks.

“…I can come with you?”

Another nod.

Lan Qiren considered his options: remaining lost, or following the tiger-once-a-person.

“Can I ride you?” he asked, and beamed when the tiger nodded. Easy choice!

(Later, Lao Nie found him with his face pressed into the tiger’s now-clean fur, most of the way asleep, snoring and drooling, and shook his head. “You’re not supposed to let people know, you know that,” he told his father, who sneezed in his general direction. “But it’s Qiren, so I suppose it’s all right. He’s a good boy, he won’t tell anyone…”)

They were right, too, Lan Qiren thought, many years later when Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian blurted the secret out to the cultivation world at large. He shook out his sleeves and did his best to adopt a careless attitude – not his natural state of things, to say the least, but at least tolerably believable.

“What, Sect Leader Yao,” he said loudly, “are you saying youdidn’t know? I thought it was common knowledge!”

Sect Leader Yao gaped at him for a moment.

“Surely you’ve just forgotten,” Lan Qiren said pointedly. “Easy enough, since we see it so rarely. Still I’m sure we’ve discussed the Nie sect leaders’ fate in the past, don’t you think?”

Technically not a lie. Lan Qiren had definitely discussed the qi deviation part of it with Sect Leader Yao before – though perhaps not the final implications thereof.

“Oh, yes, of course,” Sect Leader Yao said, never one to miss an opportunity to look like he knew everything. “Of course, of course. It’s just been so many years – you know how it is.”

Lan Qiren nodded. “The Nie have long been accepted as a Great Sect,” he said. “It would be very strange if we didn’t all know about such a fundamental fact of their cultivation.”

It would be, too, except for the fact that they’d kept it such a secret.

Still, between the Lan sect reputation for not lying and Lan Qiren’s forcefulness and personal authority – there was nothing like an old teacher for being believed, he’d found, even if the people doing the believing were his students’ parents – it only took a little more than that. Eventually he had everyone nodding along with him as if they’d always known about it, that it was common knowledge.

Now they just had to come up with a way to convince everyone that the late, unlamented Jin Guangshan’s tragic death by animal bite had nothing to do with it, and everything would be fine.

(That much, he was leaving to Nie Huaisang.)

[vrishchikawrites]

LAN XICHEN- REVISITED.

Oh My God. I understand my irrational dislike of Lan Xichen, now. It is as you said earlier, he is just a normal dude trying to lead a big Sect. I do not mean 'Normal' as 'Average', of course, because he is talented and smart, even if not like his brother or Wei-Zhongzu (I'm trynna start a movement to refer to Wei Wuxian exclusively as 'Wei- Zhongzu' for the respect he deserves (even if it is a title exclusively for Sect Leaders), please work with me here).

He is a decent leader. He is not 'OP genius prodigal protagonist' level talented, but he is definitely 'gifted child with good potential' level talented. He is also not a pushover, nor is he easy to subjugate and dominate. He is however, unknowingly arrogant and willfully ignorant, which leads to him becoming complacent sometimes. He is the type of guy you would be okay with taking the lead, but nobody is falling all over themselves to offer him the position. He is leagues better as a Sect Leader than the socially cold heir and the venomously petty heir, though. 

The fact that he has been the best Sect Leader for two generations says more about the Cultivation World than words ever could.

It is difficult to read his character. I do not know if it is because of the translation, or because MXTX could not find the time to flesh him out properly, but some actions of his make no sense. His approach as a leader is to be cautious and courteous, take the peaceful way out and deal with conflicts methodically. Keeping that in mind, I would have expected him to put some distance between himself and Meng Yao after viewing his shady actions, like killing an entire Clan for the murder of his son, when it was not even confirmed they did it; but he does not do so. I did not think he would sever the relationship, but would at least draw some lines. Again, he does not. In fact, he implies to Lan Wangji how he thinks that Meng Yao's hand was forced, and the only reason he did what he did was because he had no other option.

That is quite a cruel thing to say to a man whose beloved was in similar circumstances and was killed because of it.

I have already talked about his passiveness and my dislike of it, so if it is okay with you, I will not do so again.

There is a lot of shitiness involved in him forcing Nie Mingjue to become Sworn Brothers with Meng Yao when he did not want to. Meng Yao killed Nie Mingjue's men in cold blood and almost killed him as well, of course he would not want to be  Sworn Brothers with him! The bond between Sworn Brothers is sacred and pure, and having to manipulate your friend's trust to go through with the ceremony is disgusting.

Unrelated, but this is why it bothers me when I see comics where the three of them are implied to be in a romantic polygamous relationship and it is just so evident that Meng Yao and Nie Mingjue hate each other. A polyamorous relationship is a union of multiple people who all love and respect each other. It is important to have this understanding, especially in  situations where multiple people can get hurt. It is completely fine to have sarcastic banter or fight with your partner, but if you are constantly toxic and venomous and cruel and only tolerate one another for the sake of a third party in the equation, then it is not a good relationship. To imply otherwise is harmful.

It is exactly the dynamic between the three of them.

A nonny mentioned previously their dislike of Lan Xichen's overbearing brother attitude. I think it is understandable during his teenage years, because Lan Wangji had only him to rely on for emotional support and familial love, after all. Lan Qiren was more of a teacher, and while the brothers could depend on him for education and guidance, his lack of warmth dissuaded them from approaching him with private matters. The problem arises when Lan Xichen refuses to let Lan Wangji grow up. He completely discredits Lan Wangji's sacrifice for his Wei Ying. Lan Wangji taking the lashes for Wei-Zhongzhu was his choice, and the reasons behind it his own. Also, Wei Zhongzhu has no obligation to feel thankful for it, because he did not ask Lan Wangji to do it in the first place. Lan Wangji knows this, so he never brings it up to make his Wei Ying feel guilty. At the Guanyin temple, Lan Xichen  calling Wei-Zhongzu Lan Wangji's only mistake shits all over his sacrifice. Lan Xichen is aware that Lan Wangji would be incensed if he were to be present during his tirade, and therefore settles for insulting Wei-Zhongzu when he has no backup of his own. Really, how honourable.    

All in all, I think Lan Xichen is the portrayal of a common man. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, nothing really too special about him, and very easily malleable. If the fandom had to project onto a character, I would think it would be Lan Xichen, but human nature is as unpredictable as it is fascinating, so we get self-insert JC instead, lol. 

Seriously though, sometimes Lan Xichen is so good and precious I want to smother him with all the love in the world, but sometimes he is so vexing and irritating I want to pull the chair right from under him as he is taking a seat. 

The Wei-Zhongzu thing is so stupid I hate myself. But I want my BAMF strong sunshine boy to be respected, so I will bear this embarassment with pride. 

[stiltonbasket]

hi! i dont know if you've done something similar for renouncement verse but lwj getting baby rearing tips from lqr would be really cute uwu

(brief author’s note: please please reblog, since that’s how we get prompts for future chapters!)

Two weeks after Wei Shuilan’s full-moon party, Lan Xichen orders Wei Ying to get some fresh air and take a trip down to town with the juniors. 

“I’m ordering it as your physician,” he scolds, as Lan Wangji kisses his husband’s forehead and slips a packed lunch into his qiankun bag, just in case Wei Ying doesn’t like any of the delicacies Caiyi has to offer; having A-Lan altered his sense of taste, among other things, and made him more partial to sweet and bitter flavors as well as spicy-sour ones. “You haven’t left the Cloud Recesses in months.”

“Xichen-ge,” Wei Ying says, rolling his eyes, “you try taking those stairs when you can barely fit through the door. Or fly in a straight line without overbalancing, for that matter.”

He has a point, Lan Wangji thinks. A-Lan is a very round baby, big enough for her age that some of the guests at the full-moon feast asked if they were holding the party late, and it had certainly showed on Wei Ying’s slender figure in the weeks before her arrival.

“Well, you ought to go now,” Lan Xichen urges. “It’s a wonderful day, and A-Lan’s asleep. Go stretch your legs, and then come back and rest as soon as you feel tired.”

So Wei Ying had gone, leaving the Cloud Recesses with a kiss for Lan Wangji before flying off on A-Yuan’s sword and vanishing into the cloudy mist hanging over the Caiyi River.

After that, Lan Wangji settles down in the jingshi to wait for his husband’s return, placing his baby daughter on the bed beside him and starting on the mountain of official correspondence he’s been neglecting since A-Lan was born. Most of them are congratulations and well-wishes for the baby, along with a select few (which Lan Wangji sets on fire the second he opens them) consoling the Chief Cultivator for the one child of his blood being a daughter, and assuring him that the next baby will surely be a boy. 

Upon further reflection, Lan Wangji points a finger at the ashes in the hearth and incinerates them a second time. The thought of his little daughter ever facing anything but the honor and worship due to an empress sets his teeth on edge, and it takes only a moment of thinking until he decides to put off answering the guilty clan’s request for a second representative in Lanling’s council for as long as he can.

But unfortunately for him, the sound of the snapping fire jolts poor A-Lan awake, and she gives a soft, confused little gurgle before lifting her head and looking around. Lan Wangji lifts her into his lap, humming Wangxian beside her tiny ears as she begins to whimper—but his efforts are in vain, because the baby bursts into tears and refuses to stop crying no matter what he does to calm her. 

“A-Lan,” he says, more than a little shocked—because he has never heard A-Lan cry like this, not since that first shrieking wail when she first found herself out in the world six weeks ago. But A-Lan keeps crying, even after he tries changing her smallclothes (needlessly, since her diaper was freshly changed when Wei Ying left the jingshi) and puts her in another blanket to keep her warm, and no amount of rocking or singing or even a cool bath proves useful in the slightest. 

“What do you want, sweetheart?” Lan Wangji asks urgently. “A-Lan, baobei—”

Shuilan only draws her tiny legs up to her chest and sobs, rubbing her fat fists into her eyes as if the whole universe was against her, and the realization hits Lan Wangji so suddenly that he nearly falls to the floor, baby and all. 

“It’s because Wei Ying isn’t here,” he says wretchedly. “It is, isn’t it? You’re not sick, surely—he’s coming back, A-Bao. Don’t cry, your A-Die is coming back.”

But with such a little baby as A-Lan, how was she to know? All A-Lan knew was that she spent the first ten moons of her life safe inside Wei Ying, listening to his precious heartbeat and kicking out at his affectionate touches when he tried to feel for her head or her hands, and then she was in his arms instead, but still never so far away from him that she could not hear his voice. And now Wei Ying is gone, and A-Lan has rightfully taken his absence for the calamity that it is. 

Lan Wangji remembers his sixteen years of mourning after Wei Ying fell from his grasp and plunged to his death in Qishan, and wonders how frightened Shuilan must be that Wei Ying has disappeared without any explanation her infant mind can understand. Neither of them have left her side since she was born, so for one of her parents to disappear without explanation, and for it to be Wei Ying who had disappeared—

He nearly bursts into tears himself, just thinking about it. 

Naturally, it is at that moment—with half of Lan Wangji’s layers sliding off his shoulders, A-Lan screaming herself hoarse, and sweat dripping down her father’s pale face—that Lan Qiren lets himself into the house, apparently expecting to find a peaceful nephew and great-niece before he walks into the middle of a virtual tornado instead. 

“Wangji?” he calls, as Lan Wangji drags himself into the front room in all his miserable, disheveled glory. “What is the matter? Have you fed her?”

“I have fed her, changed her, checked her temperature, and made sure all her clothes were loose enough,” he says, distraught. “Perhaps I will take her to the healing ward, just to make sure she is well. Good afternoon, Shufu.”

“You examined her with your lingli, didn’t you? She’s not sick.”

“No, but—”

“Give her here,” his uncle sighs, holding out his arms for the child. “Now,  bring me that square blanket on the divan, and watch closely.”

While Lan Wangji watches, Lan Qiren lays the blanket out on the bed and folds it into a triangle, and then he places A-Lan onto it with her fluffy round head above the folded edge and packs her into a tight bundle with one arm waving freely outside it. 

“Shufu,” Lan Wangji ventures, brow furrowed. “What are you—”

“Quiet,” Lan Qiren instructs him. “Pay attention, Wangji.”

He folds up the bottom corner of the blanket, laying it over A-Lan’s chest and her chubby bent legs, and then he folds the other half around her like a bamboo string around a zongzi, trapping her flailing fist against her body before handing her back to her father. 

“There,” he says, satisfied. “See?”

A-Lan’s sobs are already calming down, and a moment later she blinks in confusion and goes straight back to sleep. 

Lan Wangji gapes at her. “What did you do, Uncle?” he wonders. “I already tried wrapping her, but this…”

“That is how a baby should be swaddled,” Lan Qiren scolds. “You and Wei Ying wrap her like a pancake roll, and it does well enough most of the time. But when a child this small is in distress, it can be helpful to remind them of their time in the womb, and put them in a similar position with a swaddling blanket. What made A-Lan cry so?”

“She missed Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji says dully. “He went to Caiyi with Sizhui and Xiaohui, and she woke early from her nap and cried when she realized he was gone.”

I remember weeping because Wei Ying was gone, he doesn’t say. She seemed as heartbroken as I was, back then. 

“Ah,” his uncle murmurs. “A word of advice, Wangji. When you are overtaxed, and dealing with a child in distress, your discomfort will inevitably worsen theirs. I learned this by trial with your brother, and it ended with him stopping his tears and laughing for me because he hated to see me cry.”

It sounds so much like Lan Xichen that Lan Wangji feels his throat swell. “En?”

“In such times, seek help before you become overwrought,” Lan Qiren advises him. “I am here, as is Xichen, and the nursery teachers who cared for you both when you were little. You and your husband are not alone, in any aspect of your lives, and it would be a joy to all of us to aid you.”

And then Lan Qiren makes tea and shoos Lan Wangji back to the bedroom, where he sinks down onto the bed with the baby snoring quietly in his arms and falls asleep himself.

When Wei Ying returns an hour later, he declares that everything must have gone perfectly for both of them to be so at ease.

“I didn’t want to leave you!” he laughs, cuddling a squealing A-Lan to his breast and waving a handful of new toys over her curious little face. “But you were as cool as a cucumber, Lan Zhan! Why can’t I be like you?”

“It was not so smooth as I hoped it would be,” Lan Wangji confesses. “But everything was all right in the end, xingan. My shufu is a very good teacher.”

[drwcn]

#9 【Carbon in the Steel】

cql au: everyone is an orphan except wwx; dark!twin jades

The Brothers Lan 

There was once a little house, on the outskirts of a farming village beyond the tiered rice fields south of Meishan, far, far away from Cloud Recesses. Both Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji remembered that house. It was the house Father had built for Mother, and it was there that they were born. 

It sat at the base of a hill where many tall bamboo trees grew, and in the garden, there had been gentians, indigo and violet, that bloomed beautifully every summer. 

Lan Xichen would dream sometimes of that house and of the wonderful days in those early years. 

Father, look! 

Excellent form, A-Huan. Very good. Much improved. Now, remember to keep your balance on your front… 

These days he could no longer recall Father’s face. His voice though, Lan Xichen still remembered as clear as a bell. On the other hand, his brother Wangji did not remember much of Father at all; instead, it was Mother’s smile that he could never forget. 

Mother, can A-Zhan and I stay with you and Father tonight? 

P’ease, Mo’her. 

Lan Xichen remembered hugging his baby brother like a doll and strategically weakening his parents’ resolve using his baby pout and big puppy eyes. A-Zhan was always a trooper, so cooperative, so excellent at looking like a perfect toddler.  Stoic though. So stoic for a baby. What a weird kid. 

We had a bad dream. 

Bad dweam.  

Those were obviously lies. They never had bad dreams then; those would come much later, when their reality became worse than any nightmare they could ever imagine.

Jiujiu never needed to tell them that Mother and Father were dead, or what death was. They’d seen plenty of creatures die: the village’s cattle they butchered for the new year, the spinster's kittens that didn’t survive the winter, and the pheasants they caught and roasted for A-Zhan’s birthday. 

Father had been a lifelong vegetarian, so eating meat didn’t agree with his stomach, but he never enforced such rules on his sons. In fact Father didn’t enforce any rules on his sons, except to show kindness where they could and to be true to their hearts.  

Father probably didn’t anticipate just how difficult it was to be kind when the world had been so wholly unkind. Nor did he anticipate that he would die in such a violent and sudden manner without even so much as a goodbye.

I don’t remember what were the last words Father said to me. Wangji would confess to Xichen one day. I don’t even remember what Father looked like. 

They were by the marsh catching lobsters with jiujiu when it happened. Mother suddenly appeared and spoke words that were foreign and frightening - Gusu Lan, cultivators, siege, pursuit, escape. Go. Now. She didn’t hug them or kiss them. Lan Xichen remembered Wangji reaching up towards her to be picked up and the confusion and heartbreak in his eyes when she pushed him back into jiujiu’s waiting arms.   

A-niang...

At a certain point, jiujiu must’ve done something to them, because neither Wangji nor himself remember any part of their journey out of that village. When they woke up, they were somewhere high up and deep in the mountains. His little brother had looked at him and he had stared back and they both knew then that their parents were dead. Curled in their jiujiu’s arms, they cried themselves into another fitful sleep, and all the while, jiujiu didn’t wake up once, too exhausted by the endless days of travel. 

To them, jiujiu - like all adults - was old, but it was not until they grew up that they realized that Zhao Zhuliu at the time of their parents’ demise had been no more than twenty years old, barely more than a boy himself.  

~

Life with jiujiu was quiet, but after some time, they were able to find a sliver of happiness. 

Zhao Zhuliu was a quiet man, always had been, and that didn’t change just because he now had two young children on his hands. But he loved them, his sister’s only blood left on this earth; by god, he loved them beyond reason. 

Jiujiu was not a talker, but he was never distant, and though he was strict in his training of their cultivation and their swordsmanship, he was never harsh. So yes, life was quiet, but at least for a while there was a roof over their heads and food in their belly, and they never had to wonder where they would be tomorrow…

When jiujiu failed to return from his night-hunt, Lan Xichen knew that something had gone terribly wrong. 

Lan Xichen was the older one; he was thirteen. Practically an adult, he told himself. If jiujiu never came back, then he was just going to have to take care of Wangji. 

Whatever it takes. 

His brother was not a needy child, but when he turned eleven, he seemed to have found his appetite and ate everything Xichen could get his hands on. Fishing was the easiest and hunting a big game lasted them a while if he could preserve it just right, but even if he collected berries in the mountains and wild herbs in the forest, he still needed grains, still needed new clothes for the winter, and still needed oil to light a lamp at night so Wangji could continue to practice his calligraphy. 

He did try; you must know. Lan Xichen did try to do things the right way, but there was only so much money he could earn by book-keeping at a shop, or running errands for merchants, or even waiting tables at an inn. He was a child, and desperate, and nobody would pay him a dime if they could get away with a nickel. 

It didn’t take long for Xichen to learn that the fastest way of earning money was often the most unsavoury and that he wasn’t above reaching for those means. There were no lengths Lan Xichen wouldn’t go to keep his brother safe and happy, no asset within his arsenal of skills and attributes that he wouldn’t hone and weaponize to make himself stronger. He got good at stealing, got great at cheating, and grew accustomed  to killing. Every so often...if there were other offers available, well...Wangji would never need to know. 

Morals do not matter if Wangji went hungry. I can’t let Wangji go hungry.

And, once a year, Lan Xichen would buy a box of osmanthus pastry, like the kind Mother used to make for them - flakey and fragrant, rich but not overwhelming - and he and Wangji would sit together under the stars and finish the box all in one go. 

“Happy birthday, didi.” 

Chewing slowly on the osmanthus pastry, Wangji would smile, and it would all be worth it. 

“Thank you, xiongzhang.” 

~

Then, three years after jiujiu was taken, a startling news broke out over the lands. 

After years of internal strife, the dirty politics of Lanling Jin finally fractured the once glorious reigning sect. Jin Guangshan’s many children and their scheming “little mothers” formed factions and allied themselves with subsidiary sects all vying for control over Lanling’s seat of power. (小娘 xiao’niang = little mother, what one calls one’s mother if one’s mother is not the legal wife. The “real” mother of any children would always be the legal wife, while their birth mothers are ‘little mothers’.)

The details of Jin Guangshan’s demise was not entirely clear, but eventually it was his third son Jin Zitao who became the new Sect Master Jin. Being only eleven years old, it was clear to anyone who had eyes that he was a puppet, completely controlled by the whims of his regent mother, Jin Guangshan’s once favourite concubine, and the ancient respected Qin family who had promised their daughter Qin Su to be his bride once they both come of age. 

People had praised Qin Su’s stepmother, Sect Master Qin’s second wife, for securing such an advantageous marriage for a daughter not even of her own blood, stating that with the Dowager Madame Jin’s clever mind and Sect Master Qin’s seniority and experience, surely the murky pond of Lanling would become peaceful once again. 

