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admirableadmiranda · 2 years

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my first fandom experience is with MXTX but i'm kinda confused as to why fandom spaces tend to convoluted their version of canon with actual canon as if the canon written by the author is false. fanfiction is transformative content since it explores and expands canon. it's been bugging me because i really dislike OOC depictions lmao it has no effect on me but ive been disliked by an irl friend for shipping wangxian because chengxisn is obviously what was supposed to be written since (1/?)

(2/?) since apparently jc is so fuckable but it's a pity it wasn't. i just thought of @jiangwanyinscatmom but still,,,, it just bugs me because i feel like my current interactions with fandom or stan culture has put me in this mindset where i care more about what others are doing with their toys (I.e. characters) but still,,, i guess these interactions leave a bitter taste. it feels so whack to me that people think mxtx deliberately didn't put their ship as if wwx or lwj would ever choose anyone

I don't know if there was more to your ask, anon, this is where it cut off! Anyway it seems like you had some frustrations to get off your chest and I hoped this helped. I do question your friend's take on how apparently Chengxian was supposed to be the endgame pairing, but then I've learned after a whole year here that some things simply can't be explained.

To answer your questions about fandom and attitudes, I've been in fandom for fifteen years now and I've gone through really caring and really not caring and I've pinned it down to it really depends on the source material. The tighter the source material and the more dynamic the characters, the more annoyed I am when fanworks deviate as opposed to works that play fast and loose with characterization in the source material or the ships are just plain boring. Modaozushi is incredibly tightly woven so I find myself being much pickier here and it's only my vast experience that lets me decide that I'll be picky in what I choose to consume and I'll just ignore (for the most part, I still get into a lot of fights with JC stans) takes that do not mesh with mine. We can live and let live for the most part.

I will say that Modaozushi has one of the more volitile fanbases I've been in. It definitely depends on the average age of the fanbase and how big it is, but my previous one, Good Omens, was for the most part very calm and relaxed and most debates tended to exist in the gray spaces of canon where there was a lot of room for debate. I highly doubt that wherever you end up next will be just like Modaozushi, every fandom has its own idiosyncrasies and you'll find your spaces every time.

Also @jiangwanyinscatmom is fantastic and deserves all the love. She is the only one allowed to determine JC's fuckability level and I can't wait to hear what she says when I graciously bestow this privilege upon her.

Thanks for the ask, anon!

#mdzs #jiang cheng #canon jiang cheng #Sempai brings the sense #?#asks #anon #anon asks

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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years

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Pastime (with good company) (ao3) (aka NMJ/WWX/LWJ) - part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, past 5, part 6, part 7, part 8

warning for adult content

The room Nie Mingjue led them to next had several rooms attached, each full of crafting materials.

“We’ll need some of your yang energy to bind you to the channel,” Nie Mingjue said briskly, guiding Wei Wuxian in the direction of one of the side rooms. “Not blood; that’s too common, and you want your saber – or whatever you eventually use – to be able to shed other people’s blood without being inclined to try to change masters. There’s a crafting vessel in the room by the corner that you can go fill up.”

“Well, that’s an unfortunate requirement,” Wei Wuxian said. He was feeling jittery; he thought it might be the uncomfortable sensation of having hope. “Since I can’t do that.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m serious! That’s the whole point of what I was explaining before,” Wei Wuxian argued, a little exasperated. “I can’t summon up yang energy, not without a golden core; even if I try to manipulate what little spiritual energy I have left in my meridians, it won’t respond – I’m telling you, I simply can’t do it.”

Nie Mingjue’s responding look was scathing.

“Are you or are you not a man?” he demanded. “Even if you can’t cultivate yang energy, you still have it, and you’re not without the more traditional methods to obtain it.”

Wei Wuxian was still thinking about his lack of a golden core, so it took him a moment – and Lan Wangji’s ears abruptly turning red – to realize what Nie Mingjue meant.

“Oh,” he said, and coughed. “Uh, yeah, I mean. There’s always – that type of yang energy.”

Yang energy at its core was associated with male energy – everyone had it, but obviously men had it more than women, centered in various places throughout the body and most specifically in the genitals. There was a reason they said that the Cold Spring in Gusu was good at quenching yang fire.

