#Meng Yao: STOP STOP I'M ALREADY DEAD | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

noswordinourlake · 3 months

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@tavina-writes asked for arranged marriage fic recs, which turned into...this. Sorry Tav some of these are just very politically plotty but I figured those also fell into your mandate! I was going for a vibe. ANYWAY.

All fics MZDS/the Untamed!

Also under a read more because this got. Long.

CANON DIVERGENCES

marry for love by tuesday (3k, T, complete)

"Nie Huaisang snapped open his fan and covered his face. "Be careful. I'll take advantage.""

50-50 cute and intrigue!

from the other side of sorrow (series) by Sour_Idealist (128k, E, complete)

"Yu Ziyuan cuts off Wei Wuxian's hand. The cultivation world changes."

I couldn't tell you the split on emotional devastation and intrigue on this one because it's all happening all the time.

CANON? I DON'T KNOW HER

The Other Mountain by nirejseki (287k, T, complete)

"Lan Qiren still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it.

He was married.

He had a wife.

That wife was Wen Ruohan."

I feel like anyone who likes politically plotty fics is already following nirejseki but I also feel like this list would be incomplete if I left off THE arranged marriage fic of all time so.

""You want Wen Ruohan dead," the Patriarch continued idly. "You want his corpse puppets eliminated. You want his halls burned to the ground and his soldiers disemboweled and begging for mercy. Have I about covered it?"

love, in fire and blood by cicer (360k, E, complete)

He gave another knife-edged smile.

"But what will you give me in return?"

"We would be willing to offer quite a bit in return for Wen Ruohan's defeat," Lan Xichen admitted. "But I'm afraid we don't know what an immortal such as yourself desires. Please advise us."

The Patriarch waved at hand at the front of the tent. "I want Second Young Master Lan.""

¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

not too strong by fluffysocks (89k, E, complete)

"He sinks back, closes his eyes again so he doesn’t have to look at all that red silk for a moment. He takes a deep breath.

It’s done. Jiang Cheng is married.

Now he just has to live with it."

Yes this is a Jiang Cheng/Lan Qiren arranged marriage AU. Trust me. Trust me. It's GOOD STUFF.

Restoration by ritualist (85k, M, complete)

"They say he was thrown into Luanzang Gang by the man who killed his parents; they say that he is an immortal cultivator who had been in a deep trance until the Wen sect disturbed his rest and incurred his wrath; they say that he is the fierce corpse of a cultivator who had somehow regained his mind and his spiritual powers. When Lan Wangji sees him for the first time, he understands why people talk.

Meng Yao wants safety. Xue Yang wants vengeance. The Sunshot Campaign wants victory. Yiling Laozu provides, for a price."

I'm a sucker for a nonlinear narrative! I don't want to know what is happening and no spoilers you won't for most of this fic. In a good way.

Give Me A Chance To Fall by brooklinegirl (38k, E, complete)

"Jiang Cheng just blows his breath out and rolls his eyes right back at Wei Wuxian. "Stop being an asshole," he says. "You're lucky this is being set up for you. Do you know how many people would die--literally die--to get the chance to be betrothed to Lan Wangji?"

"Betrothed." Wei Wuxian rolls the word around in his mouth. "It even sounds stupid.""

The classique arranged marriage AU.

JOKES JOKES JOKES

I Started From The Bottom/ And Now I'm Rich by x_los (58k, E, complete)

"Wen Qing traps Wei Wuxian in the Demon Slaughtering Cave, but Wei Wuxian isn’t interested in being the beneficiary of the Wen Remnants’ noble sacrifice. His efforts to free himself accidentally send him back to the beginning of the Sunshot Campaign. Coreless but armed with demonic cultivation, knowledge of the future and his wits, Wei Wuxian takes advantage of this opportunity to come out on top of both the war and its aftermath—before either has a chance to happen—by marrying and swiftly burying the cultivation world’s worst men.

Lan Wangji is confused, hurt, and uncomfortably aroused by Wei Wuxian’s improbably elaborate series of Sect-themed bridal negligees."

I hesitated to include this fic in this section because it does get pretty dark and psychologically heavy but it is also. Hilarious. So!

Best Friends Forever by varnes (17k, T, complete)

"It happened like this: Jin Ling was a sect leader now, which was, and Jingyi really meant this, fucking hilarious. There were few things funnier, in his honest opinion.

Because he was young, and inexperienced, and also — it had to be said — a real shithead, there was apparently some belief amongst his advisors that the best way forward, to promote the picture of a stable, mature sect leader who absolutely did not cry at the drop of a hat, was for Jin Ling to get married.

OR: Jin Ling and Jingyi get engaged.

Things spiral from there."

Jingyi POV from varnes is a gift. Jingyi POV trying to figure out the post-canon political landscape is a treasure.

#the untamed #mzds #mzds fic recs #fic recs #this ended up being way longer than i expected OOPS #oh well Tav i hope there are at least a couple here that are new to you!#also looking at my bookmarks it occurred to me the Queen's Thief series would probably be very much your speed if you haven't read it yet

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thebiscuiteternal · 6 months

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Spooky SangYao please? I prefer no or little gore, thank you!

The wind and driving rain made it hard to stay on his feet, and the mud he'd collected on his boots and robes from repeatedly stumbling definitely didn't help.