The bigger question now was with three of the five major sects being led by minors - Qishan’s 14 year-old Wen Yuefan, Yunmeng’s 13 year-old Jiang Wanyin, and Lanling’s 11 year-old Jin Zitao - who then would become the next Chief Cultivator. Qinghe Nie seemed the most obvious choice at first glance, for they were the fiercest warriors, but given Sect Master Nie Heqiu’s most recent close encounter with yet another qi deviation, it seemed perhaps the real day-to-day leadership role was fulfilled by his first son Nie Mingjue. At seventeen years of age, he was certainly older than his contemporaries, but still a far cry from what was required to be His Excellency.  (温越凡 Wen Yuefan = Wen Qing’s courtesy name) 

Naturally, all eyes were drawn then towards Cloud Recesses, whose previous chance at obtaining the seat of Chief Cultivator had been dashed when its sect master at that time, Qingheng-jun, mysteriously vanished more than a decade ago. Now it seemed that Gusu Lan’s fortune was about to change yet again, when what once should have gone to Lan Cenrong now fell to his younger brother Lan Qiren. 

News of his rise to power had spread far and wide, until every man, woman, and child knew his name. Until Lan Xichen heard from a gossiping bar-keep at a tavern. Until Lan Wangji heard from the children playing on the street. 

One morning Lan Xichen returned to their temporary home to see Wangji sitting in front of the breakfast he’d prepared (when did he learn to cook???) and a purse on the table filled with silver coins and small gold nuggets.

“Wangji...where did you -” 

“I don’t want you to go out at night again, xiongzhang,” said Lan Wangji bluntly. 

Taken aback by Wangji’s tone and his implications, Xichen quickly gathered his wits and tried to maintain control of the conversation. “That doesn’t answer my question; where did you get the money?” 

“I also went out last night, after you assumed I fell asleep and left.”  

Xichen’s blood went cold. “You...went out? Out? In the middle of the night?! To do what?!” 

Lan Wangji’s stoicism did not waver. “What one usually does to get paid at night. What you’ve been doing for years.” 

In three long strides, Lan Xichen strode up to his little brother - his baby brother - and yanked him up by the collar. Grabbing his arms with both hands, he forced Wangji to look him in the eye as he exclaimed in a mad panic, “You didn’t! Tell me you didn’t!!” 

God, Wangji, what have you done, what have you done - how could I let this happen - I should’ve done better - 

Wangji did not blink, but after a long terrible silence, he said, “No. I didn’t. I just followed you. I saw.” 

“You saw…” 

There had been a man who eyed him with interest. Lan Xichen wasn’t looking for business - hadn’t been looking for months - but winter was coming and Wangji was growing so much he would need several new sets of robes. Xichen hadn’t been working as many hours as he’d been previously. He needed to train, to cultivate - they both did - so that one day they could do what needed to be done. The core melting technique was not to be trifled with lightly, jiujiu had warned them. They needed time to practice, to perfect it, time that couldn’t be used to earn income. 

While yes he could steal and yes he could kill, Lan Xichen realized early on that those two options often caught the attention of local authorities or worse the local cultivation sect, especially if his activities were too frequent or too conspicuous. Sometimes it was just easier… 

“The money, then?” 

“Don’t you recognize the purse?” 

Xichen turned around. He did. He did recognize that silk embroidered draw-string purse. It belonged to the man from last night. He had taken money out of it this morning to pay Xichen for his time.  

And when they parted ways, Xichen had gone to a public bath house to get rid of any incriminating evidence on his body before going home to his brother. That was his routine... had been his routine for years… 

“I shoved his body down a well. That should buy us enough time to get out of this town. You weren’t planning for us to stay that long anyway right?” 

“Wangji…Wangji -” Lan Xichen turned away. He couldn’t face his brother, who now knew what he knew. 

“Xiongzhang, don’t do this for me anymore.” Lan Wangji’s hand found his own, squeezing it tightly. 

“It’s - it’s really not a big deal.” Lan Xichen tried to laugh it off. “I don’t do it that often. Really - I am your older brother, it is my duty to -” 

“No. No more. From now on, if you go out, I go out. I’m old enough -” 

“You’re thirteen, a child!” 

“So were you.” 

Lan Xichen closed his eyes. 

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“I know I’m done waiting.” 

Lan Wangji was talking, of course, about their vengeance. It was what they spoke of on most nights when they couldn’t sleep. For mother and father and jiujiu, they swore they would not rest until they razed Cloud Recesses to the ground and burned the core out of every last one of their disciples before slitting their throats.  

Wangji came around to face him again and stared him down with his brows furrowed tightly above bright determined eyes. “It’s not fair. The Chief Cultivator was supposed to be Father! The heir of Gusu Lan is supposed to be you! Instead - instead...”

Tears welled up in his little brother’s eyes. “They hurt you, ge, I saw. I saw.” 

Choking with shame, anger and a pain he couldn’t describe, Lan Xichen pulled Lan Wangji into a crushing hug. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry Wangji. I’m sorry I couldn’t do better. I’m...” Words failed. As Lan Wangji cried into his chest, Lan Xichen looked up to their leaky roof and their bare, striped walls, and wondered what the ethereal Cloud Recesses would look like. All that should have been theirs, should’ve been his, belonged to someone else. 

Lan Qiren is Chief Cultivator now. He’s still holding jiujiu captive. He needs to die. The people who killed Father and Mother; they all need to die. 

“You’re right, Wangji, you’re right. No more.”

“So you won’t leave at night anymore?” 

“I won’t. The world has taken everything from us, I think it’s time we take what we are owed. Once we are strong, we will save jiujiu and avenge A-die and A-niang.” 

“And if people try to stop us?” 

“Then we will destroy them and anyone else that gets in our way.” 

[ibijau]

Jin Rusong Lives / On AO3

Lan Xichen breaks

The first few weeks, Lan Xichen tried to hold strong and pretend nothing had changed. His sect needed him. There was so much to do. Juniors to teach. Night Hunts to organise. Disciples to supervise. 

He lived, then, with the constant feeling that it wouldn't take much to break him. 

The conviction he wouldn't break. Not if he tried hard enough. 

Gusu Lan deserved better than another sect leader too weak to live with the consequences of his choices. His uncle deserved better than to be forced again into a role that wasn't his. Lan Wangji deserved… 

Lan Wangji deserved what he finally had. 

Lan Xichen tried not to think too much about that. The memory of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian in that temple always added a crack or two to the armour on which he relied, and he couldn't afford to shatter. 

He wouldn't shatter.

He refused to shatter.

He shattered anyway. 

Sect leader Yao had come to discuss the possibility of sending some guest disciples to the Cloud Recesses for the year to come. 

Sect Leader Yao had come to get in the good graces of the man who killed Jin Guangyao. 

As they sat in his office, Lan Xichen tried to pay attention. He found it harder and harder lately. That days, his eyes fell on shelves of books containing rules to live by, or commentaries on those rules. Commentaries of those commentaries. A whole library to tell him how to live, most of which he knew by heart, and still he had made every mistake. 

There were too many things in his office. 

Calligraphies and paintings, gifts to a man he had never managed to be. 

Gifts from men he had never managed to know. 

When sect leader Yao left, he would take everything down. Bare walls for a bare mind.

His uncle, who hardly left his side lately, threw him a concerned look. Lan Xichen forced himself to return to the present. This could wait. Everything could wait. 

"It's what I said to a friend the other day," sect leader Yao said, never noticing how little attention the other two men paid him. "We are lucky that Zewu-Jun was there to do the right thing. Who else would have stopped Lianfang-Zun? Nie Huaisang?" 

He laughed. 

Lan Xichen felt a new crack appear on the surface of his soul, deeper and larger than any of the previous ones. 

Sect leader Yao didn't know. Nobody knew. By the time they had arrived, it was over. Nothing had remained but that sealed coffin, and blood on Shuoyue. Lan Xichen had refused to explain. So had Jiang Wanyin and Jin Ling. Nie Huaisang had left already. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji long gone as well. And so, others were free to imagine their own stories. 

It had not yet occurred to Lan Xichen that in those stories, they might mistake him for a hero. 

"I wonder how Nie Huaisang will even have the face to show himself in public," sect leader Yao continued. "To have been so dependent on his brother's murderer… even that night at the discussion conference, he was still begging for Jin Guangyao’s help. I wouldn't be surprised if he stepped down from power. It's the least he should do, and who'd miss him?" 

Another crack. 

Lan Xichen felt some fragment of himself crumble and fall. He focused on breathing and smiling. 

He had to smile. 

If he smiled, if he stayed calm, everything would be fine. 

He had to smile. 

"Perhaps Lan zongzhu should consider offering himself as the next chief cultivator," sect leader Yao suggested. "I'm sure we could all stand behind the man who pursued the fleeing tyrant and rid us of him!" 

Lan Xichen took one breath. 

He took another. 

He choked on the third one, and shattered. 

His uncle, who had been watching him closely, gave some excuse to sect leader Yao (a lie, he lied, and this too was Lan Xichen’s fault) before grabbing Lan Xichen by the arm to pull him away. 

Lan Xichen followed, powerless to resist. He let his uncle push him in bed, but found himself unable to understand the words said to him. The tone seemed soothing. He did not deserve that, but accepted it anyway. 

He had always been selfish like that. 

-

The months that followed were a blur. 

Lan Xichen tried, the first day after, to rise up and do his duty.

He had to.

He should have. 

He couldn't. 

His body was lead, his mind heavier still. 

He only moved when his uncle came and made him, forcing him to swallow some food and put on less restricting clothes. 

Lan Xichen wanted to apologise. 

His tongue too was lead, and he couldn't utter the words. 

For a long while, days passed the same. His uncle would visit twice a day to check on him and take care of him. Lan Qiren rarely spoke. Lan Xichen wouldn't have managed to listen. He thought, vaguely, that something must have been put in his tea to keep him calm, so he wouldn’t crumble any more than he already had that day. It was the only ways he could explain the constant fog in his mind, the way he could barely form any thoughts.

He didn’t mind.

It didn’t matter.

In that state he was in, nothing could matter anymore.

After some time, Lan Wangji returned to the Cloud Recesses.

This, too, did not matter.

It couldn’t matter.

It shouldn’t have mattered.

But Lan Wangji was not a man to forget what kindness and cruelty had been done onto him. His brother, once, had forced him to live and go on when he had reached his own breaking point. Whether that had been kindness or cruelty, neither of them had known at the time. Now again, Lan Xichen couldn’t have said which sentiment pushed his brother to take care of him.

Cruelty seemed a more likely candidate.

Because the first thing Lan Wangji did, upon returning, was forbid that any more drugs be given to his brother to keep him calm. And so Lan Xichen was forced to do what he had avoided so long, and face what he had done. 

Like his father before him, he had let himself be seduced by honeyed words, and protected a murderer. A weakness that ran in their family, it seemed. A weakness that ran in Lan Xichen’s blood certainly, since he had allowed himself to be so thoroughly fooled not only by Jin Guangyao, but also by Nie Huaisang. He should have known better. On both matters, he should have known better. Nie Mingjue had warned him time and time again about Jin Guangyao. Nie Mingjue who had trusted him with his life, and Lan Xichen had given his murderer everything he needed.

As for Nie Huaisang…

Lan Xichen should have known better. Should have seen the deception.

He should have.

He hadn’t.

There had to have been signs.

There couldn’t have been signs.

Lan Xichen had done his best, and he had done his worst. He had believed in those around him, and he had closed his eyes to their true nature. He had fought for peace, and he had settled for hidden chaos.

Lan Wangji, who visited him nearly daily, listened to his ramblings in silence, giving neither judgment nor absolution. Lan Xichen would have rejected both, but he appreciated the patient ear offered to him. And so, he confided in his brother as he had never done before, just as Lan Wangji had once confided in him when he was delirious and broken from the pain of the disciple whips.

Every time he was done speaking for the day, Lan Wangji would offer to play a song of healing for him.

Lan Xichen refused for weeks on end. 

It was unreasonable. He knew that much. 

Lan Wangji must have known it as well, offering day after day, without any pressure, without relenting either.

Revenge for the way Lan Xichen too had been at his side day after day when Wei Wuxian had died.

They had patience, both of them. Lan Xichen knew his brother and him could have reached immortality, and in a thousand years Lan Wangji would still visit him and offer to play with him, because he wasn’t a man to give up on those he loved.

That Lan Wangji still loved him after all this was a terrifying realisation.

Soon after understanding this, Lan Xichen finally agreed to having music played to him.

Like this, things started to improve at last. The guilt didn’t go away, but it became manageable in a way that it hadn’t been before. Lan Xichen, slowly, started asking for news of their sect. He managed to find sparks of joy in hearing about the progress of certain juniors he’d had an eye on, and dared to give advice on some small problems that Lan Wangji ran by him. There was a sense of peace to be found in the fact that he still knew how to help with these things, that this much at least had been real skill on his part.

It took many more weeks before Lan Xichen finally dared to ask about the affairs of the world, and for the first time Lan Wangji showed hesitation. He had always been a poor liar, and worse still at hiding from his brother. This too brought Lan Xichen a sense of peace. This too was still a skill he had.

Lan Wangji gave him some sparse news, clumsily trying to hide details he did not wish to share, leaving Lan Xichen to guess for himself what was happening. It seemed smaller sects were trying to use the current political situation to grab a little more power, a little more territories. They were particularly aggressive in their dealings with Lanling Jin. At least, so Lan Xichen understood. Lan Wangji had let it slip that Wei Wuxian had spent a great amount of time with his nephew recently. But with the terrifying Yiling Patriarch and the far scarier Sandu Shengshou on his side, Jin Ling would do just fine in the end. As for the smaller sects, they would settle down. The same thing happened every time something rocked the big sects, but in the end everything always calmed down. Lan Xichen was not worried.

It would be fine.

The sects would be fine.

And Lan Xichen, pointedly, did not ask about the last great sect when his brother did not volunteer any information.

This he was not ready to face yet.

-

Slowly, over time, Lan Xichen started tiring of his house. He was not ready yet to face the world at large, not when he could still feel the cracks in his soul threatening to rip open once more when he allowed himself to think of certain events, certain people. But he had always been an active man, and staying cooped up inside this way could only be tolerated for so long.

The strict curfew of the Cloud Recesses played in his favour. He was free to walk around at night, as long as he was careful to avoid the usual path used by disciples patrolling.

He avoided, as well, any area bearing too many memories. Gardens he had walked in with Jin Guangyao as they discussed politics, halls in which Nie Huaisang’s laughter or tears still rang. Lan Xichen had never realised how good his memory was, until he was forced to run from it.

The safest place, the one where he encountered the least ghosts, what the space around the junior’s quarters. He had never had any reasons to meet Jin Guangyao or Nie Huaisang there, but he had many pleasant memories with the children he had taught over the years. However much he had failed in other matters, at least this Lan Xichen had done well. He was not quite as beloved a teacher as Lan Wangji, but he had still helped those young ones grow into skilled cultivators. It was something to cling to, when everything else felt unsure.

It was there that, one night, long after the bell for curfew, Lan Xichen discovered two boys having a chat in front of the dorms. Not just any boys, either, but one of Lan Wangji’s personal protégés, Lan Jingyi, and none other than young Jin Ling in person, who Lan Wangji had mentioned was visiting. For some reason, it amused Lan Xichen to have stumbled upon this bit of innocent mischief, two friends having a secret meeting in the night, arguing quietly about some thing or other.

Curiosity for the private affairs of others went against the rules of Gusu Lan, because it so often led to gossip.

Still, Lan Xichen couldn’t help himself. It had been too long since he had heard that sort of easy chatter. Missing it for himself, he thought there would be no harm in spying in on others enjoying that sort of companionship. He hid in the darkness near where the two boys were chatting, and listened.

“I wish I could go see him,” Lan Jingyi grumbled. “He must be so bored all the way up there in Qinghe!”

“He didn’t say anything about missing you,” Jin Ling sniffed, earning a shove. “He didn’t! And also, this is a secret mission, so of course you can’t go there. With how much you shout, you’d blow their cover in a second!”

“I can be quiet!” Lan Jingyi shouted, making both of them wince and fall silent as they waited to see if they’d be discovered. Lan Xichen had to refrain a chuckle. “I really can be quiet,” Lan Jingyi grumbled after a moment, much lower now. “And I wish they’d let me go with them. It's boring here on my own."

Them, Lan Xichen guessed, had to mean Lan Sizhui and Wen Ning. Lan Wangji had told him that the boy he now openly called his son left some months prior on a special mission, the details of which he declined to share. Lan Xichen did not ask. If his brother did not volunteer details, he had to have his reasons.

"So, how is he, anyway?" Lan Jingyi asked. 

"I just told you he's fine." 

"Not Sizhui, you idiot. Your cousin, how is he?" 

Jin Ling shrugged. 

"A-Song is doing okay. Better than I remembered him, honestly." 

Hidden in the darkness, Lan Xichen forgot how to breathe. 

A-Song? 

"It must be so weird," Lan Jingyi remarked. "Especially for him. You go to sleep and when you wake up everyone is older, that's messed up. Your whole family is messed up, little mistress." 

"Shut up," Jin Ling snapped. "And anyway, at least he seems happy. He's got all these friends and he's running all the time… It's so weird, I never realised back then that he wasn't allowed to run." 

Lan Xichen felt his knees buckle under him, and had to lean against the side of the building. 

A Jin child forbidden from running, and that name… 

He shook his head. A foolish thought, and one that risked shattering him again if he thought about it for too long. It couldn't be. He had seen his body, taken his pulse. 

Unaware of his distress, the two boys continued chatting. 

"I can't believe your uncle took him to Qinghe," Lan Jingyi commented, in that judgmental tone they had never managed to train him out of. "What if Nie zongzhu kills him?" 

"Then I'll kill him too!" Jin Ling retorted. "But I guess uncle knew what he was doing. He always does. And A-Song does look very happy over there. And he has Nie Huaisang completely wrapped around his finger, it's embarrassing. A-Song just needs to look at him, and he'll pick him up immediately like he isn't big enough to walk! And also…"

Unable to stand it one moment more, Lan Xichen walked up to the boys, staggering as badly as if he'd drunk wine. 

Seeing him come closer, Jin Ling paled, while Lan Jingyi hurried to meet him with open arms, as if fearful he might fall otherwise. 

"Zewu-Jun, are you unwell?" he cried out. "Do you want us to go get Hanguang-Jun?" 

Lan Xichen ignored him, his eyes on Jin Ling only. The boy looked worried, with a particular expression that Lan Xichen had seen often enough on his face to recognise it. 

Jin Ling sweated guilt. 

"What was that about A-Song?" Lan Xichen asked. 

Lan Jingyi, still trying to help his sect leader stand upright, tensed violently. As for Jin Ling, the usually bold boy grew paler still, as if he were confronted by a ghost or a demon rather than a man. 

"Zewu-Jun, you shouldn't be here," Lan Jingyi insisted, trying to pull him away. "I'll take you back to the Hanshi, and then I'll go warn Hanguang-Jun that you're not well." 

"I'm perfectly fine," Lan Xichen retorted, which even he knew to be a lie, but after everything else he had done, what was a lie? "Jin zongzhu. What was that about your cousin?" 

Jin Ling did not answer right away, appearing torn in a way that already felt like an answer, though one Lan Xichen wasn't sure he understood. 

The boy hesitated so long that Lan Xichen almost repeated his question. Before he could, Jin Ling looked up at him, proud and challenging as only a Jin would dare to be. 

"Jin Rusong is alive," he announced, his voice ringing too loud in the silence of the Cloud Recesses. "And at the moment, he's living in Qinghe." 

"Jin Ling, no !" Lan Jingyi exploded, but it was already too late. 

Without thinking, Lan Xichen tore himself from the boy's grasp and, for the first time in his life, ran inside the Cloud Recesses. 

He ran until he reached his home, where he grabbed Shuoyue for the first time since that day he shattered. Even after so long, it was easy to jump on it, just as easy as breathing in fact, and requiring as little thought. 

-

It was a long way from the Cloud Recesses to the Unclean Realm. Lan Xichen had rarely done the trip without breaks, and on those rare occasions he had been at the height of his health, not weakened from months of isolation. And yet every time he thought of stopping, his mind rebelled against the idea. 

If he stopped, he would realise how stupid this was. A tasteless prank from a boy who had every reason to hate him. 

If he stopped, he would remember that he had been there when Jin Rusong was found, that Jin Guangyao himself had confessed to murdering his son, just as he had murdered so many others. 

If he stopped… 

He did not stop. 

Not until he reached the gates of the Unclean Realm, exhausted and aching but ready to fight his way in. 

