#wei xingcheng

[robininthelabyrinth]

Soo, funny story, turns out celestial mountains can move? So JC finds BSSR and instead of receiving his brother's core and tragedy ensuing, he gets his core fixed, has an illuminating weekend with his brother's extended family, and maybe comes back with backup.

ao3

Untamed

"All right, you all know your parts," Wei Wuxian said, pacing back and forth in a tight circle. "We've got everything we need for the transfer. We're ready."

"We are exactly as ready as we were the last time you said that," Wen Qing said waspishly. Despite her harsh tone, due was clearly nervous, alternating between fiddling with her tools and fingering the veiled hat Wei Wuxian had given her to hide her true identity - the story Wei Wuxian had spun to throw Jiang Cheng off the scent of what was really going to happen would only work if he sincerely believed that she was the fabled Baoshan Sanren. "He won't know a thing. Stop fretting."

"I'm not fretting -"

"Why isn't he here yet?" Wen Ning wondered. "It's not that long a path up the mountain. Even if he was blindfolded, shouldn't he be here already?"

Wei Wuxian started, then exchanged worried glances with Wen Qing. They hurried to the overlook point of the cliff, but no matter how they looked, they couldn't see a single trace of Jiang Cheng, not even his shadow.

-

"Uuuuuh no you're not," the lady said when Jiang Cheng told her he was Wei Wuxian. "You don't - you don't have the right face for it, okay? Cangse Sanren was a bit more - her face - there was this indefinable sort of - listen, I'm not possessed with an overwhelming desire to smack you right now so you can’t be him."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Jiang Cheng found himself having to swallow down a snort of agreement - Wei Wuxian really did have that indefinable sort of quality.

"I could take after my father?" he suggested, though he'd mostly given it up as hopeless already.

Sure enough, the lady let out a bark of laughter - it sounded oddly like a bird's call - and said, "No way. Not that much! Anyway, why does it matter who you are?"

At that point, because Jiang Cheng was exhausted and hurting and blindfolded and still managed to see all his barely-resurrected hopes dying in front of him regardless, he burst into tears.

"Oh no," Baoshan Sanren said, sounding distinctly alarmed in a way that - if Jiang Cheng wasn't currently in the middle of humiliating himself - would have made him laugh because of how similar it was to Wei Wuxian being confronted by an emotion. "No, no, no, don't- please - I hate crying - just tell me what the matter is - someone help he's still crying -"

Eventually Jiang Cheng managed to squeeze the whole stupid story out, aided by the kind hands and helpful (or not so helpful) translations being offered by Baoshan Sanren's disciples.

"You can help him, right?" the littlest one asked, tugging on Jiang Cheng's sleeve defensively. He was twelve or thirteen or something - the others called him Xiao-shidi, so that was either his surname or a nickname - but he was a sweetheart that reminded Jiang Cheng of his sister. "Shifu, you'll help him, won't you?"

"I'm talented but no one can make golden cores out of nothing," Baoshan Sanren protested, but the little Xiao started crying, too. "No! No tears! Stop that -"

"But it's just so sad," he wailed, and then one of the other disciples, a girl who had a manner of speaking that suggested Wei Wuxian only tougher by far, gave a loud and thoughtful sniff.

"Don't you dare," Baoshan Sanren hissed. "Don't give me that, you're not even upset! You don't cry over anything, you little beast. You're just trying to bully your shifu!"

"Is it working?" the girl asked, sounding amused. "I could squeeze out some for the cause."

"It's all right, you don't have to," Jiang Cheng said, hating how his voice was still all watery and breaking even though he was finding this pretty funny. "If there's nothing she can do, there's no point, just leave her alone -"

"That's worse," Baoshan Sanren wailed. "No! Not the self-sacrificing routine!”

It wasn’t a routine!

“That’s the problem! I can handle everything but sincerity - ahhh, I hate this. All right, all right, you win, you brats. I'll fix him."

"But you said -" Jiang Cheng started to say.

"I know what I said," she cut him off, grumbling. "And I can't grow one from nothing. But – and I’m going to tell you in advance, this will be unpleasant – I can go get yours from the moment before you lost it and give it back to you."

"What? How does that work? I don't understand..."

"Time doesn't work right on the mountain. It's always the same time, even when it's not; that's why no one can come back after they've left," the girl said, sounding arrogant and carefree in a most familiar way, and Jiang Cheng's grief-fuzzed brain made a connection there that was so appalling that it couldn't possibly be true. "You up for some pain and agony if it gets you your core back, my friend?"

"Y-yeah? I mean, yes. Anything."

