#and not in a ‘love to hate’ way like are you a FAN of zhan tiri who is invested in giving her more depth than a puddle of cardboard

[saintone]

So i have a new svsss theory.

First of all some context. Im a literature student. I read all those boring works aclamed by the critics that dont say nothing, but tell you everything at the same time. And I kinda get why we think the Uliles is a literature masterpiece or why Kafka was such a genius.

But hear me out. MXTX? Fucking brilliant.

MXTX is a great writter, but her work are also filled with deeper meanings to explore, and every single plot line can be connected, has a meaning, everything is there bc se wants it to and bc it contributes to the story.

And for me, more than a fictional funny story, SVSSS is a work with the quality to become an all time literature classic. So hear me out.

Shen Jiu was the protagonist.

He was the protagonist on the original sotry, on Shang Qinghua's original story. He was the fucking protagonist!

First of all, he had the looks. Natural elegance and otherwordly attractiveness. Sj was cononically a man whose appearence stuck out.

Second, he was powerful. Sj was "chosen one" level of powerful. He was a kid, showing signs of a promising cultivator's future, a kind of innate strengh that wasnt found in any other character of the story (ygy and lbh had to cultivate years, before they could show such phisical manifestation of their powers).

Third, his realtionship with Ygy. Like, that's some main character shit! "If theres something like loyalty on this life, i will give all of mine to tpu". Ygy going to look for him, dying under thousands of arrows? Greek tragedias pale in front of the lifes Qu Ge and Xiao Jiu, "big brother seven and little slave nunber nine".

Also, he was an orphan, and he was humble. The first atribute relates to the hero's construction in traditional fiction storys, the hero of unknown original who is actually a long lost son (*cought* Luo Binghe *cought*). But an orphan hero is a pretty common figure in fiction.

The second one gains more meaning in relation to MXTX's works and chinese culture. In her works, we commonly have characters from humble begginings who are judged by their upbringings. This is perfectly clear in MDZS, as Wei Wuxian is cursed and blamed for everything he dies,: but his worst sin is that he was a commoner. And the hatred he recieves contrasts heavily with the love the Jianghu holds for Zhan Lang. If you take the time to look for it, there ate many implicantions related to social class diferences in MXTX's works.

Shen jiu was hated by Liu Qingge for his "sketchy ways". And Sqq's ways were nothing but a reflection from his upbringing: a poor, homeless slave child.

It also isn't a coincidence that Shen Yuan was a rich kid. Like, just think about it! Some people think that Sy and Sqq were " the same souls with different lives and if Sqq life had been better he could have been like sy". But like, have u read Sy?

Shen Yuan was a rich kid who never worked in his life, and spent his family's money on online novels. Shen Jiu was a slave who was abused and fought with thooth and nail every day of his life to assure himself he wouldn't have to suffer ever again. A genious, who knew how to be safe on the streets even as an infant, with unbreakable morals, who protected the only one he loved even till the end (acá ygy). If it wasnt for ygy, shen jiu wouldn evem had gotten in trouble, in the first place.

Not to offend any Sy's fans but he is kinda selfish, and dumb (in a loving way oc). And he had zero, ZERO emotional responsability. Sy didnt gave SHIT about what anyone felt (bc to him, everyone were just "characters"). But he also was kinda emotionally constipated. His only priorities in SVSSS were being safe, and looking good and "elegant".

Like come on, the man was the living representation of that meme that says "everything's fine", whole the ropa is on fire.

So yeah, sy and sj arent the same soul (we can have two protagonist without reducing one into the other, but this is a convo for a other day i guess). Sy and Sj are actually opposites, and here the great MXTX gives us another wonderful jab. Bc Sy was believed to be kind, when everything he did was for his own safety, meamwhile Sj was truly kind, often risking himself to save others around him (aka Liu fucking Qingge), but he was always misunderstood.

And Sy was rich, had an easy life and didnt need to do any work (he was born in a good enviorment, in both worlds, having everything handled to him). Meanwhile Sj struggled all his life never attaining a true sence of safety.

This is why I say MXTX is true a genius. Sy and Sj are comppleate opposites for each others. If you analize her works deeper, you will start to find all these small connections that give meaning to every single action.

Now, back to the start.

Shen Jiu is our protagonist. But he fails. It's no one's fault, jut at the same time it's everyone's.

Yue QingYuan didn't come back. Shen Jiu waited for too long. Que Haitang didn't realize. Qiu Jianluo was a sick (rich) fuck. Wu Yanzi was there. Shen Jiu was human, and he made mistakes, and he was afraid.

Shen Jiu never gave up: he fought, he grew, he shone like the protagonist he was, unbreakeble, a 'protagonist halo' that protected him even as he went through hell.

But it didn't protect him psychologically.

And everyone around him didnt see what he really was. Instead of a protagonist, Sqq was tilted as the villan.

Now this is my personal theory, but the system couldnt allow a story with no main character. He has to replace Shen Jiu.

Enters: original Luo Binghe. Now lets analize Binghe. He was poor and humble at the beggining, but he had noble blood. Powerful blood. And a mother, a privilege young Sj didnt obtain.

Lbh becomes the protagonist, and here is when PIDW starts.

But Lbh also fails! Bc true heroes avoid darkness, dont fall into revenge. True heroes forgive, they become better people that their masters. Lbh is actually a worse versión of Sj, not a better one. If sj supoosedly preyed on women, lbh had a harem full of them. If sj hurt his martial brithers, lgh destroyed his sect. If sj was a menance to the Jianghu, Lbh literaly destroyed it.

And Lbh himself isnt even happy at the end, his Sjizhun dead, the world at his hands, a harem surrounding him and the deep, emptiness in his heart that cannot be fieled by anything.

Og! Lbh fails, and this is where Sy comes in.

Bc sj's presence on the story made such a mess, the system chooses someone who is his compleate opposite. Rich, selfish and dumb. And then it gets rid of Og! Shen Qingqiu

Sj dissapeares.

Did he die? We dont know. Is he in another world? Does he get his happy ending, does someone remember him?

We dont know.

We will never know.

Sj was rhe main character of this story, but now he is missing. And everyone else goes on without him. Everyone else becomes a person, something more than a character, as Sy realizes that he is in for this world and the people around him have hearts and feelings too.

Shen Jiu doest get that. He doesnt become a person, he doesnt get his arc. He is nothing more that a pitiful character.

This is why i think SVSSS is a masterpiece.

Shall we mourn forever the protagonist we lost. He didnt fit the narrative, thus he had to be taken down.

#scumbag system #svsss novel #scumbag self saving system #shen jiu #luo binghe #yue qingyuan #shen qingqiu #bingjiu #liu qingge #shen yuan #mxtx characters #mxtx books #mxtx

[ourbeloved1011]

Grow tf up. It's been 4 years since that show finished. Yibo even removed it from his bio. Theres nothing wrong with liking a show but insisting on some delusional rpf that's harming actual people??

Hi Anon,

Thanks for spending your precious time dropping by & bravely leaving your not-so-kind comments anonymously (or should I say nasty & harsh for telling me to grow tf up) when this is OBVIOUSLY a fan blog dedicated to Yizhan. It's like you're knocking someone's door uninvited & forcing yourself to rudely barge in.

Well, there must be a good reason on why I've been purposely not hashtag individual artists' names in my posts & include only related tags & mention 'this is just my personal thoughts, CPN' to STAY IN MY OWN LANE - in my own bubble & space. This is to avoid from being discovered by people who's trying to 'start something' & serve as my own effort to protect the artists from being harmed by my words. I really despise unnecessary conflicts right when I've made myself clear on my dashboard that this is a shipper blog.

In simpler words, if you don't like it, it's not my problem. No one asked for your opinion, anon. You've got the wrong place to begin with. However, since you've dropped me an ask, let me enlighten you at the very least.

Before I start, here's some of translated versions of Xiao zhan's personal statement after the incident (which I refuse to elaborate more):

"Everyone has their own choices and freedom of expression. No matter if you like me or you hate, it's your personal right. Passion should be the source of strength for everyone. I hope that this passion doesn't exhaust or harm anyone."

You can read the rest of his statement in my recent reblog or here: https://www.tumblr.com/ourbeloved1011/723921396167819264/xiao-zhans-previous-personal-statement?source=share

Here's my personal thoughts, again, CPN.

I couldn't agree more. It's crucial for everyone to take his words seriously and it's my wish to be what he wished for. I admire, respect & support both xiao zhan & yibo whole-heartedly. It's not fair for you to judge & say that this isn't fan love.

Bjyx is a fandom made up of different individuals. Not only bjyx, any fandom or group of people in this world will have the same concept.

Now, let's talk about generalization.

You can't simply generalize a group or fandom & labelling them as a whole harmful existence. Every fandom has their own good & toxic fans. You don't have any control over that. Surely, all kind of people exist in bjyx BUT same goes with solo fans. There's no exception.

It's like labelling the whole Wen clan as evil when you know very well that Wen Ning and Wen Qing aren't the same kind. In fact, they are Jiang clan's life savior. It's totally unfair.

"You should punish the people who bit you. Wen Qing & Wen Ning have never gotten their hands on anything bloody. Or do you want to execute a collective punishment?!" -The Untamed, Wei Wuxian-

Why do you need to be the exact same way as Jin's clan judgmental behavior? We never learn, we've been here before. I won't take any sides on which fandom need to be banned or which one is the 'real' supporter. Collective stereotype will never be the final answer.

I see two people in everyone. There's no point in proving this.

However, I do believe in one same group commonality. If you continuously act excessively, intentionally crossing all the boundary of morality & bring harm to others, you will belong to TOXIC FAN and ANTIs regardless of where you come from- either you are a bjyx fan or solo. I will not support any act of sexualizing & harassment behavior towards them. There's always a limit, visible lines & common sense to conduct & follow. Sadly, EXTREMISTs do exist everywhere.

Just like what xz been telling us, it's your personal right as long as your passion doesn't harm others. Joining bjyx is our right & passion to support them in our own way. Doesn't mean that you've the right to speak up or write anything that you see as 'the right way', you also have the right to blatantly disregard those who don't share the same view as yours. That's why the word RESPECT is there in life dictionary. Otherwise, human can't co-exist this long.

If you don't have anything good to say, you can just remain silent. If you can't accept & respect, just stay away & ignore. It's that simple.

I don't understand why people needlessly hurting others with their unnecessary hurtful choice of words that can leave permanent scars to others. I personally feel sorry for these people. I don't get it. I really want to understand- what's the real reason for you to be so mean & harsh & hateful? For example, telling people to grow tf up. Who are you to judge? I'm just chilling with myself without causing trouble to others.

In bjyx point of view, we just adore & admire the beautiful & deep connection that both of these guys have. It's rare to have someone that you can click so well instantly in life. We wish to support them against all the odd. That's all.

Ironically, people who freely generalize about other groups get upset & butthurt if someone generalizes about a group that they belong to. The thing is - everyone is an independent individual & fully responsible for their own actions.This is why it's important to mind our own business & stay in our own lane.

Back to your statement. Delusional fans. I'm not actually delusional. I'm very self-aware as a person. In fact, I started as someone who's neutral. It's for my own self-satisfaction to feed my curiosity. I've always been the kind that will find & dig further to know something better. It's my personal trait. I'm not blindly being a delusional fan without basis and accept every rumors I heard about them. I do observations, selectively choosing, analyzing & eventually come to a conclusion. So here I am.

If you claim us to be delusional, you can say whatever you want because your opinion doesn't represent or reflect us. Just a side note, I don't agree with those fans who are intentionally keep overanalyzing these two with every single thing they do each time. People may get annoyed by it. I can see where it's coming from. They are two different individuals with distinct originality & identity. Hence, I only believe in whatever solid reasons I personally chose & filtered to trust.

It's not my job to convince you that they're real & it's not your job to judge, raise doubts & throw hateful comments in what I believed in. No need to make others feel bad & depressed further with your painful remarks. This world is cruel enough to live in. We don't need to be liked but respecting us is not an option. Be kind.

Yes. Yibo removed it from his bio. So what? To be honest, I don't really care much about it. Friendly reminder. He removed not only the untamed but he removed ALL his dramas. Seriously, I don't see any issue. If anything, I would be grateful to Yibo for keeping the untamed there for so long.

Let me remind you of the scene where wei weixuan is forced into a situation with practicing demonic cultivation is his only option to protect himself & survive. Again, everyone is being so judgmental towards him, only to find out later- the real reason why he chose that path. My point is, don't assume something as if we know everything. Anything people put out to share is calculated. You're allowed to see things that they ONLY ALLOW you to see.

What do you mean by these shippers harming actual people? There are plenty pictures everywhere during Yuehua concert, the whole arena was mostly filled with bjyx fans led lights, yellow, green & red- all coming to support Yibo. Not only concert, they've been continuously supporting both of them in other projects and events in the past until today.

'True' fans won't bring any harm to the artist no matter how good their intention is. Boycotting isn't the answer. It brings more damaged to the artist than good.

Tell me. Who's gonna be there if it's not for them?

Credits to respective owners. I don't own anything.

Yibo. Did they really bring harm to you?

Credits to respective pic owners.

Really? What were you looking at?

Credits to respective pic owners.

Few things to ponder:

If either xiao zhan or yibo hates bjyx & don't want any fans to associate them with each other, they would've addressed this many years ago to stop. Like how they made clear stand to some of other cps & supertopics. If you ask me for proof, again, you can just find them through my reblog posts. You can easily see them right away. That is, if you really care to read & bother to know.

