Jin Ling - Blog Posts

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Can someone help me find these wangxian fics ?

1. Wei ying and the juniors were out on a night hunt and they stayed at an inn. Jin ling said something that hurt wei ying’s feelings, so he went to his room first. When he left, sizhui trapped him against the wall and revealed that the reason they have all the thousands of rules was because it was to make sure that their true strength wouldn’t be seen? He said something about how their eyes turn golden if they use their strength or power? And thats why lan zhans eyes are golden.

2. Its omegaverse and sizhui is jealous when wangxian have their biological baby bc they dont have time for him. He feeds his baby sister and makes her a meal but suddenly she dies. It turns out he replaced the berries with poisonous ones bc he wanted wangxian’s attention for himself as their only child.

3. Wei ying is trapped in CR, specifically in the jingshi. He and sizhui manage to escape from lan zhan, but it turns out sizhui told lan zhan before hand and he drugged him. Lan zhan had been drugging wei ying to make sure that he remains in the jingshi with him and sizhui wanted their family together forever.

4. Jiang cheng, huasang and wuxian go kn a camping/hiking trip? Anyways they take turns driving and the whole time jiang cheng is judging everyones ability to drive, including his. Huasang ran away from dage bc he didnt want to work out or something and jiang cheng has a crush on him (can’t remember)

@wangxianficfinder

And then it was him.

(Lan Jingyi x Lan Sizhui)

Jingyi gazed out of the window languidly. In the front of the classroom, the teacher’s voice faded to a monotonous drone as Jingyi watched the leaves sway in the warm spring breeze. He absentmindedly chewed on the end of his pen slightly. The soft early morning sunlight making him doze. He had spent too much time playing mario cart with his friend, Ouyang Zizhen, the night before and the lack of sleep was making itself known.

<p>“Lan Jingyi!”

<p>Jingyi jerked his head up with an undignified yelp. The teacher was levelling him with a fearsome glare. Jingyi hastily wiped the stray drool from his mouth and brushed his curtain of a fringe behind his ear. “Yes Sir?”

<p>“Pay attention. I know that you are still new to this school but I expect better”. Humiliation curled up in his stomach as the rest of the class giggled and Jingyi felt himself blush in shame. He had only been in cloud recess a week but he missed his old school. There had been less rules. ‘And’, he thought as the teacher continued the lesson, ‘the teachers had been nicer too’.

<p>Originally, Jingyi had been born and raised within the rich district of town known as cloud recess. But his dad’s company had fallen in to bankruptcy and Jingyi and his parents had moved to the far away Mo village. Jingyi had been six at the time. However, he had adjusted quickly to the poor but friendly village, making friends with Zizhen and joining the local school.

<p>But whilst he had flourished within the small community, his parent’s relationship had grew progressively worse. It started with drinking, then snide comments which progressed into shouting fights and slamming doors. By the time he was sixteen, there were bruises on both his parent’s faces. The fights having turned physical. Jingyi learnt not to step between them after he had gotten his third black eye. It didn’t mean that he didn’t still try though.

<p>It was Zizhen that raised the subject of scholarships. Jingyi, who was beginning to feel suffocated, jumped at the idea and applied to as many sports scholarships he could. It was only luck that he was able to win a Classical Chinese dance scholarship to the prestigious Cloud recess academy. It was given that something would go wrong and ruin his luck. Just one week in and he was already mucking it up. Curse those who decided that he had to take maths and Chinese classes as well as his dance classes. Whoever they are, they were evil.

<p>The slamming of the classroom door made Jingyi jump, disturbing his train of thoughts. Startled, he turned his head to the doorway to watch as two figures bowed to the teacher.

<p>“Mr Lan, Mr Jin, what time do you call this?” The teacher asked. ‘Ah’, Jingyi thought. He eyed the two boys up and down. ‘The princes’.

<p>“I apologise sir”, Sizhui smiled charmingly, as polite as always. “We got held up in traffic. Jin Ling snorted at the excuse but did not speak. The teacher assessed them warily then sighed.

<p>“Just go and find a seat”. Both Sizhui and Jin Ling nodded before turning their faces towards the class. Sizhui’s purple brown orbs flittered across the room before alighting on the empty space next to Jingyi.

<p>Trying to look busy, Jingyi pretend to be reading through his notes as the chair moved beside him. It was only when Sizhui had sat down did Jingyi notice that he had not actually taken any notes and that his notebook was not even open. Glancing up at his new desk partner, he watched as a neat white pencil case and a clear pale blue notebook were placed on the table. The colour of the notebook matched the famous Lan ribbon tied around Sizhui’s wrist.

