#wei wuxian does not have a low self esteem

[wutheringskies]

Post-Canon Fics in MDZS...

You know, what would make post-canon fics great? If they adhered to canon! This post is honestly just a list of character tropes, and plot tropes I find incessantly OOC, replaced by plot tropes I wish we hyped up more.

1. Yunmeng Bros Reconciliation

There are plenty of reasons this will never happen. Firstly, Jiang Wanyin will not apologize to Wei Wuxian further beyond the apology that he has made in Guanyin Temple, because to apologize, you need to see "wrong" in your actions and regret them. Jiang Cheng doesn't have a similar morality index as Wei Wuxian and their beliefs have always been different. Not to mention Jiang Cheng is inherently bitter since he was young; following down the path of his mother. His first instinct when someone is being praised is so squash them down.

Secondly, Wei Wuxian will not apologize to Jiang Cheng beyond the apology of breaking that promise that only Jiang Cheng was left holding onto - a culmination of their broken dreams and desires, a marking of them being a generation of war.

The only thing both of them have in common is their love for Jin Ling and a shared, painful past - a past that Wei Wuxian wants to move on from, a past that Jiang Cheng is simultaneously rooted in, and moved away from.

Note: that this, I am speaking for is MDZS canon. Not CQL, as well, Jiang Cheng didn't directly kill those Wens which is the tipping point.

Replaced by: Loving Jin Ling

In the MDZS Novel, we go from seeing Jiang Cheng become increasingly abusive and violent towards Jin Ling as the stakes worsen and Jin Ling becoming annoyed and having arguments with him, not agreeing with his thinking.

We also see, Wei Wuxian, being the one to push Jin Ling to talk to Jiang Cheng in the Iron Hook Extra. We see Wei Wuxian being disgustingly affectionate towards Jin Ling, and Jin Ling being a tsundere about it and promising to himself that from the next time, he'll stick around Wei Wuxian in night hunts, implying these two will be consistently in each other's lives.

We also learn that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji take Sizhui out on night-hunts (a family). And that Sizhui and Jin Ling go on night-hunts together. Also, that Wen Ning often joins their night-hunts.

So, hear me out, post-canon fics revolving around this strange, muddly, messy support system and family that Jin Ling has amassed.

Yunmeng bros reconciliation is never going to happen; too much interaction might worsen their tentative mutual ignorance of each other. Wei Wuxian, who's always pushed himself into other's personal spaces, is fine with just ensuring Jiang Cheng is okay. Distance is better than proximity.

But what plausibly might happen is Jin Ling forming deeper connections with his scattered, support system. Jin Ling might open up to Jiang Cheng for help with this or that, as Wei Wuxian has advised. Jiang Cheng might learn how to not be emotionally abusive or harsh and show the love he has for Jin Ling in better ways. Jin Ling will probably end up getting closer to Wei Wuxian and Sizhui and understanding just so many things about, everything. He might be supported by Hanguang-jun.

He might grow up to be the best Jin sect leader there ever was.

2. Wei Wuxian navigating through a world where everyone hates him, withering away.

This is, not only one of the saddest post-canon takes, but also very OOC. It might not make sense what I'm talking about so I'll list out common tropes I put under this categorization:

a) Wei Wuxian has terrible self esteem

b) He feels undeserving of Lan Wangji's love and keeps him at a distance emotionally by seducing him for sex instead

c) He has a childlike innocence, he goes out and hears everyone talking shit about him and stays indoor most of the time

d) He is mistreated by Lan clan and Lan Wangji is oblivious to it all

And such. I definitely understand why these tropes are so popular. It feeds into a particular sort of misery but there is a lot that it ignores:

a) Wei Wuxian firstly doesn't have terrible self esteem. If he did, he wouldn't have made it this far (coughs, the big age of 21 or 22). People ignore the fact that Wei Wuxian is a strong protagonist. He is proud, and aware of his worth. He never plays down his talents. He understands quickly the perspective of other people, and already knows that the people who talk more, do less.

In his first life, he went through being coreless and powerless, hated by all, but still standing up for stuff he believed in and lounging and drinking. He's not afraid to make others uncomfortable with his presence. That is a part of his charm. He cares for the opinions of only few people - and those few love him.

b) The one where he's emotionally distant towards Lan Wangji is the one I possibly hate the most. Especially because these sorts of fics often have him distracting Lan Wangji from his bouts of worthlessness and insecurity by his body, and Lan Wangji jumps straight into action.

Lan Wangji knows Wei Wuxian well enough that he offers comfort to Wei Ying even when he doesn't realize he needs it; like hugging him in Intrustion extra when they are on the topic of servants. Wei Wuxian can read Lan Wangji well, and so can Lan Wangji. Both of them have a relationship built on mutual trust and understanding. Wei Wuxian isn't sticking around with the Lan Clan and the jingshi because it's what Lan Wangji wants, but it's also what Wei Wuxian wants.

Also, Wei Wuxian doesn't feel undeserving of Lan Wangji. He knows he has caused Lan Wangji a lot of pain, intentionally or not, and is dedicated to making him happy, and being in love. It was all in his Guanyin Temple confession - their relationship is not out of gratefulness or anything like that.

c) Wei Wuxian is innocent at his soul, but he's not a child. He knows what the world thinks and he doesn't care. He doesn't expect the world to talk nicely about him; he probably doesn't even hear half the chatter, and even if be acknowledges it, it doesn't need to emotionally hurt him. Unrelatable? Yes. But that's how his character is like.

And if he ever is hurt or surprised, he's going to seek comfort. Act childish, ask to be pampered, etc.

d) THIS one is so... We see Wei Wuxian stepping into the Lan Clan. One day later, he's sitting next to Lan Wangji in a banquet, accepted as his cultivation partner. Lan Qiren is definitely against his presence. But like, sincerely, how long will that go on when we know that Wei Wuxian is the one who takes Lan juniors to night hunts everyday? We also see Wei Wuxian acting independently with juniors onto missions where assistance from the Lan Clan was requested (Iron Hook extra) without any Lan Wangji or anyone else. He even has a jade pendant, just four days after settling in. Lan Qiren has to hear his moans like... every night. A few hours in and he's talking to a Lan female cultivator?

Lan Wangji himself has injured thirty three Lan elders and been punished by the worst punishment, probably, ever assigned. Beyond Lan Qiren's glares and admonishments, I sincerely doubt anyone can do or say much. What I don't doubt is that Wei Wuxian is loveable and makes friends easily, and that despite everything, he's Lan Wangji's cultivation partner. A teacher. Accesses all Lan cottages and buildings. And now an addition to the Lan family.

And as for what the general people speak, perhaps the Yiling Laozu will always be a figure that haunts children bed time stories. But Senior Wei, and Hanguang-jun's husband, and Wei Wuxian - is shown to be a figure that is loved, respected by many.

The whole of cultivation world TRIED to kill him (Second Seige). They were embarrassed. Only like 20 people were actually there to kill him.

These 20 people will probably never be able to touch a hair on his head.

The WHOLE of cultivation world was saved by Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and the Wens' remains. Stories always travel fast, don't they? The cultivation world has found their newest figure to hate - and it's not Wei Wuxian. Not just that, even the one with the most hostility towards him (Jiang Cheng) didn't DISALLOW him from coming to Lotus Pier where in front of him, they transferred crimes previously "done" by him to Jin Guangyao (like the death of Jin Zixuan - let's not fool ourselves and think anyone other than Jin Ling cares about the truth). Not just that, the cultivation world asked "Master Wei" for help.

Wei Wuxian didn't come back to life only to live a terrible, hated, agonizing life. Most people don't care. He doesn't care. Those who care are not strong enough. Those he cares about love him.

Replaced by: Wei Wuxian navigating through life without heavy burdens on his shoulder

Much of the fics focus on the "burden" of the trauma he's been through his life in the fics. Very few focus on the lack of burdens. Like... the guy is now well fed. His feelings are returned. There's nobody in danger. He has a body that can grow a core again. He can slowly pick up Suibian. He can learn new tunes on Chenqing. He can hang out with Wen Ning. He can think back to fond memories. He can paint, read, travel, teach, have great ideas and tap 100% into his actual personality.

He can process stuff he's been through in a healthier way. Like, I don't know, that intrusion scene where LWJ immediately hugs him when the topic of servants come is so important to me, because, it makes me wonder what sorts of conversations they have had. He now gets pampered and indulged - and we all know he loves it, but often the portrayals of his thoughts about being loved is very self critical which isn't canon. And it would be really cool for Wei Wuxian to have just, time, on his hand.

He was barely free for a year and changed the ways of the cultivation society forever. Without much resources or money. Now, the possibilities are endless. He can not only travel, but buy expensive stuff and have a bunch of Lan texts and a very educated and smart husband to help him invent more.

3. CQL Shade but Post-Canon Fics where Wangxian is too busy with responsibilities for each other ???

Why are you guys hurting yourselves? Like, there's only a certain amount of these sorts of fic that's acceptable until it becomes a sort of widely accepted canon.

I think it definitely has to with Chief Cultivator Lan Wangji. My poor baby, his romantic heart, extremely concise replies, and disdain for worldly matters (HIS LITERAL NAME IS WANGJI. HIS SWORD IS BICHEN) was ignored in the favour of making him a cold, busy husband who's sorting minor clan disputes, surrounded by length drabbles and politics by those that once killed his husband.

This is just so awful for me. In the intrustion extra, even after dressing up early, with a guest waiting outside (Master Qin), he lets the guest WAIT than wake Wei Ying up (who sleeps until noon).

If he became chief cultivator the world would collapse. If Wei Ying held onto his robes a little too tightly, he wouldn't even step out of the Jingshi.

