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#nie sect stuff
jaimebluesq · 4 months
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Nie Huaisang & Nie Sect thought of the day:
We hear/read about the decline of the Nie sect after the time-skip, and all signs point to it being because of the Headshaker - and when we find out the truth about NHS' ten year vengeance plot, we assume it's all part of his plan to make himself and his sect seem weak and helpless so he can fly under JGY's radar. But what if there's something else to it?
A huge part of the reputation for strength of the Nie sect comes from their style of cultivation - bringing about the saber spirits makes them stronger cultivators than they would be otherwise, but the trade-in is that their lives are shorter and can't cultivate to immortality. So what if NHS has been changing this? What if, after the loss of his brother and father and so many disciples to their family curse and style of cultivation, he's used this period to shift to a new style of cultivation closer to what other sects have, that isn't as strong as the Nie have been but will prevent such great numbers of death to qi deviation?
We hear the Nie sect is in decline and assume NHS has been allowing his sect to flounder for the sake of his vengeance - but perhaps it's not floundering, just undergoing a metamorphosis.
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lady-of-the-spirit · 2 months
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Need people to consider. Lesbians MingCheng.
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staunchen · 5 months
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so i was thinking about lan wangji and how he has this reputation of being righteous while also in my opinion acting like an asshole? like he acts very petty and is ready to pull his sword on people a lot and isn't really involved in politics even in a way that makes sense as a high ranking member of a sect? like the silencing spell on jin ling is uh. bad.
it's like lan wangji has scary dog privilege by virtue of his reputation and his brother and uncle who will wreck you if you do or say anything to/about him. except thats not right because theyre not scary dogs at all, they just protect him. it's like lan wangji is a scary dog and lan xichen and lan qiren smooth things over and stop him from doing something too awful and calm others down after lan wangji does something not too great. and i guess with the reputation for being righteous (second jade of lan) is enough to deter people from saying/doing things like "hey he's a dick" because dude that's hanguang-jun, what are you talking about???".
and the people he saves on night hunts or whatever are random civilians who don't interact with him enough to see him behave badly, and a cool and aloof powerful cultivator saving them gets a lot of leeway on account of being a famous powerful cultivator and also being someone who saved them from fierce corpses or spirits or healed their kid or grandparent or whatever. who cares if theyre quiet and kinda rude they saved their sister!!!!!
so when lan wangji is a dick to jin ling or fucks off from political stuff or is ready to pull his sword on jiang cheng in the jiang ancestral hall or whatever he's doing so with the reputation of hanguang-jun who saves people and also is supported by lan xichen (lan sect leader and brother) and lan qiren (former acting sect leader, uncle, teacher) and they are protective and dare i say overindulgent of lan wangji???? like bro you are a political figure whether you like it or not, your actions have effects on things besides your own direct personal circle. like the heir of gusu lan pulling a sword on sect leader jiang is fucking political incident whether or not theyre both being assholes or not. the adult heir of gusu lan using the lan silencing spell on the teenage heir of lanling jin is a political incident. not engaging with other sects politically, ever, says important things about your priorities and your influence both within the sect and without.
also like. what if something happened to gusu lan? like say lan xichen is injured, and lan qiren is also out of commission for some reason? that means lan wangji is acting sect leader. can you IMAGINE lan wangji as sect leader. imagine it. really visualize it. there's a lot of jokes about lan wangji being a petty bitch and people love it but imagine a petty bitch as a sect leader. the situation would blow up faster than lans get drunk on a glass of wine. like dude. so much stuff would be totally fucked.
anyway lan wangji as he is in mdzs would be a shit sect leader/chief cultivator/etc. he doesn't behave like he's intimately involved in the politics of his world (which he is) and may or may not have training in doing so - maybe he has training and just doesn't do it? which is also really bad, then he would know better and still not do it or help in any way.
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Four things the cultivation world should fear above all else:
A righteous Lan.
An offended Jin.
An enraged Nie.
and a determined Jiang.
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thepurplewombat · 7 months
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The Sin List
okay, so as we all know, it is vitally important that any character we stan must be morally pure and a good example to emulate in real life.
So I have decided to create a list of MDZS characters and their sins, which everyone can easily refer to in order to make sure that they are not following some horrible criminal or murderer!
This was a lot of work, but I'm very proud of it. Just doing my bit to ensure the moral purity of the fandom!
Wei Wuxian - Necromancy, disrespecting his elders, disrespecting the dead, killed Jin Zixuan, punched Jin Zixuan in the face one time, cannibalism, mind control, deviant sexual fantasies, trespassing, oath-breaking, urged Wen Qing to perform untested and possibly fatal operation on Jiang Cheng without his consent.
Lan Wangji - Defied his elders, broke the Lan Clan rules, sexually assaulted Wei Wuxian, deviant sexual fantasies, GBH (JGY)
Jin Guangyao - betrayed and killed Wen Ruohan, betrayed and killed Jin Guangshan, murder (NMJ), murdered assorted people, disrespecting the dead, assorted Spy Things for Wen Ruohan.
Nie Mingjue - Killed a lot of people during the war, verbally abused Nie Huaisang, burned Nie Huaisang's stuff, attempted murder (JGY), attempted murder (JGY), attempted murder (JGY), murder (JGY), killed the Mo family (well, his arm did anyway). In favor of the genocide of the Wen Remnants
Jin Guanshan: Sexual assault, rape, murder, ordering human experimentation with resentful energy to be done by his sect, played both sides during the war, didn't take responsibility for his children, ultimately responsible for getting WWX killed because he wanted the YTT so bad
Wen Ruohan: Attempted world domination, murder etc
Lan Qiren: has a stick up his ass
Su Minshan: Refused to die for the Lan, supported JGY in his efforts to prevent undead Da-ge from killing him. Also cursed Jin Zixun.
Sect Leader Yao: Weathervane politician
Jiang Wanyin: strangled Wei Wuxian that one time, keeps trying to talk to him but is way too tsundere about it, killed many during the war, didn't immediately forgive WWX for getting JYL killed, threatens to break Jin Ling's legs weekly.
Jin Ling: rude. rude rude rude. Also stabbed WWx one time
Lan Jingyi: not respecting his elders, rude rude rude. Also loud
JFM: shit dad, throw him in a volcano
Madame Yu: Angry mom, beat Wei Wuxian for things that weren't his fault, yelled at JC a lot, didn't appreciate JYL, very mean.
Lan Xichen: killed people during the war. Randomly starts doing flute solos in conversation
Meng Shi: was a prostitute. Told Meng Yao his dad was amazing and he should totally look him up later.
