#wanting to fuck ouyang so bad it makes him look stupid

[macbethisms]

underrated thing about wang baoxiang is how utterly pathetic he is. intentionally provokes his brother every time they interact because having esen be mad at him for something he did on purpose is easier than being vulnerable and then is like how could esen think i hate him :(( goes around rolling his eyes at all these Idiots who don't consider the Needs of the Common Folk and then gets grossed out whenever a servant dares to speak to him. constantly thinking about Hot Men Exercising and how much they all want to fuck each other probably. hasn't emotionally matured past the age of fifteen (he is twenty-three). thinks of himself as a Character instead of a person so much that he gets surprised whenever the things he did for their narrative significance have actual real consequences. while being quite literally haunted by a specter of his own guilt is like hm what could this mean. well time to not sleep for another 36 hours. kills people and then throws up about it and then goes off to kill more people because surely this is the one that will fix everything right. wants to be punished for what he's done because it's the closest he can get to admitting he feels remorse. looks for his brother everywhere but only ever finds himself.

which of course culminates with him stalking miserably through the hallways looking for someone to be mad at because there needs to be someone else responsible for making his life suck but there isn't anymore because no one has power over him anymore. and he can't go back but tries to convince himself that he doesn't want to because he also needs to see himself as being In Control of Everything That's Ever Happened to Him. he wanted it all along and he likes it here actually. and he won fratricide chicken and got himself tortured and tried to show mercy and did every evil dishonorable thing and now he just has to live with it all forever. loser!!!!

[gothark]

Books I've read in July 2024

And what I thought about them:

The Husky And His White Cat Shizun Vol 1 - I looked at a problematic person and said 'yes, you. i will keep you' no joke though I breezed through this one, so invested like wdym????

5 Stars

The Borrow a Boyfriend Club - literally based on 'what if everyone was a stereotype' and I really wanted the characters to be more than that? and they were, but all that got added was that they were all fucking mean

DNF

The Sky Blues - really didn't like it at the beginning but I didn't want to DNF another book right away so I continued and I think I liked it more at the end? Might just have taken me hostage instead though. Cheesy.

3.75 Stars

Tadek and the Princess - Follow up Novella to 'A Taste of Gold and Iron' and it made me bawl my eyes out. i was ugly sobbing, such a good exploration of grief and not allowing yourself to feel that grief. chefs kiss.

5 Stars

The Lightning-Struck Heart - I just couldn't get into this one. Maybe me and T.J. Klune just don't mix but this kind of humor goes from kinda funny to really fucking annoying in like 4 chapters.

DNF

Reforged - I just got over A Taste of Gold and Iron and this punted me right back into it, very similar feel but also different? I dunno how to explain it but if you liked one of these you will probably like the other one too. This just missed that slight spark to make it amazing.

4.75 Stars

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories - Jesus fucking Christ. Like. WHAT. I hated this, this is legit the worst book I've ever read. If you like stories that sexualise the abuse of women at the hands of men in literally every single story this is the book for you. Maybe I'm just stupid but none of these stories gave women any agency, everything was just done TO them. Hard no. Gross.

0.25 Stars

She Who Became The Sun - Holy Shit. My beloved. Actually just my favorite fucking book ever. Like Shelley??? Hello??? How did you write this masterwork? Still can't decide if Zhu or Ouyang is my beloved (it's Ouyang) Pls, everyone read this. i'm keeping the second book in the series for dark times.

5 Stars

The Past Is Red - It was fine? I didn't like the guy, whatever his name was, i didn't like the rift between the silly names for things and the at times really horrific things going on?? the reveal at the end felt kind of cheap and unbelievable.

2.25 Stars

MADK Vol 1 - Insane? like... wtf did I just read? homoerotic cannibalism the manga. i was intrigued though and the art is really pretty??? (help)

4 Stars

MADK Vol 2 - i have no clue what's going on anymore, i'm just here for the ride. things are happening and my last brainvell has left the chat

4 Stars

The Fragile Threads of Power - CONFLICTED. I liked it? the world is really interesting? the problem was the 50 different pov's and that i really like some of those characters and really disliked others. i was also a little confused at the beginning because this was the first book i read in this universe (which you totally can do, everything you might be missing gets explained)

4.25 Stars

Herald of the Witch's Mark - i thought this was the last book in the series but it wasn't and i was lowkey so glad to be finished with the series because we have a serious love/hate relationship going on. i'm also just not the biggest fae person I've realised. oopsies.

3 Stars

Red Rising - my god, this is so good. completely changes it's vibe like halfway into the book and i'm all for it??? darrow is fucking insane, batshit crazy. this man will lead me to an early grave and I will THANK HIM FOR IT. he is my favorite frat bro who does murder in space. right after she who became the sun in my fave book rankings.

5 Stars

The Lightning Thief - I read the first five books once as a child and man this just hit such a good nostalgia spot, it also has none of the bad taste that harry potter does and this was just such a nice and easy read. like a nice rainy day in a warm blanket. would recommend.

5 Stars

The Extraordinaries - I actually started reading this at the end of 2023 and that should basically say everything. So technically this is my first TJ Klune, not Lightning-Struck Heart but I gave up on it after. Microwaving a cricket to make it radioactive to gain super powers was just too much. also the main character? felt kind of offensive if he was supposed to be a character with autism because no way in hell would any real person actually be like this

DNF

A Darker Shade of Magic - We have the problem here, I like the world but the pov characters are the ones I did not like in Threads of Power (lila) i'm sorry, i just don't vibe with her personally overall a good book though?

4 Stars

Shadow and Bone - man it just took too long to get to the reveal, once again i didn't really vibe with any of the characters (except for mal) and i want to punt the Darkling to the dark side of the moon

3.75 Stars

The Sea of Monsters - what can I say? i'm a sucker for greek mythology so this is just really my thing and it's just such a nice break to take between other books, also the twist at the end? i love that shit lol

5 Stars

Firefly Lane - so this book was basically taking the blueprint for the life of the typical midwest, american white women (maybe a little extra shitty life) and it's this book. it feels like going down a check list. young girls getting sexually assaulted? check. young girls getting with older men? getting pregnant when it wasn't planned? having a miscarriage? getting married to the guy who liked your best friend before he liked you? surprise twins? (being a bad mom lol) but that works for some people, just not really some gay guy who thinks marriage and children are kind of icky (personally, for me) also the parts where it was heavily implied that the one women was only unhappy because she had her dream job but no husband or children??? so ew. the ending got me though because cancer runs in the family. oh also just way too fucking long. needs to be like 40% shorter, so boring for so much of the time

3.5 Stars

[llycaons]

ep44 (2/2): not that I like him but the antagonism towards su she seems a little classist

why did wwx terrify children for fun lol. more importantly, why did wen ning go along with it? he seemed intentionally intimidating. I don't think he wants to be seen that way

anyway wwx bemoaning the fact that he can't strike fear into children's hearts is so funny. like he doesn't want to be blamed for everything going wrong but he DOES want to be seen and respected and maybe even feared for his power. and actually I get that. he is super powerful and he's been disrespected by the kids for weeks

oh yeah, again they have the same skin tone BUT lwj is shinier. must have something to do with the lighting or makeup

omg my favorite minor character, Female Cultivator With Dirt on Her Face. you can tell she's an antagonist because of the. because of the dirt

aww I forgot this. good old ozz, standing up for wwx. jgy's plan was quite bad honestly because if he starts shit and blames wwx then all wwx has to do is show up to prove his innocence by saving the kids. saving children is the number one way to rehabilitate your image. also sect leader ouyang's hanfu is tight as fuck

CLASSIC NHS LINE

who tf is this and why is he named. who cares. would be funnier if we wasn't named

aw sweet we got a visual of lwj standing with wwx against the world. well, another one

SWEET hanfu my leige

wwx shouting and pointing at the jins: THERE CAN'T BE ANYONE ELSE!!! LOOK!!! THEY'RE THE BAD GUYS!!!

this section of the show always felt kind of awkward and pointless to me. just a lot of people yelling and wwx not liking it very much and also lwj is there

uh oh. that wwx expression...oof. when you still really care about someone even though they've hurt you really badly and don't want anything to do with you and you feel guilty for what happened between you but you also can't stand how they treat you. and they're bleeding in front of you. anyway he jumps in to protect him

lqr too! lwj jumps right in as defense. I don't think his relationship with lqr is actually too complex. lwj doesn't deal well in vagueness or uncertainty. he defied his uncle and will do so again, and certainly disagrees with him about things, but he still respects him and cares about him as an elder and as his uncle

and look...a wen saving them. the irony

locked in a room with no spiritual energy and the yiling laozu, who says this to you. everyone's worst nightmare

nhs is bleeding?! I don't know if we've EVER seen that. he keeps out of danger pretty well

also, he's pushing the narrative into wwx's hands.

