#hualian's relationship is in no way healthy in this fic

[xieliansbignaturals]

The way antis talk about "illegal ships" annoys me so much. Let's just think for a minute about some of the laws that exist today in our world. Now, let's imagine a wholesome piece of fanfiction about Hualian, a fictional M/M couple whose relationship is SO healthy that some fans with more limited exposure to healthy relationships say that it's unrealistically healthy.

This hypothetical fic is posted publicly online by an author who lives in Russia. The plot: Hua Cheng lovingly adjusts Xie Lian's N-95 mask outside one of the homes they keep (this one happens to be in Nassau County of New York) before they part ways for the day. Xie Lian attends a trans meetup with some mortal friends in Indonesia, while Hua Cheng does a drag queen storytime for a group of kids in Arkansas. When they meet back up, they get so distracted kissing that Hua Cheng accidentally teleports them to a random unpopulated spot in Algeria instead of to their cottage on Mount Taicang; they shrug and continue, and the fic ends with a fade to black.

I count 5-6 illegal acts here, one committed in real life. Would you harass the author for posting this story? No, because that would be super obviously bigoted against several vulnerable minorities? Okay, then say what you mean: you think YOU get to decide which authors "deserve" to be cyberbullied by you... which is probably illegal where you live.

[princessshikky]

In case there is another person here who for some reason wanted a TGCF/TUA fusion plotbunny... This is loosely inspired by the TGCF fanfic Nude Dinner by the incredible hoarder_of_stories (btw, I highly recommend to check out their other works: very sweet and comforting, also you can just feel that the author is enjoying their work, it's always cool when the text transfers that feeling).

So. Jun Wu is the eccentric billionaire who buys and adopts seven kids with superpowers and they grow up in a toxic environment.

Mu Qing and Feng Xin are number one and number two respectively. They are constantly arguing with each other and with everyone else around them except for Xie Lian. When Xie Lian left home to live on his own, fengqing left with him, but Mu Qing couldn't handle this life for long and wanted to come back home, which lead to his argument and subsequent breakup with Feng Xin and Xie Lian. Mu Qing also spent years trying to "make amends" for his "mistake" and win back Jun Wu's favor. He's the only one who stayed with Jun Wu until the end.

Feng Xin quickly started an affair with a girl his age (Jian Lang), she got pregnant, Jun Wu found out and tried to pay her to keep the baby, give it to Jun Wu and never see the child again (he wanted to see whether the second generation would inherit the special abilities). Jian Lang wanted nothing to do with it, had an abortion, confronted Feng Xin about the whole story and broke up with him. They never saw each other after that. In the present timeline Feng Xin works as a coach in a local gym, he also participates in fighting matches sometimes.

Yin Yu is number three. He constantly felt underappreciated and ignored, angry that Quan Yizhen was praised more than him. Eventually he got so angry he had a fight with Quan Yizhen and ran away. In the present he works for Hua Cheng (who wanted to be closer to Xie Lian and grabbed the chance to meet Xie Lian's sibling, that didn't go as planned).

Quan Yizhen is number four. He adored Yin Yu, so after Yin Yu left Quan Yizhen also didn't stay home for long. He became a successful and popular athlete with a ton of endorsements. He also doesn't hold any resentments against his siblings.

Shi Qingxuan is number five, he can speak with the souls of the deceased. His ability is pretty useless in combat, so he didn't go to the missions all that often. When Shi Qingxuan was still a teenager his biological older brother, Shi Wudu, started looking for him and demanded the right to see him (Shi Wudu could only do it once he was of legal age, which is why it took so long). Jun Wu refused, so Shi Wudu started a crusade, went to the papers, to the Committee for the Affairs of Minors and to court -- all to get Shi Qingxuan away from the abusive environment. He eventually succeeded. The rest of the siblings desperately envy Shi Qingxuan since they don't have loving biological family willing to go through hell for them. Nevertheless, Shi Qingxuan is such a likable person it's hard to resent him. He is another family members who doesn't hold any grudges against his siblings and loves them all equally (except for Shi Wudu, who is his absolute favorite).

