Custody Battle: START

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You ever just get off of work and think about Jiang Cheng and about how random civilians yap on and on about how he’s mean and cruel. Yet for all their rumors and hissed words, Jiang Cheng has a thriving sect that cares deeply for him and is trusted greatly?

Like he was what, 16? When his parents died and he was left alone and traumatized from the Wen’s torture and his brother was missing and his sister was hidden away for her safety. And he marched across the land and was so charismatic, so capable, so full of confidence (fake or otherwise) that cultivators who had no reason to trust or give a damn about him, where willing to follow him through war.

There’s so many rumors flying around about him being this nasty cruel man, yet his sect is filled with people who go rushing after him. Who have faith in him when he says not to say anything about his claim of Mo Xuanyu being WWX. Who are trusted by Jin Ling, who adores his uncle so much, to watch Zidian and return it to him. Who willingly skip around after Jin Ling in fake Jin robes to watch for him.

That’s not a sect that’s under a cruel and harsh leader. That’s not a sect that fears their leader. Jiang Cheng couldn’t have gotten where he is, if he was half of what the rumors say he is. He can be ruthless, yes, but when he loves he loves so fucking deeply. And by the fact of the sheer number of people who joined his sect and raised their kids under his protection, it’s so clear that that love extended to his new sect.

Anyways the secret to Jiang Cheng is that he loves and loves and loves and loves.

And loves.

a smattering of modern au coparenting chengyao doodles from last year. could be good. could be fun

Canonically speaking, jc' reaction to someone he doesn't like/has strong negative feelings towards, because that person was a jerk to his sister, is to regulate his emotions according to how his sister feels. In a jyl lives au, after wwx's return, canon jc is going to his sister, saying something like: 'while I think we should throw at least a cup of tea at him because he left us you and a-ling like that, it's your choice, jin zixuan was your husband. What are we feeling now, jiejie?'

Fandom Gripe #22: I wish the novel fandom would stop ascribing to Jiang Cheng things that he did not do (at least not alone) to make his character seem like some outstanding model citizen who pulled himself up by his bootstraps instead of the rotten product of wealth and nepotism that he is.

No, Jiang Cheng did not rebuild Lotus Pier on his own. In fact, Lotus Pier didn't need to be rebuilt at all because it was never destroyed. Wen Chao was using it as his supervision office, which is why Wang Lingjiao showed up in the first place:

Wang LingJiao spoke in a tender voice, “Young Master Wen, congratulations for moving into Lotus Pier.” Wen Chao, “What Lotus Pier? Change the name. Bring down any door carved with the nine-petaled lotus crest and replace them with those with the QishanWen Sect’s sun crest! JiaoJiao, come dance for me your best song!”

—Chapt. 59: Poisons, exr

If anything, any "rebuilding" that was done happened after Wei Wuxian defected, as Jiang Cheng remade Lotus Pier to be more extravagant than it originally was:

It was perhaps because too many places had been renewed. The training field was two times larger. Each new building seemed to be taller than the previous, adorned with curving roof decor. It seemed grander than before and had more splendor. But, compared to the Lotus Pier of his memories, it had changed too much. Wei WuXian felt a sense of loss from deep within. He didn’t know whether the old buildings from the past were blocked behind these impressive new buildings or if they were torn down already.

—Chapt. 85: Loyalty, exr

No, Jiang Cheng did not recruit new disciples on his own. He was recruiting on his own during the war for the 3 months that Wei Wuxian had been trapped in the Burial Mounds, as per Wang Lingjiao's musings:

...leaving only Jiang Cheng, who was younger than even Lan XiChen and was still a child born yesterday, who had nobody in his hands but still dared call himself sect leader, holding up the banner of rebellion as he recruited new disciples.

—Chapt. 60: Poisons, exr

But after Wei Wuxian returned, Wei Wuxian had a large hand in disciple recruitment, specifically because of the interest his ghost path garnered amongst cultivators at banquets where they were recruiting, such as the Phoenix Mountain Hunt:

One of the sect leaders spoke in a sour tone, “This time, Lotus Pier is really the center of the show. Almost all of the spirits and corpses were summoned to the YunmengJiang Sect’s grounds. There’d definitely be a number of cultivators interested in them.” ... Someone sneered, “Huh? Interested in them? I don’t think so. To put it simply, they’re interested in Wei WuXian, aren’t they? Didn’t the YunmengJiang Sect grow in fame during the Sunshot Campaign only because of Wei WuXian?”

