#poor jin ling is trying his best and having a horrible time

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 03

(Masterpost)(Previous Episode) 

Warning: Spoilers for all 50 episodes!

 Wei Wuxian demonstrates the purple nurple technique of the Jiang Clan

Should’ve Used Trivago

The Jiang Clan’s reservation got cancelled while they were on the road, so they are going to wander around this small inn for hours being fussed about it, rather than trying another inn. Yes they say the other inns are all full but…so is this one, now. 

The Jin Clan sends an advance party to fancy up the inn for them.

Fuckboi Wei Wuxian

Wei Wuxian decides to use his considerable powers of prettiness to get them a room.  He drops some poetry on Mianmian and brazenly flirts with her before shifting to properly introducing himself and asking for a room. 

This actually works.

...until her boss shows up.

(Much much more after the cut!)

Worst Person // Best Jin

Jin ZIxuan is an ass and a snob. 

I guess we have to give him credit for having a beautiful sidekick and never hitting on her, given that his dad is a rapist and one of his half-brothers is (reputedly) a sex pest and the other half brother is (definitely) an incest perp. But I feel like it doesn’t take much to be the best Jin of his or his father’s generation.

The Jin folks are snobs and talk about how great their fancy and expensive stuff is. It’s an interesting contrast with true connoisseur Nie Huaisang, who loves everything that is fine and beautiful and can quote stacks of poetry off the top of his head, but is not even a little bit of a snob. 

This Tea Smells Like Farts

Ok, let’s talk about generation names in the Jin clan. Ru is the name for Jin Ling’s generation, hence his courtesy name Rulan. The name for the current generation is apparently Zi (子), because both Zixuan and his jerk cousin Zixun have that as their name.  Sect Leader Jin Guangshan would seem to be using the generation name Guang, but then names his son Jin Guangyao so…the whole system breaks down. 

Anyway, my point here is that even considering generation names, if I had a baby and named it Zixuan, and my sister-in-law promptly had a baby and named it Zixun, I would slap her. 

Find you a lover who does not make you feel like this 

Jin Zixuan is mildly intrigued by his betrothed, and expresses it by being rude to her in front of Wei Wuxian, starting a chain of events that will culminate with Wen Ning’s fist going all the way through Jin Zixuan’s chest.

Side Note: Look at these young Jiang Brothers and their casual shoulder hugs. Sigh.

Wei Wuxian’s Combat PlayBook

When Wei Wuxian wants to throw down, he starts with smack talk, moves along to boundary crossing, then to direct threats, and then brings out a weapon if he hasn’t won already. 

Here he starts shit with Jin Zixuan by complaining at him for taking up too much space and having too many sycophants.  Then he goes for the unwelcome shoulder touch. 

Having been sufficiently provocative to get someone to draw a sword and threaten him with physical violence, he shifts to formal verbal sparring. 

This gets the other guy to back down, because even at this age no-one actually wants to tangle with Wei Wuxian, and Wei Wuxian gets to claim the moral advantage, although he still doesn’t get to keep his hotel room. 

Actually Not A Fan of My Sister’s Betrothal

Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli have the first of many, many moments of heterosexual ineptitude together. Wei Wuxian quickly rescues them.

Hi, I’m Young Master Cockblock.

Neither of the boys understands what Yanli sees in Zixuan and neither do I, at this juncture. He does improve later after multiple beatings from Wei Wuxian.

This Is The Day Your Life Will Surely Change

Yanli’s encounter in the Inn is the first step toward the inexorable end of the three of them as a unit, although it’s still a long ways off. They are all growing up and she and Wei Wuxian are both going to fall in love at summer camp, like in a 1980s teen movie but without the virginity betting (presumably). 

Meanwhile poor Jiang Cheng is going to be swept along just trying to keep up with events, which becomes the story of his life for the next two decades.

Welcome to Transylvania

We meet Wen Ruohan. He is boring and he sucks. Also I’m summarizing the Transylvania parts out of order because they break up the rhythm of the story. And are boring and suck.

We meet Xue Yang. He seems nice.

Wen Ruohan’s living room is like a shitty nightclub where everyone is too drunk to dance except Xue Yang.

Dee Jay: Undead undead undead, Bela Lugosi’s dead

[OP can’t get a video to embed in this post with looping enabled, so the alternate version of this joke has its own post right here. That will teach OP to get fancy.]

Anyhoo

We meet Wen Qing. She is the bestest most wonderful girl in the world but this isn’t actually when we find that out. 

Right now we just find out that she is absurdly pretty, that she loves her brother deeply, and that she is helping Wen Ruohan with his “take over the world by murdering cultivators” project. OKAY, PROBLEMATIC, BUT SHE IS THE BESTEST GIRL OKAY? 

Gatekeeping

The Jiang Clan don’t get another inn but they do manage to change into immaculate white robes while they’re out on the street, so - nice work, Jiang Clan. Be free!

They get stuck outside the gate because they don’t know that the secret to getting into Cloud Recesses is to set the gate guard on fire. 

Walking Thirst Trap Hanguang-Jun

Lan Wangji shows up and everyone except Yanli, who is already in love with Sir Golden Pants, makes thirst faces at him. Including Jiang Cheng tho he will never admit it. One girl in the background is actually biting her knuckle. 

Note: Lan Wangji knows exactly how fine he is. Look at his fucking hairstyle. 

He is sixteen years old. The only person in the entire cultivation world with fancier hair is Nie Mingjue, and that’s because he indulges his dìdi’s braiding hobby. 

Wei Wuxian loudly stage whispers that LWJ is their key to getting in and LWJ is is like, not fucking likely, person I didn’t glance at yet. 

But then Wei Wuxian says a smart cultivator thing about the puppet dude, and Lan Wangji turns around and has the first of many long mutual staring sessions with this boy he totally isn’t going to like at all.

Jiang Cheng has a bad feeling about the future: a 2-frame gif

Unrelated gardening note: the red-crack puppet is more commonly grown in Gusu and Dafan, while the black-line puppet is native to Yiling

I Must Arrange a Date with this Uninteresting Boy

The rest of the evening is a series of tests that Lan Wangji puts Wei Wuxian through. Wei Wuxian doesn’t know this and Lan Wangji probably doesn’t exactly know it either. 

First he sends WWX back to town to get the invitation. Yes, go get it. Not your entourage; YOU, talky person who thinks he can manipulate me and is smart and looks...intriguing. Go find it and come back. 

When Wei Wuxian complains, Lan Wangji silences him, which is literally the most boss move he could have used on smooth talking Wei Wuxian. 

You tried, Fuckboi.

Would you like to try some more because I think I would like you to try some more

Jiang Cheng is the Better Baby Brother

Sorry, he just is. Wei Wuxian is all about being taken care of and adoring Yanli without actually doing much for her. Jiang Cheng is the one who thinks about her feelings and giving her what she needs, even to the point of arranging that wedding rehearsal dinner so she can be with her favorite brother again -- the favorite who isn’t him, much as she also loves him. 

Date Test 1: Can You Get In.

