#later the lan take lwj back and keep him in the cr and lwj thinks wwx died on the streets or something and is fuckin devastated

[llycaons]

ep12: why doesn't anyone ever gif the manure scene?

I had such a great time watching this episode. it may be one of my favorites. it's funny. there's important relationship beats between the wens and wwx. there's drama. there's foreshadowing. the kids are not having a good time, but it's not so dire as to be painful to watch. lwj being wounded adds a flair to his character. and it has some nice wwx moments

he says this, and I believe he means it. he just can't help himself I fear

STAY AWAY FROM HER

ohhh bundled herbs from the ceiling

maybe one of the first Great Wei Wuxian Moments. god this was so funny. starting with the smirk at lwj like 'look what I'm about to do baby' such a showoff. and then the stretching. sob. I can't believe more people weren't in love with him

I read somewhere that wwx reciting the lan rules was like an injoke to the rest of the kids - they all shared this experience together than wen chao didn't. it's a reminder of a happier time, a reminder that they're all in this together. it makes jc roll his eyes, but jzx fights a smile

see, wwx complained about CR being strict and unfair, and it was, but they weren't at risk of this kind of physical violence or threats against their family. the food was apparently good. the lans were highly respected and the students learned important lessons about cultivation. although it seemed stressful at the time, it was probably the last extended period of time they were all safe and in a stable position. I mean, compared to being at the mercy of wen chao? man's a maniac. in CR they got to go to lantern festivals and weren't locked in their quarters

he's just very funny in this pose. and then they get called for MANURE DUTY and they're all like

THEY'RE ALL SO UPSET. LWJ IS SO MAD. HELP. wwx is like 'oh my god lan zhan. omg im sorry baby I never planned on this' lmao it's just manure. these rich guys could do a lot worse. it doesn't even smell that bad. and yeah I know I said in the past wwx is a sweetheart guy well now I think he's a baby guy

this visual is so funny

wwx standing up for himself 🥰🥰🥰🥰 god he is so badass he just grabbed that whip out of thin air. that would be a defining scene for a minor character but he does cooler shit on a daily basis so it's just a footnote

JZX STANDING UP FOR WWX! I seriously think in an AU where things didn't go to shit, they would have gotten along after growing up a bit

lwj was so ready to go into that dungeon with him but wwx refused...

HELLO ANIMATRONIC DOG!!!!!

you can't tell in a screenshot, but these walls are shaking as wwx pounds them in a way that makes it clear they're cheaply made and very thin irl. this adds to the charm I think

wq showing up to jc's prison/house and all either of them care about is wwx but then jc is like 'ummmm lady wen are you okay 🥺" and wq is like 'im fine gtg' it's so funny

WEN NING!!!!! HERO!!! I love seeing how early wn and wwx's bond became very strong. bc wwx and wen ning are both people who do the right thing no matter what authority tells them not to

Hellfire Palace....cool name

it is so sad to see wwx pretend like his injuries and mental trauma are nothing but even sadder is seeing jc yelling at him for not taking it seriously enough? dude, I think he knows how horrific it just was. HE WAS THERE. and if he won't take it seriously, doesn't that mean you just want to keep a closer eye on him instead of adding to his stress? god he sucks so bad as a caretaker and emotional support. I swear. I know jc cares about wwx but he constantly disregards his suffering even when he knows it has to be bad. there's being emotionally constipated then there's just being extremely emotionally neglectful of someone who you're supposed to care about. fucking jzx showed more defense and concern for wwx than jc did this episode

here's wwx holding jc back as wc threatens LP. he does the same for lwj, way later on

wen ning standing up to his sister!!! go wen ning!!!!

NHS EPIC FAINTING MOVE!!! love how we are never told how he gets back to qinghe. we just don't see him after this for a while and then he's back home. how? who knows. its nhs

WANG LINGJAO MY HORRIBLE QUEEN

um okay this is so funny. you can see lwj in pain trying to walk, wwx is watching with his heart clearly aching, wuji is going all gently. romantic moment incoming. but the thing is...everyone in this scene is just wandering very slowly in circles. wwx and jc are just standing there. lwj could also just be standing still like wwx is. there is no need to walk anywhere legend <3

jc going 'stop helping people!' kind of makes sense from the paranoid mind of a 16 year old boy, but in a moral, personal, AND political sense it doesn't. wwx sees someone he clearly cares about in need and wants to help them, and it's a sect heir! of course this is a good idea! jc knows that wwx won't walk away from something important to him, and it's just wrong to ignore him anyway when he could be disabled for life

jc seems to grasp at straws to keep wwx from leaving him. he leans on 'he doesn't like you' and 'focus on our family instead' even tho they are literally just standing there and I def think part of it is jealousy. he can tell wwx likes lwj and he's uneasy about wwx being pulled in another direction. also, panicked about their home being invaded and wanting all the support he can get. but wwx stands firm. there is something that needs doing! he will do it! I always liked this about him

oh, wwx removing jc's hand from his arm. the symbolism...

when he said this the first time I lose my mind, I was like "that's what YOU'RE always doing you dork!!!" on my first watch I hadn't known how the general caretaking dynamic would be between them and I still quite like wwx looking out for and protecting lwj. this is something they share, and something wwx mentions about wq too, early on

I just think this is a sweet and genuine smile

#cql re-rewatch

[upside-blue]

MDZS AU little Lan Zhan running away from home and meeting little Wei Ying,,, smol wangxian trying to survive together... my babies, huddeling for warmth on the cold stones of some alley... trying to surreptitiously get the other to take more than half of their meager food supply...

My smol children trying so hard to take care of each other... both saying its fine that they don’t have parents or food or shelter, it will all be fine as long as they still have each other... dreaming of a future together, of a time where they can properly take care of each other... Little LWJ wanting nothing more than to give little WWX, who is so used to suffering and always insists on putting LWJ’s wellbeing above his own, a warm bed and a hot meal and soft clothes and all the safety and luxury and happiness in the world... only for them to be cruelly ripped apart,,, and then years later REUNITE??!

#mdzs au #whoever writes me this gets a ko-fi donation or something #i want it #cql #listen at first lwj is a smol pampered heir and experienced orphan wei ying has to take care of him and provide for them both #and possibly resort to pickpocketing or something and then feel super guilty about it #my lil boi giving back tiny bits of fruit when the vendor gets scolded for giving them to him #but now he has to worry about his new friend #bonus: murderbrat lan zhan stabbing the evil men who wanna take his wei ying away #lan zhan has to face lawless rule-less reality where people are evil and will take advantage of the vulnerable #and realizing that the rules don't mean shit #if following the rules causes wei ying to suffer or if wei ying has to break the rules just to survive #then fuck the rules #i want my lwj to be an angery angery boi who is soft for one person and one person only #later the lan take lwj back and keep him in the cr and lwj thinks wwx died on the streets or something and is fuckin devastated #at some point the clan heirs are all stranded somewhere and lz busts out hella survival skills out of nowhere #meanwhile wwx realized lwj is the heir of gusu lan and now that he has his safe life back there won't be space or desire for street rat wwx #but he still wants to be close to lwj just to know he is safe and well-fed and alive #so he schemes his way into lan clan disciplehood under a fake name or something #or gets taken in by jfm and they meet again during cloud recesses summer school #PINING and GUILT and THINKING THE OTHER DOESNT REMEMBER #OOOOr maybe they only meet after the war with the Wen as Hanguang-Jun and the scary Yiling Patriach #fanfiction #wwx #wei wuxian #lan wangji #lwj

[vrishchikawrites]

Just finished a fic on ao3 and I am now noticing a trend where Lan Xichen misses his poor Men Yao and Lan Wangji is helping him out of depression and Wei Wuxian the troublemaking gremblin is always messing with Lan Xichen, making things harder for him and Lan Xichen is always telling him that he doesn’t like him and that he hopes that he doesn’t breaks his brothers heart or else and Lan Wangji is on the sidelines and always nodding.

Don’t get me started on this other trend that always makes Lan Wangji the paragon of virtue and always and I mean always gets hurt because Wei Wuxian is arrogant and doesn’t ask for help. And always gets little A Yuan at the end and tells him when he’s growing up that Wei Wuxian made a lot of mistakes but to never stop loving him?

Like am I missing something?

People forget that the beauty of the characters are that they make mistakes and they grow since than and making Lan Wangji this angel is a disservice to his faults and his repentance.

What do you think?

You're not missing anything. And if you're feeling upset because of this, let me direct you to this absolute gem of a fic to heal your soul.

WWX is perfect here. LWJ is perfect. The writing is perfect. This author is perfect. Everything is gold.

Now, onto your ask-

Honestly, I partly blame the adaptions (outside of the audio drama) for this. And partially because I feel like a lot of this fandom just hasn't read the book. I mean, they have read a few chapters but not the entire book to truly understand the nuances.

I feel like MDZS requires a reread because you miss a lot in your first reading.

Like people say WWX never regreted GC tranfer and while he was sad, he didn't look back.

But in canon, he looses sleep over it, convinces himself it was the right thing to do, redirects his thoughts away from the loss and tries to make himself feel better.

And he ADMITS he is lying to himself. It is canon.

When you read the Guanyin Temple incident chapters, WWX's attitude towards LXC is distinctly protective. LXC as in Zewu-jun. He is cautions LXC a few times, chooses not to mention anything that would hurt or soften LXC's convictions. He UNDERSTANDS LXC and is compassionate towards him. Even in the donghua, you see WWX asking LXC to be careful and he says 'I understand, Wei-gongzi.'

WWX is very aware of LXC's vulnerable state and VERY concerned. Later, when LXC is in seclusion, WWX asks after him. Anyone who thinks WWX won't do his utmost to help LWJ's brother is a fool.

When WWX is making chaos, it is deliberate and serves a purpose. It doesn't do it to hurt others or on a whim.

As for asking for help, WWX does it constantly. With the Wen situation, he disclosed the entire affair in public, no one helped. He asked JC to honor their debt to the Wen siblings, he scoffed it away. He asked LWJ if there was any other alternative but to walk this road, LWJ walked away silently. WWX has always reached out. He spends his entire first life reaching out and being rejected. By JC, by LWJ, by the cultivation world leaders, by everyone. Just who is he supposed to ask for help?

Who has EVER indicated they would help? When LWJ was just being critical of his cultivation and demanding he come to Gusu without any explanation. And we like to soften it but he clearly states 'to hide him away'

How can WWX protect the people he wants to protect if he is hidden away in some corner of CR?

LWJ wouldn't have LSZ to raise and cherish if WWX hadn't saved that child first. LSZ exists today and is a cultivator to be proud of because WWX didn't falter in his convictions.

LWJ is fully aware of how fortunate he is and how much of a blessing WWX is. That's why he keeps coddling WWX and never takes his eyes off him ever again. LSZ and LGY both take to WWX quickly and even after his identity is revealed, they are concerned for him. That shows that LWJ never spoke an ill-word about WWX to them. It is likely he shared some of WWX's most honorable, heroic, and hilarious actions with LSZ, just to ensure LSZ knew about his savior and had some positive stories of him. This is hinted in the canon as well, like in the flower damsel bit.

Honestly, I am tired of shallow-ass takes and am very careful about what I read. I'm reaching a point where I simply do not want to read fics unless they are from authors I trust (which I can't do because pocketful but it has been a task for Ju and I to find fics without shitty things)

#reader asks #re: wwx #re: lwj #re: lxc #re: fanfics

[angstymdzsthoughts]

Lan soup opera/lancest au with a touch of unstable LWJ

When LWJ escapes and goes to WWX for help. WWX sends word to LXC that LWJ is in yiling (maybe he thinks that having his brother around would help lwj feel safer)

When lxc shows up to take him away, lwj begs lxc to leave him alone, he also begs WWX to not let lxc take him to the CR. But when wwx doesn't interfere LWJ's heart breaks, this is the greatest betrayal he suffered after the day lxc and JGY entered his room one night and told him he was going to bear LXC's heir

When he's taken back to the CR, lwj is locked up again until he goes in labor. The moment the baby is born, before lwj even gets to see his child, JGY snatches it away and lwj is locked away once again. This further weakens LWJ's already dwindling sanity and grasp on reality

A few weeks later lwj manages to break out again and steals the baby and tries to run away. He gets caught before he can get away. For the crime of trying to kidnap the heir of GusuLan, lwj gets punished with discipline whip and locked in seclusion for life

JGY is scared that LWJ might one day reveal what he and LXC did to him so (behind LXC's back) he tries to kill lwj to silence him forever, he almost succeeds and everyone believes that LWJ is dead but NHS manages to rescue lwj and hide him and secrely nurse him back to health

After everything that LWJ was through something inside him just dies and rots away.

He decides to take revenge on everyone who's ever hurt him starting with WWX and LXC and JGY and then when it's done to take his children and escape far away and start a new life. lwj joins forces with NHS who also wants revenge on JGY for killing NMJ and LXC for facilitating it (knowingly or unknowingly)

LWJ starts by seducing WRH and getting him to fall in love with him. The whole world is shocked (especially wwx and LXC and JGY) when the presumably dead lwj shows up on WRH's arm and is introduced as WRH's lover and future spouse

With his new power as WRH's husband, lwj starts his revenge by implicating wwx and wen Xu in a plot to assassinate WRH. When they get caught, lwj offers wen Xu a way out by throwing wwx under the bus and then divorcing him. WWX gets locked in the fire Palace and a Yuan is taken away from him and given back to lwj.