Let me use back your words- It's been 4 years since the show finished- but the fandom is still standing strong & able to fill in the whole arena. Just to highlight, xiao zhan & yibo have zero public interaction together since the past few years but the numbers of new bjyx fan is still continue growing until today. The irony. How is this possible? For what reason? The normal cp fandom will eventually dies down once the main actors moving to the new project in the same year. Do you ever wonder what's the reason behind this fandom to stay this long for years? Both of them don't have any same project, no collaboration together. No promotion. Literally nothing. Then how? Funny isn't it?

It still remains mystery to think of why until today, xz & yibo never clarify & make statements to clear the air that they are just close friends. They can easily shut down the fandom in one go. Doesn't it bother you to be shipped with your own close friend for years if it's not the case? Well I do.

Also, why bjyx fans were not banned from entering the venue? Why their banners & led lights were allowed to go in? This is a sign that the existence of this fandom has never been denied. Or wait. Has this bjyx fandom been acknowledged indirectly?

People may find comfort in stanning both of them. Probably, it's the only source of joy in life to some. We never know. Don't be such an asshole trying to kill it. Spread love. Not hate.

Thanks anon for giving me the opportunity to rant :)

#yizhan #bjyx #bjyxszd #ask #bozhan #ggdd #🐢 #bxg #cpn

[mischievouschan4]

Fic Tag Game

Thanks for tagging me, @starwalkertales!!! I've had my eye on this one for a while, and now I have the push to do it haha

Here we go~

How many works do you have on ao3?

For both my handles: 19, but technically 20 if you count the one I abandoned............oopsie 😅 Specifically for Star Wars: 17

2. What's your ao3 word count?

Amazingly, it's a nice even number right now?! 126,000 😲

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Main fandom: Star Wars (Obikin, QuiObiAni) Previous fandoms: Hocky RPF, MDZS, Promare

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

1) WorldBigFlameUp with 620 kudos; this is for the Promare movie, GaloxLio with (dirty) domestic fluff post canon 2) Transference with 471 kudos; my current QuiObiAni golden child; Obi-Wan time travels to save the galaxy and receive aaalllll the love he should have gotten the first time around 3) Wisdom Teeth Woes with 260 kudos; really really cute SFW Obikin, the obligatory post wisdom teeth removal amnesia fic 4) How Anakin Got his Groove Back with 161 kudos; switch Obikin, I fondly refer to this one as "BDSM fic" 😌 she's filfthy, she's fun(ny) - maybe?, she's got BSE (big switch energy) from Obi-Wan LOL 5) I Know You Love Me with 150 kudos; HockeyRPF, my Toews/Kane (bottom Jonny) fic from the Chicago Blackhawks glory days *big sigh* **tears up** And the honorable mention abandoned fic (Thorki) at 718 kudos LOL (no judgment, okay?? I was a practically a bebe when I wrote it 😅)

5. Do you respond to comments?

................................I need to be better about this. I definitely do for Transference every time I update with a new chapter, but I find it hard to keep up for some of my other fics (EVEN THOUGH I CHERISH EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!!)

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

nOnE oF mY fIcS hAvE aNgStY eNdInGs 👀 (like actually)

7. What's the fic your write with the happiest ending?

I swear they're all happy! But I think the sugary-est fic overall has to be How to Fall in Love with a Lawyer, you can't say no to Obikin engagement! But also, I think The Kenobi-Skywalker Family Goes Viral is also quite adorable (not that I'm biased or anything ha)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have been lucky! No hate so far, just some very astute fans of canon that have pointed out inconsistencies haha (which is 100% acceptable)

9. Do you write smut? What kind?

HA... YES! I do lots and lots and lots of smut! But almost all of it is MxM I think!

10. Do you write cross-overs?

Historically, no. Would I be open to it? ...I think I could be convinced...

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yesssss!!!! And it is such an honor?!?! My QuiObi fic Seasons of Love was translated by the amazing @cakushi into Russian😭💓💓💓

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

NOT YET!!! BUT SOON!!! I'm looking at you, @dark--whisperings 💖

14. What's your all time favourite ship?

QuiObi probably? 🥰 It's definitely my comfort ship.

15. What's your WIP you like to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Oh goodness, welp, I have a WIP called Love and Devotion (MDZS/The Untamed fandom) which is a pseudo-Regency AU for Lan Zhan/Wei Ying that's just sitting there 3/maybe 6 ish chapters in........... I really do want to finish it, but I need to get my head out of Star Wars first....

16. What are your writing strengths?

Visualizing situations to translate them into words

CUTE FLUFF

Writing in a way that's comfortable for me to read out loud

Extensive research (both for smut and non-smut content hehe 😼)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

GRAMMAR (I switch between present and past depending on the fic and it screws with my brain so much)

Pacing 😠 (How much detail is too much detail?? IDK)

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Select lines yes, I have for Love and Devotion since the original content is in Chinese and that's my second language, but entire chunks? Definitely not. I usually just do italics to signify another language haha.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I'm honestly not super sure LMAO back in my fanfiction.net days I wrote for both Death Note and Alex Rider hahaha

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Probably Transference haha when you put that much effort into a long-fic, it's hard to not put it on a pedestal.

Thank you so much for tagging me!!! Had lots of fun thinking about these.

Apologies if you've been tagged already, and apologies if I missed you! Anyone can pick this up if you find it interesting!!

@dark--whisperings @thesilverqueenlady @dreaminghour @briliantlymad @anakinsthot @cakushi @to-proudly-go (Omg I’m sorry I left you off!)

#I WAS BLESSED WITH A TAG #fic tag #star wars fanfiction #just writer things

[accio-victuuri]

on light signs & fandom etiquette 🚥

one cpn and a whole lot of personal opinion. i want to write my thoughts about this topic. this is my least favorite thing to talk about as it touches on how people act which can’t be controlled both online and offline. to those who have no idea, it’s about some fandom drama during sdc finale live. this will be more on what i learned and observed. this whole post can be preachy and rant-y so beware. i just needed a place to reflect.

I’ll start with this exchange. It looks like Nathan Lee was asking Bobo if the light sign was his. What it means. Fans are saying it’s because the color is yellow that Nathan was not sure. He must know in a way that “Bo” could be equal to Yibo. Or maybe not. Then you see Yibo explaining yes it’s his. Bo. Yibo.

then hangeng comes in to explain as well and back yibo up then stops him. as if to make the conversation end, less he says more — this part is cpn. to me this is an interesting exchange because yibo clearly owns up to the light sign. it’s his. i have never doubted that bobo knows there are cpfs out there and he appreciates us, tho he cannot say it in the open. we understand. we always did.

There are videos out there of 🏍 vs. turtles. confiscated bjyx green and red light signs. in general, just the two fandoms shading each other. which are of course shared to the international audience. and well, you can take a guess which garbage dump app it’s popular in. I won’t go into the details because that’s not the point. This is not something new. there’s always been friction between cpf and solos. We know how toxic c-fandom is. Hell, even their government knows and they can’t do much about it. It’s the kind of thing i never understood and would never dream to emulate so i can fit in. sadly, lots of international fans adopt the “authentic” fandom behavior and are proud of it. wear it like a badge. there is only a handful who sees the whole c-fandom toxicity for the chaotic circus that it is and avoid copying it.

So, why are cpfs so hated? It’s because we shouldn’t exist. for a time it’s fine — but not this long. not this loud and prominent. brands love catering to solo fans/groups and even their companies do. it’s always been this way and not only in China. CPFs are considered a novelty, something that happens because of a project and are expected to fade when it ends. Also viewed as second-rate fans because their attention and support is split instead of giving their 100% to one artist. They ( artist and company ) can’t endorse and have an open bias to a CP because the artist must maintain the status of being single. An individual who can be paired up with anyone as needed. We are hated and considered a nuisance because we’re still here and thriving. Example, there were far more BJYX fan sites from last night’s event than solos. We still continue to show up. Support. We continue to stay relevant. I can understand the irritation from a toxic solo’s perspective and it gets worse if that person hates xiao zhan or yibo. To them, how dare we have the audacity to enjoy something. The nerve to spend our time and resources on a fandom that makes us happy. lol.

I personally don’t care who is better. Do you want the title of best yibo fan / best xiao zhan fan? sure. It’s yours. It’s theirs. I don’t need it. I’m here for the fun. The ( mostly ) stress free space I’ve created. zz/wyb is my happy place. That’s all I want.

CPFs are far from perfect. We’ve had our fair share of blunders and I personally have certain fandom personalities that I wish would just close their accounts. It is what it is. We can’t control each other’s behaviors. Some so/o pick a certain bad incident and that’s gonna be the way they look at us forever. Or they just go with the flow because it’s a sick pre requisite to hate on cpfs to get your so/o fandom loyalty card apparently. I will never understand wanting people to shut up just because you don’t like what they do. This is not some social justice issue. I like zz/wyb, you only like one of them. So? What’s the big deal. If you don’t like CP stuff then don’t seek us out. AND I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH TO CPFs, don’t bait them. Tag stuff properly. Please stop commenting CP things in obvious solo posts. This is why I stopped thinking about their opinion. Candies are for us and not them. We don’t need to convert them — that’s not the goal. At least to me ( the goal ) it’s to support the boys. Enjoy this fandom and try to keep away from drama.

Now the big question that’s related to SDC — Should CPFs bring their dolls and BJYX lights in solo events? My answer is Yes and No.

Yes because it’s their life and they can bring what they want. Bring 10 dolls, sure. For example the dolls lined up and taking photos @ GG’s ADLAD was seen by passer by as cute. Because it is. To those who don’t understand dolls and how it relates to fandom — just shut up please. Let people enjoy things. Some people enjoy drugs and being an asshole — then you have women who loves to bring their fandom dolls to events. to each their own. Even if it’s a “xiao zhan” character doll in an event that is for Yibo ( well it’s not just yibo, it’s SDC. people who watch the show are welcome ) , honestly. who the fuck cares. it’s a harmless non living thing. As for the light signs— sure, but I draw the line on trying to catch too much attention. They know unrelated light signs are not allowed so the rules should be followed. I’m sure the security and staff were only briefed about so/o light signs. No one is persecuting them. They know the rules. I know they have good intentions but we gotta be careful to not trouble Yibo.

No when it’s blatant baiting of so/os. some people really just love drama and will incite stuff. Also i’m not a fan of attention-seeking. Don’t shout BJYX at zz or wyb please. Don’t private message their friends or ask their co-stars about them. We are supposed to be low key about this. They know we exist — no need to beg for their attention.

I may be wrong about certain things that I just said but it’s all my personal opinion. At the end of the day, we will participate and act in this fandom with our own limits. I wish offline “fights” will be avoided in the future. We can all peacefully co exist by ignoring each other. 🙏🏼

-END.

#yizhan #bjyx #personal

[justaghostingon]

The Wen Conversion - Sorry - The Wen Reality TV Show, Hosted by Wen Chao!

A modern cultivation au

It all starts long, long ago, aka before Wei ying, the cloud recesses released a documentary

It was a short, tranquil thing, focused on showcasing Lan principles and teachings to the general public

Much of the footage was gained during one of the cloud recesses summer classes, to highlight the calm learning that they were passing on to all clans within their gates

Naturally this show of “power” over the other sects greatly offended the Wens, even if their hate watching is probably the only reason it got so many views, as most people turned it off in the first fifteen min when they realized the beauty of the cloud recesses did not undo the boredom of the content

And also Madam Yu, who saw it as the perfect way to whip Wei ying into knowing his place - this backfired on the cloud recesses

Anyways, when the Wens have host *cough* blackmail everyone to show up *cough* classes, they decide to one up the cloud recesses in every way

Aka, they decide to film all their guests and turn their day to day life into a reality show!

Wen chao is the host, and quickly makes himself and wang lingjiao the stars

He’s clever about it too! (Or wangjiao is and he takes the credit) He noticed exactly what the cloud recesses show was missimg: Drama!

And what do you know, you can edit just about any situation to look like its a big deal when its not

Thus the general, noncultivation is allowed a glimpse into the lives of wealthy cultivators, complete with all the drama they’ve been longing for

Wen chao is the handsome and charming leader tryimg to bring these losers into line

Wang limgjiao is his lovely girlfriend and the most desireable woman in the world

Wen ning is a bumbling fool

Wen qing is a robot without a heart because she’s not attracted to wen chao

Mianmian is clearly in love with wen chao, because every good looking girl is, and tryinf to steal him from wang lingjiao

Lan zhan is a stiff freak who’s gay for jiang cheng (because wen chao strikes me as homophobic, and wants to embarrass the lans)

Wei ying totally broke up jin zuxian and jiang yanli because he’s in love with jiang yanli

Jin zuxian is an arrogant heartthrob who lost to wei ying and wants revenge

Jiang cheng is a loose canon who’s completely unreasonable and a horrible guy all around, so perfect for lan zhan

Nie hauisang is a silly airhead, as always

This show goes on for a few weeks, until wen ning lets wei ying know that its happening

That night of the prisoners pile in wei yings room and watch the show on wen ning’s phone

They are each horrified

Shijie????? Wei ying shrieks! They’re shipping me with my SISTER??? She’s my SISTER!!!!

“Jiang cheng.” Lan zhan says, but the utter frigitdity in his tone makes it very clear what he thinks of them shipping him with Jiang Cheng, when Wei Ying is RIGHT THERE!

Jiang cheng (angrily): I don’t get that Angry!!!!!

Jin zuxian: i’m not that arrogant!

But it is mianmian who takes it the worst, saying nothing, but face white as a sheet as she watches wen chao brag about possibly making her a side chick since she “likes him so much”

Wei ying notices, and promises Mianmian that they will find a way to protect her

Mianmian: how? He controls everything!

