#I'm here for all the chengxian feels

[jingyi-ma-boi]

Yunmeng Twin Heroes' complicated dynamics

So, my tags in one of the last posts I reblogged got a little out of hand and were long enough to deserve their own post, cause, even if I was commenting on other people’s meta and headcannons I ended up 'writing' my own. If you click on the link, you'll see that @featherfur's post was all about the post-canon chengxian feels of seeing the changes in each other while not being able to directly participate in each other's lives. Go read that. It's a bit long, but it's worth it. The angst of seeing somebody you love(d) being so similar yet so different from what you remember, and thinking knowing that you do not get to be a part of their lives like you'd want to hits just right.

However, I don't think that level of 'deep yearning to be able to love each other like they once did' is everything there really is. To me, there’d be a point in post-canon where they do feel like that, but they would resent each other often and even feel something akin to hate as well whenever their feelings regarding everything that has happened in canon got too much to bear.

Now, you can go on reading what I think their emotional journey towards reconciliation would be like, or you can just skip to the end, where I’ve put a TLDR. You’ll get the general idea but if you want to dive into the complexity of their feelings, keep reading (please, I’d love for other people to read and discuss this with me, or give their thoughts at least T.T).

We all know how JC feels about everything WWX has done and how he blames him. For all that the fandom pegs him as someone who doesn’t know how to express his feelings other than through anger, he's actually pretty aware of them and lets himself experience them (although not in a healthy way, re: being angry most of the time). Meanwhile, WWX has always been incredibly detached from his emotions —that's why it takes him so long to realize he's been in love with LWJ since their teens— because 1) he's been raised to think that his value lies not on him as a person, but on him as a protector that has to right all his wrongs to everybody around him because of filial duty, life debts, and class differences; and 2) he doesn't think he deserves feeling them, as a result of that.

And although I'm all for the chengxian feels and the fluff of Yungmeng Jiang' bros reconciliation, (really, I love that trope) I don't see it happening organically.

Listen here, I'm talking from personal experience. You can feel enormous amounts of longing, missing the closeness you once had with someone who hurt you deeply, and resent that person at the same time. It seems obvious, but it’s the kind of obvious thing that needs to be reminded. In a situation like this, you can, and will, get bursts of anger at that person for everything they did and everything they didn't do. You hate yourself for missing them because you have all the right to be angry at them, and disapointed and sad, and you shouldn't be missing them nor contemplating the possibility of going back to how things were once. You can be glad to see that they are doing well in their new life and be jealous that it is not you who they're sharing all these new experiences with, while you're watching awkwardly from the sidelines, letting the guilt from the swarm of contradictory emotions eat at you, because at the end of the day it doesn't matter how you feel. What matters is the facts. What you did. What THEY DID.

I see JC going through a mix of less complicated emotions at first. After canon, where he scowls at WWX with anger at first, the underlying pain gains a new companion. A feeling of sadness that drives JC to avoid WWX in the same way that the latter’s pain and guilt drives him to avoid his shidi. WWX, on the other hand, would take the longest time to let himself feel more complex and contradictory emotions. He might even get stuck on that guilt and not let himself feel the anger, disappointment, and resentment towards JC that he has always buried deep inside if things at Cloud Recesses stay the same as ever and he and LWJ isolate themselves from everyone else while LXC withers away in his tormented seclusion.

(Here comes the important reminder that MDZS is full of parallelisms and as such, LWJ and LXC share the same complicated feelings that exist between the Yunmeng bros, even if the details of their relationships are different. I won't go further into the Twin Jades of Lan, cause they deserve their own post, but let it be known that their reconciliation is as unlikely as the Yunmeng Twin Heroes’. They’re totally related. Any advances in one of the pairs would positively reflect on the other and viceversa, that’s why it’s so difficult for them to avoid emotional stagnation.)

The key to WWX getting more in touch with his feelings would be in the changes brought forth by the juniors. LSZ and LJY would work through WWX's façade even better than LWJ does, cause WWX doesn't think them as biased. His two Lan ducklings would charge headlong into his emotional mess through gentle words (LZS) and earth-shattering remarks disguised as snark (LJY), and force help him through the mess of recognizing and sorting out those emotions.

Still, JC and WWX being aware of their feelings is not enough for them to solve things.

However, it might help them all to take a step forward and start acknowledging each other in a better manner. They’d go from having raw, more simple feelings preventing them to even wanting to hear each other’s name, to gradually being able to share the same space amicably. That doesn’t mean that looking at each other in the eyes or feeling each other’s gaze isn’t simply too much because it makes them spiral. This is the point where they’d yearn for this new, happier version of their brother, their emotions getting as complicated as I described at the beginning. But that's the most I can see them achieving on their own because they’re both so stubborn. They’re set in their own ways and it would take a huge external force for them to make the slightest changes (ie. golden-core transfer reveal and the little ducklings intervening to make WWX feel his feelings is what causes changes in their perspective).

Why do I feel like this? Am I allowed to feel this? How can I dare to want this when I can’t even forgive him? How could I ever forgive him? Would he ever forgive me? How is it possible that I still love him so much? Do I even deserve to have that with him after everything I did? And what about him? Am I ready to truly forgive him and trust him? Will I ever be? I can’t, I couldn’t even if I wanted to and it hurts SO MUCH! IT HURTS!

IT HURTS!ITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS IHATEHIMIHATEHIMIHATEHIM

WHYDIDHEDODTHAT!?!WHYDIDHEDOTHATTOME?! WHYDIDHENOTDOANYTHING?!

WHY DID HE LEAVE ME?!?!?

…

You see? After everything I’ve laid down, any of them could have this exact internal conflict anytime.

The thing is they are both more alike than they think. JL would see through their bullshit and be so frustrated with it all through the years. Already an adult and experienced sect leader, he’d understand but not completely, because he’d be the first to realize that nothing can compare to what they’ve gone through. And yet, he’d want them to talk and make up because he loves his maternal uncles so much. He won’t admit it to anyone, (LJY, LZS and OYZZ don’t need him to. it’s been years since WWX returned and JL’s already an open book to them), but he wants them to be happy around each other. To not feel so torn apart between them. He’d want an opportunity to have some semblance of the family that could’ve been and he will take any chance, as small as it might be, to achieve that.

Cue the junior-now-adult-quartet shenanigans. They’ve been seeing how every adult they love is miserable to some extent, and now that they’re adults too, they can and will do something about it. Cause hey, if they were able to bulldoze in and force WWX to actually feel his feelings, they can do this too! So now, their new goal is to get these two grown-ass adults to talk. Although technically, WWX is only a few years older, and a great deal more traumatized than them too. They’re aware of it. But they’d rather not think too much about it because they most definitely didn’t cry for hours on end after they got him to talk and started thinking about his life. And they most definitely didn’t attract attention when, weeks later, they finally grasped the scope of everything that their seniors had suffered when they had been even younger than they were at that moment.

LJY and OYZZ would be totally and completely over-invested in this. They’d scheme and help JL trace a plan for how and when to talk to each of them individually to subtly let them know how he felt. LSZ would use his power as heir and acting sect leader to stage the encounter among the three of them, securing LWJ’s reluctant approval after a great deal of convincing. And JL would trigger the conversation with a spontaneous outburst at his two uncles’ ridiculous yearning. They’d probably use a combination of WWX’s inventions and Lan techniques to lock them into a room, and force them to talk and have a truthful heart to heart, and they’d hope that after that, everything would be okay.

A LONG bout of silence later, they’d hear shouting and objects shattering and hitting the floor. They’d hear them fight, without sensing any spiritual or resentful energy of any kind, and LWJ would have to be stopped from dismantling the arrays and talismans in place just so he could go pounce on JC’s throat himself. The blows would soon be replaced with more silence, then soft murmurs. Sobbing. More yelling, and cracked voices. It’d be almost time for waking up the next morning when the arrays disappeared on their own. The doors opening to show the two brothers splayed on the floor next to each other, robes and hair disastrously askew. Holding their forearms over their eyes, barely covering the tear trails and reddened cheeks, their chests would be rising peacefully as they’d finally seem to sleep from exhaustion. LWJ’s eyes would get stuck on the way their fingertips touch ever so slightly. The ducklings don’t say a thing, but they’d totally stare too. JL would be the one to break the silence and tell everyone they should be going to sleep as well (and if LSZ and LJY see JL’s glassy eyes and a lone tear… no, they don’t).

Would that be it? Nope. Haven’t I said already it’s not easy? They’d have started talking and acknowledging that they both want the same thing, but it’s still not enough. They’d have to WORK for it. Hard. They would need to build a support system if they wanted to achieve the relationship they want to have. LWJ would have to start seeing JC as a person, and one that is able to give his Wei Ying the happiness he deserves, now that he’s at it. JC would have to start relying more on the other adults in his live. And it wouldn’t hurt WWX if he expanded his circle to include people other than his husband, his son, his son’s friends, and his undead cinnamon-roll of a friend.