<p>Before he even came to cloud recess, Jingyi had heard of the Lan family. His father from from a very distant branch, so removed from the main family that the only thing they shared was the name. They were nothing like the twin jades.

<p>Everyone knew of the twin jades, head of the Lan mafia which controlled fifty percent of China. The other half was split between the Jin clan, the Nie clan and the Jiang clan. All the clans got along famously. Especially due the the fact that the head of the Lan clan, Lan Xichen, was married to Jin Guangyao and sworn brother’s with the fearsome Nie Mingjie. But a more famous story, one that everyone knew, was the love between the Yiling Patriarch and the Second jade. It was Wei Wuxian, adopted brother of clan leader Jiang Wayin, and Lan Wangji who were the most feared.

<p>It was their adopted son who was sitting next to Jingyi now.

<p>As if he could hear his thoughts, Sizhui turned and gave Jingyi a stunningly warm smile. Feeling the blood rushing to his face, Jingyi hurriedly broke contact and turned his head towards the front. It stayed like that for a few minutes before he heard the click of a pen and the sound of Sizhui taking notes, that Jingyi could relax his stiff posture slightly.

<p>Despite being the child of the mafia, Sizhui was an elegant student. Ever since they had first met as kids in preschool, Jingyi had admired him. Sizhui never let his reputation affect him. The guy was as charming and gentlemanly as a fairytale prince. He was the president of the student council and had the top grades of the year. People ignored that he was the heir to the largest mafia in China, and instead treated him like an idol. Jingyi had even heard a rumour that Sizhui had beaten up a gang of bullies single handed, only to then scold them on bullying and assist them to the infirmary.

<p>But despite having been fierce childhood friends, honestly, the guy was a conundrum. They had lost contact when Jingyi’s family had moved away, which his younger self had cried about. He gazed at his new desk partner. Sizhui’s black hair was cut short and neatly against his head. His skin was smooth and unblemished, almost matching the pristine white of his shirt. His uniform was ironed and fresh. Compared to jingyi’s rumpled and still sleepy state, Sizhui might as well have just walked out of a fashion magazine.

<p>“Is everything okay?” Sizhui’s calm voice asked. Jingyi blinked to find Sizhui watching him.

<p>“Oh um yes!” His voice cracked. “Yes! I’m fine. You just have blood on your...” Jingyi broke off, his hand moving to catch Sizhui’s sleeve. He caught the end of the blue Lan ribbon between his fingers and began to absentmindedly rub at the small stain.

<p>There was a beat of tense silence as Jingyi realised what he was doing. Colour drained out of his face. Mercifully, the bell rang. Dropping the ribbon, Jingyi hastily gathered up his stuff and fled the classroom, leaving Sizhui alone at the desk.

<p>“What the hell was that all about?” Jin Ling barked, having watched the scene from his desk a short distance away. He was obviously spending too much time with Jiang Cheng and his potty mouth was increasing because of it.

<p>Sizhui let out a hum, fingers toying with end of the ribbon on his wrist. “Nothing”, he decided finally, despite Jin Ling’s assessing gaze. “Let’s go”.

——

<p>“Good! Again!” The instructor called with a clap of his hands.

<p>Jingyi paused to wipe the sweat off his forehead before taking his position at the beginning of the mats. The mats covered a long line across the floor of the gym, almost like a runway. A runway and Jingyi was a pretty awesome plane.

<p>Grinning, Jingyi started his run up. One flip, head over heels into a forward somersault. He flipped into a series of five forwards somersaults before using the last of his momentum to launch himself up into the air, body twisting sideways before landing on his knees. The mats cushioned his landing, so when he got up it was only with a slight ache.

<p>“Excellent Jingyi!” The instructor, Mr Lee, called with delight. He was a large heavy set man with a encouraging grin. Jingyi liked him the best out of all his teachers. He clapped him hard on the back, almost sending Jingyi stumbling.

<p>“Thanks Mr Lee”. Jingyi grinned and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. His fringe, which was long enough to graze his jaw, was pushed back by a white sweatband. The rest of it was cut short for convenience, but Jingyi still wished that he could grow it out.

<p>Catching his breath, he walked over to the side of the room to grab his water bottle. He took a swig as footsteps sounded behind him. As Jingyi turned around, he choked in surprise. Hurriedly, he wiped at the water dripping down his chin.

<p>“What are you doing here?” He gasped.

<p>Sizhui smiled at him. He was still immaculate in his pristine white and blue uniform. Jingyi felt inappropriately embarrassed. He was sweaty and gross and probably smelt. Sizhui smelt of sandalwood and orange blossom. Even his damn scent was perfect.