Once Wei Wuxian is definitely gone, Lan Wangji shows up again and collects the entire retinue, guaranteeing that Wei Wuxian will be stranded outside the gate when he gets back.  LWJ doesn’t wait by the gate; he goes and waits up on the roof instead of going to bed or whatever else he’s supposed to be doing. Because he already knows the route Wei Wuxian will be taking. 

Wei Wuxian passes the “get in through the wards” test with no problem besides a minor headache and bent fingers. 

Is that Xiao Zhan’s hand or did they use a double-jointed hand model?

Date Test 2: Fight Me (Lan Wangji’s Combat Playbook)

As soon as Wei Wuxian shows up on the roof, Lan Wangji picks a fight with him. 

LWJ fights all the time; he’s perfectly comfortable when he’s fighting and it’s a good venue for him to express himself. His style is graceful and aggressive. 

Attack attack attack strike a pose, vogue, you know it.  

He starts by going all in on swordplay, but that doesn’t gain him the advantage; Wei Wuxian fends him off without ever drawing his sword. Which is probably the hottest thing that has ever happened to Lan Wangji in his young life.

Do you like me better when I’m horizontal? 

Next Lan Wangji deploys the pettiness by breaking WWX’s wine. Then when Wei Wuxian starts insulting him he upgrades to next level pettiness by dropping another silence spell, this time with the added bonus of preventing WWX from drinking. 

Wei Wuxian’s Combat Playbook, Redux

Meanwhile Wei Wuxian is running his own fight routine, starting with a charm attack, which doesn’t work at all. 

Are you admiring the moon? 

He keeps trying to de-escalate for the first phase of their fight, until they reach a pause and he reflects that Lan Wangji has real skills. As soon as he makes that determination he goes on the offensive - with words. 

He very formally says he’s too busy to continue fighting, and turns away, which is a pretty solid roast when you say it to someone who’s been trying really hard to kick your ass. Then he continues defending easily until Lan Wangji uses the wine against him. 

At this point the gloves come off, with Lan Wangji lecturing Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian making ad hominem attacks, Lan Wangji forcibly shutting him up... 

...and then throwing him on the floor in front of Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen. 

Sincere Grief for the Death of our Colleague

Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen feel really bad for their disciple who has been horribly turned into an undead creature. Ha ha j/k

Date Test 3: Face the Authorities

Lan Wangji gets to pick Wei Wuxian’s punishment.  This probably won’t awaken anything in him. 

Surprise surprise, Wei Wuxian actually passes the Authority test with flying colors. Lan Qiren doesn’t like him, but listens respectfully to his thoughts about the undead cultivator. And Lan Xichen clearly does like him.

When Wei Wuxian learns that Lan Wangji was nice to his sister, his entire demeanor changes, to such an enormous degree that Lan Wangji starts to run away.

He’s not going to let this boy (who has passed all the tests oh no he passed all the tests) make out with him in front of his family like he is obviously planning. 

But once again, Wei Wuxian’s cultivation knowledge captures Lan Wangji’s attention and breaks through his reserve. 

This Hardy Boys moment is the beginning of their cultivation partnership.

Lan Wangji is brave but is extremely constrained: by the authorities in his life and by his own rigid reserve. Wei Wuxian is brave and is also free. His companionship gives Lan Wangji an opportunity to engage with a much broader range of the things that interest him than he’s ever had before. 

After Wei Wuxian has been sent to bed, Lan Wangji stands outside and -- just as WWX had suggested at the beginning of their date/fight -- admires the moon, with an expression that’s anything but upset. 

Sure, sex is cool (probably), but have you ever analyzed a walking corpse with a beautiful boy in the moonlight?

If you’ve got your true honey Life can be pretty funny If you've got money, money to burn Rooty toot toot for the moon It's the biggest star I've ever seen

The Fine-as-Hell Brothers

Alone together, Lans Xichen and Wangji talk over the various things on their minds. 

Xichen: What the fuck is up with you? ...Rooftop fights and dropping spells on boys?

Wangji: You and uncle were ignoring me so I was making my own fun

Xichen: Yeah, we are dealing with this zombie situation; shit’s going to hit the fan

Wangji: what are you going to do about it?

Xichen: fuck-all

Wangji: Well, you can rely on me

Xichen: I totally do. So how about you get to know this Wei kid, he seems like a fun ride.

Wangji: *death glare*

Xichen: You know, since Dad died you’ve become even more uptight. I wonder if I’ve been too strict with you?

Wangji: Um, you think? 3000 fucking rules, dude. Fortunately I’m not going to go off the rails and fall in love with my polar opposite and cause havoc in the cultivation world or anything like that.

Xichen: good, me neither

Outtro

Writing prompt: Lan Xichen’s secret nightly letter to his Mom’s memory or spirit (your choice), in which he confides in her about his day. May be written in flute solo form. 

(As always if you use this prompt feel free to post a link to your fic in comments!)

Soundtrack: 1. This Is The Day by The The  2.  Bela Lugosi’s Dead by Bauhaus 3. Rooty Toot Toot for the Moon, Greg Brown version 4. Madonna, Vogue

Bonus: FineAsHell-Jun

Episode 04 Restless Rewatch coming soon!

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #wangxian #chen qing ling #c-drama #the untamed spoilers #the untamed gifs #the untamed stills #my gifs #my stills #restless rewatch #restless rewatch the untamed #wei wuxian #lan xichen #lan wangji #jin zixuan #rooty toot toot for the moon #cql #bl drama #the untamed memes

[aurora077]

The Value of Recognition - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Well shit

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13934252/1/The-Value-of-Recognition

“Wei-qianbei, are you okay?” asked Lan Sizhui. Healer Zhang had been quietly filling in Second in Command Pan about what they knew so far, but the juniors had been focused on their Senior Wei and the adorable child who they couldn’t believe was actually the irascible Sect Leader Jiang. As such, they noticed when the mood on that side of the table dropped.

One minute everything was fine and he was enjoying the food and the next, Wei Wuxian’s chicken had slipped out of his chopsticks, Jingyi style, and had (luckily) landed on his bowl of rice without him noticing a thing. He’d fallen silent and seemed to be far away. None of them knew why he was reacting this way to the toddler’s innocent words.

“Who’s A-Ying?” Ouyang Zizhen whispered to Lan Jingyi.

“Beats me…”

But he remembered something and it seemed to click. “Wait.. Do you think... that it’s Wei-qianbei?” Jingyi replied, thinking of all the Wei Yings Hanguang-Jun had said since his return.

“Young Master Jiang,” said Jin Ling, also concerned about Wei Wuxian’s reaction and as straightforward as his uncle he asked, “Who is A-Ying?”

“A-Ying is A-Ying,” he chirped, “Wei-shufu said A-Ying will be fwens with A-Cheng, like A-die and Wei-shufu. But he didn’t bwing A-Ying.”

Jin Ling seemed like he’d caught on. He looked between his xiao jiujiu and Wei Wuxian with a mix of pity and sorrow.

