#god dmbj au

[sforzesco]

some "new" designs for different crassus and pompey, specifically for a side project I've been playing with that's so removed from anything relevant (action/adventure/horror standalone story lmao) that they kind of needed their own thing. this story's pompey has a neck scar from an Incident™, crassus has shorter hair and wears (checks notes) jewelry sometimes.

[qilingxiong]

i.

It's only on the third day of passing neverending yellow-green fields wavering in summer heat, windows down in this pickup truck that must be decades old with its glossy paint and chrome and proud growl of an engine, that Wu Xie finally asks Hei Xiazi where they're going.

"There's a map in the glove compartment," Hei Xiazi says, tapping cigarette ash out into the wind, other hand on the steering wheel. "You said your English is good, right? Read it and find the towns we've been through."

Wu Xie fishes out the map, tattered and deeply creased, apparently kept without use. A pen is always with him; he circles each town or city whose name he recognizes, memorized from the flickering signs of motels or general stores they've stopped at, or welcoming boards along the highways that are probably intended to be cheerful but only bear worn-down facades of optimism in their neglect. Analysis kicks in next, attempting to piece together the logic from the locations he's marked. The pattern he finds is—

"There is no pattern." Wu Xie looks up. "We drove east after going south, but you're just stopping in random places."

"Congratulations, you get a prize," Hei Xiazi says, semi-deadpan, hair flown loose from its knot whipping into his face. "Can't have your future actions be predicted if you don't know what they are, either."

"But that means you don't know when we're going to stop," Wu Xie says. The wind bites at him all of a sudden, despite the temperature outside. He pulls his flannel more closely around himself.

Hei Xiazi, still wearing only a tank top, tan lines at his wrists fading out of contrast, shakes his head. "Keep moving and we'll figure out the rest later. We don't know how far behind they are."

"Do we really have to be this paranoid?"

"You haven't even been able to see your enemy, or what it is. Do you want the monsters to catch up to you, or would you rather be safe than sorry?" Hei Xiazi flicks his cigarette butt out the window.

Wu Xie thinks of the shadows, the closest way he can describe them, that he'd seen on the last night in his own home, and shuts his mouth. He settles instead for noisily stuffing the map back into the glove compartment.

"So if there's no end to this, why would you help me?" Hei Xiazi, as far as Wu Xie has gathered, is a man who's lived from job to job, whatever's in between not enough to keep him still. "I don't even know when I'll be able to pay you, if that's what you want." The money on his cards has been going toward gasoline, food, the motels they can find that are cheap but clean and won't care about faces or what's left of Wu Xie's accent before the fact that he can pay.

Hei Xiazi snorts. "You didn't think about this earlier?"

"I wasn't in the mood to be asking questions." And Hei Xiazi had told him not to, anyway, those few nights ago when Wu Xie woke up to half of his house in flames and something at his door, swallowing the light, and in the smoke had appeared Hei Xiazi, duffle bag in one hand and the other grabbing at Wu Xie's wrist, ordering him to run.

He'd bit his tongue, one of the rare occasions where fear had well and truly drowned his curiosity, and followed. From foot, to car, to across a border, and now to this truck.

Hei Xiazi reaches for the box of cigarettes in the cupholder. "Light me another one, will you?"

Wu Xie grabs the lighter from the inner pocket of Hei Xiazi's leather jacket, fallen to the floor, and touches it to a fresh cigarette. "You didn't answer my question."

Hei Xiazi just sighs, blowing thin smoke out and away, so Wu Xie continues: "You're just a work friend of my uncle's and you barely know me. Why would you care this much about saving me?"

"Know you?" Hei Xiazi leans back and laughs, softly, dog tags clinking against his chest. "Maybe I don't really know you, but I know about you. I know you're naive, and you've never had to pay the price for learning too much. I know you looked into secrets about your uncle's work that you shouldn't have. I know you still don't understand what you saw and you're desperate to find out, but you dread looking back. And most of all, I know you don't want to die. Is that enough?"

He glances at Wu Xie. "You don't want to die, do you, Xiao-sanye? Tell me now, because it'll save me a lot of trouble if this isn't something you want to fight for."

"I-" Wu Xie stares at him. "No, I don't want to die," he says, quietly.

"Good." Hei Xiazi jabs at the volume dial on the dash. Rock music blares out from the speakers, from whichever cassette was left in there from the box of tapes in the backseat. "Glad we're clear on that. Communication is key."

"For the third fucking time, why are you helping me?" Wu Xie reaches for the dial, turns the music off again, glares. This time Hei Xiazi doesn't react, staring ahead at the road, lined pavement flying past in the lenses of his sunglasses.

"If I said it was boredom, would you believe me?" he says, after a minute.

In this moment maybe Wu Xie almost could, listening to the level current of Hei Xiazi's voice. How old is he? If he were a stranger Wu Xie would place him in his mid-thirties, perhaps, but the impression of a man in black and sunglasses smeared across the borders of his memory reaches too far back for Hei Xiazi to be exactly as old as he looks.

