Just what the title says.These fics are random scribbles by me. I may not be the greatest writer but hey if even one person enjoys something I write then I'm glad. I appreciate all your likes, comments, and reblogs :) My AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurora077
I saw and reblogged this one a while back, but it’s always worth repeating, and this time I’m adding a bit of background info comparing common fantasy sword features to the Real Thing (with pictures, of course.)
Leaf-bladed swords are a very popular fantasy style and were real, though unlike modern hand-and-a-half longsword versions, the real things were mostly if not always shortswords.
Here are Celtic bronze swords…
…Ancient Greek Xiphoi…
… and a Roman “Mainz-pattern” gladius…
Saw or downright jagged edges, either full-length or as small sections (often where they serve no discernible purpose) are a frequent part of fantasy blades, especially at the more, er, imaginatively unrestrained end of the market.
Real swords also had saw edges, such as these two 19th century shortswords, but not to make them cool or interesting. They’re weapons if necessary…
…but since they were carried by Pioneer Corps who needed them for cutting branches and other construction-type tasks, their principal use was as brush cutters and saws.
This dussack (cutlass) in the Wallace Collection is also a fighting weapon, like the one beside it…
…but may also have had the secondary function of being a saw.
A couple of internet captions say it’s for “cutting ropes” which makes sense - heavy ropes and hawsers on board a ship were so soaked with tar that they were often more like lengths of wood, and a Hollywood-style slice from the Hero’s rapier (!!) wouldn’t be anything like enough to sever them. However swords like this are extremely rare, which suggests they didn’t work as well as intended for any purpose.
I photographed these in Basel, Switzerland, about 20 years ago. Look at the one on the bottom (I prefer the basket-hilt schiavona in the middle).
A lot of “flamberge” (wavy-edge) swords actually started out with conventional blades which then had the edges ground to shape - the dussack, that Basel broadsword and this Zweihander were all made that way.
The giveaway is the centreline: if it’s straight, the entire blade probably started out straight.
Increased use of water power for bellows, hammers and of course grinders made shaping blades easier than when it had to be done by hand. This flamberge Zweihander, however, was forged that way.
Again, the clue is the centre-line.
Incidentally those Parierhaken (parrying hooks - a secondary crossguard) are among the only real-life examples of another common fantasy feature - hooks and spikes sticking out from the blade.
Here are some rapiers and a couple of daggers showing the same difference between forged to shape and ground to shape. The top and bottom rapiers in the first picture started as straights, and only the middle rapier came from the forge with a flamberge blade.
There’s no doubt about this one either.
The reason - though that was a part of it - wasn’t just to look cool and show off what the owner could afford (any and all extra or unusual work added to the price) but may actually have had a function: a parry would have been juddery and unsettling for someone not used to it, and any advantage is worth having.
However, like the saw-edged dussack, flamberge blades are unusual - which suggests the advantage wasn’t that much of an advantage after all.
Here’s a Circassian kindjal, forged wiggly…
…and an Italian parrying dagger forged straight then ground wiggly…
There were also parrying daggers with another fantasy-blade feature, deep notches and serrations which in fantasy versions often resemble fangs or thorns.
These more practical historical versions are usually called “sword-breakers” but I prefer “sword-catcher”, since a steel blade isn’t that easy to break. Taking the opponent’s blade out of play for just long enough to nail him works fine.
NB - the curvature on the top one in this next image is AFAIK because of the book-page it was copied from, not the blade itself.
The missing tooth on that second dagger, and the crack halfway down this next one’s blade, shows what happens when design features cause weak spots.
So there you go: a quick overview of fantasy sword features in real life.
Here’s a real-life weapon that looks like it belongs in a fantasy story or film - and this doesn’t even have an odd-shaped blade…
Just a very flexible one…
If you want more odd blades, Moghul India is a good place to start…
Modern au Wei Wuxian dropping into xianxialand and seeing Jiang Cheng wielding Zidian and Sandu and drooling because mm this dream he's having of ChengCheng is so nice~
When Jiang Cheng turns and sees him he looks confused by Wei Wuxian's attire but Wei Wuxian just runs to him and jumps on him happily because he was going to enjoy this dream~ Maybe he could convince ChengCheng to dress like this when he woke up.
"Wei Wuxian!" Jiang Cheng says warningly and Wei Wuxian's heart speeds up because mmm 🤤 his brain is on a roll tonight that voice is hot.
"Best dream ever!" Wei Wuxian mutters and looks at Jiang Cheng flirtatiously. Jiang Cheng is gobsmacked at Wei Wuxian's audacity.
Before he could push Wei Wuxian off though Wei Wuxian leans in and kisses him and Jiang Cheng freezes.
Wei Wuxian notices and pulls back and pouts and whines, "Hubby kiss XianXian back!"
"What the hell are you doing Wei Wuxian?" he pushes Wei Wuxian away this time.
"ChengCheng I know you don't like public displays of affection but it's just us in this forest! How could I resist when you appear in my dream looking so delicious? Come on don't be shy~ give your XianXian a kiss!" Wei Wuxian says playfully, trying to kiss Jiang Cheng again.
"Wei Wuxian this isn't a dream, have you been cursed? Did you forget you're married to Lan Wangji?" Jiang Cheng said.. Wei Wuxian clearly wasn't in his right mind... though given that he was calling Jiang Cheng by name did this mean he dreamt of... of.. *this* kind of thing with him often?!
"Don't be silly Jiang Cheng why would I be married to Lan Zhan? Do you want Huaisang to kill me? Besides if this isn't a dream explain how you're using that fancy lightning whip? Obviously I'm dreaming of my precious hubby~ Don't try to dissuade me dream ChengCheng, i know you're mad at me for forgetting to change the cat litter but it was one time okay? I'll remember the next time! Don't deny me in my dreams too" Wei Wuxian pouts and tries to snuggle up to Jiang Cheng again.
