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robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

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I'm absolutely delighted your prompts are open! Your writing is amazing and always makes me smile, it's the best way to start the day along with a cup of coffee!

Lan Zhan and Wei Ying are given another chance at raising a child after a family is killed leaving only a young child behind. Lan Sizhui is delighted to have a baby sibling. Though everyone is more or less nervous about it (mostly be Wei Ying is a gremlin) but also there isn't any other options.

ao3

“It’ll be fine,” Jiang Cheng said, rolling his eyes. “Hanguang-jun raised Lan Sizhui, didn’t he? And he turned out fine.”

“I did,” Lan Sizhui said agreeably, then frowned. “I think I did, anyway.”

“Not to be a spoilsport, but, realistically speaking, how much raising did Hanguang-jun actually do with you?” Jin Ling asked, and held up his hands when Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi both glared at him. “I don’t mean any offense or anything! I’m serious. We know he was in seclusion those first few years, right? Who raised you then?”

Lan Sizhui thought about it. “Back in the beginning? Well…that was mostly Teacher Lan, I guess.”

“Teacher Lan’s the best,” Lan Jingyi said loyally, then added, “Well, other than that fondness he has for surprise quizzes. But that’s not applicable to parenting, is it?”

Lan Sizhui made a face that suggested that maybe it was, in some weird way, shape, or form.

“Teacher Lan, really?” Jiang Cheng asked, clearly getting drawn in despite his best intentions – as was often the case. There was a reason their little group swung by the Lotus Pier nearly as often as they did the Cloud Recesses and Jinlin Tower, despite Jin Ling not living there part of the year any longer. “Wasn’t he mostly in recovery for those injuries he got during the war? I would’ve figured Zewu-jun would’ve been more involved, wouldn’t he?”

“He was around sometimes, but no, it was mostly Teacher Lan,” Lan Sizhui said. “Zewu-jun was often busy – he was rebuilding the Lan sect –”

“I was rebuilding the Jiang sect! So what? I still raised Jin Ling, and he wasn’t even supposed to be here – I had to fight the Jin sect for months just to get the opportunity – ”

“Yes, jiujiu, we know!” Jin Ling said hastily. “You don’t have to tell that story again! You didn’t have to tell everyone that story in the first place!”

Jiang Cheng huffed. He was probably going to tell the story again whether they liked it or not.

“I think I see what you’re saying, Jin Ling,” Ouyang Zizhen put in, always a good fellow for throwing himself on a conversational sacrificial sword. “If Lan Sizhui was already a few years old when he was adopted, and then Teacher Lan raised him for the next three years, then he would’ve been old enough to be entered into the Cloud Recesses’ official junior classes by the time Hanguang-jun took charge of his education, right?”

“Yes, that’s what I meant, that’s it exactly!”

“What does it matter?” Lan Sizhui asked.

“Yeah! Hanguang-jun still raised him the rest of the way,” Lan Jingyi put in, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring. “Gave him lessons and tips and all that!”

“Isn’t that something he does as a sect senior anyway?”

“Well, yes, but it’s different for Sizhui, okay?”

“I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with that. After all, the person who teaches the most is the same as the parent, and being the person raising them is what matters no matter when they’re adopted,” Jin Ling said, with an eye on Jiang Cheng, who looked begrudgingly pleased. He looked begrudging all the time, though, so it was probably just pleased. “But my point is – once you were part of the lessons, even if he was raising you the rest of the time, you still already mostly had your personality down by then, right? We’ve never seen what someone raised entirely by Hanguang-jun from birth would be like.”

They all stopped to consider that.

“More than that,” Jin Ling continued. “This kid’ll be raised not just by Hanguang-jun, but by Hanguang-jun as he is now – after he and Senior Wei got together. You know?”

They did know.

“And of course, that’s all putting aside that the kid will be raised by Senior Wei himself, too…”

“Maybe we should start investing in defense talismans,” Jiang Cheng mused. “Because everything is going to explode. Everything.”

“Everything will not explode,” Lan Wangji said calmly.

“Are you sure?” Wei Wuxian asked. “Because I’m not sure, and I’m more likely to be involved in these hypothetical explosions than you are.”

“Mm. I’m certain.”

“But…”

“Wei Ying will be an excellent father,” Lan Wangji said, and his voice left no room for doubt.

“It’s easy for you to say,” Wei Wuxian whined, though he was smiling now. “You already have the experience of it! They say that it’s easier the second time, when you know what to expect…”

“Do not tell lies,” Lan Qiren said mildly. He was looking over some of Wei Wuxian’s notes – he’d insisted on any new inventions passing through a sanctioned approval process before they were put into practice and had volunteered himself to review them, a matter that had caused Wei Wuxian no end of stress until he realized that Lan Qiren really did intend to approve anything that met his standards and, moreover, understood musical cultivation enough to understand what he was driving at with most of them, even the esoteric ones, at which point Wei Wuxian gotten extremely enthusiastic about the whole thing.

This didn’t mean that they were friends or anything, but they’d at least formed some sort of tentative truce.

Most of the time, anyway.

Wei Wuxian squinted at his old teacher suspiciously. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying that it’s not easier the second time?”

“I am only saying that I have experience in raising a child not my own,” Lan Qiren pointed out, and Wei Wuxian nodded, slightly abashed; he knew that the old man had basically raised Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen, of course, although sometimes he forgot. “The first child I raised was Xichen and his personality as a child was much as it was as an adult: gentle, amiable, friendly, obedient.”

That made sense. Wei Wuxian nodded.

“The second child I raised was Wangji,” Lan Qiren said. “He bit people.”

Wei Wuxian burst out laughing.

Lan Wangj virtuously ignored them both, continuing to write a letter without the slightest hint of embarrassment – even his ears hadn’t turned red. What a shame!

“I can testify to that myself,” Wei Wuxian giggled, leering at his husband in the hopes of getting a rise out of him. “He’s still a biter – for certain lucky people.”

“He was a lot less discriminating when he was younger,” Lan Qiren said, and Wei Wuxian winced, abruptly remembering that Lan Wangji’s uncle was, in fact, still in the room. Luckily it was pretty easy to flirt around Lan Qiren, who didn’t seem to notice most of the time, but it was still a bit awkward. “And I once succumbed to temptation and gave him mixed messages, which I believe made it worse.��

That sounded like a story.

“He gave me a candy after I bit Sect Leader Jin,” Lan Wangji clarified, which made Wei Wuxian start laughing again. “He did not expect me to remember. I remembered. Nor did I allow him to forget about it.”

“It is easy to make mistakes while raising a child,” Lan Qiren said, ignoring Wei Wuxian’s cackling. “But if one means well, and tries hard to do the right thing, children are very forgiving – usually.”

Despite his best efforts to remain neutral, Lan Wangji’s eyes curved slightly in a smile. Wei Wuxian felt his heart go all warm and melty all over again.

“This is true regardless of whether it is the first or second child,” Lan Qiren added. “I have confidence that you will both do fine.”

“We will,” Wei Wuxian proclaimed. “With parents like me and Lan Zhan, how could the kid go wrong? And we’ll even try to avoid too many explosions!”

“Please do. One Lan Jingyi is enough for the Cloud Recesses.”

“You know, I was wondering – how did you end up with him being quite so…hmm…”

“Oh?” Lan Qiren said, and Wei Wuxian noted to his amusement that Lan Wangji straightened in back in sudden alarm despite Lan Qiren’s extremely nonchalant tone. “Have you not met Lan Yueheng yet? I must introduce you when he returns –”

“Perhaps not,” Lan Wangji said, sounding a little worried.

Worried, in this case, meant fun.

“No, I think I definitely need to meet this person – Lan Zhan, stop batting at me! I know exactly what I’m doing…”

Wen Ning looked down at the baby with which he had been entrusted.

“I don’t have any idea what I’m doing,” he confessed.

The baby gurgled.

“I think Wei-gongzi may have been thinking more about ‘babysitter that doesn’t need to sleep and has inexhaustible energy’ and less about ‘is this person qualified to take care of a baby’.”

More gurgling.

“I just wanted to apologize in advance.”

The baby yawned.

“…right then.” Wen Ning straightened up. Someone was going to have to raise this child, and based on how distractable Wei Wuxian was when he was around Lan Wangji and visa versa, it looked like it was going to have to be him. “Let’s do this.”

#mdzs #lan wangji #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #jin ling #lan sizhui #lan jingyi #ouyang zizhen #lan qiren #wen ning #my fic #my fics

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drwcn · 3 years

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follow up to [post] exploring the crack au if lwj was a girl

〒▽〒 ps im not trying to erase canon lwj representation, not at all, wangxian is mm in all my other fics, this is just stupid fun

in a ceteris paribus situation aka all other things staying equal:

1) Lan Wangji 100% still has a resting bitch face, which probably would get her a couple of “Lan-er-guniang 美若天仙 (beautiful as an immortal/goddess) but would benefit from smiling more” comments but nobody is that desperate to die yet so, she’s spared. But damn... imagine the sheer number of thirsty boys who’d try to secure a marriage with LWJ. None of them is good enough for Wangji as far as Lan Xichen is concerned. Okay - maybe in Lan Xichen’s opinion, Nie Mingjue is good enough, but he couldn’t be less interested. I see her as I see Huaisang, Xichen please.

2) Everything interaction between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian in Wei Wuxian’s first life is now 500% more scandalous.

Exhibit A) Their first meeting at the gates; Jiang Cheng immediately felt his spidey senses tingling. —“You’d sooner have immortals flying out of your ass than get with someone like her. The second jade of Gusu? The pearl in old man Lan’s eyes? C’mon.” —“Shut up, A-Cheng.” —“Uh-huh.” —“Also, she’s not that pretty. Her brother Zewu-jun is much better. There’s a reason he’s ranked first.” WWX is still a disaster bi. — “LMAO, you? Zewu-jun? Please.”

Exhibit B) Just because LWJ is a girl does not mean WWX grew more brain cells.

WWX, straight up to Lan Qiren’s face, “Lan-meimei and I - we’re zhiji.” (he means it like we’re kindred spirits, peas of a pod, etc) LWJ: *does not deny* Lan Xichen: ⚆_⚆ Lan Qiren: ಠ╭╮ಠ

Exhibit C) Lan Wangji getting drunk the first time. Wei Wuxian knew he crossed a line the minute he invited Lan-er-guniang for a drink. Really, WWX, even for you, this is inappropriate. When Lan Wangji fell face first onto the table, Wei Wuxian knew, he fucked up. “Hey....hey...Lan....Lan...-er-guniang,” He poked her. “Don’t...don’t sleep here! You can’t sleep here! If your Uncle finds out or if Jiang-shushu finds out...they’ll skin me alive and then...and then they’ll make me marry you! I don’t want to marry you; you don’t talk and I’m too young!”

WWX, being a dipshit, “Hey Lan Zhan, call me Wei-gege.” LWJ, drunk as fuck, “Wei..gege.” WWX *((( heart )))* ???

Exhibit D) The Cold Pond. Okay, so I don’t think Zewu-jun would sabotage his sister’s virtue by sending a stupid teenage boy her way while she’s bathing, but doesn’t mean Su She is above all that. Wei “I didn’t see anything I swear!” Wuxian. Lan “I will gouge out your eyes.” Wangji. Somehow they still end up in the cave. Maybe WWX got in the water after LWJ got out and got sucked into the vortex and LWJ heard the commotion, turned around, saw WWX had disappeared. “Wei Ying?!” A panicked LWJ jumps back into the pond, “Stop fooling around, come out!”

Jiang Cheng and Wen Qing 👀👀 when LWJ and WWX fall out of the cave together. Also the fact that Lan-er-guniang and Wei-gongzi went missing, together, for two days. Who knows what could’ve happened. I mean anything really. I mean... that’s gotta stir the pot a little were it not for the Yin Iron stealing everyone’s attention away from this bit of juicy scandal.

Oh the whole story... so much to work with, so little time.

3) Because Lan Wangji is a girl, now suddenly there’s a high ranking member of the Lan Clan who can host the girls at Cloud Recesses. I mean, Mianmian, Jiang Yanli, Wen Qing, Lan Wangji - SISTERLY FRIENDSHIP. Other than Mianmian, none of the girls are really talkers which suits Lan Wangji perfectly. Even Mianmian’s chatter is endearing.