Madam Jin: awful person, she can go into the volcano with JFM. physical and verbal abuse (JGY)
Nie Huaisang: killed cats, nearly killed the juniors, let his sect fall into ruin, traded obscene materials, disrespecting his sect's traditions, lied to Lan Xichen to make him kill JGY
Wen Qing: went along with WRH's plans, performed surgery on JC without his consent
Wen Ning: Was part of the burning of LP
Mo Xuanyu: Summoned Satan to murder his relatives, harassed his brother
Jin Zixun: asshole, rude, broke the Geneva Convention on the ethical treatment of prisoners several times. Useless person
FOR THE SAKE OF SAFETY AND YOUR MORALS YOU ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO STAN THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS
Jiang Yanli
Qin Su
Lan Shizui
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canary3d-obsessed · 2 months
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Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 40 part two
(Masterpost) (Pinboard)  (whole thing on AO3)
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Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!
What a Relief
After spending a few weeks in Gusu doing...stuff, our trio comes to Jinlintai for the discussion conference. Unusually for a CQL stair-climbing scene, nobody is planning to murder anyone once they get to the top.
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Our crew walks up the stairs past 3 massive sculpted reliefs featuring Jin Guangyao.
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First and most important, I have to point out that the sculpture version of Lan Xichen [edit: Nie Mingjue actually, whoops] is wearing a sash that looks like this:
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*cough*
Meanwhile, for the picture with the sword and flames, qhanzi.com tells me that the written characters are 伏殺, fú shā; Google translate tells me this means "ambush." Specifically Fu=conceal, Sha=kill. Ballsy to have a monumental artwork on your front steps announcing that you're a backstabbing turncoat, Jin Guangyao.
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Speaking of balls, Jiang Cheng jumps at the opportunity to bust some when the Lan bros arrive with Wei Wuxian in tow. He pretends not to know who Wei Wuxian is, but obviously does know something, given how bitchily he asks to be introduced. Lan Wangji continues his 13-year-long silent treatment of JC while Lan Xichen tries to figure out which bland smile he's meant to be deploying in this situation.
(more after the cut!)
They're all rescued by the appearance of Jin Guangyao 3.0, who has discarded his Nie braids and his Wen hotness in favor of Jin ostentatiousness.
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He's no longer wearing the v-neck robe and topknot crown that we associate with the cultivation sects. Instead he's wearing a hat and a round-necked robe with a big embroidered design on the chest, that resembles the clothing style of a court official.
Some people see JGY's bureaucratic wardrobe as signaling that he's an unassuming administrator, someone who is not threatening to the power structure or is not ambitious. I see it more as conveying that his ambition reaches beyond the cultivation sects into the realm of dynastic/imperial politics.
Anyway, Jiang Cheng turns his ire towards his nephew, and Lan Xichen relaxes again. Possibly he is a little too relaxed, judging by how he's ogling Jiang Cheng.
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I'm high as a kite, I just might stop to check you out
Party Monster
Fanfics are often accused of giving us an out-of-character (OOC) Wei Wuxian, but no fanfic Wei Wuxian is as OOC as the Wei Wuxian who attends this banquet. Normally Wei Wuxian is a mildly annoying flirt, but as soon as soon as he arrives in Koi tower he is (presumably) possessed by the spirit of Jin Guangshan, and becomes a gross sex pest.
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He goes out of his way to hit on the wife of the clan leader and make googly eyes at all of the maids, whose social status doesn't allow them to be rude to him. And he does it in front of his date! What the hell, possessed Wei Wuxian.
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While oblivious to Lan Wangji's jealousy, Wei Wuxian does check in with him to make sure it's ok to put on his "crazy Mo Xuanyu" act. LWJ replies with a certain amount of salt, but once Wei Wuxian makes it clear he's thinking about Lan Wangji's public face, LWJ chills out and answers him normally.
Side note: in no universe would this cute lil maid be making eyes at heavily-masked Mo Xuanyu when unmasked, radiant, filthy-rich Lan Wangji is right there to be smiled at.
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Jin Guangyao greets everyone and some dancers start doing their thing; mercifully, possessed Wei Wuxian refrains from hitting on the dancers. As soon as Jin Guangyao starts to circulate through the room, Nie Huaisang has an epic nervous breakdown all over him, which is even better entertainment than the dancers.
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This gives Wei Wuxian the cover he needs to slip out of the hall unnoticed. Well, as long as nobody notices Lan Wangji's obvious pining.
Fight Club
The prophecy foretells that into each generation of Jins will be born one douchebag cousin. Jin Chan is the douchebag cousin of his generation.
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Jin Chan accuses "Mo Xuanyu" of being a sex pest, and Wei Wuxian suddenly understands why the plot made him act so OOC at the party. Mo Xuanyu wasn't really a sex pest; he was a regular pest, trying to get information out of Qin Su, not trying to seduce her. But he doesn't know that yet. In other adaptations Mo Xuanyu is gay, but CQL exists in a strange censorship-created realm in which gayness is pervasive but never mentioned, and therefore there is no homophobia. So nobody would care if Mo Xuanyu was gay.
When Wei Wuxian realizes what Mo Xuanyu did, he thinks "Mo Xuanyu, do you want to die?"
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Nice choice of idiom, Wei Wuxian. I believe we have firmly established that yes, Mo Xuanyu absolutely did want to die.
The show is kind of vague, verbally, about whether Wei Wuxian 2.0 has a golden core. But there are a lot of moments that strongly suggest he does, at this point, have a functioning core.
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This rock attack is, I hope, one of those moments, or else Jin Chan is a total pussy, getting knocked back by landscape gravel.
Next, Wei Wuxian shows Jin Ling the super-secret move known as "arm twisting," which Jin Ling, as an only child, has never encountered before.
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Anyone with siblings is very familiar with this move.
Because this is The Untamed, this move should be executed with extra spinning whenever possible.
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Jin Ling learns the move right away, and uses it to win the scuffle.
Avuncular
After the fight, Wei Wuxian sits with Jin Ling for a chat, and gives him the classic uncle advice "have as many fights as possible while you're young, because when you're older you'll have to be mature and get along with people."
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I love Wei Wuxian so much.
For contrast, Jin Ling says that Jin Guangyao tells him not to get in fights. This makes Wei Wuxian seem like the cooler elder, but it also has a more sinister element, of Jin Guangyao holding Jin Ling back. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian grew up constantly fighting with each other--sparring as well as informal fights, presumably. And their cultivation was super strong, partly as a result of that.
Wei Wuxian takes the opportunity to tell Jin Ling that he's not in love with Qin Su any more, because he's transferred his affections to someone else. Obviously Hanguang-Jun is the someone else, given that they've been inseparable for weeks. To keep Jin Ling from yelling while he explains, he clamps his hand over Jin Ling's mouth.
The thing is, in order to effectively clamp your hand over someone's mouth, there has to be something behind them--a wall, the mattress, your own torso, or something else solid. Otherwise they can just jerk their head backwards to get away from your hand. Or they can stand up and walk away, even.
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Jin Ling, hilariously, does not realize this, and spends a ridiculously long time sitting still and making angry faces while Wei Wuxian rests his hand on his face.
