nessa

Suddenly became a princess one day:

part 1

part 2: After Dad Lost his memories

part 3

sidestories:

Dragon Gift

Lovely Princess

Lucas' Past

all of them are in wattpad so please show some love to the people who translated or MTL-ed💫✨

(๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

SBAPOD has an open ending. Athy studies to become empress. Lucas does his own thing as a magician of the black tower. They do end up together because their feelings are mutual.

There are side stories that make me kind of sad.

-Claude's POV is one of them

-Claude's memories with Diana

-Lucas goes dimension traveling which includes the time where Athy ended up with Ezekiel(cries for my boy), another world where he meets his daughter, and another world where he ate Blackie while Diana was pregnant with Athy so that dimension is probably very happy, and then one where he is in Seoul.

-Lucas' past is one of the side stories.

Lucas brings a dragon as a present at some point bc he didn't know what Athy would like and when he asked her what girls like, she lowkey got jealous and said "I don't know, go get her a dragon."

Never mentioned it but Lucas is actually gonna be seen more frequently if time allows it because... um, I've kinda been lying a tinsy bit.

Also they dance together at some point.

Also when original Athy died in the novel, Claude didn't get a happy ending because Jeannette was a cursed child conceived from black magic.

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Okay so, as you may already know, Jenette Margarita is a child conceived through black magic by Anastacius (Claude’s older brother) and Penelope Judith (Claude’s former fiancée).

However, there is something very important to note: in the novel, it’s very well specified that Jenette is neither human or Anastacius’ « child »: just as Lucas said, she’s just something that « exists ». Her jewelled eyes are caused by the fact that Anastacius used a few drops of his blood to create her. Therefore, she has no royal blood or magic (contrary to Anastacius, Claude and Athanasia). Her eyes regain their true color (green, just like Penelope) after her magic/mana is sealed by Karax. So she’s basically a Penelope’s « clone » so to say. Penelope was persuaded that her baby would give her glory and success, but she died during childbirth, only letting a letter saying that her child had royal blood (but not precising if Jenette’s was Claude of Anastacius’ child).

Anastasius’ plan was to create a child stronger than Claude (who inherited the royal Blue Magic, which Anastacius either did not inherit or is very weak), to kill him, but it kinda failed, as not only Claude killed him, but also because Jenette doesn’t have any powerful magic (though she does unleashes a black mana electric storm when Claude tells her that she is not his child. But it’s not strong enough to hurt him and Lucas easily controls it), but rather a magic that follows her desires to be loved, her cravings for affection.

Therefore, when she unconsciously uses it on people, they immediately adore her but feel suffocated. At some point of the novel, Athanasia learns how to “dissipate” the effects of Jenette’s magic in people and they immediately said that suddenly, they felt lighter, that the could breathe more easily and that some of them had headaches that disappeared.

The ones to name her were probably her aunt and Roger Alpheus. They gave her the name Jenette, a perfect name for a princess , as it means « God is gracious » (because they couldn’t give her an eternity/immortality related name, as the emperor could be the one one to do so). When she was a child, she overheard her aunt talking with duchess Alpheus: they were unsure that Jenette truly was Claude’s child, but Jenny didn’t really mind it.

Remember that in order to forget Diana and Athanasia’s existence, Claude used black magic to “freeze his heart”, but it failed and he ended up hating them instead. It would have took him several years for truly forget Diana, and that’s what happened in the Lovely Princess timeline: in WMMAP, Claude met Athanasia when she was 5 years old, and he had therefore not completely forgot Diana, contrary to TLP, where he first met Athanasia when she was 9, and he had already forgot her and Diana, and therefore could never consider her as his child :’). He was kinda weakened by that black magic, and it worsened with Jenette’s apparition, as she unconsciously used her own black magic to make him love her (she also used it on pretty much everyone). Jenette was basically absorbing Claude’s vital energy like a leech.

In a spin-off of the novel, Athanasia ends up in the Lovely Princess world, and has to switch places with that world’s Athanasia (let’s call her LP!Athy). She noticed that LP!Jenette seems to kinda brag about Claude’s affection to her (as LP!Jenette thinks that she’s LP!Athy), and under her breath, she (our Athanasia) calls her a cuckoo (because cuckoos place their eggs in other bird’s nests, and once they hatch, baby cuckoos kick-off the real bird’s eggs to take their place and survive. Athanasia is basically saying that LP!Jenette is a cuckoo that stole LP!Athy’s dad and position). But LP!Jenette hears her, and also under her breath, tells her « The cuckoo here is not me »: LP!Jenette knows that Claude is not her real dad (I don’t know how she knows though. Remember that contrary to the manhwa, Anastacius is definitely dead, so he can’t be the one to tell her), but she estimates that because Claude killed her father and mother, depriving her of her family and her status of crown princess, he must repent by spoiling her and taking care of her instead of Athanasia. So according to her, LP!Athanasia is the real cuckoo, as she « tries » to steal her rightful position. After all, if Anastacius had not died, Athanasia would not have been a princess.

