lightbearinglord: (qin & bunny)
Lan Wangji (蓝忘机) ([personal profile] lightbearinglord) wrote2024-03-08 08:16 am

[ open post: Lan Wangji and guests ]

In the wake of his disorienting and unpleasant stint in Gu Xiang's body, Lan Wangji has done his utmost to resume and enjoy all of his usual pursuits. He has, he believes, thoroughly made up for his lapse in his promise to Wei Ying. He has wielded kitchen knives, his ink brush, and Bichen with precision and enthusiasm. He has sunk into long, restorative shichen of meditation. He has, at Claudius' behest, thoroughly perused Emily Post's instructions regarding how to conduct oneself as the best man at a wedding.

There is the matter of his qin, too. The discovery of the spirit in Gideon's sword struck Lan Wangji with greater surprise than he might have expected. Such things were once commonplace for him; he hardly went two weeks, before he came to this place, without finding himself called to some night-hunt. He does not like to believe that he could become complacent, and he has always practiced diligently, but still.

The tableau is a familiar one: a certain parlor near the entryway of the mansion, one that often houses this particular cultivator along with his spiritual instrument. Wangji is balanced on a table at the center of the room, polished black wood gleaming and strings freshly tuned, and Lan Wangji sits cross-legged before it. He is not actually playing it at this precise moment, however, because he currently has guests. A small white rabbit sits next to the qin, munching his way through a piece of lettuce. An equally small brown rabbit is perched in the crook of Lan Wangji's elbow, eyeing his brother with some envy. Ostensibly, the rabbits are in trouble, because they have recently laid waste to Lan Wangji's copy of Emma. It is impossible to tell, because Lan Wangji is petting Danding's head with exactly as much solemn focus as always.
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-09 05:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Galahad, for his part, does not drop his eyes from Lan Wangji's. He betrays no emotion. It feels like being tested on his catechism to be asked these questions, except that Galahad sees God differently from the way he did as a boy, and instead of reciting back the answers he learned and memorized he's telling Lan Wangji his own beliefs, citing scripture when it's relevant.

"Sometimes God tests our faith. The book of Job tells how God and His Adversary argued and the Adversary challenged God, saying that His faithful servant Job was only faithful because of the blessings God had heaped upon him. God allowed the Adversary to take those blessings -- to slay his livestock, blight his fields, murder his children, and steal his health, and leave only his life. Job's wife counsels him to renounce God. His friends tell him it must be his own sin that has led to his suffering. But Job tells how he is innocent, and good, and though he longs to confront God and speak on his own behalf, he will not curse God. Finally God speaks to him and tells him that he cannot understand God's reasoning because he is only a man. No man has the ability to know what God knows or discern why He chooses what He does. Job is humble and repents. God is angry with Job's friends for their presumptuous and ignorant counsel, but Job intercedes for them, and God chooses to spare them. He then gives Job back twice as much as he took from him before."

Galahad pauses.

"This story teaches us many things. It teaches that we cannot understand God's choices, and that He may inflict suffering upon us for reasons beyond our knowing. It teaches us that if we remain faithful in the face of suffering, we will be rewarded. And it teaches us that God is not unfeeling; He hears our intercessions and He may choose to be graceful with those for whom we plead.

"It also teaches us that God can be provoked by His enemy," he continues, as quiet and even as always. "He will permit misfortune to befall someone who loves Him if it proves his loyalty. He is easily angered, and changeable."
Edited 2024-03-09 18:05 (UTC)
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-09 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
"We exist in communion with God, and are made in His image, but we cannot be the same. All things come from Him and are ordered by Him, and though He has set us in dominion over His other creations we are still subordinate to Him. He is perfect, and we are imperfect. We are sinful and He is without sin. We are mortal unless we are reborn in Him to life everlasting." He tilts his head very slightly. "And yet. Magnus's father is another kind of god. Gideon's order serves a god who can be killed by a special weapon. Claudius says there is a god here now. Even in scripture it is written thou shalt have no other gods before me. The church teaches that there is only one God, but I now believe that must be incorrect."
Edited 2024-03-09 20:20 (UTC)
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-09 09:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"What is that?"
Edited 2024-03-09 21:07 (UTC)
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-10 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
"Will you tell me more?"
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-10 04:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"It is a presence?" He doesn't entirely understand, but he sits attentively, back perfectly straight.
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-10 05:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"That is like the Holy Spirit."
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-10 05:26 pm (UTC)(link)
"The Holy Spirit is a presence that emanates from God. It is what allows men to perform miracles and be filled with charisms. The fire inside my body is from the Holy Ghost. It is of a substance with God and Christ."
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-10 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
It makes him think of himself telling Gideon how he looked for small choices, small purposes. To be a life-giving force, in communion with all things, but to be equally very small, with no great desires -- it would be nice, to be holy, to matter, but for that mattering to be beneath the notice of most people.

"How is it honored?" he asks.
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-10 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
These are teachings, not Lan Wangji's own words, Galahad thinks. He listens quietly. It feels important that Lan Wangji would share his own scriptures and rules, knowing that Galahad doesn't believe them -- it's important for him to hear.
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-11 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
"Did you know him? Or was it before your time?"
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-11 01:33 am (UTC)(link)
"His cultivation partner?"
onthewillowsthere: (contemplation)

[personal profile] onthewillowsthere 2024-03-11 02:06 pm (UTC)(link)
"Is cultivation love?"

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