#Mo Xuanyu's friends have almost as much drama going into their lives as him and that's just how it is | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

robininthelabyrinth · 4 years

Note

For prompts, I'd really like to see your take on Wei Wuxian being summoned back by Qin Su instead of Mo Xuanyu. It's an idea I've only seen done once very briefly, and I've wanted to see more of it since.

Untamed verse

Being summoned back to replace a woman was, while odd, not the biggest problem in Wei Wuxian’s life.

The women’s clothing he could deal with, thanks to some very specific dares in his youth due to hanging out with Nie Huaisang, that deviant; the make-up was something he had helped Jiang Yanli out with before; and the hair...

Whatever. His maids would live with his hair done up a little more casually than they might have expected.

No, the biggest problem was that he was masquerading as the wife of Lianfeng-zun, Chief Cultivator. And that actually wouldn’t be so much of a problem, except that said Chief Cultivator was apparently an absolute psychopath with a collection of grisly trophies that said wife had apparently found right before deciding to end her life in favor of revenge.

Revenge which Wei Wuxian was massively underqualified to undertake.

Demonic cultivation or not, he’d probably need an army to undertake it, she wanted him to kill the Chief Cultivator, but if he didn’t do it, his soul would be forfeit.

Great.

“I need help,” he decided.

Qin Su, as his summoner was apparently called, was very fond of veils, which Wei Wuxian now greatly appreciated as a fine trait in a woman, and had a low voice, which he also appreciated; no one questioned it when he asked for ink and paper for correspondence. Something he was allowed, apparently, unlike the ability to leave – that had been the first thing he’d tried, of course.

Unfortunately, Qin Su had apparently lost a son (her husband had killed her son, to be clear, there’d been evidence aplenty in the treasure room Wei Wuxian had woken up in, and honestly the “summon an evil spirit for vengeance” thing would be totally understandable if she hadn’t chosen to summon him) and she’d taken it sufficient badly in public, or was said to have, that her husband had decided to restrict her to the inside of Koi Tower out of fear for her safety, and to enforce the restriction with guards.

Fucking psychopath.

Wei Wuxian sat in front of the paper and stared at it.

The simple fact of the matter was, he had been dead for sixteen years.

Wen Ning, who’d been his right hand, had died before he had, and resentful energy, while still available (and how, that treasure room was reeking with it), was no substitute for a person. The cultivation world had turned against him, leaving him without friends or allies to call on...was there someone who he might try to write to? Someone who would still answer his request if absolutely need be? And if so, who was it?

The Jin sect belonged to Lianfeng-zun, who he was trying to escape, and he had no idea if Jin Ling had survived the man’s apparently bloody reign since there was neither hide nor hair of a fifteen year old anywhere he could see. The Nie sect had once been reliable, always determined to destroy evil and enact justice, but Nie Mingjue was dead (a fact Wei Wuxian became aware of once he found that his head was in the treasure room sans body) and who knew the state of the sect now - especially since if he remembered correctly, Nie Huaisang had been fairly close to Meng Yao before he became Jin Guangyao, and might be close to him still. No, asking him was too much of a risk.

The Lan sect…

Lan Wangji would believe him, he thought. Lan Wangji had believed in him back then, and tried to help him, even at the end of it all. But it was Lan Xichen who was the sect leader, not Lan Wangji, and Lianfeng-zun was Lan Xichen’s sworn brother. Who could tell which of the two Jades of Lan would receive his letter?

No.

There was only one option.

Wei Wuxian took a deep breath beneath his veil, closed his eyes for a moment to gather strength, and wrote –

Jiang Cheng, I need your help.

“Why are we rushing?” Jin Ling complained, though he looked more bemused than anything else. “Jiujiu, you don’t even like to go to Koi Tower, you never go to Koi Tower –”

“I go twice a year and you know it,” Jiang Cheng snapped, his fingers still tightly clutching the letter that had been delivered by urgent post.

“Yes, twice a year, the absolute bare minimum you have to visit,” Jin Ling said. He wasn’t wrong, either. “Who’s the letter from?”

“I already told you, it’s from Madame Jin.”

“I didn’t realize you were serious,” Jin Ling said. “I’ve never known you to be close to her. Just – tell me this isn’t like the Mo Xuanyu thing, okay? She’s pretty, sure, but she’s not that pretty…”

“Mo Xuanyu?” Jiang Cheng asked, only half paying attention. They were almost there. Soon, he’d know the truth, he’d know if – but how could it be anything but the truth? Who else would know to use those old codes, the ones they came up with as children, giggling together in their rooms at the Lotus Pier? No one yet living could know them, only him –

Soon.

“You know, my uncle, the weird one – turns out he was a pervert that became fixated on Madame Jin –”

“What does that have to do with me...” Jiang Cheng trailed off and turned to glare. “Don’t be absurd!”

Jin Ling didn’t have the courtesy to look abashed. “I was just checking –”

They walked in through the doors of the Fragrant Palace. Qin Su was seated in her normal place, delicate as a flower in a dress of pale rose and a dusty veil hung over her face with a diadem, matching earrings, everything a proper noble lady should be, and at first Jiang Cheng thought that he must have been mistaken, hallucinating, something –

And then she turns to look at him and above the veil he saw those eyes and he knew.

“I’ll write to Lan Wangji once we’re back at the Lotus Pier,” Jiang Cheng said.

“Good idea,” the carpet they were currently smuggling out of Lanling said. “Lan Zhan will definitely help! I just couldn’t guarantee he’d come for Qin Su, you understand…”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t,” Jin Ling said, kicking his heels. He’d had rather a nasty shock, finding out firstly that Wei Wuxian had been summoned back, secondly that it was his aunt that had done the summoning, thirdly that she’d done it to stop his little uncle, who was apparently evil, and lastly that his beloved jiujiu was responding to Wei Wuxian’s return by helping him rather than killing him – but he was young and recovered easily from shock, and by now he was more caught up in the drama and adventure of it all. “Hanguang-jun never comes to Lanling. Not once.”

“That’s true,” Jiang Cheng said. “Not even for discussion conferences. It would have been noticed.”

“Why? Does he know about Lianfeng-zun –”

“No, he would have said something, he’s stupidly righteous like that,” Jiang Cheng said. “It was because of you, you idiot.”

“…oh.”

“Why does no one ever tell me these things?” Jin Ling complained.

“Why did you come help me, Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian asked much later. “You didn’t ask any questions, you didn’t doubt, you just – you hate me. For what I did at the Nightless City, to shijie, for abandoning you…I know you hate me. Why did you come?”

“You asked.”

#mdzs #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #jin ling #my fic #my fics #echodoctor

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marley-manson · 2 years

Note

Mzds for the ask! And maybe also jiang cheng for the specific character 🤔

Thanks for asking!

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character:

Wei Wuxan! I tried to get into it before The Untamed even came out because I'd heard he was a powerful, fairly dark and ruthless, but also funny and lighthearted, sub bottom necromancer lol. Unfortunately I couldn't read the book translation without the prior emotional investment the show gave me, and the manhua was only at like 20 chapters or something at that point. But he was always destined to be a fave.

Least Favorite character:

This is tough because I love almost every character lol. I think I wanna say Song Lan actually? He's just so boring and people pit him against Xue Yang all the time as the wholesome boyfriend which makes him even more boring.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon):

wangxian, xuexiao, xiyao, su she/jin guangyao (idk their ship name), aaaaand 3zun but only in a total disaster way.

Character I find most attractive:

Wei Wuxian

Character I would marry:

Jiang Yanli. I would respect her soup.

Character I would be best friends with:

I could see myself getting along with Wen Qing.

a random thought:

This isn't random so much as the thing that haunts me in this fandom lol, but demonic cultivation is fine, actually, not particularly harmful, most of the hints pointing that way were actually red herrings to lead to the reveal that wwx is missing his golden core, and nmj's righteous hatred of it is meant to be hypocritical as hell considering the nie cultivation style.

An unpopular opinion:

Su She deserved better.

My Canon OTP:

wangxian

My Non-canon OTP:

xuexiao

Most Badass Character:

Wei Wuxian. Love me a one man army.

Most Epic Villain:

Wen Ruohan is probably the most "epic," every other villain was kind of pathetic lol.