"All right," Baoshan Sanren said. Her raspy voice had turned into even more of a croak: it was like listening to a crow try to speak. Also, Jiang Cheng couldn't see, having not removed the useless blindfold, but he had the strangest feeling that she was smaller than before - he'd already assumed she was a wizened old thing, but for a moment she seemed no larger than a especially plump chicken. "Hold on tight, boy - here we go!"

-

"I greatly appreciate all your efforts on behalf of the Sunshot Campaign," Nie Mingjue said, and Wei Wuxian wondered if his greatest strength as the grand commander of the unified forces of the cultivation world wasn’t his saber or his command but his ability to sound completely sincere. "Murdering Wen-dogs by the score, going after critical targets, providing intelligence, even getting Mistress Wen and her brother to defect...but have you considered giving it a rest?"

Wei Wuxian choked.

It wasn't that he was surprised by the request - he'd heard it whispered for a while that he was doing too much, too fast, too viciously. He'd hunted down Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu and harried them into the Burial Mounds, using the power there to tear them to pieces despite their army - if it hadn't been for Wen Qing helping him, he might have torn himself apart in the process. It wasn't healthy for someone with a golden core to use resentful energy the way he did, she had explained. She at one point told him that she was essentially using a bucket to scoop it out of his meridians like a boat that had taken on water.

Yet he kept using it - hunting squads, battalions of Wen, supporting the other sects from the shadows, months of effort - and never mind the worried expressions on Wen Qing's face, on Wen Ning's face, even Lan Wangji, who had just turned up at their camp one day and refused to leave...no, Wei Wuxian wasn't surprised by the request.

He just hadn't expected it to be phrased like that.

"I can't," he said, recovering a moment later. "As long as there are Wen-dogs out there - from the other side, I mean - the Jiang sect hasn't been avenged."

"I know that," Nie Mingjue said with...admirable restraint, actually. Wei Wuxian cringed a little as he remembered that Nie Mingjue was involved in this war for the purpose of avenging his father's death at Wen Ruohan’s hands. "But that's not your job. It's time to stop playing lone wolf and return to the sect that raised you. If nothing else, Jiang Wanyin could use a right hand man."

Wei Wuxian stared. He'd searched furiously for Jiang Cheng without success, days and nights stretching out endlessly only for hope to fade and be replaced by a frantic need for revenge; it had been that desperation, mixed with guilt over losing her prospective patient, that had convinced Wen Qing to officially defect. And now Nie Mingjue was saying - what? That he, Wei Wuxian, was the one missing in action? 

That he knew where Jiang Cheng was?

"...he's been recruiting to resurrect the Jiang sect for the last month down by Qingjiao. Did you not know?"

Wei Wuxian hadn't. Jiang Cheng was - fine? All right? How could he have gotten to Qingjiao in the state he'd been in?

And...recruiting? How could someone without a golden core recruit? Nie Mingjue didn't seem to know about the loss, or he would have mentioned it, surely - everyone would be talking about it - had Jiang Cheng found some other way? But how? And why hadn't he come to find Wei Wuxian?

Well, in fairness, Wei Wuxian wasn't making himself easy to find, traveling in secret with only his few companions. But still...

"He really does need support," Nie Mingjue said. "He has Mistress Jiang, but she's not the martial type, and that little sworn brother he picked up from who-knows-where might be a brilliant talent and a hero for the ages in the making, but Baoshan Sanren's disciple or not, the kid is still only half-grown -"

"Baoshan Sanren's what?!"

"Jiang Wanyin's little sworn brother. His name is Xiao Xingchen, and he's twelve. Maybe fourteen. Far too young, in my opinion -"

"I'm sorry," Wei Wuxian interrupted. "I have to go now. Right now."

-

"About time you showed up," Jiang Cheng said, though his snide words were belied by the wide grin on his face and the way he pulled Wei Wuxian into a fierce hug. "I heard you've been doing wonders in the three months and a day I was gone, and in the month since I’ve been back...you got those Wen to defect, invented a new type of cultivation...what's this I hear about you and Lan Wangji sharing a camp, huh? I thought he hated you."

"Uh, no, turns out that was a misunderstanding," Wei Wuxian - who was currently sharing a lot more than a camp with Lan Wangji once that misunderstanding had been cleared up after Wen Qing had lost patience with what she termed their 'ridiculous mutual pining' - said blankly. It was probably just his imagination, but he fancied that he could feel the golden core under Jiang Cheng's skin, shining bright, as familiar as his own. If he hadn't known what he knew, he would never have thought... "What happened? How did you...?"

"Baoshan Sanren fixed it! Just like you said...though you went to such lengths, with the blindfold and pretending to be you and all that. Apparently it wasn’t necessary at all!"

"Uh, right. My…mistake."

Jiang Cheng pulled him into another hug, nice and tight, and whispered into his ear, "You had better not have been planning to transfer me yours, you bastard."

