#When all else fails: explosions [Pangzi]

[soundingstars]

@changeandmovingon

Pangzi: We need to distract these guys.

Wu Xie: Leave it to me.

Wu Xie: Centaurs have six limbs and are therefore insects. Discuss.

Ning and Hendry Coxe: *immediately begin arguing*

[w2writesstuff]

What W2 Wrote in 2023

Considering that I'm prrrrrobably not going to manage to put out anything else this year, yeah, let's do a roundup now while I've got a moment. (Note: Only includes fun stuff; no professional shit here.)

January

I can't even remember January. Nothing happens in Januaries.

February

to the beat of your heart, ch. 3 (MDZS) The ongoing adventures of a self-indulgent happy-ending everybody-lives-and-also-bones WangXian canon-divergent AU; a joint project between my wife and me.

It’s Hard to Say “I Do” When You Don’t (@shousetsubangbang) Original story about a guy whose long-time crush asks him to pretend to be his boyfriend at a family wedding. Fake dating ensues.

March

Kintsukuroi (DMBJ) This heihua piece may be the best thing I've written all year? Look, I'm just very proud of how I made it exactly what I wanted it to be.

April

Head (@shousetsubangbang) This was a last-minute fill because the story I wanted to write failed to make itself writeable. Oh well! Still a funny and cute blowjob.

May

to the beat of your heart, ch. 4 (MDZS)

I want to be where all the stupid shit I say sounds so romantic and true (Guardian, WeiLan) Someday I will write a longer and more complicated series of Guardian sex pollen shenanigans, but until then, enjoy this one.

The Rightful Ruler (The Blood of Youth, Lei Wujie/Xiao Se) Still the only English-language story on AO3 for this pairing! Includes maybe the funniest line I wrote all year? You make the call!

The Doctor is In (Psych-Hunter) I know nobody watched Psych-Hunter, and with good reason, but I did, and I think Jiang Shuo should get to spy on the sexy gay doctor if he wants to.

June

A Single Explosion (DMBJ, Pangxi + Xiao Ge) For PingPang Week, with @pangzi in mind. Here's the missing part of Ultimate Note, where Pangzi takes care of Xiao Ge in the hospital.

Dog (The Disguiser, Ah Cheng/Ming Lou) This was actually written before I saw the post going around about how the sexiest thing one guy can be is another's dog. But it's true!

And I am green, and you are wood (DMBJ/Mystic Nine) Another exchange fic, where Liang Wan gets a chance to meet all of Zhang Rishan's old (boy)friends, especially Ba Ye.

Reverse Cowgirl (Not Gay as in Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, Queer as in Dude Ranch) (@shousetsubangbang) Is this the hottest thing I've ever written for SSBB? Might just be. Lesbian ranch hands recruit a city girl.

July

Stay (Beyond Evil, Oh Jihwa/Yu Jaeyi) Because you know what that show needed? Small town lesbians.

Little Spear (The Blood of Youth, Sikong Qianluo/Xiao Se) This show has some cute het, but how it would work in bed is another matter entirely; or, two gay people try to have straight sex.

动须相应 (live-action Hikaru no Go, Yu Liang/Shi Guang) It's hard to get much gayer than the actual show without adding explicit sex, so ... here you go! Post-series boyfriends.

One Quiet Night (Kingdom, Seobi + Lee Chang/Yeongshin) This is the other thing I'm really proud of, because it too came out pretty much exactly the way I envisioned it. A nurse, a prince, and a scrappy piece of shit more or less all fall in love.

August

Hooks in My Sides (Beyond Evil, JWDS) This certainly was the most popular thing I've written all year. It's unfortunately easy to write poor Juwon having a gay meltdown.

A World Made Up of Silver and Copper (@shousetsubangbang) A prince-and-pauper scenario, this time focusing on the prince's adventures in being mistaken for himself. (Hint: they are sexy.)

September

...Funny how the first months of each semester are usually a complete wash for me creatively, huh?

October

to the beat of your heart, ch. 5 (MDZS)

Over My Dead Body (@shousetsubangbang) Nothing like the romance of possessing a corpse only to find he's not actually dead. (Note to DMBJ fans: This should taste like heihua.)

November

A fair amount of November was spent writing something that I just couldn't finish for December's SSBB, once I realized how long it'd have to be and how little free time I had. Maybe next year!

December

Antivenin (@shousetsubangbang) A mean bisexual and an even meaner lesbian team up to distract their gay boss from his terrible crush.

-

And that's it! It always feels kind of weird to see it all gathered in one place, like ... wow, that's not nearly as much as I thought it was. But at the same time, it involves a couple of pieces I feel very good about, so overall I'm going to take the win.

The most fun I had was doing my Small Fandom Summer thing, where I wrote fic for fandoms that had <1000 English-language works on AO3. Maybe I'll do that again next year!

