#deathbyoctopi

[wangxiangiftexchange]

Winter Solstice gift for @deathbyoctopi!

My Wangxian Winter Solstice Gift Exchange offering. The prompts were mpreg and crack. I hope you love it as much as I loved writing it!

*****

A Question of Paternity

In the end, it happened so quickly. One moment, Wei Wuxian was playing his flute, controlling the fierce corpses, and the tides were turning, and the next, there was a flash of light, cold metal and warm fingers at his throat, and an energy that rushed into his empty dantian and swirled there.

Wei Wuxian’s consciousness wavered, but he managed to see Wen Rouhan before him, a surprised and slightly confused look on his face, but it was soon wiped away as cold steel punched through the tyrant's chest, snuffing out the light of madness in his eyes.

Wei Wuxian was falling. His arms had no strength to catch him and his consciousness was already fading. With his last moment of awareness, he saw Lan Wangji and Jiang Wanyin reaching for him, but he was unconscious before they arrived.

Read on AO3

[useless-catalanfacts]

Bon Nadal que s'acosta!!

Una pregunta que ens surt arran de la cançó del 25 de desembre. Hi ha l'estrofa que comença:

Qui en dirà més gran mentida (...)

I la pregunta és: us sona si és (o era) tradicional per alguna banda dir mentides per Nadal? Potser per sants innocents mateix, o algun altre dia, que la gent es reunís i per riure una estona comencessin a dir parides cada cop més grans?

Penseu en la cançó de les mentides, per un altre exemple al cançoner popular. Sembla que hi ha afició entre els catalans a inverntar-se històries absurdes XD

Molt bona pregunta!

És que la cançó "El 25 de desembre fum fum fum" originalment no era una nadala, sinó una cançó humorística.

Així ho van explicar a Sàpiens:

"El vint-i-cinc de desembre / fum, fum, fum"… és, sens dubte, la nostra nadala més coneguda, o més ben dit, la més cantada, perquè la descontextualització que ha experimentat amb el temps l'ha convertit en una cançó simpàtica però força surrealista. Què hi fan, si no, barrejats el naixement de Jesús amb un que diu que farà deu mil camades d'un sol bot?

"A vint-i-cinc de desembre" (així, començada amb "a") és una de tantes "cançons de les mentides" que es cantaven antigament en festes o reunions familiars informals, i que tenien en comú la referència a personatges respectables fent afirmacions inversemblants com la del majoral (el pastor principal). I el "fum, fum, fum"? Segurament us remet a una llar de foc en ple hivern, no? Doncs no hi té res a veure. Aquí el "fum" és l'imperatiu del verb fúmer, un eufemisme d'allò que els vells del poble van cantar als folkloristes que van recollir la cançó: "fot, fot, fot" [del verb "fotre"], una expressió d'incredulitat davant les mentides que explica la lletra. De fet, aquesta fórmula no és exclusiva d'aquesta cançó, sinó d'altres d'aquest tipus o similars, com la de la majordona petadora: "Ella és bona petadora / fum, fum, fum / (…) mireu-ne la dona porca! / fum, fum, fum"...

Sembla ser que actualment en cantem una versió amb la lletra més "domesticada".

[marquisguyun]

Tang Fan: *Getting frustrated bc his plans to tease his boyfriend didn't work because his boyfriend is being a good boyfriend*

Sui Zhou: O.O

Requested by @deathbyoctopi as part of @cdrama-action

[wifiwuxians]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY XUE YANG!!!!!!! i think it's such a beautiful thing that all these sharp little delinquents got together to take this chaotic yearbook photo... and yet only like a third of them decided to look at the camera.

thank you so much to @falcities for being my partner in crime for this and tying the whole image together!!! and thank you to all the people who submitted their yang! i only know some tumblrs (the rest are twitter handles), but everyone's getting named >:)

first row: spicy, @chupenguin, rie4062, mda3star, @lanlanayang, wifiwuxians (that's me!), blubiboom, @falcities (that's my collaborator!), @baxiabells, @deathbyoctopi, @the-private-local-enemy, @hashichosha, @sugarapplebaby, nightmarenarzi second row: VKW_art, @robby-bobby-tommy, l1ghtbluedev1l, bored_knight, @mispronouncing-michaelangelo, @littleragondin, magic_nin, saintessmorgana third row: AhLiviio, xueyang4life, JUNG-juunn, @tricksterly-conduct, @silvysartfulness cherry on top: KittieRia

yang assembly and light background by me, embellishments, banner and name cards by Slom :)

[ruanbaijie]

mlc trio + coti x coti (the tyets) for request_aquest on twitter / @deathbyoctopi as part of @cdrama-action

bonus:

[thepencilgirlsv]

"the moment the og spirit of ye xiwu decided to dip from this world"

This fanart was requested by @deathbyoctopi for @cdrama-action!

their prompt: humour, Ye Xiwu (the original) hovers over Li Susu like a ghost, criticizing her decisions

[zolus]

for this prompt by @deathbyoctopi for the @cdrama-action! thank you so much for donating!

