#Lian means well

[boldlyanxious]

Love is in the Error

Part 5

Part 4

Masterlist

She had been expecting Adrien for days. He was clearly making her wait to stress her out about what he wanted with only his ominous letter he had left behind. She had tried multiple spells and nothing seemed to be working to get the ring off. She wadded the letter and tossed it away. His interpretation of fate meant nothing to her.

She had known Gabriel had other magical artifacts but as little as she had known about magic at the time, she couldn’t risk taking them without knowing what could happen. But the Graham de Vanily rings were definitely imbued with unknown magic. Whatever it’s purpose, she was stuck with it on her finger and she was having a hard time explaining why she appeared to be wearing a wedding band.

She heard Lian in the hallway, talking excitedly before the door across the hall opened and then closed again. It was hard for her to remember anything about the awkwardness of kissing her neighbor. It had felt pretty bad at the time but things were so much worse for her now and Roy didn’t even seem to be bothered. She hadn’t seen him since he had come to the diner looking for Lian a few days ago. He had left while she was busy at work so they hadn't talked. She didn’t know if she wanted to but they would have to talk if she was still supposed to go to this mother daughter tea with Lian. It was tomorrow and she didn’t want to disappoint Lian.

She had been avoiding leaving her apartment because she didn’t want to suddenly run into Adrien. Perhaps it would be better to give him the opportunity to show up now rather than when she was at work or to just wait for him in her apartment where she was trapped. She needed to send off a few packages anyway, including the ones with the Parisian heroes. She was happy to get those out of her apartment. She honestly didn’t know why she still listed them for sale. Perhaps it was just nostalgia. She actually missed the kwami. She had kept them with her until she moved here. She had been worried that Gabriel or Adrien had been able to trace the magic. But they had still found her and it would be too much of a risk to get the box out of hiding right now.

After sending the packages off, she stopped back in at a few of the boutiques to check back on their interest in her accessories. The owner of one of the wedding boutiques was very excited to see the ring on her finger and wanted to know everything about her plans. It was a tricky conversation to be involved in because she didn’t want to tell exactly what had happened. Wedding people did not like to be ridiculed and she didn’t want them to refuse her work because of a miscommunication.

At the last boutique she was delighted that they not only had orders for some of her regular products, they wanted her to design a few signature pieces to match other consignment items. She took a few pictures and ended up leaving with a cute sweater to pair with one of her favorite dresses. It was perfect timing because it would be a perfect match for Lian’s favorite dress and it was also the right style for a tea event. She was really excited to get home and show her.

She should probably talk to Roy first. She took out her phone and sent him a text. He replied immediately that he would like to have a chance to talk to her so she let him know she would be back to the building in a few minutes. That seemed better than trying to discuss anything over text. She wasn’t sure about a phone call. She didn’t always manage to convey her meaning properly on the phone and she didn’t want to make anything worse. She loved Lian and wanted to be there for her as she was able but she would not sneak around with Roy behind his fiancé’s back. They needed boundaries so they would be neighbors only. Friendly neighbors but nothing more.

She was in sight of the building when she saw the person she had been dreading. He had clearly already seen her. He had been leaning against a tree as if he were in a photo shoot. But he had already made a bee line for her path and with his longer legs he would catch up to her before she could get away from him.

“There you are,” he said with a charming smile. “I was afraid I had missed you.”

She pulled away from his hand as he reached out to pull her into a hug.

“I don’t think I could ever miss you, but there is always hope. Leave and if I ever do, I will let you know.”

“I don’t think you will ever want to be too far from me,” he said.

His voice dropped low as a warning. He grabbed her hand since she had ducked away from his hug. His finger rubbed against the band and she could feel it. She suspected that she would need to be close to him for as long as he wore the matching band.

“Because of this? I will find a way. I am stronger than you think.”

She glared at him as she pulled her hand away. Dropping her bag to the ground between them she took the band between her fingers and pulled. It tugged at her skin but didn’t loosen. She scrunched her face at the pain when she twisted it and pulled harder but it wouldn’t budge. Adrien didn’t fear its removal at all. He didn’t even attempt to stop her. He took her chin in his hand and lifted her face to look at him. He held tighter when she tried to jerk away from his grip.

