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ultimateshixiongfuckertournament · 4 months

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Noncanonicals Tournament FINAL

This final is between Han Ying from Word of Honor (shizun/mentor: Zhou Zishu) and Fang Duobing from Mysterious Lotus Casebook (shizun/mentor: Li Xiangyi / Li Lianhua)

Propaganda under the cut! (Warning: Propaganda may include spoilers about the characters and their media)

Han Ying:

He idolized and was mentored by Zhou Zishu to the point of recruiting other young martial artists to revive ZZS’s dying sect and willing to die live happily ever after for it.

#han ying wants to fuck zhou zishu SO BAD#han ying#shizunfucker tournament

#my sweet ying'er wants to fuck zzs so bad he's gagging for it

#HAN YING HANDS DOWN#would have licked his boots if he asked

#han ying wanted nothing more than to officially become zzs's student/part of his sect#it was literally his dying wish that his brothers in arms may get to do that#he says several times in the show to zzs's very face that he's 100% down for dying for him#he swears allegiance EXCLUSIVELY to zzs and not the prince they're all serving#he comes up with bangers like 'if there is anything you need I will lay down my life with no regret'#'if you were gone one day how could I live alone'#'a loyal servant wouldn't have two masters in his life'#he sneaks into zzs's abandoned residence and homoerotically-#-strokes the painting of a flower that symbolizes a) zzs himself b) zzs's grief for being the lone survivor of his sect#and he wanted to join siji so so badly#it was his life's dream and he died IN siji but before getting to have that 😭#listen he makes me insane#anyway they should have fucked sloppy style and zzs would have had an out of body experience if hy called him shizun#my final thesis goodbye

#it's HAN YING#you could power entire nations with the power of that yearning

#han ying saw zhou zishu and IMMEDIATELY dropped to his knees are you joking#wen kexing immediately clocked him

#ying'er my sweet prince#he wants the dick so badly

Fang Duobing:

Fang Duobing has most definitely had several fantasies of being dommed by his shifu Li Xiangyi! He is also equally invested in marrying Li Lianhua - travelling the jianghu, going on rooftop moonlit dates, incorporating looking after him forever and ever into his general future plans. This is even before he knows that Li Lianhua and Li Xiangyi are the same person. Oh there are Layers to the shizunfucking. Where's that post about being so devoted to someone that it breaks the pedestal they're put on and comes full circle to loving them for the person they are? (its here: https://www.tumblr.com/difeisheng/733133489565745152/the-core-of-fanghua-is-built-around-fang-duobings) When they finally do get to know each other 10 years later, after Li Xiangyi's identity is found out, Fang Duobing insists on being equals rather than master-and-disciple! Li lianhua is Fang Duobing’s guide in the Jianghu! He leaves his house, dog and the only records of his unique martial arts to Fang Duobing before running away!! Fang Duobing’s most important agenda is to save Li Lianhua from slow death by poison!!! He doesn't care if Li Lianhua keeps leaving him behind and lying to him and is 'at peace' with dying!! They live together. They'll never be equals. They've been equals all along. They're zhiji. They're master and disciple. they're married. They're everything.

#this man wanted to fuck his shizun under two whole ass different identities#this man was given one million choices between his shizun and his entire cushy rich boi life and did not sweat the decision even once#this man was engaged to a princess - who was COOL - and went “no thanks i’d rather follow shizun around in a fantasy china airstream’

#this cannot not be fang duobing let's be serious#polls#he's been drawing hearts around his shizun's name since age 8

#Fang Duobing going through it for what he thinks is two different people but is just one guy#so he gets my vote easy

#pls he is head employee at shizunfucker.co

#han ying #fang duobing #word of honor #mysterious lotus casebook #zhou zishu #li lianhua #li xiangyi