"What does Huaisang have to do with this?" Jiang Cheng said, confused and trying to hold Wei Wuxian back without hurting him as his cultivation was poor now.
Wait.. why did Wei Wuxian not have any cultivation? And.. this wasn't Mo Xuanyu's face it was Wei Wuxian's! It took Jiang Cheng too long to realise this.
Was *he* the cursed one?!
"Dream ChengCheng have you forgotten oyou're life together?" Wei Wuxian said dramatically, "Of course Nie Huaisang will be mad if i tried to marry his husband! And I have you why would I do that anyway?"
Jiang Cheng tied up this Wei Wuxian with Zidian.
"Nie Huaisang isn't married to Lan Wangji, you are! And you'd know that if you were the real Wei Wuxian. What kind of yao are you?" he said fiercely.
"Ow.. that hurts... ChengCheng how could you be so cruel to your hubby 😭... also I'm amenable to playing with the whip but I didn't think you'd want to do that out in the forest! How about we go home first~!"
Jiang Cheng couldn't bring himself to kill the yao, or maybe it was just that he was cursed and seeing things... going back to Lotus Pier was probably the best course of action.. so he grabbed the tied up imposter Wei Wuxian and flew back to Lotus Pier.
"Oohhh this dream is so cool!"
The imposter was confused clearly.
He landed in Lotus Pier, while the imposter oohed and aahed, taking him straight to the infirmary to get himself checked for a curse before determining if this was a yao or what. "Sect leader, there's nothing wrong with you," said Healer Zhang,"You're perfectly fine, if a bit overworked." She looked at him disapprovingly.
Then she turned to examine the imposter.
"As for him... he's just a mortal. I don't know why he thinks he's Wei Wuxian, there's nothing wrong with him either."
"Uh ChengCheng this dream is getting a little uncomfortable," Wei Wuxian said, as he had been tied up a while with Zidian, "I didn't know you could feel pain in dreams... could we skip this and get to the good part?"
"Why do you think this is a dream?" he asked the imposter.
Healer Zhang had never met Wei Wuxian when he was in his original body and as such didn't know that Wei Wuxian did look like this in the past. This wasn't a random confused mortal, he was actually a copy of the og Wei Wuxian.
"Well obviously this is a dream, I already told you look at this whip! Besides maybe I watched too much Regret of Chunshan and am now dreaming of xianxia romance, but obviously none of this exists in reality."
Wei Wuxian found it weird he had to explain to his dream Jiang Cheng that this was dream. He thought he was having a nice dream but this one was just confusing.
Jiang Cheng was sexy and hot and Wei Wuxian wanted to dream of spring not confusion.. was this because he made Jiang Cheng mad so dream Jiang Cheng was not humoring him? This was his punishment to have Jiang Cheng and not be able to touch?! T-T
"Why can't the whip exist?"
"Jiang Cheng xianxia is not real, there are no such things as spiritual whips or cultivation.. but it doesn't matter! You're real and you're so hot and I'm real and also sexy so why don't we skip the filler scenes and get to the good part already!"
Jiang Cheng was utterly discombobulated because this Wei Wuxian made no sense.
But if Healer Zhang was right and this was a mortal... not a yao, not him being cursed.. then.. was this Wei Wuxian actually real like he claimed? He thought this was all a dream after all.. so how did he get here because Jiang Cheng knew it was not a dream. But because this world was 'impossible' and claimed to be fake by Wei Wuxian he thought he was dreaming.
But this Wei Wuxian kept referring to him as hubby and even said Lan Wangji and Nie Huaisang were married! Was it possible this Wei Wuxian was not even from their world?!
The demonic cultivator he had been tracking had died trying to power some array that looked like it was trying to call back the Yiling Laozu. Despite Wei Wuxian being alive, some sycophants didn't believe it was truly him because the Yiling Laozu and Hanguang-Jun were known enemies after all, he wouldn't marry that do gooder!
Maybe the array worked but because Wei Wuxian was alive in this time already (ie the Yiling Laozu was not dead so could not be summoned) the array must have pulled a Wei Wuxian from another time.
He questioned this Wei Wuxian some more and got some more confusing answers but it seemed to confirm his suspicions
He had to find a way to return this Wei Wuxian to his time.
Now if only Wei Wuxian would stop whining and pouting and pleading for his hubby to forgive him and batting his eyes flirtatiously, trying to seduce him that would be great! Wei Wuxian was convinced Jiang Cheng was his husband and that he was dreaming...
Jiang Cheng.. couldn't believe that another version of Wei Wuxian was married to him and not Lan Wangji..
(Wei Wuxian wormed his way into Jiang Cheng's heart and bed before Jiang Cheng managed to reverse the array and send him back to his own time)
It figures, he thought sadly, of course this Wei Wuxian didn't belong to him either so he couldn't keep him anyway.
As he went to walk away though, the array glowed again, and spit out another figure.
The figure stood up shakily and dusted himself off. He raised his head and locked eyes with Jiang Cheng.
"Oh," he smirked, "ChengCheng~ I've finally found you~!"
"W..wei wuxian?!"
This Wei Wuxian sauntered up to him and before he could speak, pulled him into him and kissed him deeply.
"I've been looking all over for you"
Jiang Cheng tried to struggle but this Wei Wuxian was slightly stronger than him.
"Oh no you don't, you're not leaving my sight, no dying for you this time!" And Wei Wuxian caressed his face softly looking longingly at him.
"I missed you."
And Jiang Cheng... well.. didn't Jiang Cheng miss his Wei Wuxian too?
"I missed you too," he said hoarsely.
Modern Wei Wuxian had made him acknowledge many things he never even knew he felt or desired (they had been married!)
When this Wei Wuxian wanted to marry Jiang Cheng he accepted, and it was a gobsmacked cultivation world that saw Sect Leader Jiang marry a random veiled cultivator one lovely day. They had no idea Sect Leader Jiang was in a relationship! And with a man!
The Yiling Laozu and Hanguang-Jun found him suspiciously familiar, but nobody could place who this talented individual was.