Wei Wuxian had noticed none of this. His head was filled with white noise. Wei Changze. When did Jiang Cheng meet Wei Changze? Jiang Cheng never mentioned meeting his parents. And he himself didn’t remember ever being to Lotus Pier before Jiang Fengmian found him (though granted he did have a shitty memory). Mini Jiang Cheng said his Wei-shufu promised to bring A-Ying to play with him. Was that… Did it never happen because his parents...didn’t make it back?? Was three year old Jiang Cheng’s memory of Wei Changze the last time he ever set foot in Lotus Pier? Grief held his heart like a vice at the thought.

Wei Wuxian did not remember how long he was on the streets. He vaguely remembered being around five in the only memory he has of them that remained clear. Him, getting a little too big to ride on his father’s shoulders, but his father humoring him anyway. His mother was laughing and happy, sitting on a donkey and looking at them fondly.

His years on the street blurred together. All he knew was that his parents were on a night hunt and when they were done they would come and get him. But he waited and waited and nobody came. Eventually the food they had left him had run out and he had gotten hungry and wandered away from their camp (and later, couldn’t find his way back). He’d had to fight other children, even adults, for little scraps of food and the best places to find shelter for the next few years. And of course, the worst thing to happen to him was those feral street dogs who would chase him and bite him, especially if he’d managed to scrounge up any little food from the stuff people threw out.

(“Senior Wei.”)

When Jiang Fengmian had found him and taken him home, he was amazed at the beauty and splendor of Lotus Pier. To a nine-year old who’d been on the streets for years, he had never seen such a sight. If he had been there before, he would have surely remembered it! He could only conclude that he hadn’t gotten the chance to visit Lotus Pier. He didn’t recognise Jiang Cheng when he met him as a child and Jiang Fengmian had only said that this would be his home now. He hadn’t asked him if he remembered him or Lotus Pier.

Wei Wuxian hadn’t gone with Jiang Fengmian because he knew him, he had gone because the man said he knew his parents and had offered him food and shelter. By then, he was old enough to know that his parents were never coming back.

My god, his parents. When was the last time he thought about his parents? He’d told Jiang Cheng to leave the past in the past. The bitterness and the pain. He’d wanted them both to move forward and live happily. But now he was staring the past in the face, forced to confront things he had buried. Things he hadn’t even known he’d buried.

(“Master Wei?” “What’s going on with him?”)

Jiang Fengmian had rarely actually talked to him about his parents aside from the time he’d found him and told him they were his friends. He’d doted on him and treated him like he was his own son (unlike his actual son who’d gotten treated coldly many times, causing an argument between Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan every time without fail…).

It made Wei Wuxian feel terrible. He was happy that Uncle Jiang liked him and treated him well, but it felt really horrible to be the reason why Jiang Cheng’s face fell every time Wei Ying was praised and he wasn’t. He’d loved his grumpy shidi and causing him pain was the last thing he’d ever wanted to do. (Though he’d managed to do it time and time again.) But he’d meant it that day when he’d told Jiang Cheng that he didn’t want people assigning him to other households. His parents had been real people in this world. It was funny that now, it was Jiang Cheng who had to remind him of that, albeit unknowingly.

When was the last time he’d thought about his parents?

He choked back a sob.

(“Wei Wuxian!” “What is happening right now, is he okay?”)

How did he never know that he looked like his father? Who was left alive that knew his parents? Lan Qiren? (A man who disliked his mother... and hated him.)

Who was left to talk about them and honor their memory? Wei Wuxian had been so young and his memory was poor. He hardly remembered them at all. Why did nobody ever tell him he looked so much like his dad that a toddler, who surely couldn’t have interacted that much with the man, could recognise him in Wei Wuxian’s face to the point he’d thought it was him?

(“Senior Wei, can you hear me?”)

Wei Wuxian, in his obliviousness, had not even realised that was the case. Because he hadn’t known. Oh he’d heard about his mother. How she came down from Baoshan Sanren’s mountain, how she’d been so much like him. How Jiang Fengmian had loved her but she chose his father anyway. Just like Cangse Sanren, is what people said about him, once upon a time that is. Rarely anyone mentioned his father. And now, nobody mentioned them at all. Because nobody (save the uptight Lan Qiren) could even remember them. They were like footnotes in the grand scheme of his life.

His parents were footnotes in his life. He hadn’t intended to do it, but it seemed like they were part of the past he’d left behind when he told his shidi to leave it there.

He felt like weeping.

And indeed he must be, because the sound of it reached his ears. He reached a hand up to wipe his tears but.. his face was dry?

He felt a tug on his sleeve.

“Wei-shufu, A-Cheng is sorry.”

His vision cleared. Oh. He was surrounded by worried faces and a now teary-eyed baby, whose cries were a lot more silent than before but also a lot more sorrowful now.

“Wei-shufu don’t leave A-Cheng. A-Cheng will be good,” he cried, “Pwease don’t tell A-die A-Cheng was bad. A-Cheng won’t ask for A-Ying.”

Tears silently slid down the toddler’s face, and that was the impetus for his to fall too. He picked up the toddler and cuddled him, hiding his own teary face from the others in the child’s hair.

“Who said A-Cheng was bad? Was it the scary geges?” (“Hey!” protested Lan Jingyi.)

He stroked the child’s head consolingly, trying to control his own sorrow. He didn’t know what expression he had on his face when being struck with the past, but he hadn’t meant for the child to think he was to blame.

“A-Cheng didn’t do anything wrong. Wei-shufu was just missing his family.”

(Lan Sizhui gasped. It seemed like he too realised what was going on. He shared a look with Jin Ling. Wen Ning too had realised what was happening, and if a corpse could have cried, he would be sobbing on his friend’s behalf.)

“W..wei-shufu c..can *hic* bwing them to ‘otus Pier too,” said Xiao Cheng, sniffling.

Oh that precious little thing. “Maybe next time,” he deflected, “This time your Uncle Wei is here for you.”

He patted the child’s back. “Don’t cry now, come on, let’s finish your breakfast okay?” A-Cheng nodded. But he was quiet and let Wei Wuxian feed him the rest of his meal. Everyone else was subdued as well, each thinking that those two people never seemed to be able to escape an encounter with each other unscathed.

------

With the awkward breakfast over, Wei Wuxian had pushed his emotions aside; he’d reflect on those another time. Right now it was time to get down to business.

“Second in Command Pan, can I call you Senior Pan? That’s a bit of a mouthful isn’t it?” he quipped.

Pan An huffed but acquiesced.

“Okay so Senior Pan, Healer Zhang has briefed you already on what we know. With your sect leader currently… indisposed… Lotus Pier of course will be your responsibility and I beg your leave to help and to use the library etc as needed. It falls to you to grant us permission to stay but if we have it I promise I’m going to do everything in my power to make this right. A-Ling has a sect to run as well so the both of you can’t do everything alone. It’s going to be difficult enough to contain the news of what happened. People talk and lots of people would have seen Wen Ning bringing him in last night. The Lans have a song called Inquiry which I’m sure you’ve heard of. Lan Sizhui is proficient enough and I thought we could start our investigation by communicating with the spirit to find out what exactly it cast.”