<p>“I came to speak to you”, Sizhui’s smile was like dawn light, innocent and pure. Jingyi fought the urge to snort. “Is this a bad time?” Sizhui looked like a kicked puppy.

<p>“Um”, Jingyi glanced around at the rest of the class. “I’m in the middle of practising at the moment. But we should be done by four”. Why did he mention the time?

<p>“Oh”, Sizhui perked up. He beamed at Jingyi. “I’ll wait then”.

<p>“Oh um sure. You do that”, Jingyi averted his gaze and tried to quell his flaming cheeks. He set his water bottle back on the ground. Sizhui lowered himself into sitting cross legged beside it, smiling pleasantly. Jingyi tried not to make it look like he was running away.

<p>“Why is Lan Sizhui waiting for you?” Zizhen hissed as Jingyi preformed a windmill turn. He transitioned out of the movement into a vertical split, holding his position.

<p>“I don’t know”, He muttered back, focussing on maintaining his balance.

<p>Zizhen did not answer for a moment. Throwing himself forward into a travelling straddle jump. Once he had landed, he circled back to Jingyi’s position. “Dude, he’s Lan Sizhui! You must know something”.

<p>Jingyi let his foot touch the ground. Rolling his shoulders, he spared Zizhen a sheepish look. “It may have something to do with the fact that I touched his ribbon earlier”.

<p>Zizhen gasped. “Jingyi! You know how important those ribbons are”. Jingyi winced with the scandalised tone. He did know. Every member of the Lan family had one. They represented restraint, only to be touched by your family or significant other. It was a family tradition that had been held for years. Even Jingyi had been given one at birth like all Lans, but his parents didn’t care much for the traditions. He had lost his as a child and never received a new one. When they had moved away and the Lan family had cut ties with his parents, it didn’t matter anymore.

<p>Jingyi felt a small amount of dread settle in his gut. Those ribbons were held within the highest esteem by the main family. So much so that there were rumours that the last person to try and forcibly touch Lan Wangji’s ribbon had died a gruesome death. Jingyi shivered.

<p>“It can’t be that bad right?” He asked. Zizhen, who was preforming his cooling down stretches, shrugged and patted him on the shoulder. Jingyi put his head in his hands and sighed.

——

<p>Once the class was over, Jingyi reluctantly made his way back over to where Sizhui was sitting. The boy smiled at him and handed him his water bottle, which Jingyi drank from greedily.

<p>“I can talk now if you want”, Jingyi said as nonchalantly as he could. Sizhui stood up, causing Jingyi to mentally curse the few centimetres that the older boy held over him.

<p>“That’s good. Shall we get drinks? I know a coffee shop nearby”, Sizhui asked. Jingyi eyed him warily but nodded.

<p>Together they walked out of the practise room. They made their way through the building, only pausing long enough for Jingyi to pull on a jumper and a pair of shoes in the changing room. Sizhui insisted on taking his bag.

<p>“You shouldn’t have to-“, Jingyi started, hands itching to pull his backpack from the other boy’s shoulder.

<p>Sizhui smiled in that disarming way and shifted the strap up higher. “I insist. Your muscles must be aching from all that practise. Let me do it”. Jingyi grumbled a bit more but eventually gave up with a huff, pouting as they walked to the coffee shop.

<p>The coffee shop was only a few blocks away luckily. The silence as they walked was so awkward that Jingyi felt like crying. When they got there the scent of coffee and the pleasant sound of chatter and clinking cups washed through Jingyi like a wave of calm. The cafe was warm and cozy. The walls were accented with wood and photos. A sign above the door named the place ‘ghostly scent’ and Jingyi found himself feeling a bit better.

<p>“Uncle Ning”, Sizhui greeted as they neared the counter. A frazzled and nervous looking man looked up from the coffee machine and beamed at them. He had long black hair tied away from his face in a low ponytail by a red hair tie which matched his red apron.

<p>“Sizhui”, he greeted in a quiet, stuttering Voice. “What can I get you?”

<p>“I’ll have a black coffee and he’ll have a honeycomb hot chocolate”, Sizhui answered. Jingyi blinked. How they hell did he know his favourite drink? His mind faltered for a moment as Wen Ning turned to make their drinks.

<p>“Wait, I can pay”, Jingyi said, scrambling for his wallet.

<p>Sizhui shook his head dismissively as Wen Ning waved a hand. “No need. Sizhui and his friends always get free drinks here. Just go and sit down. Xue Yang will bring you your drinks in a moments”.

<p>Sizhui thanked him and took Jingyi gently by the wrist. He lead him over to a table in the corner, removed from the main hubbub of the cafe. Jingyi felt like he was going to spontaneously combust right there and then. He didn’t. Instead, he obediently sat down opposite Sizhui, ignoring how he still had his wrist within his grip.

