#I’m gonna die if it’s gongzi

[worldsokayestmagicalgirl]

Day 7 : Eyes

I promise I do love and ship these two, but yes I first time I draw them together is the one kills the other off screen. Next question

Prompt List by Jamiedraws on Instagram

[guqin-and-flute]

And A-Fu Makes 4--Chpt. 5 [3zun Raise Jingyi Au]

[Ao3 Link] [Series] [More 3zun Raise Jingyi AU]

“Gege! Gege!”

The cry came from behind them, from a little gold figure clumsily running toward them down the pretty open air hallway that had blue and gold flowers made of tiles everywhere. A-Fu scowled, especially when A-Qiang’s fat new spiritual dog puppy scrambled around the corner after him. Beside them Little Fairy’s tail started wagging. Grabbing for A-Yuan and A-Kui’s hands as A-Ling stopped, A-Fu tried to drag them along faster, shouting, “Ugh, run!”

“But--!” A-Kui started, even as he sped up obediently.

A-Yuan, though, dug in his heels, stretching A-Fu out between them before he pulled his hand out. “Don’t be mean, A-Fu!”

"Quit being a turd," Jin Ling added angrily over his shoulder as he knelt down, arms out to A-Qiang as the Jin nanny slowly came around the corner after him, patient and quiet.

Grumpily, A-Fu let go of A-Kui and slowed down, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. "A-Qiang is the turd. Why can’t he leave us alone? He’s not a big kid."

Even as he said it, A-Qiang tripped over his own foot and fell flat on his face. A-Kui hissed in, A-Yuan winced, and the nanny rushed over as A-Qiang raised his head back up and started wailing. Unbelievable. A-Fu scowled harder as all his friends and the dogs ran back to him. He followed too, slower, his heart and brain all stormy and dark. This was dumb. He didn’t get the whole fuss over little kids--he wanted to go play.

"Ohhh, it's okay, it's okay," A-Kui cooed in a soft, high voice when A-Ling reached his brother and heaved him up into his arms. "Poor QiangQiang, it’s okay!”

“I got him,” A-Ling told the nanny confidently, even though A-Qiang was more than half his size and his arms were overflowing and he was bent backward to support him.

“Alright, xiao-gongzi,” she nodded with a smile and faded back to stand like one of the gold curlicues of flowers up the wall by the window as the rest of the boys crowded around.

A-Qiang sobbed into A-Ling’s shoulder, arms wrapped around his neck, loud and annoying. A-Yuan patted his back as A-Ling bounced on his heels, almost falling over from the weight. “You’re okay, A-Qiang, lemme see.” With difficulty, he craned his head back farther and smeared the ends of his brother’s hair back from his spit and tear wet cheeks, inspecting him. “You’re not hurt, see? It’s just a bump,” he assured, giving him a kiss right above his red dot. “All better, right?”

Back down the hall, A-Fu uncrossed his arms to recross them again, harder. “Then can he go now?”

“He’s just sad ‘cause the babies are taking up all the attention from a-niang and a-die,” A-Ling said, like he knew anything about why babies did dumb things; it sounded like something a grownup said and he was repeating. “He just wants to be with his gege, right?”

Tearfully, A-Qiang nodded, sniffling. “Gege!”

“But we don’t want a didi with us, right?”

“I don’t care!” A-Kui said, brightly. “Babies are funny.” Of course A-Kui would think so--he was already an Uncle from his oldest 2 sisters, so he was used to them ruining everything.

“A-Qiang isn’t a baby,” A-Ling informed him. “He’s 1.”

Ugh, A-Fu had to be the reasonable one around here. “A-Yuan?”

His other cousin shrugged, kinda uncomfortably, like he knew what A-Fu wanted to hear but it wasn’t what he was gonna say. “Um. I dunno. I’m okay. We’re just paddling in the pond, right?”

With a huge, angry huff, A-Fu gave up and yelled, “Fine!” spinning back around and stomping down the hall. Behind him, A-Qiang’s new puppy yipped excitedly and ran up to jump at his heels. “Go away!” he snapped at it, even though it didn’t listen because it was a baby and also a dog. Instead, it just lolled out its tongue and yipped again.

“Ugh, what is your problem?!” Jin Ling snapped at him as he waddled with A-Qiang, sounding just like his Uncle Jiang Cheng did when he was grumpy (which seemed like all the time). “You’re such a poo-head!”

“Well, you’re a poop and a fart! In your pants!” A-Fu yelled back, because it was the worst insult he knew, the one that would get him A Look and so many chores.

With that, he darted around the corner, leaving them all behind. A little way down the sunny hall, he flapped a tapestry of some guy away from the wall and hid behind it as a lump where it was dark and just a little too warm.

Dust and sweat prickled in his collar as he heard A-Yuan say, wisely, “Jin-er-bobo said A-Fu is having a tough time, right now.”

That’s for sure. How could he not be having a tough time!?

First, he found out that Yellow-Father gave A-Qiang a dog and not him. That was both Jin Ling and Jin Qiang! And not him! His own son! Blue-Father had told him it was because they don’t allow dogs at the Cloud Recesses or any sort of pets, but that was stupid! He had two whole other homes and the dog could wait for him there! “Part of owning a pet is the responsibility,” Blue-Father told them when Yellow-Father had offered to have servants take care of it for him. Yellow-Father had tried to persuade him again, but Blue-Father did his polite I’m Not Going to Change My Mind voice, so that was final.

A-Fu had got so, so mad about it that he stomped his foot and said that Blue-Father was doing it on purpose and just didn’t want him to have any fun and A-Fu wanted to go live at Koi Tower forever. Blue-Father had raised his eyebrows calmly like he did and made him go stand in the corner until he calmed down, which just made all of A-Fu’s mad turn all ugly and grimy like a rock in his tummy. What’s worse was that A-Yuan was there for the whole thing. He was staying with them while Uncle Wangji was on a trip somewhere, so A-Fu got extra embarrassed to get in trouble in front of him. He stayed furious and quiet the whole rest of the night, refusing to talk to either of his fathers.

Then, Blue-Father had gone on an emergency Night Hunt the next day.

A-Fu had only said that stuff ‘cause he was mad. He really didn’t want to go live with the Jin forever, even if it meant he got to spend more time with Yellow-Father.

But maybe a god or an evil spirit heard him because Great-Uncle Qiren came to get him and A-Yuan from school instead of his yellow or blue fathers and told them there had been an accident. “Lan Xichen is in the infirmary,” he had said, laying a warm hand on A-Fu’s shoulder. His voice had been calm and quiet. “You don’t need to worry, the doctors have him stabilized, but I wanted to tell you before you found out through other means. Would you like to see him, or would you like me to call Jin-gongzi to take you back to the Hanshi?”

“I’m…” A-Fu had swallowed hard, his tummy full of cold and squirmy worms, looking at A-Yuan, who grabbed his hand and looked just as scared as he felt. “I wanna see him.”

Great-Uncle Qiren had nodded and held out his hand, and A-Fu took that too. “What happened?” A-Yuan had asked, timidly.

“He was injured by a beast with cursed venom that makes it impossible for wounds to stop bleeding without the antidote. It is not something we have encountered in this region before, so the research is taking some time.”

“Is…is he gonna die?” A-Fu had squeezed out, very small. He didn’t want to go live somewhere else, he didn’t want Blue-Father to go away forever! He hadn’t really meant it! He was just mad!

He didn’t want him to leave like his birth parents!

Great-Uncle Qiren’s hand squeezed a little and he looked down at A-Fu. His eyes had been really kind, just then. “Your fuqin is strong and our doctor’s are diligent. He will just need to recover in the infirmary once the antidote is found.”

But this had just made A-Fu feel even worse. Because that meant that it was time.

He tried to be brave about it, but by the time they reached the Infirmary, he was blinking and sniffing so much. A-Yuan had anxiously hugged his arm like he hugged grownup’s legs, but he just didn’t get it. With a big, deep breath, A-Fu let go and walked into the quiet infirmary ahead of the other two, trying to keep his head up and his shoulders back, like his teacher would remind him--just like how a Clan Leader should walk.

When he flung open the door to the small private room in the back, he found Yellow-Father kneeling beside the bed with a book open in his lap, and both he and Blue-Father looked up. A-Fu couldn’t see any bloodstains or hurts anywhere--and he looked at him real carefully. In a white undershirt and white headband against the white blankets, A-Fu’s blue father looked just as white, pale and sleepy, leaning back against the headboard on a pillow. But he still smiled when he saw who was at the door. A-Fu had almost forgot his mission and run to throw himself into one of his father’s laps, but he remembered at the last second and made himself walk in, slow and calm and responsible.

