#lian writes

[huilian]

It was yet another patrol.

This time, they were fortifying the borders. After the mess that was Morgana’s second attempt at a coup, and the flight of a not insignificant portion of Camelot’s population, the borders did need fortifying, but Merlin wished that Arthur wouldn’t have gone himself.

If Arthur hadn’t gone, then Merlin wouldn’t have had to follow, and he would be able to sleep in the warmth and relative comfort of his room. But alas, Arthur, dutiful as always, wouldn’t let his men do anything that he wouldn’t do himself, and thus here they were, in the middle of the woods, fortifying the border.

In the middle of making camp for the night, with Merlin in the midst of preparing for supper, one of the soldiers that had been sent out to scout ahead called out from the trees, “We found them hiding, sire.”

He emerged with a woman whom him and his scouting partner almost dragged by the arms, with a boy of about three clinging to her neck. She caught sight of the camp and pressed the boy even closer to her chest, using what little movement she can do with her arms in the hold of two soldiers of Camelot to cover up as much of the boy she’s holding as possible.

Arthur eyed the four of them and frowned.

“There’s no need to hold her that tightly. We are the ones who have disturbed her.” He stood up, walked towards them, and smiled. “My apologies for disturbing your evening routine, my lady. As recompense, would you join us in our fire for the night?”

Merlin noticed that the woman was eyeing the camp with a familiar apprehension, especially the campfire in the middle of it, but eventually, she closed her eyes and nodded.

“Excellent!” Arthur boomed, causing the woman to flinch a little bit. Not that Arthur noticed. “Our supper is not quite ready, but you are welcome to warm yourself and your little one by the fire.” Then, he turned towards Merlin and raised his eyebrows.

Realizing the signal for what it was, Merlin made a face at him, but he did speed up his preparations. If nothing else, the child should not go hungry in this cold weather.

He placed the pot on the fire, and quickly put the ingredients in. It’s not the most lavish supper, but it was warm and filling, and if Arthur complained, then he was welcome to bring himself—and Merlin—back to Camelot, where his supper would be prepared by actual cooks and not just Merlin making do.

He looked up at their guest, and no matter how much he did not want to have to mediate between a scared peasant with her child and the rambunctious soldiers around the campfire, he did give her a wan smile. It was not her fault that Arthur’s men had found her, and it was not her fault that Arthur had been so caught up in his own notion of chivalry that he forgot that the common folk would never be truly at ease in a camp full of knights and royalties.

She looked back at him, and gave a little gasp. But then her child cried out for her, and whatever recognition she was about to have was lost with the shushing the child on her chest.

Everything seemed fine, and Merlin had almost relaxed into that mindless state where all he has to think about is the stirring, but then he heard a cry and a scream and a shout, and he looked up to see that the fire had become made of colours, a soldier had swung his sword, and that the little boy’s eyes were gold.

For one heartbeat, two, Merlin considered not doing anything. There were already so many souls that died in this mission of his that two more surely wouldn't make a difference. Nobody could even say that this was his fault this time; nothing he did caused any of this to happen, unlike the many, many other times that it did.

But then he felt his magic respond.

Because it turns out that even monsters have their limits, and his was apparently watching a child be murdered for something they could not control.

There were no convenient branch that Merlin could discreetly drop on top of the soldier's head, nor were there any fortunately placed rock he could cause him to stumble. And he didn't particularly want to kill a soldier of Camelot, however much that soldier would have wanted to kill him after this.

So he did the only thing he could think of to stop that sword from hitting its target. By halting its path before it could hit where the woman had crouched around the little boy.

Merlin noticed the soldier hastily letting go of his hovering sword. He heard the shouts and the sound of blades being drawn from around him. He even felt the unrestrained terror from the woman and the vehement confusion from the boy ringing through his magic. But in the midst of all that, he only had attention for Arthur.

Arthur, who is standing with his sword drawn. Arthur, who is still amongst all the panic and terror and confusion. Arthur, who has definitely seen the gold in his eyes.

Silence.

Merlin waited for Arthur to swing his own sword, waited for the judgment and scorn and condemnation that would surely come from Arthur’s hands, but Arthur had only continued to stare at him. Heartbeat after heartbeat after heartbeat, his king—the one he would follow until the ending of days; the one he would die for, the one he would kill for, the one he would do anything for, but watch a child be murdered in cold blood—only stared at him in silence.

Merlin can’t take it anymore.

He dropped to his knees, absentmindedly allowing the still hovering sword to fall to the earth. He heard a gasp and the clinking of armours from around him. But still, he kept his eyes on the face of his king.

“Please,” he heard himself whisper. “He’s just a boy. They probably didn’t even realize they’re in Camelot, we’re so close to the border.”

That’s probably why they were hiding, Merlin thought to himself.

The boy was obviously not old enough to know what’s happening, but the woman at least knew what the red of Camelot meant. Now that he thought about it, he realized why the woman’s expression had felt so familiar. It was the same expression his mother had worn whenever there was a chance that he could do something that she couldn’t explain away as chance or luck.

He hoped Arthur wouldn’t go after his mother.