A terrified chicken’s POV as Lan Wangji is reaching his hand in the coop to snatch it!

[fieri-sentio-et-excrucior]

Enjoy this beautiful art by @wrathyforest, my gift to @deathbyoctopi for the wonderful songxuexiao fic Gentle breeze, cold frost, sweet crimson drizzle, featuring a Jin pleasure house, 2 x out of place daoshis and 1 x clever and cunning pleasure slave slash demonic cultivator...

Fic Excerpts:

[Xiao Xingchen] didn’t actually notice the young man until he stopped by his side and sat on his lap. “So, what is a cute daozhang like you doing in a place like this, hmm?” asked the apparition, looping his arms around the daoshi’s neck before he even had time to react...

And [Xue Yang] was beautiful, Xiao Xingchen was realising after the initial shock. His eyes were bright, his thin lips wide in a sweet and half-mocking smile. His long raven hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, but leaving out his bangs and unruly strands here and there, betraying a mischievous and chaotic nature. Limbs lean and delicate, a slight tan on that unblemished skin, which was only half-way hidden by a complicated overlap of sheer silks crowned with golden chains here and there. His hands were gloved. His middrift was bare. Xiao Xingchen was completely enraptured by that young man who now occupied the entirety of his vision, with a smile so bright that could light up the whole world...

"You! You shameless beast! Let him go!"

The voice bursting with indignant outrage came right from their left, where Song Lan was stomping angrily towards them...

Song Lan didn’t listen. He looked at the young man on his lover’s lap, clinging so readily as if he had every right to be there. The strange thing was, though… That Xingchen seemed to feel just as comfortable with that leech on him. His hand rested easily on the other’s slim waist, absent-mindedly tracing soft patterns on his bare skin… They seemed to fit so well together, in a way that Song Lan felt he would never be able to.

Read the full (explicit) story here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52118125

[10holmes]

Finally finished this. Based on this fanart ; but edited it to fit my fic Time is Our Worst Enemy. A gift for my dear mutual, my precious co-fic author and lovely estimada @deathbyoctopi <3

Reblog - don't repost! :)

[wangxianficrecs]

Proud Author Spotlight

~*~

I thought I would try asking for a red... I just published my 50th work in ao3! ^-^ (well, it appears as 49 works because one is pending reveals from an event). It's a xuexiao oneshot where Xiao Xingchen figures out who his friend is, and comes to terms with it. I write mostly for this ship, but I also have some wangxians...

As we come, and as we go

by valls_safanoria (@deathbyoctopi)

M, 2k, Xuexiao

Summary: Xue Yang makes a mistake in Yi City and Xiao Xingchen realizes who he is. What should the righteous daoshi do, now that he learned of his friend's secret...?

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[crisdrawsandcries]

A prompt fill for @deathbyoctopi. Thank you for donating! it was such a cute prompt and I had a lot of fun working on it. I hope you like it!

@cdrama-action

[cenedras-art]

Speechless - by @deathbyoctopi

Xingchen came back. Xue Yang knew it, as he completed the spell, just as he knew that the very same demonic energy he now funneled into daozhang would claim his life. It didn't matter. It was worth it. Xingchen came back. Too bad he came back wrong.

Part of the @mdzsrbb 2024

Read it here!

[rose-tinted-vision]

Xiao Se & Lei Wujie (The Blood of Youth) | Prenent La Lluna

I saved you because you are my friend. Xiao Se, even if you are a penniless fool that entertains people for a living, I will always save you as long as you are my friend. -episode 15

For @deathbyoctopi, as part of the @cdrama-action event. Donations are still open, until the 30th of April!!

