#This is a bit more of an exception for Shen Wei

[afsosville]

I wonder how things would change if Shen Jiu had the ability to project his memories and emotions like The Giver, or Blue Diamond from Steven Universe by some artifact fuckery or if he was born with the power. Maybe a better way to describe it is Wei Wuxian's empathy.

If it's a one-time artifact mishap during a mission or smt, he's got everyone kneeling over, unable to move an inch because of how much physical pain they're in. And don't forget all the emotional pain they're hopelessly dealing with, too (the memories don't have to be included, just the emotional wreckage and physical pain is enough).

All the while, they expect their Shen Shixiong to roll over and scream in agony, coz obviously smn as spoiled as him who's never had any bit of hardship in his life would feel it the worst. Then, they're seeing him going on with the mission and fighting like he's not affected at all, and then it hits them-

Oh.

They're his emotions.

If it's an inate ability, then I imagine he's using it to make his life easier, even if it's just a bit.

Like just give QJL the pain of his beatings or whatnot. Every whip gets inflicted on to QJL until the whippings stop completely. This will probably make QJL make SJ suffer even more, but that also stops when he realizes SJ has the power to make QJL go thru the same shit and will do it with absolute glee. Maybe SJ manages to free himself earlier bc of this. But there's a possibility he'll still stay to wait for YQ. If he does, then he's constantly engaging in psychological warfare with QJL and winning. That would be interesting to write abt ejrgkdkf.

This ability will ofc makes things easier if QHT stays insistent that her family treated him well.

Or like when he's being confronted for the the first time for his brothel visits, he's making LQG feel what it's like to not feel safe in the place you're supposed to sleep. And he keeps doing this every night until LQG is almost never sleeping and the mountain anymore and understands.

During peak lord meetings, he's subtly giving everyone a bit of his paranoia/anxiety, so now he's got everyone agreeing with him, and are listening to him.

He's also torturing slavers and rich nobles with his memories as well bc of a sense of righteous retribution, or just for the fun of it.

This could make Shen Jiu development a Them vs. Me complex, he's already a pro at it as it is except he's differentiating himself from those rich nobles and the like and wants nothing to do with them. Ideally this will make him conscience of the way he's treating his disciples, bc he'd be manually giving his memories/trauma to his disciples, he's just doing it without the ability lol.

He hated being grouped with ppl who were like him in the book, so now I'm making him have that energy for nobles who push around their weight instead. And would despise ever acting that way.

For angst points>>

He's tries to soothe his disciples with the slightest scraps of the good memories he does have bc he has no idea what else to do, but doesn't work and he acidentally gives bad memories instead :/

[vermillioncourt-if]

Ros reaction to having a NSFW/wet dream about the mc? 😏

😏 Hello! ❤️ I'd be happy to tell you!

I wrote this from the perspective of them already being in a relationship with MC!

ROs React to Having a Wet Dream About MC

Si Huaiqiao - Huaiqiao would wake up so embarrassed. He'd be even more embarrassed if he and MC were sharing a bed! The whole day, he can't even look MC in the eye. If/When MC confronts him about his weird attitude, he'll tell them about his dream. He'd surprised MC doesn't really mind, and is even more enthused when MC asks if he'd like to recreate his dream,

Xu Chanyu - Chanyu will wake up and be so god damn horny. She'll be cranky and super touchy the whole day, until MC asks her what's up to which she'll tell them. She'll all too happy when MC asks if she wants to have a few rounds now.

You Kounao - Kounao is an impatient little guy. He's going to shake MC awake/find MC and immediately proposition them for sex. He wastes no time. He'll be a bit disappointed if MC says no but fall back asleep fairly easily. He will ask again at the end of the day.

Shen Sandong - Sandong wouldn't do anything, really. She'll just shrug and roll over and fall asleep. When she wakes up in the morning, she'll tab away any dirty little things they did in her dream for future use.

Wei Duqiong - Duqiong will jerk off. I'm sorry, but he doesn't care. He won't do it if you're in bed with him, he'll go into the bathroom. But if you guys don't share a bed, he's jerking off. You won't really know any difference in the morning from him, except he may be a bit more touchy-feely.

Wu Nahou - Nahou will just deal with it. She'll go back to sleep and then immediately tell you in the morning. Depending on the time of day will depend on if she takes MC's offer up to have sex together since she's not a huge fan of morning sex. It just makes her sleepy.

[feng-huli]

Hello! From what I see in your blog, you're very knowledgeable about the Eunuchs in TBOY and Dashing Youth. I'm having problem to identify who's who so I'm just wondering if you have a guide of their names, position, motives, appearance and short backstory? An appearance guide with DY and TBOY actors comparison will be very helpful. At first I thought Zhuoqing of DY is the same guy in the TBOY who also has white hair that keep helping the red prince but I'm afraid they are different people. I hope this is not too much to ask because I genuinely want to know about them but I always ended up confusing myself more. Have a nice day.

Hello, thanks for the ask! 😺 It always makes me happy to see people being curious about the Five Eunuchs! If you want to know more about them, you’ve definitely come to the right place! I’ll probably make a more comprehensive guide at some point, but I can offer a good bit of information here.

The Blood of Youth Eunuch Tree

To start with, here’s a guide to the Blood of Youth eunuchs and how they’re related. I explain more about it in this post: https://www.tumblr.com/feng-huli/753083060426293248/blood-of-youth-eunuch-tree

Now, for Dashing Youth, I’m afraid that I have less to offer, as not all of the eunuchs have appeared yet. Still, I can show the ones who have.

Zhuo Qing

First, we have Grand Eunuch Zhuo Qing. He is the shifu of the Blood of Youth’s Five Eunuchs (except for Jin Yan, who was taught by Zhuo Xin). He serves Emperor Tai’an and is fated to guard the Imperial Mausoleum when he dies. Needless to say, Zhuo Qing is far from pleased by such prospects and is fighting to change the future that has been written for him.

Jin Xuan

Next is Jin Xuan, who succeeds his role as Director of the Five Eunuchs. Growing up, he was the study partner of Xiao Ruojin (also known as Prince Jingyu, Emperor Mingde), and now serves as his most trusted companion and bodyguard, among other roles.

Jin Xian (Jade Deity, Shen Jingzhou)

Jin Xian is known as the Eunuch of Incense in Tianqi and Shen Jingzhou of the Blizzard Sword outside it.

Other

There’s also Eunuch Li (pictured left) and Eunuch Cheng (pictured right). Less is currently known about them, as they aren’t in The Blood of Youth.

The Blood of Youth Loyalties

Finally, for now, there is the matter of loyalties. The eunuchs are honestly some of the most complex characters in the Blood of Youth, and this chart merely touches on the alliances between the eunuchs and the royals. Jin Wei has assisted all of the princes, but I believe his devotion is to his shifu above all else. Meanwhile, Jin Xuan is… ambiguous. Even if his greatest affection is for his emperor, he is reluctant to put his whole heart into one person or cause.

I hope this was helpful!

[frogizzhc]

MXTX Headcanon: How the Couples would make oc's Edition!

Shen Yuan: He'd make oc's that are bland and "realistic". Every oc would have the most boring stories, maybe one traumatized edgy oc and that's it. No interesting names, no nothing. He can critique Airplane all he wants but no one said he's a good writer. He practically only makes fan oc's and has very few main oc's.

Luo Binghe: He adds a little bit of himself into his oc's and they are all traumatized with the exception of one happy character who shares no traits with him. He has a big group of main oc's and often makes self inset fan oc's.

Shang Qinghua: Literally every PIDW character.

Mobei-Jun: He makes a ton of edgy looking oc's but they are actually pretty well written and are generally happy, no sad backstory, just dark and edgy looking characters with bright personalities. He has a small group of main oc's and isn't afraid to make a fandom oc or two.

Wei Wuxian: His oc's went from traumatized, superpowered, half-angel, half-demon to a revamp that made them more realistic or at the very least better written and designed. Some oc's still have random trauma for no reason.

Lang Wangji: He has a small group of main oc's and zero fan oc's. They all have every trait he sees admirable and are written with complexities, interesting backstories both sad and happy, and has elegant and beautiful looks.

Xie Lian: He only has one oc and it's his own persona. He's thought of making fandom oc's but he never gets to actually making them.

Hua Cheng: His oc's are a reflection of himself and Xie Lian. Every male ship of his oc's are just Hualian in a different font. He has 2 main oc's, few oc's that he draws not as often, and has lots of fandom oc's.

[rigelmejo]

10/24/2024 updates:

I know this is an active month as far as me posting. I'll probably disappear for a few months after this, you know how it goes. But for now, I am going to want these notes in the future.

Japanese: I'm 4700 sentences into glossika japanese now, out of 6400, so ~73%. I will get through the new sentences by the end of the month hopefully, and then just do reviews in November.

My hopes that increasing listening comprehension/knowledge of words would help my reading skill is actually working out: when I read manga, I am finding it easier and if there's a lot of furigana then that helps fill in the gaps for kanji words I guess (based on hiragana) but don't know the pronunciation for. I tried reading my japanese translation of Guardian by priest today, print copy, and I can understand everything on the page (except one use of 'yoku' hiragana which I am not sure what it was conveying). Unfortunately, my print novel does NOT use furigana on a lot of kanji, so a weird thing happened where the words I know the pronunciation of I could mentally 'hear' the japanese pronunciation of those kanji words, but the kanji words I didn't know from listening... I just mentally 'heard' chinese. So I'm going to need to read novels, or anything without furigana, WHILE LISTENING TO AUDIO. Otherwise I'm not going to pick up kanji pronunciations properly. So my plan to move to Satori Reader after glossika, is going to work well.