Pairing I am not a fan of:

xicheng. it's the most "...them?" ship ever to me, and I've found that it's a good canary in the coal mine side ship, like if it's a secondary ship to wangxian I'm probably not going to vibe with the author's taste or interpretation of the canon.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):

I think The Untamed screwed up Jin Guangyao in various ways to cut down on the moral greys. For instance by implying he slept with his wife even after learning she was his sister, by making Mo Xuanyu want revenge against him, obviously with the whole second flute bullshit lol, etc etc.

Favourite Friendship:

Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing. mad scientist besties!

Character I most identify with:

lol idk I almost never identify with characters. Mian Mian's normie husband.

Character I wish I could be:

Baoshan Sanren. Immortal, super powerful, chilling on a mountain, totally uninvolved with any drama.

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you:

How I feel about this character:

I honestly don't care much about him either way lol. I don't love or hate him.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character:

Jin Guangyao has funny divorce energy with him, I've read a few p good Nie Huaisang/Jiang Cheng fics, occasional fucked up Jiang Cheng/Lan Wangji hate sex has some potential, and there's an appeal to fucked up one-sided chengxian with ambiguous incest vibes.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character:

Lan Wangji. I love their sort of friends to pure enmity that they can't fully express bc they live in a society. I can't get into most reconciliation fics because they always downplay their mutual hatred imo, and that's the best part. Like I fully belive lwj would murder jc if he could get away with it, and jc knows it.

My unpopular opinion about this character:

Probably the fact that I don't have any strong feelings towards him lol. It seems like everybody either loves or hates him and I'm just like, whatever. He's fine. He's kind of interesting but not the most interesting.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

Nothing really. I think his canon story was pretty good and complete. I didn't want a reconciliation with wwx personally. Ooh actually I know - he demonstrates that he's moved on from obsessing over wwx finally by getting a dog.

Favorite friendship for this character:

I guess Wei Wuxian because it's complicated and interesting and I dig the sort of pointed and thematically relevant confusion over their familial or not relationship.

My crossover ship:

I don't really do crossovers tbh, I got nothing.

ask meme

#text post #marley on mdzs #long post #this was fun!

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arakiincel · 3 years

Note

ok tell me about the untamed, i might not get into it but i want to hear you ramble about it, the art you reblog is so pretty

oh boy when i saw the notification for this ask, i freaked out kdhalkdjsflhasjd.

ok the the untamed is a live-action drama based off of the chinese webnovel, mo dao zu shi by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. there are many adaptations to it, including a donghua, audio drama, manhwa, and drama. (there might be more, but those are all that i know of)

ok so the untamed follows our main character Wei Wuxian as he wakes up 16 (13 in the novel) years after his death in a new body. The person who did a ritual to give up his body (Mo Xuanyu) wants him to get revenge on all of the people who wronged him in his life.

Right as we start on this adventure though, Wei Wuxian meets a bunch of people from his past and we go on a 30 episode long flashback to his childhood and what events led up to his death.

I don't want to spoil too much in case you do end up watching it, but long story short, there are a bunch of different clans and one tries to take over everyone using this magical object called the yin iron, but they get defeated by the others. Wei Wuxian almost dies and in order to stay alive, and be able to keep fighting, he turns to demonic cultivation, which is a type of magic that is strictly forbidden and evil. This is eventually what leads to his death, although there are a lot of other variables. (this isn't really a spoiler, they show this scene in the first five minutes of the show)

he has this soulmate *ahem* very good friend, Lan Wangji, who's very uptight and repressed and they have this whole thing going on where Wei Wuxian will blatantly flirt with him, and he'll pretend like they're enemies, when we all know that they're in love.

there are a lot of differences with the drama and the novel, namely the way Wei Wuxian dies, but I think their take on it was really well done and interesting.

there are also a lot of amazing subplots and characters, such as the characters from the Yi City arc, Nie Huaisang and whatever drama is going on with him, and many more, but I won't get into them.

anyways i just love this show so much kajfl;dskfjas;ld

#thank you so much for asking gynn this made my day #asks #gynn #the untamed #also i haven't watched/read all the adaptations so there may be some things i left out or got wrong

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ssuibian · 4 years

Text

ssuibian’s mdzs fic rec

It looked like there was a few interested in some mdzs fic recs so here I am. I’ll divide this into mdzs verse and modern au so scroll to what you like. Some of these will be the infamous ones, but they’re known for a reason so on the list they go.

Before we begin some info about my preference’s: I read a little bit of everything, almost exclusively completed works and mostly wangxian-centric.

Code: personal fave - ♛ / explicit, contains smut - ♞ / fluff - ✿

All of these are on ao3, so check them out on there for more info.

Mdzs verse (set in the same era as the novel/cql)

Tame by rikke ♛✿

Tags: teenage wangxian, canon divergence, humor

Length: 11.7k words, oneshot

Summary: When Wei Wuxian wakes up in Lotus Pier after the Xuanwu Cave it’s with a souvenir in the form of a Xuanwu egg. Wangxian end up as young parents.

A civil combpaign by ariaste ✿

Ariaste has a lot of good fics and is a wonderful writer so check out their other works too!

Tags: Jin Ling x Lan Sizhui, background wangxian, humor, teenage drama

Length: 19.6k words, oneshot + a sidefic from wwx’s pov

Summary: Jin Ling tries to arrange his own marriage and thinks Lan Sizhui could be a suitable match. One problem: he’s a teenager, the matter is handled accordingly.

The lotus defense society by mondengel ✿

Another good writer with a lot of content!

Tags: humor, background wangxian, background yanxuan

Length: 3.4k words, oneshot

Summary: Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji start a club to help them ensure the Jiang siblings stay single until they can confess.

Phantom leashes by mondengel ♛

Tags: vampire au, horror elements, set in canon

Length: 3.1k words, 2/2 chapters

Summary: Lan Qiren can’t help but be cautious of his youngest nephew who inherited his mothers bloodthirstiness.

An effect (without a cause) by astrobandit

Tags: post-canon, amnesia

Length: 15.4k words, 10/10 chapters

Summary: Lan Wangji knows that something is wrong. Maybe the black and red clad man saying his husband is missing has something to do with it.

Unexpected by nanodayolo ✿

Tags: princess and the pauper au, wangxian, mo xuanyu x xue yang, humor

Length: 68.2k words, 22/22 chapters

Summary: The Jin clan is on the borderline of bankruptcy and arranges a marriage between their third son Mo Xuanyu and the second master of Lan, Lan Wangji. Sabotage is in the works and Mo Xuanyu is kidnapped, luckily they have look-alike Wei Wuxian to step in as a stand in. No one will notice, right?

Baby of mine by pupeez4eva ♛✿

Tags: time travel, humor, a-yuan

Length: 3.3k words, oneshot

Summary: A-yuan has time traveled to his parents teenage days in Gusu. Cloud Recesses is in chaos by what their visitor from the future implies.

Another writer with many good works. My personal faves also include The haunting of Wei Wuxian (ghost’s follow wwx around post resurrection and are witnesses to wangxian)

and the Wangxian’s time-travelling shenanigans series (they time travel to Gusu school days in the middle of the Guanyin confession. doesn’t stop wwx)

Where the winds of change blow by merakily

Tags: post-canon, humor and a dash of angst, hurt/comfort, juniors, family

Length: 17.4k words, oneshot

Summary: Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng is always a second away from stabbing the other. Who would’ve know a discussion conference and sect leader Yao’s loud mouth was what it took to make them get along.

The twin jades’ mother by drjlecter

Tags: post-canon, mild angst, twin jades, canon compliant, TW! mentions of suicide

Length: 11.8k words, oneshot

Summary: Wei Wuxian does some experimenting and somehow manages to use inquiry to call upon a very dear spirit.

The father trap by jinko ✿

Tags: post-canon, juniors plotting, humor

Length: 3.6k words, oneshot

Summary: The juniors are frustrated that wangxian isn’t together. They start plotting to make it happen, overlooking the fact that they might be engaged.

Asympotic by chinxe

Tags: canon divergence, pining, angst w/ happy ending

Length: 26.6k words, 3/3 chapters

Summary: Lan’s have a history of having tragic love stories. Lan Wangji follows tradition by falling in love with a ghost.

Some days. by jollytortoise ✿

Tags: emotional hurt/comfort, post-canon

Length: 8.3k words, 4/4 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian is sick, and the entire Cloud Recesses is thrown into disarray. It’s a bad day and all he wants is his husband.

