#the massacre of lotus pier and burning of cloud recesses….

[immortal-gege]

Mdzs is just straight up back to back agonizing tragedy which gives you no fucking time to recover. No wonder I put off rereading it for so long. Jesus Christ

[kurokawaia]

❛ You're Mine ❜ - Master list

Yandere!Lan Wangji X Fem!Wen!Reader

REQUESTED? YES (filled request)

TW/CW; X Fem! Reader, she/her pronouns, obsessive behaviour, dubcon! noncon! frequent sex, breeding, size kink, slightly forced marriage, doggy, missionary, prone bone, jealousy, yandere behaviour, kidnapping, bondage, oral, creampie + more ╰┈➤ This anon has asked for this to be a reader insert only asking that the reader having long hair which goes past the waist (as its chinese tradition) and that she is smaller that Lan Wangji, everything else is up to you!

STORY INFORMATION; Follows the plot of MDZS briefly, contains brief events on the Xuanwu of slaughter and the sunshot campaign. This a a Yandere x reader, so if its not your cup of tea, SCROLL. All characters are 18 +

SYNOPSIS; Lan Wangji is obsessed with the reader after she helped him in the cloud recess and now, he doesn't want to let you go.

─── CHAPTER LIST - 6/6 ╰┈➤ total word count 16,000

╭ Chapter 1 - 4.1k+ words ╰┈➤ Back story on how LWJ and you met, the Wens burned down the Cloud Recesses and this is when you started to help the Gusu Lan Sect in the aftermath, just like your brother and sister (Wen Qing adn Wen Ning). But as you helped out, you were in a lot of secret meetings with LWJ. But this caused LWJ to fall more desperately obsessed with you than he already was. During the Xuanwu of slaughter, you get captured from the Lan's and Jiangs by your own clan members Wen Xu and Wen Chao because you were helping the 'enemy'.

| Chapter 2 - 2.8k+ words ╰┈➤ You get saved by Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji (individually). But Lan Wangji's obsession turns into love and to repay Jiang Cheng's kindness, you work as a spy for him to help during the massacre of the Lotus Pier event. Which causes Jiang Cheng to fall in love with you. The sunshot campaign was up and running, but it wasn't something you, a healer should be fighting for causing you to get injured. Lan Wangji saves you and brings you to Gusu to hide and recuperate, taking care of you.

| Chapter 3 - 2.3k+ words ╰┈➤ Jiang Cheng searches for you as you left the Jiangs so suddenly, so, Wangji gets the wrong idea, thinking you are lovers. This moment creates just the beginning of his yandere tendencies and his demeanour changes. An argument arises and he kisses you which then leaves you wondering why Lan Wangji is doing this, the HanGuang-Jun is kissing you with such anger. Then, this leads to non-consensual sex but Wangji makes sure to take care of you in the kindest way possible, calming you dow and after it leads to Dubconsensual sex now that you have realised your feelings for him

| Chapter 4 - 1.9k words ╰┈➤ The war has now passed and Lan Wangji is taking care of you and helping you search for your siblings. When you two found them, you requested to stay with them in Yiling, to leave Wangji. But this caused Lan Wangji's already yandere personality to rise to another level. He wants to bring her back to Gusu and marry her, but she doesn't want to, she wants to stay with Jiang Cheng, her siblings and doesn't want to follow the 3000 rules.

| Chapter 5 - 3.9k words ╰┈➤ This results in Wangji kidnapping her and hiding her secretly, visiting her to only have sex. He loves her of course, but he spends time with her, not only to have sex, but to be near her. This is the softest Lan Wangji will ever be towards you. You tried to run away from him, only because you felt suffocated hiding, Jiang Cheng tried to help but failed. The second attempt you made by yourself and that soft love you were getting changed, it was only rough, dominating sex. But he accidentally confesses and you did to, which changed the mood, it wasn't rough, but just intense.

| Chapter 6 - 900+ words ╰┈➤ Wangji is satisfied, now knowing that you aren't lovers with Jiang Cheng, that you're just a good friend. So now he has you all to himself, your his and no one else's. Then you two get married, it's just the two of you, his pretty wife. You two celebrate during the lantern festival together and send of a lantern, knowing that it's just the two of you forever.

[darkfalcon-z]

Woven from the Spider Silk,

Or the Grandmasters of Tiny Bunny Cultivation

A bit of a crack idea - I wrote it some time ago

Teenage WWX and LWJ are called upon to become the deities of the forest

They turn tiny because their spiritual power cannot support full size body of a deity

Worse that at the beginning they involuntary turn into little bunnies whenever humans are around and they can’t communicate (this is a spell protecting fledgling deities from being spotted and imprisoned by humans). They also don’t know what is going on until they cultivate for a bit in a forest.

They are removed from Cloud Recess together with the bunnies WWX found for LWJ and set behind the wards so they can’t initially come back and write a message or something

The bunnies are not the culprits behind the transformation, but they are the catalyst. The previous couple of deities either passed on or ascended (this would unclear at least at the beginning) and new people need to fill in the position – this is a natural process (it’s like id an atom misses an electron only more selective), technically anyone could have been chosen provided they had strong enough cultivation and empathy for living beings but the process would only start if a matched set of two was found. The bunnies are kind of like spiritual messengers. The let themselves be caught by WWX, because they sensed his potential, but the transformation only happened when bunnies and WWX came in contact with LWJ

The bunnies become Wangxian familiars (and steeds). The bunnies are black and white respectively

WWX and LWJ still are as strong as ever both physically and with cultivation (a la Nac Mac Feegle) but they can eat less (although more their current body mass could suggest)

All in all Wangxian got nice vacation from everything. They live on an enchanted meadow (although the meadow becomes enchanted because they live in there) in the Gusu Mountains just beyond Cloud Recess wards, together with the bunnies – the bunny family grows because other bunnies noticed it’s a sweet spot to live as no predators dare to approach Wangxian with evil intentions

LWJ forages for spider silk to make them new robes, WWX forages for most everything else and also build them a tiny cottage (they eventually make a little garden as well)

(they earlier made clothes of feathers (because the bunnies sabotages any attempts of making clothes from leaves with their appetites) but there was an issue of LWJ having to constantly deal with WWX in a tiny feather skirt, you must understand that something had to be done)

Wangxian get together early because of all this.

Everyone thinks LWJ and WWX are dead, although how it’s a mystery (most people blame WWX for somehow angering some powerful entity and LWJ getting caught with a fallout) – not that surprising since all they’ve found were intact robes with tied sashes and all – it looked like they evaporated from the inside.

The world however did not stop just because Wangxian disappearance

Wangxian learned that something terrible happened when the Cloud Recess burned because they’ve sees plumes of smoke and light from the fire

They’ve only learned that Lotus Pier Fell afterwards

During the indoctrination JZX’s and few other disciples cores had been crushed before the Xuanwu appeared and MianMian’s face had been branded by WLJ. Some of the heirs had been eaten by Xuanwu as well)

JYL is only surviving Jiang as she was in Meishan when the Wens attacked. She’s largely forgotten, except JGS broke the engagement with JZX since JYL lost her position.

JC had been caught, tortured, had his core crashed and was eventually killed as his return after the massacre – this happened when he saw WLJ disrespecting his mother’s corpse.

JGS pretty much lost the interest with JZX as his heir (he still doesn’t think JYL is a suitable party for him since she has pretty much nothing and lives on the charity of her grandparents’ family) and brought MXY earlier on to the sect as a potential heir (it’s till terrible for MXY, he’s taken away from his mother, his “step mother” hates him, his so called father throws a lot of expectation at him but no love, plenty of Jin cousins think they should be heirs instead)

JZX goes to fight in SunShot Campaign even though he’s coreless and more than little depressed, but without JC and LWJ getting back the swords the SunShot is in dire straits.

Eventually Wangxian managed to get into Cloud Recess, acquire Bichen and they fly to Meishan to JYL, who becomes the first person to learn of their fate (and marital plans)

They manage to liberate everyone swords as well as treasures stolen from Lotus Pier (Suibian among them) and have JYL take the swords to LXC and NMJ

Eventually Wangxian are going to pilot JZX as a mecha (not that’s not accurate, they need him because he has martial arts training but not the ability to use spiritual sword, and they have swords but with bodies so small it would be an issue to go into a battlefield alone, so they need him to carry them around, they don’t usually pilot him). JZX gets secret identity, though. Of course that cooperation doesn’t go smoothly, but JZX eventually grow into a man worthy of asking for JYL’s hand.

LXC and NMJ are probably onto the plan. LXC is relieved that LWJ is safe

Eventually SunShot wins

After the war the Wens are still put into work camps

Idk yet how Wangxian learn about that, but they go there and turn everyone into bunnies temporarily and tell them to run and if they got into Gusu area they would try to help them some more. This is not a perfect solution, since many other those people are old or ill, but they’d had support one another to survive on the way. WN doesn’t die in this au

I think WQ helped out injured MianMian at some point and then met her again after SunShot and told her brother had been kidnapped. MM went to JYL and JZX to ask if they maybe know if something can be done. JZX got the information where the prison camp was and told Wangxian

A-Yuan as a bunny is too little to run anywhere so Wangxian take him with themselves. This is a bit of challenge since it’s difficult to take care of a toddler when you are doll sized. Wangxian have a spell to shrink living being with doing complicated things to qi flow, but it’s not that they can keep A-Yuan shrunk all the time because how would that affect his development. WWX needs to add big boy room to their tiny cottage.

The Wens manage to arrive in the area, but by that time A-Yuan thinks about Wangxian as his parents and no one has the heart to separate them

JYL and JZX probably go to live in Cloud Recess for a while. JYL is regarded as a hero, who liberated the swords, JZX is regarded as a pitiful loser, who lost his core. But he grows a lot as a person. Possibly they are going to reestablish Jiang Sect later on after their son is born.

I’m not sure about JGY in this au.

XY drugged and brutally murdered members of Chang clan, but since Yin Tiger Tally doesn’t exist and no one invented the ghostly path JGS doesn’t have any use for him so he’s promptly executed after XXC caught him

Wangxian have opportunity to me XXC and SL and give them their blessing for the sect they want to establish. I hope they still find A-Qing somehow

People still call LWJ Hanguang-Jun, this time it’s his divine title. WWX is know as a Dark Lord (I think it’s by Xuan-Jun) or Dark Lady sometimes since people think as LWJ “mate” he must be a female

[thepurplewombat]

Why was WRH so stupid?

I've been thinking about this for a while and like, WRH's actions were deeply stupid in a way that turned the whole cultivation world against him in self-defence when, with a bit more patience, he could have wiped out all the Great Clans within five or so years and set himself up as a petty-Emperor of the cultivation world.

If I was WRH, this is how I would do it.

A ten-step plan for world domination.