It's interesting to me just how many words in a novel... look just like the hanzi words in chinese (some kanji are slightly different but they're still recognizable if you know hanzi). So like... "try on" is 試着 shi-chaku (compared to chinese shishi 试穿 shi-chuan) which are quite similar pronunciations and shi is the same character and rough pronunciation, and if I saw 試着 in chinese I'd assume it means try-ing. Basically, it's recognizable as a word clearly related to 'try'. But "try" is 試す (tamesu) versus chinese 试试 shishi or 尝试 changshi, quite different pronunciation, still an ability to guess meaning. But then words like human resources, Special Investigations Division, Gate Guardsman, human-realm, Shen Wei's soul cutting title in the novel, souls, black-cat, are all similar kanji to the hanzi I would expect when reading chinese. So a LOT of words are quite easy to guess the meaning of but I'm lost on their pronunciation unless I already learned the japanese pronunciation of those kanji-words. This happens a lot with ALL kanji words (as in no hiragana conjugation).

This is just interesting to encounter, some kanji have super similar pronunciations like xiang-xin 相信 believe compared to japanese shin-jiru 信じる with the 信 pronounced roughly similar as xin and shin. While others are like guarantee 保证 bao-zheng in chinese, hoshou-shimasu 保証します in japanese use the same characters but totally different pronunciation. You can't be certain the japanese kanji pronunciations will be similar to the chinese. Kanji-only words seem to more often be similarly pronounced, but that is not true enough to rely on. One of the comparisons I made early on lol was japanese 時間jikan and chinese 时间 shijian for time. To my mind, ji and shi are similar enough sounds to notice, but kan and jian aren't. I suppose everyone will make those distinctions a bit differently. I just know seeing 時間 and hearing jikan the first time, it made sense that would be the japanese pronunciation to my mind from what I knew about the characters, but also threw me off for being the amount different that it was.

I'm curious what other language learners who knew hanzi before learning japanese words feel about picking up kanji pronunciations... I should go search some forums...

I do 100% think knowing hanzi makes figuring out the meaning of kanji words much easier. And for me, since Heisig and mnemonics never worked for me learning kanji (I think because I mentally NEEDED a sound to tie with the kanji but Heisig's book and suggestions didn't provide that or have a solution for that for kanji since kanji have multiple pronunciations, whereas when I studied hanzi I immediately tied a pronunciation to each new hanzi I learned so they stuck easier in my mind), learning hanzi was much easier. Once I had a bunch of meanings tied to characters in my head (thanks to learning hanzi), then seeing kanji presented only the issue of 'how do I pronounce it' and no longer the double issues of both figuring out pronunciation And meaning.

I also went through 2 songs yesterday, Hikari by Utada Hikaru and Doctor by Chanmina, and learned the meaning of all the words in the songs. The combo of romaji/listening for pronunciation plus the kanji-hiragana lyrics worked well. I finally get what my friend meant when they said Utada sings japanese... different. The pronunciation's clear, it's not that. It's that syllables I don't expect to be elongated when singing sometimes are, and the part of the word Utada decides to elongate is not always what I'd expect. I do, however, know the tune of that song intensely well lol as I've heard it since I was 11, so it wasn't hard to adjust. Chanmina raps mostly, and so probably as expected in rap, syllables were all around the same length.

tldr: the approach of listening-focused study has been helping the way I've hoped, and I'm seeing noticeable improvements in reading skill and listening skill, moving onto Satori Reader next will work well I think.

Chinese: so frustrating lol. But I just need to stick with it. Getting myself to commit to listening to 8 hours of audio... never mind 20, or 50, or the 200+ I REALLY need to listen to see the kind of significant improvements I'm hoping for? It's harder than you'd think. You'd think I could just put on audio, let it play in the background, and be good. But I get so frustrated I don't understand every word (or even just the words that SOUND familiar and I know I should recognize), so then I feel the urge to Replay certain sections, to re-listen to the same 5-10 minutes over and over, to focus harder and try to catch what I'm not quite getting, to look up the words I am getting frustrated by. And then before you know it, I spent 1 hour on my phone's translation app, constantly replaying audio in 30 second chunks, and was not able to multi-task at all. Instead of playing it in the background, I focused on it totally and tried to transcribe a bunch of words into a translator app, and then exhausted myself, and then don't feel up for doing another hour of that kind of intensive listening. The solution, of course, is for me to just fucking let go of being a perfectionist and LISTEN IN THE BACKGROUND. But then I feel irritated with myself for not looking up "just a few words" (a lie, I'll look up dozens) because I 'almost get them' and just want to quickly know what they mean instead of waiting several minutes for my brain to figure it out gradually.

I am TRYING to listen in the background. My perfectionist tendencies kick in a lot, though.

Despite it all! I am already seeing small progress, which will hopefully convince me to STOP intensively listening and looking everything up, and accept that background listening while working or walking WILL also result in progress.

Last night I listened to a podcast a friend shared with me, about Chinese supernatural stories. I could understand probably 90% or more of each word they said, I was just a bit puzzled by if in those first 7 minutes the podcasters were summarizing the several supernatural stories they'd be delving into for the rest of the hour, or if they were listing off several different supernatural stories SUPER fast. I noticed progress, because I listened to that podcast last week and could barely understand anything. So clearly, in part I just needed to train my listening skills more to hear what I already know. I also felt a bit of assurance, because I recognized nearly every word the podcasters said, so I do know a LOT of conversational words. In audiobooks, sometimes the words used are a lot less common than the words in dramas or conversations... since the words people say (unless they're giving lectures or educating or delving on a niche subject) tend to be a bit more commonly used. Knowing that, at least when it comes to conversational words, I do know around as many words as I expected I knew, was comforting.

Also, now I know I can listen to that podcast for 'easier' listening practice, when audiobooks are frustrating me.

Spanish: hahahahaha haaaaaaa. Should I be doing anything with Spanish right now? No, not really. I've got no time (I'm allotting an hour to Japanese and Chinese study each, with 2 hours for each a day if I can fit it in). I do not need to learn it, there's no pressing need in my life or things I'm directly involved in that require me to understand more Spanish. I'm just procrastinating my actual goals in other study, apparently.

My little attempt to use Dreaming Spanish got me curious. 1. About Comprehensible Input learning (without word lookups), and 2. about how much Spanish I could just 'pick up' with exposure, given the French I know, the ~2000 Spanish words I'm vaguely familiar with, and that 1 summer of Spanish cram study I did. Does it help that I have any easier time listening to Spanish and picking out words compared to when I listen to French? It sure does. Out of curiosity I looked up some of the beginner podcasts Dreaming Spanish learners were recommending on the r/dreamingspanish subreddit (which has great general study suggestions, if studying any language tbh). One of them was How to Spanish, so I looked that podcast up and listened to an episode. It was understandable, which was cool. So I may listen to more. Now, it is for beginners, so it's probably made to be understandable even if you know nothing or almost nothing. Still, it felt cool to understand! I also tried listening to a Spanish audiobook of a kid's book I've read before in English, listened to maybe 20 minutes, and had no trouble following the main plot based on the words I was catching. Now, to be fair, I was probably relying heavily on proper-nouns to place what scene and paragraph was about what. But still, interesting.

If I start trying to watch a Spanish show, well. I'm probably just doing more sidetracking and having fun. I really want to watch Elite, regardless.

[touchmycoat]

pride and prejudice AU, WIP that I WILL finish for ficwip5k

“It is a truth universally acknowledged,” Wei Wuxian lectured, “that a single man in possession of good cultivation must be in want of a cultivation partner. And have you heard, my three ridiculous children? Qiong Ding Manor has let at last.”

“Oh my,” Shen Jiu, the second oldest of the lot (also the second youngest for that matter), intoned flatly as he scrubbed the dirt from an enormous radish in a washing basin. “You must want to tell us who’s taken it.”

“I want someone to ask me first,” Wei Wuxian sighed, throwing a hand over his forehead and himself over a hard wooden bench. “But of course my cruel, demonic sons are beyond pity for their poor parent. Except A-Yuan. A-Yuan ah, you’re not one of the cruel, demonic ones, are you?”

Shen Yuan cleared his throat, set down the cabbage he was peeling apart, and put on an angelic smile just a beat too late.

“Certainly not. Do tell, dearest father, who has let Qiong—uh, Qiong…?”

“Qiong Ding.”

“Qiong Ding Manor?”

Look beatific, was Shen Yuan’s self-reminder, but again it was too late, even with Shen Jiu’s murmured assist. Wei Wuxian had dropped to his knees in the dirt and begun shaking his fists at the sky.

“Oh this unfair world, oh wretched fate! At my darkest hour you drop three brilliant young souls into my path to light my way across the lone-log bridge, and in return I have taken on your mission to nourish them into adulthood. All I wish is to ensure they have cultivation partners capable of keeping them comfortable for the rest of their lives but look here, what are these pieces you’ve dealt me? My eldest, who would be disingenuous to placate his crazy old father! My second, who brandishes his cutting comments without a filial care in the world! And my third!”

The sixteen-year-old, as stretched out and delicate as the vine on a beanpole at his age, smiled a lazy little smile before gutting the rabbit in his hands.