Conversations: this mending fences thing by alcove_words ✿

Tags: post-canon, moving on, family

Length: 4k words, oneshot

Summary: Wei Wuxian and Lan Sizhui have to stop at Lotus Pier when wwx is injured on a night hunt. Jiang Cheng tries to pick up the pieces of the relationship he once had with his brother.

Lan Sizhui sees dead people by darkbrokenreaper ✿

Tags: background wangxian, canon divergence, humor

Length: series, 7 stand alone works, ongoing

Summary: The time a-yuan spent in the burial mounds has left its mark by giving him the ability to see ghosts. As a result he shocks the people around him when he talks about things he shouldn’t know.

Recompense for the martyr (wicked nights howl) by anemonii ♛

Tags: post-canon, family, emotional hurt/comfort, memories, brotherhood, forgiveness, canon typical violence

Length: series, 3/3 parts

Summary:

Part 1: Jin Ling is cursed by a sword and witnesses the owner’s memories. As a result he’s taken back to the Lotus Pier of his uncles’ childhood, their teenage days in Gusu and their fallout when the Yiling Patriarch appeared.

Part 2: Wei Wuxian decides it’s time he and Jiang Cheng talked.

Part 3: It’s time to lay Mo Xuanyu’s body to rest.

The Yiling Wei clan by scifigeek14 ♛✿

Tags: canon divergence, family of choice, fluff, everyone lives/nobody dies, getting together

Length: series, 6/6 works

Summary: Lan Wangji decided to stay at the end of the visit to Yiling. It changes everything, for the better.

Modern au

Unstrictly ballroom by ariaste ♛♞

Tags: competitive ballroom dancing au, background songxiao

Length: 47.5k words, 4/4 chapters

Summary: 13 years ago Wei Wuxian was involved in a scandal and thrown out of the competitive ballroom dancing scene, and Lan Wangji never stopped looking. Faced with the heteronormativity within the field, Lan Wangji and his dance partner decide to make a change. It’s something so fitting Wei Wuxian, and Lan Wangji really wishes he was there now.

Lightning in a bottle by bigbabyjeno ♞

Tags: photographer lwj, wedding crasher wwx

Length: 10k words, oneshot

Summary: Lan Wangji is the photographer for a wedding and catches Wei Wuxian sneaking in, claiming to be the bride’s brother. They disguise him in as Lan Wangji’s assistant so he can see his sister get married. The night ends with some smutty times.

By mistake or design by allurie ♛♞

Tags: fashion designers au, slow-burn, sexual tension

Length: 51.7k words, oneshot

Summary: Lan Wangji is the head designer of the haute couture division of the fashion house Nuage, while Wei Wuxian is the head designer for ready-to-wear. Circumstances have them end up working together, and the result is an explosive collaboration.

The best of you by sysrae ♞

Tags: university au, mutual pining, emotional hurt/comfort, mental health

Length: 41.9k words, 17/17 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian rents Lan Wangji’s spare room after being thrown out by the Jiang household. Living together makes Lan Wangji learn to know Wei Wuxian on a much deeper level.

So take my hand (take my whole life too) by cicer ♛✿♞

Tags: university, kid-fic, accidental baby acquisition, mutual pining, humor

Length: 92.3k words, 13/13 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian was waiting for his package. What he finds on the doorstep instead is a baby in a car-seat with no one else in sight. Wei Wuxian juggles taking care of a baby and being in love with his co-parent/ roommate/ best friend Lan Wangji at the same time.

Let’s you and me go for a ride by rinsled05 ♛✿

Tags: racing au, a-yuan, brotherly love, fluff, hurt/comfort

Length: 21.4k words, 5/5 chapters

Summary: Competitive motorcyclist Wei Wuxian meets his very handsome sponsor Lan Wangji, who despite not liking racing still comes back to watch. He wonders why.

Love wakes me by dea_liberty ♛✿♞

Tags: childhood sweethearts, famous lwj, coffee shop owner wwx

Length: 42.8k words, 4/4 chapters

Summary: A teenage bet was all it took for Wei Wuxian’s life to fall apart. As an adult he’s working in Yiling cafe, and he’s doing fine in his new life. That’s until Lan Wangji walk in the doors and make his heart ache again for everything in the past.

B-side by suspicious_popsicle ✿♞

Tags: band au, metalhead wwx, music teacher lwj, juniors

Length: 47.3k words, 15/15 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian disappeared right after graduation and Lan Wangji never saw him again. That’s until Lan Jingyi’s favorite band is performing nearby and Lan Wangji sees his first love again.

My dreams are playing softer now by fleurdeliser ♛✿♞

Tags: modern w/ cultivation, drunk lwj, humor, fluff

Length: 8.2k words, oneshot

Summary: Lan Wangji is drunk and his older brother decides he doesn’t want to deal with that and makes Wei Wuxian take responsibility. What follows is a cupcake date.

Congratulations, get rich by attila ♛✿♞

Tags: party, sibling shenanigans, big dumbass energy, humor

Length: 9,2k words, oneshot

Summary: Wei Wuxian really wants to kiss Lan Wangji at the chinese new years party. If mixing traditions and making his siblings go along with his scheme for it to happen, so be it.

The simplest way forward by harriet_vane ♛✿♞

Tags: kid-fic, accidental baby acquisition, green card marriage (except not), pining

Length: 71k words, 8/8 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian wakes up with an a-yuan in his care and he has no idea how. Lan Wangji helps out and Wei Wuxian tries not to fall in love with his husband.

Operation old men by chiharu ♛✿

Tags: juniors, matchmaking, family, doctor wwx, scheming

Length: 37.6k words, 6/6 chapters

Summary: It turns out Lan Sizhui’s father Lan Wangji and Jin Ling’s uncle Wei Wuxian know each other after a chaotic parent/teacher conference. The juniors decide to do some investigating that soon turns to matchmaking.

Your heartbeat, across the grass by fakeplasticlily ♛♞

Tags: football player lwj, photographer wwx, a-yuan, mutual pining, sexual tension

Length: 44k words, oneshot

Summary: After graduation Wei Wuxian has done his best to avoid everything to do with Lan Wangji. Not easy when Lan Wangji has become a world known fotball player and a-yuan’s favorite.

Other faves by this writer: Love on 35mm (lwj is a film student and anonymous famous vlogger who’s in love with his best friends younger brother)

and When we’re full of stories to be told (wwx went undercover for an article and cut contact with everyone. years later he ends up meeting childhood best friend lwj who has become a famous author.)

Wei Wuxian is the actual bogeyman (no really) by chatonnerie ♛✿

Tags: rise of the guardians crossover, humor, juniors, mystery

Length: 57.3k words, 6/6 chapters

Summary: Literal bogeyman Wei Wuxian was exiled by the guardians 1300 years ago. A mystery à la mdzs canon welcomes him back to the world for some buddy-cop holiday fun.

Our reflections as seen (when the water stills) by chatonnerie ♛✿♞

Tags: tokyo ghoul crossover, university, gore, humor, mystery

Length: 121k words, 10/10 chapters

Summary: Lan Wangji attends university and works for the ccg. His new course brings the annoyance that is Wei Wuxian into his life, who eventually turns out to be his new best friend. Lan Wangji is very concerned for his friends safety when he finds out Wei Wuxian’s brother is a ghoul. But that’s just the tip of the ice berg.

[This one is hands down one of the best fic’s i’ve read ever. Incorporates the mdzs and tokyo ghoul verse so well.]

And they were roommates... by harriet_vane ✿♞

Tags: fem wangxian, college/university, roommates

Length: 41.2k words, 4/4 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian is without housing for the semester and fellow student Lan Wangji has a room available. Based on infamous reddit post "I (21f) have a crush on my roommate (20f). I can't figure out if she actually likes me back or not or is just being friendly. She cooks for me and knows all my favorite foods, and brings me lunch. (...)”

Jiang Cheng’s terrible summer by hellohln ♛✿

Tags: camp rock crossover, getting together, humor

Length: 3k words, oneshot

Summary: Jiang Cheng tells his therapist about the disaster that was summer camp. Mostly because he had to witness his brother getting together with fellow camper Lan Wangji.

Let the streetlights guide you home by tellthemstories ♛✿♞

Tags: street racing au, pining, sexual tension

Length: 22.6k words, 5/6 chapters (steady updates so far so it should be done soon)

Summary: Wei Wuxian was the best street racer of his time and he was known for danger and recklessness. A fateful night with his sister beside him turns out to be his death. 10 years later Mo Xuanyu enters the scene.

