#unlike the Lan that left him to die:(

[whumpbby]

Imagine if Su She, instead of making his own sect, joined the Jiang.

Lan Zhan would have even more reasons to dislike Jiang Cheng, but then Jiang Cheng would get the best second in command ever xD (because Su She would doubtlessly climb his way to the SiC position, he's a powerhouse!)

[asymm3]

okay okay hear me out

yiling patriarch lan wangji

yes it’s my new favorite tag on ao3

there is something so delightfully wrong about the man who would be light bearer being corrupted into a demonic cultivator

wei wuxian became the yiling patriarch because he had no other choice

lan wangji becomes the yiling patriarch because he chose to be

the thing about lan wangji is that at his core, he has this quiet, ruthless devotion. the lan sect rules are a restraint; they keep this visceral animal thing in his chest shackled and sedated, the way you tranquilize a predator for your safety. even when he fights against his own clan in canon, this creature never really wakes up.

but what if we did wake it up?

what if instead of returning to gusu after being rescued from the xuanwu cave, he goes with jiang cheng and wei wuxian to lotus pier to heal

it doesn’t change much, lotus pier still burns and the jiang parents are slaughtered.

but instead of jiang cheng losing his core, wei wuxian loses it instead?

the shackles on the animal devotion inside of lan wangji’s chest start to break. he’s lost his home, maybe his brother, and now he is going to lose his soulmate?

wen qing transplants lan wangji’s core into wei wuxian. as far as jiang cheng and wei wuxian know, lan wangji and wen qing altered an ancient, mysterious lan procedure into giving wei wuxian a new core. lan wangji leaves while wei wuxian is still unconscious, because ostensibly he has delayed too long in finding his brother.

lan wangji leaves because the hole inside his chest feels like it’s going to consume him. he does not regret what he has done. the creature devotion slinks down to fill the void inside him.

in leaving, he is caught by the wens. they throw him into the burial mounds. the resentful energy burns away the remaining restraints on the visceral animal devotion inside them.

he could curl up and die, let the resentful energy burn through him, let it burn out the creature devotion in his chest, let it turn him into a husk, a corpse.

the animal devotion won’t let him. it bends the energy beneath its will, a pulse of “wei ying wei ying wei ying” that beats the resentment into submission. the energy and the animal curl together like lovers in the hollow left by his core.

lan wangji chooses demonic cultivation because he will return to wei ying.

lan wangji is the sum of his parents, their mistakes and strengths. he has his father’s willingness to defy proprietary for the person he loves, but unlike his father it’s tempered by his mother’s suffering in confinement. he will not let anyone hurt wei ying, but he will not bind him against his will.

wei wuxian is terrified beyond belief and gutted when the lan sect joins the war without lan wangji among them. lan xichen is drawn with grief and rage. it’s been months and neither wei wuxian or the lan sect have heard from his brother. it’s kindest to assume he’s dead.

wei wuxian refuses to believe it. he goes looking for lan wangji. jiang cheng joins him, a sick guilt in his stomach driving him to look for the man who saved his brother.

when they find lan wangji, jiang cheng wishes they hadn’t. he doesn’t recognize the man in from of him, and he can see his brother’s heart breaking when lan wangji sidesteps wei wuxian’s hug.

it hurts lan wangji to not let wei wuxian touch him. it hurts to see his soulmate’s face fall, to see the tears glisten before he wipes them away. it hurts to hear the broken laughter as wei ying tries to hide how hurt he is by his refusal.

but lan wangji can’t let wei ying hug him, touch him, comfort him. he doesn’t know if it’ll calm the creature devotion within him, sedate it to where the resentful energy rebels and strikes out against his control. he doesn’t know if the animal devotion will snatch wei ying up, take him away and lock him up like his father did to his mother. lan wangji has to make it to the end of the war, for wei ying.

he can’t let wei ying see the emptiness within him, where the resentment and animal can’t fill.

when the war ends, lan wangji returns quietly to the cloud recesses. he bears his punishment (strikes from the discipline whip and seclusion) quietly. by virtue of his publicity as a war hero, he is allowed to attend the discussion conference that follows.

lan wangji frees the wens. wei ying begs him to help them. lan wangji will not let wen qing, who saved wei ying, suffer and die in the camps. he takes them to the burial mounds, where he and wei ying work to restore wen ning’s consciousness.

lan wangji becomes the yiling patriarch.

the wens will still die. lan wangji will die. but at least wei ying is safe and free.

lan wangji does not expect to wake up 13 years later.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 39 part 2

(Masterpost) (Pinboard)  (whole thing on AO3)    

Warning! Spoilers for all 50 Episodes!

Tumblr's godawful new editor has a hard limit of 30 images in a post, so I'm splitting this episode into 3 posts instead of 2. There's a lot of important gazing in this part of the episode and 30 images isn't going to cut it. (To be fair, the old editor would start to die after about 35 images)

Funeral Time

We start off at A-Qing's funeral. The gang has found a spot right next to the road to bury her, and has managed to pull together an impressive set of funeral accoutrements.

A well-prepared cultivator always travels with apples, oranges, peaches, ceramic bowls, incense sticks, sand for holding the incense sticks, candles, a sanded & finished board for carving names into, and paper money.

It's nice of them to make sure A-Qing has a proper grave with proper offerings. You know who they don't bury properly? Shishu Xiao Fucking Xingchen, that's who. Do better, Wei Wuxian.

Jingyi and Ouyang Zichen ugly-cry while Jin Ling threatens the already-dead Xue Yang with being bitten by his dog, to Wei Wuxian's discomfort.

The three adults on the scene don't cry at the grave or even look distressed, really; after the shit they've been through, they probably don't have a lot of feelings to spare for a stranger, even Wei Wuxian, who feels for everybody.

And Lan Wangji is busy with some important gazing.

Lan Wangji is having feelings; feelings about how it's a lot better to be Lan Wangji than it is to be Song Lan. He looks earnestly and intensely at Wei Wuxian and says "fortunately" or "how fortunate" (幸好, xìnghǎo), and then gazes even more earnestly at him.

(More after the cut!)

Wei Wuxian can be forgiven for not getting what Lan Wangji is saying here, because Lan Wangji isn't actually saying most of it. From WWX's perspective, a fresh grave is probably an unlikely place for a confession of love or anything like it, although by Lan Wangji's standards this is a romantic idyll compared to the various caves where they've had most of their dates.

Wei Wuxian asks him to explain, but the qiankun bag of cock blocking suddenly distracts Lan Wangji, and that's the end of that conversation. They tell everyone to wait while they go back to the coffin house.

Wen Ning watches them go, wondering what the fuck it is going to take for these guys to get together, for fuck's sake.

It's a Sad Sad Situation

Back at the coffin house, Song Lan is dejectedly caressing Xiao Xingchen's coffin.

This scene is poignant but it's also a reminder of what nice hands everybody in this show has.

It's also an opportunity to appreciate the details of Song Lan's costume. All the costumes have such variety in the fabrics, even an all black or black/grey outfit like this has a lot of textural variation.

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian each have something important to return to Song Lan. Wei Wuxian gives him the spirit trapping bag that contains what's left of Xiao Xingchen's consciousness.

Xiao Zhan and Li Bowen each make a valiant attempt to pretend this bag is not empty and about to collapse if they hold it too firmly.

Lan Wangi watches him receiving it, with a deep and painful understanding of Song Lan's feelings in this moment.

So, I assume that Lan Wangji is probably mainly feeling grateful that he has all of Wei Wuxian (well, minus his old body, which doesn't really matter to LWJ) returned to him. But I also can't help thinking about what the Lan Wangji of ~10 years ago would have given to have a scrap of Wei Wuxian's soul that he could carry with him. I wonder if Lan Wangji is thinking about that too.

Song Lan tells them, by writing in the dirt with his sword, that he plans to travel the world to fight evil in company with what's left of Xiao Xingchen. Essentially returning to the life journey that they shared, all those years ago. Lan Wangji responds by presenting Xiao Xingchen's sword to him.

Song Lan hits the road with both swords on his back, while Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji watch him go.

We don't hear Lan Wangji's thoughts, but his expression is, I think, a reflection of the grief he carried for so many years.

We do hear Wei Wuxian's thoughts, wondering if Song Lan and Xiao Xichen will ever meet again.

I'm not sure how reincarnation works when one of you has part of his soul trapped in a bag and one of you is a possibly-immortal walking corpse, but maybe they'll manage to be reborn together in spite of all that.

When WWX and LWJ are done contemplating how shitty the world can be, they reboot by having an intense gaze at each other.

Then it's back to mystery solving.

Wei Wuxian smacks the lid off of Xiao Xingchen's coffin....which is now empty?

Maybe they buried him between this scene and the last one. Without using his coffin. *shrug*

Lan Wangji lets the sword spirit out of the bag, and watches it sink through the open coffin and down underneath it. He shoves the coffin out of the way and finds another underneath it. Bunk coffins!

This one is covered with magic shit, which Wei Wuxian uncovers so we can see the heap of talismans on top of it.

Hand enthusiasts, this really is the episode for you.

Lan Wangji, who never does anything halfway, splits the lid in half with Bichen rather than, like, opening the lid in some normal way.

The sword spirit turns into Baxia, which is a big clue that the headless corpse in the coffin is Nie Mingjue.

Note that in traditional Chinese death...stuff, it's important to have a complete corpse, so separating a corpse into parts and keeping its head in your linen closet is a big fuckyou to the dead person in question.

Side note: Wei Wuxian continues to sense resentful energy directly, in his new body; once you open the doors of perception there is no going back, I guess.

Lan Wangji still seems to depend on his eyeballs and the presence of black smoke to tell him what's up, despite probably being pretty familiar with the feel of it, by now.

Additional side note since I can fit one more image into this post before Tumblr stops me: Lan Wangji continues to be impossibly pretty.

Continued in part 3!

Soundtrack: Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word by Elton John

[rosethornewrites]

NR, E, & M reading since 2/15

Finished

Not Rated:

Second Madame Nie update, by nirejseki

Prompt: I'm still in love with Second madam nie. Anything from her POV, maybe including her favourite person, nie mingjue?

No Loss, by eb4life (24 chapters)

After being forced to remain stuck in his wolf form by Madam Yu, Wei Wuxian conforms to her wishes of making it appear that he's runaway from home by doing just that. When he's God knows how far from home and manages to get captured by the knights of a king he's only heard rumors of, Wei Wuxian expects to be killed or imprisoned as the king's personal attack dog. He doesn't expect to move from "exotic pet" to "closest friend" within only weeks of his stay at the king's side. This story is inspired by Bisclavret.

