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I went through work today wondering from where a nice fruity fragrance was wafting through, making my day 100% better. A full 6-hour shift later I came to the realization that the smell was coming from MY HAIR as I had changed my shampoo just a day prior.

Top dumbass culture, I swear 🤦🤦🙍

lwj is almost as guilty for all the things jc is criticised for

Everyone is guilty for all the things Jiang Cheng is constantly criticized for. Torturing cultivators? Check. Not helping the Wen remnants? Check. Not standing by Wei Wuxian? Check. Shouting? Check. Lying? Check. Being an asshole at some point in their life? Absolutely check.

Everyone jokes around about the Lan’s Silencing Spell, including myself, but um, using your sect’s magical coercion spell to silence someone else’s voice multiple times is actually kind of fucked up? Nobody says anything about the Lans and Nies being equally, if not more so, complicit in what ends up happening with the Wens and Wei Wuxian, but it’s still Jiang Cheng who gets the most criticism, and I will never be okay with this.

Hell, Wei Wuxian himself committed pretty much all of these! As much as we love Wei Wuxian for his endlessly giving heart, we should keep in mind that he also didn’t do anything about the Wens until Wen Qing and Wen Ning were involved. That isn’t a criticism. That is just the nature of the society and culture that they live in, where blood feuds are a thing and wiping out a clan who killed your family is simply an equal and just exchange regardless of individual involvement. Wei Wuxian committed a massive cultural taboo for helping the Wen remnants. That isn’t to say he shouldn’t have helped, or that everyone isn’t complicit in the death of a bunch of villagers who were trying to move on, but that responsibility and criticism certainly shouldn’t only land squarely on Jiang Cheng’s shoulders.

Especially when Jiang Cheng was still little more than a child himself. The Jiang sect was completely wiped out. Jiang Cheng was barely holding onto any political power as it is. They were being intentionally left out of political meetings by the other three sects. They were extremely vulnerable to being swallowed up and becoming subsidiary to the Jin sect. Jiang Cheng had an immense responsibility to his people who walked with him through war when he had nothing to offer them at time other than his word, and part of that responsibility was to not go around pissing off your next door neighbors who had a hell of a lot more power than you do at the moment.

And amidst of all this, Jiang Cheng was being actively lied to the entire time! He couldn’t possibly have known that Wei Wuxian, his genius cultivator shixiong, no longer had a golden core, whose only option was now demonic cultivation and who was neck deep in a veritable thunderstorm of trauma and self-hatred. Especially when Wei Wuxian was constantly telling him he was fine. Especially when Wei Wuxian was doing everything he could to make sure Jiang Cheng could never know the truth. While I do think Jiang Cheng was wrong about what options were available to him, I personally think he was the least obligated out of everyone to help.

You know whose sects didn’t get wiped out? Who still had political power and was actually at the table when the remaining Wens and labor camps were being discussed? Who still had experienced disciples and opinionated elders? Who had at least much more experience navigating the complicated web of political manipulations than Jiang Cheng? The Lans. The Nies. Both equally capable of putting a stop to Jin Guangshan. Both equally responsible for the murders of a bunch of villagers. Both absolutely one hundred percent more obligated to do so and in a position where it was possible than Jiang Cheng was.

But sure, let’s freaking blame the traumatized teenager whose family and sect were slaughtered for not being able to help.

I just have a lot of Jiang Cheng feelings today, Okay??

Genuinely baffled by arguments which insist that it’s only Jiang Cheng who has to improve himself instead of being jealous or insecure, that Wei Wuxian should heal away from him because Jiang Cheng is a source of toxicity.

First of all, they’re both dumbasses. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Second of all, Jiang Cheng’s parents were assholes who simultaneously made him believe he was inherently not good enough to save their shitty marriage and also that that was because of Wei Wuxian, his brother and best friend whom he chooses again and again to love in spite of all of this. He then had his entire clan and sect slaughtered; chose to sacrifice himself to save his brother, whom he loves by the way in case you missed that, thereby giving up the chance to avenge his family and sect; and had nonconsensual surgery performed on him (and lied to about it repeatedly for the next decade).

