#jiang cheng is that his family is everything to him) because it's what he has to do. because he knows his role. and he will do what he must.
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one of my favorite things about mdzs is that for how heavily its plot involves politics of classism and misogyny... even the characters most directly impacted by it can't and don't free themselves from it. literally the closest exception is mianmian.
meng yao being the "son of a whore" wasn't some sort of commie awakening for him that led him to wanting everyone to be socially equal. he played the political game, climbed the ladders, sucked up to and backstabbed and murdered people, including other prostitutes who actually had nothing to do with how he and his mother were treated at the brothel he grew up in.
he put in so much extra excessive effort for even a fraction of the same respect that members of gentry cultivation clans got. and he did deserve to be treated more humanely! but he feeds into the exact same system that created him, leading to his own undoing.
his efforts were for a fragile upward mobility that was never going to hold up. he never surpassed his origins nor did he empower others in similar stations, because the society he lives in is not one that would accept that.
the second he got caught and all those crimes exposed, he was scapegoated to hell and back, replacing wei wuxian as society's terrible one-sidedly evil boogeyman overnight.
speaking of not-quite male gentry, i think it's interesting that wei wuxian explicitly doesn't try to climb the ladders in BOTH lives, knowing full well that anything he does will be punished just for the sheer fact that he is wei wuxian.
wei wuxian is scolded for giving intelligent and correct answers in school. lan wangji does the same and is praised.
wei wuxian occasionally lounges around with fellow disciples and is punished. jiang cheng does the same and mostly escapes.
wei wuxian refuses to carry his sword around in public (after losing his golden core, which nobody knows) and is scorned as an arrogant upstart. nie huaisang has been doing the EXACT SAME THING for YEARS and nobody bats an eye.
unlike jin guangyao, wei wuxian knew subconsciously from the start that his acceptance was superficial and that he could be cast out any time. when he was 10 and recently taken in by the jiangs, he canonically would not eat or use "too much" food and water because he thought they'd find him a nuisance for "wasting their things" and kick him back out.
now away from just the classism, yu ziyuan is a proud and strong noblewoman in a society that belittles and derides women for everything they do. her strong cultivation doesn't matter. she's victim to the vicious rumors of her husband loving another woman who is strong like her but apparently had a more likeable personality.
it doesn't matter even if jiang fengmian didn't cheat or that wei wuxian is wei changze's son with cangse sanren; yu ziyuan can't bear with the humiliation of herself (and by extension her children) not being "good enough". she's ridiculed for "failing" in that one duty as a wife, mother, and woman.
she lashes out and takes out that anger on everyone present for years, giving her children lasting trauma and also being a key element in how the jiang family and yunmeng jiang sect are effectively wiped out at the hands of the wen clan.
madam jin doesn't even have a name outside of the fact that she's married to jin guangshan. i don't even remember reading anything that indicates if she's a strong or weak cultivator, or what, which in itself proves that to most people, it doesn't matter. she's "just" a woman.
of course she's angry at her husband's affairs and all the bastard children they bring in. but she also can't do anything about them, so she lashes out at the few people she can: servants. non-cultivators, probably. those very same bastard children.
shoutout to meng yao getting shoved down a flight of stairs at age fourteen, because if madam jin tried that move against her husband instead, it would make her lose even more face, which as a noblewoman she'd never do.
and that's not getting into how jiang yanli is consistently sidelined for being physically weak.
that's not getting into how mianmian was actually a good cultivator, but was mocked by everyone around her for trying to stand up for wei wuxian when everyone was turning on him. how everyone scoffed at luo qingyang's words as "just some lovesick woman" who "obviously wants to marry or bed him since he saved her".
luo qingyang is the only one of these characters who HASN'T died. she didn't play society's games like jin guangyao. she didn't dig her heels in confidence of her own abilities like wei wuxian.
she didn't bitterly lash out like yu ziyuan and madam jin. she didn't gently accept it like jiang yanli.
she just LEFT.
she married an ordinary merchant and cultivates separately from mainstream cultivation society, and therein found her own peace and happiness.
mxtx doesn't bother with particularly class conscious or feminist vocabulary to hand-hold readers into understanding these disparities, but that choice highlights them & the deeply entrenched politics of their society even more. i really love it.
#keri chats#mdzs#mo dao zu shi#long post#mdzs spoilers#im novel only but still tagging.#the untamed#cql#yeah yeah everyone's written meta addressing this aspect of the story BUT I THINK ABOUT IT ALL THE TIMEEEEE#maybe i just don't get to read a ton of books often; esp not ones that mirror my own culture. but it's just so. soooooo. augh#the fact that the setting itself enables so much of the tragedy in mdzs... which is true of all tragedies but STILL...#this isn't even getting into qin su and the power imbalance w her and jgy post-reveal... man.#man. so much going on here. man#THIS POST IS MESSY AND BARELY EDITED BUT IF U READ IT. ILU
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I am feeling the urge to write an AU where Jiang Cheng finds A-Yuan instead of Lan Wangji. And he’s conflicted and grieving and angry, but this is a toddler. Maybe a two or three years older than little A-Ling.
And because A-Yuan wasn’t hidden out in the elements for days like he is in canon, but this is relatively close to the battle itself, he isn’t as sick. He’s scared and confused and he’s crying silently for his Xian-gege, and when Jiang Cheng finds him, he looks terrified at the stranger and just starts wailing.
And Jiang Cheng is angry and grieving and this child is a Wen, and the Wen murdered everyone he loved, and the Wen are the reason his brother left him behind, but this is still a sobbing toddler that wasn’t even born yet when the Wen attacked Lotus Pier, a sobbing toddler who is crying for his Xian-gege to come save him, and as angry as he was, and as with as many people as he killed (because he was a soldier in a war, he’s killed many), he never killed a child and he wasn’t going to do it now.
So he awkwardly tries to calm the boy down, and when he cried himself to sleep, Jiang Cheng scoops him up in his arms and carries him off to Lotus Pier.
And it’s rough. Because the only acceptable way to go about this, about taking this boy in, is giving him his name. Making little Wen Yuan into Jiang Yuan. There is something wrong about it. About someone who belongs to those who took everything from him, having his name and his home.
He wonders if that’s how his mother felt, watching the son of the woman who took her husband’s heart run around her home.
There is something wrong about watching that child play and seeing the ghost of his brother, seeing his brother’s smile on his face and hearing his brother’s laughter from his mouth
He wonders if that’s what his father felt like, looking at Wei Wuxian and seeing the ghosts of the friends he loved.
And a realisation dawns on him that it doesn’t matter, because even though this child has the blood of his family’s killers, he can’t fathom the thought of hitting him with zidian. It makes him sick, to think of a child under that thing, or the many other punishments his mother found for them. For Wei Wuxian.
The boy calls him uncle Jiang, and Jiang Cheng remembers another voice calling that name excitedly across the piers, and wonders why his father, who everyone said loved Wei Wuxian, didn’t give him the protection of his name.
Jin Ling doesn’t grow up as alone, here. He has his big cousin Jiang Yuan, who is bright and confident and loves him a lot, and who he follows like a little duckling as he grows up. It’s only when they both grow up a little that they start finding things a bit odd, like how Jiang Yuan calls Jiang Cheng his paternal uncle, yet no one ever speaks of the man having a brother.
So they set to find out.
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Underrated element of where Jiang Cheng is re: wwx after everything is that they always had a sort of dual relationship. Two different relationship premises, superimposed on one another.
There's the one where they grew up together, as close as brothers, beating each other up and complaining and being one another's closest companions, sharing a bedroom as kids and eating at the same family dinner table, actively encouraged by Jiang Fengmian to interact as equals.
And then there's the one where Wei Wuxian was in service to Jiang Cheng's family. Not as a servant--Jiang Fengmian absolutely refused to do that, even if he couldn't adopt him. But as a disciple of Jiang Cheng's father and recipient of his charity, as Jiang Cheng's future right hand and most trusted subordinate.
It's a vertical relationship, intimate in its own way but with very strict expectations about what obligations flow in what directions; they are not identical and reciprocal as between friends and equals.
(It's my opinion that Jiang Fengmian's core deal was a deep-seated discontent with the hierarchies he was at the top of, without access to any way to actually deconstruct them or even coherently articulate his opposition. Wei Changze was his dear friend, and no one thinks that's a good enough reason for him to treat Wei Changze's son like his own, because Wei Changze was also his servant, and you can't make that circle square. That's not a way you're allowed to love.)
Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were like brothers; Wei Wuxian served Jiang Cheng.
The personal relationship was always the most important one. To them, in their hearts. But it was the other one that was real, that had weight in the world.
And it's important to understand that neither can be held up as more factual than the other, even though they conflict. Both relationships existed, and had power.
So then when Jiang Cheng chose to hate Wei Wuxian and articulate his grudge against him, he chose to do it in the language of fealty. Because as far as he knew, his case there was secure, watertight, and it wouldn't expose him emotionally or politically.
And those are the terms in which he's been condemning him all this time: for abandoning the Sect, for ingratitude, for lack of loyalty.
For fuckups, too, and poor judgment, but some of that now turns out to have been justified and some of it was mostly the fault of enemies behaving badly, or even Jiang Cheng himself allowing himself to be pushed into making unworthy choices.
And it was all for his sake.
The thing, the thing in my opinion, about what Wei Wuxian did, about the core transfer and his silent self-destruction around keeping it secret, is that that is a hideous thing to have done between two people who love each other, as an act of love. Beautiful, but awful. As the man who was like a brother to him, Jiang Cheng has a great deal of standing to object to it.
But as an act of vassalage, it's basically perfect.
If Wei Wuxian were only what he formally was to Jiang Cheng, if he is interpreted through a lens of fealty and obligation, he did exactly what he should have done, and went beyond what duty actually required. And went to his death silently, allowing himself to be judged, taking all the burden on himself rather than let harm come to his lord.
Like, obviously Jiang Cheng was harmed by the part where Jin Zixuan got manslaughtered and Jiang Yanli walked into the line of fire in situations where Wei Wuxian was resorting to violence and probably shouldn't have, but those are one step removed from the core issue. In terms of Wei Wuxian's intentional choices around Jiang Cheng himself, at the times he was feeling betrayed and abandoned Wei Wuxian was in fact being impossibly, poetically loyal, an absolute cliche about it.
But only in terms of the hierarchical form of their relationship.
Which means that even though Jiang Cheng has a lot of reasons to still be mad at Wei Wuxian, his actual complaints that he's centered for thirteen years are basically wiped out by the revelation of Wei Wuxian's sacrifice.
Wei Wuxian was in fact doing the tragic hero loyal vassal thing, which very much includes being misunderstood and slandered by the world. (Chenqing as a name choice absolutely references this expectation, and the idea that Jiang Cheng specifically will never understand that Wei Wuxian was trying to help him first and foremost all along; he is not subtle.)
The debts Jiang Cheng has been spitefully calling in and considering defaulted were already long paid.
So if at this point Jiang Cheng keeps pursuing that same line of rhetorical attack, now that he knows, he'll be putting himself morally in the wrong, and he knows it. But if he pivots to something else, he'll both be signalling the shape of that secret to the entire world and looking like a prize idiot.
Which is already how he feels.
To actually address the remaining grievances between them, which are considerable, would require releasing those safe, open grudges to Wei Wuxian's face and then reclaiming him as a loved one. Which is, one could fairly say, more than anyone could expect.