“No one doubts your strength, My Lady.” he said softly. “But you can only fight fate for so long before you accept it.”

Rage filled her at his words. She had been arguing with him about what fate meant since they were teens. He had decided to use magic to intervene but she could fight magic even if it took time and energy. Maybe not as much as she anticipated. The ring loosened and moved on her finger. Adrien didn’t seem to notice yet. Surely he would try to find a way to prevent it if he realized.

“You are still wrong about fate. Even if fate were at work here, all you are doing is trying to change it and that will never work the way you want it to.”

She didn’t know if the relief showed on her face or if Adrien’s emotions overcame him but before she got the ring past her knuckle his fingers tightened on her chin and the ring tightened on her finger. It was uncomfortable and she let go of the band. It glowed hot and then remained where Adrien had placed it. His eyes darkened at something over her shoulder and then he smiled down at her as his grip loosened and his thumb brushed her cheek. He reached for her hand and the same thumb brushed against the ring. His smile was nearly a smirk as he lifted her hand and kissed her fingers.

She didn’t know what he was looking at behind her shoulder until after he turned to leave. Roy had walked up behind her and looked concerned. She smiled brightly as if everything was fine. He was only her neighbor and she didn’t need to involve him in her problems, especially when that would put him and possibly his daughter in danger.

—

“Something isn’t right and she is hiding it from me,” Roy said. “I don’t like that guy, there is something wrong with him.”

Jason was laying on the floor and tossing a ball in the air.

“That feeling is regret. You should have made a move sooner.”

Roy turned back to him and grabbed the ball out of the air.

“No, something is very wrong with him. He looked like he was daring me to make a scene.”

“Sounds a lot like you are jealous. You wanted to make a scene so you could prove you were better. Did you talk about the kissing or are you still pretending it never happened?”

Roy threw the ball at Jason’s face but Jason laughed when he caught it.

“Did you at least tell her about your engagement? She is with Lian now. Do you really think Lian will go the whole time at a mother daughter event without announcing all about your fictional wedding?”

Roy looked horrified when he thought about that. He rushed to his room to change into a nicer shirt and then raced out of his apartment. He didn’t even stop when Jason’s ball hit him in the back of the head. He just needed to get there in time to explain.

He got there well after the event started but before it was finished. They didn’t allow him to interrupt. It wasn’t like he could explain why this was an emergency. He went outside to pace back and forth but he was distracted by a street vendor selling flowers. He wasn’t sure what the protocol was when you picked up your daughter and your fake fiancé at a tea party but Lian would like flowers either way. He didn’t know about Marinette. It was probably inappropriate to get her flowers under the circumstances but it gave him something to do. He picked ones he thought looked nice and paid before heading back.

He could barely catch his breath when he saw her. She was smiling so brightly and looking down at Lian who was holding onto her legs. He pulled out his phone and took the picture right as she put her hand on Lian’s head. The girl looked up at her adoringly. They weren’t expecting him and the other mothers and daughters watched in awe as he walked up. Lian sprang forward to meet him and squealed with delight at the sight of the flowers. He leaned down onto his knee to greet her as she put her face in the flowers, offering him only a side hug. He tried not to think of what it felt like to be down on one knee in front of Marinette as Lian turned and put her back against his chest and lifted the flowers to her.

—

“Look, Marinette. Daddy got us flowers.”

“They are lovely, Dear. Hold them just like that and I’ll get a picture for you.”

Marinette pulled out her phone and took a picture. She was very aware of everyone else watching them. She was too nervous to react after everything that happened at the tea party. Lian had introduced her to everyone as her new mom. She didn’t know how Roy or his fiancé would take that. She tried to whisper to Lian about Jason or that she was just making a dress but that just made Lian talk about the dress instead. Someone had to know that it wasn’t true but she didn’t want to correct her in front of all her friends. One lady in particular was very rude to Marinette and she supposed she was probably interested in the truth.