He didn't have to, though. When the guards recognised him, they lowered their sabres, whispering something among themselves, about permissions and exceptions and whether they should get Nie Funyu or directly warn their sect leader. 

If he had been in a normal state of mind, Lan Xichen would have explained the reason for his presence and patiently waited for their decision.

If he had been in a normal state of mind, Lan Xichen wouldn't have been there. 

While the Nie disciples were still arguing over how to handle the situation, Lan Xichen simply ran inside. He knew exactly where Nie Huaisang lived, having been there so many times in the past. He knew also about the trinkets that the man he once called his friend kept around the entrance, knew from Nie Huaisang’s own confidence that they were there to alert him against unwanted visitors. Lan Xichen, even half delirious from lack of sleep, knew that he was very much unwanted there, so he walked carefully about the flower pots. He still failed to see a windchime which rang when his head hit it, startling him enough that he tripped and made some of the pots fall.

Figuring there would be no surprise on his side, Lan Xichen gave up and went straight to the door, opening it without bothering to knock.

From inside Nie Huaisang stared at him, and just like Jin Ling some days prior, he looked as if he were seeing a ghost.

He looked, also, tired in a way that Lan Xichen understood too well. In spite of everything that had come to pass between them, Lan Xichen felt an old pity surge again inside him. Acting on sheer instinct he took a step forward, only for Nie Huaisang to move away, eyes widening in fear as he tightened his grip on the sabre he was holding, his body tensing for a fight. 

It answered a number of questions that Lan Xichen wouldn't have dared to ask. 

It did not matter. 

Nothing mattered, except…

"I want to see him." 

“It’s the middle of the night, he’s sleeping,” Nie Huaisang immediately retorted.

Hearing those words, Lan Xichen almost collapsed.

What Nie Huaisang should have done was asking who Lan Xichen was talking about, or worse yet mocking him for falling into this obvious trap. This would have made sense. But if Nie Huaisang knew who he meant, then it was real somehow.

“So it’s true?” he gasped. “But he… I saw it. I saw him. A-Yao confessed!”

Something shifted in Nie Huaisang’s expression, his fear giving way to something much worse, something that might have been disdain or pity. He put away his sabre, and took a step toward Lan Xichen.

“So they didn’t tell you, uh?” Nie Huaisang sighed. “It’s… complicated. But he’s alive. He’s really alive, and he’s doing very well. He… he’s been asking for you, actually. Nearly daily.”

“I need to see him.”

Nie Huaisang pinched his lips, a calculating expression on his face. It was one that he had often enough as a boy when deciding what fights with his brother were worth the hassle, one that Lan Xichen hadn’t seen in years, not until that split second after he asked him if Jin Guangyao had really moved to threaten them.

“It’s very late, Er-ge,” Nie Huaisang pointed out, which was true of course, and Lan Xichen knew his request would be denied, but he needed, he needed… “You’ll have to be quiet,” Nie Huaisang ordered. “If you wake him… well, don’t.”

And just that easily, Nie Huaisang motioned for Lan Xichen to follow him into a side room. It used to be one where Nie Huaisang displayed his collection of fans, Lan Xichen vaguely recalled as he walked through the door. But there were no more fans on the walls, and instead plenty of toys on the floor, as well as a bed large enough for an adult, into which a small shape was bundled into covers, nothing but a little face peeking out.

At the sight of that face, Lan Xichen broke into silent tears.

Last time he had seen Jin Rusong, the child’s face had been dark, making it almost beyond recognition save to those who knew him best. Yet there he was, relaxed and warm and breathing.

Alive.

Jin Rusong was alive.

Overwhelmed by this realisation, Lan Xichen did not resist when Nie Huaisang pulled first on his sleeve, then on his hand to lead him out of the child’s bedroom. His fatigue, which he had held off for so long, started catching up with him. He thought Nie Huaisang was telling him something, perhaps plans for the morning, but none of it registered. Lan Xichen did vaguely realise he was being pushed into a bed though, for which he would have been grateful if he’d had the strength.

He fell asleep quickly, almost the instant he laid down, with only one last thought on his mind.

Jin Rusong was alive, and perhaps there was still hope left in this world.

[songofclarity]

i hc that nhs went to cloud recesses early bc nhs used to be ahead of the curve in certain areas of academic development (ex. his interests in astronomy and poetry—not anything martial, but cloud recesses is a scholarly place after all), but when he got to cloud recesses he didn’t have his standard structure and without that structure (in true adhd fashion) he kind of fell apart, and then it was easier to own it as “laziness” and make that a personality trait than admit that he really had Tried and Failed (can you tell i’m projecting lmao)

Oho, that's a good headcanon, Anon!

The fan is the sign of the esteemed gentleman, but now you’ve got me also thinking... the most beautiful fidget toy

I like how you specify astronomy and poetry, once again the subjects of a refined gentleman, because by all means he could still be ahead of the curve in those areas! It’s just they’re never talked about because that’s not what he’s at Cloud Recesses to learn. Although I feel like I’m going to completely deviate from your headcanon in a moment, projection is just one way we show our love for characters so keep it up, Anon, you’re doing great!

My understanding is that Cloud Recesses is what was supposed to give him structure. The structure back in the Unclean Realm was likely, “I do whatever I want when Da-ge isn’t looking, and then I do whatever I can to slip away” judging by how he behaves when we finally get to see him in his natural habitat lol

So Cloud Recesses is, practically by it’s definition, structure. And the dilemma I see with measuring Nie HuaiSang’s academic success/intelligence here is that, by what I recall, Cloud Recesses doesn’t teach science or art to these 3-month-long guest students. It’s a cultivation sect and it provides instruction to young cultivators about clan history, clan politics, historical cultivators, etc.:

Lan QiRen’s lessons were not only tediously long, but everything was also tested on. The generational changes of important clans in the cultivation world, the division of their areas of power, famous quotes by famous cultivators, family trees…

Although he didn’t understand a single bit as he listened in class, Nie HuaiSang worked as hard as a slave when the date of the test approached. He copied Virtue two times for Wei WuXian, and begged before the test, “Please, Wei-xiong, if my grade is lower than yi, my brother would really break my legs! Stuff like telling apart direct lineage, collateral lineage, main clan, clan branches… For us disciples from big clans, we can’t even distinguish our relationships with our own relatives, randomly calling everyone who are more than two tiers away from us aunts and uncles. Does anyone have enough capacity in their brain to remember those of other clans?!” (Ch. 14, ERS)

So it’s necessarily that Nie HuaiSang is unintelligent or a bad student but rather the subjects being taught are really... well, boring for someone who prefers science and art! He’s not even lazy about his learning. He still listens in class. It’s just that it all goes in one ear and out the other.

In that way, I’m not sure I see any signs that "he kind of fell apart" when he arrived at Cloud Recesses. From the sound of it, he had the same struggle at home and that didn’t change: he can't memorize the lists of names of these aunts or those famous cultivators, and he can't remember the birthdays of all these cousins or when all these random famous people were born, either.

(The people in his p*rn books begin and end with the shapes drawn on the page! Please don’t make him think too hard about genealogy and politics!)

He’s getting the education he needs, the kind of education he absolutely wasn’t getting at home, and he flounders because it’s a type of learning and thinking he hasn’t been forced to do, and that alone is a struggle to overcome.

Now I’m gonna bring Bloom’s Taxonomy into this because I can, but the school at Cloud Recesses focuses on remembering, understanding, and applying. It explains why Lan WangJi is so unwilling to bend against the rules. They say remember this rule, understand that it is important to live by this rule, and apply this rule to every day life.

Meanwhile analyzing, evaluating, and creating involve taking that information and making it one’s own.

[Disclaimer that Bloom’s Taxonomy is based on Western thought and may or may not have a proper place in a collectivist society like the Fantasy China which MDZS is based on. This is NOT to classify higher order skills as being more intelligent or better than lower order skills. It’s just to describe how much mental manipulation is done to the subject matter. Geniuses on Jeopardy are masters at Remembering! The brain shows physiological changes and develops new neuron pathways regardless of learning method. Nonetheless, for our independent thinkers like Wei WuXian and Nie HuaiSang, this kind of scale seems applicable.]

Consider when Wei WuXian ponders the benefits of demonic cultivation at school. He takes the application of current techniques and the knowledge of the known world and creates something by blending the two. It doesn’t go over well in the classroom:

Another book came flying from Lan QiRen. He spoke harshly, “Then, let me ask you again! How do you make sure that the resentful energy only listens to you and does not harm others?”

Wei WuXian ducked while speaking, “I haven’t thought of it yet!”

Lan QiRen raged, "If you thought of it, the cultivation world would not allow your existence! Get out!" (Ch. 14, ERS)

This is a case in point for no analyzing, evaluating, or creating allowed. It’s sit down, listen, memorize, and obey.

(Note that Demonic cultivation is dangerous to everyone, as we later witness, so Lan QiRen is not wrong to be furious and having no tolerance for this line of thinking. Wei WuXian is literally talking about desecrating people’s graves and bodies and using them as weapons. This is so far out of line with Gusu Lan teaching, but it still deprives Wei WuXian of hypothesizing other ideas with the material he’s being given.)

And, it should be noted, Nie HuaiSang is the only person who not only understands where Wei WuXian is coming from but builds upon it. The same Nie HuaiSang who has to beg Wei WuXian to help him cheat when it comes to clan heritages and family quotes is the one who realizes ANOTHER use for Wei WuXian’s idea all on his own.

Wei WuXian suggests using demonic cultivation to fight evil with evil, resentful energy vs resentful energy.

Nie HuaiSang suggests using demonic cultivation as a possible power source -- for people who don’t have a core:

After thinking for a few moments, an expression of envy and yearning appeared on Nie HuaiSang’s face, “To be honest, Wei-xiong’s words were quite interesting. Spiritual energy can only be obtained through cultivation and taking great pains to form a golden core. It would take I-don’t-know-how-many years to do, especially for someone like me, whose talent seems as if it was gnawed by a dog when I was in my mother’s womb. But, resentful energy are from the fierce ghosts. If they can easily be taken and used, it would be beyond wonderful.” (Ch. 14, ERS)

Nie HuaiSang has analyzed, evaluated, and then created a new place in the world for demonic cultivation. And the notable element is that he thinks in regards to himself.

And despite how this appears, this is not egotism. It falls quite soundly under Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development for Nie HuaiSang’s age group: Identity vs. Role Confusion. Poor, self-deprecating Nie HuaiSang is trying to find his place in the world where his brother won’t yell at him for his grades lol He’ll take whatever help he can get!

(But it’s not Nie HuaiSang who has to put this theory into practice)

I think what I’m trying to get at is that Nie HuaiSang is perfectly intelligent, perfectly active in his learning, but his talent lies outside of cultivation -- and saber practice:

[Nie HuaiSang,] “I can’t learn it means I can’t learn it and I don’t like it means I don’t like it! What’s the use of forcing me?!" (Ch. 49)

And yet we always see him try, until he has to try something else:

Nie HuaiSang also wanted to join in, but he had been reminded of his older brother as he met Lan XiChen. Cringing silently, he didn’t dare to have fun, “I’ll pass and go back so that I can review…” With this act, he hoped that Lan XiChen would put in some good words for him to his brother. (Ch. 16)

“WITH THIS ACT” -- Nie HuaiSang is so sneaky but he’s so obvious about it, I love him. This is the mind that’s going to bring down the Big Bad in the end. Keep up the good work, Nie HuaiSang!

[imaginaryelle]

Wei Wuxian, Mutism and Non-Verbal Communication

I am making a fresh post because I’ve been having issues with asks and especially read mores in asks, and this post is definitely going to require that. So. (edit: this is now also available to read on AO3!)

@tamyourue​​​ asked:

For the prompt request thingy - I'm a Sign nerd, and I've read quite a few mute!lwj, which is not that surprising. But what about a mute!wwx? I think it would be interesting to explore that with the way his family and lwj would handle it, if he was either born this way or acquired a disability later in life. How would HE handle it, being such a lively and talkative person? I planned on writing a fic of the sort but you do awesome meta, and another person's pov would be really fascinating to me.

Thank very much for asking! This immediately grabbed my brain and yanked me face-first into headcanons and possibility permutations. I’m going to try to focus on something more meta-style since you mention that (and aw <3 thank you! I have lots of fun writing my meta so I’m glad you like it!), but if you write fic on this topic I would love to see it. I am 100% certain you know more about sign language than me (I know very little but this whole thing has rekindled my interest in learning, if you have suggestions for resources!) so please do correct me if I make some erroneous statements or assumptions here. Also, I feel like I should note here that I got a little carried away (this is ~7k folks) and some of the things here are probably ideas you’ve already thought about as general concepts of non-verbal communication. I’ve included them anyway because they helped me process all my other thoughts. As always, I welcome additional input on my meta.

Okay so first off, I did some research, because I love research. (Possibly this should go without saying, and I’m sure you yourself already know this, but just in case, for general context and because this is a public post: I do think it’s important to treat things like this—any form of disability or illness or othering—with respect for the real life people who deal with it every day. Let’s not romanticize these things, right? Or just use it to woobify or infantilize characters or write disability tragedy porn? And let’s do make sure we’re doing our research and consuming media (essays, blog posts, videos, etc) created by those people about their experience? Good? Good.) Some non-comprehensive sources I consulted:

This masterlist of resources (includes deaf, mute and blind character writing resources compiled from real life experiences—trigger warning on the “21 People Reveal” link: trauma, depression, rape mention)

This I Am Mute AMA on reddit

This British Psychological Society Research Digest on adults who experience selective mutism (in their own words)

Wikipedia’s Mutism page (I promise the link is there), which lists various conditions that can lead to someone not being able to speak

I also attempted to research a bit about the history of sign language in China, but most of what I found was either comparison to ASL (here’s a video on family terms) or the fact that there are two different sign languages: a literary sign language that reflects written Chinese, and a natural sign language. Also most of what I found was focused more on the Deaf community. The history of mute people in China turned up even fewer results, unfortunately, so if anyone knows good sources for that, let me know!

Jumping off all of that, things that matter for writing a Wei Wuxian who is mute: is Wei Wuxian the only mute person he knows? Are there other mute or deaf people around who use any kind of sign language? When did he become mute? How? Is it physical or psychological? Full-on cannot speak at all or selective based on environment? And is this more novel-verse, or more drama-based? (This meta is going to reference the drama more than the novel, primarily because we get to see body language and some relationships are more fleshed out, but I believe most points should work for both canons.) Questions to be answered on an individual fic basis, of course, but let’s consider some possibilities.

Character-wise, one of the biggest things here for me is that Wei Wuxian hates being ignored. It’s not exactly that he needs to be the center of attention at every single moment, but he’s a showman. Even if the protagonist of the story was someone else, he’d still be there, attracting attention and calling people out on unfairness and generally being that combination of nuisance and talented genius that we love. And he already lives in a world where he can be silenced and isolated—people drown him out, talk over him and dismiss him on a regular basis in canon, and of course there’s the Lan Clan silencing spell.

Multiple people (especially various Jin family members, but also Madam Yu and a few others) use social class and rumor and perceptions of power to shut him down throughout the story, even though he is entirely capable of speaking and often doesn’t keep quiet when it might be beneficial for him to do so. Being mute is only going to exaggerate that ability for others to disregard him, but he’s still going to be that dramatic, fiercely opinionated guy, even if he can’t communicate verbally. He tries to talk through the silencing spell practically every time it’s put on him as it is (and really, what is the Lan Clan going to do to him if he already can’t speak? That spell now becomes a totally useless punishment for him). He’s still going to disrupt Lan Qiren’s class and volunteer to show off and make noise and draw attention to himself. He might be ignored more easily, and consequently get frustrated more often, but he’s still going to do it, because being dutifully silent or nonreactive for more than a single conversation pretty much means just not being Wei Wuxian. So how does he communicate?

I do think it matters here, when he becomes mute and whether it’s selective or not. If he’s born unable to speak, or develops muteness in early childhood (say, after his parents die but before Jiang Fengmian takes him in), I think he’d develop his methods of communication in different ways than if it were to happen later. In the case of childhood mutism I think he’s more likely to use (or develop) actual sign language, and to depend on other people (such as his siblings) to speak aloud for him in some situations. I mostly base that on 1) the trust-building between him, Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli in those early-life flashbacks 2) how much more often he talks to merchants than anyone else (more on that later) and 3) how much nonverbal communication he uses already (it’s a lot. He’s very expressive). If he becomes mute as a teen or adult, I think he’ll deal with a lot more like he deals with the loss of his golden core: deflection of worry, insistence on independence as much as possible, and lots of inventive solutions (but still lots of body language, of course).

Okay, with those trends in mind, here are some general possibilities (in no particular order) that mix real world tactics and mdzs setting specifics and can be applied to a variety of situations:

1. As mentioned above, he might use expressions, body language, generally understood gestures or actions. Wei Wuxian tends to be pretty physically expressive in canon already, so this is likely to be his first instinct when he reaches for communication tools. Let’s look at another silencing spell gif.

Wei Wuxian is extremely expressive every time this is used on him. He makes faces. He waves his arms. He stomps and grabs at people. Where other people hit with this technique frown and look confused and touch their lips or neck, Wei Wuxian complains. He pouts. He makes a production out of how much he hates it. His moods, in general, tend to involve his entire body. So I take that as pretty strong evidence that gestures, facial expressions and miming are going to play a pretty big role in his communication style. Here is a fun youtube video for CSL of the Tortoise and the Hare story, which I think has bearing on how much he could get away with just using his face and miming. Making faces and grabbing Lan Wangji’s wrist or sleeve isn’t going to change here, and he might in fact get even handsier, if that’s possible. As a cultivator, Wei Wuxian would have access to a level of physical adroitness that most people don’t, which could also tie in to how he uses his body to communicate. In general, these are things that are going to make it difficult for him to hide his identity after his resurrection if he’s mute beforehand, but they help a lot with conveying basic ideas so they’re definitely going to be involved somehow, no matter what else he does. Something of a contrast to stories about Lan Wangji and muteness, perhaps.

2. He might communicate through his siblings/other people. Jin Zixuan gets by with saying extremely little because he almost always has other people around who are more than willing to speak for him. Jiang Cheng, pre-Sunshot Campaign, does some of the same (he’s so surprised to be called on and have to speak for himself during that first victory banquet), and of course we sometimes see this play out between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian in canon already: Wei Wuxian will voice things that Lan Wangji is feeling or agrees with, but is unwilling to actually say. So it’s conceivable that Wei Wuxian could get a lot of communication done by having his siblings or close friends (depending on where in the timeline the story takes place) speak for him, as he communicated with them via some other method (at its most basic just an understanding of his pov and what he would want to say, extending into body language, personal signs or sign language, notes, etc.). The best candidate for this is going to be Jiang Yanli, as we do see her stand up and speak for him in drama canon, when people start questioning whether their being alone together is appropriate. I think Jiang Cheng would do his best, but he’d also be inconsistent about it sometimes in situations where he didn’t think it was important or didn’t agree with Wei Wuxian, because he can be a moody dick when he wants to be and he’s not that great at talking himself. I forsee lots of brotherly shoulder punches and slaps upside the head. So many. More than usual. Jiang Fengmian might do a little, as might other Jiang Clan disciples (they certainly seem to like Wei Wuxian well enough to try).

As you might be able to tell, I think this method of communication is much more likely to be used if he’s mute while growing up. If he’s injured as an adult, or loses the ability to speak after he’s resurrected, he’s going to have to build all this context from scratch and it’s going to be much more difficult for this method to work smoothly. It could still work to a certain extent, but it probably won’t be as fluid. On the other hand, if Wei Wuxian was mute as a child, he’d likely be almost immediately recognizable to anyone who regularly interacted with him before his death, especially in the drama, where he has the same body. Jiang Cheng won’t have a moment of doubt when Zidian fails to banish Wei Wuxian’s invading spirit from Mo Xuanyu’s body, because he’ll have had that particular flick of two fingers or turn of a hand with accompanying scowl, etc., acted out in front of him every day for over a decade, and Wei Wuxian will have a much more difficult time hiding that, because it’s muscle memory as well as a form of communication. Which could be a very interesting plot development!