“Always just sitting there like a pretty little flower, head empty. Hua-hua ah,” Wei Wuxian said miserably. “Don’t you know you have the worst lot here, being the youngest? You ought to be encouraging your brothers to go to more functions, meet more potential partners.”

“And why should we be so eager to sell ourselves off as spiritual energy storage tanks to some rich Young Master or Mistress?” Hua Cheng asked idly. The meat he shaved off the hunted game hit the hot wok in loud sizzling chunks, and Shen Yuan readied a bucket of water to make it into stew. “Is father anticipating death sometime soon?”

Wei Wuxian and Shen Yuan both froze. An unintentional jerk splashed water from Shen Yuan’s bucket into the wok, and oil exploded into the air like the aftermath of a bomb. Meanwhile, Shen Jiu walloped the head off the daikon he’d polished as white as mutton fat jade and jabbed the blade in Hua Cheng’s direction.

“This is why nobody will ever want to cultivate with you.”

“But I learned it all from you and your line of suitors out the door, Er-ge”

“Boys,” Shen Yuan interrupted, “enough. Our father is not dying. Is he?”

Wei Wuxian waved both hands carelessly.

“Of course not! Don’t be ridiculous, the evil, all-powerful Yiling Patriarch cannot die—no matter how much his youngest son curses him. Hua-hua, how could you bear saying such a thing?”

Without a word, Hua Cheng bent down, picked up the radish head Shen Jiu had thrown his way, and lobbed it at Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian caught it without thought, and the moment it touched his bare hands, the leftover greens at the top wilted—and then the whole thing promptly dissipated to dust that fell through Wei Wuxian’s fingers before anybody could react.

Shen Yuan set the bucket down and started forward, energy coating his fingertips.

“Let me—”

“Don’t—” The red flickered out of Wei Wuxian’s eyes as swiftly as it flickered in. He was grinning again, a toothsome expression that was every bit as disingenuous as Shen Yuan’s smile had been moments ago. “Don’t you know it’s disrespectful to touch your elders without ceremony? Let your father have a little dignity here! In fact, you ought to treat your father like the legendary Patriarch he is!”

“Then the legendary Patriarch,” Shen Jiu said, expression neutral though tilting on the side of concern, visible only to the family who knew him best, “ought to get out of this filthy kitchen. Heavens know you’re too lazy to help with the prep.”

“A-Jiu’s right,” Shen Yuan said, hand retracted and smiling with a touch of apology. “Won’t our esteemed father please make his way to the dining hall, where the meal will be brought to him with proper ceremony?”

Wei Wuxian looked like he wanted to pat them both on the head. Shen Yuan had a distant memory of him doing that long, long ago, but not for years now.

“Finally, a display of the proper teachings I’ve given you. Yes, this father shall be waiting then. I’ll even bring out the good china.”

By which he meant the set of four bowls without chips on the rim, only cracks along the body. It’s poetic, Wei Wuxian liked to say, swishing soup in his bowl like a wise old philosopher pondering tea. Scars and damage, such and such, you know? If you know you know. (To which Shen Jiu had replied, you’re dripping soup everywhere.)

Once Wei Wuxian had gone, the three brothers proceeded with the stew in silence: Hua Cheng expressionless, Shen Jiu scowling, and Shen Yuan eyeing them both. After a while, Shen Jiu finally threw down his cutting board.

“Wei Wuxian’s not dying,” he declared. “And even if he is, we’ve got enough demonic cultivation between the three of us to bring him back. Why did you have to bring it up you insensitive little jerk?”

“Merely to encourage my brothers,” Hua Cheng replied, speaking coolly over Shen Yuan’s admonishment for calling his brother names, “to go to more functions and meet more potential partners.”

//

So the thing was, Shen Yuan was a transmigrator.

No, that was neither a misspelling nor a misunderstanding. Shen Yuan was a transmigrator, a bright young modern mind (read: an internet-obsessed shut-in) who died and got placed into the universe of a classic novel—one of his favorites that he’d been rereading just before dying, in fact. He was lucky, he supposed, that he was placed in the actual novel and not its zombie apocalypse, sorta-tongue-in-cheek sorta-taking-itself-too-seriously spinoff, which he’d also been (spite-)reading on-and-off. Though there had been some zombies in sight when he first got to this world, Wei Wuxian took care of them with such ease that Shen Yuan knew these were only the zombies in the classical Chinese sense, not the scary movie sense.

As for misfortunes, Shen Yuan supposed he would say the worst he’d suffered was first transmigrating into the body of a nine-year-old. That put him now, at twenty-four all over again, fifteen years in Wei Wuxian’s not-so-tender care, which was absolutely batshit to think about. So Shen Yuan didn’t think about it.

[miss-ingno]

1) The GYADL canon AU is a canon divergence that technically happens pre-canon: Tianying knows she's adopted. The actual fic starts during that scene in which Tianying is desperately trying to get someone to save XXC from the police and no one is helping her, so she decides to sell her necklace - except this time, she knows its significance as the last tie to her biological parents.

And Luo Fusheng, who has been a roaring asshole to her to this point, overhears her say goodbye to them, and has a Moment of Too Many Emotions. He manages to stop her by confessing he's been jerking her around and gets (deservedly) slapped for it.

So the point of all this is LFS getting past his asshole phase a bit quicker, Tianying realizing he isn't The Worst as he works to make up for the shit he just pulled and also noticing that XXC is an asshole to LFS in the process in a way she doesn't like, thus cracking his perfect image before she is ambushed into dating him. She ends up avoiding dating him and dates LFS instead, but I'm stuck on how to get to this point ngl :')

I've got the angsty start finished and am in the middle of the Making Up For It scene, but lacking vision for where to go from there is kinda tripping me up. Might just post to the Making Up For It part and leave my intention for the rest in an A/N, I guess.

@minnichan, since you wanted to know too:

2) Dead Dove Weilan (under cut for noncon content between ship)

This is a Canon AU in which Haixing and Dixing are actively at war during the modern era. Shen Xi was killed for being Zhao Xinci's wife, since Zhao Xinci is an important general. Zhao Yunlan thus grows up hating Dixingren a whole lot more than in canon.

Now, Haixing manages to capture Heipaoshi during a raid on a Dixingren spy hideout, and Zhao Yunlan is put in charge of his torture. Heipaoshi is a huge figurehead in this war, being a "war hero" and leader of Dixingren... and Zhao Yunlan crosses some lines in his attempts to break him. Hence the rape warning. (Not gonna get into detail here, but that's what's happening very explicitly in the first chapter, from Shen Wei's PoV. I'll be posting skipping instructions in the A/N when I get around far enough to post this fic!)

Except, and this is the twist: Shen Wei isn't leading the Dixingren side of the war - he's hiding Dixingren refugees on Haixing. He's against the war, but he can't stop it either (and I think it's Ye Zun pretending to be Heipaoshi who leads the war parties). He's doing the best he can to save any innocents he can... and that's how he's captured, buying time for refugee children and powerless Dixingren and their Haixingren families.

He's more than ready to outlast anything they throw at him, except then Kunlun walks into his cell.

Because yeah, this canon AU has the time loop, too 😉 and the ZYL who went back in time has by then firmly falling in love with Shen Wei.

[blueberry-ash]

I’m actually on break-of-sorts! There’s extra free time in my days, and I can do what I want with it! (Even better—after a couple days spent zombie-ing in front of a video game and tv shows—my brain even kinda wants to do things. How refreshing flsdafjsa;)

So! A fic author interview, which the lovely @lynne-monstr tagged me in half an age ago. :D

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

327, apparently. God knows how many have been let loose to swim in the sweetly-orphaned seas.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

863,428.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

How Impolite, How Imprudent (The Walking Dead, Beth/Daryl) - 1,108 kudos.

Stripped (Death Note, Near/Mello) - 720 kudos.

let’s embrace the point of no return (Guardian, Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan) - 669 kudos.

Hoping's Free (The Walking Dead, Beth/Daryl/Rick) - 639 kudos.

The Married Ones (BBC Sherlock, Sherlock/Watson) - 625 kudos.

Mostly this is just… happening to write for popular ships sometimes, I think, rather than any reflection on the actual stories themselves.

Although, The Walking Dead ones were very much just posted at exactly the right point in time—AKA right when the folks who were gonna be reading Beth-centric stories were turning up to find it…and when there really weren’t many. I remember finding it really fun to write for that ship, in no small amount because it felt exactly like writing for my usual rarer pair stuff… but with bonus readers. XD

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I always plan to. They make me so happy! Unfortunately, my brain makes replying to comments a whole lot more complicated than it actually is… meaning I put it aside for when I’ll have the energy/capacity… and then my executive dysfunction sneaks in and eats my good intentions for breakfast. ;;

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don’t really write angsty endings very often. I guess… against the world? Probably? That’s pretty miserable through-and-through, and is definitely lacking my usually compulsive need to find a happy note to end on.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

…everything? XD

Honestly, my first thought was to crib off Lynne’s answer and say a story that goes real sad before it gets happy. But… that just makes me want to say my Reunion Dinner GaoQiao break-up fic (In the space of your leaving), except… I haven’t actually posted the final chapters for that yet. Meaning it’s happy ending is currently hypothetical, and it’s therefore disqualified from this category. 😂

In which case, I guess… maybe Hoping's Free, actually. I wouldn’t have thought of it, except that I was doing the sort-by-kudos thing, which made me look at it again. But it’s probably a better answer for this than my usual fluff, if only because it was written in this almost grimly hopeful tone that was very intentionally at odds with the canon I was writing from (TWD). (And was probably influenced by the fact I was sitting there writing a “pregnant at the end of the world” story whilst hugely pregnant myself, ha.)