At what age can you possibly begin to treat running for your life like this with indifference? With amusement? Wu Xie is twenty-six, and the world is huge. The world is mysterious. The world is fracturing and he's trying not to cut himself on the shards.

"No," he tells Hei Xiazi. "it can't just be boredom. But it's not money, either."

The corner of Hei Xiazi's mouth tilts upwards.

"You're smart." He pauses to take a drag from the cigarette. "Believe what I said anyway. You're better off like that."

"What's that supposed to me—" Wu Xie starts, before Hei Xiazi cuts him off, waving a hand dismissively.

"Believe that, or make up your own reasoning because I know you'll die without it. Either one will do." He adjusts his sunglasses in the rearview mirror. "But what matters, for you, is that you trust me to keep you alive regardless. Trust me completely, or else I won't be able to. Can you do that, Xiao-sanye?"

The evening Hei Xiazi tossed their bags into this truck, retrieved from a seemingly innocuous lot in an industrial suburb, Wu Xie caught a glimpse of the box concealed beneath the panels of the bed. If Hei Xiazi wanted him dead, he'd have had the tools and chances to do it at least several times over already.

Wu Xie nods.

Hei Xiazi smiles, wide enough to catch a glimpse of a crooked tooth, and turns the music on once more.

The road rambles on.

[hils79]

Title: Juxtaposition - Chapter 16 (NOW COMPLETE)

Fandoms:  盗墓笔记 - 南派三叔 | The Grave Robbers’ Chronicles - Xu Lei, 盗墓笔记重启 | The Lost Tomb Reboot (TV)

Relationships: Wang Pangzi/Wu Xie/Zhang Qiling

Summary:  Wu Xie doesn’t think life can get much better than this. He gets to use his architecture degree to design buildings for a living and he gets to work with the love of his life who helps make his designs a reality. He’s certainly not going to let something small like an attempted mugging disrupt his world. The mysterious man who saved him, on the other hand…

He feels like there are ants crawling all over his skin. No, worse. He feels like there are ants crawling under his skin and that he’ll go mad if he doesn’t claw them out. He starts scratching his arm but it doesn’t provide much in the way of relief.

Pangzi takes one hand off the steering wheel and gently taps him. “Stop it.”

He glances down at his arm and sees that there are four red lines standing out stark against his pale skin. They almost look like scars. Xiaoge will hate it if he sees them so he resists the urge to scratch again. He tugs his sleeve down and tucks his hands under his arms instead.

It felt like this day would never come, and now that it’s here it doesn’t seem real. It feels like years have passed since they saw Xiaoge off, and Wu Xie has done everything he could during those months to make Xiaoge’s life better and easier when he returned.

It was worth it, he thinks. Even if he’s not the same man who dropped Xiaoge off at the airport.

“Do you think he’ll hate the way I look?” he asks softly. He’s been trying not to think about it, but very soon Xiaoge is going to see him and what if—

Pangzi sighs. “Tianzhen, you don’t look that different. It’s nothing a few good meals and some nights of actually sleeping won’t fix. Besides, we Facetimed with Xiaoge three days ago. How you look isn’t going to come as a surprise to him.”

Maybe. Maybe not. Xiaoge taught him the most flattering camera angles to use, so he thinks he’s managed to hide the worst of the weight loss and sleep deprivation with that and some carefully applied makeup to cover up the shadows under his eyes.

“Come on, don’t worry. Xiaoge would still love you even if you shaved all your hair off and didn’t sleep for a month. Do you really think he’s that shallow?”

Of course Wu Xie doesn’t. But it’s natural to worry when you’re being reunited after such a long time, isn’t it?

“You’re awfully quiet, Jinx,” Pangzi says and it’s not lost on Wu Xie that he’s trying to provide a distraction. “Are you feeling as anxious about seeing Zhang Rishan as Tianzhen is about seeing Xiaoge?”

“No,” Liu Sang snaps from the back seat. “Shut up. We’re not all as pathetic as you are. How are you more insufferable now that you’re about to see him again than you were when you had to say goodbye to him?”

Read the rest on AO3

[lungache]

I can't reply to your post but hello if you want to talk about it i would love to hear EVERYTHING about your thoughts on x men mutants dmbj 👀

I'M MAKING THIS A POST BECAUSE I WANT TO SCREAM ABOUT IT TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS WILL LISTEN. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to yell into the void.

So this isn't an X-Mn AU as much as it is a mutant AU because I think mutants fit really well into the DMBJ universe! Many mutants live and work on the outskirts of society, and the tombs welcome those kinds of outcasts. I also think it would be cool to see teams of graverobbers that have a lot of morlock-types, too. Because this is a place where their powers are useful and can potentially make them money in a world that is otherwise inhospitable. I feel like DMBJ has always written graverobbing as a society outside of society.

I have SO many mutant AUS. So. Many. I have a whole different Pangxie one, but this is the big one that I have that I might actually write.

First and foremost, the M9 are families with generations of mutants who got rich graverobbing who have mutations that are just inherently useful in the tombs AND that allow them to pass as non-mutant. I've been cooking up power groups for the different families but would love input!

