#wei wuxian's ghost is always in there let's be real

[least-carpet]

timeskip zhancheng questions I am currently tormented by

Purging my zhancheng thoughts on tumblr because I refuse to start another WIP. You can't get me, zhancheng timeskip thoughts!!

Lan Wangji:

If zhancheng happens during the timeskip, do Lan Wangji's ideas about Jiang Cheng change in proximity to Jiang Cheng?

If so, how do those changes affect him? (Maturity, political awareness, etc.?)

If not, what does that illustrate about him? (Cruelty, desire to hold a grudge, etc.) How do his conceptions of punishment and his dislike or contempt for Jiang Cheng interact with his canonical sexual sadism (value-neutral) in this relationship?

Does any of this affect how Lan Wangji sees himself, his own sexuality, etc. outside of the (slightly safer) container of "great passion for the singular love of my life?"

Can he recognize the ways in which Wei Wuxian harmed Jiang Cheng? (The lying and resulting distance, leaving the sect, killing his brother-in-law, etc. are definitely harmful to Jiang Cheng, among other people, regardless of Wei Wuxian's intentions.) If so, how does that affect how he understands both of them? If not, what does the resistance to seeing and understanding that tell us about him?

Jiang Cheng:

In this scenario, does Jiang Cheng recognize that he has created a situation that mirrors his treatment from his father and makes explicit the dynamic of his parents' marriage (by choosing a partner that is in love with an idealized dead past love, he's chosen a partner who will devalue him the way his father devalued his mother, but explicitly or aggressively rather than passively through avoidance). DOES HE DOES HE DOES H—

I think this is another Jiang Cheng self-harms through sex headcanon for me. Like it's also a bid for connection (I simply do not see canon era Jiang Cheng as particularly good at no-strings-attached sex) but not a healthy one; he has too much grief, self-hatred, and blame. In some ways, maybe banging someone who is openly contemptuous of him is a relief? He can externalize those impulses a bit? This at least starts off as projection4projection with Wei Wuxian's ghost firmly between them in an extremely emotionally rancid threesome.

Also if Jiang Cheng immediately gets dumped for Wei Wuxian upon resurrection, it makes him worse. Literally THEE abandonment trigger. You think he had divorced vibes before? Don't even know what this would look like. Obviously he's still holding it down for Jin Ling but at what cost. On the other hand, if they work something out, in which he is valued as highly as Wei Wuxian, in which he is irreplaceable... big catharsis, so tasty... HIGH RISK HIGH REWARD...

IMO this would have to be a zhanchengxian ending for a good ending because I think it would also fuck Wei Wuxian up to find out that he'd once again inadvertently replaced Jiang Cheng in someone's affections. Childhood wounds for everyone! I also want Wei Wuxian to come out of this... not more damaged than he already is...

Zhancheng, zhanchengxian, or zhancheng-adjacent timeskip fics that have contributed to my brainworms under the cut. Please check the actual tags/warnings on the fics themselves because I'm not being, uh, comprehensive about it.

Delight in Misery by @robininthelabyrinth (not rated, zhancheng are banging platonically and are essentially life partners, eventual actually romantic wangxian is planned I think, tasty to me because zhancheng get to be happy together during the timeskip and also because of a really fun canon divergence... they have kids to raise and animals around them... they aren't so lonely!)

venom by @alessandriana (M, zhancheng, past one-sided chengxian and wangxian, delightful proxyfucking, involuntary intimacy, and Fraught Life-Saving)

Tempered by theraputic_dose (E, zhanchengxian, post-canon with some tasty timeskip stuff, great balance of making Jiang Cheng Suffer His Feelings without softening his temper or his tongue too much)

don't want no other shade of blue but you by sofkoo (M, chengxian, zhancheng, endgame zhanchengxian, omegaverse, Wei Wuxian has an incest kink and an impulse control problem, Lan Wangji is violently introduced to nuance, and Jiang Cheng accidentally like 6 whole children)

Lost by NotActuallyaSpider (M, zhancheng, chengxian, zhanchengxian, Lan Wangji is a—somewhat OOC, it must be said—cad!!, and he eats so much crow about it, if this were SGA the lemon chicken rating would be OFF THE CHARTS, goes so hard on the Jiang Cheng Abandoned Wife Angst Vortex, for real)

all the time in the world (& i'll spend it loving you) by @asideoftrashplease (E, chengxian, zhancheng, zhanchengxian, a rather more light-hearted palate-cleanser, post-canon but with some timeskip stuff)

#zhancheng #zhanchengxian #wei wuxian's ghost is always in there let's be real #jiang cheng #lan wangji #wei wuxian #mdzs + #reclist #least-carpet thoughts

[mxtxfanatic]

I find it interesting what fandom (mis)conceptions about mxtx’s main couples’ sex lives and preferences she decides to address and how they always come up in the extras. For instance:

—In svsss, there’s the idea that because Bingqiu get together in the end, then Shen Qingqiu “must” have felt some latent romantic (and sexual) feelings for Luo Binghe. Except then we get the Regret of Chunshan and Song of Bingqiu extra, and Shen Qingqiu shows particular disgust at the idea that he would have ever gotten with a young Luo Binghe.

—In mdzs, there’s a lot of back and forth about Lan Wangji’s dominance and possessiveness, the extent of it, and the acceptability of it within the context of Wangxian’s relationship. Except for that, we’re given the Incense Burner extras, in which not only are we shown that the real Wangxian are bad at even faking non-consent, let alone following through with it, but they also show that 1) Wei Wuxian is actually turned on by the depths of Lan Wangji’s “dark” fantasies, particularly at how long he’s held them, and 2) Wei Wuxian’s own matching “dark” desires are revealed to be acted out. And all of this is in the safe haven of their dreams because, as previously stated, they suck at actually roleplaying them irl. On top of that, I think this neatly covers the whole “Wei Wuxian wasn’t actually gay” thing by having Wei Wuxian explicitly say that had Lan Wangji done what he had only dreamed about when they were fifteen, he wouldn’t have been an unwilling partner (but that’s a nuanced discussion for another post).

—In tgcf, the biggest issue seems to be how the aphrodisiac scene and Hong’er’s presence in it should be interpreted. Now in the actual scene, Xie Lian is being tortured, but to drive the point home that that was not a scene meant to be idolized as a sexual fantasy, we get the Thousand God Cavern extra. With this, we are shown that for every dianxia statue Hua Cheng previously carved, he makes one to match. The Crown Prince Who Pleased the Gods got a young Hong Hong’er, but the aphrodisiaced statue got a Ghost King.

Not sure if these are things mxtx added for the sake of addressing fandom discourse that she knew would crop up/saw happening or if these were just things she, herself, wanted to expound upon with the extras. Either way, it provides perfect ammo against the “mxtx writes toxic couples” crowd.

#mdzs #svsss #tgcf #human metas mxtx

[sasukimimochi]

My song recommendation.

✦ Softer Than Clouds ✦

- (Set in Ghost of Mine Universe)

Clouds drifted through the twilight sky, stars twinkling and falling in the distance while little shimmers of ice crystals danced around the clouds at his feet. Lan Zhan watched with a gentle set to his expression, glimmers of light reflecting over the winter skies of his eyes.

He didn’t typically walk about in his bare feet, but he found the clouds beneath them comforting and pleasant; he imagined this is what walking on water might feel like. He always wanted to feel the clouds, and in this moment he wished he only had some little rabbits to hold.

As if answering his wish, he smiled subtly upon seeing pink and white ears stand up among the banks of shimmering vapor. Once he settled down so the rabbits could hop up to him, he lifted them into his arms so he could pet them, one by one.

He hummed quietly in thought, wondering where the two rabbits Wei Ying gave him were. He hoped they were alright, surely they could use a snack about now.

Wei Ying…

Then, in a small moment of clarity, he stopped. He was dreaming, wasn’t he?

He lifted his head and checked his surroundings. Of course. This environment wasn’t Earth despite how real it felt. It was just that in a dream, it was easy to forget that you weren’t awake.

Now that he was lucid dreaming however, he closed his eyes briefly, thinking about what he would like to see.

“Lan Zhan…”

He opened his eyes and spread his arms, the ethereal figure drifting down to be caught comfortably within his embrace. But, his weight was suddenly too much for the clouds, and they fell through. Trails of vapor whirled around their bodies as they plummeted, and while the drop in his stomach had initially startled him, he held the other’s soft form firmly so as to not lose him in the process of falling.

“Wei Ying, I have you!”

He felt the other hold onto him in response, burying closer as his hair flowed and whipped in the wind. Clouds that looked like Contrails came to life around them as dragons, twisting and flowing around them in slow, ethereal movements. Flurries of Droplets and snowflakes flew past their faces, the little ice crystals biting at their exposed skin, though not in such a way that was painful.

Lan Zhan felt a little overwhelmed, but took a deep breath and closed his eyes once more. “Hold onto me.” The ghost’s arms tightening helped him feel at ease, despite how harrowing this might feel if he were to be awake.

His back hit something forcefully, and despite it being unpredictably forgiving he gasped, lungs filling with translucent blues and greens. Thankfully, he could still breathe despite recognizing the fluid as something not unlike water or space.

Wei Ying’s scent was subtle, pure and free of that metal tinge he had grown used to. Hints of lotus and something spiced brought his heart to flutter gently and wildly all at once as if forgetting all that had happened; the warmth and gentle feeling of his lover’s body as they floated in a sea of stars a comforting embrace.

Within the sea, whales with fins made of feathers sang their songs, the sound of the pod bringing a pleasant calm back to their surroundings.

“Wei Ying?” He called softly, only just relaxing his hold, but being careful not to let the other drift away.

 When Wei Wuxian leaned back his head, eyelashes lowered and softened in such a breathtaking and affectionate stare, Lan Zhan’s breath hitched from the love he felt.

I love you.

I love you…

Lan Zhan couldn’t help but gently bring their mouths together in a soft and gentle embrace. He wanted Wei Ying to feel just how much he loved the other. He wanted the other to hear it in the quiet timbre of his voice, to feel it beneath his hands, to see it behind his eyes alone. 

He parted their mouths slowly, bringing a hand up to cup the other’s cheek as little flickers of stardust shimmered around his fingers. He found himself letting out a small bout of quiet laughter, despite it mostly being hidden beneath Wei Ying’s.

Their foreheads came to rest together, and he let the love he felt turn the sea silver.*

✦

He gently held the other close and splayed his fingers over the subtle ridges of his spine, rubbing in slow, comforting movements. He wanted to give him all the care he needed, and right now, despite it all being a dream, it felt fulfilling.

He missed the other’s smiling voice, the mirth in his laughter.

He hoped he could manage to make the other as happy as this.

But this was just a dream in the end.

“It’s Hai Shi,” Wei Ying gently whispered, finger tracing the other’s jaw. “You have to wake up…”

Lan Zhan’s eyelashes lowered and he nodded. “Mn…but, we will be together when I wake too. I will be there for you.”

Wei Ying smiled and gently bumped their foreheads together once more for a brief respite. “I believe you.”

Lan Zhan tilted their heads once more and pressed a kiss against his lover’s lips, the feeling electrifying in his subconscious. It wasn’t the same, but he indulged in every moment nonetheless.

He resolved to give him extra kisses when he woke up, as the tingling sensation of waking trickled up his spine and bloomed into warmth.

✦

Lan Wangji’s eyes fluttered and he took in the sight of his resting, fatigued husband.

He wasn’t as bright, not as healthy, not as visible, but he was real. He was here, and while not…alive, he was here with him. He wouldn’t let him fall between his fingers again.

Lan Wangji reached over to gently pet the ghost’s cheek, watching the other breathe as if he still could do so. He wondered if it was just a phantom motion, like those with missing limbs have phantom pains… He wondered if it hurts, if only briefly.

The ghost’s eyes fluttered open, leaning into the hand gently in a silent question. “Good morning, Lan Zhan.” He still sounded so tired. Rightfully, after everything that had happened so far. 

Lan Wangji still remembered each moment of empathy like it was a memory of his own. Every pain had been overwhelming, so he couldn’t imagine how it felt for his beloved. He pushed those thoughts away and gently pressed their foreheads together like in his dream, the cooling touch chasing away the warmth of sleep. “Good morning, Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian smiled, gently nuzzling at their contact point. “You’re extra gentle this morning.” He whispered, as to not wake their son.

Lan Wangji’s eyes softened, “Wei Ying deserves comfort.” It may have been a few days since the last empathy session, but every moment between always felt too short for the poor ghost, so it was needless to say why.

“Also…I love Wei Ying.” He says even softer. “Treasure Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes shimmer as he pulls his head back slightly, a warm pink hue spreading over his cheek bones. “Lan Zhan! How shameless.” He whispered the small tease, attempting to bring back some of his face despite his blushing state. “You’ll send your husband’s heart into the clouds.”

“Since that is where you’ve sent mine, it is only fair.”

Wei Wuxian gasped, “Lan Zhan!” He laughed quietly, reaching up to hold the other’s face between his translucent palms. “I just can’t get used to that syrup you’ve gotten so good at refining.”

Lan Wangji smiled subtly, gently touching their noses together despite the current restraint. “All from Wei Ying.”

The bed dipped, and the two were temporarily distracted as their little one squirmed in between them. “Papa…” He whispered, “Can I try the syrup too?”

Wei Wuxian laughed as Lan Wangji’s ears turned a subtle pink.

Their little radish was still little, after all.

“You’re already so sweet, little radish.” Wei Wuxian offered, eyes rising in crescents as the little boy pouted at not gaining access to his papa’s apparent syrup reserves. “I’m sure Lan Zhan can give you something sweet if you train hard.”

Lan Sizhui perked up and looked back to Lan Wangji for confirmation, who in this surreal moment nodded and held his family close. “I will sneak something in.” He whispered, despite knowing no one was sleeping any longer. “If your uncle doesn’t first.”

The sound of his family’s laughter brought a warmth to his chest, something softer than clouds.

-

*A/N: there's a story about a sea at the edge of the world, between this one and the next, (idk the details don't quote me) that is covered in blossoms and tastes sweet. So by saying the sea turned silver, basically it was a roundabout way of saying they were being so sweet that the sea turned into the silver sea. I wonder if anyone understood this reference as it was said before i told you this in the notes? ❤

Also. Surprise! ❤  This is canon to GOM. This ficlet takes place between 22 & 23. After the fic is complete, it will be added onto the end of the ao3 as one of the bonus chapters.

Check out more art of this/other MDZS Projects on my masterpost! ❤

Everything else including all of the art versions of this will be below the reading line!

If you have a screen warmer on, like Flux or a dimmer, i recommend turning it off because it alters the look of this drawing quite a bit. It was a bit torturous tbh to draw this without it bc i have light sensitivity, which is what gave birth to the second subtler version. i actually liked it more in the end~

I drew this a bit ago and i was saving it but i wasn't quite sure where to use it yet, but upon my desire to help you guys feel a bit better during these trying times i decided to write a canon excerpt for GOM!