(He thought that Lan Wangji might be smirking at him somewhere behind his stern expression, but that would be childish and beneath him…and yet Wei Wuxian really hoped he was. He’d like to see Lan Wangji proud and smug and smirking; it would be incredibly hot.)

“Well, then? What are you waiting for?”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes went round. “Wait, you mean – now? Here? On demand?”

“At your age, I’m surprised a stiff breeze isn’t enough to get you hard,” Nie Mingjue said, rolling his eyes. “It certainly did for me; I could have hammered nails three times a day if I was so inclined. You seriously don’t think you can?”

“Not with all this pressure.” That was a little bit of a lie, actually, since Wei Wuxian had some tried-and-true fantasies currently starring the two men standing right in front of him that were guaranteed to work (especially with that intriguing comment about going three times a day…), but on the other hand the idea of going into the next room over and touching himself – while they were waiting –

Wei Wuxian couldn’t quite figure out if he was feeling mortified or turned on.

“It is necessary, Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said, and he was frowning in legitimate concern. “Without your yang energy, the channel will not be attuned to you – that would be even more dangerous than having no channel at all.”

“Just what I need,” Wei Wuxian grumbled. “More pressure.”

“It’s fine,” Nie Mingjue said. “I’ll help you with it.”

Wei Wuxian was abruptly hard as rock at the mere thought of it, but Lan Wangji was already shaking his head. “Mingjue-xiong! As the future husband, it would be inappropriate –”

“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten the customs; I’m not going to touch him –”

A pity.

“– but there’s never been any restriction against future spouses engaging in correspondence. On the contrary, there’s a rich tradition of it.”

“Correspondence?” Lan Wangji asked, blinking, and Wei Wuxian couldn’t blame him – he had no idea what Nie Mingjue meant, either; weren’t they all in the same place right now? Who would he’d be writing to? “How…?”

“Wei Wuxian will go into the other room, as is appropriate, and I’m going to sit out here and compose a letter. I may need to read certain parts of it out loud, and in the meantime he’ll do what he has to do.” Nie Mingjue turned his fierce gaze on Wei Wuxian. “Any objections?”

“None whatsoever,” Wei Wuxian said at once. Like he was going to turn down a chance for – well, whatever this was.

Correspondence, apparently.

Erotic correspondence.

This was either going to be a disaster or fantastic.

“Then go.”

He went into the other room, then sighed when he saw the crafting bowl there, sitting there innocently as if it wasn’t the vessel that was supposed to contain his yang essence if you know what that means. A bare room, fit for crafting, after a wild and emotional night - it really wasn’t conductive to getting off on command.

It would have been so much easier if he just had his golden core – he could’ve filled the bowl with energy in a heartbeat, just using his willpower, and there’d be none of this embarrassing nonsense.

“Wei Wuxian,” he heard Nie Mingjue say from outside the door. “Greetings, best wishes, your health – the usual.”

Wei Wuxian hid a chuckle in his sleeve. That was a very political way of starting a letter; one could tell that Nie Mingjue was accustomed to writing letter as sect leader, rather than as himself, and the usual letter would have been filled with stock phrases dealing with each of those subjects. He must have some very long-suffering secretaries doing much of the official sect correspondence.

“I look forward to our wedding with great anticipation. It will be a pleasure to share that day with you, to bow to the heavens and the earth alongside you, to drink wine with you – but not as great a pleasure as it will be to take you back with me to my bed that night.”

Wei Wuxian swallowed, his chuckle dying in the back of his throat.

“You’ll be dressed in the finest clothing the Jiang sect has to offer, no doubt, and I will regret only that I cannot tear it off of you, tangle your arms and legs in it – I will have no choice instead but to draw you in towards me, to take your face between my palms, to kiss you until you’re breathless.”

He was breathless already.

“I will run my hands down your body as you laugh and try to pull off the clothing; you’ll make a mess of it, I’m sure, and in the end I’ll lose patience with your teasing. I’ll lift you up and throw you down on the bed, and when you try to get up I will press you down with a single hand. You’ll like that – I’ve see the way your eyes trail after me when I fight, the way your pupils contract when you see my strength. I’ll climb up on top of you, pin you between my thighs, and then I’ll kiss you again. Your mouth, your cheeks, your neck – all the parts of you that I can reach.”