4) Lan Wangji is absolutely still a powerhouse during the Sunshot Campaign. The inherent aesthetics of fem!lwj telling the Wen goons to “kneel” - no one will deprive me of this. Also she will still cut off your arm if you cross her - Xue Yang and Jin Guangyao ya better watch out still.

I am TORN between two options: Lan Wangji tol and kickass or Lan Wangji smol and kickass. On one hand, the aesthetics of willowy elf-like LWJ, on the other hand, 5′2′’ of whoop ass who can and will throw an unconscious wwx over her shoulder firewoman-style and toll him to safety.

And amongst other things:

A) Lan Wangji still becomes Chief Cultivator, because excuse me who else is left to clean up this mess? Jiang “Short-fuse” Wanyin? Nie “I won’t do what I’m not intended to do” Huaisang? Jin “13 year-old” Ling? Or Sect Leader Yao? Technically, being a woman means that she was never Lan Xichen’s heir, but at the end of it, it’s not like Gusu Lan is left with a lot of choices. Just the poetic justice of Gusu Lan pleading for Lan Wangji to come back when she fully intends to 隐居山野 (retreat into the mountains) with the resurrected WWX.

Lan Wangji being Chief Cultivator would echo Lan Yi’s tenure and rectify the fact that Gusu Lan’s only female head of family “failed”. Lan Yi had to face a mountain of prejudice because she was woman; someone has to say “up yours” to that. A woman as not only the sect master of Gusu Lan but the Chief Cultivator? Love that for Gusu Lans. (⌐■_■) ☞ ☞

B) Because of ~ sexism ~ I wonder if Lan Wangji would get titled “Hanguang” at all even after the Sunshot Campaign. Even Lan Yi, the SL Lan of her time didn’t have a title. Chances are LWJ won’t either. (Note: Violet Spider is not a title, it’s a moniker). So — say after the way Lan Wangji is still just “Lan-er-guniang”, and she does not obtain the title “Han Guang” until after she leaves Cloud Recesses and become rogue. (srsly how did they come up with these titles in canon, did gusu lan just look at 21 year old lwj and be like yah he’s lord light bearer *cue trevor noah stand up joke* why do you call yourself “great” britain? isn’t that a bit presumptuous? shouldn’t you go around doing good things and then let other people come to the conclusion: oh britain look how great you are? same logic with lwj.)

Lan Wangji, a Jade of Gusu or a nameless rogue, still goes where trouble is, helping those who need it. After laying low for a year or two to heal, Lan Wangji began night hunting. Donned neck to ankle in white silk and tulle, and a weimao (wide brimmed veil hat) obscuring her face, she became known to the people as Hanguang Sanren, the lightbearing wanderer. Gusu’s highest power probably has some idea who she is - or at least they can guess - but the vast majority of people don’t.

C) Lan Sizhui raised by rogue Lan Wangji as his mum would be different. Still cultured, respectful, but definitely with an air of keeping others at arm’s length.

For instance, grown-up Sizhui running interference and saving a cohort of gentry disciples on joint hunts.

Jingyi: 这人谁呀？Who is this guy? Zizhen: 多谢兄台搭救之恩，小可看您眼生，敢问兄台尊姓大名，何门何派，改日当登门拜访. Many thanks for saving us. I don’t believe we’ve met, pray tell what is your name and sect, so we may visit at a later time to thank you for tonight. Sizhui: 在下无门无姓，单名思追。举手之劳不足挂齿，怎敢劳烦各位名门子弟答谢。My name is Sizhui, belonging to no family and to no sect. As for tonight - I only did what anyone would; it bears no mentioning and requires no thanks. Jin Ling: 你这人，看你工力不凡，想和你交个朋友，可你怎么遮遮掩掩的。Hey you, we see you’re a talented cultivator and want to make your acquaintance. Why are you so dodge-y? Zizhen：金陵 — Jing Ling - Sizhui: 若是有缘，还会相见。告辞。If it’s fated, we will meet again. Farewell.

Later: Jingyi: 思。追。思追谁？Si. Zhui. To recollect and long for whom? Sizhui: 母亲的一位故人. Someone from Mother’s past. Jingyi: 你父亲？...Your father? Sizhui: 我不知。I don’t know.

I thought about how cute it would be if sizhui and jin ling knew each other but guys...Jiang Cheng literally thinks he killed Sizhui’s biological father. Like he literally thinks he orphaned Sizhui before Sizhui is even born. And Lan Wangji would never accept anything from Jiang Wanyin, not that it would stop Jiang Wanyin from trying.

A package of books here, a new robe for Sizhui there. Lan Wangji doesn’t know how Jiang Cheng keeps finding her. She and Sizhui are nomadic.

D) The inevitable conversation after wwx is revived.

You know what would be funnier than Jiang Cheng thinking Sizhui is a wangxian baby is if Lan Qiren thinks Sizhui is a wangxian baby.

#cql #the untamed #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #lmao what is this #cql ficlet #corie fics #lwj fic #f!lwj

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pocketfulofrecs · 3 years

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ChilianXianzi was one of the first authors I (Dee) read in this fandom and These Mortal Treasures was one of the first fics I read. ChilianXianzi has a great writing style and you’re fully immersed into the story she’s weaving. We are really looking forward to anything she writes in the future.

She has written 39k+ words on 7 works, both mdzs and cql canon. You can find her @chilianxianzi on Tumblr.

Her fics:

To Not Vainly Break Branches - [mature | 3k | wip | emperor LWJ/empress WWX]

For Safekeeping Purposes - [mature | 2.9k | crime boss/sugar daddy LWJ]

The Shadows of My Old Places, Falling Across the Moats - [teen | 8.4k | QHJ goes to Burial Mounds]

To Start A Bridge From A Single Log - [teen | 4.7k | epistolary]

These Mortal Treasures (our post) - [teen | 9.3k | dragonji]

They say - [teen | 3.1k | LWJ is troubled by rumors]

Proximity to Knowledge (our post) - [teen | 7.2k | WWX protection squad]

Dee’s favourite: These Mortal Treasures, definitely. It is one of the first fics I read when I entered this fandom. It is also one that planted the idea of writing a dragon fic. I really love it. The story, the pacing, LWJ’s response to WWX, everything.

Ju’s favourite: Proximity to Knowledge! I love genius WWX, and I love WWX and his ducklings, and this fic gives me both so well! Jingyi pov is so much fun, and all the juniors doing whatever they can to be close to WWX and learn from him just makes me so happy. It’s a really good fic to read when you’re feeling down.

The Interview:

Q. When did you start writing fics? Did you have fandoms before this one?

A. I think around 2006-ish? I used to write character and quest mods for Baldur's Gate 2 before I went through the Knights of the Old Republic fandom and the whole ouvre of Bioware's games, although Dragon Age was the fandom I was most involved in and wrote the most for. There was of course a Harry Potter phase amidst all that, as one does, but also a good deal of Sailor Moon.

Q. What made you start writing for MDZS?

A. Definitely the worldbuilding and the issues and themes raised in canon. In a way, MDZS is the complete package of family issues, class issues, communal responsibilities, my childhood love for Wuxia/Xianxia, and the increasingly dangerous and volatile court of public opinion - which is also reflected very prominently in the MDZS fandom proper.

And let's not forget the Wangxian, because they're just a couple that works not just because they look good together (They do) and have a deep love for each other (Hell yeah they also do), but they also work perfectly together because they are constantly, stubbornly striving for the same values in a world where such values often come second after ideas of honor and performative righteousness.

Q. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

A. It's an ongoing one and it's called "To Start a Bridge From A Single Log" where I wanted to explore the possible uses of Cultivation outside of the super insular scope of the cultivation world and how that would impact both communities, because all of these hogging of spiritual resources, I cannot stand it. But it also has ridiculous amounts of Wangxian mutual pining so there's that, it's just all my favorite things piled up together.

Q. What’s your favourite type of fics to read?

A. Oh, it really depends on my mood at the moment like that's why rec blogs like this is just so *mwah chef's kiss* because there's just a ready selection of different stuff for different occasions! In the MDZS fandom, I do gravitate towards fics about Wei Wuxian finding a home and his place in the world outside of his Jiang upbringing, or fics where Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian just work together realizing their mutual vow, being a good role model for the juniors.

Q. What’s your favourite comment? Or type of comment?

A. Any comment is a favorite, honestly! Writing stories are just like talking to people right, so being answered is always nice :D I suppose whatever the comment is, it's just always really interesting and heartening to see that parts of what you're talking about resonates with other people, enough to get an answer in words :)

Q. What motivates you to write?

A. I think I'm inherently a very angry person. Like literally the way I set my career path had been to find what things made me the most angry and do my best to fix it, and I feel like that's also my approach to writing. I would tackle something I think is a problem or a question that makes me angry and try to find my way through it via the characters and worldbuilding - And even if in the end the problems don't get solved or the questions are not answered, there would still be dialogue incited and there would still be the process of seeing said problem from many perspectives as writing (and reading!) encourages you to do.

Q. Who’s your favorite author?

A. The authors that really stayed with me are the Shoujo mangakas of the late 80s and the 90s, because they gave me examples on so many different ways to express myself outside of the one-note "girls should be like this" sentiments that were still somewhat prevalent when I grew up. My favorite has to be Kyoko Hikawa, though. Other writers would probably be Margaret Atwood and Nnedi Okorafor because of the way they talk about many issues through stories so they're not directly talking about it but still kinda blatantly talking about it.

Q. What is your favorite trope to read and/or write?

A. Curtain fics! There's just something inherently telling about how a character approaches the everyday and its logistics, because in a way these everyday things around them are also the things that molded and shaped them to be who they are.

Q. Do you have any advice for new authors?

A. I guess start small? I used to teach piano and after all the godawful finger exercises and endless scales it's always SO nice and validating for the kids (and adults!) to be able to complete an actual song, even if it's just a tiny piece of twelve bars. And I feel like it's a bit like that with writing too, the joy of just like, finishing something with your own hands and then having people hear/read it is such a great motivator to do more. Like we could totally start with super simple goals and as we go on, the goals or the objectives could become bigger or more diverse.

Q. What do you think is the most important element in writing? Plot, characterization, relationship?

A. I really think it depends on what kind of experience you're looking for your readers to have? For me, some plots or concepts are so engaging that you'd be fine even if the characters are switched to another fandom, and some fics have such good characterization that it happening in limbo would be fine with me, that kind of thing. I guess it's also fun to experiment with each pressure point and see which feelings and reactions from readers (and yourself!) you gain from each you love the most and how to combine each element in a portion that works out for you.

Check out their stories on ao3 and remember…

Comments and kudos feed the author’s soul.

#mdzs #author spotlight #chilianxianzi

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presumenothing · 3 years

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(thought too much about this. accidentally wrote fic. you know how it is)

“I’ve been thinking, Uncle Ning,” Sizhui begins.

Wei Wuxian would’ve pulled a face: oh, you don’t want to do that! – like he hadn’t singlehandedly invented multiple things that had made Sizhui’s jaw actually drop a little even before he understood anything about the desperately rushed circumstances most of them had been created under.

Wen Ning just turns to glance at him, quiet and attentive. It reminds him more than a little of Hanguang-jun, but that’s neither here nor there.

“Forgive me if I’m overstepping my boundaries,” Sizhui continues, which is not actually stalling because he really is being presumptuous here, but still. Get on with it, he tells himself sternly. “Would it be at all permissible for me to teach some of the Wen sword style to my friends? Jingyi, and the others.”

There’s the barely-visible flicker of fondness (also familiar, though the reasons here are physical instead) that his uncle can’t seem to help showing whenever Jingyi is mentioned; as far as Sizhui has been able to decipher, it’s partly because Jingyi is not entirely unlike how Senior Wei was in his younger days.

Sizhui can’t even disagree with that assessment.

But then Wen Ning’s expression settles back into something heavier. “And- um. Sect Leader Jin?”

Sizhui gives in to the wince that Wen Ning would probably be making if he were capable of it.

What about Jin Ling, indeed. Jingyi’s already pouted enough about Wen Ning only teaching him that his answer would be obvious, and Zizhen will probably be open to the idea as long as they swear up and down not to breathe a word to his father, but – that still leaves the biggest question of all.

His imagination of Senior Wei is correct. Thinking is a frustrating exercise. “I don’t know. Only if he actually wants to learn, and then only if it’s appropriate.”

Which sounds absurd, even to himself. Is there anything appropriate about this? Even the thousands of Lan sect precepts and likely the entire contents of their library (and then some) has little in the way of helpful advice in navigating relations where this many complications are involved.