OK onto dream meanings ❤ feel free not to read this, i am just really into dream interpretation and i was so delighted to find that everything fit. (i wrote it before looking everything up, which could have shot me in the foot, but thankfully, it didn't!)

First section of the dream ✦- -In the spiritual realm, a cloud dream tells you something is wrong, and you're not sure what it is.

-Dreaming of the sky could indicate that you miss someone you love.

-Numerous spiritual texts have cited rabbits as a symbol of good luck. In dreams, rabbits represent fertility,

 a more successful love life, and a better future. It shows how you've improved.

Second section of the dream ✦-

-Dreaming about falling tends to signify a loss of control over an important situation.

-Dreaming of both rain and snow denotes conflicting emotions or thoughts. You might be facing a difficult decision in your waking life that has left you in confusion.

-Dreams about rain often signify positive and happy feelings about life in general.

-Dreaming of falling snow should be taken as a positive sign. This dream signifies your courage towards doing things you've always been afraid to do before.

-Although the dragon may be frightening, symbolically it represents your power for rebirth. The dragon symbolizes power, change, and spirituality, and it also symbolizes good luck, fortune, and prosperity. The dragon spirit animal can also symbolize self-love and empowerment.

Last section of the dream ✦-

-Dreaming about space means you want to learn more about the unknown and are always open to new experiences.

-Dreaming of the ocean can mean a few things. Because of its size and depth, it is often used to symbolize human emotions; the ocean reflects your emotional state because of its ever-changing nature. It might symbolize being full of deep emotions.

-Some believe whales are associated with peace, serenity, spirituality, and tranquility. The appearance of a whale in a dream can signify that everything is or will be o.k. and is often related to spiritual matters of the mind and heart.

-Related, The whale spirit symbolizes emotions and our connection to ancient wisdom. In the whale's song, an ancient echo is produced… Emotional intelligence, empathy, and sensitivity are part of the spiritual meaning of a whale dream.

-Dreaming of flapping wings can be interpreted as that you will contribute to good causes and you will act on your moral decisions. It also signifies that you will take important decisions, changes and reforms will take place in your life.

Thank you everyone for reading! I hope this brought up your mood some while you wait for the torture to end. stay strong! ಥ_ಥ ❤

Shoutout to me posting this at the witching hour.

the song!

#I hope you guys feel a bit better ❤ #Ghost of Mine #GOM #bonus half-chapter #ficlet #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #mdzs fanfiction #mdzs art #mdzs fanart #mxtx mdzs #mdzs lan wangji #mdzs wei wuxian #wei wuxian #wei ying #wwx #lan wangji #lan zhan #lwj #sketches #sketch #dream #dreaming #fic #wangxian #wwx fanart #wei wuxian fanart #lwj fanart #lan wangji fanart

[wangxianficrecs]

💙 shelter by hauntedotamatone

💙 shelter

by hauntedotamatone

T, 5k, Wangxian

Summary: “They are gone,” a low voice sounds from above him, joined by the warm weight of a hand on his back. “It’s safe now.” A-Ying carefully removes his hands from the soft fabric bunched up in his grip and proceeds to wipe away the tears and snot from his face. It’s only now that he realizes he’s smeared bright red blood all over the stranger’s nice, white robes. The thing about people in nice robes is that they don’t take kindly to dirty hands grasping at them, let alone hands dirty with blood. “S-sorry,” he says around the thick lump that still sits in his throat. “A-Ying is sorry.” The hand at his back grows stiff. “There is no need for ‘sorry’,” the stranger tells him. “Robes can be cleaned.” Kay's comments: Listed as one of those fanfics that never fail to make me bawl my eyes out. Here we have little A-Ying, during his time of the streets, escaping from dogs and running to someone for help and that someone turns out to be grown-up Wangxian, who then take care of him, treating his wounds, feeding him some proper food and comforting him and it's all very heart-breaking. Healing your inner child by taking care of your child-self, kind of. The fic takes place post-canon though and Wangxian were thrown into one of Wei Wuxian's memories. Fics that take a real look at those years that Wei Wuxian lived on the street always get me and this one is my absolute favourite. No sugar-coating and yet still so true to Wei Wuxian as a character. Excerpt: “Oh,” he says, climbing down from his perch to kneel right in front of A-Ying in the street. “Oh, little one.” He doesn’t know either of these people, but it’s been so long since anyone has spoken to him like this, since anyone has treated him like a child and not a pest. The man in front of him wears a red ribbon in his hair, just like his mother used to. Perhaps he should know better after all the time he’s spent alone at the mercy of others, but all of his carefully honed wariness and caution shatters in an instant. He crumples up, pitching forward with the single sob he hasn’t managed to hold back. A-Ying all but falls into the man’s arms, but he doesn’t truly expect to be caught until he finds himself held tight. No one has held him in a very long time. He knows that he must have been held at least once, but he can’t remember what it felt like in the slightest. “I’m scared of them too,” the man says. “But, this pretty gege in white is very good at keeping them away, they won’t come around again.”

pov wei wuxian, canon compliant, post-canon, established relationship, homelessness, food insecurity, childhood trauma, character study, past child abuse, emotional hurt/comfort, memory related, loss of parents, wei wuxian has a fear of dogs, child wei wuxian, sad, angst, blood and injury, night hunts, ghosts, protective lan wangji, caring lan wangji, angst with a happy ending, @hauntotamatone

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

#Wangxian Fic Rec #The Untamed #wangxian #MDZS #Kay's Rec #Kay's Favorite #pov wei wuxian #canon compliant #post-canon #established relationship #homelessness #food insecurity #childhood trauma #character study #past child abuse #emotional hurt/comfort #memory related #loss of parents #wei wuxian has a fear of dogs #child wei wuxian #sad #angst #blood and injury #night hunts #ghosts #protective lan wangji #caring lan wangji #angst with a happy ending #Teen #short fic <15k

[annerbhp]

I asked google bard for fanfic reccomendations and one of your fics turned up lol

You know what's been amusing (horrifying) me about all this AI stuff lately is just how wrong it all is? Which, if it was all just wrong, it would be a funny failed experiment. But it's even worse. On the surface it gets just enough right to lend it some false sort of legitimacy, but I have never once seen any AI answer a question where it gets everything right. There is always one big error or many big errors. And it's one of the scariest things about AI produced "knowledge" because there is nothing here that tells us about it's certainty of the various "facts" it is providing. These answers put solid facts right next to complete misinformation. It places information from peer-reviewed sources right next to internet rumor and group-think conspiracy theories. So what skills do we, the average reading and knowledge seeker, need to be able to engage with technology like this in a way that can counter this harm? Especially because I know this sort of thing isn't going to go anywhere? I'm pretty sure it's here to stay.

Like, let's be real. I couldn't give less of a crap that google bard clearly has no idea what my fic is about. That's not the point. My ego will survive perfectly fine. But what if people start turning to AI for real knowledge that will influence and form truths for people around real issues in the world? What happens if these sites are where people go for knowledge?

Let's look at some silly examples that we can easily fact check, just to get a sense of how wrong all this stuff can be.

I went to chatgpt and asked it "tell me about the fanfiction author Annerb". This is what it spewed out:

"Annerb is a pseudonym used by a fanfiction author known for writing in the Harry Potter fandom. While the author's real name is not publicly known, Annerb has gained a significant following for her imaginative and well-written stories.

Annerb is particularly well-known for her epic fanfiction series, "The Changeling," which follows the character of Harry Potter as he discovers he is actually a changeling - a child of the Fae. The series spans over 1.5 million words and is known for its intricate plot, rich world-building, and well-developed characters.

In addition to "The Changeling," Annerb has written several other popular fanfictions, including "Ghosts of the Past," "The Debt of Time," and "The Sum of Their Parts." Her writing style is often praised for its attention to detail, strong character development, and engaging storytelling.

Annerb has also been involved in the fanfiction community as a beta reader, offering feedback and assistance to other writers. Despite her popularity, Annerb remains relatively private and has not revealed much about her personal life or identity."

It's like that old game two truths and a lie here. Or more like one truth and ten lies and five misunderstandings. Hope all those other hardworking authors don't mind that I've stolen credit for all their fics! (I regenerated it a few times, and it claimed I wrote for fandoms I've never even seen the source material for.)

Or how about this one. I asked it "What is wangxian?" (one of my latest otps.)

"Wangxian is a term that refers to a fictional romantic relationship between two male characters named Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian in the novel "Mo Dao Zu Shi" by Chinese author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. The novel was later adapted into a popular Chinese animated series and live-action television series.

The term "wangxian" is a combination of the two characters' names, with "wang" being a part of Lan Wangji's name and "xian" being a part of Wei Wuxian's name. Fans of the series often use the term to refer to the romantic relationship between the two characters.

It is important to note that while the relationship between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian is depicted as romantic in some adaptations of the novel, including the animated series, it is not explicitly stated as such in the original novel."

First two paragraphs? Not so bad. Pretty accurate for the most part. That third paragraph? Really fascinating that it's even there and also completely factually incorrect. While the live-action tv show never explicitly states that it is a romantic relationship thanks to censorship, the original novel includes multiple explicit sex scenes between the two characters and they also end up married? Like, actually married? So why is this "important to note"? Why does the so-called "legitimacy" of the ship even factor in? Is this just a scraped up reflection of discourse? Or at worst, a reflection of larger biases reflected in internet "knowledge"?

I know you probably sent me that screencap just as a fun mention of my fic popping up somewhere, for which I thank you. It was nice of you to think of me.

At the same time, these are the things I just can't help thinking about as truth becomes even harder to see day by day. Walk carefully, my friends.

#artificial intelligence #chatgpt #google bard #misinformation

[kieravenus]

Writing MDZS fanfic is actually so hard for me. On one had I want it to solely be canon but on the other I am so sad about how canon went.

So instead I just write fix-it-fics where Sunshot Campaign happens still (bc you need the angst to start the healing process), and push the Sunshot generation together to become like this ultimate friend group who’s always aware of what the other is going through and trying to helping each other navigate the terrible politics the Jins bask in. Jin Zixuan would like to take a nap thank you very much.

Lan Wangji has friends now. Lan Xichen is shocked and would you look at that, he actually expresses his emotions! Jiang Cheng, Lan Wangji, and Nie Huaisang complain about their older brothers together and in the process heal from parent trauma.

Jiang Yanli finds older sibling camaraderie in Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen and ends up being the reason WangXian actually get together. “Xichen you were being too lax on Wangji. If I know anything about little brothers is that they won’t understand your nudging and prodding. A-Xian is my didi please understand.”

Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao don’t have a terrible relationship now. This is thanks to Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan and the littlest Jin brother Mo Xuanyu who clings to his Yao-gege like his life depends on it. Nie Mingjue sees this wide-eyed child clinging to Jin Guangyao skirts and immediately goes soft. Nie Huaisang is cackling in the background with his sworn brothers. Jiang Cheng is flabbergasted and Wei Wuxian is snickering.

Wei Wuxian with his demonic cultivation, which really is Ghost Cultivation but the world seems to say otherwise, finds out a way to prevent qi deviations within the Nie sect and garners Jiang sect a true ally bc the Jin’s don’t care they only want power (until Jin Zixuan is in charge). The Lan’s seeing this decide Wei Wuxian isn’t all that bad (still terrible bc let’s be real these Lan’s are hypocrites of the worst kind).

Let’s also mention the Wen siblings real quick. The Wen remnants go with Wei Wuxian to Lotus Pier to live a peaceful life. That is after helping Lotus Pier rebuild. Wen Qing makes Lotus Pier & Yunmeng the center of medical innovation. Wen Ning (doesn’t die) and becomes the teacher of an archery class which makes him comfortable and happy. A-Yuan is adopted by WangXian still (bc Sunshot happened and I imagine his parents died during Sunshot). The elderly Wen’s are moved onto a plot of land to farm and live their lives peacefully. The Jiang & Wen siblings come buy for Granny’s food. Granny Wen adores Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian, always spoiling them. Jiang Cheng does not know how to handle this, Wei Wuxian even less so.

I just have thoughts… and these thoughts are wild most of the time. 😅

#grandmaster of demonic cultivation #mxtx mdzs #mdzs #lan wangji #nie huaisang #jiang wanyin #wei wuxian #jin zixuan #lan xichen #nie mingjue #jin guangyao #mo xuanyu #jiang yanli #wen remnants #a yuan

[jiaoji]

The one night mistake and a dream:

"This must be a dream.", Wei WuXian look at yourself, exactly same appearence and same powers, but someting seems off. Like his skin is glowing and pink, almost healthy looking, he is fully covered, like a Lan with his black robes well put until his neck.

"Must be a curse...", the other Wei WuXian said, and then snort a sad laugh, "Or just a stupid dream."

"So... you seem different."

"I know."

"What happened? After everything?"

"... we won the war."

Wei WuXian grins sarcastically, "Yes, i know."

The other Wei WuXian clench his jaw, "Ugh, i was really unsufferable back them."

Wei WuXian is silent, but the air became cold between then, "You didn't use the ghost path anymore."

"No, just sometimes."

"And...about Lan WangJi..."

The other Wei WuXian looks away, like the barely mention of him is enough to make his head turn the other way. But, his face turn into a red thing with his blush cheeks, what is unusual.

"I don't want to talk about what happened. Is useless, you are me and this is just a dream."

"So he still hate us? He tried to force me back to Gusu?"

"... no.", the other Wei WuXian sighs, "I just can't look at his face after what happened."

"What you mean?", Wei WuXian expected the worst. Maybe Lan WangJi and him fought for real, maybe Lan WangJi said something? He always knew after what happened when they meet each other after 3 months, that one day they would fight, they never will be friends. Lan WangJi hates him and wants to lock him to punish Wei WuXian because he is just like Lan Qiren, hating everything that came from the "wrong path".

"I had sex with Lan Zhan."

...

Wei WuXian, in the battlefild and even between war companions, always had this gloomy and scary aura, with sharp eyes and antisocial behavior, always with corpses and ghosts around him.

But now, after hearing the absurd of him and Lan WangJi having intimacy (and his betrayer of a brain letting him having a 3 second scene in his head) his gloomy aura vanished while his expression went to scary to pink cheeks and a mix of horror and shy expression.

"What!"

"I was drunk, is not my fault!!"

"What the fuck do you mean?!! This is impossible-"

"Because Lan WangJi is not a cutsleeve and neither are me, yes... but it actually happened."

"How?!!"

"We went to drink and i think i had too much alcohool, so Lan Zhan grabbed me and lead me to his room..."

"He-!"

"I pushed him on the bed and just kissed him!!"