Step 1: don't attack Cloud Recesses. The pretext was dumb and nobody bought it. Send a polite invitation to a Wen Study Term just like Cloud Recesses'. A POLITE ONE! The clans will acquiesce because nobody wants to rock the boat.

2: now you have to decide whether you want to go after the Jiang, the Lan, or both. I would recommend choosing one - both is too ambitious. The Nie are not an option for reasons that will become clear. I would recommend the Jiang.

3: kill Wen Chao. He's useless anyway, but he's still the son of the sect leader.

4: frame Jiang Cheng (not WWX - WWX can be disavowed, but Jiang Cheng is the sect heir, his actions are, to an extent, the actions of the Jiang Sect) for the death of Wen Chao. It doesn't have to be murder, although it would be best if WC could pick a bunch of fights with JC beforehand so that whatever 'night hunting accident' he dies in can be spun as JC deliberately getting him killed out if rage. (now we see why the Nie are not an option. Nobody would believe that NHS murdered Wen Chao, and if WC got killed on a night hunt because of NHS' incompetence, the Nie can easily say that the Wen knew that Second Young Master Nie is not suited to night hunting so why was he there in the first place? Not that NMJ would do that because the loss of face would probably send him into qi deviation, but best not let it come up)

4a: Massacre the Jiang. Nobody is going to object - and if they do, they won't do it loudly. The loss of a son and heir - because WC is still in the succession, I believe? - is sufficient pretext that nobody is going to object too loudly. If you want to be super practical you can just kill the Jiang inner Disciples and take the sect for yourself, but I feel like WRH does have the manpower to take Lotus Pier and keep industry flowing with civilian labor. No need to risk hostile cultivators at his back.

5: we are now one Great Sect down, and no war. Everyone is kind of 👀 about it because they never thought their own tactics would be turned against a Great Sect like this, but there is sufficient precedent that nobody wants to object too loudly.

6: now you wait. Move too soon and you could scare the Lan and the Nie into uniting against you, and you don't want that. While you're waiting, you consolidate your hold on Yunmeng, bringing the smaller sects in the region under your banner. Nothing to see here, just doing what sects do. Make sure your relations with the Jin remain good. Jin Guangshan won't cause any trouble for you if you don't cause any trouble for him.

7: choose whether to go after the Lan or the Nie next. I recommend the Lan, because the Unclean Realm is a tough nut to crack.

8: attack the Lan. Kill everyone - but most especially you want to kill everyone in the line of succession. You don't want Lan Xichen or Lan Wangji rallying people against you later on. A pretext would be useful for this, but at this point is not entirely necessary. Don't burn the library, you idiot.

9: you are now left with the Nie and the Jin among the great clans. This is good because they don't get along, and also Jin Guangshan is useless. Besiege the Unclean Realm. You don't have to go frontal assault, just keep them bottled up in their nice little fortress where you can pick them off at your leisure. This may take a few years, but once they are sufficiently weakened you can take them out.

10: CONGRATULATIONS!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! Important things must be said three times! World domination is now yours! The Jin are the only Great Sect left, and they won't dare move against you and can't unite the smaller clans (whom I hope you have been treating well as you unite them under the Wen. You have been treating them well, right?) . At some point later, you can take them out if you wanted, but it's not necessary. I'd recommend taking care of Jin Zixuan, who is likely to bear a grudge and is an honorable idiot who won't take well to having a Wen boot on his neck. Jin Zixun will be much more amenable.

There are some people who might see your plan and derail it - primarily NHS and Meng Yao. NHS is unlikely to be able to do much since nobody will listen to him, although if both he and Meng Yao are in the Unclean Realm they might be able to convince NMJ to take action before the attack on the Lan can happen. I would recommend convincing JGS that a spare heir is never a bad idea (if this works you can always get Meng Yao installed as head of the Jin later - if he knows you're the one who convinced JGS to take him on he will be loyal to you, and if JGS and Co treat him as they did in canon he will not object overmuch if you kill him, and might even do it for you). If that doesn't work, kill him.

[thebiscuiteternal]

Sooooo, my brain has been chewing on that larger-age-gap Nies idea some more.

Since Nie Huaisang is now an additional 8/9 years younger than his brother, the size gap is gonna be even bigger too, especially since this Nie Huaisang retains his canon counterpart's problem of being a little undersized and sickly due to his rough start in life.

Like, by the time you get to the arc of the other heirs being at the Cloud Recesses, this is roughly what you're looking at:

And it's only around a year-ish or so after that that the Cloud Recesses burn and the Wen sect demands the heirs and disciples be handed over for "re-education".

It's really so lucky in canon that all the heirs were within roughly 1-3 years of each other at the most, because....

Imagine how far off the fucking handle Nie Mingjue would fly to find out that despite Huaisang's age and health, they're expecting him to be sent to Qishan too. It would take a whole lot of disciples to keep him from immediately beheading the soldier who delivered the order.

They can't afford all out war yet, not when the Lans are laid low and the minor sects, the Jiangs, and the Jins are still refusing to choose a side.

All the Nies can do is swear to their sect leader that they will do their damnedest to keep any harm from his baby brother.

He hates it. They all hate it.

Imagine when all the "students" start arriving and the other sect's heirs see this small shaking child surrounded by adults who are glaring murder at any Wen soldier who so much as looks at him funny.

Imagine Wen Chao, being exactly the kind of asshole who would hold the teachings of the other sects over their heads, says that he will be generous and not force little Nie Huaisang to toil in the fields with the others. He will be kept safe in the fortress and work the kitchens instead! ... But there must be a "compromise".

If there are any attempts to escape or other displays of flagrant disobedience, the punishment will be meted out on Nie Huaisang.

And they, as good and noble cultivators, wouldn't want to risk having a small child suffer in their places, would they?

Wei Wuxian thinks he's bluffing. Who goes around just saying shit like that without realizing they sound like a stage villain?

The Nies make it clear they're not about to let him test that hypothesis.

In the end, the Wen Tenets scene still happens, and it's only by luck that Wen Chao is so enraged at Wei Wuxian specifically that he forgets his earlier threat and focuses punishment on him. (Jiang Cheng lets him verbally have it for pressing that luck, but gives him the vegetable buns Nie Huaisang sneakily left at their cell on his way back from the kitchens.)

When the order for that last monster hunt goes out, Nie Huaisang is brought along against the protests of the older Nie disciples.

It'll be good for his education, Wen Chao insists, fooling literally no one.

On the plus side, being as small as he is, when it becomes evident that Wen Chao intends to (likely against his father's directions) use Nie Huaisang as bait, it's easy to hide him, and even easier to bring him along on the escape, one of the older disciples just tucking him under an arm as they swim for safety.

(And then weeks later, when Wen Chao arrives in Lotus Pier and little sixth shidi is killed over a fucking kite before the massacre even starts, Wei Wuxian is sick with horror at the realization that he wasn't bluffing and absolutely would have hurt Nie Huaisang.

The next time they cross paths, after the Burial Mounds and the retaking of Lotus Pier, he gives Nie Huaisang the fancy guan cut from Wen Chao's hair as an apology.)

[bakijak]

yet another mdzs time travel fix it fic

to preface this i actually am trying to write the yanqing yunli dynamic, but i didn't want to do it in canon hsr, so they're stuck in mdzs. i also haven't finished the novel but i have spent far too long looking at mdzs timelines for my own sanity

yeah yeah there are morbillions of time travel fix it fics out there, some including the juniors too, but what i'm trying to do is a time travel fix it fic where i have a junior from every great sect, including wen. it'll be a spin off to my jiang yanqing au, where yanqing from hsr is the jiang junior/head disciple/sect heir because i can do that, but also i added hsr yunli to the nie because she fits there ridiculously well. the wen comes from lan sizhui deciding to leave gusu lan and rebuild qishan wen, so he gets a new courtesy name and starts going by wen shouyu. that means i have wen shouyu, jiang yanqing, nie yunli, lan jingyi, and jin rulan. ouyang zizhen is still one of the juniors, but he's not from of the great sects so he's just there.

as far as i know, the three catalyzing events that ultimately contribute to the sunshot campaign are in order: nie mingjue and nie huaisang's father's death after his saber is sabotaged by wen ruohan, burning of cloud recesses, and massacre of lotus pier. if none of these events happened, at least the sunshot campaign would be led by actual adults and not teenagers, but i'm not sure when the sunshot campaign would happen if that's the case. the wen would probably put on indoctrination still i think

anyway i just don't know how far back in time i want to send the juniors because do i really want to fix the story or do i want to put them through war and make them see the horrors (all roads lead to war actually, but do i want them to have some actual influence on events prior to the war)

[s2pdoktopus]

The AU will be set in MDZS Universe

Kou Empire (Huang Sect here) is one of the great Sects but they mostly interact with people outside the ancient China setting (so the Magi side of things)

The metal vessels are their spiritual tools, this time comparable to Zidian so Kou is a powerful military focused sect especially with how many of the princes and princesses have these spiritual tools (lol Kouen alone has three)

During the Gusu lectures, Kougyoku, Kouha and Hakuryuu are sent to represent Kou. Hakuryuu is a good boy, Kouha sneaks into the girls' side (no one noticed because he looks like a girl and wears girl's clothes when he does this) to tell Kougyoku the interesting things that happens on the boy's side of things (Jiang sect head disciple punched the Jin heir and got sent away lolol) Kougyoku, also does her best to not embarrass her home and cause trouble for her older brother so they finish the lectures okay.

During the Wen discussion conference, Hakuryuu and Kouha participated in the competition. Both don't specialize in archery so they didn't get many points. It's not a big deal to Kou because they are more interested in the happenings outside ancient China.

During the Wen indoctrination Kougyoku is in Balbad, Kouha is sent to the indoctrination (More like he volunteered to go) got his Leraje taken from him and with the help of the Jiang Sect, managed to get back home.

Cloud recesses burning happens. Lotus Pier massacre happens.

(During the Wen indoctrination up until the Lotus Pier massacre, Kougyoku is in Sindria, befriends Alibaba, crushes on Sinbad, gets Zephar planted in her brain. Magi stuff)

Jiang Cheng comes to Kou to return Kouha's sword and ask for their assistance in the Sunshot campaign. This is where Kougyoku and Jiang Cheng meet properly. Kougyoku finds him in the garden waiting for Kouen to meet up with him and she knows about who he is and what happened to him, he seemed sad and lonely. Kougyoku felt compelled to help him somehow (having been infected by Alibaba's kindness already) so she toughed it up and tried to cheer him up a bit.