Jin Ling would look on with an enigmatic smile and refuse to answer any questions.
Bonus:
"Isn't it your birthday? Why are you giving me a gift?"
"Oh it's a gift for you that's for me," Wei Wuxian said, smiling brightly and waiting with bated breath for Jiang Cheng to open the package.
Jiang Cheng looked at him suspiciously but opened it up.
"Wei Wuxian!"
"Ahh don't hit me ChengCheng, unless you're using that Zidian replica!"
"What is the meaning of this?" Jiang Cheng said, red faced and looking at that shameless husband of his.
"Welllll you remember that dream I told you about? I commissioned this outfit for you~"
Jiang Cheng's face was like a tomato. Wei Wuxian had had some spicy dream about him in some xianxia setting (he really was watching too many of those dramas) and he'd worn some fancy purple robes and had a lightning whip and Wei Wuxian was very into it.
"And what if I don't wear it?"
"But it's my birthday 🥺"
Jiang Cheng sighed, "Fine!"
Ugh he was going to need help getting into these robes.
Wei Wuxian was perfectly happy to help him out both ways 😈
So I had this idea and wasn't sure which pairings etc would work well with it but ex-chengxian and zhancheng seems to be good maybe so like au where the law is that if you divorce your spouse you cannot remarry them until they've married another... if they become divorced/widowed from this new spouse, *then* if you want to rekindle a relationship with them you can get married to them again because divorce is allowed but a past emperor thought that some people were marrying and divorcing too frivolously and not taking marriage seriously so they put this rule into place so that people would think before making hasty decisions.
Now of course the new marriage has to be real.. a real relationship.. if the court finds out that you're marrying and divorcing just as a way to get the second marriage out of the way to get back with your first spouse you will be arrested. Of course there were still some shady dealings but the law generally made it difficult for people to actually go through with these kinds of plans. Only one half of the couple needed to remarry not both, just to show that they tried to move on.
Of course you could still get back together after a divorce, you simply would not be able to marry and would just have to be without that status, which was very frowned upon by the society. Some people did just live together but it wasn't an easy thing socially speaking as it was a sign that you were a frivolous person who divorced your spouse for petty reasons and it just made u seem like u had bad character so people would look down on you. And for the most part it worked. People who considered marriage did it seriously, and divorce as well.
Of course every society has people who do things in haste and anger so there were definitely those who didn't think things through and later regretted it. So I'm thinking maybe chengxian are together and they're childhood sweethearts but Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng have been arguing lately and couldn't agree on certain decisions... Wei Wuxian in the heat of the moment said something really really stupid-- that maybe they should just divorce and do things their own way.
Jiang Cheng, hurt, agreed.
Wei Wuxian of course regrets it. He regrets it so much.
But Jiang Cheng refused to be married to someone who didn't want him. He promised himself he wouldn't become his mother. So he goes through with the divorce because just the fact that Wei Wuxian brought it up really hurt him and caused him to lose trust and faith in their relationship.
Wei Wuxian was confident that he could win Jiang Cheng back... but he wouldn't get the chance to he knew because Jiang Cheng would *never* put himself in a cohabiting situation after the divorce to have people look down on him and treat him poorly, and Wei Wuxian wouldn't want that for him either.
Enter Lan Wangji Now I can't decide how I want this to go. We could have a few dif scenarios here. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are good friends and Wei Wuxian begs Lan Wangji to help him. He could court Jiang Cheng and marry him and because Wei Wuxian didn't want Jiang Cheng's heart to be too badly hurt, Lan Wangji could divorce him later with the excuse of being Wei Wuxian's friend and feeling so guilty that he 'stole' him from Wei Wuxian when he knew how much Wei Wuxian still loved Jiang Cheng. This was so Jiang Cheng wouldn't feel like he was the problem. Wei Wuxian definitely learned the hard way and he really didn't want to hurt Jiang Cheng, he loved him.
So when they got divorced Wei Wuxian could beg Jiang Cheng for another chance. (And of course Lan Wangji would talk up how much Wei Wuxian regretted what he did and how much he cared for Jiang Cheng) OR Lan Wangji who is in love with Wei Wuxian and wants to marry *him* but he knows Wei Wuxian is still in love with Jiang Cheng. Lan Wangji isn't a bad guy and he just wants Wei Wuxian to be happy, even if it's not with him. He and Wei Wuxian are friends and Wei Wuxian of course cried to him all about his regrets etc So he volunteers to woo & marry Jiang Cheng and divorce him after a bit so that Wei Wuxian could remarry him.
The problem? He falls in love with Jiang Cheng.
In either scenario Lan Wangji falls for Jiang Cheng and... well.. he doesn't *want* to divorce him. This has the potential for drama because both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng feel betrayed by Lan Wangji once this comes out.
Wei Wuxian will confront Lan Wangji because when are you going to divorce him?! Lan Wangji keeps stalling somehow Jiang Cheng finds out.. maybe he overhears their conversation or maybe Wei Wuxian in a fit of anger at Lan Wangji for having Jiang Cheng's love now, tells Jiang Cheng everything
Jiang Cheng of course is doubly heartbroken and betrayed because he can't believe that Wei Wuxian would actually have someone else make him fall in love with them and marry them only to divorce him just to let him be with Wei Wuxian (yes Wei Wuxian loves him but it's selfish of him not to consider that Jiang Cheng would be heartbroken at a second divorce no matter how amicable because for Jiang Cheng to get married in the first place to another person meant he would have had to love them dearly and of course he'd have moved on from Wei Wuxian by then to this new person so no guarantee he'd go back to Wei Wuxian at all).
