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justaghostingon · 1 year

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When Your Brother Thinks You’re Being Cheated On: How Not to Introduce your third

A 3zun crack au

Jin Guangyao, Lan xichen, and Nie Mingjue have recently become a triad, finally taking their sworn brotherhood to the next level after many talks, tears, confessions, and scheming of a one Lan xichen to get both his boyfriends to be boyfriends together

Guangshuan is also dead far earlier than in canon under mysterious circumstances, which greatly helped the three come together and absolutely was not a bonding expierience for the three

They’re pretty happy, however this realtionship is still new, and with politics being as it is, (wei wuxian being out there in his burial mounds scarinf everyone by existing and stressing out lan zhan, jin zixuan a new sect leader and expecting a child soon, and nie mingjue suffering baxia’s backlash) they’re trying to keep it on the down low until things stablize a bit

What they forget to take into account, are there brothers

Lan xichen is probably the most innocent in this, he fully believes he’s told lan zhan, he talks about his lovers all the time! Surelly lan zhan was listening?

Lan zhan was not listening. He was brooding over wei wuxian.

He is vaguely that lan xichen liked nie mingjue from way back when they were kids, and hasn’t thought it changed, since lan’s can only love once. It’s their families curse after all. So when lan xichen talks about a-yao this, a-yao that, lan zhan thinks its just friendship talk (like what wei ying used to do to him in cloud recesses) and tunes it out.

Jin Guangyao has an excuse. His position in the jin clan is destabilized by the shift in leadership. The last thing he wants is for jin zixuan to think he can’t do his job because he’s also kissing the leaders of two rival sects.

Jin zixuan for his part, does not see the other sects as rivals to beat like his father did. He’s not thinking much of anything except that he’s really drowning in work, and both Jiang Yanli and Jin Guangyao are lifelines.

Jiang Yanli he can show his gratitude by being the best husband he can be. But jin Guangyao? How can he get his brother to stop being awkward and take a break, (and maybe be closer like everyone else is with their siblings?)

Then jin zixuan catches the heart eyes that jin guangyao throws lan xichen at a sect conference, so much warmer than how he acts towards his other sworn brother, with all that bickering (flirting).

So jun zixuan tries to set up jin guangyao and lan xichen, giving every excuse for one to visit the other, and ample alone time when they do. He’s rewarded once by coming in a room wirh out knocking to see them holding hands.

Jin guangyao pulls his hand away, but its too late, jin zixuan saw it, his mission is complete!

Nie Mingjue is the only one who was no excuse. His brother asks him about his love life all the time. He wants to know!!!

But nie mingjue does not want a meddling sibling in his buisness, and anytime it comes up he gets so embarrassed he can’t speak, so he shuts him out.

Nie huaisang has to use his own brain, and so wjen he spots nie mingjue blushing and braiding a flower into jin guangyao’s hair, he realizes his answer. Nie mingjue has finally acted on his old feelings for meng yao, now his awful father isn’t here to keep them aprart.

All three brothers are thrilled. Until….

Lan zhan finds out first. He’s walking in the cloud recesses, when he sees two people making out. One in a now familiar green, and one in …yellow.

Nie mingjue is making out with jin guangyao in the cloud recesses, right under his brother’s nose! The nerve!

Lan zhan is frozen solid for a good five minutes, just watching in horror, before he turns and storms away, determined to save his brother from such a faithless match.

Jin guangyao and nie mingjue were absolutely doing it on purpose. They caught a glimpse of lan zhan’s white robes and handsome appearance out of the corner of their eye and thinking he was lan xichen, decided to give him a show. When they weren’t hit with a solid body joining their embrace they realized something was wrong, it wasn’t xichen, but lan wangji. They both feel very embarrassed and do not want to bring it up to lan xichen that they ruined his brother’s innocent with the sight of their kissing.

Lan wangji meanwhile tries to tell his brother, but his brother won’t hear a word against nie mingjue, (and lan zhan’s phrasing was also really vague, stuff like: “nie mingjue is a bad man, and jin guangyao is a snake in the bunny feild” but give him a break, he was traumatized)

Lan’s only love once, lan zhan justifies to himself, its gonna take more than words to convince him.

So he goes to the only person he can think of in times of crisis, wei wuxian.

Wei wuxian isn’t very close to those three, he thought nie mingjue was a better man than that, but then again, all the sects did turn a blind eye to the wen prison camps, so what does he know? No. He’s only mad about this because lan zhan came to him so obviously upset, and wei wuxian can never resist an upset lan zhan.

So he works day and night, (while lan zhan gets covered in blankets by the wens and hugs a-yaun for comfort) to create a talisman that can capture an event in the instant it happens, like a painting!

(Its a camera, he invented a camera)

He then starts marketting them to the common people under a psydonim, so it will be a trusted device by the time news reaches the cloud recesses.

He then gives it to lan zhan and instructs him to get a photo of nie mingjue cheating to show to his brother as proof.

Lan zhan accepts with the gravity of a man going to war, and prepares to stalk his brother’s boyfriend.

Meanwhile, nie huaisang is in for the shock of his life at the next sect conference, when he sees thr flowers he had sent to jin guangyao’s rooms on his brothers behalf, were instead decorating the rooms of a blushing lan xichen, who said “someone very special gave them to me.”

This may seem an innocent gesture of regifting, but nie huaisang smells a rat. You don’t regift a lovers gift to another person, u certainly don’t leave the other person blushing and saying it was from someone “very special”

Clearly jin guangyao is two-timing poor nie mingjue! But don’t worry! Nie huaisang has the perfect plan! First he’ll expose jin guangyao for the liar he is, then he’ll have both nie mingjue and lan xichen rebound with each other, effectively ensuring their happieness while punishing the guilty party! (Lan xichen can’t know. He’s to good to cheat, and he loves nie mingjue to much,” nie huaisang thinks, missing the obvious)

His plans however, face problems from the start. He first tries to expose jin guangyao as having a failed relationship before with qin su, to show to his brother jin guangyao’s track record isn’t great. But when he finds the actual reason “the mother told them both they were siblings, since she was no longer afraid of jin guangshan’s retribution since he was dead” it doesn’t help him at all! If anything it makes jiggy look even more honorable for covering it up and makinf it look like it was because he wasn’t good enough.

Then he tries to expose him as a liar in koi tower, lots of corruption there! But his every step is thwarted by some unknown force, one even he can’t out think

His only hope lies in the new talisman on the market that allows you to capture images. Surely if he catches jin guangyao in the act, that will be wnouggh to prove him unfaithful (even if it will prob take a few more steps to convince da-ge that lan xichen didn’t know actually and is s good choice for rebound)

The person who is thwartinf nie huaisang is in fact jin zixuan, mostly by all the back breaking work he’s done to weed out corruption, tiredness, and trying to keep jin guangyao to simpler, easy to do jobs.

See, jin zixuan saw lan xichen kiss nie mingjue on the cheek a couple weeks back, and even though he’s not certain if its actually cheating or lan xichen and a-yao broke up and lan xichen moved on far to quickly, he knows it must be taking a toll on jin guangyao

Not that jin guangyao is showing any signs, but that’s just the mask he’s always wearing. If Jin zixuan wants to see the real him, he needs to prove he can be someone he can trust.

So he starts giving jin guangyao simpler tasks to do, paired with babysitting the new born jin ling, things that keep him away from all the husle of court politics that put him into contact with his ex and his ex’s new man.

Jiang yanli is more than happy to help, talking about her own brothers to remind jiggy he has one too, and having tea with him while he holds jin ling.

Jiggy is glad for time with jin ling, but he likes doing things! He has to fight tooth and nail to get jin zixuan to let him help with the one month ceremony, and is far to busy with that to do any scheming of any kind

Everything comes to a head at jin ling’s one month celebration, where nie huaisang tries to publicly expose jin guangyao by working pictures of him with lan xichen into the slide show (yet another wei wuxian invention, he’s really on fire with these)

He then points out the obvious by “accident” and tries to reassure mingju there’s no way lan xichen would ever betray him like that

Lan zhan (who has brought wei wuxian for moral aupport) sees this and panics, showing his pictures (which he originally wanted to give to his brother in private) to prove his brother’s innocence and that its the other way around, actually.

To which jin zixuan angrilly stands up and points out how nie mingjue and lan xichen were the one’s who left jin guangyao and he’s not going to stand for anyone insulting his brother actually, and this is his psrty so they better back off or get out.

“Your here for formalities sake, we could easily have this with just the jins and the jiangs!”

“Anf me!” Goes wei wuxian

“And the wei sect!” Goes jin zixuan, accidentally acknowledging wei wuxian’s group of outcasts as legitimate and thus changing the course of history

It is at this point when 3zun realize the jig is up. In their attempt to keep quiet for politics, they made everything even worse.

They stand up and point out that no, no one is cheating, and yes, they are all together, all THREE of them, and that is not going to change anytime soon, and also could they have those photos? Lan xichen’s starting a scrap book.

See this is why i don’t tell you things, goes jin guangyao to jin zixuan, (secretly pleased he’d be willing to go against two sects for him)

“What the f- goes on in your head?” Goes nie mingjue to nie huaisang

“Brother i told you this ages ago,” goes a very disappointed lan xichen

“Lan’d can love more than one person?” Lan zhan says, eyes wide and uncompeehending “do i have to love more than one?”

“Don’y worry about it lan zhan,” goes wei wuxian. “You can love exactly how you want too.” Lam zhan looks at him with wide eyes, makes three leaps of logic, a d assumes this is wei wuxian acknowledging lan zhan’s feelings and giving him permission to court him.

Thus 3zun live happily ever after, having learned that communication really is key when you have three very over-protective brothers.

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bzhitstruth · 7 months

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Many "gifts" from GG and DD

So much has happened over the past three or four days that I couldn’t even gather my thoughts together to make a post.

Of course, everyone already knows about the cameras Leica, about the number of GG's photos (18-33-28 and 18-25-23), about camping and the cake with sheep, and so on.

I want to write about some moments that especially impressed me, in addition to the main “candies” that fell upon us in abundance. This post will probably turn out to be chaotic, but I am now very impressed by everything, and there are a lot of emotions.

Everything is fake, fiction and my stupid fantasies, don’t pay attention.🤡🤡🤡

“Everything is cute, everything is cool.” We saw the phrase in the post by GG's studio: “Life is bright, everything is cute.” Less than a day has passed (namely 19 hours 50 minutes), and YBO replies: “Everything is cool collected”. And we're reminded of the old LRLG fake material where it was about "ok, you're cool, I'm cute." Can anyone say that this is the coincidence?! This is the real dialogue during short time!

Yesterday DD again showed us many photos with Leica. It would seem, why focus so much attention on it? It's funny that if you leave a comment or repost, the effect with flying small pink cameras appears on Weibo:

It occurred to me to count all the DD's photos from the trip to Paris on Weibo and Instagram (including duplicate of photos), where the camera Leica M11 is present. You won't believe. There are 23 of them. The word “coincidence” already gives me a callus on my tongue.

Yesterday DD stunned everyone with his 100500 photos around the small iron pole. Turtles on Weibo wondered why he paid so much attention to this inconspicuous place. And it turned out that it was not in vain! Of course, this is the street corner with special numbers - 23 rue Bachelet 75018.

And also the red-yellow-green dog, and DD standing proudly against the background of bicycles. When GG traveled abroad in February, there was the episode in his video where he was in front of motorcycles. Such a funny "exchange".

There are also some interesting things in the GG's birthday photos and video. For example, in some photos GG looks strikingly similar to DD. The turtles mostly took notice of this photo. If you close the right half of the face, you get an almost mystical resemblance.

But I also noticed another photo, the first time I saw it, I really thought it was DD. How can this be? It really looks like some kind of magic.

Of course, GG put on the little lion again. It is interesting that it was in this jacket that GG returned from Paris to Beijing in March (Paris again!). And it was in it that he was photographed for his birthday. And this is not the first time that the little lion appears in the GG's birthday photos. By the way, one more interesting detail: it seems that this particular jacket is hanging in the background in the famous GG's photo that captivated everyone:

The phone card case appears again:

Inscription in the sky. In GG’s video at 4:16, a certain effect appears that resembles the legendary “wangxiao” inscription; in one of the BTS of “The Untamed” GG puts his name under DD’s name and then crosses it out in embarrassment. I'm not really sure if this is intentional or just a visual effect and abstraction, but it looks very similar!

The Chinese turtles, at least, were very enthusiastic about this effect (and they are still better versed in written characters than I am). Even if it's not intentional, it looks amazing because it really does look a lot like those signatures.

At the end of GG’s vlog, the phrase appears: “So, did you come up with a name?” (所以, 想好名字了?), this seems to be a reference to the ending of The Untamed when Wei Ying said, "You need to come up with a name for this song":

Another thing that no one seems to have noticed is the DD's Douyin video. Look at the time of publication. This is the screenshot from my phone, I'm in the same time zone as Paris, in Europe. In China at this time it was 16:05. Don't you think that this is another gremlin-DD's trick - to make the post on 5.10 at 10:05, but in Paris time? In my opinion, this is quite in his style.

And a little about personal impressions.

Interesting is the photo where GG is holding the cake with sheep. This is the only photo in his first photoshoot where he is smiling. In the rest of the photos he is thoughtful, even seemingly sad, and in some places stern. Only in this photo does GG have bright and gentle expression on his face, and the special smile, the look in the other photos is completely different, tougher or directed inward of himself. Even the jeans he's wearing don't appear anywhere else except in this photo. It seems to me that this is the special photo, taken by the special person and at a different time. Can be compared with other photos supposedly taken by DD.

This is probably very subjective, but it seems to me that there is some subtle similarity in these photos. Love. Well, I think so.

BJYXSZD 💚❤️.

sources: Weibo.com, Douyin.com

#yizhan #bjyx #bjyxszd #cpn #just imagination #i think too much #yizhan my love #ggdd secrets

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sheadre · 2 years

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Lady of Darkness (WWX x Reader) Part Three

Summary: One evening, when Yiling already went to rest for the night, one Wei Wuxian is restlessly staring out the window of the inn when he spots a woman walk down the empty street. That woman sings beautifully, her form enveloped in darkness as she walks. But who could that woman be? What does she want here?

Word count: 2290

Warnings: mentions of blood, mentions of violence, angst

A/N: Yes, I came back, I'm alive! But not for long, haha ^^' I still have to finish my thesis so I'm gonna go back MIA for a while! However, I will def continue once I handed in every paper to my uni and you will be bombarded with a tone of ideas I had while I wasn't active here! Lots of love! <3

Part One - Part Two

Wen Xuan stood by the lotus pods on Burial Mounds as she watched Wei Wuxian pluck the seeds out of one of the plants. It has been a few months since she first met him. Life here was tranquil for a while, however, ever since Wei Wuxian went to the banquet in Lan Ling, it was like everything was going downhill.

She kept warning him that living a life like this could lead to his demise sooner than later. It seemed that all her words meant nothing to him and were thrown out the window the second they left her lips. They no longer played around with challenges and spent their time arguing. Wen Xuan missed those times to be honest but she knew that if she didn’t try her best to warn him and keep him safe, then she would be a bad friend.

A friend…

Nowadays, she wished that she could be just a simple woman, living an ordinary life, getting engaged and married eventually, finding love and fulfillment in simpler things. A-Yuan noticed how she no longer was singing unconsciously while doing her duties, making her realize that maybe she had more problems than she thought she had. Looking at Wei Wuxian, she felt a strange longing in her heart, a fondness and warmth. A smile always gracing her lips whenever she spotted him, but now… now she was biting her lip in worry, her heart pounding against her ribcage heavily.

The elders were resting, only Wen Qing was around, cutting herbs when she stepped outside the cave. Wen Xuan’s worry only grew each day as she knew that most people wanted Wei Wuxian dead. She saw the good he was trying to do against the injustice, but sometimes, it was just not the right time to be playing the hero. Her heart melted the ice around itself ever since she met him. Somehow this one person was capable of making her see how the world is so vast, filled with many different colors and possibilities.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Wei Wuxian looked up with a confused expression at her. Her gaze however, stayed on his form unwavering.

“I’m worried about you, Wei Ying.”

His name fell from her lips with exasperation, a tiredness that filled her soul. She tried to be as nonchalant as possible, knowing that taking things too seriously or letting Wei Wuxian know that she was indeed serious about a topic would only make him skittish.

Wei Ying stood to his feet, his eyes narrowing at her.

“You don’t want me to go to my nephew’s birthday.” he huffed, irritated. They had a fight over the topic already, Wen Qing joining in as well. Cornering her friend however, did not work out the way she thought it would. Wei Ying felt a million miles away from her ever since the arguments started and Wen Xuan was growing desperate in trying to reach him.

“I have a reason. Do you think they will not try to harm you? Jin Guangshan cannot wait to take that damned Stygian Tiger seal from you! It became everyone’s obsession!” she reasoned which rather sounded like pleading.

“I am completely safe! I can protect myself!” he yelled at her, fed up with how many times the two girls tried to stop him. His eyes flickered in red but Wen Xuan was not someone to back down against any man.

“Against the whole cultivation world?!” she cried out angrily, eyes blazing with fire. “You, the Great Yiling Laozu against the world! No one can hurt you, right? You’re such a powerful, strong individual!”

Out of anger, she kept insulting him with that cold tone. Getting under others’ skin was after all an easy thing for her to do.

“What is wrong with you?! Why are you acting like that?!” he fumed. Wen Xuan shook her head in disbelief. Was it not easy to guess? Was it not obvious? She couldn’t bear to look at him anymore and fled the scene, leaving Wei Ying to dwell on things on his own.

By the time she emerged from the cave, Wei Wuxian had already left with Wen Ning. Her anger somewhat dimmed but she still couldn’t watch the whole thing playing down. Wen Xuan already witnessed many horrible things and losing a person who was one of the most important to her felt like someone punched a hole through her chest, grabbed her heart and ripped it right out of her body.

It was night time when she reached the next city. The people seemed restless and some cultivators were heading the way she came from. Fortunately, she managed to hide from their eyes and find a spot in an inn. Wen Xuan sat quietly in a dark corner, sipping on her tea when her ears picked up the conversation of a group of men two tables further down from her.

“Why are there so many cultivators running towards Lanling? Did they invite the whole world for another banquet? It wouldn’t be new, they like to flaunt their fortune! Zui!” a burly man said in disgust, clearly not fond of the Jin sect.

“Haven’t you heard?! Man! You’re living a way too secluded life after all!” another slapped his knee. “Let me tell you then, the Yiling Patriarch was invited to the sect heir’s son’s birthday celebration but the foul man that Yiling Patriarch is, he killed Jin ZiXuan! They got into a fight over something but the sect heir died and now everyone wants to hunt down Wei Wuxian!”

Wen Xuan accidentally let go of her cup, drawing attention to herself with the sharp clinking of the porcelain. She quickly fumbled with her tea, wiping up the spilled liquid avoiding the stares. Fortunately, people turned their attention away and continued their conversations. With trembling hands, she placed back everything and paid quickly. She needed to get to him. She needed to save him.

When Wen Xuan reached Lanling it was already on fire, the sounds of swords clashing filled the night. She made her way inside to see cultivators going at each others’ throats while they tried to get rid of the animated corpses roaming around and attacking them. It was all a blur as she looked around. Wen Xuan couldn’t make out which limb belonged to which person.

She quickly spotted her friend. Wei Wuxian was glowing with anger as he played Chenqing, the melodies filling her ears. Suddenly, a different melody hit her ears, her eyes skimming over the crowd but she couldn’t tell where the different notes came from. Furrowing her eyebrows she jumped into action, her voice following the melody Wei Wuxian was playing, strengthening his control over the corpses. But it wasn’t enough.

Things escalated so fast that she barely had time to process what was happening. Jiang Yanli’s desperate voice came from her side. Walking over, Wen Xuan made sure that no one could get close to the other woman. She knew that Jiang Yanli was important for her friend and so she made sure to keep her out of harm's way. Jiang Cheng made his way to her in time but when he noticed Wen Xuan, he pointed his sword at her throat threateningly. She stared at him coldly but did not make any threatening move.

