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pastelcheckereddreams · 3 years

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Psssst, if you want an excuse, here it is. tell me about that sunshot campaign AU. I wanna know.

*rattles my headcanons like cat treats for all the nhs stans*

OKAY, SO. I'll give you the extremely abbreviated version ahahha it’s still hella long, but- listen- I have this very specific, absolutely ooc Nie brothers Sunshot au that I like to return to now and then.

(Also sorry for the delay, Anon, for some reason this hc was hard to pull from my brain into reality so please forgive the lack of grammar as i wordvomit some impromptu worldbuilding.)

Context:

1) I saw the Unclean Realm gate and I a complete historical architecture nerd but also cultural noob said that is a place that knows siege warfare.

2) I like to think that there’s this untapped geopolitical history between Qishan and Qinghe that is just begging to be explored, re: the use of children throughout history as political hostages

(Consider: young second master Nie Huaisang being yeeted into Qishan, and knowing Wen Chao and Wen Qing and Wen Ning before that confrontational scene in the Gusu arc - big yes. I have a scene for that specifically that is Adjacent to this.

But ALSO consider: second master wen chao being yeeted into Qinghe at a young age and spending time with nhs and nmj and just being a more 3d character in general with Complex Motivations and Things. 👀👀 juicy villain backstory hello i was not ready for my brain to take this turn today)

3) Also, on the topic of backstory, you can prise nhs referring to lwj as “wangji-xiong” ("wangji-ge") from my cold dead hands.

4) I like to imagine, thanks probably to fanfic like come from my inkstone, that Huaisang has been involved in the logistical side of the Sunshot campaign, running supply trains and stepping up to govern the Unclean Realm in his brother’s stead because nhs in this fic has Political Smarts and Things (the “things” is Feelings and I stan this ot4).

And finally,

5) to frame the rough start of this au, i have a Specific Scenario, which is borrowed heavily from this fic, without you (i don’t know what i’d do). In the fic, nhs basically rides all the way from Qinghe to the Nie camp to warn nmj of an attack on the Unclean Realm only to collapse dramatically off his horse and I live and breathe that kind of commitment to hurt/comfort, so of course I incorporated that into my headcanon.

Okay wait one more thing to note,

6) all this backstory is absolutely saturated in my Nie brothers feelings from Fatal Journey. *plays Qinghe Jue on repeat* Just, yknow, peppering in that Nie sect-centricity.

So - finally - the AU:

- nmj is alerted by zonghui because we stan one disposable spin off character of a single rider galloping towards their encampment. it’s huaisang, his plain riding gear (basically the main fatal journey outfit) splattered with mud, his horse foaming at the mouth im sorry horsie. the dire owl is arcing low in the sky, screeching its omens, and nmj is afraid.

- nhs dismounts from his horse already pushing past nmj, towards the tent with the battle map. blah blah insert drabble and nhs being all exhausted but determined to lay out the updated positions he’s memorised, that Nie temper trickling out. nhs informs nmj that the unclean realm is under siege, the enemy taking advantage of nmj’s distraction and the lack of seasoned warriors left in Qinghe. in my head, the enemy is an external force that qinghe, as a border country, has dealt with on their own for decades. tbf i’d need to check the actual map that flashes past in the drama etc to say how accurate this is (probably not very, but i crave cultural nuance and worldbuilding).

- this puts the nie sect in a precarious position. nmj must lead the campaign against wen ruohan, but an external force (perhaps allied with the wen) threatens their homeland. nmj himself cannot go, and cannot spare many men. he cannot be in two places at once. he almost despairs, right then and there - if they win the sunshot campaign, but lose the unclean realm, what becomes of his sect?

- and huaisang is smiling at him, a little sadly, as if he already knows how this conversation plays out, as if nmj does too- “dage-” “no.” “-i will go.” it’s practically suicide. his didi, with all his knowledge of strategy, knows nothing of battle. but here he is, offering to fight the invading forces in his stead, with only the handful of men that nmj can spare. loyal men. men who would rally behind their second disciple without question, because despite his flaky attitude, nhs- “what kind of nie would i be,” huaisang says, too calmly and too flippantly, “if i did not defend our ancestor’s land?” then, almost gently, “we are nie. if we are to die, we should both meet it on the battlefield.” nmj stares down at his knuckles, white against the curling yellow map that spells out their defeat. memories of their father pressing behind his eyes.

- the next morning, after some moving backstory about nhs and nmj and filial piety on which the entire believability of this character development rests so ofc I haven't written it nhs has his hair braided up into a different style by his brother - easier, for riding. for combat. the nie know what it means. he is still in those plain robes, sleeves cinched for battle. but a sabre rests at his hip and his brother’s hairpins glint in the cold morning light. behind him, six other disciples including zonghui, sit atop restless horses, waiting nmj’s nhs’s command. nhs smiles up at his brother, who cannot help the deep, distressed frown that saturates his whole face. “dage,” he says, gripping nmj’s elbow and resting their foreheads together. “let’s be brothers in our next life.”

- “xichen,” mingjue says eventually, his breath barely mist in morning air. “i have sent my little brother to die.” as serene as the white silhouette beside him appears, lxc’s grip on his elbow is like a vice, tight with anxiety and unspoken fear. big brother solidarity in this trying time.

- there is no word from nhs for a long time. nmj sits at the victory banquet alone, the table to his left set, but empty. then-

running footsteps. a disciple, in qinghe greys. “zhongzhu!”

nmj is only tangentially aware that grip on his cup could crush a man’s throat. before he can bid the man to speak, however, the herald announces an arrival, his voice booming through the hall and cutting all curious chatter - “Nie-er-gonzi!”

nhs swans into the hall, fan wafting a leisurely tempo against his satisfied grin. “Dage!” he calls, “You started without me!”

Nmj surges from his seat and is halfway through the hall before he even realises it, sweeping his brother into his arms. “Huaisang,” he says, chin tucked against the crown of his brother’s head. he means to say- a lot of things. but by the tightening of nhs’s arms around his waist, nhs already knows.

- against all odds, they’ve won on both fronts. zonghui himself isn’t sure how it happened but yes nhs absolutely just talked his way out of a battle because his tongue always was as sharp as qinghe steel. and no, master, er-gongzi is still absolutely hopeless with a sabre, we saw like ten minutes of actual combat tops. but we did manage to strike some sort of political deal nhs is like 64% sure you’ll hate but will eventually see sense about. it’s cool, this won’t come back to bite him in the ass after you die at all.

- resume canon plot.

...

that’s it anon that’s all i got

i got a little carried away at the end but t’s the short version i swear

anyway i hope you enjoyed my ooc sunshot au in which nhs is the bamf his character arc deserves.

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