He then had to take over running a small nation all by himself because Wei Wuxian, his brother who promised to stand by his side, fucks off to demonic cultivation and pushes him away with absolutely no explanation; is extremely socially disrespectful while being a representative of their already vulnerable sect; causes a massive political scandal which includes threatening to kill a sect leader’s nephew and murdering a whole bunch of people with a zombie; and hits with pinpoint accuracy every last one of Jiang Cheng’s insecurities about not being good enough for the people he loves to stay with him while still refusing to offer an explanation. And in response to all of this, Jiang Cheng:

(1) Arranges for a staged fight so that Wei Wuxian can continue protecting the Wens without political ramifications to the Jiang sect. (Something that Wei Wuxian also wants by the way because the safety of their sect is important to him, too!)

(2) Brings their sister to Yiling for a surprise wedding dress and incoming nephew reveal so that Wei Wuxian can still be a part of the celebration, and then gives Wei Wuxian the opportunity to name their sister’s first born son and tries his very best to ask Wei Wuxian to come home.

(3) Is still perfectly agreeable to having Wei Wuxian, a year later, come to their nephew’s one-month birthday celebration and reinstated into their sect.

What Jiang Cheng gets in return is Wei Wuxian refusing to come home and walking away from him; Wei Wuxian losing control of his emotional support zombie who ends up fatally punching their brother-in-law through the heart and making their sister a grieving widow; Wei Wuxian recklessly taking on the entire cultivation world and losing control of his demon magic that he swore up and down that he had under control which gets their sister killed; and Wei Wuxian dying and leaving him alone with an orphaned infant nephew. And in response all of this, Jiang Cheng:

(1) Never gets any dogs.

(2) Doesn’t alert anyone that Wei Wuxian has returned to life.

(3) Allows Wei Wuxian to be near Jin Ling.

(4) Keeps Chenqing safe for 13/16 years, then returns it and not only allows but trusts Wei Wuxian to play it in front of their nephew without getting their favorite people killed again.

Did Jiang Cheng believe, do, and say some fucked up shit that he should reflect pretty hard on? Of course! Who didn’t? This was never a story about perfect characters.

But someone did most of the walking away in this sibling relationship regardless of how sympathetic and heartbreaking his reasons were, and it wasn’t Jiang Cheng. He has a right to be angry about Wei Wuxian’s reckless regard for his own life and the disastrous consequences it had for both of them and their family, and it isn’t because he’s fucking jealous.

Lastly, Wei Wuxian is not a hapless innocent victim who can do no wrong. Please stop treating my wonderfully complex and violently pragmatic disaster son with both a heart of gold and a kind of love that can destroy the entire world like he is. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Re-blogging for future reference.

Xicheng Rec List

I compiled my favorite fics for @waterandsilver after they posted they were finally seeing the appeal of Xicheng. I volunteered to give them good fics to help them understand better the appeal of our ship! So, here we go!

Post-Canon Fics

A Bit of Ruthlessness 110,111 When Jiang Cheng hears that Lan Xichen went into seclusion following Jin Guangyao’s death, it’s almost as if he can see the grabby hands of a restless ghost, reaching out for something to keep him company. For something warm and living and devastated. And as history has proven time and time again, the Lans are perfect victims when it comes to giving in to ghosts.

Yeah, no. Not on Jiang Cheng’s fucking watch.

Moments of Clarity 5,201 Snapshots of Lan Huan’s road to recovery with a helping hand from Sandu Shengshou. Companion piece from Jiang Cheng’s POV: A Present so Promising 

Faith 8,109 [Part 1 of the The Provenance of Hope series] Lan Huan isn’t sure he’s ready for this. (or, Lan Huan and Jiang Cheng meet on a night hunt.)

Visiting Cloud Recesses 7,566 [Part 1 of the Visiting Cloud Recesses series]   Since the sunshot campaign they haven’t interacted a lot outside of sect business, but Jiang Cheng has always found the First Jade of Lan gracious and pleasant to be around. Especially in comparison to his younger brother, who would never smile at Jiang Cheng the way Lan Xichen is right now, as if he’s genuinely happy to see him.

It’s easier to let go (let me hold you) 24,464 Five times someone noticed something was wrong and the one time someone did something about it.

Carried on the wind 1,129 [Part 1 of the The courtship of Jiang Wanyin & Lan Xichen series] Lan Xichen’s voice is very soft when he says: “Today is the day our mother died.”

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I've had an epiphany, maybe people mostly tend to remember and recount the negative traits of a person that they lost or moved on from not as an act of malice but rather self-preservation. Maybe remembering and acknowledging that someone was "really not so great" or "not as good as I thought" dampens the pain that would have increased manifold if we accepted that we lost someone uniquely dear to us and had good traits that outweighed the bad.