Wei Wuxian’s hand dropped down to his waist. He didn’t reach inside his clothing, not yet, just rubbed a little, enjoying the anticipation.

“I’ll use my teeth and my tongue on you, and when your laughs have at last turned to moans and choked-off whimpers, I’ll turn you over and put you on your knees. That’s when you’ll see Wanji there, watching.”

Wei Wuxian shuddered, closing his eyes and imagining it. Lan Wangji there, a figure in white – no, not white, red. A bride’s clothes, red and gold like that fateful archery contest but so much more sumptuous. More decadent.

“He’s been waiting at the corner for his turn, like the good boy he is, but you can see from the way he stands that he wants you. I’ll whisper in your ear a question, asking if you want him, and you won’t be able to tear your eyes off of him as you say yes. I’ll ask you if you want to touch him, and you’ll say yes to that, too.”

He would.

“I’ll tell him to come forward, but just as he’s reaching for you, I’ll tell him to stop – to put his hands behind his back and stand at attention. I want you to touch him, instead. You’ll be on your knees on the bed in front of him, and you’ll reach out and undo his clothing. Not all the way, just enough to free his cock, and your mouth will go wet just looking at him.”

Wei Wuxian’s fingers fumbled to get his cock out, to start stroking himself, and Nie Mingjue was right. He was drooling just thinking about getting his mouth on Lan Wangji.

“I’ll let you touch him, as a start, and you’ll be so distracted by it that you don’t even realize that I’ve gotten you out of your clothing until you feel me pressed up against you and realize that you’re trapped between us – that you’re naked and we’re still dressed, like you’re some toy for our amusement. You’ll like that, moaning, rubbing up against us like the shameless thing you are, and lean forward to put your mouth on Wangji; I wouldn’t have said you could yet, but you’ve always been disobedient, haven’t you? But when you’re disobedient to me, that only means I have to punish you...but I think you’ll like that, too.”

Wei Wuxian’s hand was moving faster on his cock now, his other hand stuffed into his mouth to keep himself quiet. He wouldn’t interrupt this for all the gold in Lanling.

“Have you ever read a spring book, Wuxian? Not the usual ones that get passed around between boys, but the cutsleeve ones. I’ve often wondered: do you know what there is to be done between men? Do you think it’s all hands and mouths – or do you dream of getting fucked?”

Wei Wuxian nearly bit himself.

“Because that’s what I’m going to do to you. I’m going to have Wangji use that pretty little mouth of yours while I put my hand on you, working you as hard and good as you like it, and just when you think you’re about to get off, I’m going to stop, because you’re not going to be allowed to come, not until I have you splayed open on my cock. I’ll have my hands on your hips, tight enough to leave bruises, and by that time Wangji will be kneeling down to kiss you, his fingers tugging at your hair.”

Wei Wuxian knelt down, trying to mimic the position. Trying to think how it would feel, having something inside of him like he’d started imagining after reading that one spring book Jiang Cheng managed to find him only a few weeks before – having Nie Mingjue inside of him.

He’d be big, wouldn’t he? He’d feel full, even a little pained, but it’d be worth it to feel the heat of him.

“You won’t know what to do with your hands, probably try to touch yourself, disobedient as you are, and in the end Wangji will lose his patience with you, too; he’ll tear off that forehead ribbon of his and hand it to me, and I’ll tie your hands behind your back with it. You’ll be helpless, trapped between us: your back pressed up against me as I fuck you, and Wangji pressed up against your front, his cock against yours, rutting up against each other. He’ll have already come once, in your mouth – or maybe on your face, I think he’d like that – and so he’ll be steadier than you, have more endurance. You, though, you’ll be desperate, begging for more, for someone to touch you. You’ll want me to touch you – to touch you and him both.”

Yes. Yes, he would.

“I’ll wrap my hand around you, both of you, and you’ll be dripping all over my hand until it’s slick and the movement comes easy. And in the end you’ll do just as I said you would, you’ll come on my cock, come so hard that your entire body thrashes and you see stars. And you’ll feel me inside of you, too, as you squeeze me until I come as well, until Wangji does, until you’re dirty with our seed, covered with it – and then I tell you that we’re just getting started.”