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problem-of-ros · 15 days

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im trying to pinpoint how mysterious lotus casebook gets to you because what happened to me was that i watched it in maybe 10 days and i thought i was fine. i thought for a full 24 hours after finishing it that it was a pretty enjoyable and well-made show with a poetic ending that nonetheless didn’t have a lasting impact on me. this was a month ago and ill probably never be normal again but my point is. not even watching it prepared me for how good it was. and i think it’s because mlc takes itself lightly, in a mid-budget sillyserious manner. it’s not wearing its prestige tv outfit, it’s wearing sweatpants and a graphic tshirt with a meme on it. but why is it that compelling then!!! and i think my answer is that mlc is an anti-story. to me!! this is not intended as meta im just journaling. walking up and down clutching my head and typing. so <<there are two quite different emotions: […] the heart-racking sense of the vanished […] ; and the other the more ‘ordinary’ emotion, triumph, pathos, tragedy of the characters […] forced on me by the fundamental literary dilemma: A story must be told or there will be no story, yet it is the untold stories that are the most moving.>> says old john ronald. this is the asylum they raised me in or whatever kids say nowdays. and here’s another one, a poem that is very very li lianhuacore but i have to translate it to english fml. the title is they say or people say. << i was born with knife in hand— / people say this is a poem. / surely the knife wasn’t enough, that’s why he grabbed the pen / [but] i was [simply] born human.” etc etc there is an insane dog motive line that’s sadly irrelevant to the point im trying to make etc last verse: “i am sealed by dirt [soil] and eroded [crumbled] by the sea— / people say i’ll die, / but I stay silent. / you hear all manner of things all the time.” thank you józsef attila sorry józsef attila. translating this took audacity. what i MEAN is that beyond the metanarrative pun that is a string of murder mysteries leading the detective to the realisation that his own death ten years earlier was actually a mysterious murder (which is already pretty elegant imo) . but beyond that, the complete plot and the whole show itself is a cover story for li lianhua’s private little suicide narrative that we know nothing about. and i want to be very clear llh isn’t fabricating the cover story purposefully, unreliable narrator style. he isn’t narrating shit. mlc doesn’t have a narrator. closest thing is actually fang duobing, as we the viewers are trying to get to know llh through him— except, unlike fdb, we have just enough additional information to understand that he is NOT getting any closer. he cannot. people smarter than me have said that llh is mother; he surely is unknowable like one. the closer you are to someone the worse the blind spots feel. if zhiji can be (as i understand) something like ‘knowing myself is knowing you’ then maybe having a mother is sometimes like ‘understanding myself is understanding you, but always a decade too late’. for me, fanghua is a synthesis of these two things. fdb either knows but doesn’t understand or understands but doesn’t know. same logic as the infamous masks. you stand on the shore with a letter adressed to you but not written for you and you know nothing, fang xiaobao. i haven’t fully seen GoT but this is how i imagine that line. but for someone with fdb’s brain and soul, not understanding is everything. let me rephrase, not understanding is sexy. in fact i’d argue that what makes lxy/llh irresistible for every tastehaver that ever fell for him is that he is shrouded in mystery. like a bride and like the dead. and ironically, dead brides with their shorter and prettier semi-transparent veils are but a frivolous subcategory of sheet ghost. goodbye

also not to quote contrapoints, but the lover(detective)-barrier(mystery)-beloved(truth) triangle. fanghua is all about yearning and anticipation and it’s a tension that never breaks. the resolution is beyond death (plot) beyond the end of the story (narrative) beyond the barrier — which is the story itself (metanarrative). it points us to an unanswerable question, and that is its depth. and that is what i love: cover stories that let me palpate something vanished and silent

#(teeth clattering) i need to read the book…#LONG POST #mlc

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mx-myth · 6 months

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Okay hear me out red string of fate mlc au (rough timeline) (you only see your string(s) and who they connect to but no one else's)

(This is long as fuck actually)

Li Xiangyi who grows up in the streets with two strings. One is red and sometimes he thinks about following it to see where it leads but he never does. He meets shan gudao and eventually gets picked up by his shifu (I forgot what he calls him in the show, so) and at some point learns that the grey string tied in a bow on his opposite hand means his other zhiji hasn't been born yet.

(Lxy doesn't think anything about this until one march morning years later the string bursts into colour and unravels forward when he's training (you can fight me on this but fdb is ABSOLUTELY a spring baby born in the morning. Something about the coming of new life and the dawn of a new day and how that's what he symbolises). Because of the mostly-romantic connotations of strings he's guilt-ridden over his zhiji being a decade (or thereabouts? I don't remember the actual age gap in the show) younger than him before he forcibly puts it out of his mind)

Fast-forward to when he meets qiao wanmian. They become close friends and basically everyone thinks they're fated. But a-mian sits him down to quietly tell him that she has no string, none at all, that they really aren't fated and never will be. And lxy, who, in the nights he lies awake, still is guilty about being ten years older than his youngest zhiji (he doesn't know whether his other one is older or younger than him, the string was already red by the time he was old enough to retain memories), lies and says he doesn't have a string either. But he wants to court her because he loves her. That part, at least, is true: li xiangyi loves qiao wanmian.

And then he starts the sigu sect and eventually meets di feisheng. Their first meeting is only in passing but they lock eyes and lxy sees not only the moment when it registers that they're zhiji but also the moment when dfs sees that he's walking arm in arm with a-mian. They both walk away none the wiser to each other's identities.