“Who are you?!”

Jiang Wanyin looked mostly frightened as his eyes looked at her with distrust. She stepped back a little from his sword before she replied.

“Wei Wuxian’s friend. Keep an eye on your sister, she shouldn’t be here.”

“Don’t-”

“Where is A-Xian?”

Jiang Yanli’s voice came from behind Jiang Wanyin, she held onto her brother but her eyes looked at Wen Xuan with hope.

“You should get out of here. It is dangerous for you to be here at the moment.” Wen Xuan shook her head.

Jiang Cheng knew she was right and so he turned to his sister, ushering her back to the Jiang clan’s disciples. Suddenly the corpses started acting wild, attacking her and even if she tried her hardest she couldn’t keep them back. Looking around frightened, she saw Wei Wuxian kneeling on the ground. Her heart thumped hard in her chest as she watched him crying out desperately.

“Wei Ying!”

Wen Xuan’s voice seemed to have reached his ears and soon, he looked up to see her approaching form.

“What are you doing here?! Go away!” he yelled at her but his handsome face was not angry so much as scared. Scared for her life. Wen Xuan smiled at him gently and pulled him to his feet but he quickly shook her hand off of himself and jumped into the air. Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as she watched him.

Wei Wuxian took out the Stygian Tiger Seal and it seemed like time stopped. Everyone’s attention was drawn to his form.

“Since you all want to obtain it so badly, then each of you use your own abilities to snatch it.”

Wei Ying threw the Seal into the crowd, the dark energy quickly surrounding it and breaking it into small pieces.

“Wei Ying!” she cried out but he no longer listened. She felt his tears land on her cheek from above making her heart break at his pain. This shouldn’t have happened if she could be quicker, if she didn’t leave Burial Mounds in her anger. Regret filled her veins as she watched him jump to the side, landing on the edge of the cliff. Her eyes widened in horror and quickly followed him, her mind filled with panic.

“Wei Ying! Come back!” Wen Xuan cried out, standing there with her feet rooted to the ground. It was already too late as Wei Wuxian stepped back and let his body fall. Wen Xuan jumped after him to grab his hand, her body piercing through the air like an arrow.

Her heart filled with hope when she finally felt his slender fingers in her palm and she clutched onto him tightly. She landed on the ground as she held onto his hand, her waist painfully impaled by the stone under her. Wei Wuxian was quite heavy compared to her which made both of them slowly inch downward. She couldn’t keep him up much longer but she knew she had to try. She couldn’t let go.

“Wen Xuan…” he breathed as he looked up at her. “Wen Xuan, let go.”

Suddenly, hands grabbed her waist, pulling her back slightly and another hand grabbed Wei Wuxian over her small hand. She looked over her shoulder to see Lan Wangji, blood dripping down his arm from a cut he received previously. Wen Xuan smiled in gratitude but that soon turned into panic.

Jiang Wanyin walked up behind the two of them, his sword drawn out of its sheath, his features contorted by anger.

“Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Wanyin cried out, his voice filled with hatred, disappointment and anger but mostly.

“No!”

“Go and die!”

The sword embedded into the stone under her and Wei Ying quickly pulled his hand out of her grasp. Wen Xuan’s heart stopped beating for a few minutes as she watched him fall to his death, tears rolling down her eyes.

Thirteen years later ~

Some things never change. Wei Wuxian still disliked the way everything was so restricting in the Gusu Lan clan. Lan Wangji brought him to Gusu after defeating Jin Guangyao and the world seemed to settle into peace.

“Lan Zhan! Wait for me!” Wei Ying hurried after his friend who seemed to be eager to show him something.

Wei Wuxian couldn’t seem to shake the memories of Wen Xuan out of his head. She knew things would turn bad, she tried to warn him but he only driven her away… but then she came back, almost losing her life while trying to protect him. He remembered the desperate cry he heard when he fell off that cliff, his eyes trained on her pained features, her agony showing on her beautiful face.

He knew that she must be somewhere far away or maybe she died and now she got her peace. His heart strangely skipped a beat at the thought of her being dead. After all the time they spent together he grew fond of her. Before meeting her, none of the girls grabbed his attention, he couldn’t really tell why exactly but their meak personalities never appealed to him somehow. Wen Xuan was different, she never backed out of an argument, never feared opposing him.

“Where are we going? Why aren’t you telling me anything?” he kept on nagging Lan Wangji but the tall man refused to say anything. Then his eyes widened when he recognized the place. The cold pond where Lan Zhan healed his wounds after getting punished with Wei Wuxian still looked the same. What shocked him was to see a figure standing by the shore.

“You brought an old friend, I see.”

That voice.

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened in shock, his feet leading him to the figure wearing all white. The hood covering her head was reaching down to her nose, hiding her gaze as long as it was pulled over her head. Her dark hair was pulled into a long braid that reached her hips. He grabbed her shoulder and turned her around to see her beautiful face, however, now her left cheek had a long scar running from her temple to her chin. However, to Wei Wuxian, Wen Xuan was still as beautiful as before no matter what. Her lips pulled into a gentle smile when she took him in.

“Wei Ying, hao qiu bu jian.”

End ~

#mo dao zu shi #the untamed #cql lwj #cql #cql wwx #romance #angst #fluff #lan wangji #wei wuxian #jiang wanyin #drama #wei wuxian x reader #mdzs x reader #mdzs wei wuxian #mdzs #hanguang jun #wei ying

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vrishchikawrites · 3 years

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Reverse transmigration wangxian where LWJ who cultivates to immortality found an old summoning array where mxy fails to summon wwx but the whole thing with JGY still got revealed. LWJ in his grief summons WWX in our modern world, and the rest is up to you :) Maybe get WWX some therapy and loving family and how different modern days people are

This one is a bit angsty and has vague descriptions of sex. Modern AU.

“The Tragedy of Wei Wuxian - The Man Behind the Legend”

Lan Wangji caresses the title of the book with a thumb, eyes tracing a name he has always held close to heart but hasn’t heard for a long time.

“We all know of Wei Ying, courtesy Wuxian as Yiling Laozu. He’s one of the first to cultivate successfully with ‘resentful’ energy. His theories and papers helped us develop a greater understanding of yin energy, Qi deviation, and resentful spirits. He was a visionary, a man ahead of his time, someone who thought outside the box and looked for solutions instead of sticking to the norm. He’s also the first known person to donate his Golden Core.”

Wangji looks away for a moment, remembering Wen Ning’s snarling face and Jiang Wanyin’s rage, denial, and guilt.

“But we don’t talk about what brought that great visionary down. Society, as it did with many great thinkers, turned against him. In his youth, Wei Wuxian was one of the most accomplished cultivators of his generation. No one knows exactly what happened for him to develop the so-called ‘Ghostly Path’. His loss of the Golden Core may have been a factor, but the actual circumstances are shrouded in mystery.

What follows after the War of the Five Great Clans, known as the Sunshot Campaign, is nothing short of a tragedy. Wei Wuxian saw injustice happening and decided to fight against it. Society tore him up for it. At that time, all actions against him were justified and considered righteous. Those actions don’t stand up to scrutiny under the modern lens. Like all great and radical thinkers, Wei Wuxian ideals made him the enemy and that led to this tragic death, along with the murder of innocent war prisoners he sought to protect. There are unconfirmed reports of there being a child among the Wens.”

Wangji’s eyes flicker over to a picture frame sitting on his desk, an image of Sizhui and Jingyi smiling up at him through the glossy image. They’re well, he knows. Last he heard from them, they were in South Korea and having a great time.

Sizhui must not know of this book or he would’ve called immediately, always so concerned about his a’die.

“It was later revealed that hunger for power and political maneuvering led to his death. When we study the historical records, it is obvious that the man was pushed into the corner and was forced to retaliate. Unfortunately, no one cared about his fate-”

“I did,” Wangji whispered to himself, thinking back on silver eyes in an indistinct face. He loved - still loves Wei Ying - but the physical aspects of him have long since faded from his memory. He sometimes remembers Wei Ying’s laugh. Sometimes, he dreams of his smile. He doesn’t recall what Wei Ying sounded like, only remembering his tone when he said ‘Lan Zhan.’

And yet, Lan Wangji hasn’t forgotten love.

He reads the book in silence, going through all 375 pages of it without pausing to eat or sleep. It tells the story of Wei Ying in stark, blunt terms. There are a few facts missing or erroneous. He wasn’t the adopted child of the Jiangs. There was certainly no unrequited love between Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli.

There’s very little mention of him. According to this book, Lan Wangji is a mere footnote in Wei Wuxian’s life; a childhood acquaintance, a disapproving comrade, and later a man who unraveled the truth because he pursued justice.

“He was just 23 years old when he died,” Wangji lingers over that statement, “23-year-olds are barely adults. They hold the promise of a bright future. They have so much potential inside of them. At 23, some people graduate from college, some take up their first serious job. At 23, young people fall in love and maybe form a life-long bond. Wei Wuxian became a key player in a big conflict at 17, he donated his core at 17. At 17, we still have children in high school. Our seventeen-year-olds aren’t even allowed to drink or drive. Our seventeen-year-olds are still protected and sheltered by their parents.

That is perhaps the biggest tragedy of Wei Wuxian’s life. He was only allowed to live a carefree life for seven years, from the day he was taken off the streets to the day the YunmengJiang Sect was attacked. After that and until his death, his life was marked by war, strife, betrayal, and persecution.

A visionary, a hero, a brilliant mind, dead by what most would consider suicide.” Wangji’s breath hitches and he takes a moment to collect himself, the sentence ringing in his head.

“He deserved better.”

---

He deserved better, Wangji thinks as he walks sedately towards his library.

There had been a glimmer of hope, all those years ago when Mo Xuanyu attempted to resurrect Wei Ying, but when he failed to do so, Wangji felt something shatter in him.

Whatever Wei Ying had done had completely destroyed his soul. His precious, noble soul. One that was formed for justice and kindness.

He deserved better.

He knows what he must do.

---

An immortal’s Golden Core has immeasurable power. It is the result of several hundred years of Cultivation and diligence. Wangji is more powerful than most, having survived through war, strife, grief, and loss.

An immortal’s Golden Core can also be an ingredient.

‘Draw the talismans shown below in the blood of your heart. Pin them in eight directions, north, northwest, west, southwest, south, southeast, east, and northeast. Sit in the exact center of this circle and sacrifice half of your cultivation to the being you wish to summon.’’

Wangji’s heart and hands are steady as he draws the talismans from blood drawn directly from the artery. He pins them in all eight directions and sits down in the middle, his hands moving elegantly to summon his Qi. He breathes in and breathes out, sinking into meditation with habitual ease.

It will work.

It has to.

The room floods with Resentful Energy.

---

He deserves better.

Wangji feels torn apart in ways he has never experienced before. The ritual summoning carves something out of his chest and drags it away. His mouth floods with blood and his body weakens alarmingly.

But it doesn’t matter.

Wei Ying.

---

Wei Ying is more beautiful than Wangji remembers. He is bloodsoaked, covered in cuts and bruises, saturated with Resentful Energy, but he’s alive.

And he’s beautiful.

Wangji stumbles to his feet, shakily walking into the bathroom to fetch some warm water. He walks back, his arms feeling the weight of the bucket like they have never carried such weight before. With every step that he takes towards Wei Ying, his heartbeat spikes up a little. He doesn’t know if he chose the right time. He doesn’t know if Wei Ying’s spirit had shattered before his death and dying had just been the aftermath.

Maybe Wei Ying’s body is here and not his soul.

Wangji cannot bear thinking about it.

With weak, shaking hands and the taste of blood lingering in his mouth, he slowly reaches forward. Layer by layer, he removes Wei Ying’s clothes, his fingertips tingling because his beloved’s body is warm.

He deserves better.

With aching tenderness, he wipes Wei Ying clean, removes all blood, grime, and mud from his body.

Wei Ying doesn’t stir.

---

There’s a gentle touch against his cheek. It is strange enough to wake him up because few people dare touch Lan Wangji. Slender fingers tap once, twice, almost playfully and Wangji knows who it is even before he opens his eyes.

Like a sun emerging from the horizon, Wei Ying appears before him, his smile bright and questioning.

“Wei Ying,” He breathes and Wei Ying nods, eyes a sparkling silver. There is so much beauty in that face that he can’t help but reach forward. Ignoring Wei Ying’s surprise, he cups his face and leans forward pressing his forehead against his beloved’s.

Wei Ying is still for a long moment, but he moves eventually, setting hands on Wangji’s shoulder. He doesn’t push him away, just huffing in soft amusement.

“Wei Ying,” He whispers, closing his stinging eyes, “Forgive Wangji for his selfishness.” He says, “I summoned you.” I summoned you without asking, knowing you wouldn’t desire it.

Wei Ying huffs again and that’s when it strikes him.

He pulls back and looks at his beloved in concern, scanning his eyes, face, neck, and chest quickly, his heart racing.

Why wasn’t Wei Ying speaking?

---

“You’re right in suspecting that his spirit sustained some sort of injury even before he was… killed.” Lan Jingyi says softly, pulling away from the sleeping Wei Ying, “There’s nothing physically wrong with him, Hanguang-jun, please don’t worry! His spirit just needs a little bit of time to recover.”

Wangji nods gratefully as he watches Sizhui lean over Wei Ying, his expression full of wonder and desperate happiness. As Sizhui’s cultivation grew, he started remembering more things from his childhood. They have never spoken on the matter of Wei Ying, but Wangji knows his son remembers more than he did when he was a child.

“Now, please let me check you.”

He levels a sharp look at the younger man but Lan Jingyi is no longer the adoring and naive student Wangji taught all those years ago. He’s a strong, accomplished cultivator and an avid researcher.

Lan Jingyi ignores him cheerfully and checks his core, stepping into Wangji's personal space without a care.

He narrows his eyes at the steely glint in the boy's eyes.

"I know you love him, Hanguang-jun," Lan Jingyi says, "And love is worth a life." They're immortals, life has little meaning for people who have lived for centuries, "But I wonder if the Wei Wuxian that you so adore will be happy about you risking your life for him."

Wangji's eyes flicker towards Wei Ying, who looks exhausted even in his sleep. "He deserved better."

Lan Jingyi is silent for a moment before he speaks, "Sizhui and I read the book on our flight back. Everything was horrible, I'm not surprised that his spirit sustained so much damage. But it is almost entirely intact now. It shows how much he wants to live, Hanguang-jun."

It's a relief.

---

Wei Ying can't speak but his presence is still loud. He rests for a few weeks to recover from his injuries. During that time, Wangji spends most of his days moving from Wei Ying's bedside to the library and back again.

His beloved has an insatiable hunger for knowledge. He wants to know everything about the modern world.

Every morning, Wangji is confronted with a bright face with sparkling eyes waving a book or a scroll in his direction.

Wangji hasn't experienced such liveliness in centuries. The very air of his home glows with Wei Ying's vitality. Wei Ying's body recovers quickly and soon the man is out of bed and following Wangji around.

His heart feels too big for his chest.

By all appearances, Wei Ying is perfectly content. He walks around Cloud Recesses, visits Caiyi Town, and is happy to watch the sunset with Wangji every evening.

That had been Wangji's wish when he performed that summoning.

He wanted Wei Ying to have another chance to live free and happy.

Looking at him now, Wangji wants to reach out, cup that cheerful face, and pepper kisses all over it. He wants to kiss those fluttering eyelids, smooth cheeks, sharp jawline-

That soft, smiling mouth.

Wangji is an immortal. He has endless patience. He can wait for Wei Ying to come to him.

He must wait.

---

The modern world fascinates Wei Ying. His beloved looks at everything from tall buildings to food stalls with wide, stunned eyes. Cloud Recesses and Caiyi Town are still relatively untouched by the passage of time, but Wei Ying has free access to the internet and has learned how to use it within two months of his arrival.

Wangji doesn't restrain him.

He just watches as Wei Ying, his brilliant and enthusiastic love, learns to thrive in his new world.

His voice has still not returned but that doesn't seem to bother Wei Ying. He is delighted to learn that there's a way to communicate nonetheless.

He starts learning sign language and Lan Wangji, with patient and steady hands, practices with him.

---

Lan Sizhui follows Wei Ying around with quiet affection and aching tenderness. He's much older than Wei Ying now, but he remains their son in spirit. He treats Wei Ying like a senior, with respect and adoration.

His Wei Ying notices, of course. At first, he finds the situation quite strange but Wei Ying isn't stupid.

'Lan Zhan,' He asks, 'Who is Sizhui?'

Wangji brings his fingers up and replies, 'He's your a-Yuan. I went looking for you but found him instead.'

Wei Ying's eyes widen and he spins around, running out of the room to seek Sizhui.

Wangji follows sedately and when he finds his love and his son, they're embracing while crying tears of joy.

---

'Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan!'

Wangji huffs under his breath and carefully sets his brush down, tucking the scroll away before turning to meet bright silver eyes.

Wei Ying leans forward with an eager expression, 'Do you know where Suibian is?'

Wangji nods, 'In storage. I was able to retrieve it from the Jin Clan.'

'Can I have it?'

Wangji rises smoothly to his feet and leads Wei Ying to storage where both Suibian and Chenqing.

Wei Ying only glances at Chenqing for a moment before reaching for Suibian with a desperate expression.

Suibian, a blade that has remained sealed since Jiang Wanyin unsheathed it once, easily reveals itself again.

Wei Ying spins around eagerly and looks at him with pleading eyes.

As Wangji is able to deny Wei Ying nothing, he reaches for Bichen and they immediately head for the training grounds.

It has been a long time since Wangji has really used Bichen to its full capacity. With half of his core pulsing within Wei Ying, they're almost evenly matched.

Wangji has not fought in ages but Wei Ying is still a Cultivator. The spar is fast-paced and thrilling. Wangji acquaints himself with Wei Ying as his love becomes reacquainted with his sword.

Wei Wuxian had been one of the best swordsmen of his generation. He has lost none of his elegance and skill. Wangji presses him and Wei Ying laughs soundlessly, twirling around him in white GusuLan robes, bright and joyful.

He breaks Wangji's heart and mends it at the same time.

---

Wangji has missed Wei Ying for hundreds of years.

He can't resist the urge to touch. He keeps it chaste and respectful but his hands have a mind of their own in Wei Ying's vicinity.

When they're out and about, Wangji guides Wei Ying with a hand on his back. It becomes natural to grasp his love's elbow if he wants Wei Ying's attention.

His touches can easily be dismissed as gestures of friendship by most. But Wei Ying knows him.

'er-gege,' Wei Ying's smile is sweet, 'Wei Ying is cold.'

Wangji's eyes flicker over to the lit fire briefly before landing on his love, 'Are you feeling well?' He asks in concern, reaching forward to place the back of his hand on Wei Ying's forehead.

His beloved laughs and nods, leaning into the touch with a sly smile, 'I'm well, just cold.'

Wangji feels a stir in his chest at the intent look in Wei Ying's eyes. Hesitantly, he cups Wei Ying's cheek in silent question.

Wei Ying nuzzles his palm, his eyelids fluttering close gently.

Desperation and elation flood him and Wangji sucks in a sharp breath. He moves in a blur, lifting Wei Ying off his seat and placing him on his lap.

Wei Ying gasps and giggles, his tall, strong body seeming to almost shrink as he cuddles close. Wangji wraps both arms around his love and squeezes him tight, rocking them gently as he is assaulted with painful love.

"Wei Ying, Wei Ying, Wei Ying," He chants in Wei Ying's hair, holding him so close, it feels like there's no part of him not touching his love.

When Wei Ying turns to him with a smile in his eyes, Wangji doesn't hesitate to lean forward, bringing their lips together in a long-awaited kiss.

He presses Wei Ying back against the crook of his elbow and tastes his silent laugh on his tongue.

Wangji has never felt so blissful and complete.

---

Jingyi convinces Wei Ying to go to therapy.

Eager to learn and curious, Wei Ying agrees.

He returns from every session with a thoughtful expression.

Months pass but his voice is still lost.