Explicit:

vintage youth, by sami (3 chapters)

After thirteen years spent believing Wei Wuxian was dead, Lan Wangji isn't going to let a minor detail like Wei Ying is a fugitive from the law come between them.

all the trembling ways, by typefortydeductions (🔒)

"Lan Zhan. I haven’t -- I mean, I’ve kissed people! But I’ve not. Not anything else.”

Wei Ying can’t look up. He can feel how hot his cheeks are. His whole face must be burning. He wishes he’d worn something else, something less obviously wanting.

“Not anything?” Lan Zhan breathes. He sounds -- Wei Ying isn’t quite sure what he sounds, but it isn’t disappointed. He risks a peek upwards, through his eyelashes, like Lan Zhan’s face will be more bearable in the diffuse. Lan Zhan’s mouth is open slightly. Wei Ying shakes his head, and Lan Zhan’s hands come up to his cheeks, tipping his head back up.

“Wei Ying.” he says, softly, and leans in to kiss him. It’s softer this time, but just as deep, his tongue sweeping gently along Wei Ying’s lower lip, coaxing. Showing, Wei Ying realises. Letting him learn. He feels the heat rise again, but it’s different this time, contained, somehow, by Lan Zhan’s firm hands, the warm press of his chest.

“Will you let me show you?” he asks."

//

Lan Zhan teaches Wei Ying how to feel good.

Mature:

At the end of all things, by Entityx (🔒)

Lan Wangji is aware that he is not the only one who is left haunted by constant bloodshed.

Everyone has changed over the course of the Sunshot Campaign. However the one who underwent the most drastic change was undeniable.

It's subtle- he's still friendly and boisterous with members of his sect. But he is not truly open anymore. Gone is the optimistic boy who radiated sincerity with every word. Instead he is replaced with a hollow imitation, with a smile cracked at the edges, and a laugh that is too hollow to fool anyone.

if you could see the man I am, by sami (2nd in a series)

Lan Wangji spent thirteen years believing Wei Wuxian was dead.

Unfinished

Not Rated:

The Devil That You Forgot, by pottedplnt

Wei Ying has always been a smart child, so when he finds himself back on the streets he was taken from, he decides to make the most of it. Even when he's half-starved, severely injured, and just thrown into the worst place he can think of, he'll come back. And god help anyone who gets in the way of his peaceful life.

The worth of a life with no regrets, by SnowdropsAndDreams

It was hopeless. Utterly hopeless.

The night hunt had gone disastrously wrong and Wei Wuxian's tiny pebble of a core isn't enough to save him. But Jiang Cheng will be damned before he watches another sibling die in his arms, especially one that miraculously came back from the dead.

"I'm going to die here, Jiang Cheng. We both know it. But unlike last time, I'm going to make it meaningful."

"I know of a forbidden array that can turn back time."

"Didi, do you want to come with me?"

Or, a time travel fix-it fic where Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng work together as brothers.

Explicit:

The Second Hand Unwinds, by trulywicked (🔒)

Sent back in time without his husband after a night hunt gone wrong, Lan Wangji is determined to ensure that Wei Wuxian’s safety and in the process hopefully mitigate, if not prevent, the war.

Through marriage among other things.

Heart of the Beast, by WaitForTheSnitch

“Wei Ying?” Nie Mingjue prompted him gently. “Where are your parents?”

“They went on a night hunt,” Wei Ying said, a bit evasively.

“Your parents are cultivators?” Da-ge asked in surprise. “Did they leave you here while they hunted? When did they go on their night hunt?”

“Four summers ago,” Wei Ying said a bit uncomfortable.

“Four summers ago,” Nie Mingjue repeated. “What are your parents’ names?”

“My mama is Cangse Sanren and my baba is Wei Changze,” Wei Ying told him, and recognition registered in Nie Mingjue’s eyes.

“Wei Ying,” Nie Mingjue said, sounding a bit regretful, “Your parents aren’t coming back.”

Or, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang run into Wei Ying while in Yiling and decide to bring him home. And it changes everything.

Mature:

A twist in time, by Souldealertm

Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi got their happy ending, however the pain and loss of the past is still haunting them and many others. The previous generation has messed up horribly and caused the generations to come great pain. Now some of the people from the previous generation have gotten a second chance to fix everything and give their children and grandchildren a better future.

fighting for both of us, by chocosmei

When Wei Wuxian loses control to the Yin Tiger Tally at Nightless City, possibly his last siege of this life, Lan Wangji tries to take the Yiling Laozu to safety by trying to hide him. Without success and finding no other option, he will take the most dangerous risk, trying a method that he doesn’t even know if it’ll work:

An unknown talisman.

In hopes of this being their last chance to surviving, but feeling extremely miserable for resorting to something as dangerous as demonic cultivation, he takes Wei Wuxian’s injured body in his arms, takes his sword “Bichen”, and cuts his own fingers just enough for them to bleed tiny bloody droplets. He takes the talismans written with his and Wei Wuxian’s blood and activates it before anyone can reach them and stop Lan Wangji. The voices of his Shufu, Xiongzhang and elders disperse to complete silence and darkness.

[nutcasewithaknife]

Controversial take time! Wei Wuxian knew that his siblings always loved him, but believed that they were making a mistake in doing so.

(This got too long, it's is under the cut!)

Hear me out. I don't think that Wei Wuxian didn't know he was loved unconditionally. He knew!! For a whole year or so after the war, he was at Yunmeng doing less that the bare minimum to help rebuild, and his brother is mad about it. But he still tries to stand up for Wei Wuxian in front of the rest of Jianghu! The have the stupid soup conversation! Yanli goes off at Jin Zixun in front of half the Jianghu bigshots for insulting him, runs into a battlefield for him after he's killed her husband!! He's never truly afraid of meeting Jiang Cheng post-resurrection, not surprised at all at being asked why he didn't come home. He's just trying to avoid the inevitable mess of feelings that the meeting would entail. Afterall, when it came down to it, Jiang Cheng shut his eyes and stabbed a rock in the end, not him, not even after he'd killed their sister.

Now for the argument. Look, the sibling trio has some complex dynamics, but they survived that household on a mutual understanding that they love each other. That's why Wei Wuxian leaving is the point that casts everything into doubt - they have always been together, and that was an immutable fact until it suddenly wasn't. I don't thing Jiang Yanli or Jiang Cheng ever understood how much Wei Wuxian took their mother to heart - he truly believed any love he deserved was to be earned, because was was a servant. Unconditional love was for family only!

It hit me only while watching the best scene aka Yanli ripping into Jin Zixun at the hunt. She defends him, basically declares him as part of her family, and Wei Wuxian? He's watching his sister having to defend him when it should be the other way round, getting flak for sticking up for him too. He's in agonies the entire time! He's not even happy about jzx getting verbally eviscerated in public!

Most obvious between Sunshot and leaving with the Wens, there's a pattern. Wei Wuxian may not be stepping in as First Disciple to rebuild, but he's still useful - nobody will dare harm the Yunmeng Jiang while he is part of it and holds the power of the Stygian Tiger Amulet. And then, slowly but surely, he sees his brother and and sister standing up for him, deescalating political situations caused by others vying for the very power he possessed and wanted to use to protect the sect. It was actually harming them, in a way that couldn't be solved by its brute force. He is the opposite of useful, now - he's the root of a brewing threat to the sect. This is a huge part of why he leaves! He's pushing away the people he can no longer help but only harm, and he's going to those who he can still be useful to.

Yes, it's about keeping them safe because he loves them, and about protecting lives, but also because he thinks his brother and sister had it wrong all along - they saw him as family when he was just a servant, and therefore acceptable as collateral damage. He cannot allow them to protect him, because that's his job even if they refuse to acknowledge that, isn't it? He left because he thought he was useless, a danger, he didn't deserve their love after they had to defend him at the cost of harm to the sect and themselves. It really fits into his habit of deciding for others once he's made up his mind, doesn't it?

The crux of it is, I think, that he eventually learns that he can have a family. That's why Lan Wangji is important. He doesn't have a fragile, struggling sect of people to protect above everything else, unlike Jiang Cheng. He doesn't die while trying to stick to Wei Wuxian's side, unlike Yanli. He doesn't die for Wei Wuxian either, like Wen Qing. Lan Wangji is able to stay by his side and survives it long enough for him to realise that maybe, just maybe, having him as family is worth breaking rules for, and won't get people killed by default.

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

In the 5 am light (you carry my fears as the heavens set fire)

Ficlet for the (currently) winning result of this poll!

I was too excited to write this to wait any more, but fear not, if the other one wins, I'll write that one too!

Enjoy! <3

Lan Wangji wakes up at 5 am, as he has always done for the past thirty-something years of his life, a routine engrained within him like second nature. But, unlike these past thirty-something years, he does not wake up alone to an empty bed - instead, there is now somebody sharing the space with him, their warmth mingling with his own, their limbs entangled with his.

Lan Wangji blinks himself conscious at the realization, and turns towards the person that's now softly snoring beside him.

Wei Ying.

The blanket has ridden off his body, the skin of his back bathed into the warm, morning sun, and through the long, messy tresses of hair, Lan Wangji can see bitemarks littering the skin of his nape and the side of his throat.

Slowly, memories return to him, and he remembers how he found Wei Ying in that forest a night ago, playing an improvised flute to subdue Wen Ning during that night hunt... playing that song, their song, singing his identity right into Lan Wangji's ears, straight through his heart and the shattered hopes of ever seeing his beloved again.

How Lan Wangji played into his lunatic act and pretended not to recognize him so that the ill-intentioned would not attack him, and how he carried him all the way to the Cloud Recesses with his noisy donkey and his audacious flirting that threatened to rip right into Lan Wangji's self control.

And how, right before bedtime, Wei Ying climbed into his bed and... everything that came after.

Lan Wangji feels himself burn hot at the images playing in his mind, at the things he and Wei Ying have just done, hours and hours of passion they shared last night until they had no choice but to succumb to exhaustion. He had never even dreamed of ever getting to touch Wei Ying like that, to be with him in such an intimate way - especially not after the world had so cruelly rid of him.

But he did, and it was... divine, to put it mildly, the zenith of his existence, the moment he was finally able to show the extent of his love to the person he had been so ready and willing to die for all those years ago. He feels like he's dreaming almost, floating in-between worlds, and he finds himself leaning close to Wei Ying and leaving the ghost of a kiss on his parted lips.

And just like that, under the soft morning light and the first notes of songbird, Lan Wangji's peace shatters, replaced with a mix of panic and revulsion.

Not towards Wei Ying, no, never - towards himself.

What has he done?

Thinking over last night's events, he realizes with increasing horror, Wei Ying was in an obviously vulnerable position, so of course he had... of course he had to follow Lan Wangji and... and try to... thank him. Go along with what Lan Wangji wanted... because if he didn't, maybe he thought he'd get left for dead or...

Lan Wangji feels his inside shudder with disgust. Had he... no, no, Wei Ying would have... he wouldn't have... would he?