Claude gets in a coma because of some LP!Lucas doings. So Jenette, as the heir and older princess (Jenette is the second princess but she is older, as Athanasia is the first princess because she received the title first, as Claude had no other choice but to give her the title of first/crown princess/heir to the throne at her debutante because she was his only descendant at that moment. But after Jenette arrived and was obviously favored by Claude, she was publicly proclaimed as the heir to the throne) should be the one taking care of the Empire. But she absolutely refuses to do so, despite her aunt and duke Alpheus’ insistence, because she wants to stay be her father’s side. So LP!Athanasia is the one who must take care of it. Everyone is kinda mean/doubtful to her at first, but then they realise that she is very capable despite her lack of experience concerning state affairs, as she studied hard during her whole life to please Claude and show him that she was a worthy princess. So yeah, Jenette is totally a spoiled child. She never helped Athanasia, who was sick a few days before that and even threw up blood.

And honestly, considering her attitude in “The Lovely Princess”, I doubt the really felt remorseful or guilty about Athanasia’s execution.

Yes, dear friends, the sweet Jenette is quite dark and mean. And sadly, it’s not only in the world of The Lovely Princess:

Contrary to what happens in the webtoon, Athanasia doesn’t hide in the Alpheus when she is escaping from Claude, but she does visit Jenette once, so they don’t create a such great bond like they do in the manhwa, and Claude never calls Jenette to calm his headaches. After Claude regains his memories, he tells Athanasia to distance herself from Jenette because he doesn’t like her (after meeting her at the debutante, he immediately understood that she was Penelope and Anastacius’ child) , and Athanasia instead becomes great friends with marquis Elaine’s daughter, Helena Elaine (aka lily girl, who is in love with the lone black wolf, Lucas). She and Claude even visit the Elaine estate quite often, so Claude can have tea with the marquis while Athy and Helena have fun. 

So Jenette keeps longing for her « family »’s love, but she feels rejected, and starts feeling jealous of Athanasia and having magic « crises ». She even accidentally injured Ijekiel’s arm because she (unconsciously) did not want him to go to see Athanasia at some party, because she is in love with Ijekiel, but she knows that he loves Athanasia. 

Very soon, she begins to distance herself from Athanasia, because even if she still loves her, she feels bad whenever she sees her and hates feeling like that. She even avoids Athanasia at social events. 

When she meets Lucas, she says that she wants to be friends with him, because she’s kinda jealous of his relationship with Athanasia. She tells herself « If Athanasia is friends with him, why couldn’t I? ». But Lucas totally and bluntly tells her that he wants nothing to do with her. Jenette basically tells him « but you’re not like that with Athanasia! And Athanasia is my friend so you shouldn’t talk like that to me ». Lucas is kinda pissed so he tells her that contrary to her, Athanasia is an important person who works a lot for the well-being of the Empire and that she shouldn’t address to the princess so familiarly. 

One day, she meets them (Lucathy) with Ijekiel and tells that they look like great, intimate friends (which is like. Something super impolite to say to an unmarried princess) to purposely hurt Ijekiel. Lucas warns her to be correct to the princess, and that if it weren’t for Athanasia’s forgiveness, she would have already arrested for insulting the royal family. 

I don’t remember when this happened, but one day, when she is at the Sapphire palace’s gardens, she meets Carax who messes up her mana: it was kinda sealed and therefore she couldn’t use it fully, but now she almost can’t control it, along with her feelings.

At some point, Roger Alpheus (who even kinda appreciates Athy now, lol) decided that it was for the better not to present her to Claude, as he knew that she would never get his favours and affection, but Jenette insists and keeps throwing tantrums because she feels betrayed. He doesn’t want her to go to the party celebrating Arlanta’s delegation’s departure, but she uses her magic on him to convince him.

At the party, she states that she hates her behaviour, but can’t bring herself to feel guilty about it. She declares her feelings to Ijekiel, but he rejects her (quite sweetly though: he tells her that he’s profoundly sorry for hurting her, and that he knows the pain of unrequited love and never wanted to inflict it to her. He adds that he could never see her as a woman, but that she is his precious little sister. He also tells her that not everything in life can go as she wants and that he can’t always follow her decisions, which makes her feel bad because she thinks that nothing has ever went as she wants). Then, she gets angry and tells him that in the same way he doesn’t love her back, Athanasia will never love him back. She really enjoys that Ijekiel is almost about to cry, and that for once, she isn’t the sad one. Ijekiel tells her that he is happy as long as Athanasia is happy, even if it’s with another man. Jenette tells him that it’s stupid.

She is shocked to see that Ijekiel won’t go back about his feelings, because she always assumed that she would marry him and become the next duchess Alpheus (I assume she had already understood that she wouldn’t get the crown princess title).

She wants her loved ones to suffer just like she did, and firmly believes that she deserves Claude’s love way more than Athanasia because she has longed for it during all her life, and that Athanasia doesn’t deserve Ijekiel’s love. As Ijekiel keeps trying to confort her and rejecting her, she slaps him (I’m not sure about his lol), but he only asks her to forgive him and hugs her.

Then, she starts wandering around the gardens of the palace, and she suddenly realises that even if she doesn’t want to go back to the Alpheus’s estate, she doesn’t have anywhere to go. And she suddenly meets Claude. Completely desesperated, she shows him her jewelled eyes, but Claude coldly rejects her.

Once Claude tells her that he is not her father, she calls Athanasia a thief who stole Claude away from her. Claude tells her that the only reasons why he did not kill her were that she was the proof of Penelope and Anastacius/ failure, and because Athanasia likes her. She notices that Athanasia always knew that they were not sisters and calls her a liar, and tries to kill/hurt her using her black magic. Then, she creates that dark magic storm I talked about just before.