“Fufu, A-Yuan,” Yellow-Father had said, warmly, folding the old book away and putting it to the side, lifting one of his sleeves out of the way for them to sit on his lap. “Come here.”

But A-Fu hadn’t joined A-Yuan in ‘coming here’--he had blinked back his tears bravely and bowed to them both, very serious and grownup, and asked, “W-where do I go to do the zongzhu things? Do I…do I gotta get my own house or…?”

Both fathers blinked at him, Blue-Father pretty drowsily and, behind him, Great-Uncle Qiren had said, “What?”

Then a thought had occurred to A-Fu and it sounded just so miserable, he couldn’t stop his lip from quivering and the tears from getting in his voice when he asked, “Do I gotta walk to the Cultivation Conferences? I can’t fly yet, do I--”

“Oh. Oh, little one, I think you’re confused,” Blue-Father had interrupted and held out his arms. “Shh, come here.”

And even though he had been really trying to be brave about the whole thing, A-Fu felt his sobs rush out of him and he flung himself up onto the bed, even though Great-Uncle Qiren and Yellow-Father both made a loud, cut off noise like, “Don’t--!” making A-Yuan squeak in alarm.

His Blue-Father had let out a quiet grunt when he landed but had pulled him up to snuggle against him anyway, his long hands tucking his hair back behind his shoulder to pet his cheek. “I’m sorry I said all those mean things!” A-Fu wailed into the air. “I was just mad! I don’t really wanna go live at the Jin forever! Don’t die!”

“Shh, Fufu,” Yellow-Father reached out and rubbed his ankle where it hung off the bed. “Be gentle with your die. Don’t squeeze, don’t wiggle, be good.”

Blue-Father had kept stroking his cheek and he could feel him nodding above him. “I know. I know. Listen, A-Fu. I’m still zongzhu, I will still be able to attend to things. And even if I couldn’t, there are adults who would be taking care of it first. It’s not something I want you to worry about--it’s not your responsibility.”

He pulled himself back to look up into his calm, pale face. “But! But I’m gonna be Lan-zongzhu.”

“A very long time from now.”

A-Fu had heaved a huge, tearful breath and asked with dread, “How tall will it be?”

“How--?”

“Fufu,” Yellow-Father had cut in helplessly from next to them when Blue-Father and Great-Uncle Qiren looked over at him, confused. “Please, it’s--I’ve tried telling you, your height does not determine when you will die or how old you are.”

At this, Great-Uncle Qiren had ‘hmph’ed with a small smile and Blue-Father had huffed out a realizing laugh. Then he had winced and sat back, closing his eyes, breathing shallow and fast. The grownups gathered around real close at that, Great-Uncle Qiren putting his hand on his shoulder, but Blue-Father had shaken his head. “It’s nothing. No. A-Fu, listen to me.” He had opened his eyes and smiled softly, even though his mouth was now about as pale as the rest of him, and his words kinda crawled together, like he was really tired. “Right now…I want you to go pack to stay at Koi Tower for a little while. As a treat. Wangji-shushu will pick you and A-Yuan up on his way back to the Cloud Recesses in a few days. You’ll stay with him until I’m all better. Alright? That’s all you need t’think about. Can you do that?”

“But…”

“But?”

A-Fu looked around, at A-Yuan snuggled in Yellow-Father’s lap and Great-Uncle Qiren looking so serious and Blue-Father looking so so tired and still smiling at him. “So I don’t gotta be zongzhu for you while you get better?”

“No.”

Beside them, Great-Uncle Qiren shook his head when A-Fu looked up at him, then back to Blue-Father. “But…I’m your succession.”

“My…? ...Ah. Yes, you are my heir, but I’m still…I don’t want you worrying about that, right now. You are still a child. Go play. I love you very much.”

Yellow-Father gathered A-Yuan and him up to take back to the Hanshi just as the doctors came in with a stack of books, talismans, and cloth. They all looked very serious and focused, which A-fu supposed was a good thing, except it made all the calm Blue-Father’s calm had given him escape, a little. Great-Uncle Qiren stayed behind with his hands tucked behind his back, watching everything carefully.

All the time packing and all the way to Koi Tower, Yellow-Father had been happy and bright with his words and smiles. They could have stayed with someone in the Cloud Recesses, he had told them, but both Blue-Father and him had thought they might like to see their friends, because A-Kui was visiting with Old Clan Leader Ouyang. Yellow-Father had chatted and stroked their heads in the carriage on the bumpy road and even brought out some cards to play as A-Fu hugged his Little Fathers dolls and wished so hard he had a Blue-Father one to hold onto, too.

And he had even forgotten to pack the pinwheels he had bought with Uncle Huaisang back at the Unclean Realm.

So yeah. A-Fu was having a hard time, even if he did get to see all his friends. And he still didn’t want stinky A-Qiang to hang around them. Sometimes he smelled bad and he couldn’t run as fast as them and that did not make him mean! It was just true! Everyone should just give him a break, okay?!

He was so busy fuming and sniffling behind the tapestry that he didn’t hear the rest of them come up and lift it up away from him. He blinked up at them in the new sunlight, glaring. When A-Kui saw that he was trying not to cry, he crouched down next to him and threw his arms around him, saying, “Oh, poor FuFu! It’s okay, it’s okay!” just like how he did when A-Qiang cried, but it actually felt kinda nice for someone to say ‘poor Fufu’, cause he did feel like a poor FuFu, right now.

A-Yuan went down on his other side and hugged him, too, and even A-Qiang chirped, “Oh, oh!” from Jin LIng’s arms, which was also kinda nice. The Jin nanny leaned over him, blocking out the light from the window and kindly asked, “Are you ready to go to the pond now, Lan-xiao-gongzi?” And A-Fu guessed he was.

Things got a lot better in the sunshine and the clear pond and so many of A-Fu’s grumps went away. They all 4 splashed around in the shallows, hollering and giggling, trying to catch the fish. When they couldn’t, they started throwing little pebbles deeper into the water where all the fish had swum away to hide, making their palms all dirty and gritty and pulling weeds--until the Jin nanny rushed over with A-Qiang on her hip and said to ‘stop stop!’ and that they weren’t weeds but water plants there on purpose. Plants were plants were plants, in A-Fu’s opinion, but, like, okay. “What plants can we pull?” he asked. There were always plants to pull in Uncle Huaisang and him’s garden back at the Unclean Realm--lots of weeds his uncle got mad at.

“None,” she replied, all horrified, like he was putting her under a lot of pressure or something. “This is a garden.”

Wasn’t that a part of having a garden? A-Fu had definitely pulled up plants in here before and opened his mouth to say so when he saw A-Ling looking over at him with huge eyes and a grimace, so he thought for a second. Then he closed his mouth again. ‘Cause they had definitely pulled those plants in here together. “Uh, okay,” he said instead. “Then…I won’t.”

When she turned back around, A-Ling heaved a big sigh of relief and grinned, so A-Fu grinned back and jumped on him to wrestle around a bit in the mud on the side shore. Usually when they rough housed, A-Ling would end up complaining that he was losing and hit him too hard and ruin it. But since they had escaped danger together and all of A-Fu’s bad mood was pretty much gone, they just rolled around and cackled, knocking over A-Kui into the shallows and making Little Fairy and the new puppy yap excitedly at them.

“A-Kui! Are you okay?” A-Yuan anxiously bent down to help haul him up from the steps leading down to the pond where he had been sitting, dipping his feet in the water, since he didn’t like to get as dirty as the rest of them.

Spitting water and scrubbing his face, A-Kui tottered to his feet, then laughed, “Yeah!” and flopped back down again backwards with a huge splash, this time, on purpose.

Ahhhh, this is the life, A-Fu thought, as he rolled away from Jin Ling, flopping down on his back on the warm stone path, panting. He had heard Uncle Huaisang sigh this with a big smile at times when they laid on the grass outside and looked at the shapes in clouds or when they came back from a shop with their arms so full of stuff, so he knew that it meant everything was super good. The air smelled good and fresh and he was with his best friends ever. Even the worry deep in his tummy for Blue-Father was far away, like it was underwater with the fish on the other side of the pond. And even when the new puppy came to lick at the water on his face and a shadow came across him from over his head and he saw that it was A-Qiang looking down at him curiously, he didn’t get annoyed like he usually did--though maybe that was because A-Qiang wasn’t crying at him.

Empathy, said the little Blue-Father in his head, so he heaved a huge sigh and said, “Hey, A-Qiang. What did you name your new puppy?”

“Puppy!” A-Qiang exclaimed, clapping his hands before jumping to belly flop onto A-Fu’s head.