In this way, they would be working on their respective issues to obtain each other’s forgiveness. They would face setbacks on more than one occasion, questioning whether it’s even worthwhile. This is the only way I see them regaining trust in each other.

The two of them mending their relationship without strong external factors would be OOC and unrealistic. It doesn’t matter if you’re going by MDZS or CQL canon. Although if we’re going by CQL canon, I don’t think they would ever go further than the ‘avoiding each other’ stage, and neither would any plot device help them do it. CQL WWX is very tame in the war-crime front and even though he’s just as ‘selflessly’ quick to put himself in harm’s way as in the novel, nobody can blame him for an attack that was clearly planned years before (most of the ‘facts’ stated on the novel turned out to be complete hearsay and/or senseless bullshit, this translates to CQL too even though if the censorship fucked a big part of this by drawing extreme caricatures of everyone). His misdeeds boil down to war crimes of varying moral weight, and not trusting people enough to include them in decisions they should’ve been included in, cause JZX and JYL’s deaths were caused by SMS.

And CQL JC is… not good. His decision to completely ignore the Wens even when he personally knew them and knew they had helped them repeatedly (first encounter in the Dafan Mountain and then, after the fall of Lotus Pier) meant he’s the only character to blatantly disregard a life debt, one he had to the Wen siblings. And on top of that, he still pulls the same shit that novel JC does after WWX returns, which makes him even worse.

Novel JC, on the other hand, took the right decision by not getting involved with the Wens. They were complete strangers, and he couldn’t risk the safety of the sect and the people of Yunmeng. He was powerless against the wishes and whims of the cultivational world cause that's how politics work. You’re forced to choose duty towards your people over your heart.

But let’s get back on track. I’ll make a full post on my view of JC as whole another time. The reason why it would be so complicated and they’d have to work so hard towards mending their relationship is that they would first have to realize that they cannot go back to how things were before. JC would need to recognize that WWX is not to blame for all his misfortunes and he’d have to apologize for all the fucked-up shit he does after WWX’s return. Psychologically torturing his 21-year-old brother with dogs while being a 34 year-old sect leader that has had 13 years to deal with his emotions was a dick-move of the highest category. And so it is the stunt he pulls right before the golden-core reveal at Lotus Pier. Yes, the golden-core transfer was sketchy but made complete sense. Yunmeng Jiang needed a leader and WWX was not fit for the role, not due to a lack of skills, but because it would’ve worked as badly as JGY given how the whole Jianghu cared only about birth status and nothing else.

This doesn’t mean that JC’s evil, WWX is the ultimate child-abuse victim, and that JC should never get close to WWX ever again (I’m looking at you, JC antis, though this whole post is also a call-out to JC apologists, cause he ain’t no innocent snowflake wronged by bad, evil /WWX/YLLZ). It simply means that JC has to claim responsibility. He also needs to see that just like WWX was abused, he and JYL were victims of the same abuse. They both need to come to terms with that fact and know that they had some sort of trauma-bond given that JC’s coping mechanism for enduring the abuse was reflecting that same abusive behavior on WWX. Yes, siblings who grow up abused often abuse each other as well, and/or end up enabling their abusers through a fawn response (this was JYL’s case).

TLDR; I love the idea of these two hot-heads making up and having strong feelings about each other. But the abuse they endured growing up, and the abyss it slowly carved up between them is something they both need to acknowledge and heal from before even considering the idea of mending their relationship. That, and the extend of the wounds they’ve inflicted on each other since WWX returned are things I don’t see them working on unless prompted by external forces. Their relationship is too complicated and nuanced for anything other than that being possible, which means that they wouldn't be able to forgive and trust each other unless some freaking major plot-event forced them to actually talk. That’s why I see their reconciliation as highly unlikely.

#I'm here for all the chengxian feels #it's not a b&w thing #anyway this is my take on mdzs meta and reconciliation fics/AU #I honestly see few alternatives for not making them OOC or completely disregard the reality of their relationship #actions matter and boy do they have a lot to unpack #thank cultivation for lenghening life expectancy cause everyone needs so much therapy #chengxian #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #wei ying #wwx #mdzs wwx #mdzs jiang cheng #cql wei wuxian #cql jiang cheng #wwx meta #jiang cheng meta #yunmeng bros #yunmeng siblings #mdzs juniors #mdzs meta #mdzs novel #cql meta #my meta #fic ideas

[wise-tortoise]

Hi! i’m new to chengxian. so i was wondering, do you have any recs please? preferably long one shots (10k+) and set in the original location (i don’t like modern aus mostly as they are based in the us or uk). sorry for all the stipulations!

HELLO ANON AND WELCOME TO CHENGXIAN!!

I am DELIGHTED to be a source of fic recs, and I have JUST the fics for you.

First of all, I highly recommend checking out the various ao3 collections of past chengxian events, such as Chengxian Happy Ending Fest, or Chengxian Minibang 2023, Chengxian Week 2020, Chengxian Week 2021 , Our Meeting is Inevitable or The Chengxian+ Collection, which are a goldmine of wonderful fics. I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding something to your taste among them!

Now, on to my personal recommendations, under the read more because this got LONG.

Based on what you said you'd prefer, the fic all my dreams have come and gone a half a million times by iri_vail sounds like something you'd enjoy. It's a lovely post-canon shuangjie reconciliation fic, 10k words, with wonderful art. There's frogs too!

consider rivers by Lirazel, 9k, canon divergence fic with no war that rewrote my brain chemistry. Jiang Cheng wants Wei Wuxian to marry Jiang Yanli: lots of yunmeng trio feels, lots and lots and lots of pining.

after the sun sets by Artemis1000, 12k words, it's an amazing fic set during sunshot campaign, lots of hurt/comfort, lots of love and understanding and softness between our two favorite miscommunicators.

electricity between both of us by zyprexd is an absolutely incredible series of two fics that make me go feral. Past w4ngxian, tentative shuangjie reconciliation with long overdue communication, lots of feelings aknowledged and accepted, Wei Wuxian introspection.

Turn Back, Dull Earth by groundwiremantaray, 8k, canon divergence, a whole lot of fluff (with a delightful twist). Though not a oneshot, if you like to read happy times with chengxian, this is absolutely the fic for you.

this love that I most fear by Runespoor, 25k words divided in three chapters, in which a coreless Jiang Cheng has to aknowledge Wei Wuxian as his bastard brother in order for him to become sect leader, with all the relative implications. An angsty delight!

Little Sesame by Rurtle, which is an absolute must read. In which the summoning ritual goes wrong and Wei Wuxian reincarnates into a dog. Shenanigans ensue.

born of waters like blood by Artemis1000 (same Artemis as before) which is one of my absolute favorite fics of all time. Chengxian baby made of resentment and lake waters! Chengxian being dads! An unspecified number of eyes!!!! This fic is a bit shorter than the others I've recced, but absolutely worth reading.

letters from inside the storm by serein, in which everyone has a very bad time (not me though, I enjoyed this IMMENSELY), double whump with a very tentative reconciliation.

if tomorrow would ever come... by Midori_99, 17k, a reincarnation fic in which Wei Wuxian after his death reincarnates into a playful little fox and, despite his best efforts, finds himself once again in Lotus Pier, beside Jiang Cheng (and, really, there's no better place for him to be). The good, GOOD, cathartic angst right here, good food for the soul.

If you'd like EVEN MORE chengxian fics, my bookmarks are open and the fics are all ready to receive lots of love (and of course, if you like, there's my fics too, but they're only open to registered users)

Alright, that's definitely not all the fics I would like to rec, but that's about all I can fit in a single post before it becomes too long.

I suggest of course that you check out other works by the authors I listed, as they are all incredibly talented (and I really really wish I could put more of them here but I tried to contain myself with word count and setting as per your request)

Thank you for the ask anon, I hope you'll enjoy your stay in the chengxian side of fandom and I wish you a wonderful day!!

#mdzs #chengxian #xiancheng #yunmeng shuangjie #cql #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #the untamed #anon ask

[bokvshou]

maybe I'm biased (yes), but don't you feel that the first half of the novel and the second half don't agree in terms of the romantic story it wants to tell?

like, first it was a story about two souls who unknowingly sacrificed everything for each other, a story of unconditional love full of misunderstandings while fate and circumstances didn't allow them to be together... and then one of them said "sorry i broke my promise but it's all in the past lol let's move on", and??? he decided to go live in a place that is the opposite of his free spirit and where there is literally a rule that doesn't allow anyone to speak to him??? lol ok. bro here went from chengxian to suddenly the ending we know.

#idk something doesn't add up here #but it might just be me #jiang cheng #chengxian #mdzs #wei wuxian #mo dao zu shi #the untamed

[spriteofmushrooms]

Chengxian, 17

From this ask meme.