Claude calls the head of the Black Tower (he’s the one who tried to cure Athy when she was 8 but failed. He’s an especialist in mana), who tells him that her mana is disgusting and darkened by her hate and dark feelings, and that she doesn’t have a drop of royal blood or magic, but also that her mana looks like Anastacius’ black magic. Claude is about to kill her, as she could kinda destroy everything around her and because she tried to hurt Athanasia. Athy doesn’t want her to die, and asks Lucas to seal Jenette’s mana without killing her. At first, Lucas doesn’t want to, and tells her that Claude is right about wanting to kill Jenette, as it would be the easiest way to get rid of her, but Athanasia insists and calls him the “most handsome and powerful mage of the whole world” to convince him lmao.

Jenette falls unconscious, and Ijekiel and Roger appear. Ijekiel begs pardon to Claude, but also to Jenny because he feels like he was useless and unable to stop her and take care of her. 

Later, she is transported to an room of the Emerald palace instead of a prison because Athanasia asked for it, despite Claude and Lucas’s disagreements. Once she wakes up, Jenette tells Athy that her whole life felt like hell because she was always faking to be someone she’s not (aka being sweet, polite…) and that she would rather die or be an orphanage’s child than be an evil man (Anastacius)’s daughter. She also thinks that the one who she thought to be her sister was only the child of a liar (Diana) and a killer (Claude). She hates Claude because he killed her father.

She refuses to talk to Athanasia, and only keeps insulting her and she even throws things at her (I’m not sure about that too). Despite all of that, Felix and the other guards are very kind to her, and respect her privacy but she doesn’t want their pity or affection (because she knows that Athanasia must have been the one to ask them to be kind to her).

In the end, neither she or the Alpheus family are killed by Claude, because Athanasia pleaded in their favor (stating that they ended up not doing anything and they couldn’t have known that Jenette was Anastacius’ child. Athanasia really doesn’t want to see Jenette dead.) Then Claude asked himself “what kind of man/father would I be if I killed my daughter’s friend?” AND THAT’S THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RELATIONSHIP CLAUDE/JENETTE IN THE LOVELY PRINCESS AND CLAUDE/ATHY IN WMMAP. Claude is much kinder and Athanasia well— actually did something to save Jennette.

So Jenette and the Alpheus are exiled (to Arlanta I think???), but Claude whipped mr. White’s hands as a punition 😭😂

Jenette and Athy started exchanging letters back some time after that.

Later, Athanasia’s friends are talking about Jenette and they say that they’re sad that Jenette felt without telling them goodbye (the Alpheus pretexted that their sudden departure was due to Jenette’s weak health, and that she couldn’t be cured in Obelia), but that they also felt like Jenetge was actually not that pretty and kinda weird (because the effects of her black magic on them disappeared). Athanasia also noticed that without her black magic, Jenette was kinda “ugly” (then again, I’m not 100% about that either haha).

I think that’s all ^^’ I hope this wasn’t too messy and that there are not too much grammatical errors

I hope you liked this ^.^ What are your opinions of Jenny now?

Lan Wangji is no stranger to grief and loss. His first encounter with death was at 6, when he lost his mom suddenly. At that time, Lan Wangji didn’t know yet what “gone” meant so he would sit outside his mom’s house, waiting for her to open the door. When he grew a little older and finally understood that his mom was never coming back, he would still visit the house (Chapter 64). In the Lotus Seedpod extra, Lan Wangji leaves a vase of lotus seed pods in front of the gentian house, seemingly sharing this little joy with his mom, and Lan Xichen is also shown to visit her from time to time.

At 17 years old, Wen Xu forced the Lan Sect to burn down the Cloud Recesses and, in the fight to save their home, Lan Wangji lost his father (Chapter 52). While not much is said about his relationship with his father, we know that Lan Wangji cared for him as he cried for him when he was trapped in the Xuanwu Cave with Wei Wuxian (Chapter 55). Once they were rescued, he refused Jiang Fengmian’s suggestion of having people scout him back to the Cloud Recesses, and went back home alone to face reality and the responsibilities that awaited him. Lan Wangji didn’t let negative feelings consume him; even if his home was destroyed by the Wens, even if he temporarily lost his brother because of them and his father was killed by them, he didn’t want revenge. Lan Wangji only moved forward.

When Wei Wuxian died, it had only been nearly three months (Chapter 79) after Lan Wangji hid Wei Wuxian in the cave, fought 33 Lan sect elders and was subsequently punished severely. Lan Wangji dragged his injured body to Burial Mounds to see things for himself (Chapter 99). For many days, he searched the mountain for Wei Wuxian’s soul and his remains but found only Wen Yuan. When he returned to Gusu, Lan Wangji bought a jar of Emperor’s Smile and got drunk for the first time. In his drunken state, he ransacked Cloud Recesses’s storage room in search of a flute and woke up with a Wen Sect brand mark on his chest, like Wei Wuxian’s (Chapter 111). For three years, he was bedridden and healing in seclusion.

Risa Wataya: So that’s how it is. This is fascinating. Through the forehead band, I feel that I can understand the relationship between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. Furthermore, what does Ms. Moxiang think of the allure of each character?

Mo Xiang: Because the novel is told from Wei Wuxian’s point of view, it’s easy to understand why Wei Wuxian has such irresistible allure. From a holistic point of view, he’s incredibly “vivacious.” I especially like the part where they were in Xuanyu Cave (The Massacre Turtle Cave in some English translations). Wei Wuxian kept teasing and poking. While they were in there alone together, he kept provoking Lan Wangji. Amazingly he managed to provoke Lan Wangji into biting him? Wa! My readers grit their teeth and said: “There’s no need to be so charming ok! Please feel free to turn around and scram!” But before they even knew it, they had been enticed by him (Wei Wuxian).