7. Do you write crossovers?

As in, non-fusion crossovers? Where you have characters from both things interacting? Not really, to be honest. I used to, a fair bit, although I’m not sure I ever actually posted any of them. I just recently stumbled across some unfinished drafts for some Harry Potter x Bleach stuff, which was honestly fascinating to look at because I would not think of something like that now.

I do still write a bunch of fusion-style crossovers, though. Like, I’m plotting constantly plotting those bastard things. (Seriously, constantly: my poor SO cannot engage with a show or a video game with me without knowing that I’m probably sitting there thinking about where Qiao Yifan would fit into it jadlf;jasdfl.) Unfortunately, it’s just… a lot harder for me to actually finish those stories. Or sometimes, even to start them. They’re definitely one of those cases where I need to get much better at just… dropping my worldbuilding glee into a tumblr post or something, sigh.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Once. So very long ago that I don’t even remember what it was about, just that I had the sweetest group of friends who made it immediately less devastating for my rejection-sensitive ass (thereby saving me from quitting fandom not long after I had discovered it). <3

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

So much smut! Mostly the kind with a whole lotta feelings.

It’s not that I don’t write other things—I write so many other things—but smut comes with this bonus setting for me, where it’s just a hundred times simpler than anything else (especially when compared to anything that tries to grow Real Plot—see Question 7, so help me). And that just makes it wayyy easier to actually, y’know, write. And finish. And edit. And post.

(Not that sex can’t be complicated, or complex, because of course it can! But it’s still easier than so many other forms of human interaction, y’know? Or… maybe it’s just that sex is the perfect chill-switch for my brain, and that’s carried over into how I use it for writing, too? Who knows!)

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope. At least, not to my knowledge.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yesss, and it’s always exciting! Translators are the best. ♥!!

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I’ve planned to! Life got in the way, alas.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

What’s an all-time favourite anything, precious?

Whatever’s bouncing around in my head in the moment, generally. Although, that said, I do keep returning over and over and over to GaoQiao in a way that definitely should give it some kind of special status, so… there’s that. XD

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Hey, that’s quitter talk, Question 14. Anyway, everyone knows I’m trapped in a fandom until I’ve had all my WIPs wrung out of me. (That’s how it works, right? Right?)

More seriously, though, I… am not really sure. There are definitely some WIPs I am constantly thinking I should just give up on and post as partly fleshed-out outlines—because I love them, but I’m not sure I have the spoons to genuinely finish them.

Like, uh, haha, y’know—the insane FangWang fairytale-esque thing, the structure of which was very purposefully built off Propp’s functions (the, uh, narrative elements of a folk tale, per Propp’s Morphology of a Folk Tale stuff), because… I’m a raging nerd who re-falls down the folk tale rabbit hole at least once a year…? I do really love that fic, so very much, because there’s so much going on in it (actual witches! changelings and neurodiversity! Lin Jie baggage! FangWang being insufferable and wonderful and full of feelings! fae folk being terrible! fae folk being So Fucking Right! trials being passed! trials being failed! homely cooking, and magical needlework, and grumpy softhearted healers chopping firewood, oh my!) But also… there’s so fucking much going on in it, dear god.

It’s probably my best candidate for being flung up as a dot-point fic, but… I remain swimming in a sea of self-delusion, haha.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I think… I really like getting in the guts of things, when it comes to writing about characters as people-in-bodies. (Which… is a sentence I keep re-writing, but it’s not getting any less unhinged any time soon, so it can just stay there as-is.)

I really like that sense of grounding, anyway: of being grounded in skin and bones and body-connected feelings, which is… mildly hilarious considering—therapist noises intensify.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Executive dysfunction.

Uh. Yeah, so, I’m super bad at internalising that grammar exists for Reasons, and that those Reasons are that other people don’t necessarily think or read with the apparently weird rhythm that I do. And that means… y’know… that my own shit needs to confirm to at least a baseline of some kind or else it’ll become kinda unreadable. (I am getting better at it, I think. I am. It’s an endless project. Commas are my own personal hell.)

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I do kinda get why people might do this, because baby-me was pretty enamoured with it.

Now that I’m no longer Baby, however—at least, not when it comes to this—it’s not really something I would do. I’m also more likely to politely exit back out of stories that do choose to do it, although that’s mostly because it tends to be one of those markers that says Things about whether or not I’m going to jive with a story. (As a boring-ass adult with too little functional time on her hands.)

(On the other hand, I am deeply into terms of address/honorifics being kept and used. They can provide such a rich dose of information about intimacy, familiarity, and all the rest of it. That said, I tick-tock back and forth like a busted clock on whether I think they should be translated or not.)

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Animorphs, probably, although I didn’t know what a fandom was at that point. My first posted fic was for Stargate Atlantis.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I’m going to find a way to write that sedoretu Gao Yingjie/Fang Shiqian/Wang Jiexi/Qiao Yifan story if it fucking kills me.

(Also this random Gao Yingjie/Qiao Yifan & Su Mucheng/Wang Jiexi partner-swapping thing that’s been living rent-free in my head for literal years, but which has never actually been written down as anything more than a one line note. C’mon, story, get out of my head and onto some damn paper!)

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written

We play favourites in this house! Also… I’m just really bad at making those kinds of choices.

But—you know what? Fuck it, in the days this draft has been sitting here, I gotta say, I’ve kept thinking—probably the older the ginger (the spicier it gets). It’s peak rare pair, but I had such a blast writing it, and it’s one of those odd things I actually enjoy re-reading, too. <3

[hils79]

Monday Fic Recs

Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei (Guardian)

Anywhere Beside You Is A Place That I'll Call Home  by highlynerdy & tehfanglyfish

Zhao Yunlan didn’t realize how much he hated the Hallows until they threw him nine decades into the past. With no other options, he and Shen Wei can only wait on the SID to get them back, settling into an apartment that affords them a place to stay, but with limited privacy. They manage to make the arrangement work, but the longer Zhao Yunlan lives with Shen Wei in the past, the more he finds himself dreaming of a home they might share in the future.

This was such a soft and gentle read. Lots of domesticity and sweetness with minimal angst and drama.

any hope for the love that i hold back by mumblemutter

"You remembered," Shen Wei says, the smile turning softer. Quietly pleased. He's gotten up to join Yunlan at the edge of the outcrop, his face bare and his hood down. Beautiful.

"Who could forget this view," Yunlan says, spreading his arms to encompass the dark scenery before them. The tree tops below, the camp just near enough to keep watch, the stars all around them.

Nothing like the night sky in Dragon City.

This is so soft and tender and lovely

Wang Pangzi/Zhang Qiling (DMBJ)

Only by looking at your eyes I can tell Whatever may happen I want to know this emotion by bimingjue

Zhang Qiling has never been interested in kissing anyone, not even his boyfriend. But when he finds out just about everyone he knows has kissed Pangzi except for him, he wonders if he's missing out on something.

I love fics about asexual characters and this was so good it made me tear up

Hei Xiazi/Xie Yuchen (DMBJ)

not making peace by chancellorofxtrash

Geya didn't plan to eavesdrop

This is so sweet and so perfectly them

Liu Sang/Wang Pangzi (DMBJ)

You’re like the summer without the overbearing heat by bimingjue

When Liu Sang arrives in Wushanju, Pangzi is giving Ouxiang a manicure. After seeing how messed up Liu Sang's nails are after his latest job, Pangzi insists to give him one too. While he's working on him, Ouxiang gives Pangzi a well deserved pedicure. Liu Sang is jealous, but not for the reason they think.

This is so fun. Cute, and a little bit spicy.

[ao3feed-erha]

All or Nothing

by Jipyip

'Now's your moment. Or foreeever hold your peace!'

In the unimpressed silence, Shen Qingqiu sighed and puts down his fan with a dramatic flourish. He shoved a biscuit tin into Lan Wangji's chest.

'Too bloody perfect, that's your trouble. We can't have you going to Hua Cheng like a- huuumpph. Take one!.'

Lan Wangji resigned himself to nibbling on a digestive, aware of Liu Qingge's keen gaze following him from the corner. The head of Interpol had looked more weary each passing day, with Luo Binghe still refusing to show face except through increasingly gory kills.

'Lan Wangji.'

He gazed back at Shen Qingqiu, now uncharacteristically serious.

'Once you're in Hua Chengzhu's territory, you're going to be the worst man in the world. Down there it's all me, me, me. You won't know right from wrong if it bit you in the arse. Anyone pisses you off, God help them. Yes?.'

'Yes.'

Shen Qingqiu nodded, exchanging a terse glance with Liu Qingge.

'His right hand man will be a problem for you.' Liu Qingge looked at him, something sympathetic in his gaze. 'We've just found out the Yiling Laozu's real name.'