Kougyoku's arranged marriage got cancelled, Jiang sect is ruined and it's just the perfect opportunity to put them under the Kou's mercy so Kouen offered to Jiang Cheng their help if he agrees to take Kougyoku as his bride. Jiang Cheng and his complicated relationship with his parents' marriage made him decline. Kougyoku comes to the Jiang Sect's aid anyway. Kou is still in conflict with the Reim and Sindria, it's better to not let the Wen get so strong that Kou would have to fight them too. Vinea specialized in water and there's plenty of that in the Yunmeng territory so sending Kougyoku makes a lot of sense. Plus, Kougyoku already considers Jiang Cheng her friend (lol anime logic. Kougyoku is awkward and desperate for friends) so she is more than willing to go. (They become proper friends here)

Kougyoku leaves the Sunshot campaign once the Jiang Sect is taken back.

Sunshot campaign is won. The Wen remnants problem happens, Kou civil war happens. By the time Wei Wuxian died, Hakuryuu became Kou's emperor. Then he steps down and now both Kougyoku and Jiang Cheng share the burden of carrying a destroyed Sect :D

Kougyoku tried everything to save the Kou empire, which in this au, includes being more involved with the ancient China side of things. They don't bond over this (although I want them to, lol) because they are friends. Kougyoku likes to keep up appearances around her esteemed friends and Jiang Cheng is her only living friend that she actually gets to meet at the moment. Jiang Cheng is busy with Jin Ling, there's nothing he can ask Kougyoku because they have the same problem. They do hang out when the opportunity arises, the opportunity being discussion conferences and sometimes to negotiate trade treaties and other legal things.

Alibaba comes back and helps Kougyoku just as her territory is about to get swallowed up by the Seven Alliances. Magi stuff happens (but without the Sinbad becomes god situation. What's important is Kougyoku gets Vinea again and it's a spiritual tool here so yes, it's the same old powerful weapon that controls water. I want Kougyoku to keep her magic powers XD)

Slowly, the Jiang Sect and the Kou go back to being the strong territories that they are used to be known as, although Kou turned from being known for military might to agriculture and little inventions (like the Magi version of the fridge lol)

Years go by, Jiang Cheng and Kougyoku with their thriving sects now have enough time to meet, drink tea and chat. Go on dates friendly visits, friend stuff. Jin Ling knows Kougyoku as that one auntie that can actually make his uncle smile. They like going on night hunts together because Kougyoku does love to battle (she's considered to be the strongest female cultivator here) and electric whip and water sword are a very good combo. They spar a lot too. Again. Friend stuff!

Some time later this comic thingy happens. Kougyoku reveals that, surprise! Her eldest brother, Kouen is alive! That's a secret though because they told everyone he's dead and it'll be a problem if it's found that he isn't dead. Kougyoku wants him to meet her brothers, yes, even Hakuryuu whom Jiang Cheng hates because Hakuryuu did all that then left a ruined sect to Kougyoku and he's also petty enough to hate for someone important to him. But Kougyoku wants them to formally meet and all, this is still a wedding which she always dreamed of doing even if it's just for convenience. Kouen brought up Jiang Cheng's problems with arranged marriage and the rejected offer once upon a time but Jiang Cheng says that this is something him and Kougyoku agreed with and they have been friends for this long already. He thinks they will be fine. Kouha approves of him (way better than Sinbad he said, which earned him an embarrassed smack from Kougyoku) and since Kouha, the one protective of Kougyoku approves, Kouen and Koumei found no other issues (being tied to a great sect is not bad too)

(They shop clothes together a lot and write to each other about fashion :D fashionable grape and Kougyoku whose hobby is fashion and beauty care. They exchange skin care and hair routines too! Shopping clothes with your homie is a very friend thing to do!)

Wei Wuxian comes back to life, MDZS stuff happens. Kougyoku comes to Jiang Cheng's side as soon as she gets the news. Jiang Cheng cries about it (of course) the fact that he was used as an instrument to his brother's demise, the golden core situation, everything. Kougyoku can relate, she was also used by Sinbad which led to her brothers losing the civil war and her brothers exiled from their homeland. They finally bond over their similarities while wasted. Kougyoku tells Jiang Cheng how amazing it is that he managed to get the Jiang clan back to being as, if not, more powerful than it once was, while she needed her just revived friend to get hers back. Jiang Cheng tells her that he'd never wish for her to go through that alone and that it's good she has friends to help her. They apologize for not reaching out when they needed each other the most and laughed at how silly it is to say sorry about it now, when it's over. (Jiang Cheng also felt like he should apologize to her for insulting Jin Guangyao's parentage, knowing her own status as a child of a prostitute and feeling belatedly that it's almost as if he insulted her too, Kougyoku doesn't really get it (she wasn't in the temple and they are both very drunk) but she says it's ok anyway. Kougyoku, while she doesn't like Wei Wuxian at all (this is the girl who fought a god like being, and the one who first damaged the thing just because it hurt her brother and friend, I believe she'd be petty enough to dislike Wei Wuxian although she'll keep her opinions to herself) still tells Jiang Cheng about how she forgave Alibaba for not telling her about the brainwashing despite knowing about it. That Alibaba didn't say anything to protect her and maybe it's the same for Wei Wuxian.

They get married, it's a pretty big celebration. They managed to sneak Kougyoku's brothers in but since they are supposedly in exile, Jiang Cheng had to do his bows to Hakuryuu and Hakuei. He hated it. Kougyoku did hers to Jin Ling as Jiang Cheng's only remaining living relative. They would've invited Wei Wuxian but they didn't know where to send the invite. (Now both brothers can lament over not being invited to weddings)

Some time later after they get married this happens

Jiang Cheng: (deep in thought)

Jin Ling: What's wrong JuiJui?

Jiang Cheng: Your Aunt... I think she found her true love.

Jin Ling: Aunty HongYuis cheating on you?! I knew it-

Jiang Cheng: I said she might've found her love. Listen to what people around you say A-Ling. I wouldn't want you to be the same as those gossipers outside.

Jin Ling: B-But, you're married?

Jiang Cheng: It was a marriage of convenience. (Sighs in frustration) I should've known that this would happen. ('Is this what mother felt like. How do I break off our marriage. I don't want to chain her in a loveless affair)

Meanwhile, Lian HongYu

Alibaba: Hi, HongYu, how's your marriage doing?

Lian HongYu: Bad, Alibaba, I think I may have fallen in love!

Alibaba: Didn't you just marry a while ago?

Lian HongYu: Yes.

Alibaba: ... Who did you fall in love with this time?

Lian HongYu: My husband!

Alibaba: I don't understand?

Lian HongYu: It's supposed to be a marriage of convenience!

Alibaba: Well, isn't that convenient?

Liang HongYu: No!!

Jiang Cheng and Lian HongYu

Lian HongYu: A-Cheng, I have a confession to make.

Jiang Cheng: this is it, she's going to tell me she found her true love and--

Lian HongYu: I have fallen in love with you.

Jiang Cheng: -she wants to break off the What?

Lian HongYu: I'm sorry, our marriage is supposed to be of convenience but I'd gone ahead and fallen for you, I promise this wouldn't change anything or if you're uncomfortable we can break off our marriage-

Jiang Cheng: I think I love you too.

Lian HongYu: ... You do?

Jiang Cheng: I do think I do.

Lian HongYu: (laughs) well, that is convenient!! I'm glad.

Jiang Cheng: 'I'm glad too.'

And they live happily ever after :DD

Here's some more of them!!

Another AU involves MDZS being set years and years and years after Magi ended so it's in the new world. The last king vessels assimilated with their Djinn and became spirits. Kou empire turned into the Jianghu and was fragmented into sects. Kouen's territory is occupied by the Wen, Hakuei's territory is occupied by the Lan, Kouha's is occupied by the Jin, Hakuryuu's occupied by the Nie and Kougyoku of course is with the Jiang. So in the years of Wei Wuxian's death, and Jiang Cheng being left behind and mourning, Kougyoku, the now spirit of sorrow and isolation awakens. She shows up to Jiang Cheng in her djinn equip form (insert Jiang Cheng getting flustered because an almost naked lady appears from the river, here) Kougyoku gets some proper clothes in Jiang Cheng's insistence and... They hang out. Kougyoku reveals that she was once the empress of a united Jianghu, she muses on how things have changed and she tells him about the former lords of the land the other sects rule over. She helps him rebuild, having done this before and saying that there's no shame in it! She was helped by a dear friend too, once upon a time.

Just a water spirit who doesn't act like one and a lonely young leader hanging out.

Cringetober Day 9: Crossover ship

I may have gone overboard.

This is for the very small overlap of Jiang Cheng enjoyers and Kougyoku lovers: me.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Jiang Cheng is taken to Nightless City, not Lotus Pier, after being captured by the Wens

ao3

“Why’d you bring him here?” Wen Xu asked. His eye was twitching, which didn’t look healthy.

Actually, he just…didn’t look very healthy at all, really. His skin was off-color and he had circles suggesting he hadn’t slept in too long; he’d lost weight, too. Unlike Wen Chao, who was positively bursting with good humor now that he’d personally ‘won’ a great victory, he looked as though he weren’t having a good time at all.

“Why not?” Wen Chao said carelessly. “He’s the last heir of the Jiang sect, once I track down that stupid girl, and it’s not like he’s a threat; he’s got no cultivation left, courtesy of Wen Zhuliu. I can put him on display.”

“Like an animal in a menagerie? You’ve got to be joking.” Wen Xu was scowling. “Do you know the trouble he could make for us if he escaped? A living heir – even without a golden core, he can still sire the next generation. He’s practically a symbol of rebellion!”

“Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud. Father will enjoy it.”

“If he escapes, that undermines our credibility, injures morale,” Wen Xu argued. “Our troops are fighting for us because they see us as the sun in the sky, and if we slip up…the enemy will know that as well as I. There are spies everywhere. We’ll be facing a non-stop wave of rescue attempts!”

“And we’ll repel them all! Anyway, you’re exaggerating –”

“I am not –”

“What is the cause of all this noise?” a low, calm voice drawled from the door to the hall, causing Wen Chao and Wen Xu to all but trip over themselves in order to salute.

Jiang Cheng, bound and beaten bloody, without even his cultivation, utterly helpless, turned his head slowly, not wanting to draw attention to himself. That was Wen Ruohan himself standing there, cruel smirk twisting his lips – the man who had ordered the burning of the Cloud Recesses, the man who had ordered the massacre of the Lotus Pier, the man in whose name all these terrible things were done.

Both Wen Chao and Wen Xu tried to explain at once, and Wen Ruohan listened to his sons, looking thoroughly disinterested.

“A captive like this can be kept as a prize, but not displayed,” he finally said, sounding bored. “A-Xu is right, if they know we have him, they’ll only try to rescue him…still, there’s no harm in keeping him for now; he might be useful someday. Who can tell..?”

