I Think This Whole "Wei Wuxian Has Low Self-worth" Take Comes From Viewing His Heroism Through A Purely

Idk what's happening here, But !(☝️) it is very pretty

Inquiry

( Lwj version for @czeriah )

hating/criticising jiang cheng for his canonical shitty behaviour is not “bashing” like girl, he wasn’t written in a way to be likeable as a person and anyone bringing that up or expressing their dislike for him doesn’t make them an unreasonable cynic incapable of seeing his “goodness” like pls let’s have some sense here; calling jin guangshan a predatory sleazebag is not “bashing” because that’s literally his canonical reading, just the way calling jiang cheng an asshole manchild is literally his characterisation in the book. bashing is what you’d call the bad faith call-outs towards characters like wei wuxian where the hate is moreso a result of intense personal bias than actual source material backing. bashing is where you make an unnecessary mockery out of characters who don’t seem to deserve it. but rightfully disliking jiang cheng & making a post about it is not bashing and people need to stop thinking that being unsympathetic towards an antagonistic figure needs a thesis to justify the dislike, otherwise it’s illogical nonsense––because the thesis already exists and it’s called mdzs.

Imagining a hualian mermaid au where hua cheng is a mermaid

When he was younger some poachers caught him and they marveled at his bright red tail. he tried his best to cover it with seaweed and stay out of sight

But he gets caught

Xie Lian happens to be sailing nearby and he spots the poachers and demands they release honghong er

Honghong er is frightened by it all and swims away. He spends the rest of his youth hiding in an underwater cave. Never does he forget the kind human who saved him

Xie Lian’s village is destroyed by the poachers who turn out to be pirates because of this act. Then he is kidnapped by the pirates and made a slave aboard their boat

He tries to stay upbeat and kind toward the other victims and prisoners he encounters but it’s *hard*

Meanwhile, Hua Cheng makes a name for himself as the terror of the seas. You know he is near when the waves turn crimson

He spots this ship and attacks it for entering his domain—a haven where merfolk are safe from humankind. He watches the pirates begin to drown, a smile on his face

Then he spots one—an unconscious man in tattered white robes—a face he could never forget. He races Xie Lian to the surface and resuscitates him. Pleading with his savior to stay with him. To stay alive.

Xie Lian wakes up. He instantly recognizes Hua Cheng. He smiles.

“It’s you,” he whispers, placing a hand on the merman’s cheek. He never stopped thinking of the mermaid. He never regretted saving him.

Hua Cheng just stares and stares and stares. Disbelieving. He treats his beloved’s wounds. He can’t speak above the surface. His vocal cords don’t work right.

Xie Lian remains on a small island while he heals. Hua Cheng hunts fish for him and watches the human cook it. Xie Lian talks at length about where he is from and the life he’s lived. Hua Cheng listens with rapt attention

One day, when Xie Lian has recovered, and meat has returned to his bones, Hua Cheng offers him, on a thin silver chain, a ring made of his own scales.

When Xie Lian puts it on, he transforms into a merman. An elegant one with a pretty white and gold scaled tail.

They go to Hua Cheng’s domain and Xie Lian quickly picks up the language of the merfolk

Hua Cheng explains that Xie Lian can take off the necklace at any time and return to his human life up on land. To return home.

“Maybe I’ll visit someday,” Xie Lian smiles. “But as far as Im concerned I *am* home.”

I wonder if Jin Guangyao ever had the strange feeling he was parenting a small Jiang Cheng. Probably not when Jin Ling was happy—when would he have spent any time with a happy Jiang Cheng?—but imagine Jin Guangyao watching Jin Ling try food he's unsure about and the deeply suspicious expression is exactly like Jiang Cheng listening to Sect Leader Yao at the last conference. Jin Ling's big childhood feelings, his outbursts of temper and sulking, his desire to do well and prove himself (to his terrible cousins) all make Jiang Cheng's behaviour (though more publicly contained) increasingly familiar. Something something unwanted diagonal intimacies. Somehow even this leads to divorce (Guanyin Temple).