Like he told Wei Ying, "I've been damned since long ago." Lan Wangji is a pure romantic. He's never going to be too busy for Wei Wuxian, or too distant, or too cold.

Like, guys just no. Let's write post-canon Wangxian. Not Madam Yu-Jiang Fengmian inspired Wangxian.

[mxtxfanatic]

You know, the whole jc stans being shitty debacle is one of the reasons i hate the live action and the donghua so much. Because most of those rabid “jc is a tsundere and the best bro” people came to the fandom because of one or both of those adaptations.

The donghua is beautifully made, but it’s filled with yunmeng bros propaganda and a lot of JC bias (also the reason why a lot of people actually believe lotus pier burnt down and madam yu is such a badass)

And the live action is a trashcan on fire that somehow has even more of the same yunmeng bros, jc is actually tofu hearted bs.

I think the fandom was doing so much better before those adaptations came out and to be honest I really wish they would have left cql with the original wwx/wen qing romance so it would be much easier to distance mdzs from it

I have a thing where I read through ao3 fics from oldest to newest, which means I started with wangxian fics from when the fandom first started, and you are absolutely right. I didn’t pay attention to it when I first started reading (on account of the fact that I thought I’d never fall into the actual material or fandom lmao), but whenever I go back to the earliest stuff, there’s a marked difference in how Wei Wuxian is portrayed, how wangxian is talked about and interact, and Jiang Cheng never shows up, especially not uninvited or untagged. All the “gray morality,” “wwx has low self-esteem,” “best jiujiu tsundere jc” bullshit simply does not exist in the earliest fics, at least not en mass.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

I just saw a post that was like "wn went off so hard on jc during the golden core reveal bc then he doesn't have to think about thr ethics of what wwx did to him in his sister's name" or smth. Like, i'd say wn was being so harsh bc jc was being an asshole in the first place. But it's not the first time i've seen people compare wq doing the golden core exchange and wwx turning wn into a fierce corpse as the same "mad scientist trying this out"-thing and arguing neither should've happened (specifically that wwx has low self-esteem for one and stopped wn from entering the cycle or reincarnation for the other) so i was wondering what your thoughts on it were

This is long... so hahahahah, sorry.

This is actually cherry picking as it doesn't take into the account that Wen Ning, did not want to die. He had enough hate against his death, because he was brutally murdered, he was becoming a fierce corpse/jiangshi. His death was already karmically wrong.

Wei Wuxian intervened enough with that transformation to be able to change the usual method of what a jiangshi should be. It wasn't a disruption to his reincarnation cycle as he still retained his actual soul (the Hun) as does Song Lan. Wei Wuxian yes, out of guilt, fought to keep Wen Ning as Wen Ning after his death, he had to fight for the Hun to stay over the malicious Po.

For Song Lan, the basics can only be guessed as to what his catalyst was, but I think, it wasn't rage against the way of his death that made him undead, but that he didn't want Xiao Xingchen to blame himself for killing Song Lan, as it was Xue Yang who mastered that. It is what makes them the outlier of fierce corpses like Nie Mingjue who is not alive in the sense of humanity and feeling and is running off the sheer rage of his Po only, his humanity was lost because it moved on. Wen Ning the person (as well as Song Lan (The Hun that makes the human part) did not move on.

The core transfer was also done out of guilt from Wen Qing for HER clan, having attacked Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng's lives, and Wen Ning having taken it upon himself to protect the two as a consequence. We are also told nothing is stopping Wen Ning from finally passing by the author, he can move on when he wants to and feels like it. He gets to choose when he wants to die unlike that first one. He is grateful to Wei Wuxian for keeping him as alive as much as is possible and why he is fucking grateful to him and ride or die for life to Wei Wuxian. Unlike Jiang Cheng who multiple times was protected by Wei Wuxian and still decided to off him because he is vile and selfish.

[admirableadmiranda]

Oh, I saw your post about the reason why we read mdzs fanfic. And coincidentally I also saw your ErHa post about Chu Wanning. Somehow I thought, some people like reading mdzs fanfic to find angsty WWX with low self esteem and insecurity or whatever he was fanonically plagued with, which ironically are total opposite of Optimistic, confident, bighearted, High IQ and High EQ-Canon WWX.

I understand why people have preference for their type of literatures. But really, if you really want to read such angsty protagonist, why don't you just read a readily made low self esteem and insecure Protagonist, e.g, Chu Wanning of ErHa?? The true low self esteem protagonist in such novel is even more well written and perfectly produced rather than forcefully changed WWX in fanfic. That's what I can never understand😂

Because I, personally, if I were in the mood to read dogblood drama or Domineering CEO drama, etc, i'd rather find such stories on web novel platforms (NU for translated ones, or directly browsing at Jinjiang or Qidian)---rather than staining my eyes and also my mind by reading my beloved characters WangXian fanfic with the distorted traits other than their Canon traits.

Yes, I can very much see some fanon portrayals of MDZS characters that are much better done canonically in Erha, and Chu Wanning is my darling and I would love for him to get over that complete lack of self esteem with some good tlc, but also I love the way that it's set up and exists and you are right that sometimes fanon Wei Wuxian reads like flatter Chu Wanning.

Also probably the biggest reason why people bend Wei Wuxian into that rather than go with Chu Wanning is very simple; Erha does not have a wildly popular live action drama to go with it. (I know there's the one in progress, but that one might never get released and a lot of casual fans aren't going to know that) and it's a long book. It took me the better part of three weeks to read it and I'm a pretty fast reader. That's a lot of work for the payoff and not worth it to lots of people. I do get why they don't try to get into Erha if they're not more invested readers, but I think many of them would be happy if Erha got that drama released with characters much closer to the ones they want to write. They don't want to go digging through a bunch of books that might offer what they want when fanfic is already out there doing it for them, and as someone who more often goes into fandom for a break from reality, I can understand them.

I'll keep getting annoyed at their character assassination of my boy, but I can understand them.

I do hope that your links help people who might be looking for something new find something though! It is always nice to have particular itches scratched, but Wangxian can't do all of them and that's when you need a different type of story to meet your desires!

[ruthlesscalculuss]

THIS IS A LITTLE RANT ABOUT JC’S TRAUMA, not a discussion post. So…Jiang Cheng. He’s a complicated character with a complicated history. Being neglected by his father and being humiliated by his mother, never truly being good enough for the people he craved respect from the most. Always being second best to wwx.

Then of course we have his trauma, the murder of his family, friends and the citizens of lotus pier. We see him sacrifice himself for wwx, his hopes and his dream of rebuilding the Jiang sect being extinguished at the torture by hands of Wen Chao, his core being forcibly destroyed. We see him struggle and then we see him slowly, but surely lose his best friend/brother because of diverging moral views and a lack of power on both sides to get through it together.

Jiang Cheng cannot loose Lotus Pier again at the hands of the Jin’s and wwx knows this, thats the one thing he cannot sacrifice. That’s why they have a staged fight, to publicly announce wwx’s defection. This way the Jiang Sect won’t be harmed by wwx’s actions. Here it breaks jc’s heart, the only one he wanted by his side was wwx and he can’t understand why he would leave the jiangs to protect the wens, all he sees is his brothers arrogance and his betrayal. He does not know the full extent of the wens help, he does not know wwx is without a core.

Jc is a broken man, he has given his best efforts to not be jealous of wwx, to not let it show just how deep his low self esteem runs. He cannot let himself be weak like his mother said he was, like his father thought he was. I think many people, specifically jc antis, ignore this. He is a HUMAN. He is not a character that can be shoved into black and white, either or. We can be like him, he is the example of the scarring, a physical reminder of unhealthy coping mechanisms with trauma. Wwx of course shows his coping methods as well.

Him trying to make light of most things, his lack of cares for rules because “why does it matter if I follow them, I’ll get punished anyway”, we see this even more so after he’s thrown into the mass grave. After Jin Zixuan dies and Yanli dies, Jc is overcome with anger and grief. He blames wwx, “didn’t you say you could control it?!” and to a degree it is part of his fault. Although I don’t think he had a choice-

they needed to win a war with that demonic energy, nobody can deny that. Jc doesn’t know the sinister plans that are making wwx turn into a target for the world. Imagine it was you, could you say you would still be as kind, as forgiving? Sometimes the world can make you or break you, and I believe jc was the latter. He agrees to participate in the siege, he was one of the most important gears in the siege.

Why. Did he hate wwx? Did he want to appease the sect leaders to save the Jiang Clan? Did he feel like he should end his brother on his own terms? I’m honestly not sure. There’s much speculation, It’s my own personal beliefs it’s a combination of politics due to the jins and also an anger that’s been building in jc for a VERY long time. I know in CQL he does force him to let go of lwj, but in the book…I’m curious.

What if Jiang Cheng got to Wei Wuxian first before anyone else. What would he say, what could he say? What would wwx say to him? Sometimes I think it would end as jc stabbing wwx and truly killing him. Sometimes, I wishfully think he couldn’t do it. But that’s very much up to everyone’s interpretation of Jc. At the end of this, I think of jc going back home after the siege carrying chenqing with him until he could finally rest.

I think he would just stare at it, too tired too numb to really do anything else. I think he’d get passed out drunk trying to maybe somehow sleep, and I think he’d have nightmares. God, I don’t write but I’d write a fic for this. Anyways ya sorry guys just some thoughts

[greywake]

I think the OP makes an excellent point here in that it is important that the reader doesn't apply a purely Western interpretation to a story that is deeply tied to Chinese culture, literature, and ideals.

Wei Wuxian is an exemplar of the traditional Chinese hero. He is selfless, honourable, and ready to sacrifice everything to uphold justice and righteousness.