“I got him as a present for you,” Wen Chao blurted out. “Father –”

“If you want to impress me, bring me Nie Mingjue,” Wen Ruohan said. “Alive, and in chains. Whoever does that will win my esteem.”

“But – Father –”

“As for this one, I care far less. Figure it out between you.”

With a dismissive wave of his hand, Wen Ruohan left.

“Now you’ve gone and ruined it,” Wen Chao said to Wen Xu resentfully. “It was going to make him happy, and now he’s just back on the same old thing about Chifeng-zun…you deal with him.”

“Me? He’s your prisoner!”

“Yes, well, now I don’t want him any longer,” Wen Chao tossed his head. “You ruined all the fun of it – anyway, you’re the one who cares about whatever rescue attempts or whatnot. I’ve had my fun, I’m done…you do the rest.”

“A-Chao!” Wen Xu shouted, but Wen Chao clearly didn’t care. He’d turned his nose up and marched away down the hall. “Damn, A-Chao!”

But he was gone.

Wen Xu scowled after his younger brother, then turned back, his gaze dropping down to regard Jiang Cheng.

“Fuck,” he said, fervently, and for a crazy moment Jiang Cheng felt something almost like fellow-feeling, a wholly unexpected and unwelcome stab of sympathy for someone else who had to deal with a complete lunatic for a brother, always stuck being the one to clean up the mess…but that was completely crazy. This was Wen Xu. “Where can I even put you that people won’t immediately know who you are?”

He thought about it for a moment, then reached out and nudged at Jiang Cheng’s side with his shoe, making Jiang Cheng hissed a little in pain.

“Do you require a doctor?” he demanded.

Jiang Cheng had no idea what to say about that. He’d been hit by the Jiang sect’s discipline whip – he’d need a doctor for some time yet. Everyone knew those wounds never healed right…and that was for cultivators, a class to which he no longer belonged.

“Fuck,” Wen Xu said when Jiang Cheng didn’t respond. “All right. Fine. I can – deal with this. You…fine.”

That completely incomprehensible stream of words finished, he reached down and scooped Jiang Cheng into his arms as if he were some weak young lady, then strode off purposefully.

“Stupid A-Chao,” he was mumbling, not paying any attention to Jiang Cheng. “Stupid, stupid A-Chao…as soon as someone doesn’t have their golden core, he stops thinking of them as a threat. Stupid! People are capable of so much more than just cultivation…”

Jiang Cheng stared up at Wen Xu’s chin, the only part of him he could really see from this angle, and wondered a little. He’d certainly assumed that he’d become wholly useless once he lost his golden core – his parents had both stressed cultivation as one of the most important things in life, all about being the best, cultivating the most, and he’d spent his whole life working as hard as he could on building his core, forming it and then strengthening it, refining it. And yet here Wen Xu was, speaking as though he thought Jiang Cheng was something to fear.

As though he were still dangerous.

From anyone else, Jiang Cheng would have assumed it was simply pity or an attempt to comfort him. But Wen Xu could have no such motives – Wen Xu was the enemy.

Wen Xu kicked open a door and put Jiang Cheng down on a bed.

“Stay here,” he said, as if Jiang Cheng had any idea where he was or any inkling of where he could run to even if he wanted to, and left once more.

Jiang Cheng glanced around the room he’d been left in. It was one room off of a large and spacious courtyard, luxurious but oddly impersonal, as if all the signs of personality had been shoved away and hidden for fear that they’d bee seen.

Not long after, Wen Xu reappeared with a woman, who looked annoyed.

“This isn’t why I came back from Yiling, you know,” she said reproachfully. “I could be doing actual work there. Running a Supervisory Office isn’t like having a vacation…”

“A-Qing, please,” Wen Xu said, and she fell silent. “Just…take a look at him, all right? I’ll handle the rest myself. I don’t want anyone knowing he’s here, not even the servants…I trust you, though.”

“Emotional blackmail is cheap,” Wen Qing grumbled, but Jiang Cheng could tell she was convinced. “Fine. Are you really planning to care for him yourself, though? I mean, keeping him in your own bedroom? This was supposed to be a place for one of your concubines.”

“The last one that got shoved in here committed suicide,” Wen Xu said stiffly. “They usually do, once Father’s done with them, and it’s not like I’m going to take one willingly. The room’s empty, he might as well use it, and this way we can keep his presence here secret.”

“Aren’t you worried he’ll try something?” she asked, and Jiang Cheng wondered again what it was that made all these powerful scions of the Wen sect look at him, beaten bloody and robbed of his golden core, and see something worth worrying about.

What did they see in him that he didn’t?

“I’ll handle it,” Wen Xu said shortly. “Don’t I always handle it?”

She was quiet for a moment. “You’re still not sleeping, are you? Those nightmares of yours –”

“It’s a weakness I can’t afford, A-Qing. Father could order me back to the army any day.”

“I can try to talk to him. Make him leave off, at least for a little while…I don’t like the thought of you going up against Chifeng-zun. Uncle wouldn’t be nearly as obsessed with him if he wasn’t actually as good as they all say he is.”

Wen Xu laughed without humor. “I’ve fought him a few times before, friendly spars in discussion conferences. I know exactly what our skill levels are. That’s why I can say with a great deal of certainty that if he gets anywhere near me, he’ll chop off my head without blinking twice, and there’ll be exactly shit all I can do about it. But Father won’t care. I doubt he’ll even notice – no, I’m wrong. He will notice, in the sense that it’ll make him all the more desperate to capture Chifeng-zun.”

Jiang Cheng wouldn’t have believed that any father, no matter how negligent, would be so indifferent as Wen Xu was describing, but the other man seemed sure, and Wen Qing didn’t look like she disagreed.

“I’ll talk to him,” Wen Qing insisted. “I’ll tell him something.”

“Like what?”

She glanced around, then looked down at Jiang Cheng.

“I’ll tell him you’re working on the Jiang heir,” she said, and looked away from Jiang Cheng as if she couldn’t bear to hear what she was saying, even though she was still saying it. “Breaking his spirit, molding him into something we can use in the future. He’ll like that.”

Wen Xu scoffed. “Right, and then A-Chao will tell him that he’s already had Wen Zhuliu melt his golden core and it’ll all be a waste of time. He’ll just laugh at me and send me out to die all the faster.”

“Not if I can find a way to fix it,” she said.

“Fix it? Fix what?” Wen Xu blinked. “You’re not serious. His golden core?”

“Why not?” Wen Qing asked, tossing her head, sounding haughty and arrogant like all the Wens – but her words lit a fire in Jiang Cheng’s heart. She actually sounded confident, like she thought she could do it. “Listen, cousin, I’m not about to lie down and resign myself to losing you; you’re the only one in the main branch worth anything. You do your part, I’ll do mine.”

“No one can resurrect a golden core that’s been melted,” Wen Xu protested, but even as Jiang Cheng watched he could see him being swept away by her enthusiasm. “Anyway, I don’t actually know how to break a man. I never went in for that Fire Palace stuff, not the way A-Chao did.”

“Well, get over it,” she said shortly. “I don’t care if you beat him every day or dress him up in veils and take him as your concubine – just find a way to make Uncle believe that you’re sincerely devoted to the task and I’ll get him to leave you alone, and find a way to fix that golden core problem, too. Just stall, you hear me? Stall.”

“…fine. Will you take a look at him now?”

Wen Qing pulled out her needles and Jiang Cheng didn’t even have time to move before he was completely paralyzed, feeling more than seeing her hands loosening the rope around him and start an examination as impersonal and efficient as any doctor. He didn’t care, though – he wasn’t going to escape this himself, he knew that already.

He wasn’t even going to try.

Not when staying meant that Wen Qing could find him a way out of his current predicament, not when staying meant the chance to figure out from Wen Xu what exactly it was that he saw in Jiang Cheng…maybe he could even find some of those spies Wen Xu had spoken so fearfully of and pass information along to them.

Maybe he could still do something, after all.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Hi! I wanted to ask you something because I’m confused. I’ve seen people say that Lotus Pier wasn’t destroyed in the novel, and from what I read in that part of the book, it was true. But now I’m reading the part about the soup incident and it says that JYL cried when they reunited after “the destruction of Lotus Pier” (that, in the official english translation, and in the fan translation that I read, it was the same). So: Lotus Pier was destroyed or there’s a mistranslation of some kind?

The sect, meaning the Lotus Pier sect of individuals, was destroyed. That is fully correct. The establishment itself wasn't in ruins, as Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao are gloating about how easy it was to ravage everyone in the safety of the sect seat. Wang Lingjiao also said that Lotus Pier itself would be the place of the new "supervisory office" in Yunmeng.

It is why we get told, what had used to be Wei Wuxian's own quarters, were gone 13 years later. Why make this point when he had been living with the Jiangs after the Sunshot Campaign for debatably 2-3 years (given he died at 21, and Lotus Pier was massacred when he was 17)? What was built up physically took place after his death and why he says none of what was now there, was what he had known before, even post Sunshot Campaign. Nothing had to be rebuilt in Lotus Pier, as it was used by the Wens, unlike with Cloud Recesses that had been burned as well to destroy its library, which was a blow for the sect's against the Wens as they carried the most written collections to be used in war times. Lotus Pier, wasn't exactly the same in that regard and literally destroying it, would have been counterproductive to the take over of the region the Wens wanted at the time, as they had done with QingheNie until Nie Mingjue also reclaimed the sect seat.

[angstymdzsthoughts]

[1] Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji travel back in time to the studying in cloud recesses arc. They decide on fixing everything. Lan Wangji manages to save cloud recesses from burning, and saves his father, and brings him out of seclusion. Jiang Cheng gets his parents to talk, and fixes their marriage, and protects Lotus Pier during the massacre and no one dies so far.

[2] Wei Wuxian still somehow loses his core and decides to become a demonic cultivator. Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji are determined to protect him this time. The sunshot campaign happens, and they win again. Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji are happy, they feel that they can finally fix everything. They decide to arrange an engagement between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. All is well until...

[3] All is well until, one day they find Wei Wuxian hanging from the ceiling. Everyone is heartbroken and confused. Why would he do such a thing. Little did Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji know, they weren't the only ones who travelled back in time.

[4] Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng know its selfish to wish for Mo Xuanyu's death just so they could get Wei Wuxian back, but they can't help it. Years pass, Wei Wuxian doesn't return. Mo Xuanyu has a family of his own. Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng saved everyone, but they were not able to save the one person who they did everything for.

[areuils]

The Jiang didn’t lose everything. They got massacred yeah (which tbh is mostly Yu Ziyuan’s fault for opening the doors for them) but it was structurally in tact. It’s not like Lotus Pier was destroyed, unlike Cloud Recesses, which was burned down and destroyed. GusuLan didn’t suffer as harshly because they had more disciples and if the Wen actually engaged in open warfare instead of through dirty tactics against the Lan, they wouldn’t even have taken Cloud Recesses, given that during the war Lan Qiren staying behind was enough to hold forever. Also the Jiang has elders too and a whole other clan backing them (Meishan Yu), the Lan’s elders are just mentioned more because GusuLan is fundamentally very Confucius. The Aunt that Jiang Cheng gets told he’s an incel by very much exists.