It's only when they meet for the first time as di-mengzhu, leader of the jinyuan alliance, and as li xiangyi, the number one swordsman in the jianghu, and cross swords does lxy truly realise what this means. Their string spools out between their bodies, fluttering away between their swords, as he realises that he and this zhiji of his are on opposite sides. That their string is the only thing that connects them across their unfathomable chasm.

(It isn't. Lxy doesn't know it but dfs admires his swordsmanship. Dfs thinks they have a lot in common via neili and fighting techniques and their devotion to their crafts but he thinks that lxy knows this. He doesn't say anything about it because he assumes that lxy knows this and also because it's common knowledge he and qiao wanmian are going to get married. So lxy never knows)

Afterwards lxy becomes consumed with red strings of fate. He obsessively starts searching for stories where the zhiji turn out to be enemies. He finds almost nothing (most of what he finds is enemies to friends, or worse, enemies to (friends to) lovers, and all of it he throws out in disgust) and in his frenzy he begins neglecting his relationship with a-mian.

The ultimate betrayal comes when lxy learns that dfs killed shan gudao. A-Mian just recently broke up with him and that combined with his zhiji killing his shixiong is what does it. It spells the beginning of the spiral of li xiangyi.

Switch to di feisheng. He'd thought they had an understanding and sigu sect and the jinyuan alliance were approaching peace talks but suddenly lxy is killing his members left and right. He has no idea what this is about until jiao liqiao congratulations him on killing shan gudao. He grunts in confusion but everyone talks it to mean he did it. So dfs just had to roll with it.

There's nothing he can do about it. Dfs sends people to investigate sgd's death and trains. There is a real and oncoming war soon and so he issues a challenge to duel lxy on the eastern sea.

(The war comes anyway)

(Di Feisheng loses something on that ship anyway)

He spends the next ten years while he's in seclusion recovering thinking about it. About lxy, the bright, brilliant zhiji who was never his. About the fact that he killed his own zhiji. About the moment when, as he sank into the water, he'd closed his eyes and thought that following his zhiji to the underworld wouldn't be so bad.

Execpt that li xiangyi isn't dead. His string isn't white, is still as red as the robes he wore, and it still leads somewhere he doesn't know. Dfs takes a sort of pride in this. Of course lxy wouldn't die in their duel. Of course he's strong enough to come out of it alive.

He doesn't really think about his xiao-zhiji at all, except when he touches that string and wonders if lxy is also connected to this person. He wants to meet them someday to test their skills, to take them to meet lxy. In seclusion dfs makes that deal with himself - he'll make his zhiji meet, and then he'll leave them with each other, because for all he knows, li xiangyi still hates him.

(I picture it going dfs > lxy/llh > fdb age-wise, with dfs only being a some months older than lxy/llh. But neither of them know that because of their childhood circumstances)

He leaves seclusion with this goal in mind.

And then he figures out - as a six-year-old, no less - that his zhiji have already met each other. That they've been traveling in tandem for months and have been solving cases. That li xiangyi is for some reason li lianhua (he knows why. The first thing jiao liqiao had said to him was congratulations on killing li xiangyi). That this stupid naïve little puppy named fang duobing is his xiao-zhiji.

Llh treats fdb kindly. He's mischievous and he teases fdb about inconsequential little things and dfs burns, because he still remembers lxy vividly wanting to kill him. He burns because this is side of him he's never seen and he burns because his xiao-zhiji is already used to this and he burns because he wants that too.

Whether he forgets that after he writes li lianhua's name on his hand doesn't matter then.

Switch to fang duobing. He's really fucking annoyed by the fact that no one is telling him anything. He's been traveling with llh for months, but despite the fact that they both know they're zhiji he won't talk about it. He won't even answer any questions about that kid.

Fdb isn't an idiot. His strings have been red ever since the day he was born. No way is some kid not even half his height his zhiji. The math doesn't work out.

(This is terrible, llh thinks. Of course he knows dfs has been alive because his string never turned white. Of course he recognized that little face as dfs' before he even saw the string connecting them. Of course he realised what was up as soon as fdb started pestering him about that kid and whether or not he has another string. Of course he knows dfs must've clocked it too.)

Fdb is severely skeptical when the Iron Head Slave or whatever llh claimed he was shows up and llh tells him they're old friends. But he's delighted to meet his other zhiji formally - right up until the point when they have their first chopstick battle over the food. At that point he becomes exasperated, and then he becomes ready to throw down once they begin arguing over who gets the guest bed.