In other aspects, Lan Wangji is Wei Wuxian’s opposite. He’s an elegant, refined gong who’s far removed from the petty squabbles of mere mortals. But he acts so cute (*) whenever he’s provoked and harassed by Wei Wuxian. I left many hints about him in the book. These hints require careful reading and interpretations from the readers. But such complexity and contradictions are what make the book enticing and exciting to read.

(*: ke ai 可爱: easy to love, cute. This description is typically used for children, small, cute animals, teenagers, very young women. It’s not typically used for adult men in China)

For example, outwardly Lan Wangji has always maintained a cold, silent appearance, but in truth, since his teenage years, he was already enraptured by Wei Wuxian. I think that deep in his heart, he is filled with yearning for the kind of freedom that Wei Wuxian inhabits so easily. Furthermore, these two people are deeply similar at the core of their personality. At the core of who they are, they are the same kind of person. This is also one big reason why they come to love each other so deeply.      

To be continued… (It’s long. Very long…) 

Risa Wataya: So that’s how it is. This is fascinating. Through the forehead band, I feel that I can understand the relationship between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. Furthermore, what does Ms. Moxiang think of the allure of each character?

Mo Xiang: Because the novel is told from Wei Wuxian’s point of view, it’s easy to understand why Wei Wuxian has such irresistible allure. From a holistic point of view, he’s incredibly “vivacious.” I especially like the part where they were in Xuanyu Cave (The Massacre Turtle Cave in some English translations). Wei Wuxian kept teasing and poking. While they were in there alone together, he kept provoking Lan Wangji. Amazingly he managed to provoke Lan Wangji into biting him? Wa! My readers grit their teeth and said: “There’s no need to be so charming ok! Please feel free to turn around and scram!” But before they even knew it, they had been enticed by him (Wei Wuxian).

In other aspects, Lan Wangji is Wei Wuxian’s opposite. He’s an elegant, refined gong who’s far removed from the petty squabbles of mere mortals. But he acts so cute (*) whenever he’s provoked and harassed by Wei Wuxian. I left many hints about him in the book. These hints require careful reading and interpretations from the readers. But such complexity and contradictions are what make the book enticing and exciting to read.

(*: ke ai 可爱: easy to love, cute. This description is typically used for children, small, cute animals, teenagers, very young women. It’s not typically used for adult men in China)

For example, outwardly Lan Wangji has always maintained a cold, silent appearance, but in truth, since his teenage years, he was already enraptured by Wei Wuxian. I think that deep in his heart, he is filled with yearning for the kind of freedom that Wei Wuxian inhabits so easily. Furthermore, these two people are deeply similar at the core of their personality. At the core of who they are, they are the same kind of person. This is also one big reason why they come to love each other so deeply.      

To be continued… (It’s long. Very long…) 

Hello again!

So mxtx did mention in an interview that Lan Wangji might have read up on how to have gay sex in the Library Pavilion (of all places). I translated that bit quite some time ago here (I took this opportunity to edit my translation to clarify the wording and to include the original puns that I had previously skipped).

It’s said in the interview that it’s actually after Wei Wuxian’s rebirth that Lan Wangji inquired into such matters, this implies that he only started entertaining the idea of having sex with Wei Wuxian seriously enough to look into the logistics when the latter returned to life. This is so very interesting to consider because it shows acceptance of his own desires after spending so much time being conflicted over his own feelings and denying himself. By the time, he had come to terms with how he felt, their paths had already diverged and his confession fell into deaf ears. Then the object of his affections died and the opportunity was lost, seemingly forever. So once Wei Wuxian is back, he finally allows himself to engage in... carnal pleasures. Good for him. They did not spend that much time in the Cloud Recesses though during the story though, so it might have happened right after taking getting Wei Wuxian back...

It’s not stated outright that the Longyan porn was locked away in the forbidden section below the Library Pavilion but it’s not a stretch to think so as they wouldn’t want to have such material readily accessible after all... Even so, entering the forbidden section of the library is not a punishable offence, Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian went there to investigate Jin Guangyao’s altered version of the Song of Clarity. Some of these books being potentially dangerous, subversive or contravening mores, they are hidden away so that they don’t fall in the wrong hands but I don’t think there’s any reason barring Hanguang-Jun from coming and going to the forbidden section as he pleases for research purposes. Considering Lan Wangji’s disposition, perhaps he did deem that indulging in porn was an unseemly failure to maintain his self-restraint. That’s not the kind of misdemeanour that you confess to your elders though, so if he punished himself, he did so on his own. Maybe by 面壁思过, facing a wall in repentance and reflecting on his mistakes?

10 Strange and hilarious Facts About Mo Dao Zu Shi

This is posted on Moxiang Tongxiu (Mo Dao Zu Shi’s author)’s personal Weibo on 31/10/2017, in celebration of the novel’s second anniversary. Translated badly by tumblr user my-otp-list.

1. Fairy is actually a Husky. When I set up this character, I didn’t know that huskies were… not that intelligent, so now in my mind Fairy still has the look of a Husky. Let’s just think that Fairy is an extremely intelligent mutated Husky okay…

2. Lan Qiren has a beard from a young age. However, it was shaved clean by Zangse Sanren. He was so mad!

Later, the son of Zangse Sanren also shaved his beard… (but I did not write about it).