Now that lwj gave wwx a taste of what it feeld like to be betrayed and abondoned by his partner and to be unfairly imprisoned and to have his child taken away he can turn his attention elsewhere.

lwj leads the Wen forces to CR to demand his baby back, then he executes all the elders who were involved in his punishment, he captures lxc and JGY after they try to escape and has them brutally tortured and r*ped then executes them as well, then finally he burns the entire CR to the ground before going back to nightless city

LWJ's 1st plan upon his return is to have wwx tortured and executed as well, but when wwx kowtows at his feet and begs his forgiveness and mercy lwj has a change of heart.

It's true that lans only love once and forever and even if his love for wwx was twisted and tainted by anger and pain it is still there. lwj decides to spare wwx and take him back though he makes it clear what he'll do to wwx if he sets one toe out of the line lwj sets for him.

LWJ poisons WRH and his sons so they won't come after him and WWX then they escape from qishan with the children and settle in a farm away from the sects and live a quiet peaceful life and have more kids together. It's the perfect life lwj wished for, it may not be the same for wwx but LWJ doesn't care as long as wwx keeps playing his role and doesn't try to leave or betray lwj again.

I half expected this to end with LWJ ruling over the Wen sect with WWX as his pet. The farm borders on wholesome.

#reply #mentioned noncon #mpreg #captivity #Lan Wangji #Wei Wuxian #Nie Huaisang #Wen Ruohan #Lan Xichen #Jin Guangyao #mdzs

[ouyangzizhensdad]

What keeps stumping me is this: LWJ takes WWX to the Cloud Recesses to protect him from JC, then, when they leave with the arm, he keeps dragging him back when WWX tries to escape to, again, protect him from JC... But then, after the Xinglu Ridge, he lets him go and trusts that WWX will meet him back at the inn. Why? And anyway, what was he planning to do, drag WWX around all his life? He had duties, he couldn't have followed WWX himself to provide protection, so it would have been exactly [1/2]

that — dragging him around or leaving him shielded behind the walls of the Cloud Recesses. In theory, if "MXY" became a Lan disciple, JC couldn't have touched him... But LWJ knew who "MXY" was and that WWX would mostly refuse, like he did multiple times before. It's great that after WWX realizes LWJ doesn't intend to harm or punish him, he goes along willingly — but what if he didn't? What then? JC was still out there, after all. [2/2]

Hi anon,

I think it's a little bit of a stretch to imagine LWJ's plan was to just keep 'dragging' WWX along forever. They arrived in the CR, spent one night there, and the next day LWJ was busy with the arm which was of course a priority. What would have happened if the Lans had been able to suppress the resentful energy of the arm on that day, and LWJ had not felt the responsibility to leave to solve the mystery? It's hard to say. But now that they were in a place that was safe, and that there wouldn't have been another matter that would have taken priority, I don't think it's far fetched to believe that LWJ would have discussed things with WWX or put into place a way to bring him to a safe place outside of the CR if he did not want to stay. Considering his grief over his mother, and her situation, as well as his care for WWX’s welfare, I’m wary to believe his gameplan could ever be just ‘guess I’ll keep WWX in the CR, even if against his will, forever, bc jc is out there’.

I think it's important as well to remember that regardless of LWJ's motives, WWX does not choose to remain with him because of the protection LWJ can provide him, or simply because he suddenly decided to trust him out of a single demonstration of trustworthiness.

Even before they left the CR, WWX's words and actions revealed he was attached to and protective of LWJ--even as a crisis is occurring, his thoughts keep going back to LWJ, and whether he is okay:

When the bell of the watchtower started ringing on its own, it only meant one thing—that an accident happened to the people performing the summoning ritual inside. [...]

Seeing that Lan Wangji did not appear, Wei Wuxian had a foreboding feeling. If Lan Wangji were still in the Cloud Recesses, he would have hurried over immediately, as he heard the alarming chimes of the bell, unless…

Suddenly, the black door burst open with a bang. A white-clothed disciple rushed outside, staggering and stumbling.

[...]

Wei Wuxian grabbed his hand at once, speaking in a low voice, “Which being’s spirit are you summoning? Who else is inside? Where’s Hanguang-jun?!”

It seemed as if the disciple had trouble breathing, “Hanguang-jun told me to run away…”

[...]With the hastily created bamboo flute still by his waist, he went up the stairs in just a few strides. He kicked the door of the mingshi and commanded, “Open!”

WWX is the one who offers to go with LWJ, but of course we know it was because he thought it would be an opportunity to get away.

The few nodded, “Okay! Are you going to travel down the mountain?”

Lan Wangji gave a slight nod. Wei Wuxian had already stealthily shifted behind him, talking to himself in a loud, cheerful way, “Yes, yes, yes, we can finally get off this mountain and elope together!”

[...] Wei Wuxian originally wanted to sneak away during their expedition off the mountain. However, even though he attempted to run away multiple times, it always ended with Lan Wangji carrying him back with one hand holding the back of his collar. He changed his strategy, sticking to Lan Wangji as hard as he could. At night, especially, he would persistently climb into Lan Wangji’s bed, with the intention that Lan Wangji would become disgusted and use his sword to throw him away. Despite this, no matter how hard he messed around, Lan Wangji steadily stood his ground. Whenever Wei Wuxian wriggled into his blankets, he would use a light slap to make Wei Wuxian’s body rigid, and then stuff him into the other set of blankets in a proper position, where he would remain until daylight broke. Wei Wuxian suffered a ton of losses and complaint about his sore body after he woke up. He could not help but think: Now that he grew up, he also became less fun than before. In the past, he would become shy whenever he was teased, not to mention that he did it in quite an amusing way. But now, not only does he remain unmovable no matter what, he even learned how to counterattack. How can this be?!

However, in the same chapter, as they have spent more time together, WWX starts hating the idea of being separated from LWJ, although he cannot yet put into words why he feels this way:

After walking for some distance, Wei Wuxian unintentionally turned around and looked. Lan Wangji was behind him, still standing at the same place, staring toward his direction.

Wei Wuxian could not help but slow his footsteps.

He could not tell why, but he vaguely felt that he should not walk so fast, should not be leaving Lan Wangji behind like this.

We can also to a degree concur that WWX already feels safe enough around LWJ to seek him as a source of safety and comfort when faced with a dog, which happens a lot during the Xinglu Ridge arc, to the point that he unconsciously calls for him when JC sics Fairy on him while LWJ is away. WWX is also protective of LWJ in his own way even at that point:

Wei Wuxian immediately understood whose name he had unconsciously called out.

“It really is quite curious how far he went to protect you,” Jiang Cheng smiled menacingly, “back on Dafan Mountain.”

A moment later, he corrected himself, “No. You weren’t necessarily the one whom Lan Wangji was protecting. After all, the GusuLan Sect couldn’t have forgotten what you did with that loyal dog of yours. How could someone so celebrated for his righteousness tolerate the likes of you? Maybe he’s familiar with this body that you stole instead.”

His words were cruel and sinister. Every sentence seemed well-meaning on the surface, but was actually derogatory. Wei Wuxian could not bear with it any longer.

“Watch your language.”

“I’ve never cared for such things, don’t you remember?” Jiang Cheng responded,

“Oh, right.” Wei Wuxian mocked.

Although WWX tells LWJ that he would meet him back after they separated, he could have easily chosen not to do it. After all, compared to all the tricks he tried to flee before, it would have been nothing to go back on this 'promise'. He was in a forest, at night, where no one but JL knew he was. He could have left at any time. And when LWJ left, he knew this--that WWX would potentially not come back, hence why his expression is so shaken after having waited hours for WWX to return (now we can wonder how long he would have stayed on that bridge, waiting, hoping). But, again, solving the mystery of the arm took priority over ensuring WWX's safety (and, considering WWX managed to be discovered and taken by JC during these few hours, it's not like his fears were unfounded).

While WWX seems to realise that LWJ is on his side, there is no big moment of thinking "he doesn't want to punish/harm me". Likewise, there is no considerations of how JC could be looking for him after his escape and the dangers inherent in that. It seems almost like another unconscious decision.

He had always thought that Jiang Cheng would be on his side, and Lan Wangji on the side opposite to him. He could never have imagined that things would turn out so differently.

Wei Wuxian walked toward the rendezvous point where he and Lan Wangji were supposed to meet. Nobody walked among the sparse lights that flickered in the night. Without having to look around, a white-robed figure stood at the end of the street, standing motionless with his head hung low.

In conclusion, WWX would have never stayed alongside LWJ (or anyone else for that matter) simply for protection. As well, it is extremely unlikely that LWJ's thought process at this point of the narrative was 'I'll just drag WWX along for the rest of our lives''--but that the arm took priority over resolving the conundrum around WWX's safety, and that indeed, when the situation presented itself, he put first what I'll call his night hunting duties for a lack of a better term while taking the risk that WWX would decide to leave on his own. Is it the most 'healthy' way of approaching the situation? Honestly, I don't care. Instead I think it’s much more important to wonder: is it coherent with the characterisation, the characters' motivations and the unfolding of the plot?

#mdzs meta #mdzs #wwx #lwj #wangxian

[xiyao-feels]

Hi! May I ask a The Untamed question: Why does Meng Yao return the jade pass? What is it and why is it important? Lan Xichen seemed a bit upset, surprised but also resigned to it simultaneously.

Hi! So—/why/ Jin Guangyao returns the jade pass is an interesting question, and there are various different opinions on the matter. I think it's best if I start with the second part of your question: what is it and why is it important?

The Lan use the jade passes as a security measure; you need one to get in and out of CR. JGY has a pass which previously allowed him access to CR, but LXC changed it; this time, when he came, it didn't allow him in.

I think it's worth taking a fuller look at the jade passes, which in this case means looking at MDZS.

We first see them, I believe, in chapter 11. In MDZS, WWX a) believes LWJ hates him and b) doesn't realize LWJ has recognized him. He pitches a fit outside the gates of CR because he doesn't want to go inside, because without a jade token that allows you in and out, he won't be able to leave:

If he was dragged inside, it would be extremely difficult for him to come outside again. Back then, when he came to study, all of the disciples were given a jade token for passage. Only with the token, would a person be able to enter and leave freely, or else they couldn’t pass through the protective barrier of the Cloud Recesses. After ten years had passed, the security could only have gotten stricter, instead of looser.

After he's inside, he tries to see if he could escape without the token, but no dice:

Lan WangJi went to see his uncle to discuss serious matters, while Wei WuXian was pushed into the room. Right after Lan WangJi left, Wei WuXian also went outside. He strolled around the Cloud Recesses, and found that, as he had expected, without the jade token for passage, even if he climbed up the white walls of a few zhangs’ height, he would be immediately flung off by the barrier, attracting the attentions of the nearby patrolmen at once.

In chapter 65, we see that LWJ is able to detect when someone tried to come through the wards without one:

Wei WuXian slept sometime later. He was asleep until early morning when he suddenly woke up. With a shiver, he crawled forward and looked up. Lan WangJi’s was still dressed, sword was on his back. As he took back the hand that he had put on Wei WuXian’s shoulder, he stared at a white object within his palm, “We have an uninvited guest.”

Wei WuXian squinted to see. The object was the GusuLan Sect’s jade token of passage. He could recall that Lan WangJi’s token was a very high level, able to alert him if others intruded over the barrier of the GusuLan Sect.

This was JGY coming, the very same trip he returns the jade token, because now it's no longer working. WWX concludes that LWJ modified its access at some point in the last couple of days:

Wei WuXian understood now. Since ZeWu-Jun and LianFang-Zun had quite a good relationship, Lan XiChen had given Jin GuangYao a token of passage as well so that he could visit freely. However, it was likely that within the past few days he had either edited the prohibitions of the Cloud Recesses’ barrier or retracted the permission of Jin GuangYao’s token of passage. When Jin GuangYao came to visit, he was refused permission to enter, and thus he voluntarily returned the token.

In chapter 119, LWJ tells WWX that the jade token he gave him can also be used to withdraw money when he needs it:

Wei WuXian, “[…] Oh, right. HanGuang-Jun, I’m out of money. Give me a bit more, won’t you?”

Lan WangJi, “Simply take the jade token to withdraw the money.”

Wei WuXian let out a muffled laugh, “Apart from letting me in and out of the barrier, that jade token you gave me… can also let me draw money?”

“Yes.”

Though I very much doubt that Jin Guangyao ever used it for that.

I can't find reference to anyone other than JGY and WWX being given tokens permanently (like, aside from the visiting disciples), so only Jin Guangyao who didn't live among the Lan. (Although since the damn tokens aren't referred to by a single consistent name, I could be missing something.)

See also this bit in ch 80, from the second siege:

Wei WuXian laughed, “Who said that you have to go inside the Room of Forbidden Books? Wouldn’t it be fine as long as your master can go in at will? The methods of tampering with the sheet music—he was probably also the one who taught you that, right?”

A person of power free to travel in and out of the Cloud Recesses at will. There was no need to say out loud whom Su She’s master was. Everyone knew—it could only be LianFang-Zun!

It's not actually totally clear to me how much of this carries into CQL canon. For example, we don't have the WWX trying to escape from CR plotline in CQL, so from what I remember I don't think we see him testing the wards and being flung off the walls. And more than that: in CQL we don't get the scene where LWJ detects JGY's visit through his own token, meaning Wangxian's presence during the meeting comes across more as something LXC deliberately set up. I think you could read it in if you really wanted, but it's definitely reading against the text.