(Fdb believes in respecting your elders but dfs is showing him absolutely no respect so guess what? He can sleep on the floor. Not even his handsome looks will help him win the fight)

(They end up squished together on the bed, both of them fuming because llh told then to just share)

(He and dfs never talk about their string, but they both observe enough to be able to tell that they're both connected to llh. They don't talk about this either, but sometimes llh will do something especially stupid or crazy or clever and they'll Look At Each Other)

(And then they can't about it, because A-Fei is learning from scratch)

But then he learns that A-Fei (who used to correct him when he playfully called llh da-ge, saying that he was er-ge and that fdb should be calling him da-ge, and fdb had gotten so tired of him and llh fighting with their eyes that he just straight-up called him gege with his most shit-eatting grin, to which dfs stared at him before dragging him outside to beat his ass) (who, after he lost his memories, would sleep in the bed with him with their backs against each other, and fdb loved feeling like his zhiji thought he could watch his back, and even if A-Fei was a stupid early riser and his half of the bed was always cold when he woke up it meant that he could always smell breakfast cooking downstairs) (who, after all, fdb felt like he was finally understanding) is actually di feisheng, villain of the jianghu, he feels like everything they'd had together was built on lies. He asks llh if he knew, if he knew that his (their, their zhiji, but llh still won't talk about it) zhiji was dfs, and then he has to go on with the knowledge that he was the only one kept in the dark.

And then when he learns that li lianhua was li xiangyi all along it really dawns on him then. His zhiji have known each other for years (and everyone thought they had killed each other on the eastern sea, and something about that is so wrong that fdb can't even think about it) and never told him the truth. They said that they were friends (llh said that) and that they knew each other for years (llh said that) and everything he knows about them is based on lies of omission and half-truths (that llh told him). He's torn and he's hurt and he's angry, angry at himself and everyone else.

(If he had known though, would things have stayed the same? Would he have laughed the same way if he knew the man he was wrestling in the dirt with was dfs, would he have still made the same suggestions on how to improve in cooking if he knew the man making the food was li xiangyi?)

(it isn't until li lianhua/li xiangyi are gone, though, that he realises that dfs was used by llh in the same way that he was)

Except that when li lianhua dies, there's two people who have to look at a red string that's supposed to be white.

(Switch to li lianhua. He crawls back from the underworld but what does he have left? The strings on his fingers are red, red like happiness, and aren't those two better off without him anyway? He's finally burned all the bridges of all of his relationships. It's time that he start over again.)

(Except that he stumbles upon the Lotus Tower anyway. He stumbles upon Di Feisheng and Fang Duobing and even as he asks them why they still even want him, he's crying, reaching for them, and there's tears on all their faces.)

#I don't even need to fic this anymore. This is a fic #Not how my writing brain works anyway. But the idea is free for anyone to use!#mlc #mysterious lotus casebook #difanghua #difang #fanghua #di feisheng #li lianhua #li xiangyi #fang duobing #feihua #liansanjiao #lian hua lou #mlc brainrot is real #ao3 #Thought of the red string of fate and actually it's barely an au. It doesn't change much #But what is changes means everything

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eirenical · 9 months

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I’ve been thinking a lot about Fang Duobing and names.

(Disclaimer: I’m learning Mandarin but have very very little of it under my belt and have pulled these definitions from Yabla. If I’ve missed a major nuance, please feel free to add on. ^_^)

He’s first introduced to us as 袁健康 (Yuan Jiankang), the alias he gives at Baichuan Court when he’s participating in the tests to get accepted. 健康 means health or healthy. And when you consider his actual name, that’s... telling.

Fang Duobing (方多病), we find out not much later, is his real name. But it’s not really a name, is it? It’s what his mother and father and aunt called him as a child because he was 多病 -- often/always ill. Much later in the series, we hear from his father that his mother didn’t give him a proper name at the beginning because they weren’t sure he would make it.

The only other name he ever gets called is Fang Xiaobao (方小宝). He’s called this by his mother and aunt and eventually by Li Lianhua, as well (at first, I think this is almost ironic or teasing in nature, but becomes sincere as they come to mean more to each other, but I’ll get to that). 小宝 means “little treasure”. This is the same 宝 as in 宝贝 (baobei). From what I understand it’s the kind of affectionate pet name that parents might call their children, but isn’t... really the kind of nickname you’d use for an adult. (...unless you’re Zhao Yunlan and have absolutely zero shame and are kind of a horn dog. XD)

And this progression just fascinates me and makes me feel endlessly sad for him. He’s “always ill” to everyone he’s introduced to because he never was given a proper name. He’s “healthy” when he’s trying to break away from his family’s control and his entire past to follow his own dreams in the jianghu and Baichuan Court. And he is forever “little treasure” to his mother and his aunt who wanted nothing more than to keep him safe and coddled at home because they can’t imagine him no longer being the “always sick” child he was when he was young.