Lan Wangji doesn't know if he wants to cuddle up to Wei Ying and find comfort and reassurance that he's overthinking in his arms, or jump out of the bed and out the door, as far away as possible, having taken advantage of someone that couldn't have possibly said no...

But the decision is made for him when he feels a surprisingly strong arm wrap tightly around his shoulders, and Wei Ying bringing him closer as he mumbles something along the lines of "Lan Zhan... stay still..." before pressing himself to the other's skin and falling back asleep.

Lan Wangji stays like that, motionless, barely breathing, staring at the ceiling. Wei Ying is... still asleep. But he did wake up to some extent just now, so he knows who he's in bed with. He hasn't... reacted in any unpleasant way, which can either mean he did want this and Lan Wangji is being ridiculous, or he didn't want it but he made peace with it now that it happened.

Both options appear equally likely to Lan Wangji.

Next to him, Wei Ying sleeps soundly, every now and then nosing at his neck and leaving tiny whispers and barely there kisses in his sleep.

Lan Wangji decides that, if he is, in fact, a horrible monster, he might as well be a horrible monster to the end. So he allows himself the luxury of slowly kissing over Wei Ying's hair, face and lips, eyes a little misty at the thought that, perhaps, when Wei Ying wakes, he'll hate Lan Wangji for what he'd done and never allow him close again.

He doesn't realize, in his emotional turmoil, that Wei Ying has been woken up in a flurry of loving kisses - not until he finds a pair of lips molding against his own with purpose.

He breaks the kiss away abruptly, and Wei Ying whines at the loss. He's still sleepy, eyes droopy, and he's beautiful and a bit love drunk - but the world catches up to him as well, his eyes going wide seconds later.

Lan Wangji looks away and sits up, ready to face the consequences of his own actions.

Wei Ying's mind fast forwards through the past night's events, he lifts the blanket enough to realize he's so very naked, thoroughly marked and very sore all over - and he sits up as well, as if actioned by a spring.

"Lan Zhan!"

"Mn."

"Last night!"

"Mm."

"Did we-?!"

"Mhm."

Wei Ying stares at him, and Lan Zhan stares back - he's so red, bunching up the blankets to hide his body like some blushing maiden as his eyes dart between the bed, himself and Lan Zhan like he can't believe the implications.

Lan Zhan feels the world crash into him the more Wei Ying's shock grows. So he'd been right, Wei Ying hadn't really wanted to do all that with him, and now he can't believe it and regrets it, and Lan Zhan is a horrible-

Then Wei Ying begins laughing. He's laughing with joy and he's fallen back onto the bed with it, the sound so melodious that Lan Wangji wants to bottle it up and keep it for himself forever.

"I can't believe we actually did that! I thought it was a dream!"

Lan Wangji lays down as well, and is feeling more confused than ever.

"Wei Ying, don't you... regret it?"

"Regret?! Are you kidding?! That was amazing, I'd have to be an idiot to regret something like that!"

But then Wei Ying's giggles cut off instantly, and he turns to face Lan Zhan. "Wait. Do you regret it?"

Lan Zhan huffs, offended, at that. "How could I? I've been wanting to do this forever."

Wei Ying seems to have a life-changing realization for the second time that morning and it is only upon seeing his wide eyes that Lan Zhan realizes what he's just said.

He doesn't regret it or anything, he had just imagine he would be saying it in more... romantic circumstances.

Eh, might as well...

"Did you... mean that?" Wei Ying asks, inching closer towards Lan Zhan, looking equal parts thrilled and terrified.

"Yes."

Wei Ying lifts a hand to trail over the sharp contours of Lan Zhan's jawline, briefly touching the plush of his lips. "So then what we did last night wasn't... just for the hell of it."

"No."

He's finally close enough to feel Lan Zhan's body heat against his own and his heart beats into his chest with exhilaration, arousal and adrenaline. "So if I were to kiss you right now and ask to do it again, you'd say yes?"

"I would."

Wei Ying finally allows his hands to move down Lan Wangji's collarbones, his chest, and lower, lower... "And if I were to ask if you'd like us to be together like this forever, would you say yes to that too?"

A sharp breath, and Lan Zhan pulls him in, skin to skin, loving and lustful. "I would." And he leans to leave a bite below Wei Ying's ear, his own wandering hands reaching destination. "I do."

[sasukimimochi]

Part 1 Part 2 (you are here) Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 ...

Overall Warnings: grotesque written imagery, body horror, blood, possession(?) sort of (more like integrating), voices, loss of self (since this isn't really MCD), Darker WWX (he's not classic wwx).

Warnings for this Part: Violence (mood song for this part here).

adding a read more line this time because it's much bigger than part 1!

- Part 2

· ✦ Who are you? ✦ ·

Wei Wuxian’s head tilted as he watched Wen Chao scramble to the hems of his torn robes and beg for his life. The blood red hues stared past his inky lashes, calm and deep at first, but then flaring with bright red fractals and a glow not unlike an iron brand that had once marked his chest.

He kicked the Wen away from his hems and narrowed his eyes, letting out a quiet sigh as if dealing with a rat rather than the heir of a sect. “Do not touch me.” He lifted his robe slightly so he could sit down, eyes narrowed and locked on to the disfigured pest.

“You think…for even a moment…I would ever have mercy on you?” His expression was so entirely cold, but his hair lifted slightly from the tremendous amount of resentment drifting off of him. “Funny, really. Didn’t you want to make me scream? Cut off my hand?” His eyes narrowed as he turned his hand slowly for emphasis, that resentment billowing around him like a storm. “That’s right…I haven’t done that yet, have I? Should I start with the left…or the right?” Upon the last word, his voice dropped dangerously, venom practically dripping from his tongue.

Wen Zhuliu moved back into the picture, though this did nothing to phase the black-robed cultivator, if anything it only twisted his face further into something unsettling as if he was about to enjoy himself.

“Wen Zhuliu…do you really think you can protect his dog life from my hands?”

“Better die trying.”

The cold laugh that bubbled up from Wei Wuxian’s throat set everyone’s teeth on edge, no trace of his usual sunshine smile left in his voice. “What a loyal Wen-dog.”

The core-crusher opened his mouth, clearly about to continue their argument but then he was suddenly thrown to the ground by tendrils of resentment. Wei Wuxian’s face, shrouded half in shadow, had certainly lost its calm demeanor in the wake of an unsettling darkness. “Just gets funnier and funnier huh? Think I’m going to listen to that nasty bark of yours? If you’re going to act like a dog, I'll make you yelp like one.”

“Wei Ying!”

Wei Wuxian froze in his stance but seemed a little disappointed as Jiang Cheng took over by pinning Wen Zhuliu to the floor with Sandu. He sighed and leaned back in his seat, the glare in his eyes and resentment fading back into nothing, crossing one leg over the other as if nothing had just happened.

Wei Wuxian’s clothes were still very torn from his fall and the resentment that had scored his flesh, thighs, arms, shoulders- so much of his body was on display and he didn’t even seem to notice. The wounds were no longer there, but he certainly didn’t look like he was in a state to be running around.

Lan Wangji seemed to visibly hesitate a while longer while Jiang Cheng was double checking that their captives couldn’t escape. “Wei Ying…your clothes…”

Wei Wuxian glanced down to his arm where the most of his skin was visible, turning it slightly as if he hadn’t realized the ripped cloth hanging from it. “They are quite torn.” He shrugs, folding his hands in his lap. “The only replacements I could find were Wen robes, and I found that to be beyond my tolerance.” He stood soon after this, pulling his lapels a bit more properly on his shoulders as if trying to be a bit more modest, though he didn’t seem to care if he actually was. “I have plenty of face to spare, but I do apologize for the rather unseemly appearance I'm sporting in front of Hanguang-Jun.”

Lan Wangji’s expression flickered in conflict, seeming to be torn between two different contrasting emotions, but he finally settled on something neutral, pulling off the outermost robe he wore to drape over Wei Wuxian’s shoulders. “Here…it’s a cold night. Until we get back to the others and get you new robes…”

Wei Wuxian’s head turned slightly to look at the robe on his shoulders. So large and white. His head tilted slightly, hand lifting to touch the embroidered hems in what appeared to be a mild curiosity. “Mmm? I thought Lan Zhan didn’t care for me.”

Lan Wangji’s face twisted slightly, lips turning down slightly as if uneasy. “You’re half dressed…” He insisted, only to falter when Wei Wuxian’s face turned back to him, those eyes crescents in their mirth.

“You’re quite a good man, and I know you’re quite upset with this…” Wei Wuxian gestured to himself, the torn robes and half-healed wounds beneath still as blatant as earlier. “But I'm more concerned about the two guests in the room, and I wouldn't want to turn your white robes red.” He reached up, gently tapping the white-clad cultivator’s nose. “So why not take this back, hm?” He moved to remove the robe, but Lan Wangji’s hand stopped him, a low set to his shoulders.

Lan Wangji sighed deeply. “Keep it. It’s cold.” When he stepped back, he kept his eyes off the eerie smile that Wei Wuxian wore. It felt like he wasn’t really looking at the same man…but he couldn’t just leave him like that. Even if his robes were stained beyond recognition, they were replaceable. Wei Wuxian…he was not.

Lan Wangji visibly paused however when he noticed something dark peeking out of Wei Wuxian’s lapels. “…Wei Ying?!”

Alarmed by the sound of distress, Jiang Cheng quickly joined the group, face set in a serious frown. “What’s going on?”

Wei Wuxian’s lapels were forced open by Lan Wangji to reveal a large black stain on his stomach, trailing up from his abdomen not unlike a cursed mark. However, along the surface wisps of resentment licked his skin and had been streaming languidly from his loosened lapels, now revealed to be leaking out of any even partially open wound beneath. The red hues darkened slightly as if irritated, but said nothing to the sudden exposure. “And?”

“What do you mean, and?!” Jiang Cheng pursed his lips and swat Lan Wangji’s hands away reflexively. “What happened? We were supposed to meet and when you show up you look like…this!”

Wei Wuxian straightened up the lapels quietly, though his face looked strangely quaint it was also quite…calculating. It was strange. “Got caught, got tossed somewhere not so nice…came back.” He shrugged, the unsettling smile returning to his lips. “Don’t worry, I'm feeling quite better than I was a while ago and it doesn’t hurt.”

Jiang Cheng frowned and deflated slightly, having expected…well, just…something different than this. He pulled out Suibian and thrust it into Wei Wuxian’s hand. “Whatever, I've brought your sword, you’ll need it to protect yourself on our way back.”

Wei Wuxian seemed surprised at first, turning the sword in his hands for a moment then smiling once more. “Thank you.”

Jiang Cheng’s face softened, but froze as the other held the sword back out to him.

“But I cannot use it anymore.”