But he had to keep running.

If he stopped even to catch his breath, his father's men would catch him, and then he'd end up just as dead as every other bastard child they'd succeeded in hunting down.

Despite his desperation, his lungs and legs were just about to give out, when another voice called out, clearly audible to him despite the storm.

"Hey! Over here!"

Somehow, despite the stinging from the icy rain hitting him in the face, he could clearly see the figure of a small boy waving to him from a crack in a rocky cliffside.

He was suspicious.

How could he not be?

But he was also out of options, and he could hear hoofbeats approaching, so he veered towards the other boy and dove into the hiding place. A few steps past the opening, it widened out enough that he at least had room to sit down, huddling in on himself as the other boy peered out of the crack.

"Okay," the boy said after what felt like ages. "They're gone. Here you go."

Meng Yao blinked up at the blanket held out to him.

Where had that been? The hiding place was too small for him not to have felt it if it had been on the ground, and it hadn't been in the other boy's hands when he'd been playing lookout.

Still- soaking wet and cold, he accepted the blanket and stripped off his belt and outer robe to wrap it around himself. "Thank you," he managed through his shivering.

The boy beamed, then sat down next to him. "How come those men were chasing you?" he asked, his expression changing to concern.

"My father just ascended to leader of his sect, and he has a legitimate son."

"Oh," his new companion said, sounding sympathetic. "That sounds kinda like why I'm here."

Meng Yao frowned, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. "Why are you here?" he asked, unsure whether he really wanted to hear the answer or not.

"Bad men wanted to steal me and sell me to the sun and flame sect as a hostage, so my guard hid me here and said he'd come back for me."

Sun and flame? That had to be the Wen sect, one of his father's allies, but...

Wait...

He didn't have much spiritual power yet, but he had enough to conjure a light small enough that no one outside their hiding place would be able to see it through the storm.

He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth when it flared to life and he saw what was in the spot where his -now translucent- companion sat.

The bones of a small body in the same colors of robes the other boy was wearing.

And clutched in a skeletal hand was an iron token with a symbol he knew from his studies.

"You- your name is Huaisang, isn't it?" Meng Yao asked, feeling queasy.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

He knew because of the scandal that had burned like wildfire through the jianghu. The small second son of the Nie sect going missing, never to be seen again, and blame falling on the Wen sect, compounded by the fact that their sect leader was already under suspicion of murdering the boy's father.

And the only witness had been-

Meng Yao swallowed hard to keep from throwing up, then rested his head on his knees and started a deep breathing exercise to try and pull himself together.

"Are you okay? Should I go catch some rain?"

This boy-

"I'm... fine." He very much was not. "But I don't think your guard is coming back for you."

#mdzs #fanfic #nie huaisang #jin guangyao #sangyao #in the future anyway #spooky jam

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guqin-and-flute · 2 years

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The Most Public Private Meet-Cute [Episode 4]

NHS: hello everyone my name is nie huaisang

Background Person: hiii huaisaaang

NHS: and fun fact about me is that i grew up around lan xichen and i know exactly what his type is

NHS: ON A COMPLETELY UNRELATED NOTE here is my dear and very single friend who desperately needs love and affection and probably a hug meng yao

MY: oh hey that’s me

NHS: say hi meng yao

MY: uh ok how weirdly specific sure thing

NHS: the stage is set i give it 2 minutes

MY: hello my name is meng yao and i’ve brought you a box hope u like it there’s a pot in it

MY: uhhh ok some things about me i’m adorable i get bullied frequently i eat dry bread and my dimples are deep enough to hold all my war crimes see? *ping*

Asshole 1: did someone order some loud and publicly cruel narration about your tragic and slightly damning backstory??

MY: no?? ?

Asshole 1: too late

MY: ugh do you allow returns

Asshole 1: WOW THIS DUDE SUCKS

Asshole 2: yeah totally and his dad fuckin hates him rolled him down the steps of jinlintai like a fuckin slinky

MY: well this feels a bit unwarranted

Asshole 1: naaah his dad would have to actually CARE to hate him

WWX: damn this is brutal hope this doesn’t foreshadow any major plot component that might outline the problem with the idea of reputation vs honor in our society and the place hearsay and gossip plays in the perception of the value of a person that would suck

Random Background person: sure would especially if it greatly impacted you as a person

Asshole 1: i love shitting on people with u bro

Asshole 2: awww bro

JYL: rude

JC: wow

WWX: jfc

MY: this is fun so glad i came

LXC: .......hm.

NHS: 10...9...8...

LWJ: xichen n o

Asshole 1: ANYWAY FUCK THIS DUDE

LWJ: u need to stop and not for the reason u think

LQR: CAN U READ THE ROOM PLEASE AND SHUT THE ACTUAL HELL UP what do you think this is? some kind of high school?? who do you think you are?? children? ? nONSENSE

Asshole 1: oh shit i thought talking at regular volume in plain sight of a silent room gave me anonymity

Asshole 2: oh no me too what an unforeseen outcome

LQR: anyway, now for-- oh god oh no what are u doing r e s i s t, boy

LXC: [i_need_a_hero.mp3]

Random Lan: love this song

LWJ: jfc here we go

JC: is this a kissing book?

MY: sure could use a hug

WWX: ur gonna get more than that dude

JYL: aww good for him

LXC: why hello.