Nie huaisang: i don’t know, maybe we could use his need for drama in the show against him? But i don’t know. I really don’t know!

Everyone stops, looks and nie huaisang who is fanning himself.

Nie huaisang you are a genius, goes wei ying. “We need to make our own drama!

The plan is as follows. First, they need to minimize the amount of time wen chao spends near mianmian.

This will be run by wei ying, who will use his annoyingness to flirt with mianmian and challenge Wen chao to stupid games to impress her, distracting him so mianmian can sneak off to be with lan zhan

You gotta have a love story with lan zhan” wei ying insists “he’s so handsome, anyone would believe you’d pick him over wen chao. He doesn’t even compare! It will make great television”

“I am gay” lan xhan points out

“Yeah on the show. But not in real life.” Goes wei ying, digging his own grave. “Besides, who isn’t a little gay? Doesn’t stop u from being attracted to women!” (Says the oblivious bi)

Lan zhan is not impressed with this. At all. But he supposes he can stick close to mianmian to keep her away from wen chao. And also wei ying. Wei ying isn’t getting a love story while lan zhan is around

Thus starts the mianmian lovw triangle arc, a much loved arc of the show, were lan zhan is obviously in love with wei ying, and trying to sabatoge his chances with mianmian by “leading her on” so she won’t go with wei ying

Wei ying remains oblivious, aside from complimenting lan zhan extensively (in an attempt to prove his affections for his sister are completely platonic because he talks about all his friends like that) leading many to suspect it could be requilted

The shipping wars were brutal

As for jiang cheng, nie huaisang, and jin zuxuan, well, nie huaisang has a plan

Jin zuxuan has to be nice to wang lingjiao.

Don’t say anything!” Nie huaisang adds “just nodd at what she does and smile at her”

Jin zuxian: i know how to talk to women

Nie huaisang and mianmian together: no you don’t

What about me?” Jiang cheng asks

“Stop yelling so much,” nie hauisang advises, “and help wen ning out if u see him struggling. Everybody loves a bad boy with a hidden heart of gold.”

“I’ll give wen ning a make over” nie huaisang adds “we make him cute, and suddenly bulling him will make wen chao look bad. Wen qing…be exactly the same”

“I would have done it anyways” wen qing sniffs. “I’m not interested in this game”

What are you going to do?” Wen ning asks nie huaisang

“Me?” Nie huaisang flutters his fan. “I don’t know!! Maybe befriend wen chao and wang lingjiao? I really don’t know!!

And so nie huaisang gets to work

The wen ning makeover really does wonders, as does jiang cheng being nice to him. Soon they’re a beloved duo, and a popular ship

Meanwhile nie huaisang slides up to wang lingjiao, and after exchanging some pointless gossip, nie huaisang points out how odd it is that wen chao make lan zhan out to like jiang cheng, who isn’t nearly as good looking as jin zuxuan or wei ying. Almost like he thinks jiang cheng is handsome

Then he points out how wen chao seems to prefer “spirited” women

And finally to drive the nail in the coffin, he himts how men who’ve had to many women to easily begin to want “a challenge”

Thus wang lingjiao becomes convinced wen chao likes jiang cheng

She’s furious, and at that moment, jin zuxuan walks up to her and in a very stiff voice says she is very pretty

And just like that wang lingjiao has a plan to make wen chao jealous

Then nie huaisang slides up to wen chao, and mentions how loyal jin zuxuan is, and how with no fiance he could make any lucky woman his wife

While also reminding him his sect still needs the jins to remain neutral, so he can’t attack jun zuxian

No. He needs to go to someone who knows him, and is good at driving jin zuxuan off.

He needs to talk to jiang cheng

And of course, while talking to jiang cheng to learn “how to get jin zuxuan to leave” wang lingjiao comes by, sees them together, and runs off furious to ask jin zuxuan out

Jin zuxuan, thinking she wants to be friends, agrees

And so the drama unfolds, as wen chao is out played in every moment. He’s losing his girlfriend to a richer man, he’s losing his back up girl to a handsomer man, he’s losing all of wei ying’s competions, he’s losing respect for being mean to wen ning, and worst of all, he’s messing with the internets otp by getting between wen ning and jiang cheng

Thus the Wen Reality Show backfires, lowering the publics opinion of the Wens to an all time low, and Wen Chao’s to the basement.

People start protesting the wens treatment of their prisoners, and when wei ying and lan zhan end up killing that tortoise of slaughter while wen chao runs away, people begin to wonder what the wens can even offer in education

At least in the cloud recesses they’ll learn something

With everyone jumping into memeing the wen clan and all its members (except wen ning and his sister, who escape by virtue of being adorable and above that shit respectively) it becomes much easier for thr other clans to team up against the wens, especially since local people shelter them and let them call their familiies after the tortoise of slaughter causes them all to escape

Thus the wens were defeated by public distain and memes (and also a much earlier sunshot alliance brought on by the memes)

#the untamed #the untamed au #mo dao zu shi #mdzs au #mdzs #wen chao #wang lingjiao #wei wuxuan #wei ying #lan wangji #lan zhan #nie huaisang #jin zixuan #jiang cheng #wen ning #mianmian #wen qing #wangxian #mianmian love triangle #but not really #jiang cheng x wen ning #but also not really #modern au #wen reality tv au

[rainbowsky]

Hello, rainbow! hope you’re doing well!

i feel really silly asking this, but how do you view dd’s relationship with his fans? what do you think about it?

i’m new to the fandom so i’m kinda confused, and really don’t know if this has been addressed already.

i feel like every time i see him interacting with fans he looks really annoyed? maybe fed up?

i know lately there has been a lot of instances where he got his privacy invaded by “fans”, and that strains the relationship. but i don’t really know how it was before.

i really really like and support him in everything he does, and i know my thoughts might be misplaced. but i wanted to know your thoughts, if you’re willing to share.

Hi Anon, hope you're well too! 😊

Sorry that I'm so late in answering some of these asks. I've been very busy IRL and haven't had much time lately for Tumblr. I'm trying to get to the ones that are still somewhat relevant.

I got a few asks along the same lines of this one, after DD's recent Chunzhen live (more on that event here).

Disclaimer: This response is for all the anons who asked me this question, not just the Anon above. In fact, the above ask is the least judgmental/critical version of this ask I could find, which is why I'm answering it and not some of the others.

This question comes up a LOT whenever new fans see DD in interviews or at fan events, and especially at live endorsement event fan meets, which I believe he mostly hates (because they're boring and contrived and call upon him to be fake, and he's not fake).

Here is the Chunzhen event with Eng Subs.

People seemed to have an especially big reaction to his response (at 50:15) when he was asked if there's anything he wanted to do with his fans and he said, "Nothing." Which is just a very honest answer, quite typical of the DD we know and love.

And let's face it, what a STUPID question. What on earth would DD want to do with his fans? They don't treat him like a human being. What does he even have in common with most of them? As a star, what's he supposed to want to go camping with them or something? They'd spend the whole time screaming and fawning over him.

Anyway, this sort of response always gets negatively interpreted, and fans read a lot into it and often he gets painted as harsh, ungrateful and mean.

I think a lot of it comes from the toxic positivity that is rampant in most cultures - the idea that we have to come across as exuberantly pleasant or else we're being negative or bad.

DD is a very honest, straightforward person who tells it like it is. That means that sometimes he comes across as harsh to some people, but that's just the cultural judgments/assumptions talking - it's not an accurate assessment of who DD is or what he's really like.

There are expectations around how people should look and behave, and when those expectations aren't met, their behavior is interpreted as negative.

As an autistic person I get this a LOT in my life, and I absolutely hate it. It's one of the things I most loathe about interacting with neurotypical and mixed groups of random people who I'm not familiar with and don't have a trust bond with.

Because I don't have a lot of facial expressions, because I don't deal in subtext and I am forthright and honest, I very frequently get interpreted in negative ways - as 'harsh', 'cold', 'rude', 'blunt' or 'intimidating' - when in fact I'm just talking normally, and when in reality I'm actually happy or cheerful about what I'm talking about. People misread me entirely and take everything I say as having a negative tone, and project all these negative ideas, motives and subtext onto me about what they think I really mean or what they think I'm thinking about them. (More on all that here).

It even happens here on my blog.

It's a big part of why I identify with Lan Zhan so much. In fact, that's how I first learned about GG and DD - because my sister saw The Untamed and thought Lan Zhan was just like me, and urged me to watch the show.

We can hopefully all agree that Lan Zhan isn't a hateful, mean, harsh person. We can agree that he's actually a kind, loving, noble person with a lot of deep emotions and a compassionate heart. It's just that his way of expressing that is different from most other people's way of expressing it. Wei Ying is one of the few people who can see and accept Lan Zhan for who he is, and in return he gets the gift of seeing how funny Lan Zhan really is, how soft-hearted and kind.

DD is like this. He's sweet, charming, funny, kind. And he's also very unique, not like everyone else. He has his own way of expressing himself, and he has never been one to put on a fake face for fans - at least, not in his solo career where he's been at liberty to be himself.

We shouldn't read anything negative or judgmental into this.

Whenever DD has a live fanmeet for an endorsement brand my inbox fills with asks about his supposedly being 'off' or 'upset' or even 'angry', and I think if he is any of those things, it's not about what fans seem to assume. It's not some personal thing or some beef he has with fans. It's quite simply discomfort about being put into an event he doesn't enjoy and feels bored by.

DD isn't a salesman. He's not that kind of guy. And these events, they really call upon those kinds of skills and behaviors. They call upon the star to be a cheerful, up-beat shill for whatever ware is being hawked, and that's not something DD seems to feel comfortable with.

If it was a cool Lego set or some skateboard parts and accessories or a motorcycle helmet he'd probably light right up and knock it out of the park. He'd probably sell the shit out of those things. But drinkable yogurt or massage equipment or facial masques - not really something he's going to get fired up about.

DD isn't fake and isn't really capable of pretending to be interested in something he's not interested in. That's a feature, not a bug. That's a good thing, not a bad thing. HE'S SINCERE.

Once you've become more familiar with DD as a person you'll start to see that it's just his personality. And his fans - the ones who've been with him for a while and know him well - they see him for who he is and they love him for it. They know that he's not going to blow smoke up their ass or give them a bunch of fake sweetness. They appreciate his honesty and accept him for who he is.

Someone is likely to ask me if maybe he was upset about the way Chunzhen was handling the event/the situation with turtles, or if he was sticking it to solo fans after the fucked up demands they've been making and the way they've been abusing his team, so I'll address that here as well:

I doubt it, but it's possible.

Whether solos accept it or not, DD does care about turtles. At the very least, turtles are an important part of DD's fan base (and are not involved with the demands and other BS), and I doubt he would appreciate seeing them mistreated by one of his brands.

Turtles aside, I doubt he enjoys dealing with controversies, or with fan demands or with the way they've been slandering his team online. It's possible either one of those issues - or even both - impacted his demeanour in the event.

But like I said, I really doubt it. He was behaving how he usually does at these things - bored and eager to get it all over with. I didn't see anything unusual to suggest he was particularly upset or angry. He was just doing his job, earning his pay. Nothing more.

#ggdd events #savage dd #ggdd in the public eye #ask

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

Cold feet

@tremendousmasculinity here is the ficlet for the prompt you suggested! It was so fun to write <3

I hope you can forgive my angsty fic transgressions now.

Prompt: wangxian in a band (with wen ning) and being nervous before a peformance, maybe? because i can see lwj being nervous but not showing it (of course) and wwx being the only one who notices and cuteness?

It's the band's first real concert - real as in, huge venue, thousands of attendees, sold out tickets, screaming fans, security and fancy backstage rooms - and Lan Wangji feels like the sky is just about to crash into him. Any moment now.

He has never sympathized with Wen Ning more than right now. He gets the man's anxiety on a very personal level at the moment and wants to apologize for the way he used to think him a bit of a coward.

Wen Ning is incredibly valid in his anxiety actually and Lan Wangji is going to have a huge basket of snacks and alcohol sent to him - because he gets it now. There is, in fact, a lot to be nervous about, there is a lot that could go wrong - and there are way too many people outside.

Wei Ying's just come back from having his hair and makeup done, and Lan Zhan would admire him more if he wasn't so busy trying to think himself out of a panic attack. There are thousands of people out there waiting to see them perform, if they mess up the tabloids are going to tear them to shreds, the band has only just debuted and if they flop then it's going to be near impossible to recover. What if something goes wrong with the sound or lighting or the special effects? What if he forgets the songs or his guitar breaks or something happens to Wei Ying or Wen Ning faints and-

He feels a gentle hand come to cup his right cheek, and Lan Wangji barely finds it in himself to look up towards the person it belongs to.

"Wei Ying..."

"Lan Zhan, you look... really scared right now."

"I am." he admits, and hates it, but if there's anyone he trusts, it's Wei Ying. Wei Ying loves him and understands him, and all Lan Zhan wants to do is hide away in his arms for the rest of forever.

Wei Ying tugs him down on the floor and Lan Zhan decides he is going to cuddle into Wei Ying's chest and pretend like the rest of the world doesn't exist. He closes his eyes too, and stays there, now hyper-aware of his rapid heartbeat and the fact that there doesn't seem to be enough air in the world to fill in his lungs.

"Let's breathe together for a moment, yeah?"

"Mn..."

Wei Ying takes in a deep breath, his chest expanding with it, and Lan Zhan feels compelled to do the same, following the slow inhale and exhale until it's all he can focus on. He has to time himself to synchronize with Wei Ying and so his fears take second stage - and the world doesn't feel stuffy and ready to fall on his head anymore.

Wei Ying hands him a glass of water from a nearby table, and begins humming their song lowly, gently petting at his hair so as not to mess up the hairstylist's work.