17. things you said that I wish you hadn't

When Wei Wuxian enters the dream, he sees Jiang Cheng immediately. He's seated at a table and fussily arranging dishes. He looks wan. Still, his expression is so open like this; Wei Wuxian can read every thought that crosses his face. His anxious little shidi was so cute.

Next to Jiang Cheng sits a dream of Wei Wuxian. It's his original body, which makes sense. Wei Wuxian rubs his chest as the dream of Wei Wuxian pokes Jiang Cheng. 

"Shidi, we're going to eat the food anyway. Why does it matter if one thing is next to another?"

Jiang Cheng slaps the hand away. "You know a-jie worries about us running a household by ourselves. We have to show her we know how to host."

His dream self laughs. "She likes fussing, so why shouldn't we give her more opportunities?" But he still stands and scrutinizes the arrangement, then declares, "This composition is deeply pleasing. Not only do the colors complement the spatial relationship between all of the elements, but on the whole it presents a harmonious spirit. However, there is one flaw."

Jiang Cheng is looking up at the dream with wide eyes. "What is it?"

The dream plucks a dumpling and pops it into his mouth. "Rogue dumpling."

Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes and turns away, then smiles.

From Wei Wuxian's left, a voice says, "I know it's a dream. You don't have to save me."

Wei Wuxian turns to see the far more splendid version of his shidi that feels so foreign. This Jiang Cheng is sharp, luminescent, and closed. Wei Wuxian's gaze flicks between the two versions. With the original to compare the dream with, the dream is more obviously unwell.

"What's wrong with him?" Wei Wuxian asks.

Jiang Cheng raises an eyebrow. "Nothing. Tell Jin Ling I'll be out soon."

"Do you know how long you've been unconscious?"

"I thought around three shichen, but that seems like too little time for you to be here," Jiang Cheng says, gaze on the tableau.

"Almost two days," Wei Wuxian snaps.

"Shut up," Jiang Cheng says, flicking his robes into ever more perfect alignment. "A-jie is coming."

"Your yang energy is being drained even now. Do you want me to tell your nephew that seeing shijie is more important than seeing him?"

At the table, dream Wei Wuxian says, "A-Cheng, if you don't stop, I'll tell shijie you don't sleep enough."

"Whose fault is that?" dream Jiang Cheng sulks.

Wei Wuxian turns his head in time to see a flash of silver and violet as his dream self cups Jiang Cheng's face, but then his view is obscured by the real Jiang Cheng.

"Get out," Jiang Cheng hisses.

"Gege, not here," dream Jiang Cheng demures.

"I'm wearing Zidian," Wei Wuxian says.

"Then how about here?" his dream self says.

"Why am I wearing Zidian, Jiang Cheng?"

But he never gets an answer; Jiang Cheng pushes him out of the dream and wakes up.

#pallas.rtf #mdzs #add1ctedt0you #ask games #my writing #chengxian

[fandom-trash-goblin]

Number 9 for chengxian?? 🫣😚💜

(9. kiss in public ) prompt list linked here

notes: Cat, this is my first time ever writing chengxian, i'm nervous as fuck.

this is for @jcs-singular-slut-strand's Yu Cheng/Wen Wuxian AU, where Yu Cheng is son of Wen Zhuiliu. linked here

---

A'Cheng is pretty, he thinks. Too pretty, and he feels anger boil in his veins, looking at all the vermin surrounding his best friend. Xu-ge should do something about these fools, lest they end up dead, unable to defend themselves the way they act like a damsel maiden.

Useless simpering, while Yu Cheng tries his best to not look flustered, but he knows, the slight blush dusting his ears, to any other would be due to heat, but to Wen Wuxian is a sure sign of embarassament and ... oh? A'Cheng likes it? One of the vermin is what Yu Cheng, with his terrible, terrible taste, would consider handsome.

Well, he should go put some people in their place.

A'Cheng turns to look at him him, and rolls his eyes. Attention snatched, the rat now interrupted from flattering and buttering his crush, next to his best friend dares to glare at him, and then pales in fear.

Oops, his eyes might have been a little too red, he'd practised too much, recently with Fuqin. There's a smile playing on A'Cheng's pretty lips, belying his amusement when he looks at the hand on Suibian, and the threatning, stalking, walk, and demon eyes.

Wen Wuxian looks at cockroach laying a hand on A'Cheng's arm, winding up to whine about how cruel the third son of the Wen Sect is, and thinks, i'll show you cruel, idiot, while the demonic enegy in his head croons, pretty boy, pretty lips, all mine.

He twists his fist on the collar of the guest disciple's clothing, throws him aside, where he lands with a thud and a muffled scream, and then turns to Yu Cheng.

His best friend looks at him, eyebrows raised in question and uncaring of the little rat, looking at only and only Wen Wuxian, as he should.

And then Wen Wuxian, still terribly jealous, grabs the back of his A'Cheng's head, and crushes his mouth against his own, chapped lips pressing cherry bruised ones. Wen Wuxian wants, furiously, desperately, to live like this forever, or die. He wants to kiss A'Cheng playfully, little kisses on his high cheekbones, and against his singular dimple, and wants A'Cheng to look at him and only him forever. Sometimes, he wants to cut open A'Cheng, and slither inside his ribs, immortal, and always together.

The other disciple catcall, as they break apart, heaving, breathing. Yu Cheng looks at him (always him) and shouts, more surprised than angry, Wen Wuxian!

Oh fuck, time to run.

#yu cheng au #my lovely violet heart #mdzs #chengxian #first time writing chengxian and it's not even cannonverse lol #thoughts welcome! go give yu cheng au some love i think it's so good

[marudny-robot]

another mdzs plot bunny..... accidental chengxian post Sunshot

ok, last thing before I go to sleep :D

As the title says, it's after sunshot campaign and we are focusing on Yunmeng where Jiangs & wwx focus on rebuiling.

Or jiangs are focusing and wwx is getting more and more drunk while fighting mental demons (depression, jc's hot, not wanting to disappoint jc and jyl, not dealing with not having a core, etc. you choose).

How chengxian starts doesn't matter here really. Maybe it was one of the many times jc was dragging wwx's from another inn, maybe he was fighting with him over wwx doing nothing to help (while being worried for him). Maybe it was another time where he wwx let him scream at him, because what could he do? When he was feeling guilty, but couldn't do as much as before and especially what was asked of him now? And how could he make jc feel better?

So it was another fight as usual, but as it happens in fiction where there's a lot of alcohol, emotions and denied romantic/sexual intentions mixed in the air... they end up fucking.

Or more officially, sect leader jiang straightened his second in command wei wuxian. Officially.

But that's just beginning.

During the next few days, jc observed very important thing: wwx looked kinda better. He probably wouldn't look as healthy and happy as he was before the war and it would take time before there would be significant progress - but it was still progress.

And it looked like more progress than one dicking and sharing about their love to each other could achive.

But jc started thinking - what was that happened wwx the most? Was this sex in general? Sex with him in particular or (gods forbid) them talking about their feelings? Clearly it needed more observing.

At some point jc figured that there was something wrong with wwx's core - they weren't focusing on dual cultivating (what for?), just having sex, yet it often felt/looked like wwx's broken core was siphoning his energy without wwx realizing?

Well, wwx wasn't saying anything (was he even aware?), but when jc wanted to talk about his core, wwx always changed the subject. At least he looked better after sex, so if jc focused on the best way to give him energy then maybe it would somehow end good in the end.

After all, war was over, his siblings were aiive, he was rebuilding Lotus Pier and it seemed like they had a way to heal (oh yeah, and wwx and he finally admitted their feelings, that) :>

...

On the other hand wwx still can't believe that jc wants him. Don't get him wrong his very happy with the arrangment and maybe the following days in overall doesn't seem to worsen.

Now, if only jc wouldn't be so insistent about how they are fucking and let him top once a while, he would be golden.

-----

or I'm thinking again about wwx and jc sharing a core and other core fuckery.

#chengxian #wwx wishes it would be xiancheng #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #ok going to sleep now :< #why I have to wake up at 5am

[danmeichael]

chengxian and biting ;)

well this was not 100-200 words, oopsie

Jiang Cheng loves his brother. Really, he does. He loves him more than sunlight, he loves him more than breathing, more than can fit in all the lakes in Yunmeng. He also wants to smother him with a fucking pillow right now.

"Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng."

Maybe he wasn't picking up on his lack of response. Maybe he was taking the way his eye is starting to twitch as encouragement.

"I'm wasting away. I'm dying of loneliness here."

"Die, then."

(continues under the cut)

There's an offended noise from behind him, but soon enough Wei Wuxian quiets down. His brother is so magnanimous, deciding he can be quiet for twenty minutes while Jiang Cheng finishes paperwork.