One of the other mother’s created a distraction by taking her phone and insisting on taking pictures of them all together. She saw no other option but to pose for the pictures. They could easily be deleted later once everything was cleared up. She didn’t think about how sad that would make her until Roy placed his hand on the small of her back and during the posing. He then leaned down and lifted Lian up with the bouquet. She thought that one would probably turn out great and then Lian leaned over and kissed her cheek for the last picture. Lian looked at everyone else as they were standing there watching.

Lian stopped and looked around in a moment of clarity. “Why is no one else getting flowers?”

Marinette gladly let Roy handle the awkward question in front of people. She was already feeling embarrassed enough that she didn’t want to make eye contact with any of the other women there. Some of them very clearly had jealousy in their eyes and that one lady looked like she wanted Marinette to wither away under her angry glare. But luckily, Roy was having a quiet discussion with his daughter before she suddenly pushed away to get down. She pulled out a handful of the flowers and rushed over to her classmates and started handing them out. Most of the crowd was smiling as they took the flowers and luckily Lian didn’t see the ones who were displeased. There was one flower left at the end and Lian held it out to her.

“I know just what to do with this,” Marinette said.

She leaned down and tucked it into Lian’s hair. It really was the perfect scene. She wondered if in the future the other parents would show up with flowers after the event. If they continued with the event. From what she had gathered, Lian was fairly new so it might be that they wouldn’t continue an event that would exclude one child based on the gender of her parents.

—

Roy wasn’t sure what he had expected when he picked them up. Perhaps the flowers had been overkill but he couldn’t help but feel like it looked right to see Marinette with flowers and interacting with his daughter. He couldn’t get over how sweet Lian was. She just loved sharing every good thing she had. He guided them away and they were walking the short distance to their apartment building. Lian was telling him all about the event and he smiled listening to her. But when he glanced over to Marinette, she looked nervous. Her fingers were playing with the ring on her finger. He wondered if it was a nervous habit or if she was worried about her fiancé. Maybe he hadn’t liked that she was going as the mother of another man's child.

He hoped she hadn't felt pressured into it. He had anticipated handling that differently but once she had given her commitment it would be difficult to tell Lian she couldn’t go. Everything seemed to go back to the one moment they had avoided discussing. He had kissed her and from then on everything had gotten awkward. He should have talked to her about it immediately. He intended to talk to her once he had gotten Lian settled. But when he was going to head over, he saw her boyfriend leaving. All his reasoning had gone out the window. He was set to tell her how much he had wanted to kiss her but that was not a good thing to say to a neighbor with a boyfriend.

Marinette was silent all the way up in the elevator and he was set to send her on the way for the day and get Lian home when she finally spoke.

“I have made progress on the dress if we thought it would be a good time to check the fitting on it,” she said.

There was no way he could have refused that. Lian was far too excited. She was jumping up and down and dragging him. He loved the idea of going over there as much as she did but he refrained from jumping up and down. Suggesting that to Lian instead of clearing it with him was very out of character for Marinette. He suspected she wanted to talk and had merely suggested a way to keep Lian distracted.

Taglist

@theymakeupfairies | @emjrabbitwolf | @vixen-uchiha | @trythisagainlove | @trippingovermyfeet | @tbehartoo | @izanae | @kittenmywaythrulife | @folk-ever-lore | @jayjayspixiepop | @achaoticmess1 | @adrestar | @zynna | @jeminiikrystal | @miyatalksshit | @hammalammadamdam

[rayroseu]

You know what's sick as hell about the design of the Briar Senates??? It's that their design mirrors the weapon of the Draconias 😭✨

I know they're getting flak rn bcs they feel like "boomers who's against any progress because they value toxic tradition" but i don't really think they're like... entirely evil lol or the root of every bad thing that happened in Malleus'/Lilia's life (though im side eyeing them as one of the perpetrators still lol)

Tbh, removing them would also cause more harm (just some social issues inside the fae society tbh) than good imo, (I know many ppl say this bcs they think removing the Senates would make it possible for the peace between human and faes, but the thing is, the Senates aren't the only group that thinks this way, almost the entirety of Briar Valley does lol so forcibly removing them now would only come off as "Malleus forcing "human ideals" on the faes just because he has spent 4 years with the humans"(plus is the understanding between humans and faes truly achieved if you try to silence one group(even if that group is kinda disagreeable with anything human related lol), plus realistically the faes would trust their fellow faes first rather than some humans,

so for me, Briar Senates doesn't give off the vibe of toxic old people who drags others down in their toxic practices (while that can be an accurate description i feel like it generalizes too much about their behaviour), rather than that, Briar Senates feels more like thorns, like thorns that surrounds Briar Valley, they're not exactly harmful unless you go against them, but ultimately they're still protection for Briar Valley.