MY: ho- (where is the saxaphone music coming from)

MY: -ly- am i in slow motion ur very tall did u know ur very tall

MY: shit hey.

LXC: hey :)

LXC: o h .

LXC: good god i have gravely miscalculated my investment in the situation what did i come down here for again

MY: hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh u have a mouth i have a mouth what a strange coincidence

MY: i humbly present my body BOX my box this box right here it’s really cool it has a red thing in it it’s for u or maybe the grandmaster i can’t really remember anymore or feel my legs fuck

LXC: oh yeah the reason i came down here theoretically i should at least pretend to care about what’s in the box

Ambience: [Careless_Whisper_on_Flute.mp3]

WWX: HOLD THE PHONE that’s allowed?? i don’t have to sword fight the gay feelings? he’s beating me at public homoerotic subtext chicken this cannot stand i have to up my game

Pot: I’m a metaphor or something it’s not really relevant at this point is it?

LXC: nope so anyway i could probably fit you into my pocket and cherish you forever thoughts? i’m thinking gentians for the wedding

MY: i can’t feel my face currently but yes to all

MY: ur touching my hands again

LXC: oh trust me i am VERY aware

NHS: :)))

LWJ: can i go?

Random Lan: probably not

LWJ: ugh i have my own gay shit to deal with

Random background Guy: taking notes for my fanfic

MY: message very fucking received

MY: we are bowing now because we are very polite and definitely not experiencing a life changing sexual awakening in a crowded room

Random Background Person: u guys know people can hear u, right?

LXC: yes very polite definitely nothing gay and certainly no lifelong connection that could potentially end in horrific tragedy for the both of us thank goodness

NHS: guys i didn’t mean elope right fucking now

MY: did u like my box?

LXC: it’s the best box the most adorable box I’ll keep this box forever in my heart

NHS: dude it’s not for u it’s for ur uncle

WWX: i cannot BELILEVE i’m losing public gay chicken i’m gonna get lan zhan a box

BONUS:

Random Asshole 2:

yeah technically he’s zixuan’s brother but jgs treated him like shit what’s ur raction to that zixuan?

JZX: think i’m gonna stick with haughty silence, if i’m honest

Random Asshole 2: that seems on brand

[more brief summaries because yeah]

#tadaaaa. Several people asked for this I shall try to find names? But I have horrible organization #Trying the transcript in a different way! Is it more legible? Is it obnoxious? Is the different negligible? I don't know anymore!#This one is OLD but I needed to not look at it for a while so I guess I don't hate it anymore??#ANYWAY #brief summary #xiyao #my stuff #my edit #Huaisang later when Xichen disarms the Wen: WOW HE'S SO COMPETENT AND GREAT ISN'T HE MENG YAO?#Meng Yao: STOP STOP I'M ALREADY DEAD

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treemaidengeek · 3 years

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So I'm doing the Wen Zhuliu/Meng Yao Sunshot-era thing apparently. (Tagging @elvencantation @snapcracklepop-myjoints @theleakypen because really this is your fault, plus a great conversation about it on the lanlan discord server)

......................

Meng Yao knelt on the rough stone below Wen Rouhan’s throne, a guard's sword biting painfully into the back of his neck, and prayed that he had not made a grave miscalculation.

He didn’t have to lift his gaze to know that Wen Chao was leering down at him. Men like him liked to loom and leer, to wield power like a cudgel. Disgusting.

“Well, dog? How do we know you won’t turn tail and run begging back to your butcher masters as soon as you hear something interesting?”

Wen Chao aimed a sharp kick at his folded knee. Meng Yao let himself flinch, his lips tighten in pain, his eyes flutter briefly closed. Show the correct amount of weakness. Too little, and the man would keep pressing until he achieved the response he desired. Too much…

Well. He was a small creature in a room full of predators.

“This one has already shared tomorrow’s scheduled expansion of the northwestern border patrol,” he said, softly enough to draw Wen Rouhan greedily forward in his throne to listen. “If it pleases you, lock me up until tomorrow midday and see if I am earnest. One learns much as the close attendant of a clan leader and his beloved didi.”

Another kick. This time it would have taken effort to avoid flinching. “That’s very convenient, isn’t it? You think we’ll trust you after one day?” Wen Chao violently gripped his hair and pulled his head back, forcing the guard's steel deeper toward his spine. He bent until his face invaded a mere hand’s-breadth from Meng Yao’s. “The Nies aren’t the first clan you’ve left behind, after all. Everyone knows about your… pedigree.”

Anger flashed through him. He took a quick calming breath. Survive now. Everything else later. “The Jins have made their position regarding me clear. The Nies… some of them were kind, it is true. But many of them sought every opportunity to harm me until the very leaders I had served beat me and turned me out.” He met Wen Chao’s gaze steadily. “I am very loyal to those who treat me well.”

All of the aimless movement and feral susurrus in the room stopped at once. Meng Yao resisted the urge to glance about at the fierce corpses that now stood at attention in his peripheral vision. He tried not to shiver: too vulnerable, and too dangerous with the steel already slid beneath his skin.

Wen Rouhan’s voice was… wrong. Drug-slurred, and rough as if half the tissues of his throat had calcified into sinew. “A-Chao, don’t kill the man before we’ve had a chance to see what he can do for us.”

