#wei wuxian at lotus pier post resurrection

[qiu-yan]

just to be clear, my own position on the issue of post-sunshot yunmeng jiang is as follows:

post-sunshot yunmeng jiang was politically weak. yunmeng jiang - which had suffered the near-absolute massacre of all of its personnel, fought through an entire war, was occupied by the enemy for a significant period of time, was now led by a teenager with almost no political experience, and was now the sole great sect excluded from the alliance implied by the venerated triad - was weak in terms of manpower, available resources, and political position. yunmeng jiang was not "flourishing" after the sunshot campaign; the mere 2-4 years between the fall of lotus pier and wei wuxian's defection from yunmeng jiang does not provide enough time for yunmeng jiang to recover to a stable position from near-absolute annihilation and lengthy enemy occupation. the claim that [the draw of wei wuxian's demonic cultivation singlehandedly resurrected yunmeng jiang's manpower and political power] also does not make logical sense, because wei wuxian was not actually teaching anyone demonic cultivation.

by contrast, post-sunshot lanling jin was the strongest and most stable political entity in the cultivation world, given that lanling jin was the sole great sect still led by a politically experienced member of the previous generation instead of a teenager, given lanling jin's prewar levels of wealth, given that lanling jin did not suffer a direct attack by the wen like yunmeng jiang or gusu lan, and given lanling jin's relatively low levels of participation in the sunshot campaign.

post-sunshot yunmeng jiang could not have politically afforded to officially protect wei wuxian and the wen remnants after wei wuxian liberated said remnants from the jin-run qiongqi pass labor camp. officially shielding wei wuxian would entail keeping wei wuxian as the head disciple of yunmeng jiang; therefore, officially shielding wei wuxian would mean that the head disciple of yunmeng jiang attacked and killed members of lanling jin and other affiliated sects. this in turn would then entail yunmeng jiang making an enemy out of lanling jin. furthermore, given that public opinion was already turning against wei wuxian, and given lanling jin's ties to the other three great sects through the venerated triad sworn brotherhood, this in turn makes it highly likely that yunmeng jiang would end up standing against the rest of the entire cultivation world - which is not a situation the weakened yunmeng jiang could survive. in better-case scenarios, consequences of this could include yunmeng jiang paying massive restitutions to lanling jin and/or all the other sects whose members wei wuxian harmed; in the worst-case scenario, this would entail a second fall of lotus pier.

yunmeng jiang is a political entity made up of human beings. yunmeng jiang is not some shiny bauble that exists solely for jiang cheng's personal satisfaction; rather, it is an organization made up of human beings whose lives have moral value. to say "yunmeng jiang would be put into danger" is to say "the disciples of yunmeng jiang would be put into danger;" to say "yunmeng jiang would not survive" is to say "the disciples of yunmeng jiang would die."

a leader's first and foremost duty is to his own people. by the social contract theory, the people consent to give up a portion of their freedoms to the state in return for protection of their rights by the state; the state is afforded the authority to govern the people only through the agreement that the state in turn acts in the best interests of the people and their rights. jiang cheng's mandate to rule the disciples of yunmeng jiang as sect leader jiang, therefore, is derived from the mutual understanding that he act first and foremost in their best interest - that he put their safety and their wellbeing above all else. while an individual hero is free to choose a moral framework that does not center consequences as the source of moral judgment, a leader instead is duty-bound consider the consequences for his people. if jiang cheng had yunmeng jiang side with wei wuxian despite the danger this would put yunmeng jiang into, and/or if jiang cheng left yunmeng jiang to stand alone with wei wuxian, then he would be abandoning his duty as sect leader jiang to protect his people.

both wei wuxian and jiang cheng understood all of the above. when jiang cheng goes to confront wei wuxian in the burial mounds after wei wuxians' attack on the qiongqi pass labor camp - a situation in which jiang cheng has no reason to be dishonest - jiang cheng does not call the wen remnants evil or say that they deserve to die. rather, he says that "if you insist on protecting them, then i cannot protect you" - to which wei wuxian replies that, in that case, jiang cheng should let him go. this specific word choice implies that what stops jiang cheng from siding with wei wuxian is not hatred of the wen remnants alone, but rather the knowledge that he does not have the power to successfully protect wei wuxian and yunmeng jiang if wei wuxian insists on protecting the wen remnants. jiang cheng's words are an admission of his own lack of power, not his hatred.

i believe that multiple interpretations of the text are possible, as is the case with almost all fiction. the above is my own interpretation of the text and what i believe the text most logically implies.

[symphonyofsilence]

Honestly, it looks like at least after the Guanyin Temple, WWX is actively resisting understanding that JC still cares about him. JC takes a Stab to the chest for him, asks him why he didn't keep his promise & stay by his side, has a full breakdown over his sacrifice, gives him back Chenqing that he's kept for all these years, gets angry at JGY on his behalf, JGY spells out for WWX that JC is angry because he feels WWX was wronged, and that JC must have come to rescue not only JL, but WWX too, & targets WWX in the middle of the fight, fully trusting that JC would rush to his rescue, and he does. JC even thanks LWJ and holds a fallen WN. & I think one reason that WWX might be subconsciously fighting against getting all these clear signs and still avoiding JC might be that as much as he thinks he can’t handle JC’s wrath and blame and wants him to forgive him, he actually can’t afford JC’s forgiveness and unconditional love. Because he still blames himself for JZX’s and JYL’s deaths and even the massacre of Lotus Pier. & JC is the only one who has the right to be angry at him for all of these. He and JL. JC’s the only one who knew JYL & genuinely cared about her. WWX doesn’t think he deserves JC’s forgiveness. In fact, he looks terrified of it. Just look how quickly he turns from JC after thanking him for giving Chenqing back to him (Chenqing that after all these years still sounded like he had first used it. A very telling sign of JC's affection in itself.) Even though even JL who was watching from afar could say that JC had something to say to WWX:

JC is an outward force blaming him and being angry at him. WWX can tell him that he doesn’t know what to say to him when asked for an explanation, he can tell him that it’s all in the past. Let it go. he can beat the shit out of him. He can apologize to him and be judged by him. He can avoid him. Pretending that by ignoring him he doesn’t have to face the past. JC blames WWX and is harsh to him so WWX doesn’t have to fight himself and blame himself all the time. post-resurrection WWX keeps misinterpreting everything JC says and is unwilling to listen to him and get the hints JC keeps giving him about how he just wants WWX to come back home & interprets everything JC even doesn’t say in the worst ways he can bc it’s not so much about JC than it’s about WWX projecting onto JC. Because he thinks JC MUST be thinking that way. BC WWX thinks he deserves JC’s hatred. And judging by how he keeps misinterpreting JC even pre-time-skip, and in true WWX fashion fully believes himself to be right & doesn't second guess himself and or makes any effort to understand JC, & JYL is always the JC translator for him, from the moment she says to him that despite his tantrum JC is happy to finally have a playmate, to the moment she says that JC was the one who offered WWX name JL, and without JYL there to take their hands and pull them to meet each other in the middle the brothers can't communicate, Jiang Cheng has never been so much his own person in Wei Wuxian's mind as WWX's interpretation of him. WWX's shidi. An open book to WWX in WWX's mind. When he was not WWX's fragile shidi who needed protection (which @cerusee has written a great meta about here.), then he was WWX's betrayed, angry shidi who blamed him & resented him. If JC forgives him and continues to be his loving brother then it’s clear that the only one who can’t forgive WWX is WWX. and what is he gonna do about that?

[whumpbby]

TBH I do think some Jiang disciples did survive the Lotus Pier massacre, if only because they had been elsewhere when it happened/too old or too young to fight so they ran (<-which could be a fun thing to grapple with for both the potential run-aways and newly recruiting Jiang Cheng, who was sent away), but it still wasn't enough people to be called Great Sect. So I think as you say they recruited anyone they could, including some rouge cultivators and some from smaller sects that were destroyed or taken over by the Wen Sect. I don't think they tried to recruit - while the Sunshot campaign was going - a lot of people without active golden core, because they would simply have little time to train them between the battles. Some probably did manage to join the Sect like that, and these would probably grow quite close to people who taught them between the fights.

Also Jiang Cheng having to be at least one of these teachers, because they are short on the disciples but shorter in those trained in Jiang style even more so. And how after the war he must've been doing that still, on top of having the sect to run as both Leader and Head Discipline (because Wei Wuxian was going through things he chose to neither explain or acknowledge) (1/2)

(2/2) Also Jiang Cheng, who almost had to watch his brother get caught by the Wen soldiers when he went off alone in the streets, WOULD try and make his disciples work in big enough groups to protect themselves. Also also Jiang Cheng that seems to go off alone rather often.

Oh, and Jiang Cheng throwing his weight around when his disciples get into some sort of disagreement/scuffle every time, and being harsh on the other party (totally not because of finally being able to shield someone he cares for) and never satisfying the questions about the punishment (totally not because of his mother and Zidian and Wei Wuxian). Even when Jiang disciples were in the wrong. Not meaning there was no disciplinary action, just that it never went outside the sect.

Also taking in some non-cultivators that are good at other things (like Jiang Yanli!) or people who lost their golden cores but can still fight and teach (because he remembers not having a golden core and how that felt like; and maybe he realises somewhere along the way that he might've been able to live without one too; which would certainly add even more flavour to learning whose golden core really was inside him all along).

The latter headcanon is also so amazing because resurrected Wei Wuxian would have to confront how he dealt with the loss of his core and finally stop saying he is fine and reflect on his feelings about all this, including Jiang Cheng

____________________________________________________

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me :D I am so absolutely taken over by this subject!

This is why I'm writing these things, I love to discuss them with other peeps:)

Your message pushed me onto another path of wild speculation via the mention of the other smaller sects that JC would approach to recruit - and that pushed me into the economics of Jinaghu and their influence on the post-war lay of the landXD

Which I am putting under the cut, because it's a lot of rambling to get to a point, but that's how it is in these parts;]

Also, the map I will be using, because it's as good as any other:

From the beginning - smaller sects yes, there was probably not a shortage of them that were destroyed by the Wen passing through and by the blowback of the war happening at all. I imagine that anyone from lone survivors to whole families was displaced…

But I am unsure if inviting them in would be a good idea in JC's position, because, going back to the main point - the Jiang were decimated. I can only go by what the story tells us when it doesn't mention any extra survivors - the Wen banning other sects from night-hunts was a nifty set-up for everyone being stuck at home after all - even if, logically, some of the disciples could be in other locations… however, even if they were, these wouldn't be the meat of Yunmeng Jiang. Because…

…random tangent no 1, because this is a low-fantasy setting (thinking of Game of Thrones I am), I am structuring the Sects as Just Gentry. Maybe not kingdoms outright - because there doesn't seem to be enough land between them to cover for their economic statuses - but city-states ruled by aristocratic bloodlines with the actual political power in their hands. Thus, even if the book doesn't really go into it, I'd wager that the region of Yunmeng was run by the extended Jiang family that was living in the capital of Lotus Pier. That's where the disciples were trained - but that was most likely also where the taxes were being collected, where the trade arrangements happened, where the law was being written, higher education took place, it had the best restaurants, etc.

When the Wen destroyed Lotus Pier, they did away with the whole socio-economic and political setup of the region, which is a smart move for someone who wants to set up their own shop.

…And that circles me back to JC and recruiting - he wasn't just gathering disciples to fight, he was rebuilding a whole intricate system of governance from scratch. A system that used to be run by the extended family that he could trust - now was something he was staffing with strangers.