Except, even in his bliss of concentration, he can't ignore that it's too quiet. If Wei Wuxian isn't making a nuisance of himself, he's doing something else. Fidgeting with a toy, drawing, humming, something. But there is absolutely no noise at all. Silence means he's focused on something, and the fact that it isn't a toy or his phone means that it's--

Jiang Cheng's chair is suddenly yanked out from under him.

This isn't the first time Wei Wuxian's pulled this shit, no, he's pulled this shit so many times in fact that Jiang Cheng doesn't even hit the ground when he feels his seat suddenly dematerialize. He's already twisted around and set into a run, clawing at the air in an attempt to snag his fingers into his brother's shirt, before he even hears the chair clatter against the floor.

He grabs a fistful of air instead of anything helpful because Wei Wuxian is already halfway toward his door.

"WEI WUXIAN YOU GET BACK HERE!"

He's glad his parents aren't home right now. Surely, they'd hear the both of them running like animals down the hallways of their ancestral home and have something to say about it. Maybe in another situation even he'd have something to say about it. But not right now, not when Wei Wuxian is just within reach.

Just a little further, just a little faster, just one more push and--

Wei Wuxian vanishes in front of him faster than his eyes can track, but there's only one way he could have gone. Jiang Cheng looks down and sees his brother on all fours, scrambling back onto his feet and running in the opposite direction toward his own bedroom.

Slippery little shit.

But not slippery enough. He gets to his room, yes, but not in time to close the door. Jiang Cheng bodies his way through it as Wei Wuxian shrieks.

He's cornered. The only way out is through.

"Mercy! Mercy Jiang Cheng, you wouldn't hurt your gege would y--!"

He yelps when Jiang Cheng slams into him.

The begging was for show, obviously. The moment Jiang Cheng gets hands on him, he starts fighting again. He squirms, thrashes, elbows him in the kidney while Jiang Cheng tries to put him in a headlock.

The position they end up in, sitting among the dirty laundry on Wei Wuxian's floor, back to chest, Jiang Cheng's arms around his middle to hold his arms down, Wei Wuxian thrashing in his lap as he tries to throw the both of them backward, is nothing close to the sort of fighting they were trained for. Fencing, archery, boxing. All of them had an almost ritualistic set of established positions. Rules, stances, posture. This was more like two deer awkwardly smashing their antlers together as a show of power. No ritual, just physicality

Everything starts adding up, and Jiang Cheng made a miscalculation.

Wei Wuxian's kicking legs, his heaving chest, his panting giggles and near-growls as he strains against his grip. Wei Wuxian is squirming in his lap, and he's getting hard. The panic rushes to his head. The desire to win, to -- to what? what was he even going to do once he caught his brother? what was his plan? -- punish has been drowned out by the desire to hide, to run, but his arms won't let up.

"Stay still," he grits out.

Wei Wuxian throws his head back, ignoring him. The movement jostles them, presses Wei Wuxian's ass against his half-hard dick and he sees red.

He bites down on Wei Wuxian's shoulder, the one exposed by an oversized t-shirt for a band neither of them listen to.

The noise it gets him, a sharp inhale that chokes off into the briefest whimper, does not help him with his problem.

For some reason, his brain thinks biting down harder is a good idea.

Wei Wuzian yelps and arches his back, grinds against him, and only then does Jiang Cheng's ape brain activate to make him unlock his jaw and release his arms.

"Aiyo, Jiang Cheng! Am I bleeding? I feel like I'm bleeding!"

He is not bleeding. There's only deep red indents that will surely purple, leaving bruises on his skin in the shape of Jiang Cheng's teeth by tomorrow. The way his body responds to the thought is something Jiang Cheng is going to stuff deep, deep down in the back of his mind so he never has to look at it again.

"It's just spit, dumbass."

"Don't call me a dumbass after biting me, biteass!"

Jiang Cheng grabs a pair of dirty sweatpants off the floor and throws them at his face.

"Don't fuck with me while I'm doing paperwork then, fuckass!" Not his best retort. His blood is still struggling to return to his brain.

Wei Wuxian splutters, but his face turns into a vicious grin as he balls the offending pants up and rears back to throw them.

The front door slams. Muffled talking echoes through the walls of the estate and both he and Wei Wuxian freeze. His heart pounds in his ears and it only takes Wei Wuxian glancing at the door for him to scramble out and back to his room.

He feels like he gets there faster than he left it, completely silently too. By the time he puts his chair back into place and straightens out his paperwork, he can imagine it was nothing. Nothing happened. Wei Wuxian didn't comment on it, right? He probably didn't notice it.

#incest cw #chengxian #biting #ask danny

[least-carpet]

Favorite mdzs's fics rec?

Anon, I can't possibly list them all here! Instead, have a sample: 3 modern AUs, 2 canon divergences, and 1 post-canon series. As always, please check any tags/warnings if you click through, because I'm forgetful.

MODERN AUS

Adventures in Roommates by eleloh (Sangcheng, E). Extremely charming university roommates set-up. Jiang Cheng's plans to room with Wei Wuxian fall through, forcing him to instead room with Nie Huaisang.

Black-Eyed by @bettsfic (Chengqing, E). The summary reads, "Wen Qing can't stand her roommate's little brother. But she also can't stop fucking him." I love this Wen Qing, so, so much. The disastrous confession still makes me laugh.

WWMMD? by 99_9 (Chengxuan, 3zun, Yanmian, various). The series starts with a sweet and funny Chengxuan story about Jin Zixuan discovering that he's also into men, and develops into a feel-good but complex series about family, identity, and (sometimes) informing for the FBI. Includes an interesting take on modern Jiang Fengmian. Very sympathetic to Jin Guangyao and Su She, but not Xue Yang.

CANON DIVERGENCE

don't you worry honey, 'cause i can't say no by @runespoor7 (Chengxian, E, Cloud Recesses era). Wei Wuxian is extremely normal about lots of things, including his shiny new talisman that he can use to make his shidi do whatever he likes. A classic. Please see the tags.

Pray the Tearing by vibishan (Ningcheng, Sangcheng, Sangchengning, E). During the Fall of Lotus Pier, Wen Chao forces Jiang Cheng to marry Wen Ning, and then carts him off to Nightless City. Please heed the warnings!

POST-CANON

flight of a one-winged dove by @mengyao (Sangcheng, E). Nie Huaisang, after her vengeance. The voice is so funny and so mean. The fic has many strengths, but—if for no other reason—please read it for the completely deranged letter Jiang Cheng writes to Nie Huaisang after they hook-up and he gets his feelings hurt. My cringe little man!!

#anon asks #nie huaisang #jiang cheng #wen qing #jin zixuan #jin guangyao #lan xichen #nie mingjue #luo qingyang #jiang yanli #wei wuxian #wen ning #sangcheng #chengqing #chengxuan #3zun #yanmian #chengxian #ningcheng #sangchengning #mdzs + #reclist #least-carpet thoughts

[runespoor7]

chengqing

What made you ship it?

Back then we were thinking about people to ship JC with, and WQ existed. Since then, Untamed gave our little crackship food. And since then I also started OTPing Chengxian and the core transfer has been a object of easy fixation. It would be inaccurate to say that I started shipping Chengqing because I started shipping Chengxian. But I certainly ship Chengqing through a certain amount of WWX feelings - not only Chengxian, in fact.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

sometimes a mad scientist performs a secret, impossible experiment on someone who doesn't know what's going on and they get together afterwards, and suddenly there's this huge, grotesque thing between them.

I think they should kink on it, but I also think JC would deal very badly indeed with WQ's involvement in the gc transfer. (in my mind she doesn't tell him until she has no choice/it comes out.) I can't overstate how much I adore the kink (in a wide sense) potential between them.

they get one another, about duty and family and keeping the people you care for close and safe and not trusting easily.

also - this is notably less my thing - but I think they'd be good at taking of one another when they're not tearing each other apart for the heavy topics (they agree on duty, but that doesn't mean it would never come up in a bad argument, and the core transfer reframes everything there - suddenly wq has very little room to argue about her dutifulness! you were rearming a direct enemy of your sect babe! you were 100% betraying your sect!)(unless: and I think this is juicy: unless WQ explains that she expected JC to die after the core transfer. no JC with a core, no betrayal.)

and yes also chengqingxian, or at least wq and wwx being besties.

also very into the age-gap between them. she's older! she's already respected and established and a wordly grown-up! it's not relevant to post-canon chengqing except as a contrast to how things were back then, which is still very interesting, but in a canon divergence where the Wen siblings go to Lotus Pier, or sth like that, I really like the idea/image of WQ's crush on JC. it's funny and it's cute and look I think JC should get a win. The win in this case is WQ horny-clamping her jaw and respecting him. his brains. while looking disrespectfully.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

...this is very dependent of "what-ifs" but: I don't think JC would be totally okay with WQ and WWX's relationship.