Another possible plot divergence is that if Jiang Yanli starts speaking for her brother at a younger age that might influence her to speak up more just in general, which could hugely affect the story. If she gets used to speaking for Wei Wuxian and herself (and even Jiang Cheng!) rather than letting Wei Wuxian step in as we often see him do, she might involve herself more actively in Sect politics. Which means that she’d likely be attending cultivation conferences more often. Which means that she could be in an incredibly powerful position when stuff starts going down with Wei Wuxian and the Wens. Jiang Cheng is young and stressed and insecure about his place. He doesn’t know how to say “yes, these people helped us, and they don’t deserve what you’re doing to them.” His instinct is to curl around what’s his and protect it, which is exactly what he was raised to do as the future Sect Leader of Lotus Pier. But Jiang Yanli cares about people because they’re people, in much the same way Wei Wuxian does (see: her treatment of Wen Ning during the wedding dress visit, as one example). If she’s at that conference and used to speaking out? She’s going to make a difference, because she has an excellent relationship with Jin Guangshan’s wife and his heir. Jin Zixuan is actively pursuing her at that point. She’s gentry, from a good family (unlike MianMian). She is right on the cusp of marrying into the Jin clan. If nothing else, she has enough influence that if she speaks out, Jiang Cheng will support her, and possibly others (such as Lan Xichen, sitting there looking uncomfortable but not saying anything as long as Wei Wuxian stands on his own). That could be a fun ripple effect to see played out.

3. He might communicate through music. This would be a fantastic place to use the Chinese literature technique of poetry allusions. Different songs or melodies might be associated with different lyrics, or plays, or poems, and so just a short musical phrase could convey a fairly complex (if sometimes more allegorical or symbolic) meaning. This particular method of communication might be most effective in conjunction with the Lans and Nie Huaisang just because they’d be more likely to make quick connections and respond to them without further explanation necessary, but in the right circumstances it could work for most cultivators, since they seem to pride themselves on their literacy. I’m still just barely dipping my toes into this stuff so I don’t have any concrete examples here, but I think it could be a lot of fun to incorporate more music into Wei Wuxian’s life before Chenqing, since he certainly learned to play the dizi somewhere before that whole coreless-in-a-death-trap adventure, and also I think travels with Lan Wangji and the juniors might be fun with some musical references peppered in. Which I might keep in mind even for fics where Wei Wuxian is not mute.

This next song compares Jin Zixun to all the fools of history and legend and finds him lacking.

4. Talismans! Wei Wuxian, being Wei Wuxian, seems to like to use talismans both to get attention and to convey meaning even when he doesn’t have any particular difficulty speaking in canon (I adore the butterfly talisman, okay, I will never be over it). And using talismans doesn’t necessarily mean conveying ideas in words, even though magical glowy writing can very cool.

[insert image of Wei Wuxian writing on his palm, clapping his hands together and then separating them reveal a glowy orange insult to Jin Zixuan’s ego held between them because he’s blunt like that sometimes]

Again, symbols and poetic allusions could be used. Whole landscapes, steaming bowls of soup, he could run wild with his artistic talents. Also he’d probably be able to figure out a sort of magical white-board situation with writing and erasing and re-writing script easily, though it would consume spiritual power of one type or another so it might be more difficult for him to pull off for a longer conversation, or after he’s lost his golden core (there’s another fun plot hook to play with: figuring out new ways to communicate as well as necromancy during the Sunshot Campaign). We do see him erase a talisman in the drama during the Yi City stuff, so that’s very nearly canon already. Basic writing would also be an option here (as we see Song Lan use) but I think the frustrations of needing ink and a brush or writing on the ground and everything would get to him pretty fast—Wei Wuxian is not a very patient person most of the time, so unless it’s actual letter-writing or a book of pre-set phrases he carries with him (probably a good idea for emergencies anyway) I don’t think that’s going to be his go-to.

Another talisman option is: let’s not forget that Wei Wuxian is a genius inventor! He could do so many things with cultivation. To pull from a real world technology example: Maybe he makes a talisman he can wrap around his throat that will convey the vibrations of his vocal chords (provided he has fully developed ones of course). Maybe he combines talismans and fireworks to get attention and write sparkly messages at the same time. To pull from things already in the canon: Maybe he uses Empathy for really important situations. Maybe he can literally steal other people’s voices momentarily, as he does control of bodies, or, post-Burial Mounds, maybe he can speak through the voices of spirits and fierce corpses. How freaking creepy would those be? One is like the reverse of the Lan Clan silencing spell: you can’t speak, but I can use your voice, potentially out of your own mouth. The other is just going to make traditional cultivators break out in hives: Wei Wuxian showing up to the war and every time he wants to speak he summons a fierce corpse or a ghost to scream his thoughts into annoying people’s faces.

Those last two aren’t going to win him any friends but oh wow do they look fun.

Imagine Wei Wuxian roasting Su She and exposing his whole plan in Su She’s own voice.

One last thing here that just occurred to me: Wei Wuxian has on at least one occasion in the drama used the paperman to talk to someone. He does it with Wen Qing, to ask if there’s any way she can arrange a break for Lan Wangji when he’s walking on a broken leg. Is that a telepathy thing? Or a voice thing? And would his ability to do it be affected by his relationship with spoken words? Food for thought.

5. Context or partner-based signs. These would be signs he makes up or develops in conjunction with friends and family, but which are based on shared experience and reference points rather than a full sign language. Could be pretty much anything as long as they mean something to his audience, but are going to be useful mostly for those cases where he’s having a one-on-one conversation or trying to get someone else to verbalize for him in a larger group. Counting on fingers, waving, summoning, the three-finger swear Wei Wuxian uses on that rooftop during the Sunshot Campaign etc. would be examples of generally socially known gestures so this is mostly just an extension of that. I would like to think that he would have personalized sign nick-names for people, probably related to puns or in-jokes. This is a fun place to play with context and relationship complexity, because different people are going to have different levels of fluency in “Wei Wuxian.” Perhaps that’s part of the wedge that drives itself between him and Jiang Cheng even: after months on end with the Wens, Wei Wuxian has mannerisms and signs Jiang Cheng doesn’t know, which just make him feel even more distant from his brother.

6. He might use an actual established sign language of some kind, probably one usually used in trade contexts (because there are many dialects and languages in Ancient China so trade sign could very easily be a thing) unless you build more of a social network (and more general social acceptance) for mute and deaf people into the world. Which could totally happen! But if you don’t tweak the world-building then sign language as a language beyond trade sign is going to be minimally useful to most individuals who would need it, because they’re mostly going to be communicating with people who don’t use it (as can often happen in the real world, of course). I think a general-use sign language or trade sign + personal signs could be a lot of fun, especially between close family and friends (how much would especially drama!Wen Ning love that added level of connection and communication?)

Look at them. Look at this ridiculousness.

But outside of that it’s probably not going to be something anyone but especially kind souls will actually use with him beyond actual monetary transactions. This is not a canon that’s generally kind to people who are marked as different. Most of the big cultivators probably wouldn’t even learn much trade sign, especially not the Jins and Wens, because they have servants to negotiate prices for them if necessary, but the Jiangs might learn both because they’re closer to their trade-port commoners and for Wei Wuxian’s sake. Anyone who travels alone would want to know some, at least. Lan Wangji might know a little and learn more specifically to communicate with Wei Wuxian? Could go a lot of directions.

7. Clapping, tapping things together, stomping, whistling, and maybe laughter, vocal crying or screaming, humming and whispers. These methods of communication will depend a lot on why a character is mute and whether it’s physically or psychologically-based. Clapping, tapping, stomping and whistling should be generally possible; the rest depend on vocal chord development and certain nerves being functional. Interestingly, this means that Wei Wuxian still has total control over simple fierce corpses and spirits even if his vocal chords don’t work or are damaged. Which is cool. Clapping/tapping/stomping would allow him to engage in morse/chinese telegraph/tapping code styles of communication too, if such a thing exists in Ancient Fantasy China (Why not? They already have chilies and potatoes and fly on swords). A whistle code for night hunting would just be a useful thing in general, for everyone. Limited speech might also be a thing. In some cases of selective mutism people can speak with certain people (a feeling of safety seems to be a big factor, though sometimes I saw reports of people saying they could speak just fine if it was on stage/part of a theatre production but not for day-to-day stuff too), or at low volumes. This might be more taxing than other forms of communication, or not, depending on the specific situation. It might lead to things like Wei Wuxian being able to talk to his family and possibly close friends like Lan Wangji, but not in large groups or to “outsiders,” which might in turn lead to more resentment on some people’s parts and more accusations that he’s just being rude or arrogant, etc.

8. Fan code. Because it should exist, why is Nie Huaisang the only person in this canon with a fan. Should be remedied, obviously.

Think of the things he could be saying if he had anyone to talk to this way!

9. The telepathy spell from fighting the Tortoise of Slaughter. This is a drama-exclusive thing, and I love it! So much! But. Telepathy is a very common workaround for characters who are unable to use verbal language and personally I think it’s often used to just totally erase that non-verbal communication or any of the difficulties actual mute people experience. So. It might be more interesting, and more respectful for real people’s lived experience, to introduce some further obstacles. What are the spell’s limits? Distance? Duration? Can it involve more than two people? Does it consume energy from all parties or only the person who initiates it? Who knows it? Is it a Lan Clan specialty? Is it only for highly ranked disciples? Did Lan Wangji invent it? Do the Lan juniors know this spell? If they do, would they use it? If yes to both those last two questions, that eliminates a lot of barriers for resurrected Wei Wuxian. Both Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi seem like they would willingly (with varying levels of sass of course) take on the task of relaying Wei Wuxian’s thoughts, at least sometimes. But again, it matters when Wei Wuxian becomes mute, because language and how you communicate shapes how you think. What if one of them or Lan Wangji uses the spell, and Wei Wuxian’s thoughts don’t come across as direct words? How does that impact their ability to communicate in this way?

Also, I invite you to picture: Wei Wuxian is back from the dead. He has been reunited with Lan Wangji. He can’t talk, verbally, but he can speak with Lan Wangji telepathically. This is a new development related to his resurrection. Lan Wangji is now faced with a dilemma, because he kind of depends on Wei Wuxian to do all the talking in a number of situations as the plot moves forward. How do they maneuver those situations now? The confrontation of the second Burial Mounds siege? The reveal of Jin Guangyao’s crimes? Also, depending on how the spell works and their communication style before Wei Wuxian died, it’s totally possible that he now just has Wei Wuxian chattering at him inside his head rather constantly, to make up for the fact that he suddenly can’t speak aloud. How does that affect their changing relationship as they go on adventures?

A possible example of this scenario.

Okay, time for some character implications. You know that thing Wei Wuxian does where he has to prove that he is at least as good and usually better than everyone else at whatever he can manage even though he’s an orphaned child of non-gentry parents? Yeah. That’s probably going to get cranked up all the way past 11 to like, 17 or something. A lot. Because if Wei Wuxian can’t verbally speak in a culture where oratory is such an ingrained part of daily life and cultivator culture, a lot of people are going to use that to assume he’s also stupid or unskilled. We see repeated examples of Wen Ning and Jiang Cheng being disregarded or manipulated through their inability to give speeches the way other people do, and the ability to speak well is mentioned as a distinct and admirable ability in reference to both Jin Guangyao and Ouyang Zizhen. It’s something cultivator politics pretty much requires, after a certain point: the ability to speak, clearly and with authority. Not being able to is going to tick Wei Wuxian off to no end. Frequently. And also (I believe) add even more fuel to his “I’m better than you” antics.

He’s still going to be this dramatic asshole, and he’s still going to be better than Jin Zixuan.

Speech doesn’t affect any of those gentlemanly skills he’s learned (provided we assume he still ahs the opportunity to learn them). It doesn’t affect his archery, or his swordsmanship, or his cultivational power. I don’t think it would affect horsemanship, but it might depend on how the horse was trained and what sounds Wei Wuxian is able to make. But either way, with the skills he does have I think it’s possible he would flaunt them even more, especially in front of people he thinks look down on him. He might also get into more physical fights, since he already has a tendency to do that as is when he’s offended enough (most obviously illustrated by his Cloud Recesses confrontation of Jin Zixuan). He might just walk out of more conversations, as we saw him do during the Sunshot Campaign, even before he loses his gold core. He might get even more unconventional in his ideas even more quickly, because he doesn’t fit in as well from the start and never will. The appeal of becoming a rogue cultivator or trying to seek out Baoshan Sanren on his own might be pretty strong. Lots of canon divergence and AU possibilities there.

As far as inter-character relationships go, if he’s mute from childhood I don’t think his relationships with his adopted family would change a whole lot. Madam Yu is going to throw his muteness in his and everyone else’s faces on a regular basis because it’s another handle she can grab onto. Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli might be more protective of him, but I think their personal dynamic with him would remain largely the same. Same with Jiang Fengmian. Jiang Yanli might speak up more often and Jiang Cheng might be forced to develop more patience and eloquence at a younger age, which could certainly ripple out into bigger things over time if you wanted to go that direction. Similarly, Lan Sizhui might have vague memories/ an increased ability to pick up the meaning behind “Mo Xuanyu’s” gestures and signs, which in turn could lead to his own identity being revealed sooner as well. It really depends on how deep you want to go, and how far you want to spin things.

Wei Wuxian’s relationships with the rest of the cultivation world, on the other hand, might be drastically different from a younger age because there’s always going to be that hint there that he’s lacking something, even more than he already gets with his birth status. I could absolutely see it being used in a very similar way to how mentions of Jin Guangyao’s parentage are used. In addition, Wei Wuxian’s going to have a harder time charming his way through situations, because the pacing of his conversations is going to be different. A lot of people are going to avoid him even before he turns to demonic cultivation because they don’t want to deal with learning new ways to communicate, which might contribute to his desire to show off more often and more drastically. (Some people of course are going to hate him even more because of this, and say things that involve phrases like “despite his shortcomings” but they hate him anyway. So how much that increase in irritation affects plot would depend on how far you wanted to take it.) Many relationships (especially more superficial ones) might have to be built a little bit slower, or a little more indirectly. A single first meeting will make less of an immediate positive impact unless he develops some specific strategies. Is he going to be remembered? Absolutely. But he’ll have to work harder to be remembered as “that charming, skilled Wei kid” instead of “that mute guy from Yunmeng Jiang.” It’s definitely a challenge.

This pun-and-flirting-based conversation, for example, would be very difficult to pull off.

With Lan Wangji specifically… I think it could go a lot of directions. I do like to think that one of the things that he finds attractive about Wei Wuxian is that Wei Wuxian makes it obvious he wants to be around, and be friends, but he accommodates Lan Wangji’s moods and actions without the need for very many verbal cues. He pays attention. All the time. He reacts to everything Lan Wangji does, whether Lan Wangji is talking or not, and he wants Lan Wangji’s attention in return. They actually have a lot of non-verbal communication going on already. They click, on a certain level, especially in combat situations, and can convey a lot of communication without very many words. So I don’t think that part would change much. Maybe more whistles and gestures and music, but it already involves a lot of touching. Nor would that aspect of Lan Wangji trying to figure Wei Wuxian out change a lot—the puzzle part might even be intensified, which could be fun to play with and lead them to be closer from an earlier time, especially in the novel setting. What might change is that Lan Wangi might start picking up more of Wei Wuxian’s ways of expressing himself, because another part of what I personally see in their relationship is that Wei Wuxian is often a catalyst for Lan Wangji realizing he can approach a problem from a totally different angle. If Wei Wuxian uses music to communicate as well as in cultivation, Lan Wangji might pick that up, or he might pick up certain gestures (signs can sometimes be more efficient than spoken words, especially if someone is used to them, and I think that would appeal to Lan Wangji’s economy of expression), or ways to use talismans (as we see him use one of Wei Wuxian’s talismans as a distraction in the drama). So yeah, if Wei Wuxian is mute when they first meet I think they would develop some slightly different lines of communication, but overall the shape of their relationship would remain largely the same. (Exploring those slightly different lines could be a lot of fun, even so :D)

A lot of the things I’ve written here are primarily based in the idea that Wei Wuxian is mute in childhood. If Wei Wuxian lost the ability to speak as a teen or adult, that would be pretty different. His frustration levels would be even higher than if he was dealing with it most of his life, especially since, as I noted above, I don’t think he would have as much of a chance to build a working knowledge of signs with very many people, if anyone at all. If his reaction to being trapped at Burial Mounds and becoming first a war hero and then a social pariah are any indication, he’d be dramatic and angry about it, and probably actively use it as a blind to disguise his lack of a golden core as much as possible. I think in any case where he became mute after growing up speaking, his chosen methods of communication would be a lot more direct and voice- or writing-based, whether through use of resentment-fueled voice-borrowing or talismans and glowy writing, or inventions like the vocal chord vibration thing. He’s going to be much more resistant to relying on other people if he can at all avoid it, and much more impatient about round-about methods of communication like music. He’d probably also employ a lot of exaggerated facial expressions and emphatic (and probably often rude) gestures. His adulthood is pretty stressful to begin with, and this is only going to make it moreso.

For character reactions in that situation—I think there would be a lot of concern from his siblings and Lan Wangji, and depending on when it happened there might be a lot of connections drawn between his inability to speak and his adoption of demonic cultivation. (I see four major points where he might become mute as a teen/adult before his death, and they’re all pretty close together: 1) during the Wen indoctrination camp, 2) when he wakes up from his coma after fighting the Tortoise of Slaughter 3) when Lotus Pier is invaded and destroyed, 4) When Wen Chao captures him and throws him into the Burial Mounds. Potential option #5: in a battle during the Sunshot Campaign.) On the one hand, in these situations Wei Wuxian already has established relationships based mostly in respect with a lot of people, so he might meet with more patience (but also more pity) for a while. On the other, people like Jin Guangshan are absolutely not above using something like this to shut him out of politics entirely.

But okay, among people he actually likes: I think Jiang Yanli and Lan Wangji would put in the most effort for actually communicating with him and helping him find ways to cope, as we see them do in the drama with the golden core situation. They and Jiang Cheng might possibly also narrow in focus pretty hard on finding a cure, if possible, since that falls in line with their reactions to his giving up the sword (something to be careful about in writing, as the difference between “magical cure” and “recovery through speech therapy” can be pretty important on a sensitivity level).

In a case of selective mutism—I think only Jiang Yanli would react well at first.

I cry over their relationship so much.

At this point Jiang Cheng is well and truly into his “why are you making my life harder” phase so Wei Wuxian being able to speak with him in private but not in public might start as a relief and then quickly become annoying as fuck. It might take Lan Wangji a while to figure out it’s even happening, especially if he’s one of the people Wei Wuxian still speaks aloud with. He might just think for a while that Wei Wuxian is trying to be better about controlling his mouth in public settings. But once he did figure it out, he’d probably adjust pretty quickly because he can relate to it a bit—we see him speak in small groups or one on one way more often than in more public stage situations, even though he is generally fully capable of speaking. I do think there would still be an undercurrent of worry there though, especially since at that point in his life Wei Wuxian is pretty close to spiraling out of control at the drop of a hat.

This sort of thing might be a lot more common.

Post-resurrection, Wei Wuxian himself would probably be really, really confused to suddenly be alive again but unable to speak. I think he’d spend some time going “wtf??” and then shoving his way into situations with wild hand gestures and body language and facial expressions. Think about that first confrontation in Mo Village, where he’s acting “mad”? That sort of exaggeration, and deliberately provocative physical contact maybe. He might play really annoying noises on grass or his poorly-made flute to get people’s attention. Whistling is highly probable. There’d probably also be some related depression, too. All of these things are obviously possibilities for if he developed mutism earlier of course, but I think if it came with the resurrection he’d have a lot more questions about it, and focus a lot more on being able to make noise at first.

I will make everyone else aware of my personal annoyance in any way possible.

He might end up doing more instead of trying to lead the Lan juniors to the correct conclusions, because he’s going to have way fewer communication tools than he would under other circumstances. He’d be less able to immediately insult Jin Ling at their first meeting, and less recognizable to Jiang Cheng. And once he met up with Lan Wangji, I think Lan Wangji would worry a lot about his silence in this case, because it’s so unlike him and they don’t know why it’s happened (unless Mo Xuanyu was already known to be mute). Finding a cure or a way to practice and build up speech again would be pretty high in both their priorities, I think, and Lan Wangji would watch Wei Wuxian a bit more closely, to make sure he stayed safe (because if this has changed, what else has changed?).

That oversight could influence the plot a fair amount. It might mean that they don’t catch Nie Huaisang at the Tomb of Blades. It might mean that Wei Wuxian tries to run away more often, or more determinedly, because he feels like he’s being smothered. It might significantly impact their ability to communicate during the Yi City fights in the fog, unless they’ve developed or adopted a whistle or clapping code by then. Wei Wuxian picks up on A-Qing’s tapping quickly enough that he’d probably come up with something a little more sophisticated, given time. They might spend a lot more time in the evenings and while traveling working on ways to communicate. Writing. Music. Empathy-the-technique. Establishing gestures and tapping codes, designing new talismans, etc. but for a while there Wei Wuxian is going to be extremely dependent on Lan Wangji (and possibly sometimes Lan Sizhui) to interpret and speak for him, which is a major change in their relationship that could be really interesting to explore. Does Lan Wangji start speaking out more often? Or does he employ intimidation or position or the silencing spell to make others wait for Wei Wuxian to communicate in other ways? How does that effect Wei Wuxian’s hidden identity? Does this experience resolve their friendship-to-lovers plot faster, or does it provide just provide even more opportunities for miscommunication?