And to Li Lianhua, he starts out as Fang Duobing because that’s the only name that he knows him by, but over the course of the series that shifts. He starts calling him “Xiaobao” eventually. And at first it’s said teasingly and not in the nicest of ways. It’s a little condescending. A reminder of how young, how innocent, Fang Duobing is. A constant subtle suggestion that he should maybe go home to his mother, marry his princess, and live a safe and comfortable life. But the more he accepts Fang Duobing’s presence in his life and the connection that’s building between them, once he hears Fang Duobing call him 知己 (zhiji) and MEAN IT, once Fang Duobing starts stepping up and living up to his potential as an equal and a partner... that shifts. It becomes less ironic, less teasing, and far, FAR more sincere. More of an acknowledgement of how much Fang Duobing has come to mean to him, even if he can never put that into words.

...but it’s still not a name.

The Emperor calls his father out on this towards the end of the series and for a moment I thought we might see him given a real name at that point, and I was almost relieved when it didn’t happen. If he’s going to get a “real” name at this point, I’d rather see it be one he picks for himself or one given to him by someone who loves and understands him in ways he deserves.

So he makes his way through this story named only as a testimony to how other people feel about him: a sickly child who may be a burden, may never live up to expectations, may not live long enough to be worth naming; a treasured child who survived and, against all odds, THRIVED, but needs to be protected at all costs; a vibrant youth who’s one shot to name himself is to deny his entire past and leave it behind him... and eventually to being a treasure again, but no longer one that needs to be coddled. One that truly IS a treasure and an unexpected one: a legacy, a partner, a support strong enough for someone who refuses to rely on anyone’s strength but his own.

And that makes sense. Because at the core of it, Fang Duobing is a people pleaser. Once he finds someone he feels strongly about, he’ll do whatever he can, be whoever he needs to be, to make that person happy, to protect them. And with the way he shapes his own personality to suit those goals, he’s more of a chameleon than Li Lianhua ever was. And his lack of a real name reflects that beautifully.

...and now I’m going to go sit in a corner and cry about it some more. TT^TT

#mysterious lotus casebook #fang duobing #names #eirenical.meta #mysterious lotus casebook meta #mlcb meta #long post #just in case #fang duobing & li lianhua #fang duobing x li lianhua #could go either way #fanghua

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justlarkin · 21 days

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Aside from your takes on the Exiles, are there any OCs you have for Housamo? If not, are there any concepts or ideas you'd be interested in seeing Housamo tackle?

"Give me an OC, but make it Housamo! And remove the exile!" "Give me an OC with nothin-" If we were talking normal OCs we'd be here all day.

Sorry, I had to think about it. I think I drew Garuda once and did nothing with him afterwards and that was it. I came up with some mock ups for Pipa Jang (the jade pipa) and Jiutou Zhiji Jing (the nine headed pheasant) since I like girlies and wanted to actually provide something. They're not that thought out though, so it's just brief ideas.

Pipa Jang and Jiutou Zhiji Jing are meant to cause chaos and stir up drama like Hakumen, so I thought they'd do it in their own unique ways.

I think Jiutou Zhiji Jing would be the shape shifter type, considering her title, and that she'd cause chaos through espionage, spreading lies, gossiping, exposing others. She's probably just in it for the fun and luxury though.

And for Pipa Jang I was thinking that she could be one of those types who cause discord through music. Ya know the type. People hear it and just go mad. With Pipa, I think she would be the devotee/fangirl type and more involved with the "Great Mother" side of Nüwa since I like the idea of her actually being the pipa and the body she's possessing being created by Nüwa for her.

From stuff I'd like to see, maybe more American cryptids or folktale figures. I'm a sucker for Old Black Eyes rn.

#ask #my art

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difeisheng · 10 months

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deeply emotional about how fang duobing's family is the one he chose, and he never once wavers on that. we find out that he's the son of shan gudao and he xiaolan relatively early, but as soon as he xiaohui tells him everything he goes on calling her his mother without blinking an eye. the first time he sees minister fang after meeting shan gudao as an adult, he tells him that he never called him his father in the past, but now it's about time. there's the entire conversation he has sitting with li xiangyi in the gazebo, about how getting along with others is like wine, and it's clear that fang duobing has made enough sense of things after realizing who li lianhua was that he likes and wants to keep the relationship they've already built up (zhiji. still wailing). my boy gets hit with a lot of heavy and frankly overwhelming knowledge about his lineage in a very short period of time, but he's always clear-headed about who he sees as his true family. and these people— he xiaohui, minister fang, li xiangyi— are all individuals who have lied to fang duobing about himself for a very long time. but he says it himself in the gazebo: no one acts and speaks in absolute truths, so you need trust from both sides to make a relationship work, and so he's chosen to trust. he's still chosen to trust after all that, and if they trust him too, then it'll be okay, and that's what he can hope for.

shan gudao, on the other hand, doesn't get any of that. frankly i'm proud of fang duobing for being able to keep his composure and rip into him for being a shitty biological dad, the second it's clear shan gudao only cared that fang duobing shared his bloodline with him and had no interest in doing the same with their lives. for the people fang duobing considers his, the people he cares about and wants to keep at his side, those relationships were forged outside of and never depended on blood. they never have and never will.

