Latest Posts by coolnightfire - Page 2

Wei Wuxian: The Wen Remnants? No, you misheard. These are the Wei Remnants

Jin Guangshan: Do you think we're stupid!?

Wei Wuxian: That's a trick question. They can't be Wens because, according to you, the only Wens left were soldiers and cultivaters. These guys are clearly elderly and healers. Meet my older sister Wei Qing

Wen Qing with a slightly different hair style: This one is honored to meet such esteemed cultivators

Wei Wuxian: And my twin (but still younger) brother, Wei Ning

Fierce corpse Wen Ning with makeup poorly applied: Thank you for visiting our humble village

Jin Guangshan: You except everyone here to believe your blatant lies!?

Wei Wuxian: Everyone here pretends to believe your blatant lies about only having one bastard. Why is your lie so much more believable than mine?

This idea that none of the great clans could offer the Wen Remnants protection because it would lead to war is so ridiculous.

People always throw out this excuse to defend Jiang Cheng, Lan Xichen, and Nie Mingjue for their involvement and complicity in the Wen Remnants massacre, but it's a complete bullshit.

For the Jin Clan to declare war on another great clan, they would need a solid, irrefutable justification. Look at Wei Wuxian: he wasn’t part of the gentry, had no support after cutting ties with the Jiang Clan, and his reputation was already down in the drain. Yet even with all of that, it still took the death of Jin Zixuan, the clan's heir, for the Jin Clan to finally have a strong enough justification to declare war against him. Declaring war on another great clan would require far more than that.

Taking in the Wen Remnants and supporting Wei Wuxian wouldn’t have sparked a war. At most, it would have strained diplomatic relations and potentially broken a few alliances and the Jin Clan would no doubt apply political pressure. But that's as far as it would go—there would be no full-blown war.

it’s the way that for the wen remnants, one of THE most joyful moments they share together, possibly since the sunshot campaign came to an end, was when wei wuxian was able to bring sentience back to wen ning’s fierce corpse. that this cultivation method that wei wuxian had created, unjustly and with prejudice painted as an unequivocally vile, horrible, exceptionally offensive and dangerous thing... ended up bringing these persecuted people so much joy. wen ning, killed too soon for the crime of bearing the wen name, was able to live again, at least in some capacity. this wasn’t about creating a weapon, or making the formidable ghost general—it was entirely about getting wen qing’s brother back, getting the wen remnant’s beloved member back and i do consider it one of the most moving parts of the books in general.

(just remembered I forgot to post these two posts here, so... here they are)

i know a lot of peeps are going YZY x CSSR because of the Changmian + WWX/JC parallels- but have you considered YZY x Mdm Jin? they're actual besties, and love each other so much that they decided to have their kids marry each other since they can't

also: kinda a pity Mdm Jin never got an actual name so uh my placeholder name for her: 花如燕 / Hua Ruyan- [Flower, Like Sparrow] to contrast with YZY's Purple Kite (bird)- also her nickname: 花蝴蝶 (Flower Butterfly) haha to match the Violet Spider

+

when you're trying your best to date your best friend but she's married to her job [YZY x Mdm Jin, the single moms side of the single dads AU lol]

i think one of the most wonderful traits of wei wuxian is how socially competent he is, which is why it always annoys me if he is mischaracterized as someone who is unaware about how those around him feel, just because of the way his relationship with lan wangji pans out in the books. the dynamic between them was extremely multifaceted and what seemed obvious to us was very rightfully NOT obvious to wei wuxian and he hardly had time to sort those feelings out, given the kind of harrowing ordeals he was going through. but that aside–the way wei wuxian’s “social competence” manifests isn’t just social courage–in that, the risk of embarassment or self-consciousness doesn’t stop his self expression–or just his general forwardness and social butterfly tendencies but also–and imo, most importantly–his perceptiveness and astute reading of people around him which comes from a deep understanding of the human social element, at the individual and the societal level.