Spy Game
Later that night, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji get ready for some shenanigans.
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Not the sexy kind, alas, just some paperman snooping.
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Wei Wuxian, because he's facing serious danger, is feeling extra playful and cute, and he takes time to goof around with Lan Wangji before getting down to business.
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In paperman form, he's able to do some things that the censors overlook, including tugging on Lan Wangji's headband and apparently blowing him a kiss. In the book and the donghua, he catches onto Lan Wangji's lip on his way down his face, too.
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One thing that's kind of muted in the live action as compared to the novel is how much Lan Wangji enjoys Wei Wuxian's childish and playful behavior. Lan Wangji never got to be playful as a child, but with Wei Wuxian he can cut loose--which he does mostly in the sack or when they're drinking together. But even when he stays in control of himself, he likes Wei Wuxian's silliness.
He tells Paper-Xian, tenderly, to be very careful, before he sends him on his way.
The Adventures of Paperman
The CGI department outdoes itself with paperman, making an animated character so adorable I'd be happy to watch a whole episode of him.
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Paper-Xian sneaks into JGY's study and pokes around, finding an empty envelope. Then he listens and watches while Qin Su stumbles in, retching.
She's followed closely by Jin Guangyao; they proceed to have an absolutely fucking endless argument in which the words "sister," "brother," "incest" "rapist dad" are never said, instead using vagueburger phrasing like "this matter."
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Jin Guangyao does freely admit to killing their kid, though, and wants to know who told Qin Su about it so he can kill them, too. She won't tell him, shockingly.
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Jin Guangyao ends the fight by putting a paralysis spell on his wife and then making her go to sleep with another spell, which is the cultivator equivalent of saying "I've said what I had to say and I need some space."
He takes her into a secret room where he is also keeping a bunch of talisman-protected stuff and a shockingly small number of books.
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Seriously, as a person who has way too many books, I am personally offended by the way Jin Guangyao wastes shelf space in his secret room.
As Paper-Xian sneaks around the room, Jin Guangyao helpfully pulls aside the curtain covering the shelf with Nie Mingjue's head on it, so he can grouse at NMJ for (figuratively) haunting him. Seriously? Dude, you keep a guy's head on your bookshelf, he gonna haunt ya.
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The episode ends with Paper-Xian bowing (adorably) to Nie Mingjue, and then sitting laying on his face, which would make BOTH Lan brothers jealous if they found out.
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Soundtrack: Ring the Alarm, by Beyonce; Blister in the Sun, by the Violent Femmes
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rarepears · 7 months
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Nie Huaisang, Lan Xichen, Jin Guangyao, and Nie Mingjue all reincarnate together into PIDW, and become disciples around the same time as Luo Binghe.
The drama of this is of course enhanced by the facts that NMJ & JGY died "early," but NHS & LXC lived to the end of their natural lives as cultivators, and so some of their perspectives and opinions on events have naturally changed with age. (tfw the passage of time renders you unfamiliar to your once-loved ones)
Eventually they talk about their feelings and reconcile and such, and this ends up derailing the plot of PIDW severely as the rest of the PIDW characters confusedly observe quite possibly the weirdest disciples Cang Qiong's ever seen
NMJ on Bai Zhan, with no clue what's going on because he died first and NHS & LXC haven't told him anything
NHS on An Ding, thoroughly enjoying what's pretty much a vacation to him at this point and possibly running an interpeak illicit goods market (definitely not to distract himself from any of the emotions having NMJ & JGY alive and nearby would be causing him, Everything Is Fine) I haven't decided if he'd get involved with the whole og!SQH and MBJ situation tho
LXC on Qiong Ding, because I feel like he'd see himself in Yue Qingyuan and lowkey hate him for it and I think that could be interesting
JGY on Qing Jing, because he's the objectively the funniest/most interesting character to throw into the mess that is SJ and LBH. The way I imagine it, he's doing the most direct derailing of the plot, because he mostly accidentally gets right in the middle of the thing that is going on between those two
I feel like as I wrote this it became more serious than I originally intended so just know that I'm mentally picturing this like a fic that's interspersed with outsider POV of the 4 of them being completely deranged about eachother
(Also I'd feel bad taking away LXC's brother so LWJ and WWX + friends are busy doing hot girl shit being rogue cultivators. I think WWX should be a half demon so he gets to keep the cultivation and steal some of LBH's protagonist energy. If this was a fic then the rest of the Untamed gang would be perfect to use for side characters during off-peak missions)
*grabs popcorn and sits down to hear more*
Nie Huaisang is having too much fun waiting the two idiots called his shizun and shizun's poorly kept secret of a boyfriend go flailing around on these terribly unromantic dates BUT THE TWO WERE TRYING SO HARD that it was cute. He wonders if he should do something to help the poor idiots out... Should he?
Maybe he should...
(Watch Shang Qinghua and Mobei Jun suddenly have a number of sex pollen accidents over the next few months....)
Lan Xichen would be an old man and a good voice of reason for Yue Qingyuan. Although he's head disciple and a very good one at that (if only because his Big Brother instincts can't be held back and he MUST interfere to help prevent history repeating once more), Lan Xichen has made it very clear that he would never accept becoming sect leader.
Also don't forget Liu Mingyan in the background writing about a 4 person sex orgy. At least, that's her personal theory for why there's so much UNRESOLVED TENSION between these four sus male disciples. And also, because it's fun.
It's even funner when you consider that Nie Mingjue is out of the loop of Cang Qiong stuff even on Bai Zhan because he tags along on so many of Liu Qingge's missions that he's probably spending like 8 months of the year outside of the sect.
(Nie Huaisang gets "assigned" to missions that happen to take place near Nie Mingjue's hunts.)
Meng Yao is Meng Yao and he still craves the approval of Male Authority Figures That Could be his dad. Also Meng Yao still likes to climb up the social hierarchy and power. AKA Luo Binghe growing mushrooms in the corner at seeing ANOTHER QING JING disciple THE SAME AGE AS HIM being given SO MUCH ATTENTION AND APPROVAL by shizun.
Luo Binghe develops a complex over Meng Yao of course.
(Shen Jiu approves of Meng Yao because he understands these characters very well and know how to manipulate (cough kill or injury them physically or mentally) them easily. Plus Meng Yao is actually competent.)
[More in #Nie Huaisang Lan Xichen Meng Yao and Nie Mingjue reincarnate into PIDW and are Cang Qiong disciples at the same time as Luo Binghe is AU
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add1ctedt0you · 3 months
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Four times Jiang Cheng protected someone
Bonus: Two times Jiang Cheng was protected by someone
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Yet, at the same time, Wen Zhuliu was closing in on Madam Yu. He looked as if he was about to knock her down. Jiang Cheng hurried, "Mom!"
He immediately gave up on Wang Lingjiao and threw himself over.