"Thats false! I... stop that! I want to wake up!!"

"Listen, it was really... good... Heavens, i-"

"Stop! Why i'm dreaming with this!!"

While the younger version of him was having a break down, Wei Ying smiled and said 'screw it' to himself.

Bullying himself was actually really fun, "Listen, Lan Zhan was actually pretty good on bed."

"Oh no..."

"Oh, yes!", he said happily, nothing like the shy he was before, "He grabbed us and ***** and then **** us on our ******* while we ***-"

"No, no, no, no-!!"

[...]

In one of the tends, while the war tense the weather, Wei WuXian wake up. His cheeks burning and pink, while the shame grow on his chest.

"What the fuck?"

[...]

In another place, Wei WuXian wake up on the inn him and Lan WangJi shared. His bed is empty and the laugh he was holding goes away slowly. He curled up on bed and inhale the sandawood on the sheets.

#mdzs #modaozushi #wei wuxian #wangxian #mo dao zu shi #wei ying

[rosethornewrites]

Fic: hold the bright moon in my arms, ch. 4

Relationships: Niè Huáisāng & Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn

Characters: Niè Huáisāng, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Original Characters, Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī

Additional Tags: Pining, Feelings Realization, Illnesses, ennui, Found Family, Porn Reading, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Manipulative Niè Huáisāng, Memories, Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn Needs a Hug, Post-Canon, Pining Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, Friendship, Niè Huáisāng Is A Little Shit, POV Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn, POV Third Person, Qi Deviation, Resentful Energy, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Panic Attacks, Triggers, Fainting, Anal Sex, Getting Together, Love Confessions, Grief/Mourning

Summary: Wei Wuxian must face Lan Wangji.

Notes: see end

First fic

1-2 | 3

AO3 link

——————

Wei Wuxian woke slowly to the sound of guqin music, played in that refined way he would always recognize as Lan Zhan’s style, and he let himself drift on the music for a while, a song of clarity powered with Lan Zhan’s qi, gently bolstering his own to promote calm and healing.

It was a strange parallel to how he woke in the Cloud Recesses after his resurrection, his mask removed while he was unconscious, but Lan Zhan’s playing then had been different, more hesitant, and he knew now how their miscommunication had harmed him. He could remember how disheveled Lan Zhan had been then, and knowing the reason now made his heart ache, that he had caused him so much grief.

“I think he’s awake,” came a too-loud whisper, definitely Jingyi, and the teen’s presence would make him smile if not for the worry threaded in the cadence of his voice.

He finally opened his eyes, the lids heavy enough that he knew he must have terrible bags under his eyes, not that he could remember a time without them. Sometimes he wondered if he was resurrected with them still following him from his past life, just as everything else followed him.

Lan Zhan was seated on the floor, looking serene, with no hint that he had just flown from Gusu to Qinghe in barely a day, just as put together and—

Wow, how had he never actually realized how much he admired Lan Zhan and that there might be more behind it? So much for being a genius.

Jingyi abruptly blocked his view, kneeling beside the bed with all his windswept messiness making it clear he just journeyed by sword, and Wei Wuxian almost smiled at the dichotomy.

“Wei-qianbei, when the letter arrived about your qi deviation we flew all the way here right away, with no stops at all! Sizhui is still with the Gho— I mean, with Wen-gongzi in Qishan or I’m sure he’d’ve come, too!”

He sounded so earnest and worried that Wei Wuxian felt a wave of fondness, but for Lan Zhan more than Jingyi.

“Aiya, Lan Zhan, how did you raise such empathetic juniors?”

Lan Zhan’s expression was almost the ghost of a smile when he responded, Jingyi having moved to the side so Wei Wuxian could see it, deferential to his seniors.

“I considered what Wei Ying would do.”

The compliment twisted at something inside him uncomfortably, his sincerity almost painful for more reasons than Wei Wuxian cared to explore in mixed company.

“Spare this delicate man, Hanguang-Jun,” he finally managed when he was able to speak again, too overcome for a real response.

A healer came in, likely summoned by Jingyi’s exuberance. Once she assessed his meridians, she cleared him to attend lunch, but added even more restrictions, banning any use of even small amounts of spiritual energy and urging him not to stress his body too much, which basically left him with no distractions for the foreseeable future.

Somehow this was all Nie Huaisang’s fault.

The song ended, leaving a pregnant silence, and Wei Ying felt heavy and discombobulated, but then Jingyi’s stomach rumbled loudly, the poor boy likely starving after his flight, and Wei Ying couldn’t help but laugh.

“I guess we should get lunch before you fall over,” he teased the youth, easing himself into a sitting position.

He caught Lan Zhan’s gaze and the amusement in it, hidden by his normal deadpan face, filled him with unspeakable fondness, and he grinned.

“I’ve practiced inedia,” Jingyi muttered, slightly petulant, but then his stomach gurgled again, and this time he joined in when Wei Ying laughed.

Lan Zhan, still the picture of grace, busied himself stowing his guqin in his qiankun sleeve, then rose in a single smooth movement, striding steadily to the bedside to offer his hand to Wei Wuxian.

He felt frozen for a moment by his zhiji’s steady gaze, and then he took the proffered hand and allowed himself to be helped up, something he normally would eschew, too focused on standing on his own back then to recognize that Lan Zhan was right there.

Though not touching, Lan Zhan was close enough beside him to feel his warmth as they made their way to lunch, distracting enough that he barely noticed Jingyi impatient with their pace behind them. He kept up a safe ramble about what he’d been doing in Qinghe since his arrival, eventually commenting on how ridiculously big his quarters were. Much of his last life he had made do, only having had particularly large quarters during his time in the Burial Mounds, which had been significantly less comfortable with far fewer amenities.

“Honestly, they’re almost too big for one person,” Wei Wuxian said idly, then went quiet as he realized that was on purpose, damn Nie-xiong, and he’d just blurted it out like a fool.

Lan Zhan shifting to glance at him as they walked brought him back to himself, and he forced a smile, but let it drop when he noticed the concern in his eyes.

“I’m just not used to that sort of thing—they’re much bigger than even the ones I had back…”

He tripped over his words, having instinctively almost said ‘home,’ when there was no returning to Lotus Cove, the one that had once been his home no longer in existence, razed with its people slaughtered, a shade of what it had been haunting his memory.

“Well,” he tried to salvage, “back before the war, anyway.”

Back before the world had largely stopped making sense, before indoctrination, before Jiang-shushu and Yu-furen had been killed and Lotus Pier burned, before he’d given his future to Jiang Cheng and fallen into darkness.

The attempt to salvage was, unfortunately, a worse verbal blunder than the one he’d started with, and on more levels than he cared to count. Of all the possible times for his mouth to move ahead of his brain, of course it was this one, when he had very little face left to save but just enough that it made him feel uncomfortably open.

Thankfully, they reached the dining room before he had to find more words, before he had to address the look of steady compassion Lan Zhan was giving him, the one that made his soul itch in this body that was disturbingly not quite like the one he’d worn when he died.

The surprise presences of Nie Hengxiang and Nie Yingwei helped distract him further from the need to find more words for Lan Zhan, as he used the opportunity to introduce them. They greeted him as ‘Wei-qianbei,’ which earned what sounded suspiciously like a hissed ‘yes!’ from Jingyi, and a curious glance from Lan Zhan.

Nie Hengxiang was easier to introduce, in a way, as the capable junior Nie Huaisang sent to protect him, the story of their meeting falling easily from his mouth, how he’d essentially woken up to find he’d been saved from assassination, and then learned it hadn’t been the first, just the first to get close enough for the struggle to wake him.

Lan Wangji only nodded in appreciation, but Lan Jingyi was a bit more exuberant.

“Thanks for protecting Wei-qianbei,” he said, bowing appropriately, but with a grin that was far less decorous. “You’d think people would leave him alone since he was proved innocent.”

He seemed frustrated, his tone almost a scoff, affronted on Wei Wuxian’s behalf, and it warmed him that the boy held him in such regard, more so by Nie Hengxiang’s agreement with the sentiment. He knew well enough that Jin Guangyao’s machinations didn’t fully exonerate him, that the path to his downfall had been cleared by his decisions and actions, as well, but it was nice to be seen in a positive light by the younger generation after being so reviled.

Nie Yingwei was harder to explain because Lan Zhan would no doubt hear the significance of the name. He also didn’t want to blunder ahead and overstep what she might and might not want public. He wound up introducing her as an adopted member of the Nie clan, with her courtesy name and a gesture toward Nie Huaisang to put him back in the hot seat so he could feel less on the spot.

It was his turn, anyway.

If saving someone made one responsible for them for a lifetime, surely bringing a man back to life (in part to do one’s dirty work) made one indebted enough that Nie-xiong could do him this favor.

Of course, Nie Huaisang handled it smoothly, telling him of the crèche, introducing Nie Yingwei as the first ward adopted into the clan through it and the reason for its development, his tone matter of fact, with just enough information that Lan Wangji would be able to come to the conclusion himself the deeper reasons he had been moved to save her to begin with. Wei Wuxian didn’t dare look at either of them, not able to face their shared grief and the implications of conversations had during the years of his death that he couldn’t even begin to guess at.

He didn’t know how to address any of it, now that he was alive again and cognizant of that sixteen-year grief, which understandably wasn’t magically erased just because he was back. Eventually he’d have to deal with it, but until then Wei Wuxian knew the value of a good retreat to conserve and build the energy it would require.

As they were escorted to their seats by the servants, Wei Wuxian was glad to focus solely on his lunch, full of yin foods—a millet congee with pork belly, duck eggs, and a bok choy, clams in black bean sauce, and a plate of fresh fruits, sliced and ready to eat with a drizzle of honey, all of which smelled delicious despite being devoid of peppers. Lan Jingyi joined several other Lan disciples, ones Wei Wuxian recognized from the Yi City incident, the plate on his tray piled with the fried chicken he was so obsessed with, once again showing Nie-xiong’s use of intelligence.

Wei Wuxian was taking a sip of a rather lovely fruit tea to cleanse his palate before the meal when Nie Huaisang finished explaining the crèche, and Nie Yingwei decided to contribute.

“Zongzhu named me after Wei-qianbei,” she said blandly, and Wei Wuxian only barely managed not to choke. “He started the crèche to honor him, so fewer kids would grow up in the streets.”

Nie Huaisang wasn’t quite quick enough to hide his blush behind his fan at the point-blank revelation, something Nie Yingwei seemed to take pride in.

Lan Jingyi choked slightly and whispered, “Sizhui!” to himself far too loudly.

Wei Wuxian realized all at once that A-Yuan’s courtesy name was… eerily similar, if much deeper and suggestive of a different sort of grief. He felt raw.

Lan Zhan studied Nie Huaisang for a moment, as though weighing how it altered his opinion of the Nie sect leader, before nodding in approval.

“It is a noble endeavor,” he said simply.

“Cultivation isn’t my strong point,” Nie Huaisang admitted ruefully, “so I had to find another way to protect the weak.”

With exactly no more patience for etiquette, Wei Wuxian decided the best way out of this situation was to simply start eating ahead of Nie Huaisang, who wouldn’t be offended and might even understand his need to not be present for this conversation. Lan Zhan would adhere to his reliable rule of no speech while eating. Hopefully they wouldn’t somehow circle back to it after lunch.

He wasn’t running away from it so much as delaying, but Wei Wuxian would take what he could get.

The faux pas of eating even a piece of fruit before a sect leader led to a pause in conversation, but it was weirdly devoid of judgment.

Nie Huaisang laughed, but thanked him for starting.

“Nie-daifu would have my head if I delayed your meal any further, and of course our visitors have traveled swiftly and need a good meal.”

Wei Wuxian distinctly heard Jingyi mutter “Finally” under his breath, and was glad at least he appreciated it—he’d probably been waiting to eat since Lan Zhan arrived, poor kid.

He knew he’d have to face Lan Zhan later, and do so more clearly after that because apparently coming back to life was complicated, but for now he could just focus on eating and leave that problem for future him to deal with. Wei Wuxian had always done his best thinking while otherwise occupied, so he focused on his meal, starting with the clams, enjoying the flavor the Nie cooks had brought into the bean sauce.

When he glanced at Nie Huaisang he was in the middle of making some sort of expression at Lan Zhan, as though he was trying to have a silent conversation, and he quickly hid his face behind his fan when he saw Wei Wuxian looking; Lan Zhan, on the other hand, gave no indication he noticed Nie-xiong, though Wei Wuxian made sure he kept his eyes on his food when he turned toward him.

Lan Zhan had concerns for his health, and they were probably complicated by his knowledge of Wei Wuxian’s jindan. He’d died without one, after all, and having Mo Xuanyu’s, but in a body apparently his own, was unprecedented. Lan Zhan would of course worry for his health, he was so good.

The truth was, though, that after lunch he would have to face that worry, and the underlying emotions that Wei Wuxian was now aware of, both in himself and Lan Zhan. The cause of his small qi deviations was emotional, not anything else, and he couldn’t allow him to keep worrying about his health when it was as easily resolved as a conversation.

So he made sure to finish the food on his tray, knowing the healers had decided portions and hoping to fortify himself for the inevitable discussion. Normally he’d talk through the meal, but the thought of coming up with the words was daunting, so he kept his attention on his food, eventually picking at the last bits of fruit, not trying to delay further, but not speeding toward it either.

Once, he’d have spent half the meal flicking melon seeds at Lan Jingyi just for his own amusement (and because Jingyi couldn’t complain or retaliate with Lan Zhan right beside Wei Wuxian), something that seemed to be too much trouble right now. Wei Wuxian knew this likely worried Lan Zhan, too, but it was really just that he was tired. As it turned out, qi deviations were exhausting, and he had spent more time asleep than awake since his, so perhaps the worry was unavoidable.

Nie Huaisang eventually ordered the Nie disciples to show the Lan contingent to their quarters and around the Unclean Realm if they so desired, announced that Hanguang-Jun’s quarters would be ready after the evening meal, and then promptly excused himself to “attend to sect business,” using the appearance of servants to clear the trays as a distraction to enable him to disappear through a side door before Wei Wuxian could even react, the little shit.

Lan Zhan stood smoothly, unruffled, and turned to the juniors.

“You have pushed your cores in the trip. Please use the afternoon to rest and meditate,” he told them as he dismissed them.

Lan Jingyi looked relieved enough that he could have fallen over in exhaustion, but he immediately saluted with his peers and let the Nie disciples lead the way out. He made sure to stop by Wei Wuxian and wish him a good rest of his day, punctuated with a yawn.

Lan Zhan’s expression when he turned to Wei Wuxian, holding out a hand to help him up, was almost unbearably soft, full of emotions he wasn’t sure he was ready to face, but he knew it was long overdue. He took the proffered hand and let himself be pulled to his feet, feeling much like a maiden being courted.