If only he had realized earlier what was happening… He thought the woman was just wary of strangers, of soldiers with unknown morality around her young child. He should have recognized sooner that particular brand of fear, of a mother desperately trying to keep her son’s magic a secret.

He could have offered to walk her away, could have said something to make Arthur leave them alone. Instead, he had been too relieved to have nothing to do with this, to be expected to do nothing more that what he had already been doing, that he had brushed it out of his mind.

It seemed that this too, was his fault.

“Please,” he said again. “Please, sire.”

Arthur still hasn't said anything. In all the scenarios that Merlin had conjured up in his mind, all the ways this could go wrong—and before… everything, all the ways this could go right, but he rarely thinks about those ones nowadays—he had never thought that it would be this way, with his magic used not to defend Arthur, but defending someone else against him. All of the explanations that he had spent countless nights trying to make, all the justifications and reassurances that his magic had only been for him, was useless in this scenario.

Useless in front of the indisputable evidence that he had used magic against his king, had blatantly gone against the laws of the kingdom.

“Please just let them go. You can do what you will with me, but please just let them go,” Merlin pleaded.

He could have fought then, could have run, could have ensorcelled everyone there and leave with the woman and her child. Everyone who had ever advised him on magic would have told him to run, to leave, to fight, to defend himself against the son of the butcher Pendragon. However, even though had had already done that very same thing just moments ago, Merlin could not bear to use his magic against Arthur or his men. Not for himself.

So, with one final look at the face that would surely turn to hatred soon, Merlin closed his eyes, and whispered, “Please.”

He didn’t know how long they stayed there, the king and his servant locked into this strange tableau, the king’s soldiers uncertain if they should get between them, and a woman and her child terrified in the middle of it all—he didn't dare open his eyes, afraid to find hatred etched into Arthur's face—but Arthur must have eventually signalled something to his men, because he heard the rustle of armour and an awed whisper of ‘Emrys,’ in his mind.

He wanted to comfort the woman, wanted to let her know that everything would be alright, but his courage had already been so drained by this that the only thing he could do was send her the equivalent of a smile and a gentle instruction to leave.

Thankfully, she did. Merlin heard her footsteps, listening for it until he's sure that no one would follow her. At least this wasn't all a waste, then. At least she was safe. At least that little boy who has no choice in who he is, no choice in having magic, no understanding that he is violating Camelot’s laws just by living; at least that little boy would be safe.

Although Merlin would almost certainly die for it.

Even before the woman’s footsteps faded away from Merlin’s hearing, Arthur snapped, “Leave us.”

“Sire!”

“If Merlin had wanted to kill me,” Arthur said slowly, “he has had many, many easier opportunities over the years. Leave us.”

“Sire,” one of the soldiers tried again, but apparently Arthur’s soldiers were well trained to obey the orders of their king, even when the order the king gave was madness to them, because Merlin could hear more footsteps going away, until only the crackling of the campfire could be heard.

The crackling of the campfire, and Arthur’s sigh.

“Did you lie about your name too?”

Merlin jerked his eyes open. Arthur's voice had come from far closer that he had expected, and he realized that Arthur had crouched down in front of him.

“N-no,” Merlin whispered. “My name is Merlin.”

“She called you Emrys,” Arthur replied.

Merlin winced. He didn't realize that the woman had said that out loud, instead of using the mind-speak of the Druids. “It is… a title,” he finally said.

“A title? For you?” Arthur huffed. Merlin almost protested, but before his apparently instinctive need to parry Arthur's jabs can dig him into an even deeper hole, Arthur continued, “What's it for?”

“Sire?”

“What's it for, Merlin? A title couldn't exist by itself, there are duties and responsibilities tied to it. So, as preposterous as it is that you, of all people, have a title, there must be something that that title is for.”

Merlin just stayed there, gaping. Of all the things he expected to be interrogated for when Arthur found out about his magic, the minutiae of his magical title had never made the list.

Before he could compose an answer, though, Arthur had moved on. “Did you enchant me?”

“No!” Merlin replied. At least this one he could answer immediately. Then, he thought about the times that he had enchanted Arthur, and said, “Not currently.”

The flash in Arthur's eyes told him that Arthur noticed the phrasing of his answer and was filing it away to be used later, but right now, he said, “I’m not as angry as I should have been. Are you sure you didn’t enchant me?”

“I swear that you are not in any enchantment right now, not mine, nor anyone else’s.”

“Hm.” Arthur placed his sword back in its scabbard and sat on the ground in front of Merlin. “But of course, that’s what you would say, even if you had enchanted me.”

Merlin had no patience of Arthur’s legal arguments right now. He was going to die, or he was not, and if Arthur didn’t seem to want to get to that point, then he will.

“Are you going to kill me?” he asked.

“Are you going to kill me?” Arthur replied. “I’m not stupid, Merlin. I have known for years that there’s someone doing powerful magic near me. And the chance of there being two sorcerers who would want to help rather than kill me is so astronomical that that person must be you.” Arthur sighed. “I guess I thought that you, of all people, would trust me enough to tell me.”

“I…” Merlin tried to say something about how he did trust Arthur, but the thoughts and justifications were still too jumbled up inside himself that he couldn’t do it. Because he did trust Arthur, with his life, with his destiny, with all the things that matter, except for his magic.