And of course he's more hurt by Lan Wangji who he was now in love with because it meant that Lan Wangji approached him with ulterior motives and if the relationship started on a lie then how could Jiang Cheng believe any of Lan Wangji's feelings were real? From the beginning Lan Wangji had no intention of being with Jiang Cheng
He was just stringing Jiang Cheng along and faking everything to get Jiang Cheng to agree to marry him. Jiang Cheng is crushed. But Lan Wangji refuses to divorce him. He would not make the same mistake as Wei Wuxian and let Jiang Cheng go. Jiang Cheng was rightfully upset with him but Lan Wangji was willing to grovel as long as it took.
Even if Wei Wuxian was angry with Lan Wangji, Lan Wangji couldn't help himself. He knew Wei Wuxian loved Jiang Cheng but... well he did now too. If it's the first scenario where they're just friends, maybe Lan Wangji decides Jiang Cheng is more important than Wei Wuxian but Lan Wangji is still his friend so he tries to convince Wei Wuxian that he and Jiang Cheng divorced for a reason and that Wei Wuxian was just accustomed to Jiang Cheng being around his entire life and needed to put himself out there and find someone to love that wasn't just partially because of familiarity. Wei Wuxian of course is pissed at Lan Wangji anyway and still heartbroken
He really and truly lost Jiang Cheng. Not only was Jiang Cheng now married to Lan Wangji who was refusing to divorce him so there was no chance of remarrying him, but Jiang Cheng was also really hurt that Wei Wuxian would go behind his back and scheme. He felt Wei Wuxian had been selfish... if Wei Wuxian had been honest and tried to win Jiang Cheng back, then if Wei Wuxian's efforts had been sincere and Jiang Cheng gave him another chance, the marriage issue could have been resolved by both of them agreeing to Lan Wangji's help. But Wei Wuxian hadn't done that, he and Lan Wangji had played Jiang Cheng for a fool in Jiang Cheng's eyes.
And so Wei Wuxian had lost Jiang Cheng and he'd also lost a friendship with Lan Wangji because Lan Wangji had agreed to help him but instead had stolen Jiang Cheng from him. Even if Jiang Cheng was mad at Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng was more hurt and Wei Wuxian knew it was because Jiang Cheng really loved him, so if Lan Wangji grovelled enough he was sure Jiang Cheng would accept him Maybe Wei Wuxian goes out to drown his sorrows and ends up crying alone in a corner... he wakes up the next morning in a bed that he didn't recognise and high key panicked because he did not remember going home with anyone!
"Calm down, nothing happened," said a very amused voice.
The man had watched him flail around in confusion and panic and thought it adorable and hilarious but put him out of his misery anyway because it wasn't nice to scare him like that. Wei Wuxian looked over to see a huge, muscled dude with a grin on his face. 'Whoa' he thought, 'Hot'.
"Uh.. what am I doing here? And no offense but, who are you?"
"Nie Mingjue," came the response alongside another grin, and oh my were those dimples? "And as to why you're here.. you had a little too much and were crying all alone. I wanted to make sure you were okay and you basically spilled your life story. You passed out after a while and well I didn't know what else to do but to take you home and let you rest. Your phone was locked so I couldn't call anyone to come get you. I apologise but I didn't really have a choice at the moment."
"Oh." Wei Wuxian felt embarrassed that this man saw his sorry state. "You must think I'm pathetic." He hid his face in his hands sorrowfully.
"No. Maybe you made some mistakes but we all do, especially when emotions are involved. It's not pathetic."
Wei Wuxian strangely felt a bit better.
Nie Mingjue was just really good at big brothering someone-- though he could tell from the looks he was getting as he made breakfast that this one definitely didn't see him as a brother. Well, that was ok. He might have red puffy eyes but when he smiled Wei Wuxian was breathtaking. Nie Mingjue would like very much to make him smile. Though not just yet of course, he was still getting over his ex.
But Nie Mingjue was a patient man. He could wait.
Of course Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji would eventually work things out because never let it be said that Lan Wangji wasn't good at simping. Eventually his efforts got through to Jiang Cheng and they had a proper conversation and Jiang Cheng expressed how hurt he was while Lan Wangji talked about how he fell for Jiang Cheng very quickly and he knew that he'd have a hard time doing what Wei Wuxian had asked, and by the time their wedding came around he knew he wasn't going to go through with it at all. He apologised too for not considering Jiang Cheng's feelings when he and Wei Wuxian planned things and acknowledged it was foolish.
It may have started out as a way to help Wei Wuxian but for Lan Wangji it very soon became real and he didn't fake things with Jiang Cheng, even in the beginning he hadn't exactly lied to Jiang Cheng he had just tried to talk to him about things they had in common and to get to know him.
Once he convinced Jiang Cheng that it wasn't fake and his feelings were real, they were able to 'start over' on more honest ground and Lan Wangji took the opportunity to woo him again. They also managed to have a conversation with Wei Wuxian and to clear the air. Lan Wangji apologised to him as well because well, he really did betray Wei Wuxian in a way. And Wei Wuxian acknowledged it was immature and selfish of him to try and control Jiang Cheng's relationship status so that he'd get back with Wei Wuxian. The biggest surprise was when Wei Wuxian introduced them to his new boyfriend but it was a happy surprise, they were glad for him.
Of course if it's the second scenario where Lan Wangji was in love with Wei Wuxian and volunteered himself to marry Jiang Cheng so Wei Wuxian could have him back because he wanted to see Wei Wuxian happy.. aka he was doing it all for Wei Wuxian without regard for Jiang Cheng up until he went and fell for Jiang Cheng himself... it'd be a little more complicated. ie. Jiang Cheng would be even more hurt i think in this scenario because if Lan Wangji was in love with Wei Wuxian then how could he love Jiang Cheng?
Still Lan Wangji would refuse to divorce him but he would be struggling because he loved Jiang Cheng and he knew he messed up big time but he also loved Wei Wuxian and he messed up on that front too because one he wasn't going to divorce Jiang Cheng but two he still loved Wei Wuxian as well so he didn't want to see Wei Wuxian hurt but Wei Wuxian felt hurt and betrayed by him. Of course this could become zhanchengxian if they all manage to work things out.