#deep in my fang duobing feelings now i adore this boy #mysterious lotus casebook #fang duobing #ashton originals

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thedreamerstoryteller · 5 months

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It took me three attempts to post it correctly but here it is.

SUMMARY:

Since Li Xiangyi came back, Di Feisheng has been acting weird and he notices it. Di Feisheng can't sleep and his "rival" knows why because he knows him and can read through his walls.

FROM THE STORY:

Di Feisheng’s body was warm under Li Xiangyi despite having been uncovered for the whole time since they had come to bed after making love. He was passionate and fiery every time, sometimes gentler, sometime rougher but always respectful. Since the first time they had started their relationship, since he had come back, the so-called Demon King had always been accommodating. Too much in Li Xiangyi’s opinion. His “rival” had always been direct and sure, if there was something he wanted he had always fight to gain it no matter what. Like for their match, since they had met after 10 years, he had been pestering him to fight again. Even after knowing about his health condition, he had been stubborn and determined to find a cure to have that damn rematch. So, such passive behavior wasn’t like him and he knew what it was due

NOTES:

It's been a while since the last time I wrote a fanfiction and posted it. I told everything I wanted into the notes on AO3.

Hope you like it guys! 😊

#mysterious lotus casebook #lian hua lou #li lianhua #li xiangyi #di feisheng #di feisheng loves li xiangyi #cdrama #chinese drama #fanfiction #feihua #dihua #soulmates #they are zhiji #Zhiji #First fanfiction of 2024

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hualianisms · 5 months

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fanghua & wangxian parallels: 2/?

"人生得一知己，足矣。 In one's lifetime, to have one zhiji, that is enough."

being each other's one and only 知己 of their lives

#莲花楼 #mysterious lotus casebook #fanghua #fang duobing #li lianhua #the untamed #wangxian #陈情令 #zhiji in our current time of censorship is romantic coding/subtext!!! it is what both the untamed and word of honor have chosen to use to #bypass censorship to hint at something deeper in the relationship of the main leads than what they were allowed to show onscreen #this is fanghua being implied romantic! coding! subtext! etc!#also in a deleted scene llh calls fxb his zhijiao (very similar to zhiji) many eps before this - he reciprocates the mutual zhiji bond!!#fanghua wangxian parallels #link is to my friend's tweet; the originally tweeted this but they don't have tumblr so they gave me permission to post it here

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thefeastandthefast · 6 months

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Ruyi and mentorship

Obviously I'm a complete sucker for how Ruyi and Ning Yuanzhou's relationship has settled into this playful, communicative romance full of respect and implicit understanding. The ideal wuxia zhiji 知己 relationship. No notes there, just sheer enjoyment.

SPOILERS UP TO 18:

Possibly more than Ruyi/Yuanzhou, Ruyi and Yang Ying might be my favorite relationship to watch in this show. Because Ruyi's mentorship of the princess is seeing the start of her redemption in action. And though we are told and generally not shown the brutal stuff she did as Left Emissary Ren, for which I'm endlessly gratified the story doesn't demand she self-flagellate, the way she mentored the little marquis appears to be one thing that Ruyi does regret, even before they met again.

I forget which episode it was where she made that vague, delicately phrased remark to Yang Ying that she once had a disciple that she didn't teach well. It's not something keeping her up at night, but clearly she had honestly examined that corner of herself and found a source of discomfort she needed to figure out how to manage. And her effort with Yang Ying is a mirror held up to reflect these shifts in her emotional landscape. The relationship is transformative for Yang Ying, but also for Ruyi.

Ruyi still holds the same impatience with self-pity (the glorious example of her plopping down a stool for Yang Ying to hang herself with!) But with Yang Ying, the harsh lessons are tempered with a stern sort of tenderness and humor and compassion. And an appreciation of how she’s shaping a different kind of legacy in her mentorship now that she has both choice and self-awareness. The Ruyi who now hopes to be a meaningful force in the world is a direct result of her realization that she can help make a person better without breaking them first, that she is as capable at creating as she is at killing.