“I admit Master Wei, I’m not pleased to have to accept your help for this. But yes you have my permission to do what it takes to break this curse, even though Sect Leader might break my legs when he... comes back,” said long suffering second in command Pan. “Why would A-Die bweak gege’s legs?” asked A-Cheng innocently. Crap.

“Uh your A-Die isn’t going to break anyone’s legs, A-Cheng,” Wei Wuxian laughed sheepishly. “Gege was just joking,” said a panicked Pan An.

Healer Zhang facepalmed. “Young Master Jiang, may I make a suggestion?” she said earnestly, seemingly invested in going along with the idea that he was in charge while his father was away. She had not, however, forgotten for a moment that this child was in fact her sect leader. He was responsible to a tee and would take Wei Wuxian’s words about being in charge to heart, even as a toddler. But he was also a child at the moment and there are some things you just don’t discuss in front of a child. Especially when it was about him. He would hear his name come up and wonder what he had done and how would they explain things to him then?

He hesitated but nodded.

“Why don’t you and your Flower-gege go with Flower-gege’s friends to do a patrol of the sect? Your Uncle Wei, Sizhui-ge, and Second-In-Command Pan have some boring adult things to talk about.”

Mini Jiang Cheng looked up at his Flower-gege who smiled encouragingly. “Okay,” he said softly, wanting to do his best while his family were away. He already messed up and made Wei-shufu sad. Maybe A-Die would give him a hug if he did a good job and didn’t cause any more trouble..

#age regression #de-aging #the untamed #the untamed fanfic #mdzs au #mdzs fic #mdzs #cql #cql fanfic #background wangxian #jiang cheng #jiang wanyin #sect leader jiang #sect leader jin #jin ling #jin rulan #lan jingyi #lan sizhui #lan yuan #ouyang zizhen #lan wangji #wei wuxian #wei ying #junior quartet #childhood memories #yunmeng bros #baby!jc #family #wei changze #the value of recognition

[robininthelabyrinth]

1/ So I was thinking what if Wen Ruohan turned out to be LSZ's biological father? It would be a very interesting concept since they are such polar opposites and it's not even impossible as all we know about his bio parents is that they are WQ's and WN's cousins and the 2 of them could've known the truth but decided to bury it forever since there's no point in burdening a child with his dead father's bloody legacy.

2/ Except somehow WR survives the sunshot campaign (I mean he's almost an immortal it's unbelievable JGY could end him so easily) and he gets the mother of all redemption arcs (because even a megalomaniac mass murder would have a reality check if his leadership led to the total annihilation of the biggest and most powerful sect in the cultivation world) and so he decides to atone for his crimes by secluding himself in a mountain and spending eternity meditating and reflecting on his mistakes

3/ Until one day he finds a badly injured LSZ and recognizes him so he nurses him back to health but refuses to tell him anything about himself and LSZ being a human ray of sunshine doesn't mind it and even feels sorry for this mysterious hermit so he keeps visiting him from time to time (always alone cuz WR tells him he doesn't like people) and WR grows very fond of him because he's such a sweetheart and starts teaching him some secret QishanWen techniques and doting on him...etc and LSZ keeps telling him stories about his parents and how great they are and how much he looks up to them and all the milestones of his life WR could never be a part of cuz he was a horrible father, sect leader, and human overall (ouch!)

4/ And they have this mentor/student relationship with LSZ never asking WR questions about his past for a couple years until WN figures the whole thing out and tells LSZ the truth (out of fear WR would hurt him or manipulate him for some evil plan) and so more drama/angst happens. Basically WR paying for his crimes by an eternity of regret and atonement cuz honestly death was too easy on him

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

The old man on the mountain could never leave his cave – that was the first thing Lan Sizhui learned about him. He’d been a cultivator once, before someone tore out his dantian and crippled his meridians; far worse than merely lacking a golden core, even his former cultivation has left him – the withered, weakened state of his body is evidence enough of that, and if Lan Sizhui could see his face beneath the iron mask that always concealed it, he thought it would reflect the same.

He was very likely a prisoner.

Lan Sizhui didn’t care. The man was no threat to him – Lan Sizhui wasn’t so foolish as to think that merely lacking cultivation was sufficient to render a man not a threat, he knew very well that a tongue capable of dripping poison could do far worse than any skill at swordplay, but this man barely spoke to him. He’d helped Lan Sizhui once, after a night-hunt gone wrong: the injury hadn’t been that serious, but the man had wrapped it up quite seriously before trying to scare Lan Sizhui away, refusing all manner of reward. So naturally Lan Sizhui had returned later, trying to repay the man with food or drink or even just company, and in the end the man had begrudgingly allowed him to sit and talk.

Lan Sizhui liked talking. He wasn’t a chatterbox, like Lan Jingyi, but there was something freeing about telling someone a little about himself – nothing that could be used to harm someone. It was mostly mundane things, everyday things: how much he loved the two men who had raised him, how much they loved each other (too much, sometimes), how he was getting better at guqin, how his seasickness had yet to abate despite a great deal of practice and good-natured teasing by his peers.

Every once in a while, the man grunted out some word of advice – the one about suppressing seasickness had been exceptionally helpful, and some of the ones about cultivation were (after being carefully cleared with Wei Wuxian) surprisingly effective for all that they didn’t come from any source with which Lan Sizhui was familiar.

The man had refused to explain, shutting down like a rock not just that time but several times after.

After failing to make any dent through kindness or sincerity, Lan Sizhui took his poor big brother as a role model and opted to be mischievous and annoying; eventually, the man snapped, “If I had raised you as my son, you wouldn’t have been so insolent.”

Lan Sizhui laughed, happy to have gotten a reaction. “But you couldn’t have,” he pointed out. “You and I are no relation; I do not take you even as a teacher – we are merely strangers passing some time together.”

The man turned his head away.

After a moment, he said, voice hoarse, “What if we weren’t?”

Lan Sizhui blinked. “What do you mean?”

“You have no idea how long I’ve been here,” the man said. “And I have never told you my name. For all you know, I could be your ancestor, related by blood. What would you say to that?”

“That would be hard,” Lan Sizhui said, smiling. “I’m not even a Lan by birth, in fact; I was adopted when I was young.”

“Regardless,” the man insisted. “The world is full of strange things. What would you say if I was more than a stranger to you?”

If Lan Sizhui had been younger, as impulsive as he’d been as a teenager, he might have answered rashly; he had been quite foolish back then. As much as he loved Wen Ning now, he had very nearly harmed Jin Ling beyond all telling by blithely accepting as family the one who had killed his father, who Jin Ling had no duty to ever forgive; it was a testament to Jin Ling’s resilience and innate goodness that he had.

“I would need to know more about you,” he said honestly. “I was born into a clan that was far from the best: there were cultivators there who were cruel, who were brutal, those who were even tyrannical, murderers and torturers and rapists; it is not too little to say that some of them were irredeemably evil. Those ones, I do not accept; those ones, I cast out, cut all ties with, and will never forgive. I will not sweep their graves, I will not honor their memories. I am filial only to the fathers that raised me and taught me righteousness, to my uncle who cares for me; even if were my own blood father returned from the dead, I would ask him to account for himself before I accepted him. After all, it’s only blood, and my surname has long not been shared with him…no, I wouldn’t feel bad at all. I have all the family I require.” He laughed and shook his head. “An interesting question, if hypothetical. Why do you raise it?”