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 58 - Poisons - Part 3
That, at the town we passed on our way, when you were buying food, a group of Wen Sect cultivators caught up. That, I discovered them early and left where I sat, hiding at the corner of the street and didn't get caught, but they were patrolling the streets and would soon run into you outside.
That this was why I ran out and distracted them.
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 110 - Concealment - Part 4
Jiang Cheng heard the voice as well. In an istant, his face had turned white, "Sis? Sis! Where are you? Where are you?"
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 78 - Nightfall - part 3
With a roar, Nie Mingjue grabbed at Jin Ling. Both Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling had backed away to the corner of the wall, unable to retreat further. Jiang Cheng could only stuff Jin Ling behind him and unsheathe Sandu, which at the moment was unable to use spiritual energy, forcing himself to fend off the attack.
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 107- Concealment - Part 1
Bonus:
Lan Wangji grabbed Wei Wuxian's shoulder with one hand, letting Wei Wuxian stand behind him, and with his other hand he forcefully pushed away Jiang Cheng's hand. Rage could be seen hidden within his eyes. Although his push held no spiritual energy, it was quite powerful in terms of strength. The wound at Jiang Cheng's chest ripped apart again. Blood surged.
Jin Ling cried, "Uncle, your wound! Hanguang-jun, spare some mercy!"
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 102- Hatred - Part 5
Nie Mingjue's heavy fist punched through a body.
But the body was neither Jiang Cheng's nor Jin Ling's.
Wen Ning blocked himself before the wall, in front of the two of them. With both his hands, he grabbed Nie Mingjue's iron arm and slowly pulled it out of his chest, leaving behind a large, hollow hole. There was no bleeding. Only a couple of black organ crumbs fell out.
The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation - Chapter 107- Concealment - Part 1
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whumpbby · 6 months
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Idk if there's a right way to say this but Jiang Cheng's biggest crime in and out canon is being not that pleasant to be around and i rlly wish people would acknowledge that instead of trying to paint him as The Worst in order to justify their weirdly intense hatred towards him
I'm going to ramble,sorry, that how I put thoughts in order:)
I think that's the perfect way to say it actually. And 100% fact imho. His biggest flaw is that he has no patience with other people's shit and no filter on how little patience he has. He lets people know he's unhappy with them. All his care and dedication is in his actions.
The way he cares about Wei Wuxian and then Jin Ling - even his scolding is an expression of care, always concerned about the way their behaviour can bring harm to them or to their sects. The way he sacrificed his life for Wei Wuxian without a moment's doubt and neve mentioned it. The way he was fighting a war and rebuilding the sect at the same time. The way his sect became absolutely notfuckwithable. The way he kept throwing himself in the way of danger for his loved ones in the Temple.
This is not some villain who only cares about himself - the way he's being painted by the antis.
There was this post somewhere saying that the biggest flaw in a fictional character is being boring - they can be a war criminal, as long as they're not boring.
I think for some people who are looking for pure escapism and feel-good simplicity (and nothing wrong with that, everyone does that) the "boring" gets replaced with "ugly". The depiction of trauma survivors that didn't "go through all that and ended up kinder". That didn't get over the tragedy in their lives to an appropriate standard. That are functional, but not happy. That bring back the bad stuff that happened because it still influences their lives and behaviours and reactions.
They want all the tragic trauma of the past, but without long-lasting consequences that aren't leading directly to cock-healing or fawning.
Like, if you think about it, no one went through the war in that book and came out "better". Absolutely no one. Lan Zhan drowned himself in guilt and directed all his anger towards Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian didn't stop running for even a moment and he became an intensely careless, emotionally dishonest person. Lan Xichen settled into not really doing much, coasting on his sects' position and JGY's help. Nie Mingjue became a bona-fide warlord who basically said "fuck these people, hunt them for sport for all I care". Meng Yao learned that you can stab your problems away. Everyone around them became incredibly trigger-happy for a long while.
And yet JC is the only one singled out as the Evil Walking The Land, because his trauma response isn't pretty and stoic and is specifically, understandably, targeting the Innocent Cinnamon Roll Protagonist and isn't fixed by the end of the book. He could have saved the world, but as long as he's not polite while he's at it then fuck him.
This is, like, primary school level morality were facing here xD
I cannot tell you how surprised I was when entering the world of The Untamed - prepared by Tumblr to see jC as this demon of a man and instead found this guy who, by all accounts, is in the right 99% of the time. Then I read the book and was staggered by the final reveal. And the absolute bullshit I was fed by people that wanted to sour me on the character before I could make my own mind.
Not even gonna get into how these people treat Wen Ning - whose whole existence is a horrific chain of horrific events ending in his absolutely awful existence of an actual slave... But he's such a cute puppy, eh?
Tldr: people who keep making excuses for hating JC do it to somehow justify the fact they can only accept Trauma Light in their fiction.
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lgbtlunaverse · 10 months
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Wildly veering into the realm of headcanon here but I think jgy has, like, deeply embarassing and intense fantasies about nie mingjue being courteous to his mom.
He has them about everyone to some extend it's his favorite way to calm down. Close your eyes, imagine your mom decked out in gold, her hair bound up, everyone bowing to her. It's how he gets through meetings without murdering everyone. But I think nie mingiue in particular is a very common solo target for these.
Lan Xichen gets his own special edition too, but it's not the same. Because he has a very clear and realistic picture of what he'd actually do. They don't talk about his mom that much but whenever she comes up xichen is always like well she sounds like a kind woman trying to make the best of her situation 😊 and everytime he thinks about them interacting there's a risk of it getting sad because oh if only...
Jin guangshan? Complete opposite end of the spectrum. It's very gratifying to imagine his mom getting everything she wanted but it's also too unrealistic. Even when still desperate for approval he knows what his father is like. He indulges in them from time to time but it's like the whole time there's an alarm flashing red overhead and going "out of character! Out of character!"
But Nie mingjue. Ohhhhh. Perfectly in the middle. Possible, but improbable enough it be exiting. Sure, he's an honourable man who didn't judge him for his background but he judged him for a whole lot of other things. Did he not discard jin guangyao just like his father threw away his mother when he got bored of her? He's both so easy to admire and so easy to be angry at and it's tantalizing.
He imagines himself walking arm in arm with his mom, in better health than she's ever been, dressed more luxuriously than even the wives of sect leaders on their wedding days, and Nie Mingjue comes up and bowes to her deeper than any sect leader should bow to anyone. Maybe even takes her hand and kisses it and dream!jgy gasps because that is so improper for any unmarried man to do to a woman not of his family!! But Nie Mingjue just looks confused because why shouldn't he pay Meng Shi the respect she so clearly deserves? If people interpret it wrongly that is their problem. Not even er-ge would do that. Would avoid inappropiate touches as a proper lan should but Nie Mingjue? Mingjue doesn't care about those things, if he wants to tell jin guangyao's mother she is the most elegant and radiant woman he's seen in the entire jianghu he will do so because he means it, dammit.