Also it wasn’t inevitable that they join the sunshot campaign. If the Wen sent anyone other than Wang Lingjiao, or just basically anyone who could actually talk and not piss off Yu Ziyuan, the Jiang would’ve rolled over as long they had the pretence of autonomy. These are the same people that thought the Wen wasn’t going to take over Yunmeng after Gusu Lan was already attacked. The Wen didn’t respect Gusu Lan, they certainly wasn’t going to respect a failing great clan. Wei Wuxian’s contributions were directly for the Jiang as he was a Jiang disciple. That he was helping out the rest of them is merely a happy side effect of the Jiang being in the war. It’s like what Jin Guangyao said.

The no sunshot au is under the assumption that Wen Ruohan didn’t want to break Wen Mao’s conduct, or died, like everyone seems to do with no sunshot aus. In in a Wen are still overly dominant but there was no sunshot campaign, Yunmeng Jiang would’ve bowed to the Wen while Qinghe Nie and Gusu Lan fought the Wen with the minor clans, given Nie Mingjue or the Lan would’ve never let them into their lands or bow to the Wen, unlike the Jiang, and Lanling Jin would involve themselves with who they thought would give them the best advantage. Wei Wuxian would probably either leave the Jiang or still be with the Jiang but sneaking out to go fight with the Lan and Nie against the Wen. Whether they win or not is complicated and entirely dependent on what they’re willing to do (though I’d assume they can probably win given the Lan’s forbidden library having a ton of stuff that just neuters cultivators from a distance. If Su She and his cultivators of all people was capable of sealing half the cultivation world, I’d assume Lan Clan proper can do more).

It’s funny that without the sunshot campaign, Yunmeng Jiang would’ve stopped being one of the Great Clans. Like it needed Wen money and Wei Wuxian being such a single handed turning point for the war to keep its great clan status. Like if Lotus Pier got burnt down, without both of the latter two, they’d be a minor clan by the end of the war instead of later.

Without Wen money, they’d be one of Lanling Jin’s pets and without Wei Wuxian, they wouldn’t have enough disciples. It only shows how much better Gusu Lan was that they lost their leader (well not that it was he was doing much), their home, and people and came out of the war not being a dog to the Jin and completely kept their status. Jin Guangshan doesn’t even try to insinuate anything with the Lan so what they did to rebuild was mostly by themselves too. Also that people were willing to join a Lan copycat clan.

No war au would’ve just been a slow decline of Yunmeng Jiang, with Jiang Cheng taking over eventually post Jiang Fengmian death (Yu Ziyuan is probably still alive given that she has stronger cultivation than him but she might also be dead given that she night hunts constantly) and definitely ending up begging his in laws for help. Yunmeng Jiang no war au would’ve just ended as a subsidiary to the Jin like the Qin. Wei Wuxian would’ve obviously been out of there and married to Lan Wangji by then and given that Wei Wuxian is very much not a Jiang, it wouldn’t have given the Jiang anything formal with the Lan.

[darkandstormyart]

Xicheng fic recs

(figured i might make a list of my own)

(to be expanded as i dig out more treasure/remember stuff)

in no particular order:

Deep as the Yearning Night by FreckledStarKnight

“At first, it was pure chance. The second time was accidental. And the third time? Well, they say the third time’s the charm, after all. Lan Xichen discovers that Jiang Wanyin sings beautifully and is immediately enamored by it. His pursuit of Jiang Wanyin’s secret talent leads to a discovery and a series of events that he did not anticipate at all. Not that he’s complaining, of course. He got what he came for and more. Or, how two sect leaders get together through the song called love. CQL-verse.“

post-seclusion lxc

trying to get jc to sing

bonus lxc & jin ling feels i hadn’t considered before

cute

Always use protection by hesselives

“In which Lan Wangji attempts to hire a new bodyguard for his older brother, a well-known traveling exorcist. Jiang Wanyin doesn’t even make his carefully considered list of Top Ten Candidates, and yet here he is.

Lots of wandering in the countryside, distant yelling, and mildly inconvenient spirits.”

bodyguard au

honestly just really intersting worldbuilding

Rewrite the stars by Arashii

“Five great kingdoms have been fighting for years and when the kingdom of Yunmeng is destroyed, the Crown Prince Jiang Cheng vanishes.In Gusu, Lan Xichen makes an offer impossible for Jiang Cheng to refuse. His life or revenge? There’s only one option and Jiang Cheng swears loyalty to the man he hated the most his whole life, the Crown Prince of Gusu, Lan Xichen himself.Written for XiChengFest2020 - Day 4“

ROYALTY AU ROYALTY AU

enemies to lovers!

flashbacks! i love flashbacks so much ohmygod

No paths are bound by Arashii

“In seclusion, Lan Huan has the support of a ghost no one has seen since the massacre of Yunmeng Jiang. His feelings start changing with the often visits and conversations they share. Before Lan Huan can confess though, he ascends, leaving everything and everyone behind him.

Two hundred years later, back to the Human Realm and without powers, the Martial God Zewu-Jun has a mission to uphold. His Heavenly Calamity started. The clues are little and the support comes in the most unexpected form, the current Ghost King: Sandu Shengshou. Now they need to stick together to contain a menace that is slowly growing.“

TGCF AU TGCF AU

ghost king jiang cheng come on

doesn’t follow tgcf plot, just the setup so no spoilers

jiang cheng gets the dogs and the xichen he deserves

once upon a dream by cafedeolla

“Xicheng soulmate AU

An au where your dreams are small snippets of your soulmate’s day. They’d show small things like buying coffee, reading a book, or hanging out with people from their perspective.

The problem was that people always have expectations and Jiang Cheng knows he always falls short of them. Time and time again.“

soulmate au, but being soulmates is more a problem than a solution

misunderstandingssss all over the place

now with a squel (in progress?)

Lan Furen series by jagaimocchi

“Jiang Cheng leaves Lotus Pier before the Wen Internment Camp and before the destruction of his home. When he meets Lan Xichen on the run from the Wens after the burning of Cloud Recesses, his plan to live a peaceful life away from cultivation sects is quickly derailed. Now, free to make his own choices, he cannot find it in himself to leave the other man's side.

With love, patience and time, Jiang Cheng finds his own happiness and peace with his past.“

have you ever wanted a fic where jiang cheng peaces out from home in search for a better life, bc he’s Had Enough??? jags got you covered

adorable xicheng

good uncle-dad-figure Lan Qiren

ongoing <3

Just around the riverbend by JungleJelly

“One day.

Jiang Cheng just wanted one day of peace and quiet, away from home, away from his responsibilities, away from his idiot brother and his nutcases of a mother and father. Just a few hours alone — him and a boat and nothing else.

Clearly, that was too much to ask for.”

now with a new story in the series which is adorable too!!!

mermaid!lxc need i say more?

Bad ideas (where they lead) by JungleJelly

“Jiang Cheng is a busy man. Fortunately, he is also a huge pushover when it comes to his sister, so when she recommends that he start doing yoga, he agrees pretty easily.Featuring Lan Xichen in yoga pants, Jiang Cheng’s inability to handle a crush, and, perhaps most importantly, a big fluffy dog.“

done for 2020 MXTX MiniBang

yoga instructor Lan Xichen

Jiang Cheng is: struggling with a crush on the yoga guy from youtube & very angry about that

If there’s a price for rotten judgement by TheWanderingHeart

“All Jiang Cheng wants to do is, well... his job, really. Other than that? Keep the city safe, keep his nephew alive, keep his sanity intact (if possible).

So when his brother calls with unexpected news, he knows all of that is about to fly out of the window.

***

[Every instinct is telling him don’t ask, you don’t want to know. By this point, Nie HuaiSang has scooted closer to listen. Jiang Cheng takes a steadying breath and pulls out his antacids. “What did you do?”]”

superhero au, come on

jc just trying to do his job in peace

(he can’t)

i love it so much oh my god *sobs*

The Form of Boneless Ice by TheWanderingHeart

“Mythical beasts have long ago been driven to extinction by the gentry — hunted for sport, but more importantly for their magical cores. Since then, there remains only one creature that has never been caught. The Jiang’s retreated a long time ago. Abandoning land altogether, they sought safety where the humans could not reach.It all comes to a head though, purely by chance. (Or is it by fate that a spontaneous decision allows for them to meet? If fate were a rock!) Jiang Cheng suddenly finds his whole life balanced on the head of a pin — on the flimsy promise of a human boy. In his opinion, things cannot possibly get worse!(But then they do when the Wens decide it’s finally time to search for the elusive merpeople, and suddenly nowhere is safe.)“

there she goes again, with another beautiful xicheng story full of awwww and mythology

actually one of the first xicheng fics i read

i chose it because there were mermaids

painfully accurate takes on Jiang family dynamics

kids! lots of kids!

Let me Slytherin to Your Heart by TheWanderingHeart

“Jiang Cheng never thought he'd return to Hogwarts, but in hindsight, he probably should have known that someday he would.With his nephew about to start school, he reluctantly takes his good friend's bad parenting? career? advice and ends up tumbling head-first back into the madness that he hoped he'd left behind... and rediscovering some feelings he thought he'd left behind too.“

Harry Potter au!

just really fecking cute

lots of snakes

[I am not going to link all of Jo’s fics, though I probably could, just my 3 favourites. UOSB is there by default]

Talent Hunt Crew Finds Angry Guy Shouting On College Campus, Recruits Him For Vocal Projection Abilities by oh_fudgecakes

“Jiang Cheng, resident Angry Guy and heir to a conglomerate empire, has never been the apple of his father’s eye. Quashed under the shadow of his brilliant brother, the music prodigy Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng sees his chance to turn things around when he is recruited by the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt. One problem: he can’t sing to save his goddamn life.As he struggles to develop his nascent singing abilities, Jiang Cheng finds himself sucked into the whirlwind drama of reality TV, helped along by his adoring siblings, his irritable vocal coach Wen Qing, and strangely enough, the unfairly attractive host of the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt, Lan Xichen. Somewhere in the glare of the stage lights and an unexpected first love, Jiang Cheng stumbles upon the thing he was searching for all along: the courage to dream — and to attempt the impossible.“

done for 2019 MXTX Big Bang

uuuuuuuuuuh i might have cried maybe

heartwarming? painful at times? lots of family love?