It took a long time of crying and yelling from A-Fu and A-Qiang--who people said didn’t understand what he did, but how could he not understand that he had totally crushed A-Fu’s nose?!--and A-Ling, who was defending his stupid brother, and a lot a lot a lot of treats from the Jin nanny, but everyone eventually got all calmed down and laid around on the shore, letting their muddy, wet clothes dry off in the sun while they munched on candied ginger and fruit. “Is it bleeding?” A-Fu asked A-Yuan again, turning his head and tilting it up so he could see up his throbbing nose.

Because he was the best, A-Yuan leaned in close and peered at him intently, holding a half eaten plum in his fist, before declaring, “Nope.”

“He said sorry,” Jin Ling griped, his arm still around the horrible A-Qiang who sat in his lap, shoving a loquat into his stupid face.

“I don’t think that he really knows what that means,” A-Kui piped up from laying flat on his back, looking up at the sky. “‘Cause he kinda screamed it.”

“He wanted to play like we did,” A-Ling insisted, just repeating what the Jin nanny had tried to soothe A-Fu with. “He wanted to wrestle.”

Looking down his nose at the kid as he happily smeared loquat juice all over his face, A-Fu snorted like Gray-Father and said, as coldly as he could, “Well, that’s not how you do it.”

A-Yuan reached out and patted A-Fu’s shoulder sympathetically. “I know, I know. We’ll teach him, ‘cause that’s what gege’s do.”

“I don’t wanna be a gege,” A-Fu said darkly, but went back to eating his own loquat, with way more cleanness and dignity, just to show A-Qiang who was boss.

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly, though--they all took a bath together and got fresh clothes. They played Hide-And-Seek--which A-Fu won every time, because he was just the best at sneaking--and Evil Doctor, a game A-Yuan made up where he chased them around as the fierce corpse of a doctor and threatened to prick them with needles if they didn’t behave. Even though they saw Jin Chan and his gang one time, it was across the courtyard, and so all A-Fu and A-Ling had to do was stick out their tongues and disappear back inside, so nothing even that bad really happened.

Then, when dinner came and they all sat around eating some soup that wasn’t as good as Aunt Yanli’s, they talked very seriously about choosing a name for their group when A-Ling, A-Fu, and A-Kui were all Clan Leaders. All the cool grownup groups had names; like A-Fu’s fathers, the Venerated Triad, Uncle Wangji and Blue-Father, the Twin Jades, and Yellow-Father and Uncle Zixuan, the Twin Treasures.

“Well, A-Yuan’s gonna be by my side,” A-Fu announced, confidently. “We’re gonna be, like, the Twin Jades…Again. We already swored to each other that we’re gonna stay together forever. We’ll have the same fates.”

“Right!” A-Yuan nodded happily,.

“Wait! Imma be zongzhu too!” Jin Ling exclaimed, all indignant, soup spoon freezing on its way to his mouth. “I want A-Yuan, too!”

When A-Yuan opened his mouth, he was interrupted by A-Kui wailing, “What? What about me? I’m gonna be Ouyang-zongzhu! Me too!”

A-Yuan tried to start again, but A-Fu scoffed. “Look. A-Yuan’s a Lan. Laaan Yuan, Laaan Fu, right? Right? We live together, so he’s gonna be with me.”

“Okay, but--” A-Yuan started.

“That’s not fair!” A-Ling shouted and he banged his fist down on the table, making the soup in his bowl jump.

“A-Ling,” came Uncle Zixuan’s warning voice from the next room where he was helping put all the babies to bed, but he didn’t come in, so A-Ling just repeated in a fierce whisper, “That’s not fair! We’re all best friends, we’re all gonna be sworn brothers--the same! Equal!”

A-Fu pursed his lips up, doubtfully, looking at the 3 of them. He loved them and all, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to raise a kid with them like his fathers or anything. Was that a requirement? “I guess…” he said, slowly, but A-Kui suddenly sat up straight and held out a super important hand, palm out.

“Wait,” he announced, all dramatic. “I have an idea.”

All 3 turned back to him, and he pointed into A-Fu’s face so he had to go cross eyed to see his finger. “Your die’s gotta share you, right?”

“Yeah?”

“We can share A-Yuan the same!”

A-Yuan wrinkled his nose and grimaced a little. “I don’t--”

“I get him in the summer,” A-Fu hurried to blurt. “I call it.”

“I call winter!” A-Ling almost jumped up to his feet in the excitement.

“Guys--”

“I need extra help,” A-Kui said thoughtfully, thinking hard. “Maybe I get spring and autumn?”

All of a sudden, A-Yuan banged his hands down on the table and hollered. “HEY!”

“A-Ling!” Uncle Zixuan hissed, poking his head out around the fancy doorway, face stormy and tired. “Stop.”

Jin Ling shoved his hands up in the air indignantly and mouthed things back at him--probably, ‘it wasn’t me! Really really!’ Even though no one was really that scared of Uncle Zixuan, he was still a grownup, so they all stayed quiet and hunkered down until he shook his head and took away his sharp stare. Then, everyone looked over at A-Yuan, who was sitting with his hands over his mouth, staring at the doorway Uncle Zixuan had gone back around. Then, he peeked his face back around his fingers and whispered loudly, “Do I get a say?!”

“What else are you gonna be doing?” A-Fu demanded, just as quiet.

“I dunno! Night Hunting! Traveling with die! But I’m not--I’m not a doll or something!”

They all checked the doorway, which stayed empty, then huddled back together over the table, heads in. “Well, we just love you, A-Yuan,” A-Kui explained.

“Yeah, you said you were gonna stay forever,” A-Fu added, anxiously, reaching out and squeezing his arm. “You’re so really good at numbers and writing and music reading and stuff and I’m so really good at fighting so we’re a good pair, right? We’re gonna watch each other’s backs, right?”

“Well, yeah, but--!” A-Yuan squinched up his face, like he was concentrating. “But like! I dunno! Maybe sometimes I wanna be alone!”

They were silent as they thought about that. A-Fu definitely didn’t like being alone and he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of A-Yuan going and doing his own thing somewhere away from him. But maybe people were different? That was a weird thought. “Huh,” A-Ling said.

“I’ll still help, though. I’ll help everyone,” A-Yuan added hastily. “We should still have names.”

They all brainstormed until all of their grownups came to pick them up for the night. A couple of the names were promising, like The Band of Awesome and Fireworks Gang (because they liked fireworks) and Justice Squad but none of them sounded quite as grownup as ‘The Twin Jades’ or anything, so they all agreed to keep thinking on it. A-Kui waved cheerily back at them as he skipped away into the purple and orange and blue sunset, holding his father’s hand. When Yellow-Father stepped over the threshold and opened his sleeves to let all 3 of them crash into him with a hug that knocked him back half a step, Aunt Yanli quietly stepped out of her room with a tired smile. “Oh? Are the rowdy boys bedding down for the night? You’re sure that we can’t take them for you?”

Yellow-Father smiled back and bowed hello around them with difficulty. Then he looked down at the grinning faces peeping up at him, all crowded together, laying his hands lightly on their heads. “Oh, I’m perfectly happy and I wouldn’t want to impose, especially since you have your hands full already. In fact, would you like me to take A-Ling for the night?”

At this news, all of the kids excitedly turned back to Aunt Yanli and were going to clamor and jump when she held her hands out, palms down, shushing them. “Shh, shh, the babies.”

She smiled while she said it, but it was very sleepy, like the twins were taking all the awakeness out of her like blood-sucking ghosts. “I wouldn’t want to impose….” she trailed off, saying those same grownup words that Yellow-Father had while looking over at him--and it sort of sounded to A-Fu like she was hopeful.

“It’s no trouble,” Yellow-Father assured her and A-Fu punched the air, wiggling happily, and super silently, making his father shoot him an amused look.

Tilting her head, Aunt Yanli heaved a big sigh and reached out to stroke down Jin Ling’s face as he eagerly ran over to wrap around her belly. “What do you think? Do you want to stay with your xiaoshu tonight, A-Ling?” Instead of answering, he nodded his head so hard that he jumped in time to it, grinning all big. “Oof. Alright, go ask a-die to help you get on your pajamas and pack you some robes. You’re sure?” she asked Yellow-Father again even as Jin Ling raced away down the dim hallway to his parents room.

“Of course!” he answered easily and A-Yuan and A-Fu broke away to dance in a circle around him, giggling as silently as they could, whisper-shouting, “Sleepover sleepover sleepover!”

Laughing quietly, Aunt Yanli folded her hands across her belly and said, “I’m happy you’re happy, boys. Oh, and A-Fu, I read your letter and you’re right! How could I have forgotten to add in a Blue-Father? How silly of me. They’re a set, yes?”