Anyway, if you do wind up reading something, especially the original stuff, thanks. A lot of this can be a very lonely process, especially when there's not much of a built-in audience. Saying you liked something makes me feel a little less like I'm screaming into the void.

Onward to 2024!

[achromaticstars-archived]

Wu Xie’s Tags

[lucientelrunya]

Like a lonely house pt 1

Sooo... finished watching Mystic Nine two days ago and was instantly pestered by various plot bunnies. I haven't written in a long time and it's been even longer since I posted something I wrote, so I have actually no idea how to tag anything^^°° But this scence was practically writing itself in my head and I had to get it out...

I wrote it and re-read it once and I really need a betareader because english is not my first language and I hope someone might be interested to do that and to maybe talk about this idea a little more? I tend to like to torture characters that I love and I really like Zhang Rishan...

Okay, on to what I wrote:

Warnings: blood, violence (?), generic mysterious tomb

Getting asked to help Zhang Qiling of all people to enter some mysterious tomb is not the only reason Zhang Rishan agrees to travel to this isolated patch of the world. Although, technically, it hasn’t been Zhang Qiling who had asked, because the man still distrusts him. It had been Wu Xie, one of the few people who never tried to scheme Zhang Rishan out of being the leader of the nine clans, one of the few people he actually sort of likes, and so he had opted to help them. Being away from all the scheming and plotting and testing for a while is also a major advantage of this endeavor and he actually enjoys hiking through the thick woods with the iron triangle and their companions.

Wu Xie had given him everything they had learned about the tomb right after Zhang Rishan had decided to help them and it had not been much, because they couldn’t even get in. There are obviously several hidden mechanisms to open the tomb, and some of them have to be activated simultaneously. Wu Xie and Pangzi had both tried and failed to help with that and after briefly discussing and discarding the use of explosives they had turned to Zhang Rishan for help.

Zhang Rishan has no knowledge of a special Zhang Tomb in this remote part of the country, which had also piqued his interest. What kind of tomb would need such safeguarding?

It is a long, long hike through the woods, almost two full days and they reach the tomb with the last rays of sunlight filtered through the thick trees. Between Zhang Qiling and Zhang Rishan it is rather easy, in the end, to activate the hidden mechanisms and open the doors, but Wu Xie had been right, it had only been easy because they are both Zhangs.

Zhang Qiling is the first to enter the tomb, careful as ever and probably looking for traps. Zhang Rishan follows, stepping over the threshold carefully, also wary of traps, but as soon as both feet are on the ground behind the door he suddenly feels cold all over. It isn’t a trap, there is no sound, no trap door opening, no hidden weapons being launched at him, but it still feels like he made a mistake by stepping inside. There is a moment of cold dread, goosebumps all over his back and then his body starts moving of its own volition, following the shape of Zhang Qiling down the corridor and into some hidden door.

Zhang Rishan has no idea where they are going and he can't take in his surroundings because his body is just moving forward, like something is controlling it remotely. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t make his body obey him, he can only watch and wait for what is happening to him, like he is someone else. It’s deeply unsettling and he hopes the others are following close behind and have seen them enter this hidden corridor. Although the lack of questions or confusion is not a good sign.

They enter a wide cave with a giant statue of some kind of human-shaped-figurine. He doesn’t get the chance to look at it properly, because his body makes a beeline for the other side of the cave where a strange altar sits behind a small pool filled with liquid. At first Zhang Rishan thinks it might be water, there is not much natural light in here and their remotely controlled bodies had never used their flashlights, but when his body steps down into the pool he realizes it is something else, something with a higher viscosity that clings heavily to his clothes and body. Whatever controls his body makes it drop to his knees in front of the altar, the liquid sloshing almost up to his chest and finally, finally it raises his head to look up at the altar. Zhang Qiling is right there, with his back to him, bowing to something on the altar and he doesn’t seem to be able to fight free of this either. Zhang Rishan isn’t sure if that thought is reassuring or even more upsetting.

When Zhang Qiling turns around with a small ritualistic looking dagger in his hand and gets on his knees in front of Zhang Rishan he starts to actually panic. Zhang Qiling’s face is not as blank as it normally is, there is an almost reverent expression on his face and his lips are moving in a constant murmur of words Zhang Rishan can’t understand no matter how hard he tries. But it almost sounds like a prayer. Even as he feels his own lips starting to move and join in the words he can’t understand a single word. Dread pools cold in his stomach but he still can’t move a muscle, like a remote control without batteries, his body keeps on ignoring what his mind is trying to tell it. He can only watch his arms rising on their own, his hands pushing back the sleeves to offer up his naked forearms to Zhang Qiling’s dagger.

Is this why they needed people with Zhang blood to open the door? So they could be sacrificed to whatever is worshipped here?