*For those who don’t know, Zangse Sanren is Wuxian’s mother.


3. When Jin Guangyao took in Lan Xichen during his runaway, Guangyao sort of became Xichen’s assistant.

Guangyao helped wash Xichen’s clothes, because Xichen himself did not know how to wash. It was not possible to ask others to wash, because it would be dangerous if the cloud patterns were recognised. Moreover the clothes could not be thrown away or burnt.

Jin Guangyao used to complain to Nie Mingjue that Lan Xichen’s arm was too strong that he tore apart his clothes while washing…


4. It was way too easy to make Xingchen laugh. Both Xueyang and Ah Qing knew about this but they would never tell Xingchen. Song Lan did not know about this, because the dude never ever laughed…


5. Jiang Cheng went to 3 blind dates. For various reasons, he got blacklisted by all the female cultivators. 

Here are Jiang Cheng’s requirements in his partner: naturally beautiful, graceful and obedient, hard-working and thrifty, coming from a respected family, cultivation level not too high, personality not too strong, talking not too much, voice not too loud, spending money not too much. And must treat Jin Ling nicely. 


6. Lan Sizhui is older than Jin Ling, but both of them are 172-cm tall. Sizhui suffered from malnutrition when he was a child, and only ate bland food when he was growing up, therefore his development is a bit slow…

Lan Jingyi is 168-cm tall.


7. In order to confess to Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan specifically hired someone to write a long long long cheesy essay, and he learnt it by heart. Turned out he did not use a single sentence.

One day, after their marriage, he felt that the opportunity had come, so he read it out loud to Jiang Yanli. Upon hearing it, Jiang Yanli gently stroked his cheek, turned her back and walked away. She was graceful enough to not roll on the floor laughing in front of her husband.


8. Lan Wangji has known very early on that Wei Wuxian is afraid of dogs. 

Jin Zixuan used to own a dog, and he left it at the foot of Cloud Recesses’ mountain. One day, the dog ran up the mountain right when Wuxian was sneaking in through the wall. The dog snarked loudly at him; he was so scared he immediately ran to hide in a tree. It was Lan Wangji that chased the dog away. 

However, Wuxian thought that Wangji did not see him trembling on the tree.

9. Even though Lan Wangji never talks about it, Wei Wuxian discovers that Lan Wangji loves to use all sorts of things to tie him up during (…)


10. Between the seme and the uke, Wei Wuxian was the first character to be set up.

Back then I even ranted on Weibo, “This uke is giving me so much headache; I don’t know what kind of seme I should give him!”

The seme has gone though many changes in personalities, appearances, ages, backgrounds, back stories… such a complicated process!

But in the end, a flash of Heaven’s light came right through me, I slammed the table and chose the very first version - “This is him!“ 

Inspired out of spite by a post where someone said Lan Wangji not wanting to hear thank you and sorry from Wei Wuxian in the novel is stupid because healthy couples need communication and this is why CQL is better. LMAOO

OK. Before starting I want to point out that one of the themes of the novel and Wei Wuxian's characterisation is the concept of indebtedness and owings . It is one of the reasons why he is so dutiful towards the Jiangs and why he sacrifices his golden core and the reason he resurrects Wen Ning.

The words Thank you and Sorry are very significant in the story and are very explicitly tied to the above mentioned themes. They are the words Wen Qing says to Wei Wuxian in her parting because she feels indebted towards Wei Wuxian as he has protected her and the rest of Wen remnants and even resurrected Wen Ning on her request. Wen Qing and Wei Wuxian have a cycle of debts where they both believe they owe each other. [Just to clarify I don't think it's just indebtedness that defines their relationship but it's definitely there ].In the next life Wei Wuxian uses the exact pair of words on Jin Ling as he owes him for insulting his parents whose deaths are caused by him.

As you can see these words are explicitly associated with indebtedness and owing.

Lan Wangji loves Wei Wuxian unconditionally. He obviously wants Wei Wuxian to return his feelings BUT he does not want Wei Wuxian to do so out of indebtedness or gratitude. Whenever Wei Wuxian says thank you to him, the narration describes as him being tense and sad, the cause of this is as I described earlier and also because in the past whenever they have exchanged these words they have parted on bad terms.

The text is very explicit about this.

"Lan Zhan you're really scared of me telling you 'thank you', aren't you? I suddenly remembered many of the times we parted ways in my past life, I said 'thank you' to you right before. And every time we separated, I worsened the next time we met"

The time they killed Wen Chao and Wen ZhuLiu at the courier station, the time they met each other through the flowers at the towers in Yunmeng, the time they parted at Yiling's Burial Mound. Every time, he used that word to mark a clear line between him and Lan Wangji, stretching out the distance between them.

The word that finally breaks their makeout session in the inn is one thank you from Wei Wuxian where Lan Wangji snaps as he believes Wei Wuxian is only doing this out of gratitude towards him and not because he returns his feelings. It is insulting and heartbreaking to him and he is angry because of this.

When the conflict is resolved with Wei Wuxian's confession that includes :

"... I swear it's not the heat of the moment or joking around like I have done in the past. I'm not doing it out of gratitude either. Anyways, it's not because of anything else. I really just like you so much."

He deliberately clarifies that there are no feelings of gratitude or indebtedness involved in reciprocating Lan Wangji's feelings.