Wei Wuxian blanched. How had he figured it out..?

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Jiang Cheng said, releasing him and rolling his eyes. "You're a lot like your mother, you know?"

"My mother? What are you talking about?"

Jiang Cheng's crooked grin was the most wonderful thing Wei Wuxian had ever seen. 

"It's a long story," he said. "Probably as long as yours, for explaining everything you've been up to for the past few months...but we'll have time to talk it over. Baoshan Sanren is big fan of talking things over, almost to the point of ridiculousness, but I think she has a point, even if none of her disciples agree. It's made me feel better these past few months, anyway, talking about what happened, whether with the Wen sect or even just frustrations I had growing up..."

He laughed at Wei Wuxian's dumbfounded expression.

"Like I said," he said. "Long story. Come meet little Xiao, will you? We're going to need to work together and put in all our efforts to keep him out of trouble -"

"He's a brat, then?"

"No, worse: he's an idealist. You'll understand when you meet him."

Wei Wuxian let himself be dragged along by Jiang Cheng's eagerness, and he was about halfway across the new Jiang sect camp before it suddenly struck him that this was really happening. That Jiang Cheng was back, alive and healthy beyond Wei Wuxian's wildest dreams, whole once more in both mind and body - that they were side by side once more, finally back on track to fulfill his childish promise of them being the Twin Heroes to match the Twin Jades - that his lies had somehow transmuted to truth, and it was all resolved without sacrifice...

The first smile in what felt like months stole across Wei Wuxian's face. 

"All right," he said, laughing and slapping Jiang Cheng on the back as hard as he could. "Show me this new little brother of yours - I can't wait to spoil him rotten!"

"Tease him to death, you mean!"

"No, no, I can be good! Wen Qing has this little cousin, an orphan, I've been helping out with him - I have child-rearing skills -"

"I don't believe a word of it. Is it Mistress Wen or Second Master Lan that does all the work?"

"...Wen Ning, mostly, but that's not the point..."

Life, Wei Wuxian thought to himself, was good once more.

[askew-d]

how i think mdzs characters would communicate through text

[they’re almost all teachers in a school and wangxian isn’t together yet]

wei wuxian: lan zhaaaan can u plz cm over i tbink smn1 stabbed me 😔😔😔😔😔 hury up i want to 6 ur face b4 i faint er-gege i miss uuuu 🥰💗💗😍😍❤️💕💕💝💕💕❣️💘💖😘😘😚😚

lan wangji: Wei Ying? I’m on my way. [appears in a helicopter, with twenty doctors ready and a blade]

jiang yanli: A-Xian, I am preparing lotus and pork ribs soup for you. Please, take care and behave while jiejie doesn’t arrive 😘

jiang cheng: the idiot almost died again??? lol at this point not even god likes him just die already or smth

lan xichen: I’m sending my best wishes of recovery for your definitely-not-life-partner, Wangji 🙏🏼 ☺️ If you need anything, you can just call me!

lan qiren: Wangji, you better tell me you are not in Wei Wuxian’s house right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [20 missed calls]

jin rulan: You had that coming for you! ………….. Me and the group are coming over with medicine. Don’t think that means I forgave you for calling Fairy fat!!! 😠

lan sizhui: Xian-gege, are you okay?? I was so worried!! But I’m glad Lan-laoshi is with you. We are coming over with treats, please be safe 🙏🏼❤️

lan jingyi: wei-laoshi!!!!!!! please don’t chase after the light 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 you’re the only teacher who can dance macarena!!!!!! who will teach us chemistry shit we dont understand now,????? who will sing never give you up during the school final year with us??????? pls dont be dead your favorite juniors are coming over!!!!!!!!!

ouyang zizhen: i cant believe you’ll have a whole month of leave so you can spend with your crush, wei-laoshi 😭 so lucky!! so romantic!! 💗 just dont die on him ok i’ve heard it causes something called trauma

nie huaisang: Wei-xiong, it wasn’t me who orchestrated this, I swear!!!! I know nothing!! well, last time…. well yeah last time it was kinda my fault but this time it was not!!! I’ll even send you some fine books I read this month, please don’t come after me!!!! 😰

wen qing: bitch…….. u better be joking

wen ning: Wei-gongzi 😮😢 I know you have Lan-laoshi…. but if you need anything….. I’m at your orders….. 🙏🏼

song lang: I bet it was Xue Yang. Crafty bastard.

xue yang: hahahahahhahahhahahah hahahahahahahahah if it were me i would hv gutted him deeper 😈😈😈

xiao xingcheng: *intuitive typing* F.