“What?” Jiang Cheng’s pupils shrunk, wondering how his shixiong could have such a normal, smiling expression after telling him that he could no longer handle a sword.

“Well, if I were to use it I would get overpowered.” He sighed and held it out to Lan Wangji instead when Jiang Cheng wouldn’t take it. “Could you hold onto this for me, for safekeeping?”

Lan Wangji tentatively took the sword in his hand, eyes lost as he looked at the scabbard. Eventually he did raise his gaze back to the swirling black on his abdomen and the others’ unusual expression. Perhaps, due to the trauma of whatever he’d been through, he wasn't fit for battle right now. “Wei Ying…you should allow yourself time to recover. It may not be good for you to-“

Wei Wuxian shook his head and smiled eerily, “The dogs over there…” His eyes shifted to the two on the floor a few paces away, red hues glaring. “Me and Jiang Cheng still need to settle a few things with them. Right?”

“But you’re…wait.” Lan Wangji moved in front of Wei Wuxian to stop him from continuing forward again. “You’re currently wounded. Why don’t we just get it over with and take you to camp? We need to take you to a healer.”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes darkened as they were lifted back up to the other man. “Lan Wangji, I will happily go after we have taken care of our sect business.”

Lan Wangji’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but pressed still despite the sting his courtesy name from the other’s lips brought. “Wei Wuxian! You’re hurt, and this cultivation will hurt you further!” His eyes darted about the other’s face in conflict, before he spoke hesitantly once more. “Come back to Gusu with me.”

“To Gusu?” The man blinked in surprise and tilted his head, frowning and squinting at the other. “Why there? To punish me? Drag me through healer after healer to try to fix me?” His nose bridge scrunched up at the thought, but his eyelashes lowered in a regrettably beautiful and haunting way. “We both know how much your sect hates my cultivation. And as it is…it’s too late to fix me, Light bearer.”

[tanya-shiza]

The old man full body // LMK OC info Coin AU (3/3)

Past:

The «Lán» family are dragons with 4 pairs of legs, include Reng Zhang Ji. While protecting the Lan Shuihe from the wrath of the Ao Guang (The main dragon in the underwater dragon kingdom), the old man lost most of his paws and his left arm was badly damaged. Ao Guang spared Reng Zhang Ji's life only to show that his betrayal of the Dragon Clan and self-sacrifice were in vain. As soon as such an opportunity arose, Lan Shuihe ran away, turning around only to say: «Pathetic». The old man was ready to do anything for her and truly loved her, but the old lady was never interested in this. Lan Shuihe used Reng Zhang Ji as long as it was beneficial, and then undoubtedly left him to die.

When he, all wounded, crawled to her later she kicked him out, screaming and blaming him, saying it was his fault that she was kicked out of the Dragon Clan and had her powers taken away. She left again, all alone and all wounded. The old man promised that he would never disturb Lan Shuihe again. Having started a new life among mortals, the first thing Reng did was change his name and ceased to be Lan Zhang Ji.

His powers were also taken away, but in order to be different from mortals, he independently constructed mechanical legs for himself, reminding him of who he really is.

Present:

In my Coin AU, Reng Zhang Ji is the richest man in China. He is known for his high-quality but expensive machine, robots, cars and more. Everyone dreams of how they would work in the Reng office, because the salaries there are very decent. But the working conditions are terrible and many cannot work for more than a month. The rest are fired by Reng himself. Incorrect report? Fired. Late? Fired. Going to the toilet too often? Fired. Even smoking frequently can get you fired. Especially if Reng Zhang Ji himself catches you. He hates cigarettes. It is especially difficult for secretaries. The old Boss, as his employees secretly call him, changes them like gloves.

Many young men come to work in hopes of becoming the next owners of the company. Reng Zhang Ji looks like a living corpse, almost hairless, wrinkled and skinny. If there wasn't the mechanism, people would probably be able to see old man's ribs shining through his pale, almost gray skin. However, the mechanism pressed the shirt, so Reng Zhang Ji is not able to take it off. This also doesn't make him look beautiful, because the shirt has long faded and torn somewhere. What makes these young men more hopeful is the fact that Reng Zhang Ji has no family and is completely alone. He has no choice but to transfer the business to one of the higher-ranking employees or sell it to another businessman, which is unlikely, because the old Boss doesn't like other businessmen.

But no matter how these mortals hoped Reng Zhang Ji is not going to die anytime soon. Despite the fact that his powers were taken away, he is still immortal.

[lgbtqmanga]

New Releases Sep. 19, 2023

Assorted Entanglements vol. 3 by Mikanuji

Heke and Lala met as strangers in an online game— but in real life, they are a manga artist and her editor, working together as closely as any two people can. At work, they bicker and complain, day in and day out. But come nighttime, their game chat is a flood of honest feelings. Could they ever manage that face-to-face…?

The Executioner and Her Way of Life vol. 3 (manga) by Mato Sato, Ryo Mitsuya, and nilitsu

The ritual to kill Akari has begun, and everything is going smoothly. Menou believes this will finally be the end of the Otherworlder—until she receives word from Momo about Orwell’s betrayal. In the face of the archbishop’s intricately woven plan and the arsenal of taboo conjuring tools at her disposal, it seems Menou and the others won’t stand a chance. But perhaps the power in Akari is greater than even she herself realizes...

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation vol. 3 (comic) by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu and Luo Di Cheng Qiu

Wei Wuxian’s studies come to an abrupt end when he picks a fight with a young master of the Jin Clan. A lifetime later, he wakes from his dream of days gone by to find he’s still unraveling the mystery of the ghost arm.

Following their latest lead, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji arrive in Qinghe, where they must contend with strange tombs interring sabers, terrifying man-eating walls, and bizarre sewn-up corpses. But that’s not even the worst of it. Wei Wuxian’s true identity has been revealed! How will he settle his past scores?

Manner of Death vol. 2 by Yukari Umemoto and Sammon

*FINAL VOLUME*

Bunnakit, a coroner investigating a murder case, and Tan, the man who was his prime suspect—they have formed an unlikely alliance out of both necessity and passion. But though the two are drawn to each other, more danger awaits them than ever before, and each man has his own hidden motives. When the bodies start piling up, Bun and Tan must race to find the truth, all the while coming to terms with how they really feel about each other…Will their love survive this ultimate test?

ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! vol. 4 (manga) by Kiki and Sunao Minakata

To vanquish the increasingly powerful Demon Lord, divine revelation ordained a party of heroes, each blessed with a unique power. That spelled trouble for Flum Apricot, a total weakling of a girl who has no idea what her power of “Reversal” even does. Betrayed and left behind with a wretched slave trader who enjoys nothing more than seeing his merchandise fight for their lives, Flum thinks all hope is lost—until she gets her hand on a massive, cursed sword. Finally, after so many years, she understands the nature of her power, and both she and her new companion Milkit are about to experience a huge “Reversal” of their fate!

Sailor Moon vol. 4 (Naoko Takeuchi Collection) by Naoko Takeuchi

Teenager Usagi is not the best athlete, she's never gotten good grades, and, well, she's a bit of a crybaby. But when she meets a talking cat, she begins a journey that will teach her she has a well of great strength just beneath the surface and the heart to inspire and stand up for her friends as Sailor Moon! The original Sailor Moon in a new, affordable edition.

SOTUS vol. 3 by BitterSweet and Kei

*Final Volume*

Freshman training is finally over, and Kongpob is thrilled to have a chance to get closer to head hazer Arthit. After the two enjoy a casual shopping trip together, Arthit ends up staying over for the night…but when Kongpob accidentally lets his feelings slip, he leaves his upperclassman confused and flustered. Though Arthit tries his best to distance himself, he knows he can only run away for so long before he must respond to Kongpob’s passions—“No matter how far you go, I want to stay right by your side.”

Until I Love Myself vol. 2 by Poppy Pesuyama

*Final Volume*

When they finally feel able to confront him about it, they get an apology but not really the closure they were looking for. It turns out his reason for upending Pesuyama’s life was simple. He just could.

Knowing that ugly truth really doesn’t help Pesuyama at all, and so now they begin a new step in their journey as a nonbinary manga artist—therapy! What will Pesuyama discover about gender, society, and loving yourself in this final volume?

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess vol. 5 (novel) by Kotei Kobayashi and riichu

Things are finally starting to settle down for Komari after her hectic trip to the Heavenly Paradise. That is until Pope Julius VI, supreme leader of the Scared Church, shows up at the entrance to Mulnite Palace one day! And if the arrival of an important geopolitical figure wasn’t stressful enough, the Empress is nowhere to be found! Now it falls to Komari to tide things over with the guest of honor until someone can locate Mulnite’s missing Empress…

[writer-sedai]

Wheel of time 2x04 "Daughter of the Night" thoughts

My thoughts on the previous episodes can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/writer-sedai/727387386710016000?source=share

Tbh liked this episode a bit less than the previous three, it felt both too short and a little meandering. However! There is still much to talk about, so:

Really like the depiction of the seals and how they've started to break. That was definitely something in the book I had trouble picturing (and think was more of a metaphysical thing anyway) so how they translated that to screen was really well done

They've definitely aged Moiraine up for the show, given that her younger sister looks to be about 70. I wonder how this impacts the parts of the story they're bringing from New Spring - have Moiraine and Suian been having an illicit relationship for 60 years instead of 20? Had they both been Aes Sedai for quite some time before the Aiel War and hearing the prophecy? I need to think on this change for a while longer to see if the reaching implications of it are worth it.

That being said, I loved how the scene with Anvaere opened with closeups of her wrinkles, her white hair, the care she put into putting on the wig - it really drives home how normal people age compared to Aes Sedai. The show is definitely leaning into some aspects of the lore that was present in the background in the books but never explored fully.

Some nice Carhienien history in this episode - reference to Laman's Sin, and how it destroyed the Damodred family. Anvaere's position of the last remaining daughter of a once-powerful house, left to build it back up from the ground while her older sister who can channel abandons her is made painfully clear in just two scenes.

I've been watching Mad Men recently so the relationship between Moiraine and her sister really reminds me of the one between Don and his brother - both older siblings who were worshipped by the younger who vanished without a word and upon reuniting can't grasp that all their younger sibling wants is to be acknowledged again and told that they still matter. (Hopefully a different ending to this relationship, though.)

The Alanna/Lan storyline felt mostly like filler tbh. I didn't dislike it but I think it probably could have achieved the same effect with less screentime, especially since so much time has already been dedicated to Alanna's relationship with her warders. (I do realise this is probably because one or both of them will die soon and the audience needs to feel that but...still.)

So if I'm understanding this right, Moiraine released Lan's bond but did not forcibly hand it over to Alanna like she threatened? Since the bond was released willingly and not broken through death, and Lan isn't going through the grief we witnessed with Stepin?