---

They make love and Wei Ying mouths the words he wants to speak. He smiles, sobs, laughs, and pouts as Wangji takes him apart bit by bit.

Wangji has never known such pleasure. He loses himself, drowning in Wei Ying's scent and finding heaven in his body.

He enjoys feeling smooth skin. He sinks his fingers into Wei Ying's silken hair. He tastes the sharp edge of his jaw. He bites. He drives in and takes ownership of Wei Ying's pleasure.

He presses his mischievous sprite into their bed and doesn't hold back, centuries of love pouring out of him.

---

A combination of therapy and Wei Ying's natural approach to life makes his recovery quick. Within a year, he's well-adjusted and happy.

He laughs at almost everything. The first time they fly, the first time they visit an amusement park, the first time they go to an aquarium.

He laughs and Wangji starts noticing the color of his voice returning to it.

Wangji is grateful for what he has. He's grateful that Wei Ying is back, safe, and happy. He is grateful that Wei Ying is unharmed.

But he cannot lie to himself. He misses Wei Ying's voice.

---

"Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan,"

Wangji almost misses it, as engrossed as he is. He presses in deep and feels a shiver of pleasure race down his spine. Wei Ying's fingers curl around Wangji's nape and his lips caress his ear.

"Lan Zhan,"

He stills.

Wangji takes a deep, bracing breath and pulls back a little, balancing on his arms to peer down at his lover.

Wei Ying is a vision. His cheeks flushed, his eyes wide and dark with passion, his lips bitten red from Wangji's kisses. His long hair is scattered and wild, a tangle of glossy strands across Wangji's pillow.

"Lan Zhan,"

Wei Ying's lips move and a voice accompanies that movement. It is slightly hoarse, somewhat weak, but it is still the voice he barely remembers.

Heat flares in him and he sinks deeper, pulling a sharp gasp from Wei Ying.

He spends the entire night filling their room with that precious voice.

---

Wei Ying doesn't ask questions. He doesn't ask why Wangji did what he did. He doesn't ask how he did it. His beloved has always been perspective and he understood Wangji's desperation from the moment he woke.

He reads the book that triggered it all and laughs, "Aiya, they make me out to be some sort of martyr for justice." He says fondly, for he is very fond of the modern world.

Sizhui is sitting at his feet, eyes closed in bliss as Wei Ying gently combs his hair, styling it into an intricate braid.

"They're not wrong, though." Jingyi can never sit straight and he has forgotten all of his Lan teachings over the years. He has his legs thrown over the arm of his chair and his head is dangling over another arm, his hair sweeping the floor as he nods.

Ridiculous.

"I never asked to be glorified in such a way." Wei Ying protests with a chuckle.

"Baba should be grateful no one knows about his resurrection." Sizhui pipes up, "At least, you don't have to deal with modern stans."

Wangji arches a brow at the word and Wei Ying laughs, already more accustomed to the Internet language than Wangji is. "Oh, heaven forbid!"

"But listen, you and Hanguang-jun have the greatest love story ever, you could write a book about it, Wei-quanbei!"

Wei Ying tilts his head to the side and Wangji urges him to consider it with a subtle nod. Wei Ying is happy but he's never content to be idle. The modern world doesn't need cultivation, but perhaps it can benefit from their stories.

---

‘Once you summon successfully, you belong to this being for all eternity as payment for the one wish they may grant. Half of your core will live within them. If they die, you die. If they live, you live. If they hurt, you hurt. If they become corrupt, you become corrupt.

You will sacrifice immortality, but not the eternal bond. Every time you are reincarnated into this world, you will be tethered to the being.

Beware.

Wangji tucks the scroll away, sealing it so that it is never discovered again.

He has no regrets.

#short prompts #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lan suzhui #lan jingyi #modern au #canon divergence

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liathebookwyrm · 2 years

Text

Untamed au where everything is the same but when the ducklings start going on nighthunts unsupervised they seem to have an unrealistic amount of luck. Like clues lining up a little too conveniently, narrow escapes that shouldn't have happened, residual resentment just...disappearing from an area... And it might be weird, but hey they're new to this, maybe that's how it happens.

Jingyi insists it's cause Sizhui is just that nice, but then they bump into Jin Ling for the first time and find out he's been experiencing the same thing independently ("maybe even the ghosts find you annoying, young mistress, have you thought of that?")

It probably would have gone undetected for a lot longer but then the Lan kids get assigned a nighthunt WAAAAAAY above their paygrade (later Lan Wangji would have Words with the person in charge of assignments. That person would wake in cold sweat for a long while after). So they're cornered by something big, twisted and with way too many teeth when it....explodes. It's disgusting, there's monster bits everywhere, and in the haze of all the resentful energy the boys could have sworn they saw a figure.

Now, "helpful ghost" would have already been a suspicious thing to put on a nighthunt report (especially since the sentence wouldn't conclude with "and then we laid them to rest"), but "helpful ghost that can apparently manipulate resentful energy".... Hoo boy, they would never be allowed out of Cloud Recesses.

So they do what they always do with questions that would push Lan Qiren towards qi deviation. They ask Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji, who did not expect to hear any of that and especially the description of the ghost being "tall, slim, was holding a flute".

Cue the many, MANY emotions because that means: a. Wei Wuxian lingered as a ghost, b. figured out how to manipulate resentful energy from beyond the grave, c. somehow managed to avoid answering to Inquiry for the past 13 years. Also the slightly thorny question of how exactly to explain even part of that to the kids. Once again Lan Wangji regrets that he cannot drink.

He probably tells the boys not to worry and that he will look into it and then he goes to a sufficiently remote place to meditate and/or scream. Also to play Inquiry again because this time he knows Wei Wuxian definitely can hear him. Qin language doesn't include swearing but "Wei Ying, I know you can hear me [you bastard]" is probably conveyed. There's a long pause and then the most awkward "hi" in Inquiry's recorded history. Cause Wei Wuxian knows the jig is up since he tagged along with the kids and heard them talking. There's definitely tears. They have to stop and start a few times because there is no way Lan Wangji is nowhere near the state of mind required for this sort of thing. That might actually had something to do (in the beginning at least) with him failing to contact Wei Wuxian. The rest was definitely Wei Wuxian first being to weak to answer and then refusing because he's Wei Wuxian and one day put his self-worth down and forgot to pick it up again.

Eventually they both calm down enough to have a frank conversation. Frank because Lan Wangji has no reason to lie and Wei Wuxian cannot lie because Enquiry. It's....interesting. Multiple misunderstandings are cleared up a year or two early. Feelings are alluded to but not openly discussed. I imagine Wei Wuxian lingered at his place of death as a ghost for a while before figuring out how to feed on residual resentful energy and as soon as he got strong enough he started to wonder. He reaches Gusu....early on in Lan Wangji's seclusion. The Cloud Recesses will never know how close they came to becoming round two of Burial Mounds because I imagine even if outsiders didn't know of it, in some circles within the Lan the whole thing was discussed. And.. well he went there looking for Lan Wangji and found him still recovering. Wei Wuxian still has feelings about this whole thing. They are very violent so he tries to keep them to himself because he's still not 100% convinced Lan Wangji won't banish him. Incidentally he doesn't know who Sizhui is. The first time he came to Gusu was after A-Yuan was adopted so he just knows him as Lan Wangji's adopted son. And, well, he likes kids, A-Yuan is adorable at any point and if nothing else that's his Lan Zhan's kid. Of course he'll get attached. And then Jingyi joined the family dinners (and sleepovers) and Wei Wuxian cannot resist cute kids. And Jin Ling is pretty self-explanatory.

I like to think that Lan Wangji kinda blurts out who Sizhui actually is because he can't have Wei Wuxian thinking he failed to protect everyone. Which cues nicely to Lan Wangji asking (after Wei Wuxian has calmed down from that particular infodump) if Wei Wuxian was around this long then why didn't he ever answer before. And Wei Wuxian probably tries to avoid answering but between his heightened emotions and ghosts being unable to lie leads to a wonderful insight into his very self-recriminating pov and oh dear that will take long and painful conversations to untangle.

But back to the kids. Lan Wangji is actually relieved that someone is keeping an eye on them at nighthunts (he absolutely does it himself as often as he can, but he has his own duties to attend to) and would probably like to sit down with Sizhui and have some sort of conversation about who exactly is the ghost but Wei Wuxian insists the kids will freak out if they learn who he is so he just reassures Sizhui and Jingyi that he spoke with the ghost and (exploding monster aside) they have nothing to worry about.

Unforeseen consequence: both boys become scarily good with Inquiry because they want to be able to talk to their "ghost-ge" directly (Wei Wuxian has ALL THE EMOTIONS about being addressed as such). This of course means that they start getting more ghost-related hunts seeing as they have become so good at pacifying them (truly gifted, a credit to their sect, blah, blah, blah...and if Jin Quangyao is asking about their progress a little too often, Lan Wangji has enough sway within the sect -and Wei Wuxian's reports of what he has seen when wondering Lanling- to make sure they do not go to any hunts near Jin territory without him).

How interesting it is then that one or two years down the line, while on their way to deal with a haunting at Mo village, their ghost-ge suddenly...disappears. How equally interesting that when they arrive there, the local lunatic takes one look at them and calls them ducklings to their face. And proceeds to coach them through the nighthunt (once a senior disciple, always a senior disciple). They don't quite make the connection (how could they?) until they send a flare for their other dad Lan Wangji, and Wei Wuxian (with the benefit of a year's worth of brutally honest and absolutely necessary conversations) absolutely tackles Lan Wangji in a hug the second he is within reaching distance.

#the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #lan sizhui #lan jingyi #jin ling #your friendly neighbourhood ghost #ghost au #this is pure self indulgence #I write for the niche audience of me #and possibly five other people #it's always gremlin hours in the afterlife

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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

Note

Hello! I saw a post that said your prompts are open, but if they’re not yet, please don’t worry about this. Anyway, if you’re interested, please take this ‘Wen Ruohan appoints Lan Wangji his next heir with being 1) impressed by him, or 2) bested by him’ Lan Wangji is less than thrilled about this

Modern AU

“I hate this,” Wei Wuxian grumbled. “This is so dumb.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to enjoy being kidnapped,” Jiang Cheng said, his arms crossed over his chest. He was scowling. He hadn’t stopped scowling. Nobody blamed him one bit. “It’s not like it’s something that gets advertised in travel brochures or anything.”

“Listen, if it was like in the movies, it’d be one thing,” Wei Wuxian argued back. Lan Wangji suspected he was just arguing in order to hear himself speak, but since Lan Wangji also enjoyed hearing him speak, he didn’t mind. “Getting snatched into a van! Taken to a mysterious secondary location via plane! Villain monologues! Handcuffs! Zipties! Ropes! Chains!”

Lan Wangji wondered if Wei Wuxian had a thing for bondage. He would be okay with that.

Very okay with that.

“Wei Wuxian…” Jiang Cheng started.

“But noooooo, we don’t get jungles or the ‘most dangerous game’ or sexy people in skimpy swimsuits –”

Lan Wangji had a bathing suit. It wasn’t that skimpy, though.

“- we just get kidnapped by a deranged politician who’s decided that the best way to figure out who deserves to be his heir is via a stupid reality show!”

“I think it’s based on the Apprentice,” Nie Huaisang said from where he was sitting. “Possibly the Bachelor? I actually don’t watch that much reality television.”

“You watch the Great British Bake Off like a fiend,” Jiang Cheng pointed out.

“First, Great British Bake Off doesn’t count. Second, if this was a bake-off, your sister would win, instead of not even being here. Is that what you want?”

Both Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian shuddered.

“So, we’re all in agreement that the goal is to lose, right?” Wei Wuxian said. “No one actually wants the job of being Wen Ruohan’s heir, right?”

Nods all around.

“Doesn’t he have kids already?” Jin Zixuan wondered.

“Wen Xu and Wen Chao,” Lan Wangji said shortly.

“…yeah, fair, I’d be looking elsewhere too. They’re pretty awful – dumb and dumber. But surely there’s someone else in the family…?”

“I think they’ve been disowned. Anyway, who would want power if it means putting up with Wen Ruohan?”

Nods all around a second time.

“How will this work?” Nie Huaisang asked. “Are there, like – contests?”

There were.

Stupid ones.

Lan Wangji did his utmost best to mess up the archery competition – archery? In this day and age? – but he wasn’t quite willing to turn around and wildly shoot backwards the way Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were doing, if only because the possibility of collateral damage made him shudder. He focused his arrows on a small corner just outside the target.

(Nie Huaisang’s arrows impressively did not reach the target even once. When asked how he had managed to pull that off despite being closely monitored to make sure he was actually trying, he proudly pointed to years of practice in fucking up his brother’s efforts at getting him to train.)

Lan Wangji was also incapable of getting a low score in the calligraphy competition, although Nie Huaisang shared in his misfortune there – being an artist did not necessarily translate to good penmanship, but in Nie Huaisang’s case it did – and naturally no one could quite compare to the atrocity that Wei Wuxian had created.

“It’s still recognizable as words, in my view,” Nie Huaisang declared after several minutes of close study. “So it should be fine to submit…you should really consider taking up abstract art, though. It’s quite nice, from that perspective.”

“Thank you,” Wei Wuxian said. “I think. Or was that an insult?”

The mathematics segment was even more disastrous for Lan Wangji – his uncle had brought him up with a strict prohibition against lying, including on test answers – and then they’d brought out music…

They didn’t even give Lan Wangji a chance to sabotage his chance, opting to just play a Youtube clip of one of his public performances on the guqin.

He was very, very good at guqin.

At least they’d done the same for Wei Wuxian and his flute – he ended up getting ranked first in music, even above Lan Wangji – but that wasn’t going to be enough to overcome his middle-of-the-road performances in the other subject.

“I think you’re going to win,” Jiang Cheng told Lan Wangji. “I’m very sorry. Seriously, and without sarcasm: I’m very, very sorry.”

Lan Wangji said nothing, but apparently his face managed to convey his misery effectively enough because Wei Wuxian came over and gave him a hug.

Lan Wangji enjoyed the hug, at least.

“Don’t worry,” Nie Huaisang said. He was fanning himself again – where did he even get a fan? Lan Wangji thought all three of the ones he’d seen Nie Huaisang pull out of his pockets had been confiscated, and surely there was a limit to how many “back-ups” a person plausibly needed – and reclining under the shade, having been thoroughly knocked out of the running during the physical portion of the competition. He hadn’t even had the courtesy to be concerned: he was, as always, secure in his uselessness. “We’ve been here for quite a while, haven’t we? Our families will be along soon enough to pick us up, and then we can forget all this.”

“What if they can’t, though?” Jiang Cheng said, wringing his hands. “I mean, we all hate him, he’s awful, yes, but he still has influence and power, for some unknown reason –”

“I still can’t believe there are people who support him. Least of all nearly half the cultivation world!”

“Less than half. Remember, we just counted.”

“Yes, yes, I know, but still. Regardless, don’t worry – it’ll be fine.”

“Surely if our families were going to do something, they’d be here already?” Jin Zixuan asked.

Jiang Cheng pointed at him. “See? Even the peacock is worried!”

“Also, what if Wen Ruohan wants to keep Lan Wangji as his heir even after we’re rescued?” Wei Wuxian wanted to know. He looked worried, which Lan Wangji appreciated. “Listen, my future boyfriend and I are not going to live somewhere named something as classless and pretentious as the, and I quote, ‘Nightless City’, okay? I refuse.”

…future boyfriend?

“The Nightless City is a perfectly decent name,” Nie Huaisang said. “For a Bond villain. Which I’m not convinced Wen Ruohan isn’t.”

Boyfriend? As in – romantic partner boyfriend?

“A Bond villain wouldn’t be this stupid,” Jiang Cheng argued.

Wei Ying’s future boyfriend?

“I dunno,” Wei Wuxian said. “There were some real stinkers, especially in the 70s…”

Did he mean Lan Wangji?

“Can we get back on subject?” Jin Zixuan wanted to know. “Lan Wangji is on the verge of being selected to be Wen Ruohan’s heir, and I’m not sure that process doesn’t involve brainwashing at some point.”

Wait, why was it future boyfriend? Couldn’t they be boyfriends now?

“I would fight them first,” Wei Wuxian declared. “All of them. Immediately!”

“Or we could escape. I know the guards took our cell phones, but I pickpocketed Wen Zhuliu’s and the GPS says we’re actually just at a warehouse outside the city.”

“We’d need a distraction, though…”

“How about we release the giant turtle?”

“Wait, that thing in the moat is a turtle? I thought it was a snake.”

“I don’t know why you expect me to know anything about amphibians.”

“It’s not – they’re not even remotely – a snake has no legs! What is wrong with you people?!”

“Unrelated, but has anyone noticed that none of the girls got brought in? Isn’t that sexist?”

“Like Wen Ruohan being sexist is a surprise –”

“I still think we need to do something before he tries to adopt Lan Wangji –”

“Do you want to go on a date with me?” Lan Wangji asked Wei Wuxian, who blinked at him, and then beamed. “Or maybe make out in the corner while everyone’s arguing?”

That seemed like something they’d both enjoy.

It was, too, right up until someone did unleash the giant turtle, at which point it was mostly screaming and splashing and all of their families coming to their rescue at just the right time.

But Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian were dating now, so overall, a good experience.

Well, mostly. Wen Ruohan sent him countless letters for the next two months asking him to consider coming back for an internship (to be paid in "experience" and "exposure", of course).

Lan Wangji burned them all.

#mdzs #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #nie huaisang #jiang cheng #jin zixuan #lan wangji's hormones #they get a special mention as a character #my fic #my fics #staringatstarsblog

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defractum · 4 years

Note

Modern LWJ + WWX flowershop (with the juniors if you can please!)

So LWJ is the quiet florist in a quiet florist shop, with his two assistants, Sizhui and Jingyi who are, respectively, slightly less quiet and much less quiet

It's a bit of a miracle that the shop is quiet, because he's about two doors down from an entrance to a major station and in the middle of the city, so he gets a lot of businesspeople getting flowers on their way home or people swinging by on their way to the office for a work event or coworker birthday

WWX is a customer who whirls in and asks breathlessly for something 'pink and purple but like, not romantic'. He points to one of the pre-arranged bouquets up at the front (mostly arranged by Sizhui and Jingyi at the beginning of the day so they can get some practice in arrangements when there's no customer waiting impatiently) and says, 'like that, but bigger'

LWJ usually hates people who are in a rush, because they think he can just throw a bunch of things in together and wrap it up, but this man seems more like he just exudes excess energy. He hops from foot to foot, and occasionally asks for a bit more greenery.

(LWJ secretly loves people who ask for more greenery. Most people ask for more colours, more flowers, and he has to bite his tongue before telling them that the greenery is what makes the colours pop, it's there for a reason, and – anyway. He just likes the balance of greenery, okay.)

He has a very nice smile when he waves and leaves but mostly LWJ forgets him, because he was only one of many customers in his working day.

Except then WWX becomes a semi-frequent customer. And he always asks for something 'like this, but bigger'. The colours change, although pink and purple make a frequent appearance. There's no order to his appearances, sometimes once a fortnight, sometimes three times in the same week.

The shop is no longer quiet when he is here – he chats away, even though LWJ barely responds. He tells LWJ about his job (social media and PR), his flat (small), his lunch (usually spicy) and his sister (dating some knobhead). He starts paying by card, and Lan Wangji looks down to see his name: Wei Ying

LWJ wonders vaguely if all this effort is for a new relationship, and if so, how long he can sustain the flower giving. They're not cheap. He's kind of a bit sad about the relationship thing, because Wei Ying is pretty and charming and flirty, but also if it keeps WWX coming in so that they can have their mostly one-sided conversations, he will take it.

He starts doing all of Wei Wuxian's orders himself. The bigger the bouquet, the harder it becomes to arrange and keep it from looking like a mash of flowers; Sizhui could barely see around the last one. LWJ is the most experienced in the shop, after all. (This is what he tells himself. Sizhui and Jingyi are both completely capable of filling the order.)