Window shopping by thunderwear ✿♞

Tags: quarantine fic, single dad wwx, a-yuan, “long distance”, phone sex

Length: 18k words, oneshot

Summary: Lan Wangji looks out of his apartment window to see a sign from the neighbor across the street asking what his bunny’s name is. The interaction turns into more than a one time occurrence and introduces him to the attractive single dad and his adorable son.

A perfect match by elliemoran ♛✿

Tags: juniors, college/university, humor, gossip

Length: 2k words, oneshot

Summary: Professor Wei Wuxian overhears the students discussing in the library. It’s less about academics and more about how good he looks with professor Lan. But which Lan?

Make it count by wearing_tearing ✿♞

Tags: actor wwx, lawyer lwj, pining, fluff, light angst, background songxiao, background yanxuan, TW: attempted rape, stalking

Length: 46.9k words, 12/12 chapters

Summary: Actor Wei Wuxian makes his way back into the acting world and prepares for his new role by working at a lawyers office. It brings him back to an old acquaintance.

Grandmaster of demonic party games by trickster_angel ♛✿

Tags: college, paranormal, occult, light horror, mutual pining, humor

Length: 50k, 27/27 chapters

Summary: Wei Wuxian likes to try out paranormal games but is always interrupted by Lan Wangji. He keeps wondering how the other knows what he’s up to.

Scienter by synonemous ♛♞

Tags: serial killers au, dark, explicit, smut, flirting, crime, murder husbands, murder siblings

Length: series with multiple verses within the au, most can be read as stand alone’s

Summary: Serial killer Wei Wuxian aka the yiling patriarch has been flirting over text with the infamous fellow serial killer hanguang-jun. He has no idea who he is, but that doesn’t stop him.

#700 followers \(^_^)/#mdzs fanfic #mdzs fanfic rec #cql fanfic rec #mo dao zu shi fanfic rec #chen qing ling fanfic rec #the untamed fanfic rec #ssuibian.txt #my faves

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razberryyum · 5 years

Video

The Untamed/陈情令 Rewatch, Episode 13, Part 2 of 2

(spoilers for everything MDZS/Untamed)

[covers MDZS chapters 52, 53 and 54]

WangXian meter: 🐰🐰🐰+🐰🐰+🐰🐰+🐰🐰+🐰🐰+🐰🐰🐰+🐰🐰🐰+🐰🐰+🐰🐰+🐰+🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰🐰

Continued from Part 1...

Xuanwu Cave Comparison

Between the novel, audio drama, donghua, and live action depictions of the Xuanwu cave event, there are marked differences that determine my preference for each version, so here’s how I would rank them (and this is only applicable to the Xuanwu cave adaptation):

novel > live action > audio drama > donghua

Since the novel is the og source, its depiction should naturally rank above all versions of MDZS, but if I’m going to be honest, I debated a bit whether the The Untamed’s adaptation should fall beneath it, or actually be equivalent to it. The primary reason for my momentary indecision is because the relationship dynamics between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan in the show were different going into the Xuanwu cave than how they were in the novel. Because they had gone through more experiences together—the Yin metal hunt and their defiance against Wen Chao, for example, which wasn’t in the novel of course—their interactions during this just this whole conversation scene in the cave is somehow warmer and more amicable. The difference is most noticeable with Wei Ying: in the novel he actually gets a little annoyed and then straight up angry with Lan Zhan, going so far as yelling at him and moving away from him. Even though it’s admittedly for a valid reason since Lan Zhan did bite him, the distance between their hearts felt farther apart. It did feel more like two people who didn’t like each other much, forced to work together. And since the audio drama follows the novel pretty closely for this event, the same sentiments applied there as well. But here in CQL, Wei Ying is mostly just teasing, considerate and sweet. He’s almost affectionate with Lan Zhan, like they’ve been friends for a while, which in Wei Ying’s mind they have been, so there’s no sense of animosity whatsoever. Wei Ying never stops to wonder if Lan Zhan actually hates him like he did in the book. Lan Zhan, in turn, was also generally more blatantly irritated with Wei Ying in the book, a fact that was clearly brought to life in the audio drama since he was rather short with him many times. Whereas here in the live action, while he’s exasperated with Wei Ying (because he’s being dense AF)…

...overall he’s more...soft? Like, even if we didn’t know he was in love with Wei Ying, or that Wei Ying thinks they’re good friends, there’s still no sense that they don’t get along at all.

Still, at the end of the day, because the novel is the well from which the Xuanwu cave event sprung forth, it has of course more precious and crucial elements that the show lacked, which helped finalize my decision on ranking the novel’s version of the Xuanwu cave above The Untamed instead of putting it on the same level. In addition to the previously mentioned piggyback ride, Lan Zhan making his permanent mark on Wei Ying by biting him and then breaking down over what befell his family and Cloud Recesses, were left out of the show as well. The stripping scene was also longer in the book, with Wei Ying straight out threatening to jump Lan Zhan’s bones while half-naked. Although a slight downer to that moment was how Wei Ying ended his prank: by assuring Lan Zhan he’s not into men. That one line actually still bothers me to this day because I can’t shake off its implications: basically, it’s really lucky for Lan Zhan that Wei Ying was revived in a gay man’s body. The thought of how their ending would have been otherwise makes my heart ache. For sure, I don’t think we would’ve gotten “everyday means everyday”. But that’s a longer and more involved discussion for another time. I’ll shelve it until we get to the episode later on when Team CQL changes Mo Xuanyu’s sexuality completely.

Back to the differences in the novel that was absent from CQL: Lan Zhan ended up wearing Wei Ying’s undergarments, and the satchel of medicine was from Mian Mian, not Wen Qing (who hadn’t even appeared yet in the story), which is important since later on when it’s revealed that Lan Zhan secretly pocketed that satchel and turned it into his coin purse because he’s such a sweet romantic. Of course the satchel never made an appearance against in The Untamed. Lastly, in the novel, Wei Ying ends up sleeping on Lan Zhan’s legs because Lan Zhan finally obliges his request after he passed out from the fever. The most we got in the show was them sleeping next to each other.

Aside from the differences in the degree of WangXian, there’s also general story differences as well: in the novel, Su She was the one who tried throwing Mian Mian to the Wens and pretty much got bitch slapped by Lan Zhan for it (in the show, it was just some random Jin disciple betraying his own kind). Su She also was the one that caused the Xuanwu’s blood lust to be riled up because he accidentally shot Wei Ying with an arrow while trying to make amends for his cowardice with Mian Mian. It’s actually a shame that Team CQL decided to leave Su She out of the Xuanwu proceedings entirely in the show because his inclusion would have made his hatred of Lan Zhan and his actions against Wei Ying make more sense. Petty jealousy and an overblown inferiority complex just seemed a bit of a reach in light of how much he despised Lan Zhan and the lengths he went through to essentially destroy Wei Ying. They really should have included Su She in the Xuanwu cave, was the actor not available, I wonder.

As for the audio drama, even though it follows the novel pretty closely and I absolutely love it and most of the performances by the voice actors—in particular our two leads, Lu Zhixing-laoshi as Wei Ying and Wei Chao-laoshi as Lan Zhan, who are absolutely beyond superb...seriously my knees turned to freaking jelly in some scenes because of them—not to mention, it is probably the most faithful adaptation of the novel we will EVER get, the reason I ranked it below The Untamed in terms of the Xuanwu cave events is because of the mere fact that some scenes just are better brought to life in a visual medium. That’s really it. Therefore, it’s not the fault of the audio drama, per se, but the nature of audio dramas that makes me prefer the live action’s depiction of the Xuanwu cave scenes over it.