<p>“Um, is this about your ribbon?” Jingyi stuttered. “If so then I’m really sorry. I was half asleep and I didn’t realise what I was doing-“. Sizhui shook his head, cutting him off. Jingyi fell silent as a scowling teenager with badly cut black hair set their drinks on the table.

<p>Sizhui took a long gulp of his tar like drink and Jingyi nervously followed his example. The flavour of honey and chocolate eased his aching body and he found himself relaxing in his seat with a moan. Sizhui watched him.

<p>“To not about the ribbon”, Sizhui smiled. Jingyi blinked slowly at him, not computing.

<p>“Then why am I here?”

<p>“Because I wanted to talk to you”. Sizhui’s grip on his wrist had travelled down to his hand without Jingyi noticing. He linked their fingers together with a smile that had Jingyi blushing as red as Wen Ning’s apron.

<p>Sizhui squeezes his hand and continued. “I want to ask you on a date”, he stated. Jingyi must have died, how could this be happening?

<p>“What?”

<p>Sizhui used his free hand to pull something from his pocket. He unfolded a piece of white material to reveal a embroidered Lan ribbon. With shock, Jingyi watched as Sizhui let go of his hand to tie the ribbon around his wrist.

<p>“Remember when we were kids and you were moving away?” Sizhui asked. Jingyi nodded numbly, brain trying to absorb what was happening. “You had come running to me crying about leaving. I told you that we would see each other again and you gave me your ribbon and made me promise”.

<p>As Sizhui talked, the memory surfaced in Jingyi’s mind. He had been distraught that he would have to leave Sizhui behind and had runaway to his house. He had cried and dropped his ribbon onto Sizhui’s palm before running home.

<p>“I thought I lost it”, Jingyi breathed. Sizhui smiled warmly at him and unravelled the ribbon around his wrist, stretching it out to show the embroiled characters of Jingyi’s name sewn amongst the cloud design.

<p>“Jingyi”, Sizhui asked once he had retied the ribbon. He took his hand again, palm warm against his skin. “We found each other again. Will you go on a date with me?”

Jingyi found himself laughing slightly hysterically. All doubts and fears left his mind as he giggled. He grinned, squeezing Sizhui’s hand. “Yeah. Let’s go on a date”.

Wei Wuxian should be able to get drunk for once. I think he'd either be singing bawdy drinking songs on the roof of the Jingshi or he'd be getting irrevocably lost no matter where he is. He's found in the bushes behind the mountains like a cryptid, and then he's like "I can't believe you all got lost" (extremely slurred) as if he didn't get embarrassed by something Lan Wangji had said and just somehow disappeared when everyone looked back at him

oh ABSOLUTELY im walking with u and nodding and agreeing, i can see him becoming an absolute menace to keep track of at his drunkest.

anyway heres wonderwall The Gang (Wangxian & their fave group of ducklings) in a city known for its STRONG wine and wuxian being like well. ur all grown now, youre technically not juniors anymore. we have to see whos lasting the longest against this stuff!, smash cut to a suspiciously wei ying-less group of the worlds drunkest cultivators being wrangled through the woods by designated driver hanguang-jun, with at least 2 of them clinging to his robes at all times.

“Come Jin Ling, let’s bring you back home...”

Kindergarten AU ft businessman!LWJ in love at first sight

Idk why i decided to make this.

AU where A-Qing lives and she be around the same age as the juniors and they be scamming people together

Audio is from Avatar: The Last Airbender

wei wuxian and jin ling: *exist*

jiang cheng: (ง'̀-‘́)ง  

his little son 

Uncle and nephew.

Fairy transportation

I have an mdzs headcanon where Jin ling's first words where a-die/baba -(dad in Mandarin) to Jiang Cheng, because Jiang Cheng practically raised him and because he (Jin ling) saw other children call the man that raised them baba he called Jiang Cheng baba. And that is the story of how Jiang Cheng cried for the first time since wei wuxian died because of is nephew

No manches! Ame! Que lindo!

jiujiu & a-ling’s morning (volume on for asmr!)

KJAJAJAJ Grande JL

Question for JiuJiu! Was there any day where Jin ling did something dumb, but it turned out to be successful?

🍇: a-ling said he had a fever and insisted he come to my matchmaking session. little did i know, it would be the last matchmaking session i'd ever attend.