Since things are so broken between Lan and Moiraine right now I wonder if they'll ever be rebonded so the bond can be broken through Moiraine's half-death and Lan can feel the difference, or if they'll remain unbonded for the rest of the series. I'm not really a fan of other option, which is probably why I didn't like this storyline as much.

However, it was great seeing that Alanna's obsession with food is a cultural/family thing!

Confirmation (I think) that the visions Perrin has been seeing are sent by the wolves and not related to his heightened sense of smell. This was my first impression but all the other opinions I read seemed to think different!

Hopper liking Perrin and then sending him the images of his name 🥺 I'm going to sob like a baby when he inevitably dies.

Really liked the wolfbrother backstory we received from Elyas. Unlike some of the other info shared in this episode, it felt like a natural conversation.

(Mostly I'm talking about Egwene's "you don't get it, do you?!" to Nynaeve and then spelling out explicitly why she wants to be Aes Sedai. That was a bit too spelling-it-out for my tastes.)

Also like that Perrin's been unwittingly sending the wolves dreams for the past yearish. It explains the presence of the wolves in some dreams in s1 (not there with Ba'alzamon at all but for a completely different reason), shows how he's a baby wolfbrother, and also provides a connection between the wolves and TAR.

Confirmation that Logain was in Cairhien on Moiraine's (and presumably Suian's?) orders. I can't help but feel petty glee when the show directly addresses something show-haters have been bitching about.

Also love that even without her powers Moiraine is as conniving as ever! Of course she has a backup plan when she let Rand go off so that she could put her strings around him again. I'm not sure how she knew Rand would go to Cairhien (unless I'm forgetting something from their conversation in 1x08) - it would be nice if she explains to him next ep how she manipulated him into going exactly where she wanted haha.

Liandrin's status is finally explicitly revealed (though I still maintain that she lied in 2x01 as a hint)! Poor Min, just wanting to be a normal person and ending up ensnared in the plots of the strongest Forsaken. I wonder if she'll do as Ishamael wants and head towards Cairhien or if her instincts will take them in the opposite direction - towards Falme, of course.

I'm not sure why Liandrin had to knock the girls out? From the 2x05 trailer it looks like she has them in the ways - I'm not sure why she couldn't escort them to Falme like in the books and only betray them on the other side.

Interested to hear what show-only people thought of the Lanfear reveal. Personally I would have liked if it was dragged out a bit more - let Lanfear finish saying what she was going to say! Let Rand sit with the absolute horror of what he's just learned before Moiraine saves him!

I also didn't really like Moiraine just straight up murdering Lanfear, though my opinion has changed a bit after seeing people observe that there was saa in her eyes at the end. It's actually a good way to show that the Dark One can use the TP to bring his minions back to life and that therefore (until balefire is introduced) the heroes have no way to actually kill them.

The girls are out of the Tower without us being introduced to Elaida or Elayne's brother(s) yet which is...hmm. I definitely thought we would have met them before going to Falme since presumably they arrived at the Tower with Elayne, and I still can't believe that they've cut Elaida from the show.

Two mentions of Cadsuane in as many episodes - I definitely think Shohreh Aghdashloo has been cast as her (so perfect!!!) and that she'll be brought into the show much sooner than in the books. They've also directly compared her and Nynaeve, which sets up nicely for their future conflicts.

Aviendha next week!!!

[robininthelabyrinth]

🦑🌪 hello! For prompt 1, I wonder about Lao Nie's death, and how his wives, and any other possible Dangerous Woman he left an impression on, reacted to it. Maybe at midnight following the official funeral they show up where the memorial tablet is displayed, to pay respects and reminisce. We all know what Lao Nie saw in them. What did they see in him?

Moonlight Shadow - ao3

“I didn’t mean it,” he said dully. “I really didn’t.”

“Your kind never does,” a lazy voice said from behind him, and Wen Ruohan suppressed the urge to jump in surprise through force of will alone. It had been a long time since he’d been startled enough to actually react, and even longer since someone had been able to sneak up close enough behind him to force him to do so – the benefits of paranoia, old age, and rampantly powerful cultivation.

Though he supposed that the lady behind him wasn’t just anyone.

“I would have thought that was my line,” he said dryly, keeping his eyes on the memorial tablet in front of him – he knew better than to try to turn to look at the lady speaking with him. When she was in a temper, she could be very hard to look at indeed, even for someone like him. “Isn’t it your kind that is known to eat men?”

“Ah, to be sure, to be sure! But we generally do it on purpose. It’s only humans that have – accidents.”

Wen Ruohan supposed that might be true.

“Why are you here, anyway?” the Second Madame Nie asked, because of course that was who it was, no matter how unlikely. No one else would dare speak to him like this…she was moving behind him, though he didn’t hear any footsteps. Though he supposed he wouldn’t, given what Lao Nie had hinted at regarding his second lady’s ‘death’ in childbirth. “I thought there were all sorts of rules around who was supposed to be allowed to worship at these grave tablets. I wouldn’t have thought the murderer would be among them.”

A brief pause.

“They do know you killed him, right?”

Wen Ruohan twisted his lips bitterly in what had maybe, once upon a time, been a smile. “Oh yes. They know.”

Nie Mingjue certainly knew. He’d stared at him with red-rimmed eyes, his clothing whiter than any Lan, completely unadorned – he’d known. He’d known from the first moment Lao Nie’s Jiwei had shattered, leaving him to kill the beast he’d been night-hunting with his father alone, and if he’d had any doubts, the six agonizingly slow months it took Lao Nie to actually die would have erased them.

He’d let Wen Ruohan in to see the memorial tablet anyway.

“Just this once,” he’d said when Wen Ruohan had shown up on his doorstep, alone and unguarded, lurking there without knowing how to ask for what he wanted. His voice had been flat and dull and tired. “After this, we’re enemies.”

“He took pity on me, I think,” Wen Ruohan said, and didn’t that just burn? He was very nearly all-powerful, a god among men, unrivaled in the cultivation world, and that half-grown sprout Nie Mingjue had the gall to pity him. Him! “He said…he said his father may have been a fool, to forgive me everything, but he couldn’t deny that he did. So on his behalf, he forgave me one last time.”

The Second Madame Nie laughed, a lovely tinkling sound not unlike bells.

“That’s my little fish cake,” she said, sounding pleased. “Unparalleled in all the world, that one.”

Wen Ruohan didn’t doubt it – if only because even Lao Nie, who accepted everything philosophically, carelessly, was confused by his strange eldest son, so painfully righteous and true to the point that it seemed unreal.

Inhuman.

“They both were,” he said. For all of Nie Mingjue’s talk of forgiveness, however temporary, the memorial tablet in front of him seemed foreboding. Lao Nie could forgive many things, to be sure, but not a threat to his sect – he would have minded that more than the threat to his life, Wen Ruohan knew. It was one thing to kill him as a person, Lao Nie; that much he could accept, but to kill Sect Leader Nie and damage the Nie sect? Unacceptable.

And yet, for Wen Ruohan, who for decades had thought only of his own ambition and who was said to take every action in pursuit of some goal, it was the loss of Lao Nie, not Sect Leader Nie, that troubled him.

After all, there’d been plenty of Sect Leader Nies. There was only one Lao Nie.

There had been only one.

“I’ll grant you that,” Second Madame Nie said. “He was certainly special.”

Wen Ruohan had hated her, before. Not for herself, but for what she represented, what her presence meant about Lao Nie’s feelings for him, or lack thereof.

For the first time, though, he wondered.

“Why did you like him?” Wen Ruohan asked. “One such as yourself – you came, and you stayed. Why?”

“Those are two very different questions,” she said, and she sounded amused. “I came because Lao Nie was a firecracker of a man, someone who fucked like a champion stud and had both power and wickedness enough to sate me for months. I stayed because his eldest son was the most perfectly little mouthful of rice I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Wen Ruohan felt his eyebrows arching, wholly involuntary.

“Is there something special about Nie Mingjue, then?” he asked, then felt stupid – of course there was. If the rumors surrounding the Second Madame Nie said that she was a huli jing, a nine-tailed fox with a face that brought disaster, beautiful and terrible and capable of devouring men, then the rumors about the never-seen First Madame Nie began and ended with the word ‘goddess’.

It could really make one wonder.

“Didn’t I just tell you? He’s a savory little zongzi, a perfectly spherical xiao long bao, a tender and crispy pork chop!”

Wen Ruohan rolled his eyes.

“I saw that.”

“I wasn’t trying to hide it,” he said dryly, though he did wonder how exactly she could see his face given that she was still behind his back. Probably best not to think too hard on that. “If you stayed for the son – the first son, not even your own – then why are you here now, at his grave? There’s nothing here for you.”

“Just because I refrained from devouring his soul because of his son doesn’t mean I didn’t like him,” Second Madame Nie protested. “Lao Nie was quite the charmer – as you well know.”

Oh yes. Wen Ruohan did know.

“He had a touch of the divine about him, and I’m not referring to A-Jue’s mother. It was the way he spoke, the way he moved, the way he looked at you, and yet none of those and all of those at once. He would lie to your face to make you laugh, and not have the slightest trace of shame if you caught him at it; you’d forgive him at once, of course. He could make anyone, no matter who or what they were, feel as though they were safe with him, even when they knew they weren’t.”

Wen Ruohan knew that, too.

Lao Nie had been a good friend to him. Better than he deserved – far better. A good friend, a good lover, a good ally…Lao Nie had been a terribly wicked man, in his own way. He had been a superb cultivator, a powerful man and an excellent general; he’d expanded and solidified his sect’s reach several times over, swallowing up those other smaller sects in the north of the cultivation world whenever they showed the slightest moment of weakness. He’d been careless and reckless, heedless of the feelings of those around him, wreaking havoc as he went along his way; he’d once said that he’d left worry and shame behind him long ago, choosing to always live in the moment, to prioritize ‘have fun’ over just about everything else. Even if that impulse had been a negative one, driven by an almost suicidal philosophy of hedonism, pleasure-seeking and hollow, inspired by a death he knew would come to him too early, Wen Ruohan had still often envied Lao Nie his irrepressible sense of freedom.

Lao Nie had been a good man, too.

He’d been a good sect leader. A good father. A good person, underneath it all.

He would be missed.

No, let him not mislead or deceive, here alone in the dark with only a demon for company. He would miss Lao Nie – he, Wen Ruohan, who needed no one, who was above such petty human connections.

He, who had killed him.

“Well, he’s gone now,” Second Madame Nie said, her voice somehow both light and airy and utterly brutal. “Nothing else for it. We had our chance, and now he’s gone.”

Yes, Wen Ruohan supposed he was.

“You should probably go, if you’re done.”