Jiang Fengmian gets amnesia from sex pollen near Nie Mingjue, Su She forces them to drink, eyes, Mature
---
Heh I love this prompt bot, so Jiang Fengmian gets hit with the pollen near Nie Mingjue who also gets hit but is like oh hell no, not today Satan and he knocks Jiang Fengmian out which unfortunately leads to the teensy weensy minor side effect of him losing his memories..
They were chasing a yao both from their own territories but it had been eluding both of them and they were now closer to the Cloud Recesses so Nie Mingjue takes him there... the Lan disciple sent to deliver medicine to them was Su She who forces them to drink the disgusting concoction by telling them it was either that or eating the eye of a red tailed colostomy fish which tastes like sewage because that was the only other cure for the pollen they were both hit with... or of course they could always dual cultivate with each other, which to Nie Mingjue was a hard pass, so the yucky meds it was...
Jiang Fengmian goes back to Lotus Pier with not many memories which works out well for everyone because he's immediately struck by Yu Ziyuan's good looks and becomes a simp instead.. his family is much happier and thank Nie Mingjue for his service because they like him better this way
By the way, this came when Nie Mingjue tried to apologise to them because he knew it's his fault as he was anxious and knocked Jiang Fengmian out pretty hard but to his surprise he was thanked instead and made welcome anytime.
I just want older Jin Ling who has come into his own as a Sect Leader etc. and has totally gotten over the phase of teenaged embarrassment/ need to look cool and like a 'big boy' in front of jiujiu, being totally clingy and sticky with Jiang Cheng in private because he wants to be pampered by jiujiu now.
He isn't worried anymore about looking childish in front of jiujiu because he's established now and he knows he isn't after a decade of dealing with his sect (and the elders ugh) so he's just comfortable going to Jiang Cheng to whine and to get affection.
Because now he doesn't let Jiang Cheng's grumpy self force him away.. when he was young and going through it when Wei Wuxian came back etc he wished jiujiu would fuss over him too the way the others were but Jiang Cheng was just too oblivious to know his wants, now Jin Ling takes what he wants.
He will hug jiujiu and stick to him even if Jiang Cheng protests that is is unbecoming and that Jin Ling is a grown up now he shouldn't be behaving like this...
Jiang Cheng doesn't have anyone in his life to be close to him anyway only Jin Ling can do these things and Jin Ling himself as a Sect Leader now too doesn't have anyone he can truly be himself with so when he's sick of the elders and everyone else he will hop on his sword and go to Yunmeng Jiang and make Jiang Cheng take a break and cater to him.
When he was young he always wanted to impress Jiang Cheng and wanted to seem like he was mature and didn't want to show weakness etc even if he knew Jiang Cheng would protect him but now he knows that he is mature and even though he still wants Jiang Cheng to be proud of him and to think he's doing well, he doesn't fear Jiang Cheng thinking of him as childish anymore because if he couldn't be childish in front of jiujiu then who even was he? That should be his right!
At the end of the day Jin Ling knows who his parents are and he loves, honours, and prays for them etc. but he considers himself jiujiu's baby (even though when Jiang Cheng was hard on him he used to run to Jin Guangyao, well...Jin Guangyao was a bit of a sore spot for him so he tries not to think about that) Jiang Cheng will grumble at him and try to push him off but Jin Ling knows Jiang Cheng is more powerful than him if he really wanted to get rid of Jin Ling then he couldn't stop him so it just shows that Jiang Cheng is just grumpy for grumps sake and lets Jin Ling do what he wants anyway
Can you give us a rundown on the variation in JC adaptions?
I can't do a full one right now because I've only completed the novel and the show, which is why I asked for others to weigh in! In terms of broad strokes, in the novel his last appearance is this:
After a moment of silence, Jiang Cheng shook his head, “There’s nothing to say.”
What could he say?
That, back then, I wasn’t caught by the Wen Sect because I wanted to go back to Lotus Pier to retrieve my parents’ corpses. That, at the town we passed on our way, when you were buying food, a group of Wen Sect cultivators caught up. That, I discovered them early and left where I sat, hiding at the corner of the street and didn’t get caught, but they were patrolling the streets and would soon run into you outside.
That this was why I ran out and distracted them.
But just like how the past Wei WuXian couldn’t tell him the truth of giving him his golden core, the current Jiang Cheng wasn’t able to say anything either.
Chapter 110, Exiled Rebels Translation
And his adapted endings are in order:
1. Wang Zhuocheng trembling smile crying a single perfect tear as he whispers Take Care to WWX's retreating back, with a postcanon extra two years later of LWJ writing a letter to WWX, grumbling fondly about how noisy it is in the Cloud Recesses now that he and JC have reconciled and JC keeps coming over to cause a ruckus.
2. Donghua!Jiang Cheng finds out about the core transfer after Guanyin Temple amd has a breakdown about it so bad he swaps endings with Lan Xichen and goes into seclusion, leaving Jin Ling to fend for himself.
3. Manhua!Jiang Cheng has a brief awkward conversation about flute ownership and watches WWX leave kind of looking like he wants to say something, but doesn't even think about it meaning that Jiang Cheng's sacrifice technically isn't manhua canon and he really may have gotten caught going back for his parents' bodies.
These are some BUCKWILD shifts, particularly if Jiang Cheng's sacrifice really isn't supposed to be canon in the manhua. I am actually reasonably pro adaptational changes but these are three completely different men? I'd have to watch the donghua in depth and read the full manhua to really do any kind of analysis, which I actually do want to! The donghua ending kind of killed my interest for awhile although I started getting slowly getting it back a couple months ago, but the manhua ending has me almost weirdly pumped. Like I'm ready to sit down and go through this making notes so that I might Understand, and come back with my completed thesis to get my PhD in Jiang Cheng Studies.
It's also interesting how CQL and the donghua do the actual core reveal, too.