The man was silent for a long moment. “No reason,” he finally said. “No reason at all.”

#mdzs #lan sizhui #wen ruohan #my fic #my fics #I generally prefer prompts that leave me a bit more room for imagination #but hopefully you like it #it's the MDZS version of Man In the Iron Mask except without the musketeer plot #maybe that's happening off to the side #who knows? #inuyuuki

[words-writ-in-starlight]

Prompt: I feel bad for asking this but animal attack with wwx. I think you know what animal I'm talking about 🐶

Oh you’re a BASTARD, you can come sit by me.  Roughly based on a real thing I once saw a real live dumbass do.  For this H/C meme!

Wei Wuxian knows it’s ridiculous.  He does.  He’s a grown man, he fought in a war, he stood against the whole damn cultivation world with an army of the dead.  He should be past this.  He should be better than this.

He’s not.  He’s really, really not.

The kid doesn’t mean anything by it.  Fuck, he was raised by Jiang Cheng, he probably thinks that love looks like hitting below the belt.  

“Just get over yourself,” Jin Ling says without looking up from the papers he’s sorting through.  He looks tired--Wei Wuxian thought so when he first came to Koi Tower yesterday, and he knows Jin Ling worked late into the night.  He’d meant to help, today, for all Jin Ling’s skepticism--Wei Wuxian pointed out dryly that he was da-shixiong of a whole sect, once, and can probably handle scheduling patrols without trouble--but...

“A-Ling,” Wei Wuxian says, with his best pathetic smile, and it shakes something awful on his lips, “have some pity for this poor fragile senior, hey?”  He can’t--he can’t move, he’s pressed as far back against the wall as he can manage, behind the table Jin Ling pointed him to, and he can feel his hands shake, his breath rasp in his chest, and this would normally where he makes a performance out of it, makes a joke before anyone else can get there, but the stupid twist of hurt in his gut is making it...challenging.

“She’s harmless,” Jin Ling says.  He finally glances up, reaches out to scratch his dog’s ears with ink-stained fingers.  “See, look.  Fairy, open.”  He taps her muzzle with a finger and she opens her mouth--Wei Wuxian feels a lurch of blind terror, and can’t help blurting out a frantic “Don’t” when Jin Ling puts his hand fearlessly on top of all those sharp teeth.  Jin Ling rolls his eyes at him and takes his hand back, showing off the front and back as if to say see, all fine.

Wei Wuxian, actually, cannot see.  He’s pretty sure he’s about to gasp himself unconscious, actually.  Black dots speckle the edges of his vision, and there’s a roaring in his ears, and then, gods, and then Jin Ling is coming closer, and for some forsaken reason he is bringing the dog with him.

“Here,” Jin Ling says, and grabs Wei Wuxian by the wrist and drags his arm away from his chest.  And Wei Wuxian lets him, because if he tries to run, the shop owner will be angry, because if he fights back, he will hurt someone, because if he moves, he will never stop running.

He wishes Lan Zhan was here.

He thinks Jin Ling says “It’s fine, don’t be so dramatic,” but he can’t really hear him, he can only hear his own desperate breaths and a clutter of voices snarling out of the past and someone saying “Please, please, don’t, don’t--”

Fairy’s teeth are hard, cold points against his hand, pressure on the top and bottom of his palm, and--

Wei Wuxian’s self-control comes to a sudden, brutal end, and he yanks his hand back.

It’s not the dog’s fault--Wei Wuxian isn’t a fool, and he knows, he knows that holding still is the safest choice, he knows how dogs work, but he just can’t--he can’t do anything else.  And she’s well-trained, is the thing, with orders to hold his hand in her mouth, and he’s trying to get away, and--

He has a moment of clarity, as her teeth piece the skin and sink into the muscle of his palm, that he’s going to feel horribly guilty for this later.

Her teeth are gone almost as soon as the pain registers, and there’s chaos, rippling around him like standing in a gale wind, but Wei Wuxian has barely managed to pull his hand back into his chest before Jin Ling is in front of him with a frantic look on his face.

“I’m fine,” Wei Wuxian forces out, and tries for a smile.

“Wei-qianbei, you’re bleeding!” Jin Ling says, and oh, the kid must be really scared, he only gets civil with Wei Wuxian when something is terribly wrong.  “She didn’t mean to--someone get a doctor!”

“I’m fine,” Wei Wuxian repeats.  He blinks hard a few times, glances around the room, and Jin Ling must have send Fairy away at once, because there’s no sign of her save for the thundering of Wei Wuxian’s heart, and the teeth marks in his hand.  “I don’t need a doctor,” he says automatically, and forces himself to look at his hand.

It’s not so bad, really.  There’s one puncture where one of Fairy’s bottom teeth pierced the meat of his palm, below his thumb, and a matching one that seems to have glanced off the bone on top, with shallower indentations that don’t quite break skin.  But Wei Wuxian closes his shaking hand into a fist, ignores the burst of pain and the rush of blood and Jin Ling’s outraged squawk of fear, and his hand moves as smoothly as ever.

“Don’t do that, dajiu,” Jin Ling snarls, and grabs Wei Wuxian’s wrist again, hovers nervously over his fingers as if considering forcing them flat to get a better look at the injury.  “What if--I didn’t--why did you move?”

Wei Wuxian is--tired.  His hand is bright with pain, and his head aches, his chest heavy with the memory of old fear and new hurt, and he says, “You’ve spent too much time with Jiang Cheng.”  He musters what he thinks is a much better smile, because Jin Ling is kneeling in front of him and getting blood on his golden sleeve, with a scowl on his face and a trembling lip.  It’s a ridiculous amount of fuss over a scratched hand and an old fear.  “Hey, let me go, what am I, your prisoner?”

Jin Ling lets go like he’s been burned.  “I--I didn’t mean to--”

“It’s okay,” Wei Wuxian says, and his uninjured hand is still trembling but he reaches out anyway to stroke Jin Ling’s hair.  “It’s okay.  Don’t--don’t punish your dog, okay?  I just won’t--”

“I’ll put Fairy in the kennels when you come visit,” Jin Ling says, sharp and angry and definitely not leaning into Wei Wuxian’s hand.  “Don’t be stupid.  I shouldn’t have--come on.”  He shakes Wei Wuxian off and jumps to his feet, brushing at his robes irritably, and then he pulls Wei Wuxian upright with a kind of care that he would never admit to.  “I’ll get someone to look at your hand.”

“Okay, A-Ling,” Wei Wuxian says, and lets Jin Ling pull his uninjured arm over his shoulders, although he can feel long habit wrestling down the shaking and the sickness so that he stands steady on both feet.  “If you want.”