Which is why Wei Wuxian told him he didn't have to.
Which leaves Jiang Cheng at something of an impasse.
#hoc est meum#jiang cheng#wei wuxian#mdzs#meta#their vertical relationship was always the secure one#the one they could put into words#the one Jiang Cheng could COUNT on#and it's gone and it's what destroyed everything between them#the other relationship could be salvaged in some form#but jiang cheng would have to WANT to#and ofc he does but does he want it enough to choose to?#when wei wuxian isn't choosing him?#and ofc wwx doesn't feel jiang cheng is his to choose#the timing of the revelation is so ironic because imo#wwx spends a lot of the book processing his grief for himself#and the life he had before#and his relationship with jiang cheng#and he let it go and accepted he could never have it back after the debacle at Lotus Pier#only for jiang cheng to be forced to reexamine everything basically immediately lmao#but like wwx is not in a place where he can meet you halfway anymore jiang wanyin#he JUST got closure#it's too soon to go cutting open scars on a man who never lets himself grieve if he can help it#because if you grieve you stop and when you stop you die
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You know what hurts?
Imagine being Jiang Cheng; you're 18 years old, and there was a moment, after the destruction of your sect, the Fall of Lotus Pier, the deaths of your parents, when you see your brother about to be taken away by Wen soldiers.
Imagine the things you'd think in the span of a few seconds: that if they take him, your brother dies, and you're alone in a war, left to take care of your people and your sister. If you distract them, they take you instead.
But if they take you, you'll die. You'll get tortured and killed in your own home that's bathed in the blood of your family. If you die, your brother will inherit your sect and your responsibilities. He will be the leader your father knew you could never be. You hear your mother's voice, that always said he will bring nothing but trouble, that he'll take away what's rightfully yours.
Imagine that despite everything, not caring about anything, you step outside. You get caught, tortured, your golden core crushed– a fate worse than death, because now you have become what you always thought you already were: useless.
You don't let him know. You don't let either of them know.
Now imagine that despite the deteriorating relationship with your brother, who doesn't seem to take anything seriously, who doesn't help with the sect, who makes trouble in every public appearance you have, you don't let him know. You don't throw it in his face. He must never know.
And years– so, so many dreadful years full of mourning later– you find out your brother made the same sacrifice you did. Except, he tells you that he did it out of obligation. You were a debt. You were a way to repay your father's kindness and your mother's tolerance and your sister's love to an orphan boy. You were the price the man you called brother had to pay for being allowed to live in Lotus Pier. You were his duty, nothing more.
That's what you hear in his words. That's what he means when he says to leave it all in the past. You are the past. Which maybe was fitting, as you never moved on from him. You were a weight that your brother is finally free of, so he can go live a happy life with other people he considers family.
Imagine how it feels, to think that what you did out of love, nothing more or less, but pure, unadulterated love– it destroyed your beloved's life. Everything you have built, everything you were proud of, it was at his expense. Then, your brother trampled all over your love with the cold detachment, although unknowingly.
He didn't know after all.
So, steeling whatever is left of your heart, you let him go. You finally let go, knowing your grip has never been love, to your brother, but a chain, a prison–
So you don't tell him.
You could never admit to it. You could never put him through the anguish you yourself are feeling.
He must never know.
#mdzs#mo dao su zhi#the untamed#cql p#cql#jiang cheng#wei wuxian#twin heroes of yunmeng#yunmeng siblings#yunmeng bros#golden core transfer
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hello :D can you tell me why you like chengxian?
A Non-Comprehensive Guide to Twi's Love of ChengXian
Yes I spent time making this edit. I love them and I'm not an artist so sue me.
Short Answer: I love these two self-sacrificing assholes and their aesthetics and I think they should kiss and get a happy ending for once. If MXTX doesn't want to do it, I'll write it instead! 😤
Long Answer: Click the Read More
"As long as we both live in this world, we'll meet sooner or later." -- Vol1 Chap6
👏 MDZS literally doesn't happen without Yunmeng Shuangjie, it doesn't happen without the huge sense of debt and love and envy and pride and duty that comprises everything about the relationship between Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng. They must meet because their stories are so wrapped up in each other that where one ends and the other begins is a blurred line at best.
MXTX put in so much work to separate these two for the happily ever after she wanted and if you think about it too much you start to wonder if the Wei Wuxian we grew to love with this story, that says this kind of line, is ever going to be really happy without Jiang Cheng in his life.
💗It's not incest, but the boys wish it was. I am half-joking about this, but also absolutely serious. The vague labels on their relationship is a very big part of the point!
They are very much the Shixiong/shidi(mei) xianxia/wuxia romance trope. The talented and wonderful shixiong. The shidi(mei) that adores their shixiong but can't be honest about it. Childhood friends to sweethearts. MXTX uses this trope and subverts it by not making it endgame or letting the story just end with the tragedy of the First Siege.
She uses the power of this trope to feed into everything in and around the secret of the Golden Core Transfer. It ends up affecting the entire cultivation world as the greatest token of love, of devotion, of sacrifice, of consequence, of dubious consent, of the crux of the very story itself... which is just incredibly powerful.
And the rest of MDZS flows from that.
He had always thought Jiang Cheng would be the one standing with him, and Lan Wangji against him. He'd never imagined that reality would be the complete opposite.
This is literally errata from vol1 official pg 262 and I swear it wasn't put in the first time because it feeds ChengXian too much. You say that Wei Wuxian thought Jiang Cheng would always be by his side? He couldn't imagine a world where that wasn't true?? That now he's in a reality where it's the opposite??? Omg???? Like this is the sum of the ChengXian tragedy right here because MXTX made a reality where they couldn't be together! 💔😭
Like LOOK!
“When you become the family head, I’ll be your subordinate. We’ll be just like our fathers. Who cares about the Twin Jades of Lan? Our Yunmeng has Twin Heroes! So—just shut up. Who said you’re not worthy of being family head? No one’s allowed to say that, not even you. Say it and you’re asking to get beat.” --Vol3 Chap12
You see for me it's about the strain between love and duty and all the points where those two cross.
My actual favorite romance trope is king/lionheart - lord/devoted - leader/subordinate - patron/agent - master/servant - 知己 (zhiji)
this relationship of knowing is one that is worth dying for
“So when Wei-gongzi returned to seek us out, my jiejie was reluctant to even attempt the procedure, at first. She warned him that writing an essay was one thing, but actually doing it was quite another. She wasn’t even confident she’d have a fifty percent chance of success.
“But Wei-gongzi kept pestering her. He said fifty percent was fine; the chances of success and failure were equal. Even if it didn’t work out and his core was wasted, he wasn’t worried about his future—but that wasn’t the case for Sect Leader Jiang. He was too competitive, too focused on what he stood to gain and lose in this aspect, since cultivation was his life. And if Sect Leader Jiang could only ever be an ordinary, mediocre person, his life would be over.” --Vol4 Chap19
Wei Wuxian was willing to risk his life on a 50% chance if it meant Jiang Cheng would Live. Yes yes Wei Wuxian's patent assholery here about how Jiang Cheng is so competitive etc, classic fooling himself. The point is that Jiang Cheng wouldn't be Jiang Cheng anymore and Wei Wuxian would rather die than experience that. Would rather cut himself apart than fail to protect his shidi.
Speaking of failures...
Perhaps there was this:
“I didn’t get caught by the Wen Clan because I insisted on returning to Lotus Pier to retrieve my parents’ bodies.
“When you went to buy rations in that small town during our escape, a group of Wen cultivators caught up to us.
“I noticed them early and left the spot where I’d been sitting to hide in a corner of the street. I didn’t get caught, but they were patrolling, and they would have surely bumped into you while you were getting us food.
“So I ran out and lured them away.” --Vol5 Chap22
Jiang Cheng never wanted Wei Wuxian to die, let alone die for him. He breaks down at the shrine coming to terms with what he will ultimately think of as his fault. We know this because when he feels at fault he doesn't speak of his good intentions. So, he distracts the Wen-dogs from Wei Wuxian > Gets caught and survives, broken > as far as he knows he's miraculously healed > only to find out that Wei Wuxian was taken by the Wen-dogs anyway 3 months later > Jiang Cheng never speaks of his failures, so will never say how lost his core in the first place > a war and 13 years later he finds out that not only did he fail to protect Wei Wuxian from Wen-dogs, but now also knows unequivocally that Wei Wuxian's descent into heretic cultivation was his fault... again.
As tears streamed down his face, he hissed through gritted teeth, “…Why…why didn’t you tell me?!”
And he begs to know why Wei Wuxian would do this!
“Consider it a repayment of my debt to the Jiangs,” Wei Wuxian added.
Jiang Cheng raised his head and looked at him with bloodshot eyes. “…To my father, my mother, my sister?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
Not him. Wei Wuxian won't admit it's for Jiang Cheng--the shidi he meant to protect as a good shixiong, the master he was meant to support, the heir and symbol of the clan and sect he loved so much he would readily lose a hand to protect.
The way Wei Wuxian tortures Wen Zhuliu by leaving him whole and standing while his charge Wen Chao is torn up bit by bit... The delicious parallels of -- you made me a failure, now see how you like it, watch the one you are meant to protect be torn asunder.
...
Hold on I need a moment...
...
How about some cute stuff?
Wei Wuxian waved him off and then hooked his arm around Jiang Cheng’s shoulders. -- Vol1 Chap4
He put his arm around Jiang Cheng’s shoulders and dragged him over to the veranda railings to sit down.
[...]
Jiang Cheng was quiet, but he seemed to have calmed down a little. Wei Wuxian put an arm around his shoulders again. --Vol3 Chap12
💗Wei Wuxian is always all over the person/s he likes and loves. Jiang Yanli might have been the first to carry Wei Wuxian but Jiang Cheng's were the first shoulders he chose to hang off of. Jiang Cheng stands so straight because he is used to bearing Wei Wuxian's weight! (Also he's of the gentry, and you can make arguments about a rod in places where the sun doesn't shine, but Wei Wuxian benefits regardless!)
Among all the kicks and shoves and rough housing and sparring, they are just so tactile.
Gif from this post.
… Jiang Cheng, walk slower, you’re gonna throw me off.”
Not only did Jiang Cheng want to throw Wei Wuxian off, but he practically wanted to bash his head into the ground to create a human crater. “So fussy even though I’m carrying you!”
“I didn’t tell you to carry me,” Wei Wuxian reasoned.
Jiang Cheng flew into a rage. “If I didn’t carry you, I think you’d hang out at their ancestral hall all day, rolling around on the floor. I can’t afford this embarrassment! Lan Wangji took fifty more strikes than you, but he walked away on his own, and you’re not embarrassed, pretending to be an invalid? I don’t want to carry you anymore. Get the hell off!”
“No, I’m wounded,” Wei Wuxian said. --Vol1 Chap4
💜 Yes I am bringing back this quote from my Jiang Cheng appreciation post.
Hnng, I am trying to be more concise, but like one of the things I also enjoy in romance is how two imperfect people choose to be together and that choice that they make is the gold and solder that fits the pieces together into art. Sure MDZS didn't want to go there even though that's where it started, but to me it will only ever be the story of Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian.
Honestly even Yi City arc is YMSJ | CX to me.