It’s times like this that he wishes Zewu-jun wasn’t still in seclusion, though possibly Sect Leader Jiang might have the more brutal insight to a topic like this.

Sizhui would rather throw himself into the murkiest lakes of Yunmeng a hundred times over than ask for any of it.

Maybe this is a bad idea after all. Especially when he doesn’t necessarily have a good reason for it, not really, beyond that the Wen, for everything else that they’d been, were family.

A different kind of family than he has been so generously bestowed with at the Cloud Recesses, certainly, and maybe all that ties him back to the Wen now is just the blood still running through his veins. A trifling matter, in contrast to all the greater injustices that may never be fixed, even decades from now.

And yet –

And yet this much is within his meagre power, to make it so that perhaps their legacy will not solely be one Lan disciple, one fierce corpse (who is nevertheless a very good uncle, Sizhui adds loyally), and a name that is still spat with burning vitriol more often than not.

That is, if Wen Ning doesn’t refuse. Which he is well within his rights to, though from the slight knit of his eyebrows his thoughts don’t seem to be running in that direction.

That’s confirmed a moment later when he speaks, words slow and careful. “I don’t want you to get into trouble. You- you are already enough. More than enough.”

Sizhui has a lot of practice in not letting things show on his face, even heartbreak at what sounds a lot like more family than I’d ever expected to have again in this life. It’s a feeling he knows from the inside. “Don’t worry. I’ve learned a lot about getting out of trouble, too.”

The corner of Wen Ning’s eyes crinkle in the way that means his uncle is smiling back at him. “Then, A-Yuan – Lan Sizhui,” he corrects, each syllable of his name its own weight, and Sizhui’s breath catches a little as Wen Ning draws himself up to the height that everyone always forgets he has unless they’ve run screaming from the Ghost General. “On behalf of the sect, I, Wen Qionglin, do hereby permit you to teach the style of the Qishan Wen to whoever you see fit, so long as it is in the service of good.”

They are both still kneeling. It would be very inappropriate to follow up his bow with a hug, but Sizhui very much wants to do it anyway. “This nephew will do everything possible to honour that trust,” he replies, because thank you seems too little.

“You already honour us. More than- than you could ever know,” Wen Ning says, halting stutter creeping back in place of the earlier measured weight, and Sizhui ducks his head at a tentative pat to hide the glimmer of tears in his eyes.

(It will be worth trying, even if Jin Ling decides not to speak to him for a year or more. This is something worth trying for.)

(AO3)

#mdzs #mdzs fic #lan sizhui #wen ning #mine #fanfiction #long post #anyway happy qixi!! it sure is being a very very rainy one here #also i thought this was going to be 400 words max. just the dialogue of sizhui asking for permission and wen ning granting it. i was wrong #don't @ me about titles i've never known consistency in my life and won't start now #also (un?)fortunately i'm the city kid brat who everyone lets get away with just 'uncle' 'auntie' instead of proper address #so i don't actually remember....... any of the familial terms. lmao #and final also: while i will absolutely be one to advocate for family being what you make of it but sometimes #sometimes blood still matters yknow?? et cetera et cetera #sometimes your family is one (1) zombie and that's okay too

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mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess · 1 year

Text

Trees and traditions

Day Twelve of WangXian Christmas Stories!

The tree farm where the Lan family had been purchasing their trees from for the past hundred of years laid several kilometers away from the city, in a rural area dotted with picturesque homes and welcoming people. The trees there were beautiful and healthy, some towering so high up it almost looked like they were piercing the sky, whereas others were so tiny they barely measured up to a toddler.

The toddler in question being A-Yuan, who ran excitedly among the trees with his friend Lan Jingyi, whose own parents had come picking a tree and taken him with as part of a generations-long tradition. The tradition required that, when a Lan married and their first child became five years old, they would bring the child to choose the year’s Christmas tree every year until the child themselves married and passed the custom on. It was a sweet thing to do, even if a bit discriminatory to second or third children, who technically did not have the privilege of their elder sibling - but in Lan Zhan’s case, that rule did not apply, because Xichen always let him choose. Puppy dog eyes induced little brother privileges, he always said.

The couple in charge of the farm looked as though they had barely aged from when Lan Zhan was a child, only the few lines around their eyes and greying hairs betraying their ages. The lady, a plump, extroverted woman, greeted them with a wide grin.

“A-Zhan! A-Ying! How wonderful to see you again this year!” she looked around, trying to peek through the trees. “Where is the little one, though? Shouldn’t he be five by now?”

“He is! He’s around here with Jingyi, hopefully not destroying anything...” Wei Ying replied, trying to spot A-Yuan among the greenery. It had not been a good idea to dress him in a green jacket at all.

“Ah, they’re children, it’s fine!” the lady laughed. “My son ruined so many trees climbing them when he shouldn’t have that I’m surprised we still have any growing anymore! Let’s go collect your son and see if he got his father’s expensive taste!”

Lan Zhan’s ears blushed only a little as he looked away, trying not to pout. The lady always liked teasing him!

---

They found A-Yuan next to the second biggest sugar pine tree in the farm. A-Yuan fit perfectly under it, having dug himself a spot into the thick layer of snow.

“This one, I want this one!” he shouted, happily waving his arm towards the tree. Both his parents looked towards one another and sighed, the farm lady laughing boisterously.

“He’s just like you, A-Zhan! I remember one time you chose a tree too high for your living room, and it took your uncle an entire hour to get you to choose another!”

Wei Ying could only join in the laughter. “Thankfully, we have a tall enough house now.” And he called towards A-Yuan. “Alright! We’re getting that one!”

A-Yuan yelled out an excited “Yayyy!” as he ran towards his parents and nearly fell on his face in the snow had Lan Zhan not caught him in time.

“Have some tea with me while my husband gets everything ready.” the lady invited, “And some cookies for the baby, of course!”

“Cookies? Do you have chocolate chip?”

“Obviously! They’re my favorite!”

“Mine too!”

---

A-Yuan munched on his cookies quietly, taking the occasional sip of warm milk as he watched cartoons in the farming family’s living room.

“I hope I am not overstepping,” the lady began, “but I feel like we’re family by this point and you know me, I can’t keep my mouth shut! So I want to ask, when will you guys get A-Yuan a little sibling or two?”

Lan Zhan’s ears pinked up for the second time that day as Wei Ying let out a quiet laugh.

“We’re thinking about it. You know how it is, work and everything...”

The lady clicked her tongue half jokingly, half disapprovingly. “The same response I get from everyone! I miss when this place was full of little Lans! Now I barely get two or three every year! You lot need to get to business!”

Wei Ying found the woman’s antics amusing. “Trust me, if I could get pregnant, we’d have had a football team by now!”

“That’s what you all say!” she frowned, theatrically, before breaking into a fit of giggles. “I’ll stop now, I don’t want A-Zhan to be angry with me, even if he looks like a little rabbit when he does!”

---

“Lan Zhan.”

“Mn?”

“We’re going to need a bigger car.”

“I can see. I will ask for the truck.”

“Yay, truck ride!”

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #writing attempts #christmas one shots #accidentally posted like 6 days early lmao this was for day 18 but if u saw that in the desc no u didnt

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ibijau · 3 years

Text

How to Woo a Lan pt 7 / On A03

Jin Ling takes one step forward, three steps back.

It was a while before Jin Ling had time to ask Lan Sizhui for help about the Ghost General, though they wrote to each other a lot in the following weeks. It had turned out that the bills Nie Huaisang had tried to inflict upon his young colleague offered proof of the corruption of a Jin elder, something Jin Ling had been trying to find for months. Having discovered it at last, he had to go to war against that man and his associates. It was nearly three months before Jin Ling finally won that battle, and thus made his sect a slightly better one in the process.

It had been exhausting work. Without regular letters from Lan Sizhui, Jin Ling wasn't sure he would have found the strength to keep fighting. But every time he wrote, Lan Sizhui reminded me of his ideals, of his promise to set his sect back on the rightful path, of the need for true justice in the cultivation world. He also said a few times how proud he was of Jin Ling for having the courage to do this when others would have taken the easy way out and ignored the issue.

It really was nice to be talking like that with Lan Sizhui. And when the whole situation had resolved at last, Jin Ling of course suggested that Lan Sizhui might come to Jinlin Tai to chat in person instead. To his joy, Lan Sizhui immediately accepted the invitation, and offered to come at a very nearby date.

When the day arrived at last, Jin Ling barely refrained from running to the gate as soon as he woke up, wishing he could have spent the day there waiting for his friend to arrive. He considered sacrificing his dignity anyway in his impatience to see Lan Sizhui again, but a sect leader just couldn't do such a thing. Guest or not, he had work to do.

Of course he still ran to the gate of Jinlin Tai when a servant informed him that young master Lan had arrived at last. Work was all well and nice, but Jin Ling had missed Lan Sizhui.

A feeling that might have been mutual, judging by the bright smile that illuminated Lan Sizhui’s face when he saw Jin Ling approaching. He seemed so happy that Jin Ling’s heart felt too big for his chest. It was always a treat to see Lan Sizhui smile like this, so for him to be smiling because of Jin Ling…

“I hope you didn’t wait too long,” Jin Ling said, trying not to show too much emotion, so he might look cool and mature. “I thought I had given orders that you were allowed to be let inside, but I think they mistook you for Jingyi, and he doesn’t get to come in as he pleases.”

Lan Sizhui chuckled, and poked Jin Ling in the ribs.

“Don’t be so mean to Jingyi.”

“He deserves it.”

“Maybe a little,” Lan Sizhui conceded, eyes twinkling with mischief. “But you also deserve to be teased by him, so it balances out.”

“I am betrayed!” Jin Ling exclaimed while motioning for Lan Sizhui to follow him past the gate. “I invite you here to help me, as the person I trust the most, whose judgement I consider the fairest, and you say something like this! Jiujiu is right, you can’t trust anyone in this world!”

Lan Sizhui only laughed and poked him again.

“So dramatic, no surprise you get along so well with Jingyi and Zizhen! But I’m glad you think so well of me, and that you'd want my opinion on something. You said it was a personal matter?"

"It is,” Jin Ling confirmed, and stopped walking.

He had planned to have that conversation in his office, or perhaps in his private quarters if he felt very bold, but suddenly that didn’t seem such a good idea. There were too many servants, too many prying ears, too many risks of interruptions. Jinlin Tai was not a very good place to have a secret conversation, something Jin Guangyao had once taken advantage of.

“Let's talk somewhere more private,” Jin Ling decided. “What if we picked up Fairy and took her for a walk in the gardens?"

In the gardens it would be harder for spies to hide, and Fairy was so well trained that she’d warn them if anyone tried to approach them.

Lan Sizhui enthusiastically agreed to that proposition. Jin Ling was half sure his friend would have loved to have a dog of his own, if not for Lan rules. Well, Jin Ling didn't mind sharing his dog.

Fairy, like her master, was delighted to see Lan Sizhui again. She wagged her tail like a puppy when they freed her from her kennel, and wouldn't stop begging for attention from Lan Sizhui who seemed only too happy to pet her. Jin Ling wondered if Lan Sizhui realised that spiritual dogs tended to be affectionate toward people their owners loved. He hoped not. If asked, he would have said his dog just recognised Lan Sizhui as a trustworthy person who would never hurt Jin Ling. It was also true, after all.

"So, what is that personal business you need help with?" Lan Sizhui asked when they found a nice, isolated but fairly open part of the park to chat in.

"Well, it's about the Ghost General," Jin Ling said, resting his back against a tree. "Or I guess Wen Ning I should say. Wen Qiongling? He is a whole generation older than us, I probably shouldn't be so familiar and…"

"What about Wen qianbei?" Lan Sizhui asked.

The cold tone of his voice startled Jin Ling, but not as much as the mere fact Lan Sizhui, now with his arms crossed on his chest, had interrupted him.

"I just… I figured maybe I should thank him?" Jin Ling said. "He saved me… he saved all of us, really, and a few times too. I'm still upset about my father, but… but he's paid for that, right? And anyway, I've stopped being so mad at Wei Wuxian, so I figured… right?"

"You want to… make peace with him?" Lan Sizhui asked, his body relaxing, though his arms remained crossed. "That's very commendable."

"Thanks. And I figured, I'm shit at these things, right? But you're good at it. I've seen you play the diplomat between Jiujiu and Hanguang-Jun, so I know I can trust you on that."