"Between you and me, there is no need for 'thank you' and 'sorry'."

This line by Lan Wangji defines how he views their relationship i.e without indebtedness or owings. So far all the relationships that Wei Wuxian had been a part of have the feeling of obligation and indebtedness, the Jiangs for raising him and Wen siblings for rescuing him and helping him out . Ofcourse he loves them but indebtedness and his sense of duty to repay them are also his major motivations. He takes drastic steps because of this and we all know how they turned out. Lan Wangji doesn't want this kind of relationship with him, the one he had with others in the past. He wants him to be free of ever feeling like that he owes Lan Wangji something.

Hello there, you’ve put your finger on an important aspect of their relationship!

Spoilers below ;)

MXTX is a master of using subtext to convey so many underlying meanings, just underneath the visible plot of her novels. There are many hidden gems in MDZS that the reader might not pick up on during a first read. Throughout the novel, we're often given explanations that connect little hints left in earlier chapters - eventually piecing them all together perfectly to form an enriching new perspective on previous scenes. Other times MXTX has faith in her readers abilities to gather clues and come to their own logical conclusions, without a full exposition. And of course, sometimes MXTX deliberately leaves things up to the reader's own interpretation as well - giving them a little freedom to use their imagination.

A particularly interesting theory I have come across is in regards to the perfume pouch. Some claim WWX obtained the pouch in order to treat LWJ's leg injury. Admittedly, it is something I picked up on and questioned during my first read, and by my second read I definitely thought it was more than WWX just wanting something nice off a girl. I just found it all a bit out of character for WWX to suddenly ignore LWJ, when he was clearly very concerned about him. Contrary to some people's opinion, WWX is not flighty and thoughtless. In fact, most of his actions are incredibly thought-out and deliberate. Even when he seems to be acting the fool or charming women - there is nearly always an ulterior motive. Of course, WWX is bubbly and likes to be silly, but he is more than capable of doing so while still executing something more serious at times.

Some might argue he had time to tell LWJ why he'd got the pouch in the first place and use the herbs to help him when he first obtained it. But with LWJ getting annoyed and trying to storm off, WWX leaves him alone for a moment to cool off - worried LWJ will hurt himself more if he carries on walking fast. We later find out WWX had also worked out during their interaction below, that LWJ needed to expel the bad blood that was collecting in his chest. This was something important that needed addressing, WWX knew this but never had time to help him until they were in the cave and he deemed it safe to do so. So the fact he wasn't able to help him with the above, means in turn, he did not have time to offer him the medicinal herbs he obtained from the perfume pouch either.

People also argue there was no exposition of him obtaining the perfume pouch for such reasons, which is true - but there are other things within the book without exposition as well. WWX cleverly orchestrated a situation where LWJ bought A-Yuan toys, to cheer the toddler up and make him see how kind LWJ actually was. It also helped LWJ feel better about the whole situation and encouraged them to form a little bond - so WX could go on a date catch up on old times and have some time together. But it is never explicitly confirmed that this is what WWX did. MXTX expects the reader to understand her main character and their motivations. With that in mind, I'm going take a closer look at the scene in question and comment as we go along. So get your popcorn kids, it's probably going to be one of my notoriously long posts! But hopefully you'll enjoy reading it nevertheless!

Chapters 51/52

Walking shoulder to shoulder with him, he asked, “What happened to your leg?” Lan WangJi stared straight at the front, “Nothing.” Wei WuXian, “We’re already familiar with each other, aren’t we? How cold—you don’t even bother giving me a single look. Your leg really is fine?” Lan WangJi, “We are not familiar.” Wei WuXian turned around and walked facing the back, determined on making Lan WangJi look at his face, “Don’t force yourself if it’s not fine. Is your leg hurt or broken? When did it happen?”

After noticing LWJ is ever so slightly limping, WWX is concerned and decides to check on him. LWJ denies there is anything wrong and refuses to look at him, seemingly giving him the cold shoulder. From the above we can see WWX is obviously worried about LWJs injury, but he's also upset he is being so cold towards him. He even mentions LWJ won't even look at him - which we know WWX has a little fixation on, from the amount of times he tries to get him to look at him every time they meet. WWX even turns around and walks backwards to try and get LWJ to look at him. WWX is just determined to make him look at his face, because of his subconscious feelings for him and his need for LWJ's attention. He then continues to bombard LWJ with questions, in what could be considered a worried tone. It's actually adorably sweet how concerned he is for LWJ.

Just as he was about to say, "do you want me to carry you", a fragrant breeze suddenly wafted around his nose. Wei WuXian turned around and looked to the side. His eyes immediately lit up. Seeing that he had stopped talking abruptly, Lan WangJi followed his gaze. He saw about half a dozen girls walking together. The one in the center wore a layer of chiffon over her coat of pale scarlet. As wind blew across, the chiffon swayed. Her figure looked exceptionally good from the back. This figure was what Wei WuXian had been looking at. One of the girls laughed, “MianMian, your perfume sachet truly is something special. After I wore it, bugs really did stop coming over. The scent is nice too. I seem to feel much more awake after I smell it.” The voice of the girl called MianMian was indeed soft and sweet, “Inside of the sachet is filled with minced medicinal plants. It can be useful in quite a lot of ways. I’ve still got a few here. Do any of you want one?” Wei WuXian swept over like a foreboding gust of wind, “MianMian, save me one too.”