Words: 181, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 二哈和他的白猫师尊 - 肉包不吃肉 | The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Meatbun Doesn't Eat Meat

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con

Categories: M/M, Multi

Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Hua Cheng/Xie Lian (Tian Guan Ci Fu), Hua Cheng (Tian Guan Ci Fu)/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Liu Qingge/Luo Binghe/Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu, Chu Wanning/Mo Ran | Mo Weiyu, He Xuan/Shi Qingxuan, Feng Xin/Mu Qing (Tian Guan Ci Fu), Hua Cheng/Yin Yu (Tian Guan Ci Fu), Lan Huan | Lan Xichen/Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao, He Xuan & Shi Wudu, Jun Wu & Xie Lian (Tian Guan Ci Fu)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Mob, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Violence, Organized Crime, Dark Hua Cheng (Tian Guan Ci Fu), Dark Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Possessive Behavior, Physical Abuse, Emotional Manipulation, Humiliation, Jealousy, Power Dynamics, Office Sex, Humor, Shen Yuan | Shen Qingqiu is Bad at Feelings

via https://ift.tt/3nKfjAT

[avaantares]

Arrrggghhh I've kept my mouth shut for so long, but I just can't anymore. >.< (and I'm a bit sorry for hijacking this post, because OP is so right about the hilariously nonspecific TV show mention... but that halfhearted attempt at filling print space actually ties in pretty well to my following rant, so.)

Apparently I'm in the minority, but I actually really dislike this cover. My background in graphic design (including some commercial book design) undoubtedly makes me more critical than the average fan, but this cover design is just so... incredibly... mediocre, and it is not going to sell this book.

The purpose of a book cover (for anything other than established classics, which get a pass because of name recognition and built-in demand) is to convey to a potential reader, in what is usually a less-than-one-second glance as they walk by an endcap or scroll down a web page, as much critical information about the story as it can (mainly the genre!), and hopefully get them interested enough to pick it up/click on it to read the blurb. The title of the book should also be clearly visible and should pop enough to be memorable, since a person is statistically more likely to buy a book if they encounter the title multiple times.

This cover fails on both of those counts. The art doesn't tell you anything except 1) there are two men in this book, and 2) it's a modern setting. Critically, the subtext in the artwork is only present if you're expecting it -- if I didn't already know these characters, I'd think they were just two guys who didn't get along and were posturing, which is what is most commonly conveyed by unsmiling eye-to-eye contact between men. (In fact, that's the very thought I had the first time I saw the cover art go by; only after I noticed the title and realized who the characters were did I realize that the leaning-staring thing was supposed to be conveying sexual tension rather than aggression.) There is nothing in the art that suggests romance or paranormal or mystery or reincarnation or anything that's actually relevant to the story. There is no genre, which is the single most important thing a cover conveys! Based on the art alone, it could be a coffeeshop romance, or a drama about two rival journalists, or a comedy about a funeral director and a serial killer, or a thriller about auto racing, or...

The layout doesn't reinforce the title, either; in fact, the lines in the art actually lead the eye away from the title (a mistake any 101-level design class teaches you to avoid). There are also issues with the typesetting: The hairlines don't read when reduced (especially important in the age of online sales and thumbnails), and the lack of contrast behind the G makes it disappear. At a casual glance -- the kind people browsing for books tend to give covers -- the only strong letters are "ARDIA," which looks more "ARDJA" because of the broken I/knife shape. Add in the 1 under the left half of the N, and there's enough visual interference that it's just not going to stick. I would guess most people walking past this book on a store shelf would not even register the title, much less remember it later.

And all of that is before you even get to the back cover copy, which is just... so, so bland. I realize it's the first book and you don't want to fill the blurb with spoilers, but this description is so generic, it doesn't even sound like the book has a plot. Even a formulaic "can they [desired outcome] before [threatened consequence]?" would be an improvement.

I do understand why a lot of fans like the cover -- and if I saw this art in context on my Tumblr dash, I'd probably think, "wow, really good Guardian fanart!" because at that point, I'm coming at it with an understanding of who the men are, what their backstory is, and why there's attraction-yet-friction between them. And yes, as an illustration of Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, it works! But the purpose of a book cover is to sell the book to people who don't already know the story and characters, and if I were browsing in a bookstore and saw this sitting on the shelf, this cover would not make me pick it up.

Look, we all love the cover, and we're right to. We should love the cover. It's such a delightful contrast to the other (gorgeous, this is not a criticism) danmei covers they've been doing, the ones with swirling gossamer robes and blossoms falling gently from trees. No, this one lets you know from the start that you are in for the catastrophe romance of a bitey man who cannot work a cell phone and a disaster bisexual who makes instant noodles with coffee, neither of whom has a lick of respect for the other's personal space. Also, they fuck.

What I haven't stopped laughing about, though, is the little block of text right over Shen Wei's right armpit:

From the author of Sha Po Lang: Stars of Chaos and Faraway Wanderers comes Guardian, the hit novel series that inspired a live-action TV show.

It inspired a TV show. You know, just a show. No adjectives. You can't watch it anywhere. We're not going to tell you what it's called. It's just, you know, a show. There's some action. It was live. You should be enticed to read this book by knowing this fact, but you should feel no similar draw to the drama it inspired. It's the 'she's everything, he's just Ken' of media cross-promotion.

Guardian: truly one of the shows of all time.

[onemuseleft]

Meet Cute fic, Zhao Yunlan/Shen Wei, 1/1

Another prompt from the Meet Cute Prompt List, this one for @flange5 who asked for #7: You both do the side-to-side dance when you try to pass them in the grocery store aisle.

Title: Meet Cute 7 Fandom: Guardian Pairing: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan - no-Dixing AU, alternate first meeting Rating: PG mostly for ZYL’s lecherous thoughts and slightly gratuitous use of the word ‘fuck’ Warnings: none

Zhao Yunlan had met his match.

It was a little embarrassing that after ten years on the force, three of them as the Chief of the Special Investigations Department, after surviving the Triads, domestic disputes, assassination attempts, one persistant stalker and a literal serial killer, he was meeting his match in the produce department of the local organic grocery store.

He sighed. Fucking fussy Da Qing and his fucking fussy snack foods.

Giving the display of vegetables one last look, he gave up trying to figure out which kind of mushroom Da Qing wanted and turned away only to walk straight into someone’s push cart.

“Shit,” he said, catching himself against the edge of the cart bin. His own handbasket clattered against the cart, causing even more of a racket than Zhao Yunlan had originally. “Sorry!” He steadied himself and let go of the cart, backing up a little to get out of the way-

-and backing right into the produce display behind him.

Strong hands grabbed his shoulders, pulling him upright the instant before he would have fallen and ended up sitting in a pile of organic produce. “Are you all right?” a strong voice asked. “I apologize, I shouldn’t have tried to get through the aisle while you were browsing. I thought there would be enough room.”

Zhao Yunlan huffed a self-deprecating little laugh. “I think the problem was that I wasn’t looking where I was going. Sorry about that.” He shifted the basket to his left arm and held his right out for a shake. “Zhao Yunlan,” he said, and looked up at his rescuer.

The man pushing the cart Zhao Yunlan had almost killed himself over offered him a kind smile and took his hand. “Shen Wei,” said the most beautiful man Zhao Yunlan had ever laid eyes on.

He was pretty, there was just no other way to put it. His hair was a deep, dark brown with reddish highlights, shiny even under the supermarket fluorescent lights, and, Zhao Yunlan couldn’t help but think, just long enough for someone to really run their hands through and mess it up. His eyes were dark behind the thin wire frames of his glasses, with just a spark of good humor at Zhao Yunlan’s clumsiness but offset by a general air of kindness. His smile was genuine and friendly. His lips were pink and moist and Zhao Yunlan wanted to do things to them.

He was dressed kind of prep for Zhao Yunlan’s taste - although he’d dated a few business types in the past and messing up their prim and proper attire had always been some of the most fun he’d had. Shen Wei didn’t look like a businessman, exactly. He was wearing a cornflower blue vest with a cream and blue plaid pattern and tiny, precise buttons that made Zhao Yunlan’s fingers twitch a little with the urge to touch. His shirt was a crisp white and he wore a cravat - a fucking cravat - in some kind of deep blue and white pattern at this throat, just peeking out from behind the collar of his shirt. 

And sleeve garters. The same cornflower blue as his vest, with gleaming silver clasps. Zhao Yunlan had seen sleeve garters before but he’d never considered them sexy until right this very moment. Possibly because they’d always been on old, grouchy Ministry officials before, and not stretched enticingly tight around what looked like a truly gorgeous bicep.

Actually the rest of him looked pretty fucking enticing, now that Zhao Yunlan had looked. His shoulders were straight and strong, his chest solid, his waist trim. His suit pants had a plaid effect as well, Zhao Yunlan noticed, dark blue on dark blue that you only noticed at the right angle. 

Zhao Yunlan was struck by the sudden and somewhat unusual urge to take this man home and strip every single piece of clothing off him. 

“Thanks for the rescue,” he said, pitching his voice just a little lower and tipping his head so he could look at Shen Wei through his lashes. “I’m lucky such a strong person was there to save me.”

Shen Wei’s smile widened into a smirk. “Save you from a hefty produce bill, perhaps,” he said. His voice was dry, and he looked like he thought Zhao Yunlan’s flirting was mostly amusing, but he wasn’t walking away either. 

His hand was still clasped in Zhao Yunlan’s, which they both seemed to notice at the same moment. Zhao Yunlan let his fingers brush against Shen Wei’s as they parted, and noticed the way Shen Wei’s cheeks flushed slightly at the gentle touch.

Oh yeah. The hottie was definitely interested. 

Zhao Yunlan figured he had about five seconds to come up with an excuse for them to keep talking or he was going to have to watch this man walk away from him (he very firmly did not let himself think about what this guy’s ass would look like in those tailored pants). He glanced down at the cart and saw several bundles of fresh vegetables, fruit, flour - aside from the bottle of sesame oil, nothing processed or pre-packaged. A health nut maybe, or at least the kind of guy who cooked his own meals.  Or whose partner cooked their meals, but Zhao Yunlan ruthlessly strangled that thought to death and kicked its corpse under the metaphorical couch. This guy was single until he said otherwise. 