Wen Ruohan shook his head slightly, seeking to clear it, and rose to his feet. “Oh?” he drawled, aiming for a tone that was disinterested and aloof and very nearly getting there. “Do you want some privacy with your husband?”

That had been the one thing he’d never been to Lao Nie, he supposed. Not that he’d want to be, of course.

And yet…

“Not me, not me,” she giggled, her voice high and sharp, piercing. A fox’s yelp. She was following him out of the room, Wen Ruohan noticed. “There’s others still to go.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, opening the door and walking outside for a ways before finally giving into his curiosity and starting to turn to look back. “Who else –”

He hadn’t quite made the full turn, which was what saved him from being blinded by the rush of light - light from lightning, streaking down from the skies straight into the center of the courtyard he’d just abandoned. As it was, even with his extraordinary cultivation, his eyes were dazed by it and he was actually knocked several steps back, staggering, unable to stand or see properly. All he could see were shapes, figures, dim silhouettes – a tall woman, he thought muzzily, only she seemed too tall to be believed. Tall enough that she had to lower her head to enter the great high arch of the memorial hall, a few dozen chi or more above his head.

Wen Ruohan blinked rapidly for a few seconds, focusing his cultivation on his eyes to heal the damage to his retinas. By the time he was done, the courtyard was as empty as if it had always been that way – only there was a nasty burn mark on the ground, presumably where the lightning had landed.

“Let’s not interfere,” Second Madame Nie said mischievously, still somehow behind him, seeming completely unmoved by what had just occured. “Me, because I can’t interfere with human affairs until I return to my proper self, and you, because you want to live. After all, you did kill him. What happens if she wants to make something of it?”

Wen Ruohan thought back to all the times Lao Nie had enthusiastically, yet with an uncharacteristic lack of rhetorical skill, sought without success to describe his beloved first wife, and tried not to shiver. He was only near godhood; he hadn’t made it yet – he wasn’t qualified to speak with his…first sister-in-law, if one thought about it through a somewhat tortured lens.

“I’ll take your advice,” he said, and sped up his steps before the Second Madame also decided to make something of it, her words about not interfering in the human world aside. “I’ll be leaving, then. Let’s not meet again.”

“Let’s not,” she agreed. “Not as you are now.”

Wen Ruohan briefly wondered if she knew he’d dug up all those old treatises on the way of clarity, a means of cutting off all emotion – Lao Nie hadn’t wanted him to do it, to go down that path, even though even at the time it had seemed fairly tempting to Wen Ruohan. For Lao Nie, for love, he’d put it aside; he hadn’t looked at it for years and years now. He supposed now that Lao Nie was dead and gone, there was nothing stopping him if he really did want to try it. The idea of not having to feel this bad ever again was…not unappealing.

Sure, Lao Nie had claimed that a lack of emotions wouldn’t bring him godhood but rather insanity, but…well, he was dead now, and he’d died badly, too. What did he know?

“Farewell,” he said to Lao Nie’s second wife, and didn’t add the good riddance. He really didn’t know what Lao Nie had seen in all these strange women – surely he, Wen Ruohan, should have been enough for him. More than enough, really.

Well, it wasn’t his business any longer.

After all, Lao Nie was gone now.

Lao Nie was gone – and Wen Ruohan remained.

Just as he always did.

[drwcn]

《WITHOUT ENVY》 STORYBOARD 16

AU: concubine/sleeper agent!wwx & prince!lwj Plotlines are explained in chronological storyboards and snippets are detailed scenes which I felt more inclined to explore. All can be found in the masterlist here.

Nie Huaisang appeared unexpectedly at Nevernight. No sooner than Meng Yao's secret message arrived inquiring the identity of the spy did Wei Wuxian himself receive an unlikely visitor, Emperor Zewu's brother-in-law, Nie Huaisang. Wei Wuxian had met the young man several times during his time in Gusu, accompanying Lan Wangji to various functions. The Young Master Nie was famous for lacking in ambition and motivation to take up any gainful employment, the very antithesis of the accomplished general and consort his late brother had been. But the man that appeared at the tavern late one evening was not the lazy rich-boy Wei Wuxian remembered. Though he carried an air of ease and cavalier, his eyes were shrewd and sharp and knowing.

WWX: Meng Yao really keeps his cards close to his chest does'nt he? Wen Ruohan has no idea what he's up against.

NHS: Ah, Wei-xiong, don't be so surprised. A spy network is not a spy network without its secrets. Now, we don't have a lot of time. What I am about tell you is of the highest order.

WWX: I know about the spy. I don't know who it is. Wen Ruohan has me kept away from working fronts that would interact with Lan Zhan's forces. He trusts me but…I suppose he fears I may still have lingering sentiments. Truly I do not know the spy's identity, which is why I have decided to go -

NHS: That is all well and good, but the developments of frontline cannot be explained via missives, which is why I'm here, to ensure this information is passed only between you and I and no one else. About a month ago, Marshal Yin and the Iron Calvary had drawn Hanguang-wang's forces into the northern valleys and then simply vanished from pursuit. When Hanguang-wang realized the situation was suspicious and doubled back it was already too late. Not only were they not able to pursue the Iron Calvary, but Wen Xu's batalions have cut him off at the mouth of the valley.

WWX: A month ago, you say. He's been stranded this entire time...

NHS: Hanguang-wang's forces are strong but with that spy in their midst every battle has been a struggle. The winter dredges on, but their supplies run low. We do believe Wen Xu means to starve them in the valley. Lan Wangji's last communication was that he believed there to be a traitor in his camp. A rider managed to take it out of the valley in time, but since then all communications have ceased.

Nie Huaisang seemed to hesitate, but then continued: There are no missive stations in the valley. My ravens and doves do not know the lay of the land in that region and therefore have yielded nothing. The men we have planted inside Hanguang-wang's army to help and protect him cannot communicate with us. If we cannot rescue them, all of them will die there.

WWX: What do you need me to do?

NHS: Right now the biggest problem is we have no idea where they are, but Wen Ruohan must know the location of his armies. Do you think you can obtain Wen Xu's location in the north as well as the defence plan of his camp?

WWX: I can and I will.

Wei Wuxian obtained the information smoothly and safely. With this intel, NHS's small team of agents already close to the region was able to break into Wen Xu's camp and set fire to his storage supplies and tents, injurying some of his men. Thus Wen Xu required urgent reinforcement, giving Wei Wuxian the opportunity he needed to go to the front.

WWX: WRH will give this assignment to me, I am sure of it. Though he would prefer if I were not involved in any direct confrontation with Lan Zhan, he has no other choice now. I may not be a general, but of the remaining men left in the capital, I am the one with the most experience and familiarity with the northern terrain. And besides, I will provide him with absolute reassurance that I will return.

NHS: And how would you do that?

WWX: There is a poison, a drug, that will kill me within 21 days if I am not given the antidote. It is what us spies take when we're sent on important short term missions. There are no other poison of its kind. It is developed by the Wens - they were a clan of alchemists and healers before they were lords and kings.

Wei Wuxian took the reinforcement and supplies to the front. Along the way, he discovered via his own communication with Wen Xu that the means through which Wen Xu and his spy passed intel was trained snow owls that were indigenous to that region. As agreed upon, Nie Huaisang's small team of recon agents trailed behind Wei Wuxian's squadron until they reached Wen Xu's camp. Though they knew there was a spy amongst the Wen squandron escorting the supplies, they did not know who, since NHS was the only one with direct contact with WWX. From there on WWX managed to send out a missive to NHS, telling them of Wen Xu's plans to launch a full scale attack on Lan Wangji's army now that their reinforcements/supplies have arrived. Wen Xu relied on the information he received from his spy in Lan Wangji's army to formulate his plan of attack, but Wei Wuxian was able to intercept the snow owl before one of its timely deliveries and switched out Lan Wangji's true plan with a forged one. The forged plan of course would mislead Wen Xu to make ruinous tactical decisions that would see his army fall on the battle field.

The night before the battle, Wei Wuxian implored Wen Xu, "Your Highness, I have but one request."

"Request?"

"Tomorrow when you win your victory against Lan Wangji, perhaps you will see your way to…spare his life."

"You mean to plead on his behalf?" Wen Xu raised a quizzical brow.

"Not on his behalf." Wei Wuxian chuckled. "Lan Wangji, as a man, is somewhat of a… rare specimen, one might say. I was his plaything once. Once we conquer Gusu, I don't think yifu would object to me keeping a souvenir - a trophy, if you will - as a personal reward for my contribution."

Wen Xu rolled his eyes. "Oh, that's what your getting at. And here I thought only my little brother was the hedonistic one. Very well then."

"I thank Your Highness for your generosity. Now, I really must take my leave of you. Bixia is still expecting me in the capital."

"Why the rush? Join me tomorrow and secure your prize for yourself, unless…ah, I see. Father really is careful. How many days do you have left?"

"Still a fortnight."

"Plenty of time then. Stay until the battle's won, Wei Wuxian, and perhaps you'll get to personally escort the illustrious Hanguang-wang back to Nevernight collared and chained."

Dawn came, but the crimson sun upon Qishan Wen's banners fell in the morning light. Wen Xu, though smarter than Wen Chao, was not a natural tactician. Without the spy's information, he was no match for Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian's interference ensured Wen Xu's capture by Gusu's forces.

Wei Wuxian's original plan was rejected by Nie Huaisang.

NHS: "Do not be a fool. Wen Ruohan will never have enough reason to order a rescue mission for you. Besides, you've ingested the poison. He only needs to do nothing and you will be dead anyways. It is far more to our advantage to capture someone Wen Ruohan cannot allow to die - his eldest son perhaps. In such case, the mole in Hanguang-wang's camp will definitely be mobilized to save his prince."

WWX: "Then I will remain on the battlefield to ensure Wen Xu's capture. With Wen Xu gone, the mole will surely reach out using the snow owls to ask for further direction. Depending on which of the Wen colonels and generals are remaining...I only need to volunteer myself for the rescue mission in order to sniff out the mole."

NHS: "Preciously. And we need Wen Xu alive. If he's dead, it will be deemed your failure and you will be unable to return to Nevernight. Without the antidote, you will be dead in 14 days."

WWX: "I understand."

NHS: "After the battle, I must depart. I've been away too long and there are matters which require my attention. You will be on your own, Wei Wuxian. Hanguang-wang is no fool. He will see this opportunity for what it is and will be prepared to unearth the mole. I have confidence that the spy will reveal himself, but whether any of you will emerge from this alive...that is up to you. None of my men within Lan Wangji's camp knows of your identity. To them you are and have always been the enemy."

WWX: "I am prepared. Best case scenario is the mole reveals himself to Lan Zhan during the rescue, but still allowing time for Wen Xu and I to escape. If Lan Zhan does not discover the mole, after I make contact, I will report his identity via the usual channels. Worst case scenario, the mole is discovered but the rescue fails and we are all captured..."