"Better now?"

Lan Zhan nods, and sits up enough for Wei Ying to plant a soft kiss on his lips. "Okay, now, tell me what's wrong?"

"Everything is so... real. Overwhelming. There is a lot of pressure."

Wei Ying smiles, sympathetic. "I know. I'm nervous too, I was so jittery Wen Qing threatened to strap me to the makeup chair."

Lan Zhan tries imagining the scene but his mind doesn't provide something upsetting. Not at all, quite the opposite, in fact.

"Lan Zhan, focus. No horny thoughts before the show, we'll never make it out there if you let the horny thoughts win. We'll have to send Wen Ning in all by himself."

"He will handle, he is a good drummer. People like him."

Wei Ying laughs. "A little too much if you ask me." He helps Lan Zhan stand up and fixes his outfit. "But we're all in this together, we've all worked hard on this, it's not fair for only one person to go out there."

"Where is he anyway?" Lan Zhan asks. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah, Wen Qing gave him something and he's basically spiritually ascended."

"Something?"

"I don't know, she wouldn't tell me what."

Lan Zhan decides he doesn't actually want to know - and, in fact, he realizes he feels a lot lighter than before. His worries are a lot easier to bear when he shares them with someone else, with that certain someone else that has him feel like the world has meaning.

And perhaps he should let Wei Ying know.

He reaches into one of his pockets and finds the little velvet box he's been carrying around for the past week.

(The tabloids wax poetic about the romantic proposal between the guitarist and the lead singer of the up and coming band from the Yiling region for weeks.

Take that for a successful debut.)

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #writing attempts

[bloody-bee-tea]

24 Days of Mingcheng 2022 Day 5 - Honeymoon

Jiang Cheng is laughing at something Nie Huaisang said when he notices Wei Wuxian coming his way and just like that his laughter dies down.

“Here we go,” he mutters, just loud enough for Nie Huaisang to hear, who immediately snaps his fan open.

“I’m right here,” he reassures him and Jiang Cheng briefly leans into his side, because he knows that.

Nie Huaisang has his back, no matter what and it’s not only at the threat of having his legs broken by Nie Mingjue.

Nie Huaisang does genuinely care about him and he wouldn’t let Wei Wuxian—or anyone for that matter—hurt Jiang Cheng.

“Chengcheng,” Wei Wuxian calls out as soon as he is close enough to not have to yell through the entire room and Jiang Cheng supposes he has to be grateful for that. “I didn’t know you would be here!”

“I’m accompanying Huaisang,” Jiang Cheng stiffly says, keeping an eye out for either of his parents to join this absolute disaster but he can’t spot them. Small mercies.

“I see, I see,” Wei Wuxian mutters and then leans in close. “And when are you going to introduce him formally to the family?” he then asks and Jiang Cheng frowns at him.

Nie Huaisang—curse him—doesn’t say anything and simply watches everything with hawk eyes.

“Formally? As what?” Jiang Cheng wants to know because this doesn’t make sense.

He doesn’t have to formally introduce his friends.

“As your boyfriend, of course,” Wei Wuxian immediately shoots back and Jiang Cheng reels back as if he’s been hit.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” he tells Wei Wuxian who gives him something akin to a pitying look. It certainly makes Jiang Cheng’s hackles rise.

“Chengcheng, we all know you don’t want to be here, so for you to show up can only mean that you’re here out of love.”

“Well, yeah,” Jiang Cheng admits and doesn’t like the way Wei Wuxian’s eyes sparkle at the admission. “I’m here for Mingjue.”

That seems to bring Wei Wuxian up short.

“What now?”

“Da-ge asked A-Cheng to accompany me to this function because he himself couldn’t make it. A-Cheng hates it here but he loves my brother enough to accompany me anyway,” Nie Huaisang finally chimes in and Jiang Cheng relaxes slightly.

So Nie Huaisang is not going to let him be eaten alive by Wei Wuxian, that’s good to know.

“Right,” Wei Wuxian snorts out. “You’re dating Nie Mingjue, CEO of Nie Security and one of the top five bachelors of this country.”

Jiang Cheng definitely doesn’t like the tone Wei Wuxian is taking with him and he scowls at him.

“What is that supposed to mean?” he demands, crossing his arms in front of his chest and even Nie Huaisang’s eyes narrow at him, so he doesn’t seem to like where this is going at all either.

“It just means that no one is going to believe that. Why would Nie Mingjue ever date you when he can have his pick out of everyone. That’s more than unlikely, isn’t it? You and Huaisang here on the other hand—”

“I would be very careful with your next words now,” Nie Huaisang interrupts him. “Because either it’s going to be insulting to me or A-Cheng, and at worst both, and I am not going to let that slide.”

His voice is ice-cold and even though he’s speaking in defence of Jiang Cheng a cold shudder still runs down his back.

He wouldn’t want that tone of voice to be directed at him but it seems as if Wei Wuxian does not have the same survival instincts because he soldiers right on.

“I was just going to say that you two fit well together,” Wei Wuxian defensively says and Nie Huaisang narrows his eyes at him.

“Sure. So you don’t think A-Cheng is brilliant enough to capture my brother’s eyes and you think my standards are shit at the same time. Noted.”

Wei Wuxian opens his mouth at that but then closes it without saying another word. Maybe the cutting edge to Nie Huaisang’s voice finally got through to him.

“I think I have to—Lan Zhan, you know,” he babbles.

“Of course,” Nie Huaisang says with a sharp smile, accompanied by the snap of his fan as he closes it. “Do leave. And please make sure to not come back this evening.”

Wei Wuxian turns around on his heels and is gone in an blink.

“Well, that was awful,” Jiang Cheng mutters and Nie Huaisang pats his arm.

“You want to go home?” he asks. “Da-ge is probably missing you like crazy right now.”

“You damn well know that he’s going to have both our heads if we should leave before we hit the two hour mark,” Jiang Cheng shoots back because Nie Mingjue was adamant about that.

They are here to represent the company and as such they have responsibilities.

“I guess he’ll forgive us if we tell him what happened,” Nie Huaisang says and then gives Jiang Cheng a sweet smile. “How about you leave. It’s just another half hour and I promise to be good.”

Jiang Cheng would love to say yes to that but half an hour is plenty of time for Nie Huaisang to ruin lives and overthrow companies. And Nie Mingjue would have his head if he left Nie Huaisang unsupervised.

“I can manage another half hour,” Jiang Cheng says and doesn’t miss the disappointed look on Nie Huaisang’s face. “Especially when it means it’s going to stop you from a hostile take-over or two.”

“You like my take-overs,” he snappishly says, flicking his fan back open.

“Not when it means more work for Mingjue, I don’t. He’s already busy enough as it is and he has scheduled a break next month. You pestered him about that. If you upset the entire delicate balance of these companies he won’t be able to take that break.”

“That’s just mean,” Nie Huaisang whines but he deflates with a sigh. “But I guess you win.”

“Thank you,” Jiang Cheng nods and bumps their shoulders together. “I learned from the best.”

It earns him a radiant smile from Nie Huaisang and in face of that Jiang Cheng completely misses the way a pair of eyes bore into their backs.

~*~*~

Jiang Cheng has barely sat down at the table when Jiang Yanli speaks up.

“I didn’t expect you to show up alone,” she says as she pours him tea and Jiang Cheng shrugs.

“Yeah, I know, but there was a last minute issue that Mingjue had to deal with. He sends his regards and apologises. He will definitely be here next time.”

It takes him a moment to notice that Jiang Yanli has fallen silent and even stopped moving and when he looks at her he’s surprised to see a sad look on her face.

“A-jie? What’s wrong?”

“A-Cheng, why can’t you tell the truth?” she wants to know and Jiang Cheng frowns.

“About what?”

“A-Xian saw you and Huaisang at the function last week, remember?”

“Yeah, so?” he asks but he’s starting to get a bad feeling about this.

“We know it’s you and Huaisang. Why do you insist on lying about that? Don’t you ever think about how Huaisang must feel about this, if you keep denying your relationship?”

“Not really, because there is nothing to deny,” Jiang Cheng starts but he already knows that it’s futile.

She is not going to believe him, much like Wei Wuxian hadn’t believed him and this time he doesn’t have Nie Huaisang with him to come to his aid.

“A-Cheng,” she says in that sad tone she gets and the one that Jiang Cheng hates the most.

“A-jie, I keep telling you, Huaisang and I are not together. I am with Mingjue and I have been for a while.”

“Then how come we have never seen you two together? How come you only ever show up with Huaisang? A-Cheng, what is the point in lying about this?”

“There is no point because I’m not lying! Mingjue is busy, it just never worked out that we show up anywhere together. And whenever I invite you over to meet him you decline.”

“Because we don’t want to support whatever kind of game you are playing with all of us,” she shoots back and it’s so close to snapping that Jiang Cheng rears back.

He has never heard his sister like that.

“A-jie, I am not playing any kind of game. Mingjue and I are together.”

“A-Cheng, he’s so—successful. And rich. He’s one—”

“—of the top five bachelors of this country, yes I know, goddamit. But he didn’t make the list this year, did he now? And you know why that is? Because he’s no longer a bachelor. Even the press acknowledges that, so why can’t you?”

“They just don’t know you like I do,” Jiang Yanli whispers and Jiang Cheng stands up.

“Clearly they know me better than you if you still believe I am lying to you all about this.” He turns around and walks back into the hallway, already half in his shoes before his sister speaks up again.

“It’s just not very believable, that’s all,” she tries and he doesn’t turn around to her but he can imagine how she’s wringing her hands in front of her chest. “Surely you understand that.”

“And what is not believable? That Mingjue should find anything loveable about me?”

“How would you two even have met?”

“A-jie, I have been going over to the Nies regularly since school. Whenever dad forgot to pick me up or when mom told me not to come home because of a grade that didn’t please her I went over to them. I have known Mingjue for years!”

“Then it makes even less sense,” Jiang Yanli starts before she seems to catch herself but Jiang Cheng already has had enough about this.

“Because how could he fall in love with me if he knows me that well? Is that what you wanted to ask? Thanks, a-jie, it’s really nice to know that you deem me to be worthy of love. Just great. I will be leaving now.”

“A-Cheng, wait,” she calls after him but he doesn’t stop.

Jiang Cheng is gone from her house without looking back and he doesn’t think that he wants to be coming back any time soon.

~*~*~

Jiang Cheng is leaning into Nie Mingjue’s side, completely content to simply watch the engagement party around them for a short while but of course his happiness is short lived.

“Here comes your family,” Nie Mingjue mutters and Jiang Cheng briefly thinks about straightening up just a little bit, just to give them the illusion that he cares but in the end he decides against it.

What does he care about his family anyway.

“Mingjue, my boy,” Jiang Fengmian greets Nie Mingjue who immediately stiffens.

Jiang Cheng presses more into his side, hoping to diffuse his tension and he allows himself a small smile when it works.

At least until his mother tugs him away to the side.

Nie Mingjue looks as if he wants to reach out for him to pull him right back, but Jiang Fengmian very expertly distracts him with one question or another and Jiang Cheng barely refrains from rolling his eyes when he realizes that this is a coordinated attack.

And he sure as hell is not going to like where this is going.

“Wanyin, I expected better of you,” Yu Ziyuan tells him and now, Jiang Cheng really does roll his eyes.

“You always do,” he tells her. “If you want me to know what you are talking about then you need to be more specific.”

“Do not take that tone with me,” she snaps. “Your boyfriend is right there, so please do tell, what do you think you are doing?”

“I—don’t get it,” Jiang Cheng says, even though he can guess where this is going.

He’s just really very tired of trying to convince his family of his relationship with Nie Mingjue especially seeing as they are her to celebrate their engagement. They really should have taken the hint when they agreed to come.

“Nie Huaisang is right over there. What business do you have to be this close with his brother? Aren’t you ashamed? Do you not even think about what this scandal could mean for the family?”

“No, not really, because there is no scandal. I am here with my fiancé Mingjue, and Huaisang is here with his boyfriend to celebrate his brother’s and mine engagement. There is nothing more to it.”

“Please,” Yu Ziyuan scoffs and looks back at Nie Mingjue. “You really want us to believe that you are dating him?”

“I am really fucking tired of all of you telling me that he is too good for me.” He briefly pauses. “And I am honestly offended on Huaisang’s behalf because you are all implying that he is not.”

“He’s a good for nothing, we all know that.”

“So we two would fit perfectly together, wouldn’t we, seeing as I can’t ever do anything right,” Jiang Cheng mildly says, because he is long over this.

His family doesn’t care, they don’t think him capable and there is nothing he can do about it. It took him way too many therapy sessions to finally come to that conclusion but at least he got there in the end.

“My heart, I think it’s time we leave,” Nie Mingjue suddenly says and when Jiang Cheng looks over to him and his father he has to suppress a laugh.

Nie Mingjue must have said something incredibly rude to Jiang Fengmian because he’s still standing where Nie Mingjue left him, his mouth slightly open.

It’s a picture Jiang Cheng rather enjoys.

“Do you never think about the consequences your actions could have? You could ruin his entire life with this farce,” Yu Ziyuan says from the side, whispering in his hear like a snake tempting him to end the only good thing in his life, but Jiang Cheng is no longer listening to her or her poisonous words.

“I thought we established that I am just a stupid idiot,” Jiang Cheng tells her even as he reaches for Nie Mingjue’s hand. “So the answer to that should be pretty obvious. And yes, I think it’s time we leave, my soul,” he then says to Nie Mingjue and doesn’t waste another moment to walk away from his parents.

It’s easy to do with Nie Mingjue’s hand in his.