The possibilities for fic are very nearly endless, I think, but my personal favorite options would be either something with the voice stealing and fierce-corpse-yelling (the consequences would be huge but individual moments could be very satisfying) or a fic focused on Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian working together, building new communication tools and deepening their relationship through shared context, because I am a Wangxian sap at heart <3.

[obaewankenope]

The Second Life of Sandu Shengshou, chapter 2

[Ao3] 

Getting to Cloud Recesses earlier than the guest lectures that had been the beginning of a whole lot of fucking drama is, Jiang Cheng accepts, easier than he expected only because his parents seem inclined to grant him any wish now he’s not dead anymore.

Apparently, there’s rumours that the son of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan either a) never really died and eloped with some rogue Cultivator (he’s twelve, what the fuck?) who then spurned him, b) is a fierce corpse that decided to just act like nothing was wrong at all (that’s not how fierce corpses even work, and Jiang Cheng would know since his brother is the Yiling fucking Patriarch) or, c) is a doppelganger with the exact same ability to be absolutely murderously protective of his siblings, going so far as to threaten his own parents if they so much as looked at his shixiong wrong.

The rumours are, naturally, a little bit right and a whole lot wrong. Well, one of them sort of is which is honestly better than he expects of people who know fuck all about him. Jiang Cheng isn’t a doppelganger of course—isn’t he though; it’s not like he’s the same twelve-year-old who died an ignoble death on a night-hunt because he’d been insistent that he could handle it, shut up Wei Wuxian!—but he is absolutely willing to throw down with anyone who bad mouths his brother; including his mother.

His mother, the purple spider who still terrifies him because she’s his mother, but who stops and looks at her son with wide eyes and an honest sort of pride at his very fierce desire to fight her. Gaining some outward display of approval from his mother apparently is as simple as growing a backbone. Who knew?

His mother’s behaviour toward Wei Ying has definitely changed for the better since Jiang Cheng has taken it upon himself to make it very fucking clear that no-one is permitted to hurt him. As much as Yu Ziyuan is the Madam of Lotus Pier, Jiang Cheng is the Sect Heir and he’s lived as a Sect Leader during shitty times, peaceful times, and absolutely soul-destroying times. His mother respects the fact that her son can stop Zidian without being its master.

Jiang Cheng is going to have to address that too because he sort of misses Zidian even if he’s okay with only Sandu right now. He’s thrashed Wei Ying half a dozen times since he “came back” with moves that he knows his brother won’t learn for another year. It’s had the added bonus of encouraging his brother to really go all in for studying how to beat him again, and made his parents look actually sort of proud of him.

The fact that he and Wei Ying both team up to encourage A-Jie to improve her own sword work draws surprise from many because everyone knows A-Jie is going to marry the peacock and will just be an ornament in Koi Tower rather than an actual fighter. Jiang Cheng and his shixiong both resolve to make sure A-Jie is more than what others expect her to be because no. Jiang Cheng lost both his siblings because of others expectations and biases of them. Fuck that.

A-Jie doesn’t thank them in the beginning because she has spent years accepting the fact that her cultivation isn’t high enough, but Jiang Cheng knows that a core can be strengthened through a variety of ways. A-Jie needs to be passably good with a sword for focus reasons, and also because sometimes having a sword helps stave off danger because no one likes a sword pointed at them, but the primary tools Jiang Cheng and A-Ying agree A-Jie should learn are talismans and arrays.

Talismans are useful for any cultivator, especially when the cultivator knows someone as insanely creative as A-Ying or someone with an unfair advantage like Jiang Cheng. He definitely isn’t smug about “coming up” with new talismans that are definitely ones A-Ying would have thought of eventually. He really isn’t.

Gusu Lan invites the Sect Heir of Yunmeng Jiang to Cloud Recesses two months after he makes the request of them. He politely informs Lan Qiren—acting in the place of his secluded brother until his eldest son can take his place—that A-Jie and A-Xian will be accompanying him. The fact that he doesn’t word it as a request for Lan Qiren to extend the invitation to his siblings is irrelevant because Jiang Cheng refuses to leave them in Lotus Pier without him there to make sure they’re safe.

Sect Leader Lan responds that the siblings of Jiang Wanyin are welcome also to Cloud Recesses.

How wise of him.

Of course, Jiang Cheng is well-aware that Lan Qiren will regret allowing A-Xian to enter Cloud Recesses and get anywhere near his precious second nephew, but Jiang Cheng doesn’t care about how Lan Qiren will feel about it when he knows Wei Ying will be happy with Lan Wangji.

After Jiang Cheng has a chat with Wei Ying about teasing and flirting and how they’re one-in-the-fucking-same when it comes to a certain Lan. He’s well-aware the conversation is going to be excruciatingly awkward for them both but Jiang Cheng raised a nephew alone and rebuilt a Sect; he watched the world change and grow and helped it do so. He can tell his brother that when he talks about how nice a certain cultivator’s eyes are, his ears, his fucking nose that Wei Ying wants to marry said cultivator even if they happen to be made out of fucking jade and have no facial expressions to speak of!

Wei Ying is very confused and assumes Jiang Cheng has a crush.

He pushes him in the river and leaves him to swim to shore, shouting at A-Xian that he’s an idiot who won’t know love when it literally ties them together with a white ribbon in a damned cave.

Yeah, Jiang Cheng learnt about that little event thirty-seven-years after it happened! He’s still a little sore about not being told his brother had gotten married at fifteen.

Just a little, mind.

* * * *

Acting Sect Leader Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen greet Jiang Cheng and his siblings when they are presented in the Welcoming Hall of Cloud Recess. Lan Wangji is standing off to the side, near his brother but further back, clearly showing that he is there because it is his duty and not because he cares about Yunmeng Jiang invading Cloud Recess.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t really care about how Lan Wangji feels about their arrival disrupting the Second Jade’s seclusion. He’s more interested in shoving Lan Wangji and his brother at each other while also possibly dropping as many hints as he can that Wen Ruohan wants to destroy Cloud Recesses because he’s an evil bastard who needs to die, die, die.

Just a normal day for Jiang Cheng.

“Welcome, Jiang-gongzi, Wei-gongzi and Jiang-guniang,” Lan Qiren says and he sounds mostly sincere about the welcoming. Jiang Cheng knows that won’t last the moment A-Xian opens his mouth. “I hope your stay at Cloud Recess will be peaceful and beneficial to you.”

Jiang Cheng and his siblings bow in unison, a practised move that he roped A-Jie into who then roped A-Xian into by giving him that look of hers neither of them can resist.

“Jiang Wanyin, Wei Wuxian, and Jiang Yanli are honoured by your hosting of us at Cloud Recess,” Jiang Cheng replies, still bowing, and he’s pretty pleased that he doesn’t mess up the words or sound unnecessarily aggressive. Decades of playing politics makes interactions that would have once had him a nervous mess at twelve seem like a breeze.

He could probably even talk to Wen Ruohan without cursing in the bastards face. Jiang Cheng straightens from his bow. No, no he couldn’t, actually. Wen Ruohan is too much even for Jiang Cheng to handle without attempting murder outright.

Sect Conferences are going to be a challenge.

Rooms have been prepared for them and they are directed to them by Lan Wangji who, Jiang Cheng notices, keeps an exceptionally tight grip of his sword. A grip that seems to tighten even more whenever Wei Ying smiles or laughs with his Shijie. It’s almost nauseating to realise that Lan Wangji was interested in Wei Ying from the start.

Jiang Cheng is appalled. It’s not romantic. Nope. Not at all.

His brother is horrifyingly oblivious if he didn’t notice this about Lan Wangji. Even now, three years before they would have originally met, Lan Wangji seems interested in Wei Ying in a way the Second Jade obviously isn’t in Jiang Cheng or A-Jie

Jiang Cheng sighs.

Why does Jiang Cheng have to suffer having such an oblivious genius for a shixiong?

He’s going to have to include A-Jie in his scheming for shoving Lan Wangji and Wei Ying together. His sister, Jiang Cheng knows, will assist without hesitation. A-Jie has always gone above and beyond for her XianXian. So much so, she died for him.

That will not be allowed to happen again.

First things first, Jiang Cheng needs to figure out a way to talk to Lan Xichen and build up some sort of rapport with the soon to be Sect Leader. One of the biggest issues he faced in his first life was the way Yunmeng Jiang was isolated from the other elite sects; partly due to Jiang Cheng being Jiang Cheng but also due to scheming bastards who he will not allow the chance to start scheming this time around.

That means he needs to engage with Lan Xichen, Zewu-Jun, First Jade of Lan, and not make a fucking fool of himself. Easy.

It is not easy.

Getting the chance to talk to Lan Xichen is easy but the chance to talk to him alone without Lan Qiren or Lan fucking Wangji following and joining in and talking—well, Lan Qiren joins in, Lan Wangji just stands there like an ice sculpture that someone didn’t even bother trying to make look human—is next to impossible.

In the end, Jiang Cheng employs both of his siblings as distractions just so he can at least say five damned words to Lan Xichen without one of his relatives lurking.

He doesn’t want to know how A-Xian keeps Lan Wangji distracted, he doesn’t, but A-Jie at least will distract Lan Qiren with discussions on the running of a sect. Bless his sister. Also bless his brother, but silently; A-Ying’s ego is big enough as it is.

Lan Xichen is, at least, pleasantly polite about talking with Jiang Cheng alone which is nice. Nice and with the expression on Zewu-Jun’s face, apparently alarming. What does he think Jiang Cheng is going to do; attack him in Cloud Recess?

Jiang Cheng is an angry twelve-year-old with a lifetime of experiences. He’s not stupid, just rash sometimes.

“I assume Zewu-Jun is aware,” Jiang Cheng says with all the seriousness a twelve-year-old can muster; a lot when that twelve-year-old is a scowling ex-sect leader, “of the rumours surrounding my being alive.” Lan Xichen nods. “They’re wrong. Mostly.”

“Your request to visit Cloud Recess was intriguing young master Jiang,” Lan Xichen says with that bland smile of his that absolutely screams discomfort at the topic but a stubborn refusal to admit discomfort. Jiang Cheng had seen it a lot in relation to Jin Guangyao in those later years. “Sect Leader Jiang informed us of your death and your return. It has caused some discussion among the Elders.”

Some discussion is probably Lan-code for quiet shouting about wicked sorcery to bring him back to life or something equally fucking stupid from them. Jiang Cheng doesn’t roll his eyes but he wants to.

“I have no idea how I came back,” he tells Lan Xichen because it’s true, he doesn’t. “I remember dying and then waking in a forest clearing with a fierce corpse trying to eat my face.” Lan Xichen doesn’t grimace at the mental image like A-Ying had, but there’s still a flicker of horror.

“That must have been an unexpected surprise,” Lan Xichen says with all the tact of a Lan.

“Bigger surprise was my own parents taking turns trying to kill me,” Jiang Cheng replies with a shrug and that makes Lan Xichen grimace a little.

Jiang Cheng finds the expressiveness of this still-teenaged Lan Xichen to be very fascinating. In an academic sort of way. Lan Wangji, even as a teenager, is more like a wall of ice whilst his older brother has more emotional nuance. It’s interesting.

“That’s not the important thing,” Jiang Cheng continues, ignoring how Lan Xichen’s expression very much says that is the important thing. It’s not, but he can understand how Lan Xichen thinks it is.

Parents trying to kill their child is sort of a big deal, but Jiang Cheng honestly is just pleasantly pleased that he has parents still. It’s almost novel.

“What, then, is the important thing, Jiang-gongzi?”

There’s a little note of frustration in Lan Xichen’s words that makes Jiang Cheng want to smirk at the other. It’s a reminder of dull Sect Conferences where Jiang Cheng got to watch Lan Xichen become steadily more and more annoyed with people. He finds it somewhat reassuring to know that the Sect Leader Jiang Cheng came to know in a distant acquaintance sort of way isn’t all that different from this young Sect Leader now. Well, Sect Heir, still, but Jiang Cheng knows that’s not going to last much longer.

“The important thing is that I’m a lot older than twelve and have been for a long, long time,” Jiang Cheng says, holding up a hand when Lan Xichen frowns at him. “My mother attacked me with Zidian which protects against possession, so no, I’m not possessed. I’m still me, just not the me who died on a fucking night-hunt I shouldn’t have actually snook out to join.”

Jiang Cheng watches Lan Xichen closely. The First Jade isn’t reaching for his sword, or liebing, but also doesn’t seem to be reacting at all to Jiang Cheng’s words.

Maybe he’s in shock?

“I became Sect Leader at seventeen, after Lotus Pier was attacked and my Sect was decimated. Only my brother and sister and I escaped because of my mother.” Jiang Cheng’s voice doesn’t break or tremble as he says this out loud for the first time. It doesn’t. It just gets a little... Just a little.

“I lost my core and my brother, the idiot, gave me his and I went to war. We won but my brother paid the price for fear and hatred, and I didn’t save him. I lost him” Jiang Cheng confesses, quietly. “I lost them both.”

There’s tears in his eyes and the Jiang Cheng of ten, twenty years ago would have wiped them away angrily, denying that he was crying at all. But Jiang Cheng had died an old man who suffered so much and learnt to value the happiness he seldom had.

He doesn’t wipe away the tears.

He lets Lan Xichen see them.

He's earned the right to be unashamed of feeling.

“I came back and I don’t know why but they’re alive and they’re safe and I need your help to keep them that way,” Jiang Cheng tells Lan Xichen with more seriousness than he’d ever possessed as a twelve-year-old. “I need you help to protect everyone.”

Lan Xichen finally speaks. “From what?”

Jiang Cheng scowls. He knows there’s a hatred in his eyes, he can’t and won’t hide it. “Wen Ruohan,” he spits the name like he’s coughing up poisoned blood. “He tried to take over the cultivation world. Attacked Cloud Recess and Lotus Pier. Your brother was captured in the attack here.” Lan Xichen looks at Jiang Cheng with the horror of an older brother who is tasked with the care of a younger.

“He survived the war,” Jiang Cheng tells him, because Lan Xichen was many things in Jiang Cheng’s life, but right now in this time, Lan Xichen is an older brother who hasn’t done anything against Jiang Cheng or those he loves. He can be kind.

The relief on Lan Xichen’s face reminds Jiang Cheng of the relief he felt after those three months. It stings.

“Why are you telling me this?” Lan Xichen asks. “What do you believe I can do?”

Jiang Cheng is silent. The question of what he wants Lan Xichen to do is difficult to answer. It’s not that he wants Zewu-Jun to do anything specifically; Jiang Cheng is well aware that Lan Xichen has obligations and duties here at Cloud Recess. He doesn’t want to ask Lan Xichen to help him kill Wen Ruohan before the bastard starts a war, but he sort of does because help would be nice.

Really, what Jiang Cheng wants Lan Xichen to do boils down to don’t fall for a lunatic with a chip on his shoulder just because he’s the son of a whore, and don’t let said lunatic kill one of the only decent people who has some fucking integrity as well as, maybe, don’t just sit by and let an entire people be wiped fucking out in an outright act of genocide. Also, support your brother and be happy for him being with A-Ying without being biased against my brother.

He can’t actually tell Lan Xichen any of that, of course, because Jiang Cheng doesn’t know how to.

He’s silent long enough that Lan Xichen finally speaks again.

“Jiang-gongzi?”

“Protect Cloud Recess from attack,” Jiang Cheng blurts, saying something at least. He wants to tell Lan Xichen more, he needs to tell someone but Zewu-Jun isn’t who he wants to actually talk to about all this.

His siblings are.

“Ward it, protect your treasures better, your library,” Jiang Cheng bites out. “Don’t ignore your responsibilities even when you’re grieving. Don’t let your brother suffer for being righteous. Don’t let my brother suffer for doing the right fucking thing! Just- just don’t fuck up.”

Jiang Cheng stands quickly. Lan Xichen rises also; he looks distressed. Or worried.

“Thank you for your time, Sect Leader Lan.” Jiang Cheng bows. His body feels like he’s jumped into the cold pool that he knows exists at Cloud Recess. There’s a sharp ache in his chest and his lower dantian burns. “I must go.”

Lan Xichen isn’t finished with his own bow before Jiang Cheng is rushing out the room.

A-Jie and A-Ying aren’t in the guest rooms they’ve been given for their visit. Jiang Cheng takes the opportunity presented by this to throw himself into their shared room and slam the door behind him. His knees fold of their own accord and Jiang Cheng ends up leaning against the wall by the door, knees tucked to his chest as he tries to just breathe.

Thinking about what he needs to do is one thing, saying it out loud is something different. Lan Xichen had asked him what Jiang Cheng wanted him to do.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t even know what he wants to do.

Writing to Cloud Recess and arranging his brothers introduction to Lan Wangji was something Jiang Cheng did because he wants his brother happy. Lan Wangji makes A-Ying happy. He’s planning on dragging Jin Zixuan to Lotus Pier at some point for A-Jie, but that requires more planning than a letter to Cloud Recesses did.

Jiang Cheng has lived an entire life where he ended up almost entirely alone. He had only a nephew for sixteen years and a Sect he had to rebuild in a place that was burnt to the ground. A-Ying came back and it still took Jiang Cheng so, so long to accept his brother again and not drive him away with his anger and inability to communicate.

Things are better now, in this second life, but the first has left Jiang Cheng wounded in ways he can’t explain.

Before everything went wrong, the three of them were inseparable. The Twin Prides of Yunmeng who were wrangled by their beloved A-Jie. Jiang Cheng has already endeavoured to improve A-Jie’s cultivation, with A-Ying’s help, and he is determined for them to be known as a trio rather than a pair.

The only people Jiang Cheng can really talk to about what he has lived through are the two people he loves more than he has ever loved anyone else besides his nephew.

A-Jie, Jiang Cheng knows, will handle what he tells her better than A-Ying. A-Ying will learn of how he was an excuse to destroy their Sect and how he, Jiang Cheng, blamed him for years for things A-Ying was tricked into.

Jiang Cheng is terrified he will drive his brother away with the truth.

But Jiang Cheng knows A-Ying deserves to know.

He just hopes A-Jie will be willing to wrangle them both a little longer and keep A-Ying from fleeing out of misplaced guilt.

Jiang Cheng let’s out a choked laugh, wiping at his face with his sleeve. Who is he kidding, A-Jie can wrangle them both with a look; Jiang Cheng knows A-Jie will be able to keep A-Ying from running from them.

Jiang Cheng will help.

He lost his brother once before, he will never let that happen again. Never.

* * * *

Jiang Cheng is introduced to the Elders of the Lan Sect and decides, almost immediately, that he hates them. They’re stuffy, obnoxious, and make him long for the days when being angry and intimidating made up the majority of his tools for interacting with other Sects.

Unfortunately, he’s twelve.

The Elders expect Jiang Cheng to answer their questions and don’t like it when he does because there are no records of any cultivator having returned to a previous time in their life, it is not possible!

Jiang Cheng, personally, doesn’t really care if they think its possible or not because he’s living proof that it is.

There’s very little he can do to convince them so, in a burst of temper, Jiang Cheng snaps at the Elder currently denying his existence.

“The late Madam Lan didn’t die until Lan Wangji was six.”

The Elders fall silent. Lan Qiren is in the room and he goes pale at Jiang Cheng’s words.

Another Elder, not the one who drove Jiang Cheng to snap, asks him: “how do you know this?”

“Lan Wangji told my brother and I about her after drinking a cup of wine that had been mistakenly placed in front of him at an Inn we were staying at,” Jiang Cheng answers. “He did not recall the conversation in the morning and my brother and I decided not to mention it to him because it clearly distressed Hanguang-Jun even fifty years later.”

“Fifty years...” Lan Qiren says softly, staring at Jiang Cheng.

“Summon Lan Wangji.” The Elder who had been denying Jiang Cheng’s existence as someone who had died and returned to his life ordered. “I do not believe this fantasy. Let us ask Lan Wangji if he has informed Jiang-gongzi of his mother.”

The way the Elder says ‘mother’ has Jiang Cheng wishing he could give the man a tongue lashing that’d make his mother weep with pride. So much disdain for one who is gone.

How un-Lan-like of that Elder.

Lan Wangji arrives quickly and comes to stand near to Jiang Cheng. He’s close enough that Jiang Cheng can see the tension in the Second Jade at this unexpected summoning.

Lan Wangji has—this time—done nothing wrong and whatever he’s expecting of the Elders, the order to discuss his mother is definitely not something he ever expected judging by the actual emotion Jiang Cheng witnesses cross Lan Wangji’s face. There’s a raw sort of pain in his expression that Jiang Cheng understands on a level he doesn’t think any of these fucking Elders have ever experienced.