(Incidentally, to me in CQL LXC doesn't seem surprised when JGY puts the pass on the table, but I think he very much is surprised when JGY says I'm returning it to you; that's not the direction he was expecting this to go. Episode 43, 31:17-31:37, if you want to check yourself.)

Okay, so, now we have all the context. Why does Jin Guangyao return the jade pass? He says that it's because it stopped working, sure, fine—but why did it not working mean he returned it?

To the best of my knowledge—though as ever I could be wrong—we don't get any more information than that in the text, which means it's a matter for meta and speculation. This is where I'd usually tell you what I think and why, except... honestly, I'm not sure. I haven't yet settled on something that feels right to me.

I've seen the ideas that he was distancing himself, or that he was reacting as though it was a complete rejection—it's certainly true that being completely rejected is his usual experience, see NMJ and QS. I can follow the logic, but it doesn't quite work for me? First because it's followed by his reassuring LXC on the subject of LWJ's reputation and the possibility of CR being searched, and then inviting LXC to Carp Tower for a conference about the Burial Mounds, but also...hmmm. Retreating like that is—not really how he usually operates? You see it with NMJ, you see it with QS—he keeps reaching out, he keeps trying to explain himself. In MDZS he stops after the stairs, but at that point he's very thoroughly done with NMJ and I think we can agree he's not there with LXC; in CQL he keeps trying even after he's decided NMJ has to go. Now it's true QS literally just killed herself! so he might not be reacting as usual and all. But...mmm, I don't know. He says it himself (ch 106): “I can’t help it. To seek pity even after doing all the bad things—that’s the kind of person I am.”

Okay, so why the heck /does/ he do it? Welllll...it could be practical considerations—maybe it would be a risk for the Lan if the token got into the hands of an enemy, say, and he's not sure he'll be able to protect it. But honestly that's not very satisfying, and there doesn't seem to be any evidence in the text that I can remember? So I think it makes sense to look elsewhere.

Maybe he actually is trying to respect LXC's boundaries, especially since they don't have time to hash this out. Maybe he figures that—well, we don't know exactly how the second siege would have played out without Wangxian's intervention, but it seems pretty likely that it would have involved damaging the Lan, which is LXC's care and to whom until now JGY has been the staunchest of allies; a way of acknowledging the damage he's doing, even if it won't be understood until later. Maybe he's trying to send a message to LXC: shit is going down, are you in or out? Maybe he's trying to knock LXC off balance; LXC certainly seems off balance for the conversation, reacting rather than acting. Maybe it's to distance LXC from him in like, the potential eyes of the crowd; they've been close and public allies for so long, and now he's trying to help make sure LXC doesn't he pulled down with him if he goes down. Maybe it's a farewell gesture—not so much to LXC, but to the life he's been living, to the precise shape of relationship they had. Maybe it's giving LXC something safe to remember him by—a token, but not something it will look weird if LXC keeps, because he still hopes that LXC will want to remember him. Maybe it's meant as a reminder of the help he has given the Lan. I don't know! I don't know. I do at some point want to sit with the text and seriously work this out, but I also want to get this out for you, anon, so you actually have the information you asked for XP

I think right now I'm leaning towards—some combination of farewell to this part of the life he's been living and the shape of his relationship with LXC (but not saying farewell to /any/ relationship with LXC), and—giving LXC a token of that time. But right now I'm just not sure.

(MDZS quotes all taken from the ER translation)

#a gentle warmth filling the deepest of needs #more than one tag could contain #the best of men #long meta

[mianmiansimp]

mdzs au: the one with wen xu (pt 1)

>>wwx has his bisexual epiphany much sooner in life bc Reasons

>>so when he starts crushing on lwj Immediately at cr, he knows it too

>>anyway: sometime pre-cloud recesses, wx and wwx cross paths and wwx is being his usual mischievous self

>>he's very dramatic and flirty and running around on roofs

>>wx is like Hey You're Cute but doesn't catch his name

>>wwx is oblivious so he didn't know who wx was lol

>>they cross paths a few more times

>>wwx just knows wx as 'that one gongzi i see sometimes'

>>then cr happens and they meet again when wwx is heading back to cr with his alcohol

>>wx is like my how charming

>>the next morning the wens show up and wc pisses everyone off

>>and then wwx is telling him off and wc gets pissed and tries to fight wwx while also insulting his status

>>and jc is like EXCUSE YOU and draws his sword bc i'm a sucker for protective jc and will throw in as much yunmeng shuangjie as i want

>>but then wx shows up and tells off wc (bc of wwx) and tells everyone to calm down

>>wx learns wwx's name, wwx learns who 'that one gongzi i see sometimes' is, only one of them is happy with the revelation

>>wx is being weird and oily to everyone and the lans begrudgingly accept the 'apology'

>>wx is publicly weird to wwx, wwx is publicly uncomfy, jc is publicly offended and pissed and defensive and also has an inkling of where wx's head is at

>>cue jc aggressively glaring at wens and shielding wwx from them

>>nhs, who's more aware of what's happening than anyone else bc nhs, helps

>>doesn't stop wwx from adopting wn as a bestie but wn is a kitten so it's ok

>>cr arc is largely the same, wangxian shenanigans, yunmeng shuangjie shenanigans, alcohol shenanigans, you know the drill

>>except for two major things

>>one - wwx has been crushing on lwj since day one but he Knows it

>>and he gets sad sometimes when lwj rejects him

>>so jc is not only angry at the wens but he's angry at lwj's audacity too

>>lwj, who hasn't a clue about anything:

>>two - wx sometimes shows up randomly to 'check up'

>>he isn't, he just drops by to make wwx uncomfy via unsolicited gifts and flirting

>>jc usually passive aggressively intervenes

>>or nhs makes some excuse that is usually 'jc wants to see you'

>>there's an incident during a wx visit where wwx panics bc he really doesn't want to deal with him

>>and essentially bolts from the vicinity and runs right into lwj

>>lwj almost starts telling off wwx but he sees quite clearly that wwx is Not Ok

>>and then they hear wx approaching and wwx basically begs lwj to Get Him Out

>>lwj dislikes wx far more than he dislikes acknowledging his affections for wwx

>>so they quickly run into and hide in a room

>>cue bonding moment where lwj and wwx have a Talk and lwj says they're friends for the first time

>>and then immediately goes silent bc wwx is looking at him with complete adoration and he has to force himself not to kiss him lol

>>this is also the point where lwj has it confirmed that wwx very much does not like wx's presence

>>which is how lwj joins the defend wwx against wx's advances club

>>jc isn't happy about it bc wwx is mooning for lwj still but he lets it slide

>>wn actually joined the club accidentally and discretely

>>jc's like why couldn't wwx get This wen to crush on him i like him so much better???

>>lwj vinegar moment + flustered wn who just thinks wwx is really cool and nice

>>wq catches wind of what's going on and is worried about wn's involvement

>>but also greatly dislikes wx and doesn't want some random innocent boy to suffer

>>which is how she too accidentally joins the club

>>mianmian joins too but loudly bc she's friends with wwx and lwj and also wx sucks

>>jzx is friends with mianmian so he gets dragged in

>>and he might be an arrogant prat atm but he's not a bad guy and wx's behavior is very despicable

>>jzx has some um Revelations about himself and his family

>>and accidentally becomes an honorary member of the club

>>they're all kinda friends now, it truly sucks, thinks jzx with a small smile

>>xuanli engagement is not broken/salvaged much earlier on bc of this whole

thing

>>anyway that's how all the major sects' youth became so closely entwined

>>lqr was very proud that his lectures enacted firm inter sect relationships

>>lxc is just egging on wangxian while also becoming an honorary member of the club

>>waterborne abyss and stuff still happens

>>jc is even angrier at the wens and straight up completely hides wwx the next time wx comes around so he doesn't even catch a glimpse

>>wx is not happy, especially when lwj is silently passive aggressive the whole time

>>cr study ends, there's this whole lingering wangxian moment when they say their goodbyes

>>wwx and lwj are close now but also lwj can sort of admit it instead of shoving it under years of repression and gay panic

>>lwj agrees to visit at lotus pier and wwx looks so enamored that jc gags and drags him away

>>mianmian snickers and pokes lwj in jest, who actually pokes her back

>>lxc is so proud, his brother has Friends

>>wx is a bit more careful around lotus pier, but he does visit once

>>jfm greets him and is very polite but yzy is very blunt and pissed

>>jc upon getting home had immediately spilled all the info on the wx thing

>>yzy doesn't like wwx but she hates the main wen and wx was being vv disrespectful

>>so she kinda tells wx that wwx isn't here (not a lie, he's on a nighthunt) and that he can go jump a cliff now thanks

>>wx is rather irritated when he leaves

>>comes back again on a later date, but this is the day that the cr friends are all hanging out

>>which isn't really an issue bc wwx is a social butterfly, it's part of what wx likes about him, obviously he has friends

>>but he sees the way wwx looks at lwj, and happens upon a moment where they're alone

>>he is Not Happy

>>in the meanwhile the cr friends are all chilling together and making fun of jzx flustering around jyl and eating lotus pods and whatever

>>yzy for once is like not overcome with irrational rage at wwx's presence bc he did something right for once in her eyes

>>so wwx gets some peace of mind at lotus pier

>>madam jin is also very delighted at the xuanli progress and approves wwx for enacting it

>>no one outside of jiangs + cr know why exactly xuanli are doing so well

>>so madam jin assumes wwx just kinda did some wingman stuff and doesn't know about the wx thing

>>anyway, wangxian is progressing quite nicely, and jc is all the more miserable for it

>>jzx kinda doesn't care lol, the rest of the club are delighted by the entertainment, yzy is further not angry at wwx bc wangxian engagement = lan-jiang alliance = advantageous

>>fast forward and we're at the discussion conference

>>jc is scowlier than usual and is literally holding wwx's hand the whole time

>>and wwx is like bro ty and ily but also this is a bit much

>>jc eventually lets go of his hand but he is never more than a few inches away from wwx's side

>>the state of wangxian at this time means we have wangxian blatantly and publicly mooning and everyone's like :eyes:

>>wx is not happy, shows up and immediately starts seeking out wwx, everyone is uncomfy

>>jc at one point grabs wwx and shoves him into the middle of all the jiang disciples

>>kinda doing that zebra camouflage thing but with jiang disciples lol

>>whenever it looks like wx is gonna ask him about wwx he crosses his arms and scowls severely

>>wx takes his seat very unhappily and the discussion conference proceeds as normal ig

>>but the friends are all taking part in the hunt together

>>wwx and lwj have a lil competition for who snags the most shots

>>lots of flirting during the competition, much to jzx and jc's chagrin

>>wn is just :pleading_face: the whole time but he does excellently and gives everyone a run for their money

>>the wc thing goes a lil differently in that wc is more incensed about wwx's existence bc he knows wx likes wwx

>>targets wwx, it backfired bc of lwj, wc leaves in a huff

>>lwj closely attaches himself to wwx after that, jc is pissed bc that's 2 wens who are making problems about wwx

>>the ribbon incident goes a lil differently

>>it happens after the competition, in front of all the sects

>>wx basically

goes oh your ribbon is crooked and fixes it gently and smiles at lwj and lwj says nothing, just quietly nods and thanks him

>>lqr approaches qi deviation, the sects are shocked, wwx is oblivious, lwj is smug, lxc and the friends are all metaphorically eating popcorn, wx is mad, wrh doesn't care, wq is worried bc wx

>>wx actually corners wwx at one point during a banquet when wwx's alone

>>interestingly, it's jzx who steps in to save the day

>>wwx doesn't need saving tbh but there's sociopolitics to consider + he's a lil scared of wx's persistence tbh

>>and he has a crisis bc on the one hand wwx can just run his mouth and hope for the best except he realizes that wx Likes when he runs his mouth

>>so yea jzx steps in and says something about jyl and wwx is like ahaha duty calls again and yeets

>>jzx just says compliments about jyl as they walk back to the jiang under the pretense of wanting to discuss the engagement

>>wwx reluctantly decides he's ok

>>the jiang keep a firm grip on wwx for the rest of the conference after that

>>jyl uses the shijie card to her advantage to get away with dragging wwx with her everywhere

>>the conference ends and wwx is relieved

>>oh btw wwx placed first by a small margin, lwj and wn following, then jc and jzx tied

>>so the sects are leaving and ofc wwx has to say goodbye to lwj

>>and lwj is like what is your request bc you won

>>and wwx is almost like kiss me but then he Doesn't ok

>>so instead wwx is like lemme think of something interesting :wink: to cover his pining

>>and lwj says mn and Smiles at him and wwx melts on the spot

>>wx catches the interaction and is very unhappy

>>fast forward to the burning of cr

>>there's a reason why wx did it personally, and targeted lwj especially

>>fast forward a bit again, wwx is a lil mopey bc his letter from lwj should've come a few days ago

>>they're pining pen pals bc ofc they are smh :rolling_eyes:

>>at this point, news of cr's destruction hasn't spread to lotus pier yet

>>jc is annoyed and yeets him into the lake and makes him swim off the pining

>>cue yunmeng jiang lake shenanigans

>>and then mf wx shows up to personally deliver the invitation to the wen indoctrination

>>jfm and yzy simply Do Not acknowledge wwx's existence at lotus pier in front of him

>>it's a very tense but quick conversation

>>and then wx leaves and hears wwx and heads in the direction of the latter's voice

>>he gets to the lake to see the jiang disciple swimming in the lake, but no wwx

>>bc jyl knew he had come and quickly run over to the lake to warn and hide wwx

>>jc perched himself on a roof to watch wx and let them know when he was gone

>>that meal they had in cql? yea it goes differently this time around

>>it's mostly yzy hissing at the wens and also having a conundrum over whether or not wwx should go

>>jc votes no, wwx votes shut up jc i'm coming with you

>>jfm concedes, jc is irate, wwx and jc go to the indoctrination

>>but jc makes wwx promise to not ever leave his side

>>and wwx is like that's kinda the whole point?? but ok

>>and then ofc that whole opening scene at nightless city happens

>>what with them standing around and then bam an injured lwj

>>ft the cr friends being all fhkjhkjsghk (/neg) internally

>>except wwx, he's very open about his concern

>>wc shows up, spends half the time glaring at wwx

>>he was supposed to be make it hell for lwj

>>but quite frankly he'd be happy if lwj snatched wwx

>>he very much dislikes his brother's infatuation with wwx

>>so yea it's roughly the same, those first few days

>>except wn secretly visits the disciples

>>slips snacks, gives info, exchanges messages between them, and treats lwj

>>wq finds out, scolds him, and then does the same, mostly treatment

>>and then the dungeon day comes

>>by which i mean that day wwx ended up in the dungeons with the dog thing

>>it goes the same as usual, except wc is particularly harsh, and is focused on wwx

>>so it happens sooner, and only wwx is involved

>>spends the night with the wolf thing, wn comes, yk the drill

>>except he knocks out at one point and wx gets him

>>and he wakes up

in a room and wq and wn are treating him

>>he's quickly given a coded warning

>>and then wx comes

>>wc had been forced out of leading the indoctrination and someone relatively competent is in his place

>>wx doesn't really let wwx go back tho

>>just makes wwx stay with him and basically invades his privacy and harasses him

>>for like. quite some time.