[memory-lane-and-back-again]

Shoutout to everyone for losing limbs! (I'm taking a lot of liberties with what I consider a 'limb')

shen jiu

jin guangyao

xue yang

shi wudu (does decapitation count??)

nie mingjue (does post-mortal severing count???)

wei wuxian & jiang cheng (can we count losing the golden core???)

an zhe

tianlang jun

song lan

xiao xingcheng

a-qiao

[theballadofmars]

RANKING MDZS CHARACTERS AS HOW MUCH I THINK THEY WOULD SURVIVE IN FNAF:

11. MO XUANYU: he dies during the first five minutes. Don't know how. He just does.

10. JIN ZIXUAN: he doesn't listen AT ALL to Phone Guy and just...doesn't do a thing? He probably thinks he's too rich to die.

9. JIANG CHENG: he dies the first night. Just, sorry. He wouldn't follow Phone Guy's instructions at all, or try at the beginning but then gets mad and fights the animatronics. Sorry jc you're not winning this one.

8. NIE MINGJUE: he's not fucking surviving more than 2 nights, I'm sorry. He doesn't know how anything works, he survives the first night by sheer stuborness, but gets out of luck on his second night. He dies fighting thought.

7. XIAO XINGCHENG: he actually gets to the second night, but his problem is that he tries to help the children to move on and, unlike lxc, he gets killed.

6. SON LANG: survives 4 nights, but gets bitten by an animatronic and dies from the injury. He's the only other character who makes it to night 4 this is so funny mdzs character's would be amazing at surviving or terrible.

5. WEI WUXIAN: he ALMOST survives, but he gets scooped in night 5. Idk how, because this is based in fnaf 1, but he gets scooped, 100% sure.

4. LAN WANGJI: is lwj. He doesn't involve himself in the drama like his brother, but is able to survive the 5 nights. Never comes back.

3. LAN XICHEN: weird position, because lxc doesn't look like he would be the best with computers, but he's a Lan. He's not only going to survive the 5 nights, he also saves the souls of the murder children, because he would try to talk to the animatronics and give them therapy sesions.

2. NIE HUAISANG: he actually suffers the first night, because he doesn't know what's going on. The second night tought? He already knows the cheats. He survives and as a plus makes a theory about the lore that it turns out to be true.

1. JIN GUANGYAO: listen, LISTEN. He not only survives the five nights, the extra night and the 20/20 mood. He's jgy. Being a night guard at Freddy's is actually a vacation for him. Animatronics aren't worse than rich people. He even gets bored at night 5.

HONORARY MENTIONS FOR CHARACTERS WHO DOESN'T GET TO BE IN THE RANKING BECAUSE THEY'RE A SPECIAL CASE:

-XUE YANG: this fucker messes with the animatronics ans disassembles them for fun. The animatronics are the ones hiding from him.

-THE FOUR JUNIORS + A-QING: they are the kids possesing the animatronics. Sorry juniors :(

-YANLI: befriends the animatronics somehow. She makes them soup :D

-MIAN MIAN: stays one night, survives, never comes back. They don't pay her enough for this bullshit.

-WANGXIAN: they fuck in the security office and the animatronics are traumatized.

-WEN QING: finds the bodies of the kids and reports it do the police

-WEN NING: look, I think he would get springlocked but wouldn't become a vengative animatronic (unless he's possesed). He's just there behind a wall.

-LAN QIRENG: survives because Lan power, but instead of doing his job as a security guard starts to reprimend the animatronics and tries to teach them THE RULES.

Tgcf characters ranking

[pakhnokh]

this is quite random but have you read this fic?

a star called sun: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26929630

(tw: wei ying loses his hand)

it's pretty cool. your dark lwj art sort of reminded me of it! it is cql verse and madam yu does cut off his hand and canon goes on, but the remnants of his hand and the yin iron forge together in a strange prosthetic and he forms the yilling wei sect along with xiao xingcheng, song lan and wen qing (who defects early) and later it grows and sect leader wwx with hanguang-jun as his right hand man just had me ><

No I didn't, I haven't read fics in a long time since my life is so busy :( BUT THAT SOUNDS SO INTERESTING!

[demoiselledefortune]

Top 5 mdzs ships?

Thanks for asking!!

1- Sangcheng I love sangcheng so much even if it's a pair the spare with little fodder in canon. They have lovely dynamics ok.

2- Chengxian I'm all about Jiang Cheng's relationship with Wei Wuxian, including romantically. Though the romance is kind of subset of their everything else. But yeah I'm not picky.

3- Xinieyao not sure if that's the proper name but 3zun ot3. They love each other and kill each other it's top notch

4- Xiao Xingcheng/Xue Yang. Look this is basically a CLAMP ship, of course I ship it

5- Chengqing. Based on the novel (and i haven't seen CQL) it makes even less sense than sangcheng yet i utterly love it. She's everything he doesn't want in a potential wife and yet they have so much in common!!!! Their sense of duty both binds and separates them!!! The kinkiness of having had been elbow deep into someone's guts and having remade them!!!