NHS: Lets hope it does not come to that. If it does -

WWX: You need not worry yourself. Let me handle it.

The plan worked. The spy's cover was made, and Wei Wuxian learned that his name was Xue Chonghai, a mole planted in Gusu for the last ten years by Marshal Yin himself. Together, they were able to orchestrate Wen Xu's rescue, but during their escape, they were quickly surrounded by Lan Wangji's soldiers. Swords were drawn, blood was spilled. Wei Wuxian was forced to kill many of Lan Wangji's best men, knowing that there was a bigger game at play. He must return to Nevernight to continue being Gusu's source of intel. For that, he must act the part of a Wen loyalist in front of Lan Wangji and Wen Xu.

Lan Wangji watched him slay Gusu's men, and Wei Wuxian knew that any lingering love that may have dwelled inside Lan Wangji's heart, in that moment, was completely reduced to ash. Of those who fell under Suibian, two were Lan Wangji's personal lieutenants, young men who once served the prince in his manor, and whom Wei Wuxian once thought of as friends. Still...it was not until he heard Lan Wangji cry out - "xiao-Yu!" - that Wei Wuxian realized the young man whose belly he had just pierced through with his sword was the prince's mianshou, the once frail and timid Mo Xuanyu. Wei Wuxian did not know that at the onset of war, Mo Xuanyu had requested to enlist in Lan Wangji's army, to do his duty to his country instead of hiding behind the walls of the harem. The shock of it all gave Wei Wuxian, Wen Xu and Xue Chonghai the opportunity to finally break free and make their escape, but the memory of Lan Wangij dropping to his knees in the blood-stained snow and cradling a dying Mo Xuanyu in his arms would be forever burned into Wei Wuxian's memory. There was no doubt in his mind that should their paths cross again, Lan Wangji would not hesitate to kill him with his own hands.

Upon his return to Nevernight, Wei Wuxian was hailed as a hero who saved Qishan's prince and heir. Even Wen Xu had grown warmer over the course of their life-and-death adventure. Wen Ruohan praised Wei Wuxian for his undying loyalty and from then on allowed him to participate in all aspects of the war, privy to any and all of Wen Ruohan's plans. During the day, Wei Wuxian accompanied him in the war room, and at night, he yielded before him beneath the canopy. Soon everyone knew that there was no one the mad Wen Ruohan trusted more than his ward Wei Wuxian.

Wen Ruohan didn't know it, but the more he trusted Wei Wuxian, the closer the war was drawing to its end.

[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

[rosethornewrites]

NR, E, & M reading since 4/19

Finished

Not Rated:

Wen Chao kills WWX, by nirejseki

Prompt: Wen Chao kills Wei Wuxian at the Wen Indoctrination camp to intimidate the heirs of the clans.

WRH/CSSR/WCZ, by nirejseki

Prompt: So I really liked your pairing of LQR/WRH/Lao Nie and after seeing wwx's parents in the last episode of the donghua it got me thinking, How about WRH/WCZ/CSSR? WRH maybe saves them in yiling and they end up hitting it off (WRH might do it in the beginning just spite jfm by stealing his former best friend and crush) and the Wei family settles in nightless city, wwx grows up with the Wen heirs and wen Qing and wen Ning and that affects the events of Canon

Explicit:

something left to save, by androids_fighting93 (9 chapters)

"It’s going to be okay,” he murmurs in A-Yuan’s ear. Balanced on Wei Wuxian’s hip, A-Yuan watches his home disappear behind them, and starts to cry. Wei Wuxian looks again — away from the lands he knows, a world with no place for him. “We’ll take care of each other, won’t we?”

After the Wen remnants turn themselves in, Wei Wuxian disappears with the last living member of the Wen Clan. Lan Wangji follows.

one of those evenings, by westiec

“Ask for what you want, A-Cheng,” she instructs.

Intimacy between them has been… interesting to figure out. Neither of them had much space to become practiced at tenderness, and both of them have known their own bodies first as raw material to be shaped, cultivated into the right tool, the right weapon, something with which to do what needed to be done with as little friction as possible. Learning pleasure as husband and wife has been a negotiation, a dance, and—somewhat to both their surprise—a delight.

“I’d like to make you feel good,” he says, still adorably red in the face but undeterred. “To undress my wife and properly appreciate her beauty.”

T4T Chengqing enjoying a very sexy evening in Lotus Pier

Mature:

Heart of hearts, by apathyinreverie (🔒)

It won't be until several days later that Wangji will know to be grateful for Jiang Wanyin’s insistence to split up in their search.

(Or, JC and LWJ spend those months searching separately and LWJ ends up finding Wei Ying a little earlier. Wei Ying who doesn’t remember anything beyond his own name. So, LWJ takes his chance and takes Wei Ying home. To Gusu.)

justice, by thelastdboy

When Lan Wangji’s punishment had been decided, everyone at the Cloud Recesses had been aware that it had been a death sentence. Thirty-three lashes with a discipline whip weren’t something anyone had expected or even wanted him to survive.

And yet, he lived.

And now everyone needed to learn how to live with that.

Unfinished

Not Rated:

The worth of a life with no regrets, by SnowdropsAndDreams

It was hopeless. Utterly hopeless.

The night hunt had gone disastrously wrong and Wei Wuxian's tiny pebble of a core isn't enough to save him. But Jiang Cheng will be damned before he watches another sibling die in his arms, especially one that miraculously came back from the dead.

"I'm going to die here, Jiang Cheng. We both know it. But unlike last time, I'm going to make it meaningful."

"I know of a forbidden array that can turn back time."

"Didi, do you want to come with me?"

Or, a time travel fix-it fic where Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng work together as brothers.

Delight in Misery, by nirejseki

When Lan Wangji ran away from the jingshi to look for himself, his back still raw, and on Yiling he found only a small child, feverish but still capable of a little bit of babbling, still able to tell the story of what had happened – when he found the traces of blood on the ground, Wei Wuxian’s from when his power had backlashed on him – when he saw the bodies in the blood pool, already rotting –

For the first time in his life, Lan Wangji didn’t want to go home.

(what if he had another option?)

Explicit:

The Second Hand Unwinds, by trulywicked (🔒)

Sent back in time without his husband after a night hunt gone wrong, Lan Wangji is determined to ensure that Wei Wuxian’s safety and in the process hopefully mitigate, if not prevent, the war.

Through marriage among other things.

Heart of the Beast, by WaitForTheSnitch

“Wei Ying?” Nie Mingjue prompted him gently. “Where are your parents?”

“They went on a night hunt,” Wei Ying said, a bit evasively.

“Your parents are cultivators?” Da-ge asked in surprise. “Did they leave you here while they hunted? When did they go on their night hunt?”

“Four summers ago,” Wei Ying said a bit uncomfortable.

“Four summers ago,” Nie Mingjue repeated. “What are your parents’ names?”

“My mama is Cangse Sanren and my baba is Wei Changze,” Wei Ying told him, and recognition registered in Nie Mingjue’s eyes.

“Wei Ying,” Nie Mingjue said, sounding a bit regretful, “Your parents aren’t coming back.”

Or, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang run into Wei Ying while in Yiling and decide to bring him home. And it changes everything.

Mature:

Vow of Remembrance, by eightapart

It starts when he’s four and he whispers to Lan Huan that he’s lived his own death. His brother waves him off and tells him to go back to sleep, but it happens, again and again, until Lan Huan has no choice but to bring it up to their uncle.

After a series of trips to a child psychologist, Lan Zhan learns to stop dreaming.

or: Lan Zhan has memories of a past life with Wei Ying where they had a tragic ending.

At heart, by apathyinreverie (🔒, 2nd in a series)

“I feel like I might have known you,” Wei Ying murmurs against Wangji’s throat the next morning, air rushing past them as Bichen carries them speedily towards Gusu.

Or, LWJ finds WWX a little earlier after the Burial Mounds. WWX who doesn’t remember anything beyond his own name. So, LWJ takes his chance and takes WWX home. To Gusu.

(Continuation of Heart of hearts.)

(Un)Hidden truth, by Sarah_R

After watching his husband; his son; nephew; brother and little radishes dying in front of him one by one because of a source of resentful energy; Wei WuXian dies too as he destroys it.

But instead of darkness; he finds himself back in the past when he had just gotten kicked out of the cloud recess and everything looks so peaceful he can’t stand it. No…no no no he really can’t go through this hell again. Not again. Not after everything was supposed to be over.

Not knowing that Lan WangJi has been thrown back in time as well; he tries; and fails at taking his own life by slitting his throat open in the middle of lotus pier and so; he decides to show everyone the future.

If he’s going to live this hell again; he’s going to change it and if these people are suddenly so determined to keep him alive; then he’s not going to let them die either.

It doesn’t matter if they end up hating him just as much as he hates himself.

(Or; another time travel fix-it which happens to be a watching the show fic as well! With our favorite baby boy and his husband; all their ducklings and their very much alive family and friends from the past.)

[thevindicativevordan]

On Kong Kenan/Super-Man

It should've been him. He should've been the Superman of 5G/Future State/right now not Jon, and he should be the one getting an HBO Max series not Val. Hell he should be getting a movie!

God this dude is literally the best legacy character Superman has ever gotten, wholly his own person with his own lore and status quo while still building on the idea of "Superman". I am so pissed at DC for essentially just dropping him after his ongoing ended, what the hell Lee? You keep trying to make the Wildstorm characters happen, I need you to get my man Yang another Kenan book.

Have to admit I was a bit nervous at first about whether or not Kenan would be a worthwhile character. Yang's New 52 Superman run had been a disappointment to me overall, with only the the arc where Superman has underground wrestling matches against forgotten gods really sticking with me. Now he was introducing a brand new Superman? Didn't feel like he had "earned" that yet. But from the first issue I was hooked on this new character.

Kenan was unlike any other member of the Superfamily. He wasn't kind or sweet, he was an asshole! He was a bully! He was fantastic! Right from the start Kenan was set up to undergo a very different kind of character journey than the other members of the Superfamily. Empathy, humility, respect for people weaker than himself, these are all traits most heroes wearing the S-shield already posses by the time they first don the crest, but not Kenan.

Like all bullies he was even a bit of a coward himself at first, trying to bail on the experiment meant to give him Superman's powers right as it begins. After "saving" Lixin (the kid he bullies and steals lunch from every day) from Blue Condor he demands all the money Lixin has on him as payment. He's not courageous or selfless either at the start, Kenan is as much of an opposite of Superman as you can get short of being Bizarro. Learning the appeal of these traits formed the basis for his growth over the course of his series.

