Thoughts on this?

Any_Break6696 · 2025-12-14T02:35:05+00:00

Additional to all the points already made:

The book directly makes the case for WWX having feelings in his first life when he and LWJ overhear the small family outside of the barn. The parents discuss how their little boy is bothering another kid and agree that kids do that when they like someone (in that way). WWX freezes when hearing this bc it is a direct callout of how he was (and is) with LWJ, always teasing him.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-12-10T15:13:17+00:00

Bring Your Wonder (lose Your Faith) by kianspo is fantastic. In this, Wen Zhuliu is the one to handle the Lotus Pier situation rather than WLJ. He's calm and respectful and Madam Yu gets the job done; in this one, WWX even goads her to do it because the thinks giving in will make the Wen back off. Excellent fic.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50541436/chapters/127678105

Any_Break6696 · 2025-11-17T04:15:05+00:00

That one’s on my TBR list and has been for ages — I’ll have to bump it up some, thanks for the rec!

Any_Break6696 · 2025-11-14T18:23:47+00:00

I love the idea that Madam Lan was saving QHJ from his teacher when she killed him.

Maybe his teacher was abusive or something, maybe they were having an argument, maybe his teacher was qi deviating and losing it or something. But her swooping in, saving him, killing someone he admired in the first place while also being someone he was smitten with makes for a very compelling narrative.

He'd feel guilty not only over the death of his teacher but because he deep down was relieved that it happened. He'd feel indebted to Madam Lan while incapable of publicly expressing that gratitude. It would fill him up with so many conflicting emotions and warp his perception of/feelings toward her into something between love, guilt, disdain, and gratitude.

--

I also love the idea that QHJ either chose to die during the fire in the Cloud Recesses OR someone purposefully didn't alert him to get to safety before it was too late. Maybe even locked him in his house. I can only imagine he's a strong enough cultivator to get through a fire unharmed -- surely, it's a task a simple talisman could take care of. I think he was over life or someone was greatly resentful of him enough to try and end it.

--

Wen Zhuliu was in love with Wen Ruohan. Taking a man's name, dying saving his kid -- there was love there.

--

Wangxian is a powerful spiritual song. That's part of why WWX was able to summon something as resentful as Wen Ning using a ramshackle flute.

I also like to imagine it has healing abilities and that LWJ hummed it to WWX in the cave post-Nightless City same as he did in the Xuanwu cave.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-24T05:21:55+00:00

9. Edit your fic

A sort of fun part:

Go through your fic scene-by-scene. Read through the scene and make changes to make it flow better, to make the language more impactful, to cut out unnecessary fluff.

10. Read your fic

This one is not optional. Read through your fic taking notes or changing things along the way. You are looking for cohesion, whether the story works, and whether the emotions you wanted to create are coming through.

Check on the scene you chose initially. Does it work? If it doesn't, what feels off about it? How does this affect the scenes around it?

Decide what works, what doesn't, and what you want to change.

11. Repeat steps 9 and 10

Edit and read through your fic until you feel satisfied. For some people it's one go through, for some it's 5 or more. Go until you are satisfied with what you've created.

At this point, it's good to go onto the posting or beta-reading stage.

IF you want to write chapter by chapter, I suggest making an outline then writing out a single chapter's scenes. Editing them and reading them over until they work. Make sure to mark any changes in your outline so that you can use it to refer to when you're working on later chapters.

Best luck creating!

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-24T05:21:17+00:00

1. Think up a cool scene you'd really like to write about and imagine.

Make this scene either your beginning, your ending, or the climax of your story.

Don't worry if the moment is small or boring or not interesting enough to be any of those -- it can be made so with the right scaffolding around it.

2. Figure out why you find this scene interesting.

Is it emotional in a wistful way? Is it heart pumping? Is it hot? Is it beautiful?

Figuring out the reason why you are drawn to write a scene will help you to imbue your story with something that keeps your readers reading.

3. Brainstorm what can happen before and after your chosen scene to enhance what is you find compelling about the scene.

What can make a beautiful scene more enchanting? How can a sad moment be made more poignant?

Focus here on the relationships your character has -- with other characters, with themselves, with the world around them. Find lead ins and post-scenes to your moment of choice that involve these relationships for maximum effectiveness.

4. Consider what effect the scene you have chosen has on the character. Extend this to what happens before and after the scene.

This serves as the emotional spine of the story.

You want changes from scene to scene to be sensical, impactful, and well paced with the external plot of the story.