As for the donghua, at least in terms of these particular sequence of events, I absolutely think it has to fall to last place because it omitted so much from the novel in terms of WangXian. Even though Wei Ying showed some upper body nudity for a brief moment and Lan Zhan rubbed medicine on his brand directly, they changed the disrobing to Wei Ying pulling on Lan Zhan’s head ribbon as the reason for Lan Zhan spitting up blood. He did smack Wei Ying for doing that, which I thought was cute and funny, but that’s still a far cry from what was supposed to be. Even the talk about Mian Mian was truncated and just didn’t have the same sentiments involved. Lan Zhan did get emotional over his family, but not to the degree that he did in the novel/audio drama. Also to be honest, most of the cave sequence in the donghua was just a little too dark. Like, I do appreciate the fact that they were trying to go for realism in a cave setting; I mean, at least they didn’t light up the cave at 9 pm (aka the time the Lans fall asleep like narcoleptic zombies...how do they even go on night hunts???) like it was Alaska during the summer:

But my poor eyes would have appreciated it even more if the donghua abandoned reality and simply lit up the surroundings more. They could have easily thrown in some glowing stalactites as the explanation for the unrealistic lighting. I was so happy whenever cultivation magic happened since those were the moments my eyes no longer had to strain.

Also, while the Xuanwu tortoise wasn’t much to write home about in The Untamed:

I did like the fact that I could see every CGI wrinkle on him. Actually, I’m being harsh, he really wasn’t too bad as CGI effects go in the show, and he’s definitely much better stationary than in action.

There was one thing that the donghua included that wasn’t in the novel, audio drama or the show, and that was Nie Huaisang. I actually don’t know why he was included...not that I’m complaining about it since I welcome more NHS in any version, but I thought that was a curious change and I would actually like to know the reason for why Team Donghua decided to add him in. Although, I can understand why The Untamed didn’t include him: first of all, he wasn’t meant to be there to begin with since he wasn’t in the novel but also perhaps they realized they didn’t need yet another damsel in distress who had to be constantly protected. One Mian Mian in the cave was enough.

With Apologies to Mian Mian

I know the Mian Mian in the cave was actually closer to the way she was portrayed in the novel, but I really didn’t like this version of Mian Mian since she isn’t the same one we’ve been living with in the show up until that point. In terms or The Untamed, the Mian Mian we know is much stronger, braver and smarter than that. I mean, this is the girl who diffused the tension between Wen Chao and Jin Zixuan at Qishan while casually side-stepping Wen Chao’s attempt at harassment at the same time. While I understand she was without her weapon in the cave and there had been no indication she was even that strong of a fighter to begin with, I’d still like to believe that had she been in character, she would’ve picked up one of the Wen’s swords and fought alongside everyone else against the Wen dogs. I don’t know why Team CQL decided to damsel her down in this instance, but I found it rather irritating. Her being the one to induce the Xuanwu’s bloodlust because she fucking tripped and hurt herself makes me cringe every single time I see this scene. That’s like a bimbo in a bad horror movie type of move and totally not worthy of the Mian Mian we’ve been blessed with up until then. This is the woman who will one day take off her sect robes and renounce her secthood in front of a roomful of sect leaders and her seniors due to her sense of righteousness, and then more than a decade later draw her sword to protect her family against two intruders hiding in her backyard....not to mention protect her husband and daughter against freaking ghost puppets while voluntarily going on night hunts. This Mian Mian isn’t one to cower behind anyone helplessly or carelessly tripping over her own feet, dammit. At least in the Xuanwu cave, Team CQL really did Mian Mian wrong.

Wei Wuxian is awesome

Again, a given as usual, but I still want to especially restate that fact because his recitation of the Wen Sect rules back to Wen Chao’s dumbass face is still one of my favorite Wei Ying moments. Not like I even have a non-favorite Wei Ying moment, but this definitely ranks at the top of the list. What made the moment even better was Wen Zhuliu’s reaction to Wen Chao’s ignorance.

I will never stop asking this: what the hell kind of debt does Wen Zhuliu owe Wen Ruohan that he would be willing to saddle himself with someone who is clearly very very much his intellectual and cultivational inferior? I know it’s a life debt, maybe his own life was saved, but that still hardly seems worth the trouble he has to put up with for all these years.

WangMian?? (j/k)

Even though Wei Ying was just teasing Lan Zhan about liking Mian Mian, I can kind of see why someone would mistakenly think Lan Zhan might have some interest in her based on this moment alone. The way the scene was constructed was rather interesting because of how Lan Zhan quickly rushes to Mian Mian’s side as soon as he notices she might be in danger. First time I watched this I thought, oh, he’s just doing that to block Wei Ying from getting into trouble and also to protect him from Wen Chao, but after reviewing the scene a few times since then, I realized his position isn’t quite right for that purpose. Or perhaps, Lan Zhan was protecting Mian Mian because in that instance she was someone who is weak and he was just acting on his principles. I can accept that explanation. After all, I don’t seriously think there was anything between Lan Zhan and Mian Mian, nor do I think Team CQL ever intended there to be, but that was still a rather motivationally vague way to execute that scene.

A Jealous Lan Zhan is Cute

I just love how over he is with Wei Ying flirting with Mian Mian. Lan Zhan was really chugging the vinegar there.

Wang Lingjiao is a Real Evil C-word

Speaking of people who downs vinegar like water, I have to take a moment to marvel at just how truly evil and petty a woman Wang Lingjiao is. The fact that in the middle of a highly dangerous, life or death battle with an ancient monster, she still found the time and mood to try to brand some poor girl her stupid sugar daddy showed just a teeny tiny bit of interest in is pretty astounding. She is really an unbelievably vile character. However, as much as I hate the character, and I will only hate her more in future episodes, I have nothing but praise for the casting choice for WLJ. Lu Enjie really nailed that role, not only in terms of performance but she had the perfect look and body language as well. And then, Qiu Qiu-laoshi’s voice acting made what was already perfect even more sublime. It was as if Wang Lingjiao literally stepped out of the pages of the novel and onto the screen.

Questions I Still Have

- Even now I actually don’t know how Wei Ying’s paperman trick works cuz there doesn’t seem to be much consistency in how it operates. Sometimes it seems like he’s just commanding it to do things, while other times he’s like putting his own consciousness in it. But even the degree of consciousness he is able to insert into the paperman seems to vary. What gives? And man, could Wei Ying have been more obvious with his little messenger in that moment?? That paperman flew to Wen Qing and clung to her in full view of everybody right behind her. Good thing the Wens obviously employ a bunch of blind dummies who are completely oblivious to their surroundings, otherwise both Wen Qing and Wei Ying would’ve been in deep shit.

- Did Wen Ruohan ever tell his son the game plan for keeping all the major sect’s kids? Cuz if the point was to hold the next generation of sect leaders hostage so that their parents won’t revolt against the Wens, KILLING them all in a cave is probably the LAST thing Daddy Wen would want Wen Chao to do. I mean, I would imagine nothing would incite a collective mutiny more than if everyone’s most precious heirs mysteriously died during a night hunt held by the Wens. Honestly, what the hell was Wen Chao thinking with that stunt? I guess the answer is he wasn’t thinking since he is kind of stupid, but then that begs the question why would Wen Ruohan let his idiot younger son be in charge of something so important in the first place? I wouldn’t trade the hostage situation in for anything since it did lead to important events in the story, but I guess I wish it wasn’t so flimsy-seeming in the logic department?

Overall Episode Rating: 9.5 Lil Apples out of 10

Disclaimer: The Untamed would not be possible without Mo Dao Zu Shi and Mo Xiang Tong Xiu-laoshi. I mean no disrespect whatsover when at times I may favor the shwo over the MDZS bible that is the novel. All hail MDZS and MXTX-laoshi, always and forever!

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dreamingsushi · 4 years

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The Untamed - Episode 33

I am still very upset by Yanli’s death. And Wen Qing’s death. This drama. THE PAIN IS REAL.

Okay no. I am taking back what I said. I am in so much pain right now, it’s even worse. They all point their swords at Wei Ying and blame him for the death of his shijie. That is so mean. First they blame Jiang Fengmian and his wife’s death on him, now Yanli? That is so unfair. Especially for Yanli. She sacrificed herself to save him. The only person who did believe him is dead. I understand they would believe that the Kuilei are all of his doing, it seems like it, nobody else heard the other flute player and even if he did tell them he’s not controlling the kuilei, how would they even believe him? He has no way of proving his innocence. Whoever is the bad guy behind this planned this way too well.

Okay, at least Lan Zhan still fights to protect him, but of what use it is now? The pain in Wei Ying’s eyes... it gives me a very very bad feeling. He will do something foolish. Poor baby. In the end, he really couldn’t protect anyone that mattered to him. As he plays again the flute, Lan Zhan begs him to stop. And Wei Ying is crying. At some point, he spits out blood and his eyes meet with Lan Zhan. They look both so sad. And then a kuilei (I believe?) cuts Lan Zhan on the arm with his sword and the contact is broken. That moment was so... beautiful, yet painful at the same time.