And does that mean he didn’t trust Arthur at all?

Maybe. Maybe not.

So he settled with asking the one thing that he still could not believe. “You knew someone has been doing magic near you?”

Arthur snorted. “If a sword could kill a dragon,” he said slowly, “my father wouldn’t have sent us to find that dragonlord, Merlin. I thought you were covering for someone, not having magic yourself.”

Merlin blinked, speechless for the second time in this bewildering conversation. Before he could process that, however, Arthur had once again changed the topic.

“Why did you do it?”

“Do what?” Merlin asked.

“Save them. I hope you know that I wouldn’t have let a child be murdered.”

And that, Merlin thought he knew. For a regular, non-magical child. Arthur had never been the type to punish innocent people, much less children, so usually, Merlin would have trusted that Arthur would handle that quick-to-draw soldier.

But this child had magic. This child did magic, in front of the King of Camelot.

And Arthur… drew his sword. Towards his own soldier.

Merlin sucked in a breath.

He should have trusted Arthur. Should have remembered that years and years and years ago, back when everything was still simple, Arthur had spared Mordred, even though he knew that the child was magical. Had followed a sorceress to her own place of power. Had made peace with the Druids.

Had been willing to think that magic does not necessarily equal evil.

“And sit down,” Arthur’s voice cut through the realization that Merlin had been having. “You haven’t been deferential a day in your life, don’t start now.”

Merlin sat down.

They spent a couple of moments that way, the King and his servant, his magical servant, sitting on the ground opposite of each other, both of them staring at something just beside the other’s face.

“You asked me,” Merlin began slowly, after it’s clear that Arthur would not start this conversation again, “what Emrys was for.”

Arthur hummed in agreement.

“When I came to Camelot,” he said, “the magical folk started calling me Emrys.” He smiled and asked, “Do you remember Mordred?”

“The druid child that you and Morgana smuggled? Yes, I remember Mordred.”

Merlin huffed. “Well, he was the first to call me Emrys. And then more and more people started calling me that. And every time they call out that name, it’s like… like they believe that their problems would be fixed. Like…”

“Like you would make everything right again,” Arthur continued.

Merlin turned to look straight at Arthur. “Yes,” he breathed out. “Like you being there would make everything right again.”

Arthur closed his eyes, and in that moment, Merlin remembered that this was a man who had been responsible for the well-being of others all of his life. Arthur had been prince and heir and lord since the moment he was born, and being king had only made that sense of responsibility even more acute.

If there was something that Arthur understands, it was duty.

Especially duty to one’s people.

Arthur let out a long breath, and said, “And what made you the person they entrusted this for?”

“Well,” Merlin sighed, and here was the part that he never thought he would live long enough to be able to explain to Arthur, “I’m kind of powerful.”

“You?” Arthur asked incredulously. “You are powerful?”

“Hey!” Merlin cried out. In one part of his mind he recognizes the surrealness of this, arguing with Arthur about how powerful a sorcerer he is, instead of arguing with him that magic deserves to exist, but the other part of his mind was thinking of instances that Arthur would know of.

He finally shrugged and settled on, “I killed Nimueh.”

Arthur looked at him, and sighed again, a long, long breath out. “We’re going to have a very long conversation about this at home.”

With that one word, Merlin felt the hope that he had long ago thought was gone return to him. And yet, he still had to ask, still had to be sure.

“Are you sure you’re not going to kill me?”

“No,” Arthur answered, slightly annoyed.

“And the rest of the magical folk?” Merlin asked, because he had to know, he had to be sure.

The annoyance instantly fled Arthur’s face. “Are they under your protection, then?”

Merlin swallowed, looked at Arthur in the eye, and said, “Yes.”

And that? That felt right on his tongue. That felt like years and years of hiding had finally come home to rest. That felt like he is finally coming into himself, into his magic, into his very being.

Arthur smiled wanly. “Like I said, we are going to have a very long conversation about this. But I swear to you, as the King of Camelot, that I will not execute anyone simply for having magic.”

Merlin closed his eyes, breathed out, and when he opened his eyes again, he knew that they were gold.

“Very well, King of Camelot.”

*

*

*

“Does this mean that I get to call you ‘my lord’ from now on?”

“Don’t you dare, Arthur!”

#bbc merlin #merlin #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon #fic #lian writes #a fic? in this economy? #yes #yes in this economy

[bishy437]

he won

bonus:

#oi oi don’t steal my tags i see u 🫵 #svsss #mdzs #moshang #hualian #bingqiu #sqq u spoilt brat #binghe is def the best cook out of the three gongs i’m not saying this lightly #we know lwj can cook from the extras and i can only assume hc can cook bc the only thing he CANT do is write BUT: #xl enjoys cooking so ofc hc is gonna let him express himself culinarily #and wwx is a spice fanatic weirdo who wants to go live his m!lf dreams into the sunset #lwj will not get in the way of that #sqq however is perfectly content having bingmei cook his meals forever and never stepping into a kitchen #scum villian self saving system #scum villain #mo dao zu shi #tgcf #heaven official's blessing #wangxian #mine #luo binghe #shen qingqiu #wei wuxian #lan wangji #xie lian #hua cheng #shang qinghua #mobei jun

[biboomerangboi]

Hua Cheng essentially cockblocking himself for possibly all of eternity will literally never not be the funniest thing MXTX ever wrote.