And, from the example of Su Minshan, we know how jumping sects was considered to be in bad taste - it stands to reason that whatever decimated sect showed up on JC's doorstep, they wouldn't want to give up their own name. Just like JC wasn't going to give up his name. These people would be looking for an alliance and revenge, and, most likely, economic help in their own rebuilding, but most of them weren't looking to join the Jiang. And if they were - what was the guarantee that they'd stay? Or that they wouldn't use JC to meet their own ends and leave him worse for it? Or simply take over due to sheer numbers? A valid fear for a clan of 1 that had to seem ripe for picking.

I think JC would be very careful about accepting disciples from existing sects as his own, and instead build alliances with them. A rogue cultivator or a promising youth looking for a place to settle were a safer bet to build the core of his new sect with. Not to say that some of these alliances wouldn't result in the smaller sects merging into the Jiang later on by osmosis, but not at the outset…

Which leads me to believe that JC would want to start taking in and training coreless youths as soon as humanly possible - just to have someone at his back who was OF Yunmeng Jiang and not just allied with them. Maybe not during the beginning of the war, but by the time Lotus Pier was reclaimed things were probably going this way. If you think about it, Jiang Cheng was a fucking powerhouse of a leader. I have no idea when he slept. Probably not at all.

Probably why he was so cranky XD

That's why I am of firm opinion that the alliance by marriage with the Jin sect was a double-edged sword JC wasn't in a position to refuse, but also wasn't in a position to wholeheartedly accept. (And everyone who thinks that JC 'sold' Yanli to JGS for all these doubloons is just plain old wrong). Because now they're family. Only family he has. And that family can slowly find their way into the important positions of his own 'kingdom', because that's how gentry/aristocracy tends to work in a setting putting that much value on bloodlines, and he doesn't have his own family to plug these positions with ahead of time.

And even if JGS wasn't super eager to marry his son to JYL and the marriage was mostly pushed by Madame Jin and Jin Zixuan - it was in JGS's best interests for Yunmeng Jiang to remain weakened and/or under his control. Because….

…tangent nr 2- economics! :D

The plot doesn't go into it, but I like to know, so I was thinking of the actual economics of the magical land of magical peopleXD I don't need them to be detailed, but just realistic enough to make some sense, and serve as a believable background. I'm not going to question the existence of potatoes or other anachronisms, but one thing I needed to answer for myself was - where is all the money coming from???

Like, for real, where is the cash coming from for all the silks, fancy furniture, houses, swords and so on. How are the gentry sects making money?

Again, the genre, like many others, waves away monetary concerns in general - aristocrats are just wealthy, commoners are poor, and Bilbo Baggins is a landlord. OK.

So, taxes. What makes sect a Great one? Land, mostly, it would seem. The amount of land they own. Which means taxes - if we consider the Gentry sects local aristocracy. That tracks, because ain't no way they'd earn that much dosh via night-hunts from a population that isn't really that large. If you look at the approximate map of the whole realm and consider how fast people are moving from one region to another (even including flying swords and donkey-travel) that ain't a lot of land/people to feed all these sects fleeting about between the 5 Majors.

So, my idea is that the small sects do support themselves mostly via night-hunting and general spiritual upkeep of their locals, but the Greats are just aristocracy and live off of taxes and trade.

And that makes me wonder how Yunmeng Jiang managed to recover their wealth in such a record time, and why was the Jin so wealthy for apparently doing so little.

I propose that Lanling Jin grew out of a port-city and made its money on sea-trade. Sea trade was always The Shit if you wanted to, dunno, gild your palace in gold or something.

Yunmeng - with its access to lakes and rivers - was another trade hub of the realm with the additional bonus of lotus, fish and all other crops a well-watered land can give you.

Qishan - being the most West-ward placed of the Great sects we know of, had to have access to - or even monopoly over - the intercontinental trade routes, or a lot of raw materials available. But at the same time, being a mountainous region, it wasn't rich in water and water-intensive crops. I think that once the material appetite of the Wen upper echelon grew, the more they needed to look towards consuming other regions to sustain it.

Annexing Yunmeng was a good strategy from that point of view - it fixed the water issue and also opened new trade routes towards the South and East via the rivers.

But then the Wen were defeated - and all that West-ward trade potential suddenly was left unattended, and JGS would be a fool to let it slip through his fingers. And the only 'large' clan placed close enough to was Yunmeng.

Stands to reason that, somehow, JC managed to wrestle some of that for his own people to refill the coffers. Gusu was too far and not a trade hub by any means, and Nie Mingjue/Huaisang seemed uninterested in reaching out for it, so the only serious competition on that front were the Jin… Which, again, JC somehow managed to outsmart there, because I do not believe for even a moment that a fierce economic battle wasn't fought as soon as the military operations ended.

[morethanwonderful]

Do y'all ever think about Wei Wuxian's relationships and the places that foster them?

After Wei Wuxian's brief stay there, the Cloud Recesses are burnt down by the Wens. The place is destroyed completely, but it's built back up exactly the same as it was before. Resurrected Wei Wuxian can still recognize and navigate it by memory from when he was a teenager before all the destruction.

On the other hand, Lotus Pier, the place where Wei Wuxian spent the better part of a decade growing up, is almost unrecognizable to him when he returns post-resurrection. After Lotus Pier was sacked and massacred, after the twin prides fell apart in the war's aftermath, Jiang Cheng rebuilt the place grander and utterly different than it was before. The buildings Wwx remembers, including his old rooms, are gone.

I think that works quite well as a stand in for certain aspects of Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng's relationships with Wei Wuxian. Lan Zhan becomes Wei Wuxian's support, always solid and the same as he's ever been, and Jiang Cheng tries to remake himself into someone utterly apart from his old martial brother and the relationship they had.

[missholland]

Farewell, a place once called home!

I was homebound this week for an illness recovery, and thought it was the perfect time to rewatch one of my ultimate comfort shows: The Untamed.

Some people watch stuff once. Some people religiously rewatch their favs because they discover something new each time. I'm certainly part of the latter clan, and I cannot believe I never wrote about Wei Wuxian (WWX)'s post-resurrection return to Lotus Pier before.

The second half of episode 45 throughout episode 46 is quite a journey on its own right: the setting, the aesthetics, the dialogue, the emotional weight as one of the biggest secrets finally came to surface.

A very long rambling analysis ahead so bear with me!

Considering the latter half of episode 45 was mostly consumed with Si Si and Bi Cao exposing Jin Guangyao (JGY)'s dark past, there were only a couple of Lotus Pier moments that worth mentioning.

As WWX and Lan Wangji (LWJ) walked through the entrance of Lotus Pier, I was immediately taken back to what WWX said to LWJ in episode 6 when they were healing their injuries in the Cold Spring. WWX asked LWJ to come visit him in Lotus Pier one day, and I bet the circumstance they eventually found themselves in episode 45 was far from what WWX thought the visit would have been like.

Let's also take another step back to episode 34, where Jiang Cheng (JC) interrogated WWX. WWX admitted that he wanted to go back to Lotus Pier even in his dream, but at the time, he had probably given up all hopes of ever making that come true.

What else is there? His master and madam died, his disciple elder sister Yanli died, he got expelled from his own clan. It was virtually impossible to prepare WWX for the event of episode 45 where he actually got to walk into Lotus Pier again.

Let's now cruise into the main event - episode 46! Fed up with how the big clan meeting went following the revelation of JGY's wrongdoings, WWX and LWJ stepped away from the front room and made their way around Lotus Pier. They were likely just wandering around at the time, as their concentration was totally occupied with finding out who might be the mastermind trying to expose JGY. Then again, it might as well be WWX's muscle memory as they somehow ended up right in front of the ancestral hall.

Despite initial hesitation, WWX eventually decided to come in and paid respect to his Master, Madam and Yanli along with LWJ. It's not the first time we saw this incredibly tranquil and beautiful room. It really was WWX's most frequently visited room, whether it was being punished by Madam Yu (story apparently travelled all the way to Gusu) or having heartfelt conversation with Yanli. WWX telling LWJ his childhood stories inside the ancestral hall was probably the most mundane sequence during this whole ordeal, and a small moment of normality for WWX before our resident killjoy JC walked in.

Yes JC, we know it's your house but surely yelling in the middle of the ancestral hall whether your family was resting in peace isn't a very good idea? Our WWX certainly didn't expect any less from all the unpleasantness coming out of JC's mouth, as since forever he only let his anger do the speaking and not the common sense. LWJ was ready to have a showdown, but WWX calmly told him to stand down and let it go.

But did JC let it go too? Of course not. He was irritated by WWX's calmness and tried to spill some more frustration to get the other to react. He clearly picked the right route to go down on by picking on LWJ and Wen Ning (WN). Worse, he proceeded to single out LWJ and insulted his commitment to WWX.

That prompted WWX to yell out JC's courtesy name Jiang Wanyin, a name we didn't hear very often throughout the show but in this instance it was most memorable, especially coming from WWX. That itself drew a clear boundary in their relationship at that moment, from brothers to mere acquaintances in the cultivation world.

WWX wasn't afraid to ask a proud JC to apologise, but all JC was gonna do is pushing the button even more. He took a very personal swipe at their confidant/soulmate-ship that led WWX to, quite uncharacteristically, violently held JC's collar.

Our dearest is giving JC what he wants! Although to be perfect honest, I thought it was quite hilarious that JC for whatever reason was confident he could take on both of them. WWX possibly since he wasn't at his finest during that moment, but prime LWJ though...?

Thankfully, WWX looked up and saw Yanli's name. He knew very well it would break Yanli's heart seeing the two of them like this. He's gotta be the bigger person (and fair enough, he's already knackered from being the lure flag for the puppets). As our beloved couple once again tried to leave in peace, JC decided to make it as hard as possible for them. Here he is, triggering LWJ's angry lover protector mode.

I love the swift but determined arm push LWJ did to JC a second after this to get him off WWX, then right away his expression transitioned back into anxious lover worrier mode. LWJ didn't even give JC a second look. He promptly escorted WWX away but was still super alerted to give JC a good old Piss Off for STILL ONCE AGAIN not letting it go.

Let's take a moment to admire this bittersweet yet romantically charged frame before getting the tearfest started.

Now, our sweet baby WN just flew in with WWX's Suibian sword, got a couple of hits from JC's Zidian but was still determined to stand tall and asked JC to unseathe Suibian. JC was angry and confused, LWJ was probably also angry and confused, WWX has fainted, so now WN is the only sane one and the voice of reason. His cold lack of reaction (because he wasn't surprised at all) placing next to a shocked pikachu LWJ and confusingly mortified JC was the perfect comparison.

LWJ's face tells me that as soon as he saw JC taking out Suibian, he was already somewhat fearing the reason behind it. He hasn't quite reached the destination yet, but he was on the way. After all, he's one of the most intelligent and knowledgeable characters in the story thanks to his sect's education. His eyes made it look like he was holding on a tiny glimpse of hope that maybe it's not true, maybe it's not the worst case scenario, but it was certainly mixed with fear that it might be.

It's very different from JC who's just completely out of the loop, no hint of any possibility that he might be able to work out what happened. If WN wasn't there to SPELL IT OUT, JC would just remain angry and confused for the rest of the episode.

As JC is still in deep denial, and WN precisely recounted the event on the mountain in great details where JC was tricked to go find Baoshan Wanderer who could fix his core, LWJ only had eyes on WWX. His ears were listening to everything WN said too, but his focus was on WWX while he did his own reflection on how he reacted to WWX abandoning swordsmanship in the past (the same way JC did).