#the untamed #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #jin ling #wei wuxian #starlight writes stuff #ask meme #fic meme #i did actually see someone try to pull this! except that the real life thing i saw was between two eleven-year-olds #and an adult saw what was happening and foresaw this EXACT outcome and interceded and lectured the dog owning child about it #jin ling has no malice in his heart! he doesn't mean to do harm here! he just doesn't have the emotional tools to handle this #because jiang cheng doesn't! and jgy didn't! and therefore no one taught this kid about how sometimes you change your behavior to protect o #*protect others #to jin ling making someone face their fear should fix everything! jiang cheng never had an emotion he didn't try to fight to the death! #so obviously this should be the same! #but it just doesn't really work like that and he's just not equipped for this turn of events #wwx is fine after some medical care and some very determined hovering from lwj and this is an informative learning experience for jl #other than the obvious guilt and emotional distress jl's biggest problem is that sizhui gives him Disappointed Eyes after hearing about it #a queue we will keep and our honor someday avenge #Anonymous #asked and answered

[crossdressingdeath]

Okay I’ve had a very long day and people are being super defensive of JC on my dash so uh. I’m gonna talk shit about him for a bit. Because it’ll make me feel better. And I don’t want anyone arguing with me about this so I’ll put it behind a cut and if you don’t want to read someone talking shit about JC in a super unstructured manner then... don’t click read more, I guess? 

So here’s one thing, to start. In The Untamed specifically, I can argue with near-absolute certainty that JC killed WWX. LWJ had him, and that guy is insanely strong; I don’t doubt for a second he could’ve pulled WWX up if he’d been given the chance. Maybe JC didn’t put a blade through WWX’s heart himself, but if he had stayed out of it WWX probably would’ve lived. I don’t know how long he would’ve lived, and I doubt he would’ve thanked LWJ for saving him, but he probably wouldn’t have died on that cliff. Hell, killing him quickly might have been a kindness; I’m not an expert on how far you have to fall to die instantly on impact and I don’t know how high that cliff was, but depending on how he landed and if he bounced off anything on the way down it’s possible (though maybe not likely) that WWX wouldn’t have died right away. If I had to choose between a quick death via a blade through a vital part or a more lasting death via serious internal damage from a very long fall... Yeah, I’d take the stabbing. Obviously I’m not saying that not being able to go through with killing his brother makes JC a bad person; I’m just saying that when his choices were doing nothing (which, reminder, here means letting LWJ pull WWX up (or at least try to)), helping LWJ save his brother, finishing WWX off quickly (JC is trained in combat, I’m sure he knows where to stab for the most merciful death possible under those circumstances), or letting WWX fall to his death... I just find it interesting that JC chose the latter.

Hell, even before that, if JC had done something sooner a whole lot of pain could’ve been avoided. (We’re out of the Untamed-exclusive stuff, by the way.) Now, I get that as a very new sect leader of a sect that was almost obliterated JC’s position is... precarious, to say the least. However! An awkward position doesn’t automatically mean he can pretty much abandon his brother! That is not how familial ties work! Especially when he never takes WWX’s position (which was equally precarious if not more so) into account while talking about how WWX abandoned him.

Put yourself in JC’s shoes for a moment, here. Most of your family is dead. Your brother, you know, was thrown into a hell pit and hasn’t been seen for three months. Then, joy of joys, you find him again! Except now your ever-cheerful, ever-kindhearted brother can raise the dead and, oh yeah, has spent all his time since escaping the hell pit that no one survives torturing people to death with demonic cultivation. What do you do in this situation? I’m fairly sure your answer was not “Throw him on the front lines as your most valuable weapon without giving him so much as a chance to come to terms with all the horrible things that have clearly happened to him”. Yes, yes, they were in the middle of war, but you don’t get to throw your very obviously messed up brother onto the front lines and then be shocked when there are serious consequences for doing that.

Also, going back to positions: People talk a lot about how JC’s position was so difficult, and I’m not saying it wasn’t, but... here’s the thing. WWX’s position was so much worse. JC is the sect leader of an old and powerful sect. The Jiangs might have lost a great deal, but there are still alliances he could call on, favours he could probably cash in, treasures reclaimed from the Wens he could use... He’s not exactly helpless. He has to be careful, but he’s not entirely defenseless. Meanwhile, WWX is the incredibly powerful demonic cultivator with a dangerous weapon everyone wants to get their hands on and a brother he’s known to have a somewhat strained relationship with. We see in canon that the sects are actively hunting for a chance to get their teeth into him after the Sunshot Campaign wraps up. All WWX has is his own power and JC’s support. I keep coming back to what JGY says at the temple, about how JC made WWX an easy target by making it obvious their relationship was rocky, and... he’s right. I doubt JC intended to do it, but he made it very easy for the sects to split WWX off from him. And while JC was still a sect leader and largely untouchable, WWX was infinitely more vulnerable. Again, I doubt he meant to paint a target on his brother’s back, but the fact that he missed it in favour of getting pissy about WWX being better than him yet again says something about him.

The fact that he says there’s nothing he can do after WWX absconds with the Wen remnants says... something else. Now, I’m terrible with politics; while he definitely should have supported his brother in a perfect world, with a sect to look after and JGS hunting for weak points I genuinely don’t know if he could have at that point. (Again, I really do think he should’ve tried to step in before things got to this point, but... well, he didn’t. No use crying over spilled milk and all that.) So okay, he couldn’t do anything. I’ll take him at his word; if nothing else, I can believe he was too bad with both politics and people and too inexperienced to find a way to step in. But he then takes his brother’s request to remove him from the Jiang sect to avoid any trouble coming to their doorstep and goes off and tells the sects that his brother is a traitor. Let me put that another way. He tells the people who are looking for an excuse to murder his brother and take his writings and inventions for themselves that his brother has betrayed them. I think we have reached the point where malice and stupidity become impossible to tell apart. Honestly, I can only see two possible thought processes for this: Either he actually wants to bring the sects down on WWX’s heads (unlikely) or he’s so terrible at politics that he genuinely didn’t realize what the logical result of his words would be (more likely, but means his parents did a terrible job of teaching him how to be a sect leader). Although, given he apparently spent enough of the 13 years between WWX’s death and resurrection spending so much time torturing demonic cultivators to death because either he thought they might be WWX or they just reminded him of him that most of the citizens in his territory are too scared to go to Lotus Pier for help unless they’re in imminent life-threatening danger I don’t think you can argue he was a good sect leader by any stretch...