>>wwx also meets wrh a few times and it is. not fun.

>>wrh makes thinly veiled threats about war and attacking lotus pier and stuff

>>and wx reveals he was the one who requested and took charge of cr burning

>>and wwx is angry at wx but then wx gets angry and snaps threats

>>and wwx quiets and realizes wx is relentless

>>and that his connections are putting ppl he cares about at risk

>>it all kinda piles up and wx's insistence gets to his head

>>and then the bell scene (which started all this) happens

>>it might seem kinda ooc this whole thing but like

>>sexual trauma is very different from standard child abuse/classic asian toxicity

>>and you have to consider wwx's position as he has to put up with wx's everything

>>am i projecting? probably, but my au my choices

>>so the bell scene begins with all the heirs and their entourages gathered at that. place

>>idk what it's called but that place from cql where wc was lecturing

>>wc's substitute indoctrinator is like so. y'all can go home now. here's your swords.

>>and everyone's like omg????? but also cr friends are like ok where's wwx :upside_down:

>>and it's a very complicated moment

>>and then they give suibian to jc

>>and he almost kills someone bc he thinks they killed wwx

>>and then they're like no he's alive he just won't need that :upside_down:

>>jc is like WHAT does that even MEAN

>>and it's about to be a whole thing but then wwx shows up

>>and it's all ok for half a second

>>bc yes he's here but he is very obviously not ok

>>and it Shows, wwx is doing such a bad job hiding how not ok he is

>>cr friends are like. what did they do. who am i killing.

>>so now we enter - The Bell Exchange

>>wwx comes forward and (very poorly) tries to lighten the mood and tease jc and is like aw did you miss me

>>jc who was very much terrified is just like yes ofc come here Now let's go home

>>and wwx has this look on his face that's summed up as love and affection but also deep apology and secrecy

>>he slowly goes to jc and his hands are shaky as he takes off his bell and grabs jc's hands to give it to him

>>and wwx is very vague about it he's just like i won't be going back it's ok you're all free to go now i'm making sure of it go back home be safe

>>and jc is having the nth meltdown rn bc wwx what did you do

>>nhs has an idea of the gist, and all the c friends are very concerned

>>and then wen xu shows up and wwx does this silent flinch but in his bones and straightens up

>>and wx is mocking the others and stuff and then wraps an arm around a very uncomfortable wwx and is like

>>"you should be grateful to my fiance for his generous nature"

>>wwx is very obviously not having a good time and is not ok with this

>>he looks like he's going to launch himself from a cliff (hehehe) to avoid this

>>everyone is silent for a minute as they realize what happened

>>a lot of the disciples here were at cr indoctrination

>>so they know at least somewhat of wx's pursual of wwx and the unrequited feelings

>>and it becomes obvious that wwx exchanged something - his freedom, hand in marriage, etc - to set all the disciples free

>>jc draws sandu and is about to go for wx's head bc how Dare he

>>but wwx stops him and tells him very firmly but desperately to not try anything, just go, tell shijie i'm sorry, it'll be ok

>>lwj does that death grip on his sword, 2 seconds away from taking wx's head himself

>>jzx is having lots of feelings about this and a lot aren't nice

>>especially with the weird sort of parallels as far as betrothals

>>also he kinda likes wwx?? they're kinda friends?? and they're brother-in-laws to be anyway

>>and even despite all that, the whole situation just Sucks and jzx is kinda an airhead but he's actually pretty noble

>>mianmian is

like So offended and enraged on behalf of everyone she's ready to throw hands

>>nhs is half horrified for his friend and half cold rage and plotting

>>what really worsens the situations is just how bad wwx is taking it

>>bc he always covers up his pain and worries, and very well at that

>>the fact that he can barely even fake a smile now, and has resolved to outright desperate pleading, not even teasing anyone, says a Lot about how bad things were while he was gone

>>they have suspicions about what wx might have done to wwx while they were alone

>>tl;dr: cr friends kinda have an idea of what wx has done and really want him dead

>>but wwx is forcing them out, and eventually they all do leave, miserably

>>they don't know what had happened for them to be let go with their swords and without consequences

>>and they don't want wwx suffering for their (not really helpful atm) stubbornness

>>jc is stiff and clenching his jaw the entire way home, trying to figure out ways to get wwx out

>>lwj is drowning in his emotions as he goes back to the burnt cr

>>mianmian, jzx, nhs are having very complicated thought processes about everything

>>nhs actually goes with lwj to cr first, to make sure he doesn't do anything dumb and to be a friend

>>drops him off, and eventually heads out after a few days (lqr is appraised of the situation)

>>and lo and behold, he happens to find lxc on his way home, and brings big bro lan back to cr

[ main . ao3 ]

#this got out of hand #yunmeng shuangjie #wangxian #wen xu x wei wuxian #mdzs #mdzs au #mo dao zu shi #mo dao zu shi au #cql #cql au #the untamed #the untamed au #not!fics

[phoenixrisesoncemore]

MDZS/CQL RPG mechanics

I was inspired by this awesome post from @wangxian-patriarch with additions by @moonwaif. Go check it out! And assume all those clever details and mechanics mentioned there.

This would work SO WELL for a late 90s PS1-style RPG, where graphics were improving and storylines/character arcs were becoming crazy complex but it was still kind of the Wild West/anything goes/take all the risks you want. And the best games (IMO) are those that mix genres in an episodic fashion and MDZS/CQL totally fits the bill for that! CQL even does it, itself.

This got so long that I hated to clog up their post with a reblog. Bear with me here. Batshit crazy thoughts coming at a million miles per hour. In addition to all the above wonderful stuff: picture this structured like a 75%/25% split of MDZS/CQL (because I think the interspersed flashbacks work better for a game where you get to see your past choices affect the present in chunks) but with 75% of the character expansions from CQL. AKA, more Shijie, meet WQ and WN in Cloud Recesses, interact with them at the Wen Indoctrination. Your choices determine at what pace the relationship with LWJ proceeds (see below)? The POV is always WWX.

Intro/tutorial: Mo Manor. WWX is your main character, obv. The main present story arc is a mostly linear action/adventure RPG. Mo Manor is your tutorial/training ground where you’re introduced to the main game mechanics, learn a bit about the world via NPC interaction and MXY’s notes, and get handed the first mystery/what appears to be the main game goal: who did MXY want you to get revenge on? Melodies keeps popping into WWX’s head. Begin mini game where you are introduced to the game’s musical mechanics as WWX tries to remember melodies. Most are eerie and harsh, but there is one WWX finds “strangely soothing” even though he can’t remember where it is from. Remember these songs, especially that soothing one, because it’s going to be important soon! Introduction of basic sword-based cultivation battle mechanics via an impromptu party forming with the ducklings against the corpse arm (WWX can join in with talismans or something relatively innocuous for now). Eventually WWX goes secret solo battle using flute-less demonic cultivation battle mechanics. Can you remember how to play some of those tunes to summon fierce corpses? Then LWJ appears and it’s time for you to get the Hell out of Dodge before there are questions about what you just did. Cue short sequence of getting out of Mo Village before you’re caught. Begin Little Apple game mechanics.

Dafan Mountain Quest. First big mission. Gather info and piece together the mystery while avoiding too much attention from the Jiang sect cultivators or Game Over. Solve the mystery and begin the first boss fight alongside the ducklings! But talismans and whistling isn’t cutting it any longer. Flute-based demonic cultivation mechanics activate! Remember those songs WWX has had going through his head. You’re going to need all of them now. Game Over if Jin Ling is killed by the goddess! Also: surprise! the goddess can only be defeated by a finishing move which requires summoning a high level fierce corpse. Which song is it? Succeed and summon Wen Ning, but oh no! he’s in berserk mode. Hmmm, what about that soothing song? Better remember how to play it fast or Wen Ning will kill the other cultivators and Game Over.

FLASHBACK: Cloud Recesses. I need this to somehow incorporate and deconstruct the school dating sim genre. I don’t know how, but I need that. Sharing loquats and Emperor’s Smile and causing trouble will sure make you popular. The rooftop fight seems like a standard fighting setup. Is there a way to mix those two genres? A fighting mini game inside a dating sim? Because there needs to be! Is Biling Lake a mini action-platformer segment? Also agree: Jiang Cheng interaction and combo learning here—sneak out to explore the back hill and learn pair fighting dynamics. Use WWX’s original sword-based cultivation skills. Rabbit-catching mini game. Decide what colors you want to gift to increasingly grumpy Lan Zhan. Get to know Mianmian and she’ll be more active in helping you later. Befriend NHS and change dialog trees with him in present arc.

Present day Cloud Recesses: your home base. Sandbox. Your actions in the flashback effect the present day Cloud Recesses. Did you hide some Emperor’s smile somewhere 16 years ago? Home of rabbit-raising mini game and various troublemaking side quests. You get points for every Lan Clan rule you break (and how deeply you corrupt the ducklings). The challenge is in figuring out how to break them. Break enough rules and gain early access to the library’s restricted section where you can learn all kinds of new unorthodox cultivation techniques. Break all of them and get a super awesome power-up. Up to a certain point you can return here with LWJ on Bichen once he joins your party. Duckling night hunts are initiated here?

Lan WangJi Joins the Party. The main body of the game commences as you begin the quest to solve the Mo Manor mystery and figure out who MXY wanted you to get revenge on. Your choices/skill in the flashbacks as they occur will alter (somewhat) the events of this, the game’s main “spine.” Each town/city encountered on the road trip has its own aesthetic and NPC populace from which you have to collect clues and learn what your next moves should be. Lots of immersive qualities and learning about the current political/social situation. Fierce corpse and ghost fights along the way. Collect (offensively inaccurate) YLLZ and Sunshot memorabilia. Slowly grow your affinity with LWJ in battle and use the skills for pair fighting you learned with Jiang Cheng to build towards those awesome battle-couple combos. LWJ will remain in your party for the rest of the main game (excluding flashbacks) except for short bits like Yi City. You can play WWX’s dizi along the road for practice and to up your skill level. Depending on how often and in what circumstances you play Wangxian and how you interact with LWJ you’ll start to get different (but still evasive) answers if you ask him how he knew it was you. Remember to play Rest so NMJ’s pieces don’t get out of hand.

Because this is long: more below the cut

The Man-eating castle. Logic puzzle dungeon. Try to outclever NHS in dialog trees to get him to spill information.

Chang Manor. Mystery dungeon with final grave robber boss fight. Learn about the story of XXC, SL, and XY as you explore Chang manor, looking for clues as to what happened. Avoid traps set by XY.

Yi City. I mean: THE FOG. It’s Silent Hill. It’s Fatal Frame. It’s a survival horror dungeon. How long and involved should the Empathy section be? How does the gameplay change there?

Explore Jin Lin Tai. Stealth dungeon. Sneak around Jin Lin Tai as first “MXY” and later as Paperman WWX (AH! Sudden scale/mechanics change), gathering clues and looking for NMJ’s head. Empathy cutscenes.

Escape Jin Lin Tai. Action segment/beat em up. A place to really show off those growing battle-couple mechanics with LWJ.

FLASHBACK: Happy Times at Lotus Pier. The closest we’ve been to the light-hearted gameplay of the first Cloud Recesses flashback. WWX. JC, and JYL involved in shenanigans at Lotus Pier. Maybe we even get the Lotus Seed Pod Extra content of stealing lotuses from the old man. Get a chance to use those Jiang Cheng combos you learned in the CR flashback. Last chance to use those sword cultivation techniques. Nostalgia galore.