Xie Lian was pretty much completely in love with him the second he saw those lanterns (and completely oblivious about it) and then we get the wonderful first kiss underwater moment and Xie Lian is basically drawing hearts around Hua Cheng every time he sees him. While like quietly dying cause he literally has no idea what to do with it. Like at this point he doesn’t even really understand that he is head over heels totally gone for this man.

Until Hua Cheng is like I have a beloved I just haven’t won them over yet. Which he thinks is perfectly reasonable because his self esteem is the worst and he doesn’t understand how he could have won Xie Lian over yet. (He’s only on step 22 of his Marrying Dianxia 3000 step Master Plan ((that he debates throwing out on a regular basis because he doesn’t deserve to even dream about wanting Xie Lian)). So course he’s like yeah I have this wonderful noble beautiful beloved I just haven’t won them over yet wink wink nudge nudge.

But Xie Lian is like oh of course obviously I don’t deserve nice things and fuck I actually wanted him so badly I’m actually in love with him and now I will resign myself to never being happy for his sake. (Their combined self esteem is truly a so low it’s a hole in the ground which is hilarious because they think the other person is to good for them and unattainable forever because they literally have the same neurosis.) So he starts boxing up his feelings forever constantly wanting Hua Cheng and feeling guilty about it and literally dying inside because he wants Hua Cheng like he’s never wanted anyone.

Like essentially books 3 and 5 only happen because Hua Cheng has now cursed them both by saying he has a beloved because Xie Lian believes he isn’t wanted and therefore any nice thing Hua Cheng does is just him being nice and not Hua Cheng pulling out steps 23-34 of his plan thinking he still hasn’t won Xie Lian over. (He has he so has but he shot himself in the foot so badly it’s painful to read).

Like thank the Gods Hua Cheng is so unhinged and created the cave of 10000 Gods cause Xie Lian would literally be at his own wedding to Hua Cheng still convinced he wanted someone else and this was in fact a thing they were doing to solve a case together otherwise.

Like he needed something that unhinged to put 2 and 2 together otherwise he never would have caught on he’s Hua Cheng’s beloved. Meanwhile Hua cheng is like 🥺 he’s going to think I’m a weirdo now and I’m only on step 50 of the plan 🥺 like the two of them wouldn’t have been fucking nasty 2 books ago if he just kept his mouth shut and didn’t cockblock himself so violently.

#I hate them I love them they are both so stupid #hualian #tgcf #tian guan ci fu #hua cheng #xie lian #heavens official blessing #heaven official's blessing #hualian meta #tgcf meta #actually don’t know why I’m tagging this as meta I’m just bullying them but you get it #zee rambles #writing them and wanting to die #zees 2am text posts

[kyuhudraws]

a favour for a f-f-friend

#tgcf #mu qing #feng xin #fengqing #tgcf spoilers #kinda #feng xin gets all flustered when he notices mu qing is genuinely kind to xie lian #that's the hc now #I haven't done a little comic in a while I kinda felt rusty #ahhh I love fengqing #heaven official's blessing #long post #is the writing even readable?

[the-witchhunter]

DP x DC: Ghost x Family

So, back on my cute romcom BS

So the premise. Dani, as Danny's speed grown clone, wasn't the most physically stable. Turns out, it's really hard to speed grow a clone, and even harder when ectoplasm is involved. There's not enough time for the structures to properly stabilize and that leaves the cellular structure pretty weak and prone to breaking down into goo. The ecto dejecto was just a temporary solution and other measures were needed

aka Dani had to essentially grow a body from scratch the old fashion way, so she's now physically her actual age minus a couple months

So Danny, at the age of 20, is the father of a 4 year old Dani and is trying to keep a low profile in Gotham. His and his daughter's existence is still illegal, and being the single father of a 4 year old ghost girl isn't exactly easy. Now Danny has to deal with the very real threat of CPS being called on him by a neighbor, and trying to get Dani into school without either of them having papers for their assumed identity of Danny and Dani Nightingale and money to by fake documents. He'd ask Tucker, but that requires braking radio silence and potentially putting a target on all three of their backs.

Danny, desperate, asks his neighbor Jason to pose as his significant other for a meeting. Jason agrees, but things escalated and frankly he's now emotionally invested and committing to the bit

So now he and Danny have legally been married for about 4 months according to the papers Babs made them. The fake ID, birth certificates, SSNs, and high school diploma for the Nightingales were simple enough for her to do, but man Jason is going to owe her a BIG favor for this.

They move in together, Dani goes to a good private school, Jason is effectively Danny's sugar daddy paying for a sizable chunk of all this, and they are committing to the loving married couple bit, which is hard to do when the new in-laws are detectives

The best part?

Danny has not figured out Jason is the Red Hood, and Jason doesn't know about the ghost stuff. The only one that does? Dani, and she is physically and mentally 4 and watching Jason and Danny fall in love

oh the shenanigans

OR

I've been watching SPY x FAMILY and just need the fake relationship/family turns into a real relationship/found family dynamic. Jason is basically Loid, Danny is pretty much Yor, Dani fills the role of Anya, and uncle Dick is Yuri, except he's doting on Dani.