Wu Xie: Kate Pryde/Shadowcat

> The ability to phase through objects, walls, and people/intangibility. Disrupts electrical fields. Slight levitation.

I imagine the Wu's having powers along this vein: intangibility, like Wu Xie, some have teleportation (I have another AU where he has Kurt's powers lol), and the like. Obviously, these kinds of powers are just OP in tombs. Being able to phase yourself through walls and potentially through any dangerous traps is a god send, you can understand how with powers like that the Wu's became so wealthy. You can get in and out of there in no time. But have no fear! Wu Xie figures out how to make such a powerful tool into a weapon to use against himself and others completely on accident. You can have intangibility but that doesn't cancel out being clumsy and having rotten luck. I think it could also be interesting for him to still be working out how to use his powers in this context for the first few years and then we see him being an old hat at it in his later years.

(Now, these were NOT selected because of any connection between the characters. It's truly a "I wonder how these characters would utilize these powers" kind of deal, not because I think the characters are alike. HOWEVER, I do think the comparison between the two characters is kind of interesting just because there is the stark development from the naive, bright eyed younger versions of those characters who develop into darker, more jaded people. People who have killed. People who will kill again. And all that.)

Pangzi: Colossus

> Body turns to "organic steel" giving him super strength, endurance, and speed. I've been debating making it so instead of being able to turn his body to metal he is simply metal all the time, unlike Piotr. I haven't decided, though.

Stay with me, here: statuesque, shiny, super strong Pangzi. See, you like it, too! You see the vision! Pangzi already has canonical near-super strength, I see no reason not to make it official. IIRC, Colossus is also, like, Heavier. 500 pounds heavy. So it would make those "you're too heavy" comments they always give Pangzi hold a little more weight (ha). It's a power that would come in handy as a tank in a tomb but also come with its own set of complications, too, that I think would be fun to explore. For example, in TLT2, they do a lot of swimming- in his metal form, Colossus can't swim, he sinks.

(I know it LOOKS like I picked Colossus for Pangzi because I picked Kitty for Wu Xie. I promise I didn't. If for no other reason Pangxie actually STAY married.)

Xiaoge: Wolvrine.

> Do I need to explain this one? Immortality, super healing, adamantium skeleton (given to him by the Zhangs), cool knife hands. 

I may have a love/hate relationship with Logan but my love for Xiaoge is pure and never ending. Alas, they do have the shared life experience of being old as balls and having the memories of swiss cheese.

There's something about Xiaoge having this power set and going through incredible trials to become the man he is today that just make Sense for Zhang Qiling to me. He was chosen because of who he is, WHAT he is. He's been boiled down to what he can do and used as a weapon, a tool in a lot of ways. He also has such a complicated relationship with death and dying, something that adds flavor to his title to me? (Has Logan ever met death? I know Wade has a whole relationship with her, and he got his powers from Logan's DNA. Xiaoge having met death would be FASCINATING.)

And? Honestly? I just think Xiaoge should have blades in his knuckles, that just sounds dope as hell and he deserves them.

I know them having these powers takes away some of the DANGER involved in the series. They are way, way less likely to die- which, to me, just means the tombs should try harder.

Also debating between making Hei Xiazi Mystique (the POTENTIAL of him being a shapeshifter is OFF THE CHARTS, plus she is already immortal) or Destiny (precognition, blind character who is able to "see" because she is able to see the future a few seconds ahead). Both are juicy.

I would love to talk to people about this, about other versions of this AU, about places you agree/disagree, anything and everything. DM me? We can chat here or on discord!

[inimitablereel]

4, 12, 13!

4. Vid you're the proudest of?

To an extent I'm proud of all of them (I have not made so many vids that I'm not like oh my god I made a Whole Thing every time) so I'm going to say two and give two different types of answers:

I think I did a really good job with Tom Paine's Bones. Watching it again a year later I still see what I was doing with the humor and the romance and the politics and it's still fun to watch. (I just did a rewatch of a bunch of my vids and I'm still new enough that I look at a lot of them like I could make it better, but I'm happy with this one!)

In the opposite direction, I don't quite think I hit all the things I was trying to say with A Little Wicked but I am still proud of how much I was trying to do in that one. Does it read as meta-commentary on the role of women in these shows? Eh not really, but I can see how I was trying to put that in there. Is it clear that I was trying to do some kind of AU where she doesn't die? Again, not really, but I still think it was a cool thing to try to do.

12. Most underrated vid that you wished had gotten more views?

I don't know that I'd say that any of my vids are underrated (there are so many good vidders in the world and I'm definitely still learning) but to list one I would like people to check out: I think my pair of one minute vids about the Yi City crew is fun and a good concept and a source that people have seen and people should watch it.

13. Vid that took you the longest the edit?

The real answer here is the one we're working on together that's still not out in the world. When not co-vidding, I definitely tend towards calling things good enough a little too fast, and I don't think anything I've finished has taken more than a month or two. So probably the answer is my very first vid because setup and clipping took me a while? Or maybe I got mine, which also took a lot of time in clipping because main characters have too much footage and I hadn't built up a huge dmbj clip library yet.