He's deeply insecure when it comes to people loving him, and WWX betrayed his trust and convinced WQ to go along with it. (in Untamed it's made worse by the fact that JC and WQ already knew one another.) For me, WWX and WQ get one another to a level that other characters don't, I'm only 10% kidding when I call them soulmates, and imo JC would not be able to deal with that very well unless it's solved in Chengqingxian. (which I think he'd shoulder better because they're both here; if WWX is with LWJ it's... it's not exactly YZY while JFM is thinking of WCZ and CSS, but something like that. to me. I do think he'd be jealous.)

less unpopular than it seemed at one time, but bears repeating that it's fine for WQ to neither peg nor dom JC. I mean I'm failing to write that but I think WQ needs and wants to be pampered from time to time. Otoh I also think she's a lot more likely than WWX to tell JC what she needs, since her self-image isn't all twisted up in being better-than-jc at all times.

I clearly didn't try hard enough to keep WWX out of this answer.😔

#imagine if you will wwx seeing the wq/jc and deciding his feelings are 'hmmm jc better let wq off the hook every once in a while.' #'bc that shit is exhausting. i know it is and i know how jc is with-- his person who is like that with him. 't's why i left.' #'he's demanding and he doesn't get that it's hard on us.' #what does 'his person who is like that with him' mean? hope you're not expecting wwx to be clear on it himself #chengqing #ask meme #chengqingxian

[thatswhatsushesaid]

god i feel weird going on anon because i never do that but i'm like scouting waters here so thoughts on 1) zhancheng 2) chengxian

(nothing to ask about jgy to you tbh it's all just written on this blog and he's not my blorbo fixation of the week alas)

also thank you for your service. i'm constantly browsing your tags rather than going armed into the general tagpost and you cant believe how nice it feels to scroll without being attacked by shitty takes

awwwwwww bless you, anon, this is a really nice message to receive!! 🥹 i'm very glad that my multi-yearlong hyperfixation on jin guangyao makes things a little bit easier/more pleasant for some people in this fandom, even though i know a lot of people desperately wish i would just shut up. unfortunately i don't have many thoughts at all about zhancheng or chengxian as romantic ships, though i've seen some frankly stunning fanart rendering both relationships. in terms of their platonic canon dynamics, i think it is hilarious that lwj and jc spent so much time together hunting for wwx pre-timeskip, just after the sacking of lotus pier, and came away from that time spent together having learned almost nothing about each other in the process.

platonic chengxian is definitely more interesting to me, and i imagine if i didn't have such a terminal case of jgy brainrot (and if wwx didn't just annoy me personally due to /gestures @ the state of fandom discourse), i would be nuts about them. there was so much love and devotion between them in spite of a childhood and adolescence where they very much should not have been friends! they have diametrically opposed priorities and can barely say a civil word to each other towards the end of the first 'act' of the book, and yet they also make tremendous sacrifices for each other.

my personal read on their post-canon dynamic is one i know isn't shared by everyone even in my little patch of the fandom, but i do think that theirs is an example of a relationship where the mutual hurt runs so deep that reconciliation may not be possible, even if the love is still there. and i believe that if either of them were ever in danger again in the future, they would both drop everything to protect each other. that devotion just isn't enough to mend the things keeping them apart.

#asks answered #not going to deposit this in the tags because i don't want no problems lol

[cranberrytaboo]

4, 8, 12, 15, 17, 21, 24, 33, 25 for whatever ships come to mind for each!

Katya voice: THAT WAS A LONG ONE

all under the cut!

4 - Where it hurts WangXian "Wei Ying... Why did you let yourself be branded?" If Lan Wangji had expected Wei Wuxian to take his question seriously, he would be seriously disappointed. Wei Wuxian smiled, still dazed and drunk from the agony of his burning flesh. "And let poor MianMian be marked forever? Such pretty skin as hers should always be protected. It was not such a great sacrifice in the defense of true beauty."

But the only true beauty here is you, Lan Zhan wanted to say. He forced his tongue into stillness, so as not to let the errant thought run out of his mouth. Instead, he continued his ministrations, tending to the angry raw skin on Wei Wuxian's chest, letting his eyes sharpen with hate as he beheld the Wen crest tainting his Wei Ying's perfect body. As Wei Wuxian drifted in and out of consciousness, Lan Wangji bowed his head, pressing his lips tenderly to the wound.

The smell of burning flesh branded itself likewise into his mind.

8 - In secrecy HarryKim

Kim rested his elbows against the balcony at the Whirling-in-Rags and looked out towards the bay. There, the sun was slowly climbing down from the sky, painting the ice and snow soft pinks and creamy oranges. He lifted one hand to rub the bridge of his nose and sighed.

"It is... difficult, to try and balance your love life with secrecy. I'm sure you remember just how *avoidant* your friend, the Smoker, was, even in his own apartment. It's called the Homo-sexual Underground for a reason. You have to keep it quiet, you can't *show* it. I don't know... Do you think you're ready for a life like that?" He finally turned to face Harry fully.

Harry, who had only just recently remembered what homo-sexuality *was*, stood looking nonplussed. "So, if I wanted to hold you, or kiss you, I couldn't do it in front of everyone?"

"That's what I'm saying, Harry. In public, you have to act as if nothing at all is going on. There are *tells*, yes, signals, but it all has to be discreet." Kim wondered briefly if Harry was even capable of discretion.

"That seems like an awfully painful way to live."

"It is." Kim turned his head away again, not wanting to show his partner that much vulnerability. Thus, he was surprised when Harry approached, guiding his chin with one hand to press a kiss to his mouth. The sun itself slipped beneath the horizon at that moment, as if to give them privacy.

"But painful sounds worth it, if it's you."

12 - In grief ChengXian

The reeds in all directions whispered in the wind and crackled under the weight of Jiang Cheng's body, rustling as his shoulders racked with great, heavy sobs. As quietly as he could muster, so as not to disturb the tension, Wei Wuxian knelt beside his sworn brother, eyes reddening.

"Mother...! Father!" Jiang Cheng's teeth gnashed bitterly, lips pulled into a wrathful snarl for a brief moment before he continued to wail, unable to even hold on to anger in his grief.

Wei Wuxian lowered beside Jiang Cheng and turned to face him, hands gripping at the arm nearest him as tears finally spilled past his lashes. Everyone in Yunmeng Jiang is gone. You, and Yanli, and Jiang Cheng, are all that is left. It was not a vacuousness that Wei Wuxian was unfamiliar with, but one he had prayed night after night that he would never feel again. And now, Jiang Cheng was feeling it too.

He leaned on his elbows to lift up his own weight, drawing close to Jiang Cheng and kissing away the tears, not caring when the other flinched.

Jiang Cheng seemed at a loss for a moment before gripping at Wei Wuxian's back and pulling him close, desperately, like Wei Wuxian would turn into smoke and dissipate if he didn't.

15 - Passionately JohnnyV

Before V met Johnny, he didn't think such an intense form of self-love was possible. But now, with an entirely separate psyche hanging out in his head, V was finding creative ways to show Johnny just how much he meant to him, even as they cohabited his body.

He knew Johnny could interact with him physically, at least in theory- the punch Johnny had thrown when they first spoke had sent him flying- but it was awkward to try and show affection to someone who nobody else could see.

Thus, he asked Johnny to work with him, to try new things. Johnny could take over control of V's body- so surely, he could take control of just a part of it, right? His legs, or a hand, for example. They tested this theory-- then tested it again, and again, with satisfying results each time.

And every time, V would lean in to feverishly kiss the palm of his own hand, showing appreciation for the specter that lingered with him.

17 - To distract MariAli

"I know what you're here for, and the answer is no." Alice folded her arms and frowned, her foot tapping impatiently.

Marisa flashed her a winning smile. "What do you mean? How could you possibly know why I'm here, when I haven't said anything?"

"You don't have to say anything. Every year, I make plum wine when the season turns, and every year, you and Reimu come and steal it to drink back at the Hakurei Shrine." Alice's Shanghai and Hourai dolls stood before the jars of honey-colored liqueur, guarding them with their tiny lances.

Marisa folded her arms and grumbled, making a show of frustration while cutting her eyes to Reimu, her partner in crime. The witch's eyes sparkled with an idea, and Reimu slowly nodded her head in recognition.

Recklessly, Marisa swept Alice into her arms, dipping the magician low to the ground. "Now!" She crowed, before pulling Alice into a deep kiss. Alice's limbs tensed, then slacked, her head spinning.

Flustered and high on a giddy sort of energy, Alice's mind muddled until she was finally released. As she collected herself, she looked to the window, where Marisa and Reimu were beating a hasty escape, arms laden with jars of plum wine. The Shanghai doll moved to give chase, but Alice simply lifted a hand.

"Ugh... Let them go, this time. If Marisa is willing to go that far, she must really need it." Alice couldn't help but entertain the idea of making more plum wine, this time to be traded instead.