Dick is a smart man, but I love the headcanon that Jason is his emotional blindspot. Jason? MY Littlewing? He couldn't possibly.

#danny phantom #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc prompt #writing prompt #writing #dpxdc #found family and fake relationship rolled into one #dani has two loving dads #plus she can be friends with Lian #Roy and Jason organizing little play dates #part because the girls are best friends but also because it is a convenient cover for Red hood and arsenal teamups

[rayroseu]

this tweet gave me sick thoughts about immortal x mortal malleyuu trope where Malleus visiting Yuu even as they grow old and their memories diminishes because of aging,,, 😭😭

Like I'm imagining old Yuu will say things like "I remember having this friend that I promised I would always invite him, but I can't remember his voice nor face or most of the things I used to know about him, still, i hope i can make that promise lasts for much longer, i would've loved to write another invitation for him again, but it seems that even his name i have forgotten..."

and and Malleus will just have to listen to this old person's ramblings, knowing he's not recognized anymore, knowing that the time he spent with Yuu is only remembered only by him, realizing he's in this situation again where time relentlessly will wither everyone he cares about as he lives on-- "I'm sure he would've loved that..."

Maybe he could tell the memories he still remembers, but he knows it'll quickly be forgotten as they spent their twilight days sitting still and pondering about death- still, if they can remember a measly promise like for a simple invitations, then he can surely commit to this "I promise to remember you, Yuu."

#malleus draconia #twst #malleus #malleyuu #CAN YOU GUYS TELL FRIEREN HAS RUINED ME ADFKLDJ #disney twst #twst wonderland #twst malleus #disney twisted wonderland #twst x reader #twisted wonderland x reader #twst headcanons #twisted wonderland imagines #twisted wonderland headcanons #lian notes #twst yuu #twisted wonderland #twst mc #only malleyuu can convince me to write paragraphs at 3am istggg💥💥💥 #malleus x reader

[illuminatedferret]

Rereading the start of Book 2 is fucking fascinating because 1. how Mu Qing is treated by everyone but Xie Lian boils my blood, but also 2. I cannot believe there are people who think Xie Lian is naive and ignorant of the world after reading what he says and thinks during those first few chapters alone. He is so persistently considerate and sensitive to power imbalances and the abuse of power even before he """stops being naive""".

#how mu qing was treated was wrong but xie lian is literally the only person who DOESN'T treat him like garbage #so where do people get off accusing him of ignorance and classism #tgcf #xie lian #mu qing #tian guan ci fu #tgcf meta #remember: xie lian never needed to grow as a person in tgcf #his whole thing is his constancy. mxtx doesnt write heroes journeys she writes fully-realized characters #illuspeaks

[piosplayhouse]

tgcf au where xie lian buys the 9/11 warrior cat adopt not knowign that it's based on 9/11 and that the artist (blank_wolfxXiang he's known for his edgy hyperealistic guro wolf emo art ) is a huge POS so he gets cancelled and kicked out of all his RP groups (secretly cancellation was orchestrated by one of bwx's alt accounts, junwoof) but hua cheng, xie lian's singular DeviantArt subscriber and patreon member (before it got mass reported by bwx), comes to his defense because xie lian saved him when he got bullied on amino for having a half demon half fallen angel red black wolf oc with red and black eyes and heterophobia

#feel free to use i know its a good idea try not to stress yourself out too much writing it asap 😊 #< straught up jokeing it and by it i mean. #tgcf #xie lian #bai wuxiang #jun wu #hua cheng

[monhiio]

I think about Fenglian way more then I should

#I have to write a manifesto for them or something #because I GET THEM like no one else guys its true #fenglian #xie lian #feng xin #tgcf #heavens official blessing

[otpadsis]

Todaaay i cried because I dont understand how to make stickers with cutting (die cut stickers???)

#something something unknown intimacy to qi rong on first. its xie lians hand #tgcf #qi rong #xie lian #feng xin #fenglian #i guess?? #the stickers r supposed to be a new year present for my panpal yaoi mutual but ugh... #penpal fucking shit ass hell gosh i hate being upset it turnes into writing mistakes shit!!! fuck!!!!

[huilian]

Dick was miserably wet. He had offered to postpone this hiking trip, but Damian had insisted, and well, after looking into his calendar for the next month, Dick could kind of understand why. They had postponed this trip twice already—both with very good reasons—and each time, they had to delay it by a month. Who knew that finding a date when two vigilantes with full-time secret identities would be free for the entire day was such a hassle?

Anyways, that did not change the fact that the day was cold and dreary and wet. Dick's coat was damp even before they had started the trail, and it had gotten worse from there. His shoes were filled with mud from the slippery trail, and he didn't even want to think about the state of his pants.

At least Damian seemed to be having fun. He even managed to sketch some of the scenery that they had passed, though how he kept his sketchbook dry, Dick will never know.