One of the things I love most about Lan Zhan is that he didn't make Wei Yings death about himself. About his anger or his loneliness or his regret. It was all about keeping Wei Ying alive in any way he could. In the way he worked to change his sect. In how he went out of his way to help people who needed it most. In making sure Sizhui grew up healthy and surrounded by people who cared for him. I think the only 'selfish' thing he did do was allow himself to be freely angry and annoyed with Jiang Cheng. To be the little menace he always holds himself back from truly being.

Lan Zhan had every right to bring down his fury onto the cultivation world for what they did to Wei Ying and the Wen Remnants but he didn't because that was never what Wei Ying truly wanted. I think there's more nuance to that kind of love then the kind that demands one side to burn the world for the other.

night escape

Time travel AU where post canon Lan Qiren travels back in time to when Wei Wuxian is 4 and has just lost his parents. Lan Qiren may hate the man (now boy), but he still follows the rules strictly and will not kill. Instead, Lan Qiren finds a 4 year old Wei Wuxian cowering in an alley hiding from dogs. He protects the boy because the rules tell him that it is his duty to do so.

There is a spiteful part of him that wants to send this boy far away. However, he reconsiders when he thinks of how the Wei Wuxian in his previous life created Demonic Cultivation when left unattended. The best way to keep the boy in line, Lan Qiren figures, is to raise him himself as a ward. Keep your friends close but your enemies closer, they say.

So that is exactly what Lan Qiren does.

Wei Wuxian is brought back to the Cloud Recesses and raised as a ward alongside Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji. Lan Qiren would prefer otherwise, but he doesn't trust anyone else but himself to control Wei Wuxian.

As time goes by, Wei Wuxian proves to be the same and different to the one that Lan Qiren knew previously. He's energetic and mischievous, carefree, with a love for teasing others. Every bit as genius and inventive as Lan Qiren knew of the boy in his previous life. However, there was a strong sense of justice that he didn't notice the last time (or refused to see, but it would take years for him to admit to himself).

And Wei Wuxian thrives in a way that Lan Qiren didn't expect. He knew that Wei Wuxian was powerful and intelligent, yet he did not realize just how so. As much as the boy loved to tease and joke around, he could also be found in the Library Pavilion studying whatever random topic caught his interest. Talking everyone's ears off on what he learned or ways that certain things can be improved upon.

It infuriates Lan Qiren to no end because many times, Wei Wuxian is right. Many times, Wei Wuxian just needs guidance to find the right direction or a different perspective. Since Lan Qiren was raising him alongside his own nephews, the people that Wei Wuxian goes to the most are them: Lan Qiren, Lan Xichen, and Lan Wangji. The latter two always happy and excited to discuss the myriad topics, while the former confused as to the feelings he's having for the boy.

Lan Qiren's sister-in-law passes, and Wei Wuxian kneels next to Lan Wangji in the snow for hours silently in comfort. It's the first indication that the boy is secretly kind and compassionate (not so much if had he paid attention the last time and rid himself of clouded judgments). It's the event that causes the two boys to be inseparable. Of course Lan Qiren is worried but, he tells himself that he will not let them marry. He will not let Wei Wuxian turn into that evil man he ended up being.

Years keep going by, and Lan Qiren finds himself slowly warming up to Wei Wuxian. He's there for many important firsts (losing his teeth, golden core formation, getting his sword, etc). He will never admit that his heart squeezed when the boy accidentally calls him A-die without thinking because he's so excited about something he's learned.

Jiang Fengmian comes to the Cloud Recesses when he finds out that Weo Wuxian is there. Desperately, he tried to convince Lan Qiren to let the boy become a part of Yunmeng Jiang. But Lan Qiren is adamant in his refusal. The boy was raised there the last time and look at how he ended up! He doesn't know that this fundamentally changed Wei Wuxian's destiny. From a tragic hero given a second chance to a free boy allowed to be happy.