All the burning questions LWJ had inside his head - why WWX no longer carried Suibian, why he made all these excuses to not get back into practicing swords, why he took on crafty tricks, why he had a change in personality and demeanour, why he behaved so strangely after getting Suibian back - they are finally answered. But in the most unimaginably painful and heartbreaking way. LWJ's trembling face and tears scream PAIN, the pain you feel when you know someone you love is in pain, but you are also aware that whatever you feel is only 1/10000 of their actual suffering.

Pain and anger come together time to time, and LWJ has heard enough. He just wanted to get WWX out of here, out of this hell of a truth. He made his feeling known by stamping Bichen loudly on the ground and took WWX away, once and all.

Our baby WN really shined here. He wrapped up this dreadful revelation by daring JC to find anyone who can unsheathe Suibian, but not before hitting him with possibly the last thing any human being as competitive and eager to win like JC wanted to hear - did you know you were supposed to beneath your disciple older brother forever?

WN kept his head down and let out a sigh. He knew he shouldn't have done it since he promised WWX, but that was as much as he knew he had to do so. His guilt toward WWX was starting to hit him, but it was also obvious that a huge burden has been lifted off his shoulders.

We're now getting to the end of WWX's unexpectedly eventful return to Lotus Pier. Without JC's unreasonable pot-stirring screaming, we're finally given a lovely shot of Lotus lake at night with LWJ ensuring WWX's body not leaving his caring touch. I don't think we've had a proper conversation between LWJ and WN up to this point, and what makes it so special is that it's a genuine exchange between the only 2 people left who deeply care about WWX - a lonely anti-hero who's been walking alone on his deeply misunderstood journey for so long that it lasted through 2 lives.

Sweet WN also thanked LWJ for taking care of A Yuan and we got to learn about how LWJ managed to save A Yuan back then. It was sad but heartwarming knowing that WN was content with not disclosing A Yuan's past to him, as he's had a happy childhood and blessed life thanks to LWJ. Although, he acknowledges that eventually A Yuan would find out, just like JC did about his golden core.

Now as the conversation circled back to the golden core swap, LWJ asked WN a question that truly, you only ask when it's about someone you love. 'Is it painful?'. Not 'How did Wen Qing do it', but was it painful for WWX. What was the feeling he had, what was the pain he suffered, what was it like. It's not a sympathy question. It's something you want to know and empathise when your loved one goes through hard time. It's such a deeply specific and personal question, because when the person you love is in pain, you are too. You even want to feel it too, and LWJ is no stranger to that if we recall him leaving the same burn mark on his left chest as WWX had. Shame that this detail was never explained in the show.

As WN described:

'He should be sober enough to see the golden score which connects to the spiritual vein be separated from his body and feel the spiritual power die down little by little, until it is motionless and nothing can be felt'.

You can feel LWJ's pain peak as he was told WWX remained awake for 2 nights and 1 day with only 50% chance of success. As someone who deep down admires his soulmate's talent from a young age, what could be worse than having to hear that his other half had accepted to be mediocre for the rest of his life and never ascend to the top as he could have easily done?

Poor WWX regained conscious and realised where he was. Unsurprisingly, all of his Lotus Pier memories were tied with Yanli and he's overwhelmed by the image of her and flashback of their time together. What is home to WWX, the one who was trying his hardest to grow lotus somewhere as deadly as Burial Mounds? JC was his family, but not anymore. Yanli is no longer around, but till her death, she remained his family. She might have had married into Jin clan, but she embodied everything about Lotus Pier. Yanli is home. Yanli is Lotus Pier.

Seeing Yanli die at Nightless City was saying goodbye to the last person on earth who cared about WWX (or so he forgot about LWJ), which pushed him to giving up on his own life. So is Lotus Pier still home without Yanli? Is there even home without Yanli? WWX was barely treated like a proper guest at Lotus Pier. He was just someone who knew the way around, as home no longer hold the same meaning as it once did.

Lovely WWX was finally jolly again at the possibility of snacking on some tasty lotus seeds he must have missed dearly. Yet his little happiness was seemingly switched off by the rigid rule follower LWJ. If anything I was surprised that WWX agreed to give up the lotus seeds that quickly, of course not without sulking in disappointment.

But all of this only make the following moment even more glorious and poignant: the high and mighty LWJ who grew up obeying 3000 rules at Gusu Lan Sect literally picked a lotus with his own hand and give it to his soulmate, much to his shock and confusion.

At first I thought Well that's the least LWJ could do, has WWX not suffered enough, would a few (hundreds) lotus seeds matter that much. He's been in pain, he needs to be coddled and spoiled till the end of the world! So LWJ willing to break one tiny rule (tiny, comparing to all the others he broke because of WWX already) is a well deserved comfort that WWX needs.

But then it also hit me - it is an example of making compromise in a healthy relationship. WWX used to hold on to his wine and was willing to put up a fight for it, most of the time against LWJ himself. So why was it so easy to him to just have an awkward chuckle and drop the lotus seeds as LWJ didn't want to break a rule?

WWX compromised, as you would in a partnership. You don't have it your way all the time, you work together toward the same goal and there are times you're willing to put your partner's values above your own benefit. WWX, despite not fully happy about the decision, still agreed to give us the lotus as LWJ was uncomfortable. And in return, LWJ was okay with putting WWX's needs above his ingrained principle about 'stealing'. At the end of the day, it's not about winning or losing in a relationship. You win together and you lose together.

We really are spoiled with lotus romance in this episode!

But maybe... just maybe... LWJ doesn't know whether WWX would ever get a chance to return to Lotus Pier. Should this be the last ever opportunity, he would probably rather WWX's final memory of the visit not being JC's anger and resentment. In return, it is a rare carefree moment on Lotus lake, one his WWX's favourite places, eating lotus seeds with the only 2 people who still care so much about him and willing to go to the end of the world for him.

If this is meant to be a farewell to a place WWX once called home, while LWJ couldn't change the unfortunate circumstance that led to this challenging visit, he at least has done his best to give it a drama-free peaceful ending for the person he loves dearly.

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

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1. Hi could you please suggest some

A) Omega Wei wuxian alpha lwj fanfics?

B) And fox wwx dragon lwj with good plot too @lostsoul234

1A)

A/B/O Comp

🧡 shoot your shot -- hot or knot by defractum (nyargles) (E, 51k, WangXian, Modern AU, A/B/O Dynamics, Reality Show, Hunger Games Setting, Canon-Typical Violence, Extremely Dubious Consent, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Humor, Additional Warnings In Author's Notes) (link in #6) would probably work?

B)

@archeaologies said: re your latest 'im in the mood for' post, 1b (foxxian and dragonji fics): ive been slowly putting together a massive rec list on my sideblog (@lansyuan) of exactly this au - its currently sat in my drafts but if op wants to pm me on my sideblog then i can link them all the fics ive collected so far! 🥰

Shape-shifter AU Comp

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2. I was wondering if yall wouldn't mind reccing any favorite Chengxian canon Era fics? @dragonfairies

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3. Itmf for wangxian post canon where WWX is threatened to sacrifice himself for LWJ. It can be any case fiction with an interesting villain making their life hard. @paraffin22

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4. Hello, thank you for all your wonderful recommendations! Itmf LXC takes care of WWX

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5. Itmf omega WWX presenting for lwj

#2 in this fic finder might have a few you would enjoy

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6. Itmf wangxian survival fics, like wilderness or cold, etc

and from our own/live to ourselves by betweentheheavesofstorm (M, 105k, wangxian, modern, fantasy, reality tv, angst w/ happy ending, survival, blood & gore, self-harm, animal death, slow burn) this might count?

🧡 shoot your shot -- hot or knot by defractum (nyargles) (E, 51k, WangXian, Modern AU, A/B/O Dynamics, Reality Show, Hunger Games Setting, Canon-Typical Violence, Extremely Dubious Consent, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Humor, Additional Warnings In Author's Notes) would probably work?

The Edge of Night by Hobbsy3 (M, 277k, WangXian, XuanLi, Modern AU, Zombie Apocalypse, Yúnmèng Siblings Dynamics, Accidental Baby Acquisition During a Zombie Apocalypse, Junior Quartet, (except they’re all babies), Angst with a Happy Ending, Minor Character Death, Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Gore, Ensemble Cast, Worst Zombie Fighting Team Ever, Found Family)

In The Dark Right Now by phnelt (T, 10k, wangxian, JC & LWJ, WWX & JC, graphic depictions of injuries, trapped in a cave, Near Death Experience, fatalistic thinking, established wangxian, Family Feels, mention of unnamed illness of an offscreen character, Nobody dies in this fic, Modern Setting, JC and WWX are caved in and LWJ talks to them through the radio, Hurt/Comfort)

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7. itmf (self indulgent) wwx appreciation fic. have a good day.

Simping over WWX is my fave hobby Series by brrrrrRawr (T, 10k, WangXian, WWX's original body, Fluff, Pet Name,s Blushing, No Smut, Genius WWX, yunmeng bros reconciliation, endgame lotus pier, big bro wwx rights, also dad wwx rights, BAMF WWX, Bad Writing, Body Dysphoria So OOC, world building, cliff diving, corpse wrestling, OOC, Canon Divergence, god WWX, god WN, god WQ, child JL, teenager MXY, xuanli get resurrected, rip nmj tho, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, BAMF WWX, BAMF WN, BAMF WQ)

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8. papa-zhan fics please! a-yuan/sizhui calling him dad, a-die, baba, whatever. canon world or modern anything, just some baba lan wangji softness.

🧡 Yiling Salon: Hair, Nails and Piercing by TriviasFolly (T, 22k, WangXian, Modern AU, hairstylist AU, WWX owns a salon, Hairstylist WWX, 5+1 Things, Fluff, Experimental Style)

🧡 paint smears on sunny days by SnowshadowAO3 (E, 53k, WangXian, Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Everyone Is Alive, Modern AU, Dadji, Mutual Pining, Happy Ending, Brief Alcohol Mention, Masturbation, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Accidentally co-parenting with your son's art teacher, Fatherhood)

When You Wake, 怎能当梦一场 by acertainrogue (T, 39k, WangXian, WWX is in a coma, Angst with a Happy Ending, Modern AU, Single Dad LWJ, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Parenthood, YZY's A+ Parenting, JFM's A+ parenting, wangxian family) mind the tags pls

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9. hello! it is me that animal-whisperer lwj fic anon! thank you for recommending that, it was such a good read..

would it be fine to ask more of that kind? i cannot seem to get enough of that trope.

🧡 A Study in Fluff by WeaverOfTheNight (T, 29k, WangXian, Modern AU, Ghost bunnies, Vet LWJ, Architect WWX, Kid LSZ, Domestic fluff, Modern with Magic)

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10. This is more of a recommendation ask, does anyone know of any good canon compliant post last chapter fics? basically just more of lwj and wwx and the juniors etc just living their lives like the iron hook extra in the novels? Basically just any very canon post story stories people made i can’t get over the last chapter it was so cute with the lotuses and tipped boat help Sorry if that doesn’t really make sense THABK YOU TUMBLR!!!!!! @kaleajakic

🔒do not go gentle by RoseThorne (G, 684, WN & WQ, WN & WWX, LSZ & WQ, Canonical Character Death, Spirits, Ghosts, LWJ Plays Inquiry, Song: Inquiry, Protectiveness, Grief/Mourning, Love, Acceptance, Family, Angst, Post-Canon, POV Third Person, POV WN)

A More Practical Approach by Elhana (T,9k, WangXian, Canon Compliant Teacher WWX, Humour, POV Multiple, Implied Sexual Content, WWX is resourceful, wuxia magic shenanigans, Based on a Tumblr Post, Post-Canon)

It takes courage to pet a dog. by nenufares (T, 10k, WangXian, Post-Canon, a bit of canon-typical violence, past animal abandonment, Dogs, Fluff and Humor, Mild Hurt/Comfort) I'm not sure if they really count but they are post canon and I enjoyed reading them!