“Mushrooms,” Zhao Yunlan said. 

Shen Wei blinked at him. “Mushrooms?” he asked.

“Yes. Mushrooms!” Zhao Yunlan held up Da Qing’s shopping list. “You look like you know a thing or two about cooking. Could you help me? I’m supposed to buy mushrooms for my roommate, but he didn’t tell me what kind and there are-” he gestured toward the plethora of mushrooms behind him. “There are a lot. And I suspect if I get the wrong kind it will make a difference.”

“It could, yes.” Shen Wei pushed his cart to the far side of the aisle where it wouldn’t block any more space that necessary, and then came around to stand at Zhao Yunlan’s side, just close enough that their arms brushed a little. It sent a bolt of warmth through Zhao Yunlan, half arousal and half the silly, almost giddy feeling of flirtation he hadn’t had in years. Not since school, at least. Maybe longer. 

It felt… nice. He liked it. He wanted to see if he could like Shen Wei.

“What are the mushrooms for?” Shen Wei asked and Zhao Yunlan  had to blink a moment and remind himself what they were doing.

“Hot pot,” he said. “He needs them for the broth, he said, but it didn’t occur to me to ask for more information than that. I don’t cook a lot,” he added.

Shen Wei glanced down at the contents of his basket - a bag of his favorite anti-smoking aids, a bag of coffee, a half dozen packs of instant noodles, frozen dough for youtiao, a box of the fancy chocolate cookies his mom had loved and which Zhao Yunlan always bought as a treat around her birthday, a box of green bean cakes, and several packages of dried squid. “I see that,” he said in a tone of deep concern. “This isn’t very well-rounded.”

“I order take-out a lot,” Zhao Yunlan assured him. 

The furrow between Shen Wei’s brows only deepened. “He probably wants shitake for the broth, but there are a number of possibilities. Did he give you a list? Perhaps I can determine what he needed based on the other ingredients.”

Da Qing had done nothing of the sort. “He asked me to pick up a couple of other things - maybe we should just get a selection?” It would be worth having a month’s worth of mushrooms littering up the fridge if it meant he could keep Shen Wei around long enough to get his phone number. “Do you think you could help me pick some out? If you have time,” he added. “If your spouse is waiting for you to get home for dinner, I wouldn’t want to keep you.”

Shen Wei gave him a slow once over out of the corner of his eyes. It was deliberate, and appraising, and one of the hottest things Zhao Yunlan had ever had done to him. This guy was pushing all of his buttons and he still had all his clothes on. Zhao Yunlan found himself holding his breath. “No spouse,” Shen Wei said finally. The corner of his mouth curled up in a pleased little smile. “I’ll help you finish your shopping, on one condition.”

“Yeah?” Zhao Yunlan’s brain conjured up some truly inappropriate ways of demonstrating his gratitude. 

“Meet me for lunch tomorrow,” Shen Wei said. “If you’re free. You can bring me the leftovers and we’ll see if my mushroom selection proved fruitful.”

Zhao Yunlan had picked up guys before, met women in bars, run into handsome and beautiful strangers who caught his interest. He’d never had a lunch invitation set his heart pounding and make his stomach flutter like he’d just won the lottery and been crowned king all in one moment.

“It’s a date,” he said.

[theballadofmars]

If the sects aren't color coded then why the bridge that conects them is called THE RAINBOW BRIDGE??

I spent more time that I expected with this, so here are some details because this is based on my hc:

-Shen Jiu is there, yes. In this au, after he died, he became a resentful ghost and took the place of the leader of the beggars / spies sect. No one knows about this, except mqf, and sj spens his days complaining away how everyone likes the impostor more than him and recolects secrets of everyone.

-That's my design for Shen Yuan's plant body. I like the idea of him having shorter hair than the standar as how he finds balance between his old self and new self.

-Ye Qingyong is the leader of the farmers. I don't know they need food and they have to get it for somewhere. So a farm!! Also he's blind.

-Go Qingzhen is the leader of the adivination sect. I just think that Airplane got out of ideas and said "fuck it, adivionation sect, why not?". You can find more about your future in their weekly newspaper (Cang Qiong needs money okay?).

-Ru Qinghuan is the leader of Zui Xian and she makes things go KABOOM. They make alcohol but also some explosive not really safe drinks.

-Wei Qingwei already appears in the novel for one momment socI'm making him a family guy with 5 kids and a wife that he adores.

-Don't ask about the Ku Xing leader because I don't know ok he's a pacifist and buff I don't have imagination left to think about something else.

If you're interested, here's the link to With every bit of my heart, a fic canon divergence with transmigrator mqf!

[chaoticgoodlawyerwrites]

Sneak Peak for DYK Chapter 27

Chapter 27 is coming along! I'm doing my best not to get burned out while still making progress on things, so please be a bit patient with me! In any case, here's a quick excerpt (pre-beta) to peak your interest.

___

After his showing in Tianlang-Jun and Su Xiyan’s court, Shen Qingqiu knew he couldn’t wait to make several announcements to the cultivation world about his position. Namely, he needed to make some statements about his long association with Tianlang-Jun before rumor could twist it wildly.

Then again, he didn't know how fiction could really become stranger than the truth at this point. He didn’t particularly want to find out, though.

He arrived at the scheduled monthly Peak Lord meeting. Everyone (with the exception of the still honeymooning Shang Qinghua) was already waiting for him, no doubt wondering where the fuck their Sect Leader had disappeared to for two and a half weeks. Shen Qingqiu didn’t bother setting an agenda for this one; if he was going to be booted from the Sect at any point, this was the time it was going to happen. 

Because he was going to confess everything, and they would be fools to hold onto him as their Sect Leader in his opinion. His only asks would be to ensure that Ning Yingying became the next generation’s Sect Leader, he would have time to say goodbye to his disciples on Qing Jing Peak, and that Yue Qingyuan be given over into the imperial family’s custody to punish as they pleased. He had ensured that his paperwork was in order, with a transition memo already outlined for whoever would replace him as acting Sect Leader (likely Qi Qingqi).

The room was silent upon his entry, no doubt because Luo Binghe was at his side rather than Zhuzhi-Lang. Shen Qingqiu could have heard a pin drop in the room as he took his seat, Binghe sitting in Zhuzhi-Lang’s usual resting place during the meetings at his side. While Shen Qingqiu was in his usual robes, Luo Binghe remained in his imperial attire, demon mark bright and proud on his forehead.

He looked out over the room, all but his cabinet members staring at him in disbelief. He knew Shang Qinghua had communicated his and Binghe’s decision to make a public appearance together a little over a week ago to Qi Qingqi and Liu Qingge and they were not exactly pleased with him. He had also told Mu Qingfang as a courtesy and the doctor was the only one who seemed more tired than confused or irritated.

Shen Qingqiu idly wondered when Mu Qingfang last took a vacation.

He pushed the thought to the back of his mind for now, wanting to get this over with. Shen Qingqiu closed his fan with a snap and said, “This master requests everyone except for the Peak Lords and Tianxuan-Jun leave the room.”

The attendants and disciples standing at the room’s edges quickly bowed and made their way out, shutting the door behind them. Wei Qingwei said, “I suppose Sect Leader Shen has an explanation for what has been happening, then?”

He regarded the man coolly. “Yes. And, before we begin, I would like you to be aware I have the paperwork drawn up to resign as Sect Leader and Peak Lord, transferring power to necessary individuals at the ready. It is signed. All it needs to be valid are the signature of every Peak Lord present, and my current seal of office.”

“What. The fuck,” Qi Qingqi said, face turning red as she stepped towards him. “Shen Qingqiu, this is too much!”

“It’s simply a precaution, Peak Lord Qi. I know well what I have done and am prepared to take responsibility for my actions. I am unrepentant as they allowed me to get to this point, to prevent what I needed and change what I wanted to from the other future. And that may be too much for you all to tolerate.”

“Sect Leader Shen has been consistent in his vocalization that he never wished to have his office, and has offered us as Peak Lords the chance to force his resignation multiple times before. This master has grown tired of the back and forth,” Zhao Qingchen said coldly, but there was hurt in her voice. “This master suggests that Sect Leader Shen reveal all he has to reveal today. If we as a collective agree to have him remain as Sect Leader, then Sect Leader Shen shall never present this choice to us again. Cang Qiong Sect cannot have a leader that is constantly seeking to escape it, so let today finally decide this matter.”

“Well said, shimei,” Qi Qingqi said.

“Agreed,” Liu Qingge growled, glowering at Shen Qingqiu in a way that made him turn away.

“Yes,” Wei Qingwei echoed.

Everyone agreed, except for Shen Qingqiu. He was confident about being kicked out, but the issue was persuading Liu Qingge and Qi Qingqi to let him go. Previous talks with them on the matter had proven frustrating, but he hoped that the wave of support for him leaving would be persuasive to them. Without Shang Qinghua there and Mu Qingfang likely to agree with whatever would make Shen Qingqiu happiest, he was confident the rest of the room would vote in his favor.

“...very well.” Shen Qingqiu finally said. Binghe was motionless by his side, and he figured he was a good place to start. “If you would all sit down, I will begin by explaining Tianxuan-Jun.”

“He won’t explain himself?” Song Qingyue asked, staring at Luo Binghe with some apprehension, most especially when his eyes flicked to the sword at his side.