he has full awareness of how his station is looked down upon in the cultivation world and so while others in his situation may bend or break–wei wuxian cleverly toes the line between the two until taking a stance becomes necessary. he deeply understands the ugly dynamics running within the jiang family and clan and acts accordingly–be it his prompt efforts to placate jiang cheng or his conscious silence when madame yu is in a mood or even his acceptance of the whipping in lieu of restoring stability for the clan. despite his personal biases against jin zixuan, he can recognise his bravery. even his scandalous move to begin undressing in the cave shows that he knows exactly what would make lan wangji tick.

hell, i’d say even his initial thought about how the resentment of the dead can be redirected towards a target shows his striking comprehension of how emotions work in general. what’s more, he’s able to recognise the machinations nie huaisang had employed and he was also aware of the bigger picture associated with how fickle and easily swayed mob mentality was when everyone took part in bashing jin guangyao when certain truths came to light. when he was first brought back to life, he quickly and correctly deduced what kind of life mo xuanyu must have led and how he could act in order to easily humiliate the mo family. he empathised with jin ling and yet realised how he was brought up left something to be desired and so, tried to inculcate some of his own highly regarded values to him.

the deft manner in which he handled the juniors speaks for itself–a good teacher will always have good communication skills and wei wuxian went above and beyond just “good”. his people skills on nighthunts are extremely helpful–his ability to make tongues loose simply by charming people is highlighted more than once. just off the top of my head–him politely appealing to jin guangshan about the wen remnants and apologising for “intruding”, him readily handing in his sword at the indoctrination camps, him suggesting to jiang cheng that he should leave the clan once he was at the burial mounds–all of this (and much much more) demonstrates wei wuxian’s competence at guaging complex social dynamics, which is why, when he goes against the current and stands firm, it is a deliberate, well thought out decision, one made after considering the risks and repercussions, and that makes wei wuxian’s stance at the end that much more powerful. he is not stumbling his way through life, is not unheeding of his social status, is not a “mad genius with poor social skills”. hell, i would say wei wuxian’s ability to see straight through people is more impressive than even his insane intellect and to reduce that aspect of him feels like a disservice to his character. because when it comes down to it, the fact of the matter is that the murky social world through wei wuxian’s lens is actually astonishingly clear.

I so very desperately want a crack MDZS mistaken identity AU where somehow the entire Jianghu becomes convinced that not only are Wei Wuxian and the Yiling Patriarch separate people, but that Wei Wuxian has become the Yiling Patriarch's wife/concubine/sex slave (whichever is funnier).

Bonus points if the misunderstanding becomes so widespread because Jiang Cheng throws a hissy fit over the misconception. Lan Zhan should also have exactly one (1) drink and promptly try to go on a drunken one night wife-stealing quest.

MASSIVE KUDOS if someone manages to write in everyone jumping to the conclusion that Wen Yuan is Wei Wuxian's biological child with the Patriarch, and just immediately assuming in relation to that, that evil resentment powers somehow gave Wei Wuxian a working womb. Somehow. Cue Lan Zhan chugging vinegar in a corner.

Everyone is screaming inside. Wei Wuxian says at some crucial point to everyone the truth that he is the Patriarch. No one believes him.

I would write this AU myself, but while my heart says yes, my mediocre writing skills say no.

Wip

First encounter from Lan Zhan PoV🤭

Aaaaaa what could have been!!

When jiujiu refused to take you with him on a night hunt. So cruel and unfair! Jail for jiujiu for one thousand years!!!!

It's very important to my understanding of all three characters that Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli see Wei Wuxian as their sibling, and he sees them as his. But I think it's also important that he is not their sibling, legally or socially.

When Jin Zixuan snaps "If you like Jiang Yanli so much, why don't you ask her father if you can marry her", I think the implication is pretty clear that this is in fact a thing Wei Wuxian could have done if they'd felt that way about each other. (And Madam Yu would no doubt have flipped a table at the "son of a servant" daring to suggest such a thing, but Jiang Fengmian would probably have been delighted.) No one reacts to this comment like JZX just said something insane or implied WWX is into incest.