Song Lan = Jiang Cheng
Xiao Xingchen = Wei Wuxian
Baoshan Sanren is involved
Eyes = Golden Core
Baixue Temple = Yunmeng Jiang
GUILT
RUNNING AWAY
Xue Yang = Yuan Qi (Resentment) Modao/Guidao
CORRUPTION
A-Qing = lwj being obsessed with WWX and fighting his use of guidao like a-Qing is distrustful of XY and XXC being friends with him.
XXC kills SL = WWX kills JC (figuratively, JYL's death destroyed the last of the JC from their childhood and all the trust he had in WWX (you cannot tell me that WWX doesn't feel like he caused JYL's death (he couldn't control the corpse that hurt her, he didn't sense the sword coming for him and she had to protect him)))
XXC's suicide and shattered soul is thus my grounds for headcanon to what actually happened to WWX at the First Siege, just sayin'
...
Anyway that's a bunch of canon stuff how about the realm of fanfiction/art?
Meme Format Reasons Twi is unwell about ChengXian:
From this post (yes that's my same edit)
Art Commissioned (So Far, more on the way and some I can't share yet) for ChengXian:
Happy ChengXian with Wei Wuxian in Purple by @robinade
Supportive ChengXian in pretty clothes! by Sugar_Shoal
Some more points for consideration:
💗 Point 1: They can't be normal about each other, due in large part by the people who raised them being unable to be normal about them either.
💗 Point 2: Their opposing ideologies, duties, and priorities make for the best drama, but in a better narrative, would balance each other.
💗 Point 3: Martial sibling romance ➡ tragedy! They fought together! Thought the future would be them together always! Then everything in the narrative tears it apart and all they're left with are the ashes of their choices and the lies that buried them.
💗 Point 4: Every AU where they end up happy instead!! 😭 I can't wait for @twinclownsoflotuspiers next CX Happy Ending event! Thankfully there is also @omiixcx coming up this APR 21st-27th! 👀 Yes that was a promo and prod.
💜 Point 5: ChengXian Pros = Zongzhu-shidi getting to love and protect his shixiong fully and truly without restraint.
🖤 Point 6: XianCheng Pros = Overprotective shixiong merciless in his affections for his Zongzhu-shidi.
💗 Point 7: Ship them for tropes based on miscommunication, acts of service, there was only one bed, boundary issues, genderfuckery, soul bound by choice, bickering, bantering, finishing each other's sentences, married-divorced-never-were, childhood shenanigans, cutting oneself on the other and denying the blood ever was...
...
I am not even getting into the monster/monster-maker aspect, am I? They are both at the same time!
JC makes WWX a monster by being the recipient of the golden core and believing WWX has control of guidao so encourages its use.
WWX makes JC a monster by lying to him until their relationship is broken irrevocably at the Bloodbath and years after JC is known for hunting demonic cultivators.
If you want to get really dark with it, there's also the cannibalistic aspect. WWX becomes a part of JC with the transfer. JC unwittingly consumes WWX and his fortune. The golden core is in the lower dantian, the belly, behind and below the navel. The symbology..! XianCheng is really good for the more gothic themes of the ship.
Let's be real, the vibes are straight up Wuthering Heights in multiple facets. MXTX recently admitted to that novel was one she read so insert conspiracy theory red string board meme here!
...
I spend a lot of time readdressing the themes introduced with the YMSJ dynamic and are exacerbated by the golden core transfer and the way Wei Wuxian handles and fails to handle that situation. I like how destructive they are about each other. There's a lot of potential there to create something together as well, but they were never given the chance.
Ideally, after the Jiang parents were gone and not influencing them anymore, or if they aged up enough to just stand on their own—and Wei Wuxian has his cultivation intact... Well in that scenario they could have easily stayed the Twin Prides/Heroes of Yunmeng and they would have been so happy being in the home they both loved and making the most of their lives one step at a time and arguing the whole way.
...
That's what fanfiction is for! 💜💗🖤
Hey, you made it to the end! I hope that was entertaining at least there is so much going on with this ship sometimes my brain just goes brrrr about it, y'know? Take care! Happy CX thoughts to you!
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still kind of insane to me that people talk shit about jiang cheng without fully understanding what he has been through so lets just understand what his mental state is like BEFORE canon begins:
born via a dysfunctional marriage to be the sect heir
father doesnt care for him, mother expects too much from him/everything he does is not enough
has his three dogs just kicked out randomly with no notice because of some kid he's never heard of by the father who never gave him love and/or attention
said father then favours this kid more than him, to the point that the entire world basically thinks that this kid is biologically your father's son as well, which causes even more family dysfunction
despite this still learns to love this kid as his unofficial brother
works his absolute hardest but is always second-best because his new shixiong is naturally talented
nobody appreciates the hard work he puts in at being second place despite the fact wwx literally doesnt work hard for it
masks his emotions with anger as a coping mechanism to minimise the amount of hurt he feels
ok great so now lets actually take all of the above and apply this mental wellbeing to canon events FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE (keep in mind this is literally what jc is seeing/experiencing because he DOESNT KNOW what the reader knows):
brother is off being the protagonist and getting in trouble and gets their sisters marriage ruined
comes home from a year away and then almost immediately has to go and be a hostage where brother continues his protagonist behaviour
gets trapped and nearly dies in a cave with a 400-year-old monster, is in charge of finding a way out and making sure everyone else escapes
brother and a guy who maybe hates him get stuck behind in the cave so now jiang cheng has to boost it home ON FOOT, without food, to get manpower to rescue them, which takes a minimum of a few days likely without any food or sleep
no appreciation or thanks for doing that since brother was more heroic and killed the 400-year-old monster
gets scolded by his father for being annoyed by this
parents immediately get into another fight about father loving wwx more than jc
because of the above shenanigans their sect is targeted next
tries to defend brother against being whipped to death and/or having his hand cut off by mother
witnesses his entire sect being burned and murdered
loses both his parents
decides to sacrifice himself to save his brother's life, instead of dying he is tortured and has his golden core melted
on top of his inferiority issues, the ONE THING he was expected to do was be the sect leader for the yunmeng jiang. the sect that no longer exists. he is now a sect leader with no sect and no golden core. no shit he wants to mcfuckin die
miraculously gets a new golden core but loses his brother
immediately plunged into a war and he's only like 17
spends 3 months trying to find his brother only for his brother to show up doing the Forbidden Magic and necromancy which is Super Disrespectful in their culture like holy shit what are you doing
brother refuses to use his sword in favour of the Forbidden Magics and kind of keeps undermining jc's orders as sect leader which makes jc look weak in front of all the other sect leaders when he's actively trying to rebuild their sect and be respected as a leader
fights a war for [handwaves] an amount of time, certainly a few years minimum, while watching his brother descend further into Unhealthy Behaviour but brother refuses to do anything or talk about it
ends up lowkey being a war hero
the other three great sects (of which there are now only four) swear brotherhood, leaving out ONLY ymj/jiang cheng, which, what the Fuck dude
is now a teenager who has lost his parents who now has to rebuild his sect from scratch with fuck all money, supplies, and support
brother, who promised to always be at his side helping, is not helping, and in fact is actively just getting drunk and being a nuisance and STILL REFUSING TO SAY WHY
entire cultivation world starts to turn on his brother who is now looking like a loose cannon bc he has Forbidden Magics that are Terrifyingly Powerful and also it has been proven that he does not give a fuck about jc's opinion since he's constantly doing whatever the fuck he wants
literally out of nowhere said brother decides to piss off everyone, start fights, and then KILL JIN GUARDS at a camp and MAKE OFF with like fifty people who are part of the family that he just fought a war against and were responsible for slaughtering his family/sect
go to the terrifying haunted mountain where wwx and the wen remnants are and sees that he's essentially starting a new family with a kid and crops, doesn't seem to care that jiang cheng is still trying to keep the ymj afloat and look like they have any strength
brother is still doing Forbidden Magic and refuses to explain why, and now says he'll secede from the ymj so his bad reputation doesn't reflect on jc like he HASNT BEEN DOING THAT THE WHOLE TIME
so now shixiong wants to just abandon jc completely after jc has lost his parents, had to rebuild everything from scratch, while ignoring the promise he's made their whole life? ok fuck you
jc also can't defend him in public because that would turn the ymj into a target and please keep in mind he is a teenager who was expected to do this ONE THING by his parents and he has poured his heart and soul and blood and tears into rebuilding the ymj and they are So Vulnerable Right Now
uhhh what the fuck suddenly wwx kills their sister's husband ?? bro what the FUCK?
everyone rallies to go and attack wwx for this and again jc literally cant do anything about it and refusing to go will just make everyone assume he's on wwx's side and their sect can't afford to be attacked rn
bro what the fuck now THEIR SISTER IS DEAD?????
oh even better now said brother is DEAD
jiang cheng literally has NO ONE LEFT. no friends. no family. no parents, no siblings, everyone he knew growing up is dead. its literally just him and his infant nephew, who by the way, is living with the sect who are the most powerful and also most likely to be super fucking shady so jc has to tread very carefully
so jc spends over a decade raising his nephew ALONE while trying to make ymj powerful and also hunting/killing demonic cultivators that now p much only exist bc his brother invented/popularised the technique
oh yeah and also this whole time the guy who maybe hated his brother is now like EVEN colder and more antagonistic towards jc like it was HIS FAULT that wwx is dead? get fucked lan wangji you didnt even like the guy (or if this is cql/untamed canon: you literally did nothing either so where do you get off on acting like you're better than jc)
over a decade passes and suddenly his dead brother is alive again and causing more problems and acting like the things he did were not major contributors towards jc's entire family and sect dying
More Political Drama Happens and jc has to manage it
suddenly its revealed that the guy he's been co-raising his nephew with is the major villain who caused the entire world to turn on wwx in the first place oh and also it turns out that the fucking miraculous core jc has IS HIS BROTHER'S, WHO NEVER SAID ANYTHING, AND THIS IS THE REASON HE STARTED THE FORBIDDEN MAGICS AND STOPPED HELPING AROUND THE SECT, but he didnt even BOTHER to tell jiang cheng about it
by the way did i mention this was done via an entirely unconsented experimental surgery
and now the brother of the doctor who did the unconsented experimental surgery is ?? mad at jiang cheng about it ???? like he was supposed to KNOW ABOUT THIS when wwx was KEEPING IT FROM HIM ON PURPOSE???
and now theyre all nearly dying in this dumbass temple - and the ONE family member jc still has is literally being threatened with a garotte
oh cool now jc's brother is saying forget the past let's just leave it all behind !!! as though THAT ISNT JC'S ENTIRE LIFE AND TRAUMA and the ONE THING he EVER wanted was for him, wwx, and jyl to be alive and happy, and now wwx is saying just forget it! like FUCK YOU???? does jc truly mean NOTHING???????
oh and now his brother is off gallivanting with the guy who hated him - who it turns out doesn't hate him - and now they're getting married
and jiang cheng is meant to just. pretend all of this never happened and live his life normally. while wwx is out there. being happy and married.