"I am honoured that Jin-zongzhu should think so well of me."

"Don't call me that!"

"As you wish, Jin gongzi."

"Not that either."

"Jin Rulan?"

"Over my dead body!"

"Then it'll have to be Jin Ling," Lan Sizhui said with a laugh, uncrossing his arms. "If you can bear to be called with such familiarity."

"Of course I can. And you should let me call you Lan Yuan, for fairness's sake."

"If you insist," Lan Sizhui said as he quickly turned away, ostensibly to pick up a stick to throw for Fairy. Jin Ling still noticed a trace of red on the other boy's cheeks, and took that as a double victory. "So, what's your plan exactly?" Lan Sizhui asked, watching Fairy run away to find that stick.

"I wanted to make a nice gesture," Jin Ling explained. He hadn't much liked the idea of making peace with Wen Ning when Nie Huaisang had suggested it, but after some weeks of consideration, he'd realised it would be a good thing after all, and he'd come up with a few options. "I mean, just apologising doesn't really cut it for something like that. I lost my dad, but he lost all his family, his sister and those people in the Burial Mounds… you remember them? Those dead people who helped us when Su Minshan took away all the adults’ cultivation? Wen Qiongling seemed so sad when he saw them."

Lan Sizhui, still looking in the direction where Fairy had run off, nodded without a word.

"I've been looking, you know," Jin Ling said. "In case they'd kept his sister too. But… I guess my grandfather wasn't interested in a doctor, only in someone he could use as a weapon. What an idiot. And it really was her ashes they spread in Nightless City. It's stupid. She hadn't even done anything to them!"

"No, she hadn't," Lan Sizhui softly agreed, his voice trembling. "None of them had. They hadn't even been part of the war."

"Exactly!” Jin Ling exclaimed, moving away from the tree and walking to stand next to Lan Sizhui. “And they weren't even hurting anyone in the Burial Mounds, and if uncle Zixun hadn't just made a mess of everything…"

It wasn't that easy, Jin Ling knew.

As Jin Guangyao had told Wei Wuxian during that final confrontation, sooner or later, someone would have killed him. Or else he would have gone really mad, and still killed a bunch of people, maybe more than he already did. Jin Ling knew how dangerous demonic cultivators became when they lost control, and how easily they did that. More than one of Jiang Cheng's disciples had been wounded or killed by demonic cultivators who had played with forces they didn't understand.

And for the Wens… innocent or not, they belonged to the wrong clan, the wrong sect, and people had been craving revenge for years and years of abuse from Qishan Wen. It was human.

It still wasn't fair.

"So, I came up with that idea while looking up what had happened to Wen Qiongling," Jin Ling announced. "Because I did find a few things, and I'd like your opinion on whether I should do what I want to do."

"I'm listening," Lan Sizhui said as he knelt down to pet Fairy, who had triumphantly returned with her stick but refused to give it back, behaving like a spoiled puppy rather than a noble spiritual dog.

"See, I found a bunch of things taken from the Wen sect," Jin Ling said as he nervously paced behind Lan Sizhui. "A few artifacts, some books also. Mostly histories, but I checked and some are for cultivation techniques, and also a few medical treaties. And I thought I could return those to Wen Qiongling, but I worried it might make him angry?"

"Angry?" Lan Sizhui repeated. He was now hugging Fairy, while trying to not have his face licked too much. A losing fight, as Jin Ling knew.

"Yes, angry. I shouldn't even have these texts! And what if he thinks I'm trying to insult him, or that I have a hidden agenda, or… are you laughing?"

"No!" Lan Sizhui protested, hiding his face against Fairy's fur. "Maybe. Only a little! But come on, it's funny that you think Wen qianbei is going to be mad over something like this. Although…" Lan Sizhui hesitated, glancing at Jin Ling before hiding again against Fairy. "Aren't you scared?"

"Of what?"

"Of a rebirth of the Wen sect."

It was not something that Jin Ling had considered at all, which further proved to him that Lan Sizhui was the most perfect person for him since he could think of the big picture.

Of course it could be bad if the Wen sect were to return and try to take revenge on those who wronged it. It was why those people in the Burial Mounds had been slaughtered from the oldest to the youngest. But Wen Ning didn't strike Jin Ling as the sort who would resurrect his sect just to get revenge. If that had been what he wanted, he would have let Nie Mingjue kill Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng that night in the temple.

"Wen Qiongling doesn't seem like the Wens in the stories," Jin Ling said. "And they weren't always an evil sect, they just became corrupt over time." Just like Lanling Jin had started doing in recent times, he didn't say. "If there's a righteous person leading a new Wen sect, it probably would be fine for it to be reborn."

"What if there were others than him," Lan Sizhui insisted, letting go of Fairy so he could stand and glare defiantly at Jin Ling. "Survivors whom the other sects failed to kill. And speaking of that, what about other sects? You might be ready to forgive, but others like your uncle…"

Lan Sizhui pinched his lips, as if worried he’d said too much. I certainly surprised Jin Ling to hear his friend be so openly passionate about any subject, when Lan Sizhui usually tried to keep his calm no matter what was debated. But then again, Lan Sizhui was clearly very attached to Wen Ning, and also to Wei Wuxian, so he must have sincerely worried about what would happen to them, should they once more be declared enemies of the cultivation world.

"It's a good point," Jin Ling conceded. "Jiujiu is… not always reasonable. Grown-ups never are! They make everything harder than it needs to be. Though in this case… Jiujiu did lose a lot to the Wens. I guess he has a right to be unreasonable… but he wouldn’t have to interact with Wen Qiongling and his new sect if that happened, we could probably find ways to avoid that. Don’t you agree?”

“I think you seem very determined to have your way,” Lan Sizhui said with a thin smile, “and so you’ll probably have it. I don’t mean that in a bad way,” he quickly added. “You are in a rather unique position, Jin Ling. You’re head of a Great Sect, you are the only person in the world who could force Jiang zongzhu to accept something he doesn’t like, and Wei qianbei is impossibly fond of you, which means Hanguang-Jun is likely to be on your side, and if he is then Lan xiansheng and Lan zongzhu would not object either. If you say that any surviving Wens are to be treated humanely… but are you sure you want that? Are you really ready to fight for that?”

“I am,” Jin Ling replied, if only because he’d rarely seen such an intense expression on Lan Sizhui’s face.

It was something that mattered to Lan Sizhui, he realised. This Wen thing, the fact that Wen Ning might want to restart his sect… clearly it was very important for Lan Sizhui, which instantly meant that it was important for Jin Ling too. He might have started that conversation merely wanting to make a vague peace gesture at a man he couldn’t quite hate anymore, but now Jin Ling was determined to do anything it would take to let Wen Ning make choices without fear.

Having come to a decision, and with Lan Sizhui agreeing that Wen Ning would be very happy to have anything from his lost sect returned to him, the two of them went to the Jin sect’s treasure room to decide together what should be given to Wen Ning in a public gesture, and what should instead be returned more privately. Jin Guangshan had seized a lot of artifacts after the fall of Qishan Wen, apparently caring more about getting a large quantity of wares than about their exact nature.

A lot of that stuff came from Wen Ruohan’s personal collection and appeared to be cursed, which Lan Sizhui agreed would make for a very poor present, and was better left safely hidden away in a treasure room. Then there was a lot of jewelry, which Jin Ling feared would attract the wrong sort of attention. Wen Ning would be capable of holding his own against thieves of course, but it’d be best if he wasn’t put in a situation where he might have to kill people to protect himself. It might give the wrong impression, Jin Ling said, which made Lan Sizhui laugh.

And maybe, just maybe, Jin Ling was doing his best to make Lan Sizhui laugh, having noticed that the other boy seemed a little melancholic as they went through all those old things. At one point Lan Sizhui had browsed through a medical book and almost started crying, so Jin Ling had done his best to act like a brat and distract him. He’d complained about the dust, about the many cursed items, about the lack of a serious inventory, about just anything that came to his mind until Lan Sizhui’s mood appeared to improve.

It really was nice to be together like this, just the two of them for once. Even when he stopped trying to make Lan Sizhui laugh and focused instead on the task at hand, Jin Ling was pleased to realise that even just this, just working together in the same room, was quite nice. And it would be so great if this could become their life. Being always together sounded like a real dream for Jin Ling, and it seemed to him that Lan Sizhui wasn’t hating their time together either.

Maybe Jin Ling had been making all of this more complicated than it needed to be. Maybe the problem, all along, had just been that there were always other people with them, which made it difficult for Jin Ling who wasn’t exactly sociable.

But they were alone now, and maybe this was the right moment.

“Lan Yuan?”

Lan Sizhui blushed at the use of his personal name, but didn’t protest against that familiarity, and just looked up from the book he was browsing. He even smiled, which gave Jin Ling renewed courage.

“Lan Yuan, I’m in love with you,” he announced, only for Lan Sizhui to flinch and jump to his feet, dropping his book.

“No you’re not,” Lan Sizhui said.

Jin Ling blinked, startled by that reaction.

“Yes I am!” he insisted. “I’ve been in love with you since almost the first moment I’ve met you, and I think you’re the best person in the world, and I want to marry you, and…”

“Please stop,” Lan Sizhui ordered, his face bright red. “It’s… that’s impossible. I’m… I’m flattered. I am so flattered, you have no idea. But…”

“But you don’t feel the same,” Jin Ling finished for him, feeling tears burn his eyes.

“It’s just not meant to be,” Lan Sizhui said, which pretty much confirmed it. “I cannot… It would be unfair… I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

Jin Ling gritted his teeth. Of course Lan Sizhui didn’t feel the same. Why would he, when he was the most perfect person in the world, while Jin Ling was universally regarded as an annoying brat who owed everything he was to his family’s power. He was stupid for having thought that Lan Sizhui could like him. He was supposed to be playing the long game, and now he’d ruined everything by being impatient.

“Actually, I think it’d be best if we didn’t see each other for a while,” Lan Sizhui added in a trembling voice. “I can’t… I think it’d be good to give a little time so we can get over… I really shouldn’t have been so familiar with you anyway. If I had realised that you also… I should have been more careful, I didn’t mean to hurt you. You… You’re really dear to me, and after you’ve gotten over your crush, we can…”

“It’s not a crush!” Jin Ling snapped, jumping to his feet. “I’m in love with you! Is that so hard to believe? I get it if you don’t love me back, I know you must think I’m just a kid, but you don’t get to dismiss the way I feel like that!”

“I definitely don’t see you as a child,” Lan Sizhui whispered. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and schooled his features into a blank expression. “Jin Ling, even if I shouldn’t be, I’m really happy that you feel that way about me. Maybe if things were different, we could… but it’s just not possible. There are many things about me you don’t know, things that make it impossible for me to accept your feelings. We just cannot be together. I’m sorry. I think it’s best if I go home now.”

Before Jin Ling could react, Lan Sizhui all but ran out of the room, leaving him alone.

At least this time, there was no one to watch him as he broke into tears.

#operation woo a lan #zhuiling #lingzhui #xisang #jin ling #lan sizhui #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #jau writes #and now this fic goes back on the wip shelf for another four months lol orz

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stiltonbasket · 3 years

Note

Nielan fathers day prompt! Sorry if its late, but how about finding out they're going to be parents on Fathers Day? (mpreg, adoption, surrogacy, your choice).

anon: the first fathers' day after jingyi is born, modern lxc and nmj both set up a present for each other "from Jingyi." It's very cute. Baby Jingyi magnanimously chews on his foot and accepts giving two presents and meals.

this is for the art thief au, so lxc is trans here!

(ao3 link)

----

What should I give Xichen for Father’s day?

Nie Mingjue has been puzzling over gift ideas for the past two weeks, with no luck whatsoever. Jingyi is still too small to make them gifts, so he and Xichen use the occasion to exchange presents with each other and label them with their little boy’s name; Xichen probably picked out his gifts already, since he knows Nie Mingjue’s tastes like the back of his hand, but Mingjue keeps flipping through mail-order catalogues and crossing off their entire inventory as he goes.

“I have present,” Jingyi insists, as Nie Mingjue carries him down yet another aisle of their local department store. “A-Die, look!”

Mingjue looks. A-Yi is holding a six-pack of orange bath sponges, since Xichen mentioned that they needed some more earlier that morning.

“That’s not a Father’s Day gift, A-Bao,” Mingjue chides, kissing Jingyi’s forehead. “Last year, I gave your Ba a brooch with his initials on it, remember? It has to be pretty.”