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11. itmf fic where wwx is cultivating the ghostly path like in the novel. i'd like recs for a cultivation that's more a compassion/empathy-based collaboration that results in the liberation of the resentful dead not an antihero necromancer forcing the dead to do his will for the greater good. thanks ❤️🩵

🔒 the thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break by RoseThorne (E, 91k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Soulmates, Self-Esteem Issues, Fix-It, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, PTSD, Handfasting, Panic Attacks, Getting Together, First Time, Aftercare, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, /Referenced Torture, Scars, Chronic Pain, Golden Core Reveal, First Time, Switching, sex-related injury, LWJ Stays at the Burial Mounds, LSZ is a Wèi, Good Sibling JC, Dissociation, Burial Mounds Settlement Days)

A Life Without Regrets by naqaashi (M, 74k, wangxian, JFM & WWX, JC & WWX, WRH & WWX, LXC & LWJ, LQR & LWJ, LWJ & NHS, Canon Divergence, Time Travel Fix-It, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Crack Treated Seriously, musical cultivation, Slow Burn, Pining, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Murder Husbands, PTSD, BAMF WWX, Demonic Cultivation, POV WWX, Cultivation Sect Politics, Worldbuilding, No Yīn Iron, Genius WWX, Inventor WWX, Artist WWX, Musician WWX, Night Hunts, Fate & Destiny, Bad Parent JFM & YZY, Golden Core, Cultivation Theory, Sentient Burial Mounds, Father-Son Relationship, Dysfunctional Family, Grief/Mourning, Parent-Child Relationship, Angry WWX, Pining WWX, WWX is Not Okay, No Golden Core Transfer, BAMF LWJ, Pining LWJ, POV LWJ, Angry LWJ, One-Braincell Wangxian, Love Confessions, Idiots in Love, WIP)

Ad Oblivione by Baph, HikariNoHimeWriter (M, 70k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Temporary Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, POV Multiple, Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Identity Reveal, Golden Core Reveal, Cultivation World Critical, Not JC Friendly, Abusive YZY, Angst with a Happy Ending)  

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12. Hi! I was just wondering if you have any good, longer fluff pieces. They can have plot, but in general everyone is happy and no one gets hurt (unless it’s jgs). I know canon makes it a bit more difficult, but if you have any recs, that would be great! I’m just looking for fluff, humor, and plot

Thank you!

how to fall in love with a catfish: a guide by wei wuxian (disaster rat) by bwyn, Yuisaki (T, 54k, WangXian, Modern AU, College/University, Actors, Multimedia, Online Friendship, Drunken Shenanigans, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Underage Drinking, Drinking Games, Families of Choice, Ensemble Cast, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, Catfish AU) there's a bit of angst here

Meet Me Friday At Seven by craftyTrickster (luoxiaobai) (E, 128k, wangxian, modern, Fluff, Meet-Cute, Friends to Lovers, Blind Date, lots of texting, almost a chat fic, WC and WLJ aren’t evil but they are annoying, Kissing, Masturbation, Anal Sex, romantic sex, Bi WWX, bi nhs, Single Parent WWX, Slow Burn, Unreliable Narrator) just pure fluff

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13. Hi! I am looking for canon-divergent fics where people think WWX dies but he actually doesn’t? I then want a big reveal when people realize he is still alive/never actually died. Thank you so much!

ahhh I just sent in an itmf ask about WWX dying but not really? I meant to specify that I want him to be "dead" for a long period of time, not just a brief gimmick. Long enough that people mourn him or move on, and then he comes back years later like in canon. Thanks, and sorry for not putting this in the first ask!

🔒Brotherhood by LtLJ (G, 10k, JC & WWX, CQL canon, Canon Divergence, Yunmeng Brothers Reconciliation, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, breaks from canon during the time skip, YLLZ WWX)

WWX and JYL run away by shanastoryteller (WangXian, XuanLi, JYL and JZX lives, JYL and WWX raise JL and LSZ, Fake Character Death)

Something From Nothing by sami (E, 55k, WangXian, XianLi, Minor QingLi, XiCheng, Canonical Character Death, Canonical Character Resurrection, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon Divergence, Assassin's Creed Fusion, Kinda, Assassin's Creed Vibes, Wangxian is endgame, Slow Burn, specifically for wangxian, no infidelity, no partner betrayal, Angst with a Happy Ending) This has canon divergence and wwx being dead long enough for people to move on plus hey he's alive reveal but not exactly the way requester described

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14. hii! I'm sorry to bother you! i was hoping you could rec me some dark lwj, or dark gusu lan fics? them being more manipulative or possessive? thank you so much in advance<3

A Matter of Time by mrcformoso (M, 40k, wangxian, time travel fix-it, graphic depictions of violence, underage, LWJ pov, JC pov, dark LWJ, manipulation, grooming, teen body adult mind for LWJ, happy ending for wangxian, problematic consensual underage sex, blood & violence, insane LWJ, manic LWJ)

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15. hello!!! hehe would just like to ask if you have any fics where lsz is referenced as the lan heir? thank you! 💕

anyway, here's wuji by kakikaeru (T, 18k, ZhuiYi, WangXian, LingZhen, Post-Canon)

❤️ A Civil Combpaign by Ariaste (M, 12k, zhuiling, wangxian, arranged marriage, combs, courting, awkward teenagers, teenage drama, humor, feelings, fluff)

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16. Heyy ! I am in the mood for your favourite nightmares fic (Wangxian if possible). Thxx ! @sebyyw

#FreePalestine | hold me close by gentil-minou (Flyingsuits) (E, 13k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Porn with Feelings, Emotional Sex, Grief, Mental Health Issues, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, tender husbands being tender, Character Study, Masturbation, Oral Sex ,Anal Sex, Working Through Grief With Sex, Grieving Your Husband While Fucking Him, Depressed LWJ) I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for but lwj has a nightmare in one scene in my fic here

hunters seeking solid ground by Attila (E, 23k, wangxian, Canon Compliant, discussion of canon character death, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, bed sharing, Getting Together, Yearning, Literal Sleeping Together, Really Excessive Amounts of Hurt/Comfort)

Feathers On My Breath by Sweetlittlevampire (T, 3k, wangxian, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Teen Crush, Pre-Relationship, Panic Attacks, LWJ Has A Panic Attack, Nightmare, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Past Character Death, Mentions of Dying Linked To The Panic Attack, Sharing a Bed)

a needle, a whisper, an insidious dream by pale_and_tragic (M, 19k, wangxian, WWX & WQ & LWJ, post-canon, fix-it of sorts, case fic, horror elements, nightmares, hallucinations, pining, hurt LWJ, aroace WQ, platonic relationships, suicidal thoughts, angst w/ happy ending, hurt/comfort, sleeping beauty)

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17. Me again, back to pester you all w/ an ITMF ask! Thank you so much for all you do! I have read (and re-read) An Elegant Solution and also Things to Do with a Flute During Wartime, and they have put me in the mood for NMJ-centric stories where he is a fully robust, complex, interesting character. Any ship is okay, and modern AUs welcome, but pref. no MCD. &lt;;3 @kimboo-york

🔒 Audience of One by WinterDreams (T, 181k, XiCheng, WangXian, XuanLi, mentioned SongXiao, implied MingYao, Modern AU, Celebrities, Inspired by 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Singer LXC, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Needs A Hug, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Swearing, Slow Burn, Family Feels, Family Bonding, childhood crushes, past emotional abuse, Post-Betrayal, Venerated Triad Feels, Yunmeng Duo Feels, Nightmares, Fluff and Angst, hand holding, Babysitter Ā-Qìng, Domestic Fluff, Soft XiCheng, Eventual Happy Ending)

🔒 shades of grey spill from my veins (bleeding ink all over the page) by Reverie (cl410) (M, 58k, LXC/NMJ, wangxian, NHS/WN, POV NMJ, Canon Divergence, WWX raised by the Nie Sec, Mentions of WWX's life on the streets, Hurt/Comfort, Accidental Sibling Acquisition, Single Dad NMJ, NHS & WWX Friendship, Fluff, Humor, Happy Ending, Everyone Lives AU, Protective NMJ, a plot showed up, Sunshot Campaign, Some angst, Blood and Injury, Kidnapping, Protective Siblings, Found Family) more canon

found in translation by sysrae (E, 12k, LXC/NMJ, wangxian, Modern Cultivation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, my extremely justified hatred of LQR, Meddling brothers, Coming Out, Loss of Virginity, Under-negotiated Kink, slight breathplay, Light Dom/sub, Aftercare, Angst with a Happy Ending) a modern AU

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If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

[wittytrixter]

MXTX did a great job at showing us the loss of Wei Wuxian's freedom, safety, sense of self in stages.

In the first stage, we see him accept comfort from Jiang Cheng for the last time following his punishment for carrying alcohol into the Cloud Recesses at Jiang Cheng's behest. After Jiang Cheng agrees that Wei Wuxian should go (following Wei Wuxian's defense of his sister and sect), while referencing his resentment of Wei Wuxian's budding interest in Lan Wangji, he stops trusting Jiang Cheng to have his back. This is further explored in the post station scene, when Wei Wuxian is slow to accept affection. It was also there in the diatribe after Xuanwu-- Wei Wuxian promises brotherhood and subordination, but is unaffected when the brotherhood promise isn't reciprocal. He can't expect Jiang Cheng to accept him for who he is, and he responds accordingly. Wei Wuxian can't expect safety in this relationship.

The same is true of the loss of his sword and golden core. These are symbols of his sense of self; both utterly destroyed in the wake of cultural reactions to his station and his lineage. He can't be who he wanted to be, but he still has a sense of fragile belonging.

Except that, too, was destroyed. Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu both told him he belonged for a purpose the night Lotus Pier fell, and Wei Wuxian lost his sense of community and camaraderie (and his guardians, and his faith in those guardians).

Jiang Yanli, importantly, questions this narrative clearly and repeatedly. But she marries into a sect that has set out to lay him low, and while he supports that, he isn't even allowed at her wedding. So the belonging... is compromised at best.

But he is still himself, and is still a resilient and kind hearted person. So he tries again. He is, after all, free to follow his own morals. He can give up the acceptance of someone like Lan Wangji if he can keep his freedom.

Then he is attacked as a direct result of his sister's acknowledgment. He doesn't have the freedom to live life on his terms, and his two closest friends, (his almost siblings) are taken from him, and he doesn't even get to agree or disagree with it. That line about his gratitude over being denied a choice hits me right in the ribcage: of course you're grateful, honey. They're not pretending you have a choice and accept you as you are, even when you are weak and helpless.

(Note: weak and helpless in that moment, but also in the grand scheme of things--this bamf could not change the motives or systems devoted to denying the agency of those they viewed as the subordinate class.)

But the remaining sense of self he possessed after he lost the last shreds of safety, freedom, and belonging was destroyed when Yanli sacrificed her life for him.