As the cultivators see that Wei Ying got hurt, they start to fight to grab the Stygian Tiger Seal. Seeing their greed, Wei Ying moves away from the fight scene and takes the seal out for them to come and take it away. He looks so much like a demon at that moment, with his face so white and the blood on his chin... He breaks it into two pieces and then everyone fights to grab it.

We are back to the first scene of the drama. The circle is over, but at least now I understand and I am so heartbroken. I miss the me from back then, still innocent and pure, unaware of all the pain that was lying ahead of me. Oh. Now I remember how bad were the specials effects. And then I thought I wouldn’t be able to go through that drama. HOW WRONG WAS I. I couldn’t keep on moving on at some point, because of the trauma left by the pain, but still.

I am crying my eyes out again. The pain in Wei Ying, Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng’s eyes. This is so hard to watch. And also how Wei Ying just with his yes thanks Jaing Cheng to have come to kill him. I think in the end Jiang Cheng couldn’t really bring himself to actually kill his life long friend and missed him on purpose. Wei Ying committing suicide is the worse thing I ever had to see in my whole life. What were you thinking? Now Yanli died for nothing... But at some point, I don’t think Wei Ying could have keep on living after that without losing his heart and becoming a monster. His rage and pain drove him to craziness in some ways. Probably if Jiang Cheng could have forgive him and listened to him, being by Lan Zhan’s side could have helped him in the long run, but that definitely was to much to endure for him.

Wei Ying wakes up back at Yunshen buzhichu again. So just like this, Lan Zhan knows Mo Xuanyu is actually Wei Ying. Wei Ying doesn’t even pretend that he is not. That’s weird, but I guess that for the purpose of the drama, it has to be this way. They talk a little about what happened thirteen years earlier (they say sixteen years, but it’s actually wrong, it’s thirteen years) and Wei Ying asks if Lan Zhan also trusted him back then. And the answer is silence. So like I thought, he did doubted him. But still, he kept fighting for his friend which is better than nothing.

Later, as Wei Ying takes a stroll, he thinks back of the past and of his happy moments when he used to study there. Then he sees Lan Zhan taking a bath. Don’t worry, the only thing he looks at are the numerous scars he got and these kind of scars are punishment for doing something very wrong, which startles Wei Ying a lot since Lan Zhan was the model cultivator. However, when he asks about it, Lan Zhan remains silent. And before he can ask anymore, some disciples come asking help to Lan Zhan: the sword they brought back from the Mo village is too strong for them to ask anything of it. So Wei Ying and Lan Zhan make their way in and replace Lan Qiren who is really badly injured. Lan Zhan starts playing the guzheng first and Wei Ying joins him, but then as soon as he remembers of Lan Qiren, he starts playing poorly, so it’s not beautiful music. Somehow, it surprises Lan Zhan and then makes him roll his eyes since it’s so out of tune. It’s almost as if they were back in time. I missed them so much. (Yes, I paused the last episodes for long periods of time, because it was too hard to keep watching, which makes it that I had time to miss the both of them together). Lan Qiren forbids Wei Ying to play before losing consciousness again and then only Wei Ying starts to play beautifully again. He and Lan Zhan manage to calm down the sword that falls on the ground.

As Wei Ying gets close to it, he realizes the sword indeed as the mark of the Stygian tiger seal and when he picks it up from the ground, he hears again those screaming voices and he looks terrible. That sword isn’t doing him any good. When he finally drops it, he is very weak and falls into Lan Zhan’s arms.

Lan Qiren is in a pretty bad state and they can’t seem to bring him back to a healthy condition. When Lan Zhan dismisses the disciples, Wei Ying talks a little with Sizhui who seems concerned. That Sizhui is really smart. He says that according to the flag formation they used, they could only attract evil for such a small territory that it is impossible to have attracted the sword. Because if it was there from a longer time, the Mo family would have had consequences way before. So it means it was put there purposefully while the Lan people came for help. And might that fit with the memory of Wei Ying? Before waking up in Lan Zhan’s quarters, he was dreaming of somebody asking Mo Xuanyu to kill some people for him. And Mo Xuanyu called Wei Ying back exactly at that same time. Somehow, can this be a coincidence? I don’t believe so.

Lan Zhan this time believe that Wei Ying has nothing to do with the traces of Stygian tiger seal on the sword. Also Wei Ying says it’s nearly impossible because he destroyed the seal before dying and as soon as the seal is broken, it is useless. Unless... somebody used the Stygian Iron to rebuild it. So then they both think of Xue Yang. And Wei Ying also think that sword must have been put there on purpose, and it probably has a link with him. Because how could someone like Mo Xuanyu find about him when neither Jiang Cheng or Lan Zhan, who are much more talented, couldn’t?

So they decide to look out for the owner of the sword to solve the mystery around it.Which brings them to Qinghe. Wei Ying bumps into a guy selling portraits of Yiling laozu, so ugly and then when he tells him that Wei Wuxian was a handsome guy, the merchant gets kicked by an angry Jin Ling. Seeing how is only has the bad traits of his dad and his uncle, Wei Ying wants to teach him good manners a little bit. But then Jin Ling calls for his dog and there is nothing that Wei Ying fears more than dogs... Here I think it’s really overplayed. I think acting like he’s scared is not Xiao Zhan’s strength. But I will forgive him because in every other dimensions, he is so good. Just thinking of him laughing and crying on the roof gives me the chills. That was talent.

It’s still going to take time for me to get over the last episodes, but at least I think I am done with those painful feelings. They won’t hurt me again so much I believe. I hope.

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trishmilburn · 5 years

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An Exploration of The Untamed’s Romance and Mystery, Episode 1

Disclaimer: This post and the ones that will follow will be filled with loads of spoilers if you haven’t seen The Untamed, the Chinese drama based on Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s novel, Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation).

It’s been almost a month since The Untamed aired its final episode, and I’m still totally obsessed with it. That’s both as a pure fan and as a writer of romance. I’ve been published in romance for eleven years now, and I’m always fascinated by how romance storylines are constructed in various forms – books, movies and TV. To me, The Untamed has a beautiful romance even though, due to the Chinese government’s censorship of homosexual (or BL, i.e. boys love) content, it was presented as a bromance. But you can tell that the writers, directors and lead actors of The Untamed were very well aware of the enormous fan base of the original novel and the donghua (Chinese animation) and did their best to live up to the spirit of the love story even though they couldn’t present it in an explicit or obvious way. But here’s the thing, the constraints did nothing to lessen the beauty of the romance; in fact, in some ways it made it even more impactful and emotional.

So beginning with this post and continuing with more in the future as I complete a re-watch of all 50 episodes, I’m going to explore the development of the romance and what made it so lovely to watch unfold. To a lesser degree, I’ll also be commenting on the development of the mystery and the machinations of the forces working against or using for their own personal advantage our two leads, Wei Ying (aka Wei Wuxian or the Yiling Patriarch) and Lan Zhan (aka Lang Wangji or Hanguang-Jun).

Of note, I’ll be commenting with the knowledge of what’s going to happen throughout the series and having read the novel.

So here we go with Episode 1:

We are thrown right into the middle of the action of a battle scene that happens a good way into the story as we’ll see it presented but that happened in the past. The first thing we hear spoken is some unknown person saying, “Wei Wuxian is dead. This calls for a celebration!” And then we see the raging battle, Wei Ying (Wei Wuxian is his courtesy name) is looking broken and horrified as people battle for a piece of powerful metal known as the Yin Tiger Seal, which Wei Ying created. Then the action is frozen as tears fall from Wei Ying’s eyes and he starts walking backward toward the edge of a cliff. We’ll see in the episodes ahead just why he is so broken at this point, but suffice it to say that almost everyone wants him dead and he’s lost so much that his tears are more than understandable.