Wei Wuxian could feel heat rush to his face, and knew he was blushing like just such a young maiden. He was actually relieved when Lan Zhan took his flushed cheeks as something the healers should check to be certain he was well, pulling him toward the infirmary. Relieved and a strange combination of guilt and happiness, regretful for putting Lan Zhan through more worry, but also seeing the evidence of his care…

The healer, of course, said he was fine and was pleased he had eaten his meal and looked much better than earlier, sending them off with several pouches of tea to enjoy.

With the medicinal tea in hand, Wei Wuxian was only able to delay so much before they inevitably wound up in his quarters for a conversation he didn’t even know how to start, but he valiantly led the way through a garden on the way, using a koi pond as a nice excuse to dally.

He knew full well that Nie Huaisang had manufactured the delay in accommodations for Lan Zhan to meddle, and he wasn’t sure whether to be irritated or grateful.

Irritated, he decided when they arrived at his quarters to find the large stone tub off the main room had been filled with steaming hot water, with flower petals sprinkled atop in a way he could play off as a medicinal bath, but he wasn’t going to insult Lan Zhan’s intelligence by attempting to lie.

Lan Zhan took the bagged tea for him and had him sit at the low table, which was at least stocked with snacks, going to brew it himself, and Wei Wuxian settled in to watch him, not able to do anything else, his eye drawn to his zhiji’s graceful motions. Then Lan Zhan looked up as he set the brewing teapot on the table and sat in a smooth motion, and he was helpless to look away.

“Your qi deviations?” he asked, his soft voice concerned, as usual wasting no words.

“Ah… as it turns out strong emotions can disrupt qi, especially in developing or damaged cores,” Wei Wuxian said, trying to adopt the intonation of a scholar discussing something mundane.

The explanation did not ease the concern that was emanating from Lan Zhan, who reached forward to take his wrist, glancing up at him as though to ask permission, which Wei Wuxian gave with a nod, before sending a small stream of his qi though to check himself. He tried very hard not to shiver at the feel of Lan Zhan’s qi singing though his meridians.

“Which?” he asked, his voice strained, and Wei Wuxian realized with a start that Lan Zhan, though he knew he had died without a core, wouldn’t know if the core Mo Xuanyu left him had been damaged, and so his attempt to explain had only worried him further.

“Mo Xuanyu’s core is weak, but undamaged,” he said, feeling off-balance in the discussion. “It’s barely a foundation, just enough to cause trouble.”

He felt off-balance in the discussion, in the way it felt like it was already going sideways, with him worrying Lan Zhan again by speaking without thinking, and he distracted himself for a minute pouring tea for each of them and taking a sip, breathing in the steam wafting from his cup and hoping it could ease some of the stress he felt.

“You will refine it, as you did before.”

The confidence in his voice helped, his faith in Wei Wuxian’s abilities and determination, the acknowledgement of his capabilities–and he had always had faith, even in the darkest times of the war, when Wei Wuxian was drowning in resentment and Lan Zhan worried for his health.

In some ways that made it worse since, as he had told Nie Huaisang, he’d known from the moment he was dropped into the Burial Mounds that his days were numbered. As terribly as he’d died, it had honestly bee something of a relief to be freed of it all by the time it happened, and he knew full well that, past or not, that would make Lan Zhan worry more about him, and he’d done quite enough of that for two lifetimes.

“It won’t be easy, but I’m used to attempting the impossible,” Wei Wuxian said after a moment, then tried not to wince at using the Yunmeng Jiang motto when he definitely isn’t part of the sect.

He was certain Lan Zhan noticed—he didn’t comment on the matter of the Jiang clan and Jiang Cheng (not that he ever would vocally), but a brief shift in expression reminded Wei Wuxian that there was a lot of unpleasant history between Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng that wasn’t likely to ever change because they both held grudges.

“Treatises exist regarding the link between emotion and qi disruption, particularly in developing cores,” Lan Zhan said instead, his way of asking gently for information.

“It’s troublesome; just things from before, things I never had a chance to think about because things got messy.”

The end of his first life had involved the Siege of the Burial Mounds and being ripped apart by fierce corpses, after all, and there were large holes in his memory, spans of time that were missing, when he knew time was passing and the world kept moving, but he had no recollection of any of it and he didn’t even know how to begin to find the words to discuss it, as much as he talked.

“Water can carry a boat and also overturn it,” Lan Zhan said.

Though Xunzi intended the sentiment to refer to the need for rulers to consider the needs of the people, Wei Wuxian could see how it applied—he couldn’t ignore his own needs anymore without capsizing.

“That’s why I left to travel, kind of, but I can’t do that dodging assassins.”

Nie Hengxiang had been following him for some time, and he had no doubt he’d witnessed Wei Wuxian struggle—he had difficult nights thinking about Shijie and Wen Qing, other ghosts from the past, unable to keep from poring over his own memories of the last few months of his first life, and at least one difficult night he had gotten ahold of some Lotus Breeze and had been lost in grief. It was a minor miracle that the young man hadn’t been scared off, but the Unclean Realm had already had to clean up after him, and he knew at some point he’d feel stifled, and he wouldn’t be able to leave until the assassination issue was dealt with.

Or, more realistically, others would fuss if he even tried, and it was only a matter of time before he wound up blowing up his workroom out of sheer boredom, at least once the Nie puzzle was solved.

“I will speak with Nie-zongzhu,” Lan Zhan promised.

Wei Wuxian was filled with affection. All his life, or lives, he had fallen and, with no one to catch him. He’d lost his fear of falling long ago, but hitting the ground hurt. If someone was there to catch him…

Lan Zhan had made it a point to stay by his side after his return, and had tried to before he’d died, when Wei Wuxian hadn’t let him. In this life, he had quietly offered unwavering support, even carried him. Now Lan Zhan had again flown to his side as though to catch him, offering the sort of soft landing he craved.

Impossible as it seemed, Wei Wuxian wanted nothing more than to never be apart from him again.

“Nie-xiong has it in hand, I’m sure.”

He knew Nie Huaisang likely would deal with the issue of stopping whoever was sending the assassins in whatever way he saw fit, and he knew better than to request details from him. Wei Wuxian would prefer not to know, and tried not to feel guilt at the same time—Nie Huaisang was capable of much, probably as much as he was toward the end of his first life, but perhaps less foolish about it, and he had enough blood on his own hands. Where ignorance was bliss, it was folly to be wise.

“I’m still trying to make sense of what I do remember, and it turns out my memory is poor.”

Lan Zhan leveled him with a flat look that made him laugh; after all, he had boasted of his memory, and yet it had taken him most of their travels to remember where he had heard the song. He was still owed its title.

“I know. My memory has always been poor, like I have only one hazy memory of my parents and the donkey.”

“Little Apple?”

Wei Wuxian smiled fondly at his zhiji; who else would make that sort of connection?

He’d planned at first to night hunt his way out of jianghu, never to return, and when he saw Little Apple it was such an odd convergence with the beginning of his last life, just seemed right to take her. Clearly her owner, who left her saddled and tethered on the street in the middle of the night, didn’t appreciate her, and he liked to think he’d at least given her a more interesting life.

Though he hadn’t managed to leave the jianghu, Wei Wuxian wasn’t sorry. Lan Zhan leading while he rode Little Apple was a little like that snippet of memory, and many times their quest he was struck by the odd parallels, wondering what they meant, but he’d figured it out finally—for all his loss of family, he had Lan Zhan.

“I have holes in my memories of my last life, it seems, and it got worse especially toward the end—Nightless City but not how I got back to the Burial Mounds, and very little of the months before the Siege.”

Lan Zhan’s focus on him sharpened abruptly, and Wei Wuxian distracted himself from his nerves by pouring them both tea, the medicinal blend bitter but in line with the fare at the Cloud Recesses. He also poured dried seasoned mushrooms from the fresh bag the servants had left on the table for him.

“I returned you to the Burial Mounds,” Lan Zhan said.

Wei Wuxian nearly dropped the plate, startled by the admission, and he could do little more than stare at him. The memory of the scars on his back, discovered not long after his return, rose unbidden, and he felt ill at the knowledge that this was likely the reason for them. And then he’d gone and died despite Lan Zhan’s efforts, leaving him to heal from what had looked like an obscene number of lashes while grieving.

Likely it was more complicated; surely Lan Qiren wouldn’t have him whipped so viciously for so little. But Wei Wuxian wouldn’t ask, knowing he would share the details if he wished, partly because he was afraid to know. He wanted to say Lan Zhan shouldn’t have, but he knew that would belittle his sacrifice, even if he felt strongly that he hadn’t been worth it.

He’d known he was headed inexorably toward death, and he hadn’t meant to drag someone as bright as Lan Zhan with him into the dark. He’d tried to push him away so he wouldn’t be caught up in the fallout, but he was too good, would never abandon him willingly.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember,” he said finally, tracing the rim of his teacup with one finger.

“No apologies or thank yous between us,” Lan Zhan reminded him.

They had agreed to that before Wei Wuxian knew how much he had hurt Lan Zhan, how much he needed to make up for. He remembered telling Jin Ling that someday he would wind up saying both through tears, then remembering Wen Qing’s final words to him as he lay paralyzed in the Burial Mounds.

“I thought you wanted me to go with you to Gusu for punishment,” he said heavily, an apology. “I wasn’t really thinking rationally.”

A part of him had thought he deserved it, for daring to manipulate resentful energy, for daring to survive the Burial Mounds no matter what the cost. Mostly he had just expected censure from the jianghu, and hadn’t figured on surviving the war; waking up several days after the final battle had been a somewhat unwelcome surprise, and Lan Zhan’s entrance and insistence on trying to help him by playing the guqin, regardless of how fruitless it was, had been a welcome, if bittersweet, distraction.

“I know you wanted to help, now, but while everything was happening…”

Wei Wuxian sighed, not sure how to broach the subject even after time thinking about it, and he delayed further by taking a sip of the ridiculously bitter medicinal tea, unable to keep himself from pulling a face at the taste.

“I couldn’t be your equal anymore, like fate without destiny,” he finally said.

He knew Lan Zhan would understand the romantic undertones of the phrase, though he felt like a coward for confessing in such a roundabout way, and moreso because he didn’t dare to look at him, particularly when Lan Zhan’s breath caught briefly.

“We have the destiny to meet across a thousand miles,” Lan Zhan murmured after a long moment, his voice rough, “and beyond death.”

The rejoinder, using another proverb about love, made Wei Wuxian look up, and the way Lan Zhan looked at him, the obvious love, pulled at his heart and undammed his mouth, bringing everything out in a rush.

“Lan Zhan, I have a poor memory, and I didn’t understand how I felt back then. You’re really great. I like you, or in other words, I fancy you, I love you, I want you, I can’t leave you, I whatever you. I want to night-hunt with you for the rest of my life. I don’t want anyone but you—it can’t be anyone but you—”

Wei Wuxian wasn’t able to let out another sound, as Lan Zhan pushed the table aside and embraced him tightly, pulling him to his feet and silencing him with his lips and tongue. Though he had always been a little weirded out by the idea of another person’s tongue in his mouth, with Lan Zhan he thought perhaps this was what he had craved all his life.

Breathlessly between lingering kisses, Lan Zhan repeated his words, and he could feel the intense beat of his heart, his own throbbing in his chest as well.

“I didn’t know,” Wei Wuxian said, letting a note of apology slip into his voice before he was silenced again by a more insistent kiss, Lan Zhan’s teeth biting his lip, surprising him with how good that felt.

Normally he would have felt trapped, pushed with his back against the wall, the heat of Lan Zhan’s body pressed along the front of him in a delicious counterbalance to the cool stone, but instead he felt almost absurdly safe. Lan Zhan tasted better than the finest wine—even Emperor’s Smile couldn’t hold a candle. He couldn’t wait to taste more of him.

“Ah, you stole my first kiss,” he panted when they broke for breath. “Take accountability.”

“Gladly,” Lan Zhan huffed, claiming his lips again and shifting against him in a way that pushed something hot and unmistakable against his belly, large enough to feel clearly through all the layers of robes, and his own cock jolted in response.

He had thought Nie Huaisang’s porn had been overestimating, but instead Lan Zhan was even more well-endowed than the artist had assumed.

“You’re so big—how is that supposed to fit?” he gasped as Lan Zhan moved to suck on his neck, leaving his mouth free, and the comment was clearly well-received. “Ah, how is it getting bigger?! Lan Zha—”

Lan Zhan swallowed any further words, though Wei Wuxian happily made other use of his tongue and kept up a litany of filthy comments whenever his mouth was free, enjoying the way it made him even harder.

They didn’t make it to the bed, yanking each other’s clothing half off, desperately rutting in the friction of their robes, eventually both of them in Lan Zhan’s hand, making a mess of each other in the best way.

When his knees went weak in the aftermath of his orgasm, Lan Zhan carried him to the bed and worked to rid them of their clothes, his cock already at attention again. He looked like carved jade, his skin smooth and glistening with sweat from their exertions, though Wei Wuxian knew if he turned the whip scars would be visible.

The Wen brand on his chest, in the exact location his had been in his first life, engulfed his attention, and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching forward to trace the shape with his finger.

“Is this related to me, too?” he couldn’t help but ask, acutely aware that the other scars Lan Zhan bore were on his behalf.

“Nothing. I was drunk,” Lan Zhan responded after a moment of silence, and then surged forward, pushing him back on the bed and caging his body with his own.

Wei Wuxian was suitably distracted when he learned Lan Zhan didn’t know about the use of oil, and quickly educated him, both verbally and demonstrably, leaving both of them panting with arousal. The stretch hurt enough that he didn’t want to think of how it would have been without the oil.

When Lan Zhan was fully sheathed, pressing him into the bed with his weight, he shook slightly with the effort of staying still to let Wei Wuxian adjust to the pressure and heat, his cock throbbing with his heartbeat, and Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but laugh.

“Lan Zhan, what would your uncle think, doing this without being married! He’d surely drown you in a pig cage!”

“I have considered us wed since the Cold Spring cave,” Lan Zhan replied.

He didn’t give Wei Wuxian any time to process the statement before he began to thrust, the pace punching his breath from his lungs, a jolt of pleasure rippling across his body and down his spine unexpectedly.

Wei Wuxian’s brain took a moment to catch up, overwhelmed by sensation—Lan Zhan’s big hands gripping his ass as he pulled him into each thrust, his calloused fingers pressed into the flesh so hard they might leave bruises, the loud erotic slap of Lan Zhan’s thighs against his buttocks with each thrust a distraction, the growing heat between them.

The headband… Lan Yi… and the bow.

Of course he’d accidentally eloped with Lan Zhan back then, the most important moment in his life unknown to him. And so when he’d said Lan Zhan looked as though he was mourning a wife… it hadn’t been far off from the truth. Not that they’d ever consummated the marriage back then.