FLASHBACK (cont): Indoctrination/Xuanwu Cave. WWX/JC party using non-sword techniques. Eventually morphs into a WWX/LWJ party. This would be the first time chronologically that they would have fought together.

FLASHBACK (cont): Lotus Pier Attack and Escape. I totally agree with the above that this will ultimately work out to stealth escort missions as you work to get JC to safety with WN’s help.

FLASHBACK (cont): Thrown into Burial Mounds. This could be super expressionistic. Wandering through Burial Mounds trying to stay alive, but with crazy nightmare-like elements. Think of the way Eternal Darkness messed with player perceptions and even broke the 4th wall when it came to game mechanics. Maybe this even bleeds seamlessly into the supervisory office deaths and Wen Chao’s chase and death.

Return to Cloud Recesses. More areas to explore are unlocked. Dialog trees with LWJ. Feelings.

Journey to Burial Mounds. This is your chance to really grind and refine those battle couple combos. Side-quests? How far has word spread that the YLLZ is back? How will that effect the way you can or can’t interact with NPCs. I also like the idea of interspersing the flashbacks from Sunshot and up through the building of the Burial Mounds settlement in here, so as to have the player get to interact with and design the settlement in the past before the ruins of it are seen in the present.

FLASHBACK: Sunshot. mashup of beat em up/strategy tactics using demonic cultivation with chenqing and the tiger seal to clear a path for the army of cultivators. WWX is a party of one for this.

FLASHBACK (cont): Post Sunshot. More deconstructed social sim mechanics. Use chenqing to help JC bag prey on Phoenix Mountain. Social decision trees at that really uncomfortable conference scene. Qiongqi Path rescue of the Wen Refugees. The LWJ in the rain confrontation either does or does not happen (or happens somewhat differently) depending on how your relationship has progressed thus far in the past.

FLASHBACK (cont): Building Burial Mounds Settlement. Settlement/Survival Sim elements. Choose where and how to build and what to grow. Play with and protect a-Yuan. Work to revive WN. Make demonic cultivation tools. Whatever you make will still exist in future and can be gathered/used for the Second Siege battle. JC duel (ouch, there’s those moves you learned together being used against you). Play around in YiLing with LWJ and a-Yuan. Spend the day as a family. Feelings.

Arrive at Burial Mounds. Explore the ruins of the place you built. Feelings. Gather items. Release the Juniors. Fight with the Cultivators.

FLASHBACK: Death of JZX/Nightless City. Beat em up using Wen Ning at Qiongqi Path. At Nightless City this time you’re solo sending hordes towards the cultivators. Heart breaking solo battle against LWJ, as with JC, he now knows and can anticipate your moves based on your previous flashback interactions. HORRIBLE TRAGEDY AND MASSIVE DEATH.

Second Seige of Burial Mounds. Massive beat em up where you finally get to utilize the full extent of your battle-couple skills along with Wen Ning in a series of brawls to end all brawls, eventually the ducklings join your party for brawl wave 3. You know that really big battle that happens near the turning point of video games that’s inevitably the second or third biggest battle of the game (and sometimes more difficult than the actual final boss battles)? That’s this one.

Return to Lotus Pier. Here’s where you get memories of WWX’s first night at Lotus Pier and YanLi saving him from the tree are interspersed as you explore the heartbreakingly different present day Lotus Pier. As with the other locations that you experience in both past and present, some choices in the past effect the location in the present. FEELINGS.

YunPing City: Final major location. Explore and gather info. Prep for the final battle. Drunk LWJ mini game shenanigans. (Sexy time? I mean, Indigo Prophecy did it...) Stealth your way into Guanyin Temple.

Guanyin Temple Climax: Dialog trees with JGY determine how difficult he is to defeat here in battle. Final boss fight against NMJ’s fierce corpse: poignant party/combo with both JC and LWJ.

Denouement. Maybe the Sizhui revelation happens differently depending on how you interact with him throughout the game. Obv NOT getting the revelation is considered the BAD ending.

Ultimately, how the relationship between WWX and LWJ unfolds in CQL and MDZS is influenced by the plot structure (or at least is better served in each medium by how it makes use of the plot structure). The character of that relashionship journey is so different between the mediums, but each has wonderful aspects. How that plays out here is kind of up in the air without nailing more things down. Is it possible your actions could determine the timing and expression of the ship such that you end up with something more distinctly MDZS or something more distinctly CQL? (And by that I don’t mean one is overtly sexual and one isn’t, but rather whether the revelation of their feelings comes all at once near the end or rather more gradually, shifting in intensity and character as the plot goes along). That would be quite a thing to pull off without breaking the central narrative. I don’t even want to think about how complex that decision tree would be, but it could potentially be kind of amazing!

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #cql #the untamed #chen qing ling #this is A LOT but i don’t care i am having a great time #i’ve only dipped my toes into game design previously but man this makes me wish I had done more #Because this is so fun #game design #rpgs #mdzs rpg?

[wujipianover]

grief, the price of love

for jiang yanli’s birthday! happy birthday shijie! @mdzsnet

summary: She talks. It’s not entirely appropriate but it’s for Wei Ying so both don’t mind. She tells him about their childhood, stories of Wei Wuxian getting in trouble. She talks about when he first came to Lotus Pier, so tiny. How he ran away at night and she carried him on her back after he fell from a tree. Talked about how he used to lie on boats for hours at a stretch on the rivers of Yunmeng. How he was loved by every single vendor there. Lan Wangji takes in every detail hungrily. Her heart aches for him. There was always something between them that the world never understood, never bothered to understand. He can’t mourn openly. So she talks and hopes her memories would be able to fill the cracks.

(jiang yanli survives nightless city. she learns she isn't the only one left that cares for her wei ying)

grief is the price you pay for love

tags: jiang yanli lives, grief/mourning, cooking as therapy, jyl teaches lwj how to make soup

read on ao3 if you want!

When she wakes up, it’s to the sound of her little brother singing a lullaby that their mother used to sing, long long back ago with a sleeping A-Ling in his arms. She smiles, warmly. And then there is pain, unbearable pain all over her body and Jiang Cheng is getting up and fretting.

“A-jie! You’re up! Thank God!”

The relief that washes over him is palpable.

Then everything comes back to her. She was stabbed. Her hand ghosts over her abdomen that is covered with bandages. Dark, heavy grief settles over her. He’s gone. Otherwise he would be here, she knows him enough to know that.

“A-Ying?,” she trails off. A lone tear escapes unknowingly.

The Zidian around Jiang Cheng’s arm crackles menacingly. He’s grinding his teeth, a habit he’s had since he was 6. But now his eyes are dark and anger rolls off of him. He clutches A-Ling tighter.

“He’s dead. Had been dead to me long before.”

And that’s the end of the conversation.

Jiang Yanli’s heart shatters. She knew that. She knew everything that her Wei Ying had done. She looks over to her son and feels some of the weight lessen. But she still loves Wei Ying. Loved Wei Ying, something ugly reminds her.

She’s trying to not sob, all the heartache forming a lump in her throat when she falls asleep again.

*

She wakes up again to quiet. A moment later a nurse walks in and checks on her.

She wants to see her son again. She has to talk to A-Cheng again. Above all, she needs to see her Xianxian again. 

She wasn’t done mourning for her husband. His loss, she feels in her heart, something she carries everyday. Jin Zixuan was not always kind to her. But later, there was love, so much love. It had washed over her and cleansed her off everything bad they had to endure. Wei Wuxian’s absence at the wedding was felt by all. But she had smiled and that hadn’t felt like a lie. But she never blamed the loss on Wei Wuxian. She knows him. Knew him.

Jiang Cheng walks into the room a while later. The nurse had told her that she had been asleep for two days. Seeing A-Cheng’s face erupt into a smile settles some of the sorrow stirring in her. She has him.

He kneels beside her bed.

“A-jie, I am so glad you’re up! We will be travelling to Lanling tomorrow and I wish I could stay with you there. I could if Wei Wuxian had kept his promise,” he stops himself. Clenching his jaw he says, “Well then, none of this would have happened.” His voice is softer, melancholic.

 Her heart gives out. “You know none of this is his fault,” she tries gently.

“How can you still believe that?” He looks from where his face was buried in his hands. There are dark bruises under his eyes. He’s not been sleeping well. Too young, he’s too young and he has experienced more grief for a lifetime. He’s a sect leader now and the weight of responsibilities are visible in the tense line of his shoulders. “After all this?” HIs voice is choked.

Jian Cheng, she realizes needs reassurance because deep down, the parts covered by formalities and duties, he feels the same as him.

“Because you knew him”

“I don’t think I did.” There is finality in his words. He gets up suddenly and steels his expressions. The face of a sect leader.

“The Jiang sect has cut all ties with Wei Wuxian. His death will not change this fact.”

He salutes her. This is too formal. She wants to go back to a moment before.

“I will ask a nurse to bring A-Ling to you. Shijie needs to rest for her journey tomorrow.”

He turns on his heels and leaves before she can get a word out.

*

Life goes on. It takes a month to learn to walk again. A month more till she can hold her son again. It’s painful. There is an ugly scar on her belly but it acts as a reminder that someone, someone was there for Wei Wuxian. So it’s beautiful. 

She wrestles her way into sect leader business much to the dismay of Jin Guangshan. Too long, she had gone on living in the shadows. There’s not a lot she can do, what with not being able to travel to other sects. But she attends meetings at Lanling and no one has dared to question her presence. She survived a knife to her belly. She has seen too much loss. She is strong and capable.

Jiang Cheng refuses to acknowledge Wei Wuxian. Rumours fly around that he gave the final blow that killed him. Her Xianxian ceases to exist, replaced by stories and myths of the Yiling Patriarch. It’s as if he was never a person before. As if he was never a boy. Just a boy.

So she flings herself into complaints from the villagers in Lanling. They are young, honest, ordinary people. They have problems that don’t take cultivation to solve. So she devotes herself to their needs, and then to the needs of the people who come to her from far away. Wei Wuxian did the same thing with the Wens. He was right. She wishes she had told him that, or tried to convince others of that.

She nurses his memory too, he will be alive in them. She remembers him smiling. He was born with a smile that could compete with the sun. It’s lonely though, being the only one alive who cares about him.

And then she gets a letter. And is reminded that she is not alone in loving Wei Ying.

Respected Young Lady Jiang,

I hope this Second Young Master Lan doesn’t offend Young Lady Jiang by sending this. Sect Leader Jiang informed me of your recovery. It comes as good news.

I am not aware of how much Lady Jiang has been informed on the matters of Wei Ying. This young master feels the need to inform that they still haven’t found a body. I continue to play Inquiry every night in hopes to find Wei Ying’s spirit. If there are any developments, Young Lady Jiang would be the first one to know.

This humble brother apologizes for any breach of privacy.

Wei Ying’s Lan Zhan.

She reads the letter again. How foolish for her to think that she was all alone in thinking about Wei Wuxian as he was. For the first time in a long time, his memory brings a smile to her face.

*

It gets easier. Time heals. A-Ling is a joy, raising him is second nature. The cultivation world becomes messy and she draws away from it. They have fallen into dramas that are not worthy for sect leaders to get into.

She spends her time talking to the common man and making sure Wei Ying’s Jin Rulan is worthy of his name.

She doesn’t hear from Hanguan-jun. There are whispers, nasty talk of discipline whips and seclusion and a young child. She doesn’t pay heed to any of it. A part of her wishes for another letter. She desperately wants to talk about him. Seems like that’s the only way to keep him alive now.

It’s almost noon and she is in her room going over written grievances to her when there is a knock at the door. It’s Hanguang-jun at the door looking pained and awkward.

They salute each other. “Young master Lan hopes that he doesn’t intrude the privacy of Young Lady Jiang.”

She beckons him to enter in response. He walks inside slowly, regal and elegant but stiff.

“Not at all Hanguang-jun, The letter was appreciated.”

Lan Wangji relaxes at that.

There is a pause, Jiang Yanli guesses he’s wondering what to say.

“Lan Wangji was in seclusion and therefore was not able to play Inquiry all this time. He apologizes”

It confirms what she knew all along, there was no answer.

“It was very kind for Hanguang-jun to try.”

“I wanted to.” It comes out so earnest, Jiang Yanli melts. Lan Wangji’s ears are pinker.

“Will Hanguang-jun want to learn to make A-Ying’s favourite food?”

It’s an indulgence, Lan Wangji would not want to waste his time on such frivolity. She remembers the food of CLoud Recesses and how plain it was. A-Ying’s favourite would not suit Lan Wangji’s palate. It’s more for her sake, making this for his brother’s Lan Zhan would mean more. She goes to apologize when Lan Wangji says softly, “I would like that very much.”

And so they make their way to the kitchen. She makes everyone leave, their mouth agape.

Lan Wanji is silent beside her as she talks him through the recipe. It’s simple soup with lotus and meat. Hanguang-jun is a fast learner and he listens to her attentively, humming his assent occasionally. 

The process is therapeutic. Chopping and stirring and tasting. She can do this in her sleep. The rhythmic movements ease her. The fact that Hanguang-jun’s brows wrinkle like he is trying to memorize every flick of Jiang Yanli’s wrist.