slowburn xicheng being lovely

The Provenence of Hope series by velithya

“A chance meeting on a night hunt sets a course of events into motion that will change everything. Featuring Xicheng getting together, recovery for Lan Xichen, healing for Jiang Cheng, and always, always, hope.“

got everything. feels. hope. love. ~~healing~~

A Small Measure of Peace by Sandstone112

“With his brother in seclusion, Lan Xichen finds himself in temporary custody of his nephew with little to no expertise in the child-raising department. Uncertain and alone, Zewu-Jun is willing to do everything to be the person Yuan needs—even if it means inviting Sandu Shengshou to a playdate.“

a loooot of adorable family times with jc and lxc taking care of their nephews

good grandpa lqr!

canon but fixed and less painful

🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋if you wish to avoid scurvy:🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋

Some day I’m gonna make you mine series by locketofyourhair

xicheng getting together through the years

friends with benefits but the real benefits are the friends we made along the way

Take me over (take me tonight) by velithya

jiang cheng has a tattoo and lan xichen doesn’t stand a chance

i'd be the sweet feeling of release (mankind now dreams of) by piyo13

two bros, chilling in a cave, no feet apart because they don’t want to lose their cultivation powers what are you gonna do

haven’t read yet and shame on me, but AM GONNA:

Upon Our Silver Bridge by TheWanderingHeart obviously

““When the path ignites a soul, there's no remaining in place. The foot touches ground, but not for long.” ― Hakim Sanai

**

Lan Xichen's sorrows have caught the attention of something. Unlike the adventures and foes they have faced before, there is no obvious enemy here to defeat. If this is the same thing they thought had taken Nie Mingjue's life, then he believes it is fated for him to die as well. Nothing can stop the black fire when it wants to burn.Jiang Cheng is sure his part in this is over. Wei Wuxian is back, his grand adventure concluded, and he'd never been at the centre of it anyway. So what does it matter what happens to him in the end? Slowly, he will come to realise that there will always be a battle to fight, a story to tell, a choice to make, and there is no such thing as an end to anything.“

it was difficult to do things in 2020 and few i regret not doing more than not reading uosb yet :’(

i will tho

Emergency Help Wanted by piyo13

“EMERGENCY HELP WANTED I lied when I got my job. I told them I had a kid so I could leave early from work to pick him up from daycare, take him to doctor's appointments, and occasionally miss a day when he's sick. Long story short, I'm in too deep. I didn't think it through. Looking to rent a kid for bring your child to work day. Must be a boy ages four to six, longish dark hair, likes soccer. Must also be artistic as the macaroni noodle paintings I made seem a little advanced for his age. Also, I will pay extra for someone willing to play the role of husband when dropping him off. He's a prosecuting attorney who often brings his work home. Message me for further details. Serious inquiries only.“

Running Our Hands Through Embers by MarvelousMar

“If asked, Jiang Cheng would compare falling in love with Lan Xichen to a moth inevitably drawn to a flame.It burned.***In which Jiang Cheng discovers that even death can't help him escape from his trauma, so he embarks on a quest to save the people he loves, fix what he can, make the love of his life fall for him, and maybe, somewhere along the way, do a little bit of healing.”

The Beginner’s Guide to Moving On by InvincibleMel

gone from ao3, but i think there’s a link with a pdf going around

[rynne]

Today’s pet peeve: canon AUs where Wangxian manage to get together post-SSC and pre-prison camp and everyone decides that what makes sense is for LWJ to marry into the Jiangs because “the Jiangs need WWX more than the Lans need LWJ.”

Completely aside from their actual ranks (you know, that thing where LWJ is currently the Lan heir while WWX is still just a disciple in his sect), and also aside from the fact that the Jiangs (and probably the others) have recovered by Phoenix Mountain, I’m annoyed at the way this basically completely dismisses what the Wens did to the Lans.

Yes, the massacre of Lotus Pier was horrible. Yes, it sounds like the Lans had more people survive. The Jiangs absolutely lost a lot.

But the Wens forced the Lans to set fire to their own home, and that shouldn’t be overlooked. WWX gets told that most of the Cloud Recesses and its surrounding forest burned down -- “Just like that, the hundreds of years old paradise had been destroyed.” LWJ got his leg broken defending the Library Pavilion, the repository of centuries of collected knowledge. 

And people definitely died, LWJ’s father among them. In addition to almost the complete destruction of their home, which would require a lot of resources in rebuilding, the Lans absolutely lost people as well.

I do find this doubly annoying because, as I mentioned, the Jiangs at least had recovered by the time we get to Phoenix Mountain, so the idea that WWX is needed enough that LWJ has to marry in just continues to buy into the “JC was too powerless to stand up to the Jins” narrative. That’s aggravating on its own.

But I also really dislike this premise for implying that the Lans don’t need LWJ. They lost a lot too, and I wish people would stop dismissing what happened to them.

[demonictales]

May I ask for headcanons with Wei ying, Jiang Cheng and Nie huiashang (if I spelled that right). Where reader was their one of their best friend and a Wen, but soon disappeared when the Wen clan started to take over the other sects. Boys then finding their friend, disabled from their golden core and imprisoned in a remote place where no one could have found them, because they rebelled against the clan leader. Could be more angsty if they lost their hearing or sight, because they were tortured.

oh, i’m excited how this one will turn out. here we go! my heart while writing this went →↑→↑←↑↓↑→↑←↓ also I know you said imprisioned but i got kinda carried away writing this. I'm so sorry okijd

TW: TORTURE, BLINDNESS

GUSU LAN CLAN LECTURES

First of all you were Wen Chao's cousin, unfortunately. However, you pretty much did as you wanted to because who could really control you, so of course you went along to the Lan Clan's lectures alongside Wen Qing and Wen Ning.

Of course you arrived in old fashioned Wen manner and interrupted the ceremony already breaking rules at the entrance. When no one else but Wei Wuxian spoke up. It did indeed amuse you the way he spoke up agains Wen Chao so you carefully watched him.

Excused for the day all three of you eventually went their own way. You had no idea what Wen Qing was up to or Wen Ning, so you eventually walked around the clan, exploring your new home for the few lectures to come. Eventually, in the back hill you bumped into Wei Wuxian who thought Wen Ning to use bow and arrow until that nearly backfired when Wen Qing's voice rang through the air.

"Let's say we are even now that you nearly killed Lady Wen. ---" You were joking obviously, but refering to the earlier incident.

He wasn't quite sure how to deal with you yet but it seemed you made quite the point. Eventually you walked along with him, leaving Wen Ning and Qing to their own.

Meeting Jiang Cheng once more you, indeed did apologize for interrupting his greetings earlier that day. You were quite different than most in the Wen Clan, you did apologize and show manners, though you weren't completely innocent.

As much as you did enjoy art and classics, you were also a little troublemaker, It was a healthy combination of mischief and manners that allowed you to walk the grey zone. So of course you soon bonded with Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng and Nie Huiasang.

You became great friends soon. You learned about Wei Wuxian's mischief, enjoyed his stories of bickering with Lan Zhan, came to know Nie Huiasang's grand taste and love for art and other not so lady like things, as well as his dislike for fighting and of course Jiang Cheng, he was rather complicated but you still enjoyed his presence. You could never quite tell what was on his mind but you knew for sure he deeply cared for his family. He was in fact, someone who seemed to long for his own little happy ending.

Meeting up in secret for a drinking which was strictly forbidden, you had lots of fun until the next morning when you were called for punishment. Even though you were a Wen, you could simply walk away but decided to stay and take the 50 hits. You had made friends for a lifetime during the lectures.

WEN CLAN LECTURES

You'd lie if you say you weren't excited to see your friends again, however, it weren't the best circumstances. You greatly disliked the way it had processed to far yet there they stood, all clans: Nie Clan, Jin Clan, Jiang Clang and eventually Hanguang Jun.

This wasn't much of a lecture, more of Wen Chao showing of his power due to the enormous power the Quishan Wen Clan had gathered. You weren't sure if you were embarrassed or disgusted by your cousin but either way, knowing Wei Wuxian's character you soon had something to laugh. And you were right.

Wen Chao made him recite the Wen Clan rules which ironicially, he didn't even know himself so you nearly busted a lung and earned an angry side eye from your cousin when Wei Wuxian recited the Lan Clan rules.

Of course this would not go without punishment, not for you not for Wei Wuxian and co.

Eventually you helped with the dung being spread, being trapped between Jin Zixuan, Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan. Fun times. Once more, you apologizes for his behaviour knowing your words could do nothing. The only thing this gave you was the title of Gentle Wen. An embarrassment to your family but in the cultivation world between your friends quite the praise.

You tried getting their swords back but with no luck. You only ended up being grounded in your own room with guards outside.

You weren't able to help your friends out and it did annoy you. It seemed as if you tried harder the more complicated it would get for you to get out of here. It did drive you insane.

When every visitor was suppossed to hunt the monster that roamed through the mountain you once again were by their side, refusing to speak nor act according to your cousin's order.

Which led to quite the argument between you, who stood on your friends side, and Wen Chao and his woman, who for the love of cultivation, wondered where she came from

Either way, you stood between him and Wang Lingjiao when she had ordered to use Mianmian as a sacrifice. You at this point who would believe you, matter of fact, you knew that he was just being abusive. Safe to say it did piss your cousin off and ended up in a fight, eventually were Wei Wuxian would get hurt.

Just like the rest, you got stuck in the cave alongside the rest of the cultivators. Proofing your loyalty to your friends once more. Not so much to the other clans.

This time you helped out Huaisang the most. The poor guy was frightened to death. He was such a soft boy. You felt bad about it and apologzied multiple times while staying by his side, doing your best to help him through the situation. At this point, if you were no traitor to the Wen Clan what else could you possibly be?

You followed Jiang Cheng's introductions to leave the cave through the water, Nie Huaisang by your side.

After all you had made it out word spread proufoundly about you and the Wen Clan. Some said you were a spy, working for the Wen Clan and earning sympathy, others said you were honest about your intentions, later was some encouring words by Nie Huaisang. You truly did appreciate his words.

The moment you stepped foot into Qishan, you were confined to you room until they needed you. They made use of your connections to Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang whenever they needed to. Tricky but smart.

WEN CHAOS HAVOC + SUNHOT CAMPAIGN

It was only when you dumb cousin started to wreak havoc among the clans that you started to see the situation clearly and did not want to have anything to do with it. After cloud recesse had been burned to nearly ashes you spoke up, you were against it. Precious memories were made there and now they had became ashes, quite literally.

If you had known about all the scheming you'd have told Lan Xichen right away, made sure nothing would happen to the Gusu Lan Clan. But being confined barely gave you any choices until one day you fought your way out, meeting your uncle, confronting him about it.

You knew that the Wen Clan was better than that, but the yin iron had taken up to much of his sanity, he instructed Wen Chao to take care of you.