[marquisguyun]

die first || xuexiao

Die First by Nessa Barrett created as part of @cdrama-action for @deathbyoctopi

[captnswilson]

“relentlessly flirting Wen Kexing wins over a Tired™ Zhou Xu” with the song “El Temporal” by Buhos requested by @deathbyoctopi for @cdrama-action

[noragaming]

take my heart and swallow it whole

For the @cdrama-action event, request_aquest on X or @deathbyoctopi

For prompt:

“XueXiao cute. They're in love, your honor!!”

The fire crackles merrily in the little home they’ve made for themselves in the funeral house. A-Qing sits a couple of feet away, playing intently with two stones on the ground, completely giving herself away. Xiao Xingchen sits opposite to him tending to the fire, as immaculate as ever even without washing away the grime of the day away. Meanwhile, Xue Yang is losing his mind.

The mastermind that is Xue Yang has been completely, irrevocably stumped by a blind, stuck-up cultivator who simply would not fall into his machinations. Xiao Xingchen, the man in question, just wouldn’t murder people accidentally. As a part of Xue Yang’s plan and all.

It started two weeks ago, when Xue Yang went into a quarter-life crisis about the lovey-dovey life that him, his enemy, and that little blind brat were leading. It didn’t come as a surprise to him that a year of a domestic, candy-filled lifestyle would bore him and vengeance would come back to him with, well, vengeance. One can say it started a year ago, when Xiao Xingchen saved him. One also can say it started half a decade ago, when they properly ran into each other for the first time. Maybe it all started the day he was born; maybe he was fated to be saved and destroyed this man. Gosh, the things a sweet life makes you think!

It went this way:

Xue Yang sat next to Xiao Xingchen on a sunny day, on the little stumps of wood they called chairs. He had only finished regaling his companion with the tragedy of his childhood (pain, suffering, etc.), and now sat lighter than he had ever in his lifetime. The birds were chirping, and the sun felt nice on his skin, in a way he hadn’t thought about before.

He was thinking of words to speak, when the thoughts of his life entered his mind and reminded him of why he hated this world. Immediately, his mood soured, and he remembered why destruction came the easiest to him. He’s been keeping corpse powder close to himself, ever since this new life began. The habits of a lifetime do not vacate one so easily.

“Daozhang, say, won’t you take me to a night-hunt?”

As he watched Xiao Xingchen think of words to say, his heart crowed in premature victory. It felt like pai—

“No.”

“No?”

“No.”

And thus, the dismantling of the genius and mastermind that is Xue Yang began.

--

The second time it went in a similar manner, although stunning Xue Yang in an entirely novel way.

“Daozhang! A walking corpse!” Xue Yang yelled, and ran to cow behind Xiao Xingchen. He had made sure to douse it in corpse powder and cut the man’s tongue out. Coincidentally, this was the man who always tried to scam Xiao Xingchen for his blindness. That had nothing to do with why Xue Yang chose him.

Xue Yang, from where he stood, could hear the hum of his sword activating and seeking a target. Perfect! However, Xiao Xingchen said: “It’s not hopping. It could be a person.”

Damn. So, Xiao Xingchen took him by the hand and dragged him back inside, ushering Xue Yang behind him. He stood protectively at the gate, sword out, back tense: a handsome saviour. Xue Yang, dazzled as he was, couldn’t summon his anger when the man he had disguised as a corpse realised what was best for him, and consequently turned to go back to his own house. Xiao Xingchen waited until his footsteps faded, and turned to Xue Yang standing at his back.

“Didi,” he said, and smiled, “you worry too much”. His dimples were showing.

Xue Yang started hyperventilating; no one had ever called him that before. Two hands reached out for his cheeks, and pulled them apart. Xue Yang stood there, and let himself be handled like a sweet rice cake. He forgets all about corpses and power and revenge. He spends the rest of the day in a daze, touching his cheeks where no one could see (i.e. everywhere). No one had ever done that to him before.

--

The next part of the plan required a bit of acting; not that Xue Yang wasn’t up to it. They had just returned from buying their weekly vegetables (Xiao Xingchen did the buying while Xue Yang took the old woman to a shady alleyway and doused her in corpse powder). Xiao Xingchen stood around the gate of their humble establishment, while Xue Yang pretended to go and relieve himself. Instead of peeing, Xue Yang dragged the woman to the empty area in front of his cultivator friend, and shook her by her shoulders, trying to make as much noise as possible. Xiao Xingchen perked up at the sounds of a scuffle. Too lazy to drag another person as a prop, Xue Yang yelled:

“Walking corpse! It’s attacking him!”