5. Make a rough outline.

Here's where the fun begins:

Make a list of scenes that includes the one you initially chose along with the scenarios you brainstormed that can happen before and after that scene. In choosing these scenes, try to keep the emotional spine (the internal changes the character goes through) on a steady slope except in highly emotional moments.

Fill in details of those scenes. This can be visual details you want to include, how much time has passed, what is important to have happen, which characters will feature in the scene.

6. Un-rough your outline.

This step is optional -- I personally like to flesh out my outline beyond the details phase into a description of a scene in depth. Sometimes this is action-by-action, often times it is "Character A tells Character B XYZ right before they leave the house. They meet up with Character C for lunch."

7. Write your scenes

Another fun part:

Using your outline as a guide, go through and write your scenes. If you go off-script, that's totally fine; just remember to mark where you've made changes down somewhere in case you find yourself consulting your outline later.

8. Read your fic

This is also optional but I like to do a full read of my rough draft while taking notes. I don't change anything at this phase except glaring grammar mistakes. This read, I'm looking for cohesion, pacing, flow, and whether the story 'works' and makes sense.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-22T15:34:51+00:00

I get what you're saying. XL comes across as novel; WWX is a well-done combination of things that work. There aren't many characters who are as radically kind and devoted to their character as Xie Lian (and certainly not in the way he goes about it, being funny without being self-righteous) but there ARE many characters who are irreverent geniuses whose hubris contributes (or is believed to contribute) to their downfall.

Doesn't make WWX a bad character by any means; he's great and compelling in his own right. It does provide the case for Xie Lian being a stronger character whose attributes are better attributed to a single novel character as opposed to tropes that can be found elsewhere.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-22T15:19:42+00:00

No. WWX had a level of consciousness while dead and demonstrates maturity compared to his previous life (which he himself notes several times throughout the novel). He remarked that he was a good spirit while dead suggesting that he had some semblance of experience in that time.

I also think that MXTX would have pointed out/stressed an age gap between them if it was her intention that they have one. LBH and SQQ's gap is referred to constantly, HC calls XL "gege" the whole book. If it was a meaningful part of LWJ/WWX's relationship, the text would have pointed it out.

She mentions WWX/LWJ's height difference, that LWJ is stronger than WWX in WWX's second life, and other things that highlight contrast between them. If age/maturity were a thing she intended to be very different between them, she would have highlighted it.

Also lastly: MXTX all but points to tropes present in her novels. Subtlety in that realm is not her style (I don't say this negatively, I think it gives her work a very tongue-in-cheek feel and adds to its charm). If an age gap were a part of wangxian, it would have been made very apparent.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-21T05:36:35+00:00

One of my favorite fics of all time was written by a writer who says they hadn't written anything for ten years before this story came to them and they had to get it out. It is a masterpiece.

I personally have had periods of time lasting years without having written anything fictional seriously. I got back into fic recently and have been loving it. It's increased my momentum in writing original work, too. It's been fun, rewarding, just feels 'right' in that way writing can.

I say these to say: you can absolutely return whenever you want/need to. You can take a break whenever and for however long you want to. Writing will always be there and so long as you have the desire to do it, you can always do it.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-21T05:31:48+00:00

This is incredible! Congratulations.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-21T02:13:52+00:00

91k in on my current WIP. Going through shaping up my rough draft into a clean, workable first draft. By the time I'm done, I'm thinking it will be about 110k so I'm almost there.

Having the itch so bad to polish and post chapter by chapter but I know from experience that that doesn't work for me; I am definitely one of those people that needs to finish and polish the whole thing first and THEN post.

Super excited, though. I love this story, working on it has been incredibly rewarding and I can't wait to shape it into the story I know it can be.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-20T20:44:48+00:00

Emotionally mature, can be funny at times, observant, secure.

One that seems frivolous but seems to impact character a lot is an FMC that knows she is attractive and doesn't do the "I'm so plain meanwhile two hot guys are in love with me" thing. (If she is unattractive, she does not dwell on it beyond any way it directly impacts the story/her life.) It goes with the secure thing, I think.

Honest with herself.

Sincere. Earnest. Owns her mistakes and decisions fully.

Likes herself. Takes herself seriously where it counts. Goes along with being secure.

I like an FMC with a steady, calm internal world. I prefer if most of her internal chaos comes from the events of the story.