21 - On a place of insecurity CyGate

Cyclonus had noticed, in even the short time he had known Tailgate, that he had a great number of insecurities. Surely, Cyclonus thought, anyone would recognize this in him, but he seemed to be the only one who really paid attention to how Tailgate clung so desperately to any sort of validation, any sense of belonging or being a part of something greater.

And one of the places where Tailgate's insecurity most manifested was in his Function. On his forearm were carved carefully the words "Waste Disposal," and it apparently caused Tailgate no end of resentment. On a quiet night, Cyclonus resolved to confront the little bot about it.

"It's so degrading," Tailgate finally admitted, his optics gleaming as he averted his gaze. "Everyone else has such grand purposes, but me? I'm just a janitor!" He held his head in his hands. "Every time I look at my arm, I feel so humiliated that I just wanna tear it off." He sniffed. "I would, if I weren't such a coward."

"Wait, listen to reason." Cyclonus tried to force himself to speak gently, knowing just how jarring his voice could be. "First of all, there's nothing wrong with cleaning waste. It is a necessary task like any other, and we wouldn't be able to live in a place full of garbage." He paused, realizing that might not have been what Tailgate wanted to hear, even if he needed it. "And two, your Function is not indicative of your worth. I have seen you, Tailgate, and your intense spirit, and you are worth far more than most any bot on this ship."

"You really think so?" Tailgate finally looked back up at Cyclonus.

"I know it." Cyclonus carefully took Tailgate's hand, lifting his arm and brushing his mouth across the lettering. "And I will keep telling you so until you believe it."

24 - In danger Sufferer/Disciple

Each day in hiding, the Sufferer grew more distraught. Even as many times as they relocated, however many of their pursuers they killed and however often they covered their tracks, he knew it was only a matter of time before they were caught. He watched as his beloved mother, the Dolarosa, retreated to a place of solitude in the cavern they inhabited, lifting her hands and praying under her breath. To his side, the Disciple sharpened her claws, dragging them against the rocky floor and watching them file down to shape with marked intensity.

"Why is it that you continue to follow me?" He looked to the Disciple with a mix of sorrow and resignation. "If I asked you to run, to let them hunt me while you escaped to live your life safely, would you?"

"Never." She replied plainly. "I have chosen this path, knowing it would be hard, because of my endless devotion to you. Why do you think I would flee now, just because we're nearing the end?"

The Sufferer lowered his head, teeth grit. So, she was aware, just as he was, that they did not have long. "I only wish that... that my actions here had caused any change."

"They did." The Disciple moved close to his side, nuzzling her cheek against his. "You may not have changed the highblood's minds, but you have moved the hearts of those who struggle like us. It won't be immediate, but you have invited a wave of change."

"I would have liked to be around to see it." The Sufferer laughed, bitterly, before pressing a kiss to the Disciple's cheek. "Thank you. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me one day for bringing you into this."

"I already have." And yet, she could not help but wish that they could remain curled together in the vague warmth of that cavern until the end of days.

25 - As a Yes HecaJun

Junko couldn't remember half of the catalysts of her pure rage. She couldn't remember the faces of her husband and son, nor the face of Chang'e, who took them from her. She couldn't even remember her name from before she became a vengeful spirit. All she could remember was the concentrated rage that boiled in her throat.

But she was slowly making new memories, and most of them were of Hecatia. Hecatia, smiling and agreeing to fight at her side. Hecatia, laughing and playing with Clownpiece, dancing across the crater of a dried-up lunar lake. Hecatia, pushing back a lock of Junko's hair and asking her if she would be interested in trying to love again.

Junko didn't quite know how to answer. She wanted to say yes. Desperately. But her lips threatened to betray her, as they quivered behind years of near-forgotten heartbreak. So instead, she closed the distance between Hecatia's mouth and her own, agreeing in a silent sort of way.

33 - Forcefully HarryJean

"Jean, please look at me."

Rather than give in, Jean continued to stare daggers at the floor in front of him. It was all he could do to keep his attention focused on that one spot, eyes burning as another wave of despair welled in his chest and threatened to crush his lungs.

"Listen! I want to apologize, but I need you to stop acting like I'm not *here*, can't you even pretend to hear me?" Harry pushed a hand through his own hair, his initial repentance giving way to frustration he knew he didn't have the right to feel.

Jean's fists gripped at his knees where he sat, teeth digging into the inside of his lip until he could taste blood. "I get you feel like shit. I can sympathize. But that doesn't mean you get to treat the rest of us like shit till you feel better..!"

"This isn't about the others. I'll talk to them later, but right now, this is about me and you." Harry's fingers twitched. "You knew what you were getting into when you started getting closer to me, I warned you about the kind of man I was becoming."

"Is that supposed to be an apology?!" Jean's eyes snapped upward to stare at Harry hard. "Because that sounds like excuses."

"I'm *getting* to it!" Harry exhaled, too harshly, trying to force out the anger in his stomach. "I *am* sorry! I hate hurting you!"

Jean's eyes narrowed, and he looked back down at the floor. "Then stop hurting me."

The same frustration that Harry tried so hard to repress flared back up. If only it were so *easy.* Why was Jean convinced that he could just change in a day? And why was Jean not looking at him? The aloofness made him *sick*.

It was so easy to stride across the floor, to grab Jean by the jaw and to turn his head upward, to lock their lips.

He wasn't sure what he expected in return, but it wasn't a hand tangled into his hair, keeping him close, as Jean's mouth worked against his own. He could faintly taste blood on Jean's tongue. When he pulled his head back, Jean chased him, briefly, before leaning back again.

Harry let out a ragged breath. "Let me start from the top."

There was a moment's silence before Jean nodded. "Yeah. Please do."

#long post #chengxian #wangxian #harryjean #harrykim #cygate #malice #hecajun #johnnyv #sufferer/disciple #touhou #disco elysium #cql #transformers #cyberpunk 2077 #homestuck #the dove is alive but sometimes he gets a little hurt #ask to tag #my art #my writing #drabbles #writing prompts

[sandu-zidian]

I'm sorry if you've answered this before but I'm super curious and I wasn't able to find the answer easily. Would you mind sharing your favorite Jiang Cheng ships? (I'm a huge Jiang Cheng multishipper and I've loved all the content you've come out with but I was curious if maybe there were Jiang Cheng ships that you don't often post about that you also like and how high the ships you have posted about rank 😀 I'm also a tiny bit curious about any Jiang Cheng ships (if any) that you might dislike altho you don't have to share those if you'd rather not lol im just curious about your opinions)

Hello! Don't be sorry! I've never really talked about JC ships in full before, and even if I have, I don't mind answering again <33

I'm gonna be honest, I find it really hard to say for certain what my "favorite" Jiang Cheng ship is. For one, my enjoyment of Jiang Cheng is first and foremost about his character as like, playing important thematic work and in this mindset I'm like ship neutral and don't need ships to have a fun time haha. I started as a hardcore aroace!JC lover, especially since I'm also aroace. My entry into JC ships came quite a bit later into my time in this fandom, so even if I say a ship is my favorite, just know that like, I'm not really a die hard fan of any JC ship. He's my blorbo because I think he's a bit fucked up and pathetic and already has enough baggage from platonic/non-romantic relationships.

Currently, I would say zhancheng is my favorite given the fact that I am like, knee deep in the AO3 tag for it LMAO. And also this is probs the ship that I have posted about the most! Which isn't saying a lot, but it is the most! I also was really into xicheng a bit back but it's taken a backburner recently, though I do still enjoy it. I've also read some mingcheng as well. I enjoy sangcheng but I haven't actually taken the time to read sangcheng-centric fics as of yet and I need to actually use the otp: true on AO3 for that ship. I also enjoy chengqing but like strangely it's not a ship I've taken the time to read fics for either. Another one that needs the otp: true on.

(This is me showing my ass as a bottom!JC enjoyer. Much respect for top!JC fans though!)

The only Jiang Cheng ship I don't really like is like, any ships with other generations, especially the juniors. Like I'm sorry those are teenagers... It's funny as a joke for juniors to have like puppy love crushes on Jiang Cheng, but I can't with them actually being in a relationship together. I'm a bit more accepting of JC shipped with older generation characters but in very limited scopes/premises where JC is much older when he meets the love interest than like. A teenager.

I also waffle on chengxian because I very much came into the fandom viewing them as brothers and that has stuck hard for me even though like, yeah they're not actually related but I guess chengxian kind of come packaged with pseudo-incest vibes that like, I find hard to navigate personally. I do like zhanchengxian but again I waffle with how I feel about chengxian. I am first and foremost a Yunmeng Shuangjie fan, and then maybe chengxian. Maybe.

There's also just like, other Jiang Cheng ships like chengyao, chengxuan, ningcheng, etc. that I don't not like, but certainly don't spend much time actually thinking about. Except for chengyao -- every so often I'm reminded of this ship and extract great amusement from just picturing the kinds of neuroses they give each other if they were ever in a romantic relationship together. I've certainly seen a few rarepairs for JC that I think are rad. There's someone on here who ships QS/NHS/JC which like, good for them I see the vision.