Wei Wuxian whimpered when he came, all the beautiful mental images burning their way into his brain.

“Fuck,” he hissed. “Fuck – I – fuck.”

Nie Mingjue had enough mercy to pause for a few moments as Wei Wuxian gasped for air, trying to refill his suddenly empty lungs.

“Since we are not yet married, I cannot yet make into a reality what I have written to you, so my words will have to be a means, however insufficient, to express the full measure of my anticipation. Best regards, Nie Mingjue.” He paused, then added, with far too much composure for someone who’d just blown Wei Wuxian’s mind without laying a single finger on him, “Tell me you got some of that into the crafting vessel, Wei Wuxian.”

“I did,” Wei Wuxian croaked, and straightened his clothing a bit before heading back to the main room. As he did, he saw Lan Wangji walking out of another room – possibly a closet – and he looked as wrecked as Wei Wuxian felt. “I got it. Crafting vessel full. That was…wait, are you actually writing?”

“I did say it was correspondence,” Nie Mingjue said, his brush continued to slash its way across the page. His expression was only very barely not a smirk. “And I don’t lie. As soon as I finish this, we can get to forging…would the two of you like to wash up?”

Lan Wangji nodded his head in abrupt jerk, and suddenly Wei Wuxian’s cock, which he had been sure was spent, gave a twitch as if it was considering another round just at the thought of why Lan Wangji might also need to wash up after listening to that.

“Well,” he finally said as they splashed water on their faces and hands. “At least we know Nie Huaisang came by his porn addiction honestly?”

Lan Wangji looked disdainfully at him, but in the way that Wei Wuxian was starting to figure out meant that he was amused. “Mm,” he said. “But he lacks the voice.”

Wei Wuxian had to concede the point. Nie Mingjue’s voice was deep and steady, his words smooth and unhindered, the tone fierce and unyielding…if he could do nothing but listen to him, he’d die a happy man.

Except he wasn’t going to need to, because Lan Wangji and Nie Mingjue were going to help him, and he and Lan Wangji were going to help Nie Mingjue, and they were all going to get married so he’d be able to touch as well as hear.

“I,” he announced, “cannot wait to be married.”

Lan Wangji nodded in fervent agreement, and they went back out together to the main room where Nie Mingjue, damn him, didn’t even have the shame to look remotely ruffled by any of the preceding events.

“Good,” he said when he saw them. “Now we can get started in earnest.”

Wei Wuxian was never going to be able to hear that phrase again in his life.

#mdzs #wei wuxian #nie mingjue #lan wangji #my fic #my fics #pastime with good company #and now we get to the OTHER half of that scene

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cactusspatz · 4 years

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August recs

Once again, mostly recs for The Untamed, plus two for Guardian and one original story! My favorite five-ish fics on top, and another seventeen below.

Look! Look at all the good fics!!! Friendly reminder to leave a comment or kudos if you’ve got the energy, or if you’re feeling shy you can try reblogging this post and tag which stories you liked so more people check them out! (I also like to see what stories people agree with me on, as well *g*)

a life without sun by @thankgodforpandas

A great calamity fell upon Qishan Wen. It's said that some of the Wens still live, surviving on turnips and raw hope, but Jiang Cheng has not thought of Qishan Wen in years. He has enough on his mind with securing a lecture for Yunmeng Jiang, and somehow, dealing with Wei Wuxian's nauseating affection for Lan Wangji.

Compelling AU where even with no war, there’s still a lot of Jiang family emotional damage to deal with. Fantastic Jiang Cheng character study with a very different set of challenges for LWJ/WWX.

the final cut by wildehack / @wildehacked

A boy is going to die.

The only question is: what is Huaisang going to do about it?

I cried during most of the fic and for about half an hour afterward, so, you know, save it for a time where you're emotionally ready for that -- but it is WORTH IT. Hands down the best Nie Huaisang characterization I've read anywhere, an incredible story following him and his complicated relationship with Mo Xuanyu over the years as he investigates and gets increasingly obsessed with his revenge on Jin Guangyao. Also the richest Mo Xuanyu portrayal I've read anywhere - he's so doomed (see: the summary), but he has depth and agency, and holy SHIT the ending is STUNNING and BRUTAL and BRILLIANT, I love it SO MUCH.