“We could’ve been doing this when we were fifteen?” Wei Wuxian squawked, outraged that so much time was wasted. “Ah, we should do this every day.”

Lan Zhan’s response was to increase the tempo, as though to make up for the lost time, and Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but tease him about when he first wanted to fuck him, making a game of listing the different times they could have been doing this during the lectures and beyond. He could feel himself spiraling with the waves of pleasure, begged Lan Zhan to slow down, wanting this to last longer.

“Ah, softer, it’s my first time. Be nice.”

Though he eased a bit, Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but tease him more, about how Lan Zhan could have Silenced him in the library so he couldn’t protest, and it was clear his words were stoking his lust, as the pace increased again.

By the time he came, Wei Wuxian had resorted to begging, and then Lan Zhan continued, fucking him through his orgasm and into an almost painful overstimulation, his body trying to come again even though his cock was already spent. His body twisted, moving without his will, and eventually a deep wave of undulating pleasure washed across him, leaving his limbs limp. Lan Zhan’s thrusts turned erratic and a hot wet warmth filled him as he came.

Wei Wuxian came back to himself when Lan Zhan lifted him from the bed and the warmth of the bath water enveloped him. He had to thank Nie Huaisang for his forethought, the warmth easing muscles that were unused to exertion but would surely build quickly.

They bathed languidly and then took advantage of the tub to fuck again, neither of them caring about the growing puddle around the tub, the suction of the water with each thrust too delicious to resist.

Lan Zhan, ever the gentleman, dried him with a strange sort of reverence, though perhaps not so strange if Wei Wuxian considered how long it had taken them to get here, two lifetimes, and then settled him at the table with a fresh pot of tea while he stripped the soiled bedding.

He thought it a waste, as they’d just soil them again later, but when Lan Zhan carried him to the bed he was happy they were fresh and soft against his skin. It was an entirely different sort of pleasure to sprawl with him naked across the bed, skin to skin in a different form of intimacy. Lan Zhan let him doze, simply holding him, and his nap was blessedly peaceful, as though his zhiji was a talisman against nightmares.

Later, when they eventually left the room for a much-needed dinner, they found a silencing talisman affixed to the door, a stack of them tucked into a parcel on the floor, a not-so-subtle message that made Lan Zhan’s ears turn red.

Surely a coincidence, none of the juniors, Nie or Lan, could look at them in the dining hall. Poor Lan Jingyi’s face was so flushed he looked like he’d been dunked in rouge, and Wei Wuxian amused himself talking to the teen, finding it fun to fluster him by just reminding him of his presence.

Nie Huaisang, on the other hand, looked ridiculously smug and he didn’t bother to hide it behind a fan.

Wei Wuxian had to concede he was very much entitled.

————

The phrase “fate without destiny” is often used when breaking up or ending a relationship, so Wei Wuxian is confessing he no longer felt he could be beside Lan Wangji. The first part of Lan Wangji’s response is also a proverb, though the last bit is added because he wants to make it clear his feelings have not lessened.

This is the end of this fic, but not the series. I’m not sure when I’ll start the next installment, as I’m participating in the WangXian Winter Solstice Gift Exchange again, and I have all the other in-progress fics to work on as well.

Writing has been slow lately. I’ve been put on a biologic injection for my autoimmune disease, and it’s helping but the help is painful right now. My brain is often really foggy, so I’ve been doing loom knitting when I can’t do anything else. I have a rheumatologist now and am being tested to find out if I have other coexisting autoimmune issues.

Personal life has also been pretty chaotic, which is also slowing my recovery. The sheer amount of drama my family can generate is a little amazing.

So mostly I’ve been writing when participating in Six Sentence Sunday and WIP Wednesday on Tumblr, slowly and deliberately, then fleshing out that when I’m able.

Thank you for your continued patience, and thank you adrian_kres for the beta!

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #cql #chen qing ling #wei wuxian #wei ying #lan zhan #lan wangji #lan jingyi #nie huaisang #my fanfiction #untamed fanfic #untamed fanfiction #untamed fic #cql fic #cql fanfic #cql fanfiction #mdzs fanfiction #mdzs fic #mdzs fanfic

[aline-the-cat]

Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3

Wei Wuxian enters their meeting room with an innocent-looking smile on his lips and silver eyes shining with playfulness, which makes both Meng Yao and Wen Qing get on high alert, their past experience telling them that whatever the kid is thinking, is not good at all

"So!" The teen smiles with excessive mirth "I received an interesting wish today"

"Going by your standards, I must question what exactly you mean by 'interesting'" Meng Yao comments wryly, even if they have shared interests and multiple things in common, some of A-Xian's tastes have always been more... weird; courtesy of growing up in a mass grave and being raised by ghosts, he guesses

The teen shows them a smirk in response

"Qing-jie" he turns to the healer "What kind of person is Wen Ruohan?"

The question takes her by sorprise

"Wen Ruohan? Well... he is very powerful and ambitious, when we left he was starting to invade minor sects out of some delusion that everyone was too dumb to lead themselves so he has to conquer us and do it himself" Wen Qing scoffs with a frown. Honestly, moving to the burial mounds was the best decision she could've taken

"Huh..." Wei Wuxian contemplates it for about a second "Between us, who do you think is more powerful?" He wonders innocently

Both Meng Yao and Wen Qing feel shivers down their spine

"Wha-"

"What's this about, A-Xian?" Meng Yao looks at the one he considers a younger brother with trepidation, the teen clears he throat and starts reading the scroll in his hands

"'Great Yiling Patriarch, I've heard all about your amazing accomplishments, so I send this missive to you out of despair. As you must know by now, the cultivation world is going through a great war against the Wens. Because of this, my family is in danger, so I must ask... please kill Wen Ruohan'" both officers loudly inhale. Wei Wuxian continues "'... I can't ask you to kill the entire Qishan Wen sect, though if you did the reward would be just as big, so at least I implore you to take down Wen Ruohan, without him, the remaining Wens might surrounder and my family will be safe. With this request, I leave you the list of payment and a way of contact' so it says"

"Ho~ interesting indeed" Meng Yao says that but he looks like on the verge of qi deviation

"So? What's the reward?" Wen Qing questions with a frown

"Hmmm says that the ownership of several stores and locals here in Yiling, an entire cargo of silks, gold, silver, licor, rice, rare medicinal plants, and the ownership of a plot of land in Yingchuan" Wei Ying reads

"What?! Let me see that!" Wen Qing practically rips the letter from him and Meng Yao also hurry to peek at it next to her. Wei Wuxian looks at them fondly, they get along very well despite their usual bickering "Are you going to meet them?" The healer asks him with her 'suspicious scowl', as Wei Wuxian calls it, the teen shrugs

"Sure, the Yiling Patriarch never refuses a wish"

'He says that but whenever he doesn't want to grant a petition he makes the offender forget everything about it' Meng Yao thinks raising an eyebrow 'Well, if I were asked to kill and torture innocent people I'd do the same' he sighs, and turns to look at Wen Qing, he knows they share similar thoughts

"These plants that are listed..." Wen Qing seems conflicted "They could help Meng-furen with her breathing problem"

"For real?!" Wei Wuxian exclaims

"Its a very strong possibility, what she has is something chronic from her days in the city, bad weather, and a weak constitution, Wei Wuxian's treatment has been effective so far, but it only alleviates the symptoms and stalls them, the problem persists, which is why she still has such a hard time in winter, this-" Wen Qing points at a plant whose name Wei Wuxian doesn't recognize "is a root that could help her lungs expel all the mucus and make them stronger"

"Auntie..." Wei Ying beams at the news "Well, I was going to accept solely for the challenge but with this..."

"Wait a second A-Xian!" Meng Yao interjects "I understand how big this is, and I know how strong you are, but to fight Wen Ruohan..." he pauses, A-Xian is strong, he really is powerful but... "It's too risky, what if it's a trap?"

"Huh?" Wei Wuxian looks at him curiously, normally, he fully trusts his instincts, which were honed to perfection to avoid any type of danger by living inside the Burial Mounds, but after growing up with Yao-ge, he learned to trust his slyness and understanding of human plotting more

"The only city the Wens have been unable to obtain is Yiling, they've tried multiple times and you always send them flying, so what if it's a trap to lure you out?"

"Hmmm? The Wens also failed to take Yunmeng though," Wei Wuxian adds

"Thanks to you" Meng Yao crosses his arms "My point stands, also... if you enter the battle alone with your powers, the war council may have problems with it, remember what we talked about?"

"Hmmmm that I have to play nice with the other sects?" Wei Ying wonders innocently

"Exactly" his brother frows at him "If we want to grow as sect, to exchange goods and obtain things we don't have, we can't allow ourselves to make them think we are an enemy"

"Then what can we do?" the Yiling Patriarch frowns slightly "This is a wish that I really want to fulfill, because of the families that are suffering, because of Auntie Meng and..." there's a guilty, yet playful glint in his silver eyes "because it really sounds like fun"

There's a moment of silence while the two arms of the new Yiling Wei sect try to process what their patriarch just said

"I... see" Wen Qing facepalms "Well, if that's what you want we can't stop you" she sends him a long-suffering look "So? What's the plan? How do you intend to kill Ruohan and be friends with the other sects?"

After a moment, both Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian turn to see Meng Yao, expectation bright in their eyes, the strategist sweatdrops at their expressions and sighs, already used to this 'This kid, really...'

"Alright, let's see... why don't we start by..." Meng Yao takes out an old scroll that they received three months ago "entering the sunshot campaign as they ordered?"

Wei Wuxian might've been adopted by Meng Shi, but at that moment, they have the exact same maniacal grin on their faces. Wen Qing suppresses a shiver

#yiling wei sect au #mo dao zu shi au #mo dao zu shi fanfic #mo dao su zhi #wei wuxian #wei ying #meng yao #wen qing #wen ruohan #yiling wei #yiling burial mounds #burial mounds #sunshot campaign #mdzs au #mdzs fic

[whetstonefires]

hey I was the one who asked about ao3 I'm sorry if the question came off as odd, I love your takes on mdzs and was wondering if you ever wrote any fics because you have really great diction on your posts and I thought 'This person could make really great fics' so I thought id ask, that's all

it's fine! lmao it just really looked like i was potentially getting set up for some weird anon hate game.

thank you! and the answer is i do have an AO3--i used to link it here a lot--but it's only got two mdzs fics on it. despite my having struggled to focus on any fandom besides mdzs for like two years.

because what happened when i got stuck in this fandom like a suction cup directly to the brain is, i wound up reading a lot more smut than i usually tolerate, because of the nature of the novel and how their relationships with sex are meaningfully integrated with their characterization and development as people and relative to one another. so a lot of the smut in this fandom has substance in a way i care about.

and my writing always reflects my reading material in a 'ooh i could do that like this' kinda way, so i started generating my own fic concepts with a sex element that i wanted to explore.

and then i got really invested in this new form and its tricks and affordances, so the only fics in this fandom i've actually been finishing are E-rated, because i'm inspired by the learning process.

(also because it turns out this shit is so easy to write, like you can cheap out on so many structural and narrative elements if you put sex in there, i'm so mad about this still. cheap!!!)

and having finished them i want to share, you know?

so i got a different ao3 for that, since mostly i like and write gen stuff, and i didn't wish to subject my existing subscribers to my learning to porn. i'm not sharing it here though, sorry, because everyone i've shared it with (upon request) has been weird about it.

the fic isn't even particularly outre! i'm remixing stuff that's done a lot in the fandom, according to my own artistic sensibilities! i do not know what the Weird is and what private conclusions are being made about me as a person on the basis of my very ace sex pollen remixes and shit. but it makes me anxious so i will Not be doing it anymore.

anyway as a reward or something for the guts to come back with your name out and take another shot and for the compliments <3, which of these not-sexy mdzs fic concepts do you vote i thwack into a postable form over the next month or so, and put on my main?

post-canon wwx gets amnesia back to the yiling laozu in burial mounds era and his current life explained very badly by lan jingyi, and concludes the lan have coerced him into a very creepy situation

funny wangxian modern au incorporating the height thing i was talking about earlier this week, where the main plot is ripped off from an autobiographical anecdote the singer told at a concert i went to and i was like, this would make a great one of those modern aus people keep writing. oh no now i want to.

time travel fixit outside pov, where wwx and wen ning get physically catapulted back from the qiongqi pass to before the war, and go and intervene just before lotus pier can be destroyed, wearing a mask and spooky cloak so no one will know the yiling laozu is wei wuxian (and a weimao so no one notices the ghost general is wen ning but let's be real that was less likely to happen for several reasons)

thing where the misunderstandings go off in a different direction early on, and wwx thinks lan wangji and mo xuanyu were actually an item and his impersonation has been tragically successful. very funny dramatic irony concept that is in execution going to be like 70% angst. some of it very funny angst though. (this one is the least developed because it doesn't really suggest its own plot.)

find what already exists at Kieron_ODuibhir lmao.

#ask #hoc est meum #appleblondie0397 #fanfic #writing #mdzs #other people can share their opinions as well lol

[rainingskyguy]

Hmmm for the word guessing game: sword, dog aaaand... a rare one that I'm not sure you'd use: distortion!

I tried going for unposted content, let's go!

Sword

“Chifeng-Zun has always been a righteous man,” A third voice said then from the shadows. Dressed in mourning robes, Jiang Yanli steps into the hearing, steel in her gaze. “Your efforts proved invaluable in the Sunshot Campaign, and your morals inspired awe and respect in the Cultivation World. Surely a man such as yourself can see how Jin Zixun’s actions put my husband’s and my brother’s life at risk.  You are all familiar with Wei Wuxian’s demonic cultivation, you have fought alongside him. My brother has taken a sword to the chest and walked away laughing, isn’t a thousand archers a pitiful challenge against the Yiling Laozu? No. This was a premeditated ploy for something else, and that resulted in my husband’s death. That is why we stand here. I demand justice." (Carve Me Open, whatever chapter's next)

Dog

“You are the bane of my existence.” Shigure lamented as he decided they weren’t going to go anywhere and might as well rest his legs. He sat down on the ground where he stood, drawing Ichigo’s absolutely unwarranted judging eyes. “Okay so. Do you believe in ghosts?” Ichigo froze. Shigure pretended real hard not to notice. He put a hand to his chin. “Or energy waves? You know, all that teenager new age mumbo-jumbo.” “…Do you?” “I would love to say no.” Shigure said, eyebrows arched. “But I did use to turn into a dog.” (Cage of the Dog, from next chapter

Distortion (I actually found one!)