He couldn't pretend at resilience after that, couldn't make himself believe he was still self-posessed, couldn't convince himself he had any agency, and lost his very ability to trust himself.

Which makes it so enriching to see him reconnect with these pieces of himself following his resurrection. Lan Wangji went from "Come to Gusu?" to "You are coming to Gusu."

But Wei Wuxian went from "the world hates me and I hate it" to... "I loved these people, and they made it possible for me to become a decent person who is deserving of love and who makes the lives of those around me better."

[qourmet]

i was talking to the roomie the other idk Week? about wangxian & just lan wangji in general & his existence as a tragic character & roomie tacked on "im sure the angry horny-grip factored in" & like

yes, but only for baby teenji, yanno?

lwj is Always horny-grip but the anger part of it could've been a factor from like 10 different things ranging from "oh heavens Please Not That One" to "shufu will be Disappointed" to "(having a same-sex partner) goes against my clan's expectations of Me as an heir" to just simply being a teenager that Does Not Know How to Temper his emotions towards a crush

but that anger and self-rejection from lan wangji arguably dissipates completely once he loses wei wuxian. and i don't mean when he loses him for the 13 year stint of Death, but after the cultivation world at-large recovers jiang cheng from the fall of Lotus Pier, once the sunshot campaign begins, once wei wuxian's status of life becomes Unknown. Losing wei wuxian and living for 3some months without Knowing shook lan wangji enough to understand that there was no merit to be gained in flatly ignoring wei wuxian or rising to his taunts. that his struggle is now grappling with How to act on these emotions Once wei wuxian returns & i feel that's so sharply reflected in the stolen kiss. that Believing, even if only subconsciously, that he'd lost wei wuxian Forever triggered Something in him to go against his (presumed) clan's precepts about self-moderation and overindulgence and Probably body autonomy in his own Horribly clumsy ways

just thinking a lot about how post-resurrection wei wuxian's lan wangji has grown enough to Proactively pursue what he wants without the same hesitation that he felt when he was ~18-19 years old. that he's old enough and learned enough to be able to do that without intruding on autonomy & come to terms with the idea that he could be satisfied with just Being by wei wuxian's side as long as wei ying will have him

[youhideastar]

Fit for Purpose Deleted Scenes V: Jiang Cheng

Today's deleted scenes from Fit for Purpose deal with Jiang Cheng - a topic I know a lot of commenters were curious about. Other deleted scenes posts are linked in the masterpost. I hope you enjoy!

Jiang Cheng haunts Fit for Purpose like a ghost. He barely shows up “on screen”—his only significant appearances are in the Xuanwu Cave scene and subsequent rescue—but his expectations of WWX and WWX’s desire to meet them are a driving force of the story. A big reason WWX can’t accept LWJ’s love at first is that WWX feels he needs his family’s permission to have a life of his own, and he’s sure as hell not going to get it from JC; even if, ultimately, JC might be willing to accept WWX having that life, he’s not going to say it. In the end, WWX gets that permission from the only other surviving member of the family he was raised to serve: Jin Ling. But part of the reason Jin Ling’s permission “works” is that, when he speaks, JC is speaking through him:

“Idiot,” Jin Ling says again, rolling his eyes. It’s so familiar.

Wei Wuxian smiles. His vision is blurry with tears, and he doesn’t care. “Jin Ling?”

“What?” Jin Ling scowls as he says it; that, too, is so familiar it makes Wei Wuxian’s chest ache.

Only once WWX has been “released” from his duties as a beta (as he sees them) by JL and, by proxy, JC, can he accept the happiness he’s being offered by LWJ. (Btw, the discovery that I could get around JC’s emotional constipation by having JL say things that JC wouldn’t was life-changing. 🤣 I’m definitely using my newfound power for evil in future fics haha.)

Ultimately, I’m really happy with the way that JC looms over the story, discernable mostly secondhand or in glimpses, not seen or heard directly except once. But there was a period where I felt like that was a bug, not a feature.

There came a point where, to preserve the structure of the story (alternating present day with flashbacks) I needed to come up with one last flashback scene, which would be the final flashback chronologically (the JYL flashback, which is the final one, is the only one out of chronological order – it had to be that way). I convinced myself that that missing flashback scene needed to have to do with JC, precisely because he shows up so little. Plus, I knew readers would be very curious about what JC’s take on all the beta stuff was (and comments confirm this!) I rewatched the entire post-resurrection arc, trying to find a scene that I could use. Ultimately, I realized trying to feature JC was a mistake, and I went with the Episode 50 NHS scene instead, where WWX thinks about how NHS brought him back to life in order to use him. But I wasted a week of drafting trying to get JC to talk about his feelings, and here’s how it went:

First, a take on the scene where WWX and LWJ bow in the Jiang family shrine. Because this follows the “I do not want to be to Wei Ying what others have been”/So then what do you want to be to me? scene, I liked the idea of WWX very blatantly discounting the idea that he could possibly be marrying LWJ.

As they complete their bows in the Jiang family shrine and sit back on their heels, Wei Wuxian half-laughs under his breath as something occurs to him: three bows, in front of his—well, the fact that Jiang-shushu and Yu-furen aren’t his parents is only one of a long list of things that separates these three bows from a wedding, starting with the fact that Wei Wuxian isn’t qualified.

“Wei Ying.”

He turns. Lan Zhan is watching him patiently.

“It’s nothing,” he says, shaking his head. He’d been so cavalier about that when they were kids – messing with Lan Zhan’s forehead ribbon, trying to touch it all the time. He knows better now.

He wants to be careful with Lan Zhan, now.

JIANG CHENG SHOWS UP.

“Bad enough you go wandering around Lotus Pier like it belongs to you,” A-Cheng snarls, as Wei Wuxian scrambles to his feet. “But you come to disturb my parents, my sister, with this… this farce?”

Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, understands perfectly that this is meant to be a wedding.

“A-Cheng—”

“Don’t. You. Dare.”

WWX calling JC and JYL “A-Cheng” and “Jiejie” is one of the subtle but extremely key worldbuilding motifs. He gets that extra piece of intimacy, compared to canon… but oh, the price he pays for it.

“Jiang Cheng. Lan Zhan and I just came to pay our respects—”

“Is that what you call it?” A-Cheng looks away. “You always had to be so extreme. It’s not enough for you to abandon Yunmeng Jiang Sect and our family – you have to do it right in front of my parents, and expect them to bless this—this—”

“I’m not asking Yu-furen and Jiang-shushu to bless anything. We just came to light incense.”

“That’s not what I saw. You never had any shame. But you, Lan-er-gongzi – everyone says you’re so upright.”

JC thinks of WWX marrying mostly in terms of him leaving the sect (although he also calls a wedding involving a beta a “farce”). Hypocritical, since WWX has very much already been kicked out and made unwelcome! But a JC who was of only one mind about whether he wants WWX to come back would be, frankly, totally unrecognizable. The ambivalence is baked-in.

Ultimately, that scene was not contributing to the arc of the story for a number of reasons, starting with the fact that it was way too long, and it pulled the focus away too much from LWJ and WWX. JC has a way of taking over scenes that he’s in. 🤣 He’s so loud!

So then I’m like, okay, let’s do the climactic convo in Guanyin Temple. One advantage: it’s so salient to fans that I barely need to do any setup to establish where and when we are.

“Wei Wuxian.” The flickering light of hundreds of candles plays over A-Cheng’s face, taut with rage. A drop of blood falls from the wound on his chest onto the temple floor. “Do you want me to bow down in thanks for your selflessness? Should I put my face to the floor and apologize for not acknowledging your noble sacrifice—”

“It wasn’t any of those things,” Wei Wuxian says. His hands ache, clenched in his lap. “It wasn’t noble, or selfless, I didn’t do it to be acknowledged, I—it was my duty, A-Cheng, that’s all it w—”

“I don’t want your duty!” A-Cheng screams, his face a mask of pain. “I want—”

He chokes. Coughs. Blood trickles over his lower lip.

Before he can finish wiping it away, Jin Guangyao returns. There’s no time, then, for A-Cheng to finish what he meant to say.

It doesn’t make sense, Wei Wuxian thinks, remembering it later. What was the whole promise of the Twin Heroes of Yunmeng about, if not about duty?

I was pretty sure that it would be clear to readers that JC is saying he doesn’t want WWX’s duty, he wants WWX’s love. If I could have gotten this scene to write, it would have been a really nice complement to the final Jin Ling scenes – showing that WWX’s inability to understand that he is loved unconditionally ultimately sabotages his family relationships as well as his relationship with LWJ.

But the scene would not write, partly because JC is wrong. Yes, he wants WWX’s love, and wants WWX to stay with him and serve him out of love. But he also wants WWX’s duty. He wants WWX to keep his promises. He wants WWX to fill the role that society has ordained for him, just the way JC himself feels constrained to do, for all his life. Again: the ambivalence is baked-in.

And I trusted readers would know that – that they would have the same question WWX has at the end of this scene. But having WWX flag it both felt clumsy and failed to provide closure to the scene. And not flagging it at all, letting JC’s statement to unchallenged, would have damaged my credibility with readers who might think they were expected to take JC’s statement at face value.

Undeterred, I took another swing at Guanyin Temple.

“Wei Wuxian!” In Guanyin Temple, the flickering light of hundreds of candles plays over A-Cheng’s face, taut with anguish. “Do you want me to bow down in thanks for your selflessness? Should I put my face to the floor and apologize for not acknowledging your noble sacrifice?”

“A-Cheng. Stop,” says Wei Wuxian. He’s so tired. He wishes they’d never come here. “That wasn’t—it wasn’t noble. It was just… what I owed to Yunmeng Jiang—”

“What you owed? What you owed us was to stay!” A-Cheng snarls, eyes wet. His clenched hands rise to his chest. “That’s what it means to have a beta, they stay – A-Jie got married and left, we knew she would get married and leave, but you—we were supposed to be everything to you. You promised… we’d be everything to you.”

He looks so young, for a moment; breakable. Wei Wuxian aches.

Then the lines of age and pain carve themselves into his brother’s face again. “Your home, your family… that’s enough for every other beta. But not for the great Wei Wuxian,” A-Cheng finishes bitterly, as he turns away.

Wei Wuxian aches. “You were enough, A-Cheng—”

“No,” A-Cheng spits, low. “You had to have your heroics. You had to have him.” He jerks his head at Lan Zhan, who looks coldly back. “The great Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Laozu, could never have been just a sect leader’s subordinate. Every other sect has betas who act like a beta should act. Who know their place. I’ll never know what Yunmeng Jiang did to deserve you.”

I think this scene is on the right track, actually. But it raises issues that just cannot be resolved in a little half-page vignette. You can see me trying to bring the focus back to Wangxian at the end of this bit, but it’s not enough – JC is yet again taking up all the air in the room, bless his heart. And it would have been a distraction.

It was at this point that I realized that I didn’t need to shove more JC into the story, because he’s already so present, even if only by implication. And if readers were curious about his role, it wouldn’t do the story any harm to let them come to their own conclusions.

For what it’s worth, my take is that JC has no problem with the way that society treats betas – and why should he? He’s been raised to believe that this is all totally normal. And don’t forget, WWX’s sexual availability is framed by alphas and omegas as a benefit to WWX, something they’re jealous of, “oh, how lucky for you that you can have sex with whoever you want instead of just your spouse!” It’s not that he sees WWX being taken advantage of and is okay with it—he does not perceive WWX to be taken advantage of in the first place. And that makes sense, because neither does WWX! But, at the same time, JC loves WWX very much, and he demonstrates with his actions again and again that he doesn’t buy the idea that WWX’s life is worth less than his, or that it’s WWX’s purpose to sacrifice himself for JC. To me, that’s peak JC: do not expect him to challenge structural oppression, but by God, he will walk to hell and back on bare feet for the people he loves.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Tomorrow's batch of deleted scenes specifically focus on Wangxian.