This night couldn’t get any better! A-Fu wiggled and jiggled over to give her a huge, squeezy hug that she accepted with her hands patting his back. She smelled like flowers and spices and old milk, which was confusing, but not necessarily bad, and she was still really squishy--definitely even squishier than when she had all those babies in her belly. But he knew better than to mention that in front of any grownups again. “Yeah! All the die’s all together always!”

“...What do we say?” Yellow-Father prompted calmly from behind him, but he couldn’t see him through all the sleeves and stuff.

“Thank you thank you thankyouthankyouthankyo--!”

Again, Aunt Yanli laughed, and booped his nose with her knuckle all gentle when he beamed up at her. “You’re very welcome. Speaking of, is there any news of…?” she looked back up, hands rubbing little circles on A-Fu’s shoulderblades.

Yellow-Father’s voice came again through the fabric cave--he sounded a little more tired. “It has been challenging, apparently. But it’s still under control.”

A-Fu twisted around to demand, “Who? What?” as A-Yuan hugged onto Yellow-Father’s thigh happily.

Yellow-Father put his hand onto A-Yuan’s head, smiling at A-Fu. “Nothing to worry about. Ah, A-Ling! Are we ready?”

As she fixed A-Ling’s collar and bent down to kiss his forehead, Aunt Yanli asked, “Did you have fun today? You’ll have to tell me all about it in the morning.”

“Yeah! We’re all gonna be sworn brothers!”

“Never parted!” A-Yuan added brightly, as A-Fu finished, “Yeah, we’re gonna have a fancy name and A-Yuan and me are gonna be like…like twin heroes!”

As Yellow-Father shepherded them all away out the door into the cool night with patient hands and A-Ling started to complain that he and A-Yuan should get a team name too, A-Fu saw Aunt Yanli standing in the doorway behind them with the gold light coming out around her all soft and cozy. One hand pressed flat over her belly and one leaned on the door, like it was holding her up and all of a sudden, her face looked shocked and…really lonely. It went away pretty quick, though, and she called with a wobbly smile, “Take care. Have fun. Goodnight….Love you.”

A-Ling jumped on his toes and waved back as they disappeared into the dark.

[drwcn]