Losing a parent hurts. Losing one that loves you hurts worse.

“When did you drink alcohol with Jiang-gongzi?” That same Elder demands of Lan Wangji, not mentioning Jiang Cheng’s brother.

“Alcohol is forbidden in Cloud Recess,” Lan Wangji replies. The Elder scowls at him.

“When, Lan Wangji, did you drink with Wei Wuxian? ” The Elder presses and Jiang Cheng really doesn’t like the way he says A-Ying’s name. “When did you act so shamefully?”

“Lan Wangji has not drank alcohol at all,” Lan Wangji replies. “Not with Jiang Wanyin. Not with Wei Ying.”

If there’s one thing Jiang Cheng will take from this clusterfuck of a meeting with the Lan Elders, it will be hearing Lan Wangji call his brother Wei Ying.

“Lan Wangji does not lie, Elder Yu,” Lan Qiren says, before Elder Yu—Jiang Cheng will remember him—can say anything. “It is a well known fact that my nephew has never lied.”

“This is true, Lan Qiren,” another Elder says, her expression serene. “If it is true that Lan Wangji had not drank alcohol with either Jiang-gongzi or Wei-gongzi, then we must accept Jiang-gongzi’s word as truth. Just because such an event has never been recorded before in the history of cultivation does not mean it has no happened, or is impossible.”

Jiang Cheng decides that he likes this particular Lan Elder. They have a brain, that’s nice to know.

“If Jiang-qianbei is willing,” the Elder continues, “then his wisdom will be welcomed.”

Oh, Jiang Cheng definitely likes this Elder.

Lan Wangji is dismissed and Jiang Cheng, having thought on it in his room before his siblings returned after his talk with Lan Xichen, keeps what he shares with them both vague and informational enough to have them curious and eventually respectful.

Except Elder Yu. He seems to just dislike everything Jiang Cheng has to say. Fortunately, the other Elders are more interested in hearing about Jiang Cheng living an entire life, dying and then waking up as a twelve-year-old.

He doesn’t mention the Sunshot Campaign or what happened to his brother and family. He does mention his Sect being attacked and his becoming Sect Leader, but he doesn’t tell them the when, who, or how of it all. The Elders seem more interested in the academic aspect of his return.

Jiang Cheng can use that.

The Lan Elders are, since they’re Lans, pretty well respected across the cultivation world. Their belief and interest in his circumstances will help him in the long-run.

Jiang Cheng learnt the hard way that sometimes you have to set a plan in motion years in advance. This time, however, he’s the one setting the plan and he’s not going to fuck it up.

The Sunshot Campaign will happen, it has to; the Wen are too powerful even without Wen Ruohan in charge and his heirs are fucking nightmares. Jiang Cheng will have to fight a war and see his disciples die in it. He will see his siblings fear for him and for each other. All of it, for a second time.

But the end result will be different, Jiang Cheng is determined to make it different. The Wen were powerful and not all of them deserved their fates. The Jin cannot be allowed to steal political power in the vacuum that the obliteration of the Wen, the destruction of the Jiang, and the decimation of the Lan allowed them to take. The Nie cannot be harmed by the violent death of their Leader.

So many things need to be taken care of early on.

One of those things is the payment for a prostitute to be freed. Another is a child to be collected by a Jiang disciple before another can set them down a dark path.

Jiang Cheng has more than just his hope that things will be better in this second life; he has a century’s worth of experience, knowledge, and skill and the stubborn will and determination to make the impossible a reality.

Fate and destiny will not rule him. They will not rule those he loves.

Jiang Cheng will fight the world for those he loves. The world will learn to back down because, this time, Jiang Cheng won’t.

[satonthelotuspier]

How Shall We Stop Dreams - Part 11.

Follow the tag below for the previous parts, or you can read it all here on AO3 if you prefer.

Jiang Cheng would have been pacing if his leg wasn’t currently splinted up. Instead, all he could do was sit and stare at the door of the dungeon, tensing whenever he heard a noise outside. They had taken Lan Xichen away some time ago. He didn’t even know how long it had been.

Needless to say his welfare was foremost in Jiang Cheng’s mind.

Mo Xuanyu had drifted off into a troubled sleep, his head resting in Jiang Cheng’s lap, who continued to stroke his hair soothingly, and hum snippets of the lullabies he could remember A-Jie singing to him when he was a child.

Jiang Cheng wasn’t exactly comfortable with this level of touch with an almost stranger, but Mo Xuanyu’s life seemed to have been devoid of anything so comforting as normal human contact, and when Jiang Cheng thought of his own life, the casual, fond touches between his siblings, and even the hugs from his mother, well, wasn’t it a shame that people grew up without that? He could bear this if it offered even an ounce of comfort to the young man breathing softly in sleep next to him.

He continued to drift, stroking and humming absently, until the sudden rattling of a key in the lock announced that someone was outside.

The thick door opened, and Lan Xichen strode in, face impassive, arms folded behind his back. It was slammed closed behind him, and Jiang Cheng, and the awakened Mo Xuanyu, looked questioningly at him.

He sighed, and came to sit beside Jiang Cheng, resting against the wall. He reached out, and took Jiang Cheng’s hand, folding it in his own.

“Are you alright, Xichen?” Jiang Cheng asked, as the other didn’t appear to be about to offer any information voluntarily. At least he seemed to bear no new injuries, physically at least.

“I am, Wanyin. I was merely forced to submit to an examination by Wen Qing. They’re intrigued with the concept of empaths, as you may imagine. Bar being in contact with someone I didn’t particularly want to be, I’m fine.” He sighed. “She can barely function for her fear for Wen Qionglin.”

“Is Wen Ning alright?” Mo Xuanyu asked, a touch of distress in his voice. Jiang Cheng glanced at him briefly.

“As far as I’m aware, Mo-gongzi, I believe they’re using him to keep Wen Qing in line, however. She is an unparalleled physician, and I think Wen Ruohan is in need of her for that reason. For this whole scheme to bring cultivators here to test that vile crystal on. I’m glad it’s destroyed.”

“What was the purpose of the crystal? What did it even do?” Mo Xuanyu asked, wrapping his arms around his upraised knees.

Lan Xichen sighed again, and glanced at Jiang Cheng.

“I’m merely theorising, based on what I’ve seen, but I suspect it was effective at...altering, is the best word, perhaps?…how the Upper Dantian regulates the use of qi. Most cultivators will, without realising it, stop channelling qi at the point it becomes a danger to their life force. What happened earlier, to Wanyin, I wasn’t exaggerating when I said he almost killed himself to rescue the others. If I hadn’t been there to replace some of his qi energy he very well might have died.”

Jiang Cheng sucked in a breath in shock at the words. He had felt exhausted and drained, but hadn’t realised how very literally that had been.

“Wanyin, you’re a very strong spiritual cultivator, but no one of your cultivation level should be able to lift three grown humans and throw them like you did. Haven’t you noticed as you’ve been here that you’ve been able to do more?”

“All the things you’ve said I’ve done have been done without thinking, without noticing.” Jiang Cheng shook his head. So the crystal had stripped away his capacity to safely use his abilities to the extent of his power, because if he didn’t know when to stop, he could very easily overexert himself, again and again.

A sudden flair of anger blossomed in his chest, and he didn’t know how to deal with it, or what had sparked it.

He sucked a breath in through his nose, and looked at Lan Xichen.

It was as if he knew exactly what Jiang Cheng thought, and experienced. Except, of course, he did. At least the latter.

“I think that might happen more frequently too, I think it’s taken away more of your ability to regulate your reactions. I think you’re going to be feeling quite extreme emotions.”

He realised the implications immediately, and he could almost cry.

“And the man I’m falling in love with is an empath. I’m the last person he needs to be with.” He couldn’t stop the sharp, bitter laugh. Wasn’t that just perfect?

He realised that holding Lan Xichen’s hand was also the worst thing he could do, and tried to free his own. The other refused to be shaken off, however.

“Stop that, Wanyin. We can work on how to help you. I can teach you how to build mental walls, I’m quite an expert on it, if I do say so myself, if you’re that worried.”

“But why go to all that trouble? It’s more than I’m worth.”

“You’re already worth the world to me, Jiang Wanyin.” Lan Xichen said it like it was the simplest truth there was.

Mo Xuanyu had just risen, no doubt to move away from them as the conversation had become fairly intimate, when there was a soft noise over near the door.

“Wen Qionglin!” Mo Xuanyu exclaimed, as he saw the pale face between the bars. He moved quickly over to the door, pausing a little away from it, as if remembering something.

“Jiejie wasn’t wrong, you are a heavenly demon.”

Lan Qiren sent for them shortly after Wei Wuxian had finished breakfast, and they made their way to the Mingshi, which had been repurposed as an operations centre, complete with raised relief maps and walls and walls of silk-painted maps and information.

It was almost like the Lans had been expecting things to progress into a war, and from what the Jades had told them of their purpose, it wasn’t too big of a leap in reasoning to say they probably had.

Wei Wuxian glanced at the calm, expressionless profile of Lan Wangji, stood beside him, and waiting for his Shufu to be finished in his current discussion, which he appeared to be having with a transparent image of another man, which hovered in their air in front of him. Wei Wuxian had never met that man in person, but he thought, from the age and the robes he wore, that he was likely Nie Mingjue of the Qinghe Nie clan.

Lan Wangji’s shufu had a scholarly air, and a face it would have been hard to put an age to, even if he hadn’t been a cultivator.

“How are they communicating?” Wei Wuxian asked Lan Wangji, who shook his head, then waylaid a disciple who was carrying scrolls to ask him.

“There is a new, small sect that settled just outside Kuizhou. Their head disciple is something of a genius inventor, and he had just finishing developing this communication array to allow cultivators to talk over great distances. The sect offered it up for the good of the alliance against the Wens.”

“I see, I’d love to meet him. I’d love to know how it works.” He turned to Lan Wangji, who had something approaching a soft, indulgent look on his face.

He was about to question it when Lan Qiren turned his attention to them, and he and Lan Wangji approached. They gave their respects.

“Shufu, have you considered my request?” Lan Wangji asked, and Lan Qiren stroked his long, black beard for a few seconds.

“I have. But I have something I want you to see first, Wangji.” He reached into his sleeves, and took out something that looked like a translucent, carved crow. It suddenly moved, and made a small, empty caw.

A messenger talisman.

Lan Wangji held his hand out, and it drifted from Lan Qiren’s into Lan Wangji’s. His eyes flickered just a fraction wider, showing his surprise, in that understated Lan Wangji language, that Wei Wuxian was becoming quite fluent in.

He turned to Wei Wuxian, who held his hand out in turn. The messenger talisman flapped from Lan Wangji’s palm into his own.

I hope this message will reach Lan er-gongzi and Wei-gongzi. Please don’t worry about Lan-gongzi and Jiang-gongzi, I will help them escape. I promise.

“Wen Ning.” Wei Wuxian exclaimed.

Lan Qiren had folded his hands behind his back, “This message arrived during the conference this morning. I assume it’s from the young Wen from the half-demon branch of the family.”

Lan Wangji nodded once.

“You met the young man, Wangji, what do you make of this? Is it a distracting tactic?”

Lan Wangji didn’t answer directly, merely turned slightly to Wei Wuxian.

“Shufu, I’m unsure. Wei Ying…?”

Wei Wuxian felt the pressure. Lan Wangji allowed him to express his opinion, and whatever action was taken would probably grow from that. Three lives rested on his say.

And really, how well did he know Wen Ning? Not at all. What if what he seemed was purely an act? What if he’d been ordered to get close to them, and pretend to be a mild mannered, shy, yet kind, young man?

Was it better to be safe than sorry?

But if Wen Ning was being sincere, they could very well jeopardise any efforts he made by rushing in.

His nature being what it was, he wanted to pick up Suibian right now, and fly back to Qishan. He wasn’t made for passivity, for waiting and strategising. He was a man of action.

But his instincts told him Wen Ning could be trusted.

“I think his intentions are good.” Wei Wuxian said, finally.

“Wei Ying spent the most time with Wen Qionglin, Shufu.” Lan Wangji spoke in support.

Lan Qiren closed his eyes briefly.

“Xiongzhang is too precious to demons who feed on emotion for them to hurt him, Shufu.” It was the Lan Wangji version of comfort, and it seemed to work. Lan Qiren nodded.

“We wait, and watch the situation, then.”

Wei Wuxian could tell neither of them were entirely happy with that either, but all of them considered it currently the best chance their captured family had.

“Where are you taking me, Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian demanded several hours later.

“The Cold Spring. It will help your wound heal.” Lan Wangji kept hold of his hand and continued to lead him through the Cloud Recesses and out into forest.

“I prefer hot springs, a cold one sounds barbaric.” Wei Wuxian mocked, and Lan Wangji ignored his tease.

“Wei Ying, the spring has healing properties, it is not for fun.”

“How very dull!”

They arrived at Lan Wangji’s intended destination, and he could feel the coolness the water exuded against his skin.

He knew the other reason Lan Wangji had dragged him here, and it was everything to do with the fact he hadn’t stopped pacing for the last hour.

He couldn’t help it though, he was twisted with thoughts of what would happen if he had made the wrong assessment of Wen Ning’s character, or what might happen if he hadn’t, but the other was caught. Couple that with his natural urge to be doing rather than waiting, and he was a mess of nerves.

Perhaps he could take his mind off things, however. He hadn’t done anything to keep Lan Wangji on his toes yet today.

Not for fun, eh?

He started to strip eagerly out of his robes, and Lan Wangji followed suit, stripping down to his pants.

Wei Wuxian didn’t stop there, however, and unfastened his own, pushing them down his hips to the delightful sound of the strangled breath the other took.

“Wei Ying!” Lan Wangji exclaimed.

“What, Lan Zhan?” he challenged the other, as he kicked his clothes away, and dipped a toe into the cold water. It was every bit as horrifically cold as he expected. He should say a prayer for little Xianxian, who was not going to like this one bit. “In Yunmeng we take our clothes off to bathe.”

Oh well, nothing ventured…

He plunged in, and all the breath was knocked out of his body at the shock of the water enclosing him.

“L-L-Lan Z-Zhan,” he managed to get out between the chattering of his teeth, “g-g-get in h-here a-and w-warm me up, n-n-now.”

Lan Wangji stayed frozen for a few more moments, before he finally broke out of his stupor. He reached for the ties of his own pants, taking them off, before joining Wei Wuxian in the water.

Here would have been his cue to cause trouble, but Wei Wuxian was still trying to process the fact that little Wangji was not actually little Wangji at all.

Some things just weren’t fair!

The other moved over to where a natural rock shelf created a seat, as if trying to create distance between them.

Was he embarrassed?

“T-That’s not warming me, L-Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian complained. He waded through the water, noticing how Lan Wangji tried to fix his eyes on anything else but the very naked body in front of him.

The other had no option but to acknowledge him when Wei Wuxian climbed astride his lap, however.

The other’s earlobes had turned pink, even in the frigid cold of the water, and he stopped  looking at every other tree, rock and cloud visible, and moved his gaze onto Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian saw Lan Wangji visibly swallow as his eyes drifted down his pale chest, then drag back upwards guiltily at Wei Wuxian’s teasing; “My eyes are up here, Lan Zhan.”

“Wei Ying…” Lan Wangji’s voice sounded a little strangled, “...don’t play around, if you don’t mean it.” His large, surprisingly warm hands settled at Wei Wuxian’s waist, holding onto him, but lightly enough Wei Wuxian could pull away should he wish to.

“Who says I don’t mean it?” he asked challengingly, cupping Lan Wangji’s perfectly carved face in his hands. He leaned in and experimentally pressed his lips to the other’s.

He was, by no means, a practised kisser, but he liked to think he had consumed enough pornography to have a good idea of what was supposed to happen.

There was no surprise in this kiss, and he settled down to really appreciate the experience, as Lan Wangji followed his lead.

It was as enjoyable as he had been lead to believe it could be, the almost-rough glide of cool lips, and eventually, the teasing, yet shy, brush of tongues, was sweet and could very easily become addictive.

They spent quite a while locked together, but eventually they pulled apart, and Lan Wangji looked at him with heavily lidded eyes, before moving to place a row of gentle kisses along the line of his jaw.

“Wei Ying, we should go back, and see how Shufu wants us to help.”

He was, of course, correct. And it was safer for them all. Their relationship was new and tentative, and he wasn’t entirely sure where it was going, even if Lan Wangji was sure. Taking things further, even getting carried away in the heat of the moment, wasn’t advisable until they were sure they both wanted the same thing from whatever they were to each other, now and in the future.

He leaned down to press a kiss against Lan Wangji’s chin, then eased himself from the other’s lap.

“Do you understand?” Wen Ning asked, and Mo Xuanyu paused for a moment, before nodding slowly.

Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen sat a little away from the two, giving them time and space to get to grips with what Wen Ning demonstrated to his half-demon counterpart.

Jiang Cheng had no doubt Mo Xuanyu would be fine, he just lacked confidence in himself, something he sympathized with the other over, being very much the same himself.

Wen Ning was currently demonstrating to the other how to harness his demonic energy. The plan was to use it to break the cell door open some time overnight, giving Wen Ning opportunity to create himself an alibi, and not put his Jiejie at risk.

“I think I have it, A-Ning.” The other slipping into using the gentle, familiar form of address made sense, because, although Jiang Cheng didn’t doubt Wen Ning wasn’t a monster purely because of his half-demon heritage, (and his shitty relatives), the other surely wouldn’t put himself, and his sister, at risk for people so wholly unrelated to him as Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen.

A friend was another matter, however.

There was a sudden sound at the door to the cell, and a thrill of panic went through all four of them; Jiang Cheng didn’t wish Wen Ning to get into trouble for helping them, but it was too late to do anything about it.

The door swung open. Wen Qing strode in, unaccompanied, a package in her arms.

“A-Ning!” her voice was quiet, controlled, but full of anger.

“Jiejie!”

“I said not to get involved with them, didn’t I?”

“But Jiejie…”

“No, A-Ning, but nothing.” She unwrapped the package in her arms, and threw their swords to them, one by one.

“I’m sure the plan was to escape overnight, but Wen Xu has other plans for this evening for you. You leave now.” She took out a dagger then, and pointed the tip at Lan Xichen’s throat, “you will take my brother with you, and keep him safe. He risked himself for you, the least you can do is ensure his wellbeing.”

Jiang Cheng was about to protest at the knife placement, but she moved it suddenly and the collar around Lan Xichen’s throat was cut away, followed by Jiang Cheng’s.

It was such a relief to call on his qi again.

“I promise I’ll do whatever is in my power, Wen-guniang.” Lan Xichen promised, and as he rose to his feet he bowed to her.

“Don’t fail.” she snapped at him, then turned back to Wen Ning.

“Jiejie, what about you? If I leave you…”

“I will be fine, silly boy, you’re my weakness. I was never at risk, you are. Go, be careful. We’ll meet up again after this is all over.” her tone was more wistful than sure, however.

Wen Ning looked torn, but nodded eventually.

“I have everything under control here. There are no guards at the cave mouth in the new infirmary. Take them through the cellar exit to the city, A-Ning. Now go.” She pressed a quick kiss against his forehead, then turned to Jiang Cheng, “Keep off of your leg as much as possible, or you’ll cripple yourself for life, Jiang Wanyin.” And with that she was gone.

“She’s right, I’ll have to carry you, Wanyin.”

“What? Are you insane? How are we going to fight if we’re discovered? I’ll walk, and take the risk.”

“Jiejie has given us a free run to the outside of the city, Jiang-gongzi.” Wen Ning argued, and Lan Xichen bent to pick Jiang Cheng up.

“What are you doing? Are you deaf? I said I’d walk. Put me down, how shameless are you to be carrying me like this? How thick is your face?” Jiang Cheng squawked.

“Wanyin, do me the honour of shutting up and not arguing with me, just once in your life. I can put you down if we encounter trouble. Let’s not go looking for it, however. Wen-guniang is resourceful and incredibly intelligent, have a little faith.”

What could he say to that?

And indeed their path was unimpeded.

The cellar exit turned out to be an old smuggling passage, and lead through a damp, incredibly musty tunnel out of the city and into the surrounding forests.

“Just how are you so strong?” Jiang Cheng complained as Lan Xichen finally set him down on a rock to rest.

They daren’t pause too long, but plans had to be made.

“Handstands. Good for balance training too.” Lan Xichen said, looking around, trying to get his bearings with the sun and the mountains.