THIS TO SU SHE 😭 he's so polite too with his 'allow me to ask a question' then so rude even if unintentionally lmao

rly embodying the teacher role here.

lwj's love language is acts of violence, as petty a misuse of power it may be. you know that quote from bottoms? it's so them

lqr either likes ljy or hates ss because ljy did NOT quiet down about criticizing the su sect and he's right next to lqr and only lsz chastised him

okay I do not like su she but the fact that people hate him for 'copying the lans' is so fucking stupid. if he wants to found his own sect, what else is he going to do? he has the skills the lans taught him, of course that's his basis. in criticizing him so harshly, the lans come off as petty and really insecure for a rich and established clan. and this in the screenshot...THEY started in on HIM. the man was just defending himself. as soon as he complains about the disrespect, suddenly they're all 'well we have to be civil!' I swear this series makes really good point about classism with wwx but then it turns around and uncritically reinforces gentry hatred of lower classes by making characters like su she jealous antagonists who just aren't good enough to respect

anywayt. I always liked how wwx turns his back on everyone to ask lwj something. he gets all quiet and intimate

ohhh neat idiom

I love wwx verbally demolishing antagonists so much. he's that bitch

this is smart tho. like this is what I'm saying. granted betraying the sect was bad but he was a teenager and like he's shat on and disrespected for his entire life for not being very talented or original I guess when I KNOW there's gotta be untalented cultivators in other wealthy sects that still have a place in the cultivation world. but like he's SMART he figured that this would work and it DID.

here's nhs pushing the narrative for wwx again, helpfully verbalizing his thought process so everyone else gets it quicker.

personal highlights:

lwj's smiles in the very beginning of this episode were so nice

mm family <3

wwx's radiant gorgeous smile when looking at toys with lwj

wwx's moment remembering the wens, and his decision to let the past go with that beautiful scene of letting the dirt pour out

Lady with Dirt on Her Face my favorite minor antagonist

all the gathered cultivators' sick threads

wwx's 'why don't we have a chat' and his polite rudeness and his teaching voice

nhs nudging things along

everyone like 'noooo don't be divisive' once su she starts insulting the lans after first BEING insulted by them. come on guys

[lotusjwy]

"Just leave me ALONE" for Xicheng? Preferably if LXC says it JC? Preferably in public or in front of wangxian and the juniors ? E.g. JC is the only one, who notices LXC is having a bad day and he more or less subtlely tries to get him to talk ? But LXC tries to be fine cause he is out of seclusion so he can't still have bad days'?

But if you have another idea do that! no pressure ! Thanks in advance !

hello there, the way this is so specific has been killing me for DAYS 😂  I had to send screenshots to my friend bc of how specific it is dude, like I love that you know exactly what you want bc it makes my brain not have to work as hard, but BRO dskjfhkasd why do u like to see my boy suffer So much 😭😭😭 

i hope this lives up to ur expectations!!! 🥰

It had been a long day. A long and tiring day, so if he lost his temper, he couldn’t be blamed, right? He just wanted to go back home and play the flute, perhaps sleep a little, but he was absolutely done with spending time with everyone else. So, why did he find himself still in the company of so many people? Why was he still sitting here with Wangji, Wei Wuxian, Jiang Wanyin and a handful of juniors? Why?

This was all Wei Wuxian’s fault, he was the one that insisted everyone spend more time together. Xichen already saw plenty of Wei Wuxian, Wangji, Sizhui and Jingyi, as well as often seeing Jiang Wanyin and Jin Rulan, due to sect business. If anything, the only person here that Lan Xichen rarely saw was Ouyang Zizhen, and it wasn’t as if he’d spent much of the day speaking to him.

Jiang Wanyin had taken it upon himself to seat himself down next to Lan Xichen, talking to him, hoping that he could get to the root of why the other had been acting differently. “You’ve been quiet all day, which is completely fine, I get that. Sometimes everyone is a bit too much to handle, but Wei Wuxian insists on family bonding, whatever the fuck that me-”

And he just would not stop talking, he’d been talking for so long, all day, when would he stop. “Just leave me alone. You keep speaking to me as if I’ve shown any indication that I wish to continue this conversation. You’re quick to call Wei Wuxian a chatterbox and an annoyance, yet have you ever looked inward?!” When he was met with a stunned silence, he realised something was incredibly wrong.

Oh. Oh no. He had said that out loud, hadn’t he? Well, he couldn’t take it back now, and he had wanted to be left alone. It wasn’t his fault Jiang Wanyin wasn’t taking the hint. Xichen did feel a little bad, when he saw the hurt expression on lJiang Cheng’s face, that abruptly was wiped from his face, only to be replaced by a blank face.

“Apologies, Zewu-jun. I appear to have overstepped.” He stood and gave the other a stiff bow, before leaving the room, not looking or speaking to anyone, feeling thoroughly embarrassed.  

Wei Wuxian stood awkwardly after his brother had left the room, wanting to follow him out, but knowing that the other probably wanted to be alone right now. He also knew that he shouldn’t be the one going to ensure he was okay, “Xichen-ge…”

“I am aware, no need to scold me.” Lan Xichen’s voice was terse, knowing that everyone in the room was staring at him in shock, possibly all wanting to scold him for his behaviour.

“Jiujiu was only trying to make sure that you were okay. Talking helps sometimes, you know. He rarely reaches out to people like that, but he did to you.” Everyone here knew his uncle’s temper, just as well as they knew how much he cared, if anyone here didn’t know that, then they shouldn’t be here. They didn’t belong here.

Lan Sizhui put a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder, “Jin Ling, should you be saying this here?” He knew that Jin Ling was cross with Zewu-jun, but he didn’t want the other saying anything that he may regret later on.

“It’s nothing everyone here doesn’t already know about him.” He scoffed out, his voice dripping with disdain towards Sect Leader Lan. How dare he take his uncle’s kindness for granted.

Xichen tuned out the remainder of the conversation, thinking about the mess he had put himself in. It wasn’t that he disliked Jiang Wanyin, quite the opposite actually, and yet here he was near yelling at him in front all of their friends and family. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been stuck in his thoughts before he realised that he was being spoken to by Jin Rulan again.

“Well? Are you just going to sit here and wallow in your stupid misery, or are you going to go apologise?” There was a fiercely protective look in the younger’s eyes, showing that he’d physically fight the other, even if it meant losing, for his uncle’s honour.

“Jin Ling!” Wei Wuxian sent a sharp look to the younger, inwardly cursing that Jin Ling seemed to have inherited his mother’s fierce protective nature. He felt the same, but he also had the sense of knowing that saying everything you felt could backfire on you within seconds.

“Don’t get mad at me for being mad at him! He was being an assh-” the rest of whatever he was going to say being smothered by Lan Jingyi’s hand, which was conveniently blocking any other derogatory words that Jin Ling may want to speak.

“Alright, alright, young mistress, it’s okay. Let’s calm down now. He’ll go apologise now.” Lan Jingyi gave his sect leader a pointed look, as if telling him that if he didn’t leave to go find Sect Leader Jiang right now, then he would release his friend and let him unleash his full anger at him.

With a stiff nod, Lan Xichen left towards the direction Jiang Wanyin had stalked off to. He found the other leaning on a tree, staring up at the sky, seemingly lost in thought. He slowly approached the other, contemplating how to best bring attention to himself.

“I-” He jumped slightly, when he was cut off, not realising that Jiang Cheng had even noticed him approaching.

“Save it. No need to apologise, I know you were bullied out here.” His voice blunt and to the point, void of any emotion, as if he were trying to protect himself. 

Xichen was stunned silent, not knowing how to respond to that. He had been told to come apologise, so it wasn’t as if he could refute that. “Oh.”

Jiang Cheng sighed and shook his head. He had guessed that his nephew and brother had made the other come out here and apologise, but he was hoping that Lan Xichen had wanted to come out on his own accord. Evidently not. And why should he? It’s not as if Jiang Cheng was someone that was important to Lan Xichen. All he’d done was annoy him today.

Lan Xichen walked closer to the other, offering him an apologetic look, “whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong.”

“I find that hard to believe.” How could he be wrong, when all signs pointed to his conclusions? He’d been annoying, when he hadn’t intended to be. He’d been compared to Wei Wuxian of all people.

“I’m sorry.”

And for what it was worth, he did sound very apologetic, but Jiang Cheng didn’t seem to believe it. “I said save it.”

“You did. However, I do genuinely mean it.” Xichen looked at the other, focusing on how the other was mindlessly fidgeting with Zidian. I’m making him uncomfortable. “I was told to come out and find you, yes, but I would have apologised on my own. I wouldn’t have left it li-”

“Don’t worry, Sect Leader Lan, I won’t let this hinder our sect relations. I’m not so petty so as to do anything that was affect either of our sects, for a personal matter.” Jiang Cheng cut off Lan Xichen, yet again, seemingly realising why the other had gone out of his way to come out to apologise.

“That’s not-” Lan Xichen was beginning to grow very sick of being cut off midsentence.

“I won’t interfere with any of the trade agreements we have existing already, nor any that we may broker in the future.” Jiang Cheng was rambling now, thinking of anything he could, to ensure Lan Xichen that he didn’t want their sects to fall out with each other. “Oh, we were discussing having our junior disciples have an excha-”

“Would you shut up?” If the other would just stop sprouting out useless information, this conversation could end less painfully than it needs to be, instead Jiang Wanyin seemed to want to draw it out.  

Jiang Cheng blinked in shock, his mouth falling open. That was the second time he’d made Lan Xichen burst out in anger like that. Wow, he must really hate me.

“If you would just let me speak! I do not dislike you, nor do I think that this should affect our sects standings with each other.” Xichen’s voice was strained, as he struggled to keep his frustrations with Jiang Wanyin at bay.

Jiang Cheng simply nodded in response, “of course not.”

“You don’t believe me.” Disbelief coating his voice, he stared at the other with narrowed eyes.

“I…” he struggled to find a way to word this, without being insulting or rude, “I believe that you do not wish this to affect our sect standings. Nor do I.”

“But you believe that I dislike you.” He put it bluntly, not enjoying the circles they were seeming to go in this conversation.

With a shrug, he nodded. There wasn’t much else he could say on it, it’s not as if he could make his own beliefs go away with the snap of a finger.

“And nothing I say could convince you otherwise?” Xichen was close to losing it at the other again, not knowing how to change the direction of this conversation. “Not even our past relationship with each other, prior to this evening?”

“Sect Leader Lan is a kind man. He gives chances to those who do not deserve them. I simply overstepped my boundaries tonight.” Jiang Cheng was looking up at the moon, his voice void of any emotion as he spoke.  

With a sigh, Lan Xichen moved to stand in front of the other, needing to capture his attention somehow. “And sometimes he simply has bad days, that have nothing to do with those around him.” He said it lightly, but his face showed that he was being serious. It really had been a bad day that had come an unfortunate end.

“But I didn’t help.”