Suguru once was Satoru's scale to tell justice from wrong. So righteous and loyal to his own ideals until he wasn't. And when he finally broke down, the light he used to shine to show Satoru the right path was gone with him.

’I have to catch up’

Old art from last year, super early into digital 💀 but people seem to like it anyway 🩵

He Xuan: You won't believe who just came up here for the third time.

Hua Cheng: ........Don't joke about that.

He Xuan: I'm not, I swear! And he broke a bunch of stuff on his way in.

Hua Cheng: What.

He Xuan: Um, yeah, you know his two babies that you hate? He hit one with a giant bell and smashed the other one's palace.

Hua Cheng: I am definitely in the right religion.

what if....

Aftercare

A little something inspired by my brainrotting with @curbstompthestars ♥️

Jiang Cheng: *filming Wei Wuxian standing near the dinner table with a bottle of sake in his hands and a wine glass that’s getting suspiciously full* A-Niang finally agreed that Wuxian can join us at the adults table this New Years.

Yu Zuyuan: *head in hands* And he’s about to lose that privilege if he fills up that glass any higher.

Jiang Yanli: Oh come now, A-Xian, you don’t want to end up back at the kids table again, do you?

Jiang Cheng: Yeah, then you’ll be talking about Jin Ling’s latest playground drama, AND tipsy.

Wei Wuxian: *downs half the glass in one go* You know? I might just decide to hang out with them anyways. I could teach them how to trigger the microwave to set on fire every time Uncle uses the defrost button.

Jiang Fengmian: I knew you had something to do with that :/

Jiang Yanli: A-Xian, your husband is at the adults table this year.

Wei Wuxian: And my son is at the kids table. I’m torn, really. I can’t choose between them. If I told Lan Zhan we were leaving right this second if I couldn’t have them both at once-

Lan Wangji: *looking pained because he agreed to get along with the Jiang family this year* I… would agree to join you at the children’s table?

Jiang Cheng: Oh my god he’s such a simp 👁️👄👁️

Jin Zixuan: I’m not that bad… right?

Jiang Yanli: I don’t know, A-Xuan, I kind of want to join them there too.

Jin Zixuan: …okay…

Jiang Cheng: I’m both disgusted and impressed.

Lan er furen (sketch)

Wei Wuxian: -anyways, and now we turn to this area, which is nothing suspicious-

Jin Zixuan: *was convinced to bring Yanli to check out the Burial Mounds by the most annoying set of Yunmeng siblings to ever exist* Why does that hut have a sign that says ‘Corpse Storage’?

Wei Wuxian: :) that’s Wen Ning’s hut :)

Jiang Yanli: Aww, that’s cute.

Jiang Cheng: lmaoooo

Jin Zixuan: *is wondering how Yanli hid her gremlin side from the world so much, these siblings are so annoying he’s gonna throw rocks at them* That… nice…

Nie Mingjue: *in a tiff* And where were YOU when Huaisang wasn’t in saber practice today?

Meng Yao: *annoyed with Huaisang and Mingjue having the same argument for the 18th time this week and doesn’t wanna get put in the middle* Getting scolded by sword captain for being ‘too pretty to be seen outside your chambers’.

Huaisang: It’s true, Da-Ge, he was being gross again!

Mingjue: You saw it?

Huaisang: Yes.

Mingjue: And you did NOTHING?

Huaisang: Well, I was hiding from saber master, who had A-Yao and Sword Captain in his eyesight at the moment. I couldn’t leave the alcove. I was trapped!

Mingjue: You are both little bastards that need to speak up more often. Both of you go get ready for bed, I’ll be in there to tuck you in soon.

Meng Yao: I’m sleeping in A-Sang’s room?

Huaisang: Yes. Until Da-Ge kills sword captain, at least.

Meng Yao: …what? *didn’t think Mingjue would actually do anything about the man being an ass to him* …what?!?