exam studying means 75% of my brain is random medical jargon, 20% is disjointed fanfic dialogue, and the rest it is my ever present craving for chicken nuggets - ANYWAYS - here's some random dialogue for 《Without Envy》. At this point am I just throwing stuff at you guys??? Maybe. Other more coherent snippets and storyboards can be found on [Master List]

~~~

—"You can't just go around saying stuff like that!"

—"Oh? I did not realize I would offend Wei Ying."

—"I- I didn't mean that- stop reading! It's just...it's not true and if the palace learns about it I'll be in trouble for it insubordination and acting above my station."

—"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan frowned.

—"I'm just a servant's son -"

—"Wei Ying!"

—"It's true! How many sons of dukes and daughters of marquises would have to drop dead before the imperial court would let you take on the son of a servant as your legal spouse?"

///

— "He's certainly got a face men will pay a pretty penny for, I'll give you that - Oh! Almost got me there, you brat - Feisty too, I see."

— " - I'll kill you!! - agh -"

— "He's gonna be a difficult one, Laobao'zi. He's still able to punch after all the doses we fed him. He's different than all the other products that pass through here. You sure he's never been trained in martial arts?" (laobao'zi = madam of a brothel)

— "Martial arts - pah! A son of a servant? Don't make me laugh. Jin-ce-wangfu reassured me he would be no trouble."

— " - I'll skin every single one of you alive - I swear on the grave of my mother I will! "

— "See?"

— "Nah, he's all talk. Give it a day or two, he'll be begging for release, lest he wants to be burned alive from within. If he resists...well, he only has seven days."

— " Damned wench - I would never - I would rather die -"

— "Save it, child. You would hardly be the first to say those words to me. Tsk, such soft skin. I can see why you've caught Hanguang-wang's eyes, but you made enemies of the wrong people , my boy. Don't worry, I'll tell my guys to go easy. They can be a little... well, heavy handed."

///

— LWJ: "Wei Ying - Wei Ying! It's alright - it's me - you're safe -"

— WWX: "You're lying! You're not Lan Zhan - let go of me - you're not Lan Zhan - no please don't -"

— JC: "Why is he like this?! Is it the poison's effect? Daifu! Guards! Somebody sedate him!"

///

— WWX: "You're wasting your breath. I would never betray Qishan."

— MY: "You're right. Qishan did take you in. Do you remember Dafan Mountain, Wei Wuxian? It's greenery, its waters, its people?"

— WWX: "Da..Dafan?"

— MY: "What? The honourable man forgetting who truly saved his life?"

— "He was a child." An unfamiliar voice. "It's not strange that he does not remember."

* And from the shadows came forth a figure shrouded in a heavy cloak. The voice belied a woman, and as she turned, the light of the moon cast serendipitously onto her stoic face. It was not a face that Wei Wuxian immediately recognized, but those eyes, always too serious for her delicate features… he remembered those eyes.*

— WWX: "Wen Qing…"

///

— "Wei Wuxian!!! How could you?! I trusted you!! My father trusted you!! A-jie's heart is broken! She loved you so dearly! Even mother - "

— "I'm sorry Jiang Cheng, but we can only serve the master we know. I have Qishan, you have Gusu. We were destined to be enemies."

///

— Servant: "Ce-wangfei, ce-wangfei! The most horrible thing has happened!"

— JYL: "What's happened? Did A-Cheng catch up to A-Xian?"

— Servant: "Jiang-xiao-gongzi, he - he -"

— JYL: "Speak lass, what happened?!"

— Servant: "It's that wretched Wei Wuxian! He'd slain Jiang-xiao-gongzi. They're saying he threw Jiang-xiao-gongzi's body down a cliff!"

///

— MY: "Welcome back, Jiang Wanyin. How do you feel?"

— JC: "Like dog shit, but you know, alive. So I guess, can't complain. Where...am I? Why am I not home?"

— Voice: "Because, we have use for you. Gusu has use for you."

* JC turned his head and froze when he saw the figure sitting at the table.*

— NMJ: "It's good to see you, again, Jiang-xiongdi."

— JC: "...Chifeng-zun?! You're alive?!"

[hunxi-after-hours]

ALL RIGHT!!! all right all right all right, I guess my first 琅琊榜 LYB meta is going to be about Lin Chen, because I love him, and I think he’s one of the most important characters in the show despite the fact that he’s there for oh, maybe nine episodes out of fifty-four

keep this image in your thoughts, I’m gonna come back for it

and really, it all boils down to this:

Lin Chen is Mei Changsu’s friend, not Lin Shu’s.

There is a ghost haunting every moment of LYB (okay, fine, there’s seventy thousand ghosts), and his name is Lin Shu. The brightest youth in the capital, the young marshal of the Chiyan forces--brilliant, bold, beautiful, bright, he’s larger than life, impossibly talented, universally beloved. Nihuang still holds a special place in her heart for him after twelve years; Xiao Jingyan never truly lets go (the red bow on the wall, his lingering dislike for intrigue, politics, and tacticians with bland smiles) of his best friend, his other half. In the very first conversation (first real conversation) Meng da-tongling has with Mei Changsu, stolen between imperial walls, voices hushed for fear of discovery, Meng Zhi expresses his disbelief: you’d written in letters that because of grave injury, your appearance was wholly changed, but I had never imagined--

Eternally, Mei Changsu is both the shadow and shadow archetype of Lin Shu--his polar opposite, quiet and reserved where Lin Shu was brash and loud, deceptive and conniving where Lin Shu was straightforward and righteous. We laugh at Xiao Jingyan for taking so long to figure out who Lin Shu was, but can we blame him? Mei Changsu spent a decade shaping himself into everything Lin Shu wasn’t.

Lin Shu lingers in almost every interaction Mei Changsu has with his former friends, acquaintances, family, fondnesses--it’s precisely why he cannot reveal himself to Nihuang, or Jingyan, because they loved Lin Shu too well, and, knowing his true identity, could not bear to watch him give, and give, and give of a frail body that was already running out of time. Lin Shu lingers in the way the former Chiyan troops salute Mei Changsu, in his joint mission with Prince Jing to overturn an old decree and wash the name of the Lin house clean of blame. 

And for the most part, Mei Changsu does not resent this lingering--after all, he still is Lin Shu on some level. These bones and blood are the same, even if this body no longer looks like how it used to (you used to look so much like your father--). Mei Changsu is avenging Lin Shu, avenging himself, as much as the other seventy thousand lost souls.

But Lin Chen does not look at Mei Changsu and see the ghost of the man he had once been before. Lin Chen looks at Mei Changsu, and sees Mei Changsu.

(do I, in fact, go absolutely feral over the fact that Lin Chen is the only person I can think of who calls Mei Changsu by name only? to everyone else, Mei Changsu is Su-xiansheng, shaoshuai, Su-xiong, zongzhu, but to Lin Chen, and Lin Chen alone, he is just--Changsu)

Mei Changsu is peerless, in every sense of the word. He occupies the highest position of the Langya gongzi rankings; he’s the impossible 麒麟才子 qilin talent, coveted and admired and dreaded and feared. He is the leader of the Jiangzuo alliance; he is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, bundled in more robes than the season calls for, hidden beneath that bland, unreadable smile he’s perfected over a decade. Mei Changsu doesn’t have friends--above, he has his liege-lord; below, he has a truly terrifying array of connections and subordinates, people who would die for him in a heartbeat, people who will do anything for him. Oh, sure, he enters the capital, ostensibly as Xiao Jingrui’s friend, but look how well that turned out for Xiao Jingrui.

No, Mei Changsu doesn’t have friends. He has at best, chess pieces he’s friendly with, chess pieces that he’ll try to take care of, chess pieces that he will, nevertheless, maneuver if he needs their service.

And then there’s Lin Chen. Langya Hall’s young master, snarky, irreverent, incandescently talented in his own way and more than happy to remind Mei Changsu of that fact. Lin Chen, who gives Mei Changsu as good as he gets. Lin Chen, who’ll sass Mei Changsu right back, who’ll challenge his decisions, who’ll laugh in his face, who’ll bully him into resting. Lin Chen, who understands (知己 zhiji, I’ll throw hands about this, they know each other) Mei Changsu more than anyone else--more, even, than Xiao Jingyan, for all the prince’s wide-eyed hurt and decade of angry grief.

Lin Chen is so goddamn important and I will die on this hill.

Remember that screenshot I started out this post with? Here, I’ll bring it back:

So what really strikes me about the visual composition of this moment is the balance in the frame--they are each given equal weight, and they mirror each other with their long, pale robes falling in folds, long hair cascading down their backs (long, unbound hair, which is continually associated with the jianghu, the world separate from the imperial center, though the two of them prove to be more intertwined than romantic notions would have any of us believe). 

Lin Chen is not not one of Mei Changsu’s chess pieces (if you listen closely to his lines, he repeatedly mentions going to Nanchu/Southern Chu, which is relevant to the Worst Birthday Party Ever, implying that he was there to help Mei Changsu with Certain Plots), but Lin Chen also holds a certain amount of power over Mei Changsu as his doctor. Lin Chen, more than anyone else, is the one keeping Mei Changsu alive. Likewise, Lin Chen understands Mei Changsu best--he refuses the bingxucao on Mei Changsu’s behalf, which Mei Changsu then corroborates. Lin Chen calls out his friend--as if I don’t know you? he asks, after everything (not quite everything) has ended. You’re still holding onto that breath in your heart.

Hell, Lin Chen goes to war for Mei Changsu.

In the first episode, Mei Changsu asks, how much time do I have left? to which Lin Chen responds, well, how much time do you need? When Mei Changsu says two years, Lin Chen scoffs, says, two years? You’ll need ten doctors then.

There’s a pause, in which Mei Changsu stares at Lin Chen, solemn, unbending. Lin Chen looks away, glances back, sighs deeply, and caves, pulling a small ceramic bottle from his sleeve and placing it on the table. 

Lin Chen didn’t come to Langzhou just to check in on Mei Changsu. He came here, knowing already, what Mei Changsu would ask of him, and Lin Chen came prepared.

Mei Changsu laughs, a small huff of breath. 有你足矣，he says, 顶的过十个大夫. Having you is enough--you’re better than ten doctors.

What’s that? The sound of me, screaming once more, about the 足矣 zuyi pseudo-literary construction? The echoes of the Lu Xun quote 人生得一知己，足矣 / In this life, having one person who knows me is enough, which already goes hard, and then is popularized/refracted through the lens of the snow scene in CQL?