[hastalahamon]

sooo, let me see if I got this straight (pun intended)

I finished The Untamed, and just started the novel, and one of the translator notes said that the author said that Lan Zhan and Wei Ying are the only gay characters in the novel... well, little Mo Xuanyu too, but he's more mentioned than an actual character.

Soooo, you mean to tell me, that instead of making a show with two gay characters, China managed to censor this book right into me legitimately thinking that Zewu Jun and Meng Yao were a thing, and Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan were a thing, and Xue Yang had a thing for XXC??

I saw posts and was like "why would people think that XXC and SL were platonic, there's obviously deep tragic love between them?!?!?"

Turns out they ARE bros (factually, speculations aside), China just sucks at censorship. I'm not complaining, good thing we have funny little actors making heart eyes at each other... well not Xiao Xingcheng, but in spirit... but not really since his is shattered, but you get the gist.

Advanced Bravely should have been my first clue. There is no heterosexual explanation for AB.

[miss-ingno]

WIP word search

Thanks for tagging me @the-marron! :D My words are hair, heart, loss (the latter I couldn’t find anything for, so I went searching for lose, lost, etc.)

Hair: (from a Weilan time-travel fix-it)

Zhao Xinci… looked younger than he remembered. A lot of the stress lines were there already, and he was starting to grey around the edges, but otherwise, he looked… healthier, maybe. He hadn’t realized how much the old man had aged over the next six years before he was confronted with this past version.

“Yunlan,” his father said, his voice carefully neutral, snapping him out of his shock. “Come in.”

Eyebrows flying up to signal his surprise, Zhao Yunlan tilted his head and followed his father in. Chief Yao was sitting at her desk, her dyed brown hair showing grey roots and tied up into a tight topknot. She stood politely, thin lips pulled into a smile without showing teeth. Professional and distant.

Heart: (from No Sweeter Innocence, a Guardian altar sacrifice AU)

With a heavy heart, Shen Wei set out to meet Zhao Yunlan at their usual place. It would be the last time he saw the other, and the thought left Shen Wei bereft. His chest felt empty, aching, but there was no other way around it. In another world, another life, perhaps they could have been together. Maybe a part of Shen Wei had hoped, if he was passed over in this choosing, that they could settle down together, perhaps adopt one of Zhao Yunlan’s young nephews.

It didn’t matter any longer.

Loss Lost: (from a GYADL canon divergence AU)

"She's an orphan."

Like me, he didn't have to say. Shuang-jie understood.

"Oh." Shuang-jie set her glass down carefully, and Luo Fusheng made sure to avert his gaze. He didn't want to see whatever expression crossed her face. He didn't need her pity. Grabbing the bottle of liquor, he turned it over and over in his hands, just to have something to do.

"That necklace of hers," he continued when Shuang-jie seemed lost for words, "It's her only connection to her birth parents. She was going to sell it, to bail Xu Xingcheng out."

tagging @shadeofazmeinya @ganglylimbs @ishipallthings @sailorbryant @amethystinawrites @bumblewyn @crystalinn @sigmundite @eirenical

Your words are: run, brush, freeze

[lansplaining]

I was thinking more in terms of the backlash. Like, would Su She's and Xiao Xingcheng get hunted down for having 'Wenite' ideologies? Would the reactionary mood make the idea of elevating Jin Guangyao untenable? Would paranoia against the upstart Wei Wuxian be worse?

mmmmm got you got you-- it's really hard to answer without doing a lot of worldbuilding about the specific ideologies, how they were enacted, and how people responded to them!

thematically in MDZS, one of the key traits of the culture is the desire to create scapegoats, so sticking to that, I'd imagine that everyone would be very happy to imagine that any 'problematic' ideologies were confined to the Wen. in the novel, where there isn't the whole Yin Iron thing, the argument against the Wen is basically one of complicity, because obviously there's no grounds to accuse anyone except the main Wen family of anything specific-- they weren't doing different cultivation than anyone else, just different power grabs. so I figure that would remain the case, and anyone who didn't actively join forces with them (which maybe more small clans would have done!) would be off the hook.

there are already so many mechanisms in place for quashing challenges to the dominant sects and their hierarchies-- the way everyone actively mocks and disrespects su minshan, the fact that song lan and xiao xingchen can both disappear without a trace and nobody really cares. there wouldn't really be any need to change their methods to quash any remnants of that kind of thinking under a different name.

[princess-of-purple-prose]

[ID: A collection of The Untamed text post memes.