A lot of people seem to debate the above paragraph quite often. I guess it's really up to the reader's interpretation. Personally, I think WWX wanted the perfume pouch to help LWJ. As we've seen in many other chapters, WWX is an incredibly intelligent and thoughtful person. He also uses his charms to obtain things such as information, and to a lesser extent the odd freebie (the loquat - and even then, one was for LWJ). It's not like him to be momentarily distracted by someone else, especially when he is around LWJ. However you look at it, WWX isn't flighty or self-centred - he's kind and caring. WWX is just not that shallow in my opinion.

WWX only stops talking to LWJ when he smells the sweet scent of the medicinal herbs. The narrative point of view suddenly switches to LWJ, and as such we are no longer able to see WWX's motivation or thought process. We don't even get a description of MianMian from WWXs POV until much later, and even then it's just that she's 'quite pretty' when justifying why he stopped her from being branded on the face. The description we receive above is LWJ's interpretation. With us unaware of WWXs intentions, it's up to the reader to decide what they think is his reasoning. Either way, it's quite interesting for MXTX to switch to LWJ's POV at such a moment. Even if it was just so we could get an idea of how LWJ was feeling at that moment, not much is really given away and the cold looks and tone he uses could have been conveyed either way. So there's no real reason to do this, unless MXTX is covering up what WWX's true intentions are.

WWX smells a herbal scent, hears MianMian state that the pouches contain medicinal herbs and then he approaches, asking for one also. WWX is very innovative and quick thinking. It really wouldn't be out of character for him to quickly work out from the smell and what MianMian said about the pouches containing medicinal herbs, that there may be something in them that could help LWJs injury. The conditions the disciples seem to be living in while at the indoctrination camp sound pretty basic and the Wens don't seem to care too much about the health or well-being of the 'guest' disciples. WWX knows it's highly unlikely they will treat LWJ's leg if it gets worse. He also knows LWJ wouldn't admit it to the Wen sect or seek help from them either. WWX has also mentioned that WC had a particular hatred for LWJ, JZX and himself because of how well they performed in last year's archery competition - so he's painting a pretty clear picture that LWJ isn't going to get help any other way. And as I've said earlier, it's not the only time we have WWX doing something that is hinted at, but not officially confirmed in the text.

The girl was surprised. She didn’t expect to hear a stranger’s voice barge in so suddenly. Turning around, she revealed a fair face, which frowned slightly as she asked, “Who are you? Why do you call me MianMian as well?” Wei WuXian grinned, “I heard all of them call you MianMian, so I thought that it’s your name. What, it’s not?” Lan WangJi watched them coldly. Seeing that he was at it again, Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes with emphasis. MianMian’s cheeks flushed, “You can’t call me that!” Wei WuXian, “Why not? How about this: if you tell me your name, I won’t call you MianMian anymore. What do you think?” MianMian, “Why do I have to tell you just because you asked? Before you ask for somebody else’s name, you should tell them your name first, shouldn’t you?” Wei WuXian, “Sure, if you want my name. Remember, my name is "YuanDao‟.” MianMian silently pronounced the name "YuanDao" a few times. She couldn’t remember if the young master of any sect had such a name. But, judging from the boy’s air and appearance, she didn’t think he was the average disciple.

The narrative has now switched to MianMian's POV. It's also MianMian who directs the conversation way from the perfume pouch, because she's surprised at WWX talking to her like they are familiar. Because she seems annoyed at him calling her that name, WWX tries to charm and diffuse her hostility towards him by making a joke. We can imagine if she'd just said yes, it would have been a very brief interaction, similar to him talking to the loquat sellers in Gusu - and just like then, it was in part for LWJ.

Looking at the teasing smile at the corners of Wei WuXian’s lips, she didn’t know what was going on. Suddenly, Lan WangJi’s low voice came from beside them, “A play on words.” She realized at once that it had been taken from the poetry line "its ceaseless bounds yearn for miles and miles on" and he was making fun of her. She stomped her feet in spite, “Who’s yearning for you? You have no face!” The girls collapsed into a laughing mess, chirping, “Wei WuXian, you really have no face!” “I’ve never seen someone as annoying as you!” “Let me tell you, she’s called…” MianMian dragged them away and turned to leave, “Let’s go, let’s go! You can’t tell it to him.”

We can see from the above that the other girls around MianMian all know who WWX is, yet he doesn't converse with them or even address any of them by name. If he was going over just to flirt - which we never actually see him do throughout the novel (other than with LWJ of course) he could have used the fact he is known to the others as a way to talk to MianMian. To me, it's quite obvious he is being very single minded and specifically wants a perfume pouch.

Wei WuXian shouted from behind, “You can go, but give me a sachet, won’t you?! You’re ignoring me? You don’t want to? If you don’t, I’ll find other people and ask for your name. There must be someone out there who’s willing to tell me…” Before he finished, a perfume sachet flew over from in front of him. It landed right in the middle of his chest. With an "ouch‟, Wei WuXian pretended as though his heart hurt, spinning the sachet around his hand with its ribbons around his finger. Even as he walked back to Lan WangJi, he was still spinning the sachet around, grinning.