Still chanting, Zhang Qiling takes Zhang Rishan’s arms into his free hand and slices the knife over the bare skin, first the left one then the right, opening two deep cuts. His body doesn’t even flinch although he is acutely aware of the burn, feels the warm blood run over his skin and drip down into the pool. His body shifts forward, offering his bleeding arms to the altar in a small bow, almost submerging them in the liquid and Zhang Rishan loses sight of whatever Zhang Qiling is doing because his eyes are fixed on the strange milky liquid. He can only watch as his blood drips down into the pool, creating little ripples and waves until a high pitched wailing sound starts echoing through the cave, quickly increasing in volume. The cave starts to tremble and shake, sloshing the liquid in his little pool and almost managing to topple Zhang Rishan.

For a moment it feels like the force that controls his body is losing its control and he manages to wrestle free, to move his arms and press his hands against his ears. The high pitched wailing is ringing and echoing in his head, a truly mind-splitting noise and not the only reason he needs to get out of that cave. Without the strange force controlling his body and making every move seem simple and easy he has to exert all his strength to fight against the liquid that feels more like mud or quicksand, clinging to his body and trying to keep him there. Somehow he manages to get to his feet, hands still pressed firmly against his ears although it doesn’t feel like much help against the sound. But he needs to get out, to find Zhang Qiling who hopefully hasn’t stabbed himself with that dagger as a further offering. Another vicious quake of the cave sweeps him off his feet again before he can even raise his head to start looking and he falls backwards into the liquid, only just managing to draw a breath and close his eyes before he goes down.

Completely engulfed in it it feels like this liquid is a living thing that is clinging to him, that is trying to pull him deeper, and it is warm, so warm, almost like an embrace. The infernal wailing is muted to a low hum that almost sounds nice and for a moment Zhang Rishan can almost forget that he needs to get up and get out, that he needs to stop the bleeding before he loses too much blood. Or maybe he has already lost too much blood and is starting to hallucinate? Because it suddenly feels like something is reaching out to him. Something non-human, probing at the edges of his mind, trying to communicate.

At first he tries to get away from it - because when has anything preternatural happening in a tomb ever been a good thing? - but he doesn’t really have a choice, the liquid is still engulfing his whole body and not letting him go. And that something is insistent, forcing its way into his mind with the force of somebody kicking down a door. Zhang Rishan can’t help whimpering and thick liquid starts to fill his mouth, but the pressure in his mind lessens. It almost feels like that something is sorry for hurting him? And just like that, just like it has found the right wavelength to communicate with him he knows that whatever it is it is sorry for hurting him and it is thankful and full of joy. It doesn’t communicate in words but Zhang Rishan still gets most of its message, whatever ceremony Zhang Qiling enacted, it destroyed the chains binding that being in this cave and it is finally, finally free. The waves of joy and happiness engulf Zhang Rishan warm and lively and threaten to sweep him away and for a moment he forgets that he might be drowning and bleeding out his very moment.

Maybe this is just what death feels like? But no, those feelings rippling around him shift to a questioning thankfulness, a longing to give something back to him. Something he misses like that being missed its freedom. And Zhang Rishan can’t help thinking of everyone he had to bury in his too long life. Fo Ye and Xinyue, he misses them so much that he never allows himself to think of them. To remember the last moments spent with them, to their last breath. But they had full lifes, they died without regrets. Er Ye, who never remarried but still had a full life. And Ba Ye - and even now his mind tries to shy away from thinking about Ba Ye, because he still doesn’t know what happened to the fortune teller, after decades of searching. And he still feels like he failed him.

Zhang Rishan wishes he could spend more time with any one of them, to have them back, with him, safe and sound. But he knows that would be entirely selfish and cruel, condemning them to a fate like his own, to live a life out of their time, with everyone they ever held dear dead and gone. He could never do that to the people he loves. Or to himself, to have them back only to lose them again. And a tiny, bitter voice whispers in his mind that maybe he should wish for a mind that resets itself like Zhang Qiling, so he wouldn’t have to go through that over and over and over again.

The thought slips away again but the other consciousness seems to have found what it was looking for because it suddenly emits a sense of contentment before it leaves him. The warm embrace and the feeling of safety and warmth slip away with it and cold washes over Zhang Rishan, cold and dread and pain. At least he can move his body again and push himself up and out of the liquid. The movement makes his head spin and he still can’t breathe properly because there is liquid in his mouth and in his throat. His body shakes with the violent coughing that’s barely getting any oxygen into his burning lungs and with weakness and he isn’t even sure he could keep himself upright for much longer.

The blood loss and the coughing make him so light headed that he doesn’t even realize there is someone else in the pool, splashing around, spluttering, until the person grips his shoulders and keeps him upright when he starts to slip back. It’s still so dim in the cave and there are more black spots than actual vision left that he doesn’t recognize the face of the man who caught him until said man seems to recognize him.

“Lieutenant?” that voice sounds utterly surprised, laced with worry, but he knows that voice, he knows-

“Ba… Ye?” - and the world goes dark.