However, there seems to be a great deal of confusion about the terms self-esteem and self-worth: they are NOT the same.

Wei Wuxian has very high self-esteem. He is confident. He knows he's hot. He knows he's capable. He knows he's brilliant. He is fourth on the list of young masters, and he knows he's earned that place. He is not afraid to take on near-impossible tasks. He is outspoken and is not one to back down when he knows he's in the right, while still being able to admit to his mistakes (which is something few other characters are able to do).

That said, I believe it would be accurate to say that Wei Wuxian has a low sense of self-worth: He does consider himself to be less valuable than others. He knows that being the son of a servant will always be held against him and he doesn't see that as something he can overcome.

I believe that the key point here in terms of the traditional Chinese heroic ideal of self-sacrifice is that the hero will choose to do something near-suicidal because "I'm the only one who has a chance to make it work, and if I die it will still benefit the greater good".

Whereas the Wei Wuxian version is "I can do this and I'm not as valuable as everyone else. If this works, it will help everyone, and if I die that's okay because I don't matter".

It is possible to be a hero but consider yourself to be unimportant. It is possible to have buckets of confidence but to be convinced that you're the least worthy person on the planet.

Personally, I find that to be one of the most interesting aspects of Wei Wuxian's character.

I think this whole "Wei Wuxian has low self-worth" take comes from viewing his heroism through a purely modern Western lens, when in reality, it's actually written as a classic example of traditional Chinese heroism, where selflessness, honor, and sacrifice are seen as strengths.

In a lot of modern Western interpretations, people often analyze characters through a psychological lens, connecting their actions to trauma or emotional baggage. While there's no problem with this approach (bc MDZS does actually explore some elements of modern psychological complexity), relying on that alone can miss the bigger cultural picture.

In Wei Wuxian’s case here, his selflessness, which is tied to traditional heroism and a strong moral compass, gets misunderstood as low self-esteem or a reaction to trauma. This misreading reduces his heroic sacrifices to emotional damage, instead of seeing them as intentional, principled choices driven by a strong sense of moral responsibility.

Wei Wuxian’s choices—like protecting the weak, sacrificing his golden core, and standing up for what’s right even at a huge cost etc— are grounded in this type of traditional heroism and NOT simply a byproduct of trauma. In MDZS, sacrifice and selflessness isn’t about self-doubt or a lack of self-worth; it’s about courage and staying true to one’s principles.

[layzeal]

an important note on wwx's characterization that i think is important and sometimes people will get wrong, is that wwx doesn't have low self-esteem ("i'm stupid, i'm ugly, i'm annoying, i'm bothersome, nobody likes me") nor does he have low confidence ("i can't do this" "i don't know this" "i can't do anything right"). in fact, both of these are extremeeeely high in his personality as a teen and young adult

what wei wuxian does have, however, is low self-worth, specifically when it comes to his own needs and well-being compared to other people. couple that with his high confidence and urge to pay off debts of gratitude, and you get his extremely self-destructive behavior ("it's fine if i lose my core as long as jc has it for the good of the sect, i can survive without one", "it's fine that i'm being forcefully kissed by a stranger because she's nervous and i don't want to embarrass her", "it's fine, it's all fine, as long as it's me, because i can take it")

[withthewindinherfootsteps]

I think the thing that bothers me about ‘extremely self-sacrificial Wei Wuxian’ takes is that they all make his reason for helping others focus somehow on himself, when it’s the opposite that’s true. His kindness is taken as low self-esteem, his righteousness as low self-worth, and his confidence (when it is acknowledged) as a hero complex. It’s always “I deserve this” or “these people are worth more than me” or “I should be the one taking everything onto me, even if other people offer help, even if accepting the help would make things easier for everyone”. It’s always because of some sort of issue with him that he ends up helping people. And maybe that’s true for some characters, and maybe that’s the case in other fandoms, but that is not the case with Wei Wuxian.

Something so many parts of the fandom seem to forget is that Wei Wuxian is someone who enjoys his life — and he enjoys it so, so much. He loves playing around and night-hunting with the Juniors and spending time with Lan Wangji just having fun. He does not want to see it end early (again). But he’s not someone who stands back when injustices happen either, and he’s not someone who will stay put and watch others suffer. And when that happens, yes, he’ll step in. But that isn’t about self-worth or self-esteem or anything, it’s because We Wuxian is a kind, empathetic person with a moral core.

The main thing isn’t the cost of the action. The main thing is the action itself. 

He put it best himself:

“Let the self judge the rights and wrongs, let others decide to praise or to blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on.”

- Exiled Rebels translation, Chapter 75

And it’s sad that that seems to have been forgotten by so many people, because that philosophy is at the core of Wei Wuxian’s character. It’s the thing that lets him move on so easily from the (many) traumatic events of his first life, it’s what makes him able to let go of resentment rather than let it fester or drive him on (contrary to people like Jiang Cheng and Jin Guangyao), it’s the idea shared to him by his parents in one of the only memories he has of them, and the idea he lives by. 

That’s why he steps in to save people, even at cost to himself. Because he judges it to be the right thing, and he does the right thing, even if it’s hard. And he never regrets it.

And I think that’s a much more inspiring story to tell than that of someone who’s constantly throwing themselves in front of the axe to save others because they feel they deserve it.

(Part two and three of this discussion)

[ninjakk]

Wei WuXian's Stolen Kiss - Analysing His Emotional Response

The stolen kiss scene has so many underlying feelings in such a short amount of paragraphs - it absolutely fascinates me. It's already quite an intense scene, but under the surface with the added subtext, it is a masterpiece of writing that provokes so much more emotion than first meets the eye.

Chapter 69

Wei WuXian’s back smashed against the tree. Just as his right hand was about to pull off the ribbon, his wrist was twisted back. The force was quite strong; he couldn’t even struggle out of it, but there was still no killing intent. Wei WuXian’s left sleeve shifted. As he was about to shake out the talismans, the person noticed his intent and caught him like before. They pressed both of his hands onto the tree, movements stiff. Wei WuXian raised his leg and was about to kick when he felt a warmth on his lips. He immediately froze. The touch felt both strange and unfamiliar, moist and warm. In the beginning, Wei WuXian couldn’t even understand what was going on. His mind went entirely blank. When he finally realized, he was shocked. This person, holding his wrists back, was pressing him onto the tree and kissing him.

Initially WWX doesn't give the person a gender. He doesn't even assume anything once he realises he's actually being kissed. This is quite interesting, because it shows he is at least subconsciously open to the mystery kisser being a man. We can tell the kiss is a new sensation to him, because the feeling is strange and unfamiliar to him. As such we can assume he's never kissed anyone before - which is confirmed later in the chapter.

He suddenly struggled, wanting to fight out of it and pull away the ribbon, but he failed. He wanted to move again, but he somehow stopped himself. The person kissing him seemed to be shaking softly. Wei WuXian couldn’t struggle anymore. He thought to himself, it seems that even if the maiden is quite strong, her personality is both fearful and easily embarrassed? She’s already so nervous. Or else, she wouldn't have chosen to sneak up to him at such a time. She probably mustered up all of the courage she could find inside of her. Besides, it seemed that her cultivation wasn’t low, meaning that her self-esteem was even higher. If he pulled off the ribbon and accidentally saw her, how ashamed would the maiden feel?

The two sets of thin lips turned from side to side, careful yet inseparable. Wei WuXian hadn’t even decided what to do when the soft lips suddenly became aggressive. Wei WuXian’s teeth weren’t clenched, allowing the other to intrude inside. He was suddenly powerless. He felt that it was a bit difficult to breathe, wanting to turn his head away, but the other person squeezed his face and turned it back. Between the swirls of the lips and the tongues, he felt dizzy as well, until the other finally bit down on his lower lip. After a moment of lingering, the lips finally left reluctantly, and he finally managed to recover.

Looking at the scene we can see WWX's thought process quite clearly. But if you read the text carefully, you can see WWX coming close to realising it might not be a woman on a few occasions.

Firstly, WWX is pinned to the tree - he's strong and can hold his own again most, but this person is able to restrict his movements. Now I'm not saying girls are weaker or anything like that! But, in this novel it does seem that the men are stronger and more prominent in the cultivation world. Apparently there are female cultivators in (all of?) the Sects, but we never really hear of many - at least not in the sense you hear of the men in the novel anyway. Yes, there are a few women mentioned in the novel, but most of them are nowhere near as powerful as the men. In fact, there's definitely a bit of sexism throughout the novel. Wen Qing is formidable, and Madam Yu is a woman with an extremely volatile temper who resorts to physical abuse. But overall, overly strong women aren't mentioned very often at all. We later find out MianMian has become a cultivator - but the attitude the male cultivators have towards her just sums up the general attitude towards women in the novel. Anyway, I'm just trying to prove there doesn't seem to be a load of extremely strong women in the cultivation world as far as we can tell. So the fact the person is strong enough to stop WWX from moving should make it very apparent to him that it's a man, and a strong man at that.

Just before he gives the mystery kisser a gender, he notices they are shaking softly - which is when he stops fighting, because he's too kind to upset someone who is obviously scared and embarrassed by what they are doing. He's just so empathetic, it's very sweet. It's very interesting he doesn't give the person a gender until he notices they are shaking. He automatically attributes this emotional response as feminine in nature, because he has been taught gender stereotypes from a young age. This is evident in his interactions with others, as he puts on a very generic portrail of masculinity when with JC and the others. He is a lot more of a 'lad' around them - swearing, fighting, hunting, gambling, being charming to girls and reading/sharing pornographic books. But he is in truth mostly a very sweet and sensitive romantic who guarded his kiss waiting for his 'one' - the total opposite of what he portrays around other men. Except LWJ that is. WWX does show his sweet side to him at times - before catching himself doing so and covering it up with teasing.