Jiang Cheng speaking to Wei Wuxian: "it's rotten work. especially to me especially if it's you. I'll fucking do it but christ alive."

La Wangji holding chickens with a flat expression: "i love male characters who are extremely stuck- up and "inside the box" [like, proper, way too formal, cold, almost boring] from an outside perspective but their brain is actually an assembly of the weirdest shit you could possibly find"

Wen Wing and Wei Wuxian: "medical malpractice? not to me. not if it's you."

Jiang Cheng closing his eyes: "whatever i literally dont care 😎 < cares so much that it feels like my organs are tearing themselves apart in my chest"

Lan Wangji sitting silently in a restaurant: "Autistic guy everyone assumes is nonverbal but in actuality he just fucking hates them all so he doesn't talk to them"

Xiao Xingcheng pointing his sword at Xue Yang: "savior complex? actually I find it quite sim-- [proceeds to be trapped in the narrative forever and ever]" End ID]

text post meme (misc)

[poemforthesmallthings]

爱奇艺青春有你 210402 — Liu Guanyou (Neil), Wei Xingcheng (Vic Wei), Ailizhati (Ailizati), Duan Xingxing (X), and Chen Yugeng (Crayon)

[mxtxnet]

Shoe throwing discourse in the MXTXnet Discord server (2/?)

[sssrha]

transcription of slides under the cut:

[SLIDE 1] the vibes ao3’s top 9 mdzs ships give me (a really stupid thing i made on a lazy saturday)

[SLIDE 2] wangxian: the wholesome canon relationship (with a hint of spice)

ok maybe calling the union between a demonic cultivator and a secret sex fiend “wholesome” isnt exactly accurate…but that’s where the “hint of spice” comes in

other than that tho? i remember seeing a meme somewhere about wangxian and sangcheng and wangxian was described as “domestic gays with a house and a white picket fence and two kids” and honestly? yes 

not that they cant be freaky. id say their particular brand of freakiness is vaguely surrealist suburban horror. make of that what you will

[SLIDE 3] xicheng: either its “pair the spares” or just about trauma

their dynamic is 500% “karen/enabling husband” but like in a good way

objectively the best-dressed couple you will ever meet. like seriously why are you even trying? theyve got you beat

jc would own a flower shop and punch you in the face for saying a single bad thing about his flowers. lxc would own a tattoo parlor and hand you a lollipop and tell you how proud he is of you for not crying while he gave you a tattoo

they dont strike me as a “every evening we relax and watch the sunset” type of relationship B U T every other week they go stargazing with a detailed map of the night sky

[SLIDE 4] xiyao: either a) the angst of betraying/being betrayed or b) the angst of killing/being killed

high society gays. they would both unironically wear tuxedos to a mcdonalds. lxc would see it as a fun couples thing and jgy would do it to assert his dominance

i swear they would be among the smiliest of the major couples. only one of them would give you a happy smile

dont mess with them. no like dont mess with any of the couples but so far jgy is the first one who would make your life living hell and keep you around long enough to suffer the consequences

[SLIDE 5] sangcheng: being simultaneously over- and underestimated

i saw a meme about sangcheng and wangxian where sangcheng was described as something along the lines of “wine aunt and vodka uncle” and honestly? yes

they’re both human disasters. nhs would have various splotches of color on his clothes and you cant tell if it was intentional or if theyre actually stains. jc is very neat and organized but will have a mental breakdown at the slightest inconvenience

sometimes they just sit down across from each other and. cry. its how they bond

idk why it popped into my head but they’re both ace Because I Said So

[SLIDE 6] xuexiao: cute domesticity but also murder

i refuse to believe that xy is anything but unhinged in every universe. whether or not thats a good thing is up to you

xy could and would murder you in your sleep and not feel bad about it until xxc told him off. even then he might still decide it was worth it

xxc doesnt exactly know about The Murder Stuff(TM) but he knows some shit is off but he trusts xy enough to not comment on it

they would meet and hook up in a bar and mutually decide that they may as well stay together for the rest of their lives the next morning

[SLIDE 7] xuanli: the token straights (but also? theyre really cute???)

i did not expect them to be as cute as they were but here i am

anyway jyl has jzxuan wrapped around her little finger and shes just too nice to use that to her advantage

if jyl asked jzxuan for some chocolate jzxuan would just buy her the entire hershey company and forget to give her an actual chocolate bar and jyl is too sweet to actually say anything about it

they would definitely have like 20 children. theyd fucking love being parents. the moment having another child became dangerous theyd start adopting left and right. theyre rich they can afford it and their hearts are big enough for all their kids so why would they not?