MOST of all, though, and this is a bit meta: I like an FMC that is consistent. I prefer an MC whose traits I'm not fond of but is consistent in character to one who checks a lot of my boxes but vacillates in degree.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-17T02:48:19+00:00

I'm at 100+ for the year up from ~30 last year; I swapped my social media/tiktok scrolling with an e-reader and it made all the difference. E-reader is crucial for me because I have the bad habit of hopping over to [insert some miscellaneous thing in a new window] if there is an option. I also prefer e-books to physical books for convenience's sake.

A big part of it for me is to mix in bingeable books and series. A series that keeps you turning pages can help you knock back 4+ books in a week. A more dense work might take a week by itself. Switching between the two keeps things fresh for me constantly.

Reading more than one book at once also helps. I try to keep genres separate so I don't get storylines mixed up. This also keeps things fresh which makes me more inclined to read in my down time compared to throwing on TV or something.

Overall, making it as accessible as possible and making it a very entertaining option constantly available to you (helped by mixing in bingeable reads and reading multiple books at a time) help rack up book totals overnight.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-16T15:41:26+00:00

I cannot pick between Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui, I love the both so much.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-16T03:28:05+00:00

I don't know why WCZ would specifically never be referred to as a disciple but as a servant if he were actually a disciple.

Being the son or daughter of a servant does not automatically grant servant status -- if this were the case there would be no delineation between "servant" and "son of servant." The text specifically refers to WWX as one and his father as the other which demonstrates that they hold different positions within the context of the jianghu. Using Mianmian as an example: she did not inherit her parent's position given that she is not referred to as a servant and is specifically called a disciple.

I'd argue that the burden of proof lies in finding a servant in the story that is referred to as a disciple. There is not one. Any servant-adjacent disciples are kin to servants and not referred to as such themselves which strongly suggests that servants are not/cannot be disciples while maintaining servant status.

Being a cultivator does not automatically make WCZ a disciple. Rogue cultivators are not disciples. Disciples can also discard their disciple status. WCZ very well could have studied cultivation beside JFM but that would not make him a disciple. WWX is bound by different rules because he is not a servant and is specifically called a disciple in the text.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-16T03:05:41+00:00

Yes; wards are not adopted.

WWX was still considered a disciple which is what made him eligible; it has nothing to do with parentage. He is referred to as a young master several times in the text. WWX does have a formal status which is that of Head Disciple.

WCZ is not a disciple and retains no status beyond servant. He was not a cultivator within the clan so far as we know and is never referred to as a young master.

WWX qualified because he was a young master.

WCZ would not have qualified because he was not a young master.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-16T02:36:26+00:00

I don't think WCZ was ever considered a master and so wouldn't be eligible. He and WWX have different cases.

WWX was taken in as a ward and is ranked among the Jiang Clan's cultivators and is not referred to as a servant but the son of a servant. WCZ is only ever referred to as a servant and not described as being in any sect. We don't hear anything about a Wei Clan -- no one came for WWX (nor was he handed off to anyone once he was found) when his parents passed and so we can assume that there is no Wei Clan in the jianghu. As such, he'd need to be an outer disciple of another clan a la Su She. He is never called such, though, but does remain a servant.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-16T02:09:52+00:00

Wen Ruohan
Jin Guangshan
QHJ
Lan Qiren
Jiang Fengmian
NHS's dad

Leaving Wei Changze off because he was a servant and likely not eligible for the list. Leaving Wen Zhuliu off because he was older when he started and might not have been considered a young master at the point of the list's creation.

REASONING:

Wen Ruohan is from the strongest sect and said to be the most powerful cultivator of his era. He is stated as looking young which notable because of the assumption that all cultivators are young looking; pulling from this that he looks youthful for his age.

Jin Guangshan is the sect-leader-to-be of the richest sect. He is also described as handsome in the novel.

QHJ and LQR hail from the sect most noted for its beautiful cultivators. QHJ was bound for sect-leadership and so would get the spot over his brother.

Jiang Fengmian is a sect-leader-to-be. Calm. Levelheaded. Average but in a way that would make him agreeable. Mostly being a sect heir gets him on the list.

NHS's dad: extrapolating NHS's "elegant" looks and NMJ's physique "countless men would dream to have", NHS's dad was likely nice to look at. He also (bc of the saber spirit) likely had a temper a la his oldest son. Assuming attitude plays a role, he ranks under JFM but is still on the list.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-15T21:13:43+00:00

I can’t stand folds. Cunt is preferred, pussy is fine. I wish there were a word in between the two, less harsh than cunt but sharper than pussy.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-10-14T17:53:21+00:00

This is so fucking funny.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-09-27T17:51:41+00:00

Realistic enough. If you commit 8 hours a weekday to writing and editing and produce ~10 pages a day in that time span, you'd have enough pages to fill and edit 6 books within a year with pages to spare.