Call and Response by x_los

After three years of planning, the young Lan brothers play Inquiry for their mother. Unfortunately Inquiry compels answers and prohibits lying, and Madam Lan had plenty of secrets.

This obviously leans into the ugliest interpretation of the Twin Jades’ parental relationship (which I find sadly plausible), but it’s very powerfully written, and you can see the brothers’ different reactions to the information shapes their future characters. Also the bit about LWJ’s courtesy name (and their birth names) was sharp as hell.

I’m gonna cheat and also rec The Same Cloth here (linked by a series to Call and Response but per the author, it’s not technically in continuity), in which post-canon Lan Wangji meets Madam Lan's family for the first time while traveling with Wei Wuxian. It’s still full of edges but is much more healing and sweet, and has a great set of OCs and lots of feelings about family, for both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian.

I could drink a case of you and still be on my feet by failedcharismacheck / @inyourorangeshirt

Looking between Lan Zhan, so clearly pleased with himself, and the orange in his hand, Wei Wuxian cannot help but burst into a fit of poorly-contained laughter.

"Ah, what a hearty meal you've provided for me, Hanguang-Jun!" he sighs as the giggles subside. As far as Lan Zhan’s drunken preoccupation with giving away food goes, this is a bit of a downgrade from two whole, extremely fresh chickens. Or perhaps Wei Ying has simply become spoiled.

(Wei Wuxian comes back from his walkabout. Lan Wangji gives Emperor's Smile another try and worries for his friend's dietary habits.)

Again, not the first story to deal with WWX wanting to stay with LWJ but worrying he’s an imposition while LWJ feels he can’t ask for things like that from WWX, but a very soft and delicate and charming way to resolve that dilemma. Featuring Emperor’s Smile and adorable-drunk!LWJ, feeding your crush oranges, and hiding under the blankets from your hangover.

Look Not With The Eyes by Spodumene

Wei Wuxian returns from his travels to join Lan Wangji on a routine night hunt, but when things take an unexpected turn, Wei Wuxian will have to fight for what he's really looking for.

In which Lan Wangji gets hit with a love spell (in the ‘everyone who sees him falls in love’ mode) while on a nighthunt with Wei Wuxian, who is, SO MYSTERIOUSLY, unaffected by the spell. *g* (Yes, I love this specific trope variation, why do you ask?) Both a well-crafted casefile and a lovely get-together.

More recs beneath the cut!

SOFT POSTCANON WANGXIAN

still waters by wtf_melodie - short but perfectly drawn post-canon fic where they figure out they’re kinky.

Tripped at Every Step by brooklinegirl - Soft post-canon get-together. I’m not sure how to describe this: Lan Wangji vs Wei Wuxian’s terrible neglect for his own well-being, and subsequent bed-sharing? Lan Wangji’s patient seduction of Wei Wuxian, stymied by WWX’s self-worth issues? I was skimming through trying to pin it down but kept distracted re-reading bits, so there’s a recommendation for you. Also: very hot.

Something Unpredictable by airinshaw - in which teenaged Lan Wangji has prophetic dreams of post-canon Wangxian, specifically how they are obviously in love yet his future self keeps letting WWX leave? A neat plot device for a very sweet and careful get-together.

OTHER POSTCANON

your name, safe in their mouth by astrolesbian - in which Sizhui gets injured on a nighthunt, Wei Wuxian comforts his A-Yuan, and then they trip over 16 years of being separated and having to figure out their new dynamic. Good h/c, great family feels.

cranes flying west by noelia_g / @realitycheckbounced - Wen Qing lives!!! On the premise that if JGY faked Wen Ning’s death, why not Wen Qing, most talented doctor of her generation, as well? The latest story is a WIP, but the first few stories are great.

Still in the Water by @airgeer - excellent Jin Ling centric casefile, featuring his growing friendship with Sizhui, the shadows of the Sunshot Campaign, and plenty of dangerous fights in which he is Definitely Not Worried About His Resurrected Uncle.

