By Any Other Name
is a completed Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi fanfic written by ShanaStoryteller on Archive of Our Own.
Wei Wuxian wakes up in a body not his, in a place he doesn't know, and because Mo Xuanyu couldn't wait for the right moment in order to cast his ritual, his health is completely fucked up.
So he heads straight for Lotus Pier, as Jiang Cheng might be a dick but he won't let him die, even if he insists for no one to learn about the Yiling Patriarch's resurrection.
Enter Wu Yingtai — she's very female, very flirty, so casual around Sect Leader Jiang people cannot help talking, and Lan Wangji very much doesn't want to fall in love with her.
Contains the following tropes
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: Wei Wuxian is surprisingly alright with the prospect of living as a woman, musing he identifies as Wei Wuxian rather than male or female — strongly hinting he's some flavour of nonbinary.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Lan Xichen wanted for his brother to stop pining after a dead man and find another love. He's very dismayed when Lan Wangji does precisely that, because the woman is assumed to be in a relationship already.
- Brought Down to Badass: Even stuck in a weak body with a weak golden core and unable to use his necromantic abilities, Wei Wuxian is still a master of talisman-making and will pacify walking corpses with nothing but a borrowed guqin.
- Delicate and Sickly: Courtesy of the botched summoning ritual, Wei Wuxian is physically frail and constantly in pain. It lasts until they do another ritual on the correct celestial alignment. Even then Wei Wuxian's health is fragile, risking overexerting himself at wrong moments.
- Demoted to Extra: Wen Ning doesn't appear until the last chapter, and he does more as a mindless corpse than after regaining his wits.
- First Girl After All: Lan Wangji felt rather conflicted about falling in love with Wu Yingtai, partially because he wanted to stay faithful to Wei Wuxian's memory. Fortunately for the Second Jade, Wu Yingtai is Wei Wuxian's secret identity.
- For Want Of A Nail: Mo Xuanyu doing the summoning ritual far too soon causes a disoriented Wei Wuxian to flee right in Jiang Cheng's arms, and everything unravels from there.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Right before the meeting at Koi Tower, Lan Wangji decides he can live with Wu Yingtai being married to another man, as long as he gets to see her safe and loved.
- Like Parent, Like Spouse: After seeing Wu Yingtai handling the ghost arm, Lan Xichen reflects that of course Jiang Cheng wouldn't fall for a woman less dangerous than his fearsome mother.
- Mistaken for Romance: Why yes, Jiang Cheng, when you're suddenly fussy and protective towards a woman who laughs at your behaviour, gifting her your beloved sister's clothes and jewelry, not preventing your nephew from calling her Auntie and letting her wear your own spiritual tool, people are going to make assumptions.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Wu Yingtai appears to be a cheerful and sweet if delicate lady, only to brave ghosts and walking corpses with nothing but talismans. Lan Xichen later reflects it would have been stupid for Jiang Cheng to like a woman unable to take care of herself in dire circumstances.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Qin Su doesn't commit suicide after learning the truth about her relationship with Jin Guangyao, and becomes the new Regent of Jin Ling.
- Tell Me About My Father: Jin Ling enjoys asking Wei Wuxian about his maternal grandparents and his mother. He would do the same with Jiang Cheng, but the man has to be drunk or sad to comply and it makes for rather depressing conversation.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Wei Wuxian dons his foster sister's clothes in order to pass as Wu Yingtai. It's a very effective disguise.