“No, you didn’t. But I should have verbalised that, instead of ignored you.” Thinking about it for a moment, he added on something else, “which is why you kept speaking to me. Other times your company and conversation has kept me from my bad days, it was only safe for you to believe that it would be okay today. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Hmm.” He only hummed in response, as if he didn’t want to accept that he played no fault in the situation.  

“I don’t know what else I can do to convince you otherwise. I promise you that we are okay. As long as you can forgive me for speaking to you like that.” Right. Apologising was what he’d come out here to do in the first place.

Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes and looked at the other incredulously, “of course I forgive you, I was being fucking annoying and sticking my nose where it didn’t belong.”

Lan Xichen shook his head almost immediately, “I’d argue out of everyone we’ve been with today, it is  a place where you are welcome to stick your nose into. I should have communicated that I wanted silence, it wasn’t your fault.”

When Jiang Cheng didn’t respond, Xichen sighed and nodded, “fine, I can see that this will take some time to move past. But can we do that? Forget about tonight, learn to better communicate with each other? A relationship wouldn’t be possible otherwise.” He quickly turned away from the other, choosing to stare up at the sky, instead of seeing the disbelief on Jiang Cheng’s face at what he had just said. He had more or less confessed his feelings.

Jiang Cheng’s eyes widened in shock as he processed what he had just heard, his cheeks beginning to burn at the implications. He coughed into his fist, “uh, yes. We can do that.”

[trensu]

Episode 46: The One with All the Yunmeng Bros Angst

gross, ouyang and yao are talking. let’s ignore them!

blah blah plot plot blah

ooh thank god, wwx is now the one talking

being all detective-y and asking relevant questions

I LOVE MY SUNSHINE BOY WHEN HE'S BEING CLEVER

wwx makes some Plot Relevant Point and yao is like I DISAGREE bc ofc he fucking does

LOL WWX'S FACE WHEN YAO INTERRUPTS LIKE THAT

IT'S LIKE HE'S BITING DOWN ON HIS TONGUE TO NOT SNAP SOMETHING BACK

kudos to him on his self-control tbh but it's wasted on yao. 

wwx is all asking things like why are you ladies fessing up now, oh and btw that's a real neat bracelet you got there...

and then nhs is like, gee i wonder what kind of person would've sent these ladies here today

LOLOLOL NHS IS SUCH A TROLL OMG

and yao is like DETAILS DON'T MATTER, WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING ANYWAY LET'S GO MURDER FOR JUSTICE AGAIN

and everyone else is like, HEY, THIS LOUD GUY HAS A POINT LET'S GO MURDER

okay, they don't actually say anything about murder but they're harping about "justice" 

The last time they did that, it resulted in murder so i'm gonna go ahead and assume this time isn't any different

lwj: many skeptical points remain

THANK YOU, LWJ, FOR BEING SENSIBLE

oh, and i would like to point out that the crowd had been getting rowdy 

but the minute lwj interjected there they all fell silent

My guy didn't even raise his voice and was able to shut up a whole room full of people.

I LOVE YOU HANGUANG JUN

lqr: what are they?

wwx: SO MANY. 

wwx makes some Points and is like so we got some witnesses now but where's the HARD EVIDENCE GUYS??

and yao is like, whatever, we'll find it sooner or later now that we know THE TRUTH

and wwx's reaction lolol

it's like oh my god how stupid is this guy, that's not how it works, that's not how ANY of this works

I FEEL YOUR PAIN, WWX, I FEEL IT IN MY SOUL

ppl are blabbering Plot Stuff

i'm just gonna enjoy the occasional shots of wwx and lwj's beautiful faces

blah blah blah plot plot plot blah

gosh, my boys are so pretty

LOOK AT THEM BEING PRETTY, I LOVE THEM

(i say as the crowd devolves into vicious mob mentality)

wwx's had enough of this and turns to leave bc angry mobs are old news at this point

And we all know how he ended up last time there was an angry mob

but yao and some rando interrupt his exit as if they have ANY RIGHT to speak to my sunshine boy at all

Eventually we DO escape sword hall and the mob of stupid people and our boys are alone together wandering lotus pier!!!

they're reviewing Plot Info and bouncing ideas off each other and IT'S BEAUTIFUL, THEY'RE SO SMART AND IN LOVE

They determine that they don't have enough clues to say who the mysterious 3rd party is

but they def have enough evidence showing jgy murdered nmj and is generally an evil conniving bastard.

lwj mentions that he's going to send word to his brother to be careful since jgy is EVIL FOR SURE NOW.

oooh, our boys just came upon the jiang clan's ancestral shrine

wwx freezes, eyes red-rimmed and shiny, MY POOR SUNSHINE BOY

lwj: what's wrong?

ALL OF HIS ATTENTION IS GLUED TO WWX'S EVERY MOVE ALL THE TIME, ISN'T IT??

SEE HOW INTENTLY HE LOOKS AT WWX??

me too, lan zhan, me too

wwx: nothing. it's the ancestral hall of the jiang clan

he says this softly, like it hurts to acknowledge it or smth

lwj: do you want to enter?

wwx: no

WHICH IS A BLATANT LIE

EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM IS SCREAMING HOW MUCH HE WANTS TO GO IN THERE

they make to turn away and pause for a moment, during which wwx looks back at the shrine longingly

cut to the next scene where we see wwx burning some incense sticks in the shrine

AND OUR BOYS BOW TOGETHER  3x TO M-YU, JFM, AND JYL

wwx greets his deceased loved ones solemnly

wwx: it's me. i'm here to disturb you again.

idk about m-yu and jfm, BUT JYL WOULD NEVER THINK WWX'S PRESENCE WAS A DISTURBANCE

now wwx is telling lwj about how he used to spend a ton of time in that shrine bc m-yu would punish him by sending him there to, idk, reflect on his sins before the ancestors or smth

and lwj is like, yeah, i heard about that

then wwx comments on how he's never met a woman as irritable as m-yu, and how she punished him for trifles all the time

then he laughs bashfully and says "my fault, my fault" and bows another 3x bc omg wwx you can't speak ill of the dead, especially not at their shrine

this is a nice moment between them so far, actually. 

it's nice to hear wwx reminisce in a way that's not 100% painful

and the fact that he's sharing these little bits of inconsequential info with lwj, his soulmate, is just very sweet to me

lwj: won't you tell jc?

wwx: idk. at least not yet

lwj: after all, you two are sworn brothers

it's nice of lwj to acknowledge that, without any sort of rancor in his tone, considering how much he does not care for jc (to put it mildly)

wwx: since the misunderstanding between us is so deep, it's not that easy to solve

HE SOUNDS SO RESIGNED, AND THE LITTLE SMILE THAT FLASHED BRIEFLY THERE WAS JUST SO SAD

and then he's like, besides, I created Plot Device 2, regardless of whether or not jgy ended up using it to make Plot Device 3

UH OH, HERE COMES JC

jc: wei wuxian

OH GOD, CAN HE PACK ANY MORE BITTERNESS AND VENOM INTO THAT NAME??

wwx stands immediately when he hears jc call, he doesn't look at him tho

lwj stands a beat after as jc enters the shrine

jc: you still take yourself as one of the jiang clan? come and go at any time you like, then bring people here when you wish. Do you remember whose house this is? who's the owner?

YIKES

THAT ONE HURT.

and wwx just takes it

wwx: i didnt take hanguang jun to any confidential places in Lotus Pier. i just brought him here to offer some incense to clan leader jiang and madam yu.

he's so submissive here and not even in a fun way

it’s in his posture and tone of voice, even in how he still doesn't look directly at jc...it makes me sad

wwx: we're leaving

He tries to retreat bc he def doesn't want this this confrontation to happen 

jc: you really should kneel down to them, for coming to their presence to destroy the view and ruin their quiet.

DOUBLE YIKES. 

that one hurt EVEN MORE

and lwj, who had been following wwx's lead and staying quiet, intervenes

lwj: clan leader jiang, pay attention to your words

oh boy if looks could kill, jc would be dead as a doornail

he's like HURT MY SOULMATE AGAIN, I DARE YOU. JUST GIVE ME A REASON AND I WILL STRIKE YOU DOWN

which is pretty gutsy since jc is higher ranked than him, technically, as clan leader. 

AND they're both in jc's domain rn!

jc: what did you say? i think someone else needs to watch his behavior

he's glaring at wwx's back and he's got a mean twist to his mouth that would be a smile if it weren't so cruel

jc: you have already been kicked out of our family. how dare you enter and face my parents and my sister?

STOP HURTING MY SUNSHINE BOY

wwx is just accepting this. he's just accepting all these cruel things with his eyes downcast and submissive

BC IT HURTS AND HE BELIEVES HE DESERVES IT

lwj: jiang wanyin

HOLY SHIT

lwj fucking HISSED that name

and he took a VERY MENACING step towards jc

MY GUY

MY GUY, YOU CAN'T ATTACK A CLAN LEADER

ESPECIALLY NOT IN HIS OWN HOME

LIKE, I TOTALLY GET WHY YOU'D WANT TO RN, AND, Y'KNOW, I'M NOT THE MOST POLITICALLY SAVVY PERSON AROUND

BUT THIS JUST SEEMS LIKE A BAD IDEA ALL AROUND

thank god wwx is there

wwx stops him, pressing the palm of his hand into lwj's torso (!!!!!)

wwx: lan zhan. lan zhan, let's go

he practically whispers this, head bent down, AGAIN SUPER SUBSERVIENT

but jc is looking for a fight and he's not letting go until he gets one, apparently

jc: go as far as you can. i don't want to see you AWFUL PEOPLE again before my dead family

wwx just halts in his steps.

he had been all prepared to go after taking that tongue lashing that he thinks he's earned, but at that he takes a deep, fortifying breath bc jc crossed a line

he purses his lips a moment before turning to finally face jc head on

wwx: jc, scold me as you like but not the others (aka LWJ)

oooh, but that was the wrong thing to say to jc right now bc jc goes off on a VERY PAINFUL rant

he's like, oh, i should be nice to lwj? don't you remember that MY PARENTS WERE KILLED AND LOTUS PIER FELL bc you just HAD to play hero and save lwj?? and it wasn't enough! you HAD to play hero and SAVE THE WENS too, which killed my sister!!

oh he's getting really mean here

he's like, how generous you are wwx! letting wn wander the entrance of lotus pier and letting lwj offer incense!!

the minute jc started his rant, wwx cast his eyes to the side, again just enduring everything jc is throwing at him

oh but now jc starts in on lwj again

he's like, lwj, the great second jade, ignoring his reputation to side with wwx, your brother and uncle must be so proud

wwx: JIANG WANYIN!

wwx shouts at him

he's shaky and almost panting here.

wwx: apologize this instant.

jc: apologize? why should i? bc i insulted your great friendship?

