"suguru, I've Finally Caught Up With You."

rare sighting of the infamous yiling patriach crawling out of his blanket cave to kiss his husband good day

winning card

beautiful beloved 💛🩵

i think one of the most wonderful traits of wei wuxian is how socially competent he is, which is why it always annoys me if he is mischaracterized as someone who is unaware about how those around him feel, just because of the way his relationship with lan wangji pans out in the books. the dynamic between them was extremely multifaceted and what seemed obvious to us was very rightfully NOT obvious to wei wuxian and he hardly had time to sort those feelings out, given the kind of harrowing ordeals he was going through. but that aside–the way wei wuxian’s “social competence” manifests isn’t just social courage–in that, the risk of embarassment or self-consciousness doesn’t stop his self expression–or just his general forwardness and social butterfly tendencies but also–and imo, most importantly–his perceptiveness and astute reading of people around him which comes from a deep understanding of the human social element, at the individual and the societal level.

he has full awareness of how his station is looked down upon in the cultivation world and so while others in his situation may bend or break–wei wuxian cleverly toes the line between the two until taking a stance becomes necessary. he deeply understands the ugly dynamics running within the jiang family and clan and acts accordingly–be it his prompt efforts to placate jiang cheng or his conscious silence when madame yu is in a mood or even his acceptance of the whipping in lieu of restoring stability for the clan. despite his personal biases against jin zixuan, he can recognise his bravery. even his scandalous move to begin undressing in the cave shows that he knows exactly what would make lan wangji tick.

hell, i’d say even his initial thought about how the resentment of the dead can be redirected towards a target shows his striking comprehension of how emotions work in general. what’s more, he’s able to recognise the machinations nie huaisang had employed and he was also aware of the bigger picture associated with how fickle and easily swayed mob mentality was when everyone took part in bashing jin guangyao when certain truths came to light. when he was first brought back to life, he quickly and correctly deduced what kind of life mo xuanyu must have led and how he could act in order to easily humiliate the mo family. he empathised with jin ling and yet realised how he was brought up left something to be desired and so, tried to inculcate some of his own highly regarded values to him.

the deft manner in which he handled the juniors speaks for itself–a good teacher will always have good communication skills and wei wuxian went above and beyond just “good”. his people skills on nighthunts are extremely helpful–his ability to make tongues loose simply by charming people is highlighted more than once. just off the top of my head–him politely appealing to jin guangshan about the wen remnants and apologising for “intruding”, him readily handing in his sword at the indoctrination camps, him suggesting to jiang cheng that he should leave the clan once he was at the burial mounds–all of this (and much much more) demonstrates wei wuxian’s competence at guaging complex social dynamics, which is why, when he goes against the current and stands firm, it is a deliberate, well thought out decision, one made after considering the risks and repercussions, and that makes wei wuxian’s stance at the end that much more powerful. he is not stumbling his way through life, is not unheeding of his social status, is not a “mad genius with poor social skills”. hell, i would say wei wuxian’s ability to see straight through people is more impressive than even his insane intellect and to reduce that aspect of him feels like a disservice to his character. because when it comes down to it, the fact of the matter is that the murky social world through wei wuxian’s lens is actually astonishingly clear.

I see this a lot in fics, especially ones that use demon cultivation versus ghost cultivation, but Wei Wuxian's cultivation isn't easy. I keep seeing people write it like it is some easy thing that people were doing in droves, but other than certain talismans, we aren't given any indication that anybody else learned how to use Guidao. It takes a certain level of mental fortitude, empathy, respect, humbleness and discipline to achieve to do even a tenth of what Wei Wuxian does.

smooch!

I so very desperately want a crack MDZS mistaken identity AU where somehow the entire Jianghu becomes convinced that not only are Wei Wuxian and the Yiling Patriarch separate people, but that Wei Wuxian has become the Yiling Patriarch's wife/concubine/sex slave (whichever is funnier).

Bonus points if the misunderstanding becomes so widespread because Jiang Cheng throws a hissy fit over the misconception. Lan Zhan should also have exactly one (1) drink and promptly try to go on a drunken one night wife-stealing quest.

MASSIVE KUDOS if someone manages to write in everyone jumping to the conclusion that Wen Yuan is Wei Wuxian's biological child with the Patriarch, and just immediately assuming in relation to that, that evil resentment powers somehow gave Wei Wuxian a working womb. Somehow. Cue Lan Zhan chugging vinegar in a corner.

Everyone is screaming inside. Wei Wuxian says at some crucial point to everyone the truth that he is the Patriarch. No one believes him.

I would write this AU myself, but while my heart says yes, my mediocre writing skills say no.

okay I harp on about the differences between mdzs the novel and the untamed but isn’t it more impactful that wen qing didn’t know wei wuxian and jiang cheng before she chose to help them? all she fucking knew about wwx was that he was nice to her brother. and jc was actively insane with grief for the three seconds he was conscious in her presence. but she helped them anyway. not because she knew them or really cared about them on a personal level, but because she was a good person who didn’t want anyone to suffer if she had the ability to do something about it. because she was a doctor through and through. that’s why it’s so unfair when nie mingjue criticizes her for not stopping the wens (something he knew she wasn’t realistically capable of). without jiang cheng, his sect, and wei wuxian they never would’ve won the sunshot campaign. by helping jc and wwx, she won them that war and they killed her anyway and called it justice.

Wei Wuxian: I birthed you! Show a little filial respect!

Lan Sizhui: Didn’t you claim it was a c-section last time you used that on me?

Wei Wuxian: Oh yeah! *points at his abdomen where the scar from the core removal used to be on his old body* It was right here! Your auntie spent hours cutting you out of me.

Lan Sizhui: This is possibly the darkest joke you’ve ever made, A-Die.

Jiang Cheng: *flipping between turning green and purple with rage* I hate both of you. Lan Sizhui, you are his son, and I’m banning you both from Lotus Pier.

Jin Ling: But I think they’re fun, JiuJiu!

Jiang Cheng: I’m banning you too.

Something I love about WWX is that he never regrets saving the Wens. The strength of his conviction is just…inspiring.

And it’s not that he just accepts what happened in his first life. We see several moments where he’s sarcastic or otherwise recognizes the hypocrisy of the sects. We see others when he recalls the pain he endured. Even after his resurrection, he’s still not okay with how the sects treated him then and still treat him now.

It’s also not that he’s just not the type to regret his decisions. I think that’s part of it, but we saw in his conversation with JC about the core transfer that he had to persuade himself he was okay with it. He is a person who looks forward rather than backwards, but that’s a deliberate action as well as a natural perspective.

“But, let the self judge the right and the wrong, let others decide to praise or to blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on.”

This is a hard philosophy to hold to! When someone has encountered a major loss, it’s pretty natural to wish it hadn’t happened or think about what they could have done differently. And WWX lost terribly, but he never thinks he shouldn’t have saved the Wens. He told us that whether he won or lost didn’t matter because he knew what the right thing to do was, and his resolution was put to the test, but he kept it.

It’s especially impressive because for almost the entire story, he doesn’t even know that A-Yuan survived. He goes through the story thinking he only managed to save Wen Ning, who still suffered terribly. But he never thinks that his sacrifice was in vain, and therefore it was meaningless. It wasn’t meaningless to do the right thing, even if it didn’t work out. This kind of conviction is just…really impressive.