You can't call them horny exactly but they are carnal. This is a deep base desire he's satisfying here and oh does nie mingjue do his job well.
I think he has them, like, almost every day. I think he wakes up from them blushing I think he daydreams about it every single time he and Nie Mingjue talk. Even if it went bad. Especially if it went bad.
I think after the stairs incident the dreams mortifyingly increase dramatically for a few days. He sees it play out behind his eyelids everytime he so much as blinks. Imagines Nie Mingjue down on his knees kowtowing, apologizing to his mother, imagines him being outraged at his real self's words. Dishonourable, unfair, he would never say that. He closes his eyes when he first plays the song of turmoil for nie mingjue and imagines it the entire time. And when he's done he takes a deep breath and then he fucking beats the thought to death and stuffs it away with all the other feelings he's repressing and then never thinks about it again.
Nothing else is ever that satisfying but sometimes sacrifices must be made.
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jaimebluesq · 2 years
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Watch "【Multi Sub】《#陈情令之乱魄》/ Fatal Journey 祖传刀墓事件跌宕起伏 明玦怀桑再续陈情令不朽传奇【玄幻 | 肖战 王一博 | iQIYI大电影-欢迎订阅】" on YouTube
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Guess what movie is now on Youtube?!?!
Posting for everyone who hasn't yet gotten their fill of the Nie Bros feels and Nie Huaisang's epic kubrick stare.
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wutheringskies · 7 months
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Lan-Furen's Case and Lan Zhan
A couple of days ago I came across an excellent meta on Lan Xichen over how by not "wanting to know" who is in the right and who is in the wrong, he is able to maintain a schrodinger's cat syndrome and assume the best of everyone. I thought more about what that then meant for Lan Wangji who visited his mother publicly every month.
Lan Wangji is an extremely righteous character. He has a temper against those that he deems as unrighteous. He can absolutely not take it if someone is using their privilege to oppress others; or if, someone is killing innocents for baseless, useless reasons.
Someone like Lan Wangji would not continue loving a person even if they act for their own gains, petty revenge or selfishly. Simply stating, he can't continue loving a person who has left the road of righteousness.
In his mother's case, it doesn't seem as if bigger forces (such as sect politics) were involved; but it was something personal. We do not know what that something was, thus we cannot judge. Thus, he cannot judge.
I believe his coming over to the Gentian House every month shows perhaps the most important characteristic of his:
Lan WangJi slowly shook his head, “One should not comment without understanding the whole picture.”
I find Lan Wangji and Nie Mingjue's insistence upon their sense of justice similar. Even in dire situations, where it seems stupid to act upon your sense of justice, when everyone around you is acting unjustly, they will insist - Lan Wangji stuck in a cave, injured, protecting someone who is being harassed by those who hold power, hunted down by enemies who are much higher on the social ladder, own much more money, and are many in numbers, despite knowing, inevitably it may cause his own demise and fall. Yet, he doesn't care about that. This happens twice. That's his sense of righteousness and justice. Similarly, Nie Mingjue is ready to kill himself as punishment for killing someone who saved him, yet he must kill Guangyao for killing his clansmen and stuff (so much killing with this guy.)
But Lan Wangji is better, as his justice is embedded with empathy, patience and true efforts to understand the entire story before placing his judgement. He's not free from making false judgements, and societal judgement does affect him.
But, he's not holding to any particular judgement to the ends of his life. He is willing to accept new facts and reform his opinion, reframe his thoughts. He's like that guy on twitter who tweeted something tone-deaf in 2012, but is completely against that in 2023, as now he has new information.
So, Lan Wangji doesn't incriminate people. He doesn't hold personal grudges. He is prone to hatred, jealousy and the stuff - that is what makes him human. But he rarely acts upon it, preferring to remove himself from the situation.
He is such a person.
So, it cannot be known whether the glass was filled and then emptied, or whether it was empty and then it was filled; what I mean is we can't judge from just a half-full/half-empty glass of what the context was; similarly, we can't judge from just the other's actions and situations alone of what the intention, purpose, reasoning, etc was. We can't judge evil or bad that easily, and with all those who were involved in Madam Lan's case - all their souls dispersed, and Lan Qiren being Lan Qiren, Lan Wangji can only judge on what he knows.
What he knows is that his mother was a lovely woman and he was happy to see her; so he visits her still. He is not accepting her actions, or incriminating them, as she is not there to defend herself or to accuse others. He doesn't know if the clan was wrong or if his mother was. I believe, with Lan Wangji's character, that he's strong enough to face the actions of those who he loves.
It’d be inconvenient for him to be more specific, such as Lan XiChen or Lan QiRen.
Lan WangJi answered assuredly, “No.”
Wei WuXian was quite confident in Lan WangJi’s answer. To him, Lan WangJi wasn’t the kind of person who’d hide or run away from the truth. If he denied it, that meant it must have been wrong. He didn’t like to lie, either. In Wei WuXian’s opinion, if someone asked Lan WangJi to lie, he’d rather silence himself and not talk at all. Thus, Wei WuXian immediately excluded the possibility of the gravedigger being these two.
So, this. If Lan Wangji felt any of Wei Wuxian's actions were uncalled for, or unrighteous and cruel, he wouldn't have loved him. But, even by the logic of Great Grudges, Wei Wuxian had every right to kill the Wens (the SSC ones).
But that's beyond the point. The point is that Lan Wangji is stuck in a situation where he can't cast judgment, but still, his actions reflect what he knows and has gathered first-hand; what his actions show is pure love, patience, a strong, but sensitive heart waiting for another chance to understand the truth, yet knowing and accepting that it will never come, and being at peace with that.
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Another mixed concept and scene snippet post from twitter. This one I actually hammered out a quick ending to!
Nie Huaisang is the insecure one of the relationship for a change. 
Even though they’ve been together from the end of lectures all the way through the Sunshot Campaign, even though Jiang Cheng always turns them down, even though Jiang Cheng chased off the matchmakers, there's always someone drawn in by Jiang Cheng’s pretty face or the allure of the Jiang-furen. 
And, eventually, Jiang Cheng will have to find himself a wife. 
An actual wife. 
Nie Huaisang can handle dealing with merchants and accounts and stuff like that, he’d even force himself to do it for the rest of his life if he has to, but there's so much more that would be expected of a wife and even if he were to learn it all, the etiquette and everything, he's still not a woman. He can’t give Jiang Cheng heirs of his own bloodline, and he knows how important that is.
So even though he does his best to help out with rebuilding the Pier, Nie Huaisang makes himself scarce if there's even a hint of flirting because if this is going to be the one that Jiang Cheng reciprocates, he doesn't want to be there to see it.