THIS WHOLE ENCOUNTER IS A SHIT SHOW AND IT HURTS.

wwx just loses it here and grabs jc by the collar of his robes and gives him a shake

wwx: ARE YOU DONE?

and jc is still the little brother, you know, so obvs he does not back down here, he's not intimidated at all

jc: LET'S FIGHT THEN. should i be afraid of you two?

wwx's breath is all shaky and he's trembling and he would've given into jc's demands for a fight anyway but then he sees jyl's nameplate

and he must remember how upset jyl would get every time they fought

ME TOO, JYL, ME TOO. I HATE THIS, I HATE THIS, MAKE IT STOP

so he lets go of jc and stumbles back. he's looking very weak right now AND I’M VERY CONCERNED

lwj, obvs, catches him by the arm when he stumbles

lwj: wei ying

wwx: lan zhan, let's go

lwj agrees and the two of them turn and leave the shrine, lwj still gripping wwx's arm and providing support bc wwx is NOT looking good what’s happening to my sunshine boy, somebody fix this RIGHT NOW

BUT JC IS LIKE A DOG WITH A BONE BC HE JUST STORMS AFTER THEM, HE WANTS HIS FIGHT

he freaking leaps across the little lotus pond and lands before them, blocking off their exit

he starts antagonizing wwx, and he grabs wwx by the collar now, and again, wwx just takes it BUT LWJ DOESN'T

lwj slams his hand around jc's wrist (the one that's grabbing wwx), WRAPPING HIS FINGERS AROUND JC'S ZIDIAN, EVEN

lwj: let him go

holy crap. Stone Cold. LWJ'S STARE IS STONE COLD, AND HE TIGHTENS HIS GRIP ON JC'S WRIST

god damn, if lwj ever looked at me like that, i'd drop to the ground and beg for forgiveness. i'd be scared witless

when jc makes no move to let go of wwx, lwj releases his wrist and hooks his arm under jc's forearm and shoves upward to FINALLY break jc's hold on wwx

wwx stumbles at the force of it and his nose starts to bleed

MY POOR PRECIOUS SUNSHINE BOY LOOKS SO WEAK AND OUT OF IT!!

lwj looks at him, eyes wide with worry

lwj: wei ying!

even jc looks concerned (i would even say scared, tbh)

wwx reaches up and wipes his nose; he's not steady on his feet AT ALL

wwx: lan zhan, let's go.

lwj: okay

and he immediately starts to leave, practically dragging wwx with him bc wwx is barely able to stand at this point

lol, lwj shoulder checks jc as they walk past him

but jc is a stubborn bastard and brings out zidian and whips at their retreating backs

brief moment here to admire how FREAKING COOL THE ZIDIAN IS OMG,  

*GRABBY HANDS* I WANT ONE OF MY OWN SO SO BAD. 

IT'S A SNAKE BRACELET!! 

THAT TURNS INTO A WHIP!! 

A PURPLE WHIP!!! OF LIGHTNING!!!!!! 

LITERALLY NO ASPECT OF THIS WEAPON IS UN-BADASS

so jc whips purple lightning at them but the hit never lands bc lwj swings his still-sheathed bichen and bats that attack away like nothing

but as he does that, wwx starts to fall

lwj spins around and AUDIBLY GASPS, eyes wide with worry again, as he watches wwx lose consciousness. 

he dives forward and catches his soulmate in his arms and cradles him gently

jc doesn't see this happen and swings right back with another lash but wn swoops in out of nowhere to take the hit instead. 

AND HERE WE'RE GONNA GET THE BIG REVEAL OH GOD I'M NOT READY

jc is all who let you in, how dare you?? and whips wn again

BUT WN WILL NOT STAY DOWN, NO SIR

HE'S GOT STUFF TO SAY AND BY GOD, HE'S GONNA SAY IT

he offers up suibian to jc but jc whips him and sends him flying again

Wn gets right back up goes back to offering the sword to jc, DEMANDING HE UNSHEATHE IT

AND IN A FIT OF FURY JC PULLS AT THE HANDLE AND SUIBIAN COMES FREE

SHOCK, UTTER SHOCK ON HIS AND LWJ'S FACES

(also YIKES jc nearly sliced out wn's eyes with the force of his unsheathing of siubian. he obvs didn't expect anything to come of him pulling at the handle)

GOLDEN CORE TRANSFER REVEAL!!

FLASHBACK to wn's part of the story

we see wn holding an unconscious jc and wq is telling wwx to come out from where he was hiding behind a convenient boulder

and we see wwx give the go ahead to start the golden core transfer

back to the present, jc looks like his whole world is a lie 

bc it kinda is

I'm still kinda mad that wwx never told him anything.

like, i get why he didn't and i sympathize but informed consent in medicine and surgery is kind of a big deal!

and then omg, we got a close up shot of lwj's face

his eyes are wide and shiny and his jaw is dropped open just a bit. HE IS SHAKEN TO THE CORE 

HAHAHA GET IT? THAT THING WWX DOESN’T HAVE ANYMORE?? Oh god i’m sorry that was AWFUL

he turns his gaze back to wwx, who is still resting gently in crook of his arm

i love the camera angle here btw

the scene is at a slant, with the white of bichen's handle, and the white of the flowering tree behind them filling all of the right side of the screen

it makes the dark bundle of wwx and the dark flow of lwj's hair more stark

the slant of it really emphasizes how the whole of lwj's attention is on the man in his arms

And how his whole world is off its axis at this revelation

god lwj is really just letting his whole heart pour out of his eyes as he watches wwx

jc and wn are arguing loudly in the background but lwj makes NO INDICATION of hearing ANY of it

now we get to watch the emotional confrontation between jc and wn

lwj finally looks back at them when wn starts reciting details that no one outside of jc would have known unless they were there themselves

another flashback as wn describes everything in excruciating detail

oh this line gets me every time

wn: the reason you thought it was repaired was because of my sister, the best doctor in the wen clan of qishan, Wen Qing

WN LOVES HIS SISTER SO MUCH. HE WAS SO PROUD OF HER 

AND HE LOST HER. HE DOESN'T HAVE HER ANYMORE

GOD DAMN IT, SHOW, LET THESE BOYS KEEP THEIR SISTERS

and now we go back to lwj, gazing soulfully at wwx and a single tear rolls down his cheek as it really hits him what exactly wwx did, what wwx gave up

wn is going off on jc, like, didn't he ever wonder why wwx never picked up the sword again?

wn looks hardcore here tbh. 

we cut back to lwj, who is now holding bichen tightly, and boy, he's got his jaw clenched so hard.

at least until he looks back down at wwx, and his mouth softens as more tears drip down his face

flashback to when jc first found wwx after the burial mounds, and a series of flashbacks of every time jc brought up wwx's lack of suibian and wwx brushing off his questions

THEY SHOULD'VE JUST TALKED IT OUT, MY GOD, THEY COULD’VE SPARED ME ALL THIS PAIN IF THEY JUST TALKED 

another flashback to that time that jc pushed wwx and wwx fell hard to the ground and jc thought he was just drunk

I AM DONE WITH THESE FLASHBACKS, THX. CAN WE NOT, ANYMORE? IT'S HURTING TOO MUCH

and we also keep getting shots of lwj's face, STREAKED WITH TEARS

HE'S GOT A TEARDROP ON THE TIP OF HIS NOSE

ALL OF THIS IS PAINFUL

PLEASE STOP

oooh, lwj's mouth twists into a firm scowl and he slams bichen on the ground with a loud CLANG

this is too much for him too! he's furious, he's had enough of hearing how wwx suffered for jc

so he scoops up wwx, carrying almost all of his weight, as he walks the both of them outta there

wn leaves suibian with jc and tells him to have anyone else try to unsheathe it if he doesn't believe him

jc doesn't want it. he doesn't want it at all.

he desperately wants it to be untrue

AND I CRY A RIVER FOR MY YUNMENG BROS

WE'RE ON A BOAT NOW

UNCONSCIOUS WWX SPREAD BACK, HELD LOVINGLY IN LWJ'S ARMS

Now we get some lwj & wn bonding time where they discuss a-yuan! (after lwj promises not to tattle on wn to wwx)

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!! WE'RE GETTING A FLASHBACK FROM LWJ

LWJ IS ENTERING WWX'S LAB CAVE THING, ALONE, FRANTICALLY SEARCHING FOR WWX

lwj: on that day, when the wen clan were captured and killed, i went to the burial mounds to seek wei ying but discovered a-yuan instead

we see him find a-yuan, who is unconscious and clammy. 

lwj immediately drops to his knees beside him and checks his wrist, then presses the back of his hand to a-yuan's forehead

oh, lwj's hand is all roughened with dirt. That’s very striking, for some reason.

he purses his lips making a split-second decision, and scoops a-yuan up 

lwj: he was hiding there for so long that he had a fever and was severely ill

wn figures out that the fever is probs why lsz doesn't remember anything, and hasn’t mentioned wn at all. lwj looks surprised

lwj: didn't you tell him?

wn: about his birth origin? he's happy now. knowing too much about the past and remembering something heavy, would make him less happy than now

HE'S SUCH A GOOD PERSON

WHY DO THE BEST OF THEM HAVE TO SUFFER SO?

lwj: sooner or later, he will know

and wn doesn't deny it. he's like, yeah, sooner or later. just like master wei and jc with the golden core transfer.

at this lwj looks back down at wwx

lwj: is it painful?

the way lwj's throat bobs before he asks tho.

like he's forcing himself to ask, bc he needs to know even if he already suspects the answer. 