WWX is trying to charm MianMian, but his intentions are quite clear. He'll stop pestering her if she gives him one of the perfume pouches. It's the first thing he asked her, and even as she was leaving it's the last thing he said before provoking her into throwing one at him. As usual, he's using his 'charm' to obtain something. Once he's got the perfume pouch, he heads straight back over to LWJ. As I've said previously, WWX isn't usually distracted by anyone when he's around LWJ. In fact, it's usually the opposite. When he's charming the loquat sellers in Gusu, he is obviously distracted by LWJ and even brings him into the conversation, drawing attention to his good looks. When he is talking to 'two slender-bodied maidens' (LWJ's POV, chapter 69), he is yet again distracted by LWJs good looks and throws a flower at him to get his attention. Even in the Lotus Seed Pod extra, WWX has the attention of the farm girls, but he is distracted by thoughts of LWJ once more.

Now you could argue as to why he didn't just tell her why he wanted it - which is a valid point. But as I've said above, LWJ is incredibly proud and WWX has already surmised LWJ probably doesn't want anyone to know about his injury. It's also in WWX's nature to 'trick' people into doing something for him or themselves. He does this throughout the novel. WWX is probably also being careful not to draw attention to LWJ's injury too much, as we've already been made aware, WC has singled them out personally, because of how well they did during the archery competition last year. WC was already being particularly harsh with the three of them (WWX, LWJ and JZX) and WWX is smart enough to ensure he doesn't provide any further leverage to use against LWJ.

Watching Lan WangJi’s expression grow colder, he asked, “What? You’re looking at me like that again. Right, where were we again? Let’s continue. How about I carry you on my back?” Lan WangJi looked at him quietly, “Do you behave in such a frivolous way towards everyone?” Wei WuXian thought for a second, “I think so?” Lan WangJi looked at the ground. He only replied a moment later, “How impudent!” He spoke the two words through clenched teeth, along with some strange hatred. He didn’t even deem it worthy to give WeiWuXian another glare. Lan WangJi strained to speed up and walk faster. Seeing that he was forcing himself again, Wei WuXian hurried, “Fine. You don’t have to walk this fast. I’ll just go.”

LWJ is less than welcoming and gives WWX a very frosty reception upon his return. He just thinks WWX acts this way with everyone - but of course we know the way he acts with LWJ is different. WWX ignores his glare and offers to carry him on his back. When LWJ asks if WWX 'behaves in such a frivolous way' with everyone, WWX replies 'yes' because to him he's not really done anything other than make a joke and obtain a perfume pouch. LWJ is (understandably to us) upset and just wants to get away from WWX. I always want to give LWJ a hug and WWX a smack over the head at this moment in time. Seeing LWJ hurting himself even more by trying to get away from him, WWX quickly tells him he'll leave him alone.

Combining three strides into two, he quickly caught up toJiang Cheng. Yet, Jiang Cheng didn’t give him any good looks either. He spoke menacingly, “You’re so ridiculous!” Wei WuXian, “It’s not like you’re Lan Zhan or anything, so why do you say ridiculous like he does? His face today is worse than how it used to be. What’s wrong with his leg?” Jiang Cheng spoke in a sour voice, “You still have the time to pay attention to him? Why don’t you pay attention to yourself!? I don’t know what tricks that idiot Wen Chao is planning this time, making us search for some cave entrance here in Dusk-Creek Mountain. Hopefully it’s not like last time when he made us circle up and be shields of flesh."

WWX catches up with JC and they have an argument about WWX's fixation with LWJ - as usual! We can see WWX is still very focused on LWJ and his current state. He doesn't even bite at JC's possible dig at how he just acted 'ridiculous' with MianMian. He just brings the conversation back to LWJ instantly. Before anything else could be said, a disciple near by interjects and tells WWX about the awful attack on the Cloud Recesses and how LWJ got his injury. Hearing this WWX is even more concerned and was about to turn back and insist on helping LWJ, when JC argues with him once again. This draws the attention of the Wen sect and they are told to concentrate on the task at hand. At this point, a lot happens quite quickly and as such WWX isn't able to help LWJ with his injury until much later.

Chapter 54

Suddenly, Wei WuXian caught a faint, herbal scent. Reaching into his lapel, he fished out a small sachet of perfume. The wet sachet hung from its tassels, delicate yet somewhat pitiful. Recalling how MianMian said that it was filled with medicinal plants, he opened it up at once and found that there were indeed herbs, along with a few small flowers, half-dried and quite chopped up.

So the perfume pouch finally comes into play. Understandably WWX has been rather distracted up until this point. Again, he is reminded of the pouch because he could smell the herbal scent - just as before. He then goes on to recall what MianMian had said about it containing medicinal herbs - again, just like before. He comes to the same conclusion that some people claim he did prior to obtaining the perfume pouch, in the exact same way. So it's not much of a jump to think this is what he originally thought anyway and he's just been reminded he had it on him.

Wei WuXian spoke as he picked them out, “I can’t believe that the girl’s perfume sachet ended up so useful. I’ll have to thank her properly when we go back.”

Some people query if WWX had indeed obtained the perfume pouch for LWJ in the first place, then why did he say the above? To me, I always read this as 'SO useful', because he is impressed it was useful in such a situation. There's intended emphasis on how useful it has been. If we're going down the route he initially got the perfume pouch for LWJ prior to this scene, he only obtained it hoping to help ease his pain and help him walk better. He wasn't expecting to use it on a bloody leg, covered in rows of teeth marks from a huge beast! So he puts emphasis on just how useful it turned out to be. If he thought it wasn't going to be useful, he'd have just said 'I can't believe this was useful', 'actually useful' or 'come in handy' - or something along those lines. I've also taken a look at a few different translations and they all use 'so', in order to stress it is more useful than he originally thought.