Wei Wuxian loves it. He says that Lan Wangji has 'magic fingers'. LWJ's brain is possibly melting.

Another time, WWX asks how much a sprig of baby's breath was. The shop doesn't normally sell it by itself, and especially not a sprig at a time. LWJ names some arbitrary number. WWX buys the baby's breath and tucks it behind LWJ's ear and then just walks out like LWJ's not in danger of a heart attack.

One day, Wei Wuxian comes in and asks for something 'obnoxiously big'. He says it with an obnoxiously big smile, which quickly disappears when he hastens to reassure Lan Wangji: "Not that your arrangements are obnoxious. They're beautiful. But I need this to be intimidatingly big."

LWJ reaches for the gladioli and Wei Wuxian shakes his head. "No, more like..." He looks around, and finally points at the sunflowers, which hit Lan Wangji around shoulder height. "You have a delivery service, right?"

Lan Wangji has Jingyi on a bike attached to a cart, which is almost the same thing.

He creates an enormous arrangement, the likes of which he normally doesn't get to do apart from corporate arrangements and those certainly don't feature sunflowers, which is yellow at the top and ombres down into a dark orange at the bottom. There's plenty of greenery.

Jingyi is almost scared to touch it.

The delivery is for a Jiang Yanli at a media production company about ten minutes away, for 12:55pm which is oddly specific, and Lan Wangji pointedly does not pump Jingyi for any details he can provide the moment he gets back. He's better than that. Plus, if he waits ten minutes, Jingyi will start telling them anyway.

He's wrong – he only has to wait five minutes. Jingyi is close to vibrating out of his skin. Jiang Yanli turns out to be a rather plain young woman whose face lights up when she gets flowers, apparently. Jingyi had got to witness it twice, because he was the first of two deliveries of flowers.

The other bouquet was also very big, but definitely not as big as his. It had been delivered by a tall businessman, who had nearly dashed it to the floor when he saw Jingyi there, teetering behind his mountain of flowers. He'd snapped something like 'for the last time, Wei Wuxian!', shoved his bouquet at Jiang Yanli, and run away.

Jingyi had helpfully offered to stay and help her get the flowers into some vases, and give her some advice on keeping the bouquets fresh for longer, and if he conveniently asked about the other bouquet, well, he was just making small talk, right?

Jiang Yanli is Wei Ying's sister, it seems. (Lan Wangji exhales from where he's not-eavesdropping behind the bench.) The runaway man is her boyfriend, who also works in the same place that her brother does. For months, Wei Ying has been eyeing up the times the boyfriend has tried to buy her flowers, and then got her a bigger bouquet in the same day. Neither of the men have actually said anything about it, they've just been passively aggressively buying progressively bigger bouquets.

(Jiang Yanli is of the opinion that this is mostly harmless, especially since her other brother keeps talking about breaking the boyfriend's legs. Plus, she loves flowers.)

Jingyi looks delighted to be part of a flower-arrangement themed family feud. LWJ wonders if he could start ordering in some varieties of floral branches. They don't really use them for personal bouquets, but he's always wanted to expand his skill set. They would be really tall.

The next time WWX comes in, LWJ asks, "How big?"

"Ah, no," says WWX sheepishly. "We've mutually decided to stop it now."

LWJ feels kind of distraught about that. He's got used to seeing WWX frequently and hearing his updates on his life.

WWX is oblivious to this: "My sister thought it was gorgeous – thanks for that by the way – but she had a really hard time getting it home. I forgot about that. So I'm just here for one last, normal sized bouquet to say sorry." He grabs one of the pre-arranged ones, and LWJ is disappointed that he won't even get his normal dose of WWX chatter on what is probably his last visit.

"Well," LWJ manages to say as he rings him up, "we'll miss you." That's an appropriate customer service thing to say, right?

WWX laughs: "Me too, I enjoyed this, but I'll be honest, my wallet probably won't."

And then he waves and walks out of LWJ's life forever.

No, obviously not, that would be awful. That's what LWJ thinks though, and he's left staring at the door as it swings closed behind WWX and then keeps staring at it long after it stills, and yet is somehow still surprised when it flings back open three minutes later and Wei Wuxian bursts through it again.

"Hey, so, I've been thinking – or was literally just thinking, same thing – that since I'm gonna have all this extra money now, it means I can probably do other things. Like go out to dinner or something."

LWJ blinks. Good for him.

"You know, if you'd like to. Sometime." WWX is looking up at him through his eyelashes.

Oh.

(Out of the corner of his eye, LWJ can see Sizhui and Jingyi are frantically flashing thumbs up at him.)

WWX's smile fades as LWJ stares at him uncomprehendingly. No, that can't happen. LWJ turns, starts frantically looking through his flower buckets, pawing through them until he finds what he wants, and turns back. WWX mostly looks confused now. LWJ leans over the counter, banging his elbow on the table as he does so, and clumsily tucks a sprig of baby's breath behind WWX's ear.

"Yes," Lan Wangji says breathlessly, "That would be nice. Sometime. Any time."

#the untamed #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #cql #wangxian #ahahahaha this started out as headcanons #and then devolved into straight up prose fic #my fic #kind of not really #idubtheetumblina #asks

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stiltonbasket · 3 years

Note

So. My mother just told me the story of how I broke a fever at only a few months old - I apparently caught a cold, nothing major, and it was over in about two days. I just thought that this must be a pretty scary situation for parents, even if the baby isn't in any real danger. How, do you think, Wangxian would react? I wouldn't want anything dangerous to happen to any of the tiny babies, but parents tend to overreact. This would be for the Renouncement Verse - you're a godsend!

prompt 2 @enter21: So much love for Baby Wei! Can we get some bonding time with new mom WWX and his little girl. Both the difficulties and the joy new bundles of love bring. And maybe just the extended family being majorly impressed with WWX's skills with children. Baby Wei, Xiao-yu, baby Mianmian, just all the babies.

(brief author’s note: please please reblog if you can, since that’s how we get prompts for future chapters!)

In later years, Wei Wuxian will remember his daughter’s birth as the most exhausting moment of his life. Bringing a child into the world is a painful business no matter how one goes about it, even when said child was being transported out of an empty dantian with nothing but pure magic and willpower to guide the way; the process taxed his spiritual veins so badly that they began to collapse in on themselves, and his head pounded in sheer misery like it did when he first fell into the Burial Mounds, and all the power Lan Xichen forced into his body made his dantian burn as if someone had lit a fire in it before he finally sank into the blessed oblivion of sleep.

But then someone shook him awake again, and put A-Lan into his arms, and Wei Wuxian fell desperately in love the moment he first laid eyes on her.

Now, on the second day after A-Lan’s arrival, Wei Wuxian busies himself with tracking the movement of her small chest (smaller than his palm, and so much more delicate) fluttering up and down with her soft breaths, and watching the faint sucking motions she makes with her tiny pink tongue when he puts a finger close to her cheek. She isn’t hungry yet, or at least he doesn’t think so; babies suck on everything that comes near their mouths, so he ignores the bottle of milk at his elbow and pokes her feathery little eyebrows instead.

The baby frowns and squints at him, just as he expected she would. Her dark eyes delight Wei Wuxian every time he sees them, because they are exactly like Lan Zhan’s: deep and clear and slanted at the corners like a pair of black phoenix’s wings, and her gaze is her father’s, too.

(Or at least it is until she begins to cry, at which point A-Lan reminds him a great deal more of a three-year-old Jiang Cheng.)

"Shuilan," he whispers now, scarcely aware of the physician measuring the baby's pulse at his right; they called Lan Feihui to see if the weather was responsible for A-Lan’s coughing, since she was born in the midst of an ongoing summer thunderstorm. "Don't cry, Lan-bao. I'm here, sweetheart, I'm here."

"How many times did she eat last night?" Lan Feihui asks, from somewhere over his head. "Did you keep note, xiandu?"

Wei Wuxian ignores that particular query, because he has no idea how often A-Lan needs to eat after he goes to bed. Lan Zhan lets him sleep the whole night through with A-Lan nestled against his side, refusing to disturb him no matter how often A-Lan wakes up, and he feeds the baby her milk every other hour as skillfully as the trained nursemaids from the healing halls.

"Three times," Lan Zhan replies, consulting a slip of paper tucked into his sleeve. "She did not object to my blood in the milk spell, so I saw no need to wake Wei Ying."

"It's a godsend, that spell," the doctor mutters, referring to the talisman Wei Wuxian constructed to transform goats’ milk into something suitable for babies to drink with the addition of a little human blood. "Do you have any plans to distribute it, Xinhua-jun?"

Wei Wuxian finally looks away from the baby's dimpled hands and nods. "En. I couldn't sleep these last two months for worrying about how we were going to feed her, and if the spell could come in useful for another child without a mother to feed it, then…”

"You could still use it yourself," the healer reminds him gently. "Using Hanguang-jun’s blood would be safest since you’re a non-cultivator, but if you would like to use yours instead, you can."

Wei Wuxian shakes his head. "It's better this way," he sighs. "She's so little, I—I don't want to take any chances."

The healer objects to this on the grounds that A-Lan is not little at all; she weighs nearly six jin, with a very healthy appetite, but Lan Zhan still refuses to let Wei Wuxian be the one to feed her.

"The spell requires a full shao of blood every day," he protests. "And babies need to eat so often. It will hurt you if you do it, Wei Ying."

“It won’t hurt me,” Wei Wuxian argues back, before blanching as Lan Zhan makes a cut across his hand and activates the milk talisman. “Lan Zhan!”

But it hardly matters who feeds her in the end, because A-Lan is chubby and strong and tries to eat everything that gets near her, from milk bottles to her own thumbs and Xiao-Yu's pudgy fingers, and all her parents' fears vanish when the healer finally declares that her fragile little lungs are handling the cold perfectly.

“She’s only been breathing for two days, Xinhua-jun,” is all Lan Feihui says, when Wei Wuxian gives her a sheepish apology for summoning her across the Cloud Recesses in the rain. “If she breathes in a grain of dust, she might sneeze. If the air is a touch too dry or too warm, she might cough. There is no need to worry unless her skin turns blue, but if that does happen, summon me or Zewu-jun at once.”

After the healer takes her leave, Wei Wuxian stares down at his daughter and covers her little face with kisses.

“Serves you right,” he scolds, when she gives him an aggrieved baby glare and sucks violently at her milk. “How could you worry me so much, A-Lan? Your A-Niang has a delicate heart, you know. You can’t scare me like this again.”

“I think I should be called A-Niang,” Lan Zhan tells him, petting Xiao-Yu’s sleepy little head. All four of them are curled up together in the marriage bed, since Xiao-Yu refused to leave his new sister, and insists on being allowed to feed her at least once or twice a day. “Did you not say once that the one with the milk was mother, and the one with gold was father?”

Wei Wuxian throws his head back and laughs. “All right,” he declares, turning so that A-Lan’s beady little eyes are fixed right on Lan Zhan’s. “Shuilan, this is your A-Niang. You can tell because you have my name—your A-Die’s name, that is—and because your A-Niang spills his own blood ten times a day so you can eat without a wet-nurse. Greet him properly, Wei-xiaojie.”

Unfortunately, Lan-bao’s idea of a greeting is spitting up onto Xiao-Yu’s robes. “Yuck!” A-Yu cries, jumping away and bursting into tears at the sight of the pale stain on his chest. “A-Lan, bad!”

And then, of course, A-Lan starts crying too. “Welcome to fatherhood, for the third time,” Wei Wuxian tells his husband, patting the tears off Xiaohui’s nose and biting back a giggle as Lan Zhan goes to find a wet cloth and a new gown for their son. “Do you think you’re ready, Lan Zhan?”

Lan Zhan looks at him across their children’s teary red faces and smiles.

“With you, xingan? Always.”

#wangxian #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #renouncement verse #wangxian arranged marriage au #my fic #wei shuilan

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giftwrappingpaper · 3 years

Text

wangxian bakery au

prompt: "I'd love to enable a creator to write/draw that self-indulgent niche workplace AU they've always wanted to make."

Lan Zhan finds Wei Ying baking bread in the kitchen of a hole-in-the-wall bakery in Yiling.

-----

A low, all too familiar voice hesitantly calls his name. "Wei Ying?"

No fucking way. Wei Ying looks up, raised eyebrows wrinkling his flour-dusted forehead. Yep, that’s Lan Zhan alright; no matter how many years pass, Wei Ying could recognize that face anywhere. His sharp, meticulously perfect appearance makes him look like a high-fashion magazine model cutout slapped on a stock photo of yellowed plaster and secondhand baking equipment.

“No customers in the back,” Wei Ying advises before returning his attention to the dough in his hands. A picture of informality, with a small smirk playing on his lips — a half-hearted attempt to conceal the shock and surmounting panic bubbling in his gut.

How the hell did he find me? one side of his brain despairs, while the other side reassures that at least it isn’t Jiang Cheng.

Lan Zhan continues his stalwart breach of Burial Bakery’s kitchen. What a rebel. “Wei Ying,” he says again.

“That’s me.”

“You’re here.”

“Uh, yeah?”

“You’re in a...bakery. Baking.”

Wei Ying breathed in the calming smell of fresh sourdough and tangy levain. Thank the heavens he had been able to convince Wen Ning to take a lunch break, leaving Wei Ying to man the kitchen alone. This isn’t going to be pretty.

“That’s kinda what we do here, yeah,” he says, eyes trained on his workbench, crowded with floured bannetons and formless lumps of dough. “A helping hand would be nice. I’d appreciate that much more than the gawking.”

Lan Zhan blinks, jawing clenching and ears flushing. Wei Ying’s smirk lifts into something softer. Even after all this time, it’s still so easy to rile him up.

“How’d you even find me, anyway?” he wonders, stretching his dough flat against the workbench, stopping right when it’s about to rip. Gently, of course. Wouldn’t want to pop the gas built up after hours of proofing.

“The back door is open,” Lan Zhan answers faintly. His expression mirrors the face of a guy after finding a years-long missing sock long since chalked off as having been eaten by the dryer. “I saw you from the counter.”

A quick glance to the entrance confirms this. Wen Ning must’ve forgotten to close the door when he left. Damn, that’s no good. Can’t let the cold air flow in. Might mess with the dough proofing in the walk-in.

“Could you close that for me?” Wei Ying asks, briefly letting go of the dough to rub the back of his neck. When Lan Zhan continues to stand there, motionless like a beautiful, bewildered statue, Wei Ying tsks and says, “I’m not going anywhere, Lan Zhan. Gotta get yesterday's proofed loaves in the oven by the hour.”

Miraculously, Lan Zhan obeys. Wei Ying half expected him not to. He and Lan Zhan have never been the closest of friends; Wei Ying was an annoying student, and Lan Zhan has a zero tolerance for annoying classmates. But people can change, he supposes. It’s been over four years, and neither of them are the same people they were before Wei Ying packed up his things and gave up his cushioned life in the Jiang estate and his scholarship to one of the most prestigious universities in the country to start slumming it with the Wen siblings and A-Yuan in their closet of an apartment.

“Aw, thanks,” Wei Ying says when Lan Zhan returns. He belatedly realizes that he should’ve asked Lan Zhan to close the door behind him as he leaves the kitchen that he, as a non-employee, isn’t supposed to be in. Oh well; Wen Qing can chew him out for all the health codes he’s violating later. Isn’t she supposed to be manning the front? Lan Zhan must have snuck past her to get here, so she’s just as guilty.

“So you’ve been here the whole time?” Lan Zhan says, watching Wei Ying shape the dough. “Since you — left?”

“Basically.” Stitch the dough into itself. Then fold and tuck. Push the dough underneath itself with the palm of your hands to create surface tension, giving the newly formed loaf that tight, professional finish. Took Wei Ying ages to get the method down pat enough to be consistent. “Wanted to get out of the Jiangs’ hair, so I left soon after dropping out of uni.”

Dust the loaf with rice flour. Place it into a banneton, seam side up. Into the rack, then repeat. “A friend of mine had just inherited their family bakery. I volunteered to help out, and it eventually ended up becoming a full-time thing.”

Lan Zhan stands there without a word — not that Wei Ying minds. He hadn’t let himself dream they’d see each other again, hadn’t wanted to get his hopes up that he'd be lucky enough to see a familiar face again after all this time. Damn, he thinks, sneaking glance after glance between the loaves he’s shaping, he’s more handsome now than ever. Who knew the gorgeous teenager he’d harassed throughout two years of university would turn out to become a gorgeous adult who somehow stumbles into Wei Ying’s bakery? Even the unflattering cast of the yellow, flickering overhead light Wen Qing had been meaning to replace can’t wash out how black Lan Zhan’s hair is, how his skin is as smooth as a baby’s. How golden his eyes are, peering at Wei Ying as if he’s the sunrise after a long, cloudy night.

Bah. Where the hell did that come from? Maybe Wei Ying really is as self-centered as Aunt Yu claimed him to be.

“I wasn’t aware of your...baking aspirations,” Lan Zhan says, causing Wei Ying to choke out a laugh. He’d forgotten how funny Lan Zhan could be.

“Me neither,” Wei Ying admits. He sidesteps the kitchen mixer he’d spent the last year fixing up — he’d bought it in a sorry state, but Hobart engines are built to last a lifetime, and he couldn’t pass up the deal he paid for — to place another filled banneton into the rack. “But I’m not too mad at where I’ve ended up. Speaking of. How did you end up here?”

Lan Zhan's shoulders hunch suspiciously, and Wei Ying's eyebrows arch into fucking parabolas. “I wanted bread,” Lan Zhan replies defensively. “So I went to a bakery.”

Wei Ying scoffs, unimpressed. “A bakery all the way in Yiling?”

Lan Zhan glances away. “I travel a lot for work.”

Fine — he’ll let it go for now. “Well, as long as you don’t tell anyone back home about this, I guess it’s fine.” Wei Ying pauses. “You’re not gonna rat me out, are you?”

The thought should scare him, but a traitorously large part of him thrills at it instead. The Jiangs' are a key food supplier for the Lans' hotel chain, so Lan Zhan has to have some form of communication with them. Does Jiejie think about him from time to time? And Jiang Cheng...well. They’re still brothers, aren't they? Surely he must, at some small capacity, miss him.

But no brotherly love, whatever left there may be, could erase this: the cold silence that hung over the Jiang family table whenever Wei Ying would show up for dinner. Aunt Yu’s constant disapproval and Jiang Cheng’s wavering willingness to put up with it. The car ride. The screech of metal. The hospital said their Range Rover flipped four times. Wei Ying must have passed out after the first. But he was lucky: only a broken arm and whiplash. He had lied about being too hurt to attend the funeral.

It had been a good decision to leave. It had to be.

The back of his neck stings; a constant reminder. He hangs his head low as he stitches the dough.

“I’m not going to...rat you out,” Lan Zhan denies. He’s closer than he’d been since the last time Wei Ying looked up, his slack-clad hip brushing against the corner of Wei Ying’s workbench. “Not if you don’t want me to.”

“I don’t. Thanks.” Another banneton in the rack. Slower output than usual. He’s going to have to speed up to reach today’s quota. He gestures to the door. “Now, if you’re not gonna help out…”

Lan Zhan doesn’t take the hint. “You left. Without saying goodbye.”

“Must’ve forgotten to leave a note,” Wei Ying says, nonplussed.

“No one knew where you had gone off to.”

“Kinda preferred it that way.”

“But I didn’t —” Lan Zhan stops. Takes a breath. This is the most emotional Wei Ying has ever seen him, if mildly discomfited could constitute as emotional.

When he meets Wei Ying’s eyes again, his face is in its usual state of aloofness. “I was worried about you,” he tells him. “I wish I had known that you were alright.”

A block of guilt presses on Wei Ying’s shoulders. “Oh,” he says. “Sorry.”

Lan Zhan shakes his head. “Don’t apologize.”

“It’s just — with all that happened with the, the accident, and the handling of the estate —”

“You don’t need to explain anything to me you’re not comfortable with.”

“And my relationship with Jiang Cheng was down the fucking gutter —”

“He misses you.”