Of course it pained you to see all the chaos and blood being she'd of cour once former friends familie's. There did not a day go by where you begged him to stop. You even tried going against him, but failed miserably.

Wang Lingjiao enjoyed her given power, using it to destroy every piece of hope you still had. Even bringing you along to Lotus Pier to watch the massacre of your closest friends parents.

Daily torture was on your agenda. Being wipped, being burned, being starved or simply kicked and punched by her minions. But you were to prideful to give in just so easily, especially when you head news of Jiang Cheng being captured.

Again, you tried your best to stop him but Wen Chao had enough of your antic and ordered Wen Zuhliu to end it but his woman had a better idea. Get rid of her golden core and blind her. It was her revenge for you spitting the hot soup right into her face, eventually burning her slightly. It was worth it.

You were left in pain, after you felt the power leave your body, the spiritual power who kept healing you in a very slow pace if you needed it but eventually had lost it. The worst was losing your sight, the light of day, not knowing if it was day or night, not being able to navigate on your own.

Treason, that was the reason. You could have had so much more if it wasn't for your weak heart. The words were spoken as hot iron was pushed into your eyes. Your screams were hunting the people who were present. Yet you had lost all of hope and strength in one night, being dumped somewhere on a mountain with nothing but the purpose to die.

After the sunshot campaign people had wondered what happened to you as you were nowhere to be found, yet they all agreed to not search and leave things as they were, the Qishan Wen Clan was extinguished.

PASSING YEARS

Years had passed and you had managed to get yourself back on your feet, even if it wasn't as safe anymore. You learned to live with your blindness.

Deep in the forest in an abandoned little hut. It was perfect for you. You secluded yourself from the world, living in peace. You remembered some tricks your old friend Wei Wuxian had once taught you, and even though your golden core was gone, little tricks like these did do. Obviously you had to renew them every now and then but it was no bother at all.

What you did not know was that the mountain, or rather the forest you lived in belonged to a clan, and possible night hunt had given up your days of silence and years being secluded.

Only when you heard footsteps that did not belong to anything on your small land, you ended up hiding in your small hut, a knife held firmly in your hands.

The voices you could make out seemed familiar but you stayed quiet, perhaps they'd leave.

Of course they did not leave and soon it seemed, three people were standing in your small front yard where chicken where quietly eating and living.

They surely were surprised that someone had managed to live on the mountain of the Jin Clan largest property. That did put you quite in panic. You knew they were your death sentence if they would find you, so you tried to sneak away, but of course Wei Wuxian was one step ahead of you.

" Where do you think you're going ?"

" Wei Wuxian? "

Your voice was hesitant yet filled with surprise but you could definitely make out his voice between a hundred people. A smile almost creeped upon your lips, soley depending on your hearing.

Your attire was still very much simple. A very out worn red hanfu, the logos of the Wen Clan faded but still slightly visible. It was Nie Huaisang that pointed this out. Of course he would notice such details, so he still was alive and breathing. You were deligthed to know this.

However, it was Jiang Cheng who put 1 and 1 together.

" Lady Y/N ? ---"

Silence filled by gasp of Nie Huaisang, as you nodded quietly.

"Guilty."

You were not sure how to feel, happy that you finally met the people you once called friends or scared knowing it could now mean your death.

"I'm glad to hear you are all still well. How have you been all these years? -----"

They would have expected anything but not to meet you. It were raw and mixed feelings. You know you owed Jiang Cheng your live for your family had taken his. You dared not to move your head his way and kept it strictly on the ground.

It was also Wei Wuxians family but it wasn't as deeply rooted.

Nie Huaisang was the first one to approach you, carefully. Asking what had happened to you. So until late night, you told them what happened to you, what your clan did to you, how you ended up here.

You also apologized again, falling to your knees, knowing you could not make up for the loses they had suffered. You started crying, begging for forgiveness.

They explained what had happened on their side, and also admitting they hoped they had not lost you but eventually gave up. You on the other hand did not blame them.

It was a bittersweet reunion after years of forming friendship, betrayal and chaos. Feeling pain and rejoycing again.

[grechsblog]

Yes to all of this and more

HONESTLY THO ive seen some insane takes on that jin zixuan confrontation most of which boil down to 'well he couldve NOT killed him' and im just?? Have we read the same book. Is there some outer dimensional mirror copy of it that ive never heard about. What.

There was SO MANY THINGS wrong with that confrontation (more than half of which are jin guangyaos fault) but Just Not Killing One Guy is NOT A SOLUTION TO ANY OF THEM. There was at least 100 (if i remember the number right) cultivators that were gunning for wuxians head full stop and his priority was word for word Not To Become a Pin Cushion not only for his own sake but also because theres like 50 people that need him alive to stay alive too. There was enormous pressure. He was stressed. Jin zixuan just brandishing his sword at every minor offense (as a surprising number of characters do actually...) was certainly Not helping any. You are absolutely correct that if it wasnt wen ning and wuxian just happened to have his word zixuan wouldve still ended up with a severe case of Dead because that man just. Flails around with a sharp object like an idiot

Its just kind of 'everything wouldve been different if everyone acted different' situation which- well. Just go write ocs at this point or something. ??

And to add to the flute thing! if it was 'demonic flute' and 'one of a kind' like so many seem to think why could wuxian just. Supplement it? With random stalk of bamboo?? Which sounded horrible yes but also was perfectly functional otherwise. Chenqing is just about like any other normal flute just in black and special in a way that an instrument you play for a long time is special. Wuxian wouldve (in fact Had) NEVER allowed ANYONE touch and especially little a-yuan chew on the ying tiger tally. Because That one is dangerous. Very much so.

Also THANK GOD! That you get wei wuxians 'obliviousness' is an absurd fanon. Oblivious to what??? To the fact that wangji refuses to explain anything? To the fact that wangji obviously wants to drag him Somewhere? Honestly its a blessing he Didnt know what happened to wangjis mother because it wouldve turned ugly Fast. Not that it wasnt already

I cant deny that they had a crush on eachother in cloud recess when they were 15 but at least on wuxians part it burned up as soon as everything started to smell. Indoctrination camp, lotus pier massacre, loss of jiang chengs golden core, loss of HIS golden core, burial mounds, war, scorn, wen remnants, that thrice damned jin zixun, yanlis death, burial mounds siege, not to mention the little scratches we dont know about between all that - its too many things at once. Just. Too many. Why are people so sure he was oblivious when there mightve not even been Feeling in the first place? At least not like That. Give him the benefit of the doubt for fucks sake. Its the least he deserves.

Also also, what a good point. Where the wen remnants are going in this hypothetical? In gusu? Have you met qiren by any chance. Or xichen (who is an entirely Separate can of worms). Or any gusu elder. Did you forget wangji had to BEG for them to accept a-yuan despite him several time stating He Is My Son (therefore the Only direct clan heir no matter What) because of his origins? Which werent even disclosed in truth??? Not to mentions politics! So much useless politics and jin guangshan (ew) and all that ugly-ugly outrage. Being a conservative and harboring grudges is one thing but even the greatest of sects will be in Ass of a stink that politics who do not agree with that decision can make.

There can never be a plot of land where the wens are Safe without any additional supervision and ass-kicking. Which is exactly Why they were in burial mounds in the first place

Im starting to think the only novel of mxtx that got Understood is svsss and that is because its based on the mockery of every romance trope in existence and being outrageously stupid is in-character no matter what you do. And even that is a low hanging branch if 'shen jiu morraly correct(?)' discourse is any indication

If one more person calls wuxians ghost path 'demonic cultivation' with no /j attached i will take arms the way nie huaisan does it (cry)

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 19, part two

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff) (Previous Post)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

The Man Comes Around

Over at the Wen Indoctrination Tower, which seems to exist just to torture Lan Wangji with stair climbing, Lan Wangji is climbing the stairs. Too bad his cultivation level is too low to be able to just jump up. At least this time his leg isn't broken.

This is the first vengeful stair-climb in the show, but not the last. (Parallel gifset here).

The Wen guards are stationed all the way at the pinnacle of this tower to guard...what? Why are they not at the bottom of the stairs? What is this location for, actually? This is further up the stairs than the scenes with the indoctrination lectures. Anyway, it's been three months since Wen Chao threw Wei Wuxian into the burial mounds, so naturally these guards are talking about that exact thing as Lan Wangji approaches.

Lan Wangji knocks them all down with a blast from his guqin. Did you know his guqin is named Wangji, by the way? It is. A guy who is that lazy about naming his quqin maybe shouldn't feel so superior to a guy who named his sword "whatever." 

(I'm suddenly remembering a plush lamb I had as a child, whose eyes were orange, that I named "orange eyes.") (I, however, was three. And I had a lot of plush lambs. Little ones. Grown-ups found it hilarious to give them to me.) (Native speakers of English can probably guess what OP's real name is. Hint: it rhymes with Canary.) (Everybody else: there is a kid's rhyming song called Mary Had A Little Lamb. OP's name is Mary.)

Anyhoo, after Lan Wangji is finally finished with his dramatic entrance, Jiang Cheng comes flying in from wherever he's been hovering for the past 20 minutes of stair time. A bunch of Lan sidekicks also flood into the frame from wherever they were hiding during the wide shots of LWJ on the staircase.

In case you hope that CQL Lan Wangji is as much of a top (offscreen) as MZDS Lan Wangji is (on the page), here's a gif for you.

(more after the cut)

He uses the patented Lan string attack to choke this guard.  Lan Wangji doesn't have to hold a guqin string in his hands to choke someone with it. He doesn't even have to tighten it, judging by how absurdly not-tight this string is.

Or maybe this guy is choking on the chin strap of his helmet. This is exactly how OP's son reacts when OP sticks a bike helmet on him. (Note: it's GOOD that they are following choking safety protocols on set. Very good. However, they could have just left the string out and pretended, and it would look better, in this instance)

The Wen guard tells Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng about the whole "thrown into the burial mounds" thing.  Team Let's Find Wei Wuxian is not happy to hear this.

A Vengeful Ghost

Meanwhile, in some Wen office somewhere? Where the hell is this? Yiling, we get an ominous shot of the rooftops where Wei Wuxian is lurking and then we see Wang Lingjiao trying to sleep and having a nightmare.

Wang Lingjiao has gone to sleep with a full face of makeup on instead of washing her face before bed. She has forgotten the important maxim, Go To Sleep Pretty, Wake Up Zitty.

She leaps out of bed to go cling to Wen Chao and freak out about Wei Wuxian's ghost. Wen Chao is trying to read the sports section and has clearly had enough of this crap. This has presumably been going on for a little while now.

Wang Lingjiao is in a new outfit, which is...pajamas? It has the feel of a 1930's French peignoir set, and it's much more softly colored than her usual bright red-purple combo. If this is her pajamas is it weird that her day clothes are a lot more aggressively sexy-looking than her nightgown? A freak in the streets but a lady in the sheets.