like... if you can read all of this and still treat jc like he's the bad guy, i'm sorry, but you have literally zero empathy. dude had it probably more rough than any of the other main ensemble cast, and i am including jgy in that, because jgy Made His Choices. jc literally just had to let things happen around him helplessly
#did i make this bc ive had a bunch of jc antis in my mentions? yes#jiang cheng is beautiful and flawed and i love him so fucking much#he is my lil meow meow my gorgeous wife and hes so so so strong#i wouldnt have even gotten through half this shit before i'd kms lmao#jiang cheng#mdzs#cql#the untamed#jiang cheng antis do not interact#seriously you will not convince me otherwise and i will just block you. do not waste your time on me#this includes you mfs who were in my reblogs recently. you know who you are.#jiang cheng defense squad#jiang wanyin#sandu shengshou#mdzs meta#cql meta#also i call wwx his brother in this bc lbr that is the role he played even if he was always shixiong instead of gege#but also i am a chengxian/xiancheng shipper#so looking at this through shipper goggles is somehow MORE painful
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mdzs midnight thoughts
lan wangji does not know that his forehead ribbon truly was askew the second time wei wuxian pointed it out, now does he
as i’ve mentioned before, lan wangji also does not know that wei wuxian had alike scars in his back as a punishment for having saved him
lan sizhui and the rest of the juniors have no idea about the story hanguang-jun and senior wei had together. if they saw the dire situation where they screamed at each other and fought, they’d be really shocked, because: seriously, these two men are so goddamn shamelessly affectionate in a daily basis, how could they ever had conflicts?
jiang yanli, jin zixuan, wei wuxian and the wens’ deaths were basically in the same couple of days. none of them actually know that besides wei wuxian. jiang yanli and the wens think they’ve died to save wei wuxian, but in the end it just spared him some more time. he died not long after anyway.
no one despite lan xichen has any idea why lan wangji was so interested in bunnies out of a sudden, right? he just one day appeared with a ton and they just thought, ‘oh yea, it’s hanguang-jun, we’ve got him covered’
if wei wuxian’s mother saw how much her boy tormented lan qiren and the lan clan in general, from what her reputation precedes, she’d possibly smile proudly
everyone still thinks wei wuxian was the preferred ‘son’ instead of jiang cheng. they think he’s got a privileged childhood for living with the jiangs being treated not as a servant, but as part of the family! they dont know everything he’s been through in that goddamn fucking environment!!
perhaps meng yao would’ve been more empathic towards wei wuxian if he actually got to know his tragic backstory in the streets and with the jiangs. maybe if he got to know him better, before the sunshot campaign events. they were treated unfairly in resembling points, weren’t they, after all?
nie huaisang and wen qing would be like brother and sister if they were to know each other. they never did. in fact, wen qing wasn’t spoken about or to enough.
mentioning the public eye again, for them it’s like wei wuxian was the dishonest and devilish son of the two most famous, righteous rogue cultivators of their age. and considering madam lan’s past actions, lan wangji is the son of a murderer. historically ironic.
wei wuxian is part of jin ling’s family three times. one as himself (martial uncle), second as being in the body of mo xuanyu (biologically an uncle) and third as being the husband of lan wangji, lan xichen’s brother, who’s sworn brother with his uncle (a very distant relative, but a relative likewise, especially since being sworn brothers is such an intimate thing there).
the lan disciples simply saw hanguang-jun, the epitome of righteousness and the king of blank expressions, pick a random gay demonic cultivator one day and let him tag along on his adventures only for them to get married later because, yeah, that’s the yiling patriarch, in fact, why nobody told me my idol had a situationship with the biggest badass villain in history??
from somewhere within, mo xuanyu is oddly satisfied for seeing wei wuxian getting a proper revenge for him and a bunch of other stuff, beyond having very gay sex with the hanguang-jun — can you imagine?! he must think that at least his body served for a good cause!!!
#wei wuxian#lan wangji#the untamed#mdzs#mdzs thoughts#mo dao zu shi#cql#mdzs wei wuxian#mdzs lwj#mdzs novel#mxtx mdzs#mxtx#jiang yanli#jiang zixuan#jiang cheng#the founder of diabolism#the grandmaster of demonic cultivation#wangxian#yiling laozu
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I am curious: how do you think would work realistically a jc and wwx's reconciliation? Have you any meta on them and their relationship?
I'm sorry this took a minute, anon! Work has been frankly chaotic. But I saw an anti-reconciliation post¹ and I have been roused from my post-work stupor.
Unfortunately, you asked me for something I'm incompetent at, which is plotting. (Otherwise I would have already unleashed my ningcheng fic upon the world.) What I can talk about is what I find compelling about potential reconciliation and potential scenarios.
Why do I love a post-canon reconciliation?
Apart from really liking their relationship and finding it compelling—IMO it's the heart of the narrative of the first life—what I actually enjoy about it is what it offers in terms of development for Wei Wuxian.
I read Wei Wuxian as having displaced and projected a lot of his unresolved trauma onto Jiang Cheng. I've talked a little before about my reading of Jiang Cheng as the "bad feelings" sin eater of the Yunmeng Trio—neither Jiang Yanli nor Wei Wuxian feel like they can express deep unhappiness, but Jiang Cheng is bad at hiding his, so in some way it's his job to embody the collective unhappiness of the children of that family system.
But although this makes Wei Wuxian merry and likeable, it's not actually good for anyone, or even sustainable—when he loses control, he really loses control. And his coping skills are extremely self-destructive, as we can see from the post-war downward spiral of drinking and avoidance. I also think his experiences in his childhood (losing his parents and being homeless) plus his wartime experiences gave him some kind of trauma disorder that contributes to his terrible memory, which he's turned into his primary coping mechanism (apart from alcohol). If I Simply Close My Eyes And Run Away, My Bad Feelings Can't Get Me!
But, like, repressing your feelings doesn't work forever. He's compartmentalized his whole first life to function in the second one, but that means giving up on everything and everyone he loved, including the Jiang siblings and Lotus Pier. That's incredibly tragic to me.
Sometimes I think antis are so happy to demonize Jiang Cheng in order to minimize the depth of the loss Wei Wuxian has suffered. If he never loved Jiang Cheng, if they were never close and devoted to one another, if their childhood was an unending misery, then wouldn't Wei Wuxian be much freer in the present?
But what I think has happened is that the loss is so huge that it's completely terrifying and threatening. So are the feelings around killing Jin Zixuan, Jiang Yanli's death, and the death of Wen Qing and the Wen remnants. It's too much, so he blocks it out or, in some cases, projects it onto Jiang Cheng.
Of course, Jiang Cheng will never forgive him, because he irreparably ruined Jiang Yanli's life and then she died trying to save him and Jin Ling became an orphan. It's all his fault; it can't be forgiven; he might as well give up on it...
Jiang Cheng is obviously very angry and upset with him, it's true. But you can see how projecting his guilt and shame over his actions onto Jiang Cheng and then running away from Jiang Cheng is also a way for him to escape his guilt and shame over what happened to Jiang Yanli. (And to escape all the repressed resentment he has for Jiang Cheng because of the core transfer.²)
But there are two tragic elements of this approach. One, that by doing this he yields up any possible relationship with Jiang Cheng, and with the Jiang Sect, because by all means Wei Wuxian must escape him in order to outrun his terrible feelings. Two, that it's another coping mechanism that distorts the reality of the situation, which is that they were all swept up in power games beyond their capacity to manage, and they did their best—the Jiang siblings, the Wen siblings, Jin Zixuan, and Wei Wuxian—and it still went badly for everyone except the Jin Sect.
I don't think he can confront that yet. But I do think that Wei Wuxian feels very safe with Lan Wangji, and sometimes a safe and supportive relationship can provide the resources to do things you didn't think you could do before.
Can you imagine a different conversation, that begins with the bald acknowledgement of failure and wrongdoing³? "I never meant for all of that to happen. I did what I thought was right, but I never thought Jiang Yanli would be harmed, and I didn't intend to kill Jin Zixuan. I am so sorry. I miss her."
GIVE THE CATHARSIS TO ME. GIVE IT HERE.
A Wei Wuxian who has reached a point where he's capable of that accountability and vulnerability is delicious to me. A Wei Wuxian who can get there can return to Lotus Pier and rebuild a relationship with the living sect and his living sect brother.
How could it happen?
The trick is how to get there, 'cause it's like trying to herd cats where one cat is mortally afraid of facing the second and the other one has betrayal trauma and abandonment issues. But the cats love each other! They do!
I don't see Jiang Cheng initiating. I see him as being more open to a reconciliation, now that he knows why Wei Wuxian did what he did, but I see him as being profoundly afraid of trapping people in relationship with him or inflicting himself on people who don't want him around. (Not, like, for politics. In that arena I assume he's unpleasant when necessary to great effect.)
Fortunately, Wei Wuxian can be led if you're cunning enough to do it and you bait the trap with something good (see the plot of MDZS for Nie Huaisang's very successful demonstration of this principle). He also will increase pursuit if you dangle and withdraw the bait.
The question, of course, is what makes good bait for catching Wei Wuxian. Some options:
Option 1: murder mystery. Someone dies in an exciting way that involves Jiang Cheng. (Wei Wuxian will involve himself, dude loves a murder mystery.) It could be in the Jiang Sect or the Jin Sect; if it involves Jin Ling, Jiang Cheng will jump in with a swiftness.
Option 2: Jiang Cheng marriage rumours. Doesn't even have to involve unsavoury rumous about the potential wife; Jiang Cheng getting married without him (like Jiang Yanli) would dredge up some feelings, I think.
Option 3: Jiang Cheng tragic illness or curse rumours. You better be sure it was in a past life, cause it looks like this one might be over soon!
Option 4: Forced together time (due to a night hunt or a kidnapping, etc.). It's time for the getting along shirt!
To borrow from SVSSS, you might need a scenario-pusher for it to happen. But the world of MDZS is rife with these opportunities, and cultivators can live a very long time. So there's hope yet!
Footnotes:
1. This is a perfectly reasonable viewpoint to come to by the end of the novel. It's simply one I don't share.
2. See this passage from the confrontation in the Guanyin Temple:
"It wasn’t something he liked to reminisce about. He didn’t want to be reminded again and again of what it felt like when his core was cut out or what price he had to pay. If this were exposed in the past, he’d most likely laugh and comfort Jiang Cheng … But now, he indeed didn’t have the strength left to put up such a confident, nonchalant pretense.
From the bottom of his heart, he knew he wasn’t so indifferent about it after all.
Was it really that easy to move on from such a thing?
Of course not." (Chapter 103, "Hatred," ExR translation)
3. I saw a different post complaining about Wei Wuxian apologizing to Jiang Cheng in reconciliation scenarios, and I just, like, he kicked off a political firestorm that ended in the death of Jiang Yanli and her husband. This is completely separate from the non-consensual surgery and all the lying he was doing about that. He owes him multiple different apologies! And Jiang Cheng should also apologize to him! That's why they apologize to each other in the Temple, because they know they hurt each other! The point of an apology in an intimate relationship is to connect with the person you are apologizing to in order to repair the relationship, and the Temple was not the time, which is why they need a private do-over! It's not humiliation, it's intimacy, connection, and repair. How do y'all live your lives.
3.5 Also, imagine it to be more in-character than that.
#anon asks#jiang cheng#wei wuxian#yunmeng shuangjie#chengxian#yunmeng shuangjie reconciliation#mdzs +#meta#least-carpet thoughts
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Post-Canon Fics in MDZS...
You know, what would make post-canon fics great? If they adhered to canon! This post is honestly just a list of character tropes, and plot tropes I find incessantly OOC, replaced by plot tropes I wish we hyped up more.