Jingyi wrinkles his tiny nose. “Starfish?”

“Mm, the starfish brooch.” Lan Xichen has an impressive collection of jewelry, with most of it coming from gifts Nie Mingjue gave him over the course of their fifteen years together; and nearly all of the pieces are sea-themed to go with his husband’s wardrobe and his clear, moon-white skin.

Perhaps he could buy pearls, this time?

“A-Yi,” he says slowly, “what do you think about going to the discount shop across town?”

A-Yi is happy enough to go wherever his father goes, so Nie Mingjue drives to the discount store--full of discarded, overstocked, and secondhand merchandise from all over the city--and digs through the bins of jewelry until he finds an antique bracelet, strung with pearls carved into the shapes of starfish and clam shells. Jingyi nearly loses his little mind at the sight of it, and he squeals at the top of his lungs while Mingjue pays for the bracelet and bundles him back to the car.

“I know them,” he declares, when Mingjue gives him the bracelet to play with on the way home. “Diedie, it’s a clam!”

Mingjue glances up at his son’s reflection in the rearview mirror. “Can you count how many clams there are?”

Jingyi flings himself headlong into the task, counting twelve starfish and eleven clams, and then he peruses the Learning Reader books Xichen keeps in the back seat until Mingjue carries him into the house.

His husband runs to meet them at the door, and it is this, not the driveway or their well-worn doorstep, that means Nie Mingjue has finally come home.

______

To Nie Mingjue, stepping into his woodworking studio feels like stepping into another world.

It isn't that the studio looks very different from the rest of the house--in fact, Nie Mingjue had a tiny nursery built into the north corner, since he set the studio up with A-Yi’s needs in mind--but Mingjue feels different here, more sure of himself, and aware of his own thoughts and hopes as he scarcely is anywhere else. He had only to enter, and he was changed: his hands steadier, his heartbeat slower, and his mind somewhere distant and immediate all at once. It is here that he pays homage to his heart, his muse, and the dearest friend he has ever had, or ever will. It is here that he pours pieces of his love for his husband into everything he touches, and everything he makes, and emerges with pieces of polished art like testaments to the husband he vowed his life to.

“That isn’t a metaphor,” Nie Mingjue said once, when Huaisang asked what he meant. Mingjue has carved everything from furniture to lamps into shapes reminiscent of his husband’s lips, perfected the stems of wooden sunflowers to match the sweet arch of Lan Xichen’s neck, and burnished every last one of his creations until they shone like sunlight falling on the apples of his husband’s cheeks. He etches A-Huan’s expressions into the faces of statues intended for the foyers of upscale hotels, and into a thousand quarter and sixth-scale figures commissioned by model collectors, since he rarely has any excuse to sculpt his husband directly. But today he does, so he sits down at his bench and gets to work with a block of oak and his favorite gouge and chisel.

He will love this, Nie Mingjue thinks, as two bowed heads and a pair of smiles take shape under his hands. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever made.

He glances over his shoulder at Jingyi, fast asleep in the glass-walled nursery with his feet up in the air, and turns back to the sculpture with his heart quivering in his chest.

______

The sculpture takes about a fortnight to complete, almost exactly the span of time between the day Nie Mingjue begins working on it and the holiday it was intended for. Nie Mingjue wakes up early on Father’s day, leaving Xichen asleep behind him, and bundles A-Yi out of bed and down into the studio. They wrap the sculpture up together in Jingyi’s favorite gift wrap, and then Nie Mingjue carries him to the kitchen just in time to catch his husband as he comes stumbling down the stairs.

“Good morning, love” Lan Xichen sighs, burrowing into Nie Mingjue’s arms. “What should we have for breakfast?”

“Eggs?”

For some reason, Lan Xichen shakes his head.

“Noodles, then?”

This suggestion is met by a drowsy nod, so Mingjue goes to the fridge to dig out a few ingredients while Lan Xichen hops onto one of the bar stools with Jingyi in his lap. He chops the scallions and garlic for plain noodle soup around their son’s little body, leaving Mingjue to boil noodles in one pot and stock with soy sauce and sugar in another until three blue bowls of yang chun mian are steaming on the counter.

“Smells yummy,” Jingyi yawns, while Xichen spoons fresh green onions into his soup bowl. “Baba, feed A-Yi?”

“He’s forgotten about the presents,” Lan Xichen mouths, as Nie Mingjue tries not to snicker. They eat quickly, slurping down the noodle soup with cups of soy milk on the side, and then Jingyi scrambles to the other side of the room before running back with Mingjue’s wrapped box in his arms.

“Father’s Day gift!” he squeaks, wriggling like a happy worm as Xichen laughs and tries to remove the gift wrap without tearing it; because Jingyi never lets either of them cover gifts with anything but Pingu penguin-printed paper, and he cries if anyone rips it up in front of him.

Mingjue used the weakest tape he could find, so that Xichen could extract the box with the paper left mostly whole. He hands the paper to Jingyi, watching as his husband’s slender fingers close around the base of the sculpture, and then--

“Oh!” Lan Xichen gasps, pulling it all the way out into the light. “A-Jue, I--”

The sculpture depicts him and Jingyi at the beach near their house--in fact, at the same beach where Mingjue and Xichen first met. Mingjue was sitting on a sandy rock, catching his breath after running around behind a hyperactive Nie Huaisang all day, and then he looked out over the foggy water and saw what looked like a water spirit drifting out of the darkness in a rowboat.

He sculpted Xichen seated on that very rock, with his long hair tangling in an invisible gale, and a little heap of shells (the pearls from the old bracelet he found at the discount store) piled up in his lap. Jingyi is standing on the ground at his feet with a wave of seafoam brushing his ankles; and in his hands is a small pearly starfish, offered up to his baba as Lan Huan leans forward to cup A-Yi’s cheek in his palm. Both father and son are smiling, with heart-breaking happiness in A-Huan’s eyes, and sheer pleasure at finding the starfish in Jingyi’s.

Nie Mingjue looks up at his own flesh-and-blood husband, tearing his eyes away from the wooden figure, and finds Lan Xichen sitting there, frozen, with tears rolling down his face as he traces the tiny ridges and dimples of stone and sand and water.

“It’s beautiful,” he chokes, rounding the corner of the table to throw his arms around Nie Mingjue’s shoulders. “It’s the most precious thing you’ve ever made, sweetheart.”

“The most precious thing I helped make is over there,” Nie Mingjue teases, tilting his head at A-Yi. “But I think this one comes pretty close.”

Xichen opens his mouth, and then closes it again; but Jingyi interrupts before he can say anything else, impatient to present his diedie’s gift from his baba.

“Now this one!” he shouts, diving into Xichen’s pocket for a small present in a wooden box, labeled with Jingyi’s name just like Nie Mingjue’s gift was. He all but shoves it into Mingjue’s hands, leaping up and down on the spot while he snaps the lid open--and then he screeches with delight as Nie Mingjue goes crashing to the floor, staring at the contents of the tiny box until his eyes blur over.

He had expected some kind of memento or trinket, like he usually gives to Xichen. But the box was so light, impossibly light--and it holds a pair of hand-knitted baby socks, set neatly on top of a black and white photograph with his husband’s name printed in the upper left corner.

Nie Mingjue has already been a father, already accompanied his husband through the endless doctors’ visits and checkups that came before Jingyi was born. He saved all of Jingyi’s ultrasound pictures, even the ones where A-Yi looked like a chubby white bean on the sonogram, and he stared at every photograph for so long that reading them comes as second nature to him.

"A-Huan,” he says, after a long pause. “Please tell me I’m not dreaming this.”

“You’re not,” Lan Xichen laughs, wiping Mingjue’s face. “I had my first doctor’s visit last week when you and A-Sang took Jingyi to the park. And the clinic ran a few blood tests just in case, so I already know it’s going to be a girl.”

“And you’re okay? Both of you?”

“Very okay, darling. I haven’t even had any morning sickness yet, and the baby’s perfectly healthy.”

Nie Mingjue only cries harder, at that; but Xichen is crying too, clasped in his arms while A-Yi climbs all over them, so perhaps it doesn’t really matter.

All in all, this is the sweetest father’s day he has ever had.

#nielan #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #nie mingjue #lan xichen #lan jingyi #art thief au #my fic #AH this was a long one

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tangledinmdzs · 3 years

Text

out of my league - junior quartet hcs

how the juniors would react if someone (a little kid) tried to make a move on you

aka. the juniors fight over you with a worthy opponent

Lan Sizhui

Sizhui sighs quietly from where he sits

it was unnecessary for him to be as nervous as he was

but this was his first time meeting your family, as your boyfriend

at one of your big family functions nonetheless

although you had reassured him that it would be fine, he still feels way out of his depth

considering how so many people were here today

and also...

there was already some competition

“y/n is the love of my life,”

SIzhui nods, a bit amused, a bit intimidated by the first grader that had sat down next to him on the living room couch

at first, Sizhui had thought that the kid was just well, a kid

but when Sizhui learns that the little boy (by the name of Bao Lan (or Bao-Bao as you like to call him)) is a close (really close) family friend

and that well, you’ve been babysitting this little boy practically since he was born

so the attachment to you isn’t much of a surprise

SIzhui’s more surprised at the kind of attachment that’s developed

“i am going to marry y/n when i grow up” the little boy delivers when Sizhui’s trying to enjoy a small bite from what he’d grabbed at the snack table

Sizhui doesn’t really know how to respond to that, because you’ll probably be a lot different from how you look to him now when he’s finally old enough to marry him

Sizhui also feels the lightest bit of jealousy that such a little man can assert your hand of marriage so easily

but before he can say anything, you come back to the living room, smiling at the both of them before taking a seat in between them

the little boy smiles at you, and because he’s still pretty small, easily climbs into your lap

is Sizhui jealous?

absolutely of course not

“hey, munchkin, what are you talking about with my special friend here?” you ask the little boy

Sizhui feels slightly irked that you refer to him as your ‘special friend’ when talking to this little boy because he wasn’t just a special friend he was your boyfriend for god’s sake-

“i’m telling Sizhui-ge that i’m going to marry you when i grow up,” the little boy explains smiling a wide smile at the laugh that bubbles from you as you hold him on your lap

“ahh, my little donut, if you marry me that means you’ll have to live with my forever, do you think you can do that?” you tease the little boy,

“yes!”

“if you marry you have to make me happy all the time, can you do that?”

“yes yes yes!”

“are you sure?” you continue to ask and the little boy only nods more vigorously

you laugh at the reaction turning over to Sizhui who’s staring at the little boy with a funny kind of expression,

“he’s tough competition,” you whisper to Sizhui leaning up to him before leaning down to blow raspberries against the little boy’s neck

Sizhui smiles, looks down at the little boy when he’s done giggling in your arms,

“look forward to winning y/n’s heart against you, Bao Lan,” Sizhui says, absolutely seriously and holds his hand out for Bao Bao to take

you muffle a giggle as Bao Bao’s tiny hand is completely enveloped by Sizhui’s much larger hands

⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒

Lan Jingyi

Jingyi loves his little cousin to pieces

because he’s a cute kid and witty despite his young age

but right now

when he watches his little cousin, Ru-Ru you guys call him, completely latched onto you ever since he’d introduced you to everyone at the family dinner

it’s the second time that Jingyi has tried to hold the toddler for you (he can tell your arms are getting tired) but Ru-Ru stubbornly wraps his tiny legs and arms around you koala style

so you’re stuck,

“aw Ru-Ru, y/n-jie has to eat too,” Jingyi tries to convince when he brings over two plates to you and Ru-Ru,

“Ru-Ru can feed jie!” Ru-Ru announces and Jingyi sees the slightest widening of your eyes

because for however much you loved little kids, you (unfortunately) didn’t love Ru-Ru enough for him to get sauce on your new blouse,

Jingyi also has a similar reaction to you, if only for the reason that only he could feed you and no one else

even if that someone else was a 5 year old

“ah, behave now Ru-Ru, come sit with me,” Jingyi tries to say but then Ru-Ru does the most out of character thing and starts to cry

Jingyi is completely in shock, watching flabbergasted as you try to calm the child down