He needs to know even tho knowing will hurt. he's steeling himself against the pain already.

wn: what?

lwj: taking out the core, is it painful?

wn: you won't believe me if i say it's not, right?

lwj: i thought wq might have some method

he sounds desperate, hoping against all odds that it didn't hurt wwx as much as he suspects it did

and here wn explains that wq wanted to ease the process, make it less painful, but due to the nature of the procedure, she couldn't use any anesthetics

wn: the one who donates the core has to be awake the whole time

THE WHOLE DAMN TIME

HE HAS TO BE CONSCIOUS TO WATCH IT GET CUT OUT OF HIM AND EXPERIENCE THAT CONNECTION SLOWLY BE SEVERED OTHERWISE IT DOESN'T WORK

HOW MESSED UP IS THAT OMG, HOW MUCH TRAUMA MUST THEY PUT MY POOR SUNSHINE BOY THROUGH

lwj: awake?

HE SOUNDS HOARSE AS HE SAYS THAT

wn: two nights and one day. he has to be awake

MY SUNSHINE BOY, MY BEAUTIFUL SUNSHINE BOY SUFFERED SO MUCH

lwj's lips purse briefly. he's staring at his wei ying

lwj: at the time, what were the chances

wn: fifty percent

lwj looks at wn here with horrified disbelief

lwj: fifty percent?

wn proceeds to explain how wq didn't want to do it but wwx kept insisting that the odds were worth 

AND OH MY GOD LWJ FLASHES BACK TO THEIR FIRST CONFRONTATION AFTER THE BURIAL MOUNDS, WHEN THEY FINALLY FOUND WWX AFTER 3 MONTHS OF SEARCHING

IT HURTS JUST AS MUCH AS THE FIRST TIME AROUND

Wwx must have some sort of sixth sense for knowing when Emotional Discussions are Done, bc he regains consciousness only AFTER wn & lwj finish bonding lol

he sits up, head aching, and pulls himself from lwj's embrace

I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY, BC LWJ OBVS DIDN'T MIND HAVING HIM THAT CLOSE

IN FACT even as he helps wwx sit up, you can see his hand trail up wwx's arm, grip loosening and tightening sporadically

He's def trying to prolong contact here, very reluctant to let go of his wei ying

wwx: lan zhan, how did we get out?

lwj: we had a fight

AND ~THEIR SONG~ STARTS PLAYING

wwx: i knew that jiang cheng wouldn't let me go that easily. so unreasonable.

and then he looks at lwj and hurries to assure him that jc didn't mean all those cutting remarks. that that's just how he gets when he's upset.

lwj looks off to the side, pressing his lips closed bc he couldn't care less about jc or jc's words. THEY MEAN NOTHING TO HIM

wwx covers lwj's hand with his own and very earnestly says: so don't take it seriously

BC HE HASN'T YET REALIZED THAT LWJ DOESN'T ACTUALLY GIVE A DAMN ABOUT JC'S ENTIRE EXISTENCE

lwj doesn't look him in the eye as he's told this, and his lips are still pressed together in a firm line. 

he probably doesn't actually want wwx to realize just how little jc means to him.

wwx notices they're on a boat on a lake now lol

wwx: i often played here with jyl when we were children

AND HERE HE HALLUCINATES HIS PRECIOUS BEAUTIFUL KIND AMAZING SISTER JYL

Jyl: a-xian come have some lotus seeds

WWX'S EYES REDDEN WITH TEARS AND HE CALLS OUT FOR HIS SISTER

AND I'M FIGHTING BACK SOBS

WHILE JYL'S SWEET GENTLE MUSIC PLAYS AND JYL SMILES WARMLY AT HER LITTLE BROTHER

wn snaps wwx out of it

ONLY FOR WWX TO FLASHBACK TO JYL CRYING AND SAYING THAT THEY'RE THE CLOSEST THREE IN THE WORLD

WWX LEANS HIS HEAD ON HER KNEE AND SULKS ADORABLY ABOUT HOW HE'S HUNGRY 

AND I WANNA DIE FROM ALL THE FEELINGS I'M HAVING

back on the boat, wwx eyes are still filled with tears and it's awful

wn is all, wwx what's wrong? and wwx shakes it off and just says he's hungry

so he yanks out some lotus pods from the lake and gives one to lwj and one to wn and one for himself

HE'S SMILING NOW, THANK GOD

wwx: it's perfect timing to be here now!

and he's happily tearing into the pod

I LOVE SEEING HIM HAPPY AND SMILING

SUCH LITTLE JOYS AND HE REVELS IN IT

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

HE SHOULD ALWAYS BE HAPPY AND SMILING. 

NOTHING SHOULD EVER BE ALLOWED TO MAKE HIM SAD. NOTHING

lwj: wei ying

wwx: what

lwj: does this lake belong to someone?

LOL, HE GAVE THE POD A SUSPICIOUS LOOK BEFORE ASKING THAT AND HAS NOT TRIED GETTING ANY SEEDS OUT YET

wwx: of course not

HE SAYS IN A COMPLETELY NOT BELIEVABLE WAY

YOU CAN TELL BY HOW HE DOESN'T LOOK LWJ IN THE EYE AS HE RESPONDED AND KEEPS MUNCHING AWAY ON THE SEEDS AS A DISTRACTION

Lwj is watching like, yeah, i’m not buying it.

lwj: i heard that lakes here all have owners.

lolol wwx pauses in his chewing for a second and looks around guiltily for a bit before letting out a nervous laugh

wwx: hanguang jun, you really hear much, don't you? i didn't even know that.

he's looking at him all innocently and LWJ LOOKS BACK STILL NOT BUYING IT LOLOLOL

wwx looks away and then looks back, relenting

wwx: fine. 

HE'S ALL POUTY, IT'S ADORABLE, I LOVE HIM

he sulkily tells wn to get them moving

and sulkily tosses his lotus pod at the bottom of the boat

HE'S JUST HAVING A SULK-FEST RN AND IT'S SUPER CUTE, I'M ENJOYING IT A LOT

wn starts to get the paddles to get the boat going, when lwj suddenly leans over the side of the boat and snaps up a lotus pod

he very seriously offers it to his wei ying, who is watching him wide-eyed and surprised

lwj: only for today  

bc i just found out about your traumatic golden core transfer for your awful ungrateful little brother and i feel horrible that you suffered alone, he doesn’t say

bc i wish i could have done something to help but i couldn't so now i'm gonna steal you a lotus pod bc that's literally all i can do right now, he also doesn’t say

LOL

THE WAY THE CAMERA CUTS TO WN HERE CRACKS ME UP

WN IS JUST PASSIVELY MUNCHING ON A SEED AND WATCHING THAT EXCHANGE HAPPEN WITH HIS BIG BROWN EYES TAKING IT IN, WITH A VAGUE, "HUH, THAT'S INTERESTING" MANNER

wwx looks at the pod and then back at lwj before taking the pod with a nervous laugh

I am convinced that he had WAR-FLASHBACKS to that time drunk!lwj gave him roosters

He’s probably frantically trying to remember if lwj drank ANY alcohol earlier

TRYING TO CALCULATE THE CHANCES OF SOMEONE SLIPPING SOME ALCOHOL TO LWJ BETWEEN THEIR FIGHT WITH JC TO THIS BOAT ESCAPE LOLOLOLOL

he clutches that pod with both hands and gives lwj a pained smile 

The exact pained smile he had when he accepted the roosters that time

LMAO WWX TURNS TO LOOK AT WN, HIS BROWS ALL FURROWED IN CONFUSION LIKE, WN WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING, EXPLAIN WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW

but wn just smiles cheerfully at him

cut to the next moment where we see the boat's floor is now littered with a bunch of lotus pods and wwx is happily munching on seeds, all smiley

BUT OF COURSE I'M NOT ALLOWED TO ENJOY HAPPY PEACEFUL MOMENTS EVER

SO A GLOWY GLITTERY MESSENGER BUTTERFLY APPEARS AND LANDS ON LWJ'S OUTSTRETCHED PALM

I mean, wwx giggled happily there for a moment there!!!!! WHY CAN'T THEY LET ME BASK IN THAT FOR ONE MINUTE, GOD.

anyway, the butterfly

wwx: the paper butterfly messenger from the jin clan?

(side note to say that the butterfly messenger is actually very pretty. i like it a lot)

wwx pats lwj on the knee after the butterfly flies away

wwx: what happened? what did it say?

Lwj’s like, jgy is in yunmeng now and my brother hasn’t responded to my message...

wwx: you worry jgy would harm him when desperate?

bc wwx can tell right away when lwj is worried. BC THEY'RE SOULMATES AND THEY KNOW EACH OTHER SO WELL

And then bc my sunshine boy is a GENIUS, he remembers the deed jgy had hidden away in the secret chamber, for Yunping City in Yunmeng

he excitedly tells lwj that this is where jgy will be

lol he was so excited he tipped himself over a bit and jostled the boat so lwj had to reach out to steady him

we cut to the next scene we see people dying fabrics and our boys wander through 

Wwx confirms with some random worker lady that they’re in the right place and tells lwj they should explore the city as a date for Plot Investigation Reasons

lwj nods in agreement and then wwx turns back to look at the lady and gives her THE SWEETEST SMILE, THE ONE THAT SQUINCHES HIS EYES CLOSED AND MAKES ME SWOON

BUT LOL LWJ SEES HIM SMILE AT THE LADY LIKE THAT AND IT NOT AMUSED BY IT AT ALL

oh god, just the way his eyes flick from wwx to the lady and how his lips firm up before he stalks off in a snit cracks me up

GREEN IS NOT YOUR COLOR, LAN ZHAN, I'M JUST SAYING

LET THE GUY SMILE AT ME, I MEAN AT PEOPLE. IT'S NOT A CRIME

wwx is confused by the reaction but hurries off after him

oh wwx, you dense idiot. you're lucky i love you so

now we see come random guys bully wn for no reason 😞

wwx tells them to back off but they don't listen and lwj very nonchalantly pulls out a talisman from his sleeve and offers it to wwx

wwx looks at the talisman and then back at lwj with SUCH A PLEASED SMILE

OMG I WOULD DO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING FOR HIM TO SMILE AT ME LIKE THAT

wwx: lan zhan, you even kept it until now?