So yeah, this was long. TLDR zhancheng is my current fave and focus. I enjoy xicheng, mingcheng, sangcheng, and chengqing. Don't like JC shipped with people of different generations, and chengxian is like, in a nebulous place in this lineup and I am more likely to view those two as familial than romantic. Other JC ships are fine, but I don't think about them much.

#katantalks #ask box #anon #mdzs #jiang cheng #yeah i'm not an allcheng shipper i very much do not ship JC with everyone lmao #emphasis on the like. fact that I don't have strong preferences for any ship with JC #I am very much someone who enjoys platonic/familial relationships over romantic ones #it's why I love yunmeng shuangjie and yunmeng siblings and JL with his jiujiu so much

[twilightarc-gm]

For the recent writing ask game, I'd love to know your thoughts about 10, 12, 13, 23, 30, 49! Or if that's too many feel free to just pick a couple, I'm not sure if there's supposed to be a limit per ask!

Hello my dear mutual and fellow Jiang Cheng enjoyer! 💜💜💜

Okay but seriously how funny would that be to get an ask and they're like "1-50 pls" on a lark? 😂

Thank you so much for playing, btw, very exciting! 🤗

10. How do you decide what to write?

As in, how do I decide what's going to be a WIP and what just stays a daydream: The more niche it is the more likely I will end up writing it because I write stories for me. So, Top Priority of getting me fed is to write the stories I want to see. I check the relevant tags on Ao3, see there's like... nothing for my idea, despair, then open LibreOffice.

As in how do I decide which WIP to work on? Literally I use the carl-bot /choose function on any Discord server that has it. 😂😂 As long as I am writing something, that's good enough.

12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?

🤔 Hmm based on the fanlore.org site I think a trope I once was meh about that I have come to like is Genderbend. But then I tried writing a bit of it and decided I liked some things about it after all. 😅

13. Are there any tropes you used to like but don’t anymore?

😓 Oof yeah, you know, I used to be cool with hatesex/enemyslash tropes but somewhere along the line I got real boring, and decided I have way more fun if the characters actually like each other on an emotional level, even if they're hard pressed to admit it. Now it just squicks me out to see it, or any pairing where I can't conceive of a canon-verse way for it to happen that wouldn't just be hatesex/enemyslash.

23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?

One day I will write a casefic! I don't even have a WIP for it but ONE DAY it will happen and it will be SHORT and FUN and I WILL NOT spend 40k+ on it. 😤😤😤

30. Have you ever written something that was out of your comfort zone? If so, what was it, and how did it affect your approach to writing fic thereafter?

🙃 Haaaaa... well... my comfort zone is long format fic heavy in description, action, plot, world building. Outside of that is... snappy dialogue, humor, short fic. I think the closest I came to outside my comfort zone is my chengxuan fic at 9.2k words but the dialogue isn't that interesting. I also have my recently scrapped WIP "Cringe Fic" (referenced in question 12) that was me working through writing a bunch of tags/tropes I otherwise can't read, to see if I can write it in a way I would like to read.

Writing the chengxuan one-shot didn't really do anything for me besides get me started publishing for the MDZS fandom. It was a fluke, in my opinion.

Cringe Fic had the bonus of expanding the base of ideas I am willing to try and write for, e.g. genderbend.

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

🙄 Okay so don't laugh (you can laugh), but as it turns out, I am writing a genderbend that I actually intend to publish when it's done. I noticed that there are only 24 works for Female Mò Xuányǔ tag, 19 of which are wang/xian. None of which are chengxian. I always wanted to explore canon Wei Wuxian actually experiencing dysphoria in his new body and making Mo Xuanyu female I feel will heighten that further. I'm thinking I want him to ping-pong between feeling everything is too different but also finding joy in what he has now and settle somewhere in the genderfluid realm of dealing with his 2nd life.

And of course I want it to be chengxian because 🤤 oh wow the drama there...

It's still in the very rough draft stages but here's a part that's interesting to me.

Wèi Wúxiàn traces the trail of brighter crimson to his arms. One sleeve is a clean bright vermilion, the other is soaked nearly black. “Not good,” he croaks with a voice that isn’t his. It’s a higher pitch, even for how ragged and torn it sounds. “Fuck.” Immediately, his good hand comes up to his throat that’s not his throat, where his questing fingertips fail to catch the presence of a knot that should bob as he swallows air. The same hand he trails down slowly, dreadfully, between his collarbones to his sternum, where a narrow, soft, valley goes undisguised by the vermilion robes wrapped around him. He looks down to his chest. Not his chest. His foggy mind catches up and grades the new look. Modest but present. Then his thoughts race ahead and the pins and needles of sensation wash away in the heat of panic. Wèi Wúxiàn spreads his knees and his hand drops down, but he knows.

🧡🙌 This has been fun! See you on my Dash!🙏🧡

...Or even... in my DMs 😉

#wei wuxian #mo xuanyu #chengxian #asks answered #twi fics #i can't apologize for the cx brainrot #its par for the course on this blog #follower beware

[sword-dad-fukuzawa]

Please share your deranged meta thoughts on chengxian.. please feed me. I am hungry friend.

*cracks knuckles* this is going to end up being a jc apologist post. here we go~

I mean, I know everyone and their uncle has agony feelings about the whole golden core thing. That subplot is the fulcrum on which the Yunmeng Shuangjie turns, from JC getting caught by the Wens (losing his core) to keep WWX safe to WWX giving JC his own core to the postwar reveal at Lotus Pier. And I know it inspires complex emotions in people. And I know people have wildly differing opinions on JC as a person and how his actions reflect on the sort of guy he is, and whether or not he's a good person.

I don't particularly care about a character's morality, so I'm discarding the question of good and evil when it comes to chengxian.

BUT what I do really like is the application of the wangxian "between two people who love each other, there is no need for apologies or thank yous" thing. Because even more than wangxian, that's the sort of ideology that might benefit chengxian. There is just too much to apologize for between the two of them.

Because if you're WWX, what could you even apologize for? For saving your little brother's ability to cultivate when he needed to be sect leader, when he had nothing else in the world that might keep him alive, when you knew it was something you could work around?

You could argue it was the height of thoughtless selfishness that he made that decision for JC and lied to him about it, and maybe you'd be right, but if you were WWX you wouldn't apologize for it either. You might apologize for things that weren't really your fault--the burning of Lotus Pier, for example. Or the death of Jiang Yanli. Apologize for taking up the heretical arts? How could you, when it won the war, saved innocents, and got you your revenge?

And what could JC apologize for? Cruelty? Anger? Careless sacrifice? How could he apologize for any of those things when he just watched his parents be killed and his home burned to the ground in front of his eyes, when he watched his older brother devolve into madness and kill their older sister, whom they both loved and was their only family left in the world? How could he apologize for sacrificing for WWX when WWX could and did do the same?

In the realm of gratitude--there is precious little to be grateful for between the two of them, and simultaneously too much for words. How do you thank someone for giving you your life back at the cost of their sanity, at their chance at immortality, at everything that had made them respected and feared and loved? The question goes for either of them, as WWX and JC made the exact same sacrifice within weeks of each other.

What makes these two fun is that they're unspeakably, bitterly cruel to each other, and so horrendously selfish. I feel that because WWX is the POV character and JC occupies an antagonistic role, you don't get to see this as much in the books. JC's cruelty is loud and obvious and it's so easy to look at him and hate him for it, this powerful man who has thrived because the protagonist sacrificed for him and yet insists on anger and violence and assuming the worst of everyone.

But it's an equally cruel thing to take away a person's autonomy and choice because you think you know what's best for them. It's equally cruel to spiral so far into your own arrogance, your own apathy, that you fail to notice the tides of politics around you shifting. WWX did his best with incredibly limited choices--that's why we love him. But JC's hands were tied as much as his older brother's, if not moreso.

And the most beautiful thing about chengxian, I think, is that they both make crippling mistakes because they are each other's blind spot for so much of the novel. Even before LZ was WWX's everything, it'a JC that WWX trusts above all else--this is clear during the Sunshot campaign and even after. And JC obviously trusts him--he has since childhood, since WWX promised to support him (and isn't that delicious, the broken promises and shattered dreams of the youth?).

Which obviously makes it so fucking painful when JC sees what WWX has wrought pre-siege of the Burial Mounds and goes understandably apeshit.

It also matters how JC shows that, even thirteen years after, he still trusts WWX. He still believes in WWX, and, dare I say it, holds onto the childish belief that his untouchable older brother can carry the day. It's why the scene in Guanyin Temple where JC throws Chenqing to WWX is so goddamn powerful. He brought that flute knowing WWX was the only one who could use it, that WWX might need it, and when they're down to the wire with no options left, JC believes in WWX.