And her regret with the little marquis is for good reason! But Ruyi was barely an adult when she was tasked with Li Tongguang's education. Barely a human being who knew how to human. As her benefactor Empress Zhaojie had said, Ruyi at that point was a sword. What can a sword know about raising a child into a good man? She did the best she could, but her best was shoving a thirteen year old’s head into water until he accepted her authority over him. And the consequences of that, the mark of her heavy hand remains on Li Tongguang and I'm eager for the next half to see the ghost of mentorship past come back to haunt her.

#a journey to love #一念关山 #cdrama #wuxia #my commentary

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rose-tinted-vision · 6 months

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Fic: Tales from Tianji Manor

(prev/ao3 link/next)

Relationships: implied Di Feisheng/Fang Duobing/Li Lianhua

chapter summary: Our local murderous gremlin gets exposed to motherly affection. He does not know how to deal with it.

“Where's Di Feisheng?” He Xiaohui asks at breakfast. The spot by Li Lianhua’s left was left conspicuously empty, which neither her son nor Li Lianhua seemed particularly concerned about.

Xiaobao shrugs, shovelling another mouthful of congee into his mouth.

Deeming her son useless in this topic, she turns to Li Lianhua, who gives a small cough, cheeks puffing in what she now recognizes is discomfort before answering, “Lao-Di does that sometimes. He comes and goes as he pleases, please don't worry, Sect leader He.”

Well. That was something to unpack.

She heard from Xiaobao that Di Feisheng came from the Di Family in the southeast region, that secretly conducted Death sorcerer training, creating trained assassins out of children. That explained his high martial skills, as well as his disregard towards social etiquette.

Though he was trying, she could see that. There are certain times where Di Feisheng paused, thinking through his words before suggesting murder to all their problems.

That was not the most pressing issue now, however.

“I told you to address me as ‘mom’,” she admonishes lightly, pushing a bowl of dough fritters towards Li Lianhua, who is careful not to agree but acknowledges her with a nod anyway.

It wasn't an outright refusal, she notes with a degree of satisfaction. She would work at slowly chipping away at his defences for now.

“And as for Di Feisheng, he'd better be back by evening, no one misses dinner here,” she fixes her Xiaobao with a glare.

“He usually disappears for a month though,” Xiaobao looks up in alarm, knowing full well she would make do on her threats, “even Hulijing is unable to track him down!”

“Nonsense, we have He Xiaofeng. Or have you forgotten how your xiaoyi managed to follow you all the way to Jin Mantang’s residence?”

“That was because this traitor set off a smoke flare!” Xiaobao gestures to Li Lianhua. (Who was currently stuffing his cheeks with pieces of dough fritters, the very picture of innocence and nothing like the 'traitor' he had just been accused of being).

“Also, are you calling my xiaoyi a tracking dog?” her Xiaobao huffs in mock indignation.

“You're the one calling her that, not me,” He Xiaohui says dismissively. Though her youngest sister does have a strange affinity for tracking people down, smoke flare or not, strangely enough.

—

(“Try calling for him,” Li Lianhua nudges Fang Xiaobao, who wrinkles his nose at the suggestion.

Li Lianhua shrugs, “it's worked before, no?”

In the end, Fang Duobing had volunteered himself to look for Di Feisheng, citing that the other would likely flee at seeing his xiaoyi. Not out of fear, but from guilt, that his taking her hostage had gotten her stabbed multiple times. He may have a morally gray compass, but he did have his own set of strict moral codes that he stuck to.

Fang Xiaobao pointedly ignores Li Lianhua's ribbing, holding out one of A-Fei’s sashes to Hulijing, who gives it a curious sniff before setting off northwards of the forest.

It wasn't until the sun started to set, painting the sky in various shades of pink, orange and yellow, with Fang Xiaobao muttering curses under his breath that Hulijing returned triumphant.

They eventually find him meditating by the waterfalls nestled in the forest, a lone figure clad in red stark against the cool grey of the cliffs. Hulijing bounds up to him, her barks rivalling the sounds of the crashing waters.

Standing there against the waterfalls that far eclipsed him in height as he pets Hulijing, Di Feisheng looked nothing like the monster in the stories teashop storytellers liked to spin.

Di Feisheng clearly had not expected his zhijis to come seeking him out, nor had he expected that He Xiaohui would be concerned about his absence. He did not know what to make of her demand that he be back for dinner, having managed to get by all his life alone. Never had anyone besides Li Lianhua fed him a meal without ulterior motives).

—

He Xiaohui is considering the merits of tearing up the offensive letter placed in front of her when attendant Xie rushes in, hastily announcing the return of her wayward son-in-law (to-be, but that was a moot point) and her sons.