RARE PAIRINGS

This side of paradise by @greenfionn (Wei Wuxian/Wen Qing) - platonic WWX/WQ smut at the Burial Mounds. Both very hot and very full of stifled grief & despair & not wanting to die a virgin. Their strong friendship really shines in this, as well.

Marry for Love by tuesday / @everysecondtuesday (Nie Huaisang/Jiang Yanli) - outsider POV timetravel fic, wherein Nie Huaisang fixes things partly by way of marrying Jiang Yanli, and accidentally ends up making them both happy.

Warm in the Sun by 50artists / @xenixat (Jiang Yanli/Wen Qing) - AU where Jiang Yanli and Wen Qing end up in an arranged marriage, and Yanli gets to be a badass with the power of her love, her kindness, her emotional intelligence and diplomacy. (And some strategic stabbing.) Especially love how this shows the subtle effects of her parents' emotional abuse, and how Wen Qing is 100% Not Okay with all that.

Cultivation No. 6 by Irrelevancy (Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen) - adorable modern plant shop AU with a touch of reincarnation bittersweetness. (But mostly soft pining, plus A-Qing getting in fights about dandelions!)

AU WANGXIAN

and so my heart beats wildly by @lilywinterwood - modern AU where cultivation has turned into a worldwide/Olympic sport; extremely creative action that nods at canon but goes in its own direction. Wei Wuxian was at the very end range of my suspension-of-disbelief for his obliviousness, but there’s so much to love about the worldbuilding and the story and the eventual Wangxian resolution that I didn’t mind.

Love wakes me by dea_liberty - modern coffeeshop AU that tapped directly into my tropey id. Very sweet and charming with a splash of angsty backstory.

VIDS

Young and Menace by Katharija / @nowacja - Wei Wuxian’s downward spiral. Great song choice and editing. I can’t believe this is her first vid?!? Go give her praise!

Despicable by @ifshehadwings - Wei Wuxian’s self-worth issues in vid form. Sharp and heartbreaking. If I were you, I wouldn't love me neither, indeed.

OTHER FANDOMS

(original) The Fox's Grief by nirejseki / @robininthelabyrinth - this feels very Cdrama influenced in the best way: sort of a rom-com historical murder mystery with political intrigue, from the POV of the emperor’s spymaster, who is Very Annoyed by the dashing masked detective who’s determined to seduce him, even though he is very boring and old. (spoilers: he is neither! I love him) Fun novella-length read. I wanted a BIT more resolution for their relationship, but it’s delightful anyway.

(Guardian) ready, set, game on by @synonemous - long, charming professional video gamers AU. Identity porn! Competence! Fluff!

(Guardian) If Life Was A Movie We’d Have A Better Soundtrack Than This by galaxysoup / @galaxystew - I definitely need to go back and read this again (and leave a comment! shame on me and my 2AM reading habits) once I’ve finished the series, but it’s a wonderful no-magic AU casefile, and I love how it translated Shen Wei’s backstory in the modern mundane world.

#monthly recs #the untamed #wangxian #lan wangji/wei wuxian #gen #songxiao #song lan/xiao xingchen #jiang yanli/wen qing #wei wuxian/wen qing #fic rec #vid rec #original fiction #guardian #shen wei/zhao yunlan

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crossdressingdeath · 4 years

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(1/3) It always amuses me how stans try to justify JC actions by his abusive upbringing while there were 3 children in that family and both others turned very kind and/or very moral and not at all like JC (and frankly, he didn't even have the hardest position in the dysfunctional dynamic). Or LXC and LWJ whose upbringing was even more screwed up with a LQ who was certainly playing favorites and wanting perfection, and yet this never draw a wedge between them or created any jealousy.