[chancellorxofxtrash]

For the "five thing about an AU" question, DMBJ, everyone is the god of some seemingly pointless task or aspect of existence.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA that's a funny one. I'll use the five things for five characters of what they would be the god for

Wu Xie is the god of luck. That sounds quite powerful, right? Not quite. Wu Xie is the god of the small luck that happens daily. Not gonna make you win the lottery, but will make you find a ten dollar bill in your pockets when you need it.

Pangzi is the god of fires in the kitchen. Can be both the fire that heats up your stove, or what burns everything down. Your call.

Xiaoge is difficult. Nobody actually knows. I think he actually is the god of you sleeping without waking up with sore muscles. He deserves something peaceful like that.

Xiazi is the god of tripping but not actually falling. I don't know. It just fits. I have a vision.

Xiao Hua... he is also difficult. I feel like he is the god of... being able to play the role what you want. I mean masking. He is the one helping you to put on the customer service voice, for example

Send More Please

[kholran]

twenty questions for fic writers!

tagged by @lucientelrunya Thank you friend!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

26

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

297,713

3. what fandoms do you write for?

DMBJ right now, but in the past I have written for The Hobbit movies and Les Mis. I've written half a Weilan fic for Guardian but...

4. top five fics by kudos

I Will Go Now to My Pyre (DMBJ, RiSang, 262) And Here My Troubles Begin (The Hobbit, Barduil, 256) When the Stars Align (The Hobbit, Barduil, 220) I Get By (DMBJ, Gen/Liu Sang-centric, 215) Skin Deep (The Hobbit, Barduil, 205)

5. do you respond to comments?

I try to! Sometimes one or two falls through the cracks when I don't have the spoons to respond right away, but I do try and at least acknowledge them even if it's been ages.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably a little ficlet I wrote here on Tumblr and never put on AO3, in which one of the characters is revealed to have been dead the whole time. Usually I'm not about the super depressing endings though, just about everything else at least ends on a hopeful note, if not a resolved one.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I think most of my RiSang fics end on a happy note, especially the one-shots and the exchange fics. Love Light, Ordinary World, ADHAU, Wild Fire, Last to Know...I think they're pretty equally happy?

8. do you get hate on fics?

Not really, but I did get one bizarre comment on a fic where the commenter presumed to predict where the plot was going and then comment on how much they didn't like when things like that happened? Except it wasn't a fully published fic yet and the actual ending was...nothing at all like they predicted.

9. do you write smut?

I sure do.

10. craziest crossover?

I don't think I've ever actually written a crossover. Crazies fusion fic was definitely Les Amis Do Titanic (In Every Age).

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so. I mostly write rarepair/pool noodle fic in a tiny fandom so...who's really going to take it?

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

I used to do a lot of forum-based RP, back when invision/tapatalk/proboards forums were all the rage in the early 2000s. In terms of fic I've published on AO3, I haven't. But that's largely due to the fact that I'm the slowest writer known to man, and I'd just end up frustrating any writing partner I had with my slowness ^_^;

14. all time favorite ship?

I think Weilan (Guardian) is the ship I've read the most fic for overall. But it's definitely not my longest-term ship or anything.

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The Weilan Mermaid AU I started back in like...2020? I fell into the DMBJ pits before I finished it and idk if I'll ever go back to it at this point.

16. what are your writing strengths?

I've been told I'm good at setting scenes and writing things that people can visualize, so that, I guess?

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Oh god dialogue. I cannot write a normal conversation to save my life. What even is normal human interaction?

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Nah. I mean I'll use a word here or there, if it's something very commonly understood in the fandom (like calling Wu Erbai "Er-shu" or Zhang Rishan "fuguan" if that's how a character would address them in the show). But in terms of full sentences? I wouldn't be confident enough in my ability to write the language fluently, and even if I could, I'd just have to provide translations anyway. Far easier to say "...'said so-and-so in [language]."

19. first fandom you wrote in?

Like, EVER? I had a generic American Girl doll that I named after a Baywatch character and wrote a story for her when I was like...9? Does that count?

20. favorite fic you've written?

I'm still really proud of Ordinary World. It's not my most popular by any measure, but I put a ton of work into it and I still enjoy re-reading it sometimes. Plus I'm proud of the fact that I churned out nearly 60k words in like a month since it was for an exchange that had a deadline.

Tagging: @merinnan @eirenical @xantissa @alxina @amidalogicdive (if you want to!) and anyone else who may also want to, consider yourself tagged!