Mis primos pensaban que me llamaba hija... Hicieron 7 años engañados JAJAJA

Q: What was Young Master Jin’s reaction when he learned Jiujiu’s name isn’t Jiujiu? 😱

🍇: he almost fainted from shock 

🍋: i dont believe it >_>

Say what you will about Jin Zixuan but he's such a brother-in-law character. Like, you know he's rich and vaguely good looking but you still have no idea what your sister sees in him and you still haven't forgiven him about all the times he made her sad, doesn't matter if "we were only teenagers" and "he apologized" because in your opinion he hasn't grovelled enough but your sister likes him so you have to see him at every family gathering. I can see him wearing some type of sweather vest looking all awkward at the Jiang family gathering, there a 50/50 chance he's holding Jin Ling but it depends on the day, not because of any sexist belief that men shouldn't be taking care of children, but because while holding his son would help him pretend to not be as awkward as he feels (kind of like clinging onto the only person that you know at a party only that they're your baby son and your wife is talking with her family right over there) Jin Ling is also an auntie magnet so he has to fight for the right to hold his own son against elderly women and his wife's younger brothers, it's harder than you think but he's doing his best

A boy and his uncles

Lmao Jingyi is experiencing the Jiang Cheng experience.

Lan Jingyi : Am,… I … third wheeling?!!!!

MXTX: MDZS Juniors Cat Cakes <3

Featuring!!!

- Jin Rulan (Ling)

- Lan Shizui (Yuan)

- Lan Jingyi

Do ya'll ever think about how every character in MDZS is living in a radically different genre of story?

Cause yeah, sure Wei Wuxian is living in a danmei fantasy novel with strong romantic comedy elements, but if you slide over a bit Lan Wangji is living a serious and heady drama about regret, loss, yearning, the passage of time, and ultimately atonement.

Scooch on over to Xichen and your in a straight up Greek tragedy, right down to the parable about hubris and trust. Jin Guangyao is living meanwhile in a political dark fantasy al'la Game of Thrones, Nie Huaisang is in a Gothic moody Monte Cristo-esque reflection on revenge and deception, and while Lan Sizhuhi and Jin Ling are living in two VERY different YA fantasy books ('magic boarding school/secret orphan of destiny' and 'Steven Universe style coming of age/discovering all your family are some flavor of evil and magic' respectively).

Everyone connected to Yi City is living inside a dark psychological thriller/horror flick, except for Xue Yang who is in a Found Family/Enemies to Lover fic right up until he isn't.

Jiang Cheng's entire life has been one long soap opera, and it is showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.

You know something I think is overlooked a lot in mdzs is Wei Wuxian power. I'm not sure if it's because of the way he views himself or the way he acts but he I've seen his actual power get overlooked a lot. Like especially when he just comes back from the burial mounds, likely cause we don't really know what happened down there. But from an outside perspective it has to be crazy because this guy has been missing for 3 months, comes back with a never seen before type of cultivation, and is just killing people left and right with new and horrible ways. On top of that wwx tends to kinda not make a huge deal out of it which you can really see when he traps Jin Ling in book 1. In an actual combat situation that tailism would be crazy good cause it immobilizes someone rlly quickly. Wwx is also crazy smart and ppl overlook that a lot too but that's a different post lol

Shit

So I was rambling about Mdzs x Batfam crossover but but I fucking deleted the thing because it wasn’t saved……..

By the way

It has been a while since I consumed MDZS content and my Batfam is mainly from fanon

So if I get it wrong I’m sorry!!

Okay where and what was I say

Got it

Bruce he’ll may or may not like Jiangcheng they would emotionally understand each other but that won’t mean they’d get along. Jiangcheng is something that needs to unpacked. Actually same as Bruce.

Wait crack ship Bruce x Jiangcheng

Two old men taking care of traumatised children. The single mother ship.

I’m not sure how’d he handle the bat kids to be honest. They may treat him like how they treat Bruce idk.

So next up is

Weiwuxian

First of there is a high chance that’ll he’ll take Batkids under his wing no question asked. Is he the best guardian figure no but is he fun.

YES

He’s already a trouble maker plus the batkids that cause more mayhem more on the crazy side but Lanzhan his dear husband more or less you bring him down from his high.

He’ll also become a mentor of sorts for them

and

Definitely make dead jokes

Lanzhan or Lanwanji

He … is the very calm one he wouldn’t stop the antic but just watches over Weiying just in case of injury or something. He definitely would have tea with Alfred.

Wait I can see him using the silencing spell agains some villains dunno who but just a feeling.

I don’t have a lot for him because he’s the calmer guy. He only freaky with his husband and clingy

Wait I thing they’ll just annoy there villains /thugs to death with how mushy and clingy Weiying and Lanzhan are together

Oh and now for the quartet Juniors

Ouyang Zizhen

Jinling

Lan Sizhui

Lan Jingyi

They’ll mainly hanging out with the bat kids

Jinling and Damian both would be called bratty by everyone those two would get into cat fights

Zizhen he is see him chilling a lot with Duke like and Cass he's a good kid and usually stays out of trouble or the one recording the trouble.