Everything Mei Changsu does is for his grand purpose, his great, impossible goal, the absolution of himself, his family, his ghost, his name. His accomplishment brings vindication and forgiveness, exoneration and closure to his friends and family, Xiao Jingyan and Mu Nihuang’s lost years, seventy thousand wronged souls. Mei Changsu sacrifices everything for truth, for justice, for the good of all under heaven.

And everything Lin Chen does is for his friend. That’s all, and it’s no less powerful.

[mamoonde]

Jin Ling and His Uncles - The Musical

We Don’t Talk About Bruno but make it MDZS canon div au

[at Lotus Pier Training Field]

We don’t talk about Wei Ying, no, no, no

We don’t talk about Wei Ying… BUT—

It was your hundredth day.

We were in Lanling and there wasn’t a corpse in Qiongqi

(No corpse allowed in Qiongqi!)

Wei Ying walks in,

with his fierce corpse Wen Ning—

NO SWORD!

—Are you telling this story or am I?!

I’m sorry Jiang-zongzhu go on…

Jin Zixun said, “Un-curse me!” (Shixiong would never…!)

Wei Ying said, “It wasn’t me!” (He didn’t even know her!)

Your dad tried to stop the blades…!

Well, you know this part, but anyway—

We don’t talk about Wei Ying, no, no, no...

[Jiang Cheng storms off; Jiang disciples crowd around Jin Ling]

—But if you really wanna know…

Dashixiong was fierce; always talking loud and flirting

People at the pier never saw him not smiling

I associate him with the scent of lotus wine (and spice spice spice)

But you know, the war, all the horrors - it changed him

Always getting drunk with a gaze so empty

Weighed down by some burden that we couldn’t understand—

Do you understand?

Hid up in Yiling, up in Luanzang Hill

Let resentment build, and hasn’t come out since

Yeah, the sects led a siege, but none of them succeeded so

They don’t talk about Wei Ying, no, no, no;

Not since Jin Zixuan’s funeral, where—

Nie-gongzi tripped on air, and Su She fell (No robes!)

And there, upon his chest - it looked like hell! (All holes!)

Turns out that all the holes on Jin Zixun were caused by this man! (Even worse—)

Somebody else played the tune that killed your dad!

[enter Yanli sitting in her pavilion]

In my dreams, he’d be there with a grin,

Saying, “shijie, your son has your eyes.”

He told me he’d prepared you a gift

To protect you for all of your life

(Hey, Liangfang-zun is on his way!)

Then one night he came crying to me,

A blade offered to me - to atone for your father…

I’ve long forgiven him now…

A-Xian, will you come home now? (Bring him home somehow!)

[Jin Ling, soliloquy; the disciples scatter]

Hey, dajiu

Was it really not you?

If you really cared about us, “dajiu”

Give me the truth and the whole truth, dajiu!

(So who was it, who played that tune?

Who killed my father?)

[Jiang disciples pass by helping him pack up]

You’ll find him in Yiling, (It was your hundredth day!)

Up in Luanzang Hill (should’ve been a joyous day!) (You were just a baby—)

Where resentment built a fortress that won’t yield (—and there wasn’t a corpse in Qiongqi)

(No corpse allowed in Qiongqi!)

Yeah the sects led a siege, but none of them succeeded (Wei Ying walks in with his fierce corpse Wen Ning)

—No sword! Why tell him this story, he could die?!

—Quick, Lianfang-zun is on his way!

Jin Zixun said, “Un-curse me!” (Then one night he came crying to me)

Wei Ying said, “It wasn’t me!” (His blade offered to me, for your father, your father)

Your dad tried to stop the blades…! (He’d protect your for all of your life)

—He’s here!

Go before Lianfang-zun takes all control,

[Jin Ling sneaks out]

(I really need to find dajiu)

Go and bring dashixiong home!

I’m gonna bring you home, dajiu!

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 14 first part

(RR The Untamed Masterpost) (Canary’s Pinboard - more Masterposts) 

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Murder Turtle, Continued

Lan Wangji wakes up after a good night's sleep leaning against a rock wall, to find that his leg is no longer splinted, and his perfectly clean and unbloody headband has been put back on his head while he was sleeping.

Leaving aside the "not waking up" part of things, how, exactly, did Wei Wuxian get his headband on without mussing his hair? Did he bring a crochet hook?

Wei Wuxian gives him a sitrep and then they cozy up and have an extended conversation about the nature and history of the Tortoise of Slaughter. Wei Wuxian is interested in everything Lan Wangji has to say, and Lan Wangji talks a lot more than usual; they are completely on the same wavelength here and are enjoying swapping obscure knowledge.

Lan Wangji: My lacerated leg and I are actually super aware that it has big teeth, but thanks for the reminder.

In the course of the conversation, Wei Wuxian mentions his plan to 1. sneak into the tortoise's shell and 2. drive it out of its shell so they can attack it. 

OP did a little tortoise research and learned that the only species of turtle that can leave its shell is the Koopa Troopa.

Good news for Wei Wuxian: If you jump on its shell in the right spot, you can rack up a pile of extra lives.

Does that make the Tortoise of Slaughter a giant Koopa Troopa? Perhaps...the king of the Koopa Troopas?

I'm gonna say yes.

(More after the cut)

Let’s Go Killing

Wei Wuxian is exhilarated by the idea of fighting a giant dangerous monster with Lan Wangji. Some day Wei Wuxian will found the Nike clan, because his motto is definitely "Just do it." 

It's sweet how, in his romantic notions about chivalry and Lan Wangji, he's completely elided the original reason they were (sort of) told to venture together. 

Wei Wuxian: I'm still on the "find the Yin Iron" quest; I'm just skipping the "suppress it" part.  

Wei Wuxian weighs up their chances against Bowser and tells Lan Wangji that even if they die, it will be badass to be killed by a famous monster, so they won't have to feel embarrassed.

This is the exact moment that Lan Wangji's feelings for Wei Wuxian go from "smitten" to "gagging for it."

Lan Wangji: as soon as we get out of here I'm going to borrow a whole lot of books from Nie Huaisang

The boys come up with a plan that involves a rather long montage of collecting archery equipment and deconstructing it. This potentially-dull montage is fun to watch because they are both very, very good looking.

Artists who want to draw Wang Yibo as an elven archer, this is your episode.

Now we suddenly have, with zero explanation, telepathy. Ok, sure. It seems to work kind of like a phone conversation, in which they say specific things to each other, rather than like Cherry Magic telepathy where you can hear everything the other person is thinking. Or at least, neither of them is embarrassed, so I assume they are maintaining some mental privacy.

Club Ruohan

Same, Wen Chao, same

At some point there is a boring sequence at Club Ruohan.  Wen Ruohan doesn't know where Xue Yang is, but really wants his hunk of Yin Iron. Wen Chao thinks that WRH's 3 pieces of Yin Iron should be able to beat Xue Yang's 1 piece, but apparently he is dumb and that is not how math works. O...kay? OP does not understand this either but whatever, Wen Ruohan is boring, moving on. This scene is really just here to make us think about Yin Iron before Wei Wuxian jumps into Bowser's shell.

Bigger On The Inside

So then Wei Wuxian climbs into Bowser's shell, which is, to quote The 12th Doctor, bigger on the inside.

Bowser’s shell is the approximate size of my entire house. It is also bathed in a hellish pure red photo filter, which OP has done her best to remove for these gifs, because it gives me eye strain and it obscures Xiao Zhan's hotness.

Camera Operator: What did I do? 

Wei Wuxian wanders around inside, finding random corpses encased in slime cocoons. Tortoise, spider, xenomorph, whatever. There are also random curtain things hanging all over, and then at one point Wei Wuxian stares into the face of a corpse, and then does a jump scare response at the camera operator even though nothing particular happened. 

I imagine the corpse was supposed to open its eyes and say "killl meeee" but it got censored. He also makes about 8 other faces at the camera operator, so we get that the inside of this TARDIS-like tortoise shell (must...resist...temptation...to...say...TORDIS) is yucky.

Lan Wangji waits outside listening to Wei Wuxian telepathically complain about the smell.  He is anxiously clenching a bundle of string and an arrow, and wishing he could clench Wei Wuxian Bichen instead.

Serendipitous Yin Iron

Wei Wuxian backs his way through the TORDIS until his butt bumps into a sword that is steaming with resentful energy. That's right: Wei Wuxian is about to pull a piece of Yin Iron almost literally out of his ass.

He grabs it and is overwhelmed by its screaming resentful energy and has to let it go again.

So this is what a vibrator with 4 batteries feels like

When Bowser comes looking for him, however, he quickly decides to go for it, grabbing the sword and singing "I've Got the Power (Gonna Make You Sweat)"

Wei Wuxian plunges the sword into Bowser's lower jaw, and Bowser pulls his entire head out of his shell with Wei Wuxian attached, while leaving the rest of his body and all rational laws of physics inside the shell.

Gamera Versus the Cultivators

What follows is one of the more ridiculous action sequences in the history of the world, and I say that as someone who likes Mothra movies. 

Wei Wuxian hovers in a perfect horizontal plank while “hanging from” the sword, which is held well below the level of his torso. While Bowser spins him around. For much of the time, Bowser keeps his head still and just waves his neck around.

Lan Wangji and the camera operator do everything they possibly can to make "guy pulls on string" look interesting. 

Everybody tries really, really hard and the actors are great at pretending something is there when it isn't, but this whole sequence is just horribly conceived.

What works well, though, is the Yin energy and Wei Wuxian's wrangling of it. He starts off being frightened and overwhelmed, and looking like it's too much for him; I dont' know if they made his face puffy on purpose or if that's just what happens when you spend days hanging from the ceiling fighting an imaginary monster. But he looks slack and unwell as he grapples with the iron sword.

Which makes this moment, when he gets control of it, deliciously creepy. He uses the power of the Yin Iron to stick a bunch of pokey things into Bowser's neck.

Lan Wangji has seen him struggling and now sees him...not struggling. Which scares the piss out of him, and he moves to finish the fight as quickly as possible, slicing up his hand and breaking the string. Combined with the pokey things, this does the trick and Bowser dies while Wei Wuxian faints and falls into the water.

Do the Whumpty Whump

Lan Wangji rescues him and wakes him up, and Wei Wuxian clutches the Yin Iron sword and tells Lan Wangji that he was knocked out by the screaming of disembodied voices.

This certainly sounds like a strange and dangerous phenomenon, so Lan Wangji carefully asks him to explain everything.