[extraordinarilyextreme]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers!

tagged by @bbcphile～ thank you my dear 🫶

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

30 right now～ what a nice number!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

363,479!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

so many, lol. right now, i'm actively writing for LHL and YRZX (and a bit LZTJ), but i previously wrote a lot for QYJ, CHSSN, and DMBJ.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

may we tie our hearts together again ⚫️⚪️ QingYa

9k, red string AU, canon + post-canon

NOTICE: Seeking Marriage Partner 💙💚 PingXie

5k, post-canon

青山仍在 | as long as the green hills remain 🪷🐕 HuaFang

7k, post-canon fix-it

but ask for no regrets 💙💚 PingXie

5k, canon-compliant N+1 things

a ghost walks into a soldier's house 💙🤍 SuiTang | 🖤💚 WeiLan

16k, crossover + crack treated seriously

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

i try my best to, but for various reasons comments will accumulate in my inbox and i might not respond to them until even a year later. but please believe me, i do read every single one.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i write a lot of HEs... perhaps only an echo, since the entire premise of that (unfinished) series is an AU where Wu Xie isn't there to fulfill his ten-year promise with Xiaoge. rather than angsty endings, i write more angsty stories? in which case, the angstiest might be 千里自同风 | no distance too great as a canon-compliant post-canon fic that follows Fang Duobing's journey of grief. (but i don't think the ending of that is sad, tbh.) alternatively, 飞蛾扑火 | for you, i'll gladly burn is another contender given Shen Yi's big reveal in the last chapter (but also don't think the ending is sad). 红尘似水，万事入歌 | the world becomes song is pretty sad too if only because we the readers know the characters' fates in canon.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

honestly, i think most of my fics are HEs. or if not "happy," comforting for sure. most of my fics end with a promise to be together, to spend an ordinary life together, to have the chance to be in the moment together. it might not be super, like, grand or dramatic or anything - but i genuinely think all my fics have peaceful endings. so take your pick, peruse my works～

8. Do you get hate on fics?

rarely, and the few times that i have, i've simply deleted them.

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

nope. i don't know how to, LOL

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

i have a guilty pleasure of writing crossovers, lol. i think they're all kinda wild:

a ghost walks into a soldier's house

镇魂 Guardian & 成化十四年 The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty

do not speak as loud as my heart

盗墓笔记 The Grave Robbers' Chronicles & 镇魂 Guardian

红尘似水，万事入歌 | the world becomes song

鬓边不是海棠红 Winter Begonia & 老九门 Mystic Nine

懷月夢 | on the summit, sun and snow

三生三世枕上书 Eternal Love of Dream & 封神演义 The Investiture of The Gods

照猫画狐 | tracing a cat to draw a fox

猎罪图鉴 Under the Skin & 无眠之境 Desire Catcher

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of. don't steal my fics.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

yes! 此生如梦 | this life, a dream was tl'ed into Russian～

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

yes～ @naiwong-bao and i somehow churned out the 111k monster that was 懷月夢 | on the summit, sun and snow. to this day, i have no idea how we did that, LOL

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

impossible for me to choose～ recency bias will suggest 🦊🐼 青也, 🪷🐕 花方, and 🎨🔍 城心城翊 though～

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

my 往前走 莫回呀头 | go forward and don't look back series 🥹 i had two more parts planned originally after Xiuxiu's POV... one was Liu Sang, the other was Xiaoge. (there was an undetermined Bai Haotian POV fic too.) i also definitely won't be finishing the sound of snowfall (and don't want to LOL)

16. What are your writing strengths?

atmosphere and rhythm, i think. maybe because i used to write a lot of poetry? i also have faith in my world-building (bc i do a LOT of research) and dialogue. in terms of tropes, it must undoubtedly be hurt/comfort.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i'm not good at writing fight/action scenes (probably another reason why i literally cannot write smut). i also don't think i'm super great at description, but i think i've been improving.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

this is an interesting question because i actually write all my dialogue in Chinese first and then tl it to English since i pretty exclusively write for c-media now 😆 i like that a lot bc i think it helps me to more accurately characterize these ppl - but also it sucks tremendously when English is just the ugliest-sounding language in the world, LOL. (i always think my original Chinese dialogue is prettier and has more depth～)

19. First fandom you wrote for?

the first fandom i posted fic on AO3 for was Good Omens: i love(d) you. but in my life, it was probably like... Warriors (yes, the cats) or Shugo Chara..? idk, or maybe Case Closed (still love that series despite how insufferably long it's gotten).

20. Favorite fic you've written?

only children need to choose; adults can have everything～

tagging: @rongzhi, @elenothar, @difeisheng, @asterdust, @willowcatkinblossom, @starlitwishforu, @tunnelofdusk

[fandomtrumpshate]

Counting down the hours - a numbers update!

Since the update yesterday evening, THIRTY more creators have signed up for another THIRTY EIGHT offers … including a signup for Goncharov, NINE new write-in fandoms, and FIVE more folks willing to work in any fandom.

Sherlock has managed to tie up fifth place in the listed fandoms, sharing the spot with Teen Wolf. And the tenth spot is now a 4-way tie between Merlin, Original Work, The Sandman, and The Witcher.

Under the cut is a list of the Unlisted Fandoms with just one write-in. A single sign up would bump them up the list. A handful of signups can completely shake things up.

Signups close TONIGHT at 11:59 PM Pacific.