“I'm famished!” Fang Xiaobao announces, waltzing into the dining hall with his zhijis trailing in behind him.

“Is there an issue?” Di Feisheng addresses her, taking the seat across Li Lianhua. It was hardly a conversation starter, but it was also not a straight ‘what do you want from me’ that his posture was radiating. She would give him points for that.

Unlike Fang Xiaobao, who had tore into his food with vigor upon sitting down, Di Feisheng had paid the veritable array of food no mind, posture tense and coiled for action, still wary after a week of residence in her Tianji Manor.

She had meant to put on her most stern expression, ready to grill them for being late, she really did. But Di Feisheng had looked so bewildered, so lost, his earlier collected demeanour gone when she replied that all she truly wanted was all her family members to be present during dinnertime.

“You…have fixed meal times?” Di Feisheng followed-up, sounding genuinely confused. The question has Li Lianhua subtly perking up in curiosity as well- and He Xiaohui’s heart aches.

That it was such a simple thing as having a meal together- that Di Feisheng likely never experienced -has her feeling choked up.

Truly, fate had not done right by these two men.

From the wet sheen in Fang Xiaobao's eyes, and the fond, almost tender expression he was sporting, she figures that he felt the same way too.

Not trusting herself to speak without breaking down into tears, He Xiaohui nods in response to Di Feisheng's expectant expression.

“Alright then,” Di Feisheng nods, deeming the answer satisfactory, “I shall try not to miss dinner.”

#afaik family dinners in Chinese households are A Given and quite important #i think this is the first fic where i wrote something more dfs centric #!! i do love A-Fei #just struggle with writing him a lil #mysterious lotus casebook fic #mysterious lotus casebook #di feisheng #difanghua #rose writes

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pastelcheckereddreams · 9 months

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Thinking about some kind of "sleeping beauty" post-canon fix-it, were we to interpret Li Lianhua to be still dying at the end of the special episode.

About how it is the simplest tragedy of all, that Li Lianhua just needed more time: Ten years, and Fang Duobing could cultivate yangzhouman powerful enough to heal him.

There is no xianxia magic to freeze time present in the drama, there are, however, nods to it - body-preserving herbs and techniques to stop the breath for three days. And how ice can freeze a body, freezes everything it touches, at the moment of death.

So I'm thinking of that, and I'm thinking about this:

How Li Xiangyi and Di Feisheng were once at the peak of the martial world, and that it is always cold at the summit of a mountain. I'm thinking about Di Feisheng (who recognises only one equal in the world) carrying Li Lianhua up a mountain along a path scattered with pine needles.

There Li Lianhua stays, out of time, a body frozen.

Perhaps he stays frozen the whole time, Di Feisheng a silent guard - standing sentry for ten more years in seclusion. His hair starts to grey at the temples. But what is another decade, if it means Li Lianhua at his side? He is willing to be the one to take the meandering path this time, if it means their zhiji can continue by their side.

Or perhaps Li Lianhua gasps awake - a split second, once every three days, to simply fall back into his breathless stupor. The presence of Di Feisheng a constant in those snippets of consciousness - 1,216 of them. As fleeting as a grain of sand in an hourglass, but a steady trickle of time nonetheless.

It's a gamble. 1216 days - 3 years and 4 months, a decade of stretched time - for Fang Duobing to cultivate the strength to save Li Lianhua.

(Yet it realistically is a decade of Fang Duobing's life - of intense training and focus, the survival of Li Lianhua on his shoulders a constant anxiety in the turmoil of the jianghu - within which he now forges a name for himself without Li Lianhua or Di Feisheng, while Di Feisheng himself has almost passed into legend, unseen since the letter on the shores of the East Sea.)

But even that borrowed time may not be enough: Li Lianhua must survive like this for three years, when he is already down to practically zero.

..It's internal power that Di Feisheng willingly gives.

Every three days, he gives another second of his life.

To die three years earlier - decades hence - with the satisfaction of decades more with both Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing at his side, is no gamble at all.

Such a small debt is meaningless, for love.

#I JUST #IT'S ABOUT #*screams*#i'm playing fast and loose with how the poison and wuxia biology works okay it's about the SYMBOLISM #and also the poetics of a man dying of a cold toxin encased in ice but surrounded by flowers meant to preserve #flowers of love that hope against all hope about longevity and healing and rebirth after a long winter #the maths burnt my brain more than the fic idea did honestly #nikkiwrites #tumblr fic #fic idea #difanghua #mysterious lotus casebook #di feisheng #fang duobing #li lianhua #feihua #difang #fanghua

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