Tim ,Stephanie and Jingyi those to be roasting the hell out the bat fam. Definatly get into some pety drama. I think the girls would love to play with MDZS kids hair like braiding.

I think Dick and Jason would love Sizhui he's a sweet kid who knows when to be passive agressive. Plus he is the second chillest kid in the group.

Tim and Jinling together they will band together to annoy and spite Damian.

Damian would probably just sit next to Sizhui as he’s the tamest one.

I think my words became scrambled at the end

But thanks for reading

I just like them a healthy amount

I've been obsessed with Jiang Cheng since halfway through my first watch of cql, and here's why. He always keeps doing better than I expect him to.

(wow, this got long. rest is under the cut!)

He's introduced as the brother-killer, the ruthless sect leader with a reputation for being merciless. Then cut to the flashback, a Jiang Cheng who is fifteen, surrounded by his sister and brother and happy about it, occasionally doing stupid teenager things, trying so very hard to be Ideal Heir, while Wei Wuxian is the prodigy that keeps stealing his thunder effortlessly. And you go, "oh, I know this story. It's a tragedy, because these brothers loved each other once, but one's ambition will eventually breed jealousy which will fester into hate and end, tragically, in the death of the better half." It's Cain and Abel! You've seen how it ends, it's the first scene you see, of course that's where it's going!

And then you see how the three siblings help each other survive a frankly horrible and abusive household. They try to do for each other what their parents couldn't; Yanli tries to be their mother, Jiang Cheng doesn't believe the rumours about Wei Wuxian being jfm's illegitimate son or hold it against him as he very easily could've learnt to from his mother, and Wei Wuxian does his darned best to get jfm to acknowledge and love his son as he does for Wei Wuxian.

You keep waiting for the other shoe to drop!! Yunmeng burns, Jiang Cheng chokes his brother in the rain, and you think this is it, this is where it finally breaks. But he sticks with his brother and sister, he makes some stupid decisions in his grief and pays dearly for it. When he wakes up without a core he is broken, his 'ambition' is destroyed, and you remember him choke his brother and think this is it, and then... it isn't. Other than the one grieving rant in the rain, he never blames his brother for their loss, never demands that he fix it all. When Wei Wuxian does come with a solution, Jiang Cheng doesn't act like it's something he was owed. It's his brother, his brilliant genius brother, who miraculously fixed this impossible thing! He's the most Jiang of them all, of course he achieved the impossible!

And then he's the young sect leader in a bloody war, needing to win, needing to prove his worth and his sect's worth at every turn. This is where he becomes the ruthless, powerful man we meet in the first few episodes! Only.... he finds Wen Qing, who is the enemy in the eyes of the Jianghu, and offers to protect her (only her because he knows his limits, he can't protect all her people and his own, and his duty to his sect is first). He goes looking for his brother, months on end, haggard to the bone.

Then Wei Wuxian shows up wielding a power that's the worst taboo in their world, a power frighteningly similar to the power-drunk villain that they war is being waged against! He's doing unspeakable things, terrible torture in the name of revenge! Ah, so this is what it finally is! The moment they finally fall out for good, where Jiang Cheng cannot abide to tarnish his sect's reputation with Wei Wuxian's, and their love turns to hate.

But.... Jiang Cheng sees what he's done, and the first thing he does is to hug him tight. He asks about Wei Wuxian not carrying his sword, but even after the diplomatic nightmare of a war council, Jiang Cheng is just worrying. It's the most open, the most honest we've seen him so far, and he is concerned for his brother. He shuts it down when Jin Zixun tries to pick a fight. He takes responsibility for the person everyone's wary of, because that's his brother and he trusts him! He's hiding things, yes, but one day he will be ready to talk and Jiang Cheng will wait till then.

Then the war's won (by Wei Wuxian, of course!) and he has a sect to rebuild. And his brother is not at his side. First he's slacking off and drinking around town, then he runs away with the Wens to the Burial Mounds. It's terrible for the sect's and Jiang Cheng's own precarious position in Jianghu. Surely, this is the last thread of Jiang Cheng's love for his brother, the beginning of the man we were introduced to? But it's fucking not! Yes, he's frustrated. Yes, he's mad. And yet, he doesn't force his sister into a diplomatically advantageous marriage (which I strongly believe is the bare minimum of being a decent human being, but is something that wouldn't have been a questionable or dishonourable thing for him to do in the culture and world this story is set in) because she is not a pawn and he respects her choice above the politics! He tries to defend his First Disciple, his brother, and is overshadowed by much more powerful leaders who are bigoted and/or afraid of his power. And when it all goes to shit, they fight! This is the end of it, surely? But no! It's all fake! They fight, make up a lie about how the Yunmeng Jiang has supressed Wei Wuxian and his Wens in the Burial Mounds so they can live without being under attack for however long, and then have shady meetups to discuss their nephew's name!!