She talks. It’s not entirely appropriate but it’s for Wei Ying so both don’t mind. She tells him about their childhood, stories of Wei Wuxian getting in trouble. She talks about when he first came to Lotus Pier, so tiny. How he ran away at night and she carried him on her back after he fell from a tree. Talked about how he used to lie on boats for hours at a stretch on the rivers of Yunmeng. How he was loved by every single vendor there. Lan Wangji takes in every detail hungrily. Her heart aches for him. There was always something between them that the world never understood, never bothered to understand. He can’t mourn openly. So she talks and hopes her memories would be able to fill the cracks.

“He was born with a smiling face, you know.”

“I know,” he gives the smallest smile.

The soup is ready and she pours them in two bowls. They sit and eat in silence. Lan Wangji’s eyes water and she doesn’t know if it’s from the spice alone.

He leaves without a word after the meal. Jiang Yanli has never felt this content in three years.

*

Sixteen years later a message talisman stirs her from her sleep.

He’s back.

Wei Ying’s Lan Zhan

She comes alive again.

#you deserve the world #mdzsnet #mdzs #the untamed #jiang yanli #lan wangji #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #im late but its my bday tomorrow so its okay #my fic #cql #its sad im sorry

[slashtakemylife]

Wangxian Arrangied marriage + Bodyguard AU prompt

You’ll find many similarities between the previous generation and mdzs’ main generation but is because of reasons

The 5 great sects joined to defeat Xue Chongai(?) with the help of rogue cultivator Baoshan Sanren, once he was defeated BS and her cultivation partner Lan Yi were able to secure the Yin Iron, however BS had no intentions of staying in the earthly realm and LY was going back up into her mountain with her, thus at the end of the war it was given the task to protect the Yin Iron to their adopted daughter, Cangse Sanren, she had fallen in love with a servant from the Jiang clan and was not planning to go back to the mountian with her mothers, thus they created their own sect.

(LONG A/N: The sect will be named the Wei sect because the author [me] of this has doubts, preferebly it would be her sect but if it’s hers then it would be the Cangse Sect, right? But... she is Sanren just like Baoshan Sanren, is it a title? Is it her name? Cangse is her last name right? She just shares the Sanren with her teacher but then is it a title? Idk someone please figure it out also how does Cangse Wuxian sounds? I’m loving it but I’m more used to Wei Wuxian and since I’m making this because I don’t plan to fully out it into a fic then take whatever path you like to imagine but for better understanding we’ll keep it as Wei)

A few years pass and Wei Wuxian, their son, heir and chief disciple has taken his task of protecting the Yin Iron so dutifully in fact he has begun studying resentful energy (RE for short from now on) and has now even succeding in controlling it to some extend, for this RE is not inherently bad, so wwx is in no danger of spiraling into mental collapse but it is naturally very powerful so wwx needs to learn to control it and not exceed his abilities otherwise it can blow up on his face, (and he has accidentaly blown up some stuff).

One day, when wwx is finally in marriagable age, they receive a letter from the Wen sect with a marriage proposal. The Wen leader that fought alongside the rest of the clans died a few years later after the war so for the last years it has been ruled by his son Wen Ruohan and he is offering his son Wen Chao to marry wwx, wwx’s parents are a bit weary because under WR’s rule the Wen sect has become a bit more hostile and he has several times in the cultivation conferences shown his interest in the Yin Iron, now it seems he wants an in into the sect through marriage, (since the Wei sect kept the Yin Iron then the Wen sect is not as powerful).

They send back a message saying they have already booked an arranged marriage for his son. Having said this it is also near the time wwx is sent to Cloud Recess to study, a few weeks into the schooling, CS and WeiC go over to CR to talk to Lan Qiren, they explain the situation and mention him that shortly before wwx came to class, back at their home while night hunting they detected an intruder that was there to kidnap wwx, luckily they caught him even before wwx was able to see him, CS and WeiC then have decided to ask for help from the Lan clan.

The Lan’s are well known for their self restrain and cleansing techniques, so in order to keep the Wen’s plan away and also as a way for wwx to be able to control RE better thanks to the Lan’s ways, they want to engage wwx to Lan Wangji since he is closer of age and since wwx is the sole heir to the Wei sect, that would mean lwj would have to move to the Wei sect.

(wherever that is, um Yiling? yeah I’ll say Yiling because why tf not? No Burial Mounds tho, because I say so)

Also a a second task, they want someone strong enough to protect wwx if the Wens ever try to do something again, one of CS’s request is that this not be told to wwx, she spoils him too much and doesn’t want him to feel worried that he is being targetted so for wwx this should just be a marriage agreement, lwj on the other hand will know why and his duty to protect wwx.

LQ isn’t exactly happy to give away his precious nephew over to them, over to Wei Wuxian however for some reason his nephew Lan Xichen is ecstatic and smiling more than usual, they had suggested a rather slow time for planning all of this but LX was the one who proposed that once the classes were over they would send lwj back to them to start his bodyguard duties at once while the actual wedding could take it’s due time.

Telling wwx he has an arranged marriage was probably the hardest thing for Cangse Sanren, she never wanted to tie her son down, she always wanted him to find true love the way she did but she kept repeating herself is for wwx’s safety however she was heavily surprised that wwx accepted it with a smile, the boy just says he is happy he’ll be able to tease lwj for life and that he will have a spouse that matches his abilities. At this point both parents realize that their son can be amazingly smart but also amazingly dumb and oblivious so they are even happier at the match.

lwj on the other hand doesn’t know how to think, on one hand wwx is wwx and he is insufferable but on the other...

No, he stops thinking about his feelings, this is a duty assinged to him for the greater good of not just the Wei and Lan sects but also for the cultivation world in general, his duty only is to protect wwx, nothing else. LQ gets more disturbed with how much bigger LX’s smile has become.

Unfortunately for lwj (or is it?) wwx’s teasing goes double after they know they are engaged, in fact everyone knows they are engaged because wwx Can’t Shut Up, he also has taken more liberties and is now touching lwj, even pouncing on him everytime he sees him, making LQ being this close to a qi deviation and a bigger smile from LX. Classes end and just as promised lwj goes to the Wei sect.

As expected the Wens aren’t very happy about it, however CS says she will always look for his son’s happiness over political alliance, it also helps it is now very well known how wwx is basically plastered all over lwj and back in his home he drags lwj everywhere, so while the dumb boys still haven’t figure out their feelings, it is obvous enough to keep the Wen’s paws away from wwx. (Also the people at Yiling are now even TIRED because wwx can’t shut up and everyday they hear “Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan!” non-stop, whenever any of his parent’s go to take wwx back into their home is a blessing to their ears)

Of course it doesn’t take long for lwj to stop seeing his engagement as a sect duty, after slowly but surely falling deeply in love with wwx, this is personal now, he won’t let a single bad thing touch even a hair on wwx, he even makes sure to distract wwx and then go beat up any kidnapper in complete stealth. This also includes furthering his own cultivation, since wwx is still carefully experimenting and learning about RE then is up to lwj to make sure wwx stays safe and he’s usually playing his guqin whenever wwx is doing his experiments and soon even he is closely involved.

The Wens know is a lost battle so they just don’t bother anymore, also an inner revolt means a new sect leader arises and with him his two children, Wen Qing and Wen Ning that become good friends with wwx.

It doesn’t take long for Wangxian to be officially married and if wwx figured out he likes lwj and that lwj likes him back the day before his wedding then it’s no longer his parents’ problem but lwj once they are married.

#wangxian #wangxian prompt #wwx you idiot #wwx im sure you both kissed while enganged and you were still thinking lwj did it out of being bros #lwj not knowing if to scream or kiss his oblivious fiancé about to be husband #everyone thought wwx had figured it out after a month of lwj staying in Yiling #He made you a song wwx #bros don't do that trust me #wwx on google: what does it mean when your bro that you happen to be engaged with constantly kisses you? #wwx on google: What does the Lan sect ribbon mean and why does my bro/fiancé keeps wrapping it around my wrist all the time? #lwj on a support club: I thought he knew about my feelings but turns out he thought I was being 'a good bro'

[cinnamonandpancakes]

Thinkin about the Yi City Crew (as you do) and idk, I think the tragedy (in CQL) for LWJ in particular is seeing these cultivators who he took notice of (he knew their names! when they met! he doesn’t like people this is very unusual!) reduced to this terrible fate where one’s soul is shattered and the other is a living corpse doomed to walk the earth forever and how that mirrors him so completely.

WWX’s soul was presumed lost! He was left to uphold their promise together and raise their son alone! Song Zichen doesn’t even have a son! He just has a bag holding the shattered remnants of the man he was going to spend his life with, who he cruelly pushed away and spent the rest of his life trying to find and make amends and then had to watch kill himself as he realised he’d killed his dearest friend (soulmate). Idk it’s Tragic in a different way to the MDZS Yi City.

There IS something incredibly tragic about WWX missing meeting his shishu and being the reason for his demise due to his demonic cultivation but the tragedy there is of Missed Connection. The CQL tragedy is of connection brutally ripped away and that just gets me more, especially in relation to LWJ whose whole life is filled with these connections that are brutally severed, beginning with his parents and then continuing through almost everyone he’s ever cared about or admired.

In the book I liked the Yi City arc, don’t get me wrong, I love Xue Yang as a villain and it’s a great lil section but I think having that point of connection beforehand where the reader already knows the people involved makes it that more emotionally impactful. After all, let’s be real, Yi City is mainly a plot vessel to explain how Empathy works so it doesn’t need to be explained later with Nie Mingjue’s head with a lil bit of angst sprinkled on top.

Also! WRT WWX, Xiao Xingchen isn’t just a name! He opens that coffin and it’s someone he knew! Someone he respected and whose opinion he cared about! Someone to whom he’d expressed a wish to emulate! There’s a particularly angsty blend of CQL and MDZS where WWX is still the First Demonic Cultivator but he knew Xiao Xingchen before his death and he’s slapped in the face with the knowledge that if he hadn’t messed with this cultivation then his shishu whom he greatly admired would probably still be alive, another on the list of people he cares about whose deaths he indirectly caused.

I think there’s a blend of canons that I think I’d like best where the Yin Iron arc doesn’t happen, but Wen Qing and Jiang Yanli and Wen Ning still go to the lectures and WWX and LWJ still go nighthunting together after the lectures and they still meet XXC and SZC out doing their thing, baby faced and wide eyed and they all express their wish to leave politics behind to just help people. (The don’t fight Xue Yang because I think it’s funny when he’s Baby)

Then they get called back to go to the Wen Cultivation Conference and they thrash everyone at archery because power couple (ribbon shenanigans are more along the lines of WWX trips and pulls it off and LWJ goes bright red and freezes, it’s v awkward) [[JC sees WQ at the competition and does the best he’s ever done]].

Then the Wens do their ‘we’re banning nighthunting’ and CR burns and Indoctrination happens. Xuanwu cave, LWJ bites WWX as in MDZS because that’s hilarious. Lotus Pier as in CQL except Yanli is sent to Meishan because fuck Lanling. WWX becomes CorpseMan a la MDZS because all the giggling female corpses is Gross but also like such a Look, WWX accepts help a la CQL because I like the vibe of LWJ trying and failing to bring his crush back from the clutches of Evil.

Idk if I’d keep the Shooting at Wens thing from the pheonix mountain hunt? on one hand it demonstrates how everyone is scared of the Jins now (and that scene where wwx shoots 5 arrows is hot) but on the other I don’t that no one would speak up?? and I don’t think the Jins would want to be Conspicuously Evil so soon??? Blindfold yes, no kiss tho because I found the ‘LWJ punches trees when angry’ aspect of it annoying and I’d rather have a heartfelt talk about being soulmates (could have a sexy scene of LWJ walking up and taking off the blindfold and declaring WWX doesn’t need to prove himself to Jin Zixun)[[maybe an almost kiss before yanli appears]]

Qiongqi path: Wen Rescue as in CQL because that shit hurted but Wen Ning would Definitely Be Dead a la MDZS. Burial Mounds Life happens. [[JC refuses the comb from Wen Qing ‘what use would I have for it?’ he says]] There is no second flute, WWX lost control and Jin Zixuan is dead at his hand and his hand alone. Wen Qing and Wen Ning go to turn themselves in alone. [[Wen Qing leaves the comb in a tree stump where later a small boy will shelter as his home is destroyed around him]] WWX loses control at Nightless City, JYL dies, WWX jumps off a cliff. LWJ, wounded and heartbroken, takes his stand at the Burial Mounds, trying to protect WWX’s people after hiding A-Yuan in Cloud Recesses [[A-Yuan has the comb, years later Jiang Cheng will find him reminiscing and will have to leave the room to cry angry tears]] LWJ is incapacitated and punished. The Wen Remnants are killed and thrown into the Blood Pool.

16 years pass. 16 long years.

Mo Xuanyu summons back a Wei Wuxian who wanted to die but one who hoped against hope the Wen Remnants hadn’t been murdered after his death. A Wei Wuxian who regretted letting himself die without making sure they were safe. (A Wei Wuxian who had to find out he had failed when he arrived in the Burial Mounds to rescue the juniors). [[A Wei Wuxian that looks like Wei Wuxian and Mo Xuanyu combined]] In this canon they find body parts, a la MDZS. They share inn rooms with the knowledge of what they had meant to each other and how in the end it hadn’t meant a thing. They go to Yi City and find a boy, barely older than the juniors, playing house with the bodies of their friends, the ones they wanted to be like. WWX is reminded of all he put LWJ through when he jumped off that cliff. It is no wonder LWJ drinks that night.

Koi Tower happens, right? Idk it’s got to happen at some point. Probably CQL canon if only because I know that one better? I don’t think there’s much difference between the two for this bit.