Meng Yao immediately dropped his gaze as best he could in his current position. This was the moment. He would be cut down as a power play or live through the night. Wen Rouhan’s leash on his sons seemed equal to the task, but…

After a heartbeat, ten, twenty, Wen Chao released him. Meng Yao prostrated at their feet, moving slowly so that the guards that held him wouldn’t mistake a threat in the gesture. “Xiandu is wise and gracious.”

Wen Rouhan’s laugh was downright unhinged. Meng Yao had the finely-honed danger sense born to so many like himself, and it was screaming inside him. He heard awkwardly shuffling steps, smelled sour death and felt the press of approaching bodies.

“You may judge my graciousness tomorrow,” the most powerful man in the world said.

Meng Yao held his bowed posture. Show the correct amount of weakness.

He counted slow, deep breaths while he remained there. One… two… three…. four....

He hadn’t meant to flinch when the hands closed on his shoulders. Two days now, his body had been scarcely his own. Yet there was a difference between guards and princelings who enjoyed inflicting pain, and the animate dead.

But it was not a corpse who lifted him to his feet. These hands were unusually warm, and maneuvered him firmly without roughness. He looked up through his lashes at a panther of a man, all compact muscle and that patient stillness that fools took for inattention.

“Wen Zhuliu will escort you to your quarters,” Wen Chao said. “I look forward to talking to you tomorrow.” His smile showed all his teeth.

Meng Yao bowed again to the clan family and permitted himself to be led from the throne room. Wen Zhuliu. Core-Melting Hand. He would have been safer with Wen Chao and a room full of zombies.

Except, as they moved through the stone halls of Nevernight, he wondered. Wen Zhuliu moved with leonine focused grace, and exerted an almost gravitational pull on everyone they encountered. Yet…

Yet after two full days of Wen soldiers and royals who seemed savagely gratified in petty cruelties, here was a guard who hardly touched or spoke to him. Experimentally, he hitched his foot on an uneven paving stone: not enough to trip, just a slight waver towards a stumble.

Instantly one of those strong hands clamped around his upper arm. Wen Zhuliu studied him with black eyes and a blank expression.

“I’m sorry,” he said meekly. “I missed my step. I’m tired, I think.”

“Hm.” Those night-dark eyes bore into him. The man’s lips flattened, unimpressed. He knew, Meng Yao realized with a shiver. Meng Yao was very skillful, he had been for years, and still this man knew immediately. “I will ensure you don’t miss any more steps.”

For the rest of the walk, his hand encircled Meng Yao’s arm. Firm, never painful. Meng Yao wondered what would happen were he reckless enough to push the boundaries again. He wouldn’t die, he thought. Wen Zhuliu’s master wanted him alive until tomorrow. But this man was capable of far more than mere murder.

The room was comfortable for a cell, poor for a guest chamber. There was a thin mattress and blanket on the floor, and a single oil lamp. A covered bucket in one corner for necessities. A bucket and dipper in another corner, presumably for drinking. Wen Zhuliu glanced into the second bucket, frowned, and carried it away without a word. Just when Meng Yao resigned himself to a thirsty night, the man returned with the refilled vessel.

He gestured to it. “It’s clean.”

“Thank you.” Meng Yao was mildly surprised to realize he meant it. This was an unnecessary kindness.

He wondered what the man wanted.

#the untamed #wen zhuliu #meng yao #jin guangyao #ficlet #my stuff #Nevernight #is the working title and search tag

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somepinkthing · 4 years

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@angstymdzsthoughts because tumblr still won't lemme reblog correctly

---

"He was such a tiny baby. Almost a month early and had trouble breathing. He was nearly half a year old before we felt safe letting him breathe the cold, mountain air for more than a few minutes at a time. I hated how my parents all paid him so much mind and I hated how he could break all our hearts in one fell swoop. They had already had one stillborn, I didn't think their hearts could take another dead child. So I swaddled him and prayed for him, and, lo and behold, he lived. He made it past his first year, then his second. And before I knew it, I was a man grown and he was a healthy brat with no breathing troubles to speak of and playing in the snow right where you're kneeling."

Nie Mingjue had never been a man of words. Jin Guangyao hadn't known he had this kind of eloquence in him, especially given the smell of alcohol permeating the room.

It felt like a funeral rite coming from the man seated above him.

Jin Guangyao swallowed nervously and shifted on his knees, not daring to move from his prostrate position on the ground. He had no doubt in his mind that he was no match for his eldest brother, however inebriated the man may be. Escape was futile, begging for mercy was his only hope. Slim hope that it was.

Suddenly, something heavy pressed down on Jin Guangyao's lowered head. Nie Mingjue's boot. Lan Xichen made an aborted move to help before squaring his features and stepping down.

"DaGe, we need him," was all the protest Lan Xichen put up. Guangyao felt his heart and eyes sting at the indifference from the First Jade.

The boot pressed heavier against the back of Guangyao's head, grinding his forehead into the ground hard. He grit his teeth against the pain and bore it in silence, not wanting his pathetic whimpers to set the man off. Nie Mingjue's emotions were already on high alert. Not that he could be blamed, Guangyao supposed. Even with Lan Xichen playing Clarity for two and a half weeks for him non-stop, there was a lot of damage to undo if he did say so himself. And besides that...