“I just felt that it everything would’ve been better off if —”

“I understand.”

“— I just left, y’know?”

At this, Lan Zhan frowns. “I fail to see how your sudden disappearance made anything better,” he says.

“Well, you weren’t there.” Wei Ying sighs, and what little fight he had to defend himself from the past drops to the floor. “I don’t want to argue with you.”

Lan Zhan bristles. “I didn’t mean to — that’s not why I’m here.”

Then why are you here? But Wei Ying is done playing this game. “Look, it’s really nice to see you again. But I kind of have a lot on my plate right now, so if you don’t mind.” This time, his gesture to the door is clear. Leave.

Of course Lan Zhan doesn’t leave; he’s always been so damn stubborn. After a beat, he walks over to the empty sink — Wei Ying prefers to wash the dishes as he goes — and washes his hands. Dries them. Rolls up the sleeves of his button up, revealing forearms Wei Ying can’t help but swallow at. Makes his way to Wei Ying’s side, staring down at the lumps of dough like how a runner glares at the bottom of her shoe after stepping on a pile of dogshit.

“Alright,” he says, “how do I do this?”

Wei Ying blinks. “What?” he asks, like an idiot.

Lan Zhan experimentally cups the nearest dough mound with his palms. It sticks to his hands as he lifts them, streaks of the stuff already clinging to his slender fingers.

“Gross,” he says, monotone, pinching two ends to stretch it; an imitation, Wei Ying realizes, of his own technique.

Wei Ying stares. An incredulous smile spreads across his lips. “You’re —” He laughs. “You’re so weird, Lan Zhan.”

Lan Zhan squints at him, confused, hands still making a mess out of the dough. “You asked for my help.”

Perhaps all those years away from home was enough penance for, at the very least, this. “Yeah," he says, soft. "I guess I did.” Wei Ying sways closer to Lan Zhan’s side. He discreetly sniffs the air in a selfish bid to find...ah, there it is, masked between notes of wheat flour and sourdough starter: sandalwood aftershave, brushing past Wei Ying's nose when Lan Zhan turns to him with an expectant glance.

Wei Ying laughs again. “No, not like that. Like this.”

He lays a floured hand over Lan Zhan’s and, together, they get to work.

-----

also posted on ao3

promo post on twitter

fic commissions

#mdzs #wangxian #cql #the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #mdzs fic #cql fic #mo dao zu shi #myfic

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ouyangzizhensdad · 4 years

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On the importance of MianMian: musings on the differences between the novel and CQL (PART 2/2)

If you haven’t already, please read through part one first, otherwise this will probably not be very cohesive or comprehensible. There is also some bonus meta because I keep having thoughts about MianMian.

In part one, I contrasted MianMian’s first appearance in the novel and the web series in order to show how MianMian’s characterisation and position within her society were established quite differently in both works. In this post, I will explore the domino effect of those adaptation choices, as well as consider how the two subsequent appearances of MianMian in the novel got translated into a visual format in CQL. Through this exercise, my goal is not only to illuminate the depth and significance of this minor character in the novel, but also to argue that the way her scenes were adapted in CQL ultimately reduced the impact of the character and excised many of the nuances put into her portrayal despite increasing her presence in the work.

(although kudos to CQL for casting Ann Wang because I do not get tired of looking at her face: look at that smile 😳)

The Servant’s Daughter Valued Jin Cultivator Standing up to a Room of Powerful Cultivators

In the novel, we meet MianMian for a second time after the Sunshot campaign has ended. Cultivators from the main sects and allied sects (including some who used to be loyal to the Wens!) are discussing at Jinlintai Wei Wuxian’s actions after he protected the Wens and set up residence on Mass Grave Hill. By that time, it appears her position in her sect, and even her sect’s position, has grown. We can speculate as to why (my personal take is that MianMian proved herself during the war and that her sect is one of the sect who pledged loyalty to the Jin and gained influence as a result). What is important is that she goes from someone who is so inconsequential she might have not even have been a disciple yet when we met her to someone who stands next to a sect leader (who we can safely assume in this context to be her sect leader). A lot is hinted about her character and what she experienced since we last saw her through that small and innocuous detail.

Suddenly, a careful voice interjected, “It’s not killing indiscriminately, is it?”

Lan Wangji seemed to have entered a realm of zen that blocked all of his senses. Hearing this, however, he moved, looking over. The one who spoke was a young woman with a fair face, standing beside one of the sect leaders.

I will not repeat here the entirety of her speech, which highlights the hypocrisy and the bad faith of the sects, and particularly the Jin sect’s unwillingness to shoulder any blame for their deplorable treatment of the Wens. Instead, I find important to highlight how the other cultivators present react to MianMian based on her positionality.

First, MianMian’s opinions are undercut by the people present due to the fact that she is a woman. Her motivations for speaking out are reduced to the irrational ramblings of a maiden in love.

“You can stop arguing,” someone sneered suddenly. “We don’t want to hear the comments of someone who has other motives.”

The woman’s face flushed.

“Explain things,” she said, raising her voice. “What do you mean, that I have other motives?”

“There’s no need for me to say anything. You know deep down and we know too. You fell for him back in the cave of the Xuanwu just because he flirted with you? You’re still arguing for him, calling white black no matter how irrational it is. Ha, women will always be women.”

The incident of Wei Wuxian saving a damsel in distress in the cave of the Xuanwu was indeed once a topic of conversation. Thus, many people realized immediately that this young woman was ‘MianMian’.

At once, somebody murmured, “So that’s why. Explains how she’s so desperate as to speak up for Wei Wuxian…”

“Irrational?” she fumed. “Calling white black? I’m just being considerate as it stands. What does it have to do with the fact that I’m a woman? You can’t be rational with me so you’re attacking me with other things?”

Then, when members of her own sect disparage her for speaking up, they suggest that her place in the discussion, in this palace of gilded power and privilege, is ultimately illegitimate or at the very least incredibly easy to render illegitimate.

“Stop wasting your time on her. That this kind of person actually belongs to our sect, that she was even able to find her way into the Golden Pavilion; I feel ashamed standing alongside her.

Many of those who spoke against her were from the same sect.

In this situation, not even her fellow sect members are willing to come to her defense or to give her the benefit of the doubt; she is to be shamed and separated from them, lest her actions reflect badly on their own standing.

MianMian’s choice to leave her sect behind is meaningful because she is not privileged. She does not have anyone powerful in her corner to back her up. She does not have many options; people act like she should be glad to even have made it this far, and we can infer that she only achieved her current position due to her skills and hard work. It is also meaningful because she is making that choice while knowing that she’s giving up on the privileges of the social position that she has worked to achieve. The fact that she is giving up on something big is highlighted by the reactions of many cultivators after her departure, who think she will come crawling back to find once more the security and privilege of the position she left behind.

Saying nothing, MianMian turned around and left. A while later, someone laughed. “If you’re taking it off, then don’t put it on again, if you’re so capable!”

“Who does she think she is… leaving as she pleases? Who cares? What is she trying to prove?”

Soon, some began to agree, “Women will always be women. They quit just after you say a few harsh words. She’ll definitely come back on her own, a couple of days later.”

“There’s no doubt. After all, she finally managed to turn from the daughter of a servant to a disciple, haha…”

Beyond what it means for her characterisation and the themes explored in the novel, this moment is significant because there are clear parallels between how she is treated in that moment and how WWX is talked about for protecting the Wen remnants and, later, for ‘deserting’ the Jiang sect. In fact, just before MianMian speaks out, sect leaders call WWX a “servant” and the “son of a servant” when underlying the ‘nerve’ of his ‘arrogance’ toward the sects with his actions.

One of the sect leaders added, “To be honest, I’ve wanted to say this since a long time ago. Although Wei Wuxian did a few things during the Sunshot Campaign, there are many guest cultivators who did more than him. I’ve never seen anyone as full of themselves as him. Excuse my bluntness, but he’s the son of a servant. How could the son of a servant be so arrogant?”

These passages are also reminiscent of the way WWX is discussed by cultivators celebrating his death in the prologue:

“That’s right, good riddance! If the YunmengJiang sect had not adopted him, educated him—this Wei Ying would have been a mediocre scoundrel all his life, nothing but riffraff…… what else could he be! The former head of the Jiang clan treated him as his own son, but what a son! [...]”

“I can’t believe Jiang Cheng really let this arrogant manservant live for so long. If it were me, when this Wei first defected, I wouldn’t have just stabbed him; I’d have cleaned house straight away. Then he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to commit all those deranged acts later. When it comes to these sorts of people, how can you even take sentiments like ‘same clan’, ‘same sect’, or ‘childhood loyalty’ into consideration?”

Due to the circumstances of their birth, even people who manage to achieve a higher position in society hold a tenuous grasp on the power and respect they have gained: their legitimacy is fraught. And even if they play the game right, the lines of legitimate belonging are always ready to be renegotiated by those in power. Despite the “few things” he did during the Sunshot Campaign that aligned with the interest of the sects, and despite being raised among the gentry in the Jiang sect and being perceived as a gongzi, WWX remains in the imaginary of the cultivators who see themselves as the legitimate holders of power as someone who needs to “remember his place”, someone who should be grateful and loyal as he has been “allowed” to raise in influence and be treated well in society despite being the son of a servant. And so when he stands against the interests of the sects, he’s not just betraying them: he betraying the social order which gives them legitimacy. This is directly tied to MianMian’s treatment in this scene. In the novel, MianMian is not only shamed and dismissed because she speaks out against the sects: it is also, if not primarily, because she did not, in the process, “remember her place”.

The scene as it is presented in the novel thus goes out of its way to set up a clear parallel between WWX and MianMian, not only in regards to their righteousness, but also in regards to how they are perceived and treated for being the children of servants. It also takes pain to underline the unfair treatment of women in that society. Moreover, if we’re only considering MianMian’s characterisation, it says a lot to see her have reached this level of importance in her sect despite her circumstances and then for her to let it all go.

In CQL? You’ve probably guessed it; all of these nuances are evacuated from the text. On top of the fact that MianMian continues to be established as a valued member of the Jin sect, the scene is cut short and a lot of the censure sent her way is excised. There are no mentions of her ‘having made her way’ into the room of powerful people who are allowed have an opinion on the state of the world. No mentions of her low social background and no mocking that she will crawl back to her sect after realising she can’t make it into the world without their influence and support. No dismissal of her based on the fact that she is a woman, or suggestions that she is standing up for the YLLZ only because she is enamoured with him. The scene is turned into a pale shadow of its original.

Instead of these elements, we do get a gasp from JZX (which becomes a dangling plot thread because he does not stand up for her nor does he reach out for her even though she’s supposed to be his good friend, nor do we see him being conflicted about being unable to beyond his gasp) and MianMian telling JGS that she is leaving his sect, which I’ll admit is pretty baller. But it does not even come close to having the significance and thematic implications of the scene as presented in the novel. CQL!MianMian stands up against the organized smear campaign against WWX and the sects’ unwillingness to accept their faults, and is only disregarded for having spoken against them: not because of who she was while she was raising doubts about their evaluation of the right and wrong. And that is significant, because it undercuts the discussions the novel explores through so many other characters about the impacts of being considered inferior by others.

The Travelling Rogue Cultivator who Stayed Home

Finally, in the novel, we meet MianMian once more when her daughter, Xiao MianMian, stumbles upon something she should not have seen while accompanying her parents on a night-hunt. The reason their paths cross is that, just like Wangxian, MianMian feels compelled to pursue night-hunts other cultivators disregard for their lack of glory in order to help the common people. This is her life mission as a travelling rogue cultivator: differently put, she goes where the chaos is. This set-up serves to highlight that MianMian and Wangxian are like-minded and share the same definition of what it means to be ‘Righteous’.

He asked, “Did you come here to night-hunt as well?”

Luo Qingyang nodded, “Yes. I heard spirits are haunting a nameless graveyard on this mountain, disturbing the lives of the people here, so I came to see if there’s any way I could help. Have you two cleaned it up already?”

The night-hunt also serves to reintroduce the theme of deception and rumours, and the ways in which MianMian is a character who is not swayed by public opinions but knows how easily others may be.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji exchanged a glance. “This was a lie too. No lives were lost. We looked it up. Only a few villagers who robbed the graves were bedridden for a while after being scared by the ghosts, and another broke his own leg when running away. Apart from these, there were no casualties. All those lives were made up for dramatic purposes.”

“So this was what happened?” interjected Luo Qingyang’s husband. “That’s absolutely shameless!”

“Oh, these people…” sighed Luo Qingyang. She seemed as if she remembered something, shaking her head, “They’re the same everywhere.”

This is because in the novel MianMian is tied to many themes, and always in a positive manner. Like WWX, she represents the good that is stifled by an unjust social order. She also represents the people who choose to defy and deviate from this social order to pursue a righteous life rather than trying to find vindication and power within that very social order (ie JGY or XY). Like the juniors, MianMian is a character that represents hope for the cultivation world, the potential for small but significant change. Like WWX and LWJ, she represents integrity in the face of the corrupting influences of power and politics, as well as the desire to protect the common people. Like Cangse Sanren, she represents the courage to make her own path in the world, and to marry for love with no considerations for social status or conventions, and the decision to becoming a travelling rogue cultivator.

On top of all these great things this scene accomplish, it is also just incredibly cute. After their talk, their parting is described like such: “Soon, the group had gone down the mountain, and Wei Wuxian could only say goodbye to them with some regret, continuing on another path alongside Lan Wangji.” Honestly, my ‘WWX and LWJ become Xiao MianMian’s shushus’ agenda is alive and well and I will not accept anything else.

In CQL, however, the reunion happens by pure coincidence. The scene is in actuality a mash-up between the reunion we have in the novel and another scene that takes place earlier, in which fugitives WWX and LWJ enter the home of strangers as they are looking for some water (and end up frolicking in hay).

Simply by changing the circumstances and the setting of the reunion, something is lost of the thematic connection between WWX/Wangxian and MianMian, even though viewers still get told that MianMian is someone who night-hunts. Without entering into the specific debate of whether show don’t tell is the only acceptable storytelling strategy, I think it’s fair to say that it is more effective to run into MianMian as she is night hunting based on the same rumours of hauntings as Wangxian instead of seeing her get home, pull a sword willy-nilly after hearing something suspicious in her backyard and finally getting told that she was out night hunting.

Moreover, having to recreate most of the beats of MianMian’s last appearance into this new context seems to have been quite confusing to the CQL production team, and seems to have breed, as a result, a lack of internal coherence to the scene (cut between the end of ep 43 and the beginning of ep 44), regardless of any of its other pitfalls as an adaptation.

In the CQL version, when we meet the family on their way back to their home, Xiao MianMian had been running around and her father chastises her by telling her something along the lines of “Don’t run around, what if you had gotten caught by the YLLZ?”, thereby suggesting that MianMian’s husband believes what is said about WWX. To this, Xiao MianMian replies But Mom Says he’s a Good Guy Though. Obviously, the intent of the writers was to show that MianMian had never bought into the rumours about WWX. However, this exchange makes seemingly no sense if one thinks about it for longer than a second. It suggests that MianMian had never talked about this topic with her husband or that he had never heard her talk about the YLLZ with their daughter. Considering how dangerous the YLLZ is said to be, and that they were night-hunting while he was a fugitive, I don’t see how that would have not come up even if for some unlikely reason she had until then only talked about the YLLZ with her daughter. Of course, one could suggest that MianMian’s husband says this to tease their daughter, fully aware that the YLLZ’s reputation of swallowing children is a tall tale, but the tone is not quite right? And it does not jive with the fact that MianMian is not on board with defaming people: I don’t think she’d be okay with her husband knowingly using the myth of the YLLZ to scare their kid into obedience because it’s convenient to do so? A miss.

To make matters worse, when WWX later asks MianMian is she’s back from night-hunting, Xiao MianMian says that they are back from searching for the YLLZ. First, there is a clear lack of coherence with the previous exchange between Xiao MianMian and her father. And again, it’s hard to get to the meaning of that exchange: is it implying that MianMian was looking for WWX to offer him her help? She certainly doesn’t once she does meet him, so that appears unlikely or at least it’s a plothole/dangling plot thread. But why be looking for him, if she knows he’s not the monster the rumours make him out to be? Clearly, the writers wanted to tell the viewers that MianMian is a rogue cultivator, and figured that having her back from a night-hunt would be enough: but why this line by Xiao MianMian about searching for the YLLZ? Is it just the fancy of a kid, who makes up her own stories while her parents pursue other cases (especially since MianMian says she was looking for puppets)? But then Xiao MianMian does say that ‘we’ were searching for him...

I can’t figure it out. I find it even weirder that, when WWX asks Xiao MianMian whether she is scared of the scary YLLZ (although she’s literally just said moments before that she was not scared of him in her exchange with her father that WWX certainly heard), Xiao MianMian starts replying that she is not scared and MianMian cuts her, apologizing to WWX that he daughter is too young and naive. What is she apologizing for? How is her daughter naive for not being scared of the YLLZ? Or is she apologizing for her daughter suggesting they were searching for the YLLZ? If so, why cut her now and not when she suggested that they were searching for him?

What’s happening in this scene?!

Also, even an attempt to keep lines as close to what they were in the novel ends up backfiring with the new context. In the novel, out night-hunting, MianMian asks “ 什么人” when she sees WWX come out from the direction of a graveyard (she has not seen LWJ yet). Knowing that she might suspect him of being a corpse or a spirit considering that it is night and that he is leaving a graveyard said to be haunted, WWX responds “不管是什么人，总归是人，不是别的东西 “ (No matter who I am, I’m a person after all, and not something else). In CQL, when MianMian hears a sound in her backyard, she asks “ 什么人” and, after LWJ comes out and is recognized by MianMian, WWX still responds (??) with a similar yet slightly different sentence: “ 不管是谁，反正是个人，不是东西 “ (No matter who I am, anyway I am a person, not a thing). This exchange in the context of the scene in CQL baffles me because: why would there be then an expectation that they would not be a person in this situation? Why would he say that after MianMian has seen and recognized LWJ, thus knowing full well that it is a person and not a spirit or a corpse? As well, why change “ 别的东西 “ (something else/different thing) for “ 东西 “ (thing) since MianMian’s question does not imply by itself that she thinks they are not people since she asks "什么人” (literally: what person?), making WWX’s statement that he is “not a thing” completely come out of nowhere? And it’s so much more perplexing than his original statement that he is not “something else” from a human.

I’m spending time on these two lines because I find them to be a sort of microcosm of some of the questionable adaptation choices made in CQL: at times the web series chooses to keep things from the novel even after changing the context in which these elements unfold without understanding how these no longer work within their new context. Yet, at the same time, it feels comfortable making what appear on the surface to be minute changes without thinking through the implications of them, and thus changing the point of these elements through these minute modifications.

Aside from these elements which prevent this moment in CQL to give us a scene that is internally coherent, let’s further interrogate some of the adaptational changes made between the novel and the web series, and their impact on the themes and characterisation.

One change that conflicts with the characterisation and the thematic discussion regards WWX inquiring about MianMian’s husband. Unlike in the novel, where WWX engages him in a little bit of chitchat and then feels forced by conventions to ask to which sect he belongs, CQL makes it seem as if it is an information WWX wants to ask because it’s literally the first thing he says to him, not even after a salutation or a “well met” (I will be magnanimous and believe that that choice to do so was for the sake of brevity and not because the preceding dialogue had not been written in the novel and the CQL writers couldn’t be bothered to come up with something). This, however, makes it look like WWX puts a lot of importance in knowing someone’s allegiance to a sect, which is the exact opposite of how he feels about it.

She pulled the man up, “This is my husband.”

Noticing that they held no malicious intent, the man softened visibly. After some chatter, Wei Wuxian asked out of convenience, “Which sect do you belong to and which kind of cultivation do you practice?”

The man answered frankly, “None of them.”

Luo Qingyang gazed at her husband, smiling, “My husband isn’t of the cultivating world. He used to be a merchant. But, he’s willing to go night-hunting with me…”

It was both rare and admirable that an ordinary person, and a man at that, would be willing to give up his originally stable life and dare travel the world with his wife, unafraid of danger and wander. Wei Wuxian could not help feeling respect for him.