He Xuan is number six (deceased). Shi Qingxuan is the only one able to see him and communicate with him. He Xuan absolutely despises Shi Wudu because of jealousy: he used to be closest to Shi Qingxuan and believes Shi Qingxuan doesn't pay him as much attention now.

Xie Lian is number seven and Jun Wu's favorite, which didn't win him any favors among the other siblings (actually Jun Wu made a conscious attempt to isolate Xie Lian from the rest of the family and make him dependent on Jun Wu's approval precisely because Xie Lian is really his favorite). Xie Lian didn't have super abilities but still wanted to be a superhero and save people like the rest of his siblings, which lead to him constatly arguing with Jun Wu. Eventually he was the first to leave the Academy. He lived with fengqing at first, then they broke up and went their own separate ways. The first year on his own was the most difficult, as Xie Lian couldn't find any job and barely had any food to eat. Officially it was because the whole family was homeschooled and Xie Lian lacked any certificate of education, but actually Jun Wu secretly did everything in his power to ensure no one would hire Xie Lian, hoping Xie Lian would "come to his senses" and come back home. However, Xie Lian was stubborn enough to survive and eventually get a stable job. He still doesn't have higher education because it's expensive and time-consuming, but his living conditions are better in the present.

At the start of the plot Jun Wu suddenly dies and the whole family (including Shi Wudu as Shi Qingxuan's moral support) comes to the funeral. Mu Qing tries to say that something about the death is suspicious (some of Jun Wu's documents are missing), but no one is willing to support him (to be fair, even if Jun Wu died from fifty knife wounds, the siblings would be like "eh, what a tragic accident, nothing suspicious here"). There are no timey-wimey shenanigans, just Mu Qing trying to investigate Jun Wu's death and the rest of the family reluctantly working with him or refusing to cooperate (i.e. Yin Yu doesn't tell where he spent the night of Jun Wu's death or where he works because he hasn't seen his siblings in years, they're practically strangers, and he doesn't want these strangers to come to his workplace or something, esp. since he works for a stalker obsessed with one of the aforementioned siblings). The family communicates, unearthes some old grudges and family secrets (fengqing spend two hours yelling at each other over a broken gameboy personally gifted by Jun Wu).

Xie Lian goes for a walk and accidentally meets a guy named San Lang (it was raining, Xie Lian didn't have an umbrella, so San Lang walked him to his apartment, Xie Lian invited him in and made him tea etc). They start dating. San Lang is very supportive of Xie Lian, spends a lot of time with him, makes him insanely personalised gifts. Fengqing are suspicious and try to convince Xie Lian that this guy is weird and his social network profiles seem fake. They even break into San Lang's appartment but find nothing out of the ordinary (they didn't have time to sneak into the attic and discover the Xie Lian Stalker Shrine).

Xie Lian starts seeing nightmares of a man in white clothes and white mask. He used to have these nightmares often in the past, when he was a child, then Jun Wu administered him some pills and the nightmares stopped. Xie Lian thinks this is his psyche's reaction to Jun Wu's death. When San Lang finds out, he offers to pay for the therapist sessions (Xie Lian refuses) and maybe adjust the dosage of the medicine (Xie Lian agrees to try). Soon Xie Lian runs out of the pills, forgets to get a new bottle, and San Lang convinces him to try to quit. Xie Lian feels better and also starts to suspect that he may have superpowers after all. San Lang and Xie Lian work together to try and develop Xie Lian's abilities. It doesn't really go anywhere until a tragic accident: Xie Lian and San Lang are attacked at the street, San Lang is injured (and looses his eye in the fight), Xie Lian uses his abilities to protect San Lang. San Lang now wears an eyepatch.