[SLIDE 8] songxiao: childhood friends to lovers AND perfect power couple

i know they have more nuance than this but i cant help but think of them as The Perfect Couple(TM)

not shipping-wise!! i mean like. theyre both law-abiding citizens. their house looks like a model house. theyre dressed super neat and handsomely. they both know cpr and first aid and one of them is a lawyer and the other is an award winning writer. idk who is who but yk.

they are who people call to deal with problems instead of the police and they delight in that fact. that is what i mean by them being The Perfect Couple(TM)

[SLIDE 9] chengxian: disasters through and through

uhh i am going to be spending the entirety of this slide ignoring the fact that i personally consider them siblings

they would live in a dingy studio apartment in the heart of a city and theyd both never be home

theyre both super fucking rich but theyd never have any money on hand so dont be surprised if they just starve out on the street one day because theyre just that stupid

they collectively have the self esteem of rotting cabbage but theyre keeping themselves and each other alive purely out of spite and sheer force of will

[SLIDES 10] nielan: childhood friends to lovers AND himbo power couple

psst heres a secret: neither of them are actually himbos

H O W E V E R they both 500% pretend they are. they intentionally act as stupid as possible just for the fun of it

the best part is when they stop acting stupid when something important happens. crouching-moron-hidden-badass at its finest

also the older brother energy is overflowing. it does not matter who you are or how old you are. if you meet them then youre going to walk away with two new big brothers

[SLIDES 11] the end (unless i gather the willpower to make a part 2)

[eirenical]

Last Lines Meme

Was tagged by both @foxofninetales​ and @hils79​, so I guess that means I should do this.  ^_^  (Also I love these kinds of things, so.  ;D)

Rules: List the LAST lines of the last ten (10) stories you published. Look to see any patterns you notice yourself, and see if anyone else notices any. Then tag some friends.    

Due to fic warnings, all links will be to tumblr posts with tags and detailed warnings unless otherwise stated.

Last lines behind the cut, analysis up front.  ^_^

Well, @hils79​, looks like you’re not the only one with a lot of stories ending with people falling asleep.  XD  (Current theory: writing is EXHAUSTING and when I get to the end, I assume the characters are as tired as I am IF NOT MORE SO and deserve naps?  ^_^  JUST A THOUGHT.  XD)

Also WOW, I’ve written a lot of Dead Dove and dub/noncon fic in the last year or two, huh?  Guess that’s just been the general pandemic mood for me.  *sheepish grin*

But yeah, I have a Definite Pattern in my last lines that I rarely break from and it goes like this: “Clause A... Clause B.”  Even endings without the ellipses seem to have that kind of general flow/rhythm to them.  I’ve tried to break out of that pattern before, but at this point it’s practically a signature move, so... *sigh*  Oh well?  ^_^

Tagging: As usual, anyone who wants to do this, please consider yourself tagged because my brian is currently mush and I WILL forget someone, @elenothar, @elin2002, @dreamer-wisher-liar, @fixaidea, @enechelon, @laireshi, @buriedbybooks, @kholran, @highpriestessofjogan

1. Jaded (This is a WiP, but this is the last line of the most currently posted chapter.), DMBJ + TLTR, Pingxie, Iron Triangle friendship, rated E, dubcon, past noncon

Zhang Qiling drew in a breath that shuddered in his lungs, but he forced himself to nod, to close his eyes, safe in the recesses of his hood, and let Wu Xie hold him.  He didn't deserve it, not by a long shot… but even he wasn't strong enough to turn it down.  He slept. 

2. Cherished (DMBJ, Pingxie, Rated E, noncon, dark!Wu Xie, dead dove: do not eat; don’t have a tumblr post to this one yet (oops), so the link it straight to the fic, click at your own risk.)

Zhang Qiling smiled… and closed his eyes.

3. To Drive the Dark Away (Les Mis, canon era, MC2, ECC friendship, Courferre, rated: t, mostly holiday fluff, nonsexual subspace, don’t have a tumblr post to this one yet (oops), so the link it straight to the fic, but it’s... pretty tame, so you should be fine. ;D)

A gentle kiss upon his brow and the caress of slender fingers on his hip settled him as nothing else could have.  Courfeyrac murmured gentle reassurances into Marius' ear as his eyes grew ever heavier.  Safe and secure in the arms of the two he loved best, Marius allowed himself to be cradled, to be comforted, and to take those intimate words as a promise to be fulfilled when he awoke.  He could ask for no greater gift than that. 

4. sometimes the cure is worse than the disease (DMBJ, Pingxie, Iron Triangle friendship, mentions of past torture, noncon)

Here… he could rest.

So, he did.