So WWX automatically assumes that it must be a woman kissing him after the emotional response - even though they've managed to overpower him. Of course, as I've previously stated the heteronormative society he grew up in plays a part in his thought process also. But, his subconscious can't help but pick up on things that just don't fit his assumptions that it is a woman.

It's quite amusing to read his description of the 'maiden' because he practically describes LWJ! The person is very strong, easily embarrassed (LWJ does show signs of being embarrassed when WWX flirts with him or teases him on many occasions), has a high level of cultivation and an even higher self-esteem - Hello LWJ!

He goes on to describe both their lips being thin. Before anyone goes off on a rant about lip thickness and gender, I'm just generalising because to most people 'thin lips' are somewhat considered masculine. In this novel at least, thin lips are only ever used to describe those of a man. MXTX aways writes everything with a purpose, so to me it seems like this was something WWX noticed as well. Throughout the kiss scene WWXs thoughts flip between what he is feeling and what he has observed, contradicting each other on a subconscious level. Somewhere deep inside he is questioning if this is a man on a woman, but because of his upbringing, he squashes his observations down and goes against his reasoning. His face is even gripped and forced back into a kiss, with a strong hand - which also means the person is managing to pin him to the tree with one hand. That's some strength, considering WWX isn't exactly a weakling!

WWX tries to analyse what is happening as he is being kissed. As WWX has demonstrated so many times throughout the novel already, he's very astute. Yes, you could argue he's not about his sexuality or his feelings for LWJ, but as I've said before, this is down to the heteronormative exposure which was embedded into him from his childhood and the denial he uses to protect himself. After all, he thinks LWJ is straight and even tries to reassure him on many occasions that he 'doesn't like men' and he 'wasn't flirting with' him, but this is only after he has been rebuffed by LWJ or WWX thinks he finds it unappealing.

The lip bite. Was this a subconscious/subliminal message to WWX on LWJs behalf? We know he has bitten WWX once before, when they were trapped in the cave of the Xuanwu together. Granted that was out of frustration and this time it is more out of utter lust. But it is something WWX might have picked up on subconsciously? LWJ is almost signing the kiss off without realising. I've said before MXTX does everything with a purpose.. so it's not too much of a stretch in my opinion. I think this is her starting to draw parallels between the two events, to show that there is a sense of déjà vu here for WWX.

From the kiss, Wei WuXian’s entire body felt limp. Energy came into his arms only after he leaned against the tree for some more time. Raising his hand, he ripped the ribbon away only to be stung by the glare of the sudden sunlight. He finally managed to open his eyes, but nothing was around him. Bushes, trees, grasses, vines — no second person. Wei WuXian was still somewhat confused. He sat on the branch for a while longer. When he jumped off, he felt weakness under his legs, almost light-headed. He supported himself on the tree trunk at once, cursing at how useless he was in silence. He had been kissed so hard that his legs were giving out. Looking up, he glanced around the area, but there was no trace of another person. The previous scene seemed to be an absurd yet erotic daydream. Wei WuXian couldn’t help but think of the legends of those mountain creatures. But he was certain that it wasn’t some mountain creature. It had to be a person.

Again, he has reverted back to using the term 'person' - no longer gender specific. This is because he's once again questioning if it was a man. We can see he is questioning if it was indeed a woman after the kiss because he very clearly starts to think about the apparent 'legends of the mountain creatures' - because whoever kissed him was incredibly strong for a woman and he won't fully allow himself to think it is a man due to his upbringing. This part would be quite an emotional read, if it wasn't for the fact it's quite hilarious to think of WWX thinking he's just been snogged by some lusty beast.

*If someone doesn't draw some fan art on this I'm going to be so sad 😂

Recalling what it had felt like, formless tickles crawled up all the way to the tip of his heart. Wei WuXian touched his chest with his right hand, but found that the flower that had been there was gone. He searched the ground for a while. It wasn’t there either. It couldn’t have disappeared out of thin air, could it?

Here is another parallel between their time in the cave and the above scene. WWX notices the flower is missing. Just like when he realised the perfume pouch was missing after they were rescued from the cave. There is no real reason to have this in the above chapter, unless it was for a purpose. MXTX is mirroring the events in the cave for a reason. We all know that LWJ is an adorably jealous klepto and the flower being taken is another thing niggling at the back of WWXs mind now also.

Wei WuXian remained paused for a long while. He touched his lips unconsciously, finally managing to say a while later, “How could this be… This was my…”

He didn’t see anyone even after he looked around the area. Wei WuXian didn’t know whether to laugh or worry. He knew that the person was most likely hiding from him and wouldn't appear again, so he could only give up on searching. He began to walk randomly around the forest. After a while, he heard a loud noise from in front of him. As Wei WuXian looked up, he saw a slender figure clothed in white. Whom could it be but Lan WangJi? Yet, although he clearly was Lan WangJi, what he did didn’t seem like what Lan WangJi would do at all. When Wei WuXian saw him, he thrust his fist into a tree, with such force that the tree snapped in half. Wei WuXian found it strange, “Lan Zhan! What are you doing?” The person spun around. It was Lan WangJi after all. However, right now, his eyes were bloodshot, his expression almost frightening. Wei WuXian was startled, “Wow, so scary.” Lan WangJi’s voice was harsh, “Go!” Wei WuXian, “I just came here and you want me to go. Do you really hate me that much?” Lan WangJi, “Stay away from me!”

Except for the couple of days spent in the cave of the Xuanwu, this was the first time that Wei WuXian had seen Lan WangJi lose his composure so badly. But back then, the situation was special, and it was still understandable. Right now, everything’s well, so why would he be like this? Wei WuXian walked a step backward, 'staying away' from him.

Just after the kiss, WWX sat down on the tree for a while, he went looking for his mystery kisser and then wandered around for some time - from the sounds of it, quite a long time has passed. When WWX finally bumps into LWJ, he is in quite a state. LWJ seems to be averting his gaze from WWX, because he is utterly beside himself for what he has just done. He has glanced at him, but not made full eye contact. He feels guilty and annoyed at himself for giving in to his desires. WWX immediately draws parallels between LWJ's current temper and the time he got annoyed in the cave of the Xuanwu - when he bit him. So we can clearly see that this memory has definitely been evoked within him. WWX even takes a step back away from him, just after remembering how LWJ reacted in the cave and in response to his request - which he doesn't normally do to be honest! As he is recalling what happened in the cave when LWJ lost his composure, the bite he received because of this has most likely come to the forefront of his mind also.

He continued to ask, “Hey, Lan Zhan, what’s wrong? Are you okay? If you’re not okay then say you’re not okay, yeah?” Lan WangJi didn’t look him in the eye. He unsheathed Bichen. A few rays of blue light slashed across the trees around the area. They collapsed a moment later. He stood still for a while, clenching his sword. His grip was tight, exerting so much strength that his knuckles grew white. As though he had somewhat calmed down, he suddenly looked over again, his gaze pinning Wei WuXian. Wei WuXian felt a strange, unexplainable sensation. His eyes had been covered by the ribbon for over two hours. The sunlight was still a bit too dazzling for him. After he took off the ribbon, his eyes keep on tearing up. His lips were somewhat swollen as well. Wei WuXian felt that what he looked like right now must be terrible. Being stared at so hard, he couldn’t help but touched his chin, “Lan Zhan?” “…” Lan WangJi, “Nothing.” With a clang, the sword was unsheathed. Lan WangJi turned around to walk away. Wei WuXian still found that something was wrong with him. After he thought about it, just in case, he followed him, lunging in attempt to feel his pulse. Lan WangJi dodged to the side and looked at him coldly.

Eventually once LWJ has managed to calm down and regain his composure (RIP trees), he finally looks at WWX properly. According to the text, his gaze pinned WWX. The use of the word 'pinning' is very interesting. LWJs gaze pinning WWX, echos the previous scene where WWX was pinned to the tree and had his first kiss stolen. So now he's being reminded of the kiss from just before and the bite from the cave simultaneously. It's no accident this is the feeling he receives from LWJ's gaze. We all know WWX loves LWJ's attention, especially when he looks at him. He's just been somewhat aroused by a kiss and now he's being gazed at by the object of his subconscious affections. There's a lot of emotions for WWX to unpack here! Which is why the next sentence is very interesting. He states he feels a strange, unexplainable sensation. From the above, we can gather it's a mixture of possible remnants of arousal from the kiss and his desire for LWJ bubbling to the surface. There is also the possibility he might momentarily be close to working out it was LWJ who kissed him on a subconscious level - due to the parallels between both encounters.

The next few sentences really affected me when I read them. We already know what WWX is like at making excuses to himself about his feelings. It's a coping mechanism for him for so many different things, but mostly to protect himself and his heart from emotions he doesn't understand or feel comfortable acknowledging. Which is why, when he so obviously starts to get emotional and tear up, he makes the excuse it's because he's had the ribbon over his eyes for a while. This is true, he did have them covered for a few hours apparently, but it's been quite a while since he took the ribbon off. He is just using the above as an excuse - it's the old 'I've got something in my eye' line. He has just felt an unexplainable sensation due to LWJ's gaze and has begun to cry. This could be interpreted in two ways I think - or possibly a combination of them both, which I actually think is more likely. The first reason he might be feeling emotional is because he's just lost his first kiss. WWX is a true romantic at heart. He's been saving his kiss for for 20 years. He's never had the desire to kiss anyone - all the girls he's apparently 'flirted' with, not one of them peaked his interest enough for him to give them a kiss. This is quite an emotional thing to happen to someone, especially if he's been keeping it for his 'one'. Yes, he was aroused. Yes, he did enjoy it. But it's still emotional for him.