At the second siege of the Burial Mounds the bodies in the blood pool come to their rescue. Wei Wuxian is horrified. ‘How could you let them do that!’ LWJ stays silent. (‘What else could warrant 33 lashes of the discipline whip’ he will whisper later, drunk off a single cup of wine.) ‘The honourable Hanguang-Jun was in seclusion after you died.’ Jiang Wanyin will say in his best sneer. Lan Qiren says nothing. (’I tried, I tried but it wasn’t enough’)

After the Burial Mounds they return to Lotus Pier. The revelations happen. [[Jiang Wanyin is horrified for more reasons than Wei Wuxian realises. No wonder Wen Qing could not accept his help after what she had done to him]]

Guanyin Temple bores me for the most part, JGY is allowed to monologue for far too long. I like the idea of them confessing at the most awkward time but at the same time it drags out JGY’s monologue even longer and that shit took like 4 episodes in CQL and it Dragged. I skimmed most of those chapters in the novel. JGY and NMJ’s body end up in a coffin trapped under a statue in the image of JGY’s dead mother. Probably have the iconic novel line where JGY is like ‘I hold LWJ’s life in my hands’ or w/e because that’s kinda hot. [[WWX comments to LWJ about how in the ancestral hall they’ve already done most of their bows, LWJ short circuits, JC asks if WWX would like his wedding planning books from when they were kids, WWX short circuits because ‘you KEPT THEM???’ ‘yeah dumbass, you’re still my brother even if I hate you!’]]

There’s that cute scene in CQL where WWX touches LSZ’s ribbon and they hug and cry, keeping that. LWJ and WWX kiss because I Said So and then also have sex because the UST is killing me (but not in front of LSZ, after he’s gone off to travel with Uncle Ning) They handfast but LWJ has to go be interim sect leader while convincing his brother to come out of seclusion and wwx decides to go try and set his demons to rest. LXC demands to be allowed to plan Wangji’s wedding as a stipulation of starting to return from seclusion. Wangji wisely does not mention they already consider themselves married.

[[Wen Qing is found in the cells of Jinlintai. JC tells her that he forgives her. She tells him she still can’t marry him, she has broken her oath as a healer. He lets her go.]]

[[2 years later she turns up in Yunmeng with her brother and her nephew in tow and suggests he join them on their latest night hunt. It’s not love, but he’s beginning to realise he can move on from her. Jin Rulan is disconcerted to find his uncle smiling the next time he visits.]]

[[For some reason, Sect Leader Yao is appointed Chief Cultivator. Everyone is appalled but a surprising amount gets done in order to avoid letting him talk too long.]]

#the untamed #long post #this got long and very off topic #and also kinda cracky #but lbr is it a me post if it's not crack of some kind #forreal tho there were 100% bits I think I could have made flow better with a little bit of work #I think the Yin Iron is kinda clunky as a plot device and honestly did not realise there was a second flute in CQL until people complained #I think the Yin Iron COULD have been done better #but I think it wasn't really fleshed out enough in planning and was just used as like #a macguffin #which sure that's cool #but I think Yin Iron would have worked better if they'd changed the tiger seal plot a lil #and the way they shuffled Xue Yang about was kinda dumb

[angstymdzsthoughts]

I promised that I would share the convo me and @time-flies-by​ had earlier today regarding the Maleficent AU post, so here it is!

-

time-flies-by Dude that Maleficent AU-

angstymdzsthoughts I knoooow

angstymdzsthoughts It got a bit dark on me

time-flies-by It did, but goddamn was it good!

angstymdzsthoughts Right? I'm super happy with it

time-flies-by As you should! It actually gave me chills

angstymdzsthoughts WWX goes to sleep in his husbands arms, happy and in love. Wakes up to that husband mutilating him Thank you!!!

time-flies-by The best part, is that LWJ doesn’t even see anything wrong with it. He’s just like, “it has to happen”

angstymdzsthoughts Yep! Just another part of getting married to him

time-flies-by WWX definitely leaves understanding Madam Lan a lot better.

angstymdzsthoughts Oof LWJ grows up around spouses who seem perfectly happy with life after losing their wings And his mother, who still had her wings, was miserable So he thinks hes actually helping to make WWX happier

time-flies-by Double oof WWX really doesn’t understand what he was getting himself into.

angstymdzsthoughts Oh my god other spouses try to warn him (in a quiet subtle way so their husbands don’t get upset)

angstymdzsthoughts All the Lans are taught that this is a special, intimate experience between spouses

angstymdzsthoughts I feel like Su She is jealous that LWJ got to experience that and is vindictively happy when WWX ran away

time-flies-by Oh my god, the Lans all brainwashed into thinking that the tight smiles, and the tears are signs of love, when in reality their spouse is trying so hard to not hate them. Soakxldowkenenw fuxking Su She

angstymdzsthoughts The spouses are all trapped. Oh wait

angstymdzsthoughts The "soulmate" thing only happens once or twice in a generation and Madam Lan had been the most recent before WWX so the spouse around who tries to warn him away is an old woman who has been married and trapped in the CR for life 55 years That makes it so much worse

time-flies-by Oh my god, imagine wwx accidentally runs into the the wing room, and is absolutely horrified to find all the wings there, so he goes to lwj and is all like “Lan Zhan? What’s this?” And LWJ just goes “don’t worry Wei ying, I’ll make sure that never happens to you.” And what he means is “I’ll make sure your grounding isn’t as painful as theirs.” And wwx trusts LWJ 100%, but then their own grounding happens.

angstymdzsthoughts OOF Oh my god just rip my heart out

angstymdzsthoughts All I can picture is WWX crying and calling LWJ a liar before he's silenced Most disturbing part is how gentle and loving LWJ is being while hes Removing His Husbands Limbs Soft little praises and telling WWX that they will be happy together now

angstymdzsthoughts Ohhh WWX is totally gonna blame himself if he saw the wings and didn't immediately run Gets to Yunmeng like 'how could I be so stupid to believe him'

time-flies-by Ooh especially if the spouses before him tried warning him too.

angstymdzsthoughts Yes Exactly

time-flies-by WWX: The signs were all there. . . There was a red flag everywhere!

angstymdzsthoughts The way WWX sees it is like that 'face eating leopard party' meme Everyone else is just plain horrified

time-flies-by Oof 😂

angstymdzsthoughts LWJ is crying in the CR asking what he did wrong Yunmeng Jiang is ready to start a war in order to get WWX his wings back

time-flies-by Omg yesssss The Lans are all clueless and offended because they see NOTHING wrong with their traditions.

angstymdzsthoughts Someone tries to put it in perspective for them. "How would you react if your spouse cut off your hands?" But the Lans dont get it and just dig their hole deeper. "Thats ridiculous! You Need hands! Wings are in no way a necessity."

time-flies-by Aish 😓

time-flies-by Yeah no, the Jiangs are definitely cutting all ties with the Lan after that.

angstymdzsthoughts The Lans argue that wings do nothing but make someone fickle and reckless and arrogant. They Need to be earth bound so they can learn stability and humbleness ... Oh my god... Horrible thought

time-flies-by Do tell

angstymdzsthoughts Some children of grounded spouses end up with wings too But they get them cut off when they are younger Should it be LXC or LWJ who use to have wings?

angstymdzsthoughts Spend their entire adolescence being ashamed of the wings and eagerly waiting for the day they can be removed

time-flies-by Oooh maybe LXC?

angstymdzsthoughts The most recent wings added are a pair of small white ones maybe half the size of WWXs and the sight of them make him run out because he may be sick

time-flies-by Oh god, what if there’s like, a whole room just full of children’s wings.

Angstymdzsthoughts Of course the Lans would keep them Ohhh WWX hears people talking about the grounding ceremony that will follow the honeymoon and has no idea what their all talking about He asks and the Lans explain that it's a sacred ceremony between spouses that truly binds the new spouse to the Lan family WWX is like- oh wow that sounds really great! Like a big 'welcome to the family'!

time-flies-by Oh no that make it worse! WWX is super excited for the ceremony. He’s like hyping himself up nonstop.

angstymdzsthoughts Oh with the Lan members with wings- they normally have a form of the grounding ceremony when they get their courtesy name and become a Real Lan. Lose your wings and get a name Oh my gooood WWX and LWJ go to bed that night talking about how the bonding ceremony will be tomorrow morning and LWJ assures him that he knows WWX will be perfect

time-flies-by Oh god no, I’m just imagining a bunch of children scared but super willing to lose their wings, because they’d been taught that having them made them everything the clan was against

angstymdzsthoughts WWX, cuddling close: What if I mess up and make a fool of myself? No ones really told me what to do yet. LWJ, petting WWXs wings lovingly: Don't worry, I'll take care of everything Exactly

time-flies-by Oooh I just got chills again

angstymdzsthoughts Something about LWJ touching and admiring WWXs wings in this context... 😨

time-flies-by LWJ: once I get rid of these, he’ll be all mine.

angstymdzsthoughts Touching wings isn't a normal thing outside of family (given that touching in general isn't normal in Chinese culture) but WWX was always super ok with friends petting his wings. He totally offered to let LWJ touch his wings when they were teenagers after catching him admiring them

angstymdzsthoughts LWJ hadn't felt a wing since his mother died shortly after her Binding and WWXs are a really beautiful glossy black color that turns a dark, rich purple if the light hits them just right. Of course he wants to touch

time-flies-by 😥😥

angstymdzsthoughts LWJ, cautiously running one finger along the feathers: They are so big... WWX: Of course they are! My wings have to be big and strong to carry me while I fly! LWJ immediately snatching his hand back, suddenly cold at the remainder that WWX can and will fly away far, far away from him

time-flies-by LWJ is really undermining the love WWX has for him by being that concerned that he’ll leave him.

angstymdzsthoughts He got brainwashed by his clan and he saw his mothers constant attempts to escape. Everyone around him said that the only reason she was trying to leave was because of her wings. If his own mother would leave him because of wings, what would stop WWX?

angstymdzsthoughts Madam Lan got way too close to actually escaping and QHJ was pressured into finally doing the ceremony. Madam Lan didn't last long after that

time-flies-by sent a post Source (****)

angstymdzsthoughts Hahaha

angstymdzsthoughts You know what would be worse? Baby A-Yuan with wings

time-flies-by Oh noooooo

angstymdzsthoughts Like au where LWJ didn't do the binding and unbrainwashed himself Then A-Yuan is born with wings and he grows up being told he won’t be a Real Lan if he keeps them So his parents have no plans of removing them but as his naming ceremony gets closer Yuan says he Wants to get rid of them WWX is immediately packing a bag and getting him and his son the hell out of there. LWJ is right behind him with another bag

time-flies-by Oof yes I like that

time-flies-by But like what if, the day before they leave or something, A-yuan runs to the elders and tells them about what his parents plan to do, and he’s so desperate to get rid of his wings that he asks them to just do the ceremony there and then

angstymdzsthoughts AAAAAAAAAA

time-flies-by When LWJ and WWX wake, they’re so stressed cause they can’t find A-yuan, but a few minutes later he comes in all proud and wingless

angstymdzsthoughts I mean since its Maleficent au wings are apparently magic and can be put right back on but Still Horrible WWX cries LWJ is gonna fight to get his sons wings back and then get his family the hell out of there Oh my god..... LWJ walking through a room full of tiny, near identical wings looking for the little pair that he would recognize anywhere

angstymdzsthoughts Let's a few tears out when he finds them. Remembers helping WWX clean and groom them and watching while WWX taught their son to balance and fly using those wings Hates himself for not seeing what his clan was doing to LSZ and not getting them away from all of it sooner

time-flies-by Codnekaoenen perfect

time-flies-by Heartbreaking, but perfect

angstymdzsthoughts Also, if things had gone according to plan and they left before LSZ did the Binding Yuan, struggling and crying: But I won’t be a Real Lan! WWX, throwing Yuan over his shoulder to carry him mid tantrum: Then you're gonna be a Wei. Lan Zhan, would you please carry this bag? LWJ, taking the bag: Mn. Wei Yuan sounds nice.

angstymdzsthoughts Then they go to Yunmeng so LSZ can grow up in a healthier environment

time-flies-by Oh I like your version better.

angstymdzsthoughts You brought the pain, I brought a bandaid

time-flies-by Haha yes yes, thank you

angstymdzsthoughts Oof tho. LWJ finds the wings and brings them home where WWX is guarding Yuan while he sleeps. They Return the wings while Yuan sleeps and return to making plans to go to Yunmeng once Yuan wakes When he wakes up and has his wings back he bursts into tears.

angstymdzsthoughts Could be because he really missed his wings and is glad to have them back or because this means he's gonna have to go through the grounding AGAIN and it really hurt the first time and he doesn't want to go through it again. Maybe both

time-flies-by If both, then WWX and LWJ will do their best to reassure him that he won’t have to go through the grounding ever again.

angstymdzsthoughts Aww little Yuan crying so hard he can hardly breath and bringing his wings around himself so he can pet and groom them because he needs to make sure this is real and their back

angstymdzsthoughts Oof. Imagine LXC seeing this and wishing he could have kept his wings. Goes to visit his wings and knows that they are too small to fit his body now that hes an adult so he's lost his chance

time-flies-by *sigh* we really should give LXC a break.

angstymdzsthoughts Never Ok how about he gets his wings back and even tho there too small because they never got the chance to grow with him and he'll never be able to fly hes so unbelievably happy WWX and Yuan teach him how to groom his wings correctly because the only person who ever did that was his mother and he cant quite remember how to do it

time-flies-by *sniff* family bonding time

angstymdzsthoughts He starts an arrangement with Yunmeng Jiang so he can send any winged Lans to them for half the year so they can learn that having wings Isnt the worse thing in the world

time-flies-by Oooh yes yes That’s good.