Plus even in CQL canon, JC and WWX reconcile enough that JC visits Gusu to disturb the peace. Chengxian is all the more fun because it's about the power of reconciliation even more than wangxian is, and fundamentally, about forgiveness and the acceptance of the other person's flawed humanity. Which is, in the end, what makes it so compelling.

#hope you enjoyed eli :) #goose man #chengxian #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #mdzs

[iamwestiec]

Last Ten Opening Lines

copying @theleakypen and @bladedweaponsandswishycoats

Rules: post the first sentence of your last ten fics. If you haven’t written ten fics, share as many first-sentences as you have.

On the morning of Chunfen, when the hours of daylight are perfectly balanced with those of night, Nie Mingjue wakes up with a smile. — as winter gives way to spring, MDZS/The Untamed, 3zun

Lan Zhan has had this nightmare before—walking into a class late(!) only to discover that there's a test(!!) that he somehow didn't know about(!!!) and therefore hasn't done any of his exam day prep routine for(!!!!). — and a bunny eraser too, MDZS, wangxian

Liu Qingge groaned to consciousness with no idea of where he was and his skull absolutely throbbing. — Entanglement, SVSSS, Liu Qingge/Zhuzhi lang

The day Wei Wuxian reappeared in Lotus Pier, Jiang Cheng seriously considered throwing him out. — in our next life, MDZS/The Untamed, chengxian with background wangxian [No Ink Can Overwrite would go here, but Puck wrote the opening]

"Hi!" — Fancy Meeting You Here, The Untamed + Leverage, Jiang Yanli/Wen Qing + the Leverage OT3

"Jin furen, you seem very distressed, and I'm sorry, but I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," he said, as though she hadn't lived long enough in Lanling to recognize a mask. — tactical maneuvers, MDZS/The Unamed, Nie Huaisang/Qin Su

It was a mistake. — staving off the inevitable, The Untamed, Jin Guangyao/Nie Mingjue

Wei Wuxian hisses and flinches away as Wen Qing dabs the salve along the angry red line where she'd neatly stitched his side back together. — Hurts, MDZS/The Untamed, Wei Wuxian+Wen Qing [another co-written fic goes here: The Curious Case of the Body-Swapping Flower]

He saw Wei Wuxian yesterday. — D.C. al Fine, The Untamed, pre-wangxian gen

"… help yourself to refreshments, and when you're ready, head on in!" — Dage's Big Bang, The Untamed, everyone/Nie Mingjue

Sooooooo much threadfic on this list, wow! It definitely skews things toward the short and in medias res, but honestly I tend toward that style of opening anyway unless, as we see with the 3zun, I'm aiming for a more lyrical/storybook opening. Interestingly, the nature of archiving threadfic means these are chronologically all over the place, but they feel very consistent to me. What do y'all think?

Jump in if you'd like to play!

#writing memes #opening lines #fanfiction #westie writes

[wolfriver777]

dissecting my mdzs playlist

It is very small cause I don't go out of my way to find songs to associate with characters they come to me while I'm chilling. I have a bit to say and like also lyrics to force ya'll to read.

Things to Do - Alex G. I associate this song largely with Lan Xichen and post canon in particular. This lyric in particular drives me insane /pos "The calculator will make the same mistakes Yeah, I see it in its face" The lyrics in gen I think just really hit the spot for Lan Xichen.

I Wait for You - Alex G. Wangxian!!! More specifically Lan Wangji, it's just so them i encourage you to look at the lyrics, but of course the classic chorus "It's nothing new I wait for you" and the beginning " Selling pills to the girls when they cross the block I told him he should quit that sketchy scene He said, "Nothing compares to the fever dream" ughughugh *explodes*

Lacy - Olivia Rodrigo. Jiang cheng and Wei Wuxian yes easily chengxian too me cause of how kinda homoerotic the song is if you ask me. I wish I could just copy and paste all the lyrics here cause the whole song fits them so fucking well!!! I think the 2nd verse just hits the chengxian vibes the most "Smart sexy Lacy, I'm losing it lately I feel your compliments like bullets on skin Dazzling starlet, Bardot reincarnate Well, aren't you the greatest thing to ever exist?" The 2nd chorus also hits so hard but theres one more i want to add that just hits harder than the chorus, the final verse is just *chef's kiss* "Lacy, oh, Lacy, it's like you're out to get me You poison every little thing that I do Lacy, oh, Lacy, I just loathe you lately And I despise my jealous eyes and how hard they fell for you Yeah, I despise my rotten mind and how much it worships you" It's about the envy and its delicious

Can't Catch Me Now - Olivia Rodrigo. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, yes my brain also reads this with a chengxian vibe. I love the idea that through out those 13 years that Wei Wuxian's memory bitterly haunted Jiang Cheng, there's something awful about the idea of Jiang Cheng having an intense freak out because well, Wei Wuxian is gone, he's dead. " Bet you thought I'd never do it Thought it'd go over my head I bet you figured I'd pass with the winter Be somethin' easy to forget Oh, you think I'm gone 'cause I left" This verse in particular itches my brain just right and then of course the chorus as well drives me insane, when i tell you, you can imagine Jiang Cheng so breaking down to this song and it drives me insane But I'm in the trees, "I'm in the breeze My footsteps on the ground You'll see my face in every place But you can't catch me now Through wading grass, the months will pass You'll feel it all around I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere"

The Night We Met - Lord Huron. Lan Wangji, wangxian if you will. Honestly I shouldn't copy and paste another whole damn song, BUT this damn line "I had all and then most of you Some and now none of you" I'm just gonna explode again, yall should totally listen to the whole song or like read all the lyrics cause god fucking damn.

Wait for It - Hamilton musical. Jiang Cheng, Once again fellasI shoudn't copy and paste a whole 'nother song but fuuuuuck, admittedly I had forgotten how Jiang Cheng this song is until I'm listening to it to write this. "When they died they left no instructions Just a legacy to protect" look at me and tell me that doesn't have the vibes of the fall of Lotus Pier! Also the damn chorus god that just fits the vibe of of mdzs as a whole in my brain "Death doesn't discriminate Between the sinners and the saints It takes and it takes and it takes And we keep living anyway"... Mdzs is so just, there's a lot of grey area to me but god. I seriously cant post the whole damn lyrics but towards the end it get's very Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian and just ugh im going insane.

Night Shift - Lucy Dacus. Jiang Cheng, chengxian. Let me just copy and paste the whole lyrics again. This verse in particular "Am I a masochist, resisting urges to punch you in the teeth Call you a bitch and leave? Why did I come here? To sit and watch you stare at your feet? What was the plan? Absolve your guilt and shake hands?" and this one " Now bite your tongue, it's too dangerous to fall so young Take back what you said Can't lose what you never had" and of course the final verses(?) " You got a 9 to 5, so I'll take the night shift And I'll never see you again if I can help it In five years I hope the songs feel like covers Dedicated to new lovers" The way this verse is just repeated and builds up in sound and just yall, I'm screaming and crying just thinking about the vibes in my head that I just cant word! The whole "never seeing you again if I can help it" what if I was evil y'all?

True Blue - boygenius. Wei Wuxian. God I honestly don't know at this point what lyric made me pin point this as a song for him. It just definitely feels it can be about him you know. "When you don't know who you are, you fuck around and find out When you called me from the train, water freezing in your eyes You were happy and I wasn't surprised" Wei Wuxian always figures it out, god just yeah and the chorus about how it feels good to be known and you cant hide from them like you hide from yourself? uuuuh Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng! and "You've never done me wrong Except for that one time that we don't talk about Because it doesn't matter anymore Who won the fight? I don't know, we're not keeping score" I am so evil about them god, And Wei Wuxian's love being tried and just waaaaah im gonna explode

Stay Down - boygenius. Wei Wuxian. When I tel you there's a verse that is so Wei Wuxian and it make's me so damn evil, The song as a whole fits him so well but this verse is just so him especially post sunshot campaign me thinks. " So, would you teach me? I'm the villain, aren't I? Aren't I the one constantly repenting for a difficult mind? Push me down into the water like a sinner Hold me under and I'll never come up again" God try and tell me that it doesn't suit him, go on. I just sdlfhlskxfjlksdfj

Afraid of Heights - boygenius. Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao. Xiyao. Thought this had vibes, friend said that it fits xiyao, I agree. the reverse of risking and not risking just sorta fit. I personally imagine the lyrics being from Lan Xichen's perspective. I think the last two verses in particular really hit but its really the last one that make's make think of them " You called me a crybaby But you're the one who got teary Telling me what you believe How we're stuck in entropy How it hurts to hope Oh, it hurts to hope for more Oh, it hurts to hope the future Will be better than before"

#ri fandom posting #mdzs #mdzs playlist #character playlist #i got veery hyper about this mid way through writing it lmao hehe was fun to write #sorry if the lyrics look weird i didnt want them too take up too much space then i got lazy