“Wanyin and I will slow you down. And they’re going to assume we’re going to head straight for Gusu, to protect me.” Lan Xichen dropped to his haunches, and looked at Wen Ning and Mo Xuanyu. “Also, I think they’re much less likely to focus on you, and be  more interested in Wanyin and I. I think it would be safer for you both to go without us. You’ll move faster too, I would like to find somewhere nearby to lay up for a few days to give Wanyin’s leg a change to heal a little, now we can aid it along with cultivational healing. Then I think we should head to Qinghe, and ensure the Nies have been warned, as none of their disciples came to Qishan. It’s also the direction they’d least expect us to go, Gusu and Yunmeng are obvious, as, probably, is Meishan, as it’s well known who your mother’s people are.” He looked at Jiang Cheng when he made the comment, and really, Jiang Cheng felt stupid, as he had been about to suggest Meishan as an option, but Lan Xichen was correct, the Violet Spider’s marriage into the Jiang Sect from the Yu Sect was widely know. He nodded his agreement, when Lan Xichen put it like that, the Nie Sect was a sensible place to make for.

“We’ll go to Yunmeng, we have enough of a head start, before we’re found missing, and we’ll move quickly without Jiang-shixiong.” Mo Xuanyu declared. “No offence meant.”

“None taken.” Jiang Cheng reached into his robes and pulled out the letter he had received from his father, accepting Mo Xuanyu as a disciple. He handed it over. “Take this, to prove who you are. Let them know we’re fine, and will be contacting them in a few days from Qinghe. Tell Wei Wuxian to not do anything stupid, either. If he can possibly avoid it.” Jiang Cheng added gruffly, and Mo Xuanyu nodded, with a sly grin. He had spent enough time in the company of the brothers at the Nightless City to know, despite their words, they cared a lot for each other.

“I sent a message to Cloud Recesses, Jiang-gongzi, telling them I planned to help you, in hopes they wouldn’t rush right back and put themselves at risk.”

Wen Ning’s words were a salve to his worried mind. He nodded gratefully. “Thank you. You should go, every second counts now.”

The other two set off after their goodbyes were made.

“Can we not leave for Qinghe now?” Jiang Cheng asked, pushing himself upright and resting his weight on his uninjured leg.

“No, Wanyin. We’re both exhausted, it will be much easier after a day or so of rest, then I can fly us both there on Shuoyue.”

That made Jiang Cheng feel guilty, of course most of the work would fall on Lan Xichen again, like it had carrying him out of the city, in order to save his leg.

“I can fly myself, honestly, Xichen.”

“We’re still in the doing me the honour of not arguing with me phase of the escape, Jiang Wanyin. When we get to Qinghe you’re released from the stipulation.”

He felt that irrational flare of annoyance again, but tamped it down.

Lan Xichen was entirely correct.

He was picked up again, despite his protests that he could walk, and Lan Xichen went in  search of a place for them to hide.

[razberryyum]

The Untamed/陈情令 Rewatch, Episode 6, Part 1 of 2

(spoilers for everything MDZS/Untamed and a little for Princess Weiyoung)

[covers MDZS chapter 18 and a bit of chaps 56 and 66]

WangXian meter: 🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰����🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰

(a 🐰 is earned every time there is a WangXian scene or even when they’re just thinking of each other…there’s so much Wangxian-ness in this episode, one post couldn’t contain all of it)

Team CQL went rogue for the two major events featured in this episode—the Cloud Recesses drinking incident and the WangXian bathing scene—and really, bless them and their ancestors for that decision. Not only did the changes provide Wei Ying and Lan Zhan with additional bonding time, but they actually had significant bearing on future events.

Originally in the novel, Lan Zhan didn’t actually partake in the drinking incident that got Wei Ying punished: some nameless disciples, Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng were the ones who actually took part in those activities. Lan Zhan only found their drunk asses the next morning and dragged Wei Ying off for disciplinary action (although, from the way the scene was described in the book, it actually seemed like he was more angry at Wei Ying for looking at porn, lol). However, for the live action, that entire scenario was transformed into Lan Zhan actually getting drunk for the first time, albeit against his will. Of course it would have been better if he willingly joined in, but at that point in time, that would have been illogical, not to mention completely out of character for him, so even though Wei Ying sort of did Lan Zhan wrong, there was probably no other way he could have gotten him to share a drink with him otherwise.

I am especially grateful for this change because that is the moment when my eyes were finally open to Wang Yibo’s talents as an actor and I started to really appreciate his performance. Prior to this episode, I was actually wondering if he was playing stoicism so well because that’s really all he was capable of doing, but then, when he dropped that rigid façade and gave us a charmingly adorable drunk Lan Zhan, I realized that everything that came before were indeed acting choices, that he was definitely able to do more than that. Not to mention, he also had pretty good comedic timing. I started to look at him in an entirely new light after watching this episode, and the rest is, as they say, history.

Upon revisiting this episode last night, I finally realized something that I never thought of before, and I feel actually pretty stupid for not even making the connection until now.  During the Koi tower scenes in the present, when Wei Ying as the paperman was eavesdropping on Jin Guangyao and his wife’s conversation, I couldn’t figure out how JGY was able to put Qin Su under his control the way he did, but in watching this episode again, it finally came to me: he probably used a modified version of the charm that Wei Ying used on Lan Zhan in here. After all, JGY was one of the many people who raided the Burial Mounds and took over the Yiling Patriarch’s possessions after his death, so it would make sense for him to discover this particular memento as well. When I first watched this episode, I was mainly just impressed by how powerful the charm is that it would be able to put someone like Lan Zhan under its spell, considering he’s not just some lay person, but rather someone who already had a pretty high level of cultivation by then. I simply saw it as yet another indicator of just how talented and powerful Wei Ying was even at that young age. But now, thinking that Team CQL may have laid the groundwork for something that was going to happen so much later just makes me so much more impressed with their planning.

Of course I could simply be overthinking this whole thing and JGY’s magical powers could just be his own magical powers, or something common to the cultivation world that my dumb brain just overlooked, but for those few seconds when I thought I came upon a fascinating connection, I was quite proud of myself, so allow me to coast on that sense of euphoria just a little while more.

Bonding and other cuteness

Of course I loved every single moment of the Drunk!Lan Zhan sequence, starting with that tiny little flirtatious gesture by Wei Ying. Seriously, how CUTE is that?? Makes me smile every time I see it, and I’ve rewound that little moment numerous times. How anyone can be resistant to Wei Wuxian’s charms I can never understand, but clearly Lan Zhan was still holding out on him. I’m glad that Team CQL chose this incident to reveal the nature of the Gusu Lan head ribbon since it directly led to Wei Ying’s bonding moment with Lan Zhan. Even though the other man was still generally cold to him, it was really sweet that Wei Ying still felt comfortable enough to share the precious memory of his parents with him.

It’s a real shame that Lan Zhan didn’t remember any of it the next day, but I did take comfort in the fact that he still knelt by Wei Ying like a united front to receive Uncle Lan’s wrath and punishment. I’m sure most of that was motivated by his own pride and sense of righteousness, but I still found it touching, especially with how much Wei Ying was defending Lan Zhan so that he would be spared the disciplinary action. Wei Ying was much less protective in the novel during that scene–he was mostly indignant–even  though he was still the one to blame for Lan Zhan’s involvement in the whole incident by basically tricking him into breaking curfew. I love that even though Team CQL changed the drinking incident, they still managed to maintain the spirit of its novel counterpart, much like they did with the Phoenix Mountain Hunt.

And then of course there was this:

Which was obviously a treat for our imaginations to get our creative juices flowing so that we can imagine on our own what might have taken place during the night that led to Wei Wuxian waking up in his half-dressed state. For this gift, I am eternally grateful to the production team.

Jiang Cheng Has Fun For Once

I was actually surprised that Jiang Cheng would join in on the drinking party because up until then he had spent most of his time basically disapproving everything Wei Ying did while also seemingly in a constant state of worry that he would embarrass their sect. Imbibing alcohol was clearly a violation of Gusu Lan rules so it’s kind of amazing that Jiang Cheng willingly join in on such an act of rebellion. Nie Huaisang, on other hand, I totally expected to be a part of the shenanigans…I would’ve expected nothing less from him…but Jiang Cheng was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed seeing him let loose like that, especially since we got to find out what he looked for in a mate.

The sad thing is Wen Qing actually fit all of his requirements for a wife, except for that family one, which i in the end, proved to be the most important one after all since it became the deal-breaker, dooming their relationship before it even got a chance to get started.

Another rather sad aspect of seeing Jiang Cheng so at ease and acting like a total goofball is that this really would be the only time we would ever see him this way.  His time at Cloud Recesses was probably the most enjoyable and carefree for him. I doubt he was ever able to enjoy himself the same way again. It actually makes me wonder if he EVER was able to have fun, period, during the last 16 years. Just thinking about what he’s gone through makes me wish I could give him a great big hug. 

Reason #10 for Why I love Big Bro Lan Xichen

His amused reaction to hearing about Wei Ying’s transgression:

…which was immediately followed by his “oh shit” response to hearing his little bro was also involved.

Big Bro Xichen is just too adorable, AND HE DESERVES ALL THE LOVE IN THE WORLD DAMMIT.

Uncle Lan is One Mean Mofo

Seriously, what’s with Lan Qiren’s obsession with the number 300? I really need to know if there’s some significance to that number since it’s featured in BOTH of the major disciplinary incidents in the show that were carried out by Uncle Lan.  For this first outing, those rulers looked downright brutal; it’s a utter miracle that Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were even able to survive being beat 300 times with that medieval torture device. At the very least their spines should’ve been broken, paralyzing them for the rest of their lives. In the novel they were only caned 100 times, which is still a lot but it’s still a somewhat grounded enough number that I could believe they would be able to heal from their injuries. But 300? They should be maimed. I’ve noticed that with chinese dramas though: they tend to be excessive when it comes to inflicting punishment. I actually stopped watching a show once because the main character was being beaten repeatedly in the stomach (Princess Weiyoung) while being held prisoner. That particular character should not have survived that beating…at the very least he would’ve needed his nutrients to be delivered by IV for the rest of his life (even though IVs didn’t exist yet) because there was no way his stomach was ever going to work again after that. I was almost offended by how ignorant the screenwriters were about basic anatomical and biological functions so I decided to just stop watching (well, the fact that I wasn’t that into the show anyway probably contributed to my decision as well) Of course the 300 floggings weren’t enough to discourage me from continuing forward with The Untamed, but it did throw me out of the show for a good moment because I couldn’t get over how ridiculous that number was.  Uncle Lan really has a sadistic streak in him

Not to mention, he was also surprisingly tactless. He had just learned about Wei Wuxian’s mom from big bro Xichen and I couldn’t believe that he would just throw that info at the Wei Ying in such a careless way, only to shut him down when the poor guy desperately asked for more details about his mom. Uncle Lan had to know enough about Wei Ying’s background to understand how sensitive he would be in regards to his deceased parents, so I was actually taken aback by how heartless Uncle Lan was being during that scene, so much so that for a while after, I really wasn’t feeling much love towards him. Although, now that I think about it, love is probably a misnomer any way since I doubt I would ever love Uncle Lan nor can I even say I ever actually liked him–he’s too much of a fuddy-duddy for my tastes. It’s more like I just accept his existence, appreciate his importance to the Lan brothers, and I find his disapproval of Wei Ying kind of amusing. But in that moment, I definitely did straight out dislike him for being such a cold SOB, especially towards Wei Wuxian.

To be continued in Part 2…(posted)

[plan-d-to-i]

(google translate again, yeah)

(I forgot to thank you for the last answer, I really didn't know that the drama used the music of my compatriot, it was a pleasant surprise for me)

I don't know if anyone has asked you this before, but do you think JC was good with WWX as a kid?

I mean not just their childhood, but the time of their training in Gusu.

I really love JC, and I understand perfectly well that he is the most dick in character, but I love him precisely during my studies at Gusu, I can not give any arguments that then JC was directly GOOD to WWX, but he is clearly cared a little about him and even ... worried? at least that moment after the punishment where JC helped WWX get to the room...

Yay - I'm so happy to hear about Stravinsky :)

Hahah loving jc as the dick that he is is the way to do it! go for it. :) also, sorry this was so delayed I wanted to reread the Cloud Recesses arc so it would be fresh in my mind before answering.

In terms of jc the Cloud Recesses arc is perhaps the most 'mellow' we see him aside from the Lotus Pod Extra but for me it's still impossible to find him a worthwhile person. I can already see the faults in his character that I know will only get worse as he grows older. Canonically I don't see how he would have any friends studying in the Cloud Recesses if he didn't come as a package deal w Wei Wuxian. I mean I doubt jiang cheng would have any friends without WWX period. In fact jiang cheng doesn't make any friends over the course of 13 years. He's also unable to find a wife bc of his temperament and behavior...

What we can glean about their relationship in the Cloud Recesses arc (and even the Lotus Pod Extra) is that any time WWX gets a kind word or understanding from someone, jiang cheng scoffs at it. Any time someone shits on WWX, jc is there to agree, to relish the idea of WWX being punished, and shit on him some more. He would be an immensely exhausting person to be around. He doesnt believe in WWX's ideas and ingenuity, (as NHS does for example), he doesn't believe WWX is hurt, he always assumes the worst of him, he doesn't believe LWJ might like WWX. The only thing he ever seems to believe is that WWX will dishonor YunmengJiang and that WWX should be punished. So for a kid who supposedly wants his father's approval so badly he instead constantly acts like his mother's mouthpiece/minion. He reprimands WWX like he's trying to become Madam Yu 2.0. I see jc stans all the time being like oh he had to keep WWX in check bc WWX was such a lOOooose canon, for the good of the Clan!! lol listen JFM didn't give a f...about WWX's behavior (in his letter to LQR) why are you so concerned? JFM would have preferred for jc to try & save his peers in the Xuanwu cave or at least to understand why that was the correct course of action rather than for him to just sit in front of the class in the Cloud Recesses and tell WWX off for giving LQR as good as he got, while actually still breaking the rules himself but eschewing punishment.

salt up here, quotes below :

Even when Nie Huaisang picks up on the fact that WWX is being treated unfairly by LQR, jc dismisses it and piles on WWX instead.

Nie Huaisang said, “Old Man Lan really seems like he’s coming down especially harshly on you. Every time he reprimands someone, it’s always you.” Jiang Cheng grunted. “He deserves it. What kind of answer was that? He can get away with saying that sort of nonsense at home, but he had the nerve to say it to Lan Qiren’s face. He was practically asking for the old man to kill him!”

But does WWX get away with ANYTHING in Lotus Pier? When we know he is punished constantly for EVERYTHING? This is jiang cheng fully being his mother's mouth piece. It's not something WWX would get away with, it's something jc knows JFM wouldn't mind. Which is why he's so pissed off. Which begs the question if JFM would not be upset with WWX's behavior why does jc need to criticize him? Again :

A dark expression shadowed Jiang Cheng’s face, and his voice was filled with anger. “Why are you so proud of yourself? What is there to be proud of?! Is being told to get out some amazing accomplishment? You’re making our entire clan lose face!”

and his glee at the idea that WWX will be punished leaves a bad taste in one's mouth considering how WWX was perpetually punished in Lotus Pier by jiang cheng's mother for... existing.

Jiang Cheng smiled grimly. “Now that you’ve thoroughly offended both Lan Wangji and Lan Qiren, you’re basically dead tomorrow. No one’s going to clean up your corpse either.”

and again

Without the old one, only the young one remained. This would be easy to deal with! Wei Wuxian rolled off the bed and laughed while putting on his boots. “Heaven’s charmed clouds are blessing me with shade.” Jiang Cheng was beside him polishing his sword with loving care when he decided to spill cold water over Wei Wuxian’s head. “Just wait until he gets back. You can’t escape punishment.”

Where others like NHS see value in WWX's thoughts

Nie Huaisang thought for a while. “Actually, I thought what you said was very interesting,” he said, not entirely able to hide his envy and yearning.

jc is always dismissive of WWX's ideas. These are inventions that WWX realizes. Demonic cultivation in the first conversation and The Spirit-Attraction Flag and The Compass of Evil in the second:

“Enough,” Jiang Cheng warned. “Whatever nonsense you spout, you better not head down that sort of dark road.”

-

Changing the topic, Wei Wuxian said, “If only there was something like fishing bait that could draw the water ghosts in. Or, something that could point in the direction they’re hiding, like a compass, that sort of thing.”

“Lower your head and watch the water,” Jiang Cheng said. “You’re letting your fantasies run wild again. Concentrate on looking for water ghosts like you’re supposed to.”

“Hey, mounting swords and flying was also only a fantasy once!” Wei Wuxian said.

He's also a hypocrite. Because even though he berates WWX for misbehaving, he himself breaks the rules. He drinks, he even goads WWX into buying liquor, the only difference is that he doesn't get punished for it, and he doesn't feel like coming forward and getting punished for it :

Naturally, Jiang Cheng was too embarrassed to talk about what Wei Wuxian had been up to. After all, all of them had egged him on to go and buy alcohol, and they all deserved to be punished as well. He could only speak vaguely. “It’s nothing. It’s nothing. It’s not that bad! He can walk. Wei Wuxian, why haven’t you gotten off yet?”

It's no wonder WWX is so impressed by LWJ's integrity in spite of his social status, when he's clearly used to the other dynamic :

“Lan Zhan, I really admire you,” Wei Wuxian said sincerely. “After I told you that you had to punish yourself too, you actually did it. You didn’t let yourself off at all. I can’t argue against that.”

A dynamic which is shown repeating in the Lotus Pod Extra where WWX is the only one to get punished for sunbathing, and which repeats here when Wei Wuxian here stops jiang cheng from confronting Zixuan over YanLi's honor (and jc's) and does it himself.

Zixuan :“Why don’t you ask what about her could make me satisfied?” he said in return.

Suddenly, Jiang Cheng rose. Wei Wuxian pushed him away and stepped between them, smiling coldly. “You think you’re very satisfactory? As though you have the right to be so picky!”

Zixuan: “If she’s unhappy, then let her break off the engagement! I certainly don’t cherish your wonderful disciple-sister. If you cherish her so much, why don’t you take it up with your father? Doesn’t he love you more than his own son?”

After hearing the last sentence, Jiang Cheng’s eyes narrowed, and Wei Wuxian was no longer able to contain his own fury. He flew at Jin Zixuan, his fist raised.

WWX takes the punishment alone. Same way he offers to do when he hurts himself falling from a tree because jc threatened him with dogs. meanwhile jc is gleeful to see him being punished.

[Wei Wuxian] was kneeling on the stretch of pebble road to which Lan Qiren had assigned him when Jiang Cheng walked over from afar and mocked him. “You’re kneeling so obediently.”

“It’s not like you don’t know I have to do this all the time.” Wei Wuxian’s voice filled with schadenfreude. “But this Jin Zixuan guy, there’s no way he hasn’t been pampered and spoiled rotten since birth. No one’s ever forced him to kneel, I’m sure of it. If he doesn’t wind up crying for mommy and daddy today, I’m not named Wei.”....

Wei Wuxian "...It’s a good thing you didn’t do anything.”

“I was going to. If you hadn’t pushed me away, the other side of Jin Zixuan’s face would be hideous too.”

“Stop it. His face is uglier for being lopsided."

WWX is happy to have spared jc from getting into trouble but jc makes the whole thing about himself anyway (like everything else ever) and is upset JFM would rush over for WWX - in his mind. Even though JFM clearly had to rush over to meet with Jin Guangshan not to coddle WWX in any way.

"Jiang Fengmian had never rushed to another clan in less than a day because of him. Regardless of whether what happened was big or small, or good or bad." Never

WWX on the other hand tries to be observant of jc's feelings and reassure him & distract him from his moods :

When Wei Wuxian saw Jiang Cheng’s melancholy expression, he thought he was still upset with what Jin Zixuan said. “You should leave. You don’t need to keep me company any longer. If Lan Wangji comes again, he’ll catch you. If you have time, you should find Jin Zixuan and watch his pitiful kneeling.”

Later in the book after nearly dying in the Xuanwu cave WWX leaves his sick bed to run after jc and comfort him after his mother's rant, even though WWX had to listen to his parents (and himself) being slandered by YZY. jc doesn't spare any thoughts for how other people might be feeling or suffering. His entire perception of the world is centered around himself. To him even WWX's greatest fear doesn't generate empathy, only amusement or later on a form of torture.

From that point onward, they made trouble everywhere together, and if they encountered a dog, Jiang Cheng would always chase it away for him, then enjoy a peal of derisive, unbridled laughter at Wei Wuxian’s expense beneath whichever tree the boy had leapt atop.

he grew up on the streets, often having to fight for food with vicious dogs. After several bites and chases, he gradually became extremely scared of all dogs, no matter the size. Jiang Cheng laughed at him because of this quite a lot of times.

This brings me to the last point. jc's resentment of WWX's interest in Lan Zhan, or in a serious friendship outside of him. I see so many ppl say that bc WWX fought he was kicked out of the Cloud Recesses early... but was he?

Jiang Cheng was somewhat taken aback. “Lan Wangji? What was he doing here? He still has the nerve to come see you again?”