In the carnage of Nightless City, their sister dies at his hands, and the horrible realisation dawns that this is what pushes them over the brink, literally. And then!! AND THEN!!!!! EVEN THEN IT WASN'T ENOUGH FOR HIM TO KILL HIS BROTHER!!! The first scene was a lie, WEI WUXIAN HAD TO THROW HIMSELF OFF!!!!!! And when he's finally back, what does Jiang Cheng do? Kill him? ban him from ever returning to their home? No! He wants to drag him back home and make him apologise, explain himself!!

A lot of this is very focused on the brothers, but even outside of that, Jiang Cheng keeps subverting the expectations that the story builds for him right in the beginning. For all the talks of 'disciplining' his nephew (which could unquestionably entail some form of corporal punishment, as we see in other parts of the story) and the childhood Jiang Cheng himself had, the idea of his Jiujiu raising his hand against him is unthinkable to the point of incredulity for Jin Ling. When Jin Ling has his breakdown over Suihua on the Lotus Pier docks, I was full bracing myself for Jiang Cheng to yell at him for crying in public without any shame or dignity, but what does he do? Calls his nephew to his side and demands to know who made him cry, so he can fucking wreck them for daring to do that! He has a mere day to process the Golden Core reveal, and after all the yelling, he actually apologises to his brother!!

Then, in the mother of all sucker-punch moments, we find out that the one grief-riddled, frustrating moment of apparent stupidity whose domino effect this entire thing has been, was in fact Jiang Cheng willingly sacrificing himself, sect be damned, to save his brother and sister. And like!! How do you have such a character who simultaneously is and is not what he seems to be!!!

I (and a lot of the audience) immediately played into the simple brotherhood-destroyed-by-jealousy plot that it seems to be at first, but that's the intention! The entire story keeps showing how misleading, how vicious rumours can be and how horribly it can affect who someone is in the eyes of society. We see this happen in the story, of course, but the narrative also relies on the audience to make the same mistake, to take the tropes that seem obviously implied at the start, and then unravels the true complexity of the story as it moves forward. We got played by the narrative and it was so worth it!! Wei Wuxian is the prime example, of course, but cql (and mdzs from what I gather, though I haven't read the books) does it with such nuance and brilliance for Jiang Cheng, how do you not immediately lose your entire mind about it for the rest of forever!!!!!

Something that keeps spinning in my head is the idea of Jiang Cheng joining a nighthunt with Jin Ling, the other juniors as well as Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji (maybe even Wen Ning). What happens is that Jiang Cheng gets hurt, not fatally but enough that having a healer look at it would be the smart move. But Jiang Cheng hides the injury. No one but Jin Ling clocks that there's something wrong with him. He got hit and fought through the pain, so nobody realized that he was injured. After the hunt, the group stays at the same inn. The juniors want to celebrate and Wei Wuxian isn't going to miss on an opportunity to drink and have fun. Jin Ling comes down to dinner and says that Jiang Cheng won't join. He makes a sort of downtrodden face which everyone interprets as him getting a scolding or something from Jiang Cheng. In truth, Jin Ling is worried about his uncle. Wei Wuxian who was and wasn't looking forward to having dinner with Jiang Cheng attempts to cheer Jin Ling up. Saying things like 'Jiang Cheng probably just wants attention, he's always withdrawn to sulk'. When Jin Ling goes to check on Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian tells him that he should be enjoying himself instead of indulging the childishness of a grown man.(Is that too harsh?) Jin Ling laughs and says he'll be back soon.

The next day, some Jiang disciples arrive among them someone who Wei Wuxian can identify as a healer, the others can't. Before Wei Wuxian can announce this to the group who is speculating about the Jiang group's arrival, Jin Ling asks him for a word. Which is good because Wei Wuxian also wants words.

Scene: "How could you not tell me that Jiang Cheng's been injured?" Wei Wuxian asks loudly. Jin Ling grimaes and slaps a silencing talisman on the door. What the hell?

Jin Ling glares at him. "Shout more loudly, I'm sure Nie Huaisang in Qinghe didn't hear."

"Jin Ling, you act like ...don't you trust your friends?" Wei Wuxian's chest region stings, he thought, well, it doesn't matter what presumptuous thoughts he had. His crimes cannot be recompensated.