The second reason he might be emotional is because, he's subconsciously drawing parallels between being pinned to the tree and being pinned by LWJs gaze - both conjuring up this strange emotion. This is possibly a mixture of; desire, longing, arousal or something along those lines towards LWJ. A pinning gaze is quite sexy, it's penetrative, it's predatory. It's definitely stirring something up within him that he's just not ready to accept or cope with at that moment.

That said, it could even be semi-conscious sadness that it wasn't LWJ who kissed him. WWX refuses to elaborate on this feeling, because he just can't comprehend them. So it seems quite plausible it's a mixture of the two reasons above. Instead of accepting his feelings for LWJ and the fact he's lost his first kiss - he begins to cry. Whatever the reason was, it was WWXs reaction to LWJs gaze that caused all of these emotions to rush forward.

The fact he suddenly worries what he must look like in front of LWJ, shows just how much he cares what LWJ thinks of him. He is worried he looks undesirable, with weepy eyes and swollen red lips. Which also connects to the above emotional response he is likely feeling. In the end he is distracted by LWJ leaving abruptly and his concern that there is something wrong with him, pulls WWX away from these strong emotions.

It's quite evident WWX had a sort of sexual awakening from the mixture of complex emotions he has just experienced seeing LWJ. Especially after seeing him in such a raw, angry state - which we later find out WWX gets a sexual kick from! If LWJ had stared at him a little longer, perhaps WWX might have accepted his feelings a little more at this point - or even acted upon them.

[flautistsandpeonies]

Fanon Petpeeve: Wei Wuxian the Sloven & Lan Wangji the Impeccable

Now, this is found in pretty much all types of fics, Modern AU, Burial Mounds Days Fix its, Cloud Recesses Days, etc.

In these fics Wei Wuxian is a slob. He puts no work into his appearance (hair is a mess/never combed and his clothes are wrinkly and covered in mysterious stains), he speaks without thinking, often getting himself and others in trouble, and he’s extra annoyingly loud and gets on everyone’s nerves. While there are a couple throw away lines about him being intelligent you rarely see that because Wei Wuxian is written to be about messy explosions, his living space is unorganized, he’s scatterbrained, and his entire being so chaotic the reader/lwj wonders how he survives. (Almost like a five year old covered in paint to be honest.)

In Modern fics (ones set in high school), Wei Wuxian is always second best. He just can’t get his grades high enough like Lan Wangji can- because he hates/can’t study you see, he just can’t bring himself to do it. (Studying in modern aus are the meditation equivalent of fics in the canon timeline)

Oppositely, Lan Wangji in these fics is just perfect. He’s always right about every single topic no matter even if he’s never experienced anything to do with it before. He never makes mistakes. He has his life together, but is drawn to the “chaos” that is Wei Wuxian’s life.

Now, Lan Wangji is a neat and clean person. He’s an incredibly smart individual and one of the best cultivators of his generation but not in the way these fics portray him. He’s written more as a god like figure than the human he is. He’s written to be better than Wei Wuxian, like Wei Wuxian is a disaster waiting to happen who’s not worthy of the Second Jade of Lan. Lan Wangji is put on this high, unreachable pedestal looking down on everyone below him while Wei Wuxian is supposed to play in the mud with Wen Yuan screaming that 2+5=7 is the discovery of the century.

This is especially damaging to their relationship in fics. In these, Wei Wuxian is beset upon by literally everyone (Yanli, Jiang Cheng, Lan Xichen, Wen Qing, etc) for being too stupid or in other cases having too low self esteem/self worth to realize that Lan Wangji is in love with him. He has to be explained to like a child why its so important and an honor that the wondrous Hanguang-jun is in love with someone like him. It’s yet another iteration of the Wei Wuxian is Oblivious fanon that I want to burn to the ground.

Side Note: Is anyone else disturbed that there are so many fics that have a bunch of gentry characters talking down to a lower class individual about how he should be grateful that another gentry character is in love with him?

---------------------------------------------

In fics set during the canon timeline, I’ve noticed a phenomenon that I’m going to call “The Lan Way or the Silk Road”.

In these fics, the Lan Sect is the pinnacle of righteousness who can never do anything wrong ever. The siege on the Burial Mounds? Never heard of her. Their participation is making Wen Yuan an orphan? That’s Wei Wuxian’s fault for not coming to them and informing them of who the Wens really were. Lan Qiren’s hatred of Wei Wuxian? Well, if Wei Wuxian just listened to authority and stopped being a disobedient son of a servant!

The Lan sleep schedule is the only right sleep schedule to the point where Lan Wangji constantly interrupts Wei Wuxian’s sleep and forces him to stay awake, even if he’s noticeably tired and needing more rest. The library holds the secrets and answers to everything which is why Wei Wuxian should just let Lan Wangji take him to Gusu. The Lans have the answers to his problem if he would just let them help. Stupid Wei Ying.

The Lans, of course, are especially right about Wei Wuxian’s cultivation. They know more about demonic cultivation than Wei Wuxian does. In fact, in fics where Wei Wuxian is resurrected, Lan Wangji will sometimes explain demonic cultivation to him.

[alternative27angel]

Chengyao Spy x Family AU

Just getting this out of my head because it’s seriously interfering with my actual WIP that I haven’t touched in months and would love to get back to actually

AU where Jin Guangyao is a seasoned spy that has to create a fake family

The father - Jin Guangyao (Professional spy. Codename: Lianfang-zun)

The child - Jin Ling (Telepath)

The mother step-father - Jiang Cheng (Professional assassin. Codename: Wanyin)

The mission - Infiltrate Cloud Recesses Academy in order to get close to Wen Ruohan, whose only grandson is the first Wen in decades to enroll at the school

The idea is relatively basic in set up, just having Chengyao and Jin Ling in the titular Spy x Family roles, as it’s almost like playing Spot The Difference. JGY canonically is a social chameleon with an eidetic memory and experience in espionage. JC has a ridiculous amount of strength, stamina, and will power, only matched by his ridiculously low self-esteem and astronomically high loyalty to his people. These two are Jin Ling’s parental figures.

This is just forcing them into a scenario where they know absolutely nothing about each other and have it in their best interests act like normal human beings and communicate for once in their lives. Imagine the surprise that this actually works for them.

As no one else fit quite so neatly, everyone else’s roles got tweaked and the plot changed as a result. Other casting choices are under the cut:

Lan Qiren as Henry Henderson - Seeing as I shamelessly replaced Eden Academy with Cloud Recesses, this was both the easiest and admittedly funniest character choice I could make. I’m not entirely convinced this isn’t the same character.

With that in mind, all the Lans are now employed as teachers at CRA, except for Lan Jingyi, whom is instead a dorm student in Jin Ling’s class and replaces the obnoxious twins whose names I can’t bother to remember.

Jin Ling’s only friend is Ouyang Zizhen, whom firmly believes Jin Ling’s family runs a secret business as peace-keeping superheroes. Jin Ling is okay with this assumption, though he’s not sure how Zizhen came to that conclusion.

The target is Wen Yuan, the son of Wen Xu and Wen Ruohan’s only grandson. Yes, I put Lan Sizhui in Damien’s role. Instead of being a classic rich boy tsundere, Wen Yuan is a good boy that’s just so overwhelmed by his crush filter that his brain automatically error codes and he does one of two things: either 1) he runs away at the speed of light, screaming at the top of his lungs or 2) he does random, absolutely dumb things like take his food tray and just dump it on the floor, himself, or whoever’s nearest.

Meanwhile, on the adult side of things: Jiang Cheng has been operating as Wanyin for most of his life, since his parents’ passing when he was fifteen. He grew up with Wei Wuxian, whom is oblivious to his double life, and Jiang Yanli, whom passed in a horrible accident some years back. I’m sure that’s not important.

Wei Wuxian is the Yuri Briar stand-in, only mildly less creepy because there are no obsessive incest vibes to be had, but extra creepy because he’s involved in mad scientist experiments alongside operating as a counter-intelligence operative. Jiang Cheng is blissfully unaware of any of this.

Nie Huaisang is, of course, Jin Guangyao’s lazy but brilliant informant that he’s known for years. His brother works in private security and has known JGY just as long (but does not know JGY and NHS’s actual jobs), and he continuously tries to convince Huaisang to go into the family business. NHS spends most of his off-time dodging Nie Mingjue whenever he comes calling.

[wei--wuxian]

been thinking about wwx and self-esteem.... a lot of fics mischaracterise him as having terrible (or at least very low) self-esteem, which is understandable because 1. it's relatable and easy to project onto and 2. at a surface glance, many of his actions can be read that way.

but.

but.

he doesn't have low self-esteem at all. he's brilliant and powerful and he knows it, in all of his internal narration we see in mdzs he's utterly confident in his own abilities (but still realistic, not over-confident -- he knows and will freely admit his limits (to himself if not always to others)), and while he shows embarrassment when seeing his past self through someone else's flashback, it's very much "wow that was a bit cringe" and not "oh my god i hate myself". other people degrade him, call him names and take shots at his status or value, but he never does it to himself.

wei wuxian sacrifices himself to save others not because he hates himself, but because his internal moral values tell him it's the right thing to do -- and most of all, because he wants to save the people he loves and cares about from suffering and pain.

and honestly, that's a thousand times more meaningful.

[musings-on-aching-flowers]

Wei Wuxian - on strengths instead of flaws

I think there’s a lot of confusion between the various MDZS canons, like the novel canon vs donghua canon vs audio drama canon vs manhua canon vs CQL canon. One such confusion is on the nature of one Wei Wuxian.