—Chapt. 70: Departure, exr

Despite the above quote being gossip from jealous cultivators, we know this to be true because after Wei Wuxian defects, cultivators begin to flock to the Burial Mounds to ask to be his disciples, still:

After he found himself in the limelight during a few night-hunts, there really were quite a few people who came for him, hoping that they could be accepted by the ��patriarch’ and become one of his disciples. The mountains that used to be so deserted suddenly became crowded. None of the fierce corpses Wei WuXian set up on patrol down the mountain would attack on their own. At most, they’d send the person flying and roar their throats out. Nobody got hurt, and so more and more people gathered down Burial Mound.

—Chapt. 75: Distance, exr

No, Jiang Cheng did not raise Jin Ling on his own. First off, Jin Ling is the heir to the Jin Clan, so him being raised wholly by Jiang Cheng would make absolutely no sense. Which is why nowhere does the novel say this happens; Jin Ling spends his time split between Lanling and Lotus Pier:

When Jin Ling was young, he was brought up by two sects. He lived at the LanlingJin Sect’s Jinlin Tower half the time, and the YunmengJiang Sect’s Lotus Pier the other half, so he should be carrying belongings from both sects.

—Chapt. 38: Grasses, exr

(However—and this is just my conjecture—I doubt the overtly homophobic and sexist Jiang Cheng would personally go about changing the diapers of a child who only knew him to be merciless and cold:

From the beginning of his memory until now, Jin Ling had never seen such a look on Jiang Cheng’s face before. This uncle of his who led the prominent YunmengJiang Sect ever since a young age had always been cold and dark. When he spoke, he was willing to neither show mercy nor do good.

—Chapt. 23: Malice, exr

Rich people have servants for a reason.)

No, Jiang Cheng does not spend his time helping the people of Yunmeng. He really does spend a good deal of his time fobbing off his duty to the people (not unusual for a large sect) in favor of hunting down and torturing people (very unusual, the reason why his citizens prefer to pray to gods) who either had the surname Wen or that he suspected of either being possessed by Wei Wuxian because they remind him of the latter, which extends to people who use his inventions:

Jiang Cheng spoke grimly, “Break his legs? Haven’t I told you? If you see this sort of evil and crooked practice, kill the cultivator and feed him to your dogs!”

—Chapt. 7: Arrogance, exr

Zidian definitely wouldn’t deceive [Jiang Cheng] or make a mistake, so he quickly calmed himself and thought, this doesn’t mean anything. I should first find an excuse to take him back and use every possible method to get information out of him. It’s impossible for him to not confess anything or give himself away. I’ve done things like this in the past anyways. After thinking it through, he made a gesture. The disciples understood his intention and came over.

—Chapt. 10: Arrogance, exr

The owner, “Young Masters, you’re not from Yunping City so you don’t know. The Jiang Sect is responsible for all of us along the Yunmeng area. The Sect Leader’s got quite a bad temper. It’s almost frightening. His subordinate’s said so a long time ago. Only one sect is in charge of such a large area. Each day, there are almost a hundred cases of small ghosts or other creatures pulling pranks on the living and all that. If every single small thing had to be dealt with immediately, would there be enough time and energy? Those that don’t kill anyone aren’t malign spirits, and we’re not supposed to disturb them with trivial matters that aren’t malign spirits.” She complained, “What is this supposed to mean? Wouldn’t it be too late if we waited until somebody’s died to find them?!” ... The owner continued, “On top of that, Lotus Pier is truly a scary place. How would anyone dare go there again?” Wei WuXian moved his gaze from Lan WangJi’s calm face with a short pause of surprise, “Lotus Pier is scary? How could Lotus Pier be scary? You’ve been there?” The owner, “I haven’t been there myself, but I know someone who went because his house was being badly haunted. But it was all bad luck. That Sect Leader Jiang was cracking a glowing whip right on the training field. The victim’s flesh and blood flew as high as his screams! A servant secretly informed him that the sect leader caught the wrong person again, that he hadn’t been in a great mood, and that he definitely shouldn’t be irritated in any way. He was so scared that he dropped off the gifts he brought and fled at once. He never dared visit again.” Wei WuXian had long since heard of how Jiang Cheng had been searching for cultivators of the ghost path who seemed like they seized another’s body, taking all of them into Lotus Pier to be tortured and questioned. The owner’s friend probably just happened to have ran into him when he was letting off steam. It wasn’t hard to imagine how hideous Jiang Cheng would’ve looked, so no wonder a normal person would make a run for it. ... The owner, “No, no. It was his misfortune. The person’s surname was Wen, and that Sect Leader Jiang’s archenemy happened to have the surname of Wen as well. He’s hating on everyone in this world whose surname is Wen. Whenever he sees one, he’d grind his teeth in hatred, wanting to skin them alive. How could he give a single friendly look to...”

