I Think A Lot Of Characters In Mdzs Are Written To Be Foils Of Wei Wuxian, You Know, Lan Wangji, Xue

I think the greatest testament to how much wangxian is That Bitch™ is that in almost any other fandom, the main ship would absolutely be more often disregarded or at least made into a "he has two hands" when faced with the utterly poetic and heartbreaking and BEAUTIFUL relationship between Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian, from the way they were immediately enamoured with each other upon first meeting to the way they both betrayed their own clans to protect the other to Wei Wuxian LITERALLY REWRITING THE LAWS OF NATURE TO SAVE WEN NING AND MAKING HIM INTO SOMETHING NEVER BEFORE SEEN-

They both saved and ruined each other. And yet never once does Wei Wuxian fear what his friend has become or regret saving him, never once does Wen Ning blame him or fear the fact his friend can turn him into a puppet with a mere whistle.

Their bond and trust in each other is unbreakable, their relationship is woven into the fabric of the entire story, in many ways they have defined each other's identity...

Bow down to our esteemed Hanguang-jun cuz in any other fandom, when faced against THAT, AO3 would be like "uuummm Lan Whoji?

3am time to post mxtx mains on a hot ones interview:

hua cheng: like a rock. no reaction. never touches the milk.

xie lian: totally unfazed, but commenting on the ones that start making his lips burn like oh! so interesting

shen qingqiu: dying. gets through maybe 2 levels before showing discomfort. trying so hard to play it cool every time he has to grab for the milk/bread

luo binghe: not particularly bothered. very critical of the flavor/spice ratio in some of the sauces

lan wangji: very stoic. however he is also dying. bright red immediately. you can see the steam coming out of his ears by the third level

wei wuxian: terrifies the interviewer by demanding the bottles and adding more hot sauce to every wing. hits the last two-three levels and goes, "oh! finally these are getting good!" does shots of the last couple sauces off a spoon.

disclaimer it has been an age since i watched any hot ones vids x,D

When did WWX fall in love--before he died, or after he was resurrected?

I propose a third option: both are true.

I'm very firmly in the camp of WWX being head over heels pretty much right from the start, but that ignores a lot of the emotional growth between the two of them after his resurrection. On the other hand, calling that growth "falling in love" ignores his obvious feelings right from the start, and also just doesn't seem like what's going on. His thoughts and feelings about LWJ don't really change all that much.

But here's what does change: WWX starts thinking about himself.

He starts putting himself and his needs into the equation. He goes from seeing LWJ as a trustworthy and good paragon of virtue to seeing him as someone he personally trusts. From objectively the most handsome person in existence to someone he personally really wants to sleep with finds handsome.

So it's not that he fell in love after resurrection--he loved LWJ right from the start--but also he did fall in love after resurrection, because that's when he started thinking about LWJ as someone he could be with. Not that he didn't want to be with him before; instead, he didn't have a concept of personally wanting (being able to want, being allowed to want, being allowed to have) anyone at all.

A mxtx crossover event where all the red-black characters had to fight, I believe, would result in a very interesting rock paper scissors scenario.

Wei Wuxian, being the Ghost Whisperer, could probably beat, or at the very least subdue Hua Cheng. We know Hua Cheng is weak to Ghost Stuff a la the Mount Tonglu opening incident, and Wei Wuxian has dealt with extremely powerful spirits in the past.

That being said, I think Hua Cheng could take Luo Binghe in a fight. This guy bested 33 heavenly officials, his swordplay is unmatched, and Luo Binghe is very powerful but I imagine that power comes with the side effect of very little finesse. Additionally his protagonist halo probably wouldn’t save him here since he’s not the only protagonist.

However, Luo Binghe would totally destroy Wei Wuxian. With his itty bitty Mo Xuanyu core he doesn’t stand a chance. Tearing through an army of the undead is the exact sort of op bullshit Binghe excels at, so that option is out too.

That being said, if their love interests are also fighting, Xie Lian bodies those fools. I’m sorry but even though Lan Wanji is excellent and SQQ is a peak lord, they do not stand a chance. Xie Lian’s favorite trick for 800 years was to break boulders on his chest while he had no access to any spiritual energy. Dude folded the heavenly emperor like a lawn chair. No contest.

the wildest thing about lan wangji is the way he’s immediately enraged at his own feelings for wei wuxian. because we’ve seen wei wuxian fall in love slowly and surely, right? he goes from a quick interest to an oblivious attraction to liking lan wangji then being infatuated after his return to life, then to straight-up loving the guy intensely. we watch him develop his sexual and romantic attraction equally.

but lan wangji’s different. from the very first second he’s desperately smitten — all it took was one sly smile and he was going through the four stages of love: the desire to marry, kiss, bed and die with him. and he’s so goddamn outraged, because how dare this troublemaker trespass into his house and steal his heart so easily??

he was so conflicted that he didn’t see any other alternative if not to unsheathe his sword and fight the hell out of that idiot. feelings?? for a rebellious teenager?? right in front of my clan’s three thousand rules??? not today, devil.

a peaceful day

Time Passes

The tags✨

Half of the plot of MDZS happened because Yiling Laozu was so HOT that he made a lot of powerful people figure new things about themselves and they got mad about that. 'The Yiling Laozu is evil and shall be stopped!!1!' Like shut up you wanna bang him so bad it makes you actively stupid. Imagine being so sexy you're the whole cultivation world's gay awakening and they can't beat off the gay thoughts so they try to kill you instead

irresistible eyes

this entire scene is so revealing. notice how all these rich young masters are lost? lan qiren is asking them about something as important (and basic) for cultivators as handling a dead human soul, and they have to flip through their books for an answer.

my opinion is that they're ignorant because these obligations are, at best, boring procedural matters to them. unnecessary red tape, even. as members of the cultivation world's gentry, they're largely shielded from the possibility of becoming resentful corpses due to the soul tranquilization rites. this isnt their problem, so why should they care?

their ignorance stands in stark contrast to lan wangji's textbook perfect answer. (an early example of him displaying an earnest dedication to his duty that sets him apart from the rest of the gentry.) he makes it clear that destroying souls is an extreme last resort.

notably lan wangji's answer implies that orthodox cultivators are taught to procedurally destroy souls. but at the same time, many of these cultivators — namely the rich young masters who at this age are already going on night hunts — don't care enough to know, or much less adhere to, the correct order that places this method as a last resort. i think there's a strong implication that it's not uncommon for impatient or glory-obsessed cultivators to carelessly skip the first two methods entirely and just destroy the soul, because it's more convenient.

but the character whose reaction i find most interesting is wei wuxian. rather than automatically giving the textbook, orthodox answer, he visibly hesitates and contemplates. this is obviously something he's putting a lot of thought into!

and interestingly, when he does provide an answer, he never mentions destroying souls. he places manipulation of resentful energy between deliverance and suppression — implicitly excluding extinction (translated by seven seas as obliteration) from the order entirely.

i think it's important that unlike his classmates, wei wuxian is intimately familiar with destitution and precarity. moreover, as the novel reveals much later on, wei wuxian is not sheltered from the reality of the underclass facing extinction of the soul after death. he is keenly aware of the possibility that he could become one of them.

so when wei wuxian answers, he's speaking from the heart. it's true that he's trying to provoke lan qiren here, but it's equally true that he's giving an honest answer.

while rewriting this analysis for tumblr, it struck me as deeply ironic that lan qiren is singling out wei wuxian to accuse him of not taking his cultivator duties seriously and letting the glory get to his head.

but on closer examination, nobody in this room — not lan qiren, not the sheltered young masters, not even lan wangji — put as much thought and care into this issue as wei wuxian.