Fengqing still keep their investigation, find out that Yin Yu works for "San Lang" and that "San Lang"'s name is actually Hua Cheng. They come to Xie Lian with this information, but Xie Lian refuses to believe them. Fengqing and Xie Lian have a huge argument, remember every one of their old grudges, Xie Lian hotly says that San Lang is way better to him than his family and even helps him develop his abilities. Hua Cheng arrives in the middle of the argument, takes Xie Lian's side and throws fengqing out. In a conversation with Xie Lian he either denies the accusations or gives a rational explanation (i.e. "San Lang is my childhood nickname, I like it better than my name, that's why I never used my actual name with you").

The next day, once Mu Qing had a chance to calm down, he starts thinking: how come Xie Lian has abilities now? He decides Jun Wu must have known something and tries to look at Jun Wu's documents, finds evidence of Jun Wu knowing, but most of the information was in the documents that are missing. The other siblings deny having anything to do with it. Mu Qing turns to Ling Wen -- the AI developed by Jun Wu. Mu Qing, Ling Wen and Feng Xin manage to break into Jun Wu's computer, decode his files and access the security camera records.

Turns out, Jun Wu also had superpowers: he could get into other people's dreams and control their minds. He was the one who sent Xie Lian nightmares and made everyone forget Xie Lian had powers. He also documented everything and placed hidden cameras all over the house. Fengqing watch the records of the day Jun Wu died (there is only image but no sound) and see Hua Cheng break into Jun Wu's study room, find and read some of the documents. Jun Wu enters the room, it looks like he and Hua Cheng have an argument, Hua Cheng storms out taking the documents with him. After he leaves, Jun Wu clutches his chest and falls on the floor.

Fengqing go to speak to Xie Lian again, this time with the records. Xie Lian is shocked, but he believes them now. Together they search Hua Cheng's house, find Jun Wu's documents, which hold detailed descriptions of Xie Lian's abilities and how to access them. They also find the stalker shrine with paintings of Xie Lian, pictures of Xie Lian obviously taken without his knowledge, a couple of statues and some pornographic images of Xie Lian. Fengqing demand Xie Lian dumps "this creep" right this second, but Xie Lian still insists there must be a proper explanation. He even tries to call Hua Cheng. Eventually they reach a compromise: they need to go to Yin Yu and speak to him, since he works for Hua Cheng and must know something.

Yin Yu tells them the following: a long time ago, when Xie Lian was trying to be a superhero, he saved a young Hua Cheng. Ever since that time Hua Cheng became obsessed with Xie Lian, started gathering all available information about the Umbrella Academy, but there was nothing about Xie Lian there. After Shi Wudu's campain against Jun Wu the Academy's dirty laundry got into papers, Hua Cheng figured Xie Lian had been abused and it was Hua Cheng's turn to save him. However, by the time Hua Cheng finally had all the money and resources Xie Lian had long left the house and built himself a new life. Hua Cheng found him and started stalking him, taking pictures etc. He didn't try to meet Xie Lian in person because he was ashamed: he failed and didn't help Xie Lian when Xie Lian needed it most. Hua Cheng still employed Yin Yu and regularly questioned him about Xie Lian because he wanted to know every little detail. One of their conversations made him think of something he didn't share and start a secret project Yin Yu wasn't involved in. That's all he knows.

Fengqing are furious with Yin Yu for doing something like that to his sibling. Yin Yu yells at them, saying that even though Mu Qing, Feng Xin and Xie Lian had each other when they left they couldn't hold out long, and Yin Yu was completely on his own and Hua Cheng saved him. Fengqing don't know Hua Cheng, he's actually a good person, they shouldn't judge him by his hobbies. Xie Lian interferes saying they need to talk to Hua Cheng anyway, to question him about the circumstances of Jun Wu's death. Xie Lian calls Hua Cheng and invites him to the Academy mansion, fengqing gather the rest of their siblings. Together they interrogate Hua Cheng.