Nie Mingjue picked up where he left off.

"He was still so tiny when I became his guardian. He hugged me at the funeral and told me he wasn't gonna let me go too. I told him that I'd be around to watch out for him."

Nie Mingjue stopped short and choked on his breath. The body standing on Guangyao shook and trembled--yet another display of emotion Jin Guangyao hadn't previously believed Nie Mingjue to be capable of.

"He was still so tiny when I buried him..."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Er-Ge step over, presumably to provide comfort and stable qi, to soothe the overflow of grief. It didn't work.

"I am the oldest!" Nie Mingjue roared with a sob, shaking Xichen off, "I am the oldest son, I was-was the older brother! I am larger and stronger and I was meant to use that to protect my sect, my family, my brother! So, Jin Guangyao!"

Guangyao couldn't help the scream of pain when the boot lifted up only to come crashing back down on his head, stomping him into the unforgiving Qinghe dirt.

"Tell me why I am here alone! Tell me why I am the last Nie! Tell me why I am alive and Huaisang is dead!"

With every demand, he stomped down harder and harder until Jin Guangyao was certain his face had made a true imprint in the semi-frozen ground.

"Tell me why I heard my brother wheeze out his dying breath when he stopped having breathing problems when he was five."

Jin Guangyao could only whimper, face too far into the ground to give a proper reply. This was unfair! What did this monster expect him to say?! He already knew all the answers, why torture him? He knew for whom Guangyao had done this, it wasn't like it was all his fault!

"Tell me why I'm here and he's not."

Finally, Nie Mingjue picked his foot up and stepped back. Guangyao couldn't help it--he whipped his head up, forgoing decorum, and took in large gulps of air while cursing Nie Mingjue's brute force out in the safety of his own mind.

Lan Xichen watched as Jin Guangyao became angrier and angrier. Er-Ge watched his twisted face judgementally, as if he knew what he was thinking and it disgusted him.

"You don't think this is your fault," he accused, "You truly believe you're a victim, don't you?"

Jin Guanyao's heart dropped at the tone Lan Xichen took.

"Er-Ge, if you could just hear me out--"

"I cannot. I have heard enough out of you these past few weeks. All we are here to do is ask one question, was your father involved? Did he sanction this?"

Jin Guangyao nodded eagerly. This was what he needed! An opening to explain!

"Yes! It was all my father! I was but a tool! Please, my brothers, you have to believe me!"

Lan Xichen closed his eyes and sighed. Disappointment was painful thing to see marring his features.

"You plan on dying like a lying dog, huh? Not even going to spare some dignity in death?"

Nie Mingjue drew Baxia and began stalking towards his two sworn brothers as he spoke. "We know your moronic father couldn't have come up with this intricate of a plan. We know you've been playing with Qi since the day Xichen taught you that song! We checked the damage to my core and estimated the timeframe!"

Nie Mingjue stopped right in front of Jin Guangyao.

"Tell the truth. Did your father get involved?" His grip on Baxia tightened.

"Y-yes. He knew and-and he encouraged it," Guangyao choked out. If he couldn't lie his way out compeltely then he could at least make sure his father took equal heat. His sworn brothers were righteous men, they'd never be able to justify killing him if there was another who commited the same crime. That would be unfair!

"And has he done other things in the same vein?" Nie Mingjue demanded.

Jin Guangyao bit his lip. His hesitation pissed Nie Mingjue off.

"SPEAK!"

Jin Guangyao jumped in fright.

"Of all of all the times to decide to protect others, it's now?!" Nie Mingjue growled, rolling his eyes, "Do you have any idea how fast and how gleefully your father sold you to me?!"

Jin Guangyao's blood ran cold. "W-what?"

Nie Mingjue scoffed and replied, "You're just Meng Yao again technically. Tomorrow your father said he intends to strip you of your name officially and have you striken from the records."

"He's all yours, the evil lout. Do as you wish, take your vengeance," Nie Mingjue said in a poor imitation of Jin Guangshan, distaste for the man rolling off of him in waves. Meng Yao suddenly felt sick.

"My father sanctioned everything," Meng Yao stated. Little by little the whole story came out. His father's ambitions, his lies, his machinations, his work camps the truth about Wei Wuxian and the siege, and how he had his willing, naive son doing all the heavylifting. Meng Yao carefully skimmed around the parts where he, technically, came up with some of the ideas and crafted those plans. These two... they wouldn't understand his reasons. They wouldn't understand how much his father's spproval meant to someone as lowly as him. He couldn't risk telling them the whole truth. But the sneer on Nie Mingjue's face and the bitter dissappointment on Lan Xichen's whenever his story hit a purposeful hole made him feel that perhaps they could somehow see through him now.

When Meng Yao finished his tale, he looked up just in time to see the other two share a nod. Then, to his shock, Nie Mingjue sheathed his saber and handed him a glass of water.

"Drink it."

Meng Yao did so obediently . He felt his body start tingling with mild numbness immediately. Since when did Nie Mingjue drug people?!

"Xichen insisted, to help you stay alive. I would have just snapped them and let you suffer all the pain of it."

Perhaps it was the drugs but Meng Yao could swear he was missing something important. Before he could try to figure it out, Shuoyue's sheath slip between his lips.