Oh! Speaking of parents and teaching: Jin Ling. Now, part of this might be a cultural thing that I’m not familiar with, but JC is an absolutely god-awful guardian. Pretty much all he does is insult JL, belittle him, or threaten him. Yeah, he cares in his own way, but take it from me: When your parents (or uncle, in this case) spend most of their time insulting you but also keep you safe from any external danger and do their best to help you grow, you don’t end up a happy, well-adjusted adult; you end up miserable and confused because you can’t hate or like the person raising you and get stuck between love and resentment. JL is clearly desperate for affection, but he can’t admit that to anyone. It’s no surprise he mourns for JGY so deeply even after everything; the guy was pretty much the only one in the poor kid’s life to treat him with open, honest affection before he met WWX! The comparison between him and Sizhui (as the only other child raised by the main cast) is striking; even though LWJ seems like he should be just as bad a parent, he raises Sizhui with love and kindness, and so did WWX before him. And the result is... so very different. Sizhui is the very goodest of boys and I love him with all my heart. Anyway, it’s no wonder JL gravitates towards WWX and defends him once he’s gotten past his initial reaction of stabbing the guy; WWX is so open and explicit with his affection! Is he a perfect parent? No, probably not. But he focuses more on making it clear to his army of juniors that he loves them and respects them as people and wants them to be happy with where they end up in life than he does on making them fit his image of what they should be. Of course someone who’d be raised with JC copying his mother and constantly getting on their case about not being good enough would gravitate towards someone like that.

Okay, this is getting long. Last point: WWX has to put in so much emotional labour in their relationship even before everything goes tits up? The best example for me is the scene where WWX promises they’ll be together forever, Twin Heroes of Yunmeng, the huge promise that both JC and an annoyingly large portion of the audience think he should’ve kept no matter what. Yeah, out of context it’s very sweet, but in context? WWX has just barely recovered from the fight with the Xuanwu. He’s been conscious for... maybe an hour, at most? He nearly died. And yet he has to drag himself out of bed to chase JC through Lotus Pier to comfort him because JFM was paying more attention to WWX. Who, again, almost died. JC is so busy being pissy about this that he forces his brother, still recovering, to chase him through Lotus Pier to comfort him for something their parents did. Most of the time, JC has a right to be upset that JFM so obviously prefers WWX. Looking in from the outside the situation is clearly more complicated than he paints it, but I don’t blame him for not seeing how bad things are for the rest of the family. ...I know that sounds sarcastic, but I do mean it. His siblings are very good at hiding how badly their family situation has hurt them. Anyway, though, on this one occasion I am entirely on JFM’s side here. WWX threw himself into danger so JC wouldn’t have to go to the indoctrination camp alone even though he didn’t have to, then some time later JC returns alone and informs him that WWX is trapped in a cave with the Xuanwu of Slaughter, then when JFM finally manages to reach him the Xuanwu is dead and WWX is all but dead. I 100% do not blame him for focusing on WWX in this situation! He did something fully-grown cultivators with far more experience failed at and almost died in the process! Given JC must be... what, 16 at the youngest, probably older by this point? I would expect him to grasp that. He’s old enough to have developed empathy. Hell, he should be right there with his father and sister, proud of WWX’s accomplishments and relieved to see him awake and recovering. Instead, WWX has to drag himself through Lotus Pier and swear to stay by JC’s side for the rest of their lives just to get him to stop sulking because WWX was better than him yet again.

...Yeah, as you might have grasped, I don’t think WWX had any obligation to uphold that promise. He shouldn’t have been expected to be tied to Lotus Pier by a vow he made as a teenager to get his brother to cheer up. In fact, a very large part of me wishes he’d broken it sooner. Comparing the way JC treats him to the way the Wens and LWJ treat him (setting aside that those are of course very different kinds of love) I can’t help but think things might have gone infinitely better for him if he’d found a different family a lot earlier.

#anyway no discourse on this post pls #this is just me screaming into the void about my deepseated dislike of all this stuff acting like he's a flawless character #grapehate

[momentsofweakness]

Prompt # 17 - My Love, A Legacy

Rated: Teen

Prompt: Wrongfully Accused

Warnings: discussion of rape (detailed warning after the cut)

Characters: Jin Ling, cameos by Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen

Pairings: Lan Sizhui/Jin Ling

Summary: “Does anyone know? Your friends, a servant that might have seen you together… Wei Wuxian?”

Keeping their relationship a secret is going to be the biggest mistake they ever made.

Notes: I hadn't meant to do another prompt about Jin Ling so soon, but then this one just sort of popped into my head when I saw the 'wrongly accused' prompt. I like to think of this one as a sequel to the one from yesterday, occurring about 4 years after. Poor Jin Ling just can't get away from his family’s legacy of blood and betrayal.

Extended warning: The Jin council think that Jin Ling raped Sizhui (who was poisoned and is unconscious, so unable to speak for himself) do to rough but entirely consensual sex that occurred between them. During the trial Jin Ling thinks about Jin Guangshan and the frequent acts of rape he committed while Sect Leader. There is no rape shown in the fic at all.

My Love, A Legacy

“It’s not what you think!” Jin Ling cried, hands gripping the sides of his head as he tried to stay calm. But how could he? He thinks that right now he would rather be back in that cursed temple with his uncle’s deadly guqin string around his neck than to be here, facing these accusations.

It had been barely two days since Lan Sizhui had been found lying near death in the hallway outside the guest quarters. Two days since he called out Jin Ling’s name before slipping into a coma that he had yet to wake from. 

“There are bruises to show what you did!” One councilman shouted. “Bite marks still on his body! We know the signs! We’ve seen it before!”

Seen it and did nothing, Jin Ling wanted to shout. They had all seen the girls that left his grandfather’s rooms on nights when he had no whores to fill his bed. Jin Ling had heard stories - older servants whispering when they thought no one was near, other disciples that had heard from their parents - of girls who would leave his grandfather’s rooms crying, trying to hold up clothes that were bloody and torn.

Everyone had known and done nothing to stop it.

He thinks - a thought that he shoves way down deep, refuses to let slip past his tongue - that if Sizhui had been a woman they might have all turned a blind eye once more.

Instead the news of the doctor’s examination had spread through the palace like wildfire. Rumors of bruises and bite marks, of other signs that the perfect, upstanding first disciple of Gusu Lan had been brutally attacked and that he had accused Sect Leader Jin before succumbing to some sort of poison. Obviously given to him to cover up the sect leader’s terrible crime.

It was easy to believe because they had seen it all before. Brutality, violence, betrayal. It was the Jin legacy.

They hadn’t even let Jin Ling see Sizhui before Hanguang-jun and Wei Wuxian had come to take him away. They had whisked him off in the night, bringing him back to Cloud Recesses for medical care, while Jin Ling had sat in his room under guard, his sword confiscated and his spiritual power locked away.

He had let them take his power, submitting to it readily because he thought it would help prove his innocence. If he had hurt Sizhui wouldn’t he try to hide it? Wouldn’t he try to flee once he was caught?

But cooperating had proved nothing and now he was here, facing the council and the other sect leaders, on trial for the rape and attempted murder of the man he loves.

“What do you mean ‘love’?” His uncle had demanded when the council had finally allowed the Jiang sect leader into Jin Ling’s room this morning.

“What do you think it means, Uncle? Love. I love him. I’ve loved him for a long time.” He had been picking pieces of porcelain out of his hand (it’s not his fault his uncle had handed him a cup of tea before telling him that Sizhui was already gone) and was trying very hard not to roll his eyes like a spoiled teenager. Five years as sect leader had cooled his temper, but his uncle seemed to bring out the worst in him.

“I know you have never been in love, Uncle, but that doesn’t mean you don’t know what it is.”