Wen Chao rants about the Sunshot Campaign and talks some smack about Wen Qing, and then leaves to go to the bar and watch the game with Wen Zhuliu. After he leaves Wang Lingjiao freaks out for a bit and then looks at the notice he was reading.

The notice basically says that the Sunshot Campaign is kicking their ass. She should be proud for inspiring the name of the campaign with that kite-shooting bullshit she made up at Lotus Pier. Before slaughtering everyone.

No Matter What You Do, I Only Want To Be With You

Back at the Indoctrination Tower, Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng are having feelings about Wei Wuxian. Jiang Chang does all the talking but Lan Wangji's thoughts are louder because a sad violin is playing Wangxian while they talk.

Jiang Cheng tells Lan Wangji about their meetup plan and says he thought WWX had dumped him to go find Lan Wangji in Lanling. Lan Wangji telepathically indicates that this didn’t happen. This means two things: 1. Lan Wangji has been hanging out in Lanling, where Jiang Yanli has been hanging out, so maybe they have bonded over the past 3 months and 2. This is the first time Jiang Cheng has talked to Lan Wangji since Wei Wuxian disappeared. 

Much as my fic-loving heart would like to believe these two spent three months on the road together looking for Wei Wuxian, in fact they are both important high-level fighters in an active military campaign, and Lan Wangji was busy taking back the Cloud Recesses while Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were having elective surgery. They probably both were assigned to the "Indoctrination Bureau" mission and this is the first chance they've had to talk about Wei Wuxian.

Is it heartbreaking that, while Wei Wuxian was helplessly getting his ass beat because he'd sacrificed his golden core for Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng believed Wei Wuxian had abandoned him for Lan Wangji? Yes. Yes it is.

For some reason Jiang Cheng is hesitant to believe that Wei Wuxian really was thrown into the Burial Mounds. I mean, I understand not wanting to believe Wei Wuxian is dead, but given that Wen Chao is the dude who oversaw the massacre of all of the people at Lotus Pier, including kids, why would Jiang Cheng think his guards are wrong? Maybe he just feels like Wei Wuxian is invincible, since so far he kinda has been. 

The Sword is Mightier Than Not Having a Sword

While they've been chatting, the Lan disciples have found their swords. One disciple is holding Bichen (LWJ's sword), Sandu (JC's sword), and OP consults wiki Suihua (Jin Zixuan's sword). Another disciple is holding Subian (WWX's sword).  

Jiang Cheng grabs Sandu while the Lan disciples, who apparently know their gongzi’s heart, offer Wei Wuxian's sword to Lan Wangji. 

Lan Wangji takes Subian (Bichen: What am I, chopped watercress?) and immediately tries to draw it. Like you don't do. It's sealed itself, which apparently means that it's upset. It's unclear if it's upset because Wei Wuxian is dead or if it just misses him, however.  

Lan Wangji definitely misses him, and wonders, out loud inside his own head, where Wei Wuxian is. Um, he's in the Burial Mounds, dude, they just told you. Well, I guess he's actually in Yiling proper at this point, haunting Wang Lingjiao as he promised her he would.

Twa Corbies

The scene shifts to Qinghe, where there are about 12 dead bodies lying around, which in this show means that there are really a few hundred. In fact, per Jiang Yanli's statement "nothing can be seen but corpses covering the plains." The camera can't see most of them, is all.

Wen Xu's head is hanging in the doorway, and the Jins talk about how Nie Mingjue killed him, cutting his head off with just one swing. Is this foreshadowing anything, like perhaps someone else's head being cut off by Baxia in just one swing? Nope, definitely not.

A couple of crows are perched on a body, totally not eating it, but Jin Zixuan gallantly zaps them with a talisman to make them fly away anyway.  It might be noteworthy that nobody used to use talismans but gradually more and more people are using them - particularly people who have spent time with Wei Wuxian.

With mony a lock of his golden hair-o, we’ll theek our nest when it grows bare-o

Asshole cousin Jin Zixun says “scavenger rights,” so Jin Zixuan puts him in charge of collecting all the bodies. 

Since OP just finished watching fur-collar-happy Nirvana in Fire, these crows look to me like they are wearing luxurious fur collars. Where OP lives, crows are not this fancy. 

A Romantic Corpse-Filled Interlude

Disaster het Jin Zixuan goes to help Jiang Yanli get out of the carriage but she rejects his hand just like he rejected hers back in Gusu.

Jiang Yanli is extremely shocked when she sees Wen Xu's severed head, and turns away in horror, preferring to calmly rest her eyes on dozens of crow-pecked corpses.

Jin Zixuan tries to comfort her and she tells him she'll be going now, thanks for the hospitality. He tries to say that he has to personally deliver her to a representative of the patriarchy one of her brothers, but then one of her brothers shows up.

Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng arrive, having presumably flown there from Qishan. They show that they are flying by blowing a fan on the ground and then jumping off of a box, which is better than the effects we were subjected to earlier in the episode.

Jiang Cheng rushes over to have an emotional reunion with Jiang Yanli, while Lan Wangji rushes over to have an emotional reunion with Wen Xu’s severed head. Jin Zixuan kind of spoils it for him by talking about Wei Wuxian's absence while Lan Wangji is trying to have a moment.

The whole time Jin Zixuan is talking to him, Lan Wangji appears to be gazing into the middle distance but in fact he is staring at Wen Xu's severed head. This is the guy who led the burning of Cloud Recesses, killed a bunch of disciples, and personally broke Lan Wangji's leg. Lan Wangji stares at his head for more than a full minute before glancing away.

Jiang Yanli hasn't seen Jiang Cheng since they were in Wen Qing's clinic, and she is happy he's recovered. When she asks about Wei Wuxian he gives her the bad news in the classic Jiang fashion, which is to say nothing, but look stricken until your interlocutor figures out that something is horribly wrong, but not precisely what.

Four Angry Men

Inside the fortress, Nie Mingjue is slapping the table and saying, this bad boy can hold so much resentment and vengeance. They're having a mini war council and we're getting a better sense of Nie Mingjue's anger management problem. Note for those who don't get the gif reference: this is a The Godfather joke, not a sex joke, but it can be both, if you like.

We're also getting a little more info about Baxia, who seems to be eager to go fight even without anyone wielding it. (Her? Him? Them? do swords have gender? I don't know). Well done, person below the camera frame whose job is to rattle Baxia in a menacing manner.

They've got a giant model of the battle targets, which looks like it was carved out of real rock (I mean, as much as any of the rocks on this show look like real rocks) and has its own table and everything, decorated in Nie colors. Where was this before they took Qinghe back? Has Nie Mingjue been traveling with it? 

Anyway, I'm assuming Nie Huaisang made it, because it's pretty nice. Hopefully they will keep it around for tabletop gaming after the war is over.

Jiang Cheng is upset but is using his anger management mantra to help control his temper while Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji talk with Nie Mingjue. 

Lan Wangji talks by leaning forward meaningfully, mostly not by using any words, but he asks for a battle assignment and Jiang Cheng immediately joins in. They both want to go find Wei Wuxian. 

Nie Mingjue says Yiling is too difficult of a target, but Lan Wangji puts on his determined face, which is apparently very persuasive.  

After Team Find Wei Wuxian leaves, Nie Mingjue asks Jin Zixuan to hang back so he can ask him how Meng Yao is doing. This is the first time he finds out that his ex didn't go to Lanling. Jin Zixuan tries to delicately remind him that Dad's got, like, SO many bastard children, they really don't have space for all of them. Nie Mingjue dismisses him immediately and abruptly. 

Nie Mingjue might invite the straights to his party but he isn't interested in actually socializing with them.

Unconditional Soup is Only for A-Xian

Jiang Cheng can't sleep, and takes some time, now, to be sad about Wei Wuxian. Presumably he spent the prior 3 months being mad, not sad, because he really thought he just buggered off without saying anything for all that time. Which is sort of fair, but sort of not. One thing about these two bros is that for as close as they have been and as much as they love each other, their mutual understanding has some big, messy gaps.

Fortunately while he is feeling sad, Jiang Cheng does not try to draw Subian from its sheath, because wouldn't THAT be awkward.

Jiang Yanli can't sleep either, and comes to sit with him. Jiang Cheng feels bad that she's wearing herself out with worry and she says "As your sister, I have nothing to do but to worry about you." Jiang Yanli isn't one to complain but she doesn't like being inactive or helpless. In Lanling she was far from the war, but now that she's in Qinghe she'll make herself useful by tending the wounded, and later she'll help Jiang Cheng shoulder his responsibilities as he takes over the Jiang clan.

At the moment, however, all she can do is fret and make soup. As she gives Jiang Cheng a bowlful she reminds him that he absolutely has to rescue their brother who has, according to his captors, been reduced to bone dust.

With all the impossible shit that Jiang Cheng is expected to achieve - and in many instances, does achieve - he is absolutely the embodiment of the Jiang Clan's motto. Fuck his father for disrespecting him because he hadn't figured out how to do everything by the age of 16.

Definitely Not Chilling in Yiling

Back in Yiling, Wen Chao is hearing the news that the Qishan Indoctrination Bureau has fallen and that he's being called back to Nightless City. Wen Chao says he shouldn't need to go back because his dad has a new right-hand man. That new right-hand man, we will eventually learn, is Meng Yao. Wang Lingjiao, meanwhile, is hiding under the bed covers and deciding it's time to dump Wen Chao.

She locks the door and goes to pull out her jewelry box, which is locked and hidden under the bed. Maybe this is Wen Chao's jewelry box, because she acts kind of squirrely about opening it. Upon opening the jewelry box, she doesn't find jewelry but a pair of bloody fake eyeballs staring at her.  She screams and freaks out and then the wind picks up and we hear the sound of a flute, playing the "I'm here to fuck your shit up" tune that Wei Wuxian likes.

Wang Lingjiao runs to the door and pulls down the protection talisman that's pasted above it, and pastes it directly to her chest instead, which is, we will learn in the next episode, the worst idea she could possibly have at this point.

Then she uses a poking stick to go flip the jewelry box open and finds it's full of ugly-ass jewelry again, plus an improbable number of weird round paper-mache biscuits that have been painted gold. None of this jewelry looks anything like the exquisite accessories people wear in this show, which means this stash was put together by the practical effects department, not by the costume department.

Anyway, Wang Lingjiao apparently thinks she can sell this fakeass stuff for a good price, so more power to her. But then we get a short glimpse of the menacing eyeballs again, this time on the floor, having moved out of the box and brought their little blood pool with them. Screeching ensues.

Next episode: Lady in Red!

Soundtrack: Twa Corbies, by Steeleye Span