1. Yunmeng Bros Reconciliation
There are plenty of reasons this will never happen. Firstly, Jiang Wanyin will not apologize to Wei Wuxian further beyond the apology that he has made in Guanyin Temple, because to apologize, you need to see "wrong" in your actions and regret them. Jiang Cheng doesn't have a similar morality index as Wei Wuxian and their beliefs have always been different. Not to mention Jiang Cheng is inherently bitter since he was young; following down the path of his mother. His first instinct when someone is being praised is so squash them down.
Secondly, Wei Wuxian will not apologize to Jiang Cheng beyond the apology of breaking that promise that only Jiang Cheng was left holding onto - a culmination of their broken dreams and desires, a marking of them being a generation of war.
The only thing both of them have in common is their love for Jin Ling and a shared, painful past - a past that Wei Wuxian wants to move on from, a past that Jiang Cheng is simultaneously rooted in, and moved away from.
Note: that this, I am speaking for is MDZS canon. Not CQL, as well, Jiang Cheng didn't directly kill those Wens which is the tipping point.
Replaced by: Loving Jin Ling
In the MDZS Novel, we go from seeing Jiang Cheng become increasingly abusive and violent towards Jin Ling as the stakes worsen and Jin Ling becoming annoyed and having arguments with him, not agreeing with his thinking.
We also see, Wei Wuxian, being the one to push Jin Ling to talk to Jiang Cheng in the Iron Hook Extra. We see Wei Wuxian being disgustingly affectionate towards Jin Ling, and Jin Ling being a tsundere about it and promising to himself that from the next time, he'll stick around Wei Wuxian in night hunts, implying these two will be consistently in each other's lives.
We also learn that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji take Sizhui out on night-hunts (a family). And that Sizhui and Jin Ling go on night-hunts together. Also, that Wen Ning often joins their night-hunts.
So, hear me out, post-canon fics revolving around this strange, muddly, messy support system and family that Jin Ling has amassed.
Yunmeng bros reconciliation is never going to happen; too much interaction might worsen their tentative mutual ignorance of each other. Wei Wuxian, who's always pushed himself into other's personal spaces, is fine with just ensuring Jiang Cheng is okay. Distance is better than proximity.
But what plausibly might happen is Jin Ling forming deeper connections with his scattered, support system. Jin Ling might open up to Jiang Cheng for help with this or that, as Wei Wuxian has advised. Jiang Cheng might learn how to not be emotionally abusive or harsh and show the love he has for Jin Ling in better ways. Jin Ling will probably end up getting closer to Wei Wuxian and Sizhui and understanding just so many things about, everything. He might be supported by Hanguang-jun.
He might grow up to be the best Jin sect leader there ever was.
2. Wei Wuxian navigating through a world where everyone hates him, withering away.
This is, not only one of the saddest post-canon takes, but also very OOC. It might not make sense what I'm talking about so I'll list out common tropes I put under this categorization:
a) Wei Wuxian has terrible self esteem
b) He feels undeserving of Lan Wangji's love and keeps him at a distance emotionally by seducing him for sex instead
c) He has a childlike innocence, he goes out and hears everyone talking shit about him and stays indoor most of the time
d) He is mistreated by Lan clan and Lan Wangji is oblivious to it all
And such. I definitely understand why these tropes are so popular. It feeds into a particular sort of misery but there is a lot that it ignores:
a) Wei Wuxian firstly doesn't have terrible self esteem. If he did, he wouldn't have made it this far (coughs, the big age of 21 or 22). People ignore the fact that Wei Wuxian is a strong protagonist. He is proud, and aware of his worth. He never plays down his talents. He understands quickly the perspective of other people, and already knows that the people who talk more, do less.
In his first life, he went through being coreless and powerless, hated by all, but still standing up for stuff he believed in and lounging and drinking. He's not afraid to make others uncomfortable with his presence. That is a part of his charm. He cares for the opinions of only few people - and those few love him.
b) The one where he's emotionally distant towards Lan Wangji is the one I possibly hate the most. Especially because these sorts of fics often have him distracting Lan Wangji from his bouts of worthlessness and insecurity by his body, and Lan Wangji jumps straight into action.
Lan Wangji knows Wei Wuxian well enough that he offers comfort to Wei Ying even when he doesn't realize he needs it; like hugging him in Intrustion extra when they are on the topic of servants. Wei Wuxian can read Lan Wangji well, and so can Lan Wangji. Both of them have a relationship built on mutual trust and understanding. Wei Wuxian isn't sticking around with the Lan Clan and the jingshi because it's what Lan Wangji wants, but it's also what Wei Wuxian wants.
Also, Wei Wuxian doesn't feel undeserving of Lan Wangji. He knows he has caused Lan Wangji a lot of pain, intentionally or not, and is dedicated to making him happy, and being in love. It was all in his Guanyin Temple confession - their relationship is not out of gratefulness or anything like that.
c) Wei Wuxian is innocent at his soul, but he's not a child. He knows what the world thinks and he doesn't care. He doesn't expect the world to talk nicely about him; he probably doesn't even hear half the chatter, and even if be acknowledges it, it doesn't need to emotionally hurt him. Unrelatable? Yes. But that's how his character is like.
And if he ever is hurt or surprised, he's going to seek comfort. Act childish, ask to be pampered, etc.
d) THIS one is so... We see Wei Wuxian stepping into the Lan Clan. One day later, he's sitting next to Lan Wangji in a banquet, accepted as his cultivation partner. Lan Qiren is definitely against his presence. But like, sincerely, how long will that go on when we know that Wei Wuxian is the one who takes Lan juniors to night hunts everyday? We also see Wei Wuxian acting independently with juniors onto missions where assistance from the Lan Clan was requested (Iron Hook extra) without any Lan Wangji or anyone else. He even has a jade pendant, just four days after settling in. Lan Qiren has to hear his moans like... every night. A few hours in and he's talking to a Lan female cultivator?
Lan Wangji himself has injured thirty three Lan elders and been punished by the worst punishment, probably, ever assigned. Beyond Lan Qiren's glares and admonishments, I sincerely doubt anyone can do or say much. What I don't doubt is that Wei Wuxian is loveable and makes friends easily, and that despite everything, he's Lan Wangji's cultivation partner. A teacher. Accesses all Lan cottages and buildings. And now an addition to the Lan family.
And as for what the general people speak, perhaps the Yiling Laozu will always be a figure that haunts children bed time stories. But Senior Wei, and Hanguang-jun's husband, and Wei Wuxian - is shown to be a figure that is loved, respected by many.
The whole of cultivation world TRIED to kill him (Second Seige). They were embarrassed. Only like 20 people were actually there to kill him.
These 20 people will probably never be able to touch a hair on his head.
The WHOLE of cultivation world was saved by Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and the Wens' remains. Stories always travel fast, don't they? The cultivation world has found their newest figure to hate - and it's not Wei Wuxian. Not just that, even the one with the most hostility towards him (Jiang Cheng) didn't DISALLOW him from coming to Lotus Pier where in front of him, they transferred crimes previously "done" by him to Jin Guangyao (like the death of Jin Zixuan - let's not fool ourselves and think anyone other than Jin Ling cares about the truth). Not just that, the cultivation world asked "Master Wei" for help.
Wei Wuxian didn't come back to life only to live a terrible, hated, agonizing life. Most people don't care. He doesn't care. Those who care are not strong enough. Those he cares about love him.
Replaced by: Wei Wuxian navigating through life without heavy burdens on his shoulder
Much of the fics focus on the "burden" of the trauma he's been through his life in the fics. Very few focus on the lack of burdens. Like... the guy is now well fed. His feelings are returned. There's nobody in danger. He has a body that can grow a core again. He can slowly pick up Suibian. He can learn new tunes on Chenqing. He can hang out with Wen Ning. He can think back to fond memories. He can paint, read, travel, teach, have great ideas and tap 100% into his actual personality.
He can process stuff he's been through in a healthier way. Like, I don't know, that intrusion scene where LWJ immediately hugs him when the topic of servants come is so important to me, because, it makes me wonder what sorts of conversations they have had. He now gets pampered and indulged - and we all know he loves it, but often the portrayals of his thoughts about being loved is very self critical which isn't canon. And it would be really cool for Wei Wuxian to have just, time, on his hand.
He was barely free for a year and changed the ways of the cultivation society forever. Without much resources or money. Now, the possibilities are endless. He can not only travel, but buy expensive stuff and have a bunch of Lan texts and a very educated and smart husband to help him invent more.
3. CQL Shade but Post-Canon Fics where Wangxian is too busy with responsibilities for each other ???
Why are you guys hurting yourselves? Like, there's only a certain amount of these sorts of fic that's acceptable until it becomes a sort of widely accepted canon.
I think it definitely has to with Chief Cultivator Lan Wangji. My poor baby, his romantic heart, extremely concise replies, and disdain for worldly matters (HIS LITERAL NAME IS WANGJI. HIS SWORD IS BICHEN) was ignored in the favour of making him a cold, busy husband who's sorting minor clan disputes, surrounded by length drabbles and politics by those that once killed his husband.
This is just so awful for me. In the intrustion extra, even after dressing up early, with a guest waiting outside (Master Qin), he lets the guest WAIT than wake Wei Ying up (who sleeps until noon).
If he became chief cultivator the world would collapse. If Wei Ying held onto his robes a little too tightly, he wouldn't even step out of the Jingshi.
Like he told Wei Ying, "I've been damned since long ago." Lan Wangji is a pure romantic. He's never going to be too busy for Wei Wuxian, or too distant, or too cold.
Like, guys just no. Let's write post-canon Wangxian. Not Madam Yu-Jiang Fengmian inspired Wangxian.
#yunmeng nos#canon jiang cheng#wei wuxian#no jiang bros reconciliation#mo dao zu shi#mdzs#wei wuxian does not have a low self esteem#on the topic of post canon fics#jin ling#lan wangji#lan zhan#wei ying#post canon#wangxian#mdzs meta#meta#mdzs essay
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Soo, funny story, turns out celestial mountains can move? So JC finds BSSR and instead of receiving his brother's core and tragedy ensuing, he gets his core fixed, has an illuminating weekend with his brother's extended family, and maybe comes back with backup.
ao3
Untamed
"All right, you all know your parts," Wei Wuxian said, pacing back and forth in a tight circle. "We've got everything we need for the transfer. We're ready."
"We are exactly as ready as we were the last time you said that," Wen Qing said waspishly. Despite her harsh tone, due was clearly nervous, alternating between fiddling with her tools and fingering the veiled hat Wei Wuxian had given her to hide her true identity - the story Wei Wuxian had spun to throw Jiang Cheng off the scent of what was really going to happen would only work if he sincerely believed that she was the fabled Baoshan Sanren. "He won't know a thing. Stop fretting."
"I'm not fretting -"
"Why isn't he here yet?" Wen Ning wondered. "It's not that long a path up the mountain. Even if he was blindfolded, shouldn't he be here already?"
Wei Wuxian started, then exchanged worried glances with Wen Qing. They hurried to the overlook point of the cliff, but no matter how they looked, they couldn't see a single trace of Jiang Cheng, not even his shadow.