But as he begins to fall, we see that there is still one person who very much wants him to stay alive – Lan Zhan, the man who loves him but who has never said those words. The first we see of Lan Zhan is him extending his arm bloody from battle and flying toward the edge of the cliff, grasping Wei Ying’s wrist at the last possible moment. His arm shakes as blood drips off of it, but he’s determined to hold all of Wei Ying’s weight with that one injured arm to keep him from falling to his death. You see the desperation in his eyes, and when Wei Ying looks up at him, you see how surprised and touched he is that this one person still cares whether he lives or dies. The first words we hear Wei Ying say are Lan Zhan’s name, right before he tells Lan Zhan to let him go. Lan Zhan, of course, doesn’t, but then Jiang Cheng, who is basically Wei Ying’s adoptive brother, approaches with the intent of making sure Wei Ying does, indeed, die. As he stabs down at Wei Ying with his sword, he misses but very nearly stabs Lan Zhan in the arm that is already injured. Seeing this, Wei Ying’s eyes go wide. He doesn’t want this person who is dear to him to suffer more injury, especially something that might prevent him from playing the zither or using his sword, the two items that help make him one of the most powerful immortal cultivators among all the cultivation sects. And so Wei Ying wrests his wrist out of Lan Zhan’s grasp and falls to his death, much to Lan Zhan’s horror. As a smug Jiang Cheng walks away, all Lan Zhan can do is stare downward, heartbroken, shocked and in utter despair.

In the next scene, we jump back to the “present” timeline, 16 years later. A storyteller is telling stories to the Lan Clan’s disciples, including Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi, about the infamous Yiling Patriarch, which is the name Wei Ying was known by after he startd down the demonic cultivation path. Though he’s been dead for 16 years, this storyteller is planting the seed that he might not be or that he might come back. On first watching, I was confused here, especially when the storyteller looks over his shoulder toward someone who is sitting behind a thin curtain and holding a fan. Now I know that this person is Nie Huisang, who while outwardly putting on a cowardly but loveable face and seeming to know nothing throughout the story, is actually a master manipulator of events, moving people like chess pieces to gain the end result he desires to get revenge for the death of his brother.

It suddenly starts getting darker outside, a person on the street says, “The soul has returned,” and the wind kicks up. A flag flies through the air and lands against a door at Mo Manor, where Wei Ying has returned to the land of the living because of a spell cast by Mo Xuanyu so that the powerful Yiling Patriarch can carry out revenge against all the people who have harmed Mo Xuanyu, who has been branded a lunatic by his family and others because he’s gay. As all of this is being explained, we see a flashback to the moment when Wei Ying was falling off the cliff. It took some discussions with other fans and this re-watch to figure out what was going on here, especially since this is where there’s a significant difference with the book. In the book, Wei Ying comes back in the body of Mo Xuanyu, so he looks like a different person and thus is unrecognizable as Wei Ying by just looking at him. Understandably, the makers of the drama didn’t want to have two actors playing the part of Wei Ying, and so we’re led to believe that the spell Mo Xuanyu cast allowed him to actually swap bodies with Wei Ying just before the moment of Wei Ying’s death. There’s a time travel-y aspect to this spell, and thus this is the reason Wei Ying’s body was never found in the drama. It’s a little mind twisty; just go with it because we get to have the handsome owner of gorgeous smiles Xiao Zhan play Wei Ying in both of his lives.

But wait, you might be thinking, how does that work? How would his family not recognize him? Well, Mo Xuanyu is actually the illegitimate child of the Jin Clan’s leader, and thus he went to the Jins’ Golden Unicorn Tower when he was 13. He was an adult when he got kicked out and returned to Mo Manor. His family has never seen his adult face as he always wears a mask or heavy powder to cover it. This mask will also allow Wei Ying to hide from those who would recognize him and assume he’d done something nefarious to come back to life.

Mo Xuanyu’s voice in Wei Ying’s head tells him what’s up, and Wei Ying notices a series of deep cuts on his arm that are a product of the spell. These wounds will never heal if Wei Ying doesn’t carry out the required revenge.

After an encounter with Mo Xuanyu’s ass of a cousin, Wei Ying steps out of the room that is covered in blood and paper talismans that were used in the spell to bring Wei Ying back. He eventually encounters the young Lan disciples. He marvels at this coincidence and wonders, “Is he here, too?” He being Lan Zhan. When Wei Ying wanders into the room where the Mo family is meeting with the disciples, who are there to get rid of some evil spirits, he’s once again attacked by his cousin. Lan Sizhui helps protect Wei Ying, likely acting on an unknown but instinctual connection since, though he’s forgotten, Wei Ying was an important person to him when he was young.

When Wei Ying sees the disciples using spirit attraction flags, he thinks about how everyone wanted him dead but they still use something that he created. When talking to the Lans, he notices the cloud pattern on Sizhui’s clothing and remembers the first time he saw Lan Zhan, back when they were both teens studying at the Lans’ home in Gusu, the Cloud Recesses.

That night, as the Lan disciples are in position to capture the evil spirits, Sizhui hears Wei Ying playing a tune on what looks like a blade of grass and tells Jingyi the song sounds familiar, like a melody from Gusu. He likely has heard Lan Zhan play the song as he’s mourned the loss of Wei Ying and desperately tried every day of those 16 years to reconnect with some piece of Wei Ying’s soul. It’s obvious Wei Ying is still thinking about Lan Zhan as he plays the song, and when he stops he says Lan Zhan’s name with a look of longing on his face. He is probably thinking about how Lan Zhan’s was the last face he saw before dying, about how Lan Zhan was trying so desperately to save him despite everything that had happened and how the rest of the world viewed him.

It’s important to note that at this point, Wei Ying is likely not in love with Lan Zhan, at least not knowingly. He can be a bit oblivious not only to the feelings of others, particularly Lan Zhan, but also his own. But there is no doubt he harbors a deep affection for the person he considers his dearest friend in the world.

His thoughts of the past are interrupted when Master Mo and his servants drag Wei Ying back to the main room, where Cousin Mo has been possessed and Madam Mo is convinced it’s Wei Ying’s doing. At this point you understand why Mo Xuanyu wanted revenge on his family. They’re awful. Wei Ying and the Lans work together as one member after another of the Mo family gets possessed by a spirit that is, strangely, residing in their left arms. The young Lans decide they need to call Lan Zhan for backup since they’re out of their depth, and of course Wei Ying is against this. After all, he can’t yet run the risk of being recognized, especially by the person who knows him best. While everyone else is dealing with possessed Madam Mo, Wei Ying sees an opportunity to exact some of the revenge he’s been tasked with and smears the circle keeping Master and Cousin Mo contained and tells them to “get to work.” Thus begins a fight between the three Mo family members.

Next we see Lan Zhan at some other location, his zither behind him and holding his sword, Bichen. He sees the signal flare the disciples sent up and off he goes to help. When he arrives and uses his powerful zither to send out a wave of white light to bring the Mo family under control, Wei Ying realizes who made that happen and slips away to hide. When he sees Lan Zhan descend into Mo Manor (like the gorgeous angel he is -- oops, sorry, got carried away with my love for Lan Zhan there), the smile on his face shows how much happiness Lan Zhan has brought him in the past, particularly when he was teasing Lan Zhan.

Sizhui asks Lan Zhan what kind of evil spirit they’re dealing with, but Lan Zhan replies that it’s rather a spiritual consciousness of a spiritual weapon. After he examines a sword, he realizes it has traces of the Yin Tiger Seal, to which Jingyi replies that the Yiling Patriarch must still be alive. Remember, that idea was planted by the storyteller at the command of Nie Huisang, who studied alongside Wei Ying and Lan Zhan at the Cloud Recesses.

Movement at the edge of the manor is Wei Ying making his escape, and Lan Zhan follows but doesn’t catch him. But when Lan Zhan is alone, he looks down the street and wonders, “Wei Ying, was it really you?” You can tell there is hope mixed with dread of what method Wei Ying may have used to come back.

The next scene reveals the storyteller being paid a gold nugget by Nie Huisang, though we still don’t see Huisang’s face, all for three days of stories about the Yiling Patriarch. Unknown to the storyteller, Wei Ying passes behind him with a donkey. Again the nameless man in the street says, “The soul has returned.” And Wei Ying sees that there is only one cut left on his arm. He wonders who it represents. That question and the mystery of the left arm-possessing spirit are what will bring Lan Zhan and Wei Ying back together and lead them on a series of adventures, during which their feelings for each other will grow.

#the untamed #wei wuxian #wei ying #lan wangji #lan zhan

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ctl-yuejie · 5 years

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For the untamed ask game 5, 8, 10, 17, 16, 19, 21 35, 46 and 55

5. Biggest WTF momentThe golden core reveal in the book! ( read it before the drama so I don’t know how much I’d have been surprised without prior knowledge watching the scene in the series). Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention, but from what I remember I wasn’t even sure that Wei Wuxian had lost his Golden Core at that point. So I was extremely shocked by the reveal and also very excited because it made his past actions much more understandable and his dynamic with both Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji got even more interesting.