AHHHHHH SO CUTE, I LOVE HIM

lwj doesn't respond but it doesn’t matter bc wwx does that squinchy-eyed smile AGAIN AND I DIE, I DIE

wwx activates the talisman which releases a whole bunch of glittery butterflies that distract the guys and allow wn to escape. 

omg guys, this is the same trick lwj used to distract wen chao and wen zhuliu to escape ages and ages ago WHICH MEANS LWJ HAS BEEN CARRYING A PIECE OF WWX WITH HIM ALL THESE YEARS AHHHHHHHHH

And after that wonderful, touching revelation, the episode ends.

SO, we had lots of depressing Yunmeng Bros Feelings that made me wanna die 

BUT we also at the end here get rewarded with MULTIPLE squinchy-eyed smiles from my most precious darling sunshine boy that made me wanna die but, like, in a good way

I WOULD ENDURE SO MUCH MORE FOR THOSE SMILE, NGL

Return to Masterpost

[immacaria]

Xichengclipse - Day 5 - Archery

Okay, Jiang Cheng didn't expect to actually pass his birthday working, imagine without anyone from his family to celebrate it with him. It wasn't like that time were his students made a surprise to him. No, in that time he had just arrived in the building when one of them (one of the ones who actually cared for him) smiled and wished him a happy birthday right after giving him a small package, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but feel his eyes water a little. The said student was scared the shit out of her skin when she saw the professor's reaction, but hugged without fear of being shouted at. 

"Thank you." Jiang Cheng smiled, sniffing a little. "It was very kind of you."

"Hey, it was a pleasure Mr. Jiang. It's not like you don't deserve it." The girl smiled, adjusting her backpack on her shoulder. "You are, like, one of the only ones who seems to care." She breathed deep before opening her arms another time. "Can I ask for another hug?”

"Whenever you need it, Ms. White." He smiled as she hugged him one more time before running down the aisle as the sign went off. "That kid, I swear..." Jiang Cheng smiled, opening the door to his class. "What the actual hell?" He almost yelled, holding the door. 

"Happy Birthday!" All of his class yelled, holding balloons, presents and a lot of things that exploded in millions pieces of shiny paper. "We love you!"

"What the hell?" He backed up as incoherent noises leaved the mouths of that little fuckers as his mouth fell a little open. "Shut up!"

"But we love you!" One of them screamed exploding one of that hellish things.

"Stop it!" Jiang Cheng screamed back as a kid came running and hugged him, murmuring that he loved him and was proud of him. "What the hell?"

"Why didn't you said that today was your birthday?" Another girl cried, hugging him too.  "We would made something bigger."

"How the hell did you discovered it?" He asked, hugging them back instinctively. 

"We asked in the secretary!" One of them smiled, holding a cake with a "Happy Birthday" candle. 

"You could have asked me!" He cried as more students came to hug him. He even heard a loud "Fuck you!" as someone ran and hugged him from behind. Holy hell, if it was on his home, none of his students would make something like that. Sincerely, he didn't deserve that kids, they were too much. "I love you all so much!" He sniffed pulling the teens behind him for the front as he tried to reach for them all. They cried a little more and he could swear that more of that hellish things were exploded, already making the mess messier. But he loved that kids too much! 

 After that, he didn't gave any class that day, simply wanting to hear what they did in the weekend or how their day was going until the moment. He even let Ms. White blabber around about her sister's new project, something to do with shoes, paint and Studios Ghibli. Truly, it was one of his best birthdays since always, but it was a year ago and he was stuck in home, preparing class for the very next day. 

  "May the gods help me..." Jiang Cheng groaned, getting up for another cup of coffee. "At the least it won't take long anymore." He sighed, resting his eyes for a moment. "Just some more minutes..." He whispered, finding it harder and harder to open his eyes once again. "Already, let's go." He opened them, finding strength on the gods know what.

 And finally, finally, he finished all of his work. He simply let his body relax on the chair, just breathing deep and letting his mind turn off for a moment. Even though he didn’t celebrate his anniversary with his family (or, the gods forbidden, his students again), Yanli and Wei Wuxian had in fact send him ‘good wishes’ messages and even made a videocall with him. Most of his students from that day send messages, videos of the entire family thanking Jiang Cheng for being who he was, some called him or made a videocall, but the best of everything was when Ms. White and some of of her closest friends arrived there with cake, balloons, soda and that hellish things that explode in million pieces. But that was early and, now, he just wanted to lay down and sleep for three days. 

  However, the universe wanted to make him suffer and rang his alarm just four hours later, warning that he still had a lot of stupid and screaming teens to teach. Gods, why did he choose that career? Why not just become a businessman like his father and brother? Why? Why? Why? He knew why, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it yet. Maybe the reason had something to do with making the new adults less scarred in their early life, maybe he didn’t want people to suffer like he did, maybe he just wanted to help people like once he needed help. 

  Still, it didn’t have nothing to do with archery!

“Why do I have to go, anyway?” He looked to the sea of adolescents staring at him, expectantly. “It’s Ms. Irving’s idea to go to archery, I have nothing to do with that!”

  “But she’s old! And doesn’t know how to shoot an arrow!” One of the boys next to him groaned. “Besides, she can’t take care of almost sixty students. Please, Mr. Jiang, please!” He pleaded, grabbing his arm. Oh, Gods! Why me?, Jiang Cheng groaned before nodding. 

  “Okay, let’s go!” He sighed, turning around. “Let’s go, people. I have class to give later.” He began to walk as all of the students started to scream and howl with full force. “Shut up before I break your legs!” He screamed over the noise, leading them out of the building. Whose idea was letting sixty teens play around with bows and arrows for a class? It could be just Ms. Irving’s idea to let that happen, that old and crazy woman who didn’t knew a fucking thing about her student’s safety. 

“Mr. Jiang! What a pleasure!” An old and small woman with big glasses and short colorful hair smiled to him. “I didn’t believe that this sweethearts would convince you to come with us.” Ms. Irving said, clapping her hands together. “Let’s go, cute beans. Let’s go before he changes his mind.” She joked, getting on the bus. Jiang Cheng sighed following her as the youngers hopped in, smiling like mad mans. 

  “Uhm, Ms. Irving…” Jiang Cheng called, touching her shoulder lightly. 

  “Call me Adalind, sweet.” She corrected, patting his hand. “What is it?”

  “Why did you ask them to call me?” Jiang Cheng whispered, looking down at his feet. “I mean, I have nothing to do with your History class, Adalind. I teach Literature.”

“Cheng, can I call you Cheng?” She asked, receiving only an affirmative nod back. “Cheng, yesterday was your birthday. This is your present, from us to you.” She smiled once more, before adding. “They said that you commented that one of the things you most missed being able to do was doing archery, so here we go.” Adaling nudged at his side before turning to speak to the driver. Really? They remembered this? Awesome!, he turned to smile at the teens talking loudly with each other. Maybe they aren’t so bad after all, he thought scrolling through his phone. 

___________________________________________________________________

There they were, at the archery camp, and Mr. Johnson managed to almost shot Ms. White feet twice already. Sincerely, even if they were awesome, Jiang Cheng didn’t deserve this. Not even close. Why me?, he thought by the millionth time of the day. Why it has to be me to take care of this children?, he groaned, looking over to Ms. Irving, who were sitting and enjoying the sun. Lucky woman., he sighed, turning to the others teens who were accompanied by some instructors. At least they are okay., he yawned, seeing the only two who had a history with archery staring at him.  

“What?” He adjusted his sunglasses on his face, scowling at them. 

  “Why there is a man staring at you?” The boy asked, looking over his shoulder as the girl pulled the bow from his hands. 

  “We’re going to discover pretty soon.” She said as Jiang Cheng turned around, seeing a man in a white suit along with four children looking at them. That couldn’t be him, he said he was going to be in French this week., he narrowed his eyes trying to decide if it was in fact his husband and his ducklings. Fuck!, he thought, spinning around to stop his students.

  “Amelia, wait!” He called out, as she let the arrow go. “Shit!” He looked over to Huan, who pulled Lan Yuan next to him as the arrow stopped were the boy’s feet were. “I know him! It’s my husband!” Jiang Cheng turned to her, pulling the bow from her hands. “And you can’t shoot arrows at people like that!” He warned, turning to look at Lan Huan who was laughing out loud. What the hell is he laughing about?, he thought, furrowing his eyebrows at the approaching man. 

  "You are married, sir?" Mr. Johnson asked, mouth feeling open with surprise. "Actually married? Fucking Christ!"

  "A-Cheng!" Lan Huan smiled to him, Lan Jingyi in his arms while Jin Ling, Lan Yuan and Ouyang Zizhen were around him, the arrow in Yuan's hands. "Hello!" He smiled to the teens behind him.

  "Willow, Mr. Jiang is married!" Amelia screamed to a redhead. "And he have four boys! Four!" She raised four fingers, shaking them vigorously. "Look!" She pointed at them as sixty kids turned to look too, eyes wide. 

  "Oh, fucking shit!" Jiang Cheng groaned, hiding his face on Huan's shoulders. "Go back to your bows, kids! Now!" 