"Bite down," Lan Xichen commanded sounding resolute but... sad?

It wasn't until Nie Mingjue grabbed his lower leg and started twisting experimentally that Meng Yao began to understand.

"We need you to help us get your father," Lan Xichen said, grabbing Meng Yao as he started to struggle, " But we can't trust you. You cannot be allowed to run free after what you've done.... We'll need to take an arm too. You're too dangerous."

"This is for Huaisang, for my baby brother who I'll never see walk again. I hope the medicine hasn't kicked in completely, Meng Yao. I want you to remember this."

"Wait! Please!"

SNAP

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ruensroad · 4 years

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hhhh i love all your writings, each time you post a prompt, I'm like "wtf I need a follow up in the universe" like the empath!cop!JC, neeeeeeeeed. T-T Also, your xicheng fic with baby JL is one of my fav. (Xicheng ? AND Nephew/Uncle feelings, the best) can you do prompt 46 or 58, please ? or even one prompt that you'd really liked to be requested xD

Ahhh wow thank you so much! I put this in the empath!cop!JC verse for you :D and sprinkled in some adorable nephews!

Prompt is from this list here.

Prompt 46 & 58 | “I can beat you up, you know that right?” & “You’re never this quiet, what’s wrong?” | Xicheng (+ Nie Mingjue)

In many ways, being dead wasn’t all that bad. Besides the rather annoying one-sidedness of it all, Nie Mingjue would admit there were worse things to dying and refusing to cross over. He got to watch over who he wanted, and haunt who he wanted, and had even learned to push things over, which was more fun than it had any right to be.

The bad part wasn’t that he was dead, but that no one else seemed to know it. The media deemed him a missing person, his brother and his friends under the impression he’d just up and left them. And that made him angry, because surely they knew him better than that. Surely they’d see the snake in the grass and know something bad had happened.

It’d been over two years and his body had not been found. The police had stopped looking, his brother had moved on with his life. Huan had finally started writing his music again and Meng Yao had gotten away with murder.

That was the worst part. Not that he’d loved the man, trusted him, been so blind. But that he’d been killed and Meng Yao had slipped through suspicion like oil over water.

The first months, Nie Mingjue had resolutely spent his time going back and forth between Huan and Huaisang, half afraid Meng Yao would try to weedle into their vulnerabilities and plant himself like a weed. But then Huaisang had moved in with a roommate who had a guardian ghost, and a very protective one, and though the dramatic spirit spoke the most archaic Chinese Nie Mingjue had ever heard, they’d managed to find common ground in their want to protect Huaisang.

And with his brother protected best he could be, it gave him leave to watch over Huan and hope for a resolution to his case before Meng Yao used his charms on Huan and their friend ended up with a bullet to the face the way Nie Mingjue had.

But since the reopening of his case by a cold case detective, Huan had gone into a weird mood. One that shifted this way and that and he didn’t seem to understand why. Nie Mingjue knew a crush when he saw one, given how often Huaisang had fallen in and out of love with people, and wished Huan could hear him laugh. Because of course Huan would fall for a bad boy, just as Nie Mingjue told him he would.

He wouldn’t say he was pleased that Huan wanted Detective Jiang. He was a good man, Nie Mingjue could see that readily enough, but he wasn’t exactly pleasant to be around. He was cutting, and fierce, and competent, independent to a fault and rigidly stubborn. Even his ability to see and talk to Nie Mingjue wasn’t quite enough to overcome his unease with it all, but even he’d admit the asshole was growing on him. And he was a friend to Huaisang, which was something Nie Mingjue would always account for. His brother was smarter than he allowed people to know. If this prickly man was a friend, then there was a damn good reason for it, so Nie Mingjue did his best to cooperate with him, even if he was terrible at following orders.

Huan would laugh to see them bicker, but as it was he was sitting at his studio sighing, pencil tapping on his desk, eyes unfocused on the sheet music. He’d been writing a new song after nearly a year of not touching his scores and it was clearly fighting him. Nie Mingjue had never seen him distracted to this extent and it worried him that Meng Yao might be the reason for it.

“You’re never this quiet,” he murmured, knowing he would not be heard, but unable to help himself. “What’s wrong?”

He’d found, during his afterlife, that answers were easy to find if he tried hard enough. Feeling for things, like studying a map too hard and feeling the eyes start to strain forward. He did that then, focusing on the music sheets, and felt a soft pull to the title written across the top. Wanyin. Night poetry. Artistic and vague, as Huan always was, and he snorted.

“That’s for Detective Jiang, isn’t it?”

Somehow he knew it was true, even if he couldn’t get the answer straight up, and moved over to the door to peek out the window into the hall. It was close to time for the lesson bell and Lan Zhan would be ushering out his brightest pupil, a young boy named Wen Yuan who’d taken up guqin after watching a performance. His adoptive father, one Doctor Wei, happened to be Detective Jiang’s brother and could see Nie Mingjue too. The boy, thankfully, could not, which was a relief. He could not control what form those who could see him would be, after all, and the last thing he wanted was to scare an innocent child to death. Detective Jiang had seen him with a bullet in his face. Doctor Wei had seen the dirty, discarded body.

He himself saw what he wore the night he died. His favorite jacket, his old army boots, comfortable jeans. The softest shirt he owned that he didn’t actually like that much, but Meng Yao had adored it.