Seeing Yang bring in a lot of recognizable "Superman" elements in the series, but with a twist, was also great. Kenan is the one who bullies "Luo Lixin" rather than the traditional Clark/Lex friendship of Pre-Crisis and Birthright. Initially Kenan develops a crush on intrepid reporter for Primetime Shanghai, Laney Lan, but she dismisses him as too young and Kenan eventually ends up pursuing Avery Ho (Flash) instead. Baxi the Bat-Man of China has a similar relationship with Kenan as the traditional Superman/Batman in terms of being vitriolic best buds, however Baxi is the one who has the most respect for authority while Kenan is the rebel. Kenan is a part of the "Justice League of China" which does not meet with the approval of the already established Chinese superheroes, the Great Ten. That contrasts nicely with the good relationship the Justice Society and Justice League have, as well as seeing Yang lampshade the "Chinese copy" trope and incorporate that into his storytelling.

One of the funniest differences is how Kenan chooses to immediately reveal his identity as Super-Man to the world by taking off the compliance visor he was forced to wear, contrasting with Clark's choice to hide his identity. He was so eager to impress people that he never gave any thought to the danger he could put himself or his family in by revealing his identity until it was too late, something Clark is well aware of and has taken great pains to keep his identity secret. Was a missed opportunity for DC to have Kenan comment on Clark copying him for once when he outed himself under Bendis.

But one of the most poignant differences between Clark and Kenan is the gulf in separation between their relationship with their parents. Clark has a loving relationship with Ma and Pa Kent, trying to live up to their lessons as best he can. In contrast Kenan's mom was believed to have died in an airplane crash when he was just a child, and he never really knew her. His father was distant from him after that and the two weren't really close despite Kenan's attempts to impress him. So Kenan lacks that strong connection while still clearly loving both of them.

Pa Kent's death is one of the most tragic examples of Clark's love for his parents, and I've always been a fan of takes where Clark promises his father to fight for the powerless on Pa's deathbed. Kenan gets a similar scene at the start of his career, his dad "dies" (after being exposed as Flying General Dragon, a pro-democracy "supervillain" from the Chinese authorities perspective) and wants Kenan to promise he'll fight for Truth, Justice, and Democracy. But because Kenan's dad never really bonded with him, Kenan doesn't know what those mean, and can only promise that he never wants to see people die, something his father takes comfort in at least. In classic comic book fashion it's revealed that Dr. Omen, Kenan's "boss" and the one who gave him his powers, saved Kenan's father, because she is Kenan's mother! Kenan's relationship with his parents forms a lot of the crux of his character arc, and seeing how Yang utilizes the classic Superman concept of family kept the storytelling exciting.

Yang's brilliant exploration of the concept of "Superman" through the prism of Chinese culture was a great way to differentiate Kenan as well.

I absolutely freaking love how he tied to the concept of Qi to the S-shield in particular. Connecting the shape of the shield with the way Kenan has acquired his powers along the path of the Bagua (eight trigrams used in Taoism that represent the fundamental principles of reality), with his octagon S-shield outline representing all eight principles together, was mindblowing! So was the idea of restricting Kenan's access to his powers unless he was actually acting in a Superman manner, that tied his character growth to his power growth in an entertaining manner. There were so many characters and concepts that meshed Chinese and DC lore together, like how Emperor Super-Man was Kenan's "Doomsday", they even recreated that iconic dual kill shot! The Chinese Wonder Woman Peng Deilan, being based on the Chinese Legend of the White Snake! There was even some Korean mythology referenced with the Aqua-Man member of the JLC "Dragonson".

Yang also managed to do a Superman Blue/Superman Red story with Super-Man Yin/Super-Man Yang!

Shameful that it took me a while to realize what Gene Yang was doing but once I caught on I was touched. You can tell how much Yang loved Superman and his mythology, and how he was excited to incorporate as much from Clark as he could, while still using it in a way that was solidly Kenan's. And not just Superman's mythology, but the history and lore of the entire DC Universe. I-Ching got to be brought in, fleshed out, and used as Kenan's mentor! The "Yellow Peril" villain from Detective Comics #1, the comic DC gets its name from was brought in and revamped as I-Ching's twin brother All-Yang! Hats off to Yang for taking a racist caricature and attempting to make him into something more.

This series was a beautiful attempt by Gene Yang to build a space for Asian heroes and villains where they could be more than stereotypes, Kenan himself being a defiant mold-breaker in every regard as the complete opposite of most Asian characters in Western media (a jock, a bully, loves his dad but not on great terms with him, a powerhouse as a hero, etc). So much thought and hard work was poured into this by Yang and his team of artist collaborators.

Especially the costumes, man Kenan had so many great looks. From his starting outfit (which is my favorite Superman variant not worn by Clark himself), to the one with the Yin/Yang shield he acquired later on, to his Super-Man Yin & Super-Man Yang outfits, Kenan looked damn cool. Part of me is bummed they didn't go with the Chinese character shield they toyed around with, but I loved how Yang used the "s-shield" as a plot point, so I'm not too broken up over it.

All that great work Yang did to build that space up has been more or less forgotten sadly. It was nice to see Kenan in the DC Asian Month Celebration issue. Avery is going to be in Justice Incarnate at least (unsurprising considering she was created by Williamson). So fucking bummed that Superman Family Adventures cartoon didn't happen, they were going to have Kenan and John Henry Irons in it! Would've been a dream come true for me to see Irons in animation again, and Kenan making the jump to outside media! Maybe that would've encouraged DC to let Yang keep writing New Super-Man, or at least encouraged them to use him elsewhere instead of allowing him fall into Limbo.

Unfortunately I'm not sure what the future holds for Kenan. Jon is being pushed as Clark's replacement in the comics, with DC keeping all the other contenders such as Kon benched. Calvin is leading the Justice Incarnate team likely due to the upcoming Coates reboot that will make Clark black. Val will probably get something once Taylor leaves Jon's book or once they officially announce the HBO Max show is happening. So where does that leave Kenan, my new favorite PoC legacy hero? Currently my only hope is that Yang is working on something for DC involving him. Yang left Batman/Superman, where I was hoping to see a Baxi/Kenan team up, to go work on "exciting other opportunities" per his Twitter. So fingers crossed that there's something in the works for Kenan!

One day I hope he gets his day in the sun again.

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

Do you believe in magic?

@djdraws20

⏳🎆🎪

Apologies for the delay on writing this one!

A-Yuan watches with fascination as acrobats all but fly through the air, performing all sorts of tricks to the beat of the music. The audience claps in time with the beats - and he would too, if he wasn't holding a large thing of popcorn and his favorite juice.

"A-die, look, look!" He all but shouts, pointing to a pair walking a very thin tightrope together. "It's the Yiling Siblings!"

Lan Wangji's eyes follow the pair as they leap and catch one another in a succession of masterful movements. Their outfits glimmer in the colorful lights, and they look - mythical, almost. No wonder they've become so famous, their skill is unlike anything Lan Wangji has seen before. They move effortlessly through the air as if it's in their blood, and Lan Wangji understands why A-Yuan likes watching their shows so much. They're hypnotizing.

The ring master announces the end of their act and people clap and cheer so loudly it's nearly deafening - but before they exist the ring, they bow to the audience and twirl, rushing to the backstage as the lights go out.

"And now..." the ring master says, his voice booming through the audio system, as the lights dim until there's barely silvers puncturing the darkness, "...the star of the show, the one whose very name seeds terror in the hearts of people across the land and sea... the Yiling Patriarch!"

Lights shine red through the darkness and a figure emerges, draped in black, flowing robes, hair dancing in the fanned air. He raises a hand, and the lights brighten - the audience gasps and woos at the appearance of the man, whose figure is surrounded by black wisps of smoke.

He smiles, confident and beautiful and much younger than he appeared to be in the recordings on YouTube - and raises one of his hands, the wisps of smoke dancing together to create a moving pillar of darkness.

He repeats the gesture as the audience claps, and he's bracketed by them as he slowly levitates off the ground, and from within the glimmering lapels of his robes, produces his trademark item: the Stygian Tiger Amulet. Dark smoke envelopes it, and then the entire ring until there's nothing to be seen.

The audience watches, mute with wonder.

In a rush, the smoke disperses to reveal the Yiling Patriarch has conjured a black dragon from the smoke, and lazily lounges on it as its eyes glimmer red just like his master's. From near the very top of the circus tent, he flies over the audience just enough to get them excited, before the Amulet glows red and appears to be absorbing all the smoke back inside, the Yiling Patriarch daintily floating down in the center of the ring.

The lights dim again, and for a moment, it's only his piercing red eyes that the audience sees before the tent comes alive with fireworks - or what appear to be fireworks at least. There is no smoke, but the colorful lights bloom in all sorts of shapes and colors, and by the time that's done, the Yiling Patriarch has already left the ring.

The ring master announces the end of the show, and the attendees walk through the exits, all raving about how amazing it had been. How could the Yiling Patriarch do all those tricks? What kind of special effects was he using? Nobody else in the industry does it quite like him, there must be something super high tech going on behind the scene for sure!

A-Yuan munches on his popcorn as he talks Lan Wangji's ears off about how cool the show was and how much he wishes he could just meet-

"Well, if you want to meet me, I'm right here." A new voice joins in, and the two turn around to see the Yiling Patriarch in the flesh, wearing a much lighter version of the robes he donned in his performance. Lan Wangji can see he's actually - very attractive, to put it mildly. But then again-

"It's really you! You're really so, so cool!" A-Yuan all but shouts and launches himself at the man in a big hug. "How do you do all that stuff? Is it real magic?"

The Yiling Patriarch bends down and ruffles the kid's hair. "What do you think?"

"I think it's magic! It has to be!"

The Yiling Patriarch smiles, soft, and Lan Wangji feels his heart rate pick up. "You're right. It is magic. I can't tell you any more, though, it's a secret. If I do, then I won't be able to ever use it again."

"Oh, no, don't tell me, I wanna see you again! I really love when you do the smoke dragon, but the snake is also really awesome!"

"A devoted little fan, are you?"

"I watch all your shows with A-Die! He likes you too!"

The Yiling Patriarch stands up and looks over at Lan Wangji, a controlled expression on his face, "Long time no see... Lan Zhan."

"Mn. Wei Ying."

A-Yuan is somewhere between shocked and scandalized. "You two know each other?!"

"Distantly." The Yiling Patriarch responds, and A-Yuan is too little to understand the hurt and betrayal behind that simple word.

Lan Wangji looks away.

"Um, mister Wei Ying, can I maybe meet the siblings too?" A-Yuan tries, seeing the two emerge from the circus tent.

As if awoken from a dream, Wei Ying smiles and nods, and the child excitedly runs up to the two with a flurry of questions.

"Wei Ying, I-"

"Save it. It's been a long time ago. Lifetimes ago." His phone rings and he all too eagerly brushes past Lan Wangji. "Excuse me."

Lan Wangji doesn't dare watch him go.