Shen Qingqiu motioned and Binghe said, “Sect Leader Shen is Prince Consort in my parents’ court. I simply act as his bodyguard in the place of my cousin here. I will not speak without his leave to do so.”

“Bodyguard. From us,” Liu Qingge said, eyebrows dropping into a scowl. 

“From anything that seeks to harm him.”

“Okay, I cannot be the only person who recognizes him!” Wei Qingwei said like he couldn’t hold it in anymore. “Shen Qingqiu, is the demon sitting next to you not your former disciple?!”

“Of course he is,” he answered, tightly. “Crown Prince Tianxuan-Jun, formerly known by the name Luo Binghe, was a disciple of Qing Jing Peak. I did insist he was only missing.”

Peak Lords stared at him like he had lost his mind. Mu Qingfang pulled a flask out of his sleeve and tipped some of the liquid into his tea cup discreetly.

[dangermousie]

Mousie’s absolutely subjective, very biased Top 10 web novels list

Please note that this is hardly aiming to be objective, if one can even be properly objective about a work of fiction. It is 110% based on my preferences, which means this list is heavy on the angst and has nothing set in the modern day. It is also heavily danmei-centric, even though I read way more het romance than danmei, because for whatever reason, most of the danmei I’ve read has been insanely good.

10. Return of the Swallow - one of the two non-danmeis on this list. Smart and nuanced and with a large cast of characters. Our heroine is a long-lost daughter of the family that is brought back in and has to cope with familial struggles, crazy royals, court intrigue, invasion et al. It’s SO GOOD! There is romance with the sexy smart enemy general but honestly, it’s the heroine that is the main selling point for me.

9. Transmigrator Meets Reincarnator - the only other non-danmei novel on this list, this was my very first web novel and what drew me into this insanity. This is just a ton of fun, probably the lightest novel on this list, not an ounce of angst to be found. But it’s hilarious and features competent heroine and tsundere hero and I will always love it for opening a new world to me. Anyway, our heroine transmigrates into the novel as the female lead. Unlike the original lead though she doesn’t want to seek adventures and angst - she just wants to comfortably live with the wealthy, nice husband heroine has. Alas, said husband is no longer nice since he has previously lived this story where he was betrayed by FL and then transmigrated/reincarnated into the past. Oh well, the heroine opens up businesses and makes friends. And eventually, her husband realizes his wife is way different this time around. This actually doesn’t have much romance, not until close to the end, but this is so fun I don’t care.

8. Lord Seventh - I am only partway through this so far, but it’s already on the list because it’s smart and somehow intense AND laid-back (not sure how this works, but it does) and is honestly just a really really solid and smart period novel, with the OTP a cherry on top of a narrative sundae. Plus, I love the concept of MC deciding he is not going for his supposedly fated love - he’s tried for six lifetimes, always with disaster, and he’s just plain done and tired. When he opens his life in his seventh reincarnation and sees the person he would have given up the world for, he genuinely feels nothing at all. (Spoiler - his OTP is actually a barbarian shaman this time around, thank you Lord!)

7. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS) - oh come on, how are you even on this tumblr if you don’t know MDZS/The Untamed? This was my very first danmei and it’s so much fun! I love everything about it - the unreliable narrator, the looping structure, the main OTP, Wei Wuxian’s laidback, traumatized insouciance, everything. Anyway, the plot in the event you somehow transported here from 2005 is that the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Wei Wuxian, was defeated by the righteous sects over a decade ago and fell of a cliff to his death. Only now that same Wei Wuxian opens his eyes in another body and everything that was supposed to stay in the past starts again.

6. Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF) - people either love its meandering narrative, picaresque structure and cast of thousands, or find it a detriment compared to much more compact MDZS. I love it even more than MDZS for those very qualities. It does have a rock-solid, darling OTP, but what really elevates it to me are the MXTX trademark combo of snarky/light tone hiding a ton of trauma underneath, the insanely intricate world-building, and what it has to say about the nature of grace and goodness. Xie Lian is one of my top 5 web novel characters and probably in top 10 from anywhere. Oh, and while MXTX’s stuff is not as angsty for me as Meatbun’s or even Priest’s, there are always exceptions, and there is one chapter in this novel that pretty much broke me and sometimes I still flashback to it and feel unwell.

Anyway, what is it about? There is a commotion in the heavenly realm - Xie Lian, the Crown Prince of a long-destroyed kingdom, has ascended to Godhood. That in itself is not so exciting. However for Xie Lian this is the third time (!!!!) as he’s ascended and lost his godhood twice prior. And now, the biggest joke of the divine realm is back, throwing the heavenly realm into chaos. And elsewhere, Hua Cheng, one of the four most powerful demons of that Universe, sits up and takes notice.

5. Golden Stage - my perfect comfort novel. Probably the least angsty of any danmei novel on this list (which still means plenty angsty :P) It also has a dedicated, smart OTP that is an OTP for the bulk of the book - I think you will notice that in most of the novels in this list, I go for “OTP against the world” trope - I can’t stand love triangles and the same. Anyway, Fu Shen, is a famous general whose fame is making the emperor antsy. When he gets injured and can’t walk any more, the emperor gladly recalls him and marries him off to his most faithful court lackey, the head of sort of secret police, Yan Xiaohan. The emperor intends it both as a check on the general and a general spite move since the two men always clash in court whenever they meet. But not all is at is seems. They used to be friends a long time ago, had a falling out, and one of the loveliest parts of the novel is them finding their way to each other, but there is also finding the middle path between their two very different philosophies and ways of being, not to mention solving a conspiracy or dozen, and putting a new dynasty on the throne, among other things. It always makes me think, a little, of “if Mei Changsu x Jingyan were canon.”

4. Sha Po Lang - if you like a lot of fantasy politics and world-building and steampunk with your novels, this one is for you. This one is VERY plot-heavy with smart, dedicated characters and a deconstruction of many traditional virtues - our protagonist Chang Geng, a long-lost son of the Emperor, is someone who wants to modernize the country but also take down the current emperor his brother for progress’ sake and the person he’s in love with is the general who saved him when he was a kid who is nominally his foster father. Anyway, the romance is mainly a garnish in this one, not even a big side dish, but the relationship between two smart, dedicated, deadly individuals with very different concepts of duty is fascinating long before it turns romantic. And if you like angst, while overall it’s not as angsty as e.g., Meatbun stuff, Chang Geng’s childhood is the stuff of nightmares and probably freaks me out more than anything else in any novel on this list, 2ha included.

3. To Rule In a Turbulent World (LSWW) - gay Minglan. No seriously. This is how I think of it. it’s a slice of life period novel with fascinating characters and setting that happens to have a gay OTP, not a romance in a period setting per se and I always prefer stories where the romance is not the only thing that is going on. It’s meticulously written and smart and deals with character development and somehow makes daily minutia fascinating. Our protagonist, You Miao, is the son of a fabulously wealthy merchant, sent to the capital to make connections and study. As the story starts, he sees his friend’s servants beating someone to death, feels bad, and buys him because, as we discover gradually and organically, You Miao may be wealthy and occasionally immature but he is a genuinely good person. The person he buys is a barbarian from beyond the wall, named Li Zhifeng. It’s touch and go if the man will survive but eventually he does and You Miao, who by then has to return home, gives him his papers and lets him go. However, LZF decides to stick with You Miao instead, both out of sense of debt for YM saving his life and because he genuinely likes him (and yet, there is no instalove on either of their parts, their bodies have fun a lot quicker than their souls.) Anyway, the two take up farming, get involved in the imperial exams and it’s the life of prosperity and peace, until an invasion happens and things go rapidly to hell. This is so nuanced, so smart (smart people in this actually ARE!) and has secondary characters who are just as complex as the mains (for example, I ended up adoring YM’s friend, the one who starts the plot by almost beating LZF to death for no reason) because the novel never forgets that few people are all villain. There is a lovely character arc or two - watching YM grow up and LZF thaw - there is the fact that You Miao is a unicorn in web novels being laid back and calm. This whole thing is a masterpiece.

2. Stains of Filth (Yuwu) - want the emotional hit of 2ha but want to read something half its length? Well, the author of 2ha is here to eviscerate you in a shorter amount of time. This has the beautiful world-building, plot twists that all make sense and, at the center of it all, an intense and all-consuming and gloriously painful relationship between two generals - one aristocratic loner Mo Xi, and the other gregarious former slave general Gu Mang. Once they were best friends and lovers, but when the novel starts, Gu Mang has long turned traitor and went to serve the enemy kingdom and has now been returned and Mo Xi, who now commands the remnants of his slave army, has to cope with the fact that he has never been able to get over the man who stabbed him through the heart. Literally. This novel has a gorgeously looping structure, with flashbacks interwoven into present storyline. There is so much love and longing and sacrifice in this that I am tearing up a bit just thinking of it. If you don’t love Mo Xi and Gu Mang, separately and together, by the end of it, you have no soul.

1. The Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2ha/erha) - if you’ve been following my tumblr for more than a hot second, you know my obsession with this novel. Honestly, even if I were to make a list of my top 10 novels of any kind, not just webnovels, this would be on the list. It has everything I want - a complicated, intricate plot with an insane amount of plot twists, all of which are both unexpected and make total sense, a rich and large cast of characters, a truly epic OTP that makes me bawl, emotional intensity that sometimes maxes even me out and so much character nuance and growth. Also, Moran is my favorite web novel character ever, hands down.