“Ru-Ru, don’t cry it’ll make jie sad too,” you tell the little boy who’s face became red and blotchy at the idea of being separated from you

you bring the boy into your arms, holding him close as he clings to you,

while your arm pats Ru-Ru back, laying on your shoulder you give Jingyi a small look to the dish that he bought for you

at first Jingyi doesn’t get it, but then he sees you open your mouth

and as Ru-Ru falls asleep to your gentle pats, Jingyi feeds you as he usually does

as he’s meant to

⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒

Jin Ling

you’re sat on a park bench, eating a small popsicle

the weather is nice today, which is why it seems that the playground that you’re sat near is busier than ever

Jin Ling sits on the bench beside you, both of you just enjoying a more laid back sort of date

because you’d both been so busy lately to actually plan something

it’s still nice nonetheless

and everything had been going well when suddenly

there was a shrill cry

you both look up from the bench to see a small little boy, bawling his eyes out at the bottom of the kiddy slides

you’ve always been protective, especially in situations where someone is hurt

so you’re quick to give your uneaten popsicle to Jin Ling and rush over to help

when you get to the little kid, you’re checking for any bleeding because the cries sounded terrible

“hey, pumpkin, where are you hurt? is there a big boo-boo?” you coax the young child and after a few murmured exchanges between the both of you, the child points to his knees

you’re gentle when you lift his pant leg up to check, relieved to see just a bit of redness and nothing to scraped up or bleeding

Jin Ling stands to the side, holding the melting popsicles in his hand as he stares at the kid

“aw, don’t worry, no more owwies” you tell the little boy when you rub his knee gently

the little boy sniffles, and Jin LIng watches (irritated more than amused) as the boy stares at you

“jie” the boy whimpers to you and you hum to him, worried that he might still be hurt

“can you kiss it better?” the little boy asks and before you can even reply Jin Ling butts in,

“it’ll still hurt if she kisses it, doesn’t matter,”

⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒⌒

Ouyang Zizhen

you’re on a picnic date with Zizhen, at one of the little parks near your neighborhood

you guys are the picture of ‘couple-y’

him lying besides you on his arm as you sit near by, throwing grapes into his mouth

it’s a very cute and relaxing date, one that you both had been looking forward to having for a while

between your classes and Zizhen’s job, you barely have had time to see each other

finally, Zizhen thinks happily when he looks up at you

you smile down at him when you catch his eye, giving him the last of the grapes before you reach down and grab your own snack

you’re both just enjoying each other’s company, Zizhen easily being lost in your eyes

so he doesn’t notice the little boy that’s run up to your guys romantic date until he hears the little chirp of “hi!”

you turn to your side, face naturally smiling at the boy, maybe like 6 or 7 years old, smiles at you in greeting

“hello there mister,” you greet because the little bow tie and suspenders outfit that the little boy has on is quite adorable

Zizhen sits up to watch the interact, his heart swooning at the sight of you as you talk to the little kid

“miss i asked my mom to let me come here to tell you that you are very very very pretty,” the little boy compliments and you giggle,

“why thank you, you look very dashing yourself,” you reply back and the little boy smiles and suddenly grabs your hand

“will you play with me? and be my new friend?” the little boy asks and Zizhen tilts his head from where he’s sat up behind you

sure this kid is cute, but your date with him-

“i’m sorry, but i’m kind of in the middle of hanging out with a special friend of mine now,” you tell the boy

you coo at the little pout that comes on his face before the little boy chirps again,

“can i be a special friend too?”

“ah, there’s only one special friend that she has, sorry little dude,” Zizhen interrupts when he sees your hesitation (like WOW okay)

you muffle your small laugh by turning back to the little boy and pinching his cheek

Zizhen huffs a small smile at the sight of you two

the little boy would be such a cute kid if he wasn’t trying to take you away from him

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aurora077 · 3 years

Text

Ask not for whom the clarity bell chimes, it chimes for thee.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13913863/1/Ask-not-for-whom-the-clarity-bell-chimes-it-chimes-for-thee

Summary: What’s an esteemed sect leader to do when his nephew wants him to spend time with his estranged brother? He hides, of course. Unfortunately said nephew is stubborn... wonder who he got that from? Now he’s forced to talk about -ugh- feelings.

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

“Uncle!” Jin Ling panted, moving apart the lapels of his tent to find him sitting there with a cup of tea, “There you are!”

Jiang Cheng snorted, “Where else would I be A-Ling?”

His nephew scowled. “You could be sitting with the rest of us.” He fought the urge to roll his eyes. Jin Ling had been setting him up. It was the third night hunt that he’d gone on with those friends of his that he’d actually invited Jiang Cheng to. Of course normally he’d follow Jin Ling anyway but Jin Ling used to scowl at him and pretend he was part of the scenery like the Ghost General who’d become his unwitting junior-stalking partner. He was surprised the first time he was actually invited. It wasn’t until this last time however that he realised what his nephew was trying to do. Because on every occasion that he was invited someone else was too. Someone who his nephew tried very hard to get him to interact with.

“Go back to your friends A-Ling. You don’t get much time with them as Sect Leader now do you? If you’re taking precious time away from your sect for this the least you can do is use it well.”

“How can I go back without you? I invited you, you know. Even Wen Ning is sitting around the fire with everyone and he doesn’t even need to warm up!”

“Don’t be stupid A-Ling you know very well that my presence will just make things awkward.” As it had the past two times. The juniors were more subdued when he was around and Lan Sizhui looked constantly anxious and alert because if an argument started he would inevitably land up playing peacemaker. The Ghost General seemed to have exhausted his anger in one shot the night he shouted at him in his own home no less, and now spent the time fidgeting around him like he was a bomb ready to explode whenever they weren’t busy spy-- protecting the kids. To say nothing of the other guest. Only the loudmouthed Lan seemed completely fine with his presence and he had to admit, the kid had guts.

Well, except when confronted with ghosts apparently. A matter that gave him no small source of amusement when he really thought about it. It made the last night hunt slightly tolerable because it put him in a good mood --a cultivator afraid of ghosts! Who ever heard of it? (He found out this little fact when the unorthodox Lan was faced with the ghost of a butcher and was apparently way more terrified of the ghost than of him, given that he screamed at the sight of it and clung to Jiang Cheng like a particularly large baby...a move that startled him enough for Zidian to lash out and banish the ghost without him even consciously doing it. Lan Jingyi couldn’t look at him for the rest of that hunt without turning beet red. It was hilarious. Contrary to popular belief, he did have a sense of humour. And if the action led to Jin Ling sticking closer to him than usual while petulantly glaring at the Lan all the while, well he wasn’t going to complain...much.)

His thoughts sobered as his nephew, already worked up from running around to find him only to realise he was just in his tent all along, lost his composure. “I’m not being stupid! Is it so bad to want you two to get along?”

“Aha! I knew it. So you admit you’ve been inviting me so that Wei Wuxian and I would what, fall into each other’s arms and cry and be bosom buddies again?”

Jin Ling flushed, “You don’t have to make it sound like that jiujiu!” Then he deflated and said in a smaller voice, “You’re the only two people I have left to call family.”

“And don’t say the Jins are my family, you know they’re not!” he snapped before Jiang Cheng could even open his mouth. Not that he would have said that anyway, the only other Jin he had considered family in that viper’s pit was Jin Zixuan who was cold in his grave.

“I just want the only family I have left to be on good terms, is that too much to ask?” his nephew continued, pouting slightly. A habit that he had been steadily leaving behind as he got accustomed to his role as Sect Leader Jin. He knew Jin Ling must have been incredibly upset to let it show. Indeed his eyes were starting to look shiny.

But Jiang Cheng was tired. Jin Ling was young enough to be optimistic. Jiang Cheng hadn’t been that way for a long, long time. He was prepared to be angry with his nephew for this when he finally confronted him about pushing him and Wei Wuxian together, but one look at that round pouty face made all the anger drain out of him suddenly as he was transported back to a young Jin Ling asking him about his parents after being bullied for being an orphan for the first time and being unable to answer without being choked up himself.

“A-Ling,” he said softer than usual, “Sometimes things just don’t work out the way we want them to.” “I should know,” he said bitterly, staring into his tea with a frown, recalling how the one thing he was most sure about all those uncertain years ago came back to bite him in the ass in the most horrible way possible. Even in the depths of his despair he had never regretted what he did to save Wei Wuxian. Now though...if he had only known what it would lead to... But how could he have ever even fathomed what would happen? Wei Wuxian did the impossible time and time again. His own sacrifice was rendered completely worthless. Just like him he supposed.

“But can’t you just try to get along with him?” his nephew continued, ignorant to his musings.

“I’m polite to him aren’t I? I don’t just flat out ignore him. And we haven’t even argued,” he said grumpily, still frowning at his tea like it personally wronged him. There was once a time when arguing would have solved everything. They’d air out their grievances and come out all the better for it. But Wei Wuxian didn’t seem to be inclined to do that any longer. That he’d attacked him instead of falling back into their routine that day in Lotus Pier’s ancestral hall was all the evidence he needed, even before Wei Wuxian said what he did in the temple.

His nephew huffed, “That’s not what I mean by get along and you know it!”

“It’s a two-way street A-Ling!” he bit out. Forcing himself to restrain his steadily rising temper he continued, “I’m aware you want us to act like a family but I don’t need to remind you of what happened on that horrible day do I? You were there. You heard him. He didn’t care for apologies. For him, it was a lifetime ago. He wants the past to stay the past. And it was all about repayment. Everything he did, he did because he felt he owed my parents and your mother.”

The bitterness crept back into his voice, “He wants nothing more to do with me or the Jiang sect. The least I can do is respect his wishes. After all, I’d be nothing without him, as his Ghost General took pleasure in reminding me. The only one who was foolish enough to hold onto things all this time was me. Besides, you weren’t there A-Ling, the first time around. I wasn’t enough for him then, what makes you think I’d be enough for him now? He has his Hanguang-Jun to hang off of, he has no need for a brother he never even considered one. And why would he? It’s not as if that accursed Jin Guangyao was entirely wrong anyway.”

“What exactly do you mean by that!?” came an offended voice. They both whipped around in shock.

“Wei Wuxian, were you eavesdropping?” he snarled, “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

“I just came to see if Jin Ling found you, but never mind that! Explain yourself! How could you say a thing like that?” he said, outraged, pushing his way fully into the tent.

“Did I say anything wrong, Wei Wuxian? Please, do tell. What did I say that you didn’t say or imply yourself?” he said, angry that Wei Wuxian felt the need to intrude on his space and then had the nerve to get offended after eavesdropping on a private conversation.

Jiang Cheng wasn’t a total idiot despite being made a fool of time and time again by this man. If there was one thing he was particularly good at, it was knowing when he wasn’t wanted. He’d had a lifetime of practice after all.

The core in his body was given out of a sense of duty. After Guanyin Temple he recalled his parents’ last words to Wei Wuxian. Was it any wonder he felt like he had to give away the one thing that he cherished most if it would save Jiang Cheng? The people who brought him in from the streets and raised him had beseeched him with their last words to protect their children with his life, and so, he did. Maybe not in the way they would expect but in giving away his core, he also gave away his life as a cultivator. And debt paid, Wei Wuxian ran off to be with people who he chose for himself.

Jiang Cheng had slowly reconciled with the idea of having a core that wasn’t his because if he didn’t, what would be left of him? Yunmeng Jiang needed him and so did Jin Ling. He had no choice but to carry on like he had been doing for what felt like his whole life... for his sect and his nephew. The weight of responsibility that he had didn’t go away just because his once shixiong embodied his sect motto more than he did. His entire life revolved around duty; once again he recalled how the one thing he did that went against duty, that he did out of love, caused a chain reaction of misery.

Wei Wuxian seemed stunned, his mouth opening and closing like those fish he had liked to catch so many years ago.

“Do you really think like that?” he croaked, “After all we’ve been through, you think I don’t care for you?”

“All we’ve been through?” Jiang Cheng hissed, leaving his now cold tea and standing up to face him with a stormy look on his face,“Why are you now talking about all we've been through? What I know about all we’ve been through, Wei Wuxian, is that the one thing I wanted after losing my home, my parents, and the rest of my sect, was my second in command by my side. The second in command that my sister called her blood brother* in a way I was never allowed to. I had thought that despite the fact that we were unable to label our relationship thanks to my parents, that we understood what we were to each other. That he would do as he promised and stand with me. But what did he do instead of staying by my side? Out of a sense of duty to the sect, he mutilated himself to give me his precious golden core, his life force as a cultivator, without telling me! Without asking me if I would let him do that to himself for me. He made me believe that I regained my own and that the alcoholism and lazing around was because he didn’t respect me enough to support me as sect leader in a time where the leaders of the other sects would pounce at the first sign of weakness. He avoided meetings and banquets where he should have rightfully stood beside me and I wondered, what happened to his promise of support?”