5. The Way to a Man’s Heart (TLTR, Iron Triangle OT3, rated: g, don’t have a tumblr post to this one yet (oops), so the link it straight to the fic, but it’s all fluff, so.  ^_^)

They insisted that Pangzi eat some of the hotpot, too, and some of the dishes from the restaurant, but he came back over and over again to the ones he knew Tianzhen, Xiaoge, and Xiao Mei had cooked for him.  They might be a little rough around the edges, sometimes a little too heavy on the seasoning or a little too light, but they'd been made with love and with care, just for him, and that made them easily the most heartwarming and delicious meal Pangzi had ever eaten. 

6. Reclamation (GYADL, LFS x XXC, mentions of LFS x Xu Ruian, rated: e, rape/noncon, torture, aaaaaaaaaand we’re back in dead dove: do not eat territory.  OTZ  ...it’s the Whumptober series? ^_^); Link is to the chapter 1 tumblr post, last line is from the last chapter.

Letting go of Xingcheng's hand and watching as he turned to walk back into the house was at once the most thrilling and the most terrifying thing that Fusheng had ever done.  And if that wasn't a sad commentary on what his life had become, then Fusheng didn't know what was.  But it was a step.  The most important step.

The first one.

Now all Fusheng had to do was to make sure that the ones that followed kept him moving forwards.

7. When is a Curse Not a Curse? When It Becomes a Gift. (DMBJ + TLTR, Pingxie, Irong Triangle Friendship, rated: t, accidental telepathy acquisition)

Surrounded by the warmth of his friends, and with the world finally, blessedly silent around him… Wu Xie slept.

8. the stories say more than that (TLT2, DMBJ, Pingxie, rated: e)

And Wu Xie would keep his silence and let Pangzi tell the tale however he saw fit, because it would make Xiaoge smile, and if it would make Xiaoge smile… then Wu Xie would relish every minute of it.

9. beyond the end of the story (Guardian TV, Weilan, Shen Wei & Da Qing friendship, pretty hefty whump, but everything works out OK?, rated: t, mostly for graphic depictions of injury, also has a podfic. ^_^)

Zhao Yunlan smiled the goofiest smile in his repertoire at Shen Wei. "I say we write a whole fucking chapter about kisses.  No.  Two chapters about kisses.  Hell, let's write ten!  Is ten enough?  Maybe twenty?"

Shen Wei just laughed… and kissed him again.

10. Awakening (GYADL, LFS x XXC, mentions of LFS x Xu Ruian, rated: e, rape/noncon, dead dove: do not eat, ...it’s the Whumptober series? ^_^); Link is to the chapter 1 tumblr post, last line is from the last chapter.

Xingcheng reached out a hand to check Fusheng's pulse once more, then pulled back and settled into the chair.  Fusheng continued watching him, eyes drooping, saying nothing.  Finally, Xingcheng said, "Sleep, Fusheng.  I'll keep you safe.  Just sleep."

And in a moment of mercy that Xingcheng certainly didn't deserve… Fusheng believed him, and he slept.

[winepresswrath]

I think a lot about the precarity of different people's positions in the cultivation world. How being too entwined with the sects vs too separate from them dooms people in different ways. SongXiao made a name for themselves. When we first met them, they were an ideal WangXian looked up to. Ten years later, it was perfectly believable to the cultivation world that Xiao Xingchen tortured and murdered the last surviving member of the Chang clan. He slipped through the cracks entirely.

Yeah, and I do think that makes sense! Obviously there’s lots of corruption and general malfeasance amongst the sects, but it’s also just a feudal honour culture where kinship and loyalty bonds are hugely important. Even if everyone admires Xiao Xingcheng and thinks he does good work, no one except Song Lan actually knows him well enough to vouch for him. Hearing that a minor celebrity who’d previously had a good reputation is a murderer might be surprising and strange, but are you really going to stake your reputation on his innocence (or even doubt his guilt) the way you probably would for a sect-sibling you’ve known since childhood? Aside from the question of who you’re willing to stick your neck out to defend, there’s the bonus issue of who you actually know well enough to feel capable of judging the content of their character. The fact that anyone who could do that for Xiao Xingcheng is busy cultivating to immortality on a magic mountain they can never leave if they intend on returning makes him an easy target for Jin Guangshan’s bullshit, because there isn’t actually really anyone who’s qualified to speak in his defense.

[angstymdzsthoughts]

Huh. Not sure if this is angsty, but......I was watching this other donghua and found out that in that universe, demonic cultivators often devoured/absorbed the golden cores of others in order to further their cultivation. So I was thinking......what if WWX found out during the war that he could cultivate resentful energy by absorbing the golden cores of others? He goes on a mad rampage through the Wen army and eventually cultivates to a high enough level that no one could ever stop him if they tried to kill him. Whether this turns into a dark!WWX AU or whether WWX stays the same is up to you!

This made me think of that one ask where dark!LWJ feeds his very reluctant husband golden cores to keep him alive :)