~*~*~

Jiang Cheng is still snuggled up in bed, his husband’s arms around him when his phone rings.

“Make it stop,” Nie Mingjue grumbles as he presses a kiss to Jiang Cheng’s shoulder.

Jiang Cheng isn’t inclined to move because he truly is comfortable but the ringing is insistent and annoying on top of that so he finally reaches out.

“It’s Wei Wuxian,” he sighs out, having half a mind of simply declining the call but then he would have to shut off his phone permanently and he doesn’t actually want to do that.

Nie Huaisang is on his own not-quite-yet-honeymoon and Jiang Cheng does enjoy the pictures he’s getting from him and Mo Xuanyu.

“One day of peace and quiet,” Nie Mingjue sighs out and Jiang Cheng drops a kiss to his forehead before he accepts the call and puts it on speaker.

If he has to be annoyed, then Nie Mingjue has to be as well. Married couples share everything after all.

“What?” Jiang Cheng asks, not bothering with any niceties.

“Chengcheng, what have you done?” Wei Wuxian asks, his voice slightly terrified and Jiang Cheng snuggles deeper into Nie Mingjue’s arms.

“I don’t know. You’d have to be more specific.”

“The paper says you and Mingjue married?!”

Jiang Cheng sighs.

“We did. So what?”

“Chengcheng! How? When? Why? I don’t understand!”

“What’s there to understand, Wei Wuxian? When two people love each other very much they get married. You should know that. You and Lan Wangji did it, didn’t you?”

“But Mingjue? What happened to Huaisang?”

“Nothing,” he sighs out. “Because it was never me and Huaisang but you wouldn’t listen to me.”

“Come on, you know how ridiculous it is that you and Mingjue—”

“We are married. How ridiculous can it really be?”

“You didn’t invite anyone to the wedding. Is it even real?”

“If you learned about this from the press you should know that it was a very big thing. Lan Qiren was there, as was Lan Xichen. Maybe you should ask them about it, last I heard was that they enjoyed themselves very much. And their gifts were more than generous.”

“You invited them but not us?” Wei Wuxian asks and suddenly his voice is very small. “We are your family!”

Jiang Cheng is just about to open his mouth to say something to that when Nie Mingjue takes the phone right out of his hand.

“Only people who believed us were invited. Sorry, but you had years to convince us that you could be polite guests at our wedding and yet somehow you didn’t manage it. Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian even accused him of a farce at our own engagement party. Excuse us if we don’t want that kind of behaviour at our wedding.”

“Mingjue?” Wei Wuxian unsurely asks and for the first time in years it sounds as if he might doubt himself. “What are you doing there with Chengcheng?”

“Enjoying our honeymoon, as you do when you are freshly married,” Nie Mingjue shoots back. “And I think we’ve had enough interruption now. Don’t call again.”

And with that he simply hangs up.

“Wow,” Jiang Cheng breathes out as he takes the phone out of Nie Mingjue’ hand. “That was entirely stupid of Wei Wuxian and very sexy of you.”

“Mh, do I get a reward for being sexy then?” Nie Mingjue asks even as he rolls Jiang Cheng over to hover above him.

“I think you just might,” Jiang Cheng says with a laugh that can barely be smothered even when Nie Mingjue leans down to kiss him.

By the time they finally emerge from the bed, the call and Jiang Cheng’s family have been long forgotten, completely smothered by the happiness both of them feel.

And honestly, that is just how Jiang Cheng likes it.

Link to my ko-fi

#bt writes #mingcheng #24daysofmingcheng22 #the untamed #mdzs #jiang cheng #nie mingjue #nie huaisang #modern au #established relationship #marriage #dysfunctional family

[rosethornewrites]

NR, E, & M reading since 3/18

Finished

Not Rated:

JC & WWX role swap (LWJ/WWX/JC), by nirejseki

Prompt: au where wwx comes from the old and respected yiling wei sect and jc and jyl are the children of rogue cultivators (or maybe madam yu ran away with rogue jfm?), taken in by sect leader wei

four letters: H-A-T-E (Wei Wuxian's POV), by Edith343redwood

What if the first night they met was rewritten?

Four letters. One word.

that's all it took to send Wei Wuxian spiralling.

They say words hold power, but what can words do?

If a word could be rewritten into a story, what would it be?

Possible works 1 - Ghost Child, by Hauntcats

Wei Ying returns to the day Jiang Fengmian found him and decides to do something different.

None of these are very Jiang Cheng friendly. I'm not even sure if they are Lan friendly. At least one of them is nicer to Jiang Yanli.

Explicit:

The Best Laid Plans, by Admiranda, Rynne (11th in a series)

After a long day traveling, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian just want to have a bath together. Those simple intentions don't last -- and neither does the bathtub.

and we can be anything, by Imatableclock (2nd in a series)

"You’re so good at this, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying says, panting.

From the look on Lan Zhan’s face, she probably considers it an offence that Wei Ying is still speaking. Wei Ying is very happy to learn this about Lan Zhan.

---

Two lesbians in one apartment, and their firsts.

Microphones and Camera Reels, by UseMyMuse

Wei Ying and Lan Wangji have been happily married for five years, their careers are at an all time high, and they really couldn't be happier. Purely by chance, the public is unaware of their relationship, and Lan Zhan's fans are severely misjudging his horny glare for hate and they decide to ban together to get rid of the thorn in their favorite star's side.

One Day We're Loving Each Other, by sami (2nd in a series, 2 chapters, reread)

The wedding is lovely, the bride is very beautiful, and Jiang Yanli comes to live at the Unclean Realm.

Mature:

Blood of the Black Earth, by wirevix (15 chapters)

By the time Jiang Cheng and his small rescue party managed to clear away the rubble at the cave's collapsed entrance, it was too late.

Wei Wuxian had already gone cold.

The Moon Reflected Upon Two Springs, by Rubberduckieassassin (🔒)

In many ways, this part of Wen Ning’s existence has felt like winter. Winter is the most Yin of all the seasons. It is a time of stillness and quiet reflection. Remembering how to ‘live’ again as best he could.

Possible Works 2 - Numb, by Hauntcats

Wei Ying returns to his teenage years, but can't shake the memories of what he has lost.

The Tamed, by pj_moonchild (7 chapters)

Wei Wuxian believes he can change the past for the better if he never misbehaved and remained considerate of the Jiang Yunmeng Sect the whole time. At the same time, he sacrifices meeting Lan Zhan but inevitably, they do meet again once the Wen Clan decides to take over the other sects.

Unfinished

Not Rated:

I'd Give You The Moon, by Teadrenched

Wei Wuxian is very smart, but you wouldn't think that if you saw him now, lost alone in the woods at night and being choked by a witch. Despite his predicament, all Wei Wuxian can think about is how pretty the witch looked, and that he didn't know boys were allowed to wear dresses (but after seeing Lan Wangji, definitely thinks more should)

OR

Wei Ying finds fem witch Lan Zhan in the woods and goes to bother him whenever Madame Yu has been a bit too much

Friday Nights, by Autumn_leaf101

“A-Cheng there is someone I would like you to meet with this Friday. He is the successor to Lan Academies. I’ve spoken with his uncle and we shall see if you both are suitable for each other.” Said Yu-Jiang ZiYuan, with a tone of clarity and finality.

“Yes A-Niang” Having expected this he felt relieved to get it over with.

“The Lan Academies huh? The heirs are quite the handsome duo.” A cheeky Cangse Sanren pointed out. “Isn’t the younger, the pouty one you’re always talking about A-Xian?! Oh, and the older, he has the sweetest smile, doesn’t he?” She continued an excited rant, met with an equally excited Wei Wuxian.

As the conversation steered to the rumours of Jiang Cheng’s potential betrothed, he wanted to know what was being said but no amount of effort could help him concentrate. His only focus; convincing himself that a lifetime of neglect and passive-aggressive companionship wouldn’t be too bad, or maybe, just maybe he could love and be loved the way a husband and wife are meant to.

wing bones touching, by ShanaStoryteller

Mo Xuanyu is the hastily legitimized daughter of Jin Guangshan.

Wei Wuxian wakes up in her body the day before her wedding.

Explicit:

the long way back home, by Misila (🔒)

Wei Ying always knew he was the single discordant note in the Jiang household. That was why, after graduating from university, he didn’t return home. With him gone, Yu Ziyuan wouldn’t have anyone to compare her son to, and Jiang Fengmian wouldn’t have to keep avoiding his own family to prevent further conflict.

…Right?

(Seven years later, married to the man of his life and with a four year-old son, Wei Ying returns to his hometown and tries to reconnect with his siblings and befriend his nephew; but, most of all, he struggles to figure out what’s wrong with his brother and how to help him, despite Jiang Cheng not wanting to have anything to do with him anymore.)

Lupine, by Anonymous

It’s never been an option before—to see Wei Ying after that dream. Typically, Lan Wangji jolts awake in bed, alone with his quaking limbs, and resigns himself to reading or meditating until morning.

But here in Qinghe, dawn is far away, and Wei Ying’s room is so, so close.

The Second Hand Unwinds, by trulywicked (🔒)

Sent back in time without his husband after a night hunt gone wrong, Lan Wangji is determined to ensure that Wei Wuxian’s safety and in the process hopefully mitigate, if not prevent, the war.

Through marriage among other things.

Heart of the Beast, by WaitForTheSnitch

“Wei Ying?” Nie Mingjue prompted him gently. “Where are your parents?”

“They went on a night hunt,” Wei Ying said, a bit evasively.

“Your parents are cultivators?” Da-ge asked in surprise. “Did they leave you here while they hunted? When did they go on their night hunt?”

“Four summers ago,” Wei Ying said a bit uncomfortable.

“Four summers ago,” Nie Mingjue repeated. “What are your parents’ names?”

“My mama is Cangse Sanren and my baba is Wei Changze,” Wei Ying told him, and recognition registered in Nie Mingjue’s eyes.

“Wei Ying,” Nie Mingjue said, sounding a bit regretful, “Your parents aren’t coming back.”

Or, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang run into Wei Ying while in Yiling and decide to bring him home. And it changes everything.

Mature:

Dreams of Paradise, by Hauntcats

This on begins during the siege of the Burial Mound. Wei Ying is trying to destroy or nullify the tiger seal before anyone else can get it. The results don’t work out quite how he thought they would. His essence is trapped in between time where he witnesses different scenes of the lives of those he cares about. (The 13? 16? Years when he was dead.)

Then he wakes up in a place he didn't expect.

Once again, not Jiang friendly. If you don't like that, please, don't read.

Tragedy That Befall Upon Us, by xoxoholic

"Hey! What's this?" Jin Ling yelled, pointing at the glowing, black and red orb. Jiang Wanyin marched over to Jin Ling, but the young Jin sect leader had already touched the orb.

"Jin Ling!" Jiang Wanyin yelled in anger. If his golden core was not sealed, then Zidian would be cackling furiously.

"..Oops?" Jin Ling sheepishly smiled as he hid behind his friends. Lan Jingyi laughed at Jin Lings predicament while Lan Sizhui sighed. Ouyang Zizhen laughed with Lan Jingyi in amusement before he was hit in the back of his head by his father.

UNDER EDITING

【银 劍 探 心】| Silver Jian Seeking Hearts, by stiltonbasket

“A ghost bridegroom?” Wei Wuxian asks, when he receives his latest night-hunting assignment from Uncle Jiang. “Have women been going missing?”

If brides have been going missing, this is the first that Wei Wuxian is hearing about it; which is strange, because the systematic kidnapping of brides should have quickly been recognized as spirits’ work and reported as such to the nearest cultivation sect as soon as possible.

“Three women and ten men have gone missing so far,” his uncle tells him. “Jinshan town is out of our jurisdiction, and the records say there hasn’t been a hunt in the area since before my grandfather’s time. But no one from Jinshan thought to report the disappearances until today, so the victims must be long dead by now.”

Four hundred years after the Sunshot Campaign, a reincarnated Wei Wuxian dresses himself in wedding red to defeat the ghost of a bridegroom.

Deep within the forests of Jinshan Mountain, the mourning calamity Yin Jian Tan Xin waits to marry his beloved.

What If..... Jiang Cheng Understood?, by ToxicAngel13

It didn't take a genius to realize just what had happened in the time that Wei Wuxian was gone. Not with that damn ribbon on his wrist and Jiang Cheng was not going to let his brother be taken advantage of!

Or a tale in which one insight sparks a world of change.

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #cql #chen qing ling #untamed fanfiction

[inkwell33]

Tangled the Series spoilers and ranting about Varian

One reason I think Varian’s redemption worked so much better than Cassandra’s is that he actually HAD a redemption. Cass just kinda… stopped? But Varian showed that this did affect him in deeper ways than just his own city suddenly hating him even more than they did before. His emotional turmoil was evident in the writing of the show, as shown in Nothing Left to Lose and even beyond, with the events of the finale. He went through so much trying to make up for what he did wrong, and the entire time his character plays on the sympathy of the fans, showing that he really was just a desperate kid lashing out because of what seemed like a hopeless situation. 