Which makes it fitting that their design has a similarity with the Draconia's weapon, they're the thorns that protects the Draconias, even if it means sheltering them.

And, tbh, if the Senates other job is to ensure Draconias lives, they're kinda doing a "decent job"??? If we can assume through Maleficia's (and Malleus' case), since we didnt hear about her leaving the Senate's side, she managed to survive for so long, unlike Meleanor😭 Also could explain why they're so enraged when Lilia arrived with the news that Meleanor died and why they hated the weak bcs what would weakness could protect JJDSJD Kinda wish their hatred against Lilia wasnt that he was a weak bat fae, but rather they doubled down on the fact he failed protecting Meleanor, imagine if Gen. Lilia wasnt as great in magic as the fae nobles were, yet he still managed to earn a position beside the Princess, all that hard work only to fail at the most crucial time, it wouldve make sense in the Senates' side to say, "Meleanor shouldnt have appointed him" (because "he's weak from the start")

oh additionally, this is just my assumption, bcs I felt like the way the Senates recoiled when Lilia hatched the egg was kinda... random?? so this is my made up reason lol Remember, the Senates were adamant that Maleficia should only be the one to hatch the egg because she's a Draconia, but Lilia did it and he's not a Draconia, What if because Lilia hatched the egg, it also affected the development of Malleus?? Like maybe for instance, it affected Malleus' lifespan, maybe he still lives more than one thousand years but he won't live for another thousand years like a pure Draconia because he's been hatched by Lilia as opposed to who they wanted it to be, which is Maleficia, OF COURSE Lilia hatching the egg is heaps better than Malleus dying before being born, but this is just my auto thoughts regarding the random hate reaction the Senates did when Lilia hatched Malleus lol

Interestingly, the placement of the stone of Draconia against the thorns (of the Senates) can also be hinted at their relationship with them??? In Meleanor's case, her stone is on top of the thorns, which may indicate that she's not under the Senate's commands or that its just telling she just lived distantly from the Senates, most importantly her stone is bigger than the thorns which may tell the fact that the Senates worships her because she's powerful and greater than them, and she's not someone who can be trapped/ordered around within the Senates. But, tragically, in Malleus' case, his stone is under the thorns, like its telling that he's under the Senates protection at all cost and his stone is little compared to Meleanor's because he's still young.

I also have a theory that the Senates are part of Briar Valley's land, like its been canonically said that they're the dead faes of Briarland, which makes think that their death is similar to the death of Conall from Maleficent 2, when Conall was buried, his body literally morphed to the land, which makes me think this is how the Senates used to be buried, when they die, they become one with the land, that's why you can't just remove them, when they are literally the Lands of Briar Valley,,,, get it lol

Though this is making me think that if this is the case then Maleficia's city,,, if the Senate's presence are the strongest there bcs that's where they're nearly buried, does that mean around Black Scale Castle is just lowkey a graveyard.... Is that why Halloween is special for Briar Valley bcs they have close ties/respect for the dead and Halloween is essentially about honoring the dead 😭✨

Off topic, but maybe the thorns part of the Draconia's staff may also tell about their age. Notice how Meleanor's staff has 3 twists which may tell that she's atleast 300~ years old, (if each twists signifies a century), while Malleus' staff only has one twist on its thorns which is accurate considering he's only 178 years old (one century).

If this is true, I'm kinda curious about Maleficia's staff... does that mean hers will be convered in thorns (she needs at least 7 twists (7 centuries~ and more) there on her staff 😭✨)

[lesbians-for-muqing]

The fact that Xie Lian is often unable to hide his pain from Hua Cheng, like when there's a needle stuck in his foot, is to me what shows most how deep their love for each other goes.