8. Most Confusing Part In The Storyon my first read i had a hard time remembering all characters so i think i zoned out a lot when the story didn’t focus on wangxian, so not necessarily a particular part of the story that confused me but i was just not paying enough attention. also: the timeline is random af.

10. Favourite Fanfic Set-Up Uhhhh!!! I love me powerful Yiling Patriarch stories where he survives the second sunshot campaign and anything and everything that focuses on the Yunmeng brothers relationship after canon. Also: every fanfic about the WangXian family regardless of universe.some great “bamf!wei wuxian survives the second sunshot campaign and adopts everyone”

16. Favourite Habitwei wuxian talking non-stop about lan wangji after they’ve met. so much so that the whole jiang family (read: jiang cheng) is super annoyed by it.

17. Purer Cinnamon Role Than Wen Ning (sorry for all these typos in the ask game) hmmmm…Wen Ning is pretty much peak pure cinnamon roll, but from the younger generation Ouyang Zizhen might even out-perform him. sure he is loud and direct, but also doesn’t know how to act in most social situations because the world is such a happy place for him and did you know that Hanguang-Jun and Senior Mo are dating and they’re not as dramatic about it as I want them to be but still super cute, and wtf Hanguang-Jun is now married to the Yiling Patriarch and all my dreams have come true, i have no idea why Lan Qiren looks so constipated maybe that’s because of Jingyi…..19. Cinnamon Role Meme (4 Characters) 21. A Fanon You Like hmmmm….this is pretty much canon but WangXian adopting everyone and everything while roaming the country & Wei Wuxian managing to cultivate MO Xuanyu’s core.and the lan wangji played inquiry for 16 years fanon. not because i think lan wangji would try and bind wei wuxian’s spirit to him but more so to find out whether he’s at peace and at some point it becomes this tiny remembrance song he plays for wei ying once a year.

35. Who Is The Biggest Disaster many disasters in this one but maybe Jin Zixuan??? i think he is so lucky for Jiang Yanli to be persistent in her love for him and MianMian intervening to clear up some misunderstandings…left on his own he really is a sad disaster.

but there’s some tough competition from wei wuxian, jiang cheng, jinling and more…

46. Favourite Fanfic / A Fanfic You Want To Recommendprepare yourself! (if not stated otherwise it’s wangxian)

since then i am because you are by sarahyyy (very short, fluff, oblivious wei wuxian & marriage)

overcast by willowcatkin (middle-length, canon divergence, role revearsal, accidental child acquisition)

and so my heart beats wildly by lily_winterwood (long fic, modern au with cultivation as an olympic sport, wangxian are competitors)

The (Several) Convenient Kidnappings of the Chief Cultivator by the Yiling Patriarch by misscam (short, some silly sexy fun)

your heart, two doors down by ficklish (middle-length, modern au, wangxian are neighbours, single parent! wei wuxian)

A Little Happiness by Suspicious_Popsicle (middle-length, post-canon, lan wangji turns into a child, everyone panics & wei wuxian just wants him to be happy)

asymptotic by chinxe (middle-length, canon divergence, lan wangji plays inquiry, that is how he encounters wei wuxian for the first time, beautiful but it also hurts)

transcendent by hyunbyun (short, wei wuxian is insecure about being in mo xuanyu’s body, domestic fluff)

Continuation by thefaceofno (long fic, post the untamed canon, hair brushing, some more pining but happy end)

i’d be all right (if i could just see you) byThirtySixSaveFiles (long fic, college au, wei wuxian is an idiot and takes lan wangji to a party)

Libation by BastetCG (middle-length, gods au, tentacle sex but in a very innovative way)

a lot can come from being in love with your captain bythefaceofno (long fic, part of a series, star trek au, various pairings, action & romance)

How Wei Ying Went from Oblivious Idiot to Shameless Boyfriend in Three Days by misscam (middle-length, college au, wei wuxian is oblivious but tries to be oh so helpful when lan wangji seems to have a crush on someone)

Adventures in Solitude by etymologyplayground (short, hurt/comfort, the untamed episode 16 canon divergence, lan wangji tries to come to the aid of yunmeng)

every time we kiss i swear i could fly by sarahyyy (short, kissing booth college au, lan wangji has a misunderstanding and is sad but all is well)

The Last Three Feet by etymologyplayground (middle-length, wangxian are oblivious, domestic downtime in cloud recesses with sizhui)

A Start on How by misscam (middle-lenght, college au, sleepovers!!, lan brother feels)

critical path analysis by chinxe (long fic, b99 au, hilarious perfection, it is scary how well the characters fit)

dirty politics by sarahyyy (short, politics au, wangxian are in a secret relationship but oh so wonderful together)

Rumor Doesn’t Have It (But Wei Wuxian Is Determined to Change That) by misscam (middle-length, post the untamed canon, everyone is weighing in on the relationship of the yiling patriarch and the chief cultivator, maybe wei wuxian should make some of the rumours come true)

Found Family by tulirepo (short, hurt/comfort, lan wangji finds ah-yuan on burial mounds, all the found family feels)

i want your heart to be for me by ThirtySixSaveFiles for sealdog (middle-lenght, wangxian soulmate au but set in canon, usually not a soulmate au reader but the concept is tied in super nicely into the story here)

to recollect and long for by mme_anxious (middle-length, all the found family and ah-yuan feels, hurt/comfort)

Grand Pianos Crash Together by etymologyplayground (long fic, post canon, wangxian find back together: an epic)

grief; the stages of by synonemous (sussiekitten) (long fic, the whole story in a modern setting, stuck in early 2000 wei wuxian is hilarious)

Sleeping in Paradise by daiki (middle-length fic, thematic fic, wei wuxian survives the sunshot campaign, jiang yanli lives, jin rulan’s relationship to the mysterious sleeping person at lotus cove)

What Rests on Tea by Gotcocomilk (long fic, yunmeng feels, jiang yanli & jin zixuan live, inventor!wei wuian, some great hurt/comfort)

and i will go this way by detention_notes (long fic, post-canon, wangxian write each other letters, wei wuxian travels with lesbians and harrasses friends and family on his roadtrip)

Not Just Netflix and Chill (Or Lan Zhan’s Lack of Grasp of Euphemisms) by misscam (short, modern au, lan wangji is the cutest and wei wuxian is helplessly in love)

These Things Stay the Same by notevenyou (modern au, war zone/disaster zone journalist! wei wuxian, sizhui feels!!!!!)

works in progress (they are all very, very good)

a stone to break your soul, a song to save it by rikke (long, almost finished, arranged marriage to save the yiling patriarch, yunmeng bro feels)

Death of a Ghost by Gotcocomilk (long, wei wuxian materializes as a ghost after his death, major yunmeng feels, he raises all the children)

Flowers of Blood and Bone by Sakurafubuki (AriasOfSnow) (long, vampire/vampire hunter au, a lot of action, great world building, crafty!wei wuxian, vampire!lan wangji)

I will surrender (myself to this moment in time) by Naamah_Beherit (long, post-canon, wei wuxian wakes up in gusu but has no idea how he got there, angst (with promised happy ending), lan sizhui calling wei wuxian father feels, wei wuxian gets confronted by the darkness in his life)

Lying on the Edge of a Star by Suspicious_Popsicle (long, slow-burn, wei wuxian falls into young lan wangji’s courtyard who is falling fast and deep, pity that to wei wuxian humans are but a fleeting existence)

please forgive my most passionate disruptions by pumpkinpaix (scribogenesis) (long, modern college au, wei wuxian is a stripper, lan wangji binds himself by his family’s old customs, marvelous character study, all the lan/yunmeng/wen sibling feels)

The storm comes and goes (and I keep walking) by Naamah_Beherit (long, wei wuxian survives the second sunshot campaign and roams the country as a rogue cultivator, he adopts all the children)

55. A Story-Arc That Haunts Youdefinitely the yi city arc!!!! i both love and loath it because it is just so sad and horrible but also has some stunning visuals, wei wuxian being a badass kindergartner and some big reveals for the main plot.

The Untamed / MDZS ask game

#ctlyuejie writes #fic rec #rec!#cute anon alert #ask game #long post

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