Jin Ling rolls his eyes, "Don't be stupid. Of course, I trust you guys...," he pauses, "...but not with jiujiu."

"That makes no sense." Wei Wuxian says.

Jin Ling snorts as if Wei Wuxian is playing dumb. "Come on, none of you like jiujiu. Ouyang Zhizhen is more neutral but Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui, they believe every bad thing, they've ever heard of him. And half the time, you can't shut up about how he's the worst, not to speak of the hiding behind Hangguang-jun whenever you meet, as if you still believe he wants to hurt you." Jin Ling looks quizzically at Wei Wuxian. "I hope, I don't have to point out Hangguang-jun's or the Ghost General's regard for my jiujiu." Wei Wuxian takes a moment to gather his wits. "Hangguang-jun is honorable, he wouldn't let an ally bleed to death." "Jiujiu wasn't in any danger of bleeding to death, don't be dramatic. If it was that serious, I would speak up." Jin Ling says with some exasperation. "It wasn't anything worth owing a favor to another sect." Wei Wuxian sighs. "That's what Jiang Cheng's teaching you? That everything comes down to debts and repayment? No wonder you struggled to make friends as a child." "You're not his friends, though." Jin Ling replies.

:bangs hands on the table: JIUJIU JIUJIU JIUJIU. Teeny waist, dressed to kill, whip in one hand nephew in the other, happy birthday you beautiful disaster man you’ve ruined my whole life

More content brought to you courtesy of chronic insomnia: lately I have been banging the drum that actually I think Wei Wuxian needs to know about “take care”. It would be good for him, once he stopping having an epic meltdown about it and what it signified for his relationship with Jiang Cheng, The One Whom Must Be Protected Always, and it’s critical to the evolution of said relationship. The big problem here is that do we think Jiang Cheng is likely to bring up this incredibly pertinent fact now? After sixteen years of never feeling that it was worth mentioning that he let himself be captured by his family’s murderers specifically to distract them from Wei Wuxian? Do we think he’s going to bring this up now, when he knows that the golden core that replaced the one he lost to the Wens came from Wei Wuxian, who suffered immense harm from it, thus rendering Jiang Cheng’s own sacrifice meaningless (he probably feels)? Besties, we do not.

The question, therefore, is how can someone find out, and pass this information on to Wei Wuxian, ideally in some relatively blithe way that is not remotely going to prepare him for the emotional shock of it. So far I have:

Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji end up on a night hunt together and get idk briefly trapped in a haunted cave that plays out visions of emotionally significant past events. Lan Wangji thinks very little about the revelation that Jiang Cheng once risked his life to save Wei Ying. It’s no less than Wei Ying deserved, after all. If anything, he’s thinking about how embarrassing it is that Jiang Wanyin just saw his teenage library sex fantasies. It takes awhile before the subject of oh, so that’s how Jiang Wanyin lost his core comes up between him and Wei Ying, and he’s confused when WWX hightails it outta the Cloud Recesses on his way to Lotus Pier so fast he leaves one of those little cartoon dust clouds.

Jiang Cheng mumbled something about it to Wen Ning while Wen Ning was rescuing him from Lotus Pier. He has no memory of this. Wen Ning didn’t think it mattered at the time, and never mentioned it. If it’s occurred to him since that actually, this would be a pretty big deal to Wei-gongzi, he’s currently withholding it out of spite because ugh, fuck Jiang Wanyin, actually. He’ll only bring it up if there’s an opportunity to do so in a way that’s insulting to him, and oops, he did know this might bother Wei-gongzi a little bit, but he wasn’t expecting the BSOD—Wei-gongzi, maybe I shouldn’t have said that, Wei-gongzi, are you all right—

Jin Ling weaseled it out of Jiang Cheng years ago, long before Wei Wuxian came back. He gets that Jiujiu doesn’t like to talk about any of this shit, though, so it’s only months or years after Da-jiu comes into Jin Ling’s life that the subject comes up. He’s just matter-of-factly correcting the record, after Wei Wuxian mentions that Jiang Cheng was captured by the Wen trying to retrieve his parent’s bodies from Lotus Pier. (He was just trying to explain what a big deal family is to Jiang Cheng! I mean it was a bad idea, but it was very filial of him.) WWX is like what the fuck who told you that that can’t be right, and Jin Ling says Jiujiu told me, who else? Excuse me, waisheng, I need to go scream at your jiujiu for several hours I can’t believe how stupid he is why would he do that for me oh my god oh my god oh my god, and Jin Ling has to get him a paper bag to breathe into.

Dying for a fic where Jiang Cheng has a second in command who's the closest friend he has and has been by Jiang Cheng's side since the war, and Wei Wuxian is jealous as fuck-