He even stays through the fallout and the first siege, only for a new problem to pop up as the dust settles.
On top of everything else, Jin Ling can’t stand him. Even at that age where babies are upset about everything, it's clear Nie Huaisang is his least favorite adult, even though Nie Huaisang is doing his best, and is actually doing things correctly 95% of the time.
It's absolutely crushing. It's worse than the flirting, worse than the proposal letters, because he knows more than anything, Jiang Cheng needs a partner who can do right by his nephew.
As Jin Ling howls angrily in his arms, only to immediately quiet as soon as someone else takes him, Nie Huaisang finally starts contemplating throwing in the towel and letting Jiang Cheng find someone who actually deserves to be by his side. 
And eventually… he does give up and break things off. 
Not wanting to leave Jiang Cheng feeling like he's in the wrong, he explains everything before he quietly goes back to Qinghe.
Unbeknownst to him, Jiang Cheng takes this as a challenge. 
Nie Huaisang left because people wanted him to marry better? Fine! He finally accepts the matchmakers' attempts to set him up, and then purposely bombs the dates. When rumors start getting out, he pays the matchmakers to support them.
He can't do anything about the fact that Jin Ling doesn't like Nie Huaisang, and that guts him, because his nephew comes first. But Jin Ling's a baby, surely his opinion will change as he grows? 
Right?
He can make this work. He will make this work.
It's been a year and a half since he and Nie Huaisang have seen each other in person, but they've been tentatively exchanging letters. 
When Jiang Cheng arrives at the conference in Qinghe, he takes the first day to gather his nerves. On the second day, he thinks he's ready.
And then the screaming panic erupts in the courtyard.
---
From there, it goes as canon did. Nie Huaisang grows distant as he sinks into grief and revenge and Jiang Cheng throws himself into running the sect and raising Jin Ling. 
(Neither of them ever tells Jin Ling about their history together, so he grows up having never known they were even an item, just that Nie Huaisang is that weird annoying guy who's always pestering shushu. Ironic that he ends up remaining completely disdainful of Nie Huaisang his whole childhood, but for totally different reasons.)
It's painful and bewildering to see the way Nie Huaisang acts around Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao, because Nie Huaisang wasn't that clingy with him even when they were lovers.
(Once the final confrontation at the temple concludes, Jiang Cheng realizes that Nie Huaisang might have been shielding him from All Of That, but he's still kind of hurt and confused.)
Something forces them to talk: Jin Ling eventually does find out about their backstory.
Not the actual backstory, of course, but during a 'friendly' night hunt, Wei Wuxian offhandedly muses about the fact that Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang aren't together anymore.
Wait, when were they ever together???? 
"Oh, it ended before you were even old enough to remember?" Wei Wuxian asks. "Though I guess that's not surprising, since you were only three when Chifeng-zun died."
"It was probably because even they couldn't stand each other for long," Lan Jingyi says, earning a swat from Ouyang Zizhen.
But Wei Wuxian just grins and says "Yeah, that's probable, too," or something like that. Jin Ling doesn't really hear it clearly because he's already mad and stewing in his own thoughts.
His jiujiu-! With that guy-!
And he's going to get to the bottom of this. Since his jiujiu never said anything about Nie-zongzhu all those years, good or bad, he knows he won't get any information that way, and even though he grew up seeing Nie-zongzhu as a silly harmless annoyance, recent discussions mean he doesn't feel comfortable going to the Unclean Realms either.
Time to start asking the Jiang sect’s second-in-command some questions. 
---
Jin Ling doesn’t get much, but he gets enough that he knows he’s going to have to press Nie-zongzhu for the full story. 
So he sucks up his nerve and heads to the Unclean Realms.
He’s received with little fanfare, but when Nie Huaisang offers tea, he can tell by the smell that it’s his jiujiu’s favorite, and he can’t help but wonder which of them loved it first.
It throws him off guard enough that rather than the snippy confrontation he had been planning on the way over, the first question out of his mouth is “Do you regret any of it?”
Nie Huaisang tilts his head, expression uncomfortably probing. Jin Ling braces himself for the usual deflections and protestations of ignorance, but whatever Nie Huaisang sees makes him simply sigh instead. “Your shenshen. I never predicted she would react the way she did. I thought she would go home to her parents.”
“What about the cu- Mo Xuanyu? Did you make him do it?”
“No. It was his idea to begin with, actually. But there was a possibility, however small, that I could have stopped him, and I never tried.”
Jin Ling is… not sure exactly how he feels about the answers he’s been given. But he does believe them. So he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, lets it out… and without any of the irritation he’d been carrying with him on the way, asks the question that has really sparked this visit.
“Did you break up with jiujiu because of me?”
Nie Huaisang chokes on his tea. “Where did you hear that from?” he wheezes after getting the coughing under control.
“Not any one person in particular. I heard you’d been together from shijiu, and started putting the pieces together after talking to some others,” Jin Ling only partially lies, not wanting to put his jiujiu’s second in any possible line of fire. “Did you?”
Nie Huaisang rubs between his eyes, and it looks like he won’t answer at first. “It wasn’t your fault,” he finally says. “There were over a dozen different issues that probably would have sunk us eventually. We’d been keeping the relationship quiet during the rebuilding, so there were potential wives being tossed in his path constantly, none of which I could measure up to.”
“He would have picked you anyway,” Jin Ling says, eyes narrowed. “So tell me the real reason.”
“I did. Choosing me would have only put more stress on him, especially since-”
“Since what?”
“Since nothing.”
“So it did have something to do with me.”
“Jin-zongzhu-”
“Tell me,” Jin Ling insists, practically leaning over the table.
Nie Huaisang scrubs his face with his hands. “Fine. Fine. I hated seeing how miserable he was having to split time between us because you screamed yourself blue if someone tried to hand you to me. I wasn’t going to make him choose, and I wasn’t going to make him feel guilty when he inevitably chose you. It was better for both of you to just take myself out of the running.”
Jin Ling sits back down and processes this, remembering all the times he’d heard his jiujiu absolutely shut down a dinner date with anyone. How he always changed the subject when Jin Ling brought up the question of why he hadn't married yet.
He must have been missing Nie Huaisang the whole time, and it’s clear just from watching Nie Huaisang during this discussion that he’d been hurting too. And yet they’d never breathed a word about it around him because they didn’t want him thinking he’d ruined things for them.
“Okay,” he says finally. “I’m summoning jiujiu here and we’re discussing this in full.”
“What?”
Things finally seem to be going well. With Jin Ling's blessing, Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang are tentatively mending the bond between them.
And then a night hunt goes horribly wrong, with Jiang Cheng taking a blow that would have killed his nephew and once-shixiong. Much to everyone's surprise, including his own, he ascends.
As a god of devotion.
He laughs until he realizes the other gods are serious, and then he's bewildered and angry because why him?