Mo Dao Zu Shi is a story about resentment. It is a story where those who hang onto resentment, who tally up past grievances and pay them back hundredfold, are the ones who eventually meet their downfall. Xue Yang. Jin Guangyao. Even Mo Xuanyu. These people made their resentment an intrinsic part of who they were, and it ruined them. 

Of course, resentment is not an exclusive theme of the novel, and it may not even be the main one, depending on how you look at it. It’s also about class conflict, and mob mentality, and righteousness in the face of every obstacle. But in MDZS, the people who hold onto their resentment the tightest, who bury it within themselves and grow around it like the sand forming a pearl, those are the people whose actions eventually catch up to them. 

Wei Wuxian does not hold onto resentment. He is the type of person to keep moving forward. He doesn’t resent Yu Ziyuan, or Jiang Cheng, even with how awfully they treated him. He never resented Lan Wangji when he believed that he’d wanted to take him back to Gusu to imprison him. He doesn’t even resent the 3000 cultivators that came to slaughter him, or the cultivation world as a whole, although that would be very natural, because what did they know about Wei Wuxian? 

On top of that, Wei Wuxian seems to be always smiling. Even in his Yiling Laozu era, he was smiling when Lan Wangji showed up in the Burial Mounds. A lot of people seem to ascribe this part of his character to cripplingly low self-esteem, in that he doesn’t see himself as someone who deserves or is allowed to resent others. CQL in particular falls prey to this mischaracterisation, as do many of its fanworks who may have not experienced the original novel.

In fact, it’s much the opposite. It takes knowing your own self worth to forgive and move on. 

I know this from experience - one of my friends believes I don’t have enough self esteem to get properly angry over being wronged, and perhaps I don’t, but to me it takes strength to acknowledge something as out of your control and move on rather than continue to be hung up over it. Similarly, it speaks to a great inner strength that Wei Wuxian has this capacity to keep moving forward, despite every single blow he is dealt over the course of his life. His ability to keep smiling is born from strength, not flaw. 

Of course, just because he doesn’t resent these people doesn’t mean he necessarily has to reconcile with them - and he doesn’t.  That also takes knowing your own worth and value. Wei Wuxian knows that he deserves better than constant degradation, and realises that by stepping away from Lotus Pier, and never returning. There is nothing left for him there anymore, thus, it’s not productive nor healthy for him to stay. 

In sum: Wei Wuxian is self-empowered, capable and confident in his capability. He knows his own value, and he trusts his judgement (and he is right to - he is the most righteous cultivator of them all).

He is resilient. And that is what sets him apart from the rest. 

[morifinwes]

wangxian fic rec list!

aka in which i read fics, write some recs down for aamna and share them!! they're all wangxian fics and uhh @yibobibo i hope you'll like them!!

modern

wolf devours playboy bunny by @greenteafiend (5K, werewolf!lwj, getting together, idk if anyone needs to know that but there's nudity just not uhh explicit)

Lan Zhan has wanted Wei Ying as long as he has known him, and the worst part is that he thinks Wei Ying could want him back.

Too bad he could never in good conscience let himself go there—Wei Ying has a debilitating fear of all things canine, and once a month, Lan Zhan is the exact, precise thing that Wei Ying’s nightmares are made of.

Aka, Lan Zhan is a werewolf.

between the lines by @jywait (19K gaming au!!!, i'm always down for a good gaming au, lwj is the best aksks he's such a good boy)

☆yilingpatriarch☆: pls...give me some face, help me fight these monsters...I'm gonna die

Bluetooth: no.

"You have died." The screen said, and Wei Wuxian threw his hands up in frustration.

resonant frequencies by chinxe (15K, college au, fake dating au, tw mention of cheating but it's brief and no one was cheated on i promise)

In which Wei Wuxian decides that the best way to deal with being in love with Lan Wangji is to pretend to date him for three weeks.

It goes about as well as can be expected.

drift compatible by windoworwhatever (5K, poetry, fluff, drunkji, getting together, college au)

"It was just a fact of life. The sky was blue, university stipends for graduate students working in TA positions barely covered rent, bisexuals cuffed their jeans, Lan Wangji had a massive crush on Wei Wuxian, and spent his time pining and writing research papers about gay subtexts in ancient poetry."

OR

Lan Wangji is in love with Wei Wuxian, and everybody knows, except Wei Wuxian.

the bunny next door by detailsinthefabric (43K, this is mostly fluff and very light angst, and they were neighbors!!!, rabbits!!, aka wangxian's bunny children, this is... so cute i just have to rec it)

Lan Wangji did not know what he was doing. He did not know what he was going to say. He was frozen in place, puzzling over the situation. Maybe he had made the man uncomfortable, which is why he wanted to leave? But his tone had still been so friendly—maybe…

“Would…” he paused, swallowed, forced the last words to come out of his suddenly parched mouth, “would you let me pet him?”

-------------------------------------

Lan Wangji, who doesn't know how to socialize and whose icy demeanor scares everyone away, lets down all his defenses when he meets the bunny next door...oh, and also its owner, Wei Wuxian.

leading tone by silencemostofall (32K, everyone is a music student? or something like that akskk, curse fic, tw panic attacks, tw child abuse, small scene of drunkji, wwx has low self esteem, bro this was so painful to read)

The first time you touch someone you're fated to love, you leave a mark on their skin. If they will love you in return, they'll mark you where you touched them. The deeper the color, the deeper the connection.

Wei Ying has no marks at all.

public places, private thoughts by leahelisabeth (for the love of camelot) ( 8K, cherry magic au, getting together with like... immediate upgrade to fiance status, the author is wrong i crave good wangxian cherry magic aus even tho i haven't even watched cherry magic)

Wei Wuxian had heard the story of course. It had made its rounds through his high school and followed him into his college days. He didn’t think there was any possibility it was true. Virginity was a social construct, invented by creepy old men to exercise dominance over women. The idea that a simple lack of sexual activity before the age of thirty could give one magical powers was absolutely ludicrous.

Wei Wuxian believed this until the morning of his thirtieth birthday.

AKA the Wangxian Cherry Magic AU that absolutely nobody asked for.

i'd be all right (if i could see you) by @thirtysixsavefiles (16K, this was nice, i read this at 6am but it was cute, (while writing this post i must admit i don't remember anything but 6am-me said it's good))

The younger Lan brother is something of an enigma on campus; while Lan Xichen can sometimes be seen in the company of other graduate students or conducting a seminar, Lan Wangji appears to spend all his time in class or in the library. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t smoke. He doesn’t attend social events. He doesn’t do anything for fun, as far as Wei Wuxian can tell, and it’s driving Wei Wuxian just a little bit up the wall.

Or, Wei Wuxian convinces Lan Wangji to come to a house party, and then they're assigned to the same group project. Wei Wuxian tries his best, but he is not in possession of all the facts.

axe on leg by itszero (4K, i still don't get why wwx did that but it was nice seeing him jealous for once, jealous!wwx, lwj i love you....)

Wei Wuxian pressed his face into his pillow and screamed. He paused to take a few deep breaths, partially hindered by the pillow, and listened to the sounds of Nie Huaisang slurping his iced coffee, from his seat on Wei Wuxian's desk chair.

Having caught his breath, he resumed his screaming and did not stop at the sound of his dorm room door opening.

"What's wrong with him?" He heard his brother, Jiang Cheng, ask.

The slurping stopped. "He's an idiot."

"He's always been an idiot. Why is he bothered about it now?"

"He forced Lan Wangji to go on a date," Nie Huaisang replied, shaking the ice cubes in his drink.

"Okay and…?"

"With someone else." The slurping resumed.

Wei Wuxian, in all his glorious dumbassery, convinces his boyfriend to go on a date with someone else.

these two most powerful by @stiltonbasket (4K, amnesia, wangxian with children!!!, aksksk this was adorable, dadji!!)

When Lan Wangji went to bed last night, he was alone in a tiny guest room with nothing but the howling of the wind in the mountains and his own lonely thoughts for company.

 

But when he opened his eyes in the morning, Wei Ying was asleep beside him.

 

(In which Lan Wangji loses twenty years' worth of memories after a night-hunt gone wrong, and his life as a doting father and husband continues without a hitch somehow.)

good things come to those who wait [but i ain't in a patient phase] by @cerlunas (4K, getting together, pining lwj)

Lan Wangji can't take it anymore.

 

“I love you”, he says, and god, it feels terrifying. “I’ve been in love with you for a long time.”

“Lan Zhan…” Wei Wuxian starts, but Lan Wangji doesn’t want to hear it.

He grabs his cup and drinks everything. He doesn’t know what face Wei Wuxian is making at him right now, and it’s okay. 

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian repeats louder, but it’s too late. He is already falling asleep.

Or, even after 13 years, Lan Wangji is still in love with his best friend. Maybe it's time to open up.

wei ying, will you marry m- oh my god he swallowed the ring! by selene210 (2K, marriage proposals, crack, marriage proposals but.. they go wrong)

“A ring?”

And indeed it was. The ring Lan Wangji was going to propose to Wei Ying with. That the man had now choked on.

“You swallowed it.”

“It was in my soufflé! Why did you put a ring in my soufflé Lan Zhan- oh. oh”

of glittery valentine's cards by @soft-fics (3K, valentine's day, this was adorable aksk, a-yuan best boy!!)