-
"Uuuuuh no you're not," the lady said when Jiang Cheng told her he was Wei Wuxian. "You don't - you don't have the right face for it, okay? Cangse Sanren was a bit more - her face - there was this indefinable sort of - listen, I'm not possessed with an overwhelming desire to smack you right now so you can’t be him."
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Jiang Cheng found himself having to swallow down a snort of agreement - Wei Wuxian really did have that indefinable sort of quality.
"I could take after my father?" he suggested, though he'd mostly given it up as hopeless already.
Sure enough, the lady let out a bark of laughter - it sounded oddly like a bird's call - and said, "No way. Not that much! Anyway, why does it matter who you are?"
At that point, because Jiang Cheng was exhausted and hurting and blindfolded and still managed to see all his barely-resurrected hopes dying in front of him regardless, he burst into tears.
"Oh no," Baoshan Sanren said, sounding distinctly alarmed in a way that - if Jiang Cheng wasn't currently in the middle of humiliating himself - would have made him laugh because of how similar it was to Wei Wuxian being confronted by an emotion. "No, no, no, don't- please - I hate crying - just tell me what the matter is - someone help he's still crying -"
Eventually Jiang Cheng managed to squeeze the whole stupid story out, aided by the kind hands and helpful (or not so helpful) translations being offered by Baoshan Sanren's disciples.
"You can help him, right?" the littlest one asked, tugging on Jiang Cheng's sleeve defensively. He was twelve or thirteen or something - the others called him Xiao-shidi, so that was either his surname or a nickname - but he was a sweetheart that reminded Jiang Cheng of his sister. "Shifu, you'll help him, won't you?"
"I'm talented but no one can make golden cores out of nothing," Baoshan Sanren protested, but the little Xiao started crying, too. "No! No tears! Stop that -"
"But it's just so sad," he wailed, and then one of the other disciples, a girl who had a manner of speaking that suggested Wei Wuxian only tougher by far, gave a loud and thoughtful sniff.
"Don't you dare," Baoshan Sanren hissed. "Don't give me that, you're not even upset! You don't cry over anything, you little beast. You're just trying to bully your shifu!"
"Is it working?" the girl asked, sounding amused. "I could squeeze out some for the cause."
"It's all right, you don't have to," Jiang Cheng said, hating how his voice was still all watery and breaking even though he was finding this pretty funny. "If there's nothing she can do, there's no point, just leave her alone -"
"That's worse," Baoshan Sanren wailed. "No! Not the self-sacrificing routine!”
It wasn’t a routine!
“That’s the problem! I can handle everything but sincerity - ahhh, I hate this. All right, all right, you win, you brats. I'll fix him."
"But you said -" Jiang Cheng started to say.
"I know what I said," she cut him off, grumbling. "And I can't grow one from nothing. But – and I’m going to tell you in advance, this will be unpleasant – I can go get yours from the moment before you lost it and give it back to you."
"What? How does that work? I don't understand..."
"Time doesn't work right on the mountain. It's always the same time, even when it's not; that's why no one can come back after they've left," the girl said, sounding arrogant and carefree in a most familiar way, and Jiang Cheng's grief-fuzzed brain made a connection there that was so appalling that it couldn't possibly be true. "You up for some pain and agony if it gets you your core back, my friend?"
"Y-yeah? I mean, yes. Anything."
"All right," Baoshan Sanren said. Her raspy voice had turned into even more of a croak: it was like listening to a crow try to speak. Also, Jiang Cheng couldn't see, having not removed the useless blindfold, but he had the strangest feeling that she was smaller than before - he'd already assumed she was a wizened old thing, but for a moment she seemed no larger than a especially plump chicken. "Hold on tight, boy - here we go!"
-
"I greatly appreciate all your efforts on behalf of the Sunshot Campaign," Nie Mingjue said, and Wei Wuxian wondered if his greatest strength as the grand commander of the unified forces of the cultivation world wasn’t his saber or his command but his ability to sound completely sincere. "Murdering Wen-dogs by the score, going after critical targets, providing intelligence, even getting Mistress Wen and her brother to defect...but have you considered giving it a rest?"
Wei Wuxian choked.
It wasn't that he was surprised by the request - he'd heard it whispered for a while that he was doing too much, too fast, too viciously. He'd hunted down Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu and harried them into the Burial Mounds, using the power there to tear them to pieces despite their army - if it hadn't been for Wen Qing helping him, he might have torn himself apart in the process. It wasn't healthy for someone with a golden core to use resentful energy the way he did, she had explained. She at one point told him that she was essentially using a bucket to scoop it out of his meridians like a boat that had taken on water.
Yet he kept using it - hunting squads, battalions of Wen, supporting the other sects from the shadows, months of effort - and never mind the worried expressions on Wen Qing's face, on Wen Ning's face, even Lan Wangji, who had just turned up at their camp one day and refused to leave...no, Wei Wuxian wasn't surprised by the request.
He just hadn't expected it to be phrased like that.
"I can't," he said, recovering a moment later. "As long as there are Wen-dogs out there - from the other side, I mean - the Jiang sect hasn't been avenged."
"I know that," Nie Mingjue said with...admirable restraint, actually. Wei Wuxian cringed a little as he remembered that Nie Mingjue was involved in this war for the purpose of avenging his father's death at Wen Ruohan’s hands. "But that's not your job. It's time to stop playing lone wolf and return to the sect that raised you. If nothing else, Jiang Wanyin could use a right hand man."
Wei Wuxian stared. He'd searched furiously for Jiang Cheng without success, days and nights stretching out endlessly only for hope to fade and be replaced by a frantic need for revenge; it had been that desperation, mixed with guilt over losing her prospective patient, that had convinced Wen Qing to officially defect. And now Nie Mingjue was saying - what? That he, Wei Wuxian, was the one missing in action?
That he knew where Jiang Cheng was?
"...he's been recruiting to resurrect the Jiang sect for the last month down by Qingjiao. Did you not know?"
Wei Wuxian hadn't. Jiang Cheng was - fine? All right? How could he have gotten to Qingjiao in the state he'd been in?
And...recruiting? How could someone without a golden core recruit? Nie Mingjue didn't seem to know about the loss, or he would have mentioned it, surely - everyone would be talking about it - had Jiang Cheng found some other way? But how? And why hadn't he come to find Wei Wuxian?
Well, in fairness, Wei Wuxian wasn't making himself easy to find, traveling in secret with only his few companions. But still...
"He really does need support," Nie Mingjue said. "He has Mistress Jiang, but she's not the martial type, and that little sworn brother he picked up from who-knows-where might be a brilliant talent and a hero for the ages in the making, but Baoshan Sanren's disciple or not, the kid is still only half-grown -"
"Baoshan Sanren's what?!"
"Jiang Wanyin's little sworn brother. His name is Xiao Xingchen, and he's twelve. Maybe fourteen. Far too young, in my opinion -"
"I'm sorry," Wei Wuxian interrupted. "I have to go now. Right now."
-
"About time you showed up," Jiang Cheng said, though his snide words were belied by the wide grin on his face and the way he pulled Wei Wuxian into a fierce hug. "I heard you've been doing wonders in the three months and a day I was gone, and in the month since I’ve been back...you got those Wen to defect, invented a new type of cultivation...what's this I hear about you and Lan Wangji sharing a camp, huh? I thought he hated you."
"Uh, no, turns out that was a misunderstanding," Wei Wuxian - who was currently sharing a lot more than a camp with Lan Wangji once that misunderstanding had been cleared up after Wen Qing had lost patience with what she termed their 'ridiculous mutual pining' - said blankly. It was probably just his imagination, but he fancied that he could feel the golden core under Jiang Cheng's skin, shining bright, as familiar as his own. If he hadn't known what he knew, he would never have thought... "What happened? How did you...?"
"Baoshan Sanren fixed it! Just like you said...though you went to such lengths, with the blindfold and pretending to be you and all that. Apparently it wasn’t necessary at all!"
"Uh, right. My…mistake."
Jiang Cheng pulled him into another hug, nice and tight, and whispered into his ear, "You had better not have been planning to transfer me yours, you bastard."
Wei Wuxian blanched. How had he figured it out..?
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Jiang Cheng said, releasing him and rolling his eyes. "You're a lot like your mother, you know?"
"My mother? What are you talking about?"
Jiang Cheng's crooked grin was the most wonderful thing Wei Wuxian had ever seen.
"It's a long story," he said. "Probably as long as yours, for explaining everything you've been up to for the past few months...but we'll have time to talk it over. Baoshan Sanren is big fan of talking things over, almost to the point of ridiculousness, but I think she has a point, even if none of her disciples agree. It's made me feel better these past few months, anyway, talking about what happened, whether with the Wen sect or even just frustrations I had growing up..."
He laughed at Wei Wuxian's dumbfounded expression.
"Like I said," he said. "Long story. Come meet little Xiao, will you? We're going to need to work together and put in all our efforts to keep him out of trouble -"
"He's a brat, then?"
"No, worse: he's an idealist. You'll understand when you meet him."
Wei Wuxian let himself be dragged along by Jiang Cheng's eagerness, and he was about halfway across the new Jiang sect camp before it suddenly struck him that this was really happening. That Jiang Cheng was back, alive and healthy beyond Wei Wuxian's wildest dreams, whole once more in both mind and body - that they were side by side once more, finally back on track to fulfill his childish promise of them being the Twin Heroes to match the Twin Jades - that his lies had somehow transmuted to truth, and it was all resolved without sacrifice...
The first smile in what felt like months stole across Wei Wuxian's face.
"All right," he said, laughing and slapping Jiang Cheng on the back as hard as he could. "Show me this new little brother of yours - I can't wait to spoil him rotten!"
"Tease him to death, you mean!"
"No, no, I can be good! Wen Qing has this little cousin, an orphan, I've been helping out with him - I have child-rearing skills -"
"I don't believe a word of it. Is it Mistress Wen or Second Master Lan that does all the work?"
"...Wen Ning, mostly, but that's not the point..."
Life, Wei Wuxian thought to himself, was good once more.
#mdzs#wei wuxian#wen qing#jiang cheng#baoshan sanren#cangse sanren#xiao xingcheng#nie mingjue#my fic#my fics#short old ficlets that I keep forgetting to post
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I’ll never shut up about how much I respect MXDX as a writer, she’s just THAT amazing and writes beautifully. She’s so good at writing different kind of character developments depending on the age and it’s particularly flagrant in MDZS.
Im just so found of how in the present of the story all the adults, the ones that were old enough during the whole Wei Wuxian ascension, Burial Mounds etc etc, have such deep rooted opinions. They lived through what WWX did and will never forget, they’ll teach the younger generations how dangerous and bad him and his cultivation were and that if he ever came back around the world needs to reunite to beat him again.
But ! Some juniors (and I’m mainly talking about Sizhui, Jingyi and Jin Ling since they’re the main ones) have been in direct contact with Wei Wuxian for a fairly good amount of time. They didn’t know it was him, either not suspecting it could be him at all or just not believing it could be WWX in Mo Xuanyu’s body.
They’re still so very young, just about 15, and they are still capable to build their own opinions and views on things. Despite their educations young people tend to trust what they see since they don’t have experience, what they’re seeing right now is what will be considered and experience and proof when they grow up. As for the adults they only believe what they saw in the past, what was their own experiences when they were young themselves.