Jiang Cheng had raised his hand, Zidian glinting in the light of the morning sun, but he had not struck him. He never had, save for a cuff upside the head a time or two when he was young and brash. Jin Ling knew he deserved those; he had been a brat, spoiled by his uncles out of guilt (but, as it turned out, for completely different reasons).

He’s not a child any longer though, the weight of his sect and his uncle's betrayal and death breaking the worst of his juvenile behavior. He didn’t want to fight with the only family he had left.

“I love him, Uncle. More than I have ever loved anything.” He had finished picking the shards of porcelain out of his skin and chose to believe that the tears slipping from his eyes were from the rough way his uncle grabbed his hand and started wrapping a bandage around the bleeding palm.

“Why didn’t you say anything? Did you think I would judge you?” Jiang Cheng had a way of making everything sound like an accusation.

Jin Ling had only shook his head and tried to wipe the tears away with his uninjured hand. “Not because… I know you wouldn’t care that he was a man. But he’ll be sect leader of Gusu Lan one day. Everyone knows Zewu-jun will name him his heir. Two sect leaders can’t marry. We know that.”

His uncle had sighed and clenched his fists, as if holding himself back from releasing Zidian and being done with all of this. But they both knew they would never make it out of Jinlintai, and running would only make them assume he was guilty.

“Does anyone know? Your friends, a servant that might have seen you together… Wei Wuxian?”

Jin Ling shook his head and tried no to feel guilty at the mention of his uncle’s once sworn brother. It’s true that there were things that Jin Ling felt he could tell Wei Wuxian that he would never be able to say to his uncle, but this they had kept secret from everyone.

“We were too afraid of what would happen if anyone found out. We never even told Jingyi or Zizhen. They’re horrible gossips.” He tried to smile at the thought of his friends, but it was a sour thing. Would they think he was lying too? He’s not sure if he could bear it, if his best friends thought he was capable of… that.

His friends are not here now. Jingyi had not come with Wei Wuxian and Hanguang-jun to collect Sizhui, and the council had forbidden anyone not of the four major sects to attend the trial, for propriety. So now he was all alone, facing the other sect leaders while Sizhui lay, possibly dying, far out of Jin Ling’s reach.

Even Zewu-jun had come out of seclusion when he heard of what had happened to his nephew. The Lan sect leader stood before Jin Ling, alongside Sect Leader Nei and Jiang Cheng, his expression unreadable. 

Jin Ling wonders if it’s really him that Zewu-jun is seeing, or his uncle who had never had a chance to stand trial for his crimes; for his betrayal. Did Lan sect leader, who had once seemed so serene, so gentle, see anything other than the gold embroidered peonies, the vermilion mark?

“Yes, there are bruises,” Jin Ling admits, voice as steady as he can make it. “Yes, there are bite marks. I know that, and I admit that I did it, but-”

“So you admit to raping the boy!” Another councilman accuses, wagging his finger at Jin Ling like he’s a naughty schoolboy caught ripping pages from a book.

“No, I didn’t rape him! I would never hurt him, I love him!”

“You did hurt him! You said so yourself! Now you’re contradicting yourself. It’s all lies!”

“No!” Jin Ling wanted to scream, or maybe just cry again. Why didn’t they understand? “I mean, yes… I… I hurt him, that’s true. I bruised him, and I bit him. But it wasn’t rape! I-It was just… it was just like that, sometimes, between us. We hadn’t seen each other in months and I… sometimes I couldn’t… sometimes I lost control. But I never… I would never do anything he didn’t want! I would never force him, or-or do anything that… I wouldn’t. It wasn’t like that!”

One council member, a man who had always sided with Jin Ling in the past, always supported him and had helped him learn how to be a sect leader in those first terrible years after his uncle had died, stood and faced him now with a solemn expression. 

“You claim that you and the Lan disciple were in love, but that no one knew. You claim you hurt him, but that he wanted you to. You claim he was well when you last saw him, but a few minutes later he was dying in the hall. And the only person who can corroborate your story is lying unconscious in Cloud Recesses and may never wake. So tell me, Sect Leader Jin… what exactly is it you expect us to do?”

Jin Ling felt tears well up in his eyes again. He was surprised he had any left to give. This was all going so wrong. And the one thing he wanted more than anything else, the only thing that could possibly make any of this better… he will never have again.

They had found him guilty. He knew that. Because of his grandfather. Because of his uncle. Because of the crimes committed by his family he had been convicted of this from the moment Sizhui said his name. 

And all he wanted was to hold his lover close and never let go; bury his face in Sizhui’s neck, breath in the sandalwood and smoke smell of him and just stay there forever. But he would never see him again.

He knows that now, as the councilmen argue, as Zewu-Jun stares at him with that unreadable expression, as his uncle watches him with sorrow and anger and fear in his eyes… he is going to be punished because of his family's crimes and he won’t even get to say goodbye to the man he loves.

“I… I don’t know. I don’t know what you should do. I don’t… I’m telling the truth, I swear it, but… I can’t prove it.”

Jin Ling looked up into the crowd that had already condemned him and met Zewu-jun’s eyes for the first time. “Someone tried to kill Sizhui, and it wasn’t me. Please, no matter what you decide today… no matter what you do to me… don’t stop watching over him. Protect him. Please.”

The Lan sect leader said nothing as the guards escorted Jin Ling away to the dungeon deep beneath the palace.

Sitting in the dark, his golden robes now stained with dirt and other awful things, Jin Ling thought of Sizhui. Of the soft way he smiled when they walked side by side in the gardens, just close enough that their hands would brush together every so often, as if by accident. Of the way his mouth would pinch up and his eyebrows would furrow wherever Jin Ling or one of their friends put themselves in danger.

He thought of the way Sizhui had held him close and run his hands through his hair just two nights ago, humming softly to help Jin Ling sleep after he had begged Sizhui not to go, not yet, he just wanted a little more time.

If Sizhui woke up he would tell everyone how wrong they were. He would come to Jinlintai and march down into the dungeon himself to let Jin Ling go. And then they would be together forever, because Jin Ling didn’t care what anyone thought any more. The two of them could lead their sects and love each other, and everyone could just choke at their marriage ceremony for all he cared. If Sizhui woke up.

If Sizhui never woke up, if he stayed in the coma for the rest of his life… if he died… Jin Ling would die too, down here in this dark, dirty place.

And maybe he deserved it. Maybe the council and the other sect leaders were right to blame Jin Ling. Maybe they were right to lock him up. The Jin’s had a habit of destroying everything they touched.

Sizhui never would have gotten hurt if he hadn’t been here. If he hadn’t left his sect to indulge Jin Ling’s need to have him close for just one night. If he hadn’t loved Jin Ling enough to come to him time and time again despite them both knowing their love was not allowed.

Maybe, if Jin Ling died down here, Sizhui would be the last person ever harmed because of the Jin sect and their legacy that was drenched in blood.

#the untamed #whumptober2020 #no.17 #theme: wrongfully accused #fandom: the untamed #medium: fic #jin ling #jin lin/lan sizhui