Xiao Xingchen gripped the handle of his sword; the look of alertness on his face is what convinced Xue Yang that this might work. The next moment, however, the he turned and walked straight inside.

What?

In a last-ditch effort, he dragged the little blind brat, who was also just standing around (really, do they have nothing to do?), to the not-corpse and yelled again:

“It’s attacking… A-Qiu. A-Qing! A-Qing! It’s attacking A-Qing!”

A-Qing, as suspected, looks at the not-corpse and starts running, leaving behind the cane and looking straight ahead with wide eyes. Today is the day for surprises.

Xue Yang stood there confusedly until Xiao Xingchen came back out with a jar of vinegar, which he unceremoniously dumped on the corpse and A-Qing. Xue Yang hurriedly gets out of the way, and watched as Xiao Xingchen subtly puffed himself out in a way only he can, as if he’s done something reasonable and noble and not just fucking insane.

“Solved! Now let’s go tell everyone!”

Xue Yang groaned. He follows Xiao Xingchen anyway.

--

After going round town and telling every single person to throw vinegar at corpses, Xue Yang is defeated and deflated; now he can’t just wait for the corpse poisoning to work. Damn Xiao Xingchen and his inability to jump to sword-fighting at slightest inconvenience. The time Xue Yang had spent with the Jins had convincingly taught him otherwise.

The people had been pissing themselves at the sight of Xue Yang standing menacingly outside of their door, but he found them reaching for vinegar and sticky rice anyways. He even found his first victim, the Annoying Vegetable Dude, sticking upside down out of a ditch smelling of vinegar on their way back. It was confusing, since its not like Xue Yang made him blind.

Anyway, that’s what happened. The whole unabridged version. Now, they are sitting by the fire, as is their communal post-dinner ritual (it made Xue Yang so mad. They had schedules now). Xue Yang is trying and failing to seethe, and simultaneously losing his mind. Throughout their time in this .excitingly creepy village, Xue Yang had only spoken words that came the hardest to him, to make sure he doesn’t oust himself. Now, however, words tumble out of his mouth.

“Why didn’t you stab the corpse? I heard your sword humming.”

“You have a keen ear, didi,” says Xiao Xingchen. “I… don’t believe in using my sword when I cannot even look at my enemy.” His cheeks shine in the firelight. “Even while my sword tells me things, it is better to simply find other ways; not because I don’t trust it or you, but because I trust myself enough to be better.”

 How very noble. Xue Yang couldn’t bring himself to hate him for it.

--

In a last-ditch effort, he throws corpse powder at the Annoying Vegetable Dude again and drags him to where Xiao Xingchen is standing around, again waiting on Xue Yang to relieve himself. Really, he needs better excuses.

“Daozhang! A walking corpse!” Xue Yang screams while running, for effect.

“There are way too many of those around these days. Come here, didi.”

Xue Yang pointedly starts running away from him.

“Nooooooo! Daozhang! It is coming after me!” It is not; the Annoying Vegetable Dude simply stands there as if he’s a part of the world’s most boring theatre show.

Xue Yang is halted in his pretend-headless-chickening by having his hand grabbed and being unceremoniously yanked towards the funeral house. Apparently, while Xue Yang was out performing his best, Xiao Xingchen had crossed over to him. He hadn’t even lost his breath. It was unfair how unruffled he was.

Once inside, Xiao Xingchen turns to Xue Yang and whispers in his ears, “Hold your breath, didi.” His voice is low and rough, and Xue Yang feels a strange urge to melt into the ground. “Let’s hide.”

They crouch behind a wheelbarrow, crunched together due to the lack of space. Xiao Xingchen is still holding his hand, warm and tight, from where he sits next to him. Xue Yang whimpers, which prompts Xiao Xingchen to turn towards him and hum. “Don’t be scared,” he says, seriously misunderstanding Xue Yang’s problem with the whole situation, and leans impossibly close, “if it really comes to bother you, I’ll kill it.”

Xue Yang feels he has died and come back. He can’t even feel happy about the fact he can carry out his evil mastermind plan; in that moment, he gives up on all the ways he could torture Xiao Xingchen if only he would call him “didi” and whisper in his ear. His head is frighteningly empty, and as they sit together and wait for the Annoying Vegetable Dude to wander off again, he starts whispering.

For once, his stories come the easiest to him. And like always, Xiao Xingchen turns towards him to listen, like a flower blooming in the sun.