That's how Dick had left Damian, trying to capture the shading on one tree or another. Usually Dick would put in more effort into being excited about Damian's hobbies—god knows the boy had little to begin with—, but he is wet and miserable and however much he loved spending time with his little brother, if he had to listen to Damian complain one more time about the route that he had chosen, he was going to punt the little brat.

Unfortunately, the trail that he had picked only had two choices: devastatingly easy, and Dick can already hear Damian scoffing over it; or wet, miserable, and slippery, which was the one they are in right now. Dick eyed the sign at the fork that said "easy", and wondered if he could somehow convince Damian that they had finished the trail, before sighing and deciding that no, he probably can't. It didn't help that the helpful groundkeepers had written "15 minutes to the parking lot!" at the bottom of the 'easy' sign.

They had only been walking for a bit less than an hour. Damian would see right through it.

Dick sighed again, just for good measure, because he's going to be wet for the entire day at this rate, and started his trek back towards where he last left Damian. He might as well figure out how his little brother was keeping his sketchbook dry.

Halfway through, however, Dick heard Damian talking with someone else. Wait, no. With two other voices, and Dick was pretty sure that Damian was alone when he had left him. He straightened up, because there were rarely any incidences in this park, but rarely didn't mean never.

Then, he heard laughter from the unfamiliar voices and that particular grunt from Damian that means he was amused but didn't want to be seen to be so. Dick breathed out slowly, accepting that as a sign that the strangers were not hostile. Damian only let out that particular grunt when he truly is amused.

That did bring out Dick's curiosity though. What had made Damian be so amused?

Carefully avoiding the many puddles abound, Dick crept closer. And thanked any deity that would still listen to him that he had kept quiet while approaching.

Damian was standing at the bottom of the descent that Dick had categorized as 'slippery' and 'too much of a hassle to go through' when he passed it a while ago. He had chosen to use the trees around them to simply bypass that descent, but Damian didn't have that choice, because holding on to his shoulders, was an elderly lady valiantly trying to get down without sliping all the way.

Slightly perplexed, Dick watched as her grip on his little brother's shoulders tighten when her foot missed the rocks that she was using as steps. That perplexion increased when he realized that there was another elderly lady who was also holding on to his little brother's shoulders, albeit on the other side of that descent.

"Do you want us to fall, Cheryl?" the lady on the bottom of the descent said.

"It's not my fault that these rocks are slippery, Sally!" the lady who must have been Cheryl snapped.

"It is! I told you that it's going to be raining today, but do you listen to me? No!" Sally replied back.

"No one is going to fall," Damian said, eyes widening from what Dick can only guess as that particular panic that being stuck in an argument between two strangers who has known each other too well elicit. Dick can sympathize. There were far too many arguments that he had to mediate as Nightwing between couples, and none of them were fun. "I'm not going to let you fall," Damian continued.

Thankfully for Damian, that stopped the argument in its tracks. Unfortunately for Damian, the argument was just replaced by cooing. Towards him.

"Of course you're not going to let us fall, young man!" Sally huffed.

"You've been so kind and wonderful!" Cheryl piped in, trying to step onto the same rocks she missed before. "I trust you completely!"

Even from this distance, Dick can practically see the panic in Damian's eyes change from that of being stuck between two strangers arguing to those of being the sole target of well-meaning, but overly chatty ladies. Dick snorted inwardly. He was too familiar with that brand of panic too.

Thankfully for Damian, before the cooing can continue, Cheryl let out a cry of success as she managed to find her footing, and the conversation halted as the two ladies navigate their way through the slippery descent. Damian stayed silent throughout it all, no doubt afraid that if he brought attention to himself, the two ladies would restart their cooing.

From his place behind the trees, Dick watched the entire proceeding with an odd sense of pride in his heart. Oh, he knows that he is not solely responsible for Damian's benevolent tendencies. His little brother had come so far from that sniping and snarling ten-year-old boy who was using violence to cover up his lonelinesss and insecurities, and that was only possible because so many people in his life had made it a point to be there for him, to reassure him that he's safe, to be proud of his accomplishments. Dick was just one of those people.

But watching Damian patiently directing two ladies to safely go down that slippery descent, Dick could not help but be proud of him. Could not help but think that three years ago, Damian would never have helped them without being ordered to; that two years ago, he would have just carried them across; that one year ago, he would have at least given a disparaging click of his tongue.

Well, he probably had still done that last one before Dick had arrived—he's still a little shit—, but his little brother had grown up to be kind. No, had grown up to allow himself to express that kindness, because Damian had always been kind, even as that sniping and snarling ten-year-old boy. He just hadn't been allowed to express it, had gotten used to not allowing himself the luxury of acting kind.

Dick was so proud of him.

And he knew that he could not claim this success for himself, but if there was one thing in his life of failures that he's sure to have done right, it was this. Somehow, he must have done right with Damian. Somehow, in the middle of that year from hell, between mourning Bruce and chasing Tim and dealing with Jason and trying to keep Gotham from burning down, he must have done something right for this boy in front of him.

Something good.

"Thank you so, so much, young man!" Cheryl's voice broke through Dick's musings. "I don't know what we would have done without you!"

"Not come here in the first place, probably," Sally grumbled, but then she too turned to Damian and smiled. "Thank you, young man."