[mxtxfanatic]

i’ve seen people on reddit claim that JC distracting the Wens and thus losing his core was equal to WWX deliberately giving up his core. What’s your opinion on this? quite frankly i don’t think what JC did is in any way the same as what WWX did

I think I’ll answer this a little differently. I don’t think that Jiang Cheng distracted the Wen with the knowledge that losing his golden core was an option, unlike Wei Wuxian who knowingly and (horrifyingly) consciously gave up his golden core. I do think that both acts were borne out of care (Jiang Cheng’s in not wanting the only person left from his clan’s massacre to be captured, and Wei Wuxian fulfilling the dying wishes of his sect leaders to save his suicidal childhood friend). I do not think both acts are equal, because what each character does after these acts serves to reify the selflessness of it (Wei Wuxian) or tarnish the memory of it (Jiang Cheng).

The problem lies not in the intentions or understandings behind the two acts, but how the two characters behave after that. Jiang Cheng clearly regrets potentially having saved Wei Wuxian in exchange for losing his golden core. He spends the rest of the book alienating and eventually completely betraying Wei Wuxian’s trust and sacrifices. And then when Wei Wuxian dies, he spends the 13 years before his resurrection killing anyone who reminded him of his shixiong.

Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian continued to aid Jiang Cheng despite having all of his sacrifices turned against him. He comes back to help Jiang Cheng reclaim Lotus Pier despite having been thrown into the Burial Mounds because he was unable to fight back post-golden core transfer. He stays loyal to Jiang Cheng despite the latter’s lashing out at him based on others’ rumors, and when he could no longer maintain that loyalty in the face of genocide, he opts for a clean break from the clan so that the Jiang would not suffer the consequences of his autonomous actions. Even in the present day and post-canon story, Wei Wuxian never goes after Jiang Cheng or calls him to task for any of the slander he told that ruined his reputation, nor all the people he killed.

So while Jiang Cheng losing his golden core and Wei Wuxian willingly giving his up may or may not be similar in the intent behind the actions, it is what each do for the other after those events that cements Wei Wuxian as a loyal friend and Jiang Cheng as a jealous backstabber. Wei Wuxian never shames or punishes Jiang Cheng for him giving up his core to the latter, but Jiang Cheng never (until the end) stops punishing Wei Wuxian for every bad thing that’s ever happened to him, not just the loss of his golden core.

[azems-familiar]

For the mzds oc (whose name fell out of my brain whoops): how do you feel about WWX’s resurrection?

(!!!!!!!!!!!! i am so excited to answer this one dkjgfhkjh i haven't done much with her yet! and her name is Lei Bao 雷豹, courtesy name Wuying 乌撄!)

(Lei Wuying is, for those unfamiliar with her, the head disciple of YunmengJiang post Wei Wuxian's death. She was one of the very few juniors to survive the Fall of Lotus Pier, and so remembers what it was like to learn from him, and remembers what it was like when Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan were in charge.)

Lei Wuying sighs and makes a face, torn between some kind of aggravation and frustration and fondness, even now. "It's been strange," she admits. "He was my hero when I was young, and even after everything happened - I know why he had to leave us, I do, I get it. He was protecting us. He never stopped protecting us. But I was still a kid when he left - I was. I didn't think it at the time, because I'd just been a person of authority during a fucking war, but I was still a kid, and he was my hero, and when he left it hurt. I didn't like feeling like I wasn't good enough for him, like our sect wasn't good enough for him, even though I knew that wasn't why he left. And when he died... sorry, I don't really like talking about Nightless City, even this many years later."

She shrugs and runs a hand over her forehead - there's cinnabar ink on her fingers, and it leaves a streak across her face. "Anyway, as for the actual question - it was always like there was a ghost in Lotus Pier, if I'm honest with you. Jiang-zongzhu wouldn't ever admit it, but with how much time he spent hunting down any rumor that da-shixiong returned, and the fact that no one really dared mention him within the walls... da-shixiong's ghost was there in all the ways he wasn't there, if that makes sense. And I've always been more reliant on talismans than my peers, because of his influence, and so I taught that to my disciples once I took this position. But none of us ever expected da-shixiong to come back."

A laugh, and then, "Though of course, if anyone was going to do it, it'd be him, just to piss Jiang-zongzhu off. I think it'd feel less strange that he's back if I'd had the chance to speak to him, honestly. The only time I've seen him is during that impromptu conference here in Lotus Pier shortly after the Second Siege of the Burial Mounds, and he was paying more attention to Hanguang-jun than anyone else at the time. He looked happy, though, and I think - now that I'm older, I think that's the best I can want for him." She sighs, a little rueful, and says, "Now that I'm an adult with my own juniors to look after, I realize that Wei Wuxian isn't a hero, or a devil, or anything like that. He's just another person. And if he needs to join GusuLan to be happy, then I'll be glad for him.

".... I'm still going to try and meet him at the next Discussion Conference, if Jiang-zongzhu takes me along. I want to compare talisman designs. He's not the only talisman inventor in the jianghu anymore. That's what he gets for being dead for thirteen years."

[qiu-yan]

aiyo not this shit again...

the reason why jiang cheng goes aggro isn't just because he blames wei wuxian and lan wangji for the fall of lotus pier, but specifically because wei wuxian brought himself, lan wangji, and wen ning into jiang cheng's house where jiang cheng lives. jiang cheng had plenty of chances to be aggro outside of lotus pier already, so the fact that he's being extra aggro in this scene, in contrast to his behavior during the second siege of the burial mounds, indicates he's not just mad at these people - he's mad that these people are trespassing in his home.

because wei wuxian, as an outsider, has no right to be in lotus pier's ancestral hall. traditionally, the ancestral hall of a clan is open only to members of that clan; it is not a place that guests, no matter how honored, can freely trespass on. wei wuxian, as an outsider, has no right to enter the ancestral hall as he pleases - nor does he have the right to bring lan wangji, another outsider, in with him. even the most honored of guests does not have free rein of his host's home.

perhaps another way to describe the problem here is that wei wuxian is trying to have his cake and eat it too. wei wuxian chose to leave yunmeng jiang: over 13 years ago, when wei wuxian insisted on protecting the innocent wen remnants, he was the one who told jiang cheng to cast him aside; then, after wei wuxian's resurrection, wei wuxian's continued avoidance of jiang cheng made it clear that he no longer considered himself a member of yunmeng jiang.

now, this is an entirely valid decision for wei wuxian to make! it's wei wuxian's life, he can live it however he wishes, and it is entirely within wei wuxian's rights to ditch jiang cheng and lotus pier! but decisions have consequences. rights and duties go hand in hand: if wei wuxian is unwilling to commit to the duties of being a member of yunmeng jiang, then wei wuxian is not entitled to the rights reserved for members of yunmeng jiang. being permitted into the private areas of lotus pier is not a universal privilege available to everyone, but is rather a right reserved exclusively for members of yunmeng jiang. meanwhile, as cerusee's screenshotted tags above state, being considered a member of a family or sect entails certain duties and responsibilities, the least of which is not avoiding your own sect leader. since all of wei wuxian's actions indicate he no longer considers himself a part of yunmeng jiang - that he no longer considers himself beholden to the duties of being a member of yunmeng jiang - wei wuxian can no longer justifiably claim the perks of being a member of yunmeng jiang. rights and duties go hand in hand; to try to claim the former while shirking the latter is trying to have one's cake and eat it too.

this is why so many people on this post have said that they do not think wei wuxian had the right to be in lotus pier's ancestral hall at all. this is why barely any of us have even gotten into wei wuxian and lan wangji's behavior in the ancestral hall itself: because the mere entry of wei wuxian and lan wangji into a private area of jiang cheng's home, without jiang cheng's permission, is already a wrongdoing in our eyes.

but, for the sake of argument, let's get into wei wuxian and lan wangji's behavior in the ancestral hall confrontation itself.

as a starting point, let's establish that the lotus pier ancestral hall is a private area. when jiang cheng confronts wei wuxian, wei wuxian says "I didn’t take Hanguang-jun to any other restricted areas of Lotus Pier." the usage of the word "other" here entails that the ancestral hall, where wei wuxian and lan wangji are currently situated, is also a "restricted area of Lotus Pier." were the ancestral hall open to the public, wei wuxian would have not used the word "other," and instead would have merely said "I didn't take Hanguang-jubn to any restricted areas of Lotus Pier."

second, it's a bit reductive to say that wei wuxian "only [stopped trying to leave] when jc starts on lwj," because how rude was jiang cheng actually to lan wangji specifically? in fact, jiang cheng was much ruder to both wei wuxian and wen ning than he was to lan wangji (who he basically only calls "riffraff" once), yet out of the three people named by jiang cheng, wei wuxian only defended lan wangji - not himself, and not wen ning either. this is a strange decision, and is worthy of commentary.

let's take a look at this exchange of dialogue, which happened before anyone started exchanging physical blows. for clarity's sake, i have highlighted everything offensive jiang cheng said about wei wuxian in red, everything offensive jiang cheng said about lan wangji in blue, and everything offensve jiang cheng said about wen ning in green.

Jiang Cheng: You certainly do need to kneel before them—to apologize for showing up in front of them for no reason, sullying their eyes, and violating their peace. Wei Wuxian: I’m just offering some incense, okay? Jiang Cheng: Offering incense? Wei Wuxian, do you have no self-awareness? You were expelled from my family a long time ago. And yet you bring riffraff here to offer incense to my parents? Wei Wuxian: Make yourself clear. Who is this riffraff you’re referring to? Jiang Cheng: You’re so forgetful. What do I mean by riffraff? Well, let me remind you. All of Lotus Pier perished—including my parents—because you played the hero to save that Lan-er-gongzi next to you. But no, that wasn’t enough. You had to go back for a second round. You just had to save those Wen dogs, and you dragged my jiejie and the others into your mess. What a great man you are. Even better, you’re so magnanimous that you brought these two to Lotus Pier—let the Wen dog wander around in front of our gates and escorted Lan-er-gongzi here to offer incense. You’re deliberately trying to upset them and me. Wei Wuxian, who do you think you are? Who gave you the right to bring others into my family’s ancestral hall as you please? Wei Wuxian: Jiang Cheng, listen to what you’re saying. Is it even fit for hearing? Don’t forget your status—you’re a family head, after all. And yet you just insulted a distinguished cultivator of a prominent cultivation clan, right in front of Jiang-shushu and everyone else’s memorial tablets. What happened to your upbringing? Where are your manners?

Seven Seas translation, vol. 4

i think the color highlights make my point clear. however, to recap, let me list again what jiang cheng says about lan wangji during this scene:

lan wangji is an outsider.

lan wangji is riffraff.

lotus pier fell because wei wuxian played the hero and saved lan wangji.

and let me list again what jiang cheng says about wei wuxian during this scene:

wei wuxian sullied the eyes of jiang cheng's ancestors and violated their peace.

wei wuxian has zero self-awareness.

wei wuxian was expelled from jiang cheng's family long ago.

wei wuxian brought lan wangji and wen ning into lotus pier. jiang cheng blames wei wuxian and not the other two parties for their presence in lotus pier.

lotus pier fell because wei wuxian played the hero saved lan wangji.

jiang cheng's sister and many others were killed because wei wuxian continued to play the hero by rescuing the wen remnants.

wei wuxian brought outsiders into lotus pier.

wei wuxian is deliberately trying to upset jiang cheng and his ancestors by bringing outsiders into the lotus pier ancestral hall.