1 A Series of Unfortunate Events 1 A Voice from Darkness (Podcast) 1 Ace Attorney 1 Alex Stern series - Leigh Bardugo 1 All The Wrong Questions 1 Animorphs 1 Be Kind My Neighbor 1 Bioshock 1&2 (only) 1 Blood of Youth 1 Blue Exorcist 1 Blue Lock 1 Bug Fables 1 Cabin Pressure 1 Call the Midwife 1 Cats the Musical 1 Charlie's Angels (2019 film) 1 Cherry Magic (TV) 1 Citizen Sleeper 1 Cobra Kai 1 Coco Pixar 1 Coffee Talk [Video Game] 1 Cosmere (Brandon Sanderson) 1 Crossover Chaos AU (multifandom crossover AU) 1 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 1 Dead by Daylight 1 Dead Poets Society 1 Derry Girls 1 Dice Punks (podcast) 1 DMBJ/Grave Robber's Chronicles 1 Downton Abbey 1 Dr. STONE (anime/manga) 1 Dragon Ball Z 1 Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey 1 Dungeons and Daddies 1 Eerie Indiana 1 Emma - Jane Austen 1 Fire Country 1 Firefly 1 For All Mankind 1 Glee 1 Grace and Frankie 1 Greys Anatomy 1 Grimm 1 Guardian/Zhen Hun 1 Gundam 1 Half-Life 1 Hello From The Hallowoods 1 Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni / Higurashi When They Cry 1 Hit the floor 1 House of the Dragon 1 How to Train Your Dragon (Movies) 1 Hudson & Rex 1 IDOLiSH7 1 Ikemen Vampire 1 Imperial Radch Series - Ann Leckie 1 Infinity Train 1 Jane Austen (any novel any pairing) 1 Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse 1 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure 1 Jurassic Park 1 King of Scars Duology 1 Les Misérables 1 Los Simuladores 1 Love Between Fairy and Devil 1 Madre Solo Hay Dos 1 Miss Scarlet and The Duke 1 Mob Psycho 100 1 Monochrome Factor 1 Motorcity 1 Naomi Novik's books (Temeraire /Spinning Silver/Scholomance) 1 Obey Me! 1 One Last Stop 1 Outlast 1 Paper Girls (TV) 1 Parasol Protectorate 1 Peacemaker 1 Persuasion - Jane Austen 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 1 Prodigal Son 1 Psych 1 Qi Ye 1 Ranger's Apprentice 1 Ranma 1/2 1 Roseanne 1 RPF 1 Sable 1 Sanders Sides 1 Scooby Doo 1 Shameless (US) 1 Sidemen 1 Silicon Valley (TV) 1 Skins (UK) 1 Tamora Pierce works 1 Tangled the Series 1 Ted Lasso 1 Teen Titans (Animated Series) 1 Temple of the White Rat series by T. Kingfisher 1 The Ancient Magus Bride 1 The Boys 1 The Daevabad Trilogy 1 The Dark Pictures: House of Ashes 1 The Diviners (Libba Bray) 1 The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison 1 The King: Eternal Monarch 1 The L Word: Generation Q 1 The Legend of Drizzt 1 The Lion Hunters Series - Elizabeth Wein 1 The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015) 1 The Man From UNCLE (TV) 1 The Princess Weiyoung (Jinxiu Weiyang) 1 The Tarot Sequence - K.D. Edwards 1 The Terror (TV 2018) 1 The Vampire Diaries (TV) 1 The Wilds (TV 2020) 1 This Way Up 1 Timeless (2016 TV series) 1 Tortall - Tamora Pierce 1 Tower of God 1 Transformers 1 True Blood (TV) 1 Twilight 1 Twilight (All media types) 1 Until We Meet Again 1 UuultraC 1 Valorant 1 Velvet Goldmine (1998) 1 Vikings (TV) 1 Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold 1 Warframe 1 White Collar 1 White Collar (2009-2014 TV series) 1 Whiteley Foster's Mansong 1 Xena: Warrior Princess 1 Yellowjackets (TV) 1 Yu-Gi-Oh!

[fixaidea]

So this is basically Crossover Central here, and I was contemplating which combo I've written over the years is the most bonkers, but then I thought, hey, why not let you guys decide?

So here are all the crossover fanfic I've written (as in, sat down, typed up and posted to a fic hosting site and not just shitposted about on Tumblr), from oldest to newest, starting in 2015:

(Also what I mean by crossover here is a story where the characters of the different canons interact, otherwise I'd just call them an AU.)

Harry Potter/LotR (Now lost to time and the death of the platform it was posted on.)

Death Note/Discworld

Death Note/The Master and Margarita

Harry Potter/Les Misérables

LotR/Astérix

American Gods/Miss Marple

Maurice/Master and Margarita

Maurice/BBC Sherlock

MDZS/Star Wars

Harry Potter/TGCF

Discworld/MDZS

TGCF/MDZS

Guardian/DMBJ

DMBJ/Discworld

DMBJ/The Da Vinci Code

[sforzesco]

a view from the Tañon strait :) and also my desk, since this is a desk post lmao

Cleopatra 1963 was on TV last night and ohhhhhh my god Richard Burton’s Mark Antony is everything to me for real. I wrote an Antony comic a million years ago, junked it because I don’t care about him, but I’m not immune to Richard Burton’s Antony in love and despair. like, I was frantically writing scenes in my notebook during commercial break, I was on Twitter talking about how much I love this film, etc. unparalleled. show stopping.

in other news, Trikaranos ch 1 should be up sometime this month or at the start of the next! I also have some Italian renaissance comics I want to knock out of my WIP folder. low key kind of thinking of turning the DMBJ au into a little side project for when I get tired of thinking about the implications of Roman coins and taxes or whatever, but I’ll probably attempt that as a combination of rough pencil comics and prose if I do it because it would strictly be For Fun 🤔 we’ll see! there’s some original comic stuff I want to tackle before the end of the year too. augh. the passage of time

[thelaithlyworm]

DMBJ Stats

So the latest podfic I posted reached the big 100th Work in a Single Fandom, and I felt that deserved a bit of a celebration, so herewith some number crunching.