#Time-flies-by #Had a great time and the story kinda got away from us to the point that we made an au of an au #Maleficent AU #Wei Wuxian #Lan Wangji #Lan Xichen #Lan Sizhui #mdzs #mo dao zu shi

[ouyangzizhensdad]

19 & 25 for salty ask (￣ε￣＠)

What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

I don’t know if I can pinpoint one thing that I hate the most (except perhaps the easy answer of, like, the fact that people cannot keep CQL stuff out of the MDZS tags).

I guess that one of them would that like people take the “there does not exist a True Reading/a Single Interpretation to a text” to the dumb extreme of like “anything goes because I just need to say that that’s how I see it 🙃 and all of our readings are all equally Valid”. Please, you still need to be able to justify and support that reading beyond “well that’s just how I prefer to think about this/that’s My Interpretation 🙃” if you want to have any credibility when you say that these readings hold as much water as readings/interpretations for which we are presented arguments supported by what can be found in the text or meta-textual engagements with the text. I couldn’t just show up to the fandom and be like “Zidian is an allegory for the fall from grace and MDZS is rooted in christian ideology, actually” with nothing to support that wild thesis and just expect people to be like “well, I guess we all have different readings of the text, uh, how valid of you.”

But honestly I am Boo Boo the Fool to expect otherwise....

How would you end MDZS/Would you change the ending of MDZS?

That’s a good question because MDZS is such a beast of a book that it’s quite hard to tie it all off and chose what note to end it on. I guess as well that with the extras we have technically “two endings” in the sense of what the novel ends on and what the last extra ends on. And, uh, I’ll probably need to unpack both so let’s get into it (only I would turn a salty ask into meta)

Last chapter: “Wangxian part III”

So after meeting MianMian, Wangxian continue to travel to a small town in their efforts to go where the chaos is. WWX is playing footsie under the table at the wine shop, holding onto LWJ’s ribbon. In contrast to this domestic scene, suddenly:

One of the few sitting at the table gloated, “I knew Jin Guangyao had to plummet sooner or later with the things he did! I’ve been waiting for this day for so long, and now he’s finally exposed, hah! One’s deeds will be paid, one way or another—what goes around always comes around!”

The last chapter directly references the prologue, which is something I personally adore in writing, this idea of taking your story full-circle. The difference, this time, is that the villain to be despised as entertainment is not longer WWX, but JGY (I could have done without WWX explicitly telling us so in the text because it is pretty clear however I also know readers miss the most obvious cues so maybe that hand-holding is deserved).

Aside from gossip about JGY, the sects, and the sealing ceremony of the coffin containing NMJ and JGY, there is a moment where an unnamed youth raises a point about the yin hufu.

Suddenly, he heard a young man’s voice, “Then is the Yin hufu really inside the coffin?”

A cloud of silence fell over the wine shop. A moment later, someone answered, “Who knows? Perhaps. What could Jin Guangyao have done with the Yin hufu except for carrying it on him?”

“But there’s no way of telling. Didn’t they say the hufu has become just a piece of scrap iron? There’s no use for it anymore.”

The boy sat alone at a table, holding a sword in his arms, “Is the coffin really firm enough? What would happen if someone wants to see if the Yin hufu is inside or not?”

Immediately, someone raised his voice, “Who’d dare?”

“QingheNieShi, GusuLanShi, and YunmengJiangShi all sent people to guard the cemetery. Who in the world would have the guts to do it?”

Everyone expressed their agreement. The boy didn’t speak up again. He took the teacup from his table and sipped, as though he gave up on his idea. Yet, his eyes hadn’t changed at all.

Wei Wuxian had seen those types of eyes on many faces. And he knew that this definitely wouldn’t be the last time he saw them.

This continues the idea that the cycle that brought about the issues and conflicts in the cultivation world that fueled the story of the novel are not likely to disappear, and that once again it is likely that the “common wisdom” of public opinion will accelerate or allow such troubles to brew. 

After they leave the wine shop, LWJ and WWX share a more domestic moment. Amongst others, they discuss the song Wangxian. Through parallel imagery, the novel also reaffirms that LWJ and WWX have become a family by mirroring one of WWX’s few memories of his parents (”Listening to his nonsense, Lan Wangji only grasped the reins of Lil’ Donkey with Wei Wuxian on it and clenched the thin rope in his palm, continuing on their way."). As well, WWX suggests they go back to the CR with a casually comment about missing tianzi xiao which is in reality prompted by the fact that he knew LWJ would be worried about his xiongzhang and shufu since one of the man in the wine shop said that LXC had looked terrible during the sealing ceremony and another commented “What would you expect? In the coffin were his two sworn brothers, while his sect’s juniors kept on running around with a fierce corpse—they even need its assistance on night-hunts! No wonder he’s in secluded cultivation so often. If Lan Wangji still doesn’t go back, I bet Lan Qiren’s gonna start cursing…”. This shows how Wangxian are taking care of one another in their own way, which is very cute. 

WWX also provides an in-universe explanation for his bad memory: 

Wei Wuxian knew that ‘for once’ referred to how his memory was good for once. He couldn’t help but smile, “Don’t always be so angry about it. It was my fault in the past, alright? Besides, my terrible memory should be accredited to my mom.”

Wei Wuxian propped his arm on Lil’ Apple’s head, spinning Chenqing in his hand, “My mom said you have to remember the things others do for you, not the things you do for others. Only when people don’t hold so much in their hearts would they finally feel free.”

And then we get the final lines of the novel:

Facing the wind, Wei Wuxian squinted at Lan Wangji’s silhouette. As he criss-crossed his legs, he shockingly found that he could somehow manage to balance himself in such an odd position on the back of Lil’ Apple.

It was only something trivial, yet he looked as if he just discovered a new and interesting occurrence. He couldn’t hold himself back from sharing this with Lan Wangji, calling, “Lan Zhan, look at me, look at me now!”

Just like before, Wei Wuxian called his name with a grin, and he looked over as well.

From then on, he could never move his eyes away again.

I am overall pretty satisfied with this ending, although I wish the last few lines had a stronger thematic resonance, but hey, it is still a romance novel at the heart of it so it also makes sense that it finishes that way. I am sure that there is a case that could be made about how the ending could have been stronger or more impactful, but I do think that it is a perfectly competent one. There are of course more things that could be discussed about how the novel ties in a lot of plot threads, but it is interesting to me to focus on what MXTX decided to show in the ultimate chapter of the novel.

Last extra: “Dream come true”

This extra is basically the equivalent of a book adding another chapter after “and they lived happily ever after” in order to show you what that happily ever after could look like for these characters. If the novel had only had the tone of this extra, it would have gotten boring pretty fast. But as it is, as an extra, it is just this little delightful piece of fluff that also gives us more backstory about WWX’s infatuation with LWJ during his first life. It is sweet to the point of cavities, but hey nothing wrong with an indulgent fanfic being stapled at the back of a story. It’s my favourite extra and I love how the audio drama gave life to it.

“Be honest about whether or not you thought about me in the same way.” In a solemn tone, he spoke, “Rejecting me like that so coldly every single time—it really made me lose face, don’t you know?”

Lan Wangji, “You can try, now, to see if I would reject you over anything.”

The sentence so suddenly struck his heart. Wei Wuxian choked, yet Lan Wangji was still as calm as ever, as though he didn’t at all realize what he just said. Wei Wuxian put his hand to his forehead, “You… Hanguang-Jun, let’s make a deal. Please warn me before you say something so romantic, or else I won’t be able to take it.”

Lan Wangji nodded, “Okay.”

Wei Wuxian, “Lan Zhan—what a person you are!”

Tens of thousands of words were left unspoken, in exchange for endless laughter and hugs.

Well that wasn’t very salty, but 🤷‍♂️

Salty asks

#salty asks #anon ask #mdzs #wangxian #Anonymous #long post

[llycaons]

YEAH episode 12!!!! I am awake and there is a LOT in this episode I want to talk about

forgot to say this last episode - wen chao calls lwj “lan zhan” what a prick he doesn’t even have the right to look at lwj ugh little pissant

sword scene!! a lot of characterization is in this section. wwx being serious and doing to right thing for the clan actually defies jc’s expectations. lwj makes no trouble but you can see his murderous stare soften into resignation and misery as soon as he loses bichen (they’ve already taken so much). jzx refuses to let go of his sword, which acts as foreshadowing for jin ling’s dockside breakdown.

mianmian is so cool. she’s so fucking cool. I wanna marry her.

wwx memorizing every single wen clan principle and also remembering all the lan principles is super underrated. yes hes not great in an academic setting but hes great at memorizing and taking in new information, not just creativity and transformation of already of existing techniques. Hes smart!

him stretching and then reciting lan clan principles is SO FUNNY timeless iconic a really wonderful example of how the principles themselves aren’t good or bad - it all depends on the people in charge

a lot of this arc (actually, all early eps) are much more painful in hindsight.

wen chao is such a sleazy straight man. in cql you get bad straight man, decent straight man (jzx), and straight man suffering from unrequited love (jc). diversity.

I missed it last time but the second that wwx touches lwj’s shoulder, wen chao whips his hand and that’s why lwj falls over and wwx falls back.

the scene with wen chao threatening wwx and wwx staring right back daring him to strike hits a lot harder when you think about how wen chao died bleeding and terrified and mutilated and wwx was the one to hunt him down.

I like the little lwj wwx jzx alliance here. first hints of jzx not being a total dick when he defends wwx.

anyway, I have no complaints about the dog. practical effects rock and I felt that wwx was afraid. god the bond that he and wen ning must feel for each other even this early, the gratitude and respect...wwx, even heavily injured, remembers his manners and bows. knowing what he know now about his phobia, this scene packs a lot more punch

does the audience’s ignorance about his particular fear make this scene less effective on a first watch? maybe

wwx actually expresses a lot of sympathy for wen qing’s situation here, despite being ripped apart by his own worst nightmare. AND he saves medicine for lwj? this boy and his big big feelings for other people :(

wen chao’s actor really nailed the “what the fuck did you just say to me” disbelieving stare

oh hey jc openly expresses concern for wwx? he masks it by being an asshole but he did bring food and so I think wwx hears him. he knows jc, a lot better than jc knows him

I saw such a fascinating post about how growing up wwx plays up his silliness around jc for various reasons and that’s part of the reason jc doesn't trust or believe him when it comes to serious decisions later on

mournful music as the disciples remember wistfully the delicious food of lan clan...lwj gets a whole reaction shot but I’m not sure what he’s expressing

I think it’s very on-brand for cql that wwx actually likes CR. he likes the food, he admires the ideals, he think it’s a beautiful and safe place and is genuinely angry and mournful when he hears it’s destroyed. except for complaining about the rules, he doesn’t have much bad to say about it even this early

in the novel it was a big thing that the food was bland and sucked and he hated the idea of being trapped there or punishes and he really went through an whole journey of learning to appreciate it. was this arc even in the novel? I don’t remember. there’s so much depth added for almost every character in this arc that I doubt it

WEN QING!!! wen qing is playing a very difficult balancing act. as a sister, she wants to keep wen ning safe, but she also wants to teach him what’s right, but he’s taking a stand and she’s struggling to maintain her authority over him (I’ve been there wen qing, it’s hard when they stop listening). as a healer, she finds it very hard to turn a blind eye to what’s happening, but she does so anyway. as a high-ranking wen clan member, she has to keep wrh happy with her by denying her involvement in the dafan mtn. situation. it can’t be easy.

the first time I was this episode, I thought wen ning was doing exercises on that rolly thing but I think he’s crushing herbs for medicine

I forgot what an important character wen ning is, for me. a developmentally disabled character with full sympathy from the narrative, portrayed in all his courage and heart. being straightforward and sticking to your strong beliefs even in the face of danger is not a weakness, it’s what makes him (and specifically him, wen qing would not have helped otherwise) the savior of the jiangs.

wwx restraining jc from acting rashly...that boy is so smart

unironically I love wang lingjiao. I just think she’s fun and evil and a good villain and her death scene is super entertaining. her actress did a great job.

MAN but wyb killed it in this scene. the subdued look of agony that gives him that glazed look in his eyes, the hand behind his back to try to keep up his appearance of control, it hurts. they’re just kids. his home is burned and his brother is gone and he’s hurting and his sword was taken away and he’s so so alone

I feel like I’ve already talked about the dynamics of the scene where wwx wants to help lwj and jc tells him not to but I must reiterate that it’s a really good simplified version of what’s different in their fundamental priorities and worldviews. jc tries to keep his head down and keep himself and wwx safe by following the rules while wwx ignores him to do what he thinks is right. jc doesn’t value what wwx finds important and wwx is willing to put himself at risk for others. and nobody else would have helped lwj. nobody.

his offer sounds kind of silly (especially with the translation using the phrase ‘piggy-back ride’) but the you can tell he means it. what an earnest question. what a sweet smile. and lwj remembered that moment for the rest of his life

‘lan wangji does not lie’ false he lies about his own health to appear strong. they have the same problems.

#cql rewatch #this was such a good episode iI wish this arc was longer #long post