In the end, he’d put three holes in that shirt, a hole in his face, and shoved his body into a hole three feet deep and covered in concrete. It was little wonder he still hadn’t been found.

The bell rang overhead, finally snapping Huan out of his daze. He quickly got up and hurried to the door, always eager to watch his brother subtly flirt with Doctor Wei, which Nie Mingjue knew was the highlight of the day, not to mention he got to see all the happy kids always so eager to tell him about their lessons. Nie Mingjue didn’t mind it, liked feeling the atmosphere the children brought to the air, and wasn’t the only ghost floating down the hall in the sea of excitable ducklings.

Like clockwork, Wen Yuan was shown out of Lan Zhan’s classroom, his guqin wrapped and strapped securely on his back. It dwarfed him almost comically, in Nie Mingjue’s opinion. But it was not Doctor Wei waiting there with his too big smiles and too loud laughter. Huan pulled up short and Nie Mingjue peeked around him, amused at the red overtaking his friend’s cheeks.

“That is not how you punch,” the man huffed to the tiny boy in his arms, who was failing miserably at connecting his fist to Detective Jiang’s palm. Little cheeks puffed and the boy quickly stopped trying to smack his hand, managing a solid, if glancing, hit to his chin. The man glared while the boy peeled off into laughter. “I can beat you up, you know that right?” the cop demanded, bouncing the boy, and got louder giggles for his effort.

Wen Yuan went rushing past them before Huan managed to move, and before Nie Mingjue could decide if he wanted to waste energy pushing his friend forward. “Shu-shu! What are you doing here?”

Detective Jiang huffed at him, but allowed Wen Yuan to grab his hand. “Your idiot of a father got stuck at work so I told him I’d come get you. A-Ling also wanted to say hello.”

“A-Ling says hello,” the boy in his arms chirped happily, waving to his cousin. Wen Yuan reached up to grab his hand and tickled him with a grin.

“I can see why he likes you,” Nie Mingjue snorted and decided that, yes, he was going to push his hopeless friend into action. Thankfully, Huan had remembered vocabulary and how to use it and moved forward on his own. Progress.

“Detective.” He was all smiles, oozing confidence, but his face was a flushed mess. By the way Detective Jiang raised an eyebrow at him, the front wasn’t exactly successful.

“Lan Huan,” he got a slight bow and a crooked grimace that was probably supposed to be a smile. Nie Mingjue rolled his eyes so hard he felt them roll all the way back. Good grief. He felt the man’s mind connect to his own and he was mentally flipped off, making him smirk back. At least the man had guts.

“I was wondering… would you perhaps be free this evening?” Huan asked and Nie Mingjue’s own mind flickered as Detective Jiang’s did, his ability feeling out what Huan wanted to truly ask. It was fascinating, feeling the workings of a mind not his own, and blinked when Detective Jiang focused in on a ticket resting in Huan’s back pocket, one Nie Mingjue hadn’t even known was there.

“For the performance?” Detective Jiang asked, calm and at ease even as Huan blinked in surprise. Again, his mind flickered, going through his schedule, to plans for the case, and the want to simply go to bed and sleep. Nie Mingjue narrowed his eyes at the man in challange, daring him to even think of not coming when asked, and that mental fuck off rang through their connection again.

“I - Yes,” Huan licked his lips and pulled out the ticket. “I have more if you’d like to bring your family,” he offered, eager and hopeful.

To the man’s credit, he melted instantly. Nie Mingjue could feel his reservations about any sort of relationship, especially when it was so close to Nie Mingjue’s case, but he was perfectly soft for Huan and that’s what mattered.

When Detective Jiang took the ticket, their fingers brushed, a pointed move, and Huan got a slightly better looking grimace-smile that time. “I’ll be there.” As long as no ghosts interrupt.

That was aimed at Nie Mingjue and he flipped the man off. “I’m not out to destroy Huan’s love life, asshole. Be there or I will make your night a living hell.”

You already do, Detective Jiang pointed out, even as he turned to his nephews, one with huge eyes, the other shyly hiding from Huan. “A-Yuan, do you want to go?”

“Yes, please yes,” Wen Yuan looked up at Huan with his best smile, easing his friend into a far more comforted state.

“And your father will want to go as well,” Huan hummed, thoughtful, but not without a sly look at Lan Zhan, who’s ears turned red. “I’ll get you as many tickets as you need.”

“Jiu-jiu, me too?” the other boy whispered, still casting a shy smile Huan’s way.

“You too, A-Ling, and your ba-ba and ma-ma. Does that sound like fun?”

A happy nod. “Listen to the pretty music.”

That got Huan a pointed look, almost flirty, and maybe Detective Jiang wasn’t as terrible at this as he seemed to be. “Yes, very pretty music.”

“Fuck, I’ll have to keep you alive now, just for that,” Nie Mingjue crossed his arms in exasperation, shaking his head at the blushing delight that overtook Huan’s face. Hopeless. So fucking hopeless.

I’ll keep myself alive. Just protect Lan Huan.

So, he knew then. Nie Mingjue met his eye and nodded once, all soldier, before grinning wide.

It was going to be one hell of a night.