  "You are married?!" Willow screamed, pushing her instructor aside. "And you have kids? Four above it all?" She yelled, waving her arms around. "Why would you betray me like that?" She cried, hugging herself.

  "Excuse me?!" Jiang Cheng looked back at her as Amelia said:

  "Excuse you?" And the only thing Huan seemed like doing was laugh and make things even worse. 

  "I'm married to Lan Huan for almost four years now! And just one of this kids are mine!" He groaned as Lan Huan put Lan Jingyi down. "Hello, pumpkin." He smiled to his son, who came hug him. 

  "Yes, sweets, I'm his idiot, forever." Lan Huan smiled, sickeningly sweet, as lifting the hand with the wedding ring. "So, no more love letters, okay, Willow dear?" He added, making the teens laugh. 

  "Huan, they are kids." The professor snapped, hitting his husband on the shoulder. "Besides, it isn't forever. It's 'until death separate us'. Plus, you are not a total idiot, you have your moments of idiocy."

  "A-Cheng is so innocent. Bold of you to assume death can save you from this relantioship." The Lan smiled as the other huffed at him.  "C'mon, A-Yi, let Baba work now, okay? Go play with A-Ling, A-Yuan and A-Zhen, okay?" He pushed the kid away lightly, amused. He turned to his husband, startling himself when, out of nowhere, sixty kids were surrounding him. “Uhm? A-Cheng?”  

 “How can you be sure that you are, in fact, Cheng’s husband?” A old lady said, growling at him as Jiang Cheng only shrugged, unimpressed. 

 “He doesn’t even wear a wedding ring!” Amelia said, pointing another arrow at him.  

 “Guys! You are being irrational!” Another girl said, pulling Amelia’s wrist. “Lia, please! Mr. Jiang said that this, uhm, man is his husband and that they have a kid together!”

   “This Lan Huan can be blackmailing Mr. Jiang…” She added slowly. 

  “Jiujiu, you promised!” Jin Ling screamed, coming running to his uncle. “Down, down!” He pulled him down, shoving a hand into his shirt. “Here!” He pulled a silver string with a gold wedding ring adorned with little details in white, light-blue and purple. Just like Lan Huan’s. “Jiujiu always forgot to put it back when he took a bath, so he put it on a string!” The boy looked proud of finding the silver string. “It was my idea.”  

 “Okay, okay. I’m working, you can’t be here. How did you knew I was here?” Jiang Cheng asked, lifting Jin Ling up before giving him to his husband. “And I have kids to defrost now too.” 

 “I followed your phone.” Lan Huan answered as Willow whined and whispered: 

 “You really betrayed me, Mr. Jiang!” 

  “He was never yours, bitch!” Amelia screamed at the redhead, realizing the arrow, which missed Lan Huan’s feet by millimeters. “Someone take this fucking thing from me…” She whispered, a little terrified.  

 “Go home, now. I will deal with you later.” He turned to the other three kids who were running around. “You three, come here, please!” He called, kneeling in front of them. “Give me a kiss and take Lan Huan away, I can’t deal with him right now.” The Jiang explained, kissing their heads.  

 “Yes, sir!” Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen said as Lan Yuan just nodded, running to pull the older man away.  

 “A kiss to A-Ling too.” Jin Ling said, extending his arms to his Jiujiu. 

 “And A-Huan too.” Lan Huan smiled as Jiang Cheng gave a kiss at the kid’s head.

  “You don’t deserve it.” He glared at him, turning around. “Already, infants, back to your classes.” He scowled, crossing his arms as Lan Huan whined behind him, the kids pulling him away. If Jiang Cheng fought a grin, only him (and Ms. Irving knew).

________________________________________________________________ 

 “So, you actually never told them you were married in this almost three years you were teaching?” Lan Huan asked, petting Jiang Cheng’s hair.   

“Never occurred to me that they need to know that I had a husband and a family.” Jiang Cheng scowled, closing his eyes at the small chuckle his husband give. “Weren’t you supposed to be in French this week?”  

“A-Zhan resolved it for me. We have four whole months before I have to travel again.” He answered, giving small smooches at the younger’s head.   

“I don’t know if I can endure you for all this time…” He joked.  

 “A-Cheng!” Huan said, covering the other with his own body. “Don’t make me suffer like that.” He smiled, nipping at his husband’s neck.  

 “A-A-Huan, the kids…” Jiang Cheng whined, his hands darting to the other’s shoulders. 

 “Are sleeping, my heart.” He looked to the younger’s flushed face, eyes dark with lust. “My heart, my light, my Cheng, mine, mine, mine.” Lan Huan whispered, his mouth kissing Jiang Cheng’s chest. “So beautiful to me, so kind to me…” He grinned at the little moans and whimpers coming from the man below. “Let me show you your birthday present, my love.” Lan Huan muttered, before capturing the other’s lips, swallowing his moans. Whether or not, Jiang Cheng given in to Lan Huan’s desire only them knew.

________________________________________________________________ 

So, in this AU, Jiang Cheng is living in another country with Lan Xichen and Lan Jingyi. As it is a modern AU, I used only they birth names in this fic. Jiang Cheng have a good relantionship with his family but still prefer to live where he’s now (he loves his students too much, shh don’t tell anyone). This is for the @xichengclipse

[antiquecompass]

I promise I’m working on the next chapter of Just Two Lost Souls, but I also had to write this because it wouldn’t leave my brain.

Wherein there is a second part to the Zhenling Right/Wrong fic.

Jin Ling knew he was spoiled. And arrogant. And entitled. He’d grown up the favored grandchild of two very wealthy families, and while his mother tried to keep him as humble as possible, he found strength at a young age in the air of disinterest his father wore when dealing with people. 

Jin Ling has always felt different from his peers. A famous chef for a mother. A father who had forgone a place in his grandfather’s business and his grandmother’s law firm to stay at home and raise his children. The heir to Jiang Industries. The possible heir to Jin Enterprises if it ever recovered from its rock-bottom fall from grace. The nephew of everyone--at least that’s how it felt some times. And then there were his athletic skills. Scouted for both gymnastics and archery at a young age, he had to make a choice at ten about his possible athletic career path. To follow gymnastics would probably lead him to the Olympics faster, but he’d also have to move away from home to live with a coach, continue homeschooling, give up archery, and keep doing gymnastics through college. 

He picked home. His family. And archery.

He left home schooling for the Lan Academy. He left the comfort of constantly being surrounded by his parents and siblings in their mansion for a spare bedroom at his uncles’ house and classes with his cousins and the only people who could be counted as his best friends. He left easy access to his archery club for longer commutes to practices and competitions and to join a school archery team. 

And he never regretted any of that.

Because without the change, he never would’ve gotten to know Ouyang Zizhen, outside of a friendship built through his cousin.

Zizhen had always been kind and polite when he’d visited Sizhui in Boston and tagged along to various family meetings. He’d always shown actual interest in everyone he met, not a veneer of polite nods or the disinterred arrogance so perfected by Jin Ling’s parents. Zizhen truly seemed to care about how your day was going, what you were currently working on, if he could be of any assistance.

At one time Jin Ling had mocked that goodness. Found nothing but suspicion in all that kindness. And then he’d seen Zizhen crouch down to his two-year-old brother’s height and hold a serious conversation with him about colors. 

Some people were just good.

And something started to shift in Jin Ling.

********

He’d done it.

Years of training. Years of competitions. Years of work. No one had handed this to Jin Ling. It wasn’t a gift of his birth or status. He’d done this. Had worked his ass off for this. Had put off something he knew would be extraordinary for this.

Ten months of competing in various Olympic Trials and Olympic Qualification Events. Ten months of so close and almost there. Ten months of eyeing two different dreams waiting for him at the end of the proverbial finish line. 

He’d finished his final of the four qualifying events on top. Had the most points. It was May. He was going to be competing in the Olympics at the end of July. 

Now there was just one other thing left to do. A promise made. A promise that better be kept or he was going to raise some trademark hell.

*********

Dad had flown with him from Texas to Boston. They still had a few hours until Jin Ling’s flight left for London.

“I was not so kind to your mother when we were young,” he said, picking at a pile of french fries with a fork.

“I’ve heard,” Jin Ling said.

Dad nodded. “I was...a very foolish young man. I was angry that my marriage had been chosen for me. And I could not see then, that your mother….”

He blushed and that smile he only ever had for Mom spread across his face.

“That your mother was the best of them all. I didn’t appreciate her kindness or her talent or her natural beauty. I was distracted by other people’s opinions of what they perceived as her faults. I honestly thought she was boring.” He shook his head. “What a stupid fool I was then.”

“But she forgave you,” Jin Ling said.

Dad nodded. “Yes, she did. She showed me far more patience and kindness than I deserved. She forgave me after I did my best to earn her back. After I learned that she couldn’t be bought, but must be cherished. She made me work for it, in the end. And the only thing I’ve ever regretted was the hurt I caused her before I, as your uncles so delicately put it, pulled my head out of my ass.” 

Jin Ling wasn’t completely sure where his father was going with this; it was all stuff Jin Ling knew, and when Zizhen had refused Jin Ling again, urging him to see to his own dreams first, his own life first, they hadn’t parted on bad terms.

The last time they had harsh words was when Zizhen dated that fucking Scottish Lord, but Jin Ling felt pride in the fact that the potential of something with him had more pull than the actuality of that haggis-eating pissant. 

“I tell you this because you must not be cross with Zizhen. He did the best for you, even if you could not see it at the time.”

“I know.”

“And because that boy, well, young man now, is exceedingly kind. And has stayed such in a business world that would destroy him. He has responsibilities now that you cannot even dream off, my little prince. And some days those responsibilities will have to come first. And you cannot be angry with him for that, or hold a grudge, or get that pout on your face when your needs must come second.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

Jin Ling nodded. “I know they were older when their relationship started, but I’ve spoken with Uncle Xichen about the challenges of dating someone in Zizhen’s position.”