Cassandra however, just sort of… became a villain? Like yes, I know, she was tired of being in Rapunzel’s shadow for so many years, and I know, she hates her because she blames Rapunzel for Gothel’s neglect and abandonment, but it just didn’t seem valid. Raps was KIDNAPPED. And I’m aware that Cass was manipulated by the Zhan Tiri, but even after she found out the truth, she didn’t start down the right path again. She just… kept pushing. And it didn’t help that Cassandra’s moonstone arc wasn’t exactly the greatest pairing to an already subpar twist. Also she kidnaps a child and drugs him? What the hell? I’m not gonna even BEGIN to go into how she did SO MUCH MORE DESTRUCTION THAN VARIAN and yet HE, WHO IS A CHILD, WENT TO JAIL WHILE CASSANDRA WENT ON AN ADVENTURE??? But anyways-

With Varian, you get to see how torn up he really is. I mean, Ready as I’ll Ever Be is pretty much him singing about how resorting to villainy was his only option. Nothing Left to Lose is him telling Cass about how much his actions scarred him and the people he loves. There’s buildup, there’s emotion, there’s the moment where he snaps, there’s grief and trauma and sympathy and all the things that makes a redemption successful. Cassandra was not portrayed in a way that allowed for much oomph. In my opinion the only redeeming quality about her arc was the initial betrayal, because you could feel the emotion in the air. The electricity. And tension. Also loved the scenes with the mindtrap.

In conclusion instead of doing homework I choose to explain why Varian is my favorite character and is superior to Cass in every way thank you 

#tts #tangled the series #tangled #varian #varian tangled #varian tts #cassandra #cassandra tangled #cassandra tts #pls i just wanna sleep

[jiannguo]

I hope you don't hate me for this, but I'm genuinely worried about Xiao Zhan picking up a romcom, it feels like he'd back in 2019 again. I was hoping his career trajectory would go up the way instead of turning around. Don't get me wrong, I love he's filming but I just don't see why gg has to confine himself to a certain kind of drama when his coworkers are flying ahead with many varieties of dramas and films.

Uh... what ? First off all, XZ isn't competing with his coworkers whoever you mean.

Secondly, what's wrong with a romcom ? Last year's epic hit was a romcom called 'you're my glory'. This summer the best hit was also a romantic costume drama.

Let's look at Xiao Zhan's career trajectory on dramas since 2019, shall we ?

2020:

Guest starred in covid related drama in CCTV8 "My Beautiful Retrograde"

Wolf aired on Iqiyi, Tencent and Youku

Second half of 2020, he filmed Ace Troops- Iqiyi + Jiangsu TV.

2021:

Douluo Continent aired on CCTV8

He started filming "YuguYao", his first S+ investment drama

He starred in a Theatre Production 'A Dream like a Dream' that continued for more than half a year and multiple cities.

Ace Troops aired on Jiangsu PrimeTime plus Iqiyi towards end of the year.

2022:

He filmed "Where Dreams Begin" which is a coming to age story of a group of youths in 1970s Beijing

Oath of Love on Hunan Primetime and Tencent.

He started filming "Sunshine with me" with an acclaimed director and screenwriter, supported by Xinli.

'A Dream Like a Dream' will begin in December and tour through multiple cities.

Xiao Zhan doesn't have huge backers in the industry unlike what antis say, coz had he did, his first drama after Untamed would have been an S+, and he would have had multiple high investment dramas and movies by now. But he hasn't, each drama is a stepping stone for him to become better and better.

Also Anon, not sure if you know, but most rumors confirmed that after Oath of Love airing, his team was delighted with the results and it was pretty much a given his next drama would be a modern romcom. He gained more than a million proper drama fans plus a very high data, still counted among the highest in 2022 despite summer hits.

So Anon, we should be thankful he's on this project. With a good team and proper script and a non-idol costar, this drama is bound to be a success.

Thats all I'm gonna say in this matter.

#send asks #xiao zhan #daytoyxiaozhan #daytoy肖战 #肖战daytoy #肖战xiaozhan #肖战 #sean xiao #untamed cast

[zonerobotnik]

Allright, let's make this a bit of a game.

What would you see, and under which circumstances, in the following Varian ships.

As long, detailed and honestly explained as you can.

Rapunzel

Cassandra

Eugene

Andrew

Juniper

Hugo

Nuru

Yong

Faith

Vex

Willow

Arianna

Gothel

Zhan Tiri

The four sisters with red hair who like to braid

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III

Dipper Pines

Mabel Pines

Hiro Hamada

Uhh…so, this is going to take some thinking. Mostly because I am confused by what you mean, exactly. Uhh…

Rapunzel:

Well, obviously, I love to fall back on the whole "Destined Sun and Moon" thing with them, but when that's not an option, I like having her recognize he has a crush and growing closer to him.

Or, even better, them meeting in a way different from canon and falling in love by chance.

Then there's the case of "The Love Doctor", where it's purely sexual and otherwise they're friends.

Varian flirting with her while he's being a villain is also really fun, with her trying to convince herself she hates him for what he's doing but slowly falling in love.

Or, in the case of "The Secret of the Black Rocks", they're both trying to deny catching feelings while stuck together for long periods of time while on their way to the Dark Kingdom.

Cassandra:

Honestly, I prefer AUs where Varian is nineteen so it's not as questionable to be with her, a 23 year old woman. While the concept of "teenager" didn't actually exist until the 1900s, apparently, it's just better for them to be closer to the same age.

Though, I do enjoy writing fics where Cassandra has to contend with Varian's overprotective dad and the age difference, haha. So much drama!

They make a cute couple, when she's not being a cold-hearted wench that uses him for her own ends.

Eugene:

Varian is his stalker. Literally his stalker. At some point, I will write a modern AU where he is actually being as creepy towards him as Marinette is to Adrien in "Miraculous Ladybug", because he is a massive fanboy and stalker. Why did he have some of his hair from a ponytail that got cut off years ago? Why did he have his broken knives, his boot, his old, damaged satchels? Why did he have such perfect Wanted posters when the old guy that makes Wanted posters couldn't get any of them right?

Varian's stalker tendencies towards Eugene aside, I could see them actually being a cute couple, once Varian was older or in an AU where he's nineteen and not fourteen. I really like exploring his fanboy side about Eugene, even in "Untouchable", where he was stalking him by watching him through the rocks with his powers for years.

Andrew:

Typically, I prefer them to be platonic. But, in situations where they aren't platonic, if anything happens before he's an adult, then I fall back on Asshole Andrew, who is the abusive asshole that features in a lot of my old V&7K fics, though I have yet to actually have him do anything to him during their time together taking over, usually having Andrew get revenge on him after Varian is on his journey. But, generally, I prefer to keep it platonic. He needs an older brother-figure he can count on.

In an AU where they aren't platonic but he's still not an asshole, I can see Andrew being a complete gentleman and starting off by flirting with Varian by complimenting his works and then he'd show off his own and they'd gradually fall in love over time while spending time together.

And then there's their messed-up relationship in "Your Biggest Fan", where Andrew is basically his prisoner/sex-slave/guinea pig for all his crazy sex gadgets.

Juniper:

Gonne be honest…never even once. I just can't really see them as a couple, so I have no idea for how it could go.

Hugo:

Hugo is Varian's fan, whether he admits it or not. It's just hard for him not to admire someone that brought a royal family to their knees before magic intervened. No self-respecting criminal wouldn't admire that kind of accomplishment.

Going by concept Hugo, Varian and Hugo make jabs back and forth while Hugo is blatently obvious about his criminal acts and Varian is trying to hide who he used to be. They don't even admit they like each other until the very end of their journey, and so they don't do much until they're settled into Corona. Hugo and Varian trade off on who is the dominant one in the bedroom and the kitchen, because Hugo is too determined to prove he's better than Varian to admit that Varian's cooking is way better. Varian humors his burning scrambled eggs because he loves him too much to tell him they taste bad.

Going by my own lore, Hugo and Varian are friends-with-benefits while Varian explores things in the bedroom with other people and Hugo internally screams about wanting him for himself and cursing convincing him that it was normal for scientists to have open relationship and free love.

In an AU where Hugo meets Varian while he's a villain, maybe got caught trying to steal from the castle when Varian was in charge, he would probably start off strip-searching him to make sure he didn't take anything and then interrogate him with truth serum and then convince him to "stick around" to try to get Hugo's boss "Donella" to "come for a visit". He would flirt with him and, if he's an adult in this AU, totally seduce him into banging.

Nuru:

Honestly, I have never actually thought of them being together in any way but platonically. Maybe that will change, eventually, but right now I don't have any ideas.

Yong:

Not a single shippy idea for these two. Absolutely none. I ship Yong with Kiera and that's it. No one else.

Faith:

Varian and Faith first met when Varian was working on chores for Cassandra and they bonded over frustrating adults and living up to the expectations and dealing with disappointments from their family. During Varian's criminal stint, Faith spoke in his defense until her mother told her to stop, for her family's sake, and later helped Varian with the takeover.

When Varian is Royal Engineer, she supports him by bringing him snacks so he doesn't have to leave his important work to get food and they grow closer and he asks her out one day, which she is flustered about but agrees. Rapunzel catches wind of it, "helps" makes the day "special" and while Rapunzel is cleaning up the mess, they sneak off to have an actual private first date.

They go on several dates for a year before Varian asks her to marry him and she accepts.

As a married couple, they're both doting parents and Varian is a doting husband both in and out of the bedroom.

Vex:

Aside from them meeting briefly in TREL, I haven't thought of how things might go for them as a couple.

Willow:

No. Absolutely not.

Arianna:

Canon-wise, I could see him getting together with her after Frederic passed away to spite his grave. I don't see him actually having romantic feelings for her, especially if he's a villain.

For other situations, see "It's a Deal, Then" and there's mention of them being in bed together in "The Love Doctor" but, again, not romantic.

Gothel:

No. No, I'm sorry, I can't, I just can't. I try, all I see is her in a mother-figure role to him. It's not happening.

Zhan Tiri:

Zhan Tiri would approach him in disguise to try to take advantage of him, either for his alchemy or the Moonstone.

The four sisters with red hair who like to braid:

I have not and will never ship them with Varian. Ever.

Oh, we've got some crossover stuff here.

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III:

…No. I don't ship it. At all. Aside from daddy issues and inventing, I don't see them actually finding anything in common. But, then, it's been a while since I watched the movies/series.

Dipper Pines:

Dipper and Varian would absolutely nerd out and get into trouble together and spend time together, and then Dipper starts catching feelings and chewing his shirt and Rapunzel gets it out of him and bullies him into confessing to Varian.

Once dating, they pretty much do the same stuff as before, but there's kissing involved and some screwing.

Mabel Pines:

Mabel would start off picking Varian as her new Crush-of-the-Week but realizes after a while that it's not a crush, and he likes her back, and she starts to panic because she has commitment issues and she starts hiding from him and Dipper talks sense into her and she starts actually dating Varian, but she wants to "take it slow" because commitment is scary to her.

Hiro Hamada:

Weird to put this here and not Gideon, since I have never, not once, written anything with Hiro or Hiccup, but okay.

I think they'd be cute friends, but I don't really see Hiro being into romance. Maybe it's just me, but he's always seemed to be disinterested in that kind of thing. But then, I've never seen the series. Maybe he falls in love with someone. Dunno. Honestly, I don't know enough about Hiro to think of anything.

Did that answer your questions well enough?

#ask zone stuff #long post

[oh-my-damn]

I think it has been performed multiple times in Chinese idol industry (and yes, that is one of the main reasons why a lot of Chinese idols are shitty as hell)

To be honest, I didn't expect cleansing would happen here in CE fandom but jokes on me😅

Back to cleansing. It happened a lot to idol who were famous for their RPS "couple" which their fans shipped at the beginning. The "couple" are usually pr-ed, looking like there's a deep brothership bond between two male idols. After gaining a certain amount of fans by pretending they are "good buddies" (which the fans would incline to believe there's "real" bromance between the two), one of the idols would choose to cleanse the fans because he only needs the fans who are into him instead of into the other idol and/or into this fake relationship. In other words, the idol who starts cleansing needs the fans who are willing to pay for him, buy the products he's promoting, buy the album he's singing for, buy buy buy.

Different idols have different ways of cleansing. But one of the most infamous examples happened on Xiao Zhan (肖战）.

What Xiao Zhan and his team did, is to have his team write a RPF of Xiao Zhan and his bromance "partner" Wang Yibo, posting the RPF on Ao3. Then, one of Xiao Zhan's fans found it. The fan happened to be one of the more influencing fans of Xiao Zhan fandom. By encouraging other Xiao Zhan fans to report this piece of RPF smut to the censorship, they were successful in discouraging and cleansing those fans who are into this bromance relationship.

What makes Xiao Zhan notorious to normal people, is that by his action of encouraging his team to "cleanse", his fans have also been successful in banning Ao3 from Chinese access (when they reported it to the censorship). And it was not long before he started selling his album, when his fans told the other fans (who were basically brainwashed at this point) that "there's no others to support our Xiao Zhan but us" and "if you truly love him, buy a hundred copies of his digital album, it will cost no more than a couple bubble tea" and "if you are already working and supporting yourself, you should buy a thousand copies of his digital album, as it costs no more than a lipstick you would buy for yourself".

The said digital album contains only one song, and is sold half a dollar per album.

And that is why, nearly three years later, Xiao Zhan is still hated by a lot of people (me included) for conducting the cleanse.

THIS IS FUCKING WILD HOLY SHIT

#fan cleansing #chris evans #ce fandom #cleansing #cult #this is a cult #cultvibes

[bestworstcase]

cassunzel?

this thing

my reading of cassandra in s1-s2 tilts hard towards her having a crush on rapunzel that kind of decays over time into this painful servile devotion and then shatters in the shell house, and i’m. let’s just say not particularly fond of requited cassunzel as anything but an AU, and even then i am picky because i feel like a lot of AU cassunzel fics recreate the exact interpersonal dynamic that puts me off cassunzel in canon except it’s explicitly being framed as romantic now and. no thank you.