Sizhui never doubted Wei Wuxian. When they all got kidnapped and WWX, Lan Zhan and Wen Ning came to save them he knew deep in his heart that Wei Wuxian would have never done it. He saw with his own eyes how he took care of them, how he saved them time and time again, how he put himself in danger for them. He’s still young and not yet entirely influenced by the elders, he still has a mind of his own and now that he witnessed the good, caring and mischievous side of WWX he has his own strong opinion (seeing Lan Zhan trust him so utterly must have helped a lot too).
Jin Ling is in a very dire position compared to the Lan Juniors. His parents are dead because of Wei Wuxian and his uncle hates him more than anyone. He grew up seeing the hatred that Jiang Cheng has for WWX, he was educated to brandish his sword to him if he ever came across him. But just like Sizhui and Jingyi he saw Wei Wuxian with his own two eyes, he saw him tease him and take care of him, he witnessed how despite what terrible thing he did in the past he still has a good heart deep within him and that guilt and grief are still driving him.
He is torn between what he was taught to believe, what his family taught him about someone that he should consider as the devil himself and what his heart itself learned and believes, that in the end he is the one that saved him and took care of him when his own uncle would have threatened to beat the shit out of him.
Wei Wuxian is a good mentor, as mischievous as he can be he also knows how to teach (surprisingly). He makes experiences into lessons in a very endearing way for the juniors, he teaches them through life itself and not through oh so boring lessons.
The juniors, no matter how much they mock him and insult him, appreciate him. He’s a good person, he’s social and nice to have around, he makes everything more bearable for everyone. They were able through their own experiences with him to build their own judgment. Either it will align with their mentor/family or it will not, but no matter what they’ll never fully hate Wei Wuxian the way the elders do.
#mdzs analysis#mdzs wwx#mdzs fandom#mxtx mdzs#mdzs#mo dao zu shi#grandmaster of demonic cultivation#wei ying#wei wuxian#lan sizhui#jin ling#lan jingyi#lan wangji#lan zhan#jiang cheng
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Sometimes it feels like the main message that a lot of people miss in MDZS in their leaps to justify one character’s hatred for another or attempting to remove them from the world because they will never be at peace until that person is completely eradicated, is that it poses a question of “how much blood does it take to satisfy the anger? How much death is necessary to live? How much pain that you want to inflict is truly equal to what you have suffered? Where is the line between justice, vengeance and murder?”
MDZS does not have our modern sensibilities and laws for such a thing, and it’s on purpose. It’s set in a time where there is no emperor or god onscreen to merit out justice or retribution, it’s all in the hands of the mortals. They get to decide how much is enough.
And the thing that so many people miss is that for almost every character (and I will include Wei Wuxian in this with a caveat) go too far at some point. Sure, the desire to kill your brother’s killer is understandable. But what about the people who you harm in that path? Nie Huaisang does end up taking down Jin Guangyao, but the cost is that Qin Su also dies, destroyed even before her death by the reality of what the men around her will stoop to do out of pride and anger, what they will use her for in the process.
Why do I stand so firmly against the people who say that Jin Guangyao and Jiang Cheng had their reasons, that they were right to go as far as they did? Because the text itself does take the time to show us what is reasonable in that world and what is greedy, wrathful, unjustified.
Jiang Cheng has every right to hate the men who invaded his home and killed his family. In the natures of their society it is not wrong for him to step him and take revenge against them. The supervisory camps in Yunmeng were built on the blood of his people. I have no qualm with him removing them from his land, even though it ends in their deaths.
But that does not mean that his righteous war should extend to all who bear the Wen name and that is where the gap comes in. Wen Chao had him tortured and his golden core crushed. By the rules of that world as extolled by Xiao Xingchen when talking to Xue Yang, it is reasonable to take back what was done to him in blood there.
But Wen Ning is not Wen Chao. Wen Ning risked his life, his sister’s life and ultimately ended up contributing to Wen Ruohan’s campaign toppling and ending in dust because when he was offered the choice to either stick by his family or stick by his morals, he chose the former. The Wen’s attack on Lotus Pier was wrong. The lives they took were unjustified. Their actions were deplorable.
By standing up and protecting Jiang Cheng in the way he does, smuggling him back out of Lotus Pier and hiding him away from the Wen who would kill him, he is declaring that his own family is in the wrong, and instead makes a sacrifice that could have had him and his sister killed should Wen Ruohan ever find out about it.
Jiang Cheng knows this. This is where the right of hatred falls flat. This is where his righteous anger becomes a hunger for blood that will never be satiated.
Now I’m not saying that Jiang Cheng should hug and kiss Wen Ning for everything. There are limits to what humans can endure, even ones as good as Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. But he refuses to ever acknowledge what he knows. He refuses to ever act in kind. He owes a debt and he knows it. And he instead not only refuses to pay it by not necessarily taking them into his lands, but even acknowledging that they did anything. He buries them with their family and his words. He lets his hatred overwhelm all else.
He was not powerless at the end of the war. Far from it, in fact! He had a sect that was still rebuilding its forces, but it had been three years since the start of the war so it can’t be tiny anymore, and he had Wei Wuxian with the Yin Hufu. The only two necromancers in the world, who are powerful enough to hold whole barriers on their own. This is the whole point of the display at Phoenix Mountain. Wei Wuxian is showing the other three great clans and all the smaller clans that it does not matter how many of them they have, Yunmeng Jiang has him and while they have him, they are untouchable. This is a known fact.
Jiang Cheng would have faced no long term retribution from doing anything. He could have simply let Wei Wuxian pull them out of the Jin indoctrination camp and take them through Yunmeng to somewhere else and after some grumbling and some pleading on Jin Guangshan’s part, nothing would have happened. Wei Wuxian is too strong and the other clans are too aware of that. No one was safer than Yunmeng Jiang at the end of the war.
That is why the Jin play off of his jealousy and anger and get him to throw aside Wei Wuxian. It is literally their only option.
This brings me to the other half of my discussion, which is where does the bloodshed end? What is enough spilled blood?
If Jiang Cheng hates Wei Wuxian enough to try to kill him, then this should be a vengeance that ends with Wei Wuxian’s death. Death ends all obligations. We owe no more money, we settle no more debts, we leave the shackles of the living in life and the dead move on as do the living.
So why then is it acceptable that Jiang Cheng spends the next thirteen years killing people that remind him of Wei Wuxian? That the moment that Wei Wuxian does return, his first action is to try and kill him again? That he tortures him multiple times and it is only Lan Wangji’s presence and Jin Ling’s quick thinking that save him on those occasions? By all rights including our modern ones, Wei Wuxian should be free and Jiang Cheng should have moved on in thirteen years. Thirteen years is long enough to raise a child almost to adulthood, but Jiang Cheng clings to a hatred that has had no outlet for that long and continues to try and demand Justice that he has already received.
Where is the line? When is enough? Why does the blood of innocents have to be paid too for the hunger of the mighty? Wen Ruohan subtly assassinated Nie Mingjue’s father, but Nie Mingjue decided that there was only to be death for anyone related to the Wen. They didn’t have to do anything, even if they tried to stop him it wouldn’t be enough. Only the death of every Wen would slake that hunger, and then in death when he is driven only by that hunger, only the death of every Jin. Including the ones who weren’t even old enough to hold a sword at the time he died. Jin Ling is as good as Jin Guangyao for Nie Mingjue to kill. All that matters is that he’s connected. All that matters is that there is another body to feed the never ending hate that fills him.
Xiao Xingchen says that for Xue Yang to take a finger or an arm from the man who harmed him as a child is reasonable. Even to kill him if that is truly the only way to end his hatred. But what is a finger to an entire family? “Because it is mine!” Declares Xue Yang and this is where the crux of it lies. “It is my hatred, it is my anger. It is my right to kill anyone because I am angry and I refuse to let it go.” This is the trait that Jiang Cheng, Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang all share. “I am angry and I am hurt so it is my right to do as I will and no one should take that away from me or I will hurt them too.”
This is why they are antagonists. This is why two of the three of them end up dead. This is why Jiang Cheng staying his hand in the temple and Wei Wuxian’s mercy towards him is the only reason that he survives the end. You can’t ask the world to feed your endless hatred. Eventually you will hurt the wrong person and by the very laws that you and the world have set, will come for you. There is no such thing as bloodshed without pain. There are people who will miss those who are gone. And not all of them will be as good as Lan Wangji. Not all of them will move forward in their lives and ignore you. Sometimes the oriole will stalk you in the shadows, waiting for the moment the praying mantis slips up. The wheel ever turns and those on the bottom eventually rise up.
Now as for Wei Wuxian, we see a different answer on him from the others and this is where his morals really come into play. Cause at first he does exact justice for those lost at Lotus Pier. Steps in which the narrative does not fully condemn him, but suggests lightly that it is the sort of thing that he does not linger in, as well as he himself looks back and decides that maybe he did go too far then. Maybe he did do too much in the name of anger and justice. Three months after the event he is willing to kill and torture Wen Zhuliu and Wen Chao. But three years later he looks at the members of the family that killed his and goes “I do not love you. But this is not right. You do not deserve this. I will not let you suffer this any longer even though your name is Wen.”
For Wei Wuxian, the line ends at the end of war, at the deaths of those who directly caused him the most pain. He does not necessarily forgive or absolve. But he does recognize that there is no sense in continuing the bloodshed or allowing others to continue it out of some misplaced sense of vengeance. He is offered a chance to stop the wheel and he tries. He tries so goddamn hard. He tries until it kills him and everyone else he protects because the anger of the rest is too wrapped up in their self righteousness to examine what is reasonable and what is the cost for what they do.
I do not exonerate the Lan here, but I do point out that they at least actually make an attempt to change things afterwards. We see it in the way that Lan Wangji continues to act in the world. We see it in the way that Lan Xichen stops and reconsiders what he knows of Wei Wuxian, and helps him when the wheel attempts to spin back to where it was before. Where the juniors go out hunting on their own to help people of all kinds. They find weird mysteries and they follow them, they are kind to all. It does not absolve what they have done in the past, it does not make them blameless.
But it is a start. And one that Jiang Cheng has not taken. If he had, we wouldn’t be having these debates and arguments about what is a reasonable enough amount of death and destruction that he can cause on account of his past.
This is where the line is.
Modaozushi asks the question of how much death is enough and concludes at the line “when you continue to court death to satisfy your anger, you will eventually find death standing at your door too.” It happens to Xue Yang, who after killing Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing and everyone in Yi City, finds A-Qing’s ghost leading those who can end his hurting of others for good. It happens to Jin Guangyao who assassinates and hurts so many people that Nie Huaisang finds allies in Mo Xuanyu, Sisi and Bicao, all of whom are willing to help him drag Jin Guangyao to the depths by the chains of his reputation.
Jiang Cheng is offered another chance. Leave Wei Wuxian alone and move forwards with his life. At the end of the book he accepts that chance. It is probably the last one he will get, but he accepts it. This is why he finishes out the book alive no matter how much blood he has on his hands. You can always change your actions until you are dead.
This is the question that Modaozushi posits and answers to all of us and to which I now offer to you when you consider the actions in story. What is enough? How much blood must be spilled before you are happy?
Why does it matter to you that those who are hurt are allowed to hurt without consequence? Where do you draw the line when all of those who caused you pain in the past are buried?
What is the price that you demand for your happiness? When is there enough blood on your hands to be happy?
When do you say “there has been enough death. I will stop this here and now because it is enough.”