In CQL we get a flashback to a scene that we remember from the show the first time, when two Wens were right behind WWX as he was buying food, and there was the tension of if they were going to catch him before there was a yell from down the street and they ran off. In the flashback we see Wang Zhuocheng standing in the rain, seeing the Wens, and clearly making a decision to call attention to himself, so that the Wens don't catch WWX. He says "take care" then, and so the present-day "take care" is an echo of that.
The Donghua... is kind of weird about it, imo. One thing I love about the donghua is it really leans into the animation medium and how much more you can do with animation - fancier fight scenes, better magic, more metaphor and symbolism. And we get a ton of symbolism in the reveal, with JC basically going into a dark place where you see the shining golden core, etc. But the actual reveal is close to the novel in one sense - Wens in the street, JC is in the alley waiting for WWX (kind of catatonic), he sees them and... just kind of runs out? It's not, I think, very clear exactly what he's doing. It's very artsy and gets redrawn to JC running away from WWX which is... not really what's happening? Like, physically he's running away, but it's to lead the Wens away, not because he's abandoning WWX, which is how that animation feels to me. I think it muddles the reveal and muddles JC's feelings as he gets his hair fucked up by LWJ and is left to cry with his hair loose as LWJ and WWX sail away, with WWX kind of like "meh" about the whole thing.
The reveal of How Jiang Cheng Really Lost His Golden Core is meant to be a subversion of the reader's expectations. This whole time, JC was willing to sacrifice for WWX, too. He did it first, in fact! The heir to a great sect, his whole family murdered, the weight of his filial duty to avenge them weighing upon him, decided to throw it away because he wanted to save his shixiong. Throughout the book we are told things about Jiang Cheng that are later proven to be false, and this is the last, ultimate thing we (and WWX) were wrong about. It's the thing that makes people go feral for JC and the JC/WWX relationship. CQL especially lays it on thick with WZC and his single tear and wobbly smile.
So it's... not... essential to the plot, if you think the plot is WangXian. But it's a weird choice to cut it from the manhua considering just how much JC, his choices, and WWX's choices with respect to him, haunt the narrative (even though he is not present for a lot of the story).
I just discovered foodtimeline.org, which is exactly what it sounds like: centuries worth of information about FOOD. If you are writing something historical and you want a starting point for figuring out what people should be eating, this might be a good place?
Oh my god so I just had the most 🤢 brain worm but AU where JGY is actually a girl which makes things like ten times worse because yea, of course it does.
But the worst part is that in the scene with JGS and the prostitutes when he was bad talking Meng Shi he says this right...
Out of everything, just why did she have to bear a son, a son of a prostitute? What could she have hoped to…
But instead of this because JGY is female, he pulls a Donald Trump and says
"Out of everything, just why did she have to bear a daughter, a daughter of a prostitute? What could she have hoped to… *sigh* At least she does have a very nice figure. If Guangyao weren't my daughter perhaps I'd be dating* her."
This was the straw that broke the camel's back in canon too but now he gets an even more brutal death.
And well idk what happens after that.. maybe canon goes on like normal. But I just see JGS as such a sleazeball that he'd definitely say something like that.
*also he prob wouldn't say dating but like screwing or something worse
Yanli seemed embarrassed but there was also a vulnerability there that made Yu Ziyuan think twice about saying too much to her in front of everyone. She herself was a bit uncomfortable with displaying all of these emotions with an audience.
Yanli had been courageous when sticking up for the boys, but that courage had faltered when it came to herself. It made sense then that she would feel more vulnerable. She was accustomed to taking care of them but she wasn’t accustomed to having that much attention on her .
The boys cherished her a lot and looked up to her and maybe she didn’t feel comfortable showing this side of her to them. She was older than them and a girl to boot. It would not do to expose her insecurities in front of them.
“Alright then, if you insist there’s nothing to say then I won’t push you,” she said to her daughter who looked relieved.
“But you and I are going to have tea later, no excuses.”
Yanli winced but nodded, accepting that she would not get out of talking so easily, but that her mother would at least do her the kindness of talking to her in private.
Yu Ziyuan really did feel proud of her daughter at that moment. Yanli had never had an aptitude for cultivation. As a woman and a wife, their roles would be limited and a strong cultivation base did offer you a measure of freedom and protection. Strength meant that a man could not take advantage of you as much as one without strength. For a strong female cultivator like Yu Ziyuan, a daughter who was unable to cultivate a strong golden was disappointing. Still even though her daughter wasn’t a strong cultivator she could try to ensure she’d be protected by setting up an engagement with her dear friend's son. Her friend was strong and would be able to protect Yanli. She would be well taken care of. Since the engagement was no more, Yu Ziyuan had been worrying about her daughter’s future.
But now she had come to realise maybe she didn’t need to worry so much. Yanli may not have had much martial strength, but she did have strength nonetheless. Yanli had her own brand of strength that many others might not be able to claim. (And as for the marriage thing, well maybe the best way to protect her really was for her to just stay with her parents.
A-Cheng loved his sister, if anything happened to them he would surely take care of her. He wouldn’t force his sister into anything she didn’t want and he wouldn’t try to get rid of her. She could stay and be Lotus Pier’s darling for the rest of her life. Her only worry was that someone may like Yanli and try to force a marriage– she would have to try and find a way to prevent something like that.)
She’d focused too much of her energy on trying to get Jiang Fengmian to acknowledge A-Cheng. Now that Fengmian had supposedly seen the error of his ways, it was something she would hopefully not have to waste time on. She would spend some more time with her daughter now. Her daughter deserved her care and attention too. She may not be able to train her like she would with A-Cheng, but there were undoubtedly things that she could still pass on. She was a daughter of Meishan Yu after all.
She was no fool and clearly, neither was Yanli. The things her daughter had brought up, especially to her father who had never once listened when Yu Ziyuan spoke about any of them, were so to the point. She had never known that her daughter had noticed all of these things.
Yanli was so much more than her mother had given her credit for.
Yu Ziyuan took in her daughter’s tear-stained face and felt her heart sting. She promised herself she would do better by her.