Worst of all, he can't leave the heavens without permission for literal years because he has to 'settle in' first, which just seems like a lot of bureaucratic bullshit to him.
Of course he goes to Jin Ling first, who's now fully-grown and well-established, but still greets him with tears and a fierce hug like a kid. After they've spent almost the whole day catching up, Jin Ling suddenly gets very quiet and serious. "You might want to go see Huaisang next. Before it's too late."
Jiang Cheng stiffens. "I was already planning on it, but what the hell do you mean 'too late'?"
"He's... really not been doing well since you ascended. I think the only things still keeping him alive at this point are his promise to his brother and the fact that the disciples insist on taking care of him even though he abdicated."
Jiang Cheng feels sick, because he knows.
He knows why.
He thanks Jin Ling and, in a blink, he's at the Unclean Realms. Ignoring the stunned reactions, he turns to the man he recognizes as having been the head disciple the last time he visited and is likely the sect leader now. "Where is he?"
He's guided to a set of rooms deep in the side of the mountain, where the only light is from torches and lanterns and candles. When he enters the door indicated for him, the sight inside makes his stomach drop.
Nie Huaisang is sleeping on a bed of furs and soft pillows, an array Jiang Cheng can't identify stitched over the chest of carefully arranged robes. Despite the fact that his face is still smooth and unlined, there are silver streaks among the braids in his hair. He's far too thin and just... looks ill. 
Kneeling beside the low bed, Jiang Cheng reaches out to touch his cheek, his hair, something, but his presence rouses his former lover before he can make contact.
Nie Huaisang blinks at him, then smiles, but his gaze isn't focusing right. "Ah, Cheng-er, look at you," he murmurs, barely audible. "Always knew you were too good for a monster like me."
Nie Huaisang only lives long enough to complete the purification ritual.
Jiang Cheng decides to remain on earth, waiting. He passes the time by occasionally checking in with the sect, or with Jin Ling, or even with Wei Wuxian, the shock of his ascension having forced them to have some very weighty conversations.
It takes another fifty years, but eventually he crosses paths with a young man who has familiar green eyes and an even more familiar infectious laugh. 
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rayan12sworld · 3 months
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Something is wrong with A-Zhan!
By:HeloSoph
Summary:
Something is very wrong with Lan Xichen's younger brother.
First, he didn't wake up at his usual time.
Then, when he did wake up, he called him xiongzhang.
And as if that wasn't enough, he hugged him!
A-Zhan, the boy who hates physical contact since their mother's passing, hugged his brother on his own accord!
And as if the day couldn't get weirder-
“A-Zhan.”
“Yes, shufu.”
“What did shufu say before he let you and your dada go?”
“To get something we like.”
“And what did A-Zhan do?”
“A-Zhan likes Wei Ying.”
Lan Qiren’s eye twitched again.
OR: Lan Wangji time travels and decides to change everything.
Chapter:6/6
Words:15,306
Status:completed
(Dark lan wangji)
Like he killed everyone in the first time line 🫡
Wei Ying is Lan Qiren's cabbage
If what Nie Huaisang had written had even a semblance of truth, he won’t have to worry about his injured back soon. And as long as he does as instructed in the letter, he will be with Wei Ying soon, too. If not, he’ll just kill Nie Huaisang too. After all, lying is forbidden. And lying to him about Wei Ying– giving him false hope – is even more unforgivable.
~~
For he knows that Jiang Wanyin did blame his Wei Ying for the deaths of his family and sect members, as if Wei Ying didn’t lose the same people too. He hadn’t been able to intervene back then, not with the war blowing in all their faces. One man’s bitterness was of little insignificance. But now, Lan Wangji will make sure that the Jiang Sect Leader pays for everything. In full. He is the paragon of righteousness. His bitterness, after all, is not insignificant. It is righteous. It is justice. He is justice.
~~~
It looked lived in. But that can’t be true. His zhiji, his bright and cheerful, full of energy Wei Ying was long dead. Even before his death, this was not the room he lived in. ‘This lying bastard,’ Lan Wangji’s eyes turned cold as he looked at Jiang Wanyin and fixated on the bead of cold sweat that left from his hairline and threatened to fall in his eyes. He should gouge those eyes out, Lan Wangji absentmindedly made a note to himself. “I’ll take everything that belongs to my zhiji, and I’ll start with that golden core. Who gave you the right to use it, you bastard?”
~~
In Qinghe, Nie Huaisang felt a severe headache for a week. When his headache subsided and he woke up, it was to his brother by his bedside, fretting over him. ‘Lan Wangji’s love for Wei-xiong is no joke.’
~~
“You!” He got up and pointed at Lan Wangji, shaking with rage. Lan Wangji looked at him with a crazed look in his eyes, “Stop pointing those fingers at me unless you want them broken.” “Lan Zhan, that’s not a nice thing to say.” Wei Wuxian held Lan Wangji’s face in his hands and gently reprimanded him as if he were a misbehaving toddler, not a man fully capable of– and intending to– causing bodily harm to the Jiang Sect Heir. “Wei Ying..” Wei Wuxian understood that Lan Zhan was not sorry, so he didn’t push. He simply kissed his forehead, right on his sacred ribbon, “I’ll wait at Jingshi, come back quickly, hmm?” “Mn.” Having gotten his answer, Wei Wuxian collected his stuff and went back to his shared residence with Lan Wangji to wait for his zhiji to be done here. Lan Zhan never liked Wei Ying seeing him when he got like this. He claimed that Wei Ying might not like him anymore if he saw him like this. Wei Wuxian claimed that he would love him anyway. In the end, just to reassure Lan Zhan, Wei Wuxian always listened, not wanting to see his zhiji unhappy or in doubt even for a single moment. With Wei Wuxian gone, the room’s temperature somehow fell even lower. And this time, Jiang Wanyin noticed too. Everyone stood frozen in their place as Lan Wangji effortlessly grabbed the Jiang Sect Heir by the throat and lifted him in air, the boy’s feet dangling in the air as he tried and failed to pry the strong hand away from his throat. As the boy’s face started turning the same colour as the nine-petalled lotus embroidery on his shoulders, Lan Wangji spoke, “I hear another word about my fiance from your mouth, your corpse will greet your family when you leave here. Do I make myself clear?” The Jiang boy struggled against Lan Wangji’s steady hold for some time until his vision blurred. It was only after his vision started spotting that he made an attempt to nod. He was thrown to the ground like discarded trash after Lan Wangji decided his answer was acceptable. For now. As Lan Wangji left and the Jiang Sect Heir choked on the ground, coughing up a storm, the rest of the guest disciples still stood frozen in their place.