(i used to be more ambivalent about requited cassunzel but frankly the way cass is written and read in heavily cassunzel circles lately has soured me hard on the ship in general. it’s very knightly devotion and self-sacrifice turned up to eleven because folks are deep into the princess/knight dynamic, and cassandra being all dour and emotionally constipated so that rapunzel can crack through her walls and fix help her, and generally glossing over the pain and anger cassandra expresses in s3 as a direct result of those two dynamics because it gets waved away as just, like, things zhan tiri planted in her head or like a façade for cassandra actually pining for rapunzel but shoving her away because blah blah abandonment issues. i cannot emphasize enough how much i loathe this.)

i wrote a post a while back breaking down the toxicity i see in the friendship between cassandra and rapunzel, which can be summed up as ‘cassandra repeatedly and consistently states her boundaries or feelings, and rapunzel repeatedly and consistently runs roughshod over them and never apologizes, and because rapunzel has so much social and political power over cassandra, cass has no recourse and no way to get rapunzel to stop doing this other than by blowing up and leaving the relationship altogether.’ THEN, in s3, after she takes the moonstone and forcibly removes herself from this relationship, cassandra is narratively stripped of agency - her villain arc is, from beginning to end, cassandra being moved across the playing board by zhan tiri - whose ultimate function in the narrative is to erase rapunzel’s culpability in destroying her relationship with cassandra, to shoulder the blame for cassandra’s violent breakdown, and to facilitate a redemption without rapunzel needing to learn anything by being so awful that the status quo established in s2 looks better by comparison.

like, s3 ends with cassandra brokenly sobbing and pleading for forgiveness from the same friend who literally maimed her and then blamed her for it, and prior to that treated her so poorly that cassandra ended up apologizing for being upset about it. and the most rapunzel apologizes for is being an obnoxious “flower child” cass had to babysit in the early days of their relationship. gbfjdbfk like ?? god.

and of course there’s no problem with like - if a post-series fic wants to examine that and treat cassandra’s problems seriously and fairly, and explore rapunzel realizing her mistakes and growing as a person and recovering from the trauma that led her to act that way, and over the course of that they fall in love? i have no problem with that. (that seems to be the trajectory this fic is following, and i am enjoying it immensely. likewise @erazonpo3’s CTA au, which is tonally quite different but dealing with similar themes of healing / growth / eventual reunion and rebuilding.) and i also have no problem with cassunzel aus like untangled or burn a broken effigy that either set up circumstances where cassunzel happens without the fucked up power imbalance and toxicity or where the fucked up power imbalance and toxicity are seen and tackled by the characters and rapunzel gets the character growth she was denied in TTS itself. but… like. i feel like it is way way way harder than it should be to find this kind of cassunzel content versus cassunzel content where cass barely seems to exist outside of being rapunzel’s slavishly devoted protector and moody fixer upper and that has burnt me out hard on the ship in general.

#tbh my litmus test is. are you a zhan tiri fan? #and not in a ‘love to hate’ way like are you a FAN of zhan tiri who is invested in giving her more depth than a puddle of cardboard #if the answer is no! i probably hate your cassunzel fic! #and if you make the ‘ziti is homophobic bc she breaks up cassunzel’ joke i DEFINITELY hate your cassunzel fic #kdhdjshdjgj

[jadedbirch]

The more I watch other things, the more I come back to The Untamed and how it's just generally Superior. Is it perfect? Nope. Do I love it with every fiber of my gay heart? Oh heck yeah. I really wanted to hurt myself again the other day, so I watched Wei Ying's death scene, both versions of it, back to back, for peak pain and Romance. And honestly, I blew my own mind. 

In the Grand Opera of The Untamed, Wei Ying's death is a leitmotif. In fact, it uses a leitmotif - Lin Hai’s Death Theme music “Ye Ben” - which swells into being at different points during the two times we are blessed to watch this scene.  (As an aside, I was so fascinated by this piece of music, that I decided to hurt myself even more by watching EVERYONE’s death scene, just so I could confirm that we also hear Ye Ben when the Jiangs, Wen Ning, and Shijie die.  Jin Zixuan is special and got his own, very haunting, death music.)

Wei Ying's death scene is climactic and transformational, presented to us in bookended repetition, but each time from a different perspective. 

When I first saw the scene in episode 1, I was mistakenly thinking it was all an outsider's perspective. The way Wei Wuxian is shot (from the side, from the back, close up of just his fist, cast in darkness), had originally fooled me. It's only now that I realize that we're actually inside Wei Wuxian's mind, which at the moment is also somewhat outside his body. Lan Wangji is a disembodied arm, a trickle of blood that paints over Wei Wuxian as he is suspended from the precipice. It's dark, lurid, and evokes the imagery of guilt.

Jiang Cheng's features are contorted in rage and hatred as he strikes out. Wei Wuxian falls, and once again we're removed from it, distanced, it isn't personal. We watch Jiang Cheng saunter away, seemingly without a care and looking complacent, before we are left in the darkness, with Lan Wangji looking down from the cliff, as Wei Wuxian falls. 

When we return to this moment in episode 33, everything has changed, including our perspective. We now get to watch Wei Ying’s final moments through Lan Zhan's eyes. His and our attention is so focused on Wei Ying, he barely notices his own wound. The light changes, and now Wei Ying is lit almost with a halo as he steps towards the edge of the cliff. He is Lan Zhan's light and that light is receding - Lan Zhan must follow it. "Wei Ying, come back." (I don't need to tell you how many tears I've shed over that line alone, I'm owed restitution!)

We now get to experience the full frontal Wang Yibo, which is honestly A LOT on any day, but in that scene, really he does everything he can with his face and so much more. #Acting. It's murderous. He's terrified, he's agonized, I actually BELIEVE he can fly. When Lan Zhan catches Wei Ying, his body slamming into that cliffside, I feel physical pain.

Even though the focus is now on Lan Zhan's face instead of his bloody arm dripping over Wei Ying, or perhaps because of it, we can feel the full weight of his anguish. He's holding Wei Ying with his hurt arm, and he's GOT him, he's NOT going to let go, even as Wei Ying begs him to.  For a moment, his hair fans out and he’s illuminated with a semi-divine glow, allowing us to catch Wei Ying’s perspective again, if only for a moment.

(Listen, it's been a million years and I'm NOT okay)

One of my favorite (i.e. masochistic) bits of rewatching these scenes is Jiang Cheng. He seems so righteous, so sure of his rage in episode 1, but as he approaches the cliff in episode 33, we see he's just a grieving boy. 

We see his trembling arm and his broken heart. We see the joy and resignation in Wei Wuxian's face as he hopes that his shidi will release him. It's a stark contrast to the blank look of episode 1. (Don't get me started on Xiao Zhan and how his face is illegal in 6 countries. I mean, who looks this good covered in blood and tears?)

Of course, as much as Jiang Cheng at this moment hates Wei Wuxian, he also loves him. Or he wouldn't hate him so much if the love wasn't there. He strikes, and lodges the sword in the side of that fateful cliff. Which, of course, allows Wei Wuxian the opportunity to do what any foolish romantic would do in his place - sacrifice himself before the entire thing comes tumbling down, taking the two idiots he loves with him. We focus on Wei Wuxian falling, eyes closing.  The final thing he sees is the two last men in the world he might have cared for, alive and safe, even if he believes they hate him. His lips fold into a Mona Lisa smile.

Thinking back to episode 1 and how detached Wei Wuxian is from his own experience, and knowing the canonical dumbass that he is (I love that dumbass to death, don't get me wrong), his actions are instinctual and he doesn't give them much thought. I think that actually makes it even more romantic. His death at that moment is a protective instinct, an involuntary bodily function, it's like breathing. It's all the more cruel and operatic an image to leave Lan Wangji with as he falls, because Lan Wangji understands exactly what happened (and will not forget or forgive for the next 16 angsty years) even if Wei Wuxian doesn't.

It's exquisite and fucked up of them to leave us with the same overhead shot from episode 1 again, only this time with the wistful voiceover of "Wei Ying…" which shatters me as the last notes of Ye Ben fade out.

GOD, I love this show, it knows how to come right for my gay life! It hurts so good! There are other shows out there that do great romance with similar tropes, but I don't know, The Untamed just hits different ❤️.

(Eternal gratitude to @significanceofmoths​ for helping to illustrate my pain. Please check out her blog.)

#the untamed #wangxian #lan wangji #lan zhan #wei wuxian #wei ying #jiang cheng #my so called meta #long post #sorry i didn't have the heart to cut it

[robininthelabyrinth]

Prompt~ hoping you'll like it ♥️

Things between the Nie brothers are not always nice and happy, they fight, just like any other pair of brothers, and sometimes things are said, sometimes these things are heavy and painful. Sometimes they're said in the wrong moment (maybe at the eve of a battle? Sunshot campaign?) and huaisang doesn't know what to do with the broken look his brother gives him before leaving the unclean realm. Because what if he doesn't return? What if the last thing he said to him was how much he hated the man he became?

Labyrinth - ao3

“But I didn’t mean to wish him away!” Nie Huaisang cried out.

“That’s really too bad,” the goblin king said, looking pleasant and humble and charming the way he always did, even in his cape of glittering gold and high-browed hat. “I wish there was something I could do for you, but the rules are the rules. You wished him away, and I took him.”

“Aren’t you supposed to only take babies?” Nie Huaisang demanded.

“Your brother’s enough of a crybaby to count, it’s close enough.”

“It is not!” Nie Huaisang wrung his hands. “You don’t understand, the last thing I said to him was that I hated him! Meng Yao, please!”

“It’s Jin Guangyao,” the goblin king corrected. His smile looked a bit strained. “Listen, do you think I’m happy about this? He’s my sworn brother! I’m only doing what I have to –”

“Oh, save it for Lan Xichen,” Nie Huaisang growled. “Show me the labyrinth already.”

“You’re going to face the labyrinth,” the goblin king said. His voice was very polite, and yet still expressed significant doubt. “You.”

“Yeah, me!”

“You remember that it goes ‘through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered’, right? Not ‘through a nice teacher and a forgiving grading system’?”

“Yeah, well, your father is a fragging aardvark. Let me at the labyrinth already!”

-

“You know what,” Nie Huaisang said thoughtfully. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

The life-sized animated puppet blinked at him. “You – don’t want my help?”

“Nope. I’m good.”

“You haven’t even gotten into the labyrinth yet!”

“It wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t have a chance to get in,” Nie Huaisang said, patting around his sleeve and pulling out a fan. “So I’m just going to walk over and beat at the wall till something happens.”

The puppet followed him, staring blankly. Quite a change from his original apologetic ‘I’m sorry, I’m busy with my own things, I really can’t help you, also it’s too dangerous and you shouldn’t go’ response.

“You were blackmailing me to help you just a moment ago,” the puppet said after a little. “Don’t you need a guide?”

“Listen, I’m bad at memorizing things and I’m a little useless, but I’m not actually dumb,” Nie Huaisang said, fanning himself. “Jin Guangyao is a demon of the mind above all else, and the labyrinth is supposed to be ‘fair’ – which means, more than likely, that the labyrinth is a reflection of the subconscious, specially tailored to each person’s strengths and weaknesses. And that means that you, who sound exactly like Lan Xichen, are almost certainly a set-up sent by Jin Guangyao to ‘reluctantly’ aid me and then betray me.”

“Uh,” Lan Xichen-the-puppet said. “My name’s Hoggle, actually.”

“Whatever makes you feel better, er-ge…A-ha!” Nie Huaisang beamed at the gates that automatically opened. “Perfect!”

-

“Oh, don’t go that way,” the worm said. “Never go that way. And are you sure you don’t want to come in for a cup of tea?”

“No time,” Nie Huaisang said. “Thanks a lot – wait.”

The worm blinked at him.

“You’re a pretty attractive worm, in a slimy sort of way,” Nie Huaisang said, frowning at him.

The worm blinked again. “Why, thanks!”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Is your name Su She, by chance?”

“Definitely not!”

“Mm. Oddly vehement of you. Never mind. Just, quick, could you tell me exactly why do I not want to go that way?”

-

“I don’t suppose straight ahead is an option?”

The hands-faces stared at him.

“I’m just saying, I feel like most of my problems so far have come from the fact that I decided to accept the whole concept of turns. It seems like a mistake.”

“…it’s a labyrinth,” another set of the hands said. “You have to make turns!”

Nie Huaisang shook his head mournfully. “I should’ve brought Baxia or something and just – ZIP. Gone straight through. You know what I mean?”

“I’m dropping you in the oubliette regardless of your decision,” the first set of the hands said. It sounded a bit like Sect Leader Yao. “Just so you know.”

“My life is so hard,” Nie Huaisang sighed. “So hard! Do you know what it’s like to be overlooked by everyone? Do you know how hard I have to work at being this useless?”

“Drop him,” the set of hands that sounded like Sect Leader Ouyang said, and the set of hands that sounded like Sect Leader Yao said, “Yes. Now!”

Down Nie Huaisang went.

-

“I can take you back to the beginning of the labyrinth,” Lan Xichen offered.

“What, and waste all that time? I have a time limit, er-ge!”

“It’s better than being stuck in an oubliette. That’s where they put people to forget about them, you know.”

Nie Huaisang’s eyes filled with tears. “You want to forget me, er-ge? You think I’m useless, don’t you? A good-for-nothing, who’ll never amount to anything –”

“Please don’t cry.”

“ER-GE! WHY DON’T YOU LOVE ME!”

“Please stop crying!”

-

“So what’s the point of you?” Nie Huaisang asked the Wise Man with the Talking Hat.

“Not everyone exists to contribute to your storyline,” the Talking Hat snapped at him. “Some of us’ve got our own problems. Now hand over the candy!”