(2/3)LXC loves for LWJ to excel! Same with "but JC had it so hard rebuilding Lotus Pier, WWX was goofing off with the Wens"...JC was paying people to do that for him, yes, while WWX was trying to start from scratch a settlement over a mountain of corpses with a bunch of weak or old people and not to die of hunger comes winter. While separated from all his friends and hated as a monster by the cultivation world. "But JC was so lonely during the 13/16y, so that justifies him lashing out" And WWX

(3/3) was dead, killed by his brother and thinking that there was not a person left on his side in the end, and yet, that didn't make him act like a dick? Or athg else really, because everything that JC went through in the past, WWX did also, but in a worse way because he lost his parents young, lived in the streets, didn't have JC societal privilege or money and has to harness an unstable necromancy practice on top of that. And yet no one uses it as arguments to explain his actions, only for JC

Honestly? While none of the Jiang kids were in a good position, out of the three of them... JC did have it the easiest. It was still awful for him, don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting his childhood didn’t suck, but given it was made very clear to JYL that her only purpose was to be married off to JZX so her mother could tie her bloodline to her best friend’s and WWX was treated like a servant at best... Yeah. If I had to pick, I’d choose having a distant father and dealing with a mother who’s constantly emotionally abusive over having a distant father and dealing with a mother who’s constantly emotionally abusive and being treated like a bargaining chip/treated like a servant and/or bastard and being whipped for actions that would get the rest of the clan a lecture at worst. Again, I’m not saying JC didn’t have it bad, but his siblings having it worse is... interesting, given neither of them decided to be dicks to Literally Everyone over it.

I do have to say, even though this is about JC, there’s nothing suggesting LQR was playing favourites with LXC and LWJ. He was strict, yes, probably stricter than he should’ve been, and LXC probably did get more one-on-one interaction with him, but given LXC was going to be sect leader/became sect leader at a young age that makes sense. This is not super important to the point of this post, but I do find it odd how often people make LQR out to be this horrible person who’s always awful to his nephews because he’s Strict when we... don’t actually know anything about how he raised them. I don’t like him all that much, and he probably didn’t do a fantastic job of raising them, but the man did try, and he clearly wants his nephews to be safe and happy (even though he has inaccurate views of what that entails...), and given how the parents/parental figures of the cast generally act he deserves some credit for that. Also the Twin Jades ended up considerably better-adjusted than most of their age group, which... isn’t saying much all things considered but it does say something. If nothing else neither of them seem to feel actively unsafe around him, so he’s definitely not the worst parental figure in this novel.

...I had a surprising number of thoughts on LQR there. Whoops, sorry about the tangent. Maybe I’ll make a post about him at some point. Anyway, yeah, LXC and LWJ clearly adore each other! LXC would be delighted if LWJ surpassed him at something! Same with Nie bros; they argue a lot, but there’s no denying that they love each other. That’s what insults and threats out of love look like; NMJ threatens NHS all the time, but NHS clearly isn’t all that bothered by it until JGY starts fucking with NMJ’s mind and the threats become more serious, which really isn’t NMJ’s fault. It’s because in the other sibling relationships both parties are invested in staying close. They love each other and want to be close for the rest of their lives! Meanwhile JC is obsessed with WWX outperforming him at Literally Everything, and WWX genuinely believes that JC is allowed to treat him the way he does and it’s fine and healthy.

And yeah, JC wasn’t exactly rebuilding Lotus Pier all by his lonesome with his own two hands. In fact, going by what we see all the rebuilding was done well before WWX left! And I don’t doubt for a second that WWX was involved in that process; I have very mixed feelings about the scene in CQL where he blows off his duties to go and get drunk, because on the one hand it does do a good job of showing just how bad his mental state is getting (and how JC refuses to acknowledge it despite WWX obviously being Not Okay), but on the other hand... I just can’t see WWX not throwing himself into helping JC with everything he’s got even while his mental state is coming crashing down around him. I mean, this is the guy who created an incredibly powerful weapon that even he couldn’t fully control, not knowing what using it would do to him, to help his brother win a war. I’m pretty much certain that WWX ran himself into the ground helping JC rebuild and run the sect... then when he found himself in charge of a small group of desperate people, scrambling to keep them fed and clothed and healthy, JC just abandoned him to deal with it on his own.

