#wen sect

[whetstonefires]

On my list of things it would be fun to see expanded on in fic is also: Wen Ning's subordinates.

They followed him to Lotus Pier when he went running of his own volition in hopes of helping Wei Wuxian; helped him get Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian out and smuggle them into Yiling despite this being highly treasonous. (Cql decided to remove this and replace it with Wen Ning poisoning everybody, which was very funny and probably the right choice for the adaptation. But still.)

Were still with him, presumably less some fatalities, after the war, when Jin Zixun pressganged the lot and they wound up at Qiongqi Pass.

We can fairly confidently presume the survivors of that made up a solid fraction of the escapees who followed Wei Wuxian out, when the Jiang's nightmare necromancer took their gongzi's corpse and unconscious sister and the baby, and rode hell for leather.

All Wen Qing says about this group is that they're all yes-men like Wen Ning, and if Wei Wuxian got to know any of them at all during the Burial Mounds period, it doesn't make it into the book.

So we have the information that Wen Ning, who was after all fairly high-ranking by heredity being the child of the sect leader's first cousin, even if his personal rank was relatively low due to lack of accomplishments, had surrounded himself with nice people who were personally loyal to him.

He was not a loner! He had very possibly the most access to the company of people who liked him of anybody in the book! He was anxious and bullied by his higher-ranking cousins and insecure but he wasn't alone.

Idk I'm personally curious about these people and how they interpreted everything that happened, and what kind of relationship Wen Ning had with them, and if in another storyline any of them might have done anything interesting.

Wen Ning, too, is one of the cast members who could absolutely have held up a whole novel on his own. Well. With a lot of backup from Wen Qing, anyway. He'd be a perfectly serviceable protagonist, and I appreciate that.

[inolaphoenix]

I'm curious is this Fandom still active? I've loved this series for a while but I haven't anyone to talk about it with! This and fanfiction!!! I need some😭

[yudidoodles]

The audio drama really went for the heartstrings with the Wen remnants like holy shit really just had to show this mans forming connections with these people even more huh

This is one of the other lines that has killed me each time I am a SUCKER for repeated phrases gaining new meaning

[fengshenjunlang]

It's funny to think that a lot of MDZS readers regard Wen Qing-Wen Ning as direct cousins with Wen Xu-Wen Chao, so whenever something happen with the Wen Direct members, some fanfic writers always make up a plot that it will be Wen Qing who inherit the throne.

But they are not. They're a branch family. Being nephews or Nieces to Wen Ruohan is just the general position, but the distance from the main line is who knows how long it is.

There are cousins you will never meet for the rest of your lives, even for modern Asians, let alone ancient BIG Clan. Even for strangers from thousands of miles away, they could be your cousin from something and another ancestry.

Remember how Wen Chao didn't even recognize Wen Ning? Aside from Wen Chao's self-centered personality, it's also proof that Wen Qing's family should have little to no interaction to the main branch of the Wen Clan. Wen Qing was known due to her talent. Not because how close their family branch is to the main family.

What I mean is that, even if something did happen to the Wen Clan direct family, it will be still a long way to come for Wen Qing let alone Wen Ning to inherit the position of a Leader. There should still be Seniors from generation above her who have more rights and closer to the main branch in inheritor line. No matter how popular or how important Wen Qing's job is in the Sect.

Because QishanWen is not a Sect but a Clan. Their inheritance system is not based on ability but blood relationship.

[lady-rhaena]

We don’t talk enough about Sizhui, the last living member of the Wen clan, trying to learn and reconnect to his family and heritage after the events of the story.

I am glad that we got to know about his trip to Qishan and that he learned the Wen style of swordsmanship from his uncle.

[lewiscarrolatemybrain]

Reading about the cultural and social importance of bathing throughout Chinese history (because I am exactly the kind of person who spends hours reading about the cultural and social importance of bathing throughout Chinese history for no particular reason on a Tuesday night) and obviously now I'm imagining the sects all lowkey competing with regards to their public baths -- or at least the ones meant for visiting disciples and dignitaries.