Thimblerig’s DMBJ Stats:

Earliest Work: As the Butterflies Brush the Flower (Fic, the many loves of Xie Yuchen)

Latest Work: Settled (Podfic, orig. writ. Elenothar, Wu Xie/ZQL sweet and cuddly) 

Shortest Text Work: The Grand Unified Theory of Tomb-Raider Power/Costuming (Meta, look the point is that when I spin a crack theory I back that shit up with textual references, that is the point my guys)

Loooooongest Text Work: Know Your Snakes! (Meta, the other point is that the depths to which I will go for accurate, locatable textual references are the level where you find elegant tea parties around the corpse of a whale…)

Shortest Podfic: where all the veins meet (Podfic, orig. writ. Shadaras, Wu Xie/Xie Yuchen, lovers in a dangerous time and THE PAIRING I CRAVE)

Longest Podfic: Cabbages and Kings (Podfic, orig. writ. fox_of_nine_tales, AU, magical + retirement + there’s a damn fox raiding the bins and being cute…)

Most Popular (Kudos): Innocent (Fic, sleepy retirement, flirty massage, ZHANG QILING EATS HIS FEELINGS but that’s okay)

Most Popular (Bookmarks): The Sweetness and the Savour (Fic, Wu Xie gets everything he wants and… crashes badly. Pangzi and Xiaoge catch him.)

Favourite (Fic): Oh god, this is tough, but Slice of Life (Fic, Hei Xiazi and Wu Xie training together and it is messy and spiky and loving and fucked up, and these are the things I want in a HeiXie story. Also comes with a v. nice podfic if I say so myself.) 

Favourite (Podfic): Also tough but he wakes up in a dark room (Podfic, orig. writ. chirpy, I just really like the little jumps, and the lullaby at the end.) 

I have so many, many other faves though: Downburst (scherzanda), Detective Wu, How Zhang Qiling Comes Down the Mountain, Unreliable Narration (fox_of_nine_tales), So Beat the Drum Slowly, Proof of Life (MountainRose) oh god there are a hundred things here and with so many of them I want to say hey, you guys! I’m so proud of this, come see! (In a, like, totally chill way, of course.)

Big takeaway: I have had so much fun in this fandom. Lots of wonderful things to watch and read and think about, lots of lovely people to chat with. Rock on, my dudes!

[onmyo-jin]

Writing patterns

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern! thank you for the tag @hils79 and @merinnan ^^ I rarely look at my fics side-by-side, so this was a lot of fun!

1. The house always wins [dmbj, heihua, Liu sang pov, Casino au, 9k]

"Congratulations, sir! You've won this round as well."

2. The ties that bind [yym:doe, QingYa warlord AU, 103+k]

After the thunderous rush of their attack has run its course, the rhythm of adrenaline and pumping heartbeats calmed down and their injured are being seen to, after their victory, the city is quiet.

3. The sad message of the shooting stars [dmbj, pingxie fairytale AU, 4k pwp]

The nights drag themselves on, each sunrise a longer wait despite the shortening nights.

4. (In)compatible [dmbj, hdf/wx university AU, co-written with the amazing @sharkbeneaththelotus, 25+k]

“—Sir?” a tinny voice from the phone calls him to remind him he needn’t have worried, he’s just calling too soon, or arrived too soon, and of course everything is fine, these people do this all the time!

5. A match made in... well. Somewhere [dmbj, heihua, matchmaker AU, 3k]

Xie Yuchen looked at his calendar, and considered running away once more.

6. Unlearn the way of being strangers [dmbj, heihuasang tomb crawl, 177k of amazing words co-written with SO many wonderful writers: @sharkbeneaththelotus @momosandlemonsoda, cryptive, @foxofninetales, @frith-in-tombs, @hils79, mimosaeyes, @rainsfalling, @merinnan and WindStainedDreams]

The car ride had been hell for Liu Sang, and that was before the car broke down.

7. Do you hear the things unsaid [dmbj, huasang, 3k]

Liu Sang had, of course, heard of Xie Yuchen. Who hadn't?

8. Affirmation [dmbj, pinghua, 1ishK of angst]

He could do this, Xiao Hua told his reflection in his own bathroom mirror.

9. Where is the fire [dmbj, gen iron triangle shenanigans, 2k]

"Pangzi! Pangzi, do we have any firewood?" Wu Xie's voice bounced off the walls of Wushanju, interrupting Pangzi's nice and quiet breakfast rhythm.