Lan Zhan didn't want to know what his best friend had planned for Valentine's Day; his heart would simply not be able to handle it. When his son tells him that he made Wei Ying a Valentine's Day card, though, Lan Zhan decided to bring it over anyway.

of coffee and white tea by @soft-fics (9K, fluff, lwj doesn't like coffee, wwx buys him coffee, then they switch drinks, again and again and again, the staff ships it lmao, tbh jc shouldn't have done that like wtf)

For the fourth time this week a stranger orders him a cup of coffee. Lan Wangji wonders how exactly to tell this man to stop ordering him coffee he doesn't even like. Turns out, buying the other white tea and switching drinks is not the best way to go about it

canon setting

on the importance of restraint (or lack thereof) by nixthothou (4K, in which sizhui snaps, i love that boy, no like seriously he's the best boy)

Lan Sizhui does not usually find himself in the company of Sect Leader Jiang.

Suffice to say, Lan Sizhui's feelings toward him are conflicted.

lan wangji is wei wuxian's baby by lilycs (3K, i was craving fluff while reading this, lwj my beloved, drunk!lwj)

Lan Wangji gets drunk from barely a cup of alcohol, becoming a whiny baby and asking his husband for cuddles.

one of our own by glitteringmoonlight (8K, wei wuxian & lan sect, 5+1 things, in which they learn to love him, they're all part of the wwx protection squad lead by lwj, wangxian isn't the focus but !!! THIS)

Times change, but some people remain the same.

The Lans are nothing, if not aware of this.

For one of their own, they will stand against the world.

Or, 5 times the Lans defended Wei Wuxian, and the 1 time he was there to see it happen.

so why not crack your skull when the mind swells by @greenteafiend (13K, love curse, post cql canon, curses, getting together, fluff, so much fluff, lwj tries to talk about his emotions!, lwj pov)

Lan Wangji detects the curse trying to curl through his heart meridians like smoke. A love curse, then. It must have been cast remotely somehow to have found him in his bed in Cloud Recesses. No matter. Lan Wangji crushes it easily, enveloping it in his spiritual energy, and then squeezing. Curse averted, Lan Wangji closes his eyes and goes back to sleep. He thinks no more of it.

Two days later, Wei Wuxian arrives in Cloud Recesses.

Or, Wei Wuxian is cursed to feel terrible pain when he and Lan Wangji aren’t touching.

i started from the bottom / now i'm rich by x_los (57K, time travel, fix it, jealous lwj, crack treated serious, god this is so good tho, wwx/wrh & wwx/jgs but like as a joke and it doesn't really happen, but it has its purpose!!)

“First, you get the money. Then you get the power, respect - hos come last.”

 

Wen Qing traps Wei Wuxian in the Demon Slaughtering Cave, but Wei Wuxian isn’t interested in being the beneficiary of the Wen Remnants’ noble sacrifice. His efforts to free himself accidentally send him back to the beginning of the Sunshot Campaign. Coreless but armed with demonic cultivation, knowledge of the future and his wits, Wei Wuxian takes advantage of this opportunity to come out on top of both the war and its aftermath—before either has a chance to happen—by marrying and swiftly burying the cultivation world’s worst men.

Lan Wangji is confused, hurt, and uncomfortably aroused by Wei Wuxian’s improbably elaborate series of Sect-themed bridal negligees.

lead me on through by mrsronweasley (55K, they're in love your honor, arranged marriage but they don't know to whom, basically wwx & lwj want to practice kissing which then goes beyond kissing but not the whole way y'know, lxc the best wingman tho)

"Who do you think your betrothed is?" Wei Wuxian asks, sprawling out in front of Lan Zhan and enjoying the prim thinning of his lips at the question. He shouldn't be sprawling—they're in the library, for one, and Lan Zhan is studying, for another—but he can't help himself. Wei Wuxian is a sprawler.

"I do not believe this to be of importance," Lan Zhan responds, without turning his gaze away from his book.

"What!" Wei Wuxian sits up. "How can you say that? Of course it's important! This is the person you'll be with for the rest of your life, Lan Zhan."

[vrishchikawrites]

Could I have a prompt? 🥺🥺 So WWX is taking bath in the Cold Pond to heal from the wounds by the discipline paddle (which I assume he was punished being clothed in his Black robe or in his Gusu Lan disciple robes or Head disciple Jiangs robes whichever fits). Before going to CR, wwx is whipped by mdm yu and LWJ notices wwx’s raw red scars and many scars across his back kinda overlapping and not yet being healed because maybe MDM yu sealed his core or something. LWJ, or with LXC saw WWX’s many crisscrossing scars and realize they’re still raw and kinda risking for infection because when mdm yu unseals his spiritual energy before going to CR, WWX never thought of healing it. Cue LWJ and LXC gets horrified and ask WWX why he had many scars on his back (or other parts of his body can also be included!) no pressure 💕 I love your writing! ❤️❤️

Anyway, it is set during the period in which WWX studies at CR. Lån Qiren, who is obviously not eyeing Wei Wuxian just in case the boy creates some trouble ends up realizing that he is too non chalant about  not eating (because the food there is for rabbits) and WWX is like "Oh, yeah. Nah its fine, I've been worse".

This one has trigger warnings for child abuse, negligence, and issues related to eating habits. Keep that in mind before proceeding. Nothing graphic, but I wanted to warn nonetheless.

I've merged two prompts here.

Please remember that prompts are closed. Also, remember I do not write self-deprication. All prompts that require WWX to have low self-esteem are not going to be written, apologies but the subject is very uncomfortable for me and I don't believe it is canon accurate anyways.

On to the prompt fill.

"That Wei child is entirely too careless." 

Lan Qiren closes his eyes and prays for patience. That boy has been a menace ever since he stepped into Cloud Recesses. Brilliant but wily and mischievous with absolutely no regard for rules. 

"What has he done?" He asks gruffly, reading over the reports from the kitchen staff. Cloud Recesses always monitors the food intake of their guests to make sure everyone is well-fed and no one is consuming more than their due. It wouldn't do for young cultivators to fall ill in their care, after all. 

The primary healer, a matron of some age, had brought the reports instead of the kitchen manager, which was quite unusual, "He forgets meals. Goes without food for days. Survives on small bits of fruit."

Xichen, who has been working on his own reports, raises his head and looks concerned. 

Lan Qiren crosses his arms, feeling a growing sense of ire, "He dislikes our meals." He's not the first one to skip meals because he considers them 'bland' and 'boring'. It's likely the child has been sneaking down to Caiyi town to have more extravagant meals. 

"I checked with our ward team. When he goes days without eating, he doesn't make any trips to Caiyi town either."

Lan Qiren pauses and studies her. Lan Mingyun nods curtly, "When I first noticed this behavior, I immediately put him on my list." Her list of children with food-related issues, he assumes, "His eating habits are very erratic, erratic enough that I wish to assign one of our senior disciples to keep an eye on him."

"You're that worried?" Lan Xichen asks in surprise while Lan Qiren frowns. It isn't unusual to do so but he wonders if it is really necessary.

"As far as I know, the child lived on the streets for quite a few years," She says and Lan Qiren narrows his eyes, inwardly reprimanding himself. He had forgotten about that aspect of Wei Wuxian's history, "The link between early childhood trauma and behavioural problems are well known to us."

Lan Xichen frowns, "I'll ask Wangji to keep an eye on him."

He glances at his nephew sharply, "Why Wangji?" He demands because surely someone else would be better.

"From what I understand, Wei-gongzi will not welcome an assigned senior. He seems to be someone who brushes injuries or illnesses off. He likes Wangji and will be more willing to accept his company."

While the argument is reasonable, Lan Qiren is loath to involve his precious nephew in this. He's already so bothered by the boy. 

But.

He thinks of Wei Wuxian with his sharp eyes and lingering smile and nods. 

---

Wangji listens to Xichen patiently even as his fingers curl into fists under his sleeves. 

He doesn't like Wei Wuxian. The boy is too disruptive, too bold, too distracting-

Too beautiful.

He doesn't like him, but that doesn't mean he's content to ignore his well-being. When Xichen asks him to keep an eye on Wei Ying's eating habits and general behavior, Wangji agrees. 

It will be taxing for him, but he agrees.  

What he doesn't anticipate is… everything that follows. When he starts consciously looking for them, the signs are alarming. Wei Ying doesn't just skip meals whenever he gets too distracted, he picks at the food even when he is eating. While Wangji is comforted to know the boy frequently seeks something richly flavored at Caiyi Town, he doesn't do it often enough to compensate.

There are also some concerning behaviors in the Jiang contingent. Upon closer inspection, it is clear that while Wei Ying does break the rules, the other Jiang Sect disciples are often complicit. Including Jiang Wanyin. 

They not only let their da-shixiong take the blame for all of their actions, but also encourage it. Wei Ying seems disconcertingly accustomed to it. He makes a scene while being punished but seems alright within an hour. 

Jiang Wanyin encourages mischief and reprimands him in turns. 

Wangji doesn't understand this.

"Xiongzhang, I am concerned," Xichen looks up from his tea, his attention immediately on Wangji, unwavering and comforting, "Wei Ying," He takes a moment to form his thoughts, "I am uncertain. I believe he is in an unsafe environment."

Xichen sets his tea aside, "How so?"

"I happened upon a conversation," He grimaces because it is eavesdropping even if his intentions are noble, "Jiang Wanyin and Nie Huaisang requested and encouraged him to get alcohol into Cloud Recesses. When he complained about the punishment, Jiang Wanyin said 'at least, it wasn't Zidian'."

His brother sucks in a sharp breath, "Zidian? Madam Yu? Spiritual weapon? A high-grade weapon typically used against enemies?"

Wangji dips his head. 

"I'll ask uncle to stop assigning corporal punishments." Lan Xichen says, "They won't have the desired effect in any case and we don't want to damage him permanently. Tomorrow, ask him to practice Cultivation in the Cold Pond as punishment."

Wangji nods, "I'll assign Jiang Wanyin and Nie Huaisang proper punishment as well."