#ruenwrites #xicheng #writing prompts #jiang cheng #lan xichen #nie mingjue #this was so fun #i'm so glad you like this au!#i could write about it forever ahhh #thank you!#psychic detectives au

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guqin-and-flute · 2 years

Text

[Well, apparently I'm incapable of excerpts. Here is a Modern 3zun Raise A-Fu ficlet]

[Modern 3zun tag]

3:06 Wei Wuxian: MMENG YAI

3:06 Wei Wuxian: NENF YAO

3:06 Wei Wuxian: A Y AO

3:07 Wei Wuxian: omfucking god do not leave me hanging this is VITAL

3:07 Wei Wuxian: LIFE OR DEATH

3:07 Wei Wuxian: A - Y A O

3:07 Wei Wuxian: PUCK

3:07 Wei Wuxian: UP

3:07 Wei Wuxian: YOUR

3:07 Wei Wuxian: PH ONE

3:10 Meng Yao: You can’t text me this and call me 7 times with NO VOICEMAIL and then not pick up when I call back.

3:10 Meng Yao: Pick up your phone.

3:10 Meng Yao: If you don’t answer your phone right now, I’m going to assume that whoever is holding you at gunpoint has shot you and I’m going to call the police.

3:11 Meng Yao: I’m giving you a minute.

3:13 Meng Yao: I am dead serious pick up your phone right now

3:13 Meng Yao: I’m calling Xichen.

3:13 Wei Wuxian: ahsdifjasohfjos

3:13 Wei Wuxian: SORRY I LEFT IT IN THE BATHROOM IM NOT DEAD DONT CALL THE POLICE DON’T CALL DA-GE THE HOUSE IS A MESS ID BE SO EMBRAASSED IF HE CAME IN ALL CHIVALROUS TO RESCUE ME AND SAW ME IN ALL MY F I L T H

3:13 Wei Wuxian: but it’s sweet that you care 😘 can you do me a favor?

3:13 Meng Yao: No.

3:13 Wei Wuxian: would you actually be sad if i died? like if someone murdered me? would you cry?

3:15 Wei Wuxian: don’t fucking ignore me you ass you know youd cry

3:15 Wei Wuxian: i brign light to your life

3:17 Wei Wuxian: gegeeee

3:17 Meng Yao: You aren’t saying anything coherent and I have a LIFE, I have a CHILD, I am DOING THINGS

3:17 Wei Wuxian: none of them are as important as taking a pic of a sexy costume when youre at the halloween store so i can pretend i’m buying it so i can send it to lan zhan and bother him at work

3:17 Wei Wuxian: try me. not as important. gaurantee it

3:17 Wei Wuxian: unless its like cpr or something. i’ll give you a pass for that

3:17 Wei Wuxian: ahsdiojsao

3:17 Wei Wuxian: hfaoaosjasljdjdsl

3:18 Wei Wuxian: wioaiosjdjiwoalslfvn

3:18 Wei Wuxian: m

3:18 Wei Wuxian: e

3:18 Wei Wuxian: n

3:18 Wei Wuxian: g

3:18 Wei Wuxian: y

3:19 Wei Wuxian: a

3:19 Wei Wuxian: o

3:19 Wei Wuxian: MENG YAO

3:21 Meng Yao: STOP HARASSING ME

3:21 Wei Wuxian: will you??? you said you were going there today anyway!!!

3:21 Meng Yao: Why would I do anything nice for you after that ⬆

3:21 Wei Wuxian: do it do it do it please i'll kiss your feet

3:21 Meng Yao: Incentives are supposed to be something I WANT.

3:21 Wei Wuxian: you misunderstand 😈 its a threat

3:21 Meng Yao: I need you to perish immediately

3:22 Wei Wuxian: jaiosdjiojagja PLEASE YAOYAO ILU

3:25 Meng Yao: >sent 122_p39477.jpeg

3:25 Wei Wuxian: HOLY SHIT YOU’RE THE BEST HELL YEAH SEXY NURSE

3:25 Wei Wuxian: HOW DID YOU GET THERE SO FAST???? or did you have this saved already? 😏 oooo

3:25 Meng Yao: >sent 248_p5423.jpeg

3:26 Wei Wuxian: omfg FUFU HE’S SO CUTE!!! i’m saving this. how lucky you were there alreadyy 😉 did you get the cat ears, is he gonna be a cat?

3:25 Wei Wuxian: actually can you send one where you can’t see your hand? lan zhan can tell

3:27 Meng Yao: >sent 096_p3982.jpeg

3:27 Wei Wuxian: dunno what about ‘not your hand’ meant ‘middle finger’ to you but try again, i believe in you, bb 😘

3:27 Meng Yao: >sent 298_p9231.jpeg

3:27 Meng Yao: That’s you.

3:28 Wei Wuxian: wow rude, i have FAR more charisma than a spirit halloween zombie decoration thanks

3:28 Wei Wuxian: i bet he has a flat ass. shrivelled dick.

3:29 Meng Yao: Never speak to me again.

3:29 Wei Wuxian: 😂😂😘

#heavily inspired by the text conversations in Meng Yao vs. the Home Owner's Association and HALLOWEEN #I might do more Halloween bits because they're cute and I have ideas but for now we have this #modern 3zun #my stuff #my fic #wwx #jgy #Text convos are fun but formatting is a nightmare

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