10. Performance of a lifetime [dmbj, first meeting heihua when Xiao Hua is young but just as fierce, god-child acqusition, 4k]

He hadn't been hired to protect this child. And yet, here he was, planning to do exactly that.

The first and most obvious pattern is that I'm bad at taking just the first sentence XD In my mind they feel like a single unit, and it felt wrong to leave them out. Also, for anyone actually looking at the links you'll also notice that numbers 2 and 4 aren't the first lines of the story-- they are the first lines I wrote for those fics, but because I was writing with other people these are my first lines. Despite the amount of co-writers number 6 is the first line of the story, because that happened to be mine

As for writing pattern: Clearly I like starting in medias res. Who needs introductions and neat openings when you can just hook your readers into the action! It's really intersting seeing them all lined up like this though, it makes me want to try different things. I'm also seeing more past tense than I was expecting ngl, I feel like I've been writing in present tense a lot recently.

Tagging @sharkbeneaththelotus @lost-in-the-land-of-stories @enjolrasapproves (hi from my sideblog lol) @difeisheng and bc I'm running out of people who haven't been tagged already: you! reader! I tag you as well!

[hils79]

For the writing ask meme: 3 and/or 6?

What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

2023 has been a weird year for me. I legit can' remember which fics I wrote this year, and which ones were from last year. I think the idol au broke me.

ANYWAY. Now that I've checked AO3 and filtered by fics posted this year I'd say the one I'm most proud of is Reflections of Memories. I got to merge two things I love (Dragon Age and DMBJ) together and I had such a blast writing it.

Favorite title you used

God, I am so bad at titles. Strength in Numbers is a fun one, I guess. Because Baozi is the strength, and Luo Ji is the numbers. I don't know it made me smile at the time anyway.

AO3 Wrapped Questions

[good--merits-accumulated]

Thanks @sinni-ok-sessi for the tag! :D

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

Going to sort these by fandom and type of WIP:

Dead Poets Society:

Vesuvius - Finished, but being expanded haha. (Sorry to anyone who has seen the absolute state of my Anderperry tag recently because I haven't shut up about this WIP in a solid month.)

a gleam of light - Still planning, but I have bits written!

southward bound - WIP

same x3 - Will never be finished but every year or so I pop in and add another chapter

Mini 15-years-later fluff - WIP

Much Ado AU - WIP

DMBJ:

amhrán na farraige - WIP (Will I finish it? Well. I would like to.)

The Message and the Messenger - WIP, also barely planned

Zhang Qiling and the Train to Nowhere - WIP

silly idol au - WIA (Work Is Abandoned)

little scraps of light - WIA unless I get hit with another wave of interest in Stray

unnamed silly Princess Bride-esque AU - WIA

nothing much in a name

Qi Hun/Hikaru no Go:

ex astris, scientia - to finish this I would probably have to finish TOS first and I don't know if I have that effort in me tbh

Yu Liang vs. The World - semi WIA

voulez-vous... aha? - WIA

Haikyuu! (These are all WIAs but I like to look at them and believe that I can finish them one day lol. Maybe when the film comes out):

exothermicity

MQG (Maurice Quill Gaming)

and the sun comes up again

THE SUMMER WILL NOT END

The God's Long Way Home

made for two

The Detectives' Guide to Love, Crime, and Cybersecurity

Miscellaneous:

All's Fair in Love and Neurosurgery

O, My Saint!

MOURNING MAN

Tagging @echosghoast, @whisper-my-serenade, and any other writing mutuals (or non-mutuals!) who want to do this!

[sunriseverse]

Made up title game: Is Nothing Sacred?

ohhhh i have a couple of ideas for this buckle in as i try not to vibrate to death about my horrid little thoughts on the word “sacred”.

1. merlin fic where morgana is Going Through It in relation to her internalised issues and fears about magic and gwen is Going Through It as she realises she’s attracted to women. the “sacredness” of “normality” (lack of magic/heterosexuality) and the realisation that sometimes sacredness is cracked to the foundations and actively harmful. fix it au of course! merthur are also there in the background doing. something. who knows! gay people in avalon for the win. also uther trips and falls out a window and gets impaled on some spears or something love and light <3

2. dmbj fic. the iron triangle fuck in a sacred temple that’s it that’s the plot i don’t have anything else to say here. toss in some throne sex maybe if you’re feeling spicy. no wait i do have more to say here apparently i changed my mind. the in universe positioning of xiaoge as “other” and “above” the people around him is incredibly dehumanising in equal but different ways to the more obvious dehumanisation he’s experienced. l.iu s.ang calls him ouxiang/idol Canonically and it is Bad to me okay it is Bad. sometimes a man needs to be reminded he isn’t a god and he doesn’t have to be and sometimes the reminder in question is sweet, sweet gay sex with his husbands who just want him to be happy thank you for coming to my TED talk. nothing IS sacred because “sacredness” is a construct used to other both those that are deemed divine and those who are deemed mortal.

(this was VERY fun thank you adrian <3333 you ALWAYS know interesting things to toss at me)