Probably I am being too optimistic, but you never know how most hearts cope in this transient world. ❣️🖤

reblog if ur bi, ur not biphobic, or ur best friend is a beautiful valid bisexual

When I see people saying that Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen had bad endings…

I’m honestly confused. Because the context of the novel makes it very clear they will have a happy future and ending, all things considered, by how it reveals the parent who was in a similar situation and their fates being so strongly contrasting.

Which is to say, Yu Ziyuan and Qingheng-Jun are dead. Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen are alive.

By being alive, by having the chance to learn and grow from their mistakes, they can earn their way to a happy ending. They can’t have one immediately. They are reaping what they sowed; Jiang Cheng spent years under a delusion and operating on anger alone (though he did his best to moderate himself around Jin Ling) and Lan Xichen put his trust and faith in the absolutely wrong person and spent years in an abusive relationship.

Yes, abusive relationship. Doesn’t even have to be romantic for it to be abusive in nature. We see Lan Xichen being gaslit by Jin Guangyao, we see him constantly lie to him, and we see how he’s harmed him in many ways with what he did. Lan Xichen has to come to terms with that.

Jiang Cheng unburdens himself, lets go of a relationship that became toxic for him and in particular for Wei Wuxian, and is mentioned to have interfered with Jin Sect to help Jin Ling. In the past, as early as the Cloud Recesses arc, Jiang Cheng was someone who never rocked the boat and went with the whole of society to avoid getting (negative) attention. The fact he’s able to do that, to avoid too much of a fuss when he meets Wen Ning on a night-hunt, that means Jiang Cheng is putting work into things. It’s getting better.

Lan Xichen certainly goes into seclusion, but it’s more for his mental health and dealing with things. “Seclusion” actually has like three meanings (at the least) in the original language from what I know; closed door training, seclusion as in mental retreat, and seclusion for punishment. Lan Xichen isn’t punishing himself, he’s taking time away from society. And not so much that he avoids a family banquet! He might be absentminded because of everything, but he still showed up so that’s the sign of hope we need that things will get better.

In comparison, we got the parents.

Yu Ziyuan in the novel is 100% an antagonistic force. She never avoids being a poison in others lives. It’s only at the end of her life that we clearly see her softness that is hidden by all the poison barbed spines around her. And even then it’s shadowed by her irrational hate of Wei Wuxian. But we see through how Zidian recognizes Jiang Fengmian that a part of her did trust her husband at least and likely wanted a better relationship. But she dies and so that glimpse comes to nothing.

Minor thing to keep in mind; CQL!Yu Ziyuan is not the same character as MDZS!Yu Ziyuan. I am not talking about CQL!Yu Ziyuan who also was hit by the censor stick of no grey morality same as Jiang Cheng.

Qingheng-Jun is absolutely not there in the novel, only showing up in how people describe him. He’s alive but firmly in seclusion as a form of punishment during Cloud Recesses arc. When he does leave – and I’m sure he did because by the old work sheets Lan Wangji has in the Jingshi (per Banquet extra) not all of Cloud Recesses burned, likely just the main areas like the Library Pavilion and Lanshi – he dies in a fight. He leaves only to die, leaves likely to protect his people and his sons, and he dies in battle.

So yeah, it doesn’t seem like it’s a flat out happy ending. And it isn’t. Everyone outside of the juniors, Wen Ning, and WangXian haven’t yet earned their happy ending yet. They have to put the work in first.

But they are alive and capable of putting the work in. Isn’t that a good ending for them?

i feel like as a fandom we do not spend enough time dissecting how fucked up the scene described here is.

“Young Master Wei, that night, you took the two halves of the Stygian Tiger Seal and pieced them together. After you were satisfied with the killing, you were a spent arrow as well. WangJi was injured on your rampage. He was in no better shape than you, barely supporting himself by leaning on Bichen. In spite of this, as he saw you stumble away, he immediately followed.

“Right then, not many people were still conscious. I, too, was almost unable to move, and I could only watch as WangJi, whose spiritual powers were clearly about to be drained, staggered towards you. He brought you onto Bichen as soon as he grabbed you, and you two left.”

just. the mental image of lxc being so injured and so drained of spiritual energy that he can only watch helplessly as his brother continues to aid the man who did this to him - to all of them - is fucking breaking me.

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I let flowers speak for my heart.