Xie Lian feels so safe with Hua Cheng, so understood, respected and loved, that even his body fully knows it and is unable to hide anything from Hua Cheng because it doesn't feel the need to.

[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 ?

[lazycranberrydoodles]

jun wu doodles. orrrrrr mxtxtober day 6: food/drink

[arohuacheng]

is anyone else up thinking about how pei ming is aptly named as the god of love not for his affairs but for how open he is with his friendship and his devotion to people especially in comparison to the cold detachment of the rest of the upper court. how the three tumors are the only real honest friendship that we see in the upper court and how pei ming is the most openly affectionate of those three. how pei ming is consistently looking out for shi qingxuan even as she disdains him. how pei ming is both an ally and a friend to the main group in the last act just because he's sociable like that. nobody else? just me?

[xiaoaluo]

I love how hua cheng left his ashes to xie lian on a third day of their real talking stage

[stellwynds]

“oh yeah haha hua cheng was making out with me when i came back from watching my co worker get fucking decapitated because he was trying to suck out the spiritual power he lent to me & bring me back home— that is the most effective way, after all! haha yeah also i kept exchanging saliva with him even after i returned…to try to take it back! yeah! haha!”

[fortune-maiden]

Huh... there are a lot more changes to the 'f-f-friends' scene than I thought!

Mostly dialogue getting shifted around and streamlined but the most interesting change to me is that in the original the 'f-f-friends' line happened towards the end of their heart to heart but there was additional dialogue about MQ's talk with Jun Wu and MQ's final line was how he's glad to find out that XL doesn't hate him.

In the revision the 'f-f-friends' line is actually the last line. And leading up to is the part about Jun Wu and also how MQ struggled to believe that XL was really a good person and finally admits that he is

[friedwizardwhispers]

Xie Lian, who is the strongest martial god by the end of the story, this episode: I'm not good at fighting.

[backpackingspace]

The first time Lang qianqiu called xie lian dad post canon it was an accident and they were both incredibly embressed by it. The fifth time it really wasn't an accident anymore and xie lian pulled lan qianqiu aside to have an awkward conversation about how he really was not lqq's dad. He had dated his parents for 3 years and then killed one of them could they not be peers? Friends maybe? Could they not let past lay in the past? Lqq replied with something incredibly sweet and meaningful that boiled down to but you were my dadteacher and I love you. By the twentieth time xie lian ahd gotten use to it and maybe found it very sweet and moving and only sighed in pretense.

[rayroseu]

realizing that the only time cooking and lilia didnt end in disaster and people fainting is the instance in malleus childhood where he froze the castle and lilia scraped the ice that surrounds the castle to make shaved ice for malleus and the servants 😭😭✨✨

am just thinking he knew how to do that since malenoa asks him often to make one and she wont eat anything modified by "his recipe" so he memorizes how to make shaved ice down to every detail

and or or maybe he used this iced dessert to cheer her up too 😭 i mean lilia is the one who always has to deal with her tantrums

[illuminatingsceadugenga]

I made a post a couple days ago about wanting a fic where Xie Lian realizes he was Wu Ming’s beloved after Book 4 but honestly after rereading the last bit of Book 4 ive realized that. Honestly i kind of wonder if a part of xie lian DID know that. Or the failure to realize it on his part was the result of his excellent Selective Thinking skills... a refusal to believe he could be loved... because uhhhhhhh............ its really something to write out a scene where xie lian puts together that wu ming was the ghost fire in the temple only to double-check the book and realize BWX outright tells Xie Lian Wu Ming became a wrath ghost specifically from witnessing his torture in the temple

[moondal514]

Gonna have to start writing my own TGCF fic cuz so far none of the fics I’ve read have accurately captured Xie Lian’s freak weirdo jock vibe

[mxtxfanatic]

The way Xie Lian takes up for Hong Hong’er is exactly how he speaks for Hua Cheng in the present 🤣

[shake-this-poet-out-of-the-beast]

Upright card: Beginnings, Innocence, Leap of faith, Originality, Spontaneity Reversed card: Chaos, Folly, Lack of direction, Naivety, Poor judgement, Stupidity