"wei wuxian, who do you think you are?"

clearly, what jiang cheng says about wei wuxian himself is much more extensive and much worse than what jiang cheng says about lan wangji. the only really offensive thing jiang cheng calls lan wangji in this above dialogue is "riffraff;" saying that lotus pier perished because wei wuxian saved lan wangji is much more offensive towards wei wuxian than it is towards lan wangji. meanwhile, jiang cheng calls wei wuxian shameless, says he's sullied the eyes of jiang cheng's ancestors, says he has no self-awareness, claims wei wuxian caused the fall of lotus pier, and blames wei wuxian for the death of jiang yanli and also a whole bunch of other people. clearly, the vast majority of jiang cheng's tirade is directed at wei wuxian himself.

moreover, jiang cheng's language towards wen ning is also more offensive than his language towards lan wangji: while jiang cheng calls lan wangji "riffraff," he still refers lan wangji as "lan-er-gongzi;" however, jiang cheng refers to wen ning by the much more derogatory insult "wen-dog." in my opinion, "wen-dog" is a worse insult than "riffraff."

look, i'm going to be honest here. in the grand scope of things, especially in the scope of all the shit jiang cheng has said, "riffraff" is not that great of an insult. jiang cheng is capable of far nastier language. hell, "wen-dog" is a worse insult.

therefore, it is very strange to me that wei wuxian's response to jiang cheng's tirade only calls this barely-an-insult towards lan wangji - and does not call out his much more severe insult towards wei wuxian himself, nor his offensive language towards wen ning. the vast majority of jiang cheng's tirade is clearly focused on wei wuxian himself, and even wen ning catches worse strays than lan wangji - yet, wei wuxian only defends lan wangji. he doesn't even defend wen ning. why is this?

in my view, wei wuxian is not properly responding to anything jiang cheng is saying, and has instead latched onto lan wangji as an acceptable excuse to rebut jiang cheng's accusations. in reality, wei wuxian is angered by all the shit jiang cheng has said about wei wuxian, because jiang cheng is actively picking a fight here and is thus being kind of an asshole. but wei wuxian also feels incredibly guilty about his perceived role in jin zixuan and jiang yanli's death, so he feels he does not have the right to defend himself from jiang cheng's blame. however, he is still upset by jiang cheng's cruel words towards him - therefore, he latches onto the first excuse that allows him to justifiably rebut jiang cheng's tirade: that jiang cheng was rude to someone uninvolved in his past life's tragedy, lan wangji.

this is evidenced by the fact that wei wuxian does not defend wen ning during this confrontation at all. jiang cheng is ruder about wen ning than he is about lan wangji, since only wen ning gets called a "wen dog," and since jiang cheng's yells about both wen ning and lan wangji being in lotus pier. yet wei wuxian only defends lan wangji, not wen ning. honestly, this isn't a great look for wei wuxian. the fact that wen ning is not present at the moment is no excuse: you should defend your friends if they're being insulted even if the insulting is happening behind their backs. so the fact that wei wuxian also does not defend wen ning indicates to me that his guilty feelings about jin zixuan and jiang yanli's deaths also extends to wen ning, who he caused to kill jin zixuan; therefore, when wei wuxian feels he does not have the right to defend himself from jiang cheng, he also feels he does not have the right to defend wen ning, either. thus, wei wuxian defends only lan wangji and not wen ning, even though wen ning was also insulted, because only lan wangji was uninvolved in jin zixuan and jiang yanli's deaths.

this indicates to me that, no matter what the narration insists, wei wuxian had motives further than just defending lan wangji when he took jiang cheng's bait and began arguing with him. the narration can insist whatever it wants; if MXTX wants me to buy the narration as objective truth rather than wei wuxian's subjective narration, then the narration should accurately align with the dialogue actually being spoken.

third, it is wei wuxian who first escalates a verbal confrontation into a physical one.

after the above exchange, jiang cheng then reveals that he saw wei wuxian and lan wangji's PDA under the tree. using said information, jiang cheng then rather offensively insinuates that wei wuxian and lan wangji are gay for each other. after jiang cheng makes this insinuation, here's what happens next:

Wei Wuxian looked as though he was forcibly holding something back. “Jiang Wanyin, you… Apologize right now.” “Apologize? Why should I? For stumbling on your rendezvous?” Jiang Cheng sneered with biting sarcasm. “Hanguang-jun and I are just friends,” Wei Wuxian fumed. “What kind of relationship do you think we have?! I’m warning you—you better apologize right now! Don’t make me kick your ass!” Lan Wangji’s expression froze at this. Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, scoffed. “Then I’ve never seen a ‘friend’ like that in my life. And you’re warning me? On what grounds? If either of you possessed even the slightest bit of shame, you wouldn’t have come here…” Wei Wuxian saw the change in Lan Wangji’s expression and thought that Jiang Cheng’s words had stung him. He was so angry that his entire body shook. He didn’t even dare imagine what Lan Wangji thought of being insulted like that. His fury blazed brighter, the blood rushed to his head, and he flung out a talisman. “Are you done?!” The talisman was fast and merciless. It struck Jiang Cheng on his right shoulder and exploded with a thunderous bang, causing him to stagger. He hadn’t expected Wei Wuxian to strike so suddenly, and his own spiritual powers had yet to fully recover. As a result, the blast caught him head-on and his shoulder began to bleed.

Seven Seas translation, vol. 4

to summarize: jiang cheng offensively insinuated that wei wuxian and lan wangji were in a romantic relationship. wei wuxian seemed to take this accusation of homosexuality as an inherently offensive insinuation, even separately from jiang cheng's offensive tone, and angrily insisted that he and lan wangji are only friends. at this, lan wangji's expression froze. wei wuxian then assumed that jiang cheng's insinuation of homosexuality had upset lan wangji, and therefore hit jiang cheng with a talisman. when the talisman hit jiang cheng, jiang cheng was caught off-guard because he did not expect wei wuxian to escalate to physical violence and because his spiritual energy had yet to recover. then, after this, the three of them began physically fighting.

so it was wei wuxian, not jiang cheng, who hit first. moreover, wei wuxian hit first for an incorrect reason: wei wuxian assumed that lan wangji got upset because jiang cheng insinuated lan wangji and wei wuxian were gay; however, it's obvious to the reader that lan wangji actually got upset because wei wuxian said they were just friends.

what's also interesting is that jiang cheng, unlike wei wuxian and lan wangji, is actually less willing to engage in physical violence. sure, he hits back with full force once they attack him. but when wei wuxian begins to pass out, the narration states that "Jiang Cheng’s expression changed too. He retracted his whip, then blinked, looking alert" (Seven Seas translation, vol. 4). in other words, he stops fighting, instead of taking the opportunity to attack a less-defended wei wuxian - which implies to me that jiang cheng only physically fights back because wangxian attacked him first, and that he does not want to engage in physical violence.

furthermore, take a look at what happens once the physical confrontation continues:

Seeing they were both about to leave, he barked, “Hold it right there!” Lan Wangji fumed. “Get lost!” With his words came an abruptly raging Bichen. Immediately after, a flash of purple lightning hurtled forth as well. Both divine weapons struck each other, letting loose a long, ear-piercing yowl. The impact of this noise gave Wei Wuxian a splitting headache, and like a flickering candle flame that was finally extinguished, his eyes closed and his head drooped low. Sensing the sudden weight on his shoulder, Lan Wangji promptly extracted himself from the melee to feel for his breathing. With Bichen’s master no longer supplying it with power, Zidian immediately advanced toward them. Jiang Cheng, who didn’t actually want to injure Lan Wangji, instantly pulled back his strike...

Seven Seas translation, vol. 4

jiang cheng responds to wei wuxian and lan wangji trying to leave verbally; lan wangji responds to jiang cheng's words with physical violence. moreover, the narration directly states that jiang cheng did not actually want to injure lan wangji.

so, what is my assessment of all of this? well, first, party A trespassed in a private area of party B's home. second, once party A and party B began to verbally argue about this trespassing, party A escalated the confrontation to physical violence, specifically catching party B off guard. third, throughout this entire physical fight, party B stopped fighting once one member of party A became incapacitated; party B only began fighting again when party A responded to his words with more physical violence, and even then tried to pull his blow the moment it became clear he might actually injure party A.

now, escalating a verbal confrontation into a physical one, by the vast majority of modern rules of engagement, is not a good look. escalating a verbal confrontation with someone into a physical one in the private areas of that person's own home, in which you were trespassing without permission, is an even worse look. thus, all in all, it seems that party A behaved worse than party B in this conflict.

fourth and finally, when wei wuxian begins to pass out, he does so not because he has been hurt by jiang cheng's words, but rather because the realization of what he himself is doing horrifies him. let's see what the text says:

Wei Wuxian haphazardly warded off a few blows, then abruptly came to his senses. This was the ancestral hall of the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng. He had just been kneeling here, praying for the blessings of Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu. And now he was attacking their son right in front of them, together with Lan Wangji! It was like he’d been doused in icy water. His vision went first dark, then white. Lan Wangji glanced at him before whirling around to grab his shoulder. Jiang Cheng’s expression changed too. He retracted his whip, then blinked, looking alert. “Wei Ying?!” Lan Wangji called out. His low voice buzzed and reverberated incessantly in Wei Wuxian’s head. Wei Wuxian wondered if his ears had been damaged. “What’s wrong?” He felt something creeping down his face and raised his hand to touch it, only to come away with a palm covered in red. The dizziness was accompanied by fresh blood trickling from his mouth and nose, dripping to the ground.

from this, we can clearly see that wei wuxian began to pass out not because of anything jiang cheng said, but rather because he himself was upset by his own actions. jiang cheng did not roll a nat20 on vicious mockery like some fans seem to love insisting. instead, wei wuxian began to pass out because wei wuxian realized he had been attacking with jiang fengmian and yu ziyuan's son right in front of jiang fengmian and yu ziyuan's memorial tablets, and this realization upset him.

from this, it seems like even wei wuxian himself sees him and lan wangji physically attacking jiang cheng in jiang cheng's own ancestral hall to be morally suspect. of course, you are free to disagree with wei wuxian. but this realization of his, not anything jiang cheng said, is why wei wuxian passes out and has to be carried out of lotus pier. just thought i'd make that clear.

finally, regarding what the narration implies: of course the narration sides with wei wuxian. wei wuxian is the protagonist, and the story wants you to side with him. however, just because the story says that someone is in the right does not mean i have to agree. MXTX is a writer of webnovels, not the final authority on moral philosophy.

in fact, when a story tries to convey information to you the reader, it typically tries to convey two things:

the concrete events that happened (ie. "wei wuxian and lan wangji got into an altercation with jiang cheng in the lotus pier ancestral hall")

the author's moral judgment of said events (ie. "wei wuxian was in the right, and jiang cheng was in the wrong")

while i as the reader will accept #1 as fact, it is my right as the reader to disagree with the author on #2. to put it in simpler terms, i am free to have my own analysis of the text, even if said analysis disagrees with the author's intended interpretation. such is the right all readers bear. this is the right all jiang cheng antis exercise when they ignore MXTX's author comments on how jiang cheng "is not a heinous person" and instead insist that jiang cheng is a morally iredeemable villain.