Of course, without WWX’s thought process provided to us in the narration, the implications of MianMian’s husband being originally a merchant are a little bit lost in CQL, even if CQL!MianMian provides that piece of information. Of course, CQL could have chosen to include WWX’s musings, since it does include in this very scene some voice-over thoughts earlier. It is a shame though, that it does not, since MianMian and her husband are clear parallels for WWX’s parents in that regard: his father also left a stable life to travel the world with his wife.

Although, to be fair, CQL!MianMian is no longer a rogue cultivator who travels the world, so it is not like her husband made the decision to travel the world with her. Indeed, by frankensteining the two scenes from the novel, MianMian is by default no longer a rogue cultivator who travels the world: she is a rogue cultivator, sure, in that she does not belong to a sect, but she is a rogue cultivator with a home she clearly needs to inhabit during the day, what with the fact that they raise animals (we see little chicks in the background and there are piles of hay), and who night-hunts close enough to her home to be able to come back home in the morning. Moreover, without the context of meeting MianMian at the same glory-less night-hunt as Wangxian, it is harder to express the idea that MianMian is someone who chooses, like them, to do so for the common good and not for any prestige or rewards. MianMian is no longer another cultivator who goes ‘where the chaos is’ and, in terms of positive female representation, it is truly a shame. After all, the novel frames this as a positive and admirable trait which we see in our two main (male) protagonists: to have a woman follow, independently, the same path as them is meaningful.

Finally, instead of the scene closing with a regretful parting that hints at the sense of kinship between MianMian’s family and Wangxian, we get a truly (imo) patronizing ending. In CQL, their conversation is disrupted by threatening sounds. LWJ then instructs MianMian to stay in her home and protect Xiao MianMian while LWJ and WWX take care of things. So feminism..... such empowerment... To be honest, if CQL meant to change things and put MianMian in scenes where she wasn’t originally, why not have her go with Wangxian? Why not have her be there for the Mass Grave Hill Siege? Why not have her leave her daughter with her husband and let her be a badass? Instead, they conveniently check her out of the action after putting her directly in the middle of it. Instead of having MianMian be away from the sects and doing her own rogue cultivator thing as the events of the novels unfolded in WWX’s second life, explaining her absence, CQL reintroduces her just before an important moment but chooses to send her away once more, to stay home and protect her daughter, probably because they did not want to take the time and energy to figure out how and where she would fit into these scenes in which she had not be written in the novel. This is the kind of adaptational choice that makes me question why people consider CQL a more progressive work of fiction with regards to its treatment of female characters.

Final Musings: sometimes, less is more

Does an increase to the number of appearances of a character shape their impact on the audience? Or, conversely, does it dilute their meaning within and their impact on the text? There is not a simple answer to that question. Certainly, repetition is in itself a literary device, and many readers need salient and blunt reminders to get a message across, the likes of: the important characters are the ones you see the most often. Likewise, having a character feature more often in a work can provide the necessary breathing space to explore more and in more depth their psychology, motivations, past, actions, etc. However, the simple act of increasing the presence of a character does not inherently increase their impact on a work of fiction nor does it increase the nuances and depths of that character.

It is possible to adhere to a cynical or optimistic perspective regarding CQL’s decision to feature MDZS’ female characters more prominently. It is not hard to divine why the decision could have been made solely for the financial incentive of “pandering” to a female audience who dares to want to see themselves on screen. Conversely, one can imagine a production team animated by good intentions, who simply want to give more limelight to these female characters. Whether purely motivated by a profit-based logic or solely well-intentioned, or at a vector of both motives, it is clear that the CQL production did not increase the screen presence of MDZS’s female characters out of a desire to tell a stronger, more effective version of the original story they were working with. And that is why the urge to quantify good representation will always end up failing us in my opinion.

While it can be productive to consider trends, it does not give us a better media landscape or better individual works of fiction; it does not necessarily give us more impactful or better written female characters. This type of analysis urges us to see female characters as female first, without truly attempting to understand their purpose and treatment within the story. While MDZS has fewer female characters, these characters showcase different personalities and occupy different positions within the social world of the novel; they have arcs and thematic resonance and they cannot be simply replaced by a “sexy lamp” without disrupting the plot completely. They are also often given a surprising amount of depth, if readers are willing to pay attention to all that is found in the text and in the subtext.

For such a long novel, MDZS is able to remonstrate a certain amount of restraint wrt its storytelling. The timespan it wants to cover is expansive, its cast of characters not insignificant, and the story it aims to tell is ambitious. It is easy to imagine a meandering version of MDZS where many more characters are present, including many more female characters, or where the existing female characters get an extended presence within the narrative. But would those female characters have been more impactful? Would the story told have been a better one? The way the CQL production team chose to adapt MianMian hints that this is not a done conclusion.

(+ bonus MianMian meta)

#mdzs meta #mdzs #mianmian #luo qingyang #cql vs mdzs #mo dao zu shi #modaozushi #IT'S FINALLY DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!#this is my manifesto

259 notes · View notes

kurowrites · 4 years

Note

I’m sure someone sent this to you already but ‘“You’re the one in class who has tattoos all over their arms and piercings and everybody’s scared of you and one day I catch you watching cat videos and doodling in the middle of a lecture and wow you’re a dork” AU.’ screams WangXian and I’d love to read your take on this! Thanks for all the amazing fics!

You were in fact the first to send this suggestion! And I agree, this is a very Wangxian thing. :3c

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When Wei Ying joined Lan Zhan’s class for the first time, his appearance was followed by heated gossip and a badly suppressed uproar. Everything about Wei Ying’s appearance was eye-catching, from the long hair tied into a ponytail to the heavy black boots he was wearing. And while his mostly black clothes and the rows of piercings in his ears alone might have been enough to make him stick out like a sore thumb in the environment of an university classroom where most people wore button-down shirts and blouses rather than t-shirts, there were two things in particular that marked Wei Ying as an immediate outsider. The first was the piercing on his left lower lip that was connected to his left ear with a small metal chain. The second were the colourful tattoos sprawling down his slender arms poking out of an oversized t-shirt.

Lan Zhan himself couldn’t help but stare for a moment, his eyes wandering over the motives engraved on Wei Ying’s arms as he catalogued them. Halfway poking out of his shirt sleeve was what must be Guanyin holding a lotus flower. Delicate orchids were trailing along his elbow. Below that, a crane among pines. A dragon among drifting clouds was on his other arm. There were more, but before Lan Zhan could see them properly, Wei Ying moved, turned towards him with a crooked smile and a casual introduction.

The tattoos on his arms turned into a colourful blur as he moved, and Lan Zhan… was struck.

It didn’t take long for people to start spinning tales. The most popular was that Wei Ying got involved with crime at a young age and had been a member of a criminal organisation for the longest time. The stories differed, some saying that his father had been a triad boss, others saying that he got picked up off the streets by ruffians when he became orphaned. Whichever it might be, however, everyone was in agreement that Wei Ying was a dangerous person, and that it was better to stay away from him as far as possible. Many were offended that he was allowed to enrol in the university at all.

A person like that, at their prestigious university? Inconceivable.

But Lan Zhan knew that Wei Ying wasn’t here without reason. He might not be the image of a model student, but he had the academic qualifications to justify his enrolment. Even if it sometimes pained Lan Zhan himself to admit that.

Most students preferred to keep their distance from Wei Ying and only talk about him behind his back, which made Lan Zhan and Wei Ying more similar than he really liked. After all, most students kept their distance from Lan Zhan, too. If for entirely different reasons.

But their mutual unpopularity (if it could be called that) often led to them sitting close to each other during class. No one would sit next to Wei Ying on their own accord. Wei Ying, on the other hand, had no qualms seating himself in the eternally vacant seat next to Lan Zhan.

It was strange, the first time it happened. It wasn’t just the fact that no one ever sat this close to Lan Zhan that wasn’t family. It was also that the presence of Wei Ying next to him was completely different from anyone else. Lan Zhan had been taught how to sit properly from earliest childhood. Sit upright. Sit still. Be attentive. Don’t fidget.

Wei Ying was the complete opposite. It didn’t take five minutes for him to start moving around, slumping in his seat, trying to find a comfortable position for his limbs. Sometimes he went as far as slipping out of his boots, sitting cross-legged on the chair or tucking one foot under his leg. It drove Lan Zhan absolutely insane. How difficult could it be to sit still for one class? And how difficult could it be to not involve Lan Zhan in his disruptive activities?

It was hard to concentrate when someone next to you was constantly moving around. And whenever Lan Zhan dared to look over, he caught Wei Ying in some kind of activity that certainly didn’t have anything to do with the lesson at hand: sneakily eating snacks, watching cat videos or, perhaps the rudest of it all, just plain dozing. How he managed to follow the lesson, Lan Zhan didn’t know. But it was clear that he followed it, because the teacher had yet to catch Wei Ying off guard.

And then, when he was particularly bored, he would lob little pieces of paper at Lan Zhan. At first, Lan Zhan thought they were simple harassment for the sake of harassment, but after a sustained assault, he became aware that each of the papers contained a message.

The whole incident was caused by Lan Zhan making the unfortunate decision of looking over to Wei Ying’s side during the lesson, and catching Wei Ying watching cat videos on his smartphone. Lan Zhan sent him one of his particularly vicious glares, and turned back to the front to listen to the teacher. He only just caught Wei Ying’s shameless grin in the corner of his eye, an obvious sign that he wasn’t feeling sorry at all before he turned back to the video.

Lan Zhan was incensed. How could such a bad student manage to keep on top of this class? It was frustrating. It was… had no one ever put this young man in his place?

A few minutes into his quietly stewing anger, a paper landed on Lan Zhan’s desk. When Lan Zhan looked over, Wei Ying exaggeratedly mimed unfolding the paper.

Lan Zhan should really know better. And yet, he unfolded the paper.

Lan Zhan, are you more of a cat person or a dog person?

He crumpled the message with prejudice and glared at Wei Ying without bothering with a reply.

A moment later, another piece of paper landed on his desk.

Cat person, then. ;D

Wei Ying grinned shamelessly when Lan Zhan sent him another chastising look.

It didn’t take long, and yet another paper landed on Lan Zhan’s desk. This time, it was a terrible drawing of a cat.

Not good?

And then, seeing that it incensed Lan Zhan, Wei Ying started sending him different drawings of animals in quick succession, trying to guess his favourite. Of course, none of them were even remotely accurate, and all were terrible.

Snake?

Spider???

The spider was more than Lan Zhan could bear. He turned the paper around and finally wrote his first reply, scratching each word into the paper with force, as if he could force common sense into Wei Ying’s head that way.

Spiders have eight legs and four pairs of eyes.

Wei Ying only chuckled and quickly sent another reply.

Ah, so you do like them. :3

No.

Come on, tell me what you like!

Lan Zhan stowed the paper away to throw it out later on. He would never, ever give that kind of ammunition to Wei Ying.

It was not enough to discourage Wei Ying just yet, however.

Oh, I know. :3

A few moments later, a new drawing landed on Lan Zhan’s desk.

Lan Zhan stared blankly at the cute and surprisingly detailed drawing of a rabbit, evidently a very different quality from the earlier sloppy doodles.

Good, no? This is what Lan Zhan looks like, to me.

Lan Zhan couldn’t figure out if it was supposed to be an insult or a compliment. Before he could settle on one or the other, however, another message landed on his desk.

My tattoos were all designed by myself.

That gave Lan Zhan pause. Wei Ying’s tattoos? He had designed all of them himself? Of course Lan Zhan had noticed before that despite the fact that Wei Ying had many different motives on his arms, they seemed to fit together very well, building a cohesive, well-designed unit. But he had been so caught up in the unsuitability of having tattoos at all that he had never thought about whether the tattoos itself held any meaning or not. But if Wei Ying designed them–

His thoughts were interrupted by another folded paper.

I’ve noticed your looks.

Lan Zhan felt his ears burn.

He had always assumed that Wei Ying was either ignorant or completely uncaring of all the strange looks he was getting. But that couldn’t be true, now that he thought about it. It wasn’t like Lan Zhan was unaware of the looks he was getting, no matter how much he liked to pretend that he was above such things.

Before he could react to Wei Ying’s last message, however, the bell rung and announced the end of the class.

And Wei Ying, quick as a rabbit, was out the door before the teacher could even dismiss them.

---

From that moment onwards, something had changed.

Perhaps it was that Lan Zhan didn’t have the luxury of pretending that he didn’t care anymore. Perhaps it was that someone finally had him made take a long, hard look into the mirror. And he didn’t quite like what he saw.

He felt frustratingly out of control, the next time he deliberately sat down on the seat right next to Wei Ying, and the way Wei Ying smiled in return only served to drive it home that Lan Zhan had just made an irrevocable decision.

The course of his destiny, he had no doubt, had been altered.

Wei Ying had forced him to make a decision.

And Wei Ying, judging by the look he sent him, understood what Lan Zhan’s choice had been.

This time, once class was over, Wei Ying didn’t take off with the ring of the bell. Instead, he patiently waited until Lan Zhan had packed his things and was ready to leave (as patiently as Wei Ying ever did anything, that was).

When they left the classroom, together, Wei Ying softly bumped into Lan Zhan’s side and smiled up at him. Lan Zhan couldn’t fully read the expression on Wei Ying’s face, but he thought that Wei Ying looked happy, somehow.

“Do you like them?” Wei Ying asked.

He didn’t need to explain what it was that he meant. Lan Zhan understood.

“Hn,” he replied.

It was all he could say. He felt that both ‘You are very good at drawing’ and ‘I want to know where else you have tattoos’ were somehow inadequate and also inappropriate, so he remained quiet.

It didn’t help that the third thought that crossed his mind was ‘How would it feel if I kissed that piercing on your lip right now?’

Wei Ying, thankfully, took pity on him. He tapped at the delicate orchids at his elbow and said, “This is my latest one. I got it after the birth of my nephew.”

He smiled, clearly lost in a happy memory for one moment. Then, he looked up at Lan Zhan again, and his smile turned impish instead.

“I have a feeling I might be getting another one soon,” he added with a laugh in his voice. “And I think… it’s going to be a rabbit.”

The gods have mercy on me, Lan Zhan thought to himself. Where is he planning to put that?

He wondered if Wei Ying would allow him to know.

#kuro writes #the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #mdzs #anonymous

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persefone88 · 3 years

Text

10 + 1 Wangxian Recs - Theme Sex Work

I am currently mostly in MDZS (Mo Dao Zu Shi/Grandmaster od Demonic Cultivation) fandom. And fully and wholeheartily shipping Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian. And since I have collected 2000+ Wangxian bookmarks on AO3 I thought it was high time to pick out some of my favourite fics to Recommend. But since it is hard to pic just a few I decided to separate them into themes.

This theme is fics where sex work such as prostitution, camming, porn or sugar daddies is central to the plot.

But rest assured these are fics with little to non actual WWX/Others or LWJ/Others

Impulse Spending by mondengel

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31971652

Summary:Lan Wangji needs some money. Lan Xichen is happy to provide.

All Old Things are New Again by The Feels Whale (miscellea)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/32645620

Summary:Full-time necromancer and part-time cam boy, Wei Wuxian, finds himself unexpectedly homeless. An enthusiastic patron comes to his rescue.Conversely:Immortal Cultivator Lan Wangji has been waiting a long time for his deceased husband to be reincarnated again. In retrospect, he should have anticipated that this is how it would go.

For a Good Time, Call by ScarlettStorm

https://archiveofourown.org/works/26241559

Summary:The picture is of Wei Ying, that much is clear. It’s of a lot more of Wei Ying than Lan Zhan is used to seeing. He supposes that, technically, Wei Ying is dressed. It’s a bare technicality, since one of Wei Ying’s hands has rucked up his black tank top practically to his collarbone, showing a long expanse of abdomen and one nipple. Sweat beads on his sternum, catching the light like jewels. His other hand is--Lan Zhan feels his eyes widen, as though unable to look away from a train wreck--on his hip, one thumb tugging down the waistband of a pair of red briefs. Wei Ying is biting his lower lip and looking directly into the camera, sultry, his eyes dark and inviting. His erection is obvious, outlined against the red of the briefs and framed carefully with the hand on his hip. Lan Zhan’s brain goes wildly, screamingly blank.Or: Lan Zhan accidentally finds his best friend's OnlyFans account and has an ongoing emotional crisis.

just go with the flow (last thing we should do is go slow) by cakeswrites

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28474443

Summary:Wei WuXian, on the downside of luck and flat fucking broke, takes a stab in the dark by creating a profile on a website looking for a sugar daddy (at the suggestion of Nie Huaisang, because of fucking course this is his idea of helping). He doesn’t expect much beyond the typical grab-assing of gross old men like he’s read about on the net so many times, so it’s the shock of a lifetime when his profile garners the attention of none other than esteemed philanthropist, Lan WangJi. Wei WuXian is skeptical and hesitant - after all what the actual fuck could he have in common with such a fuddy duddy? - but soon finds himself ensconced in a tryst that will knock the wind out of his lungs as he unveils the dark interests lurking just beneath Lan WangJi’s calm surface. Throw in the high society scandal of being the disowned child of the prestigious Jiang clan publicly on the arm of the second master of Lan, and things are getting quickly out of hand.

Temptation's Mask by threerings

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23490808

Summary:Lan Wangji stumbles upon a gorgeous, enchanting, submissive camboy that quickly becomes something of an obsession. But when they run into one another in public, revealing both their identities, will it lead to more?

there's a song that i still hear faintly by TheGirlWithTheKite

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28386201

Summary:Lan Wangji slid open the door, and the usual scent of sandalwood did not greet him. Instead, floral notes came. As he stepped further into his home, he turned towards the incense pit and his breath caught as he saw the person tending to the tea kettle. His hair was pulled back and up onto his head. A large Lan flower headpiece in the center, with pearl tipped pins adorning the sides of the arrangement. His face was mostly kept clear of paints. Pearls hung from his ears, around his neck, and off his wrists. His robes were in a soft Omegan blue with red accents that looked beautiful against his tan skin. But the most beautiful thing was the smile breaking out across his face. “Lan-gege! I did not think you would arrive so soon, or I would have been ready!” Despite the radiant beauty of his face, to where he could have been mistaken for a female Omega, his voice was deep. That of a man. “Lan-er-gege,” Lan Wangji said before he could stop the words from tumbling out his traitorous mouth. “I am the second son.” The Omega blinked and then smiled wildly again. “Alright, Lan-er-gege. You may call this one A-Ying.”

Shared Space by hoarder_of_stories

https://archiveofourown.org/works/31940470

Summary:Lan Wangji hears that Wei Wuxian is going to be evicted from his apartment, and offers him a place to stay. Wei Wuxian has recently started doing online sex work, and worries that this will make things awkward. (He’s right! It does! They’ll figure it out, though.)———“It’s only until I can save up enough and find another apartment,” Wei Ying says apologetically, staring at the pile of boxes in the corner of the cleared-out second bedroom.Lan Wangji grips the reinforced case of his phone hard enough to hurt. He wishes Wei Ying were moving in to stay. He likes the way the messily-packed boxes look in his austere apartment. “Mn,” he says. Don’t worry about it.

Tonal Vibration by Opalsong, Vorvayne_reads (Vorvayne)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25492462

Summary:Long-Haired Twink In Lingerie Does Intense Edging to Bichen’s Latest Dirty Talk Video #ReactionVid #Edging #Selfbondage #Bichen To follow this video you will need: your favourite remote controlled vibrating dildo and a strong ribbon or length of soft rope. OR One too many comments of “tag ur porn” on Lan Wangji’s extremely popular Youtube ASMR channel gets him thinking. Wei Wuxian, a middlingly popular camboy, and long-time fan of Hanguang-jun’s ASMR finds the new smutty dirty talk channel and films his reactions to it.

intrinsic and elemental truths by brawlite

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27311434

Summary:All Wei Ying knows is this: Lan Zhan does cam work. Lan Zhan doesn’t tell him anything else.