Giyuu looked at his reflection on the polished shine of his cup. Despite the distortion, his dark blue hair was evident, it was impossible to hide who he was. How he didn’t belong here. “Do you ever resent me?” “…I’m sorry?” “That I am king. That I was the offering to the Fire God, instead of a real habitant of this land.” Giyuu closed his eyes and felt mildly better that Tanjiro wasn’t here to listen to his blunders. This was not what he had meant to ask. He knew he should be interrogating Sabito if he resented the god, but once loose, he couldn’t stop the words. (old Kimetsu no Yaiba wip, it was for an exchange but I liked the idea so much I thought about making it original fiction instead)

Send me more words, if anyone wants, this was fun!

#kny #bleach #mdzs #i LOVED writing that scene with jyl #she PROTECC #and the Fire God! Tanjirou au honestly slaps #hope y'all liked the teaser for Cage of the Dog as well #rsg writes #RSG answers #writing #ask meme #oneeyedoctogod

[feelinyilinglousy]

I posted 122 times in 2022

6 posts created (5%)

116 posts reblogged (95%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@piosplayhouse

@guqin-and-flute

@dingdongyouarewrong

@dontbeanassbutt

@wishfulina

I tagged 27 of my posts in 2022

#luo binghe - 6 posts

#scum villain self saving system - 3 posts

#svsss - 3 posts

#tgcf - 3 posts

#wei wuxian - 2 posts

#shen yuan - 2 posts

#shen qingqiu - 2 posts

#bingqiu - 2 posts

#hua cheng - 2 posts

#phantom of the opera au - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 130 characters

#i always say lwj is the most relatable mxtx character because i would not be capable of being anything but in love with wwx either

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

idk who’s ready for this conversation but “I Love You Too Much” from The Book of Life is a Hualian song

5 notes - Posted August 11, 2022

#4

I’m making a Scum Villain summary PowerPoint and this is the only slide I care about

30 notes - Posted April 6, 2022

#3

okay so like obviously we all loved it when Mount Tonglu opened and made Hua Cheng go into his weird magical ghost heat. But the thing is... Hua Cheng is not the only big bad ghostie we know! Did Qi Rong go into heat? Did He Xuan? Did *cough* Bai Wuxiang???

44 notes - Posted June 8, 2022

#2

I’m too lazy to write a real fic but here, having this Phantom of the Opera AU

See the full post

134 notes - Posted February 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I think my favorite premise from which to approach Shen Yuan and SVSSS in general is that you can literally have a Barbieverse of Shen Yuan fics just by having him die while reading different things (I usually imagine it as a PIDW fanfic). Like, was he in the mood for an arranged marriage au? Boom, he wakes up having to play Shen Qingqiu’s role in that fanfic. The possibilities are endless.

Shen Yuan in the Princess and the Pauper.

Shen Yuan in the Phantom of the Opera.

Shen Yuan in Twilight.

Shen Yuan in the Iliad (because Patroclus and Achilles ran so that Bingqiu could crawl)

Shen Yuan can do it all without it even being an au. It’s just really, really early canon divergence. Let Shen Yuan be Barbie for us

239 notes - Posted March 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #luo binghe being my top tag of the year pretty much sums up my year

[rynne]

Soooo I feel like one of the major points of all the rumors in MDZS isn't "rumors are inherently untrustworthy."

It's check your sources.

Determining the truth from what people say in this story is a small lesson on how to evaluate the credibility of a source.

There's some variability in what makes a source credible, but common elements include things like:

What is the source's authority on this topic? Does the source have personal experience with what happened? If not, how far removed are they from it? How much of what they are saying is hearsay?

Does the source have a bias or agenda? What might they get out of making people believe certain things?

Does other factual research/information contradict the source?

Keeping some of these principles in mind, let's take a look at how to evaluate some of the rumors in MDZS.

Wei Wuxian

Our first exposure to the rumors around WWX is in the prologue.

It hadn't been a day since the Siege of the Burial Mound, and the news had already flown across the entire cultivation world as if it had sprouted wings. The speed was only comparable to how fast the flames of war had spread back then, if not faster.

Suddenly everyone, whether they were prominent clans or rogue cultivators, was discussing this operation of vanquishment that had been led by the four great clans and attended by hundreds of sects both big and small.

[...]

"It's obvious from this case that the path of cultivation must always follow the righteous way. The demonic path is only glorious for the moment. You think it looks so glamorous? Heh, look where that got him."

(Suika, p. 9-11)

All of the subsequent discussion comes from people who are not named and whose personal experience with what happened is not established. Considering the rumors here touch on many elements of WWX's life, it seems unlikely they had personal experience themselves. No one steps forward to say they were there for any of it.

Basically, from the very beginning, rumors about WWX are established as not being credible. The sources on these rumors have no real authority on the topic and seem to be far removed from everything that actually happened. These rumors further establish a cultivation world bias right away against demonic/unorthodox cultivation in general and WWX in particular.

Factual information that we get immediately also contradicts a lot of the conclusions these initial speakers come to. For instance, the prologue told us that everyone seemed afraid that if WWX returned, he'd seek revenge and make the whole world suffer. Once we actually meet him, though, we find that he's grumpy about being considered a nefarious, malicious ghost because he'd been a harmless wandering ghost instead, one who shortly after being called back to life uses demonic cultivation to save the lives of Lan juniors.

Some of the information in the prologue is accurate. The speakers claim that WWX died from a backfire, and he confirms that later on. He was once a disciple of Yunmeng Jiang.

This mix of truth, hearsay, and assumptions forces the reader to do some work to determine the reality of what happened.

Consistently through the story, when we are presented with rumors about WWX, taking a moment to evaluate the credibility of the source helps guide us in determining whether we should believe it.

For instance, Yu Ziyuan introduces rumors about WWX's parentage:

“Sect Leader Jiang, it seems that some things I have to say. Look carefully—this, is your own son, the future head of Lotus Pier. Even if you frown upon him just because I was the one who bore him, his surname is still Jiang! … I don’t believe for one second that you haven’t heard of how the outside people gossips, that Sect Leader Jiang has still not moved on from a certain Sanren though so many years have passed, regarding the son of his old friend as a son of his own; they’re speculating if Wei Ying is your…”

(Chapter 56, ExR)

However, this is what the narrative told us earlier about YZY:

There was resentment within her heart. She simply wanted to let out the rage, even if it made no sense. 

(Chapter 51, ExR)

Every scene with YZY establishes that she hates WWX. She has a bias. Her words regarding pretty much anything to do with WWX are not credible because she is biased to the point of wanting to let out the rage, even if it makes no sense. 

Furthermore, rather than corroborate her points, the narrative undermines them instead -- JFM and WWX both protest the idea that JFM is WWX's father, and we are never given any indication that she's right. Even with other things she says, like how the Wens wouldn't have dared hurt JZX or LWJ, the narrative undermines her because we see what happened and know that the Wens were absolutely willing to kill everyone, including the sect heirs.

We see this kind of bias a lot.

No disciple had ever dared say such lofty words in front of so many people. A moment later, as Jin ZiXun finally regained his composure, he yelled, “Wei WuXian! You’re only the son of a servant—how dare you be so bold!!!”

(Chapter 70, ExR)

Classism is a bias that predisposes many gentry cultivators against WWX. Their words cannot be trusted because they are not evaluating WWX fairly.

We also see people make things up about WWX with an agenda:

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng’s face was already quite dark. Jin GuangShan shook his head, “In an event as important as the Flower Banquet, he dared throw a fit right in front of you, leaving however he pleased. He even dared say something like ‘I don’t care about the sect leader Jiang WanYin at all!’ Everyone who was there heard it with their own ears…”

Suddenly, an indifferent voice spoke up, “No.”

Jin GuangShan was in the middle of his fabrication. Hearing this, he paused in surprise, turning along with the crowd to see who it was.

Lan WangJi sat with his back straight, speaking in a tone of absolute tranquility, “I did not hear Wei Ying say this. I did not hear him express the slightest disrespect towards Sect Leader Jiang either.”

Lan WangJi rarely spoke when he was outside. Even when they debated cultivation techniques during Discussion Conferences, he only answered when others questioned or challenged him. With utmost concision, he overcame, without fault, the lengthy arguments of others. Apart from this, he almost never spoke up. And thus, when Jin GuangShan was interrupted by him, he experienced a far greater shock than annoyance. But after all, his fabrication was exposed right in front of so many. He felt a bit awkward.

The good thing was that, not long after he felt awkward, Jin GuangYao came to save the day, exclaiming, “Really? That day, Young Master Wei busted into Koi Tower with such force. He said too many things, one more shocking than the next. Perhaps he said a few things that were along those lines. I can’t remember them either.”

His memory could only be equal to Lan WangJi’s, if not better. As soon as he heard it, Nie MingJue knew that he was fibbing on purpose, frowning slightly.

Jin GuangShan followed the transition, “That’s right. Anyhow, his attitude has always been arrogant.”

(Chapter 73, ExR)

The Jins have an agenda. Their words are not trustworthy because their purpose is not to tell the truth, it's to advance their agenda (turning everyone against WWX, with the ultimate goal of securing the Yin Hufu for themselves). They are adapting their argument to fit their agenda, not attempting to find the facts.

Consistently, rumors about WWX come from people who have little or no authority to speak on the topic, who are biased against him, who have their own agenda to push. For many of them, the narrative outright discusses their unreliability, but this isn't the case throughout. Still, when MXTX leaves it up to the reader to understand, she provides indications about the source's credibility that the reader can evaluate using the principles I mentioned at the beginning.

Jiang Cheng

There are also several rumors that come up around JC, but evaluating their sources' credibility shows that these rumors are a contrast to WWX. JC is what proves that the point about rumors is not that they're inherently untrustworthy, it's that their trustworthiness needs to be checked.

Jiang Cheng had determined this man to be Wei Wuxian earlier, and the cold blood in his veins boiled. But now, the Zidian in his hand was clearly telling him that no, it wasn't him. Zidian would never lie to him, nor would it ever make mistakes. He quickly calmed down to contemplate. This wasn't a big deal. He would find an excuse to take the man back with him, then use every means possible to beat a confession out of him. Something would be spilled -- there was no fear regarding that. He refused to believe the man would give nothing away. In any event, it wasn't like he hadn't done similar things before.

(Suika, p. 115)

Is this person an authority on the topic? Do they have personal experience with it? Yes. JC is thinking to himself about his own past actions. Does he have a bias? Not one that would make him think about a pattern of behavior that didn't exist. Do later events contradict this? No. When JC does capture WWX, he torments him with his greatest fear and is only prevented from taking him back to Lotus Pier through Jin Ling's interference.

Lan Sizhui reasoned with him. "Mo-gongzi, Hanguang-jun brought you here for your own good. Sect Leader Jiang wouldn't have stood down unless you came with us. Over the years, countless people have been arrested and taken to the Jiang Clan's Lotus Pier, and none were ever freed."

"That's right," Lan Jingyi said. "You've never seen Sect Leader Jiang's methods, have you? Super vicious..."

(Suika, p. 121)

Do Sizhui and Jingyi have personal experience here? It's a little uncertain. Jingyi speaks as if he has seen JC's methods before, and they both saw how JC treated MXY when thinking he was WWX. No one seemed surprised to see JC act that way in front of them.

Do they have a bias or agenda? Maybe. Juniors do have reason to downplay their seniors' misdeeds (LWJ taking WWX to CR against his will), so they might be trying to make an excuse for LWJ.

However, something we find out is that the Lan Sect has a lot of rules, including one that forbids lying. We come to see that Lans in general have an honest reputation and can be referred to for the truth of the matter (such as LWJ speaking out against JGS or WWX using this to unmask Su She in the second siege). We also never actually see Sizhui or Jingyi lie. Sometimes they're wrong, but that's a good-faith mistake, not a lie.

We also know they are not making a good-faith mistake here, because again, JC's own actions when he captures WWX corroborate this rumor.

"It's not the first time my uncle has done something like this," Jin Ling said. "He would always rather catch the wrong person than let them go. [...]"

(Suika, p. 259)

Does Jin Ling have personal experience with this topic? It sounds like it. Does he have a bias or agenda that would make him lie about what JC is doing? JC is his uncle, who we see he trusts and cares about. He has no real reason to make up a bad reputation. Do later events contradict his information? No.

The owner, “I haven’t been there myself, but I know someone who went because his house was being badly haunted. But it was all bad luck. That Sect Leader Jiang was cracking a glowing whip right on the training field. The victim’s flesh and blood flew as high as his screams! A servant secretly informed him that the sect leader caught the wrong person again, that he hadn’t been in a great mood, and that he definitely shouldn’t be irritated in any way. He was so scared that he dropped off the gifts he brought and fled at once. He never dared visit again.”

Wei WuXian had long since heard of how Jiang Cheng had been searching for cultivators of the ghost path who seemed like they seized another’s body, taking them all into Lotus Pier to be tortured and questioned. The owner’s friend probably just happened to have ran into him when he was letting off steam. It wasn’t hard to imagine how hideous Jiang Cheng would have looked, so no wonder a normal person would make a run for it.

(Chapter 92, ExR)

Does this person have personal experience? No, this seems to be hearsay coming from a friend. Does this person have a bias or agenda? I don't think so -- WWX asked why they don't get help from the Jiangs, and this answer seems to be an explanation. Does other information contradict it? No, other information corroborates it.

So what we see with the rumors about JC torturing and killing demonic cultivators is that, even when some elements of a source may be a bit iffy, the information as a whole should still be considered credible because it is consistently corroborated. The authoritative elements of those sources just strengthen that credibility.

Jin Guangyao

However, there is someone else in this story who we see is the subject of a lot of rumors. Evaluating the credibility of those rumors' sources helps us understand what we should consider true about JGY.

“I heard that back when Jin GuangYao worked undercover in the QishanWen Sect, he wasn’t genuine at all. This was what he thought: if the Sunshot Campaign didn’t go well, he’d stay at the Wen Sect and help the villain; if the Wen Sect was about to fall, he’d turn around and become a hero.”

“Wen RuoHan is probably mad as hell in the Underworld. Back then, he trained Jin GuangYao as one of his most trusted cultivators. Almost all of Jin GuangYao’s current swordsmanship was taught to him by Wen RuoHan!”

“That’s not so big of a deal, is it? I heard that the reason ChiFeng-Zun failed the surprise attack was because he purposely sent out the wrong information!”

“I’ll say a secret too. The money and resources he used to build the lookout towers were all collected from other sects, right? Every sect helped out a bit. I heard that he secretly takes… this amount.”

“Oh Heavens… So much? He really is shameless. I thought he really wanted do good back then. All of our sincerity was fed to the dogs!”

Wei WuXian felt that things were rather comical, If they’re rumors, why the hurry to believe them? If they’re secrets, why would you come to know them?