"Wait until we have a better grasp on the situation." Xichen says solemnly, "If we act too quickly, things will escalate and may cause more harm to Wei-gongzi."

Wangji is reluctant because his sense of justice is not satisfied. He remembers how the Jiang disciples encouraged Wei Ying to accept punishment on their behalf. And then to know Jiang Wanyin was also complicit…

"We must approach this cautiously, Wangji."

He nods.

---

Red, irritated, scarred.

Wangji swallows as he sees the state of Wei Ying's back as the Jiang disciple steps into the Cold Pond. There are so many whip scars on his back, so many that have barely begun to heal, that he feels nauseous. 

"Wei Ying," He struggles to keep his tone neutral, "Your back." He cannot imagine the agony that Wei Ying would've suffered when he took more punishment on it the other day. 

Wei Ying glances at him and grins, "Aiya, Lan Zhan, is that concern I see on your pretty face?" He asks, spinning around eagerly, "Concern for little old me?"

His back is out of sight and the way Wei Wuxian is leaning towards him is meant to distract and fluster.

Wangji… suddenly understands. Wei Ying is naturally playful and mischievous, but he uses his personality for disguise and manipulation as well. Not maliciously, but in a way that harms him.

"Wei Ying," Wangji refuses to be moved. There is a significant shift in his mind. He no longer feels annoyed by the person before him. If anything, he feels furious. 

He feels protective.

"Wei Ying, your back."

The Jiang disciple shrugs, "Punishment, you know how it is." 

"For what?" He demands, catching Wei Ying's elbow and turning him around. The willingness to touch him stuns Wei Ying momentarily, enough for Wangji to get a good look at the brutal devastation written on Wei Ying's back. 

Wei Ying clears his throat and shrugs, "It's more of a preemptive punishment? Madam Yu knew I would cause trouble here, of course." He chuckles.

"Preemptive punishment?" He asks softly, the very notion troubling him. 

Wei Ying shrugs again but doesn't attempt to explain when it is clear Wangji isn't willing to indulge him.

"Wei Ying,"

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying starts to move towards the shore, "Don't worry about things that don't concern you. Your head will forever be burdened if you do."

Wangji feels something in him recoil at such a blunt dismissal. 

"Doesn't concern me? How can it not concern me?" He wants to ask but is unable to. 

Wei Ying has made him very uncomfortable with his forward personality and near constant teasing, but Wangji has seen the genuine offer of friendship underneath it all. 

He has always spurned it. 

As Wei Ying climbs onto the shore, his wounds red against his naturally pale skin, Wangji makes a decision, "Would you not feel concerned if it were me?" He asks but he already knows the answer.

He already knows this man enough.

"Of course," Wei Ying says and shrugs on his robes, hiding a wince but unable to help his body's reaction to pain, "But you and I are different." He glances over his shoulder at Wangji, "I consider you my friend," He says, "But you don't consider me yours."

His breath stills at the acceptance in Wei Ying's tone.

"And that's alright." The Jiang disciple waves and walks away, "Don't worry too much, Lan Zhan. This one isn't weak. The wounds will heal within a few days."

---

"The facts are these - Wei-gongzi is punished preemptively with Zidian, often enough that there are deep scars on his back," Lan Xichen explains, "I assume it is his Golden Core keeping him from sustaining permanent damage."

Lan Qiren is still bristling at the very thought of preemptive punishment. What a ridiculous notion! Of course, the child doesn't care about rules and upsetting people! He has already been punished enough to excuse everything but outright treason.  

How is such a method effective? How does it correct a child's misbehavior? 

"The Jiang Sect disciples are accustomed to their da-shixiong being punished in their stead. They actively encourage it. Jiang Wanyin has asked Wei-gongzi to sneak in alcohol. And he refused to come forward when Wei-gongzi was punished." Xichen takes a deep breath, "I believe any lingering issues he may have because of his early days as a street orphan-"

"Are ignored," Lan Qiren concludes grimly, "It is no wonder the child has such strong cultivation. He is facing strife constantly."

"Is there a way to rescue him?" Wangji asks after being grimly silent for the entire meeting, "Get him away from the Jiang Sect?"

Lan Qiren eyes him, "Wangji, the situation is complicated. He's still the Jiang Head Disciple and sects don't just part with their high ranking disciples."

Xichen smiles sympathetically, "We'll find a way to pressure Jiang-zongzhu into taking action. He'll lose face if the other Sects know how his lady is treating their Head Disciple." He shakes his head at Wangji's expression, "Let us think about it. Meanwhile, you just need to be there for your friend, Wangji."

Lan Qiren arches a brow, "Friend? Wangji, I thought you disliked the boy."

Wangji purses his lips, a stubborn light entering his eyes, "Wei Ying is my friend." He insists, resolve lining his every word. 

He looks at Xichen, who just looked amused, "According to Wei-gongzi, he considers Wangji a friend and will be very concerned if Wangji was in a similar situation," He huffs, "But Wangji doesn't consider Wei-gongzi his friend, so there's no need for Wangji to worry."

Lan Qiren closes his eyes and rubs his forehead in an uncharacteristic display of frustration, "That boy is a singular menace."

---

Wangji pursues friendship with all the dedication in his being. He learns to cook savory dishes and gives them to Wei Ying every day. Wei Ying, unable and utterly unwilling to deny, eats it all. 

He glares the Jiang disciples into submission whenever they attempt to draw Wei Ying into mischief. The Jiang Head Disciple is fully exempt from corporal punishment. Instead, he spends hours in the library either copying rules, rewriting classics, or transcribing Buddhist texts. 

All of these activities prove to be much more effective punishments.

Meanwhile, Lan Qiren attends a Discussion Conference and has word with Jiang Fengmian. 

The response is a gentle order from the Jiang-zongzhu for Wei Ying. He asks his disciple to remain in Cloud Recesses for Musical Cultivation training. He also mentions it is time for Jiang Wanyin to take up Head Disciple responsibilities and learn true leadership. 

Wei Ying eyes the smiling Lan Xichen and impassive Lan Qiren sharply but doesn't say anything.

In two years time, the distance between Wei Ying and the Jiang Sect grows. The distance between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan ceases to exist. 

Just like that, Wei Wuxian's destiny changes.

[grewlikefancyflowers]

Probably beating a dead horse because WWX's (non-existent) self esteem issues have already been discussed pretty extensively but I'm gonna splurge my thoughts here anyway.

One frequent point of evidence that WWX has self esteem issues is that he's willing to endure what he considers unsuitable for others, for example, from chapter 91 -

'Wei Wuxian had always been versatile, sleeping in mansions when he was rich and sleeping among the branches when he was poor. However, now that Lan Wangji was by his side, he definitely couldn’t imagine Lan Wangji sleeping under a tree or in a dirty and messy cabin.'

IMO, rather than showing that WWX has low self esteem, I think it's the opposite.

It's not that WWX thinks himself unworthy of having somewhere comfortable or even grand to sleep, but rather he accepts whatever is within his means and is content with it. WWX doesn't think sleeping outside, or in some shack, to be below him, nor is he embarrassed or ashamed as some people might be, because WWX's self perception is unaffected by how others view him. He is aware of his worth, and for the most part thinks quite highly of himself, and this is innate - it doesn't come from outside factors like being able to afford luxuries, or even being spiritually or physically strong. He doesn't need these things in order to feel secure in himself.

I think this line of thinking can be seen in the golden core transfer too - JC feels unable to live without his golden core, cannot tolerate the idea of being normal or mediocre. WWX, on the other hand, considers himself very lucky to have been able to cultivate in the first place. And he is, so is JC, and the rest - most people aren't cultivators, most people will only ever be ordinary. In that sense, it's an innate source of superiority - one doesn't even have to skilled, just being a cultivator in the first place is exceptional. Although WWX is very prideful in his abilities as a cultivator, he doesn't see it as something that makes him better than others... He doesn't think of himself as skilled because he's a cultivator, but rather he's aware that he's just good at what he does, when he gives away his golden core, its fine, because he knows he can just go be good at something else - the source of his talent isn't that he's a cultivator or his golden core, it comes from him, and he's aware of that.

Whereas JC, his source of self worth comes from the fact that he's an heir to a prominent sect, that he's a cultivator. His self worth isn't inherent, it relies on these factors, and when they're taken away, he's unable to even contemplate living without them.

WWX isn't nonchalant about giving JC his core, but at the same time, he knows he can live contently without it. Like when Madam Yu is going to chop off his hand, and resolves to learn to fight with his left, he has a lot of faith in his abilities, to be able to live without this power boost, or with hinderances. WWX understand this about himself, its not that he sees the loss of a golden core as something terrible that he should endure but JC can't - its that he knows that he is able to live without it, and knows that JC can't.

The loss of his golden core doesn't really change WWX's self perception - he's prideful in his abilities as a cultivator, he's prideful in his use of gui dao too. We only see a small glimpse of him without both his golden core and gui dao, when Wen Chao captures him, he's prideful here too - its partly strategic, but at the same time, when he's out of other options, he knows that even in death he'd be able haunt Wen Chao & co. He's thrilled at that idea, he doesn't deflate or give in when faced with shortcomings, even when he is completely powerless, with no home or sect, he has complete faith in himself to at least have revenge.

WWX is very aware of his skills. He's unashamed in noting either his strengths or weaknesses - pointing out that the Yiling Laozu sometimes made failed inventions, or got things wrong doesn't indicate low self esteem, it's the opposite - he can face his own shortcomings openly, and is unafraid to admit them.

Because WWX's self esteem, his self perception, his self worth, comes from him - he doesn't need to be powerful, live in a mansion, to never make mistakes. In this aspect he's almost entirely unmoved by outside factors... he judges himself, no one else.