Huaisang: Yeah. It’s okay, you can come with me to saber practice tomorrow. I’ll comb your hair and you can wear my sleep robes tonight. *pulls him out of the room with their hands together*

Meng Yao: *rewriting his 20 year plan to take over the world to instead be a kept didi by nice Nie brothers* hmm :/

hc that lan wangji wrote a shit ton of poetry. from when he met wei wuxian, he was constantly writing poems about him. after he died, the poems turned from passionate and hopeful to mourning, just as lwj did. after wwx returned, there wasn't really much time to write, what with them running around the jianghu mystery-solving, but once everything has settled down and they're living together, wwx finds the poetry hidden in the jingshi. there are hundreds of pages, enough to fill dozens of books, and the vast majority of them are very clearly about wwx. before this, there was a part of wwx that still thought this was temporary, that lwj would get tired of him and he would be thrown out. but reading the poems lwj had written over the years destroyed that doubt. wwx saw so much of what lwj's life had been like, while wwx was dead; some of the pages were spotted with tears, even blood. many were smudged, or had been crumpled and smoothed out. by the time lwj returns to the jingshi after his duties, wwx is lying on the floor, tear tracks staining his face, surrounded by the contents of lwj's heart.

Tbh I think Lan Sizhui’s earliest remembered crimes were taught to him by Lan Wangji and Xichen and they are as follows: Illegal Lan Afternoon Naps and Illegal Pet Bunnies

He’s a criminal

Why do so many fanfics have wangxian act so shameless around each other in public and around the kids? Fanfics tend to portray them acting so shamelessly until everyone around them either knows what they're doing in the bedroom or are really tired of them acting like this in public. Is this how they really act in the novel?

I think this may be due to fandom running with this particular scene:

After entering the tavern, they took a seat in an inconspicuous corner, and the waiter came over to greet them. He saw the sword at Lan Wangji’s waist, then the flute at Wei Wuxian’s. Because of their appearance and bearing, he couldn’t help but connect them to the pair who had been the subject of all the most heated talk recently. But after staring at them intently for a while, he noticed that the customer dressed in white was not wearing the Lan Clan’s forehead ribbon. Ultimately, he was left unsure of their identities.

Wei Wuxian asked for liquor while Lan Wangji ordered a few dishes. With one hand propping up his cheek and the other toying with a snow-white forehead ribbon under the table, Wei Wuxian listened to his deep voice as he read off the dishes. A wide grin was plastered on his face.

Once the waiter was gone, he commented, “So many spicy dishes. Can you eat them?”

Lan Wangji picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip. “Sit properly,” he said evenly.

“There’s no tea in there,” Wei Wuxian pointed out.

Lan Wangji filled the cup, then raised it to his lips again. After a while, he repeated,

“…Sit properly.”

"Am I not? It’s not like I’m propping my feet up on the table like I used to,” Wei Wuxian said.

Lan Wangji could no longer bear it. “Even so, do not put them elsewhere.”

Wei Wuxian was confused. “Where did I put them?”

“…”

"Lan-er-gongzi has so many demands. Why don’t you teach me how to sit properly?”

Lan Wangji put down the teacup and cast him a look. He was about to rise in a whirl of sleeves in order to teach him a very proper lesson indeed—but just then, a table at the center of the main hall burst into a chorus of roaring laughter.

Wei Wuxian likes being innocuously dirty towards Lan Wangji. But it's not anywhere near "everyone knows". We also have to remember when it came to xiao-Mianmian she even tells her parents Wei Wuxian was the "bad man" because he was being more openly dirty than Lan Wangji was, despite their little role play being on both ends . Wei Wuxian really likes being seen as the debauched next to Lan Wangji's prim and pretty self in public.

It's why Wei Wuxian jokes about no one being any the wiser that Lan Wangji can be just as much of a pervert and it not seeming to be fair. They fuck with Lan Qiren by purposefully being loud with their bed activity to annoy him and he can't do anything what with them being in their own home and married. And there is Wei Wuxian sitting in Lan Wangji's lap in front of Lan Sizhui (who they are close to so really no need for much proprietary). But the thing here when it comes to them acting as such, is because they are around designated family with those instances.