“Yeah, I think his bravery is laudable if he still has the nerve to come see me. His uncle probably told him to check on me and see if I was kneeling properly.”

Jiang Cheng’s instincts were sending him ominous signals. “So were you kneeling properly?”

“I was then,” Wei Wuxian replied. “But I waited for him to walk away a bit, then took a tree branch, lowered my head, and dug out a hole in the dirt near me. It’s the pile right by your foot—there are ant tunnels there. It took me so much effort to find them. Anyway, I waited for him to turn back and see my shoulders shaking. He had to have thought I was crying, so he came back and asked. You should have seen his face when he caught sight of the ant tunnels!

“…” Jiang Cheng said, “Why don’t you just get the hell out and go back to Yunmeng? I bet he never wants to see you again.”

Thus, that evening, Wei Wuxian packed up his things, got the hell out, and went back to Yunmeng with Jiang Fengmian.

Repeatedly throught his stay in the Cloud Recesses even while NHS was observing that LWJ's behavior around WWX was strange and unique, jc was telling WWX he is hated and bothersome. When WWX wanted to apologize to LWJ jc is completely dismissive of it :

“He hates me already? I was thinking of apologizing to him,” Wei Wuxian said.

“Oh, so you want to apologize now? It’s too late!” Jiang Cheng said derisively. “He’s exactly like his uncle. He thinks you’ve been wicked ever since you were an embryo, so it’s beneath his dignity to pay you any attention.”

Later on when WWX mentioned wanting to invite LWJ to Lotus Pier jc categorically says no.

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

BONUS

jc also always doubts WWX. He suspects him immediately of wrongdoings. He doesn't believe that getting hit with the discipline ruler in Cloud Recesses actually hurt him until LXC confirms that WWX might take more than a few days to heal. He doesn't understand WWX is in actual trouble from the Waterborne abyss and assumes he's fooling around luckily Lan Zhan is there to rescue him:

The disciple’s lower body had already been swallowed by the black whirlpool. It spun faster and faster, and he continued to sink deeper and deeper, as though something hidden beneath the water was pulling down on his legs.

Mounted on Sandu, Jiang Cheng had risen calmly until he was about sixty meters above the whirlpool before he looked down. Filled with displeasure at what he saw, he shouted and dove down. “What are you up to now?!”

The suction force inside Lake Biling grew ever stronger. Wei Wuxian’s sword was optimized for agility, and consequently, its strength happened to fall just short, and they were nearly pulled to the surface of the lake. Wei Wuxian steadied himself and held on to Su She with both hands.

“Someone help! If I can’t pull him up soon, I’ll have to let go!” he shouted.

Suddenly, the back of Wei Wuxian’s collar tightened, and his body was lifted into the air. He twisted his neck and saw Lan Wangji holding him up with one hand.

He maintains this same mindset when he tries to whip LWJ and WWX as they're attempting to leave Lotus Pier after the ancestral hall confrontation when WWX passes out.

Is jc evil in the Cloud Recesses ? No. He's just an annoying, basic, disagreeable asshole who doesn't bring anything positive to someone like WWX. People like jc become obsessed with kind, outgoing, generous people, people who don't set boundaries on what they give and what others take in their friendships. Even though they're dependent on them for their social interactions, because who else would socialize with them willingly, they resent them in equal measure, but at the same time they wouldn't be drawn to another selfish, self centered piece of shit person like themselves.

On a personal note, even Cloud Recesses jiang cheng is someone I would exclude from any personal friend group. Friendship with him is adding a minefield of jealousies and snide comments to every interaction. Things that then others will need to compensate around because he won't compromise or empathize w issues outside of his own concerns.

Translation source : x

[robininthelabyrinth]

Spilled Pearls

- Chapter 24 - ao3 -

The Cloud Recesses was calm and serene, tranquil and undisturbed. But unlike its usual tranquility, Lan Qiren felt that it was the calm of the moment before a firework exploded, the air thick and heavy with the impending eruption of an oncoming storm.

Lan Qiren’s brother continued to neglect his work to court He Kexin, who seemed to have improved her opinion of him somewhat during the time that Lan Qiren was gone, though whether it was the earnestness of his passionate pursuit, flattery at the idea of a man gone mad for her, or just that she’d become resigned to the idea for the moment, it wasn’t clear. What was clear to anyone with eyes was that her regard for him, although apparently now genuine, was nowhere near as fanatical as his. Lan Qiren suspected that they had started sleeping together, which seemed like a mistake on her part.

Still, brother or no, this was not a matter in which he was qualified to intervene.

Lan Qiren returned to his usual life, although he again temporarily delayed his planned departure in order to assist with sect matters – whatever his relationship with his brother, Lan Qiren loved his sect very much, and he, at least, would not so easily allow it to slip into disarray through neglect. No one asked him about the matter of He Kexin; his teachers pretended his unjust punishment had not happened but avoided his eyes for several weeks, and his peers had mostly moved on with their lives.

(His brother pretended he didn’t exist, but Lan Qiren didn’t hold it against him. Rumor had it that Wen Ruohan had either threatened or actually hit him or both to make clear how much he disapproved of what happened to Lan Qiren, and whether or not that was true, Lan Qiren enjoyed the thought too much to quibble over how his brother wanted to salvage his dignity.)

Lan Yueheng passed along news – not gossip, he said self-righteously, just news, as if Lan Qiren would somehow miss the fact that ever since he’d paired up with that pretty storehouse clerk of his, Lan Yueheng had belatedly discovered the joys of gossip and taken to it like a fish to water – but there wasn’t much of it, not even with his beloved Zhang Xin’s prodigious capacity for romantic stories and ability to embroider just about any situation into something resembling one. Cangse Sanren wrote Lan Qiren several letters, but once she’d been assured of his health and wellbeing, they largely shifted over to complaining about the Jin sect, where she was now residing, and occasionally included lurid descriptions of Wei Changze specifically meant to shock his conscience.

How are you even seeing him, Lan Qiren wrote back. Aren’t you in Lanling? He’s a servant in Yunmeng. Doesn’t he have a job?

Jiang Fengmian has ascended to the position of sect leader, she wrote back. He has to visit the other sects relatively often, and the Jiang sect has always been close to the Jin sect. Why shouldn’t they visit?

Lan Qiren thought about his brother and shook his head. Was irresponsibility in the rainwater this year?

I trust you’ve made your view on the matter clear to Jiang Fengmian.

Of course, she replied. He seems to live in hope that one day I’ll change my mind.

You’ve never changed your mind about anything.

So I’ve told him. Really, the fact that he doesn’t realize that is yet another reason why we wouldn’t be a good pair – putting aside his role, which I don’t want to share. Can you imagine me as mistress of the Lotus Pier? I’d be awful at it.

Lan Qiren imagined it, and shuddered.

Anyway, I’m like you – I want to travel! There’s so much to see out there. What a pity it would be to be trapped inside all day, like a caged lark singing only for a select few.

You could always invite others to come share their stories with you instead, he replied, thinking of Wen Ruohan sitting alone in the room he had designed for Lan Qiren like a dollhouse, waiting for a maid to help him vent his emotions over Lao Nie and Lan Qiren both. The rumors from Qishan said he’d recently taken on a concubine and that she was pregnant; Madame Wen was apparently furious over it. Bring the world to you, if you can’t go to them. That’s what sect leaders generally do, to my understanding: feathering their nest to make it bright and pleasing to their eyes because they cannot leave lest it fall apart. That’s a way of living, too.

I suppose, she replied, fearless and carefree as ever. But not for me!

There was Lao Nie, too.

He visited the Cloud Recesses a month or so after Lan Qiren’s visit to the Nightless City, belatedly concerned about Lan Qiren’s well-being – “I didn’t hear about it,” he said, looking shamefaced. “I had other matters on my mind…I’ll talk to your brother, though. I can’t believe he would order something so disproportionate. Is he here?”

“He is not,” Lan Qiren said with a sigh. Those who said you couldn’t change a man’s essential nature were not wrong, he thought, already forgiving Lao Nie despite his lack of actual apology.

Lan Qiren had always liked people whose spirits were bold and relentless, uncompromising and unbending just like him; there was really no other way to explain his truly inexplicable fondness for Cangse Sanren and Lan Yueheng and even Wen Ruohan, except maybe to say that he found himself compelled to love where he was loved in return. Lao Nie was like two drops of water with the rest of them, forging his own path in the world, wholly and truly himself – even if he left chaos in his wake, why should Lan Qiren expect more of him than to be exactly what he was?

“He’s out night-hunting,” he added. “Down in the south. There were tales of some very unusual beasts roaming there.”

He Kexin had expressed a mild interest in response to a storyteller’s tale, and naturally Lan Qiren’s brother whisked her away at once, her and all her friends that he always seemed to be paying for. Lan Qiren had thought that she kept them around her as a means of holding his brother off, but Zhang Xin had opined over a shared cup of tea that she thought He Kexin was treating the great and powerful Qingheng-jun as a convenient purse, that treating her friends to his largesse was the point and not the defense. 

Zhang Xin liked to hold forth on her views, forthright and unstoppable and loud, and Lan Qiren could see why Lan Yueheng constantly looked so infatuated whenever he gazed upon her – she was not dissimilar to one of the explosions he created in his alchemy laboratory. They were very well matched, and Lan Qiren deeply pitied whichever teacher got stuck with their eventual offspring, which he foresaw as being the least Lan sect juniors to have ever graced their ranks.

“Gone? I’ll see him when he comes back, then,” Lao Nie said, entirely unperturbed by such concerns. “Let me tell you about my son instead! He’s wonderful – a big, fat baby.”

Lan Qiren crossed his arms. “We can talk about your baby later. What about your wife?”

“A goddess!”

Perhaps he was going about this the wrong way, Lan Qiren mused. “Lao Nie,” he said. “What about Wen da-ge?”

Lao Nie blinked at him. “Hanhan? He’s doing well, too.”

Lan Qiren resisted the urge to strangle Lao Nie.

“Oh,” Lao Nie said, apparently figuring something out based on Lan Qiren’s sour expression. “You mean the fact that he’s angry at me?”

“Yes,” Lan Qiren said patiently. “He’s very angry at you. Do you know why?”

“I’ve tried talking with him about it,” Lao Nie complained. “I don’t know why he’s being so stiff all of a sudden…it’s not like he doesn’t know what I’m like.”

This, Lan Qiren supposed, was definitely true.

“He thought of you as his,” Lan Qiren said. “Didn’t you know?”

Lao Nie shrugged, careless as a boar in full charge, heedless of the damage wrought around him as he moved through the world, none of which could penetrate his thick hide. “Of course. But being his doesn’t make me any less my own, and I can belong to others, too. Who’s he to tell me not to give myself where I will? Does he have dominion over me?”

“He doesn’t want dominion over you,” Lan Qiren said, and Lao Nie looked at him skeptically – which was fair enough. Wen Ruohan was possessed of a strong desire for domination, whether of people, places, or things; he truly believed all good things in the world ought to belong to him, and Lan Qiren only hoped that he never shifted over to thinking that he was actually the rightful owner of all things, for that path led inexorably to the reign of the tyrant. “Truly! Not over you, or any of the people close to his heart. If he wanted merely to possess you, he might as well try to snatch you off to his sect and give you his surname.”

“Not with the sort of relationship we have,” Lao Nie said, a smug smirk curling his lips. “If you know what I mean.”

Lan Qiren sighed. Truly, it was a pity to have reached the age in which everyone around him seemed to think of nothing but sex; he couldn’t wait until they were all too old for such things. Surely it couldn’t be that long…?

“You know what I mean,” he said patiently. “He’s not after Sect Leader Nie, not making some powerplay or attempting to seduce you in order to win your talents over. He likes you, Lao Nie, and all he expects from you is that you like him back.”

“I do!” Lao Nie protested. “I really do. He’s my darling Hanhan, isn’t he? He’s the one setting up walls between us, all because he’s gotten his feathers in a twist over something that’s really nothing. If it’s my time that he’s worried about splitting, what’s the surprise? My sect will always come first, as will his for him. I don’t even have a wife anymore!”

“You – don’t?” Lan Qiren stared, expression blanking out in his shock: this was not a piece of news that had reached his ears. He put down his teacup. “Lao Nie, if something happened –”

“Oh, no, it’s not like that,” Lao Nie said dismissively. “She’s a goddess, like I told you! She’s off and around, coming and going, everywhere and nowhere at once – how could my Nie sect hope to contain such a creature?”

“But…you married her?”

“So? Does that mean I need to live with her?”

Lan Qiren was truly taken aback. He had never heard of such an unorthodox arrangement. “You have a son together! Who is raising him?”

“Me, of course! With the aid of plenty of servants, naturally. I wouldn’t dream of tying her down…ah, Qiren, don’t look so shocked. We’re all our own people, with our own wants and desires. Sometimes those desires pair well, and you can live together happily and well for the rest of your lives; sometimes they don’t. If you fall for someone whose desires don’t line up to your own, you can still pursue something with them. That you wouldn’t match well in what’s considered the orothodox fashion is no reason not to match at all, not if there can be an unorthodox arrangement that causes no one any harm.”

“Are we still talking about your ‘goddess’ wife?” Lan Qiren asked. “Or Wen da-ge?”

Lao Nie smiled ruefully. That sharp cleverness that was always with him lingered in his eyes, having been hidden beneath his distraction and his infatuation and his deliberately careless manner. “I tried to tell him,” he said. “From the very beginning…I was the one doing the pursuing, you know. He didn’t even want me at the start. The stupid fool, he thought he’d be better off alone, alone with the cold delights of political power and the miserable fascinations of that Fire Palace of his, leaving no room in his heart for any human warmth at all. You know what they all say about him: that he lost something when he passed the boundaries of his first human lifetime, his cultivation so high as to make him closer to a god than a man.”

Lan Qiren had heard that, too. At the beginning, he’d seen what people meant, but later, once he got closer, he didn’t see it at all.

“Before I convinced him to have me, he was far worse,” Lao Nie said bluntly. “If you think he was bad when you were younger, you have no idea – forget putting you in a dollhouse and dressing you up to suit his whims over your complaints; if he’d wanted you alongside him back then, he wouldn’t have hesitated to carve out your soul and turn you into a heartless puppet instead. It wouldn’t have satisfied him, of course, and eventually he would have discarded you, never knowing why he couldn’t get what he wanted from you.”

“Know your own mind,” Lan Qiren quoted. “What he would have wanted was the heart, sincerely given, and yet that was the first part thrown away…but such a realization would be too late and too bad for the victim, even if he later regretted.”

“He didn’t regret much, when I first got to know him,” Lao Nie said. “Nothing but trouble, down to his bones; that’s what he was, and what he still is, really. Lucky for him, I like a bit of trouble.”

That was an understatement. Lao Nie liked a lot of trouble, the more the better; it was really no wonder that he’d attached himself to Wen Ruohan.

“I pursued him,” Lao Nie said, picking up the thread from where he’d left off. “I dug out all the human parts of him that I could from underneath that stiff and stern human mask of his, and in the end he wanted me, too. But throughout it all I told him, I told him, that I wasn’t free for the keeping – that I knew myself, with my nose for trouble and wickedness, that I’d never be satisfied with just the one. That the only one who’d ever have all of me was my saber, and only because she doesn’t want anything in return but blood. He liked that, once. He thought it was a good thing.”

Yes, Lan Qiren could see that. Especially in the beginning, Wen Ruohan would not have wanted someone who gave him everything; he was like a wild cat, standoffish with those that longed for him and close to those that rejected him. One of the most powerful cultivators, sect leader of the most powerful sect – if he wanted someone who would simper and flirt and yield for him, he could have a dozen at the blink of an eye.

Someone like Lao Nie, who had a firm sense of identity and neither needed nor wanted anything from the outside world, who was always truly fundamentally himself, was far more his style.

So was someone like Lan Qiren, for that matter. Uncompromising and strict, mind preoccupied with his idiosyncratic obsessions – Wen Ruohan had thought him interesting, for whatever reason, and in time had grown jealous of those other thoughts, longing to be counted among them.

Lan Qiren rubbed at his temples. “He always seemed to enjoy you going off with others,” he noted, wondering if Lao Nie had more insight into the matter. “Why is this different? He got married, too.”

“Hanhan’s tastes are changing as he remembers more of what it means to be human,” Lao Nie said thoughtfully, accepting more tea when Lan Qiren poured it out for him. “I only excavated the surface, the rough parts of him that suited my interests, and he was content with our relationship being friendly and casual. But for you he brought out his soft underbelly and the hint of civilization that he used to have, remembering what he used to be and the things he used to want…I see he even gave you some of his paintings.”

Lan Qiren looked where Lao Nie was looking and saw the two paintings on his wall by the mysterious artist. “His paintings..? He painted these? It doesn’t feel anything like him!”

“Trust me, his qi is unmistakable to one who’s known it as intimately as I have. It’s definitely him – though I’d say these paintings are nearly a century old. Can we say that we are the same people we were between yesterday and today? Even the course of the mighty river can shift over time.”

Lan Qiren was stuck looking at the paintings. Free, he’d said to Wen Ruohan, all unknowing. The person who painted these was free and happy. Their soul is like a falcon’s, tied down by nothing. 

For all the power and might that Wen Ruohan could bring to bear these days, Lan Qiren wouldn’t use any of those terms to describe him as he was now.

“He’ll forgive me,” Lao Nie said confidently, putting his cup down. “Give him time to remember why he liked me so much, remember all the warnings I gave him, and he’ll get over it. Maybe we’ll be a little less close than before, maybe there’ll be more anger and jealousy between us - at any rate, I haven’t pushed him so far to the brink that he would try to kill me to keep anyone else from having me, at least not yet. He’s just disappointed, that’s all. He’d only just realized that he wanted more when he realized he couldn’t get it.”

Lan Qiren nodded slowly. He thought that Lao Nie was right, although he also thought it was stupid of him to knowingly play with fire in such a brazen manner – Wen Ruohan really wouldn’t hesitate to murder a fellow sect leader, even one in another Great Sect, if he was determined enough, and he was smart and twisted enough to think of a way to get away with it, too.

Still, just as Lan Qiren had gotten over his feelings about Wen Ruohan’s inclination towards seeing torture and pain as entertainment, realizing that if he wanted him then he had to accept him as he was rather than rejecting him for it, Wen Ruohan would do the same for Lao Nie. He would remember what Lao Nie was like, what he’d always been like, and he would teach himself to appreciate those traits that he had once thought preferable, even as he resented them.

They’d get over this. Lan Qiren was sure of it.

What would come of it in the future, though...

“Anyway, I’ve dithered for long enough,” Lao Nie said. “I really only swung by briefly to say hello. I’m due at the Jin sect before the week’s out, and that means I have to go at once. Anything you want me to pass along to your lady-love rogue cultivator?”

“Leave Cangse Sanren alone, that’s what you can do for me,” Lan Qiren said. “Also, we’re still not lovers, nor will we ever be. Not everyone’s you!”

“No, they’re not,” Lao Nie said, grinning at him. “And that’s the way I like it – the richer the variety of the world, the more interesting people I can meet and be friends with, just like you.”

Lan Qiren was so overwhelmed by the compliment – he of course considered Lao Nie a friend of his, having as he did so many acquaintances and so few true friends, but he hadn’t realized that Lao Nie saw him as a genuine friend in return – that it didn’t even occur to him until it was too late that he hadn’t brought up the matter of his brother and He Kexin, nor told Lao Nie that he needed to stop his reckless encouragement of that relationship.

He’d tried to put that whole thing out of mind, Lan Qiren thought to himself with a sigh, and he’d succeeded – too well.

Whatever. His brother wouldn’t listen to their own sect elders, even as their exhortations shifted from encouragement to censure and their suggestions to leave it alone got more and more pointed, their interventions less and less subtle. Why would he listen to Lao Nie? 

He’d just go his own way and do what he wanted, no matter what.

Lan Qiren ought to learn from his example and put the whole thing aside, accepting the facts just as they were. He’d finally given up on the idea that he could help his sect through this moment of disaster - there would simply be nothing for it; they would have to stumble along without him or else force his brother to actually do his job, but in any event, it wasn’t his problem.

He was going to go - he was going to finally make his way out of the sect for his long-planned travel, and when he did, he wouldn’t need to worry about his brother, or He Kexin, or any of it.

Only a few more months from the date he’d informed the sect elders of, he thought, and this time he would stick to it, not delay. A few more months...he could even count the time in days, if he wished. 

His brother (and He Kexin) would return from their night-hunt in a few days, likely straight into the various elders’ less-than-subtle plans to find them and scold them over the whole thing. 

Lan Qiren would give his brother ten days after he returned - the same ten days his brother had given him - before he formally informed him that he was leaving.

It wouldn’t be long now.