Superfan by 74243

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30839138

Summary:“I’m not going to apologize for my job,” Wei Ying said, “so if you want to give me some kind of lecture--”“No,” Lan Zhan said. “You misunderstood. I am...” she paused, as if considering the best way to put it. “I’m a fan.”

how to be a heartbreaker by sweetlolixo

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24401746

Summary:“Lan er gege,” Wei Ying sings out an old nickname, his lips curving up into a well-rehearsed smile. It’s adorable, and it’s pretty, and he knows it mesmerises anyone who lays their eyes on him. He has done it a million times—bewitching and convincing men who need to be convinced.He just doesn’t expect to hear the hitch in Lan Zhan’s breath, too, and feel the taller man’s grasp around his wrist tightening.He fell for it.A sickening thought suddenly enters his brain, and Wei Ying wonders if he should be so cruel.“Do you want to find a private space for us, Lan Zhan?”

#mdzs #mdzs fanfiction #fanfiction recommendations #wangxian #fictional sex work

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aurora077 · 3 years

Text

Intervention

Summary: Lan Xichen’s seclusion had gone on long enough, in Jiang Cheng’s opinion. It was time for an intervention. Fem!JC

Author's Note: This work is set in jiucengta ‘s haunting legacies au (https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716682)which I suggest you check out. Jiang Cheng is female and was married to Wei Wuxian before shit hit the fan. The relationships are not explicitly stated here, it's very background. I just had this idea and wanted to get it out there. I may or may not do another fic very similar to this one but not set in an AU, just post-canon instead.

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

Two years had gone by since the fateful Guanyin Temple incident that rocked the cultivation world. Two years (a little more really) since Jiang Cheng’s erstwhile husband had returned from the dead. Two years (a little less actually but who’s counting) since she lost her widowed status and gained an extra love to boot somewhere in the middle. And two years since Sect Leader Lan had gone into seclusion, punishing himself for his blindness and mourning the loss of both his sworn brothers.

Normally Jiang Cheng would not stick her nose in other sects’ business. But Gusu Lan had become more than just another sect to her; it was important to those she loved and so, it was also important to her. And even if things hadn’t turned out the way they did in her personal life, Lan Xichen is someone she would have wanted to help anyway. During the thirteen years her husband had been dead he had been one of the few to show any open support for her.

She would never forget that fateful discussion conference-- the one where she’d been dubbed Wife of the Yiling Demon after she rebuffed Jin Guangshan’s attempt to pressure her into marriage (brokered by him no less-- undoubtedly trying to get her to wed one of his own relatives...control over the Jiang could only work in his favour). Loudmouthed Sect Leader Yao would have turned things even uglier for her had it not been for Lan Xichen’s timely intervention on her behalf. His steady support had helped her in more ways than one over the years despite the fact that they were not ever particularly close. With Gusu Lan seemingly in her corner, the voices that would (and initially, did) loudly decry a young female Sect Leader were forced to whisper instead.

That was why she found herself sitting opposite the man, sipping on a cup of tea as he gazed inquisitively at her.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” he greeted, sounding weary, voice containing only a trace of his former warmth, “What brings you here? As you know I am still in seclusion, technically, I should not be having visitors. Is there something urgent that you need my help with?”

“Yes,” she said, and continued bluntly as was her way, “I’m here to convince you to leave it.”

His eyes widened slightly. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

It spoke to the measure of self control the Lan’s had that he didn’t simply kick her out of the hanshi.

“I beg your pardon but I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

She cleared her throat and tried to measure her words more carefully; she didn’t want to be asked to leave before she had made her arguments and she tried to remember that this Lan Xichen had been hurt too deeply to retain his former magnanimity.

“You may not know it Lan Xichen, but outside these walls you are sorely missed.”

His lips twitched, as if he wanted to smile but couldn’t quite make it.

“I’m aware my family may miss me, Sect Leader Jiang, but I had no idea that you harbored such strong feelings towards me that you now miss my presence.”

She sputtered slightly, not expecting him to joke about it when he looked like he could keel over if she spoke too loudly. “I…” her face turned red, “That wasn’t what…”

Taking pity on her he waved her protests away, voice becoming more solemn, “Why don’t you tell me why you think I should leave my seclusion. You of all people should understand why I need to do this. It was your family hurt the most by my ignorance.”

She drew in a breath to steady herself, “Did you hold me responsible when Wei Wuxian did all the crap that he did?”

“That’s different, he was manipulated,” he frowned.

“Nobody knew that until recently Zewu-Jun. And manipulation or not he still made choices that led to a lot of harm. So I ask you again, was I to blame? Should I not have been able to stop my husband? Is it not, therefore also my fault? Maybe I should join you in seclusion since his demonic cultivation was partly because he gave me his core and had no options left.”

He looked pained, “I have never blamed you for his choices. You couldn’t help what you didn’t know. None of us knew he didn’t have a core.”

“And none of us knew Jin Guangyao was a megalomaniac either. So how can you be blamed for his choices? If you are to shoulder the blame then so should all the rest of us.”

“The rest of you weren’t his sworn brothers!” he almost shouted.

“Mingjue knew. He warned me not to trust him so many times. I dismissed him. I thought he was paranoid and misjudging A-Yao like so many others. If he could see it, why didn’t I? I wronged Da-ge in the worst way because I thought I knew better than him,” His breathing was coming out ragged, “I thought A-Yao was the one who knew me best. Who I knew best.”

It spoke to his state of mind that he even let all of that out in front of her.

“Sect Leader Jiang, the man I considered my closest companion is the man most hated by the cultivation world and reviled as a monster. How do you think I must look in comparison? I am sure there are those out there wondering if I had known and if I even helped him with all of his plans. There are people who will speculate as to the bounds of our relationship. If I did not go into seclusion they would say I had no shame, look what his sworn brother did and he’s out and about like normal. Then there are those who look at my decision to seclude myself as an indicator of guilt and may accuse me of complicity. Or they will look at my mourning and see someone who mourns a monster and who does that? Why mourn a monster? Sect Leader Yao even openly criticised your young nephew for crying at the coffin of his uncle who also helped raise him. A parentless child who saw one of his only remaining close family members die brutally after being exposed as a serious criminal, who even threatened him with bodily harm, could not grieve him without censure. What of a grown man, and a Sect Leader at that!”

“With all due respect, so what?”

“E..excuse me?” Lan Xichen was torn between being confused and insulted.

“You heard me. So. What?” she started, “So what if they think these things? Does that make it true? If Sect Leader Yao thinks that you’re an incestuous troll would that make it true? If Sect Leader Ouyang says ‘hey did you know that Sect Leader Lan likes to visit brothels in secret’ would that make it true? Just because people think something does not make it a reality. Your sect certainly does not believe you are responsible for the actions of Jin Guangyao and would stand by you if anyone insinuates otherwise. You have your brother and your uncle who love you and are worried about you. Your sect has thrived under your leadership and undoubtedly they all miss you too.”

That Lan Jingyi kid couldn’t shut up about how much he missed Zewu-Jun. And she knew Lan Zhan missed his brother and lamented that he could not do more for him. He and Lan Qiren were working themselves ragged trying to pick up the pieces. He’d hardly had time to come back to Lotus Pier and she and Wei Ying missed him dearly. They’d had to make up so many ‘official’ reasons to find themselves in the Cloud Recesses so that they could spend some time together. So yes on the one hand it would be good for them if Zewu-Jun were to leave seclusion but she wasn’t simply doing it for that reason. It was because if anyone could understand what Zewu-Jun was going through, it would be her. And she didn’t think that seclusion was going to help anything. All it would do is make him ruminate on his mistakes over and over again until he likely went mad himself.

“You said that the man you considered your closest companion turned out to be a monster. Gee, I wonder what that feels like? You said that people will wonder if you helped him with his plans, oh gee, I wonder what that feels like?” Zewu-Jun had the grace to look abashed at that.

She continued, softer, “You said people will talk about what kind of person mourns a monster. But you’re not mourning a monster, are you? When A-Ling cried over his coffin, did you blame him for it? Did you think ‘why is this child mourning when he should celebrate the end of the one who fractured his family?’ like Sect Leader Yao did?” Zewu-Jun shook his head but didn’t say anything, letting her continue.

“A-Ling was mourning the loss of the uncle he knew. And you are mourning the loss of the companion he had been to you. The world will only ever view him as a monster because the world never knew him. But you did. Maybe you didn’t know everything about him, but not everything about him was fake. I hate Jin Guangyao, I will not pretend otherwise. But I was there, Zewu-Jun. I was there, and I could see that he truly did care for you and value you. Not everything he showed you would have been fake. You of all people probably got more sincerity out of him than anyone else. And so you, of all people, have a right to mourn the man he was, the same way A-Ling still mourns the loss of the man who gifted a lonely child a dog. Not everything had an ulterior motive. Even monsters can love can’t they? Even monsters had people who loved them. I would know. So if you need to mourn him… then just mourn him.

Who gives a damn what people will say about it? People will always talk, Zewu-Jun. It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t do, people will believe what they want to believe. So why let their opinions force you into repenting for something you didn’t even do? Let them think what they want to think. It is not a crime to be deceived. We all were. Why take the world on your shoulders when you don’t actually have to? And again, with all due respect Sect Leader Lan, if I, a family-less, alliance-less woman whose husband was the most reviled personage in the jianghu, who suffered the scorn of the cultivation world for over a decade, could raise my nephew on my own and build my sect back from literal ashes into one of the strongest and most respected once again, then you, who have a strong sect and people who love you, who believe in you and will support you no matter what… you can manage to live too.”

“Sect Leader Jiang…” Zewu-Jun was at a loss for words. What could he say? It only sounded selfish and petty to claim that he suffered more than she did, because he truly didn’t. She was right after all. Sect Leader Jiang was a remarkable woman. Life had not been kind to her. And...her words struck something within him. He felt ashamed. He hadn’t even thought about what it was like for her before this. He’d never offered her any support, but here she was trying to get him to live his life again without guilt. She, whose family most assuredly suffered because of his inaction, was here telling him to let it go, to not take responsibility. But how could he do that so easily?

“How did you do it? Sect Leader Jiang...” his voice cracked, “Can you ever forgive me, for the harm that my inaction caused you and your family?” Maybe if he heard it from her, maybe he could begin to forgive himself.

She sighed. “On my part, there is nothing to forgive Zewu-Jun. And so I can’t grant you forgiveness because you haven’t done me any wrong. But there are a few people who do deserve an apology from you. And your seclusion is a self-imposed punishment that you feel you deserve but at the end of the day, it does not actually do anything tangible when it comes to making amends to those who have been hurt.”

He was silent for a moment, stunned by her words. He hadn’t considered that his seclusion might have been causing others even more harm than he’d already done to them. Sect Leader Jiang was wise (she would disagree...she’d just learned from bitter experience in her opinion). He felt like he’d done her a great disservice all of these years, by not making an effort to reach out to her.

“Please, tell me. I.. I confess I no longer trust my judgement. I thought I knew A-Yao. I thought I was a good judge of character. I no longer know how to tell what is up from down. All I know is that I was so, so wrong about A-Yao. If you say that I have not harmed you then I am glad. I would hate to be the cause of more pain. You said that I am not responsible for A-Yao’s actions, and though it isn’t easy to believe that just yet, if there are those who I have truly wronged then please...please tell me. I still don’t know if I am ready to leave seclusion, if I even know how to, but I need to atone for my actions.”

Jiang Cheng nodded, “That’s the right attitude at least. So to start with I’d say you need to have a chat with Huaisang.”

His eyes widened, “I… I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, Sect Leader Jiang.” His face darkened slightly. He wasn’t pleased with Huaisang at the moment. It felt like he never even knew him.

“And why not? Out of everyone, it’s Huaisang that you unintentionally hurt. And I don’t mean because of not listening to Nie Mingjue. His death was not your fault.” He was about to protest but she cut him off. “It wasn’t. I told you, stop taking responsibility for what isn’t your fault and own up to what is.”

He sighed heavily, “If it’s not about Da-ge then how did I wrong Huaisang?”

“Well for one, you’re still his Er-ge. Yet you seem to have forgotten that in lieu of what happened in the temple. Huaisang… has lost everyone. He may have been acting like a shady shit for the past however many years but… do you know what it’s like to be the last one of your family, Zewu-Jun? To have nobody beside you except subordinates?” He inhaled sharply. “I.. I hadn’t thought of that,” he said mournfully. How much did he just not consider? What kind of a person was he that he resented Huaisang for his deceit but yet did not consider for one moment that Huaisang may have done those things because he thought he was all alone and could not come to him for help? What kind of brother was he that his little brother could not confide in him? He should have been there for Huaisang, instead he had thought so highly of Jin Guangyao, even dismissing da-ge’s claims, that Huaisang had not dared to approach him with his suspicions.

Sect Leader Jiang was being very understanding however, “Zewu-Jun, I know you’re not pleased with Huaisang. I know there are many things that he’s done that are not right. I know there’s a possibility that he lied and forced your hand at the end. Believe me, I know the feeling...more than anyone, I know what it feels like to be deceived by someone you love...to kill someone you love. I know what it feels like when everyone praises you for it. Like you did such a great thing and you should be happy and celebrating with everyone else, except you can’t because your heart has shattered…has been ripped to shreds.

As someone who once loved a so-called monster...as someone who as good as killed that person with their own hands, I understand better than anyone what you’re going through. What Huaisang did was cruel, even though I’m glad Jin Guangyao is dead. It was cruel to have you be the one to end him. Huaisang likely knew that Jin Guangyao valued you. He knew it would be the worst end for him to be killed by your hand. I can’t speak for Huaisang, but I don’t believe he did it to hurt you, even though that’s inevitably what happened anyway. He did it to hurt Jin Guangyao. But even though it was not kind of him to have you be the arbiter of justice, he still deserves to have his Er-ge in his life.

She paused remembering the pain of losing her husband and sister all in one night.

She didn't have to imagine how Huaisang would have felt at losing the last member of his family at the hands of someone he cared about.“You and I aren’t the only ones who were deceived by someone we loved. Huaisang loved Jin Guangyao too, didn’t he? He loved and trusted him. When Nie Mingjue was getting worse, didn’t Huaisang trust and rely on both you and Jin Guangyao? It wasn’t a front. You were both dear to him. He loved him. He loved him and was betrayed by him in the worst way. And then yes, he orchestrated a whole convoluted plan to have him exposed and killed.

But you and I can both attest that justice, and even revenge, doesn’t stop the pain does it? Huaisang avenged his brother, but he lost another in the process, the same way you did. Don’t let him lose you too. You said you wronged Nie Mingjue by not listening to him. I think you’d wrong him even more if you left his little brother alone, without anyone to call family. You don’t have to forgive Huaisang right away, or at all if you don’t want to, but eventually you should at least try and reconcile with him. You’re his big brother... the only one left. And you know, Huaisang would have had the realisation that he was fooled by Jin Guangyao all on his own. But you don’t have to be alone.

Huaisang and you share the experience of being blinded by him. It would be much easier to talk to someone who has gone through the same things, no? Huaisang is there. And I am here. You don’t have to endure this on your own. We may not be very close Zewu-Jun, but we can understand each other, not so? So I’m here if you need someone to confide in. And Huaisang...Huaisang must be waiting too. For his Er-ge. You both owe each other apologies.”

By the time she was done speaking there were tears rolling down his face. She didn’t think it was quite appropriate given their positions, (though she was sort of his secret sister-in-law so really, he counted as family) but she moved over to his side and embraced him. If he was surprised he didn’t show it, only moving to cling to her more tightly and sob with a ferocity that had her a bit surprised. She wondered if this was the first time since the temple that he’d allowed himself to fully grieve what he had lost, without the guilt of letting his sworn brother die, killing the other one, and feeling bad for mourning for someone who he should hate.

Everyone praised him for killing Jin Guangyao however, it was something he didn’t want to be praised for. But what could he say? That he hated the fact that he killed him? He was right about one thing, if he ever said something like that people would most assuredly say he was complicit and probably want to implicate him. Jiang Cheng of all people knew how hard it was to listen to people praising you for a deed you were not proud of. And so she was the only person who would understand. The only person who would, who could, acknowledge the hurt it would have caused him to do what he did, especially if he was tricked into it.

His feelings about Huaisang would be complicated, but it wasn’t too late to reconcile as long as they were both alive.

She rubbed his back consolingly and just let him cry. It must have been no more than 15 minutes, but it felt much longer, before his tears slowed. When his sobs petered out he tried to compose himself. She let go of him and he embarrassedly turned away, sipping his tea. He cleared his throat, “I’m sorry Sect Leader Jiang, that was unbecoming of me.”

“Don’t mention it,” she waved off. She was there to help after all.

“I will give your words due consideration. It was remiss of me to forget that I was not the only one affected by A-Yao’s schemes. I truly regret not thinking of how Huaisang would have felt when he first found out. You are right. I have done my little brother a disservice,” he said, voice croaky from his bout of sobbing.

“You said that there were people I needed to apologise to. Who else have I wronged?” he continued. His respect and admiration for Sect Leader Jiang had grown exponentially since the start of this visit. He would take her words under advisement if he could.

“Oh Zewu-Jun,” she sighed, “What you’re doing with this seclusion, doesn’t it remind you of someone? Because it sure reminds your uncle.”

Zewu-Jun looked as if she had slapped him.

“Nobody would begrudge you needing time to grieve and to come to terms with what happened, it is human nature. It’s understandable. We were all blindsided. And I understand the wish to seclude yourself because I wish I could have as well, though I didn’t have the luxury,” she said, not unkindly but it made him wince anyway, “But it’s been too long. A few months would be okay, though grief will last longer than that, but more than that is just being unfair to others. You are the Sect Leader. Your uncle has already had to watch his brother shirk his duties and seclude himself from the world for the rest of his life.

Your uncle has had to pick up the slack. He raised you and your brother like a father would, while taking care of sect matters. None of those things were his responsibility yet he did it. And now… now he has to go through it all over again. Master Lan is elderly though and he cannot keep up with all of the duties required of an elder, teacher and now Sect Leader once more. And so that leads me to the last person that you have wronged.

Lan Zhan is Chief Cultivator now, did you know? His duties are myriad and yet he has to come back here and help Master Lan run the sect. It pains Master Lan to see history repeating itself. A younger brother once again has to take the reins from his older brother and he does it without complaint, because he loves you. But it is unfair to A-Zhan. He can’t live his own life because he’s too busy living yours. He’s barely managing to keep up with both sets of duties, but he’s doing it for you. It has been two years, Zewu-Jun. He worries so much about you, as does your uncle. It pains them to see you this way. And so Sect Leader Lan,” she pointedly used his rank, “I beg of you to consider leaving your seclusion. You have people who love you waiting for you. Your family needs you.”

His eyes were glittering once more, but no tears were shed this time. He swallowed thickly. The past few months it had seemed as if he was living in a fog. He’d barely managed to keep his routine up, it was only through decades of strict routine that he’d gotten himself off the bed and eaten his food and meditated everyday on his shortcomings. But it seemed that while he was doing that he’d missed quite a few. Because she was right wasn’t she? He hid himself away like a coward and didn’t even think about how it would affect Wangji and Uncle. He hadn’t even considered how hurt his uncle would feel to see him go down the same route as his father.

Her words were like a splash of cold water. It seemed to wake him up; it got him out of the daze he was in. If this woman before him could raise a child and a sect from the ashes all alone after going through more tragedy than a hundred people in one lifetime would...he could get himself in gear and do what he had to do. He felt ashamed in front of her. She was right that she didn’t have the luxury to seclude herself. But he did. He did, and he took advantage of the support system that he had to take time for himself. More time than he should have.

She said it was understandable, and maybe it was, but she was also right that it should not have been going on for this long. He had no desire to be Qingheng-Jun the second. But if she hadn’t come here today… if she hadn’t said all that she had said… He would not have even thought of those things. He was too busy thinking of himself. It was likely that he would have stayed for years in his seclusion, just ruminating on what went wrong and what he could have changed. It was all too easy to get caught up in could-have-beens.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” he said, devastated at the thought of his uncle, the man who raised him when he didn’t have to, who did his best to prevent them from turning out like their father, thinking that he had failed when it was Lan Xichen who failed, “I’ve heard you loud and clear. But…”

“But?”