Anyway, the plot (or at least the way it first appears) is that the evil emperor of the cultivation world, Taxian Jun, kills himself at 32 and wakes up in the body of his 16 year old self, birth name Moran. Excited to get a redo, Moran wants to save his supposed true love Shimei, whose death the last go-around pushed him towards evil. He also wants to avoid entanglement with Chu Wanning, his shizun and sworn enemy in past life. And that’s all you are best off knowing, trust me. The only hint I am going to give is oooh boy the mother of all unreliable narrators has arrived!

The novel starts light and funny on boil the frog principle - if someone told me I would be full bawling multiple times with this novel, I’d have thought they were insane, but i swear my eyes hurt by the end of it. I started out being amused and/or disliking the mains and by the end I would die for either of them.

[randomprose]

Shang Qinghua is, for lack of a better word, a pushover—a pathetic, cowering, pushover.

He doesn’t talk back, mostly because everyone around him is so much more OP than him and he lives in constant fear that any one of them would be the cause of his demise (accidentally and/or otherwise).

So, Shang Qinghua just lets things slide, like, a lot of things. For self-preservation purposes. So he gets taken advantage of for it, so what? As long as he’s useful, he at least doesn’t have to fear being unceremoniously eliminated.

Shang Qinghua lives his life like this—except during the bi-annual Peak Lords’ Conference.

The bi-annual Peak Lords’ Conference is where they discuss the sect’s general administrative matters and most important of all, the sect’s financial records. It’s the time all the peak lords are scrambling to complete their administrative reports and the busiest season for An Ding Peak—especially Shang Qinghua.

It’s also the only time of the year Shang Qinghua doesn’t think about the importance of not crossing anyone in the name of self-preservation.

A couple of years since the end of the original novel officially transpired, and after also officially being saddled with the Northern Desert’s palace account and affairs, Shang Qinghua has decided he has had enough and will no longer be pushed around into doing the other peaks’ paperwork for them!

Shang Qinghua gets mean and snappy at these meetings. He’s so sleep-deprived he doesn’t even have the energy to be guilty about it. That’s how exhausted he is. If someone comes for his throat during this meeting he wouldn’t even flinch. He’d probably be angrier if they somehow don’t finish the job. Put him out of his misery or don’t waste his fucking time.

If this made the other peak lords lowkey scared of him singling them out during these bi-annual meetings, that’s just a bonus.

A hush falls among the peak lords already present in Cang Qiong’s main conference hall when Shang Qinghua enters. His Head Disciple and inner disciples carrying each peak’s individual reports in tow, placing it down on Shang Qinghua’s table while the peak lord himself goes straight to the podium to load today’s presentation in the crystal mirror projector screens.

It’s times like these that Shang Qinghua is so thankful he thought about writing in projection screens in Proud Immortal Demon Way. Imagine having to write and present a whole sect’s financial report in scrolls! He’d sooner throw himself off of the top of Jue Di Gorge.

He sticks a rectangular slab of crystal to a port and activates it with a short burst of his qi. The crystal mirror lights up with the first page of Shang Qinghua’s presentation and he eyes it for a second before walking to his table.

Yes, it functions like a USB, and no he doesn’t care that ‘it goes completely against xianxia logic!’ because contrary to what Cucumber-bro says, this is actually another thing that Shang Qinghua is grateful he wrote in because it’s a fucking stroke of genius.

An An Ding disciple comes in just before the start of the conference, saying a messenger bird of a merchant lord just sent a missive labeled ‘important’.

“This is not important at all,��� Shang Qinghua says before sitting down, grabbing a paper, and writing a reply anyway. He hands it to his disciple, “Here send it back. If they reply unfavorably, tell them—"

Just then Shen Qingqiu enters, flanked by Ming Fan and Luo Binghe, which startled the An Ding disciple to drop the note. Luo Binghe picks up the paper to hand it over to the startled disciple, who bowed in thanks before Shen Qingqiu snatches it and opens the note.

“'To Lord Mao," Shen Qingqiu reads. "'Is that a challenge? If so, this peak lord will engage with Lord Mao. This peak lord knows the law of this land and will gladly see Lord Mao in court. Note, this peak lord knows what happened five days after last year’s harvest moon and supposes that, too, is up for discussion. Signed Peak Lord Shang.’” Shen Qingqiu turns to Shang Qinghua as he folds the note again and hands it back to the disciple, who bows to all of them before taking his leave. “Lord Mao? The merchant that supplies some of Wan Jian Peak’s blacksmithing tools? What did this Lord Mao do five days after last year’s harvest moon?”

“Nothing and it’s none of your business,” Shang Qinghua mutters shortly as he re-arranges his scrolls while the rest of the peak lords start to file in.

It’s a testament to how exhausted Shang Qinghua is that he doesn’t even flinch when Luo Binghe levels him with a dark glare and a snarl of, “Don’t speak to Shizun like that.”

“Binghe, stand down. Shang-shidi is just under a lot of pressure. This is a busy time for An Ding Peak after all.”

“No, Luo Binghe is right,” Shang Qinghua sighs. “That was out of line, shixiong, even if what you said was true.” He bows slightly to Shen Qingqiu in apology before smiling tiredly. “Lord Mao did nothing I think. I just—”

“What is this I hear about Shang-shidi being at odds with a merchant?” Qi Qingqi pipes up clearly having heard their conversation. “Really, Shang-shixiong. What are you doing? It better not be something shady again.”

“Rest assured, Qi-shimei, this shixiong knows what he’s doing.”

“This one sure hopes you do,” Qi Qingqi says not without suspicion at the same time Shen Qingqiu asks, “Do you really?”

“It’s fine. It’s fine,” Shang Qinghua says, moving his hand in a dismissive wave. “Don’t worry about it.”

--

Later, while Shang Qinghua is in the middle of speedrunning through the peak’s expense reports, because his martial siblings have very short attention spans for such things and anything else that isn’t gossip or doesn’t directly involve them, the same An Ding disciple comes in. He slinks quietly to An Ding’s Head Disciple, who is taking notes dutifully, to inform her of the missive.

The Head Disciple gives him the go signal to report and raises her hand to get Shang Qinghua’s attention.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Shifu, but Lord Mao has responded.”

“Oh? And what did he say?”

An Ding’s Head Disciple nudges her martial sibling, who looks unsure and a little unnerved at all the eyes trained on him, to deliver the message.

“Lord Mao said—” he clears his throat. “Lord Mao said there is no need to make a big deal out of nothing and agreed to meet on the twelfth day of next month.”

Shang Qinghua looks to his Head Disciple, rapidly flipping through a small pocket notebook before looking up and shaking her head no to Shang Qinghua.

“This peak lord is not available on that date. Tell Lord Mao to move it on—Xiao Lian?”

“Shifu’s next available date is on the twenty-fifth of the month after next.”

“There. Tell Lord Mao to move the meeting to the twenty-fifth day of the month after next.”

“Hey, now,” Shen Qingqiu says because his husband has gone, Ming Fan is taking notes for him, so now he’s bored and this is the most interesting thing that’s happened since this whole meeting started. “Isn’t Shang-shidi pushing it?”

“It’s fine. This master knows what he’s doing,” Shang Qinghua says as he waves away his disciple and goes right back to drilling Liu Qingge about Bai Zhan Peak’s expense report.

--

Around the concluding hour of the meeting, Shang Qinghua’s messenger disciple returns yet again with a response.

“This disciple apologizes a thousand times for interrupting once again.”

“The meeting is about to end. Wait beside your shijie for a bit, yeah?”

“Yes, Shifu.”

But before the An Ding disciple could do as he’s told, Wei Qingwei speaks up.

“It’s fine. At this point, I think this peak lord speaks for all when he says we all want to know what Lord Mao has said.” Not in the least because they’re all bored out of their wits and this is a very welcome distraction. “He's one of Wan Jian Peak’s suppliers is he not? This peak lord has a vested interest in this exchange.”

“Alright then,” Shang Qinghua says, no longer caring and just wanting this whole meeting to end so he can go back home and catch up on some sleep for a day or three. “Let’s hear it then.”

“Lord Mao agreed to meet Shifu on the twenty-fifth of the month after next and offered to host Shifu on his manor.”

“Fat chance,” Shang Qinghua says. And what? Hand himself over for a potential assassination plot? Shang Qinghua did not last this long and survived everything that’s happened in the original storyline only for some canon fodder merchant lord to get the jump on him. He makes a mental note to look for a new supplier for Wan Jian Peak’s blacksmithing needs if Lord Mao doesn’t agree with the terms he’s laid out—ones that are very much in Cang Qiong’s favor 70-30 now that he’s pissed Shang Qinghua off. “Tell Lord Mao this peak lord will receive him in An Ding Peak at no later than Wu Shi.”

The disciple bows and leaves to send the message and Shang Qinghua turns back to conclude his presentation.

Then later, after the meeting is adjourned, Shen Qingqiu sidles up to him with an amused, “Well, that was something, Peak Lord Shang. The bi-annual Peak Lord’s Conference really brings out your backbone, huh?”

Shang Qinghua just regards his friend with an exhausted flat look at the obvious mocking use of his title before smirking, “I told you I know what I’m doing.”

“So what did Lord Mao do five days after last year’s harvest moon?”

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Shang Qinghua replies in earnest with a shrug and a confused frown. “I just thought of a random date and hoped for the best that it held some importance to him. Guess Lord Mao does shady things on the regular.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah. Time to find Wei-shixiong a new supplier. I just hope he’s not partial to the ones that shady Lord Mao provides.”

ao3