These rumors didn’t happen in just the one day. However, in the past, when Jin GuangYao was popular, they were suppressed quite well. Almost nobody took them seriously. Yet, tonight, all of the rumors seemed to have become absolute truths, forming the rocks and bricks of Jin GuangYao’s supposedly committed crimes, proving his lack of morality.

(Chapter 86, ExR)

Are these people an authority? No, they're mostly talking about things they couldn't possibly have known, like JGY's intentions as a spy. Do they have a bias or agenda? Yes. These rumors existed before, when JGY had less power and people could display their classist bias against him, but once he got power, he was able to suppress them. WWX also makes clear that these people just want to be able to tear JGY down:

He had always been voicing different opinions than the rest, ringing quite starkly against the passionate speeches among the crowd. Some people already seemed very much offended. 

Sect Leader Yao spoke loudly, “This is called, the net of Heaven has large meshes, but it lets nothing unwanted through.” 

Hearing this, Wei WuXian smiled, and stopped speaking. He knew that right now, nobody could take in what he said. Nobody would carefully consider his suspicions either. A few more words, and maybe the others would start to position themselves against him again. If it were ten years ago, he wouldn’t care about other people at all. He’d say whatever he wanted, and others would have to hear them whether they wanted to or not. Now, however, Wei WuXian no longer had the interest in taking the limelight this way.

(Chapter 86, ExR)

The cultivation world mob wants to be a mob, not carefully consider the facts of the matter.

Finally, does other information corroborate these rumors? No.

This is in contrast to Sisi and Bicao's information. They are established as being authorities on this topic, but they are also established as having an agenda. However, when we get to Yunping, JGY ultimately corroborates their information. He cries a lot of crocodile tears and makes a lot of excuses for himself, but he does confirm the substance of their claims.

All of this shows that we can't believe everything we hear about JGY, because some of it is in fact bullshit from people who have found a target to tear down. However, we also can't dismiss everything, because it gets corroborated by an authoritative source (JGY himself).

Conclusion

There are a lot of rumors in MDZS, and considering most of them are about the protagonist WWX, a lot of them are wrong. However, it would be too simple to say that, because the rumors about WWX tend to be wrong, the story's message about rumors is that they inherently can't be trusted. MXTX provides other rumors or secondhand information (even about WWX -- see the story of the Damsel of Annual Blossoms) that turn out to be true.

The point of rumors is therefore not that they can't ever be trusted, but that you can't just listen to them blindly. You have to do the work of evaluating their credibility. You have to put more thought into it than blindly believing or disbelieving.

You have to check your sources.

#mdzs #mdzs meta #wei wuxian #canon jiang cheng #jin guangyao #that post I've been meaning to make about truth and rumors in mdzs #mdzs says check your sources

[kikyan]

Yandere Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji Headcanons

Here they are! These headcanons talk about their individual yandere type but it is intended that they will share you in any situation because I can’t split them up :(. Anyway, here you are!! 

AGAIN THESE ARE MY INTERPERTATIONS AND NONE OF THIS IS 100% ACCURATE OR CANON

Yandere Wei Wuxian Headcanons 

These are my interpretations of his persona and none of these are 100% accurate. I don’t condone any of these actions in real life and all of this is purely fictional and should be taken as such!

These are based on the drama and anime, still reading the novel y’all. Anyway, without further ado let’s get into it! Wei Wuxian is a very complex character and while these are separate headcanons, I still say this relationship should be poly because I really don’t wanna split those two up. I’d feel hella guilty. So in short, the yandere type I see him as is manipulative, possessive, clingy and overprotective. 

Wei Wuxian is a character you could say I kin, his personality and mine are so in sync, very taunting and teasing but never too hard. Sacrificing ourselves for the greater good and for practically everyone and oddly enough being everyone's scapegoat. Anyway, enough trauma dumping but Wei Wuxian is someone who is VERY loyal to his family. Never faltering from his own beliefs even if people have different opinions about it. He’s a great character ngl.

He’d be overprotective. In this cruel world where corpses and untamed ghosts run free, you need to be protected at all costs. While they won’t mind any darling, they’d probably notice you a bit more if you were a cultivator since there would be more interactions. If you were just a normal individual who was not a cultivator but rather a villager, you’d have to belong to the Lan or Jiang Clan for more exposure. Regardless, at the start things turn south real quick. In the drama the Wen clan arrived and started trouble with literally EVERYONE. That scene was just so *CHEFS KISS*, they were all mad and Meng Yao (at the time) stood hella overprotective over Nie Huaisang and just GOSH. Shit had me trembling. Then we had the water ghost, then we had yin iron/tiger amulet, then we had more corpses, the tortoise of slaughter, the Jiang clan ELIMINATED, literally everyone ELIMINATED, like everything went south real fast. There is no doubt that Wei Wuxian would be very concerned for his S/O. If you were from the same sect he’d ensure that you’re with him or part of the group of him, Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Yanli. If you were from the Lan Clan he’d probably try to gather information from his adoptive father and through some connections to the outside cultivating world. He and Lan Wanji would without a doubt make the ultimate sacrifice or have their S/O stand back in safety while they dealt with the issue. 

Possessive. You’re his and his only. Thinking back to that ONE SCENE, “If I, Wei Wuxian, want to kill someone, who can stop me? Who dares to stop me?” LIKE AJFRBSFHF THAT SCENE WAS SO FUCKING SICK AND FOR WHAT!? No but yeah he’d definitely make a mockery of someone who dares approach you and make them instantly regret it. If you’re in the group with Jiang Cheng and Yanli, then he’d make it as a way of simply looking after you. If you’re from a different clan, he’d make it so that they seem like they have bad intentions and he just noticed it quickly. The manipulation also plays into this. Now hear me out, while HE CAN be manipulative, doesn't mean he WILL all the time. I see it as a last resort or if you’re too stubborn to understand that he means well and the other’s don’t. 

Clingy. Like hella. He’d more than likely always want to be by your side all the time. Again, if you’re part of the trio which is now a quartet with you, then he’d be by your side NONSTOP. This man would play it off as being bored and you’re the only entertaining person. If he isn’t there 25/8, then how will he protect you? How will others know that you’re his? You’re his lover? Lan Wangji’s lover? How will they know that they can’t do anything without him knowing if he isn’t the shadow behind you? Thing is, I see him and Lan Wangji as being the stalker type. Wangji can gather information or just stare at you from a distance whereas I see Wei Wuxian out here slipping through the shadows and staying behind you like 2 feet. 

Yandere Lan Wangji Headcanons 

These are my interpretations of his persona and none of these are 100% accurate. I don’t condone any of these actions in real life and all of this is purely fictional and should be taken as such! 

I see him as obsessive, possessive, overprotective, and stalker. I won’t side track and rather just get into it so that I can give SOME of them together. Overprotective. Like I mentioned in the WWX headcanons, he and WWX are such a great duo. Not only do they have the strength to back it up, but they also have the brains to strategize. He’s known as the Twin Jades of Lan, he’s got the talent y’all!! Following the Lan Clan’s principles and rules he’d be a lot more weary and make it known. As opposed to WWX who would probably go along and then act out, he’d make his intentions known asap, which is protecting you. When the Wen Clan is present and in Gusu, he’d probably advise you to be careful. Small comments and pieces of advice here and there. Maybe even asking one of the members of the clan to look after you. When going on night hunts he’d try not to make it too obvious but would try to hunt near you so make sure he can reach you in time if something happens. If you’re not a cultivator, he’d stop near your house. He’d probably say that he is here on a mission/night hunt and you’d believe him because why would he lie? Using that excuse, he’d examine the situation to make sure that you are safe and sound. 

With that in mind, I see him being obsessive. While I haven’t finished the novel, one can tell his feelings for WWX. He waited and looked for him for 13 years yall, mf is OBSESSED. He had his favorite wine prepared and set aside for his return, he was waiting for him and keep in mind, he didn’t know if he was really coming back or if he was staying 6 feet under (in this case under a mf cliff-). His S/O and WWX mean the WORLD to him. He’d do anything. LWJ is observant so without a doubt he’d instantly know if something is up with his S/O. He’d memorize your facial expression and what they mean. How you present yourself, what you’re thinking, how you really feel. He’ll know, trust me. Being a stalker and all, he’d follow you around. In some situations he’ll be near, trust me. Something goes wrong on a night hunt and mf bichen coming at you full speed ahead. He’ll offer to walk you, go with you on night hunts, invite you out, etc. Of course WWX is there with y’all. 

Possessive. Like with WWX, he’ll make sure that everyone knows you have him in your corner. While WWX is a bit more touchy in public, LWJ is there next to you or behind you. In some way he is near you, nobody will get close to you because he’d silently drag you away from them. The difference between WWX and LWJ is that WWX is more teasing/confrontational whereas LWJ is straightforward and silent. He’d drag you away when needed or tell you in his soothing voice, “[Reader], we are waited at Gusu.” 

Between the two of them, I say that WWX is a bit more scary because to scare someone away he raises the spirits and murders them in the most gruesome way. LWJ would bring up something they did in their past to humiliate them and ‘warn’ their S/O when in reality they want to make their S/O uninterested  with the individual they were conversing with. Together they are a strong duo who will without a doubt WORSHIP their S/O. They worship each other so you’ll be pampered no doubt. Constant praises, lingering kisses and touches. WWX and LWJ will love and spoil you to perfection.

#yandere #yandere imagines #yandere x y/n #yandere x you #yandere x reader #yandere x darling #yandere headcannons #yandere headcanons #yandere anime headcanons #yandere anime #yandere fanfiction #yandere mdzs #yandere mdsz #yandere mdzs x reader #yandere wei wuxian #yandere wei wuxian x reader #yandere wei ying #yandere lan wangji #yandere lan zhan #yandere lan wangji x reader

[ibijau]

27 for chengxian! (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤

(Losing their memory only to have it come back after a much awaited true love’s kiss.)

Y'all really like that prompt lol I think I have at least one more ask for that one somewhere?

“And he’s been like this the whole time?” Jiang Cheng asked, repressing a shiver of disgust.

“Yes, zongzhu.”

“He didn’t even make a single inappropriate joke?”

“Not so much as a smile, zongzhu. And he said he was sorry for the inconvenience.”

Jiang Cheng gave Wei Wuxian another long look. He would have suspected a joke, but that style of humour would have more been Nie Huaisang’s thing. Wei Wuxian usually went for pranks instead of comedy. Besides, several Jiang disciples had been there when Wei Wuxian had taken in hand the cursed box, and they’d all testified to feeling a powerful discharge of Yin energy. Not only that, but the owner of the box had apparently warned them beforehand of the risk, and explained as well how to cure the curse.

True love’s kiss, of all things.

Normally, when it came to Wei Wuxian, that would have been quite an easy cure to organise. If anything, it was preventing him from indulging in those true love’s kisses that proved a challenge.

So of course this whole mess had to happen when, for once, Jiang Cheng had managed to get his shixiong to come without that damn icicle he called a husband. A favour he had only obtained because Lan Wangji was away on a Night Hunt in a place where resentment toward the feared Yiling patriarch remained too great for Wei Wuxian to go with him. It would take a few days until Lan Wangji could be warned of this incident and returned to administer his cure.

Until then, Jiang Cheng was stuck with this stranger who didn’t look like his shixiong, and didn’t even act like him either.

“At least it’s an improvement over his normal personality,” his first disciple scoffed. “Let’s all enjoy it while it lasts.”

“Am I really that bad?” Wei Wuxian asked with open concern. “If it is inconvenient for others when I am myself, perhaps I’d better stay like this.”

Jiang Cheng huffed. Lan Wangji would never have allowed that, he knew. Someone in that marriage needed to have a personality, and it wasn’t going to be the second jade of Gusu Lan. Although perhaps if they were both equally boring, then perhaps there would be a divorce, and Jiang Cheng could get his shixiong back.

A most tempting plan, except for the fact that this man before him just wasn’t Wei Wuxian, and thus wasn’t worth keeping around.

“Send for Lan Wangji,” Jiang Cheng reluctantly ordered. “And you, come with me,” he added toward Wei Wuxian. “I’m not letting you sleep at some inn when you’re in that state. I’ll have your room prepared, you’re staying where I can see you until you’re better.”

The man who wasn’t Wei Wuxian meekly followed him without a single objection, nor any attempt at teasing. Jiang Cheng found it almost sickening, which surprised him. He’d spent most of his life wishing Wei Wuxian would learn to act more appropriately and to show proper deference to those around him. By all accounts, this should have pleased Jiang Cheng to finally behold a version of his shixiong that knew his place.

He refused to dwell on that, mostly because it never did him good to think too long about that insufferable shixiong of his. Instead, Jiang Cheng congratulated himself on his decision to have had a room prepared for Wei Wuxian the instant he’d heard Lan Wangji wasn’t with him. If he wasn’t going to have shameless intercourse during the whole night, there was no need to banish Wei Wuxian to an inn. Of course Jiang Cheng hadn’t been sure how to offer that bedroom to the other man without being accused of being friendly, so at least one positive side to that curse had been to remove the need for an explanation.

-

After a few days together, Jiang Cheng had determined that being stuck with that unnatural version of Wei Wuxian was the worst torture he’d ever endured, even counting being struck by discipline whips and having his golden core torn from him.

Now that he’d had time to observe the amnesiac man during the afternoon and at dinner, Jiang Cheng had realised that contrary to his first impression, something of Wei Wuxian remained through the loss of memory. It was only small things, a manner of movement, the way he held his glass of tea, or the gesture with which he sprinkled additional spices over his dinner without even tasting it. A hundred ghosts of who Wei Wuxian was, lingering in a man who had too much politeness and not enough humour.

It was striking also to realise just how little Wei Wuxian looked like himself in his current body. Usually it wasn’t noticeable because his personality made up for the difference, but at the moment he truly looked like nothing but a complete stranger wearing a disguise.

Jiang Cheng hated it.

And Wei Wuxian, apparently, noticed it.

“If you tell me more about what I’m normally like, I can try to act more like it,” he said in a forlorn voice on the fourth afternoon, while watching Jiang Cheng take care of his correspondence.

Jiang Cheng only grunted.

“Though from what everyone says, aren’t I more pleasant to have around like this?”

Another grunt. Others were idiots for not appreciating Wei Wuxian as he naturally behaved, while Jiang Cheng was equally stupid for missing it.

“Just tell me what to do,” Wei Wuxian insisted, and Jiang Cheng hated that those were words he’d always wished to hear but now felt so wrong. “Should I smile? Should I be…” he hesitated. “Should I be obnoxious?” he asked in a trembling voice, just pathetic enough that in a roundabout way, it did sound like something Wei Wuxian might say if he were joking.

Jiang Cheng, exhausted and on edge, almost laughed.

Sadly Wei Wuxian noticed, and took it as encouragement.

“I think I can do that,” he claimed, coming to sit closer until he was nearly on Jiang Cheng’s lap.