—Chapt. 92: Longing, exr

The time he isn't spending hunting down people to torture, he uses to trail after Jin Ling on nighthunts to make sure nothing happens to him.

Wei WuXian, “Huh? Jiang Cheng? How did you run into him while night-hunting?” Lan SiZhui, “We invited Young Master Jin to join our night- hunt last time, so...” Wei WuXian immediately understood. One could even guess that while Lan SiZhui led the group in the night-hunt, Wen Ning naturally wouldn’t be idle either. He must’ve followed them in the dark to protect them, so that he could provide assistance when they encounter danger during the night-hunt. Jiang Cheng must’ve been sneaking behind Jin Ling as well, scared something would happen to him again.

—Chapt. 116: Banquet Extra, exr

Any other "single jiujiu!jc who don't need no man!" fanon I'm missing?

modern au 💜 commission for @neurodivernon

Daily reminder that most of the sect members follow their sect leaders because they were born to that sect, or that sect was stable and powerful enough to provide them with security, and the Wen Remnants followed Wei Wuxian even though they were afraid of him because that was their only option, but the YMJ members that followed Jiang Cheng ever since the Sunshot Campaign freely CHOSE to do so. He was 17. And an extremely traumatized seventeen-year-old at that. He was simultaneously looking for his brother and participating in a war while rebuilding his sect. Lotus Pier was destroyed. There were only 3 people left of the YMJ sect (2 as far as they knew with WWX missing.) The sect was brought to ruins. The YMJ sect couldn't have had much riches left. But the new sect (and they were enough for YMJ to be called a sect again) CHOSE to follow Jiang Cheng.

“I’ll have to take you out sometime—when you’re not about to throw up, though.” A careful pause, Meng Yao suddenly eyeing him with suspicion. “You’re not a secret half-sibling, are you?”

The glass paused halfway to his lips and Wei Ying stared at him. “…Do you always vet your potential dates this way?”

“After the last blind date ended up being my half-sister, I don’t think it’s unnecessary.”

“Fair enough.”

Q: Does Jiujiu ever talk to JL about his maternal grandparents? 

🍋: he speaks of them with respect. but if my jiujiu raised me like my grandparents did, i....

Whooooo could have predicted this?

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If I don't read a Jin Guangyao and Jiang Cheng co-parenting fic right now I'm gonna die.

MDZS plot bunny

Have been thinking about an AU in which Wei Wuxian is not resurrected by Mo Xuanyu, but he's reincarnated.

Jiang Yanli too.

And they both (as pair of blood siblings I thought) end up as junior disciples in the Jiang Sect.

Now - I'm still thinking about different versions (if they were orphans, brought by the sect? send by their family? or are they Sect leader Jiang kids - but would have he married or sleep with a woman at all?) and how old they both are compared to Jin Ling (age mates? mostly older or younger?), but I think it would be fun to imagine Sect Leader Jiang observing disciples and realizing that those both are awfully familiar in some way and starting step by step checking for reincarnation (or however that would go).

Me when I get into a new series or game: hello! where are the tragic brothers

What a plot twist you were. [x]

So seeing your post about the ages of wangxian it made me think about how that means that at the beginning of the story we see JC he’s probably 35-36 and he’s still acting like a 20 year old. Mans is almost 40 and all he can think about is still killing people who remind him of wwx instead of trying to get himself an heir to continue his clan. Like he can help raise JL all he wants that boy is still the Jin heir, not Jiang.

Well Jiang Cheng is only 5 days younger than Wei Wuxian, so he’d be around 33/34 at the start of canon, but that makes things even more hilarious because you have people who make serious arguments about “poor baby brothrr jc” who needs to be coddled because he’s Baby Brother™️ (ignoring the fact that he and wwx never consider each other brothers) which apparently means that he is physically incapable of doing anything on his own and therefore everyone else is obligated to inconvenience themselves for him.

But at the same time, I’m supposed to believe that this idea of jc as a giant man-baby who still needs to be tucked in at night and have his hand held during nighthunts and be told he’s a “good boy” for clan leading as a part of his Baby Brother™️ rights is also mature enough to have “singe-handedly” raised an infant into a “well-adjusted” pre-teen with only the strength of his two hands and “love” for his dead sister because Jin Ling has no other family in existence, neither the Jin nor Jiang have any servants who would undoubtably be in charge of children, and sexist jc would definitely be directly involved in the “woman’s work” of childcare?

You can never win with fanon because it’s all wildly conflicting characteristics in a trench coat masquerading as “personal interpretation.” Canon jc is the best version. Just let him be pathetic!