"You are welcome," Damian said. Dick knew that his little brother wished that that would be the end of it, but of course the two ladies took that response as permission to start cooing again. Damian blinked, then glared straight towards Dick's little hiding place.

Whoops. Busted.

Dick allowed himself a little laugh before he acquiesced to Damian's unspoken request to free him from the clutches of chatty ladies. He stepped into the path proper, and called out, "Damian? Are you there?" as if he's searching for him.

"Here!" Damian shouted back.

For a diversion from the no doubt lengthy small-talk, it was very effective. Dick was quite proud of it. The two ladies immediately turned towards him, abandoning whatever praises they were about to bestow towards Damian.

"There you are," Dick said, falling into the role of an older brother that was very, very relieved to find his little brother safe. "You've made me worried sick."

"I am fine, Richard," Damian replied, expertly using the conversation to step out of the ladies' immediate vicinity, and therefore circumventing any other attempts of direct conversation to him. Honestly, they have done this far too often.

As expected, the two ladies turned towards Dick. It's a good thing that Dick was just reminiscing about how proud and fond he is of his little brother, otherwise he would have demanded compensation for Damian throwing him to the wolves.

"Is this wonderful young man your son?" Sally asked.

The near inaudible rustle of clothing was the only sign of Damian tensing, but before Dick can fully process that, he had already reflexively said, "No." And then, because Dick knows his little brother and his tendencies to think of the worst scenarios, he pulled Damian into a half-hug and continued, "He's my baby brother."

"Ah," Cheryl nodded. "You should be very proud of him. He just helped these two old ladies down that very dangerous slope. If he hadn't been there-"

"If you had listened to me-" Sally retorted, and the two of them seemed to realize that they were in front of people, because they both stopped at the same time.

The silence continued for a while, before Dick decided to have mercy on all of them. He gave them his very best smile, and said, "I am very proud of him." He squeezed Damian's shoulders to tell him that the sentiment was real, before he got it in his mind that Dick only said that to get out of this situation, and continued, "I think we should get going, our dad's going to be mad enough that we got trapped in this rain. We wouldn't want him to get a search party out, would we, Damian?"

"No," Damian said, elbowing Dick in the stomach to tell him to hurry this up. It was pretty gentle for his standards though, so Dick assumed that Damian isn't truly that mad. Hell, it's probably an endorsement.

"Of course!" Cheryl hurriedly cried out. "We should probably also start to head back, huh, Sally?"

"If you had listened from the start we wouldn't be in this position to begin with," Sally grumbled. Then, she sighed, and said to Damian, "Thank you again, young man." She looked up to Dick, and said, "You've got a good kid there, take care of him."

"Yes, ma'am," Dick replied. Damian elbowed him again, and for that, Dick said, "Say goodbye, now, Damian."

A glance to Damian's face promised Dick swift and terrible repercussions, but his expression was clear when he said to the two ladies, "Goodbye Sally, goodbye Cheryl. Please do be careful on the rest of the trek."

Cheryl squealed again, ready to start another round of cooing, but Dick really do not have the mental capacity to handle another round of small-talk, even at Damian's expense, so he tapped Damian's shoulder to signal him to start walking. If it was rude, well, they can always blame the rain.

They waved, the ladies waved back, and thankfully, that was it. No extended goodbyes, though Dick could tell that Cheryl still wanted to coo over Damian.

A couple of minutes later, far from the ladies' hearing range (and Damian did scoff at that "15 minutes to the parking lot!" sign), Damian murmured, "You could have helped sooner."

"And miss seeing you being accosted by two ladies? No way, Jose!"

Damian grumbled, and he looked so, so different from that hurting ten-year-old boy that had been dropped off in Gotham that Dick could not resist. He pulled Damian into a proper hug, and pressed a kiss into his forehead.

The grumbling immediately stopped.

Just as Dick was enjoying the shocked silence, Damian hissed, "What was that for?" It sounded just like the Damian of three years ago that Dick couldn't help but laugh. However much things changed, some things still stayed the same, apparently.

"Nothing," Dick said, and then chanced another quick kiss to Damian's forehead. Then, he let go, and shouted, "Last one to that bend is a loser!" as he immediately sprinted ahead.

"Richard!"

#dc #dick grayson #damian wayne #lian writes #i am BACK to writing fic!!!!!!!

[interstate35south]

listen. i like a good “hualian adopts wwx” au as much as the next guy. but do y’all ever think abt the fact that appearance wise. xie lian and hua cheng are supposedly like. 17-19

i forget about it until i’m consciously reminded of it but there’s comedic potential in there somewhere

like i imagine they could probably get away with it when wwx was a young child but it’s all fun and games until visibly 34 year old wei wuxian is still calling apparently 17 year old xie lian dad

#tgcf #tian guan ci fu #heaven official's blessing #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian #hua cheng #xie lian #the 17-19 feels like a bucket of cold water every time i hear it like they have always been mid-late 20s to me at LEAST #you’re looking at hua cheng and telling me he’s 18??? bullshit #i only accept it for the bit #like obv any dynamics with mortals and immortals has to factor in the whole “one of them will age and die and the other won’t” #but it just gets so much funnier when they’re an age that’s not even plausible to write off the fact that they don’t grow older #like lowkey twilight core #bonus points if lan sizhui is added into the equation #you’re 16 and your grandfather is 17 what do you do #hualian

[biboomerangboi]

Hua Cheng is just so iconic to us because he is in fact a tumblr girlie. Notebook filled to the brim with sketches of his blorbo. Info dumps galore. Maximalist fashion to the nines. Outfits based on accessories. Has all of the genders under one big shapeshifting trench coat. Hates the ruling class. Excuses every problematic thing his blorbo does and stands by them in the group chats. Insane reaction to people who dislike his blorbo and says mean things about them, burning temples is the doxxing of his time. He belongs on here with us.