“But I don’t know if I even know how to go about being Sect Leader anymore. I feel like the decisions I make would be questionable now. How can I trust that I will do what’s best for the sect? I have already failed in so many ways. Now I have failed Wangji and Uncle too.”

“What did I tell you? You’re not alone Zewu-Jun. You don’t have to leave seclusion immediately. You don’t even have to start doing everything right away. Ease back into it. Your family will be there to help you. I’m offering to help you. If you need to talk about things that you can’t with them, you can write to me. Master Qiren should not have to be taking on these responsibilities any longer and A-Zhan needs to have time to breathe...his own position is challenging enough. Besides you haven’t failed, you’ve just had some setbacks is all. Failure would be wallowing in self-pity forever and leaving everyone else to do your duties indefinitely,” she looked at him pointedly. He got the hint.

“Okay Sect Leader Jiang. I shall take you up on that then. But I do have a question if you’ll indulge me,” he said.

“Shoot.”

“I mean no offense at all, in fact I’m actually extremely grateful for your concern, but I am curious….why do you even care? You didn’t have to do any of this. I’m well aware that you have your own duties and worries. Why bother about mine?”

She smiled for the first time since she walked into the Hanshi. He was struck by it. It had been a long time since he’d seen her smile... truly smile. In fact, the last time he’d seen a smile as bright as that on her face was probably right here in the Cloud Recesses when she was a student.

“You may not remember it, Zewu-Jun, but there was a time Jin Guangshan sought to marry me off. It was your words of support for me, against that awful Sect Leader Yao, that saved my skin, though they still called me Wife of the Yiling Demon after that. But at least I was only his wife. I will be eternally grateful to you for that. It was thanks to your words that nobody else tried to make me marry. I was able to focus on my sect in relative peace. It was a kindness that I have never been able to repay until now, though you shouldn’t think that it is only because of repayment.”

She got up and dusted off her clothes perfunctorily.

“I shall take my leave now, Zewu-Jun.”

“Please, call me Xichen,” he said, thinking that after all of the things that were said that day, she might as well.

“Well then, Xichen you may call me Wanyin. Thank you for hearing me out and please forgive me for barging in unexpectedly. I have intruded upon your hospitality long enough.”

“It is no matter,” he said, and for the first time in a long while he was able to manage a weak smile, “I was honored by your company. If you did not give me so much to think about, I would offer you some more tea.”

She laughed, “Thank you Xichen, but I will be missed soon anyway. I do not need to cause an uproar in Cloud Recesses if they can’t find a Sect Leader. Plus the scandal that would happen if someone other than A-Zhan or A-Yuan finds me in here will not be pleasant.”

“A-Zhan?” he raised an eyebrow, “Is there something I should know about, Wanyin?”

She snorted and threw him a cheeky smirk, “If you want to find out you’ll have to come to Lotus Pier.” And with that she saw herself out, leaving nothing but the scent of lotuses behind her.

Huh. Well then. How curious. He’d thought that Wangji had gone off with Wei Wuxian, who he’d been in love with since he met him. How did Sect Leader Jiang factor into this? As far as he knew they didn’t even particularly like each other. It seemed like he missed quite a lot while he was in seclusion. Was his little brother in a love triangle? It would explain why Wanyin said that he shouldn’t only think of her visit as repayment to him. It wasn’t the purest motivation but huh maybe he would leave seclusion after all. His brother might need support in more ways than one. Sect Leader Lan leaving seclusion because he was too invested in his brother’s love life was a hilarious thought, and for the first time in two years, he chuckled mirthfully to himself. Maybe he would be okay after all.

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vrishchikawrites · 3 years

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If you're still taking prompts, how about WWX becoming a god after he dies in the siege? It's hard to slander someone when you have a proof of their benevolence like this. I always loved the concept. He's strong and good enough to ascend, especially since in his last actions he chose to spare those who wronged him and destroy the seal. And now LZ needs to catch up ;)

(we'll need to hand wave some of the genre constants here. apologies!)

It happens in Qinghe. The Nie Clan hosts a Martial Arts conference and Lan Wangji accompanies Lan Xichen even though he's not inclined to. He has just come out of seclusion and socialization is the last thing on his mind.

But his brother insists and Wangji is hesitant to deny. The Unclean Realm is bustling with activity and Wangji feels the strain of it keenly. There's something off in the air.

It isn't until he meets Nie Mingjue that he realizes just what is off.

The man looks furious instead of stern and commanding. Nie Mingjue has always had a temper but Wangji has never seen him quite this unsettled. His eyes seem blood-shot and his expression is almost cruel. There's an odd, dissonant energy around him that alarms Wangji.

Xichen, Jin Guangyao, and Nie Mingjue seem to be arguing in some fashion, Wangji was too far away to understand their conversation but Nie Mingjue's voice was loud and enraged.

"Da-ge," Nie Huaisang's worried voice catches his attention and he turns to look in his direction. His expression conveys his anxiety for his brother clearly. Nie Huaisang is studying the scene before him with furrowed brows and uncharacteristically shrewd eyes, "Wangji-xiong, what do you think of this?"

At first, Wangji is hesitant to comment. This isn't his concern and he is certain Xichen will help if help is needed.

But something in Nie Huaisang's tone makes him hesitate. He is obviously seeking comfort.

Wangji studies the scene once again, noting with concern that even his brother is looking disturbed by Nie Mingjue's rage, "He is dangerously unstable. Xiongzhang's Song of Clarity isn't working?"

Nie Huaisang purses his lips and shakes his head, "San-ge plays it regularly but it doesn't seem to help." He waves his fan in agitation, "Nothing seems to help."

Wangji has nothing else to say. He's not good with casual conversations or comforting words. It is usually his brother who knows how to say the right thing at the right time.

"I wish Wei-xiong was here." Wangji stills at the soft whisper, "He would know what to do- no one knows Resentful Energy like he did."

Wangji takes a deep breath, keeping his gaze fixed on the middle distance. "Mentioning him is forbidden." He has kept Wei Ying's name close to his heart, untainted and loved instead of being tossed around and slandered.

His Wei Ying.

"You don't need to pretend to dislike him," Nie Huaisang says, eyes fixed on his brother, "Unlike everyone else, I knew his true self well enough. Almost as well as you did."

Wangji feels a curl of bitter amusement, "I did not know him."

Nie Huaisang waves his fan and remains silent for a long moment before speaking, "Believe me, Wangji-xiong, you were the only one who knew him."

Wangji has no reply.

Unfortunately, the situation does escalate beyond their control. Nie Mingjue has clearly lost control and is on the verge of qi deviation. He swings his sword aimlessly. Neither Wangji's guqin nor Xichen's flute do much to help.

Nie Huaisang is screaming, struggling against Jin Guangyao, trying to reach his increasingly volatile brother.

Nothing is helping. Wangji fears he may be forced to watch his brother's closest friend die.

Later, when questioned, he would say his prayer had been instinctive, coming deep from within him. He would say that he hadn't even thought when he spoke those words. That it hadn't even registered when he opened his mouth and said them out loud.

But in that moment, feeling something very close to panic at the sight of Nie Mingjue teetering close to the edge, he breaths out,

"Wei Ying, help."

The air around them stills the moment the last syllable slips past his lips. Nothing moves, no one speaks, the absence of sound was almost deafening.

Wangji feels the hair on his body stand on end the sound of swishing fabric fills the frozen atmosphere. He turns a little to see a swirl of black robes; rich, intricate, moving over the ground like smoke.

There's a fragrance of freshly dug earth and petrichor in the air, refreshing and earthy, but also strange. He's in the Unclean Realm and it hasn't rained in weeks.

Wangji takes a deep breath as the swish of fabric comes closer and then something as shockingly cold as snowmelt sweeps past him.

He already knows what he's about to see when he looks up.

Everything about him is pitch black. His hair is dark as ebony, falling down to the back of his knees. His robes seem to be made of shadows that suck in light. There are intricate lace and gold patterns on the sleeves. They look like talismans but Wangji cannot tell.

"Wei Ying," He calls softly.

Because Wangji knew it was him even before he saw him.

The air unfreezes and everyone comes to life once again, dazed and bewildered. Wangji hears Nie Huaisang draw in a sharp, shocked breath. He is the first to notice Wei Ying but others follow quickly. There are loud exclamations of surprise and many unsheathe their swords.

Wei Ying doesn't react. He lifts his hand, crooks a pale finger, and a mass of dark energy extracts itself from Nie Mingjue.

It is so quick, so unceremonious, that everyone is stunned.

Wei Ying studies it, condenses it into a small ball, and without pause, crushes it in his fist.

Nie Mingjue stumbles to his feet, clutching onto Baxia and staring at Wei Ying with wide eyes, "Wei Wuxian."

"You were destined to die today," Wei Ying says in a calm, dismissive tone, "The Nie Sect was destined to fade into obscurity." His voice is soft but there are layers to it, like a thousand individuals speaking in perfect harmony.

Nothing about Wei Ying is human. His voice is sonorous, entirely intimidating. His skin is as fair as white jade. His silver eyes are as bright as the moon. He looks regal, with an intricate hair piece holding the sweeping mass of ebony hair in place.

"You..." Xichen begins, looking just as hesitant as Wangji feels. Fortunately, his brother regains his composure quickly and bows, "Wei Wuxian, thank you for saving Nie Mingjue."

"I hold dominion over Justice." Wei Ying declares and Wangji carefully tucks his trembling hands behind his back, "Of course, I will answer the wishes of the most righteous man in Cultivation." He taps his chin with a smirk, an echo of a Wei Ying Wangji knows, loves, misses, "My affections for Lan Zhan play a part too, I suppose."

"Justice?" Nie Huaisang asks, "Because you died for a just cause?"

Wei Wuxian glances over his shoulder and Wangji meets that enchanting silver gaze with a racing heart.

"Perhaps," Wei Ying says teasingly, "I may be a deity, but even I am subject to the whims of fate."

He speaks as thought dominion over something like justice is an easy feat, like it doesn't imply immeasurable power.

"You were killed-" Nie Mingjue growls out, "For your unjust actions."

"Da-ge!" Xichen warns, glancing at Wei Ying warily.

"Don't remind me," Wei Ying says pleasantly, "For that call for justice still weighs heavy. You will all have to pay your dues, even you, Lan Zhan."

Wangji nods briefly, "I understand."

"Forgive me," Jin Guangyao interrupts, "Surely, you must understand our concern and puzzlement. Wei-gongzi, forgive me, you were-"

"You're not forgiven." Wei Ying tilts his head to the side, "I wonder, Jin Guangyao, if you think I am so easy to charm and deceive." Jin Guangyao stills, going worryingly pale, "You cannot kill me, slander me, manipulate others against me, or force me into a corner. I am Justice." Silver eyes sweep over all of them.

Wei Ying's eyes linger over Jin Guangyao's shaken expression before flickering over Xichen and Nie Mingjue.

"No one may escape me."

There's a sweeping wave of energy and everything freezes again.

Wangji remains stiff and silent as Wei Ying appears suddenly before him, leaning close enough that their breaths to mingle. Those eyes look even more otherworldly now, sparkling with the light of a thousand stars.

"Hanguang-jun," Wei Ying croons, "Don't keep your Wei Ying waiting for too long, hm?"

Wangji clenches his shaking hands, the proximity making his heart ache, "My Wei Ying?" He asks because he still remembers 'get lost' spoken in a hysterical, frenetic voice.

Wei Ying's expression softens a little, "Death gives clarity, my dear Lan Zhan. And ascension gives insight into fate and destiny. Wei Ying," He says and spins around cheekily, taking a few dancing steps away from him, "Wei Ying is always destined to be by Hanguang-jun's side." He winks, "Better hurry up! But not too soon! After our a-Yuan is old enough to stand on his own."

"Wei Ying - wait-"

The air starts moving again.

Wangji swallows and spins around, walking towards the gates of the Unclean Realm.

"Wangji-?"

"I must go ahead, xoingzhang, pray excuse me." He has no patience for Sect politics and formalities.

Wei Ying is waiting.

#short prompts #deity wwx #wei wuixan #lan wangji

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jelenedra · 3 years

Text

Additional notes and ephemera for Restoration. Read with caution! There are spoilers at the end of this post.

Fun fact: the fic as posted to AO3 is 84,709. The amount of fic I actually wrote is 122,284. That means there’s 37,575 words of material on the cutting room floor. Oof.

Pinyin place names:

Fumodong : Demon Slaughtering Cave

Luanzang Gang : the Burial Mounds

Bujing Shi : the Unclean Realm

Yunshen Buzhichu : Cloud Recesses

Lianhua Wu : Lotus Pier/Lotus Cove

Buyetian Cheng : Nightless City/Nevernight

Jinlin Tai : Carp Tower/Koi Tower

Pinyin titles:

Huadan Shou : Core-Melting Hand/Core Crusher

Zi Zhizhu : Violet Spider

I believe all the other pinyin terms used are commonly used in fandom or are sufficiently contextualised to be understood, but let me know if there are any that need clarification!

Spoilers ahead! Gonna list the minor/background pairings.

Some of these are fairly textual, but with the exception of occasional flirtation/references in characters’ inner monologues, almost all actual romance occurs completely off-screen.

Meng Yao/Nie Mingjue (nieyao)

Jiang Yanli/Nie Huaisang (sangli)

(implied) Lan Xichen/Xue Yang (xiyang)

(implied) Jin Zixuan/Wen Ning (ningxuan)

Wang Lingjiao/Wen Qing (lingqing)

I did not intend for there to be Song Lan/Su She/Xiao Xingchen (songsuxiao), but I’m told some people saw it in there, so. Have at.

Here are some notes about names of people, for those who don’t get names in canon. I was ably assisted by merakily and invitan in choosing these and am told they’re not wildly inappropriate! There are some spoilers in the details given.

Starting off with the nicknames for the babies, so if you’re not sure if you want to spoil yourself further you have two paragraphs to back out or continue.

Xiaodou (小豆, Adzuki) or Xiaodou Yeye (小豆爷爷, Grandpa Adzuki) is a nickname given to baby Mo Xuanyu. Adzuki are a type of bean, also called red mung beans, and they’re commonly boiled with sugar to make an extremely delicious paste called anko. In Chinese cuisine it’s commonly used as filling for pastry dishes like mooncakes and tangyuan. The story of how he got that nickname is in chapter 12; in short, he was red and wrinkly, as many babies are, and the nickname stuck. The more common term for adzuki seems to be hongdou (红豆) but xiaodou, chidou (赤豆), chixiaodou, hongxiaodou, etc. are used fairly interchangably as far as I can tell, and I think the version that approximates to “little bean” is the cutest version to refer to a baby with.

Luobo Zhongzi is a nickname given to baby Wen Yuan. I used the characters for the words translated as “radish seeds” in chapter 74. In that chapter, Wen Qing scolds Wei Wuxian because she told him to go buy radish seeds and instead he fought Jiang Cheng. In my head, this is how that nickname came to be:

“Wei Ying,” Meng Yao says, with the fragile calm of someone an inch away from completely losing his shit, “I thought I told you to buy radish seeds.”

“Are you blind, Meng-shidi? Look at this handsome radish seed I have right here!” Wei Ying bounces the baby on his hip. “We’ll plant him and he’ll sprout right up, you’ll see.”

Meanwhile, Xue Yang sidles up to Wen Zhuliu and gives him his biggest, toothiest smile. “Gege, teach me how to punch someone in the soul?”

Some birth and courtesy names:

Fu Xiang (富祥); the fu here is still a relatively common character used as a Chinese surname today, and can also mean “wealthy” or “abundant” - a good name for a mercantile sect, especially one that wants to curry favour with Lanling Jin. The xiang means “auspicious” - also a fairly common name, in this case given by parents who hoped their daughter would tie them to one of the larger sects one day.

Mo Xing (莫惺). The character 惺 is commonly understood as “tranquil”, although it has an older literary meaning of “wise” or “intelligent”, as Mo Lang tells Mo Yu. However, Mo Yu is not particularly literate at the time she chooses it, and doesn’t realise that Mo Lang is rather unkindly choosing a name that’s homophonous with 猩, which means “ape”, and 腥, which means “fishy smell”.

Mo Lang (莫角); in modern usage, lang means “jade-like stone”, “clean and white”, or “the tinkling of pendants” but it also has an archaic meaning as “white jade” i.e. the most valuable jade.

Mo Yu (莫玉); yu also means “jade”, but in this case, just regular jade, not fancy white jade.

Mo Lihua (莫莉花). Li, “jasmine”, and hua, “flower”. The character used for her surname is the same as all other members of the Mo family, meaning “no one” or “do not”, but sometimes Mo Lihua likes to troll people by writing her name as 茉莉花, which is the full name for a jasmine flower (the literal translation would be “jasmine jasmine flower”.) Mo Lihua is a reference to the popular folk song Mo Li Hua, which definitely post-dates the CQL timeframe, but I already disclaimed my ahistoricity so we are all just going to deal with that. It’s very popular - Celine Dion and Song Zuying performed it at the Beijing Olympics - and I thought it was particularly appropriate because of a translation singeli showed me:

Oh beautiful jasmine flower / Oh beautiful jasmine flower / Sweet-smelling, beautiful, stems full of buds / Fragrant and white, everyone praises / Let me pluck you down to give to someone else / Jasmine flower, jasmine flower

LET ME PLUCK YOU DOWN TO GIVE TO SOMEONE ELSE

ahem

Meng Jingqiu (孟经秋); the jing comes from the Shijing, the Book of Songs, which really does use the same character as Meng Shi’s birth name (诗). The qiu comes from the Chunqiu, the Spring and Autumn Annals. These are two of the Five Classics of Confucianism.

Meng Fuqiu (孟府秋); the fu comes from yuefu (乐府), which is a genre of classical poetry intended to mimic folk songs (class issues, anyone...?), and also means governance - something Meng Yao excels at. The qiu, again, comes from Chunqiu and links his courtesy name with Meng Jingqiu. I thought it was nicer than linking him to Jin Guangshitbag.

Wen Guijiao (温圭角); this is a little complex. A gui was a long jade tablet or scepter, often shaped like a sword (here’s a plain one) (here’s one with poetry on it) (and one with animal masks) (and a very fancy one with dragons) held by imperial rulers for certain ceremonies. The pointed tip is called the guijiao (literally “corner of the jade tablet” but more usefully “tip of the scepter”, I believe). So literally the guijiao is the most delicate piece of an incredibly delicate and ornate piece of jade, but figuratively it means “talents displayed”, as in the chengyu bulu-guijiao (不露圭角) which is literally “do not reveal the tip of the scepter” and means to remain inconspicuous by hiding your talents. And I thought that was nice, for Our Lady of Hidden Badassery.

(here are some more examples of cool gui)

Update: can’t believe I forgot the comically long list of Wen sect heirs in chapter 11!

Wen Qing = as per canon, “tenderness”

Wen Xu = as per canon, my best guess is approximately “warmth of the rising sun”

Wen Chao = as per canon, approximately “warmth of the dawn”

Wen Liang (温良) = “warm and kind”

Wen Budun (温布顿) = Wimbledon, as in the tennis event

Wen Rou (温柔) = “gentle and soft”

Wen Nuan (温暖) = “warm” (as in, temperature)

Wen Hepai (温和派) = unusual variant of the word for “dove” but more commonly “moderate faction”

Wen Shu (温淑) = “a gentle and kind woman”

Wen Gehua (温哥华) = Vancouver, as in the Canadian city

Wen Cun (温存) = “tender affection” or “to be attentive” in the romantic sense

Wen Huo (温和) = “lukewarm”

Wen Chadian (温差电) = “thermoelectricity”

Wen Hexing (温和性) = “tenderness”/“gentle character”

#restoration #my fic #mdzs fic #cql fic

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