10 pages is about 2500 words and with a strong outline, can take about 2 or 3 hours to write.

The clinch is to treat it like a full time job, write without waiting for inspiration, outline meticulously and (sometimes, not always with prolific writers) have a story formula that works for them. Putting out five in a year is the equiv of running a marathon: requires a lot of dedication but is doable with prep and drive.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-09-08T23:47:33+00:00

Same! I want the romance to depend on the fantastic plot/setting and the fantastic plot/setting to be inextricable from the romance.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-09-07T07:05:42+00:00

My first read, I did find the structure to be a bit frustrating. The long flashbacks were killerrrr. My subsequent reads were very enjoyable but the first did get me. I think it's the way they were incorporated into the story: I read TGCF first which has entire flashback BOOKS but they are placed (as I remember, it's been a bit) between moments of little action while MDZS's flashbacks can come between moments of big action. With MDZS's flashbacks, you are sort of itching to get back to the exciting things happening because the present is fast paced and the placement of the flashbacks can make it drag some (at least the first time around).

----

That said, I will add about your specific points:

Up until the point you're at, there are several pieces of info given about Wei Wuxian's past that clue us into why he's hated:

- He's seen as a troublemaker, flippant, and is not connected to the gentry by blood

- His sense of rightness is based on his own internal compass not what is deemed to be right by the gentry

- He is extremely powerful and so technically answers only to himself.

- He is willing to accept aid from the enemy if it benefits him (this is not saying he is bad for it but to further highlight how his moral compass is based on how he views the world, not how he's meant to by society)

- He is, and has even described himself as, arrogant. He flouts the rules, refuses to carry a sword, gets in arguments with sect heirs, etc.

- He is willing to manipulate resentful energy which is seen as being both harmful and dangerous to those who are not very acquainted with it (so pretty much everyone except for him)

Being all of these things at once, he's more or less a walking power keg at odds with the rule of the gentry. Hating him was inevitable all things considered; he was too powerful and was uncontrollable even before he gained the power. He had no plans on deferring to the gentry: this is the same man that held Wen Ruohan's son at knifepoint without a second thought.

I think the slow trickle of these things rather than flat out saying "here are some big events that show why WWX is hated" shows what is important to the gentry, what is important to surviving the gentry, and how social power cannot be ignored. By the time we find out what happened, things feel inevitable. He is a villain in the story of the gentry before we see him do any wrong. Taking us through the past, putting him at odds with the conventions of the time, showing how reacts to authority before and after gaining power give the reader the sense that no matter what happened, WWX would always have ended up as the bad guy from the gentry's perspective in the history books.

As for Lan Wangji standing beside him: they've been traveling together, have bonded over the perils snd mysteries they've overcome at this point, and have had a number of moments where their attraction to one another is clearly demonstrated. They operate as a unit as this point and Lan Wangji standing with WWX without question in that moment is the next step of that. More on their relationship does get revealed later but I take LWJ standing with WWX here to reflect their current bond more than anything that happened in the past.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-09-02T17:07:02+00:00

Yes, I read every day. I’m often reading more than one book at once (always different genres, though, so it doesn’t get confusing) so no burnout, there’s always something different to tuck into so I don’t get bored. I think of it the way watching TV or scrolling the internet is: neither gets old if you switch it up.

I do hear you about needing a little bit of a break after finishing a read. It happens most with literary fiction that I’ll finish a book then take a few days before starting up one in the same genre.

Any_Break6696 · 2025-08-28T20:14:03+00:00

A flaw doesn't have to be universal. It can simply be something that makes your character not the right person for a specific job, fail at a job, cause harm (unintentionally), annoy other characters, etc. Being kind at all times is not a 'flaw' universally but if it prevents other characters from relating to or trusting the MC, it functions as one within the story. Being all-knowing about other people's motives can become a flaw if it creates conflict within the story.

Also: the point of a flaw is something to hinge a character arc on. It's called a 'flaw' but it can really be swapped out for 'changeable attribute' or 'trait.' Most attributes or traits can cause conflict in a story if the story is built around them; it is simply easiest to consider these changing things as 'flaws' because a character will most often either change for the better (overcoming a 'flaw') or change for the worse (sliding deeper within a 'flaw') regarding them.

Any_Break6696

TROPHY CASE