Hua Cheng doesn't deny the stalking but he denies being responsible for Jun Wu's death. According to him, his conversation with Yin Yu helped him guess Jun Wu was super shady, Hua Cheng managed to hack his computer, couldn't decypher the files but accessed the camera records and saw where Jun Wu kept his documents. He broke into Jun Wu's room, read his diaries, found out about Xie Lian's abilities and confronted Jun Wu about it, promising to disclose that information to Xie Lian. Hua Cheng "accidentally" ran into Xie Lian at the street, stole his medicine, hired some thugs to beat him in front of Xie Lian -- all to help Xie Lian unlock his powers.

Fengqing still believe Hua Cheng must be somehow responsible for Jun Wu's death. Yin Yu stands up for Hua Cheng and suggests Shi Qingxuan uses his ability to talk to Jun Wu's ghost and find out for certain. Shi Wudu is against that: he doesn't want Shi Qingxuan to talk to his abusive father, and it's hard for Shi Qingxuan to use his powers. However, Shi Qingxuan is willing to give it a try, mostly for Xie Lian's sake. He cannot summon Jun Wu's ghost, but he talks to the ghosts of Jun Wu's former friends, whom Jun Wu murdered and buried in the mansion's garden. The ghosts have haunted the mansion for a long time and have seen the confrontation with their own eyes. They confirm Hua Cheng's version of events.

Fengqing are still against Hua Cheng and don't want him anywhere near Xie Lian, but Xie Lian says he's not a child anymore, he won't let anyone else make decisions for him, and if fengqing want to stay in his life, they need to accept that. He's fine with having Hua Cheng as a partner, and his opinion is the only one that matters in this regard.

Hualian leave. A few days later Feng Xin comes to talk to Mu Qing: he believes Jun Wu died because he couldn't stand the thought of losing Xie Lian's love forever. Mu Qing has a different theory: Jun Wu deliberately stopped his own heart and killed himself, because he wanted Xie Lian to feel guilty for his death and to come back to the Academy because of that. Xie Lian personally thinks it doesn't matter: he has stopped looking for Jun Wu's approval a long time ago. Whatever Jun Wu's motives, he will not be able to ruin Xie Lian's life.

...

Cue the second season where the whole gang timetravels to 800 years ago, Xie Lian becomes an evil overlord with Hua Cheng being his right hand, Ling Wen tries to get a human body, Lang Qianqiu can copy other people's superabilities and Jun Wu turns out to be a literal alien.

Miscellaneous:

Mu Qing and Feng Xin are based on Luther and Diego, so their superpowers are superstrength and the ability to control projectiles respectively. Yin Yu can turn invisible, Quan Yizhen has superspeed, Shi Qingxuan speaks to the dead, He Xuan could summon tentacles, and Xie Lian is based on Vanya so he controls sound waves.

As a child, Xie Lian was closest to fengqing, Quan Yizhen adored Yin Yu (he still does), Shi Qingxuan and He Xuan were inseparable. In the present Shi Qingxuan is the only one in touch with all of the other siblings. Quan Yizhen is close to Xie Lian and constantly tries to give him money (he is also looking for Yin Yu). No one else is on speaking terms.

BTW, Xie Lian is trans, because a) why not, b) it was inspired by a fic with trans!Xie Lian and c) Xie Lian's plotline is based on Vanya's and Vanya is trans, fight me on this.

[fullmetalpotterhead]

hey, I'm a fan of your hualian fics! I wanted to know if you would ever consider writing a fic where xie lian and feng xin/mu qing never reconnect? Without it being seen as a bad thing or anyone's 'fault'. Because sometimes people just change a lot, and some relationships just fizzle out and die, and that's normal. I love the way mxtx writes but I just thought that at least in mu qing's case it should have ended with them having closure and going their separate ways, and it being shown as a healthy ending too. In mdzs we see a relationship that ends but it's clearly jc's fault as he was abusive and the relationship unhealthy so the ending was wwx being free to be with someone who loves and respected him. But you don't need to be in an abusive relationship to realize you are both better off not being in a relationship anymore, yk? Sorry I'm rambling, I just don't know how to explain that it's not me bashing mq, I just wanted to see a good representation of this, and see XL accepting and being happy even without having both of them back.