Ha ha ha j/k. Lan Wangji asks him exactly nothing about the strange sword or the black smoke or his weird evil smile or his new power over pointy objects. Lan Wangji appears to have a Star Trek: TNG level of unconcern about strange phenomena happening directly under his nose. But in fact he has noticed what's up, which is why he will be instantly distressed when he sees Wei Wuxian's flute moves at the Wen Corporate Headquarters.

Wei Wuxian has a fever (stay positive test negative) and comments on Lan Wangji's being so nice to him.

Wei Wuxian: I could never have imagined Lan Er Gongzi acting this concerned about me. Lan Wangji: what else have you never imagined me doing, while we're on the subject? 

Lan Wangji transfers a stream of spiritual energy to him. Lan Wangji has so much spiritual power he can be a battery for Wei Wuxian without breaking a sweat or, like, noticing whether Wei Wuxian has a golden core or not, for that matter.

Wei Wuxian basks in the nice feeling of gigajoules for a while but then decides he's bored. So then he pouts, whines, and cajoles Lan Wangji in exactly, EXACTLY the way he whines at Jiang Yanli.  I think this, while annoying of him, is a leap forward in his relationship with Lan Wangji.

He's letting his guard down and not just allowing Lan Wangji to take care of him; he's demanding to be cared for on multiple vectors, when he asks the guy who's already busy healing him to sing to him as well.

Lan Wangji obliges, singing him the song he composed about their love cultivation journey, while Wei Wuxian (or possibly Lan Wangji) (or possibly both) has a flashback to assorted sexy interactions that they've had so far.

Wei Wuxian memorizes the song perfectly on one hearing, before passing out.

Writing Prompt: Baldur’s Gate III / Untamed Crossover AU featuring elf archer Lan Wangji

I DARE YOU

Soundtrack: 1. Everybody Dance Now by C+C Music Factory 2. Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meatloaf 

Wei Wuxian fainting tally (cumulative): 3

[pakhnokh]

“Well, you’ll be staying here for a while, little lady.” Wei Wuxian said as they entered the house. “Yours will be the room on the left.” It was the room kept for guests. Lan Sizhui visited them sometimes and slept there. The farther from the room on the right the better, since, after all, it was their own room, and the things wangxian did in their own room. Well.

And so it began. At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary. MianMian was quite the quiet girl and she usually stayed in her room and played, while Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji attended their own matters, but always keeping an eye on her. The funny thing was that even though Wei Wuxian was more easy going, (as opposed to Lan Wangji who still stuck to the Gusu rules of “no running” “no talking while eating” etc), Little MianMian always turned a cold shoulder to him and obeyed everything Lan Wangji said with a nod, her big eyes shining. When they went outside, to the market for example, she would always stick to Lan Wangji’s side. While having to cross a busy street full of carts and horses and cows, MianMian refused to hold Wei Wuxian’s hand, and exclaimed that she wants to hold only Hanguang Jun’s hand. “Aiya Lan Zhan, it’s not fair! What am I doing wrong? It’s not new to me that she likes you more, but to this extent? I joke around and play with her and she just sits there with a grumpy face, and all *you* have to do is give her one of your looks and she’s running after you like a little puppy. Lan Zhan, I’m jealous and I don’t know of whom of you two exactly.” He sighed deeply. Lan Wangji caressed his back and kissed him on the temple.

The more the days passed, the more MianMian got used to her new “parents”, and she even started to be more talkative. One morning as she was playing in the main room, with Lan Wangji busy writing a report and Wei Wuxian playing the flute, she suddenly said: “I want to play.” The flute melody stopped. “Hmm, but you’re already playing.” She pointed at the two of them “With you.” “Ohhh” Wei Wuxian got down from the windowsill. “what do you want to play then?” “Family.” He laughed. “Alright! Hanguang Jun did you hear that? Fine, but I’m warning you I’m not gonna be the mother, so – What, Lan Zhan? Why are you looking at me like this? Huh! Suddenly you’re interested in what we’re saying.” “No.” MianMian said. “You’re not going to be the mother, I will be the mother!” It was so obvious to her. “And he’s going to be the father.” She pointed at Lan Wangji. “Oh. Alright. Then who will I be?” “You can be the kid”. “I can be that! But I’m warning you I’m a very problematic kid. Think you can handle that, a-niang?”

“hmph.”

“Just ask if you don’t believe me! Don’t I behave really bad, a-die~~?” a snap was heard. “Hmm, it seems a-die broke his brush. You see, I told you. I already got on his nerves. I bet he also wants to punish me, right a-die?”

“Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji warned him. His tone was serious, but strained. Ink splattered over the page he was working on and over his fingers because of the broken brush. His earlobes already tinted with a shade of pink. “I will bring you a handkerchief!” Miammian suggested, sensing that her new husband clearly isn’t pleased with the other man, and wanting to take the opportunity to shine.

She ran into her room to fetch it while Wei Wuxian glanced at Lan Wangji, smirking. Lan Wangji wasn’t amused – his eyes held fire.

Mianmian came back with the promised object and handed it to Lan Wangji: “here you go, darling.” “Hey! Woah! Where did you learn to say things like that, MainMian?”

“Mother! I am mother!” she corrected him and explained at the same time. “So this is what mother calls father!”

Lan Wangji finished wiping his hands and, not passing Wei Wuxian a single look, turned to MianMian and said: “Thank you. Darling.”

Oh. Ohhhhhh so this is how they’re playing now, is it?

Since Lan Wangji was still busy with paperwork (he had to rewrite everything), it fit his father image quite well, so he didn’t really need to do much. However MianMian was trying her best to play the role of the mother: She moved furniture and vases here and there, making her movements loud on purpose. She watered the plants while singing a song.

Then she started kneading a floor pillow as if it was dough while reciting the recipe to her made-up cake out loud.

She is trying so hard to make Lan Zhan notice her, Wei Wuxian thought as he was doodling on the stack of paper she gave him as “homework”. He sighed. It reminded him that once there was another kid who tried to make the icy Lan-Er Gongzi to spare him a single glance. Time to awaken that kid. “A-NIANGGGGGG I’m hungry! Feed your miserable child!!”

“Shhh! I am not done making food yet!” “But a-niang you’ve been kneading that dough for so long, isn’t it ready yet?” “You are so annoying!” She scolded him “It’s gonna be done when I’m done!” “Is it done now?” “no.” “Now?” “NO.” “Well, is it done….” *breath* “now?” “NO!!!” “How about now, is it done yet?” “No! No! No! No! NOOOO!!!!!” “Alright.” He kept doodling. She kept torturing the pillow. “And what about n- HMMPH!!!!!” a blue glare shot straight to his lips. “Quiet, both of you. I can’t hear my own thoughts.” Lan Wangji said.

Oh sure, so you silence me but not her! Wei Wuxian folded his arms and turned his head to the side.

“Ah!! It’s ready now!” Mianmian took the pillow and brought it over to Lan Wangji. “Darling, would you try some?” “Not now, Mianmian, I’m working.” “But….” She pouted and her eyes shone as if she was about to cry “I made it especially for you!” Yeah sure and leave the baby starving!

Lan Wangji put down his brush and looked at her. “Alright.” Smiling widely, Mianmian took one of the brushes on the desk, dipped it into the pillow and offered her husband. Lan Wangji leaned closer, opened his mouth and took a bite of the air just millimetres away from the brush. “Mn. Very good. Mianmian is a very talented cook.” Oh damn. Wei Wuxian thought. This is unfair. VERY UNFAIR. Unbearably cute and unfair.

“Your wife!” Mianmian corrected him. “Right, my wife.” Your wife, huh? Well Hanguang Jun. Well. Wei Wuxian couldn’t believe he’s jealous of a little girl, but excuse him, he’s not been just reunited with Lan Wangji after years of absence, finally getting married with him, for him to call someone else his wife! Still unable to talk, Wei Wuxian stood up and went to their room. “Wei Ying?” Lan Wangji called after him but Wei Wuxian didn’t turn around. He entered the room and closed the door with a slam. Lan Wangji didn’t see this, but for a second, a spark shone in Mianmian’s eyes. Then she turned on her innocent face again. “He’s such a troublesome child, isn’t he?”

Lan Wangji just blinked. Later, when he opened the door to the room, Wei Wuxian was nowhere to be found. ~Meanwhile in the town market ~ Wei Wuxian: “Yes, yes, give me that one. And that one scarf over there. Is that a lotus hair pin? Yes, give me that.” Shopkeeper: “Ah, young master, your wife is really lucky! You sure get her only the best things!” “The best wife deserves the best things.” Wei Wuxian stated as he passed him the money from Lan Wangji's pouch. Part 1 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6

[winepresswrath]

help i need yunmeng bros reconciliation ideas because i have had my reconciliation doc open for at least a week and it's very no thoughts head empty over here

Jin Ling in peril

 Wei Wuxian is at Lotus Pier for a cultivation conference and Jiang Cheng is being so annoying he forgets himself and shoves him in the lake and he thinks he’s gonna die or Lan Wangji is going to kill Jiang Cheng for trying but actually Jiang Cheng just yanks him in too and doesn’t even try very hard to drown him

they have a really fraught conversation about the ancestral shrine but then do ultimately go in together (a classic for a reason I would read infinite variations on this)

truth curse!!!! I’m always on my truth curse bullshit.

 trapped in a cave with their feelings

someone tries to assassinate Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian obviously cares about it and Jiang Cheng has feelings about that

one of them decides that since it was another life obviously they should be more formal now and pulls out the Jiang-zongxhu or Wei-gongzi and the other one is just like. so madsad about it it forces the issue.

Jin Ling forces the issue because he just wants one (1) nice family dinner

 they keep talking around the thing until one of them breaks and is just like look I get that you don’t want to be around me so Just Go why must you torment us both and then they talk about it

Jiang Cheng punches someone in the face for talking shit and Wei Wuxian has a crisis about it.

Wei Wuxian punches someone in the face for talking shit and Jiang Cheng has a crisis about it

seriously i’ll beat anyone who speaks ill of you i’m gonna cry.

[satonthelotuspier]

XichenWeek day 4, some Inferred XiSang with a side of getting into NHS’s head. I said I was gonna do it, and I done it, kind of.

It’s a little bit of a NHS Character Study, features goodfriend!WWX, guilty!NHS and notmuchactual!LXC, whilst still being Xichen-centric!