The Jin are obviously doing The Most and being incredibly tacky about it. The floor of the bath is made of gold tile that dull super quickly and the whole tub needs to be frequently drained so the tiles can be deep cleaned and polished, and of course once they're shiny they reflect light up and through the water in a way that's actually really distracting. The bath bean has crushed pearls and seventy four different types of flowers in it. The benches are intricately engraved and inlaid with gems in places that pinch your butt when you sit on them.

The Nie have a natural hot spring that they have turned into their main public bath. The massive cavern houses a number of varying-sized pools, some of which interconnect and others of which are freestanding. The free standing pools are typically treated with different soaks to give the water various medicinal properties (most often for things like muscle aches or minor injuries, but also for skincare and such.) I imagine the Nie recipe for bath-bean would include animal fat and pancreas, making it very rich and cleansing.

Part of me wants to say the Jiang would just bathe in the lake but that seems cheap to me, so instead: Through a combination of well-placed pipes and clever array work, the Jiang bath house feels like a mini indoor rainstorm, with water falling in thousands of warm droplets from the ceiling above to fill the pools, which are more shallow that a typical bath would be. There are built-in overhangs you can sit under to get out of the "rain" while still being in the water. If requested the rain can be "turned up" and the lights dimmed, and cymbals crash so you feel like you're really standing out in a raging thunderstorm, which some people find incredibly soothing and others find terrifying. I can't think of anything unique for the bath bean other than lotus flowers but I do think, given the proximity to the river, that mud wraps would be a common treatment offered.

The Lan... probably have the worst public baths, actually. They may not even actually have a public bath at all. If they do have one, it's not meant to be a place of luxury or entertainment, although of course it would be tastefully decorated and comfortable. Rather they'd find some way to make public bathing less about socializing and more about silently meditating while pretending you aren't surrounded by other naked people. I guess the cold springs kind of sort of count as a public bath but not really. Bath bean smells distinctly medicinal, but obviously whatever is in it works, because the Lan all look Like That.

The public bath in Qishan stopped being a popular attraction when Wen Ruohan stopped having visitors, but for years their bath was one hell of a marvel. Massive, bronze statues of phoenixes would be heated until glowing-hot and then lowered into the stone tub, filling the air with thick steam. Patrons would sit around the room on their benches, sweating it out until the statues had cooled enough for the water to be safe to enter. If you wanted a cold bath, the adjoining room was also home to a massive bronze statue, this one of a dragon that sat in the center of the tub and poured cool water out of it's mouth. Bath bean was made with plant ash rather than rice or soybean powder, and the water was all treated with volcanic ash.

And, because I am Me, the Wei sect: I'm imagining a dark hall deep in the cave systems, the floor lined with man made in-ground pools of varying sizes not entirely unlike the Nie baths, however these pools aren't connected to an outside water source or each other. There are illusion arrays carved into the walls that send out glowing, ghostly shapes of fish and otters and other river creatures swimming through the air. The pools are filled through overhead pipes that pour water, oils, and herbal mixtures into the pool, and each pool has access to it's own set of labeled levers, so a person or group of people can customize their bath while they're having it, adding more cool water, hot water, or various add-ins. The bath bean is more of a paste due to the addition of a ton of collagen. (They get it from the kitchen's bone broth. The bones are not human, but that doesn't stop visiting disciples from scaring each other about it. Don't piss off the Yiling Louzu or you'll end up in the soap.)

[plotbunnyhell]

Red Shirt Disciple's Self-Saving Cultivation

Gongyi Xiao died with plenty of regrets, wishing he could’ve done more. Now in the body of Wen Xiao, recently adopted political tool and all around scum of the earth, he thinks he’d rather go back to being peacefully dead after all.

Look. Look. Listen. This was meant to be gongyi xiao/wen ning, the ship is called DeservedBetter and they would be so good for each other please im begging you theyre so cute.

Ahem. Anyway yeah, GYX is now a recently "adopted" scion of an annexed clan, eventually decides he doesn't like the wens all that much (except for WQ and WN, theyre ok) and proceeds to sabotage the war as much as possible.