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thatswhatsushesaid · 7 months
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do you think NHS will ever be satisfied with the way things have turned out in the end? or is he already? I've seen polar opinions on this one and honestly can't decide which one I like more
oooh, what crunchy questions, anon.
short answer: I think he thinks he's satisfied.
the tl;dr answer: I don't think it's possible for us to know with any degree of certainty how nhs feels about anything post-canon, because the text gives us almost no insight into his interiority outside of wwx's speculation in the aftermath of the guanyin temple sequence. but I think we can make some educated guesses based on what we do know about his character.
rather than just rewrite stuff I've already written on this subject before, I'll drop some links to previous posts that I think are relevant to your ask:
nhs took so long to enact his revenge quest because he could not make up his mind about what he wanted to do. also this one, which includes discussion of his cql performance as well. indecisiveness is as core to nhs's character as his desire for vengeance, and I think that extends to his feelings about his situation post-canon, too.
this is definitely more within the realm of headcanon and speculation but I went deep on this the magnus archives-mdzs fusion reblog speculating on why I think nhs would be an avatar of the hunt, and a big thing about the hunt is that once the hunt is over, the hunters... don't really know what to do with themselves. womp womp.
now on to the point I don't think I've spilt much digital ink on yet:
nhs is, and always has been, a people person. this is extremely obvious when you dip back into the gusu lan summer camp for wayward young cultivators chapters, where nhs is at his most effervescent when he is bopping around the cloud recesses as wwx and jc's bubbly tag-along, lamenting how much lwj and lqr clearly hate wwx while cheerfully offering to give wwx more porn to make up for what he's lost. (it was nhs's porn, too! he'd be justified in being a bit cheesed off about it, but he really isn't!) if he sees a didi-shaped hole in a prospective friends' group, he sees an opportunity to make himself lovably indispensable as the court appointed littlest brother no one asked for, and quite frankly who could blame him? he loves to be spoiled and doted on, but imo there's some clear self-awareness and reciprocity at work in these dynamics that goes beyond a desire just to be pampered and looked after. I suppose an uncharitable read on teen!nhs would be that he's lazy and manipulative and finds easy marks to do the heavy lifting for him so he can sleep and paint and catch birds for his private collection, but tbh I think that interpretation does his character dirty. most people who end up spoiling and doting on nhs in the text are clearly happy to do so and seem to get something out of making life easier for this charmingly incompetent dandy. good for him--and for them!
...and then, post-canon, he is a people person without any people around him. sure, we can presume the existence of some unnamed nie sect subordinates who are stuck dealing with a sect leader who allowed his sect to languish and decline in the years after nmj's death, but I think if any of those unnamed subordinates were inclined to be people nhs could rely on to fill the 3zun and/or wwx and jc-shaped voids in his life, we'd at least know their names. I think it is telling that we don't, and that the last meaningful interaction we see between nhs and the characters who used to be his closest friends in the text amounts to an interrogation. whatever affection wwx used to feel for nhs has clearly withered on the vine and has been replaced by mistrust and suspicion--to say nothing of lxc's dead-eyed silence as soon as he begins to put the pieces together.
also: the last glimpse we get of nhs in the text before he disappears from the story altogether is him picking up jgy's hat and walking off with it. why does he do this? why is this the very last thing we see him do in the story? there are a few different possibilities:
"he's taking the hat to keep as a trophy!" I mean. maybe? I suppose I can't entirely rule out this possibility, but it is the least interesting one to me because it glosses over the complexity of nhs's pre-existing relationship to jgy.
"nhs doesn't know why he picks up the hat and takes it with him. he just does it." this is the idea I vibe with the most because it is most consistent with my read on his character--namely that he is never 100% sure about anything (except what qualifies as good erotica). but I think the part of him that still cares about jgy (it's there! it's tiny and shrivelled and warped by his transformation into the wuxia version of montresor, but it's still there) does not want to see his hat abandoned in the mud and dirt, and also does not want to interrogate his feelings about why he feels that way that closely.
"nhs can't abide littering! he's doing his part to keep the city streets clean." doubt.jpeg
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Training
The Lan juniors are practicing archery when Wei Ying stumbles upon the Cloud Recesses' training grounds in his aimless walk around the place. He observes for a bit, at first.
Sizhui's stance is nearly perfect, he recognizes and corrects his own mistakes easily and does not seem bothered about missing shots. Lan Zhan's hand is so obvious that Wei Ying finds it endearing.
Lan Jingyi, however, is growing increasingly frustrated. His shots are powerful and quick but he doesn't score as many points as he would like, muttering to himself about whatever he could be doing wrong. He seems more focused on the target rather than his stance and it shows the more he misses.
"Straighten your shoulders, Jingyi." Wei Ying intervenes, "And lower your elbow a little, you'll shoot too low."
He picks up a bow and arrow - how nostalgic, he thinks - and demonstrates the correct stance, smiling to himself as he releases the bow string and hits bullseye.
"Wow..."
"Why do you look so surprised? Don't you know I won the archery competition at the last discussion conference in Qishan? I even beat Hanguang-Jun and Zewu-Jun!"
"Hanguang-Jun told us once, he said you were the best archer of your generation." Sizhui says, and Wei Ying can't help a laugh.
"Lan Zhan thinks I'm the best in everything, and I think he is. We have this back and forth constantly and we've made zero progress on it."
"Uncle Wen Ning said he used to do archery as well."
"Yup! Honestly I think he was among the best, he just never got the chance to shine..."
It's bittersweet to remember - Wen Ning, young and alive, so incredibly skilled but just as anxious. If Wen Chao had minded his business, everyone would have been able to see the true potential that lay within the shy boy. It all went to hell far too soon for Wen Ning to garner the respect and admiration he deserved.
"Anyway," Wei Ying continues, "what are you guys training for?"
"Our own archery competition!" Sizhui responds, eagerly. "The invitation to the discussion conference mentioned they'll hold one this year and Zewu-Jun picked us as representatives for the Lan sect!"
Nie Huaisang always seemed to like watching archery, Wei Ying thought to himself. I wonder why.
"So what's the prize?"
"A war fan."
"A war fan?"
"Yeah!" Jingyi gesticulates at about half his height and opens his arms wide. "It's about this big, and you can fly on it and stuff."
"I didn't even know such things existed..." Wei Ying replied. "Much less that the Nie would have them. But then again... a very surprising sect if I've seen one!"
Lan Jingyi picked up his bow again. "I wanna win it so I can fan Jin Ling away when he's being annoying."
Wei Ying chuckles at the image. "He won't be participating, right? Since he's a sect leader now."
"No, but he would have stood no chance anyway." And Lan Jingyi pointedly misses the target when he tries shooting an arrow all arrogantly. Wei Ying barely holds in his laugh and Sizhui sighs fondly before hitting his own target right in the middle.
"Say, Sizhui," Jingyi begins, pleadingly, "if you win, will you give me the fan?"
"Remember what Hanguang-Jun told us, do not receive praise for deeds you haven't done yourself-"
"-and do not accept criticism you do not deserve." Jingyi completed. "But I don't want the praise, I just want the fan!"
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