Jiang Cheng’s body was heaving, having let out the words that had clogged up his chest for over thirteen years.

He continued, more softly now, resigned and tired, “He left out crucial information about himself that could have allowed me to see the situation for what it was. He let me think that he didn’t care if we lost face in front of the others, during a time when we couldn’t afford to lose face. Then he ran off to the Burial Mounds to save the rest of the Wens and refused my protection.”

(I'm afraid you don't know that the Wen cultivator whom Wei WuXian wanted to save was called Wen Ning. We owe him and his sister Wen Qing gratitude for what happened during the Sunshot Campaign he had said, in defense of Wei Wuxian. It wasn’t enough. The hatred for the Wens was too great, and they hadn’t been aware of the Jin sect’s machinations at that time. But if he couldn’t save them he could at least save Wei Wuxian. Except Wei Wuxian hadn’t wanted him to. Just another failure to add to his list. Jin Guangyao was right after all. Maybe... if he had insisted… But it wouldn’t have changed a thing would it? Since unbeknownst to them there was Jin Guangyao himself working against them. So in the end it was a lie wasn’t it… the idea that he could have kept Wei Wuxian safe was a lie. Because the Jin sect wanted his seal all along. Whether he was in the Burial Mounds or in Yunmeng that fact would not have changed. But knowing was one thing, and feeling was another. And Jin Guangyao had known this and taken advantage of it.)

“Jiang Cheng…” Wei Wuxian said, sounding pained, “I…”

“You wanted me to renounce you,” he said, interrupting brokenly, “That was your grand idea. You let me think that you didn’t respect me rather than telling me outright that you couldn’t do certain duties anymore. Even if you had to lie and say it was Wen Zhuliu’s fault it would have been better than making me think you didn’t care. Why...why didn’t you trust me?”

His voice cracked but he shakily continued, “That fight we feigned...why would you let me injure you like that? You had your Ghost General break my arm but you had no core. Had I known, do you think I would have stabbed you anyway? Was our relationship that poor? Just because we never labelled it does that mean it didn’t exist then Wei Wuxian? I thought that we understood…”

He broke off to choke back a sob.

“You said you could control the resentful energy...the seal. I trusted you. I may not have reacted very well when the sect leaders tried to drive a wedge between us but I trusted you regardless. I trusted you even though you had been acting unreliable. I trusted you up until the moment A-jie died to protect you. You think you’re the only one who lost it then? The only one who went mad with grief? Do you think if you hadn’t died from the seal’s backlash I would have killed you? Because even now I don’t know the answer to that question. But what I do know is that the two of you broke me; one after the other you died, just like that. We promised that it would always be us three didn’t we? If it wasn’t for A-Ling I might have joined you then and there sect be damned.”

He was too far in the past to notice the strangled sound his nephew made in the background on hearing his words. Wei Wuxian, though, was as stiff as one of his corpses (or even more accurately, his annoying husband). He couldn’t seem to make a sound if he tried. His heart was pounding, disbelieving of the words he was hearing. Shellshocked, he just let Jiang Cheng rant.

“Then, when our old school friend somehow manages to scheme his way into bringing you back to the land of the living and clears your name in the process, what do you say? Take it as repayment to the sect Jiang Cheng, let’s not mention it again. Forget it. It’s all in the past. As if I could ever forget it. As if I’ll ever get the image of A-Jie dying in my arms out of my mind. As if the image of you getting torn apart by corpses right in front of me hasn’t been seared into my brain for all these years. And you want me to forget it. You come back and run off with Lan Wangji. You come to Lotus Pier and what do you do? Go to make bows in the ancestral hall with freaking Lan Wangji. The man who we all thought hated your guts even before the whole Yiling Laozu schtick. It’s been easy for you to forget and move on hasn’t it? I’m the only one stuck with these memories. I’m the only one who held on to promises,” he scoffed self-deprecatingly, “Falling apart in front of everyone in that temple and claiming you owed the sect was all I could do given that you would never come back for me. But you abdicated yourself of that responsibility too so what else could I say? Don’t talk about all we’ve been through Wei Wuxian. In the end, I’m the only one left who cares about that.”

“You’re wrong!” Wei Wuxian yelled, the accusation of not caring seeming to strike a chord, breaking him out of his state of speechlessness, “How could anyone give up a core for duty? I said it was repayment because I didn’t want you to feel obligated to me. I know we have our differences but I still know you enough. Don’t tell me now that you know that you don’t see everything you did to rebuild the clan differently! You’ve always felt inferior because of me and I never wanted to put you in that position. How could I have told you what I did? I didn’t want to hurt you, and don’t say you wouldn’t have been hurt because you would have! How can you say I don’t see you as a brother? How can you not have known how much I…”

He trailed off and started again, eyes glossy, “In the end, your life was worth more than mine and I did promise your parents I would protect you. I cared about you much more than I cared about cultivation. I didn’t want you to give up, and you looked like you would. I wanted you to live and be the leader you were always meant to be. I found a method that would work and in the end it wasn’t a hard decision to save you. Even if I didn’t survive it, I would have been happy to have been of use to you. You could not be lost; you were Yunmeng Jiang’s last hope. I could be replaced. And I was right! Look how well you’ve done. The Jiang Sect is flourishing now, better than before and it’s all thanks to you. So if I had the choice to change whether I gave it to you or not, I wouldn’t. I’d do it again!”

“You really are arrogant aren’t you?” Jiang Cheng intended to sound harsh but instead he sounded closer to despair. “You think that because you think something is so then it must be. You think everyone else feels the same way about you as you do. You’re the only one who thought that you could afford to be sacrificed. Nobody who cared about you thought of you as disposable. Funnily enough I’m sure your irritating husband would actually agree with me for once.”

“Lan Zhan’s not--”

“Shut up! Who asked you to destroy yourself? Do you think I wanted this? Do you think A-Jie wanted this? It’s why you made sure we sent her away isn’t it? I only realised it later on. She would have put a stop to it. You did what you wanted to do as always. Mother and Father’s wishes came before my own with you didn’t it? So what if I was depressed? How was that worth your life? Do you think I would be happy that you lost your cultivation because of me? Whatever ‘inferiority’ I felt I’ve never once wished for you to be destroyed because of it. But you don’t seem to acknowledge other people’s feelings for you, do you? We loved you, you complete imbecile! How could you for one second think that we’d be okay with you dying to give me a core? You said you may not have survived it well that much I gathered on my own! Nobody ever did such a thing of course the risks were high. Did you ever consider what would happen if you did die? Would Wen Qing just bury you in secret and a-jie and I would be left wondering what happened?” he said, openly crying now and not even bothering to try and stop it. Not like Wei Wuxian hadn’t seen him look even worse than this. But he continued his rant nevertheless. A few tears couldn’t stop him now that he was on a roll.

“I would wake up with a brand new core and one brother less, which is exactly what happened except you came back from the Burial Mounds… but there would have been no coming back from dying then. You’re only here now because your famously ignominious death got you summoned as an evil spirit!” he paused to wipe his nose and continued, voice devastatingly melancholy,“Do you know how I felt when I found you missing? I came down that mountain expecting to see you waiting there with that annoying grin of yours, but you were gone. Vanished into thin air and nobody could tell me what happened to you. I feared the worst. And I was right to! Nobody’s ever walked out of the Burial Mounds. We had no idea where you were and everyone was whispering that you were dead. A-Jie and I refused to believe it; how could you be gone? All I could think of was that maybe if I hadn’t gone up that mountain you wouldn’t have been in a position to get captured in the first place. It was all my fault. What was the point of me getting back my core if you died because of it when in the first place I lost it to--”

He stopped. No. He couldn’t say that. He never meant for Wei Wuxian to find out what he did. After the events at the Guanyin Temple he’d considered coming clean but had held back. It would have seemed as if he was lamely throwing it out there. Like ‘ha it isn’t only you who can sacrifice’. It would just seem petty and like he was trying to one-up Wei Wuxian, and to him that would have diminished the worth of his actions. He’d done it without hesitation, expecting to die but preferring that to the alternative aka letting it be Wei Wuxian instead. He hadn’t done it to get acknowledgement. (He was man enough to admit --to himself at least after lots of time to think in the aftermath- that Wei Wuxian probably felt the same, except if the Wens had caught him, Wei Wuxian would have surely died, whereas without a core Jiang Cheng just felt like dying. So really in the end there was no need for Wei Wuxian to risk his life because Jiang Cheng would not have actually lost his.)

Surprisingly, Jin Ling had actually noticed his hesitation --which on later consideration made him realise his nephew was really growing up and he’d had some strong feelings about that-- but by that time it was too late even if he intended to say anything. It wasn’t as if Wei Wuxian had the time of day for him then anyway. He hadn’t even glanced Jiang Cheng’s way before making off with his stubborn donkey… and Lil Apple.

“When you lost it to what?” Wei Wuxian said hoarsely, still disbelievingly processing what was being said to him and latching on to the thing he actually knew instead, “I’ve never faulted you for wanting to retrieve your parents’ bodies. You were grieving.”

Jiang Cheng was flabbergasted. His tears stopped abruptly in his shock. He had never actually given much consideration to how Wei Wuxian determined he was in Lotus Pier and why. When he had woken up in Wen Qing’s domain all he’d been told was that Wen Ning helped Wei Wuxian save him. At the time he was too empty and hurt to think much about anything further than that he was alive and broken, and then all the other shit in his life happened and he hadn’t given that question a second thought. But to think, all this time and…

“That’s what you thought I was… Okay yes, that’s why I was in Lotus Pier,” he said decisively. He couldn’t believe Wei Wuxian thought he was that foolish but better he believed it was because Jiang Cheng was a grief stricken child that went back on his own. He wouldn’t blame himself then.

Except Wei Wuxian’s eyes narrowed. He may have been struggling with many complicated emotions but his mind was still sharp. “Jiang Cheng,” he said slowly.

“What!?”

“You went back for your parents’ bodies, right?”

“...”

“Right?” he said, stalking forward and clasping Jiang Cheng’s shoulders urgently. “Yes! That's what I said! Have you developed a hearing problem now?” Jiang Cheng barked defensively, half-heartedly struggling in his suddenly tight grip.

But Jiang Cheng hadn’t said that, he did.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing!”

“Jiang Cheng! Why were you in Lotus Pier?”

“It doesn’t matter! Let it go, Wei Wuxian. It’s all in the past like you said.”

But Wei Wuxian had a sick feeling in his gut.

“You didn’t go back on your own, did you?” he said, chest tightening as his certainty grew.

His grip went slack. “You didn’t choose to go back. So why…”

“But I did choose,” Jiang Cheng said, a rueful smile forming on his face. It was his choice to step out from where he was hidden and distract the Wen soldiers. Although arguably, in the moment, there was no choice at all because letting them take Wei Wuxian was never an option.

“No…. No, if it wasn’t for your parents then you wouldn’t leave shijie. You wouldn’t have chosen to go back. You’re not stupid. You wouldn’t have tried to take back Lotus Pier by yourself.”

“As you said, I was grieving. Maybe I was reckless. You were there, you would have taken care of a-jie.”

“No, shijie was sick, you wouldn’t have left!”

He remembered going out to buy some food and medication for Jiang Yanli, who was too ill to take care of herself. There was a moment when he’d been afraid he’d be caught by some Wen soldiers but then they’d been distracted and he’d breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the Wens had caught up too quickly and he had to get the others out of there asap. He’d gone back with the supplies intending to let them know only to find that Jiang Cheng was gone.

But… thinking of it… hadn’t they left him alone because someone shouted ‘I’ve got him’?

No!

It couldn’t be.

“Jiang Cheng… Tell me you didn’t.”

“I can’t tell you I didn’t leave Wei Wuxian, clearly I did,” Jiang Cheng said, rolling his eyes.

“No not that. You got caught on purpose. You…” his voice cracked.

“Why would you say that? Who would be foolish enough to get caught on purpose. You’re overthinking. Didn’t you just say I wasn’t stupid?” Jiang Cheng retorted.

“Didn’t you just say that maybe you were reckless?” he fired back, tearing up, “How could you… Why?? Why didn’t you just let them take me?”

