The Bastards of Yunmeng

Do you love Mo Dao Zu Shi/The Untamed? YOU SHOULD

Why?

I have decided to start linking to updates to my free fanfiction over on Archive of Our Own (AO3), since it’s really a serial in its own right. I obviously cannot publish it here for copyright reasons; likewise, over on AO3 I cannot ask for money (it’s against the TOS, and more importantly, against the whole spirit of fanfiction, which is a gifting economy!).

But writing fanfiction is an important part of my creative writing life, and not sharing it feels weirder than sharing it.

I know many fanfic authors do not agree with that sentiment. They prefer and protect their anonymity, and I deeply respect that. Being able to engage in fandom without having to dox yourself is a time-honored tradition.

But I decided a few years ago to come out of that closet. Fanfiction, and the communities I’ve been a part of that are centered on fanfiction, not only saved my life but created the writer I am today. I want to celebrate that.

What?

The Bastards of Yunmeng is a canon-divergence AU set a few years before canon even starts. The basic premise is that the three children who are at the core of Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) are, instead, ejected from their home when it is discovered that the mother of two of them was an adultress. They are not the heirs the sect leader thought they were, and he throws them out on the streets with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The mother is executed (off screen) and the children are left on their own.

If you know anything about the canon story, either the book or the drama, you know how much that changes pretty much everything.

At this point we’re up to chapter 26 and about 45k words; expected chapter count is somewhere around 100, so we’re a quarter of the way along, I think. I have written up to chapter 50, which puts the story at 95k words at the halfway mark. You have been warned.

Mo Dao whatsis??

*leans over to whisper in your ear*

WHY HAVEN’T YOU WATCHED THE SHOW OR READ THE BOOK(S) YET????

Look, the show is very pretty:

That’s Lan Wangji (left) and Wei Wuxian (right), the two stars of the story, looking suitably gorgeous and dramatic.

But that is not the important part, not even a little bit. The thing I think gets tragically missed here in the West is that this story is a modern classic of literature and storytelling. That is not hyperbole.

Mo Dao Zu Shi is a love story wrapped in tragedy; a social commentary on classism and the lethal dangers of group-think; an examination of the cost of war, genocide, vengeance, and revenge; and an exploration of generational trauma.

The Untamed is an adaptation that remains true to those roots. The characters are appealing and endearing, even the villains, but this show will break your heart multiple times. You will scream at the injustice of it all even as it holds a mirror up to the tragedies we witness every day.

I watched the drama five years ago and it changed my life. I invite it to change yours, too — and then, maybe, come back ‘round and read my fanfiction ode to the characters I adore and cry over every day.

---