(I will admit that I don't like their relationship, I don't think it's exactly good for either of them and I don't think their dynamic is funny or cute. Mq and fx? Maybe, but not mq and xl. But that's not what this is about, I just wanted to see a good representation of people growing up and apart without anyone being to blame.)

I don't even know if you take ideas/suggestion I just thought I would ask, sorry for the ramblings

Short answer no, long answer below.

As a general principle I only take prompts for my nonsexual intimacy series and the reason is actually partially an answer to your particular request.

With the nonsexual intimacy series, anything someone suggests is just aimless fluff. It’s likely not something that requires worldbuilding or characterization that I will have any sort of feelings about.

With other prompts, I have gotten them before and generally just do nothing with them. Because in order for me to want to write something I have to be excited about writing it. I have about five writing prompt concepts I think of a day all on my own, it’s way easier to get hyped about my own thoughts because they’re already aligned with my tastes, mood, and ideas for the characters. And some of those ideas are still inspired by conversations I’ve had with other people or fanart I’ve seen but unless it’s someone talking about something specific as a follow up to something I’ve already written, the chances of me writing a prompt are low, I usually don’t even put them on my list.

Personally, I like that the Xianle Trio gets back together. I think MQ and FX are still compatible with XL as friends and though I don’t write their dynamic that often (because I have a bit of trouble naturally writing MQ and FX in a scene together honestly), I think it’s very interesting a full of a lot to explore. They aren’t as close as before, and they probably never will be. (Although for MQ, who thought they weren’t friends, this might actually be closer). But sometimes there are people in life that you come back to, that you want to make it work with, that you can still laugh with even if there’s more awkward space than there was before, and you learn to navigate this new person that was once familiar to you. And I think that’s really fun and I like that Xianle Trio does that. I have a lot more thoughts about them specifically but I’ll spare you the details.

So I wouldn’t get anything emotionally out of showing the Xianle trio separating and never reconnecting because I personally disagree, and that’s why they routinely show up as background in my fics.

I fully encourage you to write the content you wanna see in the world though. Writing is really fun!

Also thank you for reading my fics!

[ruinatlantis]

Also not to be bitter but I know exactly what XL did to get characterized that way in fics. He had a healthy sex life with his husband where he enjoyed penetration and people like to equate that with femininity and weakness which is part of why it bugs me so much. Doesn’t matter what the rating of the fic is, if they make XL scared of his own shadow (not talking about the trauma fics where he’s actively dealing with white no-face and going insane, those are different) they are doing it because they’re reducing him to a sex position. Nevermind the fact that even if he was being truly submissive in bed we actually have a lot of real life accounts that the types of people who are into that tend to be very assertive and competent in their day to day and that’s part of why the sex fantasy of giving up control is appealing. Nevermind the fact that Hualian’s entire relationship began with HC admiring XL’s strength and bravery and nevermind that the entire arc of XL letting HC help him is about healing from the loneliness of doing everything yourself and realizing you can ask for help even if you could have done it yourself and that doesn’t make you weak.

You are right and you should say it.

Hualian are a battle couple canonically so it's so weird to see them reduced to Confident!Smirking!Powerful!Top and Shy!Scared!Weak!Bottom. Thankfully not all interpretations are like that, but it's enough for me to go wtf. (And this applies to art, blog posts and fic)

And aside from the whole 'sex and kink preferences dont equal real life dynamics' theres also the fact that not only is Xie Lian a strong badass guy...but he is also very capable of being truly frightening. It frustrates me to no end when this aspect of him is erased, how he spiraled in book 4 to almost releasing a plague, how he was apparently a very cold Guoshi to Lang Qianqiu, how his reaction to finding out about Black Water arc drama was to say "you're right San Lang, I should not have interfered" despite the fact that Shi Qingxuan is his friend?? Xie Lian is so much more than just a kind man with morals.