Prompt Palette for the day is Trust - Courting - First Love

When A Guilty Conscience Drinks

“I remember the first time I laid eyes on er-ge was when ge brought him home as a husband, before we went to study at the Cloud Recesses that spring” Nie Huaisang slurred the words, the wine slopping out of his waving cup.

Wei Wuxian winced; he hadn’t realised they’d drunk so much, sequestered in the corner of the hall gossiping and reminiscing while dull clan business happened around him.

“Honestly, he was sooo beautiful then” he told Wei Wuxian, who frowned.

“And he isn’t now?”

Nie Huaisang paused, and scowled like the question was a trick.

“Uh, I don’t know, Wei-xiong, I really don’t know” he put the cup down and picked his fan up instead, spreading it and waving it furiously. “Wait. That was wrong too, right?” Nie Huaisang folded the fan again and tapped it against his lips in consideration. “I can’t win, er-ge looks just like Lan er-gongzi, so if I say no that means I’m calling your husband ugly, but if I say yes you’re going to hate me for finding your husband attractive”

He must admit, he held his alcohol much better than most, but Wei Wuxian wondered if he might have drunk too much without realising it as he struggled to follow Nie Huaisang’s twisted mental process.

“Lan Zhan is the most handsome man in the world, if you said you didn’t think he was attractive I’d assume your eyes weren’t working, or you were a liar” Wei Wuxian said with the simple certainty of someone who was completely in love with the subject being discussed.

It took a few seconds for Wei Wuxian’s words to permeate Nie Huaisang’s brain, but as they did he nodded his acceptance of their sense.

“I see, yes, Lan Xichen is beautiful now, too” he agreed, then a frown marred his brow, “but he’s very delicate, since Yunping. Now he looks ethereal, like he might just break if you held him”

Wei Wuxian could see what Nie Huaisang meant, in a fashion, Lan Xichen’s seclusion after the terrible blows he’d received at the Guanyin Temple had seemed to bring him some measure of peace finally, but at a cost.

But Wei Wuxian really needed to cut Nie Huaisang off, he had quite obviously drunk far too much.

He picked up the cup in front of Nie Huaisang and drained it. The other didn’t protest; he didn’t actually seem to even notice.

“I think you should go to bed, Nie-xiong” Wei Wuxian told him as he replaced the cup on the table top.

“I think I need to go to bed” Nie Huaisang agreed, although it sounded like Wei Wuxian’s words had passed him by. He got unsteadily to his feet, and weaved out of the hall.

Wei Wuxian watched, ensuring he didn’t fall over a table or down a step. Luckily he did neither. But Wei Wuxian did notice an accidental almost-collision between the drunk Nie Sect Leader and the Lan Sect Leader. They stopped and stared at each other for the briefest of pauses before Lan Xichen turned and moved away with an unusual urgency in his step.

That was odd, especially considering Nie Huaisang’s topic of choice for his drunken rambling this evening.

There was definitely something wrong there. If the two brothers-in-law had had a falling out, maybe he could help them sort out their differences.

***

There was a sharp, blinding light which drove like a wedge into his pounding brain. Nie Huaisang groaned; a piteous sound, and threw his forearm across his eyes.

“Rise and shine, Nie-xiong” the voice was cheerful and bright and he wanted to tear it out by the vocal chords. He sat up suddenly, but the violent motion made his stomach roil in protest and he collapsed back against the bed again, rolling onto his side and curling up into a ball of hungover misery.

“I don’t know anything, Wei-xiong, leave me to die in peace” he whined.

“I’ve no idea why you continue to act like the Head Shaker with me, Huaisang” Wei Wuxian said and Nie Huaisang could almost hear the amused eye-roll in his voice.

He looked up then, shooting the other a mildly venomous look; “I didn’t bring you back to have you torture me, Wei-xiong”

“I know, that’s just something I offer for free to my nearest and dearest” Wei Wuxian’s unrelenting cheerfulness carried all before him.

A cup with a foul-smelling mixture in was pressed under Nie Huaisang’s nose, and the aroma almost made him sick.

“It doesn’t smell very nice, but I guarantee it will get rid of your headache and settle your stomach” Wei Wuxian promised.

Presented with that information, Nie Huaisang snatched the cup out of Wei Wuxian’s hand and downed it in a single swallow, anything had to be better than feeling like this all day. Honestly, drinking was so much more of a punishment on the body now than it had been when they were teens fooling around in the Cloud Recesses.

At the thought he paused; he had drunk for a reason in the Cloud Recesses, to dull the feelings of a tender, passionate first love kindled in a poetic heart just ready to take that kind of emotion and nurture it into a blaze of lifelong attachment.

For most a first love, while maybe embarrassing, was a thing to enjoy, to be teased about by friends and dreamed about at night; for Nie Huaisang it had been the darkest truth concealed in a heart full of them. By this point he was merely surprised he had the capacity for love his heart had been so brimful of wicked secrets.

And yes, while many of his schemes were now spent and brought to the knowledge of those closest to him this information was still his only.

And last night he had still drunk for that reason.

He sat up once he was sure the concoction Wei Wuxian had brought him had had the promised effect.

“A very good potion, Wei-xiong” he complimented the other, who dropped to a stool next to the bed and gave him a direct look.

“So, Nie-xiong, what did you say to upset Xichen-ge?”

The question threw Nie Huaisang completely; his eyes darted up to meet Wei Wuxian’s, then away as he searched for his fan. Of course he wasn’t dressed yet so he had none to hand.

“Was it so very bad you can’t even tell me Nie-xiong?” Wei Wuxian questioned, and a crippling weakness suddenly came over Nie Huaisang; he had spent so long carrying everything himself, sharing with no one, couldn’t he confide in his oldest friend?

Would Wei Wuxian hate him when Nie Huaisang trusted him with his most closely kept sin?

“It was nothing I said to er-ge. Let me dress, Wei-xiong, and we’ll talk, yes?” if he was going to bare his soul he wanted a fan in his hand.

***

Wei Wuxian had agreed to his request and they met a while later just outside Lotus Pier, intending to walk by the lake for privacy.

“Tell me everything” Wei Wuxian urged when it seemed Nie Huaisang wouldn’t start the discussion.

While he had attended to his toilette Nie Huaisang had become reconciled to the fact he would tell Wei Wuxian all, and with his opened fan in hand, a confidence boosting talisman, he nodded.

“You were aware when we studied at the Cloud Recesses in our youth er-ge was already my brother-in-law?”

“Yes, the wedding was the talk of the cultivation world, a generation of cultivators cried themselves to sleep for months at the knowledge the pinnacle of our peer group was already spoken for at such a young age” Wei Wuxian agreed, and Nie Huaisang shot him a look, wondering if he was aware what he inferred. Nie Huaisang doubted it, however.

He blew out a weary sigh, “They did, and I was among them, Wei-xiong” his fan waved, a soothing rhythm to steady his nerves. “I fell in love with Lan Xichen the day ge brought him home and introduced him to me as my new brother-in-law”

He had fallen so fast and so hard. It hadn’t helped Lan Xichen shared many of the same artistic pursuits as Nie Huaisang, ones a more physically-focussed Nie Mingjue had no interest in which inevitably left the two in each other’s company. They had spent many hours together as time progressed, and it had done nothing but build on that foundation of first love in Nie Huaisang’s heart.

“I see” Wei Wuxian said, his voice carefully stripped of emotion, and Nie Huaisang paused and turned to look at his friend, assessing his reaction.

“I was in love with my brother’s husband” he reiterated the point, and Wei Wuxian nodded with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, I got that” he agreed.

Nie Huaisang snapped his fan together and tapped it to his lips once as he tried to fathom Wei Wuxian’s lack of censure.

“Did you act on it? Is that why you and Xichen-ge are avoiding one another? Did you have an illicit liaison? Lan Xichen hardly seems the type, even if you were” Wei Wuxian asked.

“No, of course I didn’t, isn’t it enough I yearned after my own brother’s husband?”

“You can’t help who you love, Nie-xiong, surely it’s only wrong if you act on it in those circumstances, and you say you didn’t, no one could reprimand you for that” Wei Wuxian shrugged, and they walked on.

Why was Wei Wuxian so blasé about this? Nie Huaisang opened his fan again, then closing it, his mind full of disquiet.

“That doesn’t tell me why you’re at odds with each other now. Was it because of the Guanyin Temple?” Wei Wuxian asked, and Nie Huaisang started. He could lie, he was good at it. He could say yes, and save the worst part from his friend. But he had resolved to speak of everything.

“We were intimate after ge’s memorial, after the Guanyin Temple” he daren’t look at Wei Wuxian now. “Just once. He wept and I nearly choked on the feeling of my own guilt. The aftermath was awful”

“Huaisang” Wei Wuxian’s voice was unexpectedly tender as the other stopped him with a hand on his arm, “No one would blame two grieving souls for finding comfort in each other’s arms. What you did wasn’t wrong. I don’t wish to hurt you but Mingjue-xiong had been gone for a long time by then; what we dealt with at Yunping wasn’t him anymore” his hand squeezed soothingly, as if to lessen the pain of his words. “And you’ve avoided each other since?”

“Like the plague” Nie Huaisang confirmed, his fan back to it’s lazy wave, more as a tool to stead Nie Huaisang’s emotions than to cool him down or hide his expression.

“Maybe its time you both talked then. You might be surprised. You should tell him how you feel. Have you considered that? Have you considered courting him? He’s out of seclusion now; maybe he’s ready to move on with his life. As much as he loved your brother it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll never want to love again”

“Wei Wuxian, are you insane? I tricked him into killing his best friend” Nie Huaisang was scandalised at the very thought.

“The best friend who murdered his husband and lied to him for years. Did you never consider you may have just given him the opportunity to act without guilt? He still let you into his bed, he can’t be that upset with you over it, Huaisang” Wei Wuxian held his hands out in a show of surrender. “The choice is, of course, yours, I just think you should take the risk and actually pursue him. If he isn’t interested he will let you know. At this stage what do you even have left to lose in this?”

Absolutely nothing, except his self-respect, and he had sacrificed that for less over the years.