That, too, felt a little too much like the real Wei Wuxian, though normally he kept that sort of behaviour for Lan Wangji.

Well perhaps that damn icicle liked being climbed over, but Jiang Cheng did not. Not at all, not one bit, that scenario had never once appeared in his dreams, when his mind thought it could betray his good sense. So Jiang Cheng tried to push away Wei Wuxian, who quickly threw his arms around Jiang Cheng’s neck to make it harder.

“Isn’t this the sort of things I’d do?” Wei Wuxian pleaded, pressing himself harder against Jiang Cheng the more his shidi tried to get rid of him, until he was all but straddling him. “I’ve heard people say I’m flirty.”

“Yes, toward your husband!”

“Well, I don’t know him. But I know you. You’ve been kind to me those few days, even when it was obvious that you don’t like seeing me like this. You shout a lot, but I think you’re a very good person at heart.”

“I’ve tried to kill you in the past,” Jiang Cheng blurted, though he gave up on trying to push Wei Wuxian away. “More than once.”

“From what I’ve heard, you’re hardly the only one.”

Two thoughts crossed Jiang Cheng’s mind.

The first was that he might have to borrow some ideas and forbid gossip in the Lotus Pier, if Wei Wuxian had heard so much in so little time.

The second was that he probably ought to hate a little more the way Wei Wuxian was straddling him, and how close he was. Close enough that if someone were to come in, they’d get the wrong idea and think they were about to…

Jiang Cheng’s eyes flickered to Wei Wuxian’s lips. He wondered, and then mentally slapped himself for wondering.

“The cure is a true love’s kiss, isn’t it?” Wei Wuxian asked in a whisper.

“Your damn true love is going to arrive tonight or tomorrow,” Jiang Cheng retorted in a voice that failed to be anything but pleading. “Wait for him instead of playing games.”

“If I wait for him, I’ll never be sure about you,” came the answer, before Wei Wuxian pressed their lips together.

Jiang Cheng, at first, merely allowed it to happen, unsure what to do with his hands, with his mouth even. Wei Wuxian appeared to understand and, without breaking the kiss, placed Jiang Cheng’s hands on his hips while also moving his lips in a gentle manner, as if trying to show him what to do.

When they parted, Wei Wuxian’s cheeks were flushed and his eyes shining with emotion. Then, slowly, his lips parted into the most obnoxious grin in the world, one that Jiang Cheng hadn’t seen once in those last few days.

“Jiang Cheng!” Wei Wuxian laughed, his voice just as annoying as ever. “Jiang Cheng, who knew!”

“Shut up! Get off my lap now that you’re cured!”

Wei Wuxian laughed again, sounding like a demented wolf, and Jiang Cheng hated how much he had missed that.

“Jiang Cheng, don’t pretend, I know you care, you can’t hide it anymore!”

“Who’d care for an asshole like you!” Jiang Cheng exploded, trying again to push away the other man, only for Wei Wuxian to laugh and press another quick kiss to his lips.

“Look at you, all embarrassed! Jiang Cheng, you’re an idiot, you know.”

“I’ll murder you!”

“Been there, done that,” Wei Wuxian retorted with another kiss. “Now listen. The cure was true love’s kiss, not ‘somewhat unrequited long lasting crush kiss’, alright?”

Jiang Cheng stopped fighting instantly, thus giving Wei Wuxian the chance to kiss him again, a little longer this time. Without any input from his brain, Jiang Cheng’s hands found their way to the other man’s hips, this time pulling him closer.

“What about your Hanguang-Jun then?” Jiang Cheng breathlessly asked when they parted. “Does that mean he’s…”

“I’m a very spoiled man,” Wei Wuxian said. “I can have two true loves, to make up for the fact that they’re both absolute bitches.”

The idea of sharing Wei Wuxian, now that Jiang Cheng knew he could have him, was particularly unpleasant. The only thing that would make it bearable, Jiang Cheng decided, was the certainty that Lan Wangji would be appalled that they had anything in common.

Happy with this petty thought, Jiang Cheng kissed Wei Wuxian again.

#chengxian #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #wwx is so fucking hard to write #and post canon jc is also damn hard to write #this caused me suffering but in a fun way

[darkandstormyart]

Xicheng fic recs

(figured i might make a list of my own)

(to be expanded as i dig out more treasure/remember stuff)

in no particular order:

Deep as the Yearning Night by FreckledStarKnight

“At first, it was pure chance. The second time was accidental. And the third time? Well, they say the third time’s the charm, after all. Lan Xichen discovers that Jiang Wanyin sings beautifully and is immediately enamored by it. His pursuit of Jiang Wanyin’s secret talent leads to a discovery and a series of events that he did not anticipate at all. Not that he’s complaining, of course. He got what he came for and more. Or, how two sect leaders get together through the song called love. CQL-verse.“

post-seclusion lxc

trying to get jc to sing

bonus lxc & jin ling feels i hadn’t considered before

cute

Always use protection by hesselives

“In which Lan Wangji attempts to hire a new bodyguard for his older brother, a well-known traveling exorcist. Jiang Wanyin doesn’t even make his carefully considered list of Top Ten Candidates, and yet here he is.

Lots of wandering in the countryside, distant yelling, and mildly inconvenient spirits.”

bodyguard au

honestly just really intersting worldbuilding

Rewrite the stars by Arashii

“Five great kingdoms have been fighting for years and when the kingdom of Yunmeng is destroyed, the Crown Prince Jiang Cheng vanishes.In Gusu, Lan Xichen makes an offer impossible for Jiang Cheng to refuse. His life or revenge? There’s only one option and Jiang Cheng swears loyalty to the man he hated the most his whole life, the Crown Prince of Gusu, Lan Xichen himself.Written for XiChengFest2020 - Day 4“

ROYALTY AU ROYALTY AU

enemies to lovers!

flashbacks! i love flashbacks so much ohmygod

No paths are bound by Arashii

“In seclusion, Lan Huan has the support of a ghost no one has seen since the massacre of Yunmeng Jiang. His feelings start changing with the often visits and conversations they share. Before Lan Huan can confess though, he ascends, leaving everything and everyone behind him.

Two hundred years later, back to the Human Realm and without powers, the Martial God Zewu-Jun has a mission to uphold. His Heavenly Calamity started. The clues are little and the support comes in the most unexpected form, the current Ghost King: Sandu Shengshou. Now they need to stick together to contain a menace that is slowly growing.“

TGCF AU TGCF AU

ghost king jiang cheng come on

doesn’t follow tgcf plot, just the setup so no spoilers

jiang cheng gets the dogs and the xichen he deserves

once upon a dream by cafedeolla

“Xicheng soulmate AU

An au where your dreams are small snippets of your soulmate’s day. They’d show small things like buying coffee, reading a book, or hanging out with people from their perspective.

The problem was that people always have expectations and Jiang Cheng knows he always falls short of them. Time and time again.“

soulmate au, but being soulmates is more a problem than a solution

misunderstandingssss all over the place

now with a squel (in progress?)

Lan Furen series by jagaimocchi

“Jiang Cheng leaves Lotus Pier before the Wen Internment Camp and before the destruction of his home. When he meets Lan Xichen on the run from the Wens after the burning of Cloud Recesses, his plan to live a peaceful life away from cultivation sects is quickly derailed. Now, free to make his own choices, he cannot find it in himself to leave the other man's side.

With love, patience and time, Jiang Cheng finds his own happiness and peace with his past.“

have you ever wanted a fic where jiang cheng peaces out from home in search for a better life, bc he’s Had Enough??? jags got you covered

adorable xicheng

good uncle-dad-figure Lan Qiren

ongoing <3

Just around the riverbend by JungleJelly

“One day.

Jiang Cheng just wanted one day of peace and quiet, away from home, away from his responsibilities, away from his idiot brother and his nutcases of a mother and father. Just a few hours alone — him and a boat and nothing else.

Clearly, that was too much to ask for.”

now with a new story in the series which is adorable too!!!

mermaid!lxc need i say more?

Bad ideas (where they lead) by JungleJelly

“Jiang Cheng is a busy man. Fortunately, he is also a huge pushover when it comes to his sister, so when she recommends that he start doing yoga, he agrees pretty easily.Featuring Lan Xichen in yoga pants, Jiang Cheng’s inability to handle a crush, and, perhaps most importantly, a big fluffy dog.“

done for 2020 MXTX MiniBang

yoga instructor Lan Xichen

Jiang Cheng is: struggling with a crush on the yoga guy from youtube & very angry about that

If there’s a price for rotten judgement by TheWanderingHeart

“All Jiang Cheng wants to do is, well... his job, really. Other than that? Keep the city safe, keep his nephew alive, keep his sanity intact (if possible).

So when his brother calls with unexpected news, he knows all of that is about to fly out of the window.

***

[Every instinct is telling him don’t ask, you don’t want to know. By this point, Nie HuaiSang has scooted closer to listen. Jiang Cheng takes a steadying breath and pulls out his antacids. “What did you do?”]”

superhero au, come on

jc just trying to do his job in peace

(he can’t)

i love it so much oh my god *sobs*

The Form of Boneless Ice by TheWanderingHeart

“Mythical beasts have long ago been driven to extinction by the gentry — hunted for sport, but more importantly for their magical cores. Since then, there remains only one creature that has never been caught. The Jiang’s retreated a long time ago. Abandoning land altogether, they sought safety where the humans could not reach.It all comes to a head though, purely by chance. (Or is it by fate that a spontaneous decision allows for them to meet? If fate were a rock!) Jiang Cheng suddenly finds his whole life balanced on the head of a pin — on the flimsy promise of a human boy. In his opinion, things cannot possibly get worse!(But then they do when the Wens decide it’s finally time to search for the elusive merpeople, and suddenly nowhere is safe.)“

there she goes again, with another beautiful xicheng story full of awwww and mythology

actually one of the first xicheng fics i read

i chose it because there were mermaids

painfully accurate takes on Jiang family dynamics

kids! lots of kids!

Let me Slytherin to Your Heart by TheWanderingHeart

“Jiang Cheng never thought he'd return to Hogwarts, but in hindsight, he probably should have known that someday he would.With his nephew about to start school, he reluctantly takes his good friend's bad parenting? career? advice and ends up tumbling head-first back into the madness that he hoped he'd left behind... and rediscovering some feelings he thought he'd left behind too.“

Harry Potter au!

just really fecking cute

lots of snakes

[I am not going to link all of Jo’s fics, though I probably could, just my 3 favourites. UOSB is there by default]

Talent Hunt Crew Finds Angry Guy Shouting On College Campus, Recruits Him For Vocal Projection Abilities by oh_fudgecakes

“Jiang Cheng, resident Angry Guy and heir to a conglomerate empire, has never been the apple of his father’s eye. Quashed under the shadow of his brilliant brother, the music prodigy Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng sees his chance to turn things around when he is recruited by the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt. One problem: he can’t sing to save his goddamn life.As he struggles to develop his nascent singing abilities, Jiang Cheng finds himself sucked into the whirlwind drama of reality TV, helped along by his adoring siblings, his irritable vocal coach Wen Qing, and strangely enough, the unfairly attractive host of the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt, Lan Xichen. Somewhere in the glare of the stage lights and an unexpected first love, Jiang Cheng stumbles upon the thing he was searching for all along: the courage to dream — and to attempt the impossible.“

done for 2019 MXTX Big Bang

uuuuuuuuuuh i might have cried maybe

heartwarming? painful at times? lots of family love?

slowburn xicheng being lovely

The Provenence of Hope series by velithya

“A chance meeting on a night hunt sets a course of events into motion that will change everything. Featuring Xicheng getting together, recovery for Lan Xichen, healing for Jiang Cheng, and always, always, hope.“

got everything. feels. hope. love. ~~healing~~

A Small Measure of Peace by Sandstone112

“With his brother in seclusion, Lan Xichen finds himself in temporary custody of his nephew with little to no expertise in the child-raising department. Uncertain and alone, Zewu-Jun is willing to do everything to be the person Yuan needs—even if it means inviting Sandu Shengshou to a playdate.“

a loooot of adorable family times with jc and lxc taking care of their nephews

good grandpa lqr!

canon but fixed and less painful

🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋if you wish to avoid scurvy:🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋

Some day I’m gonna make you mine series by locketofyourhair

xicheng getting together through the years

friends with benefits but the real benefits are the friends we made along the way

Take me over (take me tonight) by velithya

jiang cheng has a tattoo and lan xichen doesn’t stand a chance

i'd be the sweet feeling of release (mankind now dreams of) by piyo13

two bros, chilling in a cave, no feet apart because they don’t want to lose their cultivation powers what are you gonna do

haven’t read yet and shame on me, but AM GONNA:

Upon Our Silver Bridge by TheWanderingHeart obviously

““When the path ignites a soul, there's no remaining in place. The foot touches ground, but not for long.” ― Hakim Sanai

**

Lan Xichen's sorrows have caught the attention of something. Unlike the adventures and foes they have faced before, there is no obvious enemy here to defeat. If this is the same thing they thought had taken Nie Mingjue's life, then he believes it is fated for him to die as well. Nothing can stop the black fire when it wants to burn.Jiang Cheng is sure his part in this is over. Wei Wuxian is back, his grand adventure concluded, and he'd never been at the centre of it anyway. So what does it matter what happens to him in the end? Slowly, he will come to realise that there will always be a battle to fight, a story to tell, a choice to make, and there is no such thing as an end to anything.“

it was difficult to do things in 2020 and few i regret not doing more than not reading uosb yet :’(

i will tho

Emergency Help Wanted by piyo13

“EMERGENCY HELP WANTED I lied when I got my job. I told them I had a kid so I could leave early from work to pick him up from daycare, take him to doctor's appointments, and occasionally miss a day when he's sick. Long story short, I'm in too deep. I didn't think it through. Looking to rent a kid for bring your child to work day. Must be a boy ages four to six, longish dark hair, likes soccer. Must also be artistic as the macaroni noodle paintings I made seem a little advanced for his age. Also, I will pay extra for someone willing to play the role of husband when dropping him off. He's a prosecuting attorney who often brings his work home. Message me for further details. Serious inquiries only.“

Running Our Hands Through Embers by MarvelousMar

“If asked, Jiang Cheng would compare falling in love with Lan Xichen to a moth inevitably drawn to a flame.It burned.***In which Jiang Cheng discovers that even death can't help him escape from his trauma, so he embarks on a quest to save the people he loves, fix what he can, make the love of his life fall for him, and maybe, somewhere along the way, do a little bit of healing.”

The Beginner’s Guide to Moving On by InvincibleMel

gone from ao3, but i think there’s a link with a pdf going around

#xicheng #fic rec #Jiang Cheng #lan xichen #mdzs #the untamed #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #mo dao zu shi