Jiang Cheng scoffed, “Well aren’t you full of yourself. Not everything is about you, Wei Wuxian.” Why wouldn’t Wei Wuxian just drop it? Didn’t he know there was only pain going down this road?

He laughed, a broken hollow thing. “No, not everything is about me. But this is. My memory is full of holes but I remember that day. I remember how it felt to find you gone. And now, now I remember what happened before I found you missing. Why did you do it?”

He tightened his grip on Jiang Cheng once more and shook.

“You should have let them take me. How could you do such a foolish thing?” he almost screamed, tears leaking down his face.

“How could I do such a foolish thing? How could you carve out your core and give it to me?” Jiang Cheng growled.

“You were the new Sect Leader! Why would you give up your life like that? I promised that I would protect you with my life. Why would you throw it away for me? Your mother was right, it was all my fault. I wasn’t wor-- mmph!” Jiang Cheng covered his mouth.

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence! Were you not listening to a thing I said?!! Who gives a shit about worthiness? Do you think a-jie was thinking about worthiness when she threw herself in front of that blade for you? I certainly wasn’t thinking about worthiness when there were Wen soldiers about to capture you and take you to Wen Chao for his torturing pleasure. Who was going to let him take you? He dared?! Did I just stand aside when that Wang Lingjiao demanded your hand? And not in marriage! Why would I stand aside for some measly soldiers?”

He’d come to terms with the fact that taking the blade was his sister’s choice. He’d done the same after all, in a different way but nevertheless… he did. If this was a few years, heck months, ago he’d probably still be painfully in denial. Yanli’s death had unhinged him. And it had taken Jin freaking Guangyao to deliver a proverbial slap in the face for him to start to reflect on his own behaviour, as well as that of his siblings, with a clearer mind. Despite the fact that he’d come to the conclusion that Jin Guangyao was wrong about a great many things (given that he conveniently didn’t mention that he would have manipulated things in the Jin’s favour no matter what Jiang Cheng did), it had been the push he needed to work through his years of resentment. It had taken a while and was probably still going to take some more time, but he’d been learning a great deal about himself.

Which is why he was so mad at Wei Wuxian, whose tears were dripping onto the hand Jiang Cheng was using to cover his self-deprecating mouth. “How can it be that Lan Wangji hasn’t managed to get you to stop that? You’re sickeningly in love with each other and the entire cultivation world knows it, yet you have the nerve to come here and say you’re not worthy? To my face? A-Jie would be sad. Your sickening husband would be sad.” He was sad.

He grimaced as Wei Wuxian licked his hand in an attempt to dislodge it, possibly because he insulted Lan Wangji again and Wei Wuxian had a compulsive need to defend the man.

“Nice try,” he grinned, “But I’ve changed A-Ling’s dirty diapers, a little spit isn’t going to gross me out.”

His nephew, whose presence had been totally forgotten by both of his uncles, squawked in indignation. Jiang Cheng didn’t acknowledge it. If he had turned to look, he might have seen that the boy was shedding silent tears the whole time in solidarity with their emotional meltdowns. Jin Ling also briefly had the thought that Ouyang Zizhen would have loved to witness this spectacle and would definitely have declared it novel material.

Ignoring his nephew’s reactions, Jiang Cheng addressed Wei Wuxian, “Do you think that Lan Wangji would say you aren’t worth sacrificing for? Do you think he’d say you’re replaceable?”

Unable to speak, Wei Wuxian just shook his head. Lan Zhan would be hurt if he said those things.

“And why do you think that is Wei Wuxian? Why would Lan Wangji not think that?” He squished Wei Wuxian’s cheeks, forcing him to speak with fish lips. “B..cs e lv.s muh?”

“Exactly.” He finally let go of Wei Wuxian’s face.

“Jiang Cheeeng *hic*” cried Wei Wuxian.

“What!?” “I love you too,” Wei Wuxian said while sobbing some more and throwing himself at Jiang Cheng.

“Who said anything about love? Get off of me!”

“Y..*hic* youuuu did!” He clung to Jiang Cheng and refused to let go until Jiang Cheng gave in (but not before struggling a bit, had to at least look like he resisted) and hugged back just as fiercely. The two of them stood there holding each other and weeping for a solid quarter of an hour.

Wei Wuxian felt raw inside. He had never expected that Jiang Cheng would… It had never occurred to him that Jiang Cheng distracted their pursuers just to save him. Him. Jiang Cheng had let himself be taken instead. Jiang Cheng who was so prideful and who had blamed him for bringing ruin to Lotus Pier. That Jiang Cheng had been angry with him and yet saved him anyway. Saved him knowing that he was likely going to die for it. Saved him because he loved him. What else could he do now but cry? He felt wrung out. Like his world had shifted.

---

“Sooo…” said Jin Ling, clapping his hands together once decisively and smirking slightly (after drying his own tear-filled eyes), “Since you guys ended up falling into each other's arms and crying, that means that the only thing left is for you to become bosom buddies again.”

“Brat!” Jiang Cheng sniffed, pulling away from Wei Wuxian to threaten his nephew, “Are you looking to get your legs broken?!”

“No thank you!” he cried, rushing out of the tent quickly, only to bump squarely into Lan Sizhui who only managed to keep them both upright thanks to the infamous Lan arm strength that Jin Ling may or may not have been admiring surreptitiously the entire trip.

“What are you all doing out here?” Wei Wuxian asked, upon fixing his face and following Jin Ling out and seeing the rest of the juniors and Wen Ning nervously huddled outside of Jiang Cheng’s tent.

“Senior Wei!” fretted Lan Jingyi, “We were so worried!”

“Yeah, we thought something might have happened since you guys were taking so long to come back and we came to check it out but then we couldn’t get in! We had no idea what was going on inside,” said Ouyang Zizhen who had tear tracks on his face. He had clearly expected Wei Wuxian to come out as a corpse.

Wei Wuxian was stunned and looked at Wen Ning for confirmation.

“I would have tried to break in but A-Yuan stopped me,” said Wen Ning sheepishly and if he could blush his face would have been bright red.

“Are you all stupid?” snapped Jiang Cheng, “Am I a person that looks like I have a death wish? Who would take care of my sect if Hanguang-Jun murdered me?”

“A..ah I told them that Jin Ling would have come for help if anything was going on,” Sizhui piped up, “ I told you guys not to worry so much.”

Responsible as always, that Lan Sizhui. How someone like Lan Wangji raised a well spoken boy like that was a mystery to Jiang Cheng. Though he guessed Lan Xichen would have had a hand in it too. The boy did remind him very much of the Lan Sect Leader. Only in temperament however, looks-wise… well he stopped that train of thought before it could go too far. Some things were probably best left unacknowledged, though he was spending way too much time observing the juniors and the Ghost General on night hunts not to notice… well again, best to let sleeping dogs lie.

“Finally! Someone with sense,” was all Jiang Cheng muttered in the end.

“But how come you couldn’t come in?” Wei Wuxian asked curiously.

“Ah well…” Jin Ling rubbed the back of his head, “I kinda sorta maybe put up a privacy ward when you two started airing grievances. No need for the whole camp to hear about family business.”

“This kid…” Wei Wuxian laughed, secretly pleased that Jin Ling seemed to have accepted him. “Come here!” He slung his arm around Jin Ling’s neck and held him in a death grip to ruffle his hair. “Let go of me!” Jin Ling protested, pushing half heartedly at his arm. Two soft jingles followed the movement.

“Wait,” said Ouyang Zizhen, eyes widening, “Did you hear that?” “Is that…” queried Sizhui, also noticing the sound.

“It’s a clarity bell!” announced Jingyi, “ Senior Wei, why do you have a Jiang clarity bell?”

“Ah well.. It’s mine?”

“Huh, since when?!”

“Uh since I joined the Jiangs?”

“Why do you sound like you’re questioning it, idiot!?” said Jiang Cheng, barely refraining from whacking the back of his head. He did remember that his shixiong’s new body was frail.

“Ah hehe, I’m not, I’m not,” he raised his hands placatingly.

“But we’ve never seen you wear it, Senior Wei,” said Ouyang Zizhen innocently.

“That’s because I gave it back when I defected,” he said sheepishly.

“Then why do you have it now?” questioned Lan Jingyi, somewhat bluntly.

“Kid, has anyone ever told you you talk too much?” said Jiang Cheng.

“I’m not a kid!” he pouted, at the same time that Jin Ling said, “All the time!”

And well sure he technically wasn’t a kid anymore, at 21, but if Jiang Cheng admitted that then his 19 year old nephew wouldn’t be a kid either and Jiang Cheng wasn’t ready to accept that yet.

Lan Jingyi shot a rancid look at Jin Ling, who cheated and hid behind Sizhui, and turned back to Wei Wuxian like a dog with a bone. (Which was a hilarious analogy because, you know it’s a dog and they all knew what Wei Wuxian thought of dogs.)

“Does this mean you’re going back to the Jiangs then, Senior Wei?”

“As if his husband would ever let that happen,” Jiang Cheng snorted before he could answer.

“Hanguang-Jun lets Wei-qianbei do whatever he wants!” Lan Jingyi said, unable to hide the starstruck tone he used with Lan Wangji’s title.

Jiang Cheng sighed, “I forgot I was with the Hanguang-Jun fanclub.”

Lan Jingyi turned red and was ready to retort but Wei Wuxian cleared his throat and derailed the tirade before it could start. “Nobody’s going anywhere except to bed. As for the bell, Jiang Cheng just returned what was originally mine in the first place. It’s not a big deal.”

It absolutely was a big deal.

He couldn’t believe Jiang Cheng had held onto it all this time. He was sorely tempted to burst into tears again. Much like Chenqing, it was kept in pristine condition. Before they left the tent Jiang Cheng had shoved it at him like it was burning and told him to come home sometimes (“even if you have to bring your prissy husband with you”). It so was a big deal. Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan did not like each other at all. He privately thought that as much as he loved Lan Zhan and wanted to show him Lotus Pier, he’d make the first few visits on his own. Best not to push Jiang Cheng too much.

“Well I’m happy for you, Young Master Wei,” said Wen Ning, smiling as much as his face allowed. He at least had an idea of what it meant. Not just in general, but to Wei Wuxian.

“Thank you, Wen Ning.” He smiled softly at his friend.

“Well, I’ve had enough talking for one day,” said Jiang Cheng, “I’m going to go to bed. If you’re all going to continue talking, please do it somewhere that’s not right in front of my quarters.” And with that he bid them all goodnight and ducked back into his tent.

“Ah yes, I think it is past your Lan bedtimes is it not? You two also need to skedaddle,” Wei Wuxian said to the little Lans.

“Of course Senior Wei, we’ll head in now,” said Sizhui who promptly did as he said and turned to step into a tent.

“Hey! Why are you going into the Young Mistress’ tent?” called Jingyi, “Weren’t we supposed to share?”

“Ah well Jin Ling offered,” Sizhui explained.

“You just want to take advantage of his very fancy sect leader tent,” accused Lan Jingyi.

“Hehe guilty as charged,” he said,“Goodnight Jingyi. And to you Wen-qianbei, Wei-qianbei, Zizhen.” He left all four of them standing there and went to bed.

“No fair, I want to sleep in a fancy sect leader tent too. Ours is not nearly as comfortable,” lamented Jingyi.

Wei Wuxian couldn’t share the sentiment because his Lan Zhan always made sure he was the most comfortable. But he also couldn’t resist teasing Jingyi.

“There’s a very fancy sect leader tent right here,” he smirked, “Enter at your own peril.”

Lan Jingyi blanched and squeaked, “Never mind!”

Zizhen laughed heartily at him, “Better luck next time buddy!”

---------

Author’s note: * Since I read the translation of MDZS I am not sure how Yanli refers to Wei Wuxian in the novel other than as a brother which in English does not convey as much as the Chinese text would. In The Untamed episode 25 however when she is defending him from Jin Zixun she refers to him as didi, which I have gathered is what you would call a younger blood related brother, rather than shidi which would be the term for a martial brother. Since I don’t know Chinese though correct me if I’m wrong ^^;

Also I don’t recall the novel mentioning if wwx had a clarity bell or not so I am working with the assumption that much like the Lans’ forehead ribbons, the Yunmeng Jiang disciples would have a clarity bell... in The Untamed, Yanli gives him one when she shows him her wedding dress but I am taking creative liberties and saying he already had one as a member of the clan. Maybe main family members and disciples have different ones like the Lan ribbons but I’m leaving that up to interpretation.

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