Also sm smth theres a rift to SVSSS in the burial mounds (if GYX and LBH see each other again it might lead to murder, yay!)

[lurkinginnernarrator]

Do we talk about the tragedy of Wen Ning enough? I think not.

From a young age, Wen Ning's support has come from Wen Qing, she parentified herself out of necessity and love for Wen Ning. Watching your older sibling beat out their childishness and innocence, for your sake, that is a special type of torture.

Now Wen Ning has to grow up watching Wen Qing shoulder the weight of leading the branch clan and bearing Wen Ruohan's attention.

And there's nothing Wen Ning can do.

Fast-forward to Post-Sunshot Campaign, Wen Ning and Wen Qing are separated. Can you image the fear that Wen Ning lived in for his sister's life? She was Wen Ruohan's doctor. Because of Wen Qing's hands he lived long enough to cull the lives of thousands for his own greed.

He's in a labour camp, surrounded by the most vulnerable members of his clan, watching as dozens are snuffed out for senseless cruelty in the name of 'justice'.

He suffers under that same cruelty, but knowing the virtuous and selfless nature of Wen Ning his spirit was definitely more devastated by the suffering of his family and the unknown fate of his sister.

Repeatedly beaten and abused, Wen Ning spends heaven knows how long there, watching his family dwindle down from hundreds to dozens.

And finally, he joins them. He died for nothing. He died not knowing if Wen Qing was even alive.

That's not even bringing up watching Wei Wuxian sacrifice so much for you, your family.

Just think about how that kind of experience would eternally and deeply wound someone as kind as Wen Ning.

And finally, after fighting and living finally all your family is slaughtered. Down to the last child. Wen Qing is burned to ashes.

I don't think I'll be able to cover his existence as a sentient fierce corpse, but think for yourself, the blessing, the curse that is such a 'life'.

The blessing of being able to live a few more years with your family, yet the curse of being unable to join them in death.

And while he might have trusted Wei Wuxian with control of his body, there is always the possibility someone like Xue Yang could come and force him into thrall.

Yes, the tragedy of Wen Ning.

[hualiansz]

the flashback with a-yuan ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️

i love them.

[blubiboom]

SLUUUUUUURP PART #3!!!!  🌸💖

[thelyinggrapevine]

MDZS Headcanons (Master list)

Hello everyone!

This is going to be a master list of all of my headcanons that I've been putting on a Google Doc for a couple years now (that was mainly just collecting dust in my drive but we don't talk abt that). I decided that maybe I could post these, just to see what others think!

I use some-if not all-of these headcanons in all my "Canon Relevant" fics (both published or not) and I've been recently trying to update them and add more, especially to the Jin, Nie, and Wen Sect areas!

Below are the links to each section of headcanons, as if I posted them all together as they are in my Docs, it would be quite long.

----------

Jiang Sect

Jin Sect

Lan Sect

Nie Sect

Wen Sect

Extra Headcanons (+ Relationship Dynamic Headcanons)

[kibutsujidemon]

"(lan sizhui & wen yuan or lan yuan) x jin ling"

art by jack_mado.

[sandradaffodils]

Character design of Madam Wen or Ya Li in my fix! Personally this one is my favorite as it gave me headache and courage to draw something bold🤣

[kettledemon]

I would like to imagine that Wen Qing and Wen Xu had a rivalry on whose little brother was the cutest (it’s wen Ning, it’s always him) and would just glare at each other when passing by

[lilac-loserr]

K you know what I want to know about MDZS? You know what I’m still upset about? That it was never followed up with that Madam Yu and Wen Zhuliu knew each other when they met at Lotus Pier! There’s just a moment of “Wen Zhuliu? Didn’t your name used to be Zhao?” And then “Violet Spider??” (I don’t know if this is the exact dialogue, I’m just writing it how I remember.) And it’s really obvious that they have some kind of history with each other, and it SEEMS like that’s going to get explored, and then nope! They’re both dead now so you’ll never find out!

That could have been such an interesting thing to explore! Both of them were super interesting characters! And it seemed like it was going to turn into something! What was up with that? Why was it never followed up with? Anyone got any headcanons?