Will you be the hero or the antagonist in someone else’s story?
#mdzs#wei wuxian#lan wangji#canon jiang cheng#jin guangyao#xue yang#discussion of antagonists#the cycles of vengeance#long post
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So I read the "Jiang Yanli would hate Jiang Cheng" take earlier, and I saw the rebuttal of "Jiang Yanli wouldn't hate Jiang Cheng for killing Wei Wuxian because he'd have no reason to," and I wanted top push it further into angst territory, SO:
A Jiang Cheng who, after seeing Wei Wuxian defend their sister--thus showing that he still holds SOME type of love and affection for the Jiang--has a renewed desperation to save their idiot from his madness. He's Determined. He will bring Wei Wuxian home because Wei Wuxian is still Jiang and still has loyalty to the family, dammit. Meanwhile, Jiang Yanli is... in pain. The book says that she couldn't forgive Wei Wuxian easily for the death of her beloved husband, but she still loved him as her little brother, so how could she be spared when Jin Zixuan wasn't? As much as she wants to reconcile all of this, she can't look at Wei Wuxian without wondering "why, why, why?"
So we've got desperate Jiang "I want ALL of my living family together can't I please have that we can be a family again can't we?" Cheng and tragic Jiang "I want to treat you as before but my husband is dead by your hand and your act of love to save me hasn't healed the deep wound that has been inflicted on my soul BECAUSE I also love you and hold you dear in a different way" Yanli AND imploding Wei "I have done everything I can to walk the line of my moral compass and no one is truly understanding what I must accomplish or why and I cannot reveal anything and must stay the course" Wuxian in the mix.
Truly Toxic Siblinghood. I love and live for the pain.
see!!! this is so much better and more interesting than what all these anons are describing!!!
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i'm in a very specific phase right now where i'm only reading jiang cheng-centric fics and then i thought, what has lise written? because i tend to run into your fics even if it's not on purpose (and they're always so good!) and i noticed that two of your fics (which are also not posted that far apart) have lots of Feelings about a lotus pond in the burial mounds, which... wow, talk about heart-wrenching. i'm not very familiar with the exact details of the novel yet so is this something from canon? i know you mostly talk about the yi city cast so i'm not sure whether this is unwelcome but what was it about the lotus pond and what it means for the twin prides that captured your interest so strongly? what do you think it means for jiang cheng to see the tangible evidence of that fact that, in his heart, wei wuxian had not forsaken them? sorry for the long, rambling ask!
I do indeed mostly talk about Yi City these days but I have a deep and abiding affection in my heart for Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng and their relationship. it's such a miserable mess. love that.
as far as the lotus pond goes - I don't recall it being a thing in the novel (though I'd have to go back and check to be sure) but it is definitely a thing from CQL, which is where I pulled it from. there it is very explicitly Wei Wuxian trying to bring a piece of home/familiarity to the Burial Mounds, that to everyone's astonishment actually works.
and hoo boy is that symbolically weighty, which was why I used it there! because it is Wei Wuxian bringing a piece of symbolic home with him (because he can't completely leave home behind, even as he cuts himself off from Jiang Sect in order to protect them), and for Jiang Cheng to witness that it is a symbol that Wei Wuxian didn't just ditch and never look back, but that there was still some attachment there, struggling to survive amidst the ruin of everything else. That Wei Wuxian put in the work to grow lotuses in an inhospitable environment, that he wanted them there badly enough to make the effort - and yet he also (from Jiang Cheng's perspective) walked away so easily, left their family behind without hesitation.
the way I put it in one of the fics I know you're thinking of (no flower can bloom for a hundred days):
It shouldn’t be here.
Someone would have had to plant it. Someone would have to have wanted it here, to have wanted badly enough to put in the work to nurture it, coax it to grow from poisoned soil.
There was a pond like this in Jinlintai, Jiang Cheng thought. Splendid, well-kept. A-jie had loved it. It’s not home, she’d said, but it’s a piece of it. When I miss it too badly, I can sit looking at the lotuses and think of you, and a-Xian, and feel closer to you both.
it's a very loaded and emotionally potent symbol for both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng and that makes it very fun to use, basically. because at that point, of course, it's too late; and also, at that point, how is he meant to reconcile that evidence with the fact that Wei Wuxian did leave, and his anger at Wei Wuxian for all the death that comes after, including his own?
he can't. and that's one of the things that has Jiang Cheng so fucked up about Wei Wuxian, for all the years he spends looking for him.
#conversating#anonymous#jiang cheng#wei wuxian#ahh! back in my yunmeng shuangjie feelings#happy to be here#the sad queer cultivators show
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Hehe, I am thinking that JC got tangled in some shenanigans that keep following Wei Wuxian, and in effect got sent to some other dimension where everything is the same but isn't.
And now WWX has to go and retrieve him - and for that ends up going through quite a few realities in a "Where isy my shidi?" adventure that places him face to face with a variety of Jiang Chengs and his own feelings of shame, guilt, love and anger towards his shidi.
He sees a Jiang Cheng who have lost their core and a one that didn't, ones that reclaimed his sect and one that was enslaved by Wen Zhuliu as some sick standin for his mom. One that saved Yanli and sacrificed his sect and one that never forgave Wei Wuxian (ohz so that's how his actual hate feels) and one that got over WWX's death and forgot (and that's how indifference feels, Wei Wuxian hates it!). There is a reality where JC didn't get a replacement core and Wei Wuxian was the Jiang Sect Leader who kept him under lock and key (and that Jiang Cheng was miserable, but didn't want to run away, as long as his Wei Wuxian loved him still...).
There is one where Jiang Cheng is married to Lan Xichen and they have kids??? (Wei Wuxian hates it! Hates it! Hates it!!! ....just can't explain why... His shidi would never...right? And what does it mean Jiang Cheng gave birth to the kids?? Oh gods, he never wants to have Lan Xichen sit him down for a sex talk ever again>_<!!! The alpha/omega sex sure is something!) That world unsettled him the most. How is it that Jiang Cheng is happily married here? How is it that Lan Xichen chose him to marry??? Doesn't he mind the awful personality and constant anger? His shidi is very pretty and great, and strong, but he is just like his mom and... Lan Xichen almost slaps him in the head in that universe. Which is scary, because Lan Xichen never gets angry to Wei Wuxian's memory. And on account of a joke? Wei Wuxian doesn't get it.
"If you stopped looking at him and trying to see his mother instead of the boy you grew up with." The big alpha tells him. "Then you'd understand."
And uh, yeah, that one kinda....stung a bit. Maybe that reality wasn't that bad - for Jiang chengttonhave someone who cared for him and understood him. For his shidi to have family again, one that loved him as he should be loved even if it didn't include Wei Wuxian. Even if his shidi had to birth babies and take that monstrous Lan pillar...(he hated it, hated it, heated it!!!)
It's still better, however, than the one reality Wei Wuxian stepped into that just... Didn't have Jiang Cheng of its own. One where he died at the hands of Wen Chao, where the Sunshot Campaign never even got off the ground, because their Wei Wuxian burned the Wen to the ground and salted the ashes. There's no Lan Sizhui there, no Wen Ning. Wen Quing died under his hands like all the others. There's no Yunmeng Jiang. Just Wei Wuxian full of rage and the world that lives in fear of him. What a miserable existence.
He left that world as fast as he could, sick to his stomach.
On the quest to reclaim his precious shidi.
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💙 Love Song In Reverse by timetoboldlygo
💙 Love Song In Reverse
by timetoboldlygo (@timetoboldlygo)
T, 237k, Wangxian
Summary: Wei Wuxian gasps back into life without a single memory left. His friends, his siblings, his home — all lost to the fog in his head, nothing more than a mystery slipping through his fingers. What else was there to do but carry himself around in bits and parts, trying to become whole, a letter waiting to be written? He is – he is Mo Xuanyu, isn’t he? In this body, with these people. This family. He has to be Mo Xuanyu, he didn’t know anything else, even if the name sounded wrong. That was all he had.
Well, that and Hanguang-jun.
Lan Wangji, for his part, has had his taste of love and lost it. In all his grieving and searching, he didn’t expect to find another.
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Wei Wuxian gets resurrected, loses his memories, and falls in love.
Kay's comments: I devoured this fic, I binged it and it really got its claws in me. I could barely put it down because it had me that hooked. There were so many moments in this story that just peeled my heart open and made me ache in the best way possible. In which Wei Wuxian gets resurrected as per canon, but without his memories. Canon unfolds and of course, he falls in love with Lan Wangji. At the same time, we have Lan Wangji who slowly falls for "Mo Xuanyu" and feels as if he betrays Wei Wuxian. So many misunderstandings and miscommunications and they are struggling, but it all pays off in the end with a wonderful catharsis. Character-wise it feels more The Untamed-like and there's also some background SangCheng and features some stunning fanart!
Excerpt: But Lan Wangji was already looking at him, eyes steady. He’d drawn his hands back to rest on his knees. “What do you need?”
He could just pretend he hadn’t asked for anything. Lan Wangji would probably let it go; he wasn’t one to push if he didn’t think it was necessary. And it was a horrible feeling to ask this. But he’d said all those stupid words for a reason, so he let the rest fall of his tongue, water droplets on the lake. “Can you say my name?”
Lan Wangji did an amazing impression of raising a dubious eyebrow without moving a single muscle. Mo Xuanyu wished for just a second that Lan Wangji was the sort of man who would just take a request like this with no questions, instead of making Mo Xuanyu unravel all the feelings knotted up in his chest.
“It’s just that — I don’t have anyone else to say it. Informally, I mean.” There was no one who might call him gently. Xuanyu, his mother might have said. A-yu, come along! And he couldn’t bounce back at her, dragging his feet and demanding carry me, shijie, Xianxian is only three! I’m not tall enough! There was no one at all who might call him anything but a title and it was lonelier than anything Mo Xuanyu could hope to explain. There was no one who could hope to know him more intimately than a “Mo-gongzi.” “Ah, it’s okay if you can’t, I’m just—”
“Mo Xuanyu,” Lan Wangji said, interrupting him. He paused, giving the name weight. “Mo Xuanyu.”
The name Wei Ying from Lan Wangji’s lips had been cloaked in more warmth than Mo Xuanyu had heard from anyone before. Mo Xuanyu’s name didn’t sound like that. Lan Wangji said it the same way he said everything else. Serious, considered, but not warm.
pov wei wuxian, canon divergence, retelling, amnesia, memory loss, angst with a happy ending, hurt/comfort, emotional hurt/comfort, slow burn, falling in love, grief/mourning, misunderstandings, mistaken identity, miscommunication, sangcheng, good parents lan wangji/wei wuixan, past abuse, no homophobia, jiang cheng tries, somebody lives/not everybody dies
~*~
(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)
#Wangxian Fic Rec#The Untamed#wangxian#MDZS#Kay's Rec#Kay's Favorite#epic length fic > 100k#Teen#Love Song In Reverse#timetoboldlygo#September 2023#pov wei wuxian#canon divergence#retelling#amnesia#memory loss#angst with a happy ending#hurt/comfort#emotional hurt/comfort#slow burn#falling in love#grief/mourning#misunderstandings#mistaken identity#miscommunication#sangcheng#good parents lan wangji/wei wuixan#past abuse#no homophobia#jiang cheng tries
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