And the whole “Oh, but JC was so lonely, don’t you feel bad for him?” shtick. I hate it so much. If he didn’t want to be lonely, he should’ve considered that before alienating everyone in his age group and leading an army to murder his brother, the only person left who was willing to put up with him! It’s... really hard to feel bad for someone who’s brought most of their suffering on themselves through a series of generally shitty and frequently downright cruel actions with easily foreseeable consequences. If he got sick of being alone, he should’ve apologized to his peers for being a dick to... literally all of them and tried to make amends and strike up some sort of relationship. Or, if that didn’t work, go out! Meet new people! Try not to be as awful to them! Also, he’s a sect leader. If he couldn’t even maintain a positive relationship with other sect leaders, people who, let me remind you, he has to work with on a regular basis and several of whom are actually nice and friendly people, that is on him. If you are awful to people you will end up alone. And then JC decided to respond to learning that the people he was a dick to every time he saw them (and, in LWJ and NHS’s cases, caused the death of someone they cared about) wanted nothing to do with him... by whining about how lonely he was as if that wasn’t largely his fault. Like, he lost his family and that’s awful, but he could have had friends to help him through his grief, and it’s his own damn fault that he doesn’t.

WWX’s life was miserable. He had plenty of friends, yeah, but he spent years on the streets after his parents died brutal deaths; was raised in a family where he was treated like a servant and a scapegoat; lost everything in an event he was blamed for despite having nothing to do with the attack; had to sacrifice his incredibly powerful golden core (thereby losing his primary means of defending himself while on the run and drastically shortening his lifespan) to keep his brother from letting himself die; was thrown into a corpse pit for three months where he had to create an entirely new and experimental (and as such incredibly dangerous) form of cultivation and probably resort to cannibalism just to survive; had to fight a war almost immediately after escaping; spent a... good portion of time (not sure how long exactly because the MDZS timeline is more a suggestion than an actual coherent timeline) being treated alternately as a tame pet or a rabid animal and having to pretend everything was just fine while everyone tried to either control him or remove him and his brother very obviously got increasingly resentful of his skill and power; had to abandon his home, his family, and everything he had left of his old life to save a bunch of innocent people while everyone, including his brother, acted like he’d gone mad for not wanting to let them die horribly; had to go back to the corpse pit he spent three months in because it was the only place where they might be safe; accidentally killed his brother-in-law due to losing control after being ambushed on the way to a celebration for his nephew that he was invited to by people he trusted, almost certainly making him wonder on at least some level if that was why he was invited; lost two members of his new family who he clearly loved because of said accidental murdering; learned their deaths were for nothing and, when he retaliated against the planned attack that shouldn’t have happened because that’s what WQ and WN gave their lives to prevent, saw his beloved sister die to save him; and, after all that, lost the rest of his new family to a siege on a civilian population led by his brother. And after all that, his response was... to destroy the incredibly dangerous weapon he’d made because he didn’t trust the sects to not destroy each other and themselves with it and kill himself rather than risk losing control again and hurting anyone else. In the novel too; I don’t doubt for a second that WWX planned on dying in that siege, even if he didn’t expect destroying the seal to do it.

Take a look at that paragraph. All those things that happened to WWX. And in the end, he was kind. He was so, so kind, and remains kind even after thirteen years of being dead. He would have been well within his rights to go all “Then let me be evil” on the sects, but every time he attacked them they struck first, and most of the serious damage he did happened as a direct result of losing control of his experimental and mostly unknown new cultivation, which is a real risk even with spiritual cultivation; NMJ probably would have happily killed everyone in Qinghe if the qi deviation hadn’t gotten to him first, given how easy it was for him to attack even his beloved little brother. Everything bad that happened to JC is on that list, pretty much. Everything that JC suffered WWX did too, with some variations in the details (and of course dead versus alone for the same period of time). JC had the advantage of a sect at his back and a high rank by virtue of his birth, while WWX’s position was entirely reliant on JFM and, later, JC. And yet some people insist that WWX’s trauma doesn’t excuse his actions but JC’s somehow does. Now, some people argue it’s different because WWX was a mass murderer. Yeah, well, JC’s a fucking serial killer, and he doesn’t have the excuse of losing control due to using resentful energy to cultivate and being attacked by everyone he’d ever known and trusted.

...I’ve kind of lost track of where I’m going with this. Short version: I very strongly disagree with anyone who insists WWX’s trauma doesn’t excuse his actions while bending over backwards to argue that JC’s trauma excuses his.

#well that got... long #and probably not super fun #i have Thoughts about this particular subject it seems #grapehate #asks #anon

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