The Jiang sect leader mentions during this visit that Wei Wuxian owes Lan Qiren a life debt. It's something that hadn't crossed Lan Qiren's mind. Not really. He had been raising the boy selfishly to change a horrible future. Sure. However, it was against the rules and his own morals to demand a child pay reparations to be allowed to live. He has felt the same way when Lan Sizhui, his good perfect Lan Sizhui, had been adopted into the family. To Lan Qiren, it was unfathomable to demand payment from a child in such ways.

And anyway, Wei Wuxian's genius was already making itself known. If the boy invented even half of what he came up with in his previous life (Lan Qiren crossed his fingers for no Demonic Cultivation), then the Lan Sect would be paid in full from the proceeds.

Still, years continued to creep by, and Lan Qiren began to feel pride in Wei Wuxian. He followed the rules decently well, received his punishment with little protest, and had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. The boy could be seen at any given moment debating an array of topics with seniors, elders, and peers.

When Wei Wuxian started going on night hunts with Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji, the three became known as the Three Jades of Lan. Pride bloomed even more in Lan Qiren's heart. He had successfully turned Wei Wuxian into a good and polished man. What he didn't realize was that he gave structure to a boy who needed it and didn't make him feel guilty for existing.

The Wens came and tried to burn the Cloud Recesses down but didn't succeed. Between Lan Qiren, Wei Wuxian, Lan Xichen, and Lan Wangji, the wards were strengthened, and the books copied and protected. The Sunshot campaign took longer to fight because Wei Wuxian had learned long ago of the dangers to the mind and body that it caused. He had also learned that he shouldn't rip himself apart to help others. Lan Qiren had implored the boy to never try and had used the boy's love and adoration for Lan Xichen and especially Lan Wangji to convince him.

After the Sunshot campaign, Wei Wuxian comes to Lan Qiren about the innocent Wens cultivator and noncultivator alike. By this point, Lan Qiren can agree that innocent people should not die because of selfish greed and blind prejudice. There are years of trials completed by a multisect jury. The Wen sect survives but becomes a minor sect by the time the trials and reparations are completed. Under Wen Qionglin, they focus on medicine and archery.

Wen Qionglin swears brotherhood with Wei Wuxian. It doesn't surprise Lan Qiren in the least bit. Had it been a lifetime ago, it would've infuriated him yet with all these years and direct dealings with Wen Qionglin, he respects the boy. Admires the gentleness that hides a fierce strength and sense of justice. Especially admires Wen Qing, who Lan Xichen ends up falling for and marrying. Again, had it been a lifetime ago, he would've lost his mind. Now, Lan Qiren can see Wen Qing for her genius, her directness, strictness, and her advancements in medicine.

After Lan Xichen and Wen Qing marry, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian approach Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen to ask about marriage. There is no denying them at this point because he knows that the Wei Wuxian of his previous life is nothing like this current Wei Wuxian (he is but Lan Qiren has no one to admit it to). And anyway, he knows the two will simply elope if denied.

It's several years later, when Lan Qiren finally sits Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Lan Xichen down and tells them a story from a lifetime ago in a forgotten timeliness that may exist somewhere out there if you believe in multiple universes (not surprisingly Wei Wuxian does). They patiently listen as Lan Qiren details everything. There is silence for a long, unbearable moment when he's finished speaking.

Eventually, it's broken by a hug from Wei Wuxian, "Thank you, A-die, for giving me another chance in this life."

"I should be the one thanking you, A-Ying," Lan Qiren says softly, himself grateful for his second life.

my hot take is that lan wangji recognises when he's being flirted with—it is the fact that wei wuxian appears to not take the flirting seriously that enrages him

Pretty Wei Ying is always good - bunnies only make it better

Then vs Now

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