to come to your own conclusions on the morality of a series of events described in a work of fiction is one of the basics of reading. to instead insist that "well [xyz blorbo] must be in the right, just because the author said so!!!!" reflects a complete lack of critical thinking.

gonna be real here boss when it comes to the ancestral hall scene i am 100% on jiang cheng's side

[wangxianficfinder]

Wei Wuxian keeps / gets his OG body 

~*~

inhabiting bodies by thelastdboy (E, 2k, WangXian, Porn With Plot, Minor Injuries, WWX in MXY's Body, Body Dysphoria, Kinda, WWX in WWX's Body, Curses, Night Hunts, Scars, Light Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Light Dom/sub, Emotional Sex, Edgeplay, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Ass Play, Rimming, Blindfolds, Anal Sex, Light Masochism, Body Dysmorphia)

Our Scars remind us that the past is real by KatAnni (M, 2k, wangxian, LWJ & LSZ & WWX, WWX & JC, WIP, post-canon, curse breaking, scars, pre-relationship, getting together, case fic, whump, angst w/ happy ending, hurt WWX, memories, PTSD, WWX in MXY’s body, rogue cultivator WWX, JC & WWX reconciliation, not actually unrequited love)

worm moon by serein (E, 103k, WangXianCheng, Post-Canon, Mystery, Angst, Humor, Grief/Mourning, PTSD, Identity Issues, eventual polyamory, Cults, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied past cannibalism, Switching, Doppelganger, POV Alternating, Character Study, Explicit Sexual Content, Reverse Golden Core Reveal, mild horror elements)

Twin Demons of Mò by XiaoFeiFei (M, 358k, MXY & WWX, WangXian, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Injury, Abuse, Twin Demons of Mo, MXY Lives, Major Character Injury, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Angst, Minor Character Death, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Minor Implied/Referenced Incest, Implied/Referenced Torture, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Canon Divergence, Self-Harm, Found Family, Sexual Abuse, Rape/Non-con Elements, POV Alternating)

Saw My Life in a Stranger's Face by timetoboldlygo (T, 27k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Married Life, Domestic Fluff, Light Angst, wwx's face changes post-canon to look like his original face, Slight Panic Attack, because lwj doesn't recognize his husband, the mortifying ordeal of not knowing your own body, the terrifying inevitability of change, taller!wwx theory)

Basking in the Patriarch's Beauty by sparklingsu (Not Rated, 3k, WangXian, WWX in WWX's Body, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, YLLZ WWX, WWX Deserves Love, Yúnmèng Siblings Bonding, Post-JC & WWX Reconciliation, Hurt/Comfort)

Pretty Patriarch by Clever_spring (G, 2k, WangXian, Protective LWJ, YLLZ WWX, WWX in WWX's Body, Good Nephew JL, Protective LSZ, Protective JL)

Touch That Body, (It's Not Mine) by brrrrrRawr (T, 3k, WangXian, WWX in WWX's original body, Fluff, Pet Names, Blushing, No Smut, Genius WWX, yunmeng bros reconciliation, endgame lotus pier, big bro wwx rights, also dad wwx rights, BAMF WWX, Bad Writing, Body Dysphoria, So OOC)

~*~

Resurrected by someone other than MXY

~*~

❤️ Beauty and the Boot by PTchan (T, 44k, wangxian, summoned by f!oc, Canon Divergence, Romantic Comedy, Genderbending, Denial, Fem!WWX, WangXian kids, Crack-ish, WIP)

❤️ The Book’s Cover by Eudoxia (E, 50k, wangxian, canon divergence, WWX not in MXY’s body, canon retelling, humor, demisexual LWJ, genderqueer WWX, smut)

You still sound like a song by Moominmammashandbag (M, 64k, wangxian, WIP, Ghost!WWX, Mystery, LWJ plays inquiry, AU from after the Wens came to Lotus Pier, Most people lived, not everybody died, Angst with a Happy Ending, river spirit!WWX, Angst and Feels, description of murder, imminent smut, Execution, bad dog names, Poisons, Discussion of Attempted Murder, BAMF WWX, Family Feels)

the problem with authority by isabilightwood (M, 139k, wangxian, qingli, Canon Divergence, Sacrifice Summon, slightly dark!JYL, wq lives because i said so, Angst with a Happy Ending, Chronic Pain, Mild Sexual Content, Top/Bottom Versatile | Switch WangXian, manipulative relationship (background xiyao))

Misunderstood by Silver_Flame_2724 (M, 250k, WIP, WangXian, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Heavy Angst, Suicidal Thoughts, Canon-Typical Violence, Self-Worth Issues)

❤️ The One-Body Problem by metisket (T, 29k, LJY & WWX, LJY & LSZ, wangxian, possession, cohabitation) - briefly summoned by OC's and gets stuck in LJY's head but then gets summoned by mxy

So You Want to Start a War by JaenysBloodcourt (T, 41k, WIP, MY/QS, MY/WWX, WangXian, Reincarnation, Half-Sibling Incest Mention!, QS does the ritual instead of MXY, WWX as a woman, MY Is His Own Warning, Canon Divergence, Impersonation, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Please check the notes before reading a chapter, Timeline What Timeline, WWX Has PTSD)

Chapter 1-23 of The Tales of Despereaux by stiltonbasket (T, 36k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, (when applicable))

To Deserve So Much More by renysen (T, 19k, wangxian, getting together, one big happy family, no angst, getting engaged, family feels, female bodied WWX)

A Worse Timeline Series by donutsweeper (T, 2k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Lots of People Die, Canon-Typical Violence, Revenge, Non-Mo Xuanyu Summoning Ritual, Worse Timeline, Character Death, Dark, WWX brought back by JC.)

Everyanything by deliciousblizzardshark, lingeringdust (E, 46k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Franken-canon, Gender Identity, Gender Dysphoria, Trans WWX, Protective LWJ, Accidental Baby Acquisition, Canon-Typical Misogyny, Fluff and Angst, Vaginal Sex, Canon-Typical Major Character Death)

若有来世，你还愿意吗; if there is an afterlife, are you still willing? by luyepiaofeng (T, 5k, WangXian, Angst, Grief/Mourning, Self-Sacrifice, Rituals, Self-Indulgent, Hurt No Comfort, WWX brought back by LWJ)

for you, all for you 「 给你, 都给你 」 by headBONDmeLWJ (T, 3k, WangXian, LXC & LWJ, Canon Divergence, LWJ/WWX in Love, WWX Loves LWJ, LWJ Has Feelings, Pining LWJ, Hurt LWJ, WWX-centric, Hurt WWX, Supportive LXC, Good Sibling LXC, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, WWX brought back by LWJ)

who uses the sacrificial array next? Series by ryneisaterriblefan (Not Rated/T, 6k, Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Suicide, Self-Harm, Depression, Misunderstandings, Unhappy Ending, soul sacrificial array, Self-hatred)

Five People Who Never Summoned Wei Wuxian by EHyde (G, 2k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, 5+1 Things, Angst, [Podfic] Five People Who Never Summoned Wei Wuxian by sisi_rambles)

Plans fly out the window by English is my death (Lena013) (T, <1k, JGY/QS, JGY/WWX, LWJ & WWX, JC & WWX, reincarnation, canon divergence, QS does the ritual, YLLZ WWX, impersonation) inspired by So You Want to Start a War by JaenysBloodcourt

The Housewife's Guide to Causing Chaos by dvasva (M, 127k, WIP, WangXian, Canon-Typical Violence, Functionally Trans Character, Mild Sexual Content, Domestic Fluff, Love Confessions, Transphobia, Good Parents LWJ and WWX, Pining, WWX is a Tease, Grief/Mourning, Body Dysphoria, Fake Marriage, Canonical Character Death, Misunderstandings, Doting LWJ, Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, WWX is not in MXY's body, Misgendering, Mild Angst, Assumptions, Comedic Elements, non-sexual nudity, Blood, Discussion of Various Bodily Functions, Cloud Recesses Shenanigans, 4 years of mourning instead of 13, Méishān Yú Sect, POV Multiple, Corporal Punishment, Trans WWX, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, pregnancy mention, Timeline What Timeline, Sexual Harassment Threats)

[wangxianficrecs]

💙 here comes your ghost again by yuer (vintageblueskies)

💙 here comes your ghost again

by yuer (vintageblueskies)

T, 4k, Wangxian

Summary: He stitches a tiny row of suns along the left cuff of his inner robe—not flames, never flames, not after Lotus Pier burned, not after Wen Qing burned—suns, life-giving and scorching, for the last, best doctor of Qishan Wen. She would probably laugh at his badly sewn suns and his sentimentality, but her eyes would be soft. Some days, he misses her so much he thinks it might swallow him whole. - or, post-canon wei wuxian mourns wen qing Kay's comments: Thing #643 that I absolutely adore and wish was explored more: Wei Wuxian's relationship with the Wens, especially his relationship with Wen Qing and how he mourns for her post-canon, so needless to say, this story is absolutely perfection and I'm literally crying as I'm typing out this rec. It's just. I love it when Wei Wuxian is allowed to mourn and mourn the Wens especially and how Lan Wangji is there for him and by his side and helping him finally process things. And Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian friendship is here too! Excerpt: “Tell me about her,” Lan Zhan says. Wei Wuxian considers, there are things he could say, like her hands were so gentle when she ripped my golden core out of my body or she used to make really awful jokes about being a doctor who lived on a mountain of corpses, but that’s not what Lan Zhan is asking. “She liked pickled vegetables,” he says slowly, his memory is already bad and remembering all his dead loves is painful. “Her favorite color was yellow, not yellow like the Jin sect’s golden robes, but yellow like the pollen of flowers. She had a tiny freckle on her right index finger. Wen sect cultivators used to bully Wen Ning, so when they went to her for medical treatment, she would give them the most painful or bitter treatment she could.” Wen Qing’s vengeful streak was a sight to behold, the cultivation world was lucky all she ever wanted was to keep her brother safe. Sometimes he thinks that if they had a little more time, if they were a little less desperate and starving, they would have come up with a way to reconcile with the sects. He was Yunmeng Jiang’s Head Disciple, then the inventor of demonic cultivation. She was a genius doctor who lived at Wen Ruohan’s side for years. Surely between the two of them, they could have come up with a way to save her people. But they were desperate and starving, and they did not have more time. And now the only ones left of their little settlement are him, Wen Ning, and Lan Sizhui—a resurrected dead man, the Ghost General, and a boy who grew up without the truth of his heritage. He is glad that Wen Ning was not burned, that A-Yuan grew up happy and loved, but the things they have lost eat at him still.

pov wei wuxian, post-canon, established relationship, angst and hurt/comfort, grief/mourning, family feels, families of choice, wen remnants deserve better, trauma, emotional hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, embroidery, wei wuxian & wen ning friendship

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

[neverdoingmuch]

there are two wolves inside of me,,, one of them tells me that wwx has always dreamt of following in his parents’ footsteps and travelling the world helping people with his most dearly loved person by his side, not only as a way of honouring his parents but also because he wants to help the people who live beyond the range of the cultivation sects’ help. the other wolf tells me that wwx was quick to settle into the burial mounds and later into cloud recesses and he adored the sense of community that was fostered in both of those places, and that he also dreamt of having his own farm that he lived on with lwj, the very picture of a stable and permanent home that requires a long-term commitment. both of these wolves are correct.