If they mess around outside of the discerning eye it's not any more radical than any other couple that plays around. There's just a skewed imagining of how couples can and cannot act with it veering into heavy purity politics despite these two acting like any other couple that's not exactly hiding they're a couple. We have the Inn lady in Yunmeng encouraging a one room after they both hesitated about one room or two room question and them HIDING they broke the tub because they had sex.

Fandom likes to think the characters in novel are a lot more discerning of Wangxian's relationship than they actually are. No one in the novel can just tell they have a thing for each other strangers or not. Only ones that encourage them or third wheel are the juniors and Wen Ning. They go on a date night in Yunmeng and it's not something necessarily out of the ordinary or remarked on in the extras (or hell even after the siege and it's Jiang Cheng getting his homophobia bit on and acting like they're being purposely disrespectful despite doing nothing out of the ordinary).

So no, it's an overwrought trope this fandom loves.

it is actually so difficult to insult a guy like wei wuxian because even below-the-belt insults make nary a dent on him. people can call him names, disparage him, ruin his reputation, but his self-image is NOT affected by it. he knows himself and his values. there is a way to get a rise out of him but that usually involves insulting the people he cares deeply about (jiang yanli, lan wangji for example) instead of himself (which is not about having a low self-esteem but having his own boundaries and principles, mind you), but try to spew out hate and he will laugh directly in your face before moving on. someone might be like, “oh, you’re fengmian’s bastard child—” and wei wuxian will just go, “aHhahhahHAHA, nice one. have a good day!” or someone might say, “you’re a filthy, no-good demonic cultivator,” and he’ll just go, “now, filthy is a stretch. i take great pride in my personal hygiene!” come at him with your wittiest or your most ruthless insult and he will summarily dismantle it before disregarding your opinion entirely. which i think is just another piece of wei wuxian’s mindset that actually allowed him to stand before the cultivation mob and make a stance—he’s always been one to think for himself and not let others and their words colour his perception of wrong and right, possible and impossible, good and evil, especially when it came to him and his actions. to hell with their narrow-minded judgements, wei wuxian knew where he stood and why he stood there.

MDZS AU where Wei Wuxian gets a System, but the only thing it notifies him of is when Lan Wangji has unlocked a new kink.

quick wangxian inks bc im trying to draw again lol

Maybe it's a good thing that Lan Zhan had minimal rizz back in the day.

One while time compliment from him would've rendered baby Wei Wuxian catatonic.

Lan Zhan: You're so beautiful. Won't you please stop drinking alcohol in Cloud Recesses?

Wei Wuxian: *drops jug in shock*

complicated feelings on jiang fengmian aside, i think the reason i don’t buy into the whole “jfm favoured wei wuxian much more than his son” and tend to agree with wwx’s words to jc that of course jfm would be more stern with jc because jc’s his son is because—my asian parenting experience has been somewhat the same (and i actually think this might be a bit of a universal experience regardless), not in the exact way mxtx portrays this relationship but in that my parents and parents of every single person i have ever known (mostly; there are always a few exceptions) show this pattern of being sweet and cordial and generally non-disciplinary towards kids who aren’t their own and being way stricter and more stern with their own children because they are the ones they are parenting. there’s almost this mutually known boundary that you don’t go and yell at another’s kid to correct bad behaviour, rather the impetus of imparting important values and lessons is reserved as your right for your own kids. that’s how i’ve always read jiang fengmian’s dynamic with wei wuxian vs jiang cheng. he was stern with jc because that’s his son and heir, someone he cares for very deeply. on the other hand, he does care for wei wuxian as well but he has never crossed that mental boundary from uncle to father figure in his head and his interactions with wei wuxian have never read as paternal or favourably partial over jc to me.

irresistible eyes

🌿🌳🐰💞🐰🌳🌿