“Don’t be mean,” the Wise Man said. He had a white cloth over his eyes, and was smiling like he found the hat funny.

“Awww, but daozhang…!”

“Different plotline entirely, I guess,” Nie Huaisang decided. “Probably just here as a foil. Shall we keep going, er-ge?”

“I can’t believe you scammed me to get out of the oubliette,” Lan Xichen mumbled. “I can’t believe…”

-

“Oh, leave him alone, he’s just sensitive!” Nie Huaisang snapped.

“Am not!” the upside-down creature snarled, curled up on itself and trying to hide from all those that had been hitting him. Its fur was a vivid sort of purple. “Go away!”

“Don’t you have some sort of special power to help you here,” Nie Huaisang asked him as he tried to get him down before the goblins came back with weapons. “Rocks, maybe?”

“…lightning?”

“Well then get to it, will you?” Nie Huaisang frowned. “Wait. Lightning, constantly being tormented, terrible at communication, and purple? You’re Jiang Cheng, aren’t you?”

“…maybe.”

“Well then get down faster! I need to copy someone’s notes here!”

-

“Leave me aloooooooone!” Nie Huaisang howled, running away from the measuring snake.

-

“Wow,” Lan Xichen said, holding his cheek. “You kissed me.”

“You saved me from the snakes,” Nie Huaisang said. “Can we focus on how we’re in this awful stinking bog?”

“It’s not that bad!” a voice piped up. “I don’t smell anything!”

Nie Huaisang turned to stare, then pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of course you don’t,” he said. “I bet the total absence of a sense of smell helps when you eat spicy food, Wei-xiong.”

“There’s nothing wrong with spicy food!”

“You’re short,” Nie Huaisang informed the small goblin-like creature with the big grin and the red ribbon in its hair. It looked vaguely fox-like, or possibly like certain large breeds of rabbit.

“Why you..!” Wei Wuxian crossed his furry little paws over his chest. “Just for that, I’m not going to help you.”

“Uh-huh,” Nie Huaisang said. “Really. That’s awful…oh no! A dog!”

Wei Wuxian jumped high into the air. “A dog?! Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan! Save me!”

Much to Nie Huaisang’s surprise, a furry dog immediately darted out of nowhere – only Wei Wuxian didn’t seem afraid of it, but rather hid behind it, teeth chattering.

Truly, Nie Huaisang reflected, the eyes of love are blind.

“I think the ‘dog’ is gone now,” he said. “Your brave and noble Lan Wangji must’ve scared him away.”

Wei Wuxian’s head popped out from behind dog-Wangji. “Well, Lan Zhan is really cool…hey. Are you trying to manipulate me?”

“Is it working?”

“No!”

“So you won’t help me?”

“No!”

“Not even if it means you get to figure out a really tricky puzzle?”

“No – wait. A puzzle?”

“I can’t believe this is going to work,” Lan Xichen muttered from behind Nie Huaisang. “I mean, I can. But also…Wangji…I love you, but you could do so much better than this.”

-

“Ugh,” Nie Huaisang said. “I’m so thirsty.”

“Have some Emperor’s Smile,” Lan Xichen said, offering a jar.

“Amazing,” Nie Huaisang said, accepting it and taking a swing. “I had my doubts, you know, but you’re actually good for something after all, er-ge –”

-

The golden bird was Nie Huaisang’s favorite.

He’d worked so hard to bring it back to his aviary – it couldn’t be forced, he knew; it would play along at first but in the end it would turn on you and bite you. It had to be coaxed with gentleness and kindness, approached indirectly so as not to spook it, convince it that you really did mean well – that you were harmless, that it had no reason to fear you. It was arrogant, too, proud of its shining feathers and ashamed of the brown plumage of its chick days, which still remained visible on its tender underbelly. Ironically, that was Nie Huaisang’s favorite part of it, the soft and gentle part; it might not be as pretty as the gold, but it felt more genuine.

Nie Huaisang smiled as he brushed the beautiful feathers, and the golden bird allowed him. He felt cherished, treasured. So what if he had to hide all the sharp parts of himself to get this close?

It was fine. He didn’t like to be sharp.

He wanted to be soft. Soft and gentle, careless and free, relaxed and without effort, good for nothing –

Wait.

No!

-

“It’s all junk,” Nie Huaisang hissed at the pile of burning fans, tears in his eyes. “I want my da-ge!”

-

“You’re all right!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, helping pulled Nie Huaisang up.

“Huaisang-xiong,” Jiang Cheng said, looking relieved. “You’re back.”

“We have to go to the temple beyond the Goblin City,” Nie Huaisang said, teeth gritted together. “We have to. I won’t let that bastard…we’re going to go there and throw all his damned tricks right in his face!”

“Just us?” Wei Wuxian asked. “I mean, I’m awesome, Lan Zhan is fantastic, and of course Jiang Cheng is great, too, but…uh…there’s a lot of goblins in the city.”

“We’ll sneak in,” Nie Huaisang said. “He thinks he’s sidelined me entirely – he thinks I’m useless. He won’t be expecting me to get this far.”

“I can get help,” Jiang Cheng said. “I have friends.”

“…not to be rude, Jiang-xiong,” Nie Huaisang said. “But – really?”

-

“You know what,” Nie Huaisang said, eyeing the pile of rocks following Jiang Cheng around, each one painted with a name. One of the names was yellow. Two were in white, with forehead ribbons. “This is fine. I feel like it says something really rude about my empathy for and interest in our junior generation, or lack thereof, but you know what? I don’t care. It’s fine.”

-

“You saved me,” Nie Huaisang said blankly, looking at Lan Xichen, who shrugged, abashed. The remains of the mechanical temple guard were scattered all over. “Over – him?”

“Huaisang –”

“No,” Nie Huaisang said, holding up his hands. “Don’t. Don’t…I don’t want to hear you talk.”

Lan Xichen’s head dropped down and he looked at the ground. “You knew from the beginning what I was like,” he murmured. “I never tried to hide it –”

“I forgive you for being what you are,” Nie Huaisang told him, and Lan Xichen looked up at him, startled and pleased. “I forgive you for not having the backbone to stand up against Jin Guangyao for me – or for da-ge. For being willfully blind for so long, for needing someone else’s proof of his ill-intentions, for always picking him first, for never trusting me…I forgive you, even if you’d never forgive me for the same.”

He dashed away the angry tears in his eyes.

“I just wish this wasn’t a fucking metaphor.”

-

Nie Huaisang left the fighting to the people who knew what to do – Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng, even the rock-juniors – and went to the temple at the center of the city alone.

Some things, he knew, needed to be done alone, even if it was the type of alone when you were surrounded by other people. Even when those other people stood by his side and made him promise that if he needed them, he would only need to call. Some things…

“I want my da-ge back,” he said to the maze of stairs.

“Then go and find him,” Jin Guangyao replied, looking smug, and Nie Huaisang had to go up and down all those fucking stairs, because Jin Guangyao was nothing if not predictable with his trauma, looking all over, looking for –

Looking for pieces.

“It’s just a metaphor,” he whispered to himself, ignoring how tears were streaming down his face. “It’s just – I need to put him back together, it’s fine. I’m not too late – I’m not too late –”

-

Jin Guangyao held Nie Mingjue’s head in his hands, blinded and gagged and bound with talismans, pulled out of whatever oubliette he'd shoved it into to forget about what he'd done. “Beware, Huaisang,” he said, still smiling. Always smiling. “I’ve been generous up until now, but I can be cruel.”

Nie Huaisang laughed, scoffing. “Generous? What have you done for me that’s generous?”

“Everything! Everything you’ve wanted, I’ve done – I cared for you, I gave you attention, I got you out of work, doing your schoolwork for you and coming up with excuses to get you out of saber training. I gave you presents, fans and pretty clothing, and when that brute of a brother of yours tried to take them from you, I rescued you. And then I even managed your sect for you, answered all of your questions, any time you had – Huaisang, I’m exhausted trying to live up to your expectations of me. Isn’t that generous?”

Nie Huaisang bared his teeth. “Half of those are burdens that only fell on me because of you. Why should it matter to me that cleaning up your own mess and satisfying your own guilt is hard? Why should I pay such a price when all I wanted was to be your friend? When all da-ge wanted was to be your friend? How dare you, Meng Yao!”

“Huaisang…” Jin Guangyao shook his head mournfully. “Huaisang, the last step here is to say the words to break the spell. But you were never good at memorization, were you?”

Nie Huaisang bit his lip until he drew blood.

“Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered,” he said. “I have fought my way here to the temple beyond the goblin city –”

“Huaisang, stop! Look at what you’re risking here. You know how everyone loves me – do you think anyone will forgive you for taking me down, for tricking them all? You’ll be all alone!”

I already am, Nie Huaisang thought.

“My will is as strong as yours,” he said. “And my kingdom is as great…”

His voice trailed off.

“I ask for so little,” Jin Guangyao said beseechingly, convincingly, looking just like he always did, like the man who'd been their friend. “Just let me fool you, and you can have anything you want. No responsibilities, no stress, a life of your own. You can even have Lan Xichen, if that’s what you want…”

What’s the last line, Nie Huaisang thought, hating himself for being such a poor student, for cramming things into his mind without any order, for never being able to retain a single drop of it no matter how hard he tried. What is it? Why can’t I ever remember?

“It’d be so easy,” Jin Guangyao crooned. “Much easier than this. Just fear me, love me, believe me, and I’ll be your slave.”

Sharp teeth in a false smile.

Nie Huaisang shook in terror. He couldn’t – his da-ge needed him – he couldn’t be afraid, couldn’t be a coward, couldn’t be good-for-nothing – couldn’t let Jin Guangyao win – couldn’t let him –

That was it.

Nie Huaisang raised his head until his eyes met his enemy’s.

Sensing something wrong, Jin Guangyao’s eternal smile dimmed, and he began to step forward, reaching out, but it was too late.

“You have no power over me,” Nie Huaisang declared, and the world within a world collapsed.

-

Nie Huaisang opened his eyes.

-

Nie Huaisang sat in his desk in the Unclean Realm, trying to amuse himself by trying to figure out what exactly he’d eaten the night before that had given him such bizarre dreams. It was not successful, on account of him being alone.

Alone, just as he had been every night, and every day as well, since the success of his scheme at the Guanyin Temple.

Just as the dream-Jin Guangyao had threatened.

It wasn’t that Nie Huaisang regretted what he had done – the dream was clear enough about that; he’d do it all again in a heartbeat if he had to. But in the dream he’d been working alongside his former friends, with Lan Xichen betraying but then returning to him, with Wei Wuxian dragging Lan Wangji around, with stone-faced Jiang Cheng and the rather interchangeable junior squad behind him…and in his dream, in the end, they’d let him go to take his revenge, telling him that if he needed them for any reason, he could just call.

Just call, and they’d come back to him. Instead of turning from him in disgust, they’d stand by his side…

“Stupid subconscious,” Nie Huaisang mumbled to himself. “What do you expect? That I'd write to them and say ‘for no real reason at all, I find that I rather need you’?”

Silence answered him.

“Well, I do,” he said with a sigh, putting his chin on his hands. “Does that make you happy? I do need you.”

“You do?” Wei Wuxian’s voice rang out, and Nie Huaisang jumped nearly out of his skin. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”

Nie Huaisang turned, staring: it was Wei Wuxian at the door, the human version of him, and of course there was Lan Wangji right before him, and Jiang Cheng, and the (still mostly interchangeable) juniors, and – and even Lan Xichen, who Nie Huaisang was sure had gone into seclusion with no intent to leave.

“What are you doing here?” Nie Huaisang squeaked. And why hadn’t any of his sect disciples warned him?

“We just bullied our way though the door before anyone could stop us,” Wei Wuxian said cheerfully, answering the unspoken question first. “As for the rest – it turns out that I had the strangest dream the other night, really, truly bizarre, and obviously I had to tell Lan Zhan all about it, except it turned out he had a strange dream too.”

Nie Huaisang’s jaw dropped. “But –”

“I felt da-ge’s qi woven into the labyrinth,” Lan Xichen said quietly. “I thought it’d have long ago dissipated or been locked away, but – it was there, in every stone, in every turn. Every obstacle that didn’t really hurt you, every goblin that was more silly than scary…he was there. It was unmistakable.”

Nie Huaisang swallowed. The story of the labyrinth, baby-stealing wish-granting goblin king and all, had been one that Nie Mingjue had told him as a bedtime story, when he'd been a child in need of comfort; he hadn’t thought of it in years before last night. “But…why…?”

“Because Chifeng-zun has a demented sense of humor?” Jiang Cheng suggested, looking irritated.

“Jiujiu means that he hasn’t had that much fun in years, and also that you should throw a party,” Jin Ling said. “You are hosting all three of the sect leaders of all the other Great Sects. Also, why were we rocks?”

“Uh, no idea,” Nie Huaisang said. “Da-ge’s weird sense of humor, no doubt! Anyway, did you say party? I can do a party!”

He rushed out of the room, calling for his servants, calling for them to bring food and wine and tea, and as he did, he looked out of the window – a golden bird was flying away, looking hunted as if something was chasing it, and even as he watched, it crossed the borders of the Unclean Realm and suddenly dissolved into a fizzle of golden dust.

Nie Huaisang put his hand on the stone wall, and felt a familiar echo.

A very familiar echo.

“Oh,” he said, to his servants, feeling somehow simultaneously sheepish and filled with joy. “And while you’re at it, can you bring me my saber? I seem to have – misplaced it…”

#mdzs #nie huaisang #jin guangyao #lan xichen #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #lan wangji #su she #sect leader yao #sect leader ouyang #xiao xingchen #xue yang #my fic #my fics #labyrinth