#I’d either be his biggest fan or have him blocked #I’ve had like 4 hrs sleep but you know I’m right #if you write famous Xie Lian please don’t make Hua Cheng normal he’s insane on main and we love him #tgcf #tian guan ci fu #hua cheng #hualian #heavens official blessing #heaven official's blessing #tgcf shitpost #zees 2am text posts

[yea-baiyi]

is hua cheng really taller in his true form than as san lang. or is it just the five inch platform boots that mxtx doesn’t want to admit he’s wearing

#tgcf #hua cheng #my hyperfixation demon #my visions n delusions #i guess blanket tag for all the nonsense that’s coming out from my attempt to write the headcanon post #all my xie lian takes are wonderful and deep and all my hua cheng takes are HES CRINGE #i love him sm y’all #san lang is his lady gaga in a star is born version appearance. it’s him as normie

[clandestine-poet]

For context, before anything else, I myself am a lesbian.

Alright. So I don't quite know how to explain it, but Hualian really just has lesbian vibes. At least to me.

Being a lesbian is a lot of: "You girls must be such good friends!" "Do your boyfriends know you're here?" "How come I never see you two apart?" "Haha, two girls kissing? They must be best friends."

And look. Listen.

Hualian is constantly having people be like "You two must be such great friends!" from most of the other heavenly officials (until later on).

Xie Lian and San Lang at Puqi Village getting the "where's your wives?" every .5 seconds.

Xie Lian is constantly asked/talked about with "where's YOUR crimson rain sought flower?" or "If you are here, Crimson Rain is not far behind".

THEY KISS SO MUCH AND MOSTLY GET LOUDLY TOLD "there's other ways to exchange spiritual power!"

Also, there's something inherently powerful about a queer couple.

Being queer creates a space outside the norm. That unites us so much.

And it just feels like Hualian are the most lesbian-coded gay man couple I have seen in a long, long time.

#hualian #tian guan ci fu #tgcf #heaven official's blessing #xie lian #hua cheng #hualesbians #lesbianism #lesbian #i am just an adhd lesbian who is in love with stories #to be honest #i just really love hualian and see a lot of things in them that I see in myself as a queer young person just trying to find a balance #i kind of want to write a hualesbian fic #i probably will #i love lesbians #hehehehe #okay thank you #yukiko's dumb thoughts #tw genderbend #genderbend #tw cis swap #gender is a garden blooming before me and I am a surrealist artist

[hualianschild]

let's talk abt hua cheng and the way his entire *almost* existence relates back to xie lian cuz it's been my current roman empire, his name having the word 'hua' which means 'flower' can be seen as relating to xie lian's god name (the flower crowned martial god), also he's called crimson rain sought flower cuz he was shielding a lone white flower (also represents xie lian) from the blood rain (he can be the said 'flower' in that rain too actually), that red coral pearl on his hair braid ? it belongs to xie lian, that red string tied around his finger, xie lian tied strands of his hair around that finger which represents marriage and ofc the red-string-of-fate soulmate trope, he has xie lian's name tattooed on him in his terrible writing, made an entire city just so his love can come there and rest and build a temple there so he can worship him and remained his only devotee when xl lost everything (that thing abt gods being in existence as long as there is someone to worship them) he gave up on becoming a god cuz then who will be worshipping his god ?? isn't afraid to show his true form to xl which he never did to anyone, destroyed those thirty three gods cuz they ridiculed his gege, took lqq along with him to qi rong's den so he can clear the false accusations even if xl didn't want him to CUZ YOU WILL NAWT BE HATING HIS DIANXIA OVER THINGS HE NEVER DID i mean his entire existence is because xie lian said 'if you can't find any reason to live, make me your reason to live' and oh isn't that level of devotion and love so devastating ?

#this doesn't mean that hc isn't his own person and have his own personality but most importantly he's his gege's fav person ^^ #i remember once xl said ' it's been a while someone listened to me won't you stay ' to hc and OH I LOVE THEM #guys i love hua cheng so much idk if i want to be like him or be with someone like him :( #and i rarely call him san lang cuz that's a name only his gege is allowed to call him by and I feel like I'm intruding #hualian my roman empire every other week ever since i read tgcf back in 2021 #I'm writing this before going to bed hope hualian blesses me in my dreams and my exams go well tmrw #okay good night hualian forever 🗣️ #tgcf #heaven officials blessing #tian guan ci fu #san lang #hua cheng #hualian #xie lian #heaven official's blessing #mxtx #crimson rain sought flower #mo xiang tong xiu #hualian meta #tgcf meta