Dad laid down his fork, wiping his fingers of any traces of salt or grease or ketchup. “And your heart and eyes truly don’t wish to look elsewhere? If even for a little while?”

“I’ve been raised to aim for the best,” Jin Ling said.

“Yes,” he agreed.

“Zizhen is the best,” Jin Ling said. “I won’t accept anything or anyone lesser just because it might be easier. He’s who I want. Who I’ve wanted since I was sixteen. I’ve looked, okay. I’ve looked at others and thought and contemplated and found them all wanting.” He picked at the soft pretzel on his plate, pulling off a large chunk of salt. “And there was a promise, and I intend to see that it is kept.”

Dad studied him for a long moment. He reached a hand out and laid it over Jin Ling’s own, stopped his fidgeting fingers. “My son, I wish you the very best of luck.”

**********

Jin Ling woke up in a posh apartment in Kensington to the sound of soft humming and someone carefully running a brush through his hair. It was still dark outside. He turned slightly and asked, “Time?”

“Go back to sleep,” Zizhen said.

“But.”

“Sleep.”

So he did.

He woke up a second time to the sound of drawers opening and closing and the smell of spicy cologne.

He lifted his head to see Zizhen pulling on a tie.

“Work?” he asked.

“Still monosyllabic, I see,” Zizhen said as he walked over to him.

Jin Ling grabbed his tie and tugged him closer. “Kiss?”

Zizhen laughed as he leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips. On his nose. On his forehead.

“Go back to sleep,” Zizhen said. “I’ll see you at lunch.”

Jin Ling woke up a third time to a quiet apartment. He stretched, his body burning in the best way from a <i>very</i> memorable night. A bright yellow star-shaped post-it note caught his eye. It was on top of his phone, which was plugged in, with a note in Zizhen’s delicate handwriting informing him that while his parents had already been contacted, to please call them after he woke. 

There was another post-it note on his dopp kit in the bathroom, telling him where the towels were and another informing him about the towel warmer. 

A third note on the coffee pot. A fourth on the microwave. A fifth on the tv remote. A sixth on the door.

Jin Ling carefully collected them all. A sentimental thing, yes, but he’d kept every note Zizhen had ever written him and he wasn’t stopping now. He found the seventh one on his bag, this one in the shape of a pink heart, with a time and address on it and a set of keys under it.

Jin Ling ran his fingers over the sure strokes of the last note, before shaking himself back to awareness and grabbing his bag for a change of clothes. 

He had a date to meet after all. 

[antiquecompass]

So this was supposed to be for Untamed Fest Day Four: Scene, but since it’s more a combo of various scenes of Jin Ling’s fight with Jin Chan and every “wait until my uncle gets here” bit, I don’t think it quite fits the fest, so I don’t want to clog up the tag. (This will happen with a few prompts just bc the whole ‘This is an AU thing’.)

Anyway, here’s a Jin Ling at Lan Academy ficlet:

Jin Ling’s path to Lan Academy hadn’t been the easiest one in terms of how long it took him to get there. He’d been homeschooled most of his life. His parents had kept him home with an entire staff of tutors for plenty of reasons–his mom’s work hours as she managed her restaurants, his dad’s travels around the world, the drama of his grandfather’s various children coming out of everywhere and trying to get to any Jin family member in order to get to the head of the family, and his family’s general mistrust of educational institutions after the one time he attended kindergarten and the school bus dropped him off at the wrong spot. (It was later revealed the bus driver was one his grandfather’s former mistresses. He’d been pulled from school and tutored at home from that point on.)

It’d been a safe childhood, with an education catered to his own interests, but it’d been a lonely one. The only friends he’d ever really had were his cousins, his cousins’ friends, and his fellow trainees in the local archery and gymnastics clubs. He’d been the happiest kid ever when his little sisters were born. Finally some other kids at the house, even if they were five years younger than him. It meant he wasn’t alone in the makeshift classroom built on their estate. 

As he grew older he found he actually enjoyed helping teach his younger siblings. His sisters were like little sponges, wanting to learn everything. And while his little brother was still too young to learn anything other than that dump trucks were cool, he was going to miss teaching him too. 

Everything changed when it came time for him to start high school. Or rather, he begged his parents to let him attend Lan Academy. His older cousin, Sizhui, was there now. One of his uncles was the Headmaster, another a teacher there, and two more of his uncles lived in the area. Lan Jingyi and Ouyang Zizhen, his only other close friends, also attended the Academy. And wouldn’t it look good on his college transcripts to attend such a prestigious school? Plus, they had a world renowned archery program, so he’d wouldn’t even fall back on his training. He’d be able to keep aiming for his Olympic dreams while also obtaining a world class education.

After months of cajoling, and probably the most detailed tour of the Lan Academy campus that had ever been given, plus a promise from his Uncle Cheng that he could live with him and Headmaster Lan, and could bring Fairy with him, he’d finally gotten his wish.

He should’ve known the adage, Be Careful What You Wish For, existed for a reason. 

No one had told him that Jin Chan was also going to be attending Lan Academy this year. 

It made for a hell of a first day.

While Uncle Xichen was kind and nice–perhaps too much of both–they’d never been that close, at least not as Jin Ling got older and spent more time pursuing sports rather than the arts. There was also, supposedly, some bad blood between Uncle Xichen and his Uncle Yao. Jin Ling had never really paid much attention to those rumors. He was far closer to his Uncle Cheng, but since Uncle Cheng had to work down in the city during the week, it’d been an awkward first day breakfast of Uncle Xichen trying to make conversation while Jin Ling barely touched his food and clung to Fairy as long as he could.

He missed his mom’s cooking. He missed his own personal archery field. He missed his dad’s warm hugs. His missed his sisters singing everything they ate before eating it and his brother building small towers with his Cheerios. He missed learning his lessons with Fairy draped over his feet.

The classes themselves hadn’t been too bad, the homework already assigned about what he’d expected. He’d been counting the hours to the lunch, when he’d finally be able to catch up with Sizhui, Jingyi, and Zizhen, but as he walked out of his math class, crossing the path between buildings to the cafeteria, he’d run into Jin fucking Chan.

Out of all the various descendants and their kids from his grandfather’s inability to keep it in his pants, Jin Chan was his least favorite. An arrogant fuckwit who had grown up jealous of Jin Ling, he’d become an even more arrogant douche canoe as a teenager.

Jin Chan was the type of asshole who lacked in any real wit, so he liked to throw his height and weight around to intimidate people. Uncle Zhan would have called him weak to his face. Uncle Cheng wouldn’t have even paid him any mind, ghosting him with the type of glare and cold shoulder he did best. Uncle Ying would’ve politely belittled him until the point  that Jin Chan would walk away in shame. 

Jin Ling wasn’t yet as intimidating as any of his uncles–one day he hoped to silence people with a single glare like all of them could. Having already skipped a year, and having a late birthday, he was far younger, and smaller, and cursed with his mother’s more petite frame, than his other classmates. He’d never been particularly embarrassed of his compact form–it did wonders for him in his archery competitions and gymnastics meets. But when it came to idiotic assholes who thought he’d back down just because he was smaller than them, he knew he had three options. One: talk shit, get hit. Two: try to take them out at the ankles. Three: run for help. 

Three might not have been the most courageous of the options, but it was only his first day, he was boarding at the friggin’ Headmaster’s house, and if he got detention his mother would drive up here, grab him by his ear, and drag him all the way back to Boston. Or Uncle Cheng would do it for her–yelling at Jin Lin the entire drive back home. Or Uncle Xichen would give him the I’m Not Mad, I’m Just Disappointed face. Jin Chan wasn’t worth all of that.

Jin Ling knew he was stubborn as hell, which he came by honestly, but he wasn’t stupid. And he had a deep sense of propriety. Both of his grandmothers had seen to that. Jin Chan thought he could provoke him into a brawl. Maybe if they were at his grandfather’s house he’d let it, but this was Lan Academy, and Jin Ling knew the rules.

As Jin Chan raised his fist to hit him, Jin Ling grinned at who he saw in the distance.

“Uncle!” he called. 

“Headmaster Lan is his uncle?” one of the boys in Jin Chan’s gang hissed. “Bro, what the fuck?”

“He’s not his real uncle,” Jin Chan said. 

“I would very much beg to differ there, Mister Jin,” Headmaster Lan said as he approached the group, his eyes not missing a single detail.

He held a brown bag in his hands that he gave to Jin Ling. “Your Uncle Cheng made a lunch for you. He was worried you’d find the food in our cafeteria not to your usual tastes. It’s one of your mother’s recipes.”

“Thank you,” Jin Ling said as he took the food.

“How has your first day been so far?” he asked, eyes cutting to the side. “Besides current events?”

“It’s gone well,” Jin Ling said. “The library is amazing.”

“It’s one of our points of pride,” Headmaster Lan agreed. He patted Jin Ling’s shoulder. “Now, go meet your cousin before he breaks poor Mister Ouyang.”

Jin Ling peered around Headmaster Lan to see Zizhen struggling to hold both Sizhui and Jingyi back. 

“Praise be to Allah,” Zizhen muttered when the other two stopped struggling. He stood up, back to his full height, and shook out his hands. “I think you two sprained something.”

“Shh,” Jingyi said, slapping a hand over his mouth. “I want to see what Headmaster does.”

Jin Ling was curious too, so he stood beside Sizhui, letting his older cousin run a soothing hand through his hair, and stood back to watch the show.

“Fighting is forbidden at Lan Academy. We have a Zero Tolerance Policy for bullying. Cliques are discouraged. It is against our Honor Code to prey on the smaller and younger. Since you clearly have forgotten our teachings here, two weeks of detention for you, Jin Chan, where you will copy all of our rules so that you will not forget them. Three weeks for your friends, so they will know to find a better leader in the future.”

Jin Ling grinned with the feeling of vindication and justice. 

Maybe Lan Academy wouldn’t be so bad after all.