She cupped Yanli’s face again and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Yanli blushed cherry-red, but looked shy and pleased. She smiled, a small, bashful thing, and oh! Why was that so adorable?
That’s it! Yanli was never getting married. She had everything she needed at Lotus Pier. If she fell in love with anyone he would have to move there. (Try and mistreat her daughter under her watch! 😤) And if Fengmian disagreed… well, there was a tanghulu stick with his name on it!
She turned away from Yanli before she did something undignified (like squealing and pinching her cheek). She was about to say well, good talk time to go (and slink back to her rooms to nurse her pride in peace) when she finally saw, from the side of her eye, what the rest of the room’s occupants were doing. Her husband was staring vacantly in their direction; he was probably trying to give them some measure of privacy and was likely thinking about some sect matter in the meantime.
On the other hand, A-Cheng was now sitting on the bed next to Wei Ying who was lying down but who was still managing to tease and pinch him. A-Cheng was batting his hands away and poking him but trying to be conscious of his wounds so he couldn’t retaliate as much as he would like. All of this they were doing silently so as not to draw the attention of the others in the room. She was aware they were probably trying to give Yanli some face by not paying attention to the mother-daughter pair, but at the same time it was just the way they were, always fooling around.
Usually this would annoy her. But today, something about the scene made her chest feel funny.
Jiang Cheng was scrabbling with Wei Wuxian and was acting all annoyed but he really wasn’t. That was just the way they played.
Boys. 🙄
She remembered something then, a long time ago, from even before she was married. Being on nighthunts with other young cultivators from the various sects was normal. She’d interacted with Jiang Fengmian and Wei Ying’s parents several times, though she had mainly just been polite as they were not friends themselves. Jiang Fengmian was the Jiang heir but he was close with his friend Wei Changze, despite the man’s low birth. It wasn’t uncommon that they would joke around with each other. Sometimes they would play fight too, but of course not in the same way.
She’d had a good youth. Her husband did too. But neither of their children had many such experiences. Their trip to Gusu (and unfortunately to the indoctrination camp) was the most interaction they had with other young cultivators (well in A-Cheng’s case… Yanli didn’t even have that). Sure there were events and competitions but they’d mainly be focusing on representing the sect then, not really on making friends.
Yu Ziyuan felt a pang of despair at the thought of her children both being so lonely. She’d had friends and so did Fengmian. But Jiang Cheng had had a hard time making friends; his naturally introverted character, his awkwardness and inability to express what he truly meant (that frustrated him and so often came out as anger instead), and his status had created a wall between him and the other children around Lotus Pier. He’d only had his puppies for company when her husband had brought back Wei Ying.
And Yanli, well Yanli could get along well enough with anyone. But her cultivation was not strong and she had not had the opportunity to really go out on nighthunts etc. and make friends. It didn’t help that there were very few daughters born among their peers. She herself didn’t have many friends but when she was young there were other young women who she considered friends, especially on night hunts. And she had her sisters. Yu Ziyuan also had Madame Jin, her dearest friend. Despite being married now with many responsibilities, they still remained close. And she couldn’t forget that Jinzhu and Yinzhu had grown up with her and followed her to her marital home so she had their constant companionship. But Yanli didn’t have anyone like that.
Wei Ying had made himself invaluable to her children for he was the only company they truly could be themselves with. Ironically, Wei Ying could make friends (or enemies) wherever he went, sociable as he was, and the boy who she’d disliked her husband bringing home had ended up providing both her children with the companionship they sorely lacked. Yes A-Cheng had to lose his dogs and yes A-Li still didn’t have any close female friends, but at least they weren’t so lonely anymore.
But Wei Ying was definitely a little troublemaker. As head disciple he was supposed to be helping the younger ones to maintain discipline, yet he often led them into shenanigans and caused trouble instead. The boy had to learn that not everyone was as gifted as him so they needed to work harder on their cultivation. He should be motivating them! If he led them astray all the time they wouldn’t learn!
And A-Cheng got into mischief with him and got scolded by her for it many times. But the fact that A-Cheng was comfortable enough with him to go along with his nonsense proved that they had a close relationship. It helped him to connect with his fellow disciples too, who he still was a bit awkward around. If it wasn’t for Wei Ying, he might not have been able to become closer with them like this. He was going to be the sect leader, A-Cheng would have to know and be able to work with these disciples. They would be his subordinates in the future. It would be difficult for him if he didn’t interact with them and get to know them. It was undeniable that Wei Ying was instrumental in helping with that.
To A-Cheng, Wei Ying was more than just the head disciple, he was his good friend. And she knew A-Li saw him as a little brother. Despite her disapproval they both treated him like a part of the family. And despite his father’s obvious favouritism, A-Cheng still trailed after him like a puppy. He was supposed to be the future leader but was following the one rumoured to be his father’s bastard (a rumour which he stayed totally silent on, never confirming but never denying it either). The one who could very well threaten his place in the sect if it was true and her husband decided to legitimise him. It used to infuriate her. It used to fill her with unspeakable dread. If Fengmian really did sire the boy and he decided A-Cheng wasn’t good enough, he could easily replace A-Cheng. His father’s indifference already hurt him; this would destroy her son.
But Fengmian had told the boy directly that he wasn’t his father. He wouldn’t lie to Wei Ying. Not about that. If the boy was his he would definitely not have told him otherwise since he liked him more than A-Cheng.
And that confirmation had done so much more to ease her heart than any promises Fengmian made.
He said that he would try to be better to A-Cheng and he’d asked her to try together with him to improve their relationship. These things might happen or they might not. But the fact that he wasn’t Wei Ying’s father meant that her son’s place was secure, whether his father ever approved of him or not.
She’d been holding on to that fear for so long that she felt almost weak with relief now that she didn’t have to worry about it.
With that out of the way, she also didn’t have much reason (other than his mischievous ways) to dislike Wei Ying.
She’d never hated him insomuch as what he represented anyway. If he could be a bit more disciplined he would be a perfect disciple. He was already touted as a genius. All he needed was a bit of reigning in. His energy needed to be directed somewhere other than causing mischief.
Moving closer to the bed she observed them for a moment.
“Wei Ying.”
He dropped his hand that was going in for another pinch immediately and looked at her guiltily, cursing internally that he’d been caught unawares, too absorbed with teasing Jiang Cheng to realise that Madame Yu had finished talking to Yanli.
“Sorry Madame Yu.”
“What are you sorry for? Don’t think I didn’t see you poking him, A-Cheng.”
A-Cheng flushed. “Sorry Mum.”
She wasn’t even scolding them. These children, really.
“Wei Ying, you will rest for the next week, and I mean rest .” She looked at them significantly and they both frowned unhappily. She meant proper convalescence which she knew Wei Ying would chafe at because for some reason he really never could sit still, but he needed to recover.
“Yes Madame Yu,” he said dejectedly.
“Jiang Chunhua will take over your duties temporarily for now. When you’re better you’re going to start advanced talisman classes.”
He perked up but then looked at her in disbelief, sharing a stunned glance with Jiang Cheng.
“San-Niang, what..? May I ask why this all of a sudden?” came the shocked voice of Jiang Fengmian.
“A-Cheng is going to be learning to wield a whip with me. He cannot take over head disciple duties. Wei Ying also lost his sword to the Wens. He cannot progress anymore with a training sword. He could lead the disciple’s drills but so can someone else. It is better for him to study something he can use in the meantime, don't you think? What is the use of having him doing drills which will not help him?”
“Yes My Lady, you are right.” Jiang Fengmian was surprised she had thought of such a thing and considered A-Ying’s progress as important as A-Cheng’s.
The trick, she thought, to settling his restless soul that was always ready for trouble, was to set him an interesting but challenging task and let him get out his excess energy there.
“Well, do you understand? If you take your bedrest seriously then you’ll get to start sooner. The longer you take to recover the longer it will take before you will be able to learn.”
When Wei Ying realised that she was serious, he couldn’t help the excited grin on his face.
“Yes Madame Yu! This disciple will rest well.”
“See that you do. A-Cheng, you will rest today and tomorrow too.”
“Yes Mum.”
She patted his head gently, and ran her fingers through the strands of his hair with care.
“Both of you did well,” she said, “They will all see that our sect has excellent disciples, not to be trifled with. But it is important to remember to take care of your bodies. Your cultivation can’t progress if you neglect your health. Your body and mind needs to have balance. We can’t have our best disciples falling ill.”
She turned to her daughter, “A-Li, remember we will have tea later. You can come to my pavilion before dinner.”
And with one last pat to Jiang Cheng’s head, she left, with them staring after her in stunned silence.
Yu Ziyuan had never complimented Wei Ying like that before, and she had never openly expressed worries about his health.
Jiang Fengmian was the most shocked out of all of them. He felt strange.
“Well, I should leave you to get your rest A-Ying,” he said, almost absentmindedly as his gaze had not left Yu Ziyuan’s retreating back, though she was no longer in the doorway.
He didn’t even hear Wei Ying’s response as he trailed out the door almost in a daze.
And then there were three.
They all looked at each other, confused as to what just happened.
Jiang Yanli went to sit on the bed as well.
“A-Xian, A-Cheng, I’m glad you’ll be getting to do advanced training. It would feel better to have some means of protection without your swords, right?”
“Mm,” said Wei Wuxian as Jiang Cheng nodded.
“Jiejie, are you alright,” said Jiang Cheng, worried about his sister who had never had an outburst like that before.
She took his hand in hers and patted it gently. “Jiejie is fine, don’t worry.”
“Shijie, do you think Uncle Jiang and Madame Yu will get along better now?” asked Wei Wuxian.
She sighed, “Well we can only hope so can’t we? For our family.”
“Jiejie… thank you,” said Jiang Cheng shyly.
“There’s no need to thank me, jiejie will always look out for you. It was time someone said something. Our family could not go on like that,” she said, “Jiejie may not be as strong as you two, but jiejie can still protect you in her own way.”
“Shijie is strong enough!” said Wei Wuxian.
“Yeah!” agreed Jiang Cheng.
She smiled at them and pulled them both in for a group hug. They clutched at each other, suddenly serious and taking comfort from the intimacy. It had been an emotionally draining day, for all of them. Her brothers were also both exhausted and A-Xian was injured.
“Okay well Mother is right, you two need rest. Please don’t cause us to worry any more. A-Cheng, A-Xian, you must always take care of yourselves, okay?”
“Alright shijie,” A-Xian said, chastised.
“We will A-jie.”
She ruffled both of their heads and took her leave.
Jiang Yanli did not know what would happen in the future. She could only hope and pray that things would get better.
She had not started the day expecting any of this to take place. She was a quiet, mild-mannered girl who was not fond of conflict. But that didn’t mean that she didn’t notice when conflict was occurring. In their family there was never a moment of peace to be had. The storm in her had been brewing for a long time, and it finally came to a head. The raging winds in her heart had forced their way out and the sheer unexpectedness of it had caused her family to listen to her.
Storms could cause great damage. Her outburst could have backfired and caused a lot more problems than they already had.
But storms were also cleansing. They could be rejuvenating.
After a storm, the world feels like it's new again. When the clouds part and the sun shines, a new sense of peace emerges.
And if you’re really lucky, you might even get a rainbow.
The End (or truly, The Beginning)
------------------------------
Thank you all who made it this far 🥰
I debated on having yzy apologise to wwx but I decided that would definitely not fit with her, instead her character is more likely to gradually change her behaviour towards him now that he is no longer a threat to her child's future and jfm has explicitly said he isn't the father.
So this is the end for now guys. Thanks for sticking with it! I may have small sequels posted separately if I get the time.